Skate With Me (Victor Nikiforov x Reader)

Chapter 94: Barcelona

I pushed my sunglasses up the bridge of my nose because it's slightly sliding down due to Sandra who's running around, pulling me behind her. Her soft laughter fills the open air as she looks at the unfinished masterpiece standing tall in front of us. "We're here!" She exclaimed as we ran up the set of stairs that lead us to our first destination.

We stood before the world-famous Sagrada Familia. "Come, (y/n)! Let's take a selfie!" Sandra pulled me towards her, turning both of us around so the temple stands behind us as she raised her phone up. We both smiled as she took a photo. Turning around once more, she faced the temple again.

"Let's get in!" She said. Sandra is bursting of energy today. She's like a little ray of sunshine upon a sad day. The earlier feelings of discomfort are nowhere to be felt as if it's been scraped off the surface of the earth.

Walking in, Sandra has her head tilted upwards as she admired the high ceilings of the temple. Looking up as well, I know I'll never get tired of seeing their intricate details. I followed Sandra as she walked around the interior, admiring everything the temple has to offer. The warm morning rays of sunshine pass through the temple's stained glass casting aesthetic lighting inside.

***

"Where are we headed next?" Sandra said, excitement visible in her tone. She followed closely behind as I lead the way. "This is where our shopping begins," I stopped as I stood in front of the mall. Sandra who was walking behind me suddenly bumped into me. She apologized before asking where we were.

"This..." I said. "...is Arenas de Barcelona!" She looked in awe as she admired the dome-like structure of the building. "An arena? But you said this is a shopping mall," Sandra replied. I started walking towards the entrance. Soon, we found ourselves inside the mall.

"This was a former bullring but years ago, they turned it into a shopping mall," I said my reply to her earlier question. "There's a rooftop terrace and an observation tower located in this complex, too! Let's go there." I took her hand as we made our way up towards the terrace. 

Once there, I let go of Sandra's hand and let her explore by herself. "Wow, it overlooks the central plaza," she said. "What's that over there?" She asked as she pointed her finger towards standing across the complex. "That's Torres Venecianes, a famous pair of Venetian-inspired towers," I replied.

***

It's past noontime and we're walking through this major thoroughfare in Barcelona as we look for a good place to eat. I'm walking side by side with Sandra as we venture deeper into the street. I try to reminisce as best as I can to recall where the restaurant we ate at before is located.

"I know you've been here a couple of times before that's why you know a lot about Arenas de Barcelona and Sagrada Familia, but knowing you, you wouldn't study that much about a single place just because you wanted to," Sandra said.

"Your point?" I asked.

"The last two places we've been at, and maybe even where we're headed to right now, it's something special to you, isn't it?" 

I felt the corner of my lips curl up into a smirk. Sandra knows me too well. I decided to leave the question in the air and answer it later while we're having our lunch. Knowing I wouldn't reply yet, Sandra asked another question to cover for it. "Where Is this restaurant you were saying? Are we there yet? I'm hungry." She looked at her phone for the time. "See? It's 1:30 and we haven't eaten yet."

As far as I can remember, the said restaurant opens onto the lobby of a hotel. "Knowing you, this is probably some high-class restaurant with some luxurious interior design," Sandra said. "Just like the one your dad picked after the Rostelecom Cup. No, maybe even better than that." Still not muttering a single word in response to her, she continued following me as I walk down this familiar road.

It's surprising that I didn't sense even a tiny bit of annoyance in her voice even if I'm low-key ignoring her right now. Though this isn't any form of revenge from what happened last night. In fact, I almost forgot about it. This sightseeing made calmed me a lot more than I expected.

Turning around the block, we've finally reached our destination. Sandra was about to speak once more but was cut off with my words. "We're here," I said. A smile of satisfaction found their way towards my lips. "Finally!" I heard Sandra say. 

We entered the restaurant and was greeted with comforting silence. There weren't any other people in here yet since I'm sure they just opened. Huddling closer to me, Sandra whispered, "Did you reserve this whole place for us two?" She asked. I chuckled at her, "No, dummy."

Looking around, the familiar modern and sophisticated design of the place welcomes me. I've only been here once before yet in some ways, I felt like I was home. Sandra followed suitably behind me as I made my way towards the front counter. A lady with glasses in formal clothes stood as we approached her. "Table for two, please," I said.

She had one of the brightest smiles that's perfect for welcoming guests. She motioned towards the empty tables telling us to have a seat on whichever table we desire. I thanked her before heading in as she nods in response.

"So," I said. "Where do you want to sit?" I looked at Sandra whose eyes sparkle at the elegance of the place. "Beside that pool is perfect," she answered. I smiled as we made our way towards one of the tables located beside the pool. At the center of the restaurant is a lamp-pool with still waters that bring order to the setting. Directly above the pool is a skylight roofing that gives the place calm lighting.

After we've sat comfortably, the lady from before walked towards us with menu books in hand. She handed us the menu, and I thanked her before flipping through. Taking the lead, I began telling my orders. I cleared my throat before speaking, "For the starter, I'll have snow peas and beans broth with roasted foie gras, iberian ham and raifort touches." I flipped to the next page for the main dish, "The main course will be tenderloin steak with potato and Iberian bacon terrine with mushrooms jam." Turning to the last page, "Lastly, I'll get coffee cream with chocolate and frozen cinnamon mousse for dessert."

"How about sweet wine, ma'am?" The lady asked. "Oh," I said as I looked at the menu again. "Dolç Mataró." She gave a nod as she turned to Sandra. My best friend glanced at me for a second before returning her eyes back to the menu.

"My starter's gonna be tomato infusion with marinated octopus and tender sprouts," she said turning to the next page. "Main course is roasted croaker, celery with sweet paprika and liquid olive," she stared at the next page for a while before saying, "I'll have the same dessert as hers. Same wine as well."

The lady repeated our orders to make sure she got it right before heading away. Sandra gave a small laugh once the lady was away. "That was tough," she said. "I'm guessing those were Meditteranean cuisine?"

"You got it!" I said. Before I forget about her question that I left hanging, I brought it up. "About what you said earlier," I said. She hummed as she lifted her head to look at me. "You're right. The places we've visited were special to me."

"I knew you'd say that," said Sandra. "Tell me about it. I have some guesses but I want to hear it coming from you."

"Tell me what you know."

"Years ago, you told me you're going overseas with Victor. Looking back, I knew that was your first out of the country date with him. I also knew you guys went to Barcelona. The places we've visited earlier, you've visited them with Victor before, am I right?"

I smiled as I recalled the memories. "Yea and I seriously didn't expect that this year's Grand Prix would take place here," I replied. "Coincidence?" We were interrupted for a while because one of the chefs arrived, placing our starters and the wine on the table.

Taking a sip, Sandra said, "It's fate." She placed her glass back on the table. "Everything that happened all took place for a reason."

"Even the events last night."