A tall, lanky man came into the room, setting plates of pasta down in front of each of us. I stayed quiet, letting Don and Valentina catch up on their day as I ate with more gusto than was likely appropriate. But fucking pasta, man? What did anyone expect of me? Valentina’s lips twitched as their conversation lulled, a small smile pulling at her lips.
“Bueno?”
I made an enthusiastic sound around my fork.
“If you like Antonia’s food here, we should take you to the trattoria in town this weekend. Perhaps Saturday night?”
Don made a noise as he sipped his wine, “She won’t be able to go this Saturday.”
“Why not?” She set down her fork, eyeing Don, and then me with a tilt to her chin.
I watched Don as he smirked at her, not one bit of nervousness radiating off of him, but I stood still as a statue, wine glass in hand like I could use it as a defensive weapon should Valentina explode into a fit of rage.
So far I hadn’t seen her overreact, I guess—that is if you didn’t count having me kill a man as overreacting, but her reputation around PortCity was that of a tomcat. Smooth as silk slipping in and out of alleyways until you got too close to her tail and then she fucking erupted.
“Our muñequita and I are going on a date.”
There, he’d said it, plum tickled like it was the most charming thing he’d ever heard of.
“A date?”
“Si, amore mio. A date, a proper one much like this but with more candles I suspect.”
She blinked, long and slow as she looked at me, “Just the two of you?”
She looked between us like she couldn’t fathom such a thing, like a child putting together gravity. I nodded, finally allowing myself to sip at my wine.
I followed Don's lead, smiling, though it was probably much tighter than his, "Yes, Don asked me this morning."
She pouted, almost indignant, and I had to bite on the inside of my cheek to keep from laughing as she asked, “And when will our date be?”
“It depends,” I said, carefully.
“On?”
“On when you ask me.”
Don hid his own smile behind his glass.
“Of course, well, if that is the case,” Valentina wiped her hands on her napkin, nodding to me, “Alex would you like to accompany me tomorrow? We have some shopping to do for some of our outings.”
“Our outings?”
“Si, muñequita. If we are to show out as a couple in PortCity we must do it in style, no?”
“I have to work tomorrow. And meet...Bryce.” I cleared my throat, trying to cover his name, but Valentina’s ears were like a fucking cat’s.
She looked exasperatedly at Don, as if he had something to do with it, “Who is Bryce?”
“Her boyfriend.”
She slammed her glass down, “Her what?”
But Don simply smiled, eyeing Valentina the way you might an indulgent child. It was... strange to watch the two of them. Valentina was hot, sure, but it was coming to my attention that maybe I wasn’t prepared for her as a girlfriend. I wasn’t a fussy girl, and I certainly didn’t think I could play the part of spoiled rich bitch if my life depended on it.
“Come now, Valentina, you did not think we would be the first to sample our delicious muñequita.”
“I-” she picked up her drink again, “Ovviamente, no. Of course not. I just did not think we would have so much competition.”