𝐏𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐮𝐢𝐭, 𝐑. 𝐋𝐮𝐩𝐢𝐧

𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐋𝐎𝐆𝐔𝐄

     Elena Amelio had always been proud of her cooking. She had quite the talent for it. The woman was born and raised in Northern Italy with her aunt and uncle, who were the cofounders of a local and quite popular restaurant. They taught the girl everything they knew and Elena fell fast in love with the art of the two chefs. She was perfectly content on spending the rest of her days working in that old restaurant, even more so when the couple who raised her passed of natural causes and left the restaurant to her, all the while she was only twenty-two. It was her responsibility, if not her passion. That all changed when she came to serve a strange man a simple dish of Carbonara.

He was rather short for a man, especially considering Elena's own rather tall legs. His hair was jet black, which was also more uncommon for the folk around the area. His clothes were also particularly odd. A dark cloak wrapped around his shoulder with a pristine suit and tie underneath. Though none of this came to as much of a surprise when she heard him speak and his English accent came through. Not many English men came to her establishment, so she didn't know much about them. But the icing on the cake was when he asked for a black coffee with his pasta. She couldn't help widening her eyes and making a few teasing remarks at his choice. So, she got him his order and went about the rest of her day normally.

Then, he came to the restaurant a few days later, requesting the same meal. Then he came again, and then a few more times after that. Soon he came in almost every day around lunchtime rush, ordering his odd meal. He got to know Elena as well, and she learned his name was David Marchesi. His last name explained what he was doing in Italy. His Grandparents were sick and he was taking a leave from work to come to visit them, along with his brothers. She loved chatting with David as much as she could, the way he spoke was so different than what she was used to and it was painfully intriguing. Though, with being a head chef and all, they barely had the time to talk, so, she decided to take initiative and ask him to brunch. He agreed with ease.

Things went quite quickly from there. The two began a happy and loving relationship and all was well. David would still eat lunch at the establishment and Elena even ended up meeting his brothers when they tagged along a certain afternoon. The group of men was so different, it excited Elena. All she'd known her whole life was the restaurant. And not only that, but David was one of nicest, funniest men she'd ever met. She fell for him as she fell for cooking. And then came the choice.

David's Grandparents eventually passed after months of bliss for a couple, and he had to get back to work. She was ready for him to leave her and break it off, but something that seemed magical to her happened. He asked her to join him. It was the most impulsive thing she could've done, but as she looks back on it, she wouldn't imagine what she'd do or where she'd be now if she hadn't taken the opportunity. David has convinced her into culinary school, but after a year of it, she knew it wasn't for her. She didn't care about the technicals of cooking, she wanted to bake from the heart. Although this meant she couldn't really get a good job anywhere, she didn't really mind. She was happy. And later the next year, it seemed her life wasn't done getting even crazier.