Disillusion Meets Delight (12 page)

Great, now Ian had the dilemma of getting his much needed food or calling this poor girl, only to cancel her date with his friend.  If he ate first, he would probably be a nicer person on the phone, but he also knew that she would probably be more irritated as the evening approached.  Oh crap, he would just call her now.  There were times that he really disliked being a nice guy. 

“Hi, is this Natalie?”  Ian didn’t stop to think how ridiculous this actually was.  He had never even met this girl before and he was about to tell her that her date was going to stand her up.

“Um, yes who’s this?”  She replied in a tone that made him feel like a telemarketer or something.  This sucked.

“Hi Natalie, this is kind of awkward but I’m a colleague, well, friend of Jake’s.  He had to leave for Austin today and asked if I would call you to reschedule.”

“What?  Why didn’t he call himself?”  She asked somewhat confused.  He sensed that she was trying not to sound disappointed.  God this sucked!

“It was a total last minute thing.  He felt really bad.  I’m sorry, I’m sure this is weird.”

“So he’s having you do his dirty work?  That’s charming.” 

“Well, kind of but he, well, I don’t know.  I’m sorry?”  This woman was getting him so flustered to the point that he didn’t even know what to say.  He could feel his temperature rising and his face begin to flush. 

“Oh that’s fine.  I guess it will be another video store night.  God I’m kidding.  Don’t tell Jake I said that.  Listen, it was nice of you to call me.  Yeah, um, I guess he can just call me when he gets back into town or whatever.  I have to get back to work.”  And with that, she was gone.  God that sucked!  Maybe she had the right idea after all.  A good shoot-em up video with car chases and foul language sounded good.  He let Maggie stay the night at Becky’s tonight, even though it was a school night because they had a science project to work on.  Yes, he had his night planned.  Action movie, beer, and take out.  Sometimes it was nice being a bachelor.

I cannot believe what just happened.  Not only did I get ditched tonight, it wasn’t even by my date!  He had his friend do it!  I should have known that he would be like every other man out there.  Seriously, are we in high school?  If he didn’t want to go out with me, he should have just said so.  He could have at least called himself.  Can I ask you what else can go wrong in my life right now?  Let’s refresh on my current disarray shall we?

My mother made up a fake boyfriend that I am supposed to bring to Mallory Wellington’s engagement party this Saturday.

Mallory Wellington is marrying one of my best friend’s boyfriends.

I am not speaking with one of my best friends.

I have to be a supervisor for a department that could quite possibly be Hell.

The first guy that has actually showed any interest in me since maybe my senior prom just cancelled on me by having his friend call for him. 

Lovely, the things I have going on right now.  I
could
ask you if things could get worse but I have learned that one should never tempt fate.  There are so many worse things happening in the world that a couple more disasters could quite easily fall into my lap without a blink of an eye.  No, I will take a deep breath and pretend everything is hunky dory.  Denial is the best way to go, is it not? 

There is no way that I could possibly cook dinner on a night with so much chaos.  Take out is the answer to every single woman’s dinner nightmare.  As I leave work I mentally create my itinerary for the evening. First I will go to Mama’s Ristorante to order my favorite gourmet veggie pizza ever!  It truly is a little piece of heaven.  It is the best pizza in the city and lucky for me, close to home.  It’s a family business and Mama Bonofiglio still works in the kitchen making her legendary pizza sauce and crust.   Next, I will go to the video store and get
Pretty in Pink
.  I have wanted to watch it since that ogre rented it for me.  He doesn’t seem to be one for late fees so I imagine he has returned it by now.  Once I have picked up my movie, I will go back to Mama’s and pop in next door to the wine store to get a bottle of Pinot Grigio.  Perfect!

As I walk into Mama’s the aroma of marinara and garlic put me in euphoric bliss.  Considering my love of food, it is truly amazing that I’m not a giant.  Good food really makes me happy!

“Ah Natalie, are you getting your usual tonight?”  Perhaps the warm greeting I get every time I walk in is also a reason I can’t go anywhere else.

