Mistakenly Eaten

6. Specialty Pasta

“What the f**k is this place?”

Salva complained, climbing up the curvy and stony pavement, underneath the scorching sunlight that hit his sensitive skin. A wore a tight sweat shirt over his black jeans and sneakers, which he was glad he wore, since the pavement was quite rocky and the way up towards the said restaurant was also quite a long hike from where they had parked their car.

He kept his phone in front of him, following the GPS tracker that he had turned on towards the location of the restaurant.

“How far up are we supposed to climb?” Salva asked once again, agitated by the fact that he had to walk all the way a paved hill just to find some chef that he believed could cure his cousin s***h best friend s***h brother’s heart.

“Dude! Why the f**k are you panting like a baby? Don’t you do cardio?”

A tall, broad and buffed bald headed guy asked, who wore a button down shirt that barely and tightly hung over his body, threatening to tear apart from any corner, especially his jacked up biceps. His thick nose and full lips were quite well masked by the thick and long red beard that he had grown around his jaw and covered most part of his neck as well, compensating for the hair that he had lost over his head.

“I do cardio but I hate hikes!”

Salva retorted back at Gregor that they all called Gigi, which was not just short for his name but also an acronym for the fact that many people around him called him Gingy, a name that he hated ever since he was a kid and was bullied for his thick and red hair. He buffed and jacked himself up, using protein shakes, powders and injections which made him lose his hair up on his head but he kept his beard, as a challenge for people to tease him and whoever did so, despite of his appearance, would end up losing the hair over his own head.

His forearms that he left visible, as he had folded his sleeves up till his elbows, showed nothing but extreme black and red tattoos smudged over his flashy pale skin.

“I don’t even get it, why would Nicholas even come to such a place? We both always had the same taste in everything. Woman, activities, hobbies! I don’t understand how would he end up making such stupid choices? I though getting in to a serious relationship was the only stupid thing Nicholas did. How did he end up making another big mistake and came to this s**t hole and proposed that witch.”

“Firstly, that sounds gay and secondly, the reason why they probably came here because Cheryl must’ve asked him to come here.” Gigi told him as his eyes landed on the three foreign tourists, who rushed past Salva and Gigi, throwing smiles and batting eyes their way, as they giggled and effortlessly climbed up the pavement.

“f*****g tourists and their ability to make even a gutter Instagramable.” Salva complained.

“At least, you get hot chicks here.” Gigi snickered and nudged his elbow light at Salva, who groaned in agitation and shook his head.

“That’s the saddest part. I can’t even think about f*****g anyone, unless and until, Nick is not back up on his feet and out of his sad zone. I don’t have time for anything else. Once, he is out of that island and back to the city, I am going to f**k at least ten women in a single day.”

“Can you even do that?” Gigi asked in surprise and Salva shrugged.

“I swear, living on that island made me realize how boring life could be. So, once I am out, I am going to try new things for sure.”’

Their not so little walk up the hill finally ended as they stood in front of an open door restaurant that had arch placed right over the entrance with ‘Pastalia’, written in cursive right over the white arch.

“Well, I guess we are here.” Gigi told him as the two entered inside the restaurant.

“Seventeen thousand would be for her wedding venue and food and five would be for miscellaneous purposes and…”

Althea sat calculating the expenses that she would require for her sister’s wedding that was going to happen in the next six months and she was trying her best to use up the money from her savings that she could use for her sister’s wedding, without having to get more debt and loan from her uncle and so far, she was running short on not just a few but a lot of money.

She sighed in exhaustion and slumped her phone back over the counter in the kitchen and Liana joined her inside the kitchen.

“Hmm, thank God! There aren’t many customers today.” She told Althea and then paused as she came to stand right in front of her.

“What happened to you?” she asked, noticing the stress on the girl’s face.

Althea bit her cheek on the inside, slightly pouting on her left.

“Nothing! Just fed up.” She shrugged.

“Is there something I can help you with?”

Listening to the fact that Liana was offering help, other chefs and workers also gathered around the place and wondered what they could do to offer help to the poor girl who was always kind to others around the place.

