by Rich Amooi
Eleonora pointed a finger at Natalie. “Don’t sell yourself short. I’m a good judge of character and I can see you’ve got what it takes to be with him.”
“I had considered it until you came along.”
Eleonora cocked her head to the side. “What do you mean?”
“I think it’s time I played for the other team.”
Huh? Was she really going there?
Giovanni was slapped in the head with that one. He wanted to laugh. His lips quivered, trying to hold it in.
Eleonora eyed Natalie for a moment and then took a step back. “I’m not sure I understand what you mean.”
“Oh, I think you do.”
Eleonora fidgeted with her sleeve. “I…need to get back. The food must be getting cold.”
Natalie rubbed the side of Eleonora’s arm. “It was such a pleasure seeing you. I mean, really.”
And just like that Eleonora was gone.
Natalie and Giovanni shared a laugh together
Giovanni bowed to her. “You are amazing.”
“Thank you. That was fun.”
“Yeah.”
Natalie stared at his lips and then shook her head like she had water in her ear. “I need to get back.”
“Of course. But tell me something…”
She bit her lower lip. Giovanni loved when she did that.
“If you were single right now, which I know you’re not... But if you were…would you go out with me?”
Natalie didn’t answer. She turned a nice shade of pink and bit her lower lip again. “Let’s not do this. I should go. We need to talk about the wedding music soon, okay?”
“Yes, we do. As well as other things more personal.”
She turned and ran straight into the chest of Jacks. He did not look happy either.
“Where have you been?” said Jacks. “The appetizers have been sitting on the table.” He gave Giovanni the evil eye. “What is he doing here?”
“Hi Jacks.” Giovanni held out his hand and Jacks left him hanging there.
Dick.
Giovanni had a cruel thought. Jacks could shake his hand, get his poison oak, go home, jerk off, and then get the poison oak on his—
“Never mind,” said Jacks. He took Natalie by the hand and practically dragged her back to her table. As she walked away she glanced back at Giovanni and smiled.
What did she mean by that smile?
He wasn’t sure, but he would never complain about a smile like that.
When Giovanni arrived back to the booth Stevie, Danny, and his mom were holding up shot glasses of Ouzo. Alfonso just sat back and watched since he didn’t drink.
“Opa!” they all yelled and slammed their shots. Without him.
Giovanni raised his palms in the air. “I guess it’s not necessary for the man of honor to be here for the celebration?”
“You snoozo, no Ouzo!” said Stevie.
Giovanni and Alfonso were the only ones not laughing.
He glanced back at Natalie. For someone who was getting married she sure had a long face. She sat there with her chin on her hands as Jacks talked on his cell phone.
Eleonora and Alfonso got out of the booth and let Giovanni slide back in. He popped the last piece of spanakopita in his mouth. As Stevie went on and on about Michael Jackson and his theory of why he only wore one glove, Giovanni pulled out his cell phone and held it in his hand under the table for a moment.
He had the urge to text Natalie.
To say something that would make her laugh, smile, or at least cheer her up a little. Maybe she didn’t have her phone with her or maybe she wouldn’t see the text until she got home. That was okay. If she didn’t get it now, she would get it later. He cared about her and wanted her to feel better.
He also wanted to flirt with her.
He glanced down at his phone and texted Natalie:
I get a kick out of you.
He pressed send and looked up to see if she would make a move for the purse to get her phone. She stared at Jacks who was still talking on his cell. What was with that guy? Could he not see that amazing creature in front of him?
Come on, get your phone.
Maybe it was too noisy in the restaurant for her to hear the phone. He continued to watch her. Finally she turned to her side and grabbed her purse from the other chair.
Yes! We have lift off!
She pulled out the phone and read it. She paused, met his gaze, and then dropped her head down. Was she responding to him? Giovanni couldn’t see her fingers moving since they were under her table.
Reply! You can do it! Say something!
A few seconds later Giovanni’s phone vibrated. Natalie had responded.
Don’t make me come over there and demonstrate.
Giovanni laughed.
Danny, Stevie, Eleonora, and Alfonso stopped talking and looked in his direction.
“You know you sound like a dolphin sometimes when you laugh?” said Stevie.
“Why did you do that?” said Giovanni.
“What?”
“Talk about animals, that’s what. You trying to get Danny going?” He pointed to Danny and said, “Please don’t tell us about dolphins and their mating habits. I can see the wheels turning in your head. Just shut the engine down.”
Danny ignored him. “Dolphins sleep with one eye open and have retractable penises.”
“Here we go again…”
“And ravenous sexual appetites. They have no problem humping inanimate objects.”
Stevie slapped Giovanni on the back. “You must be part dolphin!”
Once again everyone was laughing at the table but Giovanni. He got distracted when the food arrived. He took a couple of bites of his moussaka and took a peek at Natalie who was now eating. And her loser of the year fiancé was still on the phone. Giovanni typed another text to Natalie.
You look bored.
A few seconds later he got a text.
Out of my skull.
He quickly typed another message to her:
Meet me by the bathrooms again.
