“Where are we?” he asked.
“It’s a restaurant called Noir,” Tessa said.
“I’ve heard of it,” Jonas said. “They serve meals in complete darkness. The waitstaff is blind, as is the owner,” he said, unsure how he felt about that. “But how can they be open during a blackout?”
“A lot of the businesses have back-up generators, especially restaurants, since they need to keep food cold,” Tessa elaborated. “Though I imagine they might have a limited menu tonight.”
“That makes sense.”
He guessed Tessa was trying to make him feel more comfortable, which wasn’t at all necessary. He’d be just as happy going back to her place and finding something to eat there—preferably naked.
She stepped up close to him, and he could still detect the scents of sex on her skin, his soap mixing with her flowery scent. It was so sensual, he didn’t want anything to break the mood.
“I’ve heard such great things about it, I thought it would be … interesting,” she said, sounding unsure. “One of the things about Noir is being able to understand what it’s like to be blind. I want to understand how you’re experiencing the world right now, Jonas, but if it bothers you, we can go somewhere else.”
Taking his hand in hers, she absently rubbed her thumb over his knuckles, waiting for his answer.
“I’ve eaten all my meals in the dark for the last month, but I’m still curious about the place,” he said. “It’ll be fun,” he offered gamely.
They walked in and followed their server’s instructions to follow the handrail along the wall of the dark hallway to the back dining room, where a private table had been reserved for them.
“You are two brave souls to venture out tonight. We had dozens of cancellations, understandably,” the server said.
Jonas heard Tessa’s surprised gasp, and felt her stop beside him.
“Tessa?”
“Sorry. There’s not so much as a slant of light in here. It’s so black … it feels like it swallows you,” she said, and her fingers closed around his a little more tightly.
“We don’t have to stay,” he said.
“No, I’m fine. I was just thrown by how dark it is, stupid as that sounds, especially since we’ve spent all night in the dark.”
“Not stupid at all,” the server interrupted. “People often have that initial response to complete dark. Though you may turn off the lights at night, most places still have degrees of light twenty-four hours a day, whether from the moon, streetlights, night-lights, et cetera. So the experience of complete darkness can be quite startling,” he explained kindly.
“You’re right. I never thought about it that way,” Tessa confessed, sounding more relaxed.
“But you learn to use your other senses, and you learn to trust the people around you. You’ll see,” he said, and led them to a table, seating them next to each other.
“Being in the dark can be a revelation. You start to know each other in a new way, to find out things even about people you thought you knew well.”
As they settled into their seats, the waiter offered a short history of the restaurant.
“Dinners in total darkness started, as far as we know, as early as the nineteenth century. In the 1990s, Europeans began experimenting with dark dining, dark bars and similar events. The Paul Guinot Foundation, a French organization for the blind, came up with the idea of dinners in total darkness called Le gout du noir or ‘Taste of darkness.’”
“That’s fascinating,” Tessa responded. “But how is the food prepared?”
Jonas admitted that he, too, had initially thought it was only a marketing angle, and had no idea of the history of the place.
“Our cooks are able to see, along with minimal other staff,” the waiter assured them before asking if they had any questions. He also cautioned them to stay at their tables, to keep the area where he walked clear before he left.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” Jonas asked, leaning in close to find her neck, nuzzling it.
He was concerned about how disoriented and fearful she’d sounded when they’d walked into the room, so he made sure he kept touching as they sat in the dark. Though it was not all for her benefit, he had to admit.
Now that he’d had her, he was even more needful to be with her again. Soon.
“I’m okay now. It’s very … shocking. I walked into this room and it hit me how awful it must be to live in complete darkness all the time,” she said.
He squeezed her hand. “Well, this has been a good reminder that I’ve spent a lot of time feeling sorry for myself when other people have spent every day without their sight and go on with their lives just fine.”
“That wasn’t my intention, not at all,” she rushed to say, and he shushed her.
“I know it wasn’t. But I think when I lost my sight, my first reaction was to feel like this was only happening to me. The waiter, and being here, reminded me otherwise,” he said with a sigh, regretting his own attitude over the last month.
He, at least, had the return of his vision to look forward to. Others never would have that. It was humbling.
“I’m sure my brothers would confirm I’ve been a huge pain in the ass,” he said with a smile, but then turned serious.
“I think you’re being too hard on yourself,” she chastised.
She leaned in, intending to kiss his cheek, but ended up kissing his shoulder instead, making them both laugh.
“Obviously my coordination in the dark needs some work,” she said ruefully, finding his face with her hands and offering another kiss.
“You were doing just fine in the subway car,” he said huskily as the door opened again, their waiter returning with drinks and appetizers.
“Maybe later we can find a blindfold,” she said in a suggestive tone. “One thing is for sure, your other senses really do take over when you don’t rely on your sight. Everything is so … intense.”
Jonas agreed. If there was one word for what was happening between him and Tessa, it was intense.
7
1:00 a.m.
“OHHH … THAT’S WONDERFUL,” Tessa said with a sigh as Jonas found her lips with his fingers, letting her nibble a piece of the rich cheese that the waiter had delivered to their table. This had very possibly been the best meal of her life.
Though at first it was awkward, the waiter’s prediction had come true: as each course was served, they became more proficient at handling their food using their other senses, and even trusted each other’s coordination enough to feed each other.
Tessa knew that she trusted Jonas with her life. She had, literally, on several occasions. She hoped their experiences together were helping him to trust her more, too. He seemed to have relaxed toward her since their conversation in the car, and since making love.
A shiver ran over her skin. She couldn’t wait to get him alone again.
Tessa absorbed the experience of dark eating full-on. This was definitely something she wanted to do again. After she let go of her sense of disorientation and fear of the complete dark, she found she could manage more easily.
She wondered if Jonas would want to come back here after his sight returned. She wasn’t sure how she would feel about that in his shoes.
What she was finding