Page 16 of For Butter or Worse
“I know. I’m your twin brother. I was making fun of you.” Gavin smirked. Every time he looked mischievous, he reminded Leo so much of their dad.
“Not identical.”
“Lucky for me.” Gavin grinned widely. As twins, they shared the same dark hair, eyes and gap between their teeth, but that was about all when it came to similarities. Leo was tall and lean, while Gavin had the thicker build of their dad. His brother actually looked like he owned a restaurant that served pasta, whereas Leo took great pains to get in a daily morning run. Still, you’d know they were brothers...or long-lost cousins.
“Gavino, give it a rest with the recipes,” their mother said as she approached the table. Whenever she entered a room, she owned it immediately with her height, her angular nose and her long, sleek gray hair. Their dad always said she should’ve been a movie star, and she certainly carried herself in a way that made Leo feel like she belonged in front of the camera instead of him.
She was also the only one who used Gavin’s full name, refusing to shorten it by dropping theo.
“Andyou.” She leaned over Leo and wrapped her arms around his neck. She was a shark when it came to sniffing out issues. “Ma knows when something’s wrong. Too many espressos again?”
In Leo’s experience there were few things more terrifying than an Italian mother who knew something was off with her son. They were impossible to lie to, difficult to calm down and wouldn’t settle for the answer of “nothing.”
His mom slid her glasses off her face. They hung around her neck on a slim gold chain, and her curious fingers wove around it. She squinted, as if that would squeeze the truth out of him. “It’s your new girlfriend.”
Gavin covered his mouth to stifle laughter. Leo pursed his lips.Here we go.
“Leo has a girlfriend?” Maria, who’d been a server at the restaurant since his dad opened it, chimed in. She laid out her receipts on the table and winked at Leo. “Does this one know she’s your girlfriend?”
“That was a one-time thing.” Leo was thankful his stubble hid the flush rushing to his face. He dated a lot, but contrary to what clickbait headlines claimed, he wasn’t a playboy. He just really wanted to settle down at some point, and he hadn’t foundthe oneyet.
Especially because he’d been searching for the love of his life since...well, at least since the third grade, when he’d asked Racheline Bradford to be his Valentine. She’d said no—they were clearly not meant to be. But he was undeniably a hopeless romantic, which he blamed on his parents’ perfect marriage. And sometimes he made rookie errors, like calling a woman with whom he’d gone on two dates his girlfriend. Which apparently made him “clingy,” according to the woman in question. That second date had also, unsurprisingly, been their last.
“Come on, you know I don’t talk about my personal life at work.” He tried to sound authoritative, but it was clear from the blank stares they weren’t buying it.
“This is my cue to head out.” Gavin stood, and was instantly met with a kiss from their ma.
“Don’t leave me here withthem,” Leo pleaded.
“You did this to yourself, bro.” Gavin gave a salute before turning to make his way to the exit.
Leo sighed.
“But this time I get to meet the girlbeforeyou call her your girlfriend, eh?” Maria tilted up his chin so he could look at her. “If I don’t approve, then she’s no good for you.”
“You and everyone else here will want to approve,” Leo snorted, but there was comfort in knowing that the people in this place really did care about him. The flagship restaurant didn’t have turnover. Maria had been with them for thirty years, as had Hector, Sal and Ramon. The newest hire, an extra weekend host, had been with Vinny’s for two years. They were a kind of family, but still, Leo tried to keep his private and personal lives separate, which was the professional thing to do. Even if his dad, who had never stopped talking about family while at work, would have disagreed.
They were in the restaurant’s dining room, and Leo should’ve been going through the night’s receipts. On a normal night he’d be able to go home, shower off the kitchen smells of garlic and fried oil, and fall into the comfort of his overly fluffy down comforter.
But not tonight, because Nina had texted and asked to meet.
Of course, his brother, mom and the waitstaff didn’t know anything about that. They would be gone and in bed before Nina showed up, and he wanted to keep it that way.
“And for the record, Nina isn’t my girlfriend, Ma,” he protested.
“Yeah? Maybe she would be if you got a life.” His mom stood up. She then straightened the collar of his shirt and added, “Stop spending Friday nights with your mother. I’m taking the paperwork home, and you should go home, too. Get on an app or go to a bar—just don’t call me.”
“Love you, Ma.”
“Love you, figlio.” She kissed the top of his head and left him sitting alone at the table.
Would she still love him if she knew he was having covert, late-night meetings with the woman who’d once called him “duller than a butter knife”?
The restaurant had cleared out. He’d turned off all the lights except for a few in the dining room and the entrance. Nina didn’t need to see the back-room addition they’d built a few years ago to accommodate corporate lunches and holiday parties, or the second dining room he’d added for lunchtime overflow. He’d show her what he wanted her to see—the original Vinny’s space, as his dad had envisioned it.
When he’d gone to Nina’s restaurant, he could feel the differences between what they’d each created. Linen tablecloths versus disposable, a small vase of freshly cut flowers versus a plastic cup filled with crayons and reservations versus a last-minute decision.
He wasn’t embarrassed by Vinny’s. He just didn’t feel like validating everything Nina likely thought about what a restaurant like his had to offer—that Vinny’s wasn’t good enough, andhewasn’t good enough.
