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I took her hand. “You really want me to tell you what happens next?”
She batted her pretty eyelashes. “Please do.”
I raised her hand to my lips and kissed it gallantly. “You already know. What happens next is us.”
Soon enough we did head back to Esposito’s. I held the door open for Melanie, and she tilted her head back for another kiss. I was glad to give it to her.
As evening approached I told the kitchen staff I was taking a few hours off. Then I formally knocked on the door to the office. When Melanie appeared, I held my hand out.
“You ready?” I asked.
She laced her fingers through mine, and I led her out the front door of Espo 2. We stopped on the sidewalk, then turned around, and walked right back inside like we were any other couple who’d just arrived for a dinner date.
“We’d like the finest table in the house, please,” I informed Patsy, who was standing by at the hostess desk.
Patsy winked and grabbed a couple of menus. “Right this way,” she said, and led us to a cozy table in the back.
Melanie blushed as I held her chair for her. Then we both settled in and looked over the menus we already knew by heart.
“I believe I’ll have the cheese pizza,” Melanie said after she scanned the menu. “I’ve heard it’s quite tasty. What about you, Dominic?”
“I think I’ll try the same thing.” I set the menu down, and looked up to find Jessica, one of the servers, staring down at us.
“Um, I’m sorry to bother you guys,” she stammered, “but Tim said to let you know that the kitchen is nearly out of mushrooms and basil. They need more right away.”
I shrugged. “That’s just going to have to wait.” I took Melanie’s small hand and pressed my lips to her soft skin. “I’m busy.”
“Okay,” Jessica said with some uncertainty. She glanced back toward the kitchen, then looked our way with a smile. “So, are you ready to order?”
“We’ll have a large cheese pizza,” Melanie said. Her eyes were dancing, and she looked positively radiant. I loved knowing that I was the one who made her happy. At the same time I kind of felt like a dirty bastard because I was already making plans for what was going to happen when I got her alone.
“Send over your best bottle of wine, too,” I told Jessica. “It’s a special occasion.”
Melanie giggled and squeezed my hand.
“Dom, do you think you’ll ever get tired of pizza?” she asked in a teasing voice.
“Never,” I said without hesitation. “And you?”
She shook her head and gave me a serious look. “Never.”
We stayed at that table for two hours. We went through a full pizza pie and three-quarters of a bottle of wine. I told her everything. About Beth, about Steven, about yesterday’s events in New York. She told me about running into her ex and about how much she missed her sister, Lucy. She also admitted that she still had trouble processing the grief from her parents’ deaths and how Donna’s funeral dredged up all those emotions again. When she shyly asked if we could try to make her father’s legendary tamales soon, I promised it would be a top priority.
As my girl tucked a strand of hair behind her left ear while a sweet smile played on her lips, I thought about how I’d been so wrong about something important.
Once, I had earnestly wished that I’d met Melanie Cruz in another time, in another place.
Now I realized that it always had to be this time. It always had to be this place.
