Tutti Italia: A Novel Read online

  “Oooh! We have to go into this shop. It has all kinds of nice clothes, and they are usually very cheap. Maybe we can get you some Italian fashion!” Rachel wasn’t very big into clothes shopping, and it always irritated her mother because her mother loved to go clothes shopping. Apparently Elena was one of those women that simply loved to go clothes shopping.

  “Sure. Let’s go.” She was faking her enthusiasm.

  “Thank you, thank you, thank you! I just miss going clothes shopping with Marisol. We would spend hours picking out clothes and trying them on, modeling them for each other. It’s been years since we could do that.” The sad look was back on Elena’s face. Rachel wanted to help her new friend, so she decided to suck it up and find some clothes that she would be willing to try on. She wanted to make sure that Elena had a good time too, so she picked up some crazy looking clothes that she would, of course, never wear. That would make Elena laugh. She could see Elena going through racks on the other side of the store, putting all kinds of things over her arms so she could try them on. When Rachel had gone through the whole shop and had found everything she was willing to try on, she found Elena and the two of them headed over to the dressing rooms. An hour later, the two of them had gone through everything that they’d brought into the dressing rooms with them, and they’d actually both wound up with some things that they were going to buy, and Rachel had to admit that she’d had a good time trying on goofy clothes and finding some clothes that she couldn’t wait to wear.

  Going into the next shop, Rachel’s eyes widened. It was a shop that sold everything coastal. She loved what she saw, and was going to pick up some things for herself too, to decorate her dorm room. They didn’t find much to put into their room, but they did find a few child sized chairs that were blue and had ocean creatures painted on them. They also picked up some tables that matched, so that they would have a nice place to do arts and crafts on. It was lunch time, so Elena led her to a nice little restaurant a few streets back. It didn’t have anything printed in English, so Rachel frowned when she opened the menu. Elena saw her frown and quickly realized the problem. She pulled her chair closer to Rachel and commenced to translating the menu for her. Rachel chose something that she’d never had before so she would be able to try some of the local food.

  “This is such a wonderful little town. I was trying to remember all the turns so I could get here on my own one day. I think I’ll just manage to get myself lost though.” Rachel frowned at her food.

  “Don’t worry. You have me. I can take you here any time you need. I like going shopping with you.” Elena smiled at her, and Rachel smiled back. She’d never really had a girlfriend before that she could do things with. Actually, she didn’t really have friends in general that she could spend time with and do things with. Having Elena around was something that she didn’t want to give up.

  The girls had spent the better part of the day going through all the shops, and had had a blast together. They were on their way home, and the sun was shining brightly. Elena pulled over at a gelato stand and the two of them sat out on the warm wooden benches, enjoying the scenery and their treats. It was late afternoon before Elena dropped Rachel off at her dorm with all of her purchases. Rachel was most excited about her cross stitch pictures that she’d just picked up. She smiled all the way up to her room. When she got in, she hung up her new clothes, put the tables and chairs in an empty corner of her room, and put her new crafts on the shelf behind her head. She was almost finished with the one she’d been working on before, and now she had even more motivation to keep going on it. She put her shoes by the door, then popped a movie in on her laptop and started working on the one she’d already started. She got hungry around five in the evening, and she decided to go over to the food court. She’d done a lot of walking around today, and she just had a craving for something greasy.

  She ordered Taco Bell and got it to go so that she could make it back to her room and watch some more movies and sew. Jason texted her at about seven thirty, asking her if she had any plans. Rachel quickly wrote back saying that she didn’t, and he told her that he was on his way to meet her. Rachel put on some makeup as fast as she could, fixed her hair again, and put her shoes on. By the time that she got to the foot of the stairs, Jason was just crossing the parking lot. He looked up and she waved at him with a smile.

  “Hey. Wow, that was pretty quick. I hope that I didn’t interrupt anything that you had going on?” He looked up at her sheepishly. Rachel threw her hands up to stop him.

