There was nothing appetizing in the refrigerator to eat when I got home from work that night. Nothing in the freezer either. So I decided to head over to my favorite local tavern for some dinner and a beer or two. It wasn’t that crowded when I got there, and as I looked around the bar, I took a seat next to a woman who seemed to be alone. “Do you mind if I sit here?” I asked, already having taken my seat on the bar stool.

“No, that’s fine,” she said, a pleasant smile on her face.

“What are you drinking?” I asked.

“An appletini,” she said.

“Mike,” I said to the bartender. “An appletini for my friend and a beer for me.”

“Thank you,” she said. “I’m Carol.”

I reached out to shake her hand. “Nice to meet you, Carol. I’m Nick.”

Carol and I chatted for about half an hour, getting to know one another. Mike came over and asked us if we were okay on drinks. “Another round,” I said. Then I reached over the bar and pulled a maraschino cherry from a container with olives, cherries, lime and lemon slices, and onion slivers in it. Mike came back with the drinks, set them down in front of us, and gave me a knowing glance.

“I have a talent that I want to share with you,” I said. I pulled the long stem off the cherry. I took the cherry itself and gestured for her to open her mouth and placed the sweet, red cherry on her tongue. Then I held up the stem and placed it inside my mouth. Within a minute, I removed the stem from my and proudly displayed it to her. I had successfully tied it in a knot using nothing but my tongue.

“Impressive,” she said. “You know, I have a fruit talent, too.”

“Oh yeah,” I said. “Show me.”

“Not here. Let’s go back to my place.”

I settled up with Mike and we left the tavern and walked, hand in hand, the three blocks to her apartment. When we stepped into her flat, I tried to kiss her, but she pushed me away. “First I need to demonstrate my talent. Have a seat,” she said, gesturing to the sofa. “I’ll be right back.”

Less than a minute later she came back into the living room and sat down next to me on the sofa. She had a large, yellow banana in her hand and a naughty smile on her face. “My fruit talent is my ability to carve a banana with my mouth.”

She slowly, sensuously peeled the banana down to the the last third. Then she stuck out her tongue and licked the banana. And when she put the entire exposed part of the banana in her mouth, I couldn’t take it anymore.

I stood up and blurted out, “Marry me!”

And ever since that night, we have lived happily ever after, with me using my tongue on her cherry stem and her carving my banana with her mouth.

Written for today’s one-word prompt, “carve.”