Read Online The Beautiful People by E. J. Fechenda - Free Book Online Page A

food. Then he handed me a menu to pick out the main course.  I couldn’t
make up my mind.
    “What
do you recommend?” I asked Dominic.
    “Everything,”
was his answer.  I had to play eenie meenie minie moe to pick my entrée and
landed on eggplant parmesan.
    Gloria and Franco were
distracted making our dinners so I seized the opportunity to grill Dominic. I
found out that Gloria was his mother’s sister and Franco was the third Franco
to run the restaurant, Franco’s grandfather being the first - he was an Italian
immigrant right out off the boat from Sicily when he started serving meals out
of his house. Bianca was their youngest out of five children.
    “She’s
cute,” I commented.
    “Yeah,
she’s like a little sister to me. “
    “I
can tell. She just adores you. That’s sweet.”
    “She’s
a good kid and the same age as my brother, Johnny.” I leaned forward,
interested in learning more about Dom’s family. “As you can tell, Aunt Gloria
and Uncle Franco like to feed us, so I’d stop by after school for snacks with
my cousin Dante. All the kids still do.” Dom paused and took another bit of
calamari.
    I took a sip of wine,
followed by a deep breath before addressing the elephant in the room. “Listen
Dom, I really like you, but girlfriend? I don’t think I’m ready for that.”
    His
eyes met mine. “You’re not?”
    “No.
It’s been awhile since I’ve been someone’s girlfriend and that didn’t end well.
We need to take it slow.”
    He frowned slightly and
processed what I said. “It’s been awhile for me too. I’m not a relationship
kind of guy,” he admitted. “But, I feel differently about you. I’ll take it
slow with you, but as far as I’m concerned, you’re my girlfriend.” He said this
with a sort of possessiveness.
    At first I thought he
was feeding me a line, but he didn’t break eye contact and seemed sincere
enough. “I think I can work with those terms.” Smiling, I reached my hand
across the table. He entwined his fingers with mine and caressed the side with
his thumb. We were interrupted by the sound of Aunt Gloria clearing her throat.
She had a steaming plate in each hand. We separated so she could set them down.
I caught her wink at Dominic before she turned and smiled at me approvingly. I
giggled, embarrassed.
    From the first bite I
was in love and would never be able to eat eggplant parmesan from anywhere
else, ever again. I managed to eat half before surrendering. My pants were
going to split at the seams if I ate another bite. I sat back and watched Dominic
eat his lasagna. He too was engrossed in his food. After he finished his
serving he started to eye up my leftovers. I handed him my plate, unable to
look at it anymore and sipped my wine, enjoying watching him eat with such
fervor. Between the wine, my full stomach and the warmth from the brick oven,
my eyelids grew heavy and I really didn’t think it was possible to eat another
bite until Franco brought over the Tiramisu. I rallied and reached for a spoon,
savoring the sweet creamy goodness that slid down my throat. I could get used
to this, I thought to myself.
    After the meal was done
we got up to say goodbye. I hugged Gloria and Franco and thanked them profusely
for the best meal of my life. They both beamed and said I was welcome anytime.
We walked through the restaurant, which had already closed. Bianca was bopping
around with her iPod clearing the tables. We waved goodbye and she waved back
without interrupting her groove. Dominic grabbed my hand as we walked outside
into the calm, chilly night. Before we got in the car I stood up on my toes and
kissed him.
    “Thank
you for introducing me to some of your family…and their cooking!”
    “You’re
very welcome. “
     
    Eleven o’clock is past
bedtime for most people, but the night was still young for me and Dom. He drove
down to the Penn’s Landing River Rink and parked in the empty parking lot. The
ice skating rink was empty too, since it was