Page 10 of Falling for my Family's Rival

“From my grandmother,” I say. “She has Greek roots, but she mostly cooks Italian food. I think she’s always felt pressured to do so, with the Italian pride so strong in our family, and having the restaurant and all.”

“That’s nice, but also kind of a shame,” Marissa says.

“I agree. I wish that she’d get back to her roots,” I say.

“So how is it working for your family’s restaurant?” she asks. “I think you kind of know how I feel about working at mine.”

“It’s okay,” I say. “But it’s not really what I want to do with my life.”

“What do you want to do?” she asks.

It’s been so long since someone asked me that, I’m almost not sure what to say. “I would love to open my own restaurant someday,” I tell her. “Probably a Greek place. But I would do things totally different from what my parents do at Venetian Dreams.”

“How so?” Marissa says.

“For one thing, I wouldn’t make it so gimmicky,” I say. “Look, I get what my parents are going for, but the fake canal along the entryway is too over the top for me.”

“You have a fake canal?” Marissa asks, her disbelief apparent.

I shrug. “You should come in sometime. I’ll show you the gondola.”

“I would,” she says, “but do you really think I’d be welcome?”

We both lapse into silence, because we both know the answer to that question. It seems like, in this moment, we are both agreeing to whatever this will be. I can’t guarantee that my family will ever accept the fact that I am pursuing the daughter of their rival. But sitting here now, the whole thing seems too absurd to entertain.

“My parents can be stubborn,” I say. “And my brother just goes along with anything they say.”

“My parents are definitely the same way,” Marissa says. “They don’t want to hear any dissenting opinions.”

“I never feel like my parents really hear me,” I admit.

“I feel the same way about my parents,” Marissa says.

“It sucks, doesn’t it?” I say. “I wish that I had found a way to tell them that I didn’t want to work at the restaurant back when I graduated from college. Now it just seems like it’s too late, you know? And I feel just so…”

“Stuck?” Marissa knowingly finishes my sentence for me. “Yep, so do I. I feel the same way most of the time. Like, why did I go to college just to waitress at the restaurant? My older sister went to school to be a nurse, and guess what she gets to do? Be a nurse. I went for business, and I am doing exactly nothing with that degree.”

“I wish I had some wise advice to give you,” I say with a laugh. “But since we’re both stuck in the same boat, at least we can commiserate together.”

“Misery does love company,” Marissa says with a defeated smile and shrug.

We finish our meal and carry our plates to the kitchen. Everything has been perfect. It’s amazing, feeling like someone understands everything about me. I know without a doubt that I’m falling hard for Marissa.

I take her plate out of her hands and set it in the sink. She is looking at me with curiosity. I pause, take a deep breath, then with complete conviction and intentionality, I declare, “Marissa, I’d like to kiss you. Is that… okay with you?”

Marissa grins up at me, cocks her head slightly to the side and ponders me for a moment. Her eyes are lit up like fire through her long lashes. “Well… if you don’t, then I’ll have to kiss you first,” she says coquettishly.

That’s my invitation. So I take it.

Eight

MARISSA

By the time Tuesday evening rolls around, I’m so relieved to have Book Club that I could cry. It’s been super hard to keep the secret about my date with Luca a secret. I keep reliving the kiss over and over again. We’re discussing Romeo and Juliet tonight, and I have to say I feel like I am living a modern version of the play. I’m not sure if it sounds egotistical or not, but the similarities are eerie. The Lits, my Book Club girlfriends, will understand, though; I know it will help to get all of this off my chest and out in the open.

We all gather at Violet’s house, since her library is the coziest place to have our meetings. All of us are here: Kaylee, Violet, Addie, Ella, and Jackie. It’s been the six of us for as long as I can remember. I love these meetings.

“Okay, Lits,” Addie says, “let’s get started. First question: how do we feel about the beginnings of Romeo and Juliet’s romance? Do we think it’s sweet? Believable? Thoughts?”

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