Chapter 24
24
Back at the resort, chilling by the pool, I wonder what was said in the office after Rick, Beppe, and Andrea went off alone. I want to ask Andrea, but I haven’t had a chance, not with us sharing a car with some of the others, and Rick commanding Andrea’s attention ever since we arrived back.
We’re all sitting around the pool, soaking up the sun. The pool area is so swanky, a total paradise with tall palm trees swaying gently in the breeze, casting dappled shadows over the sun loungers where we are hanging out. Right in the middle of the area is the huge, sparkling blue pool, its waters shimmering invitingly under the bright sunlight.
The sun loungers laid out around it, each with fluffy towels draped over them, are mostly taken. Andrea is over with Rick, having a ‘private’ chat, and I’m stuck in the seat right next to Liz, with nowhere to go.
James is definitely showing off, repeatedly jumping off the diving board, doing all sorts of different moves as he jumps, each one more daring than the last. He flips, twists, and dives like a pro… However, I’m pretty sure he’s only doing it to try to impress me, because he keeps looking over to see if I’m watching, so I’m doing everything in my power to make it seem like I’m not noticing what he’s doing and, even if I do happen to glance that way, I don’t care. I can tell it’s driving him crazy.
‘Come on then, Robin, what’s your big idea for Come a Casa?’ Liz asks, her tone almost reluctant, but her curiosity is clearly getting the better of her.
I smile diplomatically, not quite ready to reveal my hand just yet.
‘Oh, you know me, I’m still figuring out the details,’ I reply casually.
Liz raises an eyebrow, clearly not satisfied with my vague response. I think she can tell that I’m holding something back.
‘Come on, Robin, spill it. You know I won’t steal your idea,’ she presses, leaning in closer. I mean, it hadn’t crossed my mind, until she just said it. Still, I’m not telling her. No way.
‘I’ll let you know once it’s more polished,’ I say, deflecting again, hoping she’ll drop the subject.
‘Well, you better hurry up,’ she warns me. ‘James and I have been working on something pretty amazing, and it’s going to blow anything you come up with out of the water.’
Oh, so she and James are working together, are they?
I suppress a sigh, refusing to let her get under my skin.
‘That’s great, Liz,’ I reply, making myself more comfortable on my sun lounger. ‘I’m sure you and James make a great team.’
Liz seems even more annoyed than she did before. But strangely, her stress only seems to make me feel calmer. I know I have a strong idea – based on what Andrea has been advising me, and what I saw at Come a Casa HQ today – so, for once, I actually feel like I have a good chance of coming out on top. I might really be able to win this one.
‘Dinner, tonight,’ Rick barks at me as he heads off, his authoritative tone pissing all over the otherwise relaxed atmosphere. ‘Just you, Robin. And Andrea, of course.’
I glance over at Liz out of the corner of my eye, and her reaction is priceless. She looks like she’s about to burst, her eyes look wide and crazy, and her face is turning redder by the second. If she jumps in the pool right now, she’ll sizzle and smoke – which is funny, because if that were to happen, it would also prove she was a witch.
Before Liz can even pick up her jaw from the floor, Andrea appears beside me.
‘Okay, Robin, let’s go get ready,’ he suggests.
‘You’ve got ages before dinner, surely,’ Liz points out, her voice tinged with scepticism – and she’s sticking her nose where it doesn’t belong, which annoys me.
‘We’re going to make mad, passionate love,’ I clap back, with a playful grin and a cheeky wink.
This seems to really catch Liz off guard, and she falls silent, speechless for maybe the first time in her life.
Okay, I know that was petty, but it felt so good.
With a satisfied smile, I turn to Andrea, take him by the hand, and lead him away in the direction of my apartment.
As soon as we’re out of earshot from the rest of the group, I lean in towards Andrea, ready for him to spill the tea.
‘Okay, I’m dying to know, what was Beppe saying?’ I ask, unable to contain my eagerness. ‘And Rick, has he said anything worth knowing?’
Andrea’s expression becomes more serious – something I’m not used to seeing.
‘Listen, Robin, you have to keep this a secret, okay?’ he begins. ‘Because Rick asked me not to tell you.’
‘But I’m your fiancée,’ I blurt, feeling a twinge of hurt at being left out of the loop – and obviously Andrea would tell his fiancée everything, if this were real, right?
‘And I am telling you,’ Andrea replies with a chuckle, his eyes softening. ‘Listen, winning this pitch for Beppe, it’s about so much more than just having the best idea. Beppe wants someone here, to work in the office, to oversee it all from this side until it’s all up and running. It sounds like there is a pay increase, and there’s accommodation here, and it’s going to be you, or one of you colleagues, who Beppe chooses from. If this is something you want, you need to really show Beppe that you’re the one who deserves it.’
