Today's Special is the Jerk-Chicken Salad - Chapter 4: Welcome to my Restaurant
"Hello?" yelled Hilda, knocking on the restaurant's door. The sound of singing stopped.
"It's open," yelled Gio from the kitchen. "I'll be there in a minute."
Hilda pushed the door open and let herself into the cool air-conditioned dining room. She had never been in Gio's restaurant before but she had heard about it.
Morning sunshine poured through the white lace curtains covering the windows and the golden light gave the quaint furnishings in the room a warm glow. Hilda could see about ten tiny, black, wrought-iron tables, with a pair of matching chairs stacked upside down on each of them, squeezed into the small room.
At the far end of the room on a long, polished-wood bar, sat a large grey cat and ten glass vases holding sprigs of scarlet hibiscus flowers. The sunlight streamed through the glass vases throwing prisms of colors onto a mirror behind the bar. Dozens of multicolored liquor bottles in different shapes and sizes were lined up on a shelf just below the mirror. There was a large jar of biscotti beside a professional stainless steel espresso machine at one end of the bar.
The walls of the room were decorated with damaged and broken surf boards, painted in a rainbow of glossy neon colors in geometric shapes, stripes, and floral patterns. The immaculate black and white tiled floor glistened, still wet from a recent washing, a mop and bucket were pushed up against the wall. Hilda hesitated to take another step on the perfectly clean floor.
"Careful about the floor," Gio called out from the kitchen. "It's wet."
Hilda called back in a loud whisper, "Gio! It's me, Hilda."
"Hilda!" cried Gio excitedly, emerging from the kitchen, carrying a saucer. "I didn't expect you this early."
"Shush," said Hilda. "We just landed a couple of hours ago. I have to explain…"
Gio set the saucer on the bar in front of the cat, which nonchalantly ignored it, carefully licking his paws.
Hilda stared at Gio. She hadn't seen him in two years and his appearance had changed dramatically.
With long, sun-bleached brown hair brushing his shoulders and small gold hoop earrings in both ears, stubble-faced Gio stood before her barefoot, dressed in a pair of board shorts, a white terrycloth bar towel tucked into the waistband, his body tanned and well-muscled from his fanatical surfing addiction.
"Gio!" said Hilda, eyes sparkling, smiling broadly, and gazing intently at him. "You look so good."
"You do too," said Gio, grinning at her warm smile and scanning his eyes over her protruding belly. "You're positively glowing."
"Aw," said Hilda, running across the wet floor and embracing him with a warm hug.
Gio clamped his strong arms around her, and purred in her ear, "Hey, Hilda, you're so beautiful. Bobby is one lucky man. Why didn't we ever … you know … get together? I must have been crazy, letting you get away." Gio slid his hands over her back warmly.
"Gio, you shameless flatterer," laughed Hilda, squeezing him back. "Boy, you sure know how to make an old, married woman like me feel as giddy as a girl! These days I feel about as sexy as a whale!"
"Sexiest whale ever!" laughed Gio, looking at the restaurant's door. "Where's Bobby?"
"Okay, there's a problem," said Hilda. "Quick, can you lock the door? And don't answer any knocks. I'll call you later."
"Why?" said Gio.
"I have to fill you in," said Hilda. "Plans changed since we last talked."
"Don't worry," said Gio. "I can handle anything. I'm closed up today so we can do whatever you want whenever you want. I want to take you all around the island and show you the hidden treasures only the locals know about."
"Wonderful!" said Hilda, grabbing Gio's arm and dragging him to the front door. "I want to do that, but not now. You have to lock me out and pretend you're not here."
"I don't know what kind of game we're playing," said Gio, eyes gleaming with enthusiasm, "but I'm in!"
"Thanks, I'll call you later."
"We have so much to catch up on," said Gio, reaching out to grasp the doorknob "I haven't seen you since London, the day I crashed your bachelorette party, when you were with …"
Just as Gio's hand touched the handle, Betty pushed the door open.
"… Betty!" exclaimed Gio, astonished to see her.
"Gio?" cried Betty, even more astonished to see him.
"Oh, hey, Betty!" squealed Hilda gaily. "Isn't it unbelievable? This is Gio's place!"
