Happy Ever After Midnight

I arrived at the restaurant at the same time Eileen did. She was looking great. Long blue dress, simple and elegant. Ballet flats. Hair braided. "Nice look!", I said.

"You too! Trying to impress someone?" She looked way too smug for my liking."Yes, you, obviously" I joked. Change the topic. I was dressed for convenience, not to impress anybody. At least I thought so. "Did they say if we should meet them inside or wait for them?"

"Inside", she said, and led the way in.

The restaurant was beautiful. All wood, with a sea theme. Blue walls with paintings of shells and ocean, blue and white tablecloths that ended in dentelle to mimic the waves on the shore. Chandeliers with fake candles completed the decor, making it warm. I hated that I liked it so much.

It was already a bit late, the tables were full. A quick scan revealed Gianni and Cecile seated in the far corner, near the window. We made our way there, looking at people's plates as we went.

As soon as they spotted us, their faces split into a grin. When we reached the table Gianni greeted us with a warm smile. "Ladies, glad you could make it. Has your trip been as uneventful as ours?"

I couldn't help it. "It depends, did your trip consist of snapping fingers or did you actually take our town's public transportation?"

I sat down across from Cecile, a smile plastered to my face, while Eileen took a seat next to me and elbowed me in the ribs. "Play nice, Tina." she murmured. I didn't answer.

Menus were waiting for us on our plates. I took mine and hid behind it while Eileen engaged in more polite conversation.

"My trip went fine, although I don't come to this area often. It's a bit high end for my budget. I usually stick to my part of town, unless Tina takes me somewhere. How was yours? Did you really teleport?" She was trying to be interested but her hands were already going towards the menu.

"We did, as a matter of fact." Said Cecile. "Else we would have been late. We live outside of town." They picked up their own menu, as if to say this was the end of that particular conversation.

We chose our food in silence, and when we were done Gianni waved the waitress over. We each had decided on something different, but we agreed on a rosé wine that would go nicely with their fish and our meat alike. I didn't like fish, and Eileen hadn't had meat in a while.

While we waited for our food to arrive, an uncomfortable silence fell over the table. It was broken by Gianni, who asked Eileen about her life. Oh dear.

"Well, I'm studying quantum physics, mainly. And I work two jobs to pay for the studies and for my apartment. It's small and Tina doesn't like the house it's in, but it's better than living out on the street. I've had to do that for a few days when my father left, thankfully it was in summer but I'd rather not do it again."

Gianni and Cecile seemed taken aback. "Live on the street? I didn't think there were any homeless people in my kingdom-" She interrupted "You mustn't visit this town often then."

That shut them up. The silence dragged, again, until the waitress returned with some appetizers. We dug into it while I thought hard about how to get the conversation back up. "So Cecile, what about your life? You're Gianni's butler right? What does that entail?"

They explained the life of a butler, which consisted of doing everything the prince asked and preparing him for what he needed to do. Boring.

"Without Cecile I wouldn't be the man I am today," said Gianni with a grateful smile to his butler. His smile dropped as Eileen asked "and what kind of man is that? One who doesn't even know the citizens of his kingdom are struggling?"

It was my turn to elbow her ribs. "I thought we said to play nice", I whispered. "Sorry" she whispered back "I couldn't help myself".

Gianni took a visible breath. "A man who wants to learn more about the struggles of his citizens, and who is willing to do his best to improve their lives. A man who isn't what he seems. I may have lived a sheltered life up there at the palace, but I have seen my fair share of hardships too, you know. My parents died when I was 15, leaving the responsibility of a younger brother and a baby sister to me, along with that of the kingdom. Yes, I've had help, but I've mostly been governing ever since."

He delicately took an appetizer and chewed on it thoughtfully. Eileen seemed at a loss for words. Or at least for polite ones.

"Okay, time out" I said. "We've all had our share of hard stuff. Just from a different perspective. Now what if we talked about the future instead of the past? You know, what you plan to do once you're married?" I didn't mean the honeymoon and everyone knew it.

Our food arrived at that moment and saved us all from the discomfort that had landed on our heads. "Bon appétit", I said and dug into the contents of my plate.

The food was as delicious as expected. The steak perfectly cooked, rare as I had ordered, the sweet potato fries perfectly fried and sweet, with just the right amount of salt to sublime the taste but not too much to ruin it. I heard Eileen give an involuntary moan next to me.

Cecile smiled with what I could swear was warmth, and started the conversation again. "Since you asked, Tina, we do have plans for the future. I believe you'd like them."

Gianni took it up. "We do! Develop the agriculture for one, so that people eat healthier food and in more quantities, and so we don't rely so heavily on our neighbors. That's something I hope you can help us with, Eileen. From what I've heard you have a green thumb?"

"A green thumb won't save a kingdom from starvation" she put another forkful of pulled pork into her mouth and that was that. She wasn't making it easy on us. I should've seen it coming.

Chastised, Gianni ate in silence for a little while. This wouldn't do. Must as I disliked those two characters, we had to come to a truce and Eileen and Gianni had to get along. I looked at Cecile, who seemed to be following the same train of thought.