So, after I spiffed myself all up and whipped up a better mood, I actually felt pretty great. I was going to have gnocchi for dinner, I was going to hang out with my cute waiter, I'd had 8 great weeks in Italy...who wouldn't want to be me?
I made my way back to the bus station (a wee bit humbly) and bought two tickets: one for the way to dinner and one for the ride home. No way was I risking a ride without a ticket again (despite the extreme unlikeliness of running into the "bus police" again in the same night). I put my ipod in my ears to keep my mind focused on the fun night ahead of me and NOT on my earlier humiliation.
Plus, to be honest, I was a little nervous about meeting Romeo again. What if he thought I was stupid? What if he laughed at me when he saw that I had really come back? What if he saw that I was dressed up and thought I was trying too hard or expecting something he wasn't? What if he didn't really want to go out with me, he just thought I was coming back for dinner? Eke!
I don't know why, but I was on the verge of freaking out a little bit. I'm not really sure what that was about (I mean, after tonight, I'm probably never going to see this guy again - or at least, I don't have to if I don't want to), so what's the big deal? So I took a deep breath, concentrated on exuding confidence, and let Rihanna work her magic in my ears.
It was nearly 10pm and I was starving, but the Rolling Stones (Dr. Dre remix) of Miss You was in my ears, so I slowly walked to the beat toward my destination, letting my confidence build as I went. Ultimately, it doesn't matter what this boy thinks of me; I'm excited to eat what I know will be a good dinner; and hopefully, I'll have a good time tonight. I can handle that. Besides, it's like Mick Jagger says, "Boys* will come and go; they're just like street cars and I been standin' here too long." As part of this Italian adventure, this boy is merely a street car - what am I so worried about??
As the song finished, I approached the restaurant doors. Romeo was outside (on a smoke break - his one downfall, I'm afraid). I gave him a European kiss on each cheek as a hello and went in to sit down. Yeah, this was going to be no problem.
I took my time enjoying my gnocchi and wine (which this time was not little potato dumplings, but little turned pasta shells: interesting). Romeo wasn't off until 1am anyway (assuming we were going out; he hadn't said anything, so neither did I), so I had some time to kill. When I finished my food, I ordered more wine and just sat enjoying the ambiance.
At around midnight, a guy named Lucca (a regular I had met the night before) came in, so I moved to the bar to chat it up with him while I waited for 1:00 to roll around. We had some good conversation (he spoke excellent English) and before I knew it, Romeo was telling me he just had a few more things to do before we could go: 15 minutes. Oh! Excellent! I am leaving with you - sweet!
*Mick says girls, but you get the idea.
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