(648) Love at first sight?

It is interesting to find men who could choose their would be spouses at the first meeting.

Many years ago, a few foreign students were giggling in a posh restaurant, trying to order the cheapest lunch. Rene whispered to Lina that the chief waiter was making sheep's eye at the latter. Sure enough, as they were almost finished, the owner's wife came and introduced herself. First she enquired if they were happy with the meal. Then she passed a slip of paper with a name and phone number. She explained that her right hand man was a good person, he had saved up enough to open his own restaurant but was very shy. Therefore she pleaded with Lina to go out with him to hear his offer.

It  was a sizzling summer day. Every one present believed that the lady was whom she said she was. For one, she sits behind the counter collecting payment. Another point is she wears jewelry that looked too authentic and old fashion to be fakes. She could not be a hired hand. At the tube station, Lina was persuaded to call this guy and give him one chance. A few minds worked together  to teach Lina how to keep her name, address, phone number and college name secret.

Two days after that lunch Lina was picked up from a train station in town. He came in an elegant two seater sports model. Over an expensive lunch, the thirty-four-year-old waiter outlined his offer. He wanted a lady to grace his future flagship restaurant. He was willing to wait for Lina to graduate with her first degree. Even if Lina wanted to go on to a Masters he was willing. He hoped that Lina will marry him and work in his restaurant after her academic pursuit. He believed Lina would make a good wife. And if God blesses, he would plan on having four children. Since he stopped schooling at a young age, Lina would be the one overseeing their education.

After the meal and bizarre but probably genuine offer, Lina was dropped off at another station. She promised to call him if she decided to accept his offer. For about two months after the proposal, Lina wondered if he could track her down. After a few months, Lina breathed a sigh of relief. After all, he did know that she came from a college in the south. By making phone calls to a few colleges and ordering the Freshman registers, it would be possible to find her photograph. He probably was too straight and honest to think of means like that. Looking back, if he had played it cool and just courted her patiently with flowers and candle light dinner, a lonely foreign student would probably had fallen for his charms. Today Lina is happily married with two grown children. This shy but straight forward ex-waiter was proved right in his estimation.

* world-food-day.jpg from thewickednoodle.com