Chapter 114 - The Candle-lit Dinner (2/2)
Gabriel flicks a finger, and a uniformed server arrives with a trolley of food. He starts meticulously putting on the table every covered dish.
”I didn't bother about serving this as a formal multi-course dinner,” he says. ”I hope you don't mind.”
”These smell absolutely scrumptious, Gab!” she says, her mouth watering.
”I had to ask Wolfgang a very special favor for this,” he says, smiling.
”Do you mean THE Wolfgang Puck? The famous chef?”
He nods. ”I wanted to surprise you with a feast of the dishes that made Wolfgang famous. He's my consultant in a number of restaurants I own in the French Riviera. A good friend, too. When I explained to him what this feast would mean to me, he dropped everything and went to work. Good thing he's just in nearby Hong Kong, attending some business with a new restaurant. It was easy to fly these in within minutes after Wolfgang cooked them.”
”Oh, my God,” Claire mutters, uncovering one dish after another. She does so almost reverentially, as though the food are holy relics of some saint. ”My mother adores Wolfgang Puck. She loves his chicken salad.”
”I know.” Gabriel laughs, gazing at her with meaning. ”Everything's here. The famous Lobster Cobb salad, the chicken salad, the angel-hair pasta with goat cheese and thyme, the Grand Marnier soufflé, the salmon with sorrel. Everything. Then we can finish these off with wild strawberries and vanilla ice cream, which they'd serve later because, you know, ice cream melts.”
Claire gets a spoonful of the soup and her eyes close, savoring it. ”Jesus. And this is just the soup.”
He smiles, watching her. ”Are you happy now?”
”Just a little bit,” she says, giggling. It seems whatever she went through just to get here, it's all forgotten.
Claire's ears perk up upon hearing the music. ”Oh, that's familiar. I know that song.”
”It's from 'Phantom of the Opera'.”
And as if on cue, a gentleman walks out of a door and begins singing to the music.
No more talk of darkness
Forget these wide-eyed fears
I'm here, nothing can harm you
My words will warm and calm you
Gabriel stands up, takes her hand. Claire hesitates, but she relents. She lets Gabriel take the lead, as they sway gently to the music. He even begins singing along to the second stanza.
Let me be your freedom
I'm here, with you, beside you
To guard you and to guide you
Claire gazes in his eyes as they sway. She, too, begins singing along with him in a duet that's surprisingly good. Even the gentleman, the official singer, stops singing and allows them to finish it.
Say you love me every waking moment
Turn my head with talk of summertime
Say you need me with you now and always
Promise me that all you say is true
That's all I ask of you
Claire closes his eyes and rests her head on his shoulder. Gabriel breathes in the scent of her hair and closes his eyes, too, dreaming of the blissful days ahead, as the quartet reaches the most emotional part of the music.
”I'm sorry, Claire. All these stupid pranks stop from now on. We'll have fun, but in a different way.”
”Don't frighten me again, please,” she says.
”I promise.”
He stops and tilts up her chin, gazing into her eyes. He kisses her, gently, but full of longing. He tastes her, and in his mind, her lips are a million times more heavenly than all that scrumptious feast on the table.
And they would have gone like that forever, if only the door didn't crash open, and out comes Miguel, saying, ”What happened to my bro—”
But he stops in his tracks, stunned, gawking at the scene of Gabriel kissing Claire in the middle of that garden.