She nodded, “Do you guys have fifteen thousand euros?” she asked and everyone immediately slumped their heads down and disappeared in to the kitchen, giving Althea her answer.

She snickered a little.

“I am sorry guys!” she stated, exhausted even her own self at her situation. She turned around and rested her back against the large metal working unit that was placed in the middle of the kitchen. It was currently empty since the chefs didn’t have much to cook and prepare and only empty utensils and bowls were placed and stacked together at one end of it. The kitchen was mostly open and visible to the guests who came in but the baking and other units were placed quite further inside the kitchen.

“I know you guys just want to help but this isn’t something that we can all take care of by covering up each other’s shifts.” She told her coworkers and sighed, turning around and grabbing her apron that she was just about to put on, to go out and take orders but she paused when she heard a familiar voice coo her way.

“Then let me help you, my darling.”

All of her courage to even begin her day paused as soon as that wretched voice dropped over her ears.

She groaned internally and rolled her eyes, turning around to find the very face that haunted her and made her feel disgusted.

Angelo Luigi, her ex boyfriend, who had the face of an angel but only Althea knew how dark his hard truly was.

He always acted and pretended to be harmless and even looked like the perfect boyfriend, who would bring his girlfriend flowers at work, was six feet and above, wore denim jackets when it was chilly and had a slight stubble around his perfectly structured jaw and had contoured cheeks with a straight pointy noise and baby blue eyes. His dirty brown hair, made him the perfect guy in looks but Althea was well aware of how full of dirt his heart actually was.

Liana noticed Angelo standing by the entrance of the kitchen and was told by some of the staff who was aware of who the guy was, about how much Althea loathed to see him at the restaurant but being the adamant and toxic d**k that he was, he kept on showing up at that place and ruining Althea’s mood and day over and over again.

Althea also couldn’t do anything about Angelo’s nagging behavior. He was Romano’s best friend and they had dated on and off again ever since high school but Angelo would always break up with Althea whenever it would fit best to his circumstances.

The started dating in high school and the first time they broke up was when they were in eleventh grade and Angel said that he just didn’t feel like he loved Althea anymore. It was only a month later when Althea found out that he broke up only to get together with the hottest girl in their school back then. But once that girl left Angelo for another guy, he came crying and crawling back to Althea, who was stupid enough to accept him.

The second time they broke up when he went to college in Milan and Althea also understood his decision but when he came back, he begged Althea to get together and she agreed, without knowing that he was already dating multiple other girls in Milan at the same time.

She broke up with him but six months later he came back to her, cried and begged to be taken back and promised to never cheat on her again but of course, he did cheat on her and not just once but three times.

The last time was quite the heavy blow on Althea, which was around a year back when she caught Angelo with another waitress of Pastalia.

She was completely broken and devastated and this time, Seb and Lur helped her, chase Angelo away and helped her not to make the stupid decision of going back to Angelo, which was also coupled with Monique’s help, who urged Seb and Lur to not to let Althea go back to Angelo.

But this didn’t stop Angelo from ruining Althea peace. After every now and then he would pop up around the restaurant and harass and nag Althea, begging her to take him back.

She had tried to even involve the legal authorities and tried to get a restraining order against Angelo but he was a friend of Romano and also his business partner and together they ran a tourist lodge, which meant clearly that not only was a rich but also it left Althea in a vulnerable position where she couldn’t fight or argue with Angelo anymore or even get a restraining order against him, since Romano found out that she had tried to get rid of Angelo and then threatened Althea to not to ruin his business partner’s image or else he would tell Irene the truth about her so called scholarship and even stop giving money for her tuition fee.

Angelo stepped ahead and presented a bouquet of sunflowers to Althea.

“Congratulations on your sister’s engagement.” He offered with a smile so sweet that any woman can melt away for in a second but he wasn’t going to fool Althea again, who had known it quite well how much of a devil he was on the inside.

She had been hurt by him over and over again. She wasn’t going to allow him to manipulate her ever again.

“There is no point in congratulating me.”

She told him in a stern tone, turning her eyes away from him and throwing her apron on and tied it around her waist.

