Page 32 of It's All Sun and Games

‘Rick, I said James isn’t here,’ Liz repeats, her patience wearing thin.

‘Oh, right,’ Rick acknowledges, finally registering Liz’s comment, but not seeming all that bothered. ‘Well, we can always make a start. Andrea, what are you having?’

I smile to myself. Rick is like a kid with a new best friend. He’s like this, though, when he meets someone he likes – apparently he just gets these feelings about people – he goes all in on them.

Andrea takes a moment to look over the menu, his brows furrowing slightly as he wonders what to choose.

‘I want to order what a real Italian would have,’ Rick declares confidently.

‘Well, antipasto to start,’ Andrea starts. ‘It’s a platter of local meats and cheeses. Then, for the second course… ah. Orecchiette with braciole alla Barese.’

‘Wow, it sounds so real in your accent,’ Cait comments, unable to hide that she’s a little starry-eyed by it all.

‘What is it?’ Liz asks, raising an eyebrow.

‘It doesn’t matter what it is,’ Rick replies, dismissing her question with a wave of his hand. ‘We’ll all have it. An Italian recommendation from a real Italian. This is what we need, to get into the mindset of our client. Andrea, will you order it for us, please?’

‘Of course,’ Andrea replies graciously, his demeanour as charming as ever as he flags down a waiter.

‘How do you say “please” in Italian?’ Rick asks curiously once Andrea is done.

I genuinely believe that Rick thinks learning one word per sentence is going to get him somewhere.

‘Per favore,’ Andrea responds, slowly and clearly.

‘Per favore, per favore,’ Rick repeats to himself, trying to commit the phrase to memory.

‘So, are all Italians foodies?’ Henry chimes in.

It’s like everyone is interested in Andrea. He is impossibly charming, though; it’s hard not to feel taken with him.

‘No, Andrea is a chef,’ I interject excitedly, feeling oddly proud, as if he were my actual fiancé.

‘Sorry I’m late,’ James announces, joining the conversation as he plonks himself down into his chair. ‘I went to check out the pool, got talking to these two girls…’

‘Do you work in a restaurant?’ Rick talks over him, his attention now solely focused on Andrea.

Usually Rick has all the time in the world for James’s exploits, but not today, it seems.

James looks slightly wounded, but he attempts to brush it off with a double dose of (entirely forced) nonchalance. He glances around the room, as though he’s looking for someone, although I’m sure he isn’t.

‘No, my parents have a restaurant, though,’ Andrea replies. ‘I come up with recipes, for suppliers, for products, for restaurants – that sort of thing.’

‘Oh, so you will be familiar with Come a Casa?’ Rick enquires curiously.

‘Sì,’ Andrea replies. ‘They’re not a company I have worked for, but I know them.’

‘What are you working on at the moment?’ Rick presses on. ‘Anything you can tell us about?’

‘I’m between projects at the moment,’ Andrea explains. ‘I just sold several recipes to a restaurant.’

‘Ooh, can you tell us about them?’ Cait jumps in eagerly.

‘I developed the fillings for their ravioli and tortellini dishes,’ Andrea elaborates. ‘They plan to bring them out in supermarkets, as ready-to-cook, so I make a little extra money for them.’

‘Wow, that’s amazing,’ Rick exclaims, impressed. ‘That’s almost stepping on Come a Casa’s toes.’

Andrea shrugs modestly.

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