I looked into my sister’s brown eyes and told her, “He wouldn’t stoop so low.”
“You don’t even know him.” She put the money down, grabbed the remote and turned the flat screen on. “But whatever. I’m tired of talking about Fabio Ferrari. Let’s get our weekend started.”
“Fine by me.”
Pizza and a movie were how we spent every Friday night. After a long week of cleaning people’s homes, all we wanted to do was sit and watch movies. Sunday we might go out and do a little grocery shopping. We lived very thrilling lives in our city by The Bay.
I glanced down at my phone. Still no reply from him. Oh well…
4
Cyndee
Sunday afternoon, my sister and I were spending the afternoon outside. It wasn’t often that we went out to eat because we could never afford to treat ourselves. But after buying our plane tickets, we had some quite a bit of cash left over and we decided to act like many of the locals we saw strolling about in North Beach, while we were there to clean client’s homes.
We let the breeze guide us, and we ended up in Little Italy, a charming neighborhood near Chinatown. We’d be here many times window shopping and absorbing the vibrant energy, which was free.
But today, we stopped at Tony’s Pizza, which had a by-the-slice bar to grab and go. Even with extra money in my pocket, I was afraid to dine in a restaurant. I knew myself well. I’d get caught up in the moment and lose my good sense.
I needed to be smart with my money and plan for the unexpected. Set some aside to get my crown put on. Buy a few Christmas presents.
Of course, my sister would probably blow her portion in a week. The way we handled money was another difference between us. When some people splurged, I saved.
With our massive slices of pizza purchased, we found a spot on the outdoor patio to sit and eat. It was a gorgeous day. Sunnyand sixty-one. I loved feeling the warmth on my face. Most days, we were inside cleaning and rarely had time to enjoy the outside.
“Oh. My. God. This must be the best pizza I’ve ever had.” Celine hummed with delight as she chewed.
“Better than Dad’s? I don’t think so. This is good, but it doesn’t hold a candle to Dad’s.” Our father had built a brick oven in the backyard to make authentic Italian pizza. I missed his cooking more than anything.
“I guess it’s just been so long since I had some of Dad’s pizzas.”
“Mom said he was ready to cook for us during our visit.” I took a bite of my slice. It was definitely tasty and a million times better than the three-dollar frozen one we’d eaten Friday night. “And she’s going to make our favorite Mexican food.”
“Tamales?”
“Of course. It’s Christmas.” In my family, we celebrated both sides of our heritage. On Christmas Eve, we had a Mexican feast, and tamales were the main dish. Then on Christmas Day, we went all out Italian style with fried calamari, a ton of Italian meats and cheeses, wine and my absolute favorite, lasagna.
“You know we’re going to gain ten pounds during the week we’re there.”
“I’m okay with that.” I opened my mouth and took a huge bite.
“Hi.”
A dark figure appeared in front of me, but I had a difficult time making out who it was with the sun in my face.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you in this area before.”
The voice. I recognized the baritone voice. “Mr. Ferrari. Um…” I stumbled over my words with a full mouth. Why did he have to appear now? I raised my hand over my eyes to create a shade.
“Are you having a good weekend?” He sat in the chair next to me as if we’d asked him to join us. “Wish I could say I was, but my cleaning lady declined being my fake girlfriend.”
Oh, man! Had he no shame?
I wiped my hands and mouth, then I turned to look at him. “Replay your words and pay attention to how weird they sound. Cleaning lady. Fake girlfriend. It’s all just wrong.”
“I’m going to bathroom.” Celine darted away before I could stop her. How dare she leave me alone with Fabio?
“They don’t sound weird to me. I need help to get through the holidays and you rejected me.”
