A Dinner for Three

Lily stared blankly at the chandelier glimmering brightly above her. The brunette then shifted her gaze to the her surroundings, the room was tastefully decorated in a way that still highlighted it's expensive quality. The spacious room only housed their single table, the wall next to it having been converted into floor-to-ceiling windows that overlooked the city lights. Seeing as they were separated from the main dining area. their table housed a small button that they could use to call over a waiter once they had decided on their orders.

Initially, when the man had said that they had a reservation for dinner she thought it would be at a nearby family restaurant. Instead, here they were, seated inside one the many private rooms that the Palazzo del Re; a well-known upscale Italian establishment located near the outskirts of the city and boasting a magnificent lake view even during the night. Lily was pretty sure that the restaurant enforced a strict dress code even on their guests, however that rule apparently did not apply to Conrad Walter. Seeing as despite the odd looks they received from the other patrons as they walked in the establishment in casual wear, with some of the woman eyeing her hoodie and skirt combo oddly.

Well, it wasn't as if she had been expecting her weekly grocery trip to turn into an impromptu fancy dinner.

However, it did seem that money is indeed power. As the staff had been nothing less than polite having barely done a cursory glance as they gave them a quick slight bow before ushering them towards the private room they were now in.

A light cough broke her out of her thoughts, bringing her attention towards the man seated across from her who apparently had been staring at her in silent amusement.

"We couldn't have gotten dinner somewhere less fancy?"

"No," Conrad replied curtly despite the growing smile on his face. "Michael asked for pasta, and this restaurant happens to serve his favourite." Blinking incredulously, Lily turned to the child seated on her right who grinned back at her, tiny hands clutching at the menu he was given.

"Is your daddy telling the truth sweetheart?"

Michael nodded eagerly in response. He shifted, bringing the menu closer to her before insistently pointing at one of the many dishes offered. Lily made a noise of understanding before ruffling the pleased boy's hair, once the child was once more occupied with the intricate menu she turned to stare flatly at the raven haired man.

"It's mac and cheese. Your son's favourite pasta dish isn't even an authentic pasta dish."

"Lobster mac and cheese," Conrad corrected, smile growing into a grin at her pointed look. "It's just temporary anyways, we just haven't found a time to bring him over to Italy in order to try out more dishes."

The brunette sighed, exasperated. "Again, why are we here when there are tons of places, less expensive places might I said, that sell lobster mac and cheese?"

"And risk Michael getting sick from eating food of less quality?" The man retorted, face scrunching up at the thought. "I don't think so. Besides it's not like I can't afford it,"

Knowing she was fighting a losing battle, Lily shifted her attention back to the menu she had at hand. "I fear for what Michael would become if you're already spoiling him rotten right now,"

"I don't think you have any right to say that wife, it's not like your any better at not spoiling the little menace." He retorted lightly, ignoring the indignant noise she made in protest. "That aside, have you made your choice? I fear that our son might try to eat his napkin if you take any longer,"

Lily blinked lightly in surprise at the sudden change in conversation before the words registered themselves in her head. Worriedly, she glanced to her right noticing how the boy was gloomily staring at his empty plate, one hand clutching at his stomach. The brunette closed her menu and reached over to rub soothingly at the raven locks, something the child eagerly leaned into.

"Can you just pick something out for me?" She replied instead, eyes fixed on the child next to her, missing how a quick look of surprise flitted across Conrad's face before his eyes softened. "I'm not a picky eater, I just can't eat spicy foods or anything with innards."

The raven haired man hummed agreeingly, casting a quick glance on his still opened menu. "Would like prefer chicken or seafood?"

"Chicken please,"

Nodding decisively, the man shut the menu with a soft 'thump' before pressing the waiter call button on their table. Soon a soft chime sounded throughout the room and within seconds there was a polite knock on the doors before they opened silently and a young man dressed immaculately in the typical white button up, black slacks and matching vest entered. Once he stood by the table he bowed slightly before pulling up a small notepad and pen,

"Good evening, welcome to the Palazzo del Re. My name is Mark and I will be your server for today, may I take your orders?

"Yes, we'd like the tomato, ricotta and roasted pancetta bruschetta as well as the zuppa imperiale to start. And then we'd like an order of the spaghetti alle vongole, the chicken parmigiana, and the children's portion of lobster mac and cheese."