A few seconds later.
No way.
No way? He wasn’t expecting that answer. He was probably just as bored as she was and was hoping for another fun rendezvous with that spunky, beautiful cop. He loved Stevie and Danny, but they didn’t act like themselves when they were in the presence of Eleonora. Not the greatest birthday celebration in the world, really. But he wasn’t going to take no for an answer from Natalie.
Giovanni tapped the side of his mother’s leg. “Let me out again.”
Alfonso and Eleonora slid out of the booth, followed by Giovanni.
Eleonora eyed him suspiciously. “You just went to the bathroom.”
Giovanni faked a smile. “You know I have to pee more than usual when I get excited.”
He walked in the direction of the bathrooms and stood behind the statue of Discobolus again. Giovanni knew his body could be seen from Natalie’s side, but his head was completely hidden by the discus in Discobolus’ hand. He slowly peeked from around the discus and discovered Natalie staring straight at him.
She gave him a what-the-hell-are-you-doing look.
He pointed his head in the direction of the bathrooms a couple of times and she mouthed the word “no” to him.
Giovanni mouthed the word “yes” to her.
He didn’t wait for a response this time. He slid to the side and took a few more steps until he was standing in between the men’s and women’s restrooms in front of a giant hanging canvas depicting The Parthenon.
What was he going to say to her this time? He had no clue. In fact, he had no idea what the hell he was doing. All he knew was that a force was moving him to be closer to Natalie. How could he have feelings for a woman so quickly?
Again…no clue.
He paced back and forth in front of The Parthenon. Surely she was going to join him there. She knew he was waiting, so what was taking her so long? He pulled out his phone and texted her:<
br />
Chicken.
Fifteen seconds later Natalie walked toward him.
She stopped and stood there with her hands on her hips. “Chicken? Ha!”
He smiled. “Well…you proved me wrong.”
“This is crazy.”
He couldn’t argue with that, but his friends and his own mother accused him of having no balls. Time to make some changes. He liked her. A lot.
He moved a step closer to her. “I just wanted to ask you something.”
“You were doing pretty well with the texting earlier. Why the face-to-face?”
“I like your face.”
She bit her bottom lip.
“And the rest of you.”
“Okay.”
“So, let me ask you. Is this thing you have with Jacks, this relationship, what you want for the rest of your life?”
She let out a deep breath. “Why are you here? And why are you doing this to me?”
“What?”
“Putting doubts in my head.”
So she had doubts. Not a surprise, but he had nothing to do with them.
“I’m not putting doubts in your head. They were there before I ever came along. And the reason I am here is because it’s my birthday and my friends wanted to take me out to celebrate. Do you think it’s a coincidence that you showed up at the same restaurant?”
“So you think we were supposed to see each other tonight?”
He nodded.
“I wish I would have known it was your birthday,—it would have been the perfect excuse not to be here with Jacks and his phone.”
“Well, if I had invited you and you had accepted you still would be here. But the reason why I didn’t invite you is I didn’t know my friends were planning a surprise party for me.”
She smiled and shrugged. “Happy birthday.” She stepped forward and hugged him and held on longer than he thought she would. And he had no problem with that. And why did she always have to smell so good? The name of her perfume had to be Drive Giovanni Crazy.
Damn, she felt good too.
He wasn’t sure if that was her heart or his that was banging like that. Maybe it was both.
Natalie kissed him on the cheek.
He so wanted to move his mouth over a little so their lips connected. He knew there would be fireworks if he did. He knew she felt something for him. It was obvious.
But was it enough for her to cancel her wedding?
She pulled away. “You’re driving me crazy.”
Giovanni grinned. “I was about to accuse you of the same thing.”
Natalie sighed. “What am I doing?” She shook her head. “This is wrong. And it has to stop.”
Then she turned and walked away.
Chapter Fifteen
Giovanni drove through the gates of Thousand Castles Winery and parked. He was running late, but hopefully everyone was too busy with wedding-related things to notice.
He felt conflicted playing music for a wedding he did not believe in. Natalie didn’t belong with Jacks.
She belongs with me.
Still there was no way he would cancel playing for the ceremony. Federico was a good friend and his granddaughter was possibly the woman of Giovanni's dreams. At least he could see Natalie one more time before she walked the plank.
He grabbed his guitar from the back seat, closed the car door, and walked by Jacks’ car in the parking lot. The Camaro occupied two parking spaces.
Why do people do that?
He continued toward the ceremony area deep in thought. Would he say something to Natalie? And if so, what would it be? He certainly wouldn’t have any privacy with her. Federico would be there and many others. Including Jacks.
The first person Giovanni saw was Federico.
“Giovanni,” said Federico. “Natalie is looking for you. Are you ready to play music for the most beautiful granddaughter in the world?”
“I’m looking forward to it,” Giovanni lied.
“Great!”
It was like Federico never had a bad day—he was amazing. How could a person stay so positive all the time? Especially when his granddaughter was going to marry someone who was not meant for her.
Giovanni rubbed the back of his neck. “Can I ask you something?”
