Chapter 26 _ Es Un Secreto
Valentina offered to plan their Valentine's date since Juliana would be busy with school and work that day. Juliana agreed under one condition, it'd be a chill evening.
By the time Valentina was ready to pick up Juliana she had everything planned out. This time she had Alirio drive her to pick up Juliana and take them to their first destination, dinner. She picked a quiet place that she knew would not be too crowded so they could have a conversation before continuing their adventure. She chose a quiet evening, nothing too busy or loud.
When Valentina knocked on Juliana's door she had a bouquet of 24 red roses and a bright smile. As soon as Juliana opened the door they couldn't help but laugh once they made eye contact. They both had flowers ready to surprise each other. After exchanging flowers and kissing hello, they placed their respective flowers in vases on Juliana's dining table before heading out.
"Hola, Alirio, how are you? It's been a while." Juliana said as she entered the car.
"Muy bien señorita Juliana, y usted?" Alirio responded before closing the door behind them and heading to the driver's seat.
They had a quiet ride to the restaurant Valentina picked out. Once inside Juliana was amazed at how few people there were. They went up to the counter and ordered. The cashier seemed to know Valentina, not as a fan but as someone she'd known for years. Valentina made sure to introduce Juliana before they walked away from the counter, telling Juliana that the lady was Guille's godmother and that she had been friend's with her mother for most of their lives.
As they picked a table near the far back, awaiting their food, Juliana looked at the jukebox next to their table. "Hey babe, I'll be right back okay." She said getting a quarter out of her coin purse. She walked over to the jukebox seeing only songs in Spanish. She chose a cheesy one she knew would cause a blush to grow on Valentina's face; Musica Romantica by Pancho Barraza.
Heading back to the table as the song began to play Juliana had a giant grin and a small blush on her face as she felt not only Valentina's eyes on her but the rest of the restaurant's as well.
"You got a romantic one, Vale, I like her." Doña Josefina said as she dropped off their dinner plates and drinks.
This caused Valentina to blush even harder as Juliana finally let out a laugh. "Si, doña Jose, she's definitely a keeper." She said as she smiled tenderly at Juliana.
Once the lady left they began eating their meals and talking about their day as the song played in the background. Valentina listened enthusiastically as Juliana told her about a couple of girls she met at school, beginning with a snarky girl in her History of Fashion course. The girl, Penelope, invited her to lunch after doing an in-class assignment together. They met up at the cafeteria with Penelope's girlfriend. Juliana talked animatedly about the two girls and Valentina had not made the connection to the girls until Juliana said the girlfriend's last name.
"Wait, Saltzman? Pen and Josie go to you your school? As in Josie Saltzman and Penelope Park?" Valentina questioned with a slight wrinkle of her eyebrows.
"Yeah, Josie is a cutie with brow hair and big warm eyes; Penelope a very confident yet super friendly girl? You know them?" Juliana responded curious.
"Yeah, absolutely, my best friend grew up in the Saltzman household. Josie's twin made Hope's life in that house a living hell until she eventually confessed her feelings for Hope when they were 15 and have been dating ever since. What a small world, did Josie mention her twin?" Valentina still puzzled about this turn of events.
Juliana shoot her head, no. Valentina continued, "Hope's coming back from London in a few weeks, we should all go out to dinner once she's back. I'm sure they'd all love a triple date."
They continued talking about their day and Juliana's thoughts on the food. It was a Mexican restaurant that Valentina's mom gifted to her best friend, Josefina, as a 30th birthday gift. Valentina didn't come to the restaurant often but she knew Juliana would like the calm and quiet atmosphere.
After an hour Valentina looked at her watch and noticed it was nearly 7pm. The perfect time to head over to their second and final location. She paid for their dinners and Alirio's — who was sitting near the exit waiting for the girls to finish up.
"Where to now Val?" Juliana said as she leaned onto Valentina's shoulder while holding her hand giving her girlfriend puppy eyes to try and get more information.
"You're cute but you'll just have to wait and see, chiquita, es un secreto ." Valentina said with a smile as she winked.
Juliana sighed dramatically while simultaneously saying an exaggerated "fine" causing Valentina to throw her head back in laughter.
