“Who puts a help wanted sign in the window anymore?”
“Apparently that woman does. Oh Rita, she was so gorgeous, in her little chef’s hat, and starch white uniform. I took one look at her, and…”
“And you ran away, didn’t you?” Sally lowered her head. “When are you going to stop doing that, Sally? Maybe this woman is your soul mate. Maybe that job was sent to you on purpose. Did you ever think of that? You’re worth so much more than what they gave you credit for at the hospital. Maybe this is opportunity knocking.”
More like Abderus knocking. Okay, so the healing has begun, and love is a possibility…, again. Now we just have to get these two crazy kids back together, and let nature take its course.
“There’s just one small little problem, Rita.”
“Don’t tell me.”
“You see, I sort of got loaded that night, and now I can’t remember where I was, when I found the restaurant.”
“You’ve never drank a day in your life, Sally. You must have fallen hard for that woman to go to that extreme.”
“I think you may be right. I mean, it was just all too much for me, you know? I just wanted to hide from it all.”
“And did it help?”
“No, it gave me a terrible hangover, and a terrible stomach ache. Olive oil and vodka don’t mix. Never again, that’s for sure. Never again.”
Oh, so that’s what that smell was. I should have stayed with her, but hind sight is more fun than, oh wait, that’s not what that word means, is it? Well anyway, now I have to come up with a plan… what alphabet am I up to? Plan D? That’s it, plan D. Or if you think about it, this seems more like a Cinderella story now. Of course! Cinder‒fucking‒rella! What? Oh come on, you know I had to say it.
Okay, so, Sally has no memory of where Teo is at. Thank the stars that she remembers everything else, or I’d be starting all over again, and that just isn’t going to happen. Not on my watch. So, how to help these two, find each other again. I know, a lottery! Nah, been there, done that. I guess Sally could just visit every Italian restaurant in town. How many could there be? Fifteen! Seriously? Wow, that’s a some spicy meat… well, never mind. Just an old commercial you’re probably to young to remember. So, visiting all those restaurants will take too long, and… I’ve got it!! Oh this is brilliant!
Okay so see if you can follow me on this. Teo owns an Italian restaurant. Sally sits at home and watches soap operas every day now. The local television station is having a special on cooking Italian dishes. Badda boom, badda bing! What? Oh sure, you get it. I’ll arrange for Teo to be on that tv show, and make sure Sally is watching. Brilliant, yes? Of course it is.
“Momma, telephone call for you.”
“Thanks hon, I’ll take it back here.” Teo set in her office, going over her menu for the next week. She picked up the phone, surprised to learn that KTVH was on the other end. Hot Springs only has the one television station, but it’s very popular with the retired locals. “Of course, I would love to be on your show. Anything special you’d like me to cook? Oh sure, I can fix that. All right, I’ll see you on Wednesday.”
“Today we are joined by Chef Teodora Roma, who owns Roma’s Italian Bistro on Central Avenue.” Fred Dade, co‒anchor, gave a plastic smile to the camera, “We’ll put up that address after the show. So Chef, what delicious meal are you preparing for us today?”
“Something hot and spicy, Fred, that will bring out the devil in you. It called shrimp fra diavolo.” Teo said as she crushed some red peppers and scooped them into a saucepan. “You see, diavolo means devil in Italian.” Next she added some fresh garlic to the sauce, then checked on her shrimp.
“Oh that does make my mouth water. Let’s put the recipe up so the folks at home can see it.”
Across town, Sally stared irritably at the TV. It wasn’t the recipe she wanted to see.
“So what’s the secret on making good shrimp fra diavolo?”
“The secret in the sauce, is to add just the right amount of peppers. Too many peppers, and you need the fire department to put out the fire. Too few, and you end up with rubber shrimp. The best part is that it’s up to the people at home to decide how many peppers is enough.”
With pen and paper at the ready, Sally waited impatiently for the address to flashed on the screen.
