My Italian BFF

Chapter Eight

The next day, when I walked into the restaurant for my shift, I knew that everyone already knew about me and Luca. I wouldn’t have put it past Emily to have sent out a group message letting everyone know the juicy gossip. Luca started before me and would already be in the kitchen. I wondered if he had noticed the staring and whispering. I doubted it. He seemed to be oblivious to such things.

I went to deposit my bag in the staff room as soon as I walked in. Silence ensued. I locked it in my locker as fast as I could and left to avoid the tension-filled atmosphere. Feeling grateful that my job kept me behind the bar in solitude.

The shift passed with little drama, except for the odd snide comment from the new girl. I supposed it served me right for telling her Luca was gay. I headed home alone because an old friend from culinary school had invited Luca on a stag do. They had been quite close over the years since. It was a weekend-long event, so I wouldn’t see him for a couple of nights. They had gone to Manchester to see a concert and no doubt there would be a liberal dose of drinking, too. I was quite looking forward to a couple of quiet evenings to myself.

I settled in on the sofa and delved into the stack of books, still at the side of the sofa that I had been meaning to find time to read. Pulling the throw from the sofa up around my chin and snuggling up.

In the morning, a slew of drunken images of Luca greeted me on f*******:. I flicked through and smiled to myself. He looked like he was enjoying his time away. Work was pretty easy and uneventful. The girls seemed to have forgotten all about me and Luca already and so at least I wouldn’t have to deal with knowing they were gossiping about us. I was just finishing up for the night when Emily came over.

“Sorry about letting it slip about you and Luca.” Yeah, because that was a complete accident. The bare-faced cheek on her amazed me.

“I’m sure it was an honest mistake.” It came out sarcastic, but I hadn’t meant it to.

“There’s no need to be like that. Sarah was asking me about him, and it just sort of came out.” Sarah was the new girl so that at least made sense.

“How did everyone else find out?”

“Sarah told them, like everyone, as soon as they got here. I don’t know why. I didn’t mean to blab.” Sarah had told everyone because she was mad at me for lying to her. Although I knew I lied, it was still not a nice thing to do. I uttered my goodbyes to Emily, feeling rather guilty for assuming it was all her fault.

That night I was bombarded with more images of Luca which someone had tagged him in. I was idly flicking through them all. The concert had been the night before. The new ones seemed to all be of the group day drinking. There were photos of them all squeezed into a small fountain, which looked to be in the city centre. Quite clearly, they were all past the point of engaging their brains. I kept flicking through, but something stopped me in my tracks, and I had to scroll back.

They had taken a photo after they had removed themselves from the fountain and Luca was still dripping wet from the experience. He wasn’t alone. There was a petite woman with him. She was gazing up at him and had her hand on his upper arm. The mystery woman was attractive, with a blonde, curly bob and wearing a white A-line dress covered in pink flowers. She looked very girly, pretty and slim-framed. I shook off the feelings of inferiority and continued to flick. From that moment in the fountain, she was in nearly every photo with Luca. There were photos of them dancing in a club, and she seemed very attentive to him.

I put the phone down, not wanting to see anymore. It was getting late, and I decided to head to bed. Just as I was pulling back the covers, my phone buzzed. I opened it and there were more photos. It was quite clear that Luca and the mystery girl were still together despite the late hour. My emotions were too all over the place, so much so that I couldn’t even process them. I got into bed but barely slept, tossing and turning all night long.

When I finally gave up on trying to sleep, it was around 5 am. Getting in the shower and all I could think about was if the two of them were together right then. It made me think of the way Spencer had dumped me for what he considered a more suitable woman. Maybe Luca had thought the same. All the things my mother had said to me over the years ran through my mind on a never-ending loop. I turned the shower up as hot as it would go, hoping to boil the thoughts from my brain.

By the time I returned to my room, my skin had turned a beetroot colour, but the thoughts were still there. I knew I wasn’t good enough for Luca and I knew he wanted completely different things to me. I laid my back against the wardrobe door, sliding down into a heap on the floor. The tears exploded from my eyes. I pulled my knees to my chest and hugged them, hoping to find some comfort from the self-inflicted embrace.

I chanced a look at my phone, but they had posted no more photos. Over and over, I sat and refreshed the page. I didn’t want to see Luca with another woman, but I couldn’t stop myself from looking. I was obsessed, but I couldn’t stop myself.

Hey, hope you're having a good time. Miss you.

I didn’t know what I hoped to achieve from the message, but I sent it anyway. I sat waiting for a response, which was ridiculous because it was still too early for him to be awake. I was tempted to ring him, but I decided that would definitely be going too far.