She didn’t want to look at his face ever again because looking at Angelo only made her feel pain and regret for ever loving a man like him.

Althea grabbed her notepad and was about to walk out of the kitchen when Angelo extended his hand in front of her and stopped her from moving away.

Everyone in the restaurant who worked there or at least knew Althea remotely was aware of the fact that her ex boyfriend harassed her occasionally just like he was doing at that moment.

He took a step closer to Althea and she immediately took one back but he was quick enough and also aware of the fact that Althea would try to move away and out of reach, so he took three quick steps in her direction, which made Althea jump back and hit her back against the preparation unit.

“I know you are very stressed about how you will manage all the expenses to the wedding. Why don’t you leave that to me? I will handle it and…”

Althea looked up at Angelo and judged his audacity.

“You saying of all of that is not making your position in my life any stronger. In fact, it is only making me loath you more and making me realize how you actually never loved me. Had you ever actually loved me or known me, you must have known why I am not happy with the engagement but who am I kidding?”

Of course, Althea’s heart was full of hurt due to Angelo’s treatment and ignorant behavior but she simply pushed his aside and walked ahead but he still grabbed her wrist and held her back.

“I know I haven’t been there for you and I am not the best man that you can rely on but please let me make it up to you and show you that I have truly changed and that I am here for you…”

He once again began the same only mantra that he always said to Althea and it worked up until a year ago when Althea didn’t have friends like Seb and Lur who helped her understand that Angelo’s behavior towards her was toxic and always pulled her back from ever getting together with Angelo ever again.

“You were about to engaged to some girl just four weeks ago and now you are here begging to have me back. Either you got engaged and are shameless enough to keep me as your side chick or either you just are still searching for a better option and until then you plan on using me. What have I ever done to you to treat me like this?”

“What? Oh my God!” Angelo acted offended and stunned by Althea’s words, “How could you even say that? Do you even know how much I love you and how much I want to be with you?”

“That’s how you ended up with your d**k inside other women?” one of the chef retorted, making everyone in the kitchen laugh and even his words, made Althea snort out a little, whereas she was on the verge of crying. Tears had welled up in her eyes, as her heart still ached from the realization of how badly and poorly Angelo had treated her and she had allowed him to treat her this way.

“I think this is our private matter and…”

“It was our personal matter until you decided to f**k one of the waitress from the restaurant and ever since then, you made your d**k, everyone’s matter.”

Althea told Angelo off, who was obviously angered by Althea’s audacity, as she had gotten the courage to retort back at him and had recognized his toxic and hurtful behavior towards her, which only made Angelo angry that his tantalizing and toxic ways didn’t work with Althea anymore.

She was about to walk away from him once again when he held her wrist tightly and pulled her back and closer, making everyone in the kitchen stand on their guard.

Althea hissed in pain as Angelo tugged her harshly. She looked up at him, wincing in pain and trying her best to free herself from his strong grip.

“Let go off me Angelo! Stop chasing me, I am never getting back with you.”

He pulled her closer and sneered in to her ear, “I am being polite and nice towards you, giving you the opportunity to come back to me willingly. Don’t make me use force on you.”

He warned her and Althea looked in to his eyes that were full of angst and venom and she could clearly see his true and real self. The monster that he actually was could be clearly seen through his eyes and his actions. He was finally showing the ugly person that he really was, that was hidden and masked behind that angelic face of his.

“Is everything alright?”

Salva questioned, making everyone turn towards the counter right outside the kitchen.

Gigi stood right next to him, with his eyes plastered on Angelo’s strong grip over the poor waitress’s wrist. He didn’t know who those people were but he could tell that the girl wasn’t happy or willing to be in that condition.

Liana immediately stepped ahead and taking advantage of Angelo’s distraction, who stood looking at the skeptical customers, she immediately pulled Althea away and free from Angelo, taking him by surprise.

“You must leave, we have customers coming in now and Althea has a job to do.”

She pushed Althea ahead and out of the kitchen and Angelo was about to go after Althea but other staff member stepped in and blocked his way.

“You must leave from the backdoor.” Liana suggested him.

