Betty's First Trip to Rome the Prequel - Chapter 4 – Washing dishes
It was the morning after the baseball game. The morning of the first day after Daniel had learned that Wilhelmina had out maneuvered him and taken his job. His rival, his nemesis, the bane of his existence, Wilhelmina Slater, was the new Editor-in-chief of Mode magazine. Wilhelmina would be coming into his office to take over from him any minute.
Daniel had a stack of the current issue in front of him on his desk. Daniel Jr. was seated beside him with a stack of magazines in front of him too. They were taking turns tearing pages from the magazines, crumpling them into balls, and throwing them into the waste paper basket which was placed in the center of the room.
Daniel Jr. twisted around to throw it over his shoulder and made the shot. "Woo hoo. High five!" Daniel shouted in approval while clapping hands with Daniel Jr.
Betty entered the room with a coffee and bagel for Daniel and put them on his desk. She sat down in the chair opposite him.
Daniel noisily tore another page out, crumpled it, and threw it into the basket. "Way to go Papa!" shouted Daniel Jr. slapping Daniel's back happily.
"Daniel, I need to talk to you," Betty said. The sight of the magazines being ruined irritated her. The grating sound of tearing paper made it even worse.
"Okay. Shoot!" said Daniel, laughing gaily at his own joke. Daniel Jr. tore out another page, crumpled it up, and laughed exuberantly.
"Daniel!" Betty said sternly. She was becoming increasingly irritated by seeing them destroy the magazines, and from hearing the annoying sound of tearing paper and laughter.
"Go ahead Betty! Spit it out. This is no time to wait. Wilhelmina will be here shortly. Damn her."
"Daniel," Betty hissed crossly. She jerked her head towards Daniel Jr. as he tossed another ball of paper toward the basket.
"Oh, don't mind him. We're having fun. We might as well," Daniel said without looking at Betty.
Infuriated, Betty jumped up, grabbed the basket and whisked it up above her head. "Daniel! I need to talk to you! If you don't stop this right now I'm going to dump all this paper out!"
Daniel snapped his attention to Betty. This was severe. As soon as he looked at her he could tell she was livid. Daniel instructed Daniel Jr. to leave them and to shut the door when he left. Betty put the basket down and locked the door.
Daniel's gaiety drained away as soon as Daniel Jr. was out of the room. He was intensely distraught that Wilhelmina was taking away his job and he didn't try to hide it anymore.
Daniel lamented, "Why is it that you don't realize what you really want until you can't have it? I can have any job at Meade besides the one I have. But this is the only one I want."
Betty said firmly, "Daniel. I came here to talk to you about me."
"What's up Betty? How's your head? That was quite a hit you took yesterday."
"Fine, my head is fine, Daniel," Betty said flatly, unappeased by his conciliatory tone.
"You don't look fine," Daniel replied as he looked at her intently. He studied her face and noticed dark circles under her eyes which were reddened and damp. "Have you been crying? Did you not sleep well last night?"
"Good observation Daniel," said Betty sarcastically, "Yes, I am not fine," and she added bitterly, "I came here to give you my notice. I'll be leaving as soon as I can get a position at another company."
"Betty, you don't have to do that. Your position at Mode is safe. Just because I'm leaving doesn't mean you have to leave too. In fact I am hoping that you will move with me to wherever it is I go next. We can talk about all that after you get back from Rome."
"I'm not going to Rome!" Betty shouted angrily, tears threatening to flow.
"Whoa, wait a minute. Did I miss something?" Daniel asked. He remembered when he last saw her, at the game the previous day. She had seemed fine then.
"I'm getting a new job. That's what I am doing. I can't stand it here any longer!" Betty put her hand to her mouth to muffle an involuntary sob. She was no longer able to hold back the gush of tears which suddenly burst forth.
Daniel walked quickly to Betty and wrapped his arms around her, tucking her face into his chest. He stroked her hair and made soothing sounds as Betty wept. Daniel said, "Tell me, Betty, tell me what's wrong, tell me all about it."
