Papa Benzino kissed me warmly on both cheeks and swept Sebastian into a huge bear-hug, which he returned a little shyly. Mama B came running from behind the counter, dabbing at her eyes with an apron as if we were her long, lost family. They chattered away in Italian and I could tell that Sebastian was picking up more of the conversation than before. Perhaps I was doing him some good after all.
The nonna issued forth from her room over the shop and held my cheeks while she kissed me and told me I was glowing with love. Then she slapped Sebastian on the chest, felt his biceps and winked at me, repeating something that translated as, ‘a fine lover is like a good salami’ and threw me a knowing look.
Sebastian blushed, whether from her words or her touching, I couldn’t say, but it made me laugh out loud and he gave a grin that was embarrassed and amused at the same time.
A crowd of people on their lunch break came in to order food, sending the family scampering back to work, so we sat outside under a sun umbrella and sipped our coffees: espresso for me, regular for Sebastian.
“You didn’t tell me how your first day at work went?”
“Oh, that,” he said frowning.
“Was it bad?” I said, surprised.
“It … well, it wasn’t really what I was expecting,” he muttered, and for some reason he looked embarrassed again.
I rubbed the tip of my finger over his hand. “Tell me.”
“No, it’s just dumb.”
“Sebastian, you just watched me go fishing for a stray condom; it can’t be any dumber than that!”
He smiled wryly. “Yeah, that was pretty funny!”
“It won’t be funny if I get pregnant.” I reminded him.
He gaped. “Could you?”
“Well, of course I could; but don’t worry, I’m going to take care of it. I’ve decided it’s going to be safer to start taking the Pill. I can’t afford any more … accidents.”
Sebastian looked totally out of his depth at this sudden conversational segue. I steered us back to less controversial topics.
“You were saying about your first day at the country club?”
He frowned again, and I could tell he was wondering whether or not he should pursue the more serious subject. He shook his head and chose to follow my lead.
“Well, I thought I’d just be bussing tables but … they wanted me to do other stuff, too.”
“Like what?”
He hesitated, drawing patterns on the palm of my hand with his index finger.
“Sebastian?”
“It’s just kinda lame.”
“Tell me anyway; I won’t tell anyone,” I said, raising an eyebrow.
“They had me waiting tables,” he said finally. “Carrying food and drinks.”
“Okay. That doesn’t sound so bad. And…?”
“I had to wear a uniform.”
“That wasn’t a surprise, was it?”
Surely he didn’t have a problem with uniforms; he was the son of a Navy officer.
“Shorts and a polo t-shirt; they were a bit … tight.”
I was beginning to get the picture.
“Okay: shorts and a tight t-shirt. And…?”
He closed his eyes, a pained expression on his face.
“The women there … they … they grabbed me … a lot!”
And I laughed out loud; I couldn’t help it.
“So, basically, you’re telling me you’re a cabana boy—and that all the women were feeling you up.”
“I was supposed to be bussing tables!”
He sounded so indignant; it just made me laugh harder.
“I can’t blame them.” I teased. “Did you get any offers? Any phone numbers dangled in front of you?”
His cheeks reddened, and he stared at the table.
“You did! Sebastian!”
“I said no!”
He grimaced at me and I took pity on him.
“Tesoro, I’m not the least bit surprised—those places are notorious for hiring good-looking young men as a bit of eye-candy for the diamond-wife brigade. I bet your boss is a woman, right?”
He nodded unhappily.
“And she took one look at you and saw dollar signs. That’s all. You’ll just have to put up with a bunch of horny, older women shoving dollar bills in your back pocket for the summer. You think you can do that?”
“I guess. It’s not as much fun as I thought it would be.”
I fell a little bit more in love with him.
I stroked his cheek and rested my free hand on his knee.
“You can always get another job, Sebastian. Besides, they shouldn’t really have you serving drinks at your age. Do they know how young … how old you are?”
He raised his eyebrows. “They do, but I guess I look older than my age.”