Just a drabble in the midst of work on the memorial day weekend…All places featured are real. This story assumes that Burke is NOT injured.
Thanks Kiri for the "All You Need is Love comment on the MTC board. Reviews are welcome.
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"We're going to Spain."
"No, we're not going anywhere."
"Why not?"
"Mr. Preston Burke, we are real people in a real hospital, not a TV show. In a real hospital, interns don't take time off and fly to Spain on a long weekend with their boyfriend."
"Cristina, it's a holiday!" Burke rolled his eyes and tried to stay persistent.
"Who do you think cover the shifts of you surgeons every holiday? The interns!" Cristina turned her head and was about to walk away. "Besides, Spain is so hot. California is bad enough."
Burke knew he could refund the plane tickets, but he could not hide his disappointment when Cristina rejected his holiday surprise.
"We've been dating for almost a year and the only places we've been to are the locker room and the coffee shop." Burke bent his lips like a 5-year-old kid begging his mother for candies.
Cristina softened her frown and asked in a quiet voice, "You want to go somewhere…"
Noting the cautious tone, Burke rolled his eyes again without uttering a word. A pensive look swept through Cristina's face before she said, "How about a day in Seattle?"
- - - - -
"Sir, you don't have to pay, this is a ride free area." Burke thanked the driver for the tip. Cristina gave a smirk. Their apartment was very close to the hospital and unlike the adventurous Cristina, today was the first time Burke was exploring Seattle's friendly public transit system.
"Where are we going?" Cristina wasn't sure what Burke was up to, after she ungratefully shattered his dream for a hot Spanish romance, or so he called it.
"How about the aquarium?"
"Fish stinks."
"Pike Place Market?"
"Fish stinks."
"The Burke Museum?" Burke flipped through his Lonely Planet in despair.
"Did you open a museum?" Cristina's face lightened up a bit, thinking he was kidding.
"I mean, the Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture."
Cristina made a face and said, "The only museum I'd visit is the SAM, but I don't like to squeeze through a fat layer of noisy kids and spoil my weekend."
"Fine, Cristina. Why don't you tell me where you'd like to go to?" Burke gave up his Lonely Planet and made the dangerous proposition. He thought Cristina was going to say Seattle Grace.
"OK."
"OK."
"Right."
"Yes?"
Burke was growing a bit impatient. He knew Cristina liked to make decisions and she clearly knew more about Seattle than he did. Still, he was not happy that his plans were all turned down.
"Burke, let's go home."
"What?" We've only been out for an hour and we're going home?
"No," as if she could read his mind, she continued, "We need the car."
- - - - -
"Where are we?" Burke knew they were still in Seattle, but it was a neighborhood he had never been to. It was eerily quiet, and the characters on the billboards and signposts were very… Nordic. "We should have installed the GPS."
"I know where I'm going." Cristina was too busy with parallel parking that she wasn't annoyed when Burke questioned her sense of direction. After all, she was from L.A. If you could drive in L.A., you could drive anywhere in the world.
"Here we are." Cristina dragged him towards a disserted factory building.
"Cristina, we'll get mugged!" Burke panicked.
Cristina ignored that and pulled him through a rusty gate.
"Good evening, Ms. Yang, this way please."
Burke did not know such a place existed in Seattle. It was like a medieval castle filled with gems. The dimly-lit rooms gave off an aura of mystery. In one room there was a huge antique elephant made of shinny stones. In another, he saw a painted ceiling as captivating as the Sistine Chapel. There were marble columns, bamboo trees, and a grand piano.
Finally, they entered a relatively modern room with a fireplace and carefully-arranged bookshelves. There were a few more patrons at a distance, but the restaurant forged a very private and intimate feeling. Every couple was lost in their own world.
"How did you find this place, Cristina?" Burke was very impressed.
"It's a secret." Cristina tried to conceal his smile of satisfaction and took a seat next to the fireplace. She was not going to tell him how the Chief recommended this place when she complained to him about Burke's outrageous idea of a Spanish getaway.
"What would you like to order, Sir?"
"We'll need a nice chardonnay to go with the lobster." Without looking at Burke or the menu, Cristina made the order.
Cristina remembered! Burke was thrilled to recall their first formal date and how Cristina ordered a steak and shocked him.
"And please bring me some butter for the bread. Real butter please. No margarine, no olive oil." The remark made Burke laugh.
Cristina blushed when Burke leaned forward and mumbled something into her ear.
Did he say that she looked beautiful tonight in her creamy white pull-over? Did he say he was the happiest man tonight? Perhaps what he actually said was nothing more than a thank you, Cristina—whatever it was, it did not matter.
"We won't skip dessert tonight." Cristina said, "I am taking a day off tomorrow."
They smiled as the tune All You Need is Love was played on the piano.
THE END.