Victor was in his comfort zone-the kitchen. He was making cioppino, and the smell was absolutely intoxicating. Bella.
The restaurant was practically deserted, except for a woman sitting at the bar. She was drinking a glass of wine. Actually, she was just sitting there staring into the glass as if she didn't have a friend in the world.
Victor looked at her concernedly. She'd been sitting there for over an hour, and hadn't touched her chardonnay. Who was she? What was she doing here?
Why did she look so sad?
Victor placed a lid of the bubbling pot of cioppino and left it to simmer. He wiped his hands on a rag and walked out into the restaurant and behind the bar. "Can I get you anything?" he asked her cautiously.
The woman looked up from her glass, her brown eyes rimmed with red-she'd been crying. "No, no," she said, sniffling. "I'm fine. Thank you."
Victor hesitated. Part of him wanted to get back to his stew, but part of him also wanted comfort this poor woman. "Is something the matter?"
The woman looked at him in surprise. "No, no…I'm fine," she said again, this time unsure.
Victor noticed that she had a slight British accent. "Are you sure?"
"Well…" The woman paused. "It's just that I found out…my ex-boyfriend Charlie's getting married."
"Oh. Oh, I'm sorry." Victor knew exactly how that felt. He held out his hand. "I'm Victor."
The woman smiled at him through her tears and shook his hand. "Patricia."
"Nice to meet you," Victor replied. "I'm so sorry about your ex-boyfriend."
"I don't know why I'm getting like this…we broke up months ago," said Patricia, blinking rapidly.
"Tell me about it," said Victor, a little bitterly. He couldn't deny that he still missed Sophie a little. "My ex-fiancée's getting married too. I guess I know how you feel."
"I'm sorry," whispered Patricia.
For a second, the two broken hearts just stared at each other, wishing life wasn't so unfair.
Victor took a deep breath. "Listen…maybe you and I could get a cup of coffee or something? Talk about it?"
The woman thought for a second, then slowly smiled a little and nodded. "I'd like that."
The two walked out together, the now bubbling over cioppino long forgotten.