“Hi Mr. B.  Am I really that predictable?” 

“Ah Natalie, you just know what you like.  There’s nothing wrong with a lady having a strong mind.  Isn’t that right Mama?”  Mr. B shouts back to the kitchen to Mrs. B who is busy patting and rolling her crust.  As she comes out from the kitchen she tries to dust the flour from her apron that seems permanently attached only to create a cloud of dust in the air. 

“Is that my Natalie?  Oh I have missed you.  You know they made me stay home for a whole month?  It was pneumonia but with these guys, you would have thought I had the plague.”  She says waving her arms up and down.  Mama is one of the toughest ladies I know. 

“So, have you found a decent boyfriend yet?  You know that I am always looking for you.  It is good to be picky, Little One.  However, you always need to be looking.  It is important to find a good man that you can grow old with.”  She smiles, turning her head to Mr. B. 

“I know, Mama.  It’s hard to find someone as good as Mr. B though!  Nonetheless, I won’t give up, I promise.”  I walk out the door to get my movie and I wonder if I will ever find someone that I want to grow old with.  Is it a fairy tale?  Everyone else seems to accomplish the task though so it can’t be, although, the divorce rate seems to contradict that theory.  Who knows?  I can’t even get a guy to keep a date with me, let alone marry me.  What would Molly Ringwald have done in 1986? 

Luckily, my movie was in stock so there was no drama there.  Good thing, really because I don’t think I could deal with anymore confrontations regarding a movie rental.  Not tonight anyway! 

I pop into the little wine store next door to Mama’s and get my bottle of Pinot Grigio and I’m ready to get my pizza.  I cannot wait to get home so I can pop in my DVD, open the bottle of wine and dig in to my pizza.  Sometimes I love being a single girl without children.  If I had kids, I couldn’t enjoy a night like this.  Instead of
Pretty in Pink
, I would have to bring home some Disney movie that had already been seen ten times.  Oh, and forget Mama’s pizza.  They wouldn’t appreciate such gourmet splendor.  It would be $10 Pizza Hut special for them!  To be perfectly honest, I don’t think I’m ready to give up my single girl life.  It’s times like these that make me value it!

With my wine and movie in hand, I head back into the restaurant to get my pizza.  Mr. B is helping a man so I stand back and wait, when he motions me to come up to the counter. 

“Natalie, come meet our new customer.  His name is Ian and he is from Washington D.C.”  Mr. B. is all about getting to know his customers, obviously.  As foreign that type of service may be nowadays, it’s kind of nice.  So, obligingly I walk up to meet the new member of the family and never in a million years think that I would have already met him.  Oh yes!  The jerk from the video store had now found my favorite place to eat!  What next?  Was he going to start using my hairdresser?  This was becoming ridiculous. 

“So, your name is Ian.  Nice to meet you formally, Ian.”  I say in my most friendly, but not really tone. 

“I see you finally got to rent your movie.  For the record, I didn’t keep it the whole five days.  I returned it after a few.”  What was going on here?  Was he pretending to be a decent human being in order to show off in front of the Bonofiglios?  Please, I am on to his game!

“Yes, well how thoughtful of you.  I see that you have found the best pizza in the Portland Metro Area.”  I respond annoyed.

“Did he say your name was Natalie?”  The jerk asked me.  Uh, yeah, why does that matter?  After I leave here I am going to rue the day I ever met you and say a prayer that I never see you again. 

“Yes, Mr. B said my name is Natalie.  Why, do you have it
in
for innocent women named Natalie?  Do you find ways in which to create uncomfortable and annoying situations for them to be in?”  Oh he does bring out the worst in me.

“No, I’m sorry to burst your bubble but that would take far too much time out of my busy schedule.  Your name just sounded familiar, that’s all. I promise you.”  He replies. 

“Natalie, Ian likes the same pizza that you do.  Isn’t that nice?”  Mr. B says, trying to put water on the fire. 

