15 Chapter 15

Grace paced nervously in the living room. She was pissed at herself for accepting the invitation to go out on a date with a co-worker. Leon Gabrielli worked in the Accounting Department and had begun dropping by her cash desk to say good morning and greeting her in the lunch room. Heather did some digging and found out he was single and lived alone with a cat. Grace told her that it was doomed to fail as she was a dog person but Heather gave her the evil eye and told her he was the most eligible match Grace had encountered and not to screw it up.

Leon wasn't a bad looking man. Late twenties, relatively fit, had all his teeth and a good head of hair, and best of all he bathed and smelled good. When he asked her out to dinner and a movie she said yes because she couldn't come up with a reason to say no.

She was actually wearing a dress, a black one, as he'd told her he was taking her to a nice Italian restaurant downtown then they would see a movie.

He pulled up to her house and she let herself out. When she turned she saw his car for the first time. A 1983 Chrysler LeBaron with the fake wood trim on its sides. She forced a smile on her face and walked to the passenger side and got in.

"You look lovely tonight, Grace!" Leon said as she buckled in.

"Thank you Leon. That's a nice suit," she replied. Leon was wearing a black suit with a white dress shirt and a black tie. A white carnation was in his lapel.

The car made a terrible whining sound as he turned the steering wheel. "My uncle is going to fix that this weekend," he mumbled apologetically and she smiled.

It didn't take too long to get downtown to the restaurant. She looked up at the elaborate signage projecting over the sidewalk. Cervara di Roma. Glancing in the front window she was pleasantly surprised. She'd never been to this particular restaurant and it looked really nice.

"My uncle Ronnie owns the place so I get a discount." Leon said with an awkward smile. He stopped before they got to the door and his face went serious. "A word of warning. My family is kinda loud and… rough around the edges."

Grace smiled. "There's nothing wrong with that."

"Don't say I didn't warn you!" he said as he held the door open for her.

They went inside and up to the hostess station. An older woman with really big hair was standing behind the podium. She was well padded and wore a dress that barely contained her abundance.

"Leon!" she cried and came around the station to kiss the man on both cheeks. Leon suffered the treatment with his awkward smile and looked over at Grace. The woman turned her attention to Grace as well and gave her a good up and down examination.

"Hi Auntie Gene! This is Grace. Grace this is my-"

"Grace what? Are you Italian? You've got the coloring." Leon's aunt asked.

"Grace Wilson. Not Italian. I think way back my family came from England but we've never checked."

"Huh. Ancestry is very important! You should know your past!" the woman said and dismissed Grace to turn back to her nephew. "Are you just visiting or are you here for dinner?"

"I'm here on a date with Grace. We're here for dinner," he asserted.

Auntie Gene's eyes widened in shock and her attitude changed immediately towards Grace. "Oh! Oh my! Well, please! Please come in! There is a lovely table for two by the fireplace. Perfect for lovers!"

"First date Auntie Gene!" Leon blushed as Grace's eyes went wide with surprise.

"Magic can happen!" the woman said over her shoulder as she led them to their table. They sat and after fussing over her nephew for a bit the aunt smiled at Grace and hustled away to greet some new customers.

"Sorry about that!" Leon said quietly, leaning towards Grace.

"It's fine. She obviously cares a lot about you and that's nice."

A waiter came by and left some menus which they both spent a little time reviewing. Grace decided to keep it simple and when the waiter returned she just ordered a small portion of spaghetti with rich meat sauce with a side salad. Leon looked a little relieved and ordered the same.

There was a commotion in the kitchen and a short man in an apron with a large belly pushed his way out of the kitchen. Leon's face paled as the man headed in their direction. "Shit! He wasn't supposed to be in tonight."

The man walked up to the table and stared down at Leon who was beginning to sweat.

"What have we here? Little Leon on a date? With a girl?" the man sneered.

Grace looked up at the man in surprise. What did he mean by that?

"Yes, Uncle Ramone. I'm on a date so if you don't mind I'd like to get back to it." Leon blustered.

"That's cute. When do you plan on telling her?" Ramone grinned cruelly.

Other customers were beginning to watch the floor show and Leon's face was starting to turn red.

Another man rushed out of the kitchen and headed straight over to them. He looked very similar to Ramone right down to the huge gut. He grabbed Ramone's arm and pulled it. Ramone yanked his arm away and glared back at his twin.

"Leave the boy alone. We need you back in the kitchen," the second man said.

"Leave HIM alone? He didn't leave my Nate alone and now Nate's dead. Because of this sick fu-"

"RAMONE! In the kitchen now!" the man growled and glared at his brother.

Ramone finally moved away but cast a look of disgust at Leon as he did.

"Sorry Uncle Renzo. I thought he wasn't working tonight." Leon mumbled.

"Maybe it's not such a good idea you eating here tonight. Sorry Miss," he nodded at Grace but his expression was stern.

Grace got the message and stood up. Leon scrambled to follow as she made her way to the front door.

Once outside Leon began to sputter. "I- I'm SO sorry about that. Uncle Ramone is…" he held his hands up helplessly. He looked like he was about to fall apart.

Grace suddenly understood. A dozen clues she'd seen at work with Leon but didn't catch suddenly aligned in her mind and she understood what this date had been.

"Was I supposed to be your beard?" Grace asked quietly.

Leon's eyes locked on Grace and his face flushed with embarrassment. She looked at him questioningly and he couldn't look her in the eye.

"I'm sorry Leon. You should have been honest with me." Grace said and walked away. The bus stop was around the corner.

An hour later she walked in the front door of her house and went straight up to her room and put on her comfort clothes. She went back downstairs and plopped herself on the couch in the living room.

Ed was there by himself as Shirley had gone to bed. He was watching something dumb but Grace didn't want to be alone.

"That was a really pretty dress you were wearing when you got home. You looked really nice in it!" Ed said in his deep rumble as he slumped on the couch with his legs out on the ottoman. She looked over at him and felt a pang in her heart. She needed some human contact. She tucked herself against his body and he wrapped his arm around her. She sighed happily as she cuddled into the big man. They watched TV together like that until they fell asleep.

Grace woke up in the middle of the night with Shirley standing next to her.

"Get up Grace and go to bed," her mother grumbled at her. Ed jolted awake and looked over at the two of them with a panicked look.

"You fell asleep watching the TV. I heard it on and came down to shut it off. Everyone go to bed." Shirley scolded them and Ed looked relieved as he said his good nights and left quickly. Grace plodded up to her bedroom wondering why her Mom looked so disappointed.