  “Don’t worry! All I was doing was watching movies and sewing. That’s nothing too important. Don’t worry about it.” Jason visibly relaxed. Rachel could tell that he was wanting to spend time with her, but that he didn’t want to take up all of her time so she couldn’t enjoy other things. That was exactly how Rachel felt. She’d been afraid to text him about the movie because she didn’t want to monopolize his free time. “So, you gonna tell me where we’re going or is it supposed to be a surprise?” she teased.

  “It’s a surprise. That way you can’t run out on me.” He grinned at her mischievously. That was interesting… What could he possibly be taking her to that he was afraid she wouldn’t want to go to if she knew what it was ahead of time? Rachel was busy brainstorming the answer to that while the two of them walked along the sidewalk, heading towards the general direction of the gym. She was looking around her now, trying to figure out where they were going. It couldn’t be anywhere far away because they were walking. Jason led her to one of the buildings that she’d walked by before when she was taking her stroll. She’d chalked the building up to some office building or community center. Now Jason was leading her in through the main doors. The carpet was a rich crimson color and very plush. He led her into a smaller room, and she could see that there were long tables in two rows, with lots of chairs surrounding each table. There was a bar in the back corner, along with a dart board, and a few televisions that had different sports games on them. She looked next to the door that they had just come in from, and saw that there was a table set up with a lot of audio equipment. There was a plump woman behind the equipment, straightening out little slips of paper, and testing microphones. There was a large screen on a stand that could be rolled around in the middle of the dance floor. Rachel’s eyes lit up. This was a karaoke bar.

  “You brought me to a karaoke bar!” she burst out. Jason looked at her and was trying to decipher if she was happy about it or disappointed. “I love karaoke! I didn’t know that there was anywhere around here that did it. How did you know about this?” Jason visibly relaxed at her outburst of enthusiasm.

  “Some of the guys that I work with come here on their days off, or after work. It just depends on which shift they’re working. I thought it might be worth checking out, but I’m a chicken and I didn’t want to go alone.” Jason’s cheeks flushed. He looked like he didn’t want that last part to slip out, but he hadn’t been fast enough to block it.

  Chapter 16

  Jason ushered her towards one of the long tables that had a free end and held the chair out for her to sit down. Rachel smiled at him as he pushed the chair in for her. Instead of sitting down, though, he went up to the bar for a few minutes while she sat there, looking around to see how crowded the bar was. It must have still been early, because it was nearly empty. That was ok with her, though. That just meant that there were less people that she would have to steel herself to sing in front of. She was watching the woman behind the equipment get everything set up and give it the once over. She smiled, then picked up a microphone.

  “Good evening, everyone. I’m Debbie and I’ll be your karaoke dj tonight. If there’s anything that you want to sing, don’t be shy. Just come on up and put down your name and a song. It’s easy, folks, there’s nothing to it. I’m going to start the night off, and then we’ll see what kind of lineup we have tonight!” She pushed another button and the opening notes of a song came over the speakers. Debbie launched into the song with everything she had.
Rachel smiled. She had a pretty good voice. Jason came back and put a fancy looking drink in front of her. She looked at it oddly. It wasn’t anything that she’d ever drank before, but it smelled fruity.

  “What’s this?” she asked hesitantly. It wasn’t that she didn’t trust Jason, she just wasn’t that experienced when it came to alcohol.

  “It’s called a zombie here, but it’s pretty good. A little too fruity for my taste, but perfect for someone who can’t stand that paint thinner taste.” He winked at her, and she had to laugh. Rachel had told Jason before that she couldn’t do shots because of the smell and the taste of the alcohol. It reminded her of paint thinner or the acetate that was in her nail polish. She sniffed it again, and put on a look of intense concentration that made Jason laugh.

