In the spotlight

15

Matteo Rodriguez

The quiet sizzle of my cologne was audible as I carefully sprayed my favorite one on my wrist and neck. I planted the bottle back in its previous place and grabbed my hair gel from the bathroom cabinet in front of me.

I put a small part of its content in my left palm before rubbing it between my hands and running through my hair straight after. I positioned every single one of my hair strands, searching for any minor mistake I could have made.

I straightened up in front of the mirror, facing myself in it, satisfied. I was wearing a white suit shirt ironed to perfection, with not a single wrinkle visible anywhere on my upper body. I buttoned it up all the way and tucked it into a pair of black suit pants with a black Dior belt, which I bought just for this occasion.

I also chose a pair of black Oxford shoes if I was already shopping there. I finished my outfit with an equally black suit jacket, considering that it is still only December, even if we were in Spain. After considering myself ready for the date, I walked up to the door, grabbing my phone, wallet, and car keys from the spot I had prepared them in advance.

I sunk all of them into the pockets of my pants after closing the door behind me. After a few minutes, I was already descending from my hotel room towards the garage where I had parked my car the day before. The sight of my beautiful vehicle has warmed my heart anytime I laid my eyes upon it, and today was no different.

I started the car as soon as I jumped in, wasting no time at all. Thankfully, I made the almost 6-hour drive yesterday and decided to sleep in a hotel instead, and I praised my quick mind for this idea.

Me and Sofia both agreed that we shouldn't wait until night to fall on the city and should just spend the day together. She managed to finish all her photoshoots a day earlier, freeing up the upcoming hours only for me. A wide smile has formed on my face upon these thoughts as I was swerving to the main road and joined the huge late morning traffic of Barcelona.

When the GPS alerted me that I was barely a kilometer away from the hotel, I slowed down to search for parking spaces in the narrow streets of the inner city. Once I was able to leave my vehicle behind, I was still at least 15 minutes early, just as I planned.

A little sign alerted my attention as I was trying to get to the hotel without being noticed by anyone on the way. I stopped immediately in front of a small shop before heading down the stairs. Chiming was audible from above me once I stepped inside the small room, the intense scent of flowers hitting my senses from every position possible.

"Welcome, welcome! Come inside!" An older man greeted me from behind the counter in Spanish before he slowly approached me.

"Good morning, Sir." I greeted the man, at least 50 years my elder, before shaking his hands, trying to be as proper and respectful as possible. The man happily accepted my attempt at an introduction before stopping in front of me. He was at least a head shorter than me; some of the height difference originated from his slightly stooping position.

"What can I help you with today, son?" He looked at me with a smile before slowly walking back towards the counter once again.

"I am not sure about what I want to buy yet." I admitted to my lack of knowledge about flowers as I anxiously looked around, scratching the back of my head. On both sides, I saw all kinds of flowers, bouquets, and different types of small presents laying around, but in that moment, I couldn't decide which one I should pick.

"Don't you worry about it. Who are you looking to buy flowers for?" He asked as he supported himself on the countertop.

"I am going on a date with a girl today, but I don't really know where I should start." I let out an anxious laugh as I was still standing, almost at the door.

"Do you have a picture of this girl, maybe?" The older man asked inquisitively while looking at me, catching me off guard with this question.

"I mean, yeah, sure." I pulled my phone out of my pocket, opening up Instagram right after. I walked towards the shopkeeper as I pressed on the girl's name, clicking on the most recent post she posted two days ago from Paris. She was standing in front of a huge billboard stretched on the side of an apartment complex, which showed a picture of her for Chanel. She was smiling wildly with her eyes closed, but I thought this image would suffice.

"Oh, I see why you are anxious." He laughed softly upon looking at the screen, holding a pair of glasses close to his eyes to see it clearly. I laughed a little as well before taking the phone as he handed it back to me.

"Alright, let's see." The man slowly left the counter and disappeared into a room behind, but I didn't follow him in there. I still had about 10 minutes to get to the hotel in time, and the entrance was located about 20 meters from here, so I didn't worry much.

While waiting for the man to reappear again, I took care of every notification I had popping up from the morning and answered Marco, who wished me luck, and Vini, who reassured me that he wanted to know everything about my day later.

I sent a message to mom also; of course, I couldn't have just left her out of something like me having a date with one of the most successful models of all time. Sofia was starting to appear in my mind more and more frequently with each passing day, sometimes not letting me fall asleep as I find myself tossing and turning in my bed late at night thinking about her beautiful blue and brown irises.

My feelings developing towards her were something I couldn't ignore anymore, nor did I want to do that. After long nights of wakefulness, I decided that giving this a try couldn't hurt much. Maybe if I take this slow and really try to get to know her and her intentions, I could avoid the pain I once felt after jumping into a relationship after two weeks of dating.

Once I finished reading through the warnings my mom gave me about how I should behave as a gentleman, I answered her real quick with a little smile on my face. Even as a grown man, she never failed to help me make a major decision or give me very important advice, then apologize straight after for treating me like a kid.

As usual, I told her that it was okay and that she wasn't treating me like a kid at all before saying my goodbyes and sliding the phone back into my pocket.

"Here, son." He addressed me again once I entered the room through the back door. He was carrying a huge bouquet of flowers in his hands, wrapped together in red packaging decorated with small hearts. Once he got closer, I could examine it a little better.

Lots of different-colored flowers were peeking through the package. I could recognize yellow daffodils between them, some red and white tulips, and roses. The whole bouquet was mostly yellow and red; at some places, small decorative, wodden hearts were inserted between the flowers. It looked and smelled amazing.

"It is absolutely beautiful. Thank you." I told him, completely mesmerized, while cautiously taking it away from the man. I paid twice as much as what he asked for and made sure to tip him generally for creating this masterpiece in my hands. No flower could ever match Sofia's beauty, yet he almost did with this bouquet I carried through the narrow streets before reaching the entrance of the most prestigious hotel in Barcelona.