“Mmm,” I heard Zayden moan, telling me that he was equally impressed with dinner, which was an accomplishment given that he had an international super-chef at his beck and call twenty-four seven.
“Let’s open the wine, shall we?” Mom’s voice pulled me out of my foodgasm.
“What?” I felt a little disoriented for a moment.
“The wine your boyfriend so nicely bought for me, shall we open it then?” She smiled.
I looked at Zayden, who seemed as blown-away from the dinner as I was and he nodded. “Sure, if you would like. It’s yours to do with as you please.” He smiled.
By the time she returned with the freshly opened bottle of wine, we had managed to help ourselves to third servings of everything on the table.
“Molly,” Zayden sighed at last. “You don’t suppose you would be interested in a career as a chef, would you?”
I knew immediately what he was suggesting, so I gave Zayden a stern look that was meant to read “Not another word!” But mom just giggled, thinking of it as just a stray compliment.
“It’s nothing. Aria is a really good cook, too. I’m sure you’ve had her cooking plenty of times. The mashed potatoes and gouda, at the very least!”
I looked intensely at the marks on the new dining table, aware of Zayden’s amused gaze. “No, actually,” I heard him say from beside me. “I have not quite had the pleasure of eating Aria’s cooking just yet. But if tonight is any indication of what I was missing, then I have to say I am very disappointed you never invited me for dinner.”
My mom looked at me reproachfully. “Sweetheart, that’s not very nice, especially since you told me he made you dinner the other night.”
“He grilled,” I said automatically. Feeling kind of guilty I added, “Yes, he did, and I was planning to invite him over this weekend but then we decided to come see you instead. Would you have rather we not?”
“Of course not!” she exclaimed. “I am happy you guys decided to pay me a visit. I was going crazy all by myself. This wine is amazing, by the way,” she added, sipping on the red in her glass. “The best I have ever had. Is it foreign or can I find it locally?”
I glanced at Zayden, who looked slightly uncomfortable and unsure how to answer. “It’s…it’s a special kind of wine that I got directly from the Vineyard. Limited edition, they only make it this time of the year and you have to be a member to—”
“Wow, that sounds really fancy,” my mom said, looking at me quizzically.
“It’s no big deal.” Zayden shrugged. “I can get you a whole case. It might take a couple of weeks though. I was going to bring a case tonight, but wasn’t sure if you would like it.”
“Just out of curiosity, Zayden,” my mom said, still looking at me as though searching for some kind of an answer. “What exactly do you do for a living?”
Zayden opened his mou
th to answer, but before he could produce a sound, I chimed in, “He works with me, mom. I told you remember?” I smiled nervously and then looked at Zayden, hoping he could pick up on my cues.
“Yes, of course I remember,” my mom chuckled. “But don’t be silly, Aria. You work in a pretty large branch of a huge bank chain. There are certainly many, many things to be done there. I am just curious as to what exactly working with you entails here?”
Grabbing the opportunity of Zayden chewing, his mouth too full to speak, I immediately jumped to answer, “He’s a loan officer!”
From the look of perplexed curiosity in Zayden’s face, to that of looming anger in my mother, I realized that this dinner was starting to get closer to what I had imagined it would be like in the first place. I wanted to carve a hole under the table and disappear forever.
“Since when do we lie to each other, Aria?” my mom asked after a few minutes of maddening silence.
“I’m not lying! He works with me at the bank.”
“I believe that. But somebody who rides over here in a limousine with a driver and talks of exclusive memberships to fancy Vineyards and can produce an entire case of better wine than I had ever tasted in my life, is not a loan officer. It would be nice if you gave me the slightest bit of credit, Aria. I know I got us into a big pile of mess financially, but I am not stupid.”
“You didn’t,” I said, starting to feel guilty. “You were not the one who got us into this big pile of mess, mom. And I don’t think you’re stupid. In my defense…you weren’t supposed to see the limo,” I finished lamely.
“Why don’t you answer this time,” she said looking away from me and smiling at Zayden. “What exactly do you do for a living, Zayden?”
He finished chewing and swallowed, as I felt my heart thump faster and faster across my chest.
“I am the CEO of South National Bank,” he said simply.
I did not dare look at my mother. Or him. Or anybody. I simply continued to stuff mashed potatoes into my mouth, hoping that nobody expected me to speak for a long time, unable to quite think of anything rational to say.