  “The conclusion is that there is zero paint thinner smell coming from the drink. It passes the inspection, sir.” They both laughed. Rachel was starting to think that Italy had been a perfect place for her to be. She’d found a good friend that she could spend time with, she had a good guy that she was pretty sure that she was dating, and she was overly excited about seeing her new kids next week. She relaxed into her chair, and sipped her drink. It was really fruity, and she enjoyed it immensely. She saw that he had a beer, and that was ok with her. Most men didn’t go for mixed drinks unless it had some kind of whiskey in it. Debbie finished up her song to scattered applause, and went back behind the audio equipment. She read off a name and a girl walked up to take the microphone. A new song came on and the girl started singing. Rachel and Jason both cringed. Her voice sounded like someone was running their sharpened finger nails down a chalkboard. They looked at each other and couldn’t help but laugh. When she finished, a guy went up and he sang a love song with a really deep, velvety voice. Rachel’s drink was starting to get empty, and she was feeling very pleasant. Not quite enough to get up and sing yet, but maybe if she had one more…

  Jason must have been thinking the same thing because he excused himself and went back up to the bar to get them both another drink. When he came back, a group of guys was waiting to start their song, and they were obviously drunk. Rachel already had a smile on her face, waiting to see what they were going to do. She was having a blast with Jason, and she was really hoping that there would be more nights like this. When a few more people came and went, and Rachel’s second drink was half gone, Jason told her she should go up and sing. Rachel blushed. She didn’t know if she had the confidence to go up in front of all these people. The longer they’d sat there, the more people had trickled in. Rachel decided that if she was going to have more friends and be more outgoing, then she would have to take more risks. This was the perfect opportunity. She stood up, squared her shoulders, and took another sip of her drink before she started walking over to Debbie. Rachel was walking away so she didn’t see the impressed look on Jason’s face. His goading was only teasing, but she was actually going to go and sing. That definitely earned her brownie points. A few minutes later, Rachel returned with a grin on her face.

  “What are you so happy about? I thought you said you were too shy to sing in front of strangers?” he teased. Rachel shrugged her shoulders.

  “She had a song that I really like. I guess alcohol just makes me more fun.” She winked at him. It was almost like she was becoming the type of woman that she’d always wanted to be, but lacked the self-confidence to try. A few more people went up to sing, and Jason was trying to get the name of the song out of her, but was completely unsuccessful because Debbie called out Rachel’s name. “Guess you’ll find out, huh?” She winked at him again before she got up out of her chair and walked over to get a microphone. Rachel was trying to steady her breathing because she was very nervous. They stared at the words on the screen in front of her so she wouldn’t have to look at anyone and see their reaction to her. She usually only sang in the shower, and the acoustics were always better in there. The music started to play, the intro bars were being colored in, and when the words came up on the screen, Rachel opened her mouth and sang. It wasn’t until the end, when she gave the microphone back and faced the room, that she saw the reaction. Every person in the bar was staring at her. She was getting very self-conscious now, and she hurried back to her chair. When Debbie asked for a round of applause for her, the sound was deafening. She blushed again and ducked her head behind her drink. When she took a sip of her drink, she saw the look on Jason’s face and ducked behind her drink again.

  “That was wonderful! I mean, every single person sat in this bar, spellbound. You have some talent.” Rachel blushed even more and modestly denied it. Secretly, she was very pleased with the fact that she’d impressed Jason. The night wore on, and as it got later and later, Jason walked her back to her room, and had the courage this time to give her a goodnight kiss. He left pretty quickly because he was embarrassed. Rachel floated into her bedroom, took off her shoes, and just collapsed onto her bed with a big, stupid grin on her face. She was tired, and it was almost midnight now, so she decided to shower in the morning. She took off her makeup and clothes, then crawled into bed. Even though she was exhausted, she couldn’t fall asleep right away. She was getting really comfortable with Jason, and she couldn’t wait to tell Elena about all the things that they were doing together. She couldn’t wait to have girl talk with a good friend. With that being her last thought, she fell asleep with a smile on her face.

