Page 40 of Better Than Gelato
Twenty-four hours later it’s clear I am not the best girlfriend ever.
ChapterNine
The night is dark and moonless, but I’m safely tucked into the brightly lit 27 tram. Paolo and I met up for dinner, and I spent most of the evening trying to convince him to ask Valentina out. He spent most of the evening listing things he’d rather do than ask out Valentina: shave his head, swim in shark-infested waters, eat her cake, etcetera.
I watch billboards and buildings whiz by my window. Suddenly, a black car pulls even with the tram, and I find myself looking into the eyes of a dark-haired man in a black coat. We’re separated by two windows and twelve inches.
He smiles in surprise and calls out, “Ciao, bella!”
I smile back and say, “Ciao!”
The car pulls ahead, and I see him tap the driver. Then the car slows down until our windows are matched up again.
“Where are you going?” he calls to me.
“Home,” I call back.
“Come out with us instead!” he says. There are three other guys in the car.
I laugh.Yeah, right.
“Tell me your name,bella,” he shouts. Although now that we’re stopped at a red light, I can hear him perfectly fine.
“Juliet,” I say, and his whole face lights up like I’ve just told him he’s won the lottery.
The light turns green, and the tram lumbers off with the black car driving alongside, like a momma whale and her calf.
The man calls, “You are very beautiful!”
“Grazie,” I call back. I’m tempted to add “you too,” because he is, in fact, very good looking. But I don’t want to encourage him. The tram veers away from the car lane again, and I lose them.
I don’t quite register when the tram stops to pick someone up. And I’m absolutely shocked when that person comes and sits down next to me.
He holds out a hand and says, “Ciao, Julieta, I’m Lorenzo.” I’m too surprised to speak, but I shake his hand.
He’s even better looking up close. All sharp angles and dark eyes. He’s grinning victoriously.
The black car makes another appearance with all his friends yelling and cheering out the windows. He waves them away and turns to me.
“Can I get your phone number?” he asks. He looks me right in the eyes. And maybe it’s not wanting him to look bad in front of his friends, or maybe it’s because I feel like he’s earned it. Or maybe it’s because he isreallygood looking, but I give in.
He pushes a couple of buttons, and I get a text with a smiley face.
“There. Now you have my number.”
The tram has stopped at a bus stop, and I can see the black car idling nearby.
“I better get off here,” he says. “It was a pleasure meeting you, Julieta. I look forward to seeing you again.”
And then he takes my hand and kisses it. I sit there slightly stunned as he walks off the tram and gets into the car. I can hear more yelling and cheering. I look around to see if anyone else saw the crazy thing that just happened, but there’s only one old man on the tram with me and he’s asleep.
* * *
I get Lorenzo’s text during breakfast the next morning.
Buon giorno bella! This is Lorenzo. Can I take you out tonight?
Wow. Less than twelve hours, and he’s already texting me. Now, how do I tell him no? I can’t actually go on a date with some random guy who got on my tram. I’m dating Jake. That’s that.
