Read The Breakup Online

Authors: Brenda Grate

Tags: #Romance, #Travel, #Italy

The Breakup (10 page)

 

Mia and Aja used to joke that they were both about the size of their names. Olly liked to tease them, saying Aja was half-Italian and Mia a purebred. She told Aja when they first met that her name means ‘mine’. Her mother and father tried for years to have a baby and finally had her when they were in their forties. Aja figured ‘mine’ was the best way to describe their joy.

 

The clerk handed Aja the phone again after dialing the number she gave him. He smiled an encouraging smile and she grimaced, wishing she could call in private. The hotel wasn’t as large as the one in Rome with lots of pay phones in the lobby. Hopefully the villa at the winery had a private phone. She didn’t want to use her cell for overseas calls. That would definitely cut a swath through the small cheques she’d be getting.

 

Mia answered on the first ring, her voice breathless. “Hello?”

 

“Mia, it’s Aja.”

 

“Aja!” She screeched in Aja’s ear. Mia was tiny, but her voice wasn’t.

 

Aja jerked the phone from her ear. The clerk couldn’t cover his snort of laughter, though he quickly looked away when she glared at him. “Hi Mia. You want to give my eardrum a break?”

 

She giggled. That matched her size. It was tiny and sweet. Aja had always loved her laugh. “I’m sorry, I’m just so happy you called. Where are you?”

 

“I’m in Italy.”

 

“What? You went! Are you somewhere safe? How is it?”

 

“It’s wonderful,” Aja said. “I’m having a great time.”

 

“Aja. You’re lying to me.”

 

She should have known better. She’d never been able to fool Mia. “Yes. I’m lying. But, I’m sure it’ll get better soon.” Aja told her all about the job and Marco, ‘stuck up pig’ himself, and Nona. She laughed. Aja could have choked her.

 

“You’ll do great. You need practice anyway.”

 

“Why do I need practice? I’ve sworn off men, so that means children, too.”

 

“Well, if you aren’t going to have your own soon, I am.”

 

“Really? I thought you were going to wait a while.”

 

“We were.”
 

 

There was a pregnant pause. Then Aja realized just how pregnant it was. “Mia!”

 

“Yes, we’re having a baby.”

 

“And are we happy about it?”

 

Her voice sounded happy, but there was something wrong. Aja knew her friend well.

 

“Yes, we’re happy. The wedding will carry on as planned. Since it’s only a few months away, I shouldn’t even need to let out the dress. It’s a pretty full one.”

 

“Oh, Mia. I’m so happy for you.” A little jealous, too. Brad was a wonderful man who thought the world was Mia. He would be a great father.
Some people have all the luck.
No one deserved it as much as Mia, though, Aja felt.

 

“Hey, you’ll find someone soon,” Mia said. “What about that guy at the vineyard, what was his name?”

 

“Marco?” Aja groaned. “Yeah, right. Mr. ‘Stuck on Himself’? I don’t think so. I just finished with one of those. I’m not interested in jumping back into the ‘God’s gift to women’ gene pool.”

 

“Maybe he’s not as bad as you think. He gave you a chance with the job.”

 

“That was all Nona’s doing. Anyway, I’m off men right now, remember?”

 

“Sure, I remember.” There was silence for a few seconds. “I know you probably have to go, this phone call will be expensive, but you should know what’s happening here, Aja.”

 

A sense of panic hit Aja. She didn’t want to know. “What’s happening?”

 

“Stephen is trying to find you. He wants to charge you in a civil suit since the police cleared you. He won’t let it go. I’m worried.”

 

“Daddy is already taking care of it, Mia.”

 

“But, honey, Stephen won’t talk to your father, or your brothers. In fact, he’s gotten a peace bond on them. They can’t come within a hundred yards of him.

 

The phone receiver got slippery in her hand. “They can’t charge me while I’m out of the country, can they?”

 

“I don’t think so, but maybe you better stay away a while until the furor dies down. Maybe Stephen will give up on it.”

 

“Yeah, and maybe monkeys will fly out of his butt, too. I’m not holding my breath, Mia.”

