Chapter 35. Romantic Trip
After they got into the car, they immediately put on their seatbelts. At that moment, Alberto immediately asked about their next destination. "Honey, after this, we will go home, or where else are we going?"
"We will look for souvenirs and invitations first, Honey! Because we're near campus." Vega explained their purpose.
Alberto immediately frowned. As he knows, Vega is very busy at the hospital and that she has to work there.
"Don't you have to work at the hospital?"
"Today is a holiday. I've taken time off because I'm really tired. So, we can look and find good souvenirs and invitations. Because today is a holiday!" replied Vega.
"But, honey, have you already made a list of guests to be invited? I haven't made a list."
"Not yet, honey. My parents have given me the list of people they want to invite."
"Okay, then let's just list it while eating first near here! We can think about who we want to invite."
"Okay, Honey."
Afterwards, Alberto sent a message to his mother. "Mom, do you have a list of people that you want to invite yet?"
"Not yet." Alberto's mother did not have time to register because she felt tired after delivering her son to Vega's home for a proposal yesterday.
"If not, please list who you want to invite! After lunch, around half past one in the afternoon, I want to go to a souvenir and invitation place with Vega," Alberto asked.
"That's so fast, son! Just yesterday, you proposed to her. Now, you've bought souvenirs and invitations. You can do that as the wedding day approaches, Alberto!" Alberto's mother commented.
"Yes. That's so fast! We must prepare it to make a good marriage." Alberto explained the reason.
"However, Alberto, it can be done later. It can be the day before the wedding or two days before the wedding," said Alberto's mother.
"If we find another day, it will be so difficult, Mom. We can do it now because it's a day off. You know, Vega must take time off to be available. We just got back from the pre-wedding photo shoot. So, because it's a route with the pre-wedding photo, we will go to the souvenir and invitation place after lunch." Alberto explained the reason.
"Yes. I know, she's a famous doctor." Alberto's mother understands that Vega is very busy.
"In that case, I will immediately contact your dad, and later we will make a list of guests that will be invited. We'll give you the names later!"
"Okay, Mom."
Meanwhile, Vega immediately became suspicious when she saw Alberto's face bent and without a smile.
Alberto looked very serious. Because of that, Vega immediately asked what Alberto was up against. "Honey, why are you so serious? What's wrong?"
"I was chatting with my mom..." Alberto wanted to explain what happened more. But before he finished speaking, Vega immediately cut off his words.
"Oh. By the way, is there a list of names from your parents?" Vega immediately cut Alberto's words off and asked about it, because she just remembered to ask for a list from Alberto's parents.
"Not yet. Instead, they want to make the list immediately, like us, Honey. That's what I chatted about with my mom earlier, honey." Alberto explained his condition.
"Honey, it looks like we are in too much hurry if we buy souvenirs and invitations now!" Alberto tried to convey what Alberto's mother had said.
"Yes. That's right." Vega agreed with Alberto's opinion.
"The problem is, when are we going there again, if not now, Honey? The invitation and souvenir shops are only open from Monday to Saturday. And they open their shops from nine o'clock in the morning until three in the afternoon," complained Vega.
"That's right." Alberto began to understand Vega's condition.
"Then, we must make a list of people who want to be invited quickly." Alberto relayed to Vega.
"Yes."
***
Meanwhile, Alberto's mother immediately made a list of guests to be invited while trying to call Alberto's father three times, but he didn't pick up the phone.
"Oh, my god! What should I do? Baca couldn't be contacted. Alberto needs the data on the people who were invited after lunch. If I don't ask his opinion, he will get mad at me." Alberto's mother felt very dizzy. She tried to call her husband again and again until he picked up the phone.
"Hello, Honey! What's wrong? I just finished the meeting." Her husband was confused by the panicked behavior from Alberto's mother.
"Honey, Alberto needs the data of the people who were invited quickly. Around half past one, he will go straight to the shop to buy souvenirs and invitations. Honey, do you have any names of people you'd like to invite?"
"Wait a minute, honey! Later, I will send a list of the names of the people who want to be invited by me. I think I will only invite my friends in the office, my colleagues, and my friends."
"Okay, Honey. I will wait!"
Not long after, Alberto's father immediately made a list. He only wanted to invite fifty-five people. After that, he sent the list to his wife. Then, his wife immediately sent the list to Alberto.
"It's a list from your dad! I haven't made my list yet." Alberto's mother ordered.
"Okay, Mom." After that, Alberto's mother continued to make a list of people she wanted to invite. After the list was finished, he immediately sent the list to Alberto.
"It's a list from me, Alberto!"
***
"Okay, Mom." Alberto replied.
"My parents have sent the list to me," Alberto informed.
"Wow! Really fast! We haven't had lunch yet, Honey, but they have sent it." Vega praised. Vega was astounded that Alberto's parents could do so quickly.
"Yes, Honey."
Not long after, they arrived at a small seafood restaurant. The restaurant's name is "Nuestro Marisquera." Outside the restaurant, there are only four tables with four chairs at each table. The chairs and tables are made of plastic. The chairs were positioned in a circle, and every place was filled with people eating there.
In front of the seafood restaurant, there is a large yard to park the car. Vega immediately parked the car. After that, they unbuckled their seatbelts and got out of the car. Then they walked into the restaurant.
Inside the restaurant, there are only twenty tables with four chairs at each table. They immediately chose to sit in the middle seat, and they sat there. In front of them were the chefs who were cooking and the cashier next to them. The restaurant is not a fancy restaurant. Seeing this, Alberto immediately felt confused because it was the first time he saw Vega not eating at a fancy restaurant.