“But…” he tried to argue with a chef grabbed his wrist and pulled him out of the kitchen.

“You wouldn’t want Mr. Romano to know that because of you a scene was caused at the restaurant. You must leave now.”

With that the chef pushed Angelo out of the restaurant and shut the door right over his face.

Angelo grunted in anger, slamming a punch firmly over the steel door but everyone inside remained calm, knowing that it was the usual of the man to do so.

But Angelo didn’t give up and instead circled back and around the restaurant, standing by the entrance this time and watching Althea’s every single move. He hatched a plan in his mind with which he was going to make Althea come back to him.

Althea on the other hand, immediately stepped out of the kitchen, glad that Liana helped her get rid of Angelo and smiled at Salva and Gigi, who definitely looked foreign, not because of their looks but because of their expensive clothing and styling.

“Good afternoon! I am Althea Ferrara and I will be your server for the evening. Here is our menu, I will come back to collect your order…”

“Is everything alright back there?” Gigi asked once again, still quite concerned over how the girl was being manhandled by the man back in the kitchen.

Althea’s cheeks blushed with embarrassment as she simply shrugged at the two.

“I am sorry you had to see that. It is nothing. And yes, everything is alright. as an apology that you had to see that, I will get you the best wine we have. Please decide your orders and we will make sure that you get your food piping.”

“Actually, we already know what we want.” Salva stated, taking Althea by surprise.

She thought that they were amongst those tourists who would come to the place after seeing it online on some blogger’s page but every blogger who came to the restaurant always mentioned on their page that the food wasn’t the best thing about the place.

Althea had asked her uncle and cousin to let some blogger have their food for free so that they would recommend the place for food as well but being the misogynistic misers that they were, they never paid heave to Althea’s advice and instead they let their place get trashed for its poor food quality and taste and the only reason people went to that place was for the view.

“Oh, okay! I will get your order than.”

She pulled out her pen and jotter and looked back at Salva.

“We will have your Gragnano Pasta.”

Althea felt a bit skeptical about their peculiar order.

Usually whenever someone would order that dish, she suspected them to be from the Secret Chef Hunter’s Society but since their applications were closed and they had already started sending other applicants their letters of rejection or acceptance, Althea knew that she should drop her hopes down on the fact that the two were simple and regular customers and given how tatted the Ginger beard man was, there was no way they belonged to the Chef Hunter’s Society, since it was mostly administrated and ran by quite old and sober people.

“Okay! Anything else?” she asked and the two simply shook their heads.

“Okay! Two plates of…”

“Just make it one.” Gigi told her and she nodded looking at the two with quite the doubtful eye and Salva felt quite offended.

“Just get us the damn pasta.”

He told her, making her run off and away in to the kitchen.

“What? Offended that someone thought that you might be in to me?” Gigi teased Salva, who acted surprised at his question.

“I don’t know what you are talking about.”

“Oh, come on! A girl thought you were gay! It is something that brings such a reaction out of you. You screamed at the poor girl for no reason.”

Salva snorted, as he took a sip of the wine that another waiter served them.

“Oh please! I don’t care whatever that girl thinks about me. She is so not my type and let me tell you, I have been in to waitresses. There was a time period when I used to f**k waitresses a lot. But even if I had met her in that time, I would’ve wished that she considered me gay because she is totally not my type.”

“What? Why? I think she is cute.” Gigi defended but Salva shrugged.

Gigi turned around and spotted Althea standing at a table and interacting with a customer, laughing along with them and trying her best to keep them entertained.

“I mean, she is good looking, tall and even though she is wearing a lose dress, I think she’s got a good figure. Her face is cute and her hair are nice as well.”

Salva c****d as Gigi turned back towards him, “Are you sure, you are gay? Looks like she turned you straight. Maybe, you should think about taking her back to island with us along with the chef.”

Salva spared a cursory look at Althea and simply didn’t find her attractive to his taste. His taste would be women who would wear clothes that would insinuated their figures. He was in to women who would flirt with him, allure him and attract him. He liked when someone worked for his attention and Althea was surely plain in his point of view.

Gigi smirked as he also enjoyed the wine.

