The Road w/ Anna Part 5
For the next couple of days Ana got to packing and making all of the arrangements for her trip to Greece so that everything would be set. She had managed to pull from her savings enough to not have drained it completely yet she knew it would take some time before she was able to build it back up to what it once was when she got back. She never once asked her father for financial help and she wasn’t about to start then. She prided herself in her independence and having her own money was one of them.
She had been working late one night when Dmitri came into the gift shop where Ana had just got finished with her last customer of the night.
“Seems that we meet at the most oddest of hours.” She remarked not looking up at him.
“It wouldn’t have to be so odd if you bothered to answer my calls whenever I ring you.” He shot back as he held a rose in his hand.
She glanced up at him and then at the rose, “Are you on your way to someone’s funeral or something?”
“A rose for a rose.” He said as he handed it to her, “I was hoping you would accept this as my peace offering before you decided to hate me for the rest of eternity.”
Ana looked at the rose then quickly placed it in the trashcan next to her, “Roses remind me of funerals. You could have done better with this but until then you can’t be forgiven. Besides poking fun at my middle name never gave anyone pointers for originality. Now tell me why you’re really here, Dmitri Marc ova. You’ve never been known to just come into a place where someone you just happens to know works. There’s always something that you want and you would do anything including bribery to get whatever it is.”
He bit his lip as he leaned against the mantle, “I just came by to ask if you wouldn’t mind grabbing a bite to eat with me. There are some things that we need to discuss before either one of us leaves the country.”
“And why do you think I would ever consider taking up that offer after all that you’ve done?” She asked with a shake of her head, “I’ve given up a lot for you and you went off and decided to throw it all in my face as if after all our years of friendship meant nothing to you as much as it did for me. You crossed the line the last time we spoke and you should know by now that I don’t just up and forgive people that easy. When things like that go badly there’s no turning back the clock to take back what was spoken.”
He nodded, “I know that but I can tell that you haven’t eaten in a couple of days by the bags under your eyes. You’ve been working yourself until you’re nothing but skin and bones, Annie. Just do this one thing for me and just have dinner then I promise to leave you alone. I’ll be outside waiting for you once you lock everything up so just think about it. Please.” He then left the building leaving Ana light headed as she heard the growl of her forgotten stomach.
She walked out of the building as she stared at Dmitri with narrowed eyes, “If you want me to go anywhere with you it has to be at a sit down place. None of those fast food joints you love so much but a real restaurant where they serve real food.”
He smiled at her, “I had the perfect place in mind that has the kind of food you like.”
She stood stalk still before asking hesitantly, “And does this place have a name by any chance?”
He took her by the hand as he tugged her towards his car, “It’s a surprise and I know how much you hate surprises but this time you’re just going to have to deal with it.”
Ana felt confusion suddenly overcome her as she followed him into the car and they drove in the direction of his house, “As I can recall there’s no restaurants this far from the city. So where exactly are we going?”
He drove up his driveway and cut off the engine before looking over at her with a smile on his face, “That’s because we’re not going to just any restaurant.” He then got out of the car and opened the car door for her, “Welcome to Restaurant del Dmitri where the most delicious baklava is made.”
Ana looked over at him as she followed him inside, “You cooked for me?” She asked as she looked at the fake lit candles that lit up the house towards the dinning room. Her breath was taken away as she saw the beautiful set up that gave the room an old time glow.
He looked over at her with a smile, “So what do you think of all this?” He asked with hope in his eyes.
She sat down her bag gently to the floor as she looked at the old furniture and dining set that already had food on the plates, “There are no words to really take in how beautiful this all is, Dim. You’ve really out done yourself with all of this detail so much so that it really looks like we’re back in the eighteen hundreds.”
He looked over at her knowing that she would wonder why he had gone through all of this effort just to impress her with all of this, “I wanted to make it as perfect as possible. You’re the only one I would do all of this for and really enjoy doing it just as long as it made you happy. I thought something like this would hopefully do just what I had intended.”
Ana looked over at him with a smile, “Well I think you’ve just did so without ever making me tell you what you didn’t do.” They both then sat down to eat.
The rest of the night the laughed and drank Russian wine until Ana was too stuffed to take anymore of the meal. They then moved on towards the living room where they sat and watched a movie together.
“I can’t believe that this is the last time I’ll ever get a chance to spend time with you, Annie.” Dmitri remarked as he looked over at her sadly, “It seems as if the clock just keeps going faster by the moment.”
Ana nodded with a laugh, “That’s what happens when you try to shove everything into one day. It’s as if time doesn’t exist before you leave for a trip that could very well change your life.”
Dmitri held her hand in his gently as he looked up at her slowly, “Can you promise me something, Annie?”
She cocked her head to look over at him dazedly, “Depending on what exactly it is, Dmitri. Promises are known to have a reputation of being fickle creatures when used in a non adjacent way.”
He looked into her bright green eyes, “Try not to forget about me. Could you at least promise me that much while you’re away?”
Ana placed a hand to his cheek, “I don’t think I could ever forget about you even if I tried.” She said softly as she then stood, “I should go home; it’s getting pretty late and my dad wouldn’t appreciate me banging around the house. I had a great time tonight, Dmitri. Thank you for doing all of this for me even though you really didn’t have to go through all the trouble.” She then left the house as she grabbed up her bag and made her way on foot towards her house.
