Starlet

28. Tasting

Friday comes so slow, and play practice takes 6 years to get through. Then I'm in Rome. I hold Marcus's arm and jump up and down in the lobby.

Dipak smirks. "Get your key from over there. They'll tell you where your room is."

I run to the counter. "I NEED MY ROOM."

The girl laughs. "Name please."

"Whisp."

"I don't have anything for that name."

"WHAT'S MY NAME, DIPAK?"

Him and Marcus lose it. "Starlet."

"Starlet."

"Give me just a moment, and I'll get your stuff together."

I glance around and see a swim shop. It has so many clothes for sale. And swimsuits. I'll need that for Sunday. A packages shop. I don't know what that is. A couple of places to eat.

"Sir." She motions Dipak over. "I need the kids' club papers filled out."

"You also need to set up an account for her. Charge whatever she buys to it. She can clear it after she gets back."

"Perfect." She puts some papers down. "Your room number is 314. It's on the 3rd floor. Now this..."

I grab the key and run like hell. I get in the main part of the room. There's a kitchen, sitting room, dining room, a bathroom off to the side. It even has a desk. I jump up and down.

Dipak and Marcus come in 3 minutes later. "You're supposed to talk to them at the desk. They have other information for you."

"I am on vacation."

"Well, we got your stuff. You need to eat dinner. Sit at the table and I'll explain this stuff."

"There's no bed?"

"Through that door."

I run in and jump up and down again. It's a huge bed with a bath in the bedroom. It has its own bathroom too. "THIS IS AMAZING."

"TABLE."

I run and sit real fast.

Marcus smiles. "Dipak is letting you do this as a trial. You have to be good if you want to come back."

"I'm good."

Dipak nods. "You are good."

"You need to know where to find food. There are all kinds of places here. They even have a place that will come in here and cook."

"I want that."

"Tell the brain you want dinner from a chef. In here. You'll still have to tip them 20g a person. Did you bring money?"

"93k."

"No." Marcus shakes his head for a long time.

"What do you need money for?"

"I want to shop. I want all the fingernail polish colors."

"Any food or drinks you get in the resort are included. Any shopping you do, in the resort, goes into account. When you get home you pay off the account. That'll be swimsuits, towels, spa shops, package stores, excursions. Any shopping from the resort goes to that account balance. You can ask the brains what the total is at any time."

"So I pay for my shopping when I go home."

"Perfect. Tips are not included in that balance though. So you'll have to tip the chef. 20g a person is normal. Also, any shopping you do outside the resort, you'll need money for. They will not add their stuff to your balance."

"I don't think I needed that much money. Will you take it back with you?"

Marcus answers the door. "I'll be your chef for dinner."

"Thank you. Come on in."

"Of course. How much do you think you'll need?

"2k maybe."

"That's a lot better than 93k."

Marcus nods. "This is the teen club schedule and the map. Teen club is 2 things. Teen activities and teen club. The club is open from 9am to midnight every day. It doesn't change. It's always in the same spot. Teen activities, have a schedule. This lists everything they are doing, what time, where it's located. So, if you want to do something on this list..."

"FIRE SNACKS."

"Find it and tell me about it." He hands me the paper.

"Around the fire. 8pm tonight and every night. Pav.. lion B."

"Pavilon. Now you find pavilion B on the map."

"Perfect. I'll make sure you can find it before we leave."

"Also, if you ever lose the map or schedule or anything, the brains can replace it for you. Just ask them."

"Ok."

"Then I have your spa stuff. You're not old enough for the spa, but Nadine sent you vouchers. You can get your hair and nails done with these vouchers. Each voucher is good for 1 time. Make sure you use those by Sunday night, or they'll expire."

"I can get my hair done for my date."

"That is another thing. Collin does not go in that bedroom. If he needs to change, he can use that bathroom right there. He does not go in your bedroom."

"Ok."

The chef puts the food down.