The ride to the location was peacefully silent. When they arrived outside Juliana observed the entire building, the entrance looked like that of an old mansion while the rest looked like a modern building. After taking a look she noticed the name confirming her suspicions, it was a museum; The Crocker Art Museum.
"I know it's nothing too romantic but I think you'll enjoy what I have planned this evening." Valentina said suddenly shy about the idea.
"I love it. Let's go look at some pretty art but know that none of it will ever compare to you." Juliana said with a smile as she leaned in to give Valentina a tender kiss.
Alirio opened Juliana's door helping both girls out the vehicle receiving orders to head home and not wait for them. Valentina informed him that they would be catching a Lyft on their way to Juliana's apartment so he could head home and rest for the remainder of the evening.
Once they arrived at the south entrance the curator was already waiting for them. "Hello Ms. Carvajal, I'm Randy. Everything is set up as you asked, any questions let me know. If you have no questions, the museum is yours until midnight we will not be interrupting your night. Enjoy."
"No questions, thank you, Randy." Valentina said. Acknowledging Valentina with a nod, the man walked away leaving both girls with the entire museum to themselves. It was a Thursday night and while the museum usually closed at 9pm on Thursdays, Valentina made sure tonight it would be free from 6pm to midnight. 6pm to give Randy and the rest of the staff enough time to set up. She ordered all of Juliana's favorite pastries from their favorite pastry shop, Estelle Bakery & Pâtisserie, be placed in the room where they would be spending the majority of the evening.
They walked around the museum viewing different exhibits. Valentina telling Juliana about her different favorite pieces as Juliana looked at her tenderly each time she spoke. After an hour of walking around the place Valentina led them to a pair of high double doors that had a velvety red barrier cord with a sign that read, NO ACCESS TO MANSION 2/14/19. Valentina unhooked one of the ends causing a reaction from Juliana questioning what she was doing. "Don't worry, Juls. I know what I'm doing."
"Val, the sign clearly says no access today. I don't think we can go in there." Juliana said staying put looking at Valentina skeptically.
"Juls, amor. I rented out the entire museum for the evening but this part of the museum I booked it out the entire day to make sure everything stayed as it needs to be. This place is where the main surprise is, baby." Valentina said pulling out the old key Randy had given her earlier that day. As she turned the key, she looked back to Juliana with a bright smile.
When the doors were unlocked, she pushed both doors open and moved aside so Juliana could take in the view of the place. It was decorated as if nothing had changed since the Crockers lived there. The house was preserved while still being used to display different works of art.
Juliana made her way inside with Valentina following closely behind. They walked around the place in silence as Juliana took in her surroundings. After walking around a bit Valentina finally spoke, "Can I show you something?"
Juliana turned around nodding still silent, shocked that Valentina would rent out and entire museum for her.
Walking them to the old front room they stood looking at the two spiral staircase. Valentina took Juliana's hand in hers as she began to speak. "This is as close as I could get to recreating the Anastasia. This staircase and the next room I'll be showing you are what made me choose this place."
With that, Valentina walked them over to the great hall where Juliana's eyes lit up as she saw a projector playing the video for Once Upon A December from the 1997 Anastasia movie.
Halfway through the song Juliana turned and hugged Valentina tightly. "I don't know what to say aside from thank you. This is the sweetest thing anyone has ever done for me. Gracias, Valentina, te amo."
Valentina smiled into Juliana's embrace as she kissed Juliana's shoulder. "Come on, it's movie night babe." Valentina said kissing the top of Juliana's head as she wrapped her right arm around Juliana with their fingers interlocked. Walking over to the couch she had had placed there that same morning, Juliana finally noticed the table of pastries and the small heart shaped cake.
The girls cut into the cake splitting it in half and cuddling into each other covering themselves with blankets as the movie began to play. They spent the rest of the night eating their sugary snacks and once the movie was over they played soft music they could slow dance to. As the night came to end and the clock read 11:30, they gathered their belongings and headed towards the exit where Randy was waiting for them. Valentina said she would be sending someone to pick up the couch along with the projector and the rest of her belongings in the morning.
As they walked out of the museum and awaited their ride Juliana snuggled into Valentina with one of the blankets wrapped around her. "This was the best Valentine's Day ever. Thank you."