Page 31 of Better Than Gelato
“I had no idea your grandmother was Slovenian!”
Valentina beams with pride.
“Do you mind if I have another piece?” Jake asks. His plate is empty.
What in the actual blazes?
“Of course, of course!” Valentina says. “I made a double batch, so there would be plenty.”
She serves Jake an extra-large piece, grinning the whole time.
“How are you doing this?” I whisper to him when Valentina goes back over to Diego. “This tastes like decomposing socks.”
Jake leans back a little, and I can see that he has a coffee mug on his lap, wedged between his legs. It’s half full of cake. I watch him watch Valentina, and every time she’s looking away, he scoops another forkful into the cup. In no time he’s down to the last bite, which he leaves there. I’m too impressed for words. Jake gives me his nearly empty plate and takes my full one. He gets half of it in, but the mug is filled to the brim now.
“I need another mug,” he whispers.
“Paolo, I’m going to try your cappuccino machine,” I say like a bad actor in a low budget show.
I sneak two mugs back to the table. I hand one under the table to Jake, and he makes quick work of the rest of my cake. I hand the other mug to Paolo who catches on fast and whispers to Carmen. Before I know it, both their cakes are gone. But Diego still looks miserable. Valentina hovers nearby, making it impossible for him to ditch his disgusting dessert. He attempts another bite and there’s actual sweat beading along his hairline.
Nobody should have to eat sock cake on their birthday!
“Hey Diego, have you seen the trailer for the new Indiana Jones movie?” I call from the other side of the table.
He drops the fork, and his face lights up. “They’re coming out with another one? Harrison Ford is ancient!”
“Eighty-one,” I say, “but he’s still got the moves. Check this out.”
I pull up the trailer on my phone, and Diego leaves his chair and comes over to watch.
“He’s pretty sexy for an old guy,” I say.
Jake looks at me alarmed, but I waggle my eyebrows in the direction of Diego’s plate.
“Valentina, come look,” I say. “Don’t you think Harrison Ford is sexy?”
Valentina comes over to have a look, and I angle my phone to get her to face away from Jake near Diego’s plate.
“I don’t know, Julieta, I think he looks pretty old.”
Valentina and Diego watch the whole trailer and out of the corner of my eye I watch Jake scoop the cake off Diego’s plate into a coffee mug.
“We should definitely go see that,” Diego says when the preview ends. He pauses and glances at me. “Do you know when it’s coming out?”
“It says this summer.”
Diego nods. He sees his empty plate and looks back at me. I give him a wink and a smile. He lets out a relieved sigh and smiles back. Jake and Carmen whisked all the mugs into the kitchen, and Valentina and I clear the rest of the table.
“Wow, everyone really liked the cake,” she says, stacking the empty plates.
“It would appear so,” I say.
“I’m glad I have a little left-over to share with my roommates,” Valentina says. “They had so many questions watching me make it.”
“I bet,” Paolo says, joining us.
“So, it’s getting pretty late,” Carmen says looking at Paolo. “I don’t know if we’ll make it to il Duomobefore the last tram leaves.”
