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Dan-Ole was in love. Completely smitten, stars in his eyes. That feeling was still a relatively new one to him. But thanks to some help from his best friend Bertel, he had found the one. And how he'd firmly believed that he'd stay a bachelor forever. He had been happy like that. But somehow he was even happier now that he had met a woman who was very much his soulmate. They even shared a hobby they both loved. Luck truly had been on Dan-Ole's side.
That evening in late June, Eva-Lisa had taken Dan-Ole to her favorite restaurant. They'd had a lovely time together, having gotten lost in a detailed, passionate conversation about birds, their favorite subject. They'd talked about their lives and what they had been like before fate had led them both to Botnia Paradise and brought them together. Dan-Ole had always been a mom's boy. She had been the only woman in his life, but not anymore. Eva-Lisa wasn't a first-timer, but her previous partners had not understood her, in their opinion, overflowing and ridiculous bird obsession. After being with two men like that, she had almost stopped looking for someone to share her life with. She had booked a cabin on Botnia Paradise with one clear goal in mind: spotting the rare albino Great crested grebe.
She had not found the bird. Instead she'd had her binoculars trained on something else. This tall and lanky man with long limbs, practical outdoor clothing and a fun strawberry hat. From the moment she had first seen him, he had not looked like he belonged on the ship. The uncomfortable look on his face had been a clear indicator on how he'd felt; he'd rather be anywhere else than at the bar on a cheap cruise ship. Even the man he had been with had almost given up on trying to get him together with someone. But then Eva-Lisa had walked in. Dan-Ole had turned around and seen her. And that was when he had just known. She was the one for him. His heart had never beaten quite like that before. It was like he had finally begun to truly live instead of watching life pass him by.
Their evening at the restaurant had been fun and cozy, filled with laughter and feeding dinner to each other. It was the level of cute that might have left Bertel rolling his eyes. But Bertel was not there, it was just the two of them, just like it was meant to be. The lovebirds had just ordered dessert. And as they waited, Dan-Ole had reached across the table and taken Eva-Lisa's hands in his own. And oh, how he was lost in her eyes, thumb slowly and gently brushing her knuckles. He was that way even when a waiter arrived with dessert.
"Dan-Ole?"
Eva-Lisa spoke softly to get his attention. Only then was Dan-Ole pulled out of his trance. He looked at Eva-Lisa and then at the waiter who stood right by their table, holding a plate.
"Oh, sorry.."
Dan-Ole mumbled with the sweetest smile and let go of her hand. Their waiter finally set the plate down in the middle of the table and left them alone again.
"You seemed to be somewhere far away. What were you thinking about?"
Eva-Lisa wondered, an interested look in her eyes.
"You.. Just you,"
Dan-Ole breathed out, sounding all dreamy.
"I don't think I've ever been happier than I am now.."
he told her, as honest as he could get. Then, at last, his eyes traveled down from Eva-Lisa's emerald eyes and came to rest on the plate between them.
"What.. what did we get? I'm not sure if I really even heard you order.."
he had to admit, a light blush touching his cheeks and an awkward smile adorning his face. It was a good look on him, Eva-Lisa thought. She smiled at his spacing out and caressed his hand in turn.
"Peach cobbler,"
she informed him and watched as a look of understanding flashed in his eyes and the blush on his cheeks deepened. Not quite matching the shade of his hat just yet, but it was slowly getting there.
"Of course.."
Dan-Ole managed to say, his eyes traversing from Eva-Lisa to the dessert.
"I'm sorry, I—"
"Don't be,"
Eva-Lisa shook her head as she picked up the tiny spoon. Dan-Ole almost reached for his, but was stopped by her.
"Wait."
All that was needed was one simple word. Dan-Ole waited and looked back at her with a curious glint in his eyes. He paid a lot of attention to how she first picked up a little bit of the cobbler itself and then scooped up some of the vanilla ice cream.
"This is for you,"
she said softly as she leaned over the table to get closer to Dan-Ole who also leaned in. He felt the butterflies wake up and start flying around in his stomach. He should have had no reason to be nervous; he knew Eva-Lisa well and always felt right at home in her company. One might have thought he was going to propose, but this was just a normal date night. Trying to calm down his nerves, he opened his mouth as Eva-Lisa offered the spoon to him.
"Do you like it?"
she asked, searching for Dan-Ole's gaze. She didn't have to search for very long, and he nodded, a little too quickly. He blamed his nerves for it, too.
"I do,"
he said after swallowing, focusing on the taste of sweet peach and the ice cream which complemented it perfectly.
He needed to focus on something to calm his heart which was beating faster than a hummingbird's wings in flight. His eyes landed on the spoon, identical to the one Eva-Lisa was holding, and picked it up. But his hands were shaking enough for him to drop the spoon. Thankfully only on the table. Dan-Ole was quick to pick it back up.
"Are you okay, Dan-Ole?"
Eva-Lisa naturally asked, her eyes resting on Dan-Ole.
"I am, yes.. Everything is fine,"
he assured her. This wasn't their first date, not even close.
Calm down, Dan-Ole.
He smiled at Eva-Lisa before focusing on scooping some of the dessert for her to try. Of course, this wasn't her first time at the restaurant, so Dan-Ole believed that she already knew what the peach cobbler tasted like. Still, he wanted to be as gentlemanly as he could.
"Here.. This is for you,"
he said and fed the spoonful to Eva-Lisa.
That's how they went on, taking turns feeding each other until all of the dessert had been eaten. After they'd paid and stepped out onto the street, Dan-Ole placed an arm around Eva-Lisa. They remained close as they walked the short distance to the car. They'd both had fun like they always did together. And so, the evening had been a great success.