Patting his mother’s hand he whispered in her ear, “Parliamo più tardi, Mom.” She nodded. After dinner they went inside and Gianni started to play the piano while Renzo and his mother sat down on the couch and quietly began to talk.
“So have you asked her out yet?” Filomena asked.
“Yes, but she turned me down big time. I sent her flowers and even went and tried to buy a lamp. She’s been hearing the gossip about us, so now she thinks I just want to bed her and be done. But you know me and I am not about that. I found out something else about her today that kind of makes sense to why she acted the way she did toward me,” Renzo said.
“What is that, my dear?”
“She was in an abusive relationship before she moved here. The man not only broke her body, but her spirit. Delia told me about what had happened when she delivered the lamp. I said I would give her a week then I plan on pursuing her once more. I want her to get to know me and not the rumors.”
“La povera ragazza. I can only imagine what she went through. You remember your cousin Regina and all that she had to go through.”
Renzo knew all about his cousin Gina. It was a sad topic to even remember. She had died at the hands of her abusive husband when he was twenty. It broke his heart deeply because they had been so close even though she was ten years older. “Delia told me that she will probably call me tomorrow to ask me over for lunch at the shop. She wants to make it to where at least she feels comfortable. So I’ll bring over her favorite food and we will get the chance to talk a bit more.”
Filomena smiled and patted her son’s hand once more. “If you are anything like your father, you will know what to do. You are a smart man and you have always gone out for what you’ve wanted. I know she’s a lovely girl. If there is anything I can do, just let me know.”
Kissing her hand, she giggled while they listened to Gianni play the piano. “Dance with me, Ma.”
“Oh, son, it’s been forever since I’ve danced. I rather just sit and enjoy the music. Hmm that gives me an idea.”
He noticed a look of contemplation on his mother’s face. She was up to something. “What are you plotting over there?”
Filomena’s smile grew bigger as she giggled. “I’ll tell you in a week, my dear, in one week.” Patting his cheek she smiled and got up to walk over to Gianni singing a song in Italian. A familiar song she often sang when she was happy.
Renzo knew his mother was up to something. Whatever it was, he wouldn’t know for a week because his mother was a steel trap when it came to keeping secrets.
Chapter Four
When Jaslyn got home from work that evening, she checked her voice mails and had received a call from her mother. Grabbing the phone, she dialed her number as she continued to get undressed and comfortable. “Hello there, sweetheart, how are you?”
“I’m fine, Mom, how’s everything with you?”
“Well I am doing pretty good sweetheart. Ms. May Ellen wanted me to tell you hello. I had a talk with your brother, he still wants you to visit during the holidays.”
Plopping down on the couch with a sigh, Jaslyn laughed at the thought. “He knows I can’t stand that woman. Why even bother going to see him and the girls? He knows he can at least come by here and say hello. It’s been about eight months since I last saw him.”
“You know he’s been working overtime, but I’ll make sure he calls you or maybe he can take a break and bring the girls down to say hello.”
“And while he’s working his ass off, she’s sitting on her ass doing absolutely nothing. Good Lord, I don’t understand why he’s with her in the first place.” Taking a deep breath, Jaslyn wasn’t going to get angry over that woman. “Anyways, I’m glad you called me. It’s good hearing your voice after a long day.”
“How’s the shop been?”
“It’s been real good. Stuff has been flying out the door faster than I can keep it in.”
“That’s great. At least I know I’ll be getting a lovely Christmas present.” Both laughed at her comment, which was something Jaslyn needed. “So have you met anybody new?”
“I did, but I had to put him in his place,” she said, thinking about the look on Renzo’s face when she did just that.
“Why did you do that, sweetheart? He must have been ugly or something.”
Jaslyn laughed. “No, he was nowhere near ugly whatsoever. He was very handsome. He just has a lot going on that I’d rather not have in my life. I’m comfortable with where I’m at right now.”