The rest, as they say, my children, is history. But I’ll tell you anyway because I went through a hell of a lot to get those two together, and I want to brag a little. Right after the show, Sally jumped in the shower, put a few curls in her otherwise flat hair, added extra rouge and lipstick to her beaming face, and put on her sexiest business suit. Okay so the suit wasn’t really sexy, but she left a few extra buttons undone, and hiked up the skirt higher than she normally would. It’s working for her too, because that extra peek at her thighs invited me in to places, even I shouldn’t go. I said shouldn’t, not didn’t.
Sally stood in the restaurant, her resume in hand, hoping that she wasn’t too late. That the position, in every sense of the word, hadn’t been filled already. I guess people really do watch that news station, because the place was hopping with hungry patrons everywhere. An added bonus from yours truly. So anyway, Sally was just on the verge of changing her mind, when I nudged her forward a bit. The poor dear was more nervous than a virgin at a nympho convention. Oh, there’s a vision I want to savor for a bit. What? All right, maybe later. Let’s watch, and see what happens, shall we?
Suddenly, there she was, the sexy chef that Sally had been looking for. The room stood still, as if the air had been sucked out of it. Everything and everyone became a blur, as the two women glided toward each other. Eyes sparkling, lips pursing, they embraced, and kissed the kiss of love. A long kiss that bound them together, searing their souls into one.
Oh it brings a tear to my eye. Amore. Meraviglioso, profonda, sensuale, magnifico amore. Love. Wonderful, deep, sensual, magnificent love. I better leave before I completely lose my self-control. Arrivederci, my children, until the next love story comes along.
The En‒‒
No wait! I forgot to tell you the second best part! Sally’s asshole of a boss, Mr. Taylor, was laid off the very next day, after he had laid off her. But unlike Sally, Taylor doesn’t deserve my special talents. For now, Sally is basking in even more than just the afterglow of her lover’s skilled touch. You go girl! Okay, this time it really is…
The End
Other books by Mairsile:
Riches to Rags series:
From Riches to Rags
A bad-girl billionaire, accepts the ultimate challenge from a waitress, and gives up all her money, expensive toys, liquor, and women, to live in a run-down building, working at a barbeque restaurant. She only has to last thirty days, and suppress her growing feelings for the waitress. Just thirty days, but to a billionaire, that's a lifetime. This is a multi-first-person point of view novel. (Riches to Rags Book 1) Buy it now!
Combining Riches
Blackie and Chris set up house together in a romantic mansion by the river, where the paddlewheeler greets them in the morning, and the golden rays of the setting sun, dance on the river for them in the evening. They work on their first pay it forward case, which is more of a favor for a close friend. And Chris meets the man she hit when she was drunk. Her guilt becomes so great that Blackie is afraid that the very special Valentine’s Day she has planned for them may not happen. Book two of the Riches to Rags series. This book is a multiple person point of view. (Riches to Rags Book 2) Buy it now!
Separating Riches
When Blackie and Chris initiate their scholarship program, an unexpected call-in sends them to San Francisco to revisit Blackie's past and presents an opportunity for her first pay-it-forward case. Once they have settled into their temporary home, the City by the Bay opens itself up for a wonderful experience that is celebrated by all. But not everything is as it appears to be as the investigations progress and Blackie finds herself in a compromising situation that threatens to separate
the soul mates forever. This book is a multiple person point of view. (Riches to Rags Book 3) Buy it now!
Aidan & Vicky series:
I Remember You
Aidan is tough, self-assured and suffering from amnesia. The only person who knows her heart, Vicky, can’t tell her that they were childhood lovers, even when Vicky is asked to hire her.
Vicky is the CEO of a multi-million dollar health system, being targeted by terrorists. Will Aidan get her memories back in time to stop the bombs before they destroy Vicky’s hospital? Will Vicky choose the hospital over Aidan? (Book 1 of the A&V series) Buy it now!
Remember, It’s You I Love
Aidan & Vicky are on a mission called, Operation Pink Knight, where they must enter a war zone in order to rescue Aidan’s second love, and first fiancée. It comes down to a volatile standoff between them and the enemy, and Aidan must choose which woman to save. (Book 2 of the A&V series) Buy it now!