  The next morning, Rachel slept in a little more than usual, since she’d been out so late the night before. When ten hit, she finally dragged herself out of bed and got in the shower. After she was clean, and toweling her hair dry, she called Elena to see if she wanted to meet her for lunch. She said she would, and Rachel finished getting ready. Her phone pinged about fifteen minutes later, and it was a text from Elena. She asked if she could take Rachel to one of her favorite restaurants. Rachel was up for it, so she replied that it would be great. She went down the stairs and jumped in the car.

  “I can’t wait to tell you all about Jason!” Rachel gushed. Elena laughed and gave her a knowing look.

  “See? I told you he was sweet and handsome. Hell, if I didn’t have a boyfriend right now, I would try to get him.” Rachel didn’t quite know what to think about that so she said nothing. “So? What have you guys been doing? Spill!” Rachel laughed at her friend’s enthusiasm.

  “Well, the first time that we did anything together, it was just dinner at the food court here on base. He was tired after work, but he still showered before we went. Then he took me to a flea market in town. It was great. I was a little nervous to ask him to go with me to a movie the same night, because I was afraid that he might think I was trying to monopolize his time.” Elena held up her hand to stop her.

  “If you like someone, you need to make sure that they know it. You can’t just hope that your body language and signals are going to be enough. You have to be aggressive. There aren’t that many handsome young men that know how to treat a lady, so if you find one, you have to fight for him.” Rachel laughed. Her friend was really getting into this romantic knight in shining armor thing.

  “I finally got up the courage to text him and see if he wanted to go. It was a romantic comedy, but he still went with me. He walked me to my room after the movie was over and gave me a hug goodnight. Then yesterday, he surprised me by taking me with him to the club on base. They were playing karaoke all night and I got up there and sang. It was such a great time. I can’t wait to go back next week. He walked me home again, and this time, he actually kissed me.” Rachel was so excited that she wanted to jump up and down in her seat. Elena just laughed at her.

  “And just think, you didn’t even want to go over there and talk to him. I had to practically drag you. Aren’t you glad that I did?”

  “Extremely. If I ever object to something again, make sure that you drag me anyway.” The girls were laughing as they went into the restaurant. Elena led the way to a certain waiter who hugged her and showed her to a table right away. Rachel was a little confu
sed, but she decided to just go with it.

  “We used to date.” That was the explanation Elena gave her once they’d put their orders in. “Usually, at the end of the night, he always brings me and my friends free shots. Just to see if any of us will get drunk and kiss him.” Rachel didn’t quite know what to think about that. Wouldn’t he get in trouble for giving out that much alcohol for free? Their lunch came, and the girls ate in between stories of boyfriends and romantic encounters. Elena’s phone rang as they were ordering dessert. She excused herself to the bathroom, and Rachel sat at the table, just looking around at the décor and the other patrons that were currently in the dining room she was in. Elena finally came back to the table, but her eyes were red and her nose was stuffy. She looked like she’d been crying. “Giovanni broke up with me.”

  Chapter 17

  “Oh, no! What happened?” Rachel felt awful for her friend. “Do you want to talk about it?” Elena had tears coursing down her cheeks. They ate their meal in utter silence; Elena hurting over her breakup and Rachel hurting that she couldn’t help her friend. Elena drove Rachel home, then left without a word. There was nothing that Rachel could do. She called Jason.

  “Hello?”

  “Hey, it’s Rach. You’re good friends with Elena, right?” This was the only thing that she could think of that she could do to help.

  “Yeah. I met her when I met you. Why? What’s going on?” Rachel explained to him that she and Elena had been out to lunch, and that she’d gotten a phone call from her boyfriend, breaking up with her. “Oh no. That’s awful.”

  “I know. Would you be willing to go over and check on her? I’d do it myself but I don’t have a car.” Rachel was sure that her embarrassment came out through her voice.

  “Yeah, I can do that. Not a problem. Do you know where she lives?” Rachel gave him the address. “Ok, I’m heading up there right now. It’s not too far from where I live.” That confused Rachel.