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“Oh, crap. I’m sorry. I totally robbed you of your bathroom,” she said apologetically.
“Don’t worry. I used the bathroom in one of the guest rooms. You ready?”
“Yeah, I’ll just grab my purse.”
Matt drove them out into the evening. The estate was situated a healthy distance away from the city, but they got there pretty fast as there was no traffic. Jessica enjoyed the car ride there. It was a nice winding road with beautiful scenes on both sides. They pulled up in front of a French restaurant, which looked grand from the outside. Matt escorted her out of the car, and they went inside. A table had been reserved for them by the window. Overlooking a crystal fountain, the view from the window was gorgeous. Soon, a waiter gave them two menus. Everything on it looked way too expensive for Jessica, who was used to cheap fast food to save time or a good home-cooked meal whenever she could. Matt noticed her hesitation and told her to order whatever she wanted. After some thought, she chosefoie grasfor herself. Matt orderedjambon-beurreandcaviarfor himself. For dessert, he orderedcrème au carameland some wine to go with the main course. The waiter noted their orders, took the menus with him, and left them. Patrick Watson’s “Je te laisserai des mots”played in the background. The room was lit up with chandeliers and lamps. The ambiance in the whole restaurant was really something else.
Jessica and Matt chatted a bit. Matt asked her more about herself. Jessica told him about her childhood, growing up with her parents, going to nursing school, and working full-time.
“Technically, I’m still on my wedding leave.” Jessica let out a pitiful laugh and looked around. “You know it’s been some crazy few days. I enjoyed a great deal with your family today, but it’s going to take some time to get used to this—” she waved her hands in the air, “—lifestyle.”
Matt waited for her to carry one.
“For example, the food in here is insanely expensive for one. I’m not used to that.”
The waiter chose that exact moment to bring in their food. Jessica had to admit, though, it was expensive, and it definitely looked the part. She took a bit of herfoie grasand let out a satisfied sigh.
“Though I have to admit, I do love the food,” she said, chewing.
Matt was biting into hisjambon-beurreand laughed. “I wanted to take you to the best place I know around here.”
“You know, I would have been just as happy with the food if you had taken me to a cheap burger joint that sells delicious off-the-stove burgers. If the food is good, I don’t mind anything else. You don’t need expensive foreign dishes to win me over, though I appreciate it,” she said.
“I’ll keep that in mind. Maybe next time we can explore fast food trucks,” Matt said, grinning. “Your job, when does it resume?”
“A week from now.”
“You don’t have to work so hard, you know. You can focus on other things now that I’ll have everything you need and wish for taken care of,” offered Matt, sipping his wine.
“That’s very nice of you, and I’m grateful, but I really like my job. I love being a nurse at the hospital and helping people. At the end of the day, I need to keep myself going.”
“I do agree. It is something you need then,” Matt said with some hesitation.
“What is it?”
“Well, Spencer also works there,” he said with some concern.
“Apparently, he hasn’t shown up since before the wedding. I had talked to some colleagues recently, and they have no idea where he is, so I’m guessing he left the job and won’t be showing up there anymore,” she explained. To this, Matt seemed relieved.
Jessica was conflicted. Matt seemed concerned for her, but she didn’t know if she should start believing in the fact that he cared for her. She didn’t know if she was ready to get involved with someone that way just yet. She wanted to know more about her mysterious husband. All she knew was that she was endlessly fascinated by him.
“So, tell me more about your family business,” Jessica brought up after a moment of eating in silence.
“My family has been in the hotel business for as long as I can remember, maybe for a few generations. Most of my ancestors majored in either business or, in more recent times, hotel management like myself. Our hotel has been in the family for a long time. After my father died, it was chaos since there was no one of age to handle it. My mom did a great job, but I could see she was not enjoying it. It was something she had to do for the family, so I got my degree as soon as I could and have been looking after it ever since.”
“It must have been hard, losing your father at such a young age,” Jessica said quietly, looking into Matt’s eyes. She hoped the look in hers was enough to convey what she felt at that moment which was a deep ache for the little boy suddenly forced to grow up too fast.
“Yeah, but Annabeth took it much harder. She was my dad’s favorite, not that I minded that. Annabeth is everyone’s favorite, even mine.” Matt chuckled. Jessica laughed alone with him and agreed.
“Why do you like gambling?” she asked him, sipping some wine.
“Gambling is all about making the right guess. Being able to guess your opponent’s card correctly gives you this feeling of power over them, you know? It’s the thrill of the guess that I enjoy, and being a professional gambler, you’ll see that I’m very good at it.” He winked at her. She rolled her eyes but grinned at him.
Once they were done with their main course, the waiter brought in the dessert. They continued chatting about themselves, their lives, what things they liked, and whatnot. Jessica started to feel more comfortable with him as the night went on.
28
The dinner turned out to be very pleasant for both Jessica and Matt. They talked a lot, laughed, and just generally got to each other and enjoyed each other’s company. They ordered another round of desserts because Jessica wanted to taste more of these expensive French sweets, and that pleased Matt a lot.