I was still feeling stressed about it when I arrived at the restaurant. I started chopping the lemons, not getting through a single lemon, before cutting my finger. It stung so much that some slight profanity slipped out. Note to self, lemon in cuts is not advisable. I headed into the kitchen and ran it under the tap, before finding a startling blue plaster in the first aid box.

At lunchtime, the restaurant was particularly busy. There were several people sitting at the bar, waiting for tables to open up. There was a couple who were celebrating their anniversary and a group of girls hoping to break up a day of shopping. The girls were enjoying themselves and keeping me busy pouring different cocktails. I was just pouring out the last one when the man from the couple started shouting at me, using terms such as oi. I ignored him. He was being rude while I was busy. I wasn’t in the mood for people without manners, so he would just have to wait.

When I got to him, he had only had to wait a few minutes.

“What can I get you?”

“A table would be nice.”

“I’m sorry, as the waitress explained, we are particularly busy today. I’m sure it won’t be too much longer. Would you like another drink?”

“No, I would like a table.”

“We do offer pre-booking. Perhaps that would be an option for your next visit.”

“Oh, you really think you’re smart, don’t you?”

“No sir, just making you aware of the services we offer.” He was really starting to make me angry, but I tried my hardest to stay professional.

“I want to speak to your manager.”

“Absolutely, sir. I will arrange that right away.” I walked to the sink behind the bar to wash my hands, making sure I took as long as possible to do the simple task.

“Would you hurry up?”

“Absolutely sir, I am terribly sorry, sir.” The nicer I was to him, the more annoyed he was getting with me. It was the only tool at my disposal. Better being intentionally nice than punching the jerk. I slipped out from behind the bar and climbed the stairs to Mr Carlson’s office. Knocking on the door briskly and waiting for my cue to enter.

“Come in.”

“Sorry to disturb you, but we have a customer complaint downstairs who would like to speak to you.”

“Alright, I’ll be right back. You wait here because I need to speak to you, anyway.” As if I didn’t already know what it was, he wanted to discuss with me. He was gone for at least ten minutes before finally returning and sitting back behind his desk, staring at me with a vacant, emotionless look in his eyes.

“So, I wanted to speak to you about a complaint I’ve received.”

“Regarding?”

“A member of staff has accused you of bullying them and another member of staff.”

“Excuse me?”

“Apparently, there was an altercation in the restaurant yesterday during business hours. Another member of staff has reported the altercation and also claims you are bullying them.” I felt like I was losing my mind. I hadn’t bullied anyone, and I certainly wouldn’t call my conversation with Emily an altercation.

“I assure you, sir, I have in no way bullied any other members of staff.”

“Then to add to that offence, the gentleman downstairs has put a formal complaint forward that you were rude and purposely left him waiting for a table.”

“His wait for a table isn’t within my remit. How could I possibly have made him wait for one?”

“I wasn’t there, so I wouldn’t know, but that’s two different people accusing you of inappropriate behaviour and they can’t both be lying.” Well, they were. I was nothing but polite to the guy downstairs. It wasn’t my fault there was a wait for the table. The i***t should have booked in advance if it bothered him so much.

“I’m sorry, sir, for anything I have done. I will try to do better in the future.” Taking the approach I took with my mother, agree and apologise.

“I’m afraid it is much too late for that. Collect your things and leave, please. Your final wages will be with you on your normal payday.”

“You can’t fire me.”

“I beg to differ.” I could feel the tears pricking at me and I stood, fleeing. Not wanting to give him the satisfaction of knowing how much it bothered me. When I was clearing out my locker, Emily came in.

“I’ve just heard. What happened?”

“Apparently, we had an altercation yesterday. Then someone accused me of bullying. To top it off, the jerk at the bar has accused me of being rude.” The tears were slowly trickling down my cheeks.

“You're joking. Who told him about our altercation?” She used air quotes as she said it, and it was so comical it almost made me laugh. The whole thing was laughable. I already knew the real reason he was getting rid of me.

“He said the same person who accused me of bullying them, but I don’t know who it was.” Emily pulled me into a hug, clearly being as speechless as me about the situation. I felt unbelievably awkward, so said my goodbyes, promising to stay in touch. It would never happen because we had next to nothing in common, but it felt right to say it.

On the way home, I picked up a bottle of vodka and some coke, feeling the need to drown my sorrows. It had been quite the day. Getting drunk alone wasn’t as fun as getting drunk with Luca. The thought made me miss him. Missing him brought even more conflicting emotions out of me. I checked my phone one last time, but there was still no response from Luca. That night I fell asleep, upset and drunk on the sofa. My only comfort was the throw lying over me.