14. Wednesday, June 13, 2012
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 13, 2012
T he next week stole by in a flurry of activity. William came over every evening he could, always bringing Diego. Every night after dinner, William schooled Robert and Paige on the basics of guitar, and then Paige schooled William on the basics of her Playstation.
Julia urgently needed to woo new clients – ones with deep enough pockets to replace Lars and Meg’s. Luckily, she had two free and eager sources of child labor to exploit. In the evenings after dinner, Xavier walked the three blocks to their house with his laptop, where he and Paige were more than happy to design new graphics, flyers, and posters for Julia’s business. And over the weekend, Julia chaperoned them to her Aunt Brigid’s studio, where they printed the posters they had designed.
It was summer vacation, so on weekdays, Paige accompanied Julia to the aquarium shop. Together they restocked shelves, counted inventory, and chatted with Mitch and José, the gray-haired couple who dropped by every week to reminisce about Rob and Tim. When they came in, Paige always found some excuse to linger and eavesdrop. It tugged at Julia’s heartstrings, knowing that Paige was curious about the two men who practically raised her.
Wednesday evening, during a lull in conversation at the dinner table, Julia’s father t ook a hefty gulp of Cinsaut, then drew a deep breath and released it slowly. Her mother, meanwhile, sat right beside him, a reassuring hand on his shoulder. The tension Julia had witnessed between them in recent weeks seemed to have subsided.
“I wanted to tell you all,” her father began, pinning his flat stare on each person at the table, “that after giving it some thought, I’ve come to realize Karen was right.”
Julia’s eyes widened. Without meaning to, she exchanged incredulous glances with William. That might have been the first time she could ever remember her father admitting out loud that he had been wrong and someone else had been right. Too bad no one besides Julia’s mother seemed to know what he was talking about.
“Right about what, Dad?” Julia prompted.
“That I don’t want to sink this restaurant I worked so hard to build, or see its name – my name – become a laughingstock,” her father continued. Then he paused to consider a moment, frowning. “I guess it’s too late for that last part. But all the more reason to concede it’s time to hand over the reins.”
“You mean sell the restaurant?” asked William.
Paul shook his head. “I’d still be the owner, at least for now, but I’d bring on new blood, like you said. A new head chef. And… I guess we’ll have to change the restaurant’s name.”
While Julia’s mother hid her knowing smirk behind her wineglass, William offered Julia’s father a sympathetic look. He seemed to understand, as well as Julia did, just how excruciating this was for him.
“I don’t suppose you have any suggestions?” her father asked William.
“Suggestions?”
Her father waved his hand impatiently. “The new chef. Do you know anyone?”
For a moment, William looked like a deer in the headlights. Then he shot Julia an uneasy look before saying in a low voice, “Marisa.”
To Julia’s consternation, her mother winced at her before quickly looking away. Her father shifted awkwardly in his seat. “Marisa?” he echoed.
William nodded slowly. “Marisa Zunino. ”
“I know who you mean, William. I’m just not sold on the idea.”
“She’s the obvious choice,” William persisted. “She’s a known quantity. After she left Dunphy’s, she worked her way up in some of the best kitchens in America, and now she’s the head chef at Zeneize. You must have heard how she turned that place around.”
Julia’s father still said nothing; he just held William’s gaze with a skeptical expression. Or was it a wary expression?
Her mother, on the other hand, was trying a little too hard to avoid looking at Julia.
After several uncomfortable seconds, William’s face reddened a bit. “I don’t work at Dunphy’s anymore, Paul.”
Utterly bewildered, Julia glanced back and forth between the two men, searching for clues. Finally, her father said, “Can you put me in touch with her?”
William shook his head. “Just call Zeneize.”
With a sinking feeling, it finally dawned on Julia. Clearing her throat, she excused herself under the pretense of going to the bathroom. William watched her go with an almost hangdog look.
In the bathroom, Julia retrieved her cell phone from her pocket and sat down on the toilet seat lid. Opening a browser window, she started typing.
Boom .
Marisa Zunino. With pages and pages dedicated to her on the internet, all emblazoned with superlatives like “rising star” and “culinary goddess.” Breathless reviews from smitten food critics with overwrought headlines like “Zesty Zuppa with Zeneize’s Zunino.”
She tapped the Images tab on the search results.