"Excellent choices, and what would you like to drink?"

"I've have a glass of Pinot Gris," Conrad answered, before looking towards his eager son.

"Juice!"

"Michael, when you're asking something of someone you need to be polite," Lily admonished lightly. Which in turn caused the boy to wilt, wringing his tiny hands, visibly upset. The brunette smiled softly, reaching over to gently pat his head comfortingly. "It's okay baby, I'm not mad. You just have to remember that from now on okay?"

Michael nodded eagerly, shifting to turn towards the waiter once more when prompted. "Good boy, now what do you say?"

"Juice, please"

Conrad watched amusedly as his son immediately sought for the brunette as soon as he finished, eagerly looking for a reward from the woman who laughed but obliged, showering his beaming son with praises.

"And for you Ms.?"

"Mrs.," The raven haired man interjected, causing the waiter to pause and frown in confusion. "It's Mrs., not Ms.,"

"Of course, my apologies sir."

"Once again Walter, I'm not your wife."

"Whatever you say wife,"

Lily glared at the pleased man seated across her who simply smiled back winningly at her, she scowled and rolled her eyes before turning to look at the expectant waiter. "Ah, hmm, do you have any mocktails?"

"We do." He nodded, "Might I recommend our selection of Italian sodas? We have a large variety of flavours, including strawberry, melon, cherry, peach amongst others."

"I'll take the strawberry one then,"

Their waiter nodded, jotting down her order before quickly reciting their order back to the raven haired man who nodded in confirmation.

"Your meal will be ready in 5 to 10 minutes, until then please enjoy our complementary bread basket."

As if on cue, the large doors opened once more to reveal another wait staff pushing at a golden cart laden with multiple small wooden baskets filled to the brim with various pieces of bread. As their server deposited one of the baskets and a butter dish on their table, his co-worker reached under the cart to take out a pitcher of cold water. The two worked in tandem, somehow able to neatly sidestep the other as they laid out utensils and filled up their empty glasses with water. Once they finished both waiters bowed politely, and quietly exited the room.

Lily stared at the table, on which her utensils along with a napkin were now neatly placed, in slight awe, as if having just witnessed a magic trick.

"Are wait staffs always this efficient?" She questioned, raising her glass to take a sip of water.

"They are in most places my family tends to go to,"

"Lemme guess, they're all high end places?"

The man shrugged, "Haven't you ever heard of the saying, 'you get what you pay for'? Wouldn't paying more for a better service or better quality be a worthwhile exchange?"

The brunette hummed thoughtfully, "I guess that's one way to look at it, but there are also a lot of tasty dishes that aren't expensive. Like street foods or carnival foods,"

"You do realize that they are unhealthy don't you?" Conrad replied, deadpanned. In response, Lily simply rolled her eyes at him, "Of course I know they're unhealthy. It's not like I'm saying that you should eat them everyday, but you can enjoy them sometimes, just think of it like something to treat yourself with."

"You can't even guarantee that the ingredients those food stalls use are clean," the raven haired man pointed out, reaching to grab at his glass of wine that a waiter had just deposited along with the rest of their drinks and appetizers.

"I haven't heard of anyone getting sick from occasionally going to eat from street fairs or carnivals," Lily countered, rolling her eyes slightly at his continued insistent. When Conrad simply stared at her deadpanned she childishly stuck her tongue at him before deliberately shifting her attention to the hungry child. Upon noticing how Michael was precariously standing on his seat to reach for a bruschetta she hurriedly picked one to place on his plate.

"Thank you mommy!"

The brunette smiled, fond but exasperated at the same time.

"You're welcome Michael, but next time please don't reach for it on your own. It's dangerous, just tell me or your daddy and we'll get it for you okay?"

Michael nodded at her, cheeks puffed up as he happily stuffed himself with the bread. The woman huffed and shook her head at him, using a napkin to wipe away at the crumbs stuck on his face before turning to ladle some of the soup for the hungry child. Lily waited until the boy was eagerly devouring his bowl of soup before ladling another bowl and passing it to the raven haired man in front of her.

"What?" She said defensively, feeling her cheeks heat up when the other simply stared at her for a few moments. "You don't want it?"

"I'm just surprised that you're giving that to me," he replied carefully as he took the bowl from her hands. "Especially since you were protesting so much about being my wife,"

"This is called having manners," Lily retorted despite the red tint still visible on her cheeks. "I'm already intruding on your dinner, the least I could do is show good manners."

