There's some Italian for you guys. You're kinda supposed to feel like Claire in that part, but I guess if you really want to know, just translate it. Enjoy!

Chapter 9:

We took a cab to Lombardi's and had to wait 20 minutes for a table. That place is always packed! The pizza is so unbelievably good though, I'll wait for an hour just to have a slice.

Once we got a table, a waiter came immediately and poured water in our glasses for us, welcomed us and gave us the menu.

"Okay, Claire. Time to find out a bit more about you. Thin crust or thick crust?"

She frowns and smiles. "Definitely, thin crust."

"Why?"

"Because I want the sauce, the cheese and the toppings to be the predominant ingredients I taste, not the crust. Where's the fun in eating a pizza that's mainly bread?"

"I agree with you 100%. But I don't like it too thin, either. It wouldn't be a pizza without a visible crust."

"True. Anything else you'll like to know?"

"Yes, what wine would you drink with pizza?"

She puts down the menu and purses her lips. "Well, I would go for red wine, obviously. Malbec. My personal choice? A 2009 Cicchitti."

Wow, she knows her wines. I was expecting a 'white or red wine' answer.

I whistle. "Look at that. She's a connaisseuse too."

She squints a little. "Were you expecting anything else?"

"Nope, definitely no. I don't know why I'm even surprised at this point."

"Hopefully, there's plenty more for you to be surprised about."

"Oh my God. Are you flirting with me, pretty lady?"

"Do you not want me to? 'Cause there are plenty of men around here. Actually the guy who's behind you is pretty hot, I think I might give it a go…"

She's putting her cloth napkin on the table and motions to stand up, but I react fast and grab her wrist.

"Claire, do you want to eat pizza?"

She looks confused. "Um, yes."

"Then don't even think about flirting with anyone else because I might kill them and then we'll never get to eat anything."

She taps her lips. "Mmm, flirt with hot guy or eat pizza. I mean pizza is delicious but that guy looks yummy too…"

"Oh, that's how we are playing? Okay, well that girl over there looks super sexy in that dress, I might just, what did you say? Give it a go."

Before I can even attempt to stand up, Claire stops me with what she says.

"We should make it official then." She has an amused look on her.

"We should make what official?" Ooh, I think I know.

She drinks some water and looks me right in the eye.

"Us. That we're officially dating. What do you think?"

What do I think? Uh, yes! Obviously, I mean what?! Of course! She's the most wonderful everything I've ever met!

I don't voice my whole thought process out loud so instead I say:

"Only with one condition."

"And what might that be?"

"We're exclusive. Deal?"

She pretends like she's thinking about it. "That means no flirting with hot guy over there?"

"Nope. I'm the only hot guy you flirt with. So?"

"Okay, I'll make the sacrifice. You want to seal it?" She leans forward a bit.

"Sure"

At the same time, I spit on my hand while she puckers up her lips and leans even closer.

"What are you doing?" She looks at me a bit… disgusted.

"Sealing it. Oh, you meant… Okay, sorry. My bad."

I kiss her but she's still looking at me confused. I mean, why did I even think Claire would spit on her hand? Seriously Owen, think a little.

Claire pulls her purse up and searches through it. She pulls out a small bottle of hand sanitizer, pops it open and looks at me.

I stretch out my hand and she pours some on them and then on hers.

"Thanks." I feel a little like a 5 year old who just got scolded by his mum for getting himself dirty.

"You're welcome, you weirdo." she throws the bottle inside her purse and then hangs it on the hook under the table.

I laugh, then she laughs and the weird moment passes.

"So, what kind of pizza do you feel like eating?"

She starts reading the menu. "Anything with lots of meat in it. I haven't eaten a proper pizza in a very long time. Today there will be no restrictions from my part."

I close the menu, cross my arms and put them on top of it. "Do you mind if I order for the both of us? I wasn't going to order this particular pizza, but since you're going wild this afternoon, I think you might enjoy it."

"Sure. What does this pizza have?"

"Be surprised?"

She smiles and then nods.

"Awesome! Waiter. Please tell the chef that Owen Grady is here and if he could be so kind as to make us a GV pizza for 2, please."

"Of course, sir. I'll tell him right away. Anything I can get you to drink?"

"Do you have a 2009 Cicchitti?"

"I believe we do. Two glasses?"

The waiter looks at Claire and she stutters a bit. "Uh, y-yes, yes."

"I'll bring you your glasses immediately."

"Thanks." The waiter leaves and I smile a bit cockily at Claire who's a bit shocked by all.

"What was that?! And what is a GV pizza, it's not listed on the menu, and how do you know the chef?"

