My husband, Julian, tells me he's flying to Italy for a month, business trip.
I check the calendar and freeze. His birthday falls right in the middle of that month. Alone, in a country where he knows no one outside of work.
I tell Margaux, my mother-in-law. She doesn't hesitate.
"Then we go," she says. "We surprise him."
My brother Dante is the only family I have left. For years I've told the Whitfields he just runs some business in Italy. They don't know the rest, and they never will if I can help it.
The second we land, I call him, give him the hotel name.
"Got it," he says, distracted. "I've got things to handle first. I'll come see you after."
Margaux and I check out the hotel restaurant before Julian even knows we've landed. Dinner, and a look at how the family's investment is running.
Food's good. Service is fine. Then the bill comes.
I glance down at the bill.
Dinner for two: 180,000.
Market-price seafood surcharge: 45,000.
Imported wine corking fee: 20,000.
Private dining ambiance fee: 60,000.
A dozen more line items after that, none of them making any sense.
Numbers that don't make sense. Charges I don't recognize. Margaux and I trade a look.
"Get us the manager," I say. "Now."
A woman walks over, chin already tilted up.
"I am the manager," she says. "If you can't pay, what's the point of complaining?"
I almost laugh. What kind of place is my own family running here?
"I'll take this up with the owner myself," I say.
She smiles, slow and pleased. "My husband happens to own this restaurant."
My stomach drops.
This restaurant belongs to the Whitfields. Belongs to Julian.
Since when did my husband become someone else's?