Dipak hands him some money. "I love this food. Thank you."

"My pleasure, sir. Enjoy."

Then my eyes about pop out. "How did he make it so good?"

"I know. It's amazing here."

"Will he do that 7 times? Will they make me this for breakfast?"

They laugh. "No. They will come in and cook for you every meal. Sometimes they give you options. But not spaghetti for breakfast."

"That's too bad. I would order it... Do they make pizza in here?"

Dipak stares at me and Marcus chuckles. "That'll be on the menu next time you visit. Not this time."

"Ravioli and lasagna too. And pepper verde steak. My daddy loved Italian food. Oh my gosh, and there is bread here. It is toasted bread covered in amazing. It is better than french bread, any day of the week. It even has cheese on it. I wish I could remember the name."

Dipak is writing. "Pepper Verde steak?"

"Yea. A steak is a steak. Pepper verde is a sauce that covers everything. There are white and green sauces here too. I need to remember where daddy imported all his food from. Can I get a map please?"

"Of course."

"Italy is different from France. In France, all the food seems to make it to Paris somehow. In Italy, 1 village may make the best white sauce ever, and it's never exported anywhere. The next village over may have the best red sauce. But my daddy found a village that was truly perfect Italian food and was constantly sending servants for it. My momma loved French food. They were always going there too."

"Anything from Switzerland?"

I look at the map. "Fondue. Cheese fondue. Cordon bleu. Chocolate. Rosti, a lot of potato dishes, really. Anything fondue. They're so fun. Here it is. I need to go here."

Dipak stands up. "Let's fly. It's not that far."

"Not that far? She can't. Star, have you ever flown as a dragon?"

"No."

-I will if you can't get it.-

"My dragon said she will if I can't."

"Alright, I guess. Let's get out of Rome, then fly."

An hour later, we have everything back in my resort room.

"Ok. 1 more. I forgot about the gold wine. It's only in Italy. You have to try it."

Marcus gets a map out, and then we fly to a winery.

"You 2 can try it anyway. Get me a bottle to take back."

"I don't drink."

I scratch my head and stare at Dipak. "You don't swallow it."

"What?"

"How can I help you?"

"These 2 want to try the gold wine."

"Of course."

"Watch." I point at a couple of people ahead of us. They put the wine in their mouths and swish it around, then spit it out.

Marcus shrugs his shoulders.

"It's tasting. Not drinking."

The boys taste it and spit it out. They love it.

"It is different."

"And only in Italy." I grab a taste cup off a tray going by and down it. They crack up laughing. "I taste with my belly."

A worker comes over. "No teenagers."

"Can you get a few bottles? I'll deal with the teenager and the brains."

Dipak nods. "Sounds good."

I get outside with Marcus. "I hope he remembers my bottle. Don't worry, I'll just taste it."

"With your belly."

"Exactly."

He laughs and sends the brains to find the plants.

Dipak comes out with 4 bottles after a bit. "2k a damn bottle."

"That's mine." I steal 1 from him.

"Brains are finding the plants."

"Target acquired. Need to move quickly. This way."

We follow the brain to someone's backdoor near the winery and Marcus makes a door to my resort room. I go in first and hide my bottle. Dipak watches me and laughs his ass off. Then Tre and Mason show up.

"You have enough food?" The table is covered and Tre is shaking his head.

"We're tasting. Sit down." I look at the brain. "Divide each meal into 6 and serve it for tasting."

Dipak shakes his head. "Keep half of each meal for the ship to analyze. I want to add some of the dishes on the menu here. Divide the other half into 6 tastings. And make sure they are a good temperature."

"Yes, sir."

Marcus comes in with 10 brains all carrying different sizes of plants and plant boxes. "I'm bringing a shuttle here. Alarms started to go off there. I couldn't have them wait any longer."

I shake my head. "I'm not taking responsibility for that dirt. That's your dirt."

"When we get out of here, clean the dirt."

"Yes, sir."