I’m left speechless, my mind racing at the thought of working here in Bari, instead of being stuck in Manchester all the time. My imagination is running away with me – too fast for me to even take in what I’m thinking, but I know that I want this.
‘Thanks for the insider intel,’ I say sincerely. ‘I won’t say a word. Is the dinner tonight anything to do with work?’
‘Not really,’ Andrea answers, shaking his head. ‘I think Rick is trying to impress Beppe, treating him to dinner, and he needs me there to translate. I asked if you could come too. This is your chance to show Beppe how great you are, and that you’re the right person for the job.’
The way Andrea supports me, and believes in me, means so much to me. It’s so nice that he always has my back – whether it’s rooting for me with work, or getting me off a drug charge.
‘Was Beppe livid that you messed with his sauce?’ I dare to ask. ‘I don’t think he was expecting that.’
Andrea laughs.
‘It was okay,’ he replies. ‘He asked me what I did, why I did it – and then he complimented me, on my flavours. When he found out about my job he was really interested. He wants to talk more, to see if I’ll maybe try his products, see if I can suggest any more changes. I told him about my job offer, to go and work in LA for a while, though, so who knows?’
‘Oh, well, if you get some work out of this, even better then, right?’ I reply. ‘Or is the plan to move to LA soon?’
Andrea shrugs casually.
‘I don’t know what to do. It’s a great opportunity, in a beautiful place, and the work sounds like something I will really enjoy – my dream job, basically. But it will be so hard to be so far from my family, especially my nonna .’
Andrea’s expression changes all of a sudden.
‘Robin, my family don’t know anything about this yet,’ he says quickly. ‘So, if we can please keep it a secret, until I know what I’m doing? I need to tell them properly.’
‘Oh, of course,’ I reply, hopefully making it clear that I mean it.
‘We Italians, we are so dramatic,’ he explains with an amused snort. ‘If anyone found out anything this week, I would ruin the wedding, ruin Nonna’s birthday, ruin everyone’s lives…’
I laugh.
‘With Come a Casa, if I help Beppe – if his ready-made meals are too good – it will put chefs out of business, so I need to be careful,’ Andrea says with a laugh, changing the subject.
I’m pretty sure he’s joking – or half-joking, at least. I suppose that’s a good point – when you think of Italian food, you think of fresh ingredients, saucepans bubbling away on a stove, simmering for hours to make the perfect sauce – something that Andrea tells me will taste different in every household, because most families have their recipes that are handed down from generation to generation. You certainly don’t think of ready meals, jars of premade sauce, and things like that. Then again, if you had a chef like Andrea coming up with amazing recipes for you, bringing that usually hard-earned home cooking into the homes of people who want something delicious, and authentic, but don’t have the time to do so, well, surely that’s a genuine recipe for success? After what I tasted earlier (and his winning bruschetta that I tried at his parents’ restaurant), I’m pretty sure I would buy anything that he made now.
‘Okay, let’s go get ready,’ I say excitedly, now I know that there is something seriously good to play for.
God, I want this job. I don’t just want it, I need it. This could be the thing that I’ve been craving, the shake-up that my life deserves. A change of pace, a change of scenery and, no offence to Manchester, but what a scenery upgrade it would be. Back home, if I fancy a sunny day at the beach, I have to wait for those one or two weeks of the year where we actually get nice weather, then head over to Blackpool and hope it isn’t rammed – and it absolutely always is, because we Brits have to chase that sun while it’s there. Blackpool or Bari? There’s no contest, is there? Ta-ra Lancashire, ciao Puglia.
‘That’s not what you told Liz we were going to do,’ Andrea reminds me with a wink.
I chuckle, knowing exactly what he’s referring to.
‘I did say that, didn’t I?’ I reply with a grin. ‘I think she’s in the apartment below us so, if we hear her down there, we’ll just have to bang on the floor.’
Andrea smirks and sniggers.
‘Okay, your English is too good, I’m going to have to watch what I say around you,’ I say with a laugh. ‘I mean, like, make noise. Not… that.’
‘I know, I know,’ Andrea reassures me with a gentle laugh. ‘Let’s see if we can get you the job first. Then see how you feel.’
His easy confidence is so contagious, and so charming. I laugh along with him – in fact, I never seem to stop smiling when I’m around him.
Okay, so I don’t plan on making it up to him like that (not that I’m – in theory – totally against the concept of banging him on the floor), but I do hope that by going to the wedding with him, I’m giving him something as invaluable as what he is giving me.
And, who knows, perhaps if I do get the job and end up working here even for a while, then at least we can be friends, briefly, before he jets off to LA… I don’t know when that will be but I get the feeling that it is soon.
I feel… things, about the idea of Andrea moving to America. I’m not sure what, or if I have any right to, but, oh, I don’t know. I can’t think about that now.
My mind is running away from me. I need to actually get the job first. Here’s hoping tonight helps.