Surprised, Gio turned to look at Hilda, wondering why she was pretending she had just discovered it was his place. "Huh?"
"Oh, uh," said Hilda, rushing to explain, her words spilling over each other. "You see, at the last minute, Bobby couldn't come so Betty agreed to come with me! Isn't that fun?"
Betty didn't hear what Hilda said because her attention was completely focused on Gio. He was stunning, and sexy, and even worse, a thing she was ashamed to admit she enjoyed the sight of, nearly naked. He looked like a model in a men's fragrance advertisement, relaxed and confident, supremely comfortable in his skin. He was all tanned skin. Tanned skin and muscles. She looked at him again. She had never noticed how handsome he was before. She shouldn't notice now, she thought, but then, who would it harm, to notice?
And she would bet big money he was going commando under those shorts. She was ashamed to catch herself mentally filling in the details. The strands of his hair fell carelessly across his forehead and his long locks formed a wave that broke just at his earlobes revealing small hoop earrings. She had a sudden urge to run her fingers through his silky hair and over his rough chin and smiling lips. She became aware he was studying her with those familiar, penetrating, yet gentle, brown eyes. Flustered, she wondered if he could tell what she was thinking.
"Gio! Your hair," whispered Betty, putting a hand to her burning cheek. "Gio … earrings?"
Gio stared back at the bizarre sight of a wide-eyed, disheveled, and perspiring Betty, flabbergasted to see her in his restaurant without warning and in such a state. And she looked so different from before! Beautifully styled thick tousled hair cascaded over her shoulders and a fashionable silk blouse drenched in sweat clung to the contours of her skinny body. Her exquisitely tailored wool slacks were caked with mud and her boots were muddy too.
She looked completely different, and yet when he gazed into her bewitching brown eyes clouded by confusion and panic he fell under the same old spell. Sweet and vulnerable, she was in trouble, making his heart melt. A powerful feeling of déjà vu swept over him. When had he seen her face like this before? His heart contracted, making him gasp. The deli! Betty, lying on the floor in a pool of shattered glass, handcuffed, imploring him for help. One glance, an instant, was all it took to demolish the years of arduous effort trying to forget her. He was as hopelessly in love with her as ever and would do anything in his power to help her.
"Betty," said Gio gruffly, giving her a quick awkward hug. "It's great to see you! Welcome to the Bahamas! Welcome to my restaurant."
Overwhelmed and caught off-guard by the sight of him, Betty gaped at Gio, speechless.
"Come on Betty," said Hilda. "Aren't you happy to see Gio?"
"Hi," said Betty, automatically holding out her hand. "Uh … so nice to see you."
She felt like an idiot, she wanted to hug him but she had extended her hand instead. When she realized it, she couldn't decide whether it was too late to switch to a hug.
"This is a surprise!" she stammered. It slowly dawned on her that he had already hugged her and she'd botched the greeting completely.
Observing Betty's discomposure with concern, Gio grasped her outstretched hand tenderly. "Would you like to sit down?"
With his other hand, Gio grabbed a chair off a table and placed it behind Betty. He guided her to it and she sank down gratefully.
"Betty, you look amazing!" Without letting go of her hand or looking away, Gio picked up another chair, flipping it upright and placing it beside Hilda.
"Laser eye surgery," choked Betty. She withdrew her hand from Gio's and pushed the hair away from her mud-streaked face. "I don't need glasses anymore."
She was dirty, but her eyebrows were artfully tweezed and her face was thin. When dressed up and in full makeup, she looked prettier than Hilda.
Her hands over her face, Gio couldn't avoid seeing the huge diamond ring and wedding band on her finger. He wondered if she was purposely showing them to him. He already knew about her marriage to Daniel a year prior. The day after the wedding the news and pictures had been in the New York Times, which he read every day.
Betty noticed Gio looking at her rings and slumped forward, dropping her hands on the table. Her chunky gold bracelet clanked loudly on the wrought iron and she looked down at her filthy hands and broken fingernail. She felt terrible. What a disaster. She had just traveled over a dozen hours to the farthest corner of the remotest Bahamian island trying to hide herself from the world, and she bumped into someone she knew from New York.
And not just anyone.
Gio.
Beautiful. Married. Happy. Gio.