"Well, the name and story of the pizza is for another time, I'm afraid. The chef though, I met him in my university days. Chef Eros, is a true Italian and I think he smelled it on me. There was a holiday and Phillip and I; remember Phillip? The friend I told you about? Okay, well we spent the whole week we had off here in Manhattan and everyday we would come for pizza. Chef noticed and we started talking and when I told him my grandfather was Italian, we became great friends instantly. He's a really nice guy. He'll come out and say hi if the kitchen is not too swamped."

"You ate pizza everyday for a week? Pizza is not the only thing they serve here, Owen."

"I know, but why fix it if it's not broken? I love pizza and I never get bored of it. So I ordered it everyday."

"I don't think I will ever understand your passion for eating food."

"You don't have to, but I beg of you to never take that away from me. I love food!"

"Okay, I promise to never come in between you and your food."

"Thank you." I grab her hand and give it a squeeze.

I hear a throaty laugh and I know who it is immediately.

"Owen, amico! È stato troppo lungo! Un abbraccio al vecchio Eros!"

I wink at Claire and stand up to hug the man.

"Chef Eros, come stai? Si guarda bene, vecchio uomo." I pat him a couple of times on the back.

"Il cameriere non ha nemmeno bisogno di dire tuo nome. Il momento che hosentito pizza GV, sapevo che eri tu. Anche dopo tutti questi anni." He slaps me on the shoulder.

"Mi dispiace, chef ma ero dinosauri di allenamento occupato. Ma ho pensato di vostra pizza quando ho camminato attraverso la sala da pranzo."

With a very thick Italian accent he starts speaking English when he notices Claire.

"Not to worry, ragazzo. You're here now. And who is this lovely lady?"

"Oh, sorry. This is Claire. La raggazza più bella del mondo. Claire, this is Chef Eros Birbiglia."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Claire. And Owen is right, you are very beautiful."

And she's blushing.

She laughs and stretches out her hand to shake chef's. "Grazie ed è molto bello conoscerti troppo, Chef Eros."

What?!

"Heavens, she speaks Italian too?! Owen, amico, keep her forever."

Now, I'm the one stuttering. "I-I didn't know she spoke Italian. There you go surprising me again."

"I don't really speak Italian, just a few survival phrases and I remember them because Italian is similar to Spanish so…"

"Well, a little Italian is better than no Italian. Have you ordered something to drink already?" Chef Eros asks holding his intertwined hands in front of him.

The waiter approaches us answering the question. "Yes, chef. A 2009 Cicchitti to go with their pizza. Ms. is this bottle alright?"

Claire reads the label nods and the waiter serves her some on her glass so she can taste it. She nods again and he proceeds to serve us both and leaves the bottle.

"Excellent choice, truly perfetto, Claire. Well, I'll leave you two to it. It was very nice meeting you. Enjoy."

"Nice meeting you too, Chef Eros."

He pads me on the back one more time and he goes back to the kitchen.

"You speak Italian?" she says swirling her wine in the glass.

"Yes. My grandparents didn't see why they had to speak English to us. Even my mum would speak Italian to us sometimes."

"Okay, but that's pretty much perfect Italian you just spoke there. You must've spent a lot of time with them."

"I did. Isabella and I loved watching our grandmother bake, so we would spend a lot of time with them."

She takes a sip of her wine, looks at me and says, "I must say that was pretty sexy, Grady."

I raise an eyebrow. "You were pretty sexy with your survival Italian. You'll definitely win points with nonna for that."

"She doesn't speak English?"

"Oh, she does. But she only speaks it when it's completely necessary. So you know, never. She has a bakery and all the people that work with her either already knew Italian or have come to understand it. She's extremely proud of her roots."

She starts eating the garlic sticks that were put on the table as a courtesy. "She's a first generation American too?"

I mimic her actions. "No, she's a born and raised Italian. Nonno met her during the WWII when he was stationed in Italy. They met during a civilian evacuation. After the war was over nonna showed up at nonno's house. He had no idea she was even coming to the U.S. That's when he knew she was the woman he'll marry. It had to have been meant to be. And the rest is history."

She smiles. "That's beautiful. I hope one day I…"

My phone rings. Whyyyy?! I reach for my phone.

Oh. It's Isabella.

"Claire? You want to meet my sister?" I turn the phone so the screen is facing her.

She raises her eyebrows, a bit surprised. "Um, yeah." She starts fixing her hair. I smile at her.

I'm about to answer her Skype call, when Claire stops me.

"Wait. Does she even know I exist?"

I scrunch up my face a bit. "Yes, she does know you exist. Does she know that we're dating? No, she doesn't." I answer the call before Claire starts telling me about how it's probably going to be awkward and inappropriate for them to meet that way.

"Isa! How is my favourite person ever?"