 

Aja heard her sigh across the wires. “No, I won’t hold it, either. But, you have to come back for the wedding. I can’t do it without you.”

 

“Are you doing okay?” Mia was strong, but they had always relied on each other. Aja wouldn’t want to have her own wedding without her best friend.

 

“Yes, I’m okay, don’t worry. I’m deliriously happy. I would be over the moon if my best friend were here. Don’t worry, I’m not blaming you. We’ll just have to bring the wedding to you if you can’t come to us.”

 

Aja laughed.

 

“No, I’m serious. It’s one way I can get to Italy. You know I’ve always wanted to go.”

 

Aja looked around the old quaint building of the hotel. The lobby floor was made out of some sort of stone. The walls were adobe-colored and there was a beautiful terrace outside. It was gorgeous; the perfect place for a wedding. “I think it’s a fantastic idea, Mia. And then you can dump all the people you really don’t want at the wedding.”

 

“Yes! Like Aunt Maria. You know, the one who slurps her soup and pinches all the male’s butts.”

 

Aja hooted. “No! You HAVE to invite her. Well, I better go, Mia. I miss you so much my heart hurts.”

 

“Mine, too. You take care of yourself and make sure to get some nice Italian sausage while you’re there. I hear it’s fantastic.”

 

“Mia!” Aja pretended to be scandalized, but Mia knew better.

 

“Make sure you get some for me since I’ll be having only one variety from now on.”

 

“Okay, I’ll get lots of Italian sausage and I’ll tell you all about it when I get home.” She said this for the benefit of the nosy clerk who was still trying to pretend he wasn’t eavesdropping. Aja saw him smirk. He probably figured he’d be the first Italian sausage she’d sample.
Not on your life. Too stringy.

 

Aja hung up the phone. She missed her best friend like crazy.

 

Since she’d dropped off her rental car, not wanting the expense as she’d spend most of her time at the winery, Aja asked the smirking clerk to call her a taxi. He puffed out his chest as he dialed, hoping to impress her. Scrawny chickens had never impressed Aja. He was out of luck.

 

Ten minutes later the taxi swerved to a stop in front of Aja, causing her to gasp and leap backwards, trip over her suitcase, and land hard on her ass.
 

 

The taxi driver bolted from the vehicle and loomed over her. He pulled Aja to her feet and she landed smack against his chest… again. He was the vineyard worker she’d run into the day before. He recognized her, too, and he beamed.
 

 

“Mmm... Italian sausage,” Aja spoke out loud.

 


Mi scusi
?”

 

Aja could have smacked herself. “Nothing,” she mumbled, grabbing for her suitcase to hide her flaming cheeks. He was going to think she was an idiot; falling all over herself and babbling about Italian sausage.

 

“Do you want soma Italian sausage, bella?”

 

Oh my God!
Aja doubled over laughing. She laughed harder at the confusion on his face. “I’m sorry,” she gasped. “It’s just something my best friend told me on the phone a few minutes ago.”

 

“Ah. I see.” He gave her a wicked grin.

 

He definitely saw.

 

“I’m Pietro, your taxi driver.” He held out his very large, manly hand to her.

 

Aja took it, feeling confused. “How can you be a taxi driver and work at the vineyard?”

 

“I work botha jobs. I save to move to America so I need lotsa money. I also practice my English. How I doing?” He flashed brilliant white teeth at her. His smile was a knockout. This swearing off men thing was a pain in the ass. She’d only been off them a week and already she was drooling like a spinster.

 

“You’re great.” Aja turned back to her suitcase and hauled it up, then gasped when it was neatly plucked out of her hand and tossed into the back seat of the cab.
 

 

“You don pick up yur case. I do it.”

 

Aja stepped back, afraid he was going to pick her up and toss her into the cab too, in a manly display of muscles. The thought of him picking her up suddenly had Aja back to square one. She needed to get away from this guy and fast. “Please take me to the workers’ villa at the winery.”