Remember, You Love Me
Planning a wedding with her fiancée, losing herself to the sexual advances of her ex-fiancée, Aidan is torn between love and duty. Through no fault of her own, Aidan is caught up in a love triangle, and must choose which woman she will marry. But that's not Aidan's only problem. She must save her fiancée, Vicky, from a particularly nasty stalker, who as it turns out, is Aidan's own father. But how can she concentrate on just her, when she is also engaged to Samantha, who Aidan believes she left behind, during an insurgent attack in Iraq. Samantha spent a year in captivity, and the only way she could survive the horrific treatment, was to think of Aidan. (Book 3 of the A&V series) Buy it now!
Remember This Day
Life together had never been easy for Aidan and Vicky, but it just got worse as their wedding day approaches. Tornadoes threaten their magical roof top wedding, Aidan gets in a drunken fist fight behind a bar, and Vicky performs open heart surgery on a city street as buildings collapse all around her. And then if that weren’t bad enough, after a horrific experience while making love, one of them calls the wedding off. This time, their love may not be enough to see them through these disasters. (Book 4 of the A&V series) Buy it now!
Remember, It's Our Honeymoon
Their honeymoon postponed by a tornado, a crazed mad man, and a building collapsing on top of them, Aidan and Vicky are finally on their way to Ireland. Exploring the emerald island led to a lot of shopping, love making in some provocative places, and of course espionage. But life for Vicky's best friend, Joyce, wasn’t nearly as bright, when she suddenly couldn’t see the patient’s heart beating in his chest cavity. (Book 5 of the A&V series) Buy it now!
Generations of Women Warriors:
Generations of Women Warriors: Battle of Pea Ridge, American Civil War
First in a series chronicling the life and times of women in a family, who fought in historic battles and loved in historic times, though both could get them killed. Temi, at age 17, finds herself pregnant, in love with a girl, and staring down a cannon, in this epic tale of growing up during the Civil War. Buy it now! (Book 1 of the Warrior series)
Generations of Women Warriors: Battle of Amiens, The Great War
The next generation in the second book of the series, finds the daughter of Temi and Robin, in France during WWI, fighting for her life, as German tanks rumble toward her. Buy it now! (Book 2 of the Warrior series)
Stand-a-lone:
See No Evil: Adventures in the Grand Canyon
In ten years a worldwide catastrophe no one was prepared for, will inexplicably change life as we know it. Ranger Mackenzie Mason, a Park Ranger in the Grand Canyon, has to stop a diabolical plan to kill the Major General in charge of the South Western portion of the nation under Martial Law. But she was injured by the anarchists, and it is up to Hannah Cumberland, a registered nurse at the canyon hospital, to nurse her back to health. The attraction was instant, but they had many obstacles to scale first, not the least of which was Mack’s blindness after she was attacked, and her dogged determination to save her mother, the Major General. Buy it now!
UNLEASHED: It's Not Nice to Frack with Mother Nature!
A meteorologist and a geologist meet in a bar, and...
A chance meeting in a bar brings a new passion to the chaotic lives of a storm chaser and an earthquake enthusiast. When these two women make love, the earth quakes and the winds howl. But there’s a dark past that keeps one of them from committing to their love. And the other embarks on a dangerous mission to expose an illegal fracking operation. Will the earthquake swallow up the tornado, or will their love conquer all? Buy it now!
The Younger Twin (a Novella)
Maci and Madi are twins, but not your normal sisters. One is seven weeks older than the other, and one can see through walls. Maci was hit by a car after she discovered medical fraud, and lies in a coma at the very hospital she works at. Maci’s spectral self must find out who is trying to kill her, and enlists the help of her sister, an FBI agent. Maci finds that being a ghost can be fun, but that fun is spoiled when the person who attacked her is back to finish the job. Buy it now!
Aphrodite's Reject: You Can't Lay Off Love Page 2