“Well, you never know maybe you might be the one taking her back to the island.”

“Yeah, for that! Some sort of twist in the fate would have to happen whereby I would lose my mind and besides what the f**k is even this place. I still don’t see the point of proposing to someone here.”

Gigi couldn’t help but giggle at Salva’s continuous distaste towards the restaurant.

“Oh come on now, look at how beautiful the view from here is. The sun is shining right at us, the city is beautiful, lush green and it is definitely romantic.”

“Ah! There you are. Definitely gay.” Salva retorted, making Gigi shake his head with amusement.

Soon Althea served them the plate, “Enjoy your meal. If you need anything else, just let me know.”

With that she left and both Salva and Gigi took a bite of the dish served to them and as they looked at each other, they felt nothing but disappointment.

“I don’t know why we had to come all the way here for this. This tastes stupidly plane. Are you sure this is the place and the pasta?” Gigi asked, spitting out his food in a napkin and taking a sip of the wine of cleanse his palette.

Salva followed his movement and shook his head in sheer disappointment.

“I don’t get it either. There is nothing better about this and we could’ve found a better pasta than this is Ibiza. We didn’t have to take such a long cruise all the way to Italy. This pasta is s**t. I don’t know what about this pasta made Nick propose. I mean, if this made him propose, than no wonder why Cheryl left. This is shit.”

The restaurant wasn’t that busy, so Althea was keeping an eye on each customer and she was peculiar about Salva and Gigi who had actually seen her in a vulnerable state. She noticed their expressions after they tasted their food.

She immediately rushed at their table and stood firmly in front of them.

“Is everything alright about your food, sir?”

“No!” Salva yelled back at her.

He was definitely disappointed and exhausted. Tasting that pasta and knowing how bland and absolutely rubbish it was, he was definitely sure that his last hope of getting Nicholas back in to his healthy mind state was lost. That pasta was his last hope of pulling his friend out of his distorted and depressed state and with that pasta tasting that bad, he knew that Nicholas was never going to move on, get better and out of that island and Salva would have to spend the rest of his life on that island.

“This pasta is s**t! This restaurant is s**t. This place is a s**t hole! I don’t get it why would someone even ever propose in this place. I don’t know why would someone even ever propose.”

Salva began ranting and crying out loud, throwing his head down on the table in defeat and Althea looked at him in sheer surprise.

“Umm, should I call the chef for you, sir?” she offered and Salva lifted his head up at her and threw a daggering look at her.

“The chef? Don’t even dare to mention that fucker who cooked this very same stupid and disgusting pasta six months ago that…”

“Six months ago? No, sir! The chef that prepared this pasta for you was hired just three months back and in fact, most of our staff from six months back is not even the same and…”

“Wait what?” Gigi immediately picked on to something and then looked at Althea and then back at Salva.

“Did you hear that? The chef who prepared this pasta six months back is not the same, which means that the chef who used to prepare this pasta must be somewhere else, right? Where is that chef now and can he prepare that pasta from six months back? Or is some sort of specific recipe or something?”

Althea looked at the two with confusion, wondering what they were trying to get out of a simple pasta and its cook.

“Umm, can I know why you guys are trying to get all this information?” she asked with a skeptic tone and Salva and Gigi looked at each other.

They couldn’t tell who they were exactly but they still needed to find that chef.

“We will tell you everything but first can you tell us who was the chef who used to cook your pasta around six months back? You might not remember this but it was around the time when a couple came here and proposed a girl. I mean many proposals must happen around this place but it was this tall guy with a tall girl…”

Althea shook her head, having no idea who those two were talking about.

“Umm, well the pasta that was back then taste different than it is now and that pasta was actually defined to be very good and we came here in search of the chef who made your specialty Gragnano pasta and…”

As soon as Salva said those words, it was like a bulb went off inside Althea’s head and suddenly she realize who Salva and Gigi could be.

“Oh my God! I know who you guys are.”

Both Salva and Gigi looked at each other in horror, wondering if Althea actually knew who they were or if she was assuming them to be someone else.

----------------------------------------------

Well, who do you think Althea thinks Salva and Gigi are?

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