 |
|
Snow falls, blanketing the streets and alleyways with a thick
layer of impassible white. The throughways clog up and the hills
ice over, and on what’s supposed to be one of the busy nights in
the restaurant business, the Ritz Restaurante is virtually empty.
With an overstocked kitchen of swordfish fillets and prime rib,
Marty and Tricia, co-owners of the charming bistro, are having a
less than stellar Valentine’s Day. They’ve been married for ten
years, and have put off starting a family until they were
financially secure. At least they’ve never had to worry about
filling the tables on February 14th, not until this
year anyway.
The place is not completely empty though, Andrew is here, as are
Monica and Gloria. Andrew sits at a table by himself, enjoying
the atmosphere, while his angelic cohorts have been hired on to
help with the “busiest” night of the year. In truth, there is
little for them to do.
But the angels aren’t the only souls to brave the weather. Riley
is here with his girlfriend, Amanda. They’ve been together for
two years and this evening will represent a big change for their
relationship. Riley wants to propose, and she wants to break up
with him, and neither one has the least idea about the other’s
plans. Charlotte is here too. She is waiting to meet a blind
date, a man she met on the internet. She embarrasses herself by
mistaking Andrew for him, but resolves herself to sit and wait for
her tardy date. Eventually he shows up with Tess, who’s car he
towed. When they finally sit down together, he and Charlotte are
very awkward, unable to be free with themselves in person as they
were online.
Tess joins the angels at Andrew’s table and tells them that they
are here to watch one of these couples fall in love. But which
one?
The final couple of the evening arrives in the forms of George and
Loretta a smarmy couple celebrating their 49th wedding
anniversary. They are planning on a cruise for their 50th.
Unfortunately, according to Andrew, they won’t both be there for
the happy occasion. This is just one troubling aspect of the
evening.
Marty and Tricia are fighting about money and their chance to have
children. Amanda refuses to stop using her cell phone, and when
Riley proposes, she flees to the restroom. Ben is unsure of
himself, and finds his attempt at charm brushed aside when he
suggests that Charlotte brush her hair back from her face. She
has been using it to hide a ragged scar that runs along the side
of her visage. But things turn around, George and Loretta,
informed by Andrew of their fate, privately plead with him to take
them rather than their spouse. Ben surprises Charlotte by
revealing that it was he who pulled her car from the ravine after
the accident that gave her her scar. Monica convinces Amanda to
talk to Riley, and when he saves a choking Marty’s life, she is
once again smitten with him. And Marty’s brush with death, makes
he and Tricia forget their petty squabbles and finally fall in
love after ten years.
|