“Oh, you must like him then. What does he look like?”
She rolled her eyes, thinking of how she could describe Renzo to her mom. “Let’s just say he’s every woman’s dream…tall, dark, handsome, and Italian.”
“You let him get away? Girl, I know I didn’t raise you to let someone like that get away. What does he do for a living?”
“He owns two restaurants and his family is very well known here in town.”
“And you told him to leave you alone!”
“But, Mom—”
“But Mom nothing, girl. Jaslyn, what did he do that was so damn bad in the first place?”
“He’s a big time player…even his brothers are well known players. I am not going to deal with that.”
At first there was silence on her mother’s end, but then she said, “So forget the fact he is a player, what do you think of him?”
Jaslyn didn’t want to answer that question because when she first saw Renzo, she thought he was the most handsome man she’d ever laid eyes. “He’s handsome. You know who he reminds me of? You remember Mr. Reginald who used to live in our old building when we were kids? He looks something like him.”
“And you let him go, my God, girl. I remember Mr. Reginald, now that was a handsome man indeed.” The two continued talking for another hour or so before she got too tired to talk. Before saying goodnight her mother said, “Maybe you should give him another chance, baby. Talk things out with him and see how it goes from there.”
It was easier said than done, Jaslyn thought. “I’ll think about it, Mom. I love you.”
“Love you too, baby, goodbye.”
She hung up the phone and took a long hot bath to relax before going to bed.
* * * *
The following Monday seemed unusually slow for some reason. The customers trickled into the shop ever so often and when they did come in, they would look around, smile and wave their goodbyes when they left. Jaslyn hated days like this. “Are you going to call him up before lunch comes around?” asked Delia.
Looking at the phone, Jaslyn had been nervous about even the idea of calling him up, but she had promised Delia that she would. Grabbing the phone, she called the number for Filomena’s.
“Thank you for calling Filomena’s, this is Linda, how may I help you?”
“Hello, I’d like to speak to Mr. Cipriano, please.”
“May I ask who is calling, please?”
“It’s Ms. Whitman.”
“Please hold, Ms. Whitman.” Soft music was played over the receiver as she leaned up against the counter. Grabbing a pen, she began doodling flowers on a piece of paper as she waited. Then she heard his voice say, “Jaslyn?”
“Hi, Renzo, yeah it’s me Jaslyn. How are you today?”
“I’m doing fine thank you. I put that lamp in my office when I got it and I have to say it does look great. You sure do have an eye for things.”
“Well, I’m glad that at least I picked the right one for your office. The reason for my call was because I had thought about some things since the other day and I wanted to know if you would like to have lunch with me today.” She bit her lower lip, nervous because she didn’t know whether or not he’d say no. Hell, he had every right to say no to her after how she acted. But she knew that if she was going to make a fresh start with anyone, it might as well be right now with Renzo.
“Why sure, I’d love for us to have lunch. I can bring something from the restaurant to eat. What would you like for m
e to bring?”
“Well, I do love the rigatoni with the marinara sauce.”
“Fine and I’ll bring you some and for dessert, what can I bring you for dessert?”
“How about some of the Tiramisu, I really love it.”
“I should tell my mom about that since it is her recipe we use. I’ll be bringing over lunch at noon if that is all right with you?”
“Oh, of course, I’ll be waiting for you to come. See you then.”
“Goodbye.”
Jaslyn put the phone onto its dock, breathed out a huge sigh of relief before it came to her that she had really went through with it. “So what’s the verdict?” asked Delia.
“He’s coming over at noon.” She looked at the clock and realized she only had forty-five minutes before he came to the shop. “Oh Lord, I’ve only got forty-five minutes before he comes over. What the hell did I get myself into now?”
Delia told her, “You are going to go and freshen up in the bathroom, take a couple of deep breaths and I’ll set everything up in the back for you two. Now go on and freshen up, woman.” Grabbing her purse, Delia pushed it against Jaslyn chest as she pushed her toward the back with a giggle.
