Page 3 of Pomegranates and Olive

"Still doesn't explain why you're sitting on the bedroom floor in your parents' house."

"Sono un fottuto idiota."

Oh, and in case you haven't worked it out yet, I'm Italian. Australian born and bred but from a very large, very Italian, very Catholic family, thus my Nonna's considerable ass, my love of pasta and a lifetime of Catholic guilt. It also means I tend to curse, mostly in Italian, in the guise that people won't guess when I'm insulting them.

Being bi-lingual in curse words is one of my proudest achievements in life.

"Don't call yourself stupid, Olive. You're the smartest person I know!"

"Okay then, I fucked up."

I did saymostlyin Italian, didn't I?

"I'm still going to need a little more than that."

"Fine... so last night I fucked up!" I pour myself another tumbler of my father's home madevino rossoand wonder how many more it's going to take for me to forget last night ever happened. "Luca took me to Altitude for my birthday."

"At the Shangri-La? Romantic."

I nod blankly at the screen. "Yeah... so there we were overlooking Sydney Harbour, soft music, twinkling city lights, and I just couldn't shake the feeling of dread that had come over me."

"Why?"

"It was the look on Luca's face. It was full of promise and love. He was happy. And I knew."

"Knew what?"

"I knew he was going to propose."

"Luca is one of the most objectively marriable guys I've ever met!" Ginny squawks down the screen. "And yay!"

"Don't yay, Ginny... there's more... and then before I could stop him I was staring at a truly magnificent square-cut diamond ring."

"Stop him? Why would you stop him?"

"Wait, still more. So I opened my mouth to reply," I pause for effect, "when my stomach contracted and I gagged. And then I retched. And then I vomited my charred Fremantle Octopus all over Luca, my dress, and our table."

"It was actually my newly completed sample dress that I agreed to lend her because she promised that she would bring it back in pristine condition," Rosie piped up.

Rosalia has been designing and selling her own line of apparel, 'Gypsy Rose', for nearly five years now. She started making her own clothes when she was 14, and soon after, her friends were asking her to design clothes for them as well. From there, her following exploded. Her first online show sold out within hours. These days, she does pop-up shops in locations around the country to promote her sales and is making a tidy profit on each and every piece she sells. Pretty good for a kid that just scraped by at school.

"Fine, Rosie, your sample dress!"

"The stains are never going to come out."

"Shush, Rosie. The adults are trying to talk."

"It's ruined."

Ginny claps her hands at the screen to get our attention. "Rosie? Shush. Olive? Continue."

"So I ran."

My sister sticks her face in front of the camera again. "Olive arrived at our doorstep still covered in vomit. She smelled awful!"

"Shut up, Rosie."

"But, Liv, you guys are the most solid couple I know. At least you were, up to about thirty seconds ago."

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