Italy, Rome. 12/12/2012. 20:20.
Walking inside the opulent restaurant where he had reserved the day before, Nathaniel could see it was not very big, only a dozen of tables but the people inside were all wealthy. It was not surprising considering the price of the dish here. Spotting him, a hostess came to him.
"Lyndon, table for two." He said before she had to say anything.
Nodding, the woman wearing a black dress walked behind the counter and checked on the computer to make sure a reservation was at that name. Finding him on her computer, she walks back to him.
"Yes, Welcome Mister Lyndon, please follow me. Your plus one is already there and she's waiting for you." She said in flawless english.
"Thank you."
Going to his table, he spotted Valentina easily and he took everything he had to stop himself for drooling openly. She was wearing a fitting cocktail red dress displaying her amazing form for everyone to see. Her dress had slit on the side of her chest and leg, giving him an amazing view from where he was standing. Her usually long blond hair was tied in a skillful bun showing her neckline beautifully. Nathaniel was suddenly feeling wholly inadequate with the suit he picked up when he was coming back from Ladispoli earlier.
Spotting him coming her way, Valentina smiles enchantingly before going to her feet. Coming to her, Nathaniel took her hand and made a bow kissing the back of her hand making her giggle at the outdated move. Taking her chair, Nathaniel waited for her to sit back before pushing it under her and took his place, taking the menu in passing that the hostess was giving him.
"Can I say right now that you are looking simply 'WOW'?" Nathaniel smiles admiringly.
"Thank you, you also look very dashing." Valentina answers with a smile.
"This is not even remotely the same. I took this suit quickly in a high end shop, shower, and dressed my hair and I was good to go. I don't even want to know how many times you took to put that dress on. You are spoiling me." Nathaniel shook his head.
"This is not a competition, I like the way you look in that suit and based on what your mouth and eyes says, you also like the way I look. This is the only thing that matters."
Thinking about it, Nathaniel realised she was right, the rest really did not matter. After that the discussion was more carefree and they were talking freely without any dullness. The food was amazing and the atmosphere inside the restaurant prone to talk without having to care about being heard.
"So, why me? Why did you come back after you realised the truth about me?" Nathaniel asked after they had taken a pause in their talk to eat.
"I was wondering when you would ask that." She laughed lightly. "To tell you the truth, four days ago, before you even barged into my life, Me and my two best friends and I went to watch a movie who just got out. Care to guess the name of the movie in question?" She smiled.
"Now you see me?" He said, starting to understand.
"Yes, we like the movie and we like you even more in it. I won't repeat a lot of what was said that night about you but suffice to say that we were really surprised when we learned that you were only sixteen at that time. That was one of the reasons that I accepted your case so quickly when your mother called but I did not expect you to be like that in a million years. I came back when I realised that you were right, I would do anything for my family or my friends even if I couldn't go to the lengths you did. He did not help also that when you were handsome before, when you called me on my bullshit you became even more hot than before. There is nothing more sexy than a man on a mission." She finished, a tinge of red on her cheek.
"Is that so?" He asks, smiling.
"Oh yes."
"Too bad I'm not anymore, the mission is over now." He laughed.
"Really?" She said surprised. "But what about the one who got away?"
"Tragic accident, I'm afraid. I was home when I learned on the news that there was an elevator accident in a city called Ladispoli, with one person inside of the cabin when it crashed on the ground. What a pity." Nathaniel said, shaking his head in mock sadness.
"But, how…?" She asked dumbfounded. "How did you find him so fast?"
"We talked about this Valentina, I'm not only a pretty face. We should talk about something a little less morbide, I don't want to ruin this night with you."
"Alright, but I will find out the truth about you one day Mister Lyndon. After all, I'm pretty good at this."
"You are amazing at this Miss Lombardi." Nathaniel complimented.
It was a lot later when the two exit the restaurant hand in hand. They were very close to each other and for the last half hour were touching each other's hands or feet.
"So you are leaving tomorrow morning, right?" She asked again.
"Yes, first light. Why Miss Lombardi? Want to come tuck me in?" He said playfully.
Valentina chose to not answer with words and just start kissing him deeply until they were both breathless. In that moment, Nathaniel who was hoping that he could sleep a little before leaving just threw that away, they were things more important than that, he thought, kissing her back fiercely.
*****
The next morning, Nathaniel disentangle himself from Valentina embrace, taking special care of not waking her up. They had spent the whole night enjoying each other's body and finally fall exhausted an hour ago. Even if he didn't want to leave her side, he still has to pack his things before they take the car in the direction of the airport.
It was not long until he had everything in order, with a last longing look at Valentina enchanting sleeping form, he exited the room. They had talked about this and it was better for the two of them to leave like that. Moreover, she needed to be in court in a couple of hours so she needed sleep. Meeting back with his grandfather and the rest of their security detail, he was glad that everyone was on time. Even if the jet was his grandfather's, they could not miss the time that they were scheduled to leave or they could have to wait an hour for another opening in the timeline.