“Yes, for two people that don’t really know each other, we have quickly found mutual interests.”  I say, trying to gain my composure as I am most certainly appearing to be the irrational one, yet again.

“Here is your pizza, Little One.  I put on extra pepperoncinis, just how you like it.”  Mama says, bringing out my pizza. 

“Thank you, Mama.  I can’t wait to dig in.  This has been one heck of a day!”

“What is the matter?  Your eyes seem so troubled.”  Mama whispers to me as Ian and Mr. B begin talking about New York pizza vs. Chicago pizza. 

“It is fine, Mama, really.  It has just been a busy week for me.  I will be just perfect once I eat some of your food.  I promise.”

“Natalie, you don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to, but I know that there is more than you are letting on.  This is Mama you are talking to.”  She says in a wise tone and I cannot help but confide in her even though we are in the middle of a restaurant and my arch enemy is but inches away.

“Oh Mama, I was supposed to go out tonight with this amazing guy and he had his friend call to cancel on me.  Then I haven’t talked to Jenna for days because we had a fight and I miss her terribly but I don’t know what to do because her boyfriend is getting married to someone else and she doesn’t know!  Then my mother told her friend that I would be bringing my boyfriend to her daughter’s engagement party this Saturday but I
don’t
have a boyfriend and everyone is going to think that I’m a total spinster who can’t even get a date!  Nothing is working out for me, Mama.  Nothing!” 

Although I am keeping my voice low, I can’t help but know that everyone, including Mr. B and Ian are hanging on to my every word.  Humiliated, I take my pizza and run out of the restaurant and don’t look back.   

Ian couldn’t believe what he heard.  The video store girl was Jake’s Natalie.  She was also Jenna’s Natalie.  There was no way that it could be coincidence.  To make matters worse, he also now knew more about Jenna than he wanted to know.  He was sure of course, Natalie didn’t intend for anyone else to hear her dilemma nor did she imagine he would even know Jenna.  It was all a bit overwhelming for him so he couldn’t fathom what that poor Natalie must be going through.  Instinctively, he ran after her but she was gone so fast that he couldn’t even utter a word.  In retrospect, he felt rather foolish for trying to chase after someone that he didn’t even know, especially when he came back into the restaurant to see the older couple behind the counter smiling at him. 

“So, how do you know our little Natalie?”  The small Italian lady asked in a curious tone. 

“I am purely an acquaintance to her, I’m afraid.  She seems very nice though.”  Ian responded, feeling the need to say something nice given the recent turn of events.  At this point, he was ready to take his food and go. 

“Yes, Ian, you are a very perceptive young man.  Don’t let what happened change how you may feel.  Natalie is a very passionate young lady.”  Ian wasn’t quite sure what to think of their comments and inquisitive nature.  However, they seemed sincere and there was something about the couple that provided a sense of easiness, almost as though he had been a patron there for years. 

As Ian sat down to enjoy his guy night with Sam Adams and Bruce Willis he couldn’t get the girl out of his head.  Although she got under his skin in the most irritating way, he saw someone who was vulnerable tonight.  He wanted to fix it and make it better for her.  Now that he knew who the conquest was, he was even more pissed off at how Jake handled the date issue.  He felt like a schmuck for being the one who had to cancel on her.  Granted, Ian didn’t know Natalie anymore than Jake did, but he felt a connection with her. 

There was a reason why their paths crossed on numerous occasions.  Ian wasn’t particularly spiritual or a believer in destiny, but tonight he thought maybe he could believe a little bit.  He stared at the piece of paper he scribbled her phone number on and debated whether or not to call her.  Of course, what would he say that didn’t sound completely insane? 
Hi, remember me?  The guy you hate from the video store?  I couldn’t help but sense you were in need of a date Saturday.  How about me?  Oh and by the way, I was the one who called you today to cancel for your other date. 
Oh yes, that would not sound crazy at all.  What was he thinking?  Forming a friendship with this mysterious woman would be next to impossible.  Besides, if Jake found out that he was making a move on his chick, he would be minus a drinking buddy.