Jane walked towards the new restaurant in the city. A guest was leaving; he was holding the door open for Jane. She politely thanked him and entered the place. There were many excellent reviews on the new restaurant; it was worth a try. Jane looked at herself in the window, which reflected like a mirror. She was wearing a new dress, she was feeling beautiful and couldn't wait to show it to her boyfriend. It had been a long day at the university; Jane was glad she had some time off.
"Good evening, how can I help you?" The waitress plastered a smile on her face.
"Hi," Jane said and gave the waitress a genuine smile. "My boyfriend is waiting for me. He is already here, if I'm correct."
The waitress nodded. "Do you know the reservation name? It makes it easier to bring you to the table."
"Yes, of course. Let me look it up," Jane replied and opened her purse. She grabbed her phone and looked up the note.
"You look beautiful, the dress fits you well," the waitress complimented. "Date night?"
Jane looked up and shyly smiled. "Oh, thank you," she said. "Yes, it is." She was scrolling through the WhatsApp chat of her boyfriend, but she couldn't find the reservation name. "I can't find the reservation name, but I believe it is Jane at 19:30," she said doubtfully.
The waitress nodded and looked through the reservations. "We have a reservation at 19:30 on the name Jane, but nobody is checked in yet..."
"Ow." Jane swallowed hard and checked the last message she got from her boyfriend. It said 'reservation at 19:30'. "I believe he is late, I will wait. Thank you."
"I can walk you to your table? You can wait for him there."
"If that's possible," Jane weakly smiled. The disappointment was flowing through her body. He had one job, just one job, and he couldn't do it.
"Absolutely, follow me, please."
Jane followed the waitress to the table and ordered a glass of red wine. She looked around, everybody was enjoying their dinner and having a good time. Jane bit on the inside of her cheek and looked at the time: 19:45. Her boyfriend would go to the restaurant straight after work, so he asked if Jane could go to the restaurant herself so they would meet up there. It made Jane impatient, and frustrated. She grabbed her phone and texted her boyfriend.
-
Jane
Hi, where are you? I'm waiting for you at the new restaurant xx
-
She looked at it; it sent, and it was delivered. That was it, nothing more. Jane threw her phone on the table and took a big sip of the wine. Her eyes were plastered on the entrance, hoping her boyfriend would show up. Every time the door opened, a sparkle of hope went through her body, but twice as much disappointment came back when it wasn't her boyfriend.
Forty-five minutes later, he still didn't show up. Jane looked around while finishing drinking a glass of water. She made eye contact with a few guests, who arrived at the same time as her. A few of them had apologising looks on their faces, others felt sorry for her. She pressed her lips into a thin line and looked away. How can someone make you feel so miserable?
After a few more minutes, more people started to notice Jane. She was sitting there by herself, and she was waiting, but it didn't look good. The same waitress who guided her to the table, walked passed her.
"Hey," the waitress said, surprised. "He still hasn't arrived?"
"No," Jane said and plastered a fake smile on her face. "He is on his way, there was a crisis at work," she lied.
The waitress nodded, she could see things were...off. "Is there anything I can get you? It's on the house."
"Can I have another glass of red wine, please?" Jane didn't want to be desperate, but she was.
"Of course, coming right up."
"Thank you."
Jane looked at her phone, she would give him another ten minutes, or she would leave. Tears formed in her eyes, this couldn't be true. She tried to call him multiple times, but he wouldn't answer. Jane blinked the tears away and looked at the entrance again.
"I'm sorry for being so late, love." A guy took place across from her at the table and gave Jane the glass of wine she had ordered. He ordered himself a pint. "Traffic is crazy right now. And the crisis... Pfew, awful. I'm terribly sorry," he loudly explained and made sure everybody around him could hear it.
Jane raised her eyebrows at first, but squeezed them together after realising what he told her. This was odd...
"I'm Marcus. Just go with it, alright? Whoever didn't show up, is a dick," the guy quietly added. "People are staring at you for sitting here alone, waiting for over an hour, being miserable. I can't let you go home with that reputation."
"I'm sorry, but..." Jane looked at the glass of wine and back at the guy named Marcus. Her lips parted, why would he do this for me? "Thank you, I guess," she softly said and gave him a weak smile.
"Who didn't show up?"
Jane looked around her, and for some reason, the people around her didn't look at her with apologising looks anymore. Some of them were relieved, a couple of them were still trying to figure the situation out. "My boyfriend," she breathed and took a sip from her wine. "Look, you don't have to do this."
"I've been here since the moment you walked into the restaurant, and I'm feeling so sorry for you. People were staring at you, it looked bad."
