Chapter 3 Aurelia
Aurelia
I got ready for the day and prepared to head to Osteria Rita with Constantine to visit his mother.
He threw on a T-shirt and jeans before he put on his shoes. Despite the heat, he didn’t wear shorts. I’d never seen him in shorts since I’d met him. When we walked into the main living room, Medusa hurried over to him in her walker, wagging her tail like her typical happy self.
Constantine kneeled down and gave her a rubdown and kissed her on the head. “Sheila will be here in a couple minutes, baby girl.” He stood upright again and looked at me. “Ready, sweetheart?”
“Yeah.” I liked how we each had our own nicknames. And instead of being jealous of how much attention he gave a dog, it actually made me fall for him even more. “Actually, no. Um . . .”
He turned to give me his full focus. “What’s up?”
“I don’t want to make this weird . . . and I feel bad for even bringing it up—”
“Don’t do that.”
“Do what?”
“Drag your feet, prep me for bad news, draw things out. Just deliver the information to me. I promise I can handle whatever you’re about to say.” He said it all calmly, despite the fact that he’d just cut me off to rush me.
“I’m afraid I’m going to make you mad.”
“The only thing that would make me angry is if you fucked some other guy, and I know that didn’t happen, so just tell me.”
“Um, okay,” I said. “Does Isabella know you’re living here? I hate to bring her up, but I’m worried working at the restaurant might upset her or something. I just have a feeling we’re going to run into her sometimes, and . . . maybe you should give her a heads-up.”
As he’d said, he didn’t get angry at the mention of her.
“I’m in a relationship with you, not her, so her feelings are not my concern.
Honestly, I haven’t thought about her once since we got here.
Been too occupied with you and Medusa and all the shit that just happened.
But word travels fast in this small village, and I’m sure she’s heard the news by now.
Her mom and my mom are still best friends. ”
I remembered that argument they’d had on the terrace.
I should have been angry that she wanted the man I loved, but I felt no resentment toward her at all.
And if she still went after him while we were here, I didn’t think I could even be angry about it.
Maybe it was because Constantine made me feel so secure.
He’d made me feel that way since the day we met, something Enzo had never done.
Or maybe it was because I really did feel bad for her.
“Well, do you think this is a good idea—”
“We’re not revolving our lives around her feelings. Period.” He turned away from me. “Come on, let’s go. My mom is always fifteen minutes early, so even if we get there on time, we’ll be late.”
When we arrived at Osteria Rita, there was a line out the door, but Constantine walked past everyone and up the stairs like he knew his mother was already seated inside.
Then he stepped aside and waited for me to come to his side before he took my hand and walked me around the corner to the other side of the restaurant.
When a waiter passed, he smiled at Constantine and gave him a playful bump in the arm.
His mother was already seated with someone, a man dressed in a T-shirt with the restaurant logo on it, along with dark jeans. He didn’t look like a waiter or one of the cooks in the kitchen, so he might have been the manager or the owner. And they were chatting away like they were well acquainted.
His mother’s eyes shifted to us and lit up like Christmas morning. “Con is here.”
“Dario.” Constantine smiled as he embraced the guy with one of those hand grabs that guys did. “It’s been a while. Looks like business is good.”
“It’s too good,” he said with a laugh. “Seems like I’ll never have a day off as long as I live.”
“Dario.” Constantine introduced me. “This is my woman, Aurelia.”
I noticed he didn’t use girlfriend. I couldn’t picture him saying something teenagers said. “Nice to meet you, Dario.” I shook his hand.
Constantine pulled a chair out for me and got me seated before he took the last unoccupied chair at the four-seater table.
Dario and Constantine’s mother finished up their talk, and then he headed back to the kitchen.
His mother gave her full focus to me. “Oh honey, it’s so nice to see you.
” She was the one who got out of her chair and came all the way over to give me a hug when I should have been the one to go to her.
She hugged me and smothered me like a child, then pulled back to look at me.
“You’re so beautiful. Every time I see you, you get more and more beautiful. ”
“Aww, thank you.” She was so damn nice to me.
She went back to her seat, beamed at her son, and then held his hand on the table. “This is so nice. Having you both here. I swear the sun shines brighter on Taormina these days. At least, it does to me.”
Constantine smiled, but it was restrained, the kind that didn’t reach his eyes.
I noticed it, and I wondered if she knew her son well enough to notice too.
