Pinot Grigio & The Confounding Principles of Love

If love was in the air, as they so often said it was, Archer Roose was nowhere close to breathing it in. Even in the city of Verona, acclaimed birthplace of star-crossed lovers, Archer had only found a slew of cross-eyed losers.

She was there visiting her Great Aunt, Celestina, who was a matchmaker by trade. She was the type of woman who believed in plans and predictions—the rare sort of person who always trusted what the weather forecast promised. Archer, on the other hand, believed in the element of surprise. She was not so much a believer in fate as she was in the twists and turns that often derailed it. Nevertheless, to appease her old aunt, Archer agreed to go on every blind date she had up her sleeve.

First there had been mini golf with Dante, a tortured poet with a penchant for black skinny jeans and daydreaming about the afterlife. Then there was the beach day spent with Joan, who insisted on wearing full armor and didn’t look very amused when Archer suggested they start a bonfire. The drive-in theater with Leonardo was no better. An unemployed artist/inventor/scientist/architect/ influencer, he generally had quite a difficult time sitting still and also insisted on live streaming their date to all three of his followers.

But at the present moment, Archer was on a sunset cruise with a gentleman named Galileo. And it was actually—dare she say it—not a total dumpster fire of a blind date. He studied the heavenly bodies above and spoke of worlds out there waiting to be discovered. On top of that, he introduced her to the finest Pinot Grigio she had ever tasted. It was like he had managed to bottle the cool breeze of the sea, bright citrusy beams from the sun, and the purity of white flowers grown in a secret garden.

When she went to express her gratitude for the golden wine, she saw that his face was turned towards the sapphire of the early night sky. There was love filling his eyes—generous to the brink of overflowing. She knew in an instant that even though they were having a splendid time together, she could never rival the relationship he had with the stars. And oddly enough, she was more than at peace with this. What he felt for astronomy, she felt for wine. Maybe the love of her life wasn’t meant to be a person, but a passion. That’s how Archer discovered that love can be found in the most surprising of places. Sometimes it’s in a smile. Sometimes it’s in the stars. Sometimes it’s in a glass.