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“Lead the way.”
This park was the only one in town; it was also really big. Our high school had been around the area, but when Alessandra went to college, the school she chose was a little far from home. I had moved with her because it didn’t matter much to me where I went. I’d be doing extracurricular studies meant to prepare me to take on the company, anyway.
I knew the area very well. It was just that the town was big, or Alessandra and I would have met again a lot earlier. But we were both familiar with the area because we had our first date not too far from the park. I only drove for a few minutes, before we arrived at the same café years ago.
“Do you remember this place?” I asked, glancing at her.
Alessandra was smiling, expression nostalgic.
“Of course I remember, how could I forget? We came here so many times while we were in high school for dates. I missed it when I had to move away for school.”
I stepped out of the car, and she followed suit. It was warm, but I had plans for later, so I shrugged off my blazer and folded it over my arm. As we walked toward the doors of the café, I finally got a good look at Alessandra. I’d been too dazed before, believing she would arrive for the date, but still surprised and elated when she did.
She had on a plain black dress that molded to her upper body with short sleeves and a flaring skirt. She was wearing short, black heels, and she carried a dark blue jacket with her. I smiled to myself, thinking we matched in this one thing, at least. Her hair was styled simply, with a bit of a curl and left to fall around her shoulders. Tiny earrings were dangling from her ears.
I didn’t realize I’d slowed down until she turned her head to look at me. She was smiling happily and held a hand out to beckon me closer.
“Let’s go inside; I’m a little hungry.”
My heart felt like it would stop one moment. In the next, I stepped forward and followed her inside. At this time on a Saturday, the place was fairly crowded, almost half full, but Alessandra found us a table. It wasn’t near the large window, like before, but I didn’t miss her eyes going in that direction.
“What will you be having?” I asked.
The table had two menus. I picked one up and handed it to her, then took the other for myself. We chatted lightly about what looked good, and by the time a waitress showed up at our table, we both had our orders. She quickly went away, leaving us alone.
“This place hasn’t changed much,” Alessandra murmured after a bit. “I think they remodeled a little inside, but it’s almost exactly as I remember. Except there are more tables now.”
I nodded, looking around. “I stopped by here a few times since college. The owner is still the same, but everyone else changed. It has been nearly five years since you were last here, it’s no surprise some things changed.”
“But the atmosphere still feels the same,” she said.
Our eyes met for a moment, before the waitress coming back distracted us both. But in her gaze, I had seen what I wanted. Alessandra hadn't forgotten our relationship any more than I had. We were going to take a walk down memory lane today, so I could remind her of everything we had together, everything we were to each other before the breakup. Then, I had a nice surprise for tonight that would show her our future.
“That order came quickly,” Alessandra said with a chuckle. “Before, it would take ages. Like twenty minutes, at least.”
I pointed toward the counter. “They upgraded equipment above everything else, and they’ve likely got more people now. If the service was as slow as before, they’d lose quite a few people. A different café opened up not too far from here, which might be part of why they changed things up.”
Alessandra laughed. “No, that can't be it. I swear the old servers were just lazy. Remember that one guy…?”
Conversation flowed between us as we reminisced about the past. After eating, we made our way out. It was still fairly early when we left, but there was plenty to do. We ignored the car and walked around, as we had all those years ago. The area had changed quite a bit, of course, and we had fun walking around. We went to a few stores, but we didn’t buy much. As evening drew in, I took us to a restaurant nearby.
I sent a quick message while we were eating. An hour later, we stepped out of the restaurant and stopped at the curb. There was a light breeze, but the day had gotten colder, and we were both in our jackets.
“Dinner was surprisingly early,” Alessandra said. “It can't be that you want to get rid of me early, right?”
“Of course, not. Dinner was early because I have one last surprise for you.” I checked my watch. “I think we’ll make it just in time.”
She glanced around, then frown at me, confused. “Are we not walking back to the car, then?”
I chuckled. “I had someone pick it up for me. We’re waiting for a different ride.”
She eyed me suspiciously. “All right.”
We didn’t have to wait long before the vehicle arrived. It was growing dark out, and a few people were passing the curb beside us. I heard gasps as the limo pulled up in front of us, and glanced down. Alessandra was staring with wide-eyed surprise.
“This way, my lady,” I teased.
I stepped forward and tugged the door open. The driver had stepped out but didn’t try to interfere. Alessandra glanced at me; then at hand, I held out for her. She took it and allowed me to help her into the limo, then I followed her inside. I didn’t release her hand, kissing the back of it, and holding it against my thigh as the car started to move.
