Page 34 of Bella Rosa
She averts her gaze and begins running the tip of her index finger along the edge of her plate. "I'm not that interesting."
I lean forward in my seat. "You couldn't be more wrong about that, Rosa." I reach across the small table to lift her chin. Uncertainty takes over her face. "If I had to choose between watching the sunset alone or watching paint dry with you, I'd pick you every time."
A smile spreads across her face. "You can't mean that. Watching paint dry would suck." We both laugh as I release her chin. "At my first job, my manager told me to sit and watch the paint dry on a bench in Times Square. He said he was so tired of people ignoring the wet paint signs."
I quirk my head to the side. "Are you serious?"
She shakes her head. "Not at all."
I lean back in my seat as she bursts out laughing. I point at her with my fork, a smile planted firmly on my face. "You are scary good at that. You could have fooled me."
She wipes a tear from her eye from the laughter. "You should have seen your face."
Still smiling, I say, "Did you go to acting school or something?"
She shakes her head. "No. I took a drama class as an elective in college."
"I think you missed your calling, Rosa."
She pushes her hair over her shoulder to keep it from dragging across her plate while she eats. "You were so young when you graduated from culinary school. Do you feel like you missed out on the typical college experience?"
I wait until my mouth isn't full to answer. "No. I made some amazing friends that I still keep in contact with. We kind of continued hanging out after we graduated. The only real difference is we had jobs instead of going to class all the time. That all changed as we got older."
She dabs her mouth with a napkin before she says, "In what way?"
I let out a deep breath. "We all grew up I guess. That means different things for different people." I lean my elbows against the table as I speak. "Gino for instance. He met his wife not long after we graduated. It took him a few years to pop the question, but they've been married for a while now. A few of my other friends decided to travel for a while after they saved up enough cash."
"What about you?"
I shrug. "I wanted to open my own restaurant. Granted, I had to open my first restaurant with my dad. Funds were a bit low then." I smile to myself, thinking back about my dad and I working our asses off to succeed. "I like working with him. I just wish I could make more of the choices. You know?"
She leans forward, her hands resting on the table, watching me intently. "I get it. Maybe your dad just needs to see how capable you are. It's hard to see things when they are right under your nose sometimes."
I nod, a smile forming on my face. "What about you? What do you want?" She opens her mouth, but I raise my hand to cut her off. "Other than the job at Foodie."
She fidgets as she uncrosses her legs only to recross them again. "I've never really thought about that to be honest. My focus has mainly been on work."
"I understand that. My dad thinks I should focus more on living instead of working."
She nods her head as she leans back in her chair. "I don't even know what my life would be like without my job."
"Do you like your job?"
Her smile takes my breath away. "I like that it brought me here."
I can't help but smile back at her. "Me too."
She looks down at her now empty plate. "Can I help with the dishes?"
I look down at my own plate to find it empty. I hadn't even realized we had finished our meal. When I'm with Rosa I find myself losing time, like the concept of time no longer exists.
I push my chair back and stand. "I'll wash, if you dry."
She smiles up at me again. "Deal."
We take our dishes to the kitchen. Neither of us says a word. I'm aware of every move she makes. Every light touch setting me on fire.
I rinse the last dish and hand it to her. I dry my hands and we turn to face each other. Both of us are breathing heavy. I take a step toward her and push her hair behind one ear. She closes her eyes as I trace the small scar above her eyebrow. I trace her jaw line, down her neck, and back up to her lips.
