Delaney's was cool

Sometimes karma is just there for me. Janet asked last week if I knew of any place that was halfway between Lindenhurst and Glen Cove that we could meet her friend Dawn. I suggested a place in Bethpage called Delaney's that looked nice but I'd never been there. She called them up and made reservations and we were set for dinner there at 7. There was to be 5 of us including Janet, myself, Dawn, Roberta and Gary who was hanging out with us the weekend before. It seems that Gary had taken Janet out once but she said she would get serious with a smoker. So he is trying to quit but I think she just isn't that into him so he really isn't close to giving it.

So Friday night I went for drinks in Glen Cove and saw Janet there and we discussed a little about where we would meet on Saturday. She had switched cars with her daughter for the weekend and she wasn't comfortable driving a strange car. She had her other daughter to drive her to the restaurant. We agreed that if necessary she would take a cab home but secretly I knew I wanted to drive her.

Saturday night at 7 sharp I get to Delaney's parking lot. It was close to a Days Inn hotel and a little hard to find. I called to see if she needed directions but she was already there. I go inside to see an almost empty restaurant and a quiet bar. Everyone was there but Dawn, whom I'd never met. We all had a drink a we even discussed maybe finding another place as this seemed a little too sedate. But the waitress told us the band coming later was pretty good and it would get crowded. Dawn arrived. We sat down for dinner and the food was good, even if the service was a little slow. We drank 3 bottles of wine between us. Everything was mellow. Dawn and Gary both smoke so they would go outside for cigarette breaks and Roberta was asking Janet about Gary. Maybe she liked him. Janet said she can't see dating him. She said that on the one time they had dinner she had Suzie go as chapperone. She said she doesn't feel safe alone with someone new. I wanted to aske her about that. When I first met Janet 2 years ago I asked her to have dinner with me and she pretty much said she couldn't. I wanted to ask if that was why she said no a but Gary and Dawn came back so I let it go.

I keep hoping I could get romantic with Janet but I just don't feel that vibe at all. At this point I've pretty much made peace with the fact that what we have is a friendship and since I am having more fun on weekends in years I am just going with the flow.

The band set up and they were a group that played all Motown. They were real good and I knew I would be dancing. I had such a good time. Danced pretty much all night. We all had fun. I keep wondering if it's Janet or good karma but each time I go somewhere even at random I always have a night to remember.

At the end I insisted on driving Roberta and Janet home even though I lived close by and they were thirty minutes away. We had a nice ride home and I dropped Roberta off then Janet. There was no big kiss at the door or even in the car. She just said goodnight and out the door she went. Still had a great time and the last thing we said was we'd see each othe Friday night again and figure out what to do for Saturday.