The Softer Side of Rosa

I was sitting down at the shopping center at lunchtime today. I had just stopped by the little Korean restaurant and ordered stir fried chicken and rice foregoing Rodger’s Barbeque. I was deftly eating my lunch with wooden chopsticks as Rosa sat next to me on the bench near the dollar store.

“Don’t Koreans eat dogs and cats?” Rosa asked, brusquely.

I smiled and cringed at the same time.

“If they do, then this is some damn delicious canine and feline,” I replied, amused.

I immediately thought of my blogging bud Abbagirl and her mother’s delicious Korean cuisine. What Rosa said was terribly non politically correct, but she didn’t mean any harm. It was an ignorance brought about by not visiting much of the world other than the states and this little corner of the world we live in.

“Wine me and dine me tonight,” Rosa then said.

“You mean a formal date?” I asked.

“I want to go to the little Italian restaurant down in the Valley for dinner,” she said. “I have been craving chicken parmesan.”

“How ‘bout I pick you up at five,” I said, glad to have something interesting to do for a change.

“I am going to knock your socks off tonight,” Rosa said, gleefully. “You know that shirt you bought me at the mall? I am going to wear that with some dressy pants and will put on makeup and lipstick. You won’t even recognize me.”

I hadn’t seen Rosa so excited by something in a long time. I was glad to give her something to look forward to tonight. Despite Rosa’s burly demeanor and appearance, she is still a woman at heart. I have often been seeing the softer side of her recently as we have become closer and closer friends. She puts on a masculine and steely persona from years of living a hard life, but that front seems to be breaking down lately.

“Are you going to dress up?” Rosa then asked.

“I am going to knock your socks off as well,” I said as I smiled. “I will wear my favorite button up shirt, some khaki pants, and my leather dockside shoes with navy socks just for you.”

“We are going to have so much fun tonight,” she said, giggling as she gave me a hug. “I can’t wait.”

I left Rosa sitting on that bench smoking cigarettes to walk down to the bank to withdraw enough cash to fund tonight’s dinner date. Oddly enough, I am looking forward to this as well. The last date I went on was with my ex, Carolyn, and we ended up fighting and arguing for most of the evening. I realized it was the death knell for our relationship which ended shortly afterwards. Let’s hope I and Rosa’s date is without such negative drama. I am sure we will have a grand time.