I smile and sit at the end of the table. Dipak sits at the other end. "I like vacationing. I'm going to do this more often."

Tre sits down. "This is nice. That's not Nadine's wine."

"It's mine."

"You make wine?"

Dipak nods. "She does now. The brains are sorting it out. Just please sell it to me for less than 2k a bottle."

"DAMN."

I pop one of them open. "Daddy always liked the finer things in life. Nothing but the best." I pour myself a glass and sip it. "It's perfect like I remember."

Marcus sits at the table with us. "They took off fine." He pours a glass of wine.

Tre smiles. "So your parents let you drink?"

I take a sip and laugh. "No, only taste. They would have tasting parties. Best wines from all around the world. They would invite the fanciest, richest people for them. They would show up dressed in the most amazing clothes and jewelry. So fancy. I can't even describe how fancy the guests were. Then they would walk around spitting everywhere. Neither me nor my brother could ever keep a straight face at those parties."

"I bet not. It is good wine."

"First served is the Pepper Verde Steak."

I sit up. "Take the steak and any steak juice off my plate."

"Yes, ma'am."

"Why?" Marcus is staring at me.

"I do not like Italian steak. They have good pepperoni and things like that. But not steak. I'm sure it's steak though." I shrug my shoulders. "The weird part is. The pasta here is perfection. The sauces are impeccable. Cheese is amazing. The wine is exquisite. The meat is almost like an afterthought." I scratch my head. "Oh, we should probably feed the people meat too. Toss a cheap cut on the plate and it'll be done. They have made perfection on a plate and topped it with borderline inedible. So much room for improvement in their steaks. At least that's the way it was 70 years ago. Maybe they fixed it."

Mason shakes his head. "They didn't. I could imagine this with a good steak though. This sauce is... you have to add this but with a good steak."

Tre nods and takes a drink of wine. "So how much is the wine going to be?"

"2k a bottle."

"Can I get a discount?"

"No."

Marcus laughs. "Where are you going to sell wine?"

"My resort."

"Where's that going to be?"

"No idea."

"It's going to be a minute before you can buy that wine, Tre."

"Well, you can put it in your resort. It's 2k or over a bottle."

"Who?"

"Marcus and Dipak. They believed me. They can sell it too. It's 2k a bottle."

"You want me to buy your wine and put it in my resort?"

"No. You own it too. You both do. You can make it and sell it for 2k a bottle. Just like me. But that's it. There would be 3 places in the world to buy it. It's rare this way. Never cheaper than 2k each."

"And if a bottle sells here for 2k, then that is my 2k?"

"Yes."

"This is bruschetta."

I shove it in my mouth and about melt. "It tastes like home."

Tre nods. "I'm taking you to Egypt, and I'll believe anything you want."

I wink at him. "Blood wine."

"Never heard of it."

I nod. "Rare... Actually, there are 3 wines that were always at the wine tastings from Egypt. I think I remember the areas or cities for 2. The 3rd, we might have to go on a sabbatical to find. Please bring brains and water. Mahshi is good in Egypt. If you can find the right people to make it. Eggah, bamya. You can't even have an Egyptian restaurant without bamya. Shawarma, baklava."

"I'm going to take you there... And follow you around buying everything. I have no idea what you're saying."

Dipak nods. "That's what I did."

"Next is alfredo."

"How do you know all of this?"

"Daddy was an explorer and loved food. He was always sending the servants after weird things in far away places. Momma kept us home. She said when we got older we could go. Mikey went with daddy a couple of times. But she hadn't let me go anywhere yet. Mikey knew how to use swords and weapons and things. I never had any of that training. Transporting a princess has its challenges." They chuckle. "She told me I could go to Paris with him the next time he went. She said I would like Paris and I could help taste all the cheeses. She said he needed help, or he wouldn't poop for 3 months."

We sit there laughing, and I have another glass of wine. We get through all the food and I fall asleep so fast.