"Are you hungry? I know the Chinese; it's time to eat," he tapped his watch.

"Aw.. I'm fine. We could have lunch a bit later," meanwhile my stomach growled and secretly I wanted to pinch myself.

As we waited for a taxi, he shyly brought forth a parcel wrapped in a plastic bag, "Something for you, from the Dead Sea."

"Something to make me more beautiful?" I teased.

"You are already beautiful," he beamed, with a mischievous twinkle in his eyes.

*****

We spent the next hour at Borders, sharing little snippets of our favourite books. He wasn't disappointed when he couldn't would-be purchase was out-of-stock. He simply shrugged his shoulders and suggested that we should go for lunch.

I furrowed my brows as I desperately did a mental Ctrl+F in my mind for a good restaurant in the vicinity. Jap food - can never go wrong! He's not a picky eater after all.

He commented how quiet the restaurant is as we made our way to the table and that he liked it this way. Being a gentleman as he is, he simply said, "Order whatever you like."

And trust me - I did. But I was still sensible not to gorge myself silly with food; we had a conservation to carry on. He spoke about his hometown in Israel and laughed at his own confession of visiting the synagogue only 2-3 times a year. He admired my faith and my diligence in visiting the church. (I declined to meet him over the weekend citing the need to visit the church) Little did he know I have been missing out on church for the longest time due to work.

As I prepped my wasabi with shoyu, I asked how life goes on in the troubled land. A pregnant pause ensued as he stared hard into blank space, as if struggling whether to tell me the truth or to paint a not-so-gloomy picture of his country.

"Life goes on," he finally let out with a long exhale. And we chuckled. "But it's a beautiful country," he couldn't help but added.

"Why do you not have a boyfriend?" he delicately dipped a piece of raw tuna in the shoyu.

One of those frequently asked questions.

"I don't know," I shrugged my shoulders and munched on my Ebi Tempura Roll.

"Mmm... you work too much," he said like he knew.

I rolled my eyes and offered a broken weak smile. "Maybe I haven't met the right one,"

Another standard too-hard-for-me-to-explain question-dodging reply.

"If I'm 25, I would be your boyfriend," he said matter-of-factly. I looked up at him briefly and saw he was trying to adjust his chopsticks. Serious look. Very matter-of-factly.

"Oh, what is this?" he pointed to the raw tuna, "It's tasty!"

*****

I was ready to call for bill when he stopped me. "No dessert?" he asked with surprise.

"Oh, do you want any?"

"Hmm... no. You are my dessert,"

"Oh.. erm..." I blushed, "let's try the black sesame ice cream."

*****

It wasn't a date. But if it was, it'd have been a wonderful one.