Marisa Zunino. Tall, with long, sleek, dark hair and large, dark doe eyes. The facial bone structure and pouty mouth of a supermodel, with the body and the luminous complexion to match.
Marisa Zunino. The same bombshell who, six years ago, dropped a bombshell on Julia at MacGowan’s. Who warned her not to let William get her pregnant because he wasn’t the marrying type, then vanished back into the nowhere she came from.
The same woman who marked the beginning of the end for Julia and William back in 2006 .
Julia closed the browser and locked her cell phone. Tried to catch her breath and gather her wits about her.
She thought she had left the past firmly behind. Thought she had long since reconciled herself to the less-savory aspects of William’s history.
So why did this new revelation twist itself like a dagger in her heart, all over again?
Surely it couldn’t matter anymore that he had past relationships. Many relationships, in fact. Of course a brilliant, sweet, sexy man like William would have no trouble getting laid. Even with drop-dead-gorgeous hotties like Marisa Zunino.
Marisa Zunino. The acclaimed head chef of a highly-reviewed, sought-after dining experience in the Mission District, one of the trendiest neighborhoods of San Francisco. William’s neighborhood.
Julia sprang from the toilet seat lid to inspect herself in the mirror. Surprise, surprise – staring back at her was the same oblong, freckled face as ever. The same too-small gray-green eyes; the same slight overbite that even the most expensive orthodontists in San Francisco had been powerless to remedy. The same B-cup boobs, and the same three gray hairs, which she promptly ripped from her scalp.
She turned sideways to appraise her best feature – her cute, round, perky butt that William had always relished so thoroughly. Even that didn’t offer its usual consolation. After a conquest like Marisa Zunino, what appeal could Julia possibly have?
Julia hid in the bathroom as long as she dared, until she feared her mother would assemble a search party. When she finally emerged, her parents and William still discussed the inevitable improvements Marisa could bring to Dunphy’s. As she rounded the corner into the dining room, the conversation at the table stopped short, and everyone turned to stare. Julia's eyes zeroed in on William’s somber ones, peering at her. Waiting for her next move.
Without a word, she retreated downstairs, through the in-law unit, and out to the back patio.
She pulled up a seat at the patio table. Took several breaths of fresh air, and listened to the gentle peal of her mother’s wind chimes. Watched the pinwheels in the garden do their hypnotic thing .
Marisa Zunino. Jesus, even her name sounded infinitely more alluring.
After a while, the patio door scraped open. William’s eyes snagged on her with that same somber expression, but neither of them said anything as he approached, trailed by Diego.
He drew up a chair across the table from her, and they sat in silence for a minute while Julia absent-mindedly rubbed Diego’s ears. Diego’s tongue unfurled in appreciation, but the expression on William's face never changed. It was curious and concerned, but he waited calmly for her to do the talking.
“It’s my hang-up to get over; I know that,” she admitted finally. When he still watched her, unruffled, she added, “It won’t ruin things. I won’t let it, I promise. I mean–”
“Julie.” He reached across the table for her hand, and she gave it willingly. She squeezed his hand, her heart jackhammering, rendering her mute. They sat in silence a few minutes, and Diego happily curled up again at William’s feet.
“Did you already know who she was?” he asked gently.
Julia shook her head, too embarrassed to meet his gaze.
After a while, William explained, “Marisa was a high school soccer teammate of Kelly’s. I met her once or twice back then, but I didn’t really get to know her until she came to work at Dunphy’s. It was her first job after culinary school. Kelly told her to apply.”
He paused, gauging her reaction so far. Whatever he saw must have reassured him, because he continued, “She’s half-Italian and half-Irish, like me. We grew up in the same neighborhood, and we both enjoyed cooking. It seemed like it ought to be a good match, on paper, but it was toxic.”
“Toxic? How? I mean–” Cringing, she rushed out, “I’m sorry; that’s none of my business.”
“No, it’s okay.” Still holding her hand, he dragged his free one over his mouth and beard. “Well, she’s a force of nature, I’ll give her that. She has ambition in spades, and she didn’t understand how I could be content to stay at Dunphy’s as a line cook. She wasn’t very nice about it; and when she told me she was pregnant, I knew it would be the worst lie if I asked her to marry me – if I committed to anything more than helping raise the baby. She was angry because she thought I had deliberately misled her about my feelings.”