"Honey, are you sure we will have lunch here?"
"Sure, Honey!" Vega felt sure to eat at that place.
"Indeed, don't you feel hesitant to eat here?" Vega asked Alberto about his doubts.
"The foods are clean and delicious! I love eating seafood here! It's much tastier than the seafood on our campus." Vega explained her love for the food at that restaurant.
"Okay, Honey."
Not long after, a waiter came towards them while bringing the menu. After that, he gave the menus to Alberto and Vega.
"Is there anything you want to order?"
Alberto didn't know the seafood's name. The names are strange for Alberto. Alberto never heard of it before. All he knows is seafood fried rice.
Therefore, he ordered the food. "One seafood fried rice. Not spicy."
"One grilled lobster and one seafood fried rice."
"Okay." After that, the waiter repeated their order and made sure it was correct.
"Is there anything that you want to order again?"
"Two lemon teas," said Vega.
"Okay." Then, the waiter asked about the food or drink that they wanted to order again.
"No. Just that!"
After that, the waiter left them while bringing the menu. At that time, Vega immediately opened up the topic of the people they would invite.
"Who are we going to invite?"
"The clear things are my classmates, my lecturers." Alberto named people who would definitely be invited.
"Your coworkers, your friends." Alberto continued his words.
"Lorena and her gang." Vega chimed in.
Not long after, their drinks arrived. After that, they immediately made a list of the people who would be invited by them while waiting for the food and drinks to arrive. After waiting thirty minutes, their food arrived.
"These are the foods!"
At that time, they immediately enjoyed the food and drinks they had ordered.
"Wow! Very delicious! Exactly as you say, Honey!" Alberto commented.
"Yes. It's delicious. Because of that, I often eat here," said Vega.
After that, they continued to eat without talking. Not long after, they had finished eating. They immediately called the waiter and they asked the waiter for the bill.
"Sir, I want to ask for the bill, please!"
Then, the waiter brought the bill. Alberto and Vega immediately took the money. Then, they immediately paid.
"So, who wants to pay?"
"Me!" said Alberto.
"Just me, sir!" said Vega.
"Oh, Vega. Just me, Vega. You have treated me too much," Alberto complained.
"Alberto! Just me, Alberto. I'm your lecturer. Remember that!" Vega's words made Alberto immediately take his money back while he thanked Vega.
After that, they immediately left the place and went to Vega's car. They also looked for Vega's car.
When they were near the car, they immediately opened the door and got into it. Then, they closed the car while wearing seatbelts.
After that, Vega drove from the seafood restaurant to their destination until they arrived at a long and big road. On that road, there are many printing and souvenir shops.
"Wow! There are lots of printing and souvenir shops here!" Alberto commented.
"Yes. It's a lot. The price of the souvenirs and invitations is also cheap," said Vega.
"But are you all right, honey? It's a place for low-class people. If the price is cheap, the quality is not necessarily good." Alberto whispered to Vega.
"Who says that? The quality of their products is so good." Vega couldn't accept Alberto saying that.
"Yes, but they don't print invitations for the upper class, where one sheet of invitation is expensive," whispered Alberto.
"Why must we make an expensive invitation? It's for the guest."
"Yes. That's right!"
After that, they walked the streets until they came to a printing house. At that printing house, they were immediately given a folder containing a collection of the invitation cards they had printed and made.
They immediately saw the invitation cards, one by one. After seeing the invitations, they immediately agreed to choose a golden gradient-colored invitation card with gold ink.
"Ma'am, I want this one!" Vega said.
"How much do you want to print, ma'am?" asked the woman at that place.
"Five hundred and ten people, ma'am. These are the names, ma'am!" Vega immediately provided a list of the people they wanted to invite.
"If you want, you can pay in full first or make a minimum transfer of 50% of the total purchase first, ma'am! Here is the account number!" Vega directly transferred 50% of their total purchase.
"For proof of the transfer, you can directly send it on chat, ma'am."
"Okay. This is our business card!" The woman immediately gave him a business card. Vega immediately sent proof of transfer to the number on the business card.
"The proof has been sent!"
"Please wait for three days, ma'am!"
"Okay, Ma'am. Then, please inform me!" asked Vega.
After that, they left the place for the souvenir center. They saw a lot of cute souvenirs there. There are key chains, mugs, aromatherapy candles, pens, and others.
"Here, ma'am, the souvenir!" said the man at that place.
"How much do you want to buy, ma'am?"
Vega stated the amount that she wanted to buy.
"For that amount, only mugs and pens are available, ma'am."
"Honey, how about we choose the souvenir as a pen? Is that okay?" Vega asked Alberto's opinion.
"Why do you choose a pen? It's for students!" Alberto whispered.
"Yes, most of our guests are students and lecturers. So, I think a pen will be good as a souvenir." Vega explained the reason that she chose a pen as the souvenir.
"Oh. Okay!" Alberto agreed.
"Do you want to have your name printed or something?"
"I think we want to have the name printed on the pen!" Then, Vega mentioned their initials.
"Well. Please transfer to the following account number first!" The man immediately gave the account number. Then, Vega transferred some money to the account number and showed the proof to the waiter.
"When it's done, I'll let you know!" After that, the waiter asked for Vega's number when Vega's order was finished. Vega also asked for the store's phone number.
After they ordered pens, they chose to go straight back to their respective places. Alberto immediately ordered a taxi online to take him home, while Vega went to her car. After the online taxi arrived, Alberto immediately went home.