It was the night of Valentine's Day and today was one of those lonely nights. Most of the restaurants were filled with lovey-dovey couples in the city of Rome. I wasn't sure what came up to her mind to travel all the way to the Italian city a few days before Valentine's Day. With the stress of her job, a trip to Rome was felt like an escapade as I didn't want to be Ms. Goody Two Shoes for once. It was obvious that I despise the feeling of being harassed by my fellow employees and saying that my job was nothing but a result of nepotism.
Of course it brought nothing but disgust in perspective, but what could I do about. I personally applied for job knowing that my father was a CEO and founder of a world renowned fashion company. Knowing him, he knew that special treatment is unnecessary that I was going to be treated like any other employee he works with. Of course I didn't expect any sort of special treatment because was a CEO and founder's daughter. But whatever happened, I was still harassed by those employees. There were even those days where I nearly break down and go into a state of insanity. Delia, the secretary would be the one who would also bring me a lavender and chamomile tea to my office. She always showed concern for me and luckily she was one of the few employees that never criticized me.
I walked into an empty restaurant that was nearby. It wasn't as fancy as the many others she has seen, but at least I didn't need a reservation. As I sat down by a table that was meant for two. Well that didn't bother me since I left the hotel to go out for one night. That even meant having another one of those lonely dinners around the town. I sighed to myself until a waiter came over with a menu and also a champagne flute and a half bottle of prosecco. I watched as the waiter opened the bottle of expense prosecco and poured the sparkling beverage into the champagne flute.
"But I didn't order this though," I said to the waiter.
The waiter kindly replied, "I know, but there is a wealthy man with medium length blonde hair and blue eyes told me to bring it to you. He also told me that he was going to pay for the drink."
Blonde hair and blue eyes? I scanned around the restaurant to see if I could find him. A few tables back from where I sat, there he was. Sitting at another table meant for two people with him trying to enjoy a good dinner on his own. I really never gave it much thought about Julian having dinner at this lovely restaurant. It was a nice place and it was quieter for the most part. Well I can say the employees at the restaurant sure knew how to make a customer feel comfortable here. With a free bottle of prosecco on top of that, maybe I can just have a normal adventure in Rome.
Ten years have passed since then and ironically it was Valentine's Day in the lovely city of Rome. Today felt different than that one time she wandered into that restaurant trying to enjoy her so-called vacation. Now at the age of thirty-one, the Korean-American woman was back at the same restaurant where she enjoyed a lovely Valentine time dinner by herself. Today was different for the fact that she was a married woman and a mother of a loving three year old boy. Claudia really didn't think that she would be sitting at the same table that she sat ten years ago. The staff at the restaurant she was in has changed over time, but their personalities were still friendly as ever. She watched as the waiter brought in a bottle of chilled prosecco along with two champagne flutes.
Originally the mother of one never understood the hype over the chilled Italian sparkling wine. That was when she tasted it for the first time ten years ago and she understood why he would order it for her. The kind that her husband would buy would be aged about seven years but it was certain high quality. Just like the lifestyle she lived now. With her recent promotion to CFO and today being Valentine's Day, why not celebrate of course it. As she watched as the waiter poured in the sparkling beverage into her flute, Claudia really didn't believe that they were going to return to the same restaurant for Valentine's Day. Most of the time, they would be attending formal events such as charity events, art gallery openings, and all that. Today was different of course.
"You've been quiet the entire time since we got here Claudia," he told her.
Claudia replied, "It's just it has been ten years since we enjoyed our own Valentine's Day dinner at this same restaurant Julian. I remembered I just walked into the restaurant to find a place to eat and possibly blow all that steam I had and go insane."
Her husband Julian, who sat across from her didn't really expect that sort of answer from his wife. Then again it was ten years ago and they were in their early twenties back then. He recalled watching her walking to the restaurant in a slightly bad manner. Buying the prosecco for her didn't seem to be a bad idea since it was Valentine's Day. It was technically the first gift that he had bought her on Valentine's Day even though they were friends back then. Today it was different since they were now husband and wife with a three years old in their lives.
"The fact that you bought me this same brand of prosecco made me think I was going to go in a drunk rage. After finding out it was you that bought it, I took my time and decided to enjoy the wine. Even though I didn't get to finish it, the employees were nice enough to keep the wine and placed in a bag so I can enjoy the rest back at the hotel maybe," said the thirty-one year old woman.
Julian commented, "Thank goodness that didn't happen and I'm glad that you enjoyed the prosecco Claudia."
She smiled back until the waiter returned back almost immediately for the married couple's orders. Valentine's Day would always be one of those holidays that would be always special for the two of them. Neither of them would really thought that they would sitting at the same restaurant enjoying dinner together. Memories were made that day and it seemed that neither of them forget what happened during that day. Claudia would never thought that she person who truly cared in a very unconditional way was the same person who sat across from her. Julian never thought that he would see Claudia that day in the restaurant about to have rebellious moment. If he didn't bought that bottle of prosecco for her, he wouldn't be sitting here with his wife today.
"Happy Valentine's Day Claudia," he said to her.
She simply replied back, "Happy Valentine's Day to you Julian and I love you."
That ends this lovely Valentine's Day one-shot and I decided to write a JulianXOC one-shot for a change. It's not much because it's the first time I have written a JulianXOC one-shot. There will be more, but this a time-skip one-shot that I have written. For now, read and review.