"Dashing is good, though I was somewhat fond of swish and posh," Noah replied with a smile.
Ocean Zen wasn't a jeans and sweatshirt sort of place, so he'd dressed nicely, in a dark grey suit, medium grey shirt, and a light purple necktie with a small, darker purple pattern. He'd tried to do something with his hair, but had given up; it did what it wanted regardless of how much he fought with it.
He liked that she stopped them, that Lisa gave his suit lapels a little tug to straighten them. He'd missed that sort of casual, easy care. Julia used to come up behind him, pressing herself close, looking over his shoulder as she knotted his tie when they were going out somewhere. They'd frequently been very late to parties and events because of that; he'd found it impossible to resist turning it into something more.
Lisa gave his chest a little pat, and slipped her arm through his again. Noah smiled and opened the door for her, setting his hand at the small of her back as the entered and went to the host's podium to claim their table.
The interior of the restaurant wasn't traditionally Japanese. The walls were dark, a burnished copper, the lighting dim and intimate; there were candles everywhere, and soft, mellow jazz wound in and around the low hum of conversation, enough to help the atmosphere, but not intrusive.
They were seated, menus given to them, and told that their waitperson would be with them in a moment. Noah missed feeling the warmth of Lisa's back beneath his palm. He'd always been a tactile person, and it had been so long. May hadn't wanted touch at all, and he'd respected that.
"I hope that you like it here. It's been, hmm. A couple of years since I've been here. With luck, it hasn't changed for the worse."