“Of course.”
“I think you and I both know this marriage is not a good thing. Why don’t you do something?”
Federico nodded. “Ahh. Well…” He smiled. “I guess I could ask you the same question, now couldn’t I?”
Giovanni didn’t answer.
Federico put his hand on Giovanni’s shoulder. “Things always have a way of working out. She will have her happy ending just like I did. Excuse me—I need to get my glasses from the car so I can see!”
“Of course.”
The guy was amazing.
Hopefully Natalie had some of that good energy that Federico had and was calm and peaceful.
Maybe she wouldn’t even notice the time!
“Finally!” said Natalie. “You trying to drive me crazy?”
So much for hoping.
“I’m very sorry,” said Giovanni. “I’m ready to go.”
“Jacks is in the bathroom and my grandfather just went to get his glasses, so we’ll start in a moment. This is Rebecca, my matron of honor.”
Giovanni smiled at Rebecca. “Natalie was pretty hammered that night so it’s understandable she forgot we’ve already met. She doesn’t even remember she kissed me.”
Rebecca’s mouth hung open. “She never said anything to me about kissing you!”
Natalie smacked Giovanni on the arm and looked toward the restroom. “Shh! This is not the time for that. You trying to get me to go Zilla on you?”
Giovanni laughed. “No. That would be scary.”
Natalie turned to Rebecca. “The wedding coordinator is giving me the evil eye. Can you go see what she wants?”
Rebecca glanced over to the wedding coordinator, then back to Natalie. “Fine. But we need to talk about that kiss later.”
Rebecca walked away and Giovanni leaned into Natalie. “You still sure you want to go through with this? You could marry me instead.”
“Don’t start. Not now. Stress gives me pimples and I will kill you if I have a pimple on my wedding day. Do you want to die?”
“Not particularly.”
She was so cute when she was nervous. His gaze dropped to her feet. She was barefoot for some reason. Her toenails were painted purple this time. Not a surprise.
Giovanni pointed to her feet. “Cute toes.”
“Thank you. And quit being nice. The shoes were killing me.”
Giovanni nodded. “There was a movie around five years ago—I think it was with Jennifer Aniston.”
Natalie crossed her arms. “We’re talking about movies now?”
“He’s Just Not That Into You. That was the name of it, I think. Do you remember that movie?”
“I remember it but I didn’t see it. What’s your point?”
“Well, I didn’t see it either. But my point is…you are living that movie. You are going to marry a man who’s just not that into you. And I don’t think you’re into him that much either.”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“I’m pretty sure I do. Can’t you see there’s no passion in your relationship? Does he know your favorite color is purple or that you bite your lower lip when you’re nervous?”
She bit her lower lip. “I—”
“I doubt it. He may be some big time lawyer, but he doesn’t notice the little details in your relationship. Does he know that we both have poison oak on the same hand and that we got it when we went on a hike together?”
“Uh…”
“No. He doesn’t. And if he did find out he wouldn’t care! I’ll tell you what, if I found out my fiancée went on a hike with another man and didn’t tell me I would go ballistic. And Jacks wouldn’t.”
“I wouldn’t what?” asked Jacks.
&n
bsp; “Nothing,” said Natalie.
Giovanni held out the top of his red, irritated hand so Jacks could see it. “I was asking Natalie if you would recognize that I had poison oak on my hand.”
Jacks leaned in to get a better look at his hand. “That’s poison oak?”
“Yes. And Natalie has it too. On the same hand.”
Jacks turned to look at her hand. “Is that right?”
Natalie nodded and held out her hand but didn’t answer.
“How did you both get poison oak?”
“Natalie and I went on a hike the other night,” said Giovanni. “Just the two of us.”
Natalie moved her hand behind her back. “You were working late that night. Remember?”
Jacks shook his finger at Natalie. “I’m really disappointed with you.”
“You are?”
“Of course. You need to put something on that hand. That’s contagious. And I could get it too!” He waved to get the attention of the wedding coordinator. “Okay, let’s get rolling so we’re not late for dinner.”
Giovanni leaned into Natalie. “Told you.”
Natalie didn’t answer.
Everyone took their places for the ceremony. Giovanni sat down in the chair, made a few adjustments to the guitar, and waited for the coordinator’s cue. Natalie peeked over at Giovanni and quickly looked away.
Smooth. She was a good cop but could never be a spy.
Giovanni took a deep breath and admired the view of the valley. It was a gorgeous day, but he could see some clouds moving in slowly. Was there a storm on the way? Maybe that would be the sign that her marriage would be doomed. Rain on her wedding day. Oh, who was he kidding? He wasn’t superstitious like that.
The pastor stood just a few feet away at the altar with Jacks.
A few minutes later the wedding coordinator gave Giovanni the hand signal and he started playing. He watched as the bridal party walked down the aisle. Then Natalie approached, escorted by Federico.
Beautiful Natalie.
The woman was getting married but couldn’t summon enough energy to put a smile on her face?
That’s a red flag! I should know! I’m the king of red flags!
