caller • mattia polibio

027.

Her hair was curled, her body in a beautiful dress.
Laura had once again worked her magic, glamorous makeup, perfect curls in her long hair, she looked stunning in her navy blue dress. Nerves bundled up in her stomach, she didn't know what to expect tonight, Mattia hadn't been replying often today, making her think he had something big planned.

kai🤩
show me ur outfit girl
won't tell mattia
promise

claudia

kai🤩
damn, mattia will be drooling

claudia
gotta look good ;)

kai🤩
he's been working on
the date all day.

claudia
what, how😭

kai🤩
you'll see
seen.

Kairi had filled with her excitement. How can a person put so much effort into one date? Was she that special? She thought of how he could possibly have worked hard on a dinner date, maybe he had tried to book into the really expensive restaurants, she hoped not, she didn't want him to spend his money like that.

The doorbell rang as she paced up and down the living room, Claudia took a deep breath and opened the door, there stood Mattia in dress pants and a black turtleneck, he stood with a bouquet of her favourite flowers: sunflowers and roses. His smile dropped to shock as he saw his girlfriend in front of him. She looked stunning. His hand grabbed her waist and pulled her into a hug and kissing her forehead. Claudia took the flowers and placed them in a vase before following him out to his car, hand in hand.

They drove for what only felt like a couple minutes, having sung their hearts out to the music with the windows down with Boogie blasting through the speakers. Mattia handed Claudia a blindfold to cover her eyes, confusion ran across her face, why would she need to be blindfolded for dinner?

"Just put it on, I want to show you already."

The girl obliged and waited patiently for him to help her out of the car. He held both of her hands, leading her for a short while and every other minute saying 'nearly there' and 'just a bit longer'. Eventually she heard the sound of a restaurant bell, but their was no noise, as if everyone was eating in pure silence. 'Was this how fancy people eat?'

Mattia removed the blindfold, showcasing a singular table in the middle of this deserted restaurant, rose petals scattered on the floor and candles lighting up the room. She stared in awe, eyes glistening in the candlelight, so this is what took him so long. He took her hand in his and guided her carefully to her seat, pulling it out for her.

"How was this possible?" She gushed.

"Italians have a thing for family restaurants." He smirked, skimming through his menu for something he fancied eating.

"You own this place?"

"Polibios finest. What are you having?"

"I think I'll go for a spaghetti bolognese."

A man was stood alone in the kitchen, acting like he wasn't trying to peak, whom she soon recognised as Mattia's father. The familiar face of Kairi emerged from the back too, with a button up shirt and an apron around his waist, taking their orders and disappearing again.

The night continued, laughing with each other over childhood memories, talking about their dream careers and futures, learning more about each other; despite practically knowing everything already. Music played lightly around them and the date felt like she had solely been thrown into a romance film. One of the gooey ones where they were completely mad about one another.

Around eleven, she was dropped back off home, with her father's car in the driveway, Mattia wouldn't be following her for extra cuddling and sleep. He gave her a goodnight kissed and opened the door for her one last time before driving off home. Heels in hand, Claudia made her way up the drive way, a blanket wrapped around her body, she was hoping that she could enter quiet enough for her to make it to her room unnoticed. However her dad was already waiting.

"Don't you think you have some explaining to do, Claudia."