from the start | ran takahashi

Chapter 16

"Poi per lei sceglierò questo e il vino rosso che mi hai suggerito. Grazie. (Then for her, I'll choose this and the red wine you suggested. Thank you.)" Ran smiled, the waiter writing it down.

The waiter smiled back, taking the menu from us. As the waiter left with out order, I faced Ran with a shocked face.

"Look at you! Multilingual.." I said, impressed.

He giggled as he scratched the back of his head.

"I'm learning.." He said bashfully.

After a few moments, the waiter came back with two bottles of wine and two wine glasses. He set it down in front of us and poured our respective wine. Once he had served us our wine, he left us with a smile as he head back to the kitchen.

I took a sip of the wine and immediately felt the burning sensation slide down my throat. The wine made me feel warm in the middle of the cold windy night.

"That's nice.." I said as I set my wine down.

I looked up to him and noticed that he also placed the glass down, agreeing with me in process.

After a while, the waiter came back with another tray that was filled with various cured meats, olives and cheeses. He set it down and left us alone again.

"These looks good!" I beamed.

"Yeah.." Ran agreed, his eyes sparkled.

I chuckled at the man in front of me.

"You're like a kid.." I laughed, covering my mouth to quiet down the noise.

He rolled his eyes but laughed with me anyways.

The night was filled with laughter and a calm atmosphere that was comforting to the both of us. It felt like the whole world was just watching and we were living a night that could be unforgettable.

All I could think about at this moment was;

'I feel so happy right now..'

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After dinner, Ran decided to take me somewhere before we ended the night. 

Of course, after saying that I could pay half of the bill but before we even sat down, he already left his card with the waiter. So in the end, he paid for everything.

"So annoying.." I grumbled.

I heard him heave a chuckle as he made a turn to a dark path. The street lamps were long gone so the headlights of the car was the only source of light, beaming on the road for us to see. 

"Uhh.. Where are we going?" I asked, feeling a bit skeptical with my surroundings. 

"Hmm.. Somewhere.." He mumble suspiciously.

I turned my head towards him, expecting to see a smile or hear a small giggle from him but his face said otherwise. It turned into a serious, dark aura, making me swallow a lump in my throat. I subconsciously held onto my seatbelt, turning my head towards the road.

There were no cars, no houses, no buildings, and no people. It was dark but the head lights showed trees and dirt. I looked over my window, praying that I won't see anything but darkness.

"Ran, seriously.. Where are we going?" I asked once again, my nerves starting to creep up on me.

He didn't say anything and continued to drive as if I wasn't there. I started getting scared but reminded myself that it was just Ran being Ran and he was probably pulling a prank on me. Even though I was holding on to that thought, my nerves got the best of me.