 

It was a short drive, but Pietro proceeded to tell her all about himself as quickly as he could. She kept getting hung on up the cute way he pronounced English and losing track of his story. She was pressed up against the door of her side of the cab and trying not to look at him. Every time he turned and flashed that “died and gone to heaven” smile, she felt herself drawn to him and she pressed tighter against the door. She wouldn’t have been surprised if she’d suddenly started sliding across the seat like a piece of metal drawn to a magnet. Not that she would have minded being stuck to him.
Focus, Aja, focus.

 

Pietro had been born and raised in Siena. He was the youngest of five children, the older four being girls. Obviously they’d petted and coddled him because he was clearly used to having an effect on women. He said his family was poor and he wanted to go to America to make his fortune. Aja didn’t enlighten him on the realities of his plan. His enthusiasm was charming. He reminded her a little of Olly.

 

They arrived at the villa and Pietro carried her suitcase in. After stowing it in her room, Aja quickly lead him out of the danger zone and back to the taxi, and Aja asked him for a ride back to town. She’d decided she needed to do some shopping if she was going to have a decent wardrobe for the new job as nanny.
What did one wear as a nanny?
Her mother had always dressed high fashion, even when they were small. They’d had a series of housekeepers that took care of them. Aja shuddered at the thought of herself with a grey bun and a black and white uniform. She’d stick to jeans. Italian women were small and shapely; maybe she’d have more luck in their stores.

 

They stopped in front of a cute women’s clothing store and Aja handed Pietro a wad of cash. He took a bill and gave her back the rest. “Would you like me to help you with yur shopping? I help you find someting to wear?” He looked her over, sketching her form before his dark eyes met hers, clearly showing his approval.

 

Aja said no, before she could change her mind and ask if she could wear him instead. “I’ll be fine from here. Thanks for the lift.”

 

“I see you at vineyard tomorrow, bella.”

 

“It’s Aja.”

 

“What? Aja?” He butchered her name.

 

“My name. It’s Aja.”

 

“Oh,” he said, testing the sounds on his tongue. “I like it. It suit you. Small.”

 

Aja squeezed her eyes shut. “Bye, Pietro.”

 

He drove away and she couldn’t resist the urge to watch him as he navigated down the crowded street. He was stirring her up like she’d never experienced before. She allowed herself to indulge in a tiny fantasy involving Pietro, a bed and her clad in nothing but… him. She gave herself a mental slap.
There be monsters, Aja!

 

She turned her mind to shopping, another pleasant thought, though definitely not as spine tingling. It was time to find some kick-ass jeans. Aja was determined to show Marco ‘my shit doesn’t stink’ just how good a job she could do.

 

Chapter 15

The women in the boutique were wonderful, and were all Aja's size. Right then and there she decided she belonged in Italy. They spent several hours going through clothes and she picked a new wardrobe. They weren’t children’s clothes masquerading as adult clothing either. They were real small women size, complete with curves. They fit like a glove. Aja put a rather sizeable dent in the trust fund, but - as Mia always said - when you find something that fits, you buy it.

 

The rest of the day was spent wandering the streets of Siena and repeating over and over, “
Non parlo italiano
.” In spite of the language barrier, though, she found herself picking up a few phrases.
 

 

Aja bought a coffee and a magazine and headed to the Piazza Del Campo, a huge open square where everyone in Siena seemed to congregate. The square was surrounded by medieval buildings that looked as new and solid as the day they were built. All around her, people were chatting or just sitting in the sun, sipping coffee and reading books. Aja had never felt so far away from her real life.

 

She remembered a time she and Stephen had gone on a similar trip. It was only for the weekend, and not long after they’d started dating. He took her to the Whistler Blackcomb Ski Resort in British Columbia. They went skiing and had a tiny chateau to themselves. Stephen was romantic and attentive. He made Aja's head spin.
That’s probably why I wasn’t able to see what he was really like. Stephen should be a politician, he slings crap with the best of them.

 

Aja wished the lawsuit would go away. She had no idea what could happen to her if he won. It was probably a matter of her paying him what he felt his dick was worth. Considering how much use it got, he probably felt it was worth a fortune, which would be overrated.

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