“The foodie that you are, how could I not know?” Though he formed it as a question, he meant it as a statement.
This thoughtful man brought me to the one destination I’d been longing to visit. How could I not appreciate the heart behind the action?
Lunch began with an amuse bouche—the legendary salmon tartare cornets, a savory black sesame seeded cone filled with salmon tartare and red onion crème fra?che. Enjoying every bite of this teaser course, the inquisition began.
“Jake, tell me about your family. I can’t wait to meet them.”
“Well, as you know, I’m the oldest of three kids. My sister below me, Jane, is a senior in law school right now. Nick, the youngest is a senior in undergrad, and the real genius in our family. Most likely med school is in his near future but it’s a bit up in the air. He’s talented in so many ways, he’s torn about what to do with his life. He’s also the foodie in the family. You two will get along well.”
“Did you all go to the same school?” I asked while slurping my oyster with caviar.
“Jane actually went to undergrad up here. She’s the black sheep of the family,” he joked.
“Huh? I don’t understand.”
“My grandfather, my dad, his brothers, most of their wives, and we children all went to the same school. Gramps made a lot of money in real estate and was a generous man, as he donated much of it. My sister liked the convenience of his money, but not the notoriety it sometimes brought. So, she decided to come up here and then go live in New York. The rest of us were not as brave or as creative.
“You’re quite the homogenous group.”
“Boring is a better definition.”
“You must have been a hot commodity at school. The girls must have thrown themselves at you to become a part of your family,” a hint of jealousy noted my voice.
“I suppose, but I never met anyone that made me want to settle down…” he trailed off. “After med school, residency was at Valley Hospital, and since then I’ve been at General Hospital, thanks to the chief selecting his nephew over hundreds of applicants.”
“Is the name Reid the reason why we got a table here today as well?”
He seemed abashed as he confessed that one of his uncles was an investor in many restaurant ventures.
“I guess I’ve had it pretty easy all my life. But, my parents encouraged us to work hard.”
“Excellent! Good-looking, hard-working, and great earning potential,” I joked. “You’re definitely a keeper!”
“OK, now your turn. Tell me everything.”
Before giving my autobiography, I quickly savored the third course—cured hamachi belly.
“It’s not too exciting. It’s probably more tragic than anything else. I was born in Texas and spent most of my childhood there. My dad was a structural engineer, and he died when I was in eighth grade. He was at a job site for the city when a part of the building fell on him. He died instantly,” I explained.
“I’m so sorry! I didn’t realize that you were that young when your father passed away.”
“Well, the story gets worse, so hold that thought.” I sighed. “After my dad died, my mom and I came to LA to live with my grandparents. My mom had never worked before so she held odd jobs here and there, and we lived modestly. Mom missed Dad terribly, and she was never truly happy again after his death. This was hard on me because I felt the need to be happy around her, always. It was my job to lift her spirits up. During my senior year in high school, my mom died of a heart attack. That’s what the doctor’s told me, but I think she died more of a broken heart.”
Jake reached out and put his hands over mine when he saw the tears forming. He comforted me with a loving smile. “Oh, Emily…that must have been very painful.”
My heart warmed, knowing his thoughts were genuine. I composed myself and finished telling Jake that my grandparents passed away a few years ago from old age, and how I’ve been on my own pretty much since my senior year in high school.
“How did you pay for college and living expenses? How did you buy a house already?”
Our server filleted a whole-roasted turbot, along with an interesting burnt lemon for squeezing, and placed some on both our plates while I explained a bit more about myself. “I guess underneath this weak frame, I have a survival mentality. Tutoring young kids since my sophomore year in high school brought in decent money to pay for living expenses, and tuition was covered through grants and financial aid. I worked a lot in undergrad and saved all my money. There wasn’t much of a need to spend any of it. Plus, when my grandparents passed away, they left me their condo. I sold it and added that money to my already growing pot. One day it occurred to me I could put a down payment on a small house, so I decided to try, and next thing I knew, I was a homeowner. So that’s the story of my life till now.”
Though my life’s story was covered in three courses, there was more that Jake wanted to hear and understand.