“How’s Medusa?” she asked.
“She’s a lot better,” Constantine said. “Got her a walker so she’s able to zoom around the house again. That really picked up her mood.”
“Yeah,” I said. “She was pretty sad for a while there.”
“There’s nothing worse than losing your independence,” she said. “Especially for someone like Medusa, whose entire purpose is serving others. How long is the recovery?”
“At least four weeks,” Constantine said. “So we have a little over two weeks to go before she can put weight on it.”
Sofia patted her son’s hand. “She’s lucky to have you, Con.”
His eyes shifted away like he didn’t deserve the praise, even though he’d taken a bullet for her.
No other man would have done the same.
“Okay, let’s eat.” She pulled her hand away and clapped them together. “It’s a treat not to be the one in the kitchen.”
The waiter came over, and Sofia ordered a bottle of wine for the table without asking what we wanted, something that Constantine did himself. She ordered an appetizer too, bruschetta with ripe tomatoes and torn basil leaves.
Sofia turned her attention back to us. “So, how have you liked being back in Taormina?”
“It’s been great,” Constantine said. “Been seeing the boys a lot. Love eating at my favorite spots. Aurelia has been at Bam Bar nearly every morning.” He shifted his gaze to me and gave me a playful smile.
“Guilty,” I said with a shrug.
“I love that place too,” Sofia said. “I’d go there more often if I weren’t working all the time.”
“Speaking of work . . .” Constantine said. “Aurelia lost all her clients when we left Rome. I told her I would help her pick up accounts with the hotels nearby, but she said she wanted to take a break.”
“Good,” Sofia said. “Don’t work too much like me.
” She smiled at me across the table, looking so different from Constantine that I had to assume he mostly took after his father.
But he definitely had her hair, thick, luscious, and dark.
She had an inherent sparkle to her eyes, beautiful full Italian lips.
I could tell she would have been a total bombshell when she was my age.
No wonder she gave birth to such beautiful children.
“You don’t need to work when my son can take care of you. ”
Any other mother would probably worry I was taking advantage of his wealth and being lazy when I wasn’t even his wife, but not her. She was so accepting of everyone. The kindest soul I’d ever met.
“Actually, Aurelia wanted to know if you needed another hand at one of the restaurants,” Constantine said.
“Really?” she blurted. “Why?” She looked to me for an answer.
“I just thought it would be nice to spend time with you and the rest of Constantine’s family—and to have a purpose.
I burned myself out on the photography gig toward the end.
Hours and hours I’ve spent sitting at a desk, editing photos, and I just want a break.
Something that keeps me on my feet.” Since I was mostly on my ass .
. . or my back. “You don’t have to pay me or anything. ”
She still seemed surprised by the request. “Never heard someone ask to work for free.” She released a quiet chuckle. “But of course you’re welcome to help out. Do you have any restaurant experience?”
“No, not really.”
“Oh, that’s okay,” she said as she gave a wave of her hand. “Waitressing is straightforward, and I’m sure you’ll pick up quickly in the kitchen.”
“Ma, if this doesn’t work for you, please don’t feel obligated to accommodate us,” Constantine said. “The last thing we want is to inconvenience you.”
“It’s no inconvenience,” she said quickly. “If Aurelia wants to learn the ropes, I’ll be happy to show her. Besides, a pretty waitress always brings in more business, so . . .”
The next day, I headed to Rosticceria Da Cristina alone, and I was greeted by Constantine’s cousin Antonio.
“Hey, Aurelia.” He was warm like his cousin, giving me a big smile and making me feel welcome whenever we were in the same room together.
Probably out of loyalty to Constantine, he accepted me without question.
“Hey, Antonio. Are you the one showing me the ropes?”
“Yeah, if you’re up for it. Pizza and arancini can be a stressful gig.” He smiled to tell me he was joking, then nodded for me to join him in the kitchen. “Just shadow me for the day, and tomorrow, you’ll get your hands dirty.”
“Sounds good.”
“Aunt Sofia said you can help prep in the morning and then work the lunch shift next door.”
“Works for me.” I followed him around for the day, watched him prep the pizza dough as the first task to give it time to rise in the dark pantry.
Then he prepared the tomatoes and the ingredients for the sauce for the arancini.
There were other kitchens in the back, so other people were working as well, probably on different things. “How long have you worked here?”