When Jaslyn walked into the bathroom, she fixed her hair, which she had pinned in the back, with ringlets cascading over her forehead and along her face. Fluffing it up a bit, she went into her purse to get a small bottle of Aragon oil that she kept to help keep shine on her curls. After spritzing and working a bit into her hair, she washed her hands, and touched up her lipstick and makeup.
Jaslyn looked herself over, smoothing down the black sweater dress that she decided to wear since it was a bit chilly out today. She adjusted the black leather belt as well as the gold necklace she was wearing. “Lord, maybe I shouldn’t have worn this outfit.” She realized it showed just a bit too much of her breasts and even when she tried a couple of ways to cover it up, her breasts weren’t having it today.
“Delia, I need your help,” Jaslyn whined from the bathroom.
“What is it you need help with?”
“Do you have a safety pin?”
“What do you need a safety pin for?” Delia walked over standing in the doorway.
“It’s a shame I can’t run back home and change outfits.”
“What you have on right now looks great,” Delia assured her.
“I’m showing too much of the girls in the front here. I thought if I wore this since it was cool out, I wouldn’t be too hot wearing it. Now when he sees me wearing this, he’ll focus more on my boobs than on me.”
She heard her friend giggle. “You will be just fine, girlfriend, now stop worrying, I have a table in the back set up for you two, come on I want you to see.” Grabbing her arm, Delia took her to a far corner of the shop where they had a few dining room tables displayed. She saw a red and white checkered table cloth spread across one of the medium sized tables with two lone chairs on either end. “It looks great even though you didn’t have to do much to it.” Jaslyn jabbed her friend in the side as they went back up front.
“Oh hush, now how do you feel after you got yourself fixed up again?”
“A nervous as hell wreck in a pair of high heeled shoes is how I am feeling right now. But Lord knows why I’m just getting overly excited over having lunch.”
“With probably one of the hottest men in Kellington, well at least one of the four hottest men in Kellington. I can’t forget about the rest of the brothers, you know. Just enjoy yourself and get to know him. You’ll see what I’ve been saying all along about how special he is.” They heard the bell over the door ring as Jaslyn caught her breath. “Stay right here.”
Jaslyn watched her walk toward the front as she began to walk back and forth a bit in the front of the table. She had never been as nervous as she was at that moment. What in the hell did Delia talk her into, she wondered. Soon footsteps could be heard coming her way. Suddenly two men appeared with two silver domed trays, and right behind them was Renzo and Delia. He wore his basic attire of a black suit with a white shirt and long black tie. His big hands held a small bouquet of beautiful violets that he graciously handed to her along with a smile on his face that made her smile up at him.
“Are you ready for lunch with me, Jaslyn?” he asked as she smelled the flowers’ sweet fragrance.
When she looked over toward the table, she saw the two waiters had already placed their plates on the table and then another man came in with an ice bucket with wine in it and two wine glasses that he set next to each plate. “Shall we sit down then?” Jaslyn replied, walking over to one of the chairs, but the man who stood next to that chair told her, “Please, if you don’t mind, ma’am, it’s best to take the other chair.”
“All right.” She walked over to the other chair as Renzo helped her sit. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome,” he replied as he went over to his chair and sat down. The man with the bucket began to pour some red wine into her glass and then walked over to pour some in Renzo’s glass as well. “Wait a minute, I think we are missing something fellas.” He saw the guy that brought the wine leave as he motioned for the other two by saying, “All right.”
Soon the two men lifted the silver domed plates and immediately the warm aroma of garlic, tomatoes, and basil hit her nose. “Oh, it smells delicious.” She looked over and saw something even more delicious on his plate, something that looked like beef rolled up. “I’m sorry to be staring, but can I ask what you have there?”
“Oh, it’s called Bracioline alla Palermitana or Beef Cutlets Palermo Style. It’s really delicious, would you like to try some?”
