Lorraine walked me over to meet the rest of his family. First, the father, Jack, then his sister and her future husband. They all seemed very surprised I showed up. His sister kept giving me looks from afar like she didn't believe this ruse for a second. I didn’t blame her. Matteo didn’t even look happy. He was the worst actor ever. If he wanted to sell that we were a couple, he needed pointers because, at this rate, I’d be going home tomorrow.
We sat down at the table for dinner, and I was surprised to find out that it had already been ordered. I didn’t even get to choose my food while being here? Shit! The family was discussing things that I knew nothing about, so I just smiled and nodded my head occasionally, so they would think I was listening. The truth was, I kept spacing out thinking how bad the time here was going to be if I couldn’t even pick my own damn dinner. Did they get to choose my outfits too?
At this point, the food was served, and it was a fancy fish contraption. If Matteo knew anything, he would know I hate fish. Something about it tasted awful to me. The smell was even worse. How could people cook that in their home willingly? I would never understand. There was no way I was going to eat this. I began to scoop a spoonful of fish at a time and toss it under the table onto the ground. I kept looking around to make sure no one was looking at me. The last thing I needed was to get caught wasting food around some rich family. I went to throw another spoonful underneath when someone said, “How does it taste?”
It tasted like shit actually, not that I would ever put it in my mouth. Once his mom’s eyes were off me, I threw the last of it underneath the table. Not a single person noticed, but I felt terrible for the waiter that would have to clean it up once we left. The sad thing was that I was starving; my stomach gurgling loudly caught Matteo’s attention. I cupped my stomach, trying to silence it, but didn’t help.
“Do you want more?” he asked, looking at my cleaned plate.
I wanted something to eat badly, but I couldn’t say anything to him. It’s not like we even got along. He would probably lose his shit if he knew what I did. I just shook my head in response. When the waiter came back and asked if anyone wanted dessert, I quickly spoke up. Everyone around the table looked at me. What? Was it not customary to get dessert? I didn’t care. I needed something to put in my stomach. I hadn’t eaten all day. I was not going to bed hungry. The waiter brought my brownie delight to the table which was a colossal brownie with ice cream on top with nuts. It didn’t look as delicious as a steak would, but right now, I just wanted something to put in my stomach that wasn’t fish. I devoured it in a matter of minutes, and when I finished, everyone was staring at me.
“This woman loves her dessert. I can’t take her anywhere without getting dessert before we leave,” he said, smiling and grabbing my hand.
Nice save. I knew I would probably get asked about it later, but right now, my belly wasn’t growling, and that was all that mattered. They could stare at me all they wanted. I was entitled to dessert if I wanted it.