Saint Valentine

5

The car is silent. Valentino sits beside me, just a few feet away. He's been looking down at his phone the whole trip. He took a call but spoke in Italian. I could only pick up snippets. It was something about a warehouse and an issue with a supplier. I ended up just tuning it out and staring out the window. I asked the driver to turn on some music, but Valentino shut that down quickly. I'm starting to think he really doesn't like music at all.

"Are you sure we can't listen to something?" I ask. It shouldn't be long until we get to my house, but I'm getting more and more bored as the second's pass.

"It's distracting," Valentino states.

"So... I'll take that as a no?" I joke. He doesn't even bother to respond. It feels kind of unfair, to be honest. He chose me, but he's not showing any interest in me at all. It's not like our parents arranged this and he doesn't actually want to be here. He doesn't even have to get married. But he did. He organised a whole event for it. And not only that, but just yesterday he asked me to give this a chance. Now it seems like he's the one not trying at all.

I watch the trees fly past us, the car speeding down the road. We're far North of San Francisco, well and truly in the midst of wine country. There are vineyards all around us. A familiar farm comes into view, the paddock of horses piquing my interest. An excited grin pulls at my lips.

"Look, horses!" I point forward. "I used to ride there."

Valentino looks up before turning to me. He nods his head once and then goes back to whatever he was doing on his phone. He clearly is not interested in taking a trip down memory lane with me.

"Do you still have horses at the estate?" I try to keep the conversation going.

"My sister stopped riding," is all he says. That doesn't exactly answer the question, but at least he said something.

I shift my gaze back outside, the riding school well in the distance by now. I don't bother pointing out anything else on the route home. I keep my mouth shut even when my house comes into view. I'm relieved to see it. We head up the driveway, my family already waiting on the porch, excited smiles on their faces. The driver opens the door for me.

"Hi!" I step out of the car and instantly met with a hug from my sister.

"I told you this would happen!" she squeezes me into her. "You lucky bitch!"

"Aurora, behave!" my mother scolds. She pulls her away from me, the family turning their attention to Valentino. He walked around the car to greet my family, his phone out of sight.

"Padrone Sainte," my father greets him with a nod. "Thank you greatly for attending our home."

"We are so honoured you have chosen our Bianca as your future Regina and you of course have our blessing to proceed with your courtship," Mum adds.

"Grazie, Mr and Mrs Baldessano," Valentino shakes their hands. "I assure you, I will be taking great care of Miss Bianca and I hope we will be able to build a long and healthy marriage together."

That'd be nice if he would actually have a proper conversation with me, or even just look at me for longer than two seconds. At least last night, we could actually talk. Today feels like a step backwards, like last night was just a fantasy.

"Please, come in," Dad opens the door, ushering us inside. I hide my surprise when Valentino motions for me to go first.

"I appreciate you welcoming me into your home," he follows me into the kitchen. My parents must've been up all night cleaning. The house looks spotless. There are even fresh flowers on the dining table.