“Sure, if that’s all right with you?”
He got up from his chair and brought his plate over to her as she helped herself to a beef roll up and put it on the side of her own plate. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” Soon the young man brought over a basket of cut up crusty bread, and placed it next to her. “All right guys, you can leave and come back in about forty-five minutes to clear the dishes and bring dessert.” And with that, everybody left. Delia told them, “I’ll leave you both to eat your lunch.”
Jaslyn watched as Delia left the two of them alone and then she looked over at Renzo who appeared to be waiting for her to taste the food. She picked up her fork and knife to cut into the meat and once she tasted it exclaimed, “Oh my.” She continued chewing, taking another bite. Renzo smiled at her. “I think I might have found another favorite from your menu.”
“I’m glad you like it.” They both continued to eat their lunch in silence because Jaslyn honestly didn’t know how to begin a conversation with Renzo. She would look up from time to time to see him looking at her. “You know there was something I’ve always wanted to ask. How did you get into selling antiques?”
Dipping her bread into the sauce, Jaslyn was just about to take a bite, but decided to wait on eating it. “Well, I have my Great Aunt Annie to thank for that. I used to go over to her house for the summer and she always had these little antique dishes, vases, and centerpieces around her home. I would always look at them, but she never let me touch them. So I would sit on her couch, which she always kept plastic on, and look at her pretty little knick knacks. Sometimes she would take me with her shopping when she knew someone had a piece she could add to her collection. She even had a piano that dated back to the late 1890s, which was probably the only thing she’d let me touch because she gave me piano lessons. My great aunt taught me to appreciate everything as far as when I went looking for antiques. She told me what I needed to look for and what sold well. So I owe all I have to her.” Taking a bite of her bread Jaslyn smiled remembering those days when she was young.
“That is amazing, so whatever happened to her collection she wouldn’t let you touch?”
“Oh, she gave it all to me in her will since she knew I was the only one in the family that would appreciate her things and not sell them. She had so much, I had to spread them around my place. I couldn’t keep them
in one spot. In her house, she had a separate room that she kept everything in.” Taking a sip of wine, she told him, “So what about you? Why did you get into being a restaurateur?” She watched him sit back against his chair with drink in hand in deep thought.
“I think it was my parents, especially my mom, who really made me want to own a restaurant. I wanted a restaurant where when people ate my food it would take them right back to Sicily, which is where my family is from. My mom was all for it, but my brothers thought I was crazy. They said it would be stereotypical for an Italian to open up an Italian restaurant. Well, I told them all that we shall see whose laughing last when my place did well. I had to do plenty of research about pricing of kitchen equipment, tables for the dining area, supplies, food, wait staff, chefs…you name it. I did plenty of research on it. Plus I had a friend of mine who owned a restaurant in New York and he showed me where he got most of the things for his establishment. It took about two years to finally get everything together to what I have right now. I named it after my mom, of course, since she is such a big influence in my life. I remembered when I used to find her cooking in the kitchen…she always had me tasting her food. She never let my brothers do that. But, she always let me be her taste tester. I’m surprised I didn’t balloon out, but of course that was what track and football was for.”
“You were on the track team?”
“Oh yeah, I did the one-hundred meter dash, four-hundred meter relay, and I also did javelin and shot put too.”
No wonder he was so muscular, she thought. “Do you still run?”
“Oh yeah, I run just about every morning real early before I get ready for work. If I didn’t, I’d probably look like my cousin Lou…let’s just say he enjoys his food a bit more than the average person.”
Jaslyn smirked. “I have at least five cousins named Lou and one of them you can call Lucille.”
He laughed out loud at her comment and they both continued laughing even after they had finished eating. “Why don’t I show you some of the furniture since we have some time before they bring over the dessert?” Jaslyn said as she started to get up from her chair.
Renzo (The Ciprianos of Kellington) Page 5