The man offered no other response however there was an annoyingly knowing glint in his eyes, wisely she bit the retort on her tongue and simply focused on ladling herself a bowl of soup and digging in. Swallowing her first spoonful, the brunette let out a delighted hum at the taste, "This is really good," she commented, scooping up a cube of what seems to be bread on her next spoonful. "Are these bread?"

"Sort of," Conrad answered, swallowing his own mouthful. "They're Semolina dough, which is usually used to make pastas."

She let out a soft 'ooh', absently nodding as she slowly but steadily finished her portion of soup before reaching for a piece of bruschetta. "You know, your choices in food aren't so bad Walter,"

"Good to know it'll be easier to convince you for future dates,"

Unluckily for her, and luckily for him, it was at that moment that the doors swung open once more unveiling one of the restaurant's wait staff holding a tray laden with their meals. Michael let out an excited squeal upon noticing the approaching plates, eagerly leaning forwards on his seat and staring eagerly as the dishes are laid out on the table. Conrad sighed at his son's overly enthusiastic response to their dishes being delivered, "With how you're acting you'd think that you haven't eaten in days and not just several minutes."

Despite his words he easily slid over the bowl filled with the child's desired mac and cheese, patiently reminding the boy to be careful as the bowl is still hot. Lily watched in awe as the raven haired man easily cajoled his son into eating the vegetable side dish that accompanied his cheesy meal all while taking bites of his own food. It was dawning on her, from the various interactions she witnessed throughout the day that despite his playboy reputation the man really did care for his son. Evident in how their interactions seemed so natural; there was something almost instinctive in the way they react to each other, and the fact that Michael seemed so comfortable.

From his reputation Lily had assumed that Conrad Walter would be someone who was "too busy" to personally care for his son, possibly even passing the boy to a caretaker instead. However, it was apparent that certain aspects of the man had been the complete opposite of what she had heard or read of from those articles. Sure, maybe the guy is a playboy; evident from how easily he seemed to flirt, but he also seemed to value family very highly. Something she could easily get behind, if there was one thing Lily held dear it was her family and loathe as she was to admit it, Conrad Walter was proving to be someone who was similar to her in that aspect.

It's also no use denying that the man deserved his given title of 'Most Eligible Bachelor', she's stubborn not blind. Even without personally liking the Walter Enterprise CEO, Lily couldn't deny that the man had exceptionally good features undeniably explaining how he had garnered his large fanbase amongst both teenagers and woman alike.

'Although he's a jerk most times he does seem like the type to cherish those he holds close, I wonder what happened with Michael's mother then,' Lily thought absently, chewing on a might of her chicken. 'I mean, if I was in her position I don't think I would've left my husband and child like that,'

The brunette had been silently pondering her own question when the implication of it finally hit her. Pausing in the middle of cutting out another bite Lily blinked several times, as if trying to reorient herself, her cutlery clinking lightly against the plate.

Did she really just had that thought?

About the guy who had met only a few days ago and had been insistently calling her "his wife"?

"What's wrong?"

The sudden question caused her to jerk in her seat, surprised clear on her face as she raised her head, finally noticing that both father and son had been staring at her. Michael's face scrunched up in a worried frown, a hand reaching out to her.

"It's nothing," Lily said hurriedly, trying to reassure the two despite the internal panic within her. Stretching out her hand to meet Michael's midway, giving it a squeeze in hopes of soothing his worries. "Just got lost in thought is all,"

The raven haired man stared back at her, seemingly unconvinced. "You seem spooked, what were you thinking about?"

"...my deadlines?"

Lily grimaced as the man pointedly arched an eyebrow in response, clearly feeling the disbelief being portrayed from his one action.

"It was about my deadlines okay," She insisted, wordlessly encouraging for the child seated next to her to continue his meal. "I'm going through a writer's block and my deadlines are coming up,"

"How you tell us about it mommy, maybe we can help!" Michael chirped through a mouthful of his mac and cheese.

Lily hesitated, biting her lip slightly and glancing warily at the man across from her who nodded in approval. Finally, she started telling them about a particular scenario in her current drafts which she was currently having trouble with writing it out. After a while their conversation shifted onto other topics, and despite her earlier reservations Lily did thoroughly enjoyed the rest of the night.