* * *
Gio scrubbed and tidied the deli non-stop. He had been at it for hours starting well before opening time. He was filled with intense feelings of disappointment and despair. He struggled to keep himself together. Somehow he had to put one foot in front of the other and get through the day. How he would get through the next day and the days after that could be left for then.
He was torn up inside but he worked hard to keep his true feelings from being noticed. Cleaning was the easiest. When you cleaned you didn't have to talk. The counters had never shone as bright and Gio had never felt as dark. He could not stop playing and replaying the sequence of events of the previous day in his mind. He had not slept a wink and eventually gave up trying. He had come to work well before daylight. He came to work but he couldn't stop thinking.
What had happened? Was it true that the relationship he thought they had was all in his mind? He thought back to previous events. He agonized over how quickly Betty had pushed him away and slapped him when he kissed her in the deli. He was miserable when recalling how she had torn herself from his arms and run away from him right at the start of the dance they shared at Nella's junior high. He had thought that these things indicated some strong feelings. Complex feelings he was sure, but feelings that involved him. He had thought she had real feelings for him that had the potential of becoming something more. Was he wrong?
Had he imagined something that wasn't there when he remembered the comfortable way she had rested her head on his shoulder after the carriage ride? And she had visited him in the deli often and she always stopped to talk to him when she came in. Did that mean nothing? He had thought she went out of her way to see him. And they often shared muffins together, was that nothing too? Was he wrong about everything?
Gio scrubbed and mopped and washed dishes until the customers arrived. He made sandwiches all day long. Every egg salad or chicken salad sandwich hurt him. Everything hurt him. It was like he was bruised all over, inside and out. He didn't know what would cause pain until it did. He made small talk with the customers but he didn't joke with anyone today. But nobody seemed to notice.
Gio thought of his trip to Rome. He thought about telling his mother that he wouldn't be bringing a date after all. This would be very embarrassing and he was sure Nella would tease him mercilessly about it. He'd be attending his grandparent's 60th wedding anniversary shortly after he got there. It was to be such a happy event. He had looked forward to celebrating their long and happy lives together. Their fruitful and productive lives always inspired him and he greatly respected their fidelity. And then there was his cousin's wedding too. They were such a sweet young couple and they were so in love. They were so in love that they were getting married. Probably they would be having children soon. Now he would be alone to witness their nuptials. And Nella was bound to make sure everyone knew why he was alone.
He couldn't delay the trip because of these family commitments but he wondered if he could cancel it altogether. He wondered whether he could change his trip to go somewhere else. He'd always wanted to go to Asia. Asian cuisine was a rising trend and Asian fusion food was becoming very popular. As he doled out some sauerkraut for a Reuben sandwich he pondered the difference between sauerkraut and kimchi . He knew sauerkraut was pickled and fermented shredded cabbage and that it originated in Germany whereas kimchi originated in Korea. Kimchi included the same basic ingredients but added others such as chili peppers. Perhaps kimchi would be a novel and interesting sandwich ingredient. Something for his condiment bar.
He thought he would get some interesting ideas by traveling to Thailand and Korea. Gio had friends that had gone there and they said the travel was fun and cheap and that the food was delicious and flavorful. He thought he could forget Betty in Asia much easier than in Rome. He'd be away from his family and Nella and all his celebrating relatives. He'd be on his own.
And he knew like everyone knows that Asian girls are shy and sweet like Betty. Maybe he would even meet a girl there that was soft and plump like Betty, with shiny dark hair and eyes and a wide smile that lit up her face. Maybe she would even wear braces too. Gio sighed and shook his head sadly. He realized it wasn't the way that Betty looked that he liked. It was Betty. Betty could look like anything and he would still love her.
He tried to concentrate on the sandwiches he was making. There was no way that he could get out of going to Rome so he had to stop himself from thinking about it. He decided to tell his mother about Betty canceling the trip after he got home from work. Then he put the trip out of his mind.
Gio was thankful when the day's rush started up because it kept him busy. By the end of the day he was very tired. He hoped he would be tired enough to sleep.
Then just as he was about to close the shop and lock the deli's front door he heard the familiar ring of the door chime.