"How about your dinner?" Jane was confused.
Marcus took a sip from his beer and widely smiled. "They are leaving," he said and pointed at the exit. His friends looked at him, and Marcus gave them a nod.
"Look, you really don't have to do this... I should have known better."
"Your boyfriend is a douche, and I'm just trying to save you from all those nasty prejudices," Marcus said. "And don't throw it on yourself..." He was trying to get her name.
"Jane."
"...Jane. Whatever his reason is, dump him, end it, call it off. He shouldn't treat you like this," Marcus continued; the tone in his voice was severe, but also playful.
A soft giggle rolled over Jane's lips. His use of tone was somehow amazing. "Yeah..."
"You don't deserve this, Jane." Marcus smiled. "What do you want for dinner? It's on me, you can order whatever you want," he offered and got the menu card. "I fully recommend the chocolate cake, but that's dessert, but you can also have it as a starter. I'm on a diet, but that chocolate cake is amazing." Marcus opened the card.
She leaned forward so that she could see the card. Marcus was explaining the card more, making recommendations and pretending he knew about he was talking about. Jane looked at him and smiled, he looked adorable. Her eyes fell on the waitress, who gave Jane a nod. Jane gave her a thankful nod and looked back at Marcus.
"I think I'm gonna go for the pasta," Jane said and nodded. Her eyes locked his eyes. "If you want to go home, you should go." It would be awkward if she were the only one who was eating.
Marcus closed the card. "Pasta it is." He showed her a smile and signed to the waitress that Jane was ready to order. "So, what is the special occasion of this dinner?" Marcus curiously asked after Jane ordered the pasta.
"My boyfriend closed a mega-deal at his job," Jane explained, having an emotionless smile on her face. "We had to celebrate it..." She sighed and looked down. "I guess it was me who had to celebrate it."
"Bullshit," Marcus blurted and shook his head. "How could he do this?"
"That's Leo..."
"What does he do for a living?" Marcus took a sip from the pint. He had never seen Jane before, but he could see this hurt her. But for real, who does this to his girlfriend? "If I may ask..."
Jane nodded and cleared his throat. "He works at the national bank, as some kind of investor or something. I don't know, to be honest. He does so many things, I can't keep up with it."
He scanned Jane's face, she seemed young. She could be a student, or perhaps she just graduated. He was wondering how old her boyfriend must be. "Sounds interesting..."
"It is," she breathed. "When you like the stock exchange and stuff."
"You're not from here," Marcus stated and changed the subject. He forgot he was in Italy, since Jane must be from the UK - she had a posh English accent. It never came to his mind Jane could be Italian, he just started the conversation in English. "Right?"
Her face lightened up. "Nope, I'm not from here," she answered. "I'm from Iceland."
"Iceland?" He raised his eyebrows. "But you don't sound Icelandic at all."
"Yeah, it's a complicated story. Born in England, grew up in Iceland, raised bilingually. And what about you? You are also not from here."
"New Zealand."
Jane looked impressed. "That's not particularly around the corner... Iceland isn't close to Italy either, but New Zealand? Nah."
A chuckle rolled over his lips. "I'm based in Maranello, but I travel all around the world for work."
"Really? That's so cool. What do you do for a living?" Jane took a sip from the wine and a smile curved on her lips.
"I'm a racing driver," Marcus proudly said. "I race in F2."
The racing world... Jane wasn't home in the racing world. She knew a few names from people who were racing in Formula 1, but Formula 2 was unfamiliar to her. "I'm sorry, I don't know much about racing," she shared.
"Don't apologise," he said and gave her a comforting smile. "It's fine. I will teach you the basics later," he winked. A soft giggle rolled over Jane's lips. "And what are you doing here? Since you are from Iceland."
Jane stroked a piece of hair behind her ear and shyly smiled. "I still studying," she said. "Literature."
"In Italy?" Marcus blurted. "That is very interesting, Jane." He playfully smiled.
"Exchange year," she added to her story. "It's like a year to study abroad to be in a new surrounding and to teach English to children. And it's Italy. Who doesn't like Italy? Pizza, pasta, gelato and much better weather than in Iceland."
"You got a point there," he agreed and satisfied smiled. "I've never been to Iceland, but I can imagine it can be very... icy."
A laugh rolled over her lips. "In the winter, yes," she smirked. "But it's colder than Italy throughout the year."
The conversation got interrupted by the waitress who put a plate with pasta in front of Jane. Marcus ordered an appetiser, just a basic salat so that Jane wouldn't dine by herself.
What seemed like a disaster evening, turned into something good... perhaps the best evening Jane had in months.