“And you didn’t?”
“No. Or at least... not deliberately.” When Julia gave him a searching look, he frowned and shook his head. “It was more about my own lack of self-awareness. I was trying to move on with my life, and just... not succeeding. I know that’s not much better, but there was no malicious intent. The pregnancy was unplanned. We had never discussed marriage or children or any of that. It would have felt like a betrayal – not just of myself, but also a betrayal of Marisa and any child we brought into the world. We would have set a terrible example of what a loving relationship is supposed to look like. So I told her I’d support the baby and be fully involved as a dad; but I couldn’t stay with her as a partner. In the long run, she decided she couldn’t go through with the pregnancy, and it all ended very acrimoniously. I moved out, she left Dunphy’s, and I haven’t talked to her since.”
“And after all that, you think she’d be willing to come back to Dunphy’s?” Julia pointed out delicately.
“For the right price? Yeah.” Again, he shifted his weight. “I’ve heard about her rise in the culinary world over the years. I respect her talent. And as combustible as our relationship was, she worked well with your dad. She’s exactly the right chef to save his restaurant.”
“Then I guess he’d better hire her,” she reflected drily.
With a rueful smile, he added, “It helps that I don’t work there anymore.”
“Maybe; but I do . I come in every week to maintain the big saltwater aquarium in front. And now, she knows who I am – or at least she knows what I look like, and my history with you.”
William stared soberly across the yard at nothing in particular. A muscle ticked at his temple as he pondered this dilemma.
After a minute to think, Julia reflected, “I guess if Dunphy’s folds, I won’t have an account there, anyway, and I’ll lose that income. So if she’s as good as everybody says, I’ll put on my big-girl panties. But how do you think she’ll react to seeing me? She didn’t seem too thrilled that one time.”
“To be honest, I don’t know. Jealousy was a thing with her, back then. But it’s b een eight years.” They sat in silence for another minute, until he said, “If it helps – if it’s okay with you, and it’s not too weird – I’d be willing to reach out and try to talk to her. Maybe even set up some kind of meeting between you two, to clear the air.”
“It would be very weird,” Julia admitted, “but if she agrees to even consider the job, I’d be willing to do it.”
He dipped his head and captured her eyes with his. “You have nothing to worry about. I hope you know that.”
“I know that up here,” she acknowledged, tapping her head with her free hand.
“But not here,” he finished for her, placing his hand over his own heart. “Julie... you looked her up when you were in the bathroom, didn’t you?”
Julia dropped her eyes to the tabletop. “I sat on the toilet and Googled her name like a loser. I won’t lie... for a second, I felt inadequate. And not just because she looks like a Victoria’s Secret Angel.” To her own disgust, her eyes started to burn. Still glaring down at the table, she bit her lips and blinked furiously to keep the tears at bay. Finally, she gave in and allowed them to flow, looking up again through watery eyes. “But I also know what I see and feel when you look at me, and when you touch me. I see the things you do for me and the kids. That is real. You leave me in no doubt of your love for me.”
He scraped his chair around the table, setting it next to hers, and gathered her into his arms. Pressing a kiss into the crown of her head, he murmured, “And you leave me in no doubt of your love for me . You have this endless inner beauty to complement all of your outer beauty. And by the way, it’s not just lip service when I say you’re the most beautiful woman in the world. If you could see the heads you turn, everywhere we go... how proud I feel, in a very unevolved, possessive way, having you on my arm. Sometimes I think my chest will burst from puffing out so much. And no, that’s not an Alien reference.”
Julia couldn’t help but cackle, even as she wiped tears away. “No, that’s just your inner cave man fighting to get out.”
He took her hand in his and pressed it to his lips. “I love you, Julie. I admire you as a person. I lust after you. Even in the years we were apart, not a day passed when you didn’t cross my mind. Honestly, I’ve never wanted anything as much as I want to be with you, and love you, and make you smile, and make you come. Preferably all at the same time.”
She aimed her heat-filled gaze at him. “Quit making me horny when I can’t do anything about it.”
His lips twitched in amusement. Moved beyond expression, Julia could only give him a poignant look. He reached across the table for her hand, and she gave it willingly. She squeezed his hand, her heart too full for words.