Karen Cino: Tuesday Tales

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Welcome to this weeks edition of Tuesday Tales. This week the word prompt is Dog. Thank you for stopping by and reading Lorenzo and Pia's journey.

Lorenzo pulled up in front of Peter Luger’s. The valet opened her door and Pia stepped out onto a black carpet. After giving the valet explicit instructions on where to park his car, Lorenzo joined her.

“I hope you didn’t take my conversation with the valet the wrong way, but last time I came here, he parked my car on the edge of the block, and someone must have sideswiped me when they made the turn.” He placed his arms around her waist leading her to the front door.

A tall thin middle-aged man greeted them in a black three piece suit. “Good evening, Mr. Marcus. Your table is ready in the New Corner Room.”

“Thank you Abe. Good to see you again.”

They followed able to the center of the room to a table by the window. He pulled out Pia’s chair, waited for her to sit before opening her napkin and placing it on her lap.

“Thank you,” Pia smiled, keeping her eyes on Lorenzo.

Lorenzo slid a folded twenty dollar bill in Abe’s pocket behind the purple hankie. “Thanks Abe for squeezing me in.”

“Never a problem for you Mr. Marcus. I’ll send the waiter over with a bottle of our best champagne.”

Pia loved the simplicity of the room, which made it elegant. The espresso three quarter hand carved wood walls had a wooden shelf all around the room. Butcher block tables for four lined the room with espresso wooden chairs with dark brown seat padding.

A bottle of champagne arrived at their table. The waiter popped it open and poured the cold bubbly champagne into their glasses.

Lorenzo lifted his glass. “To us and to what the future holds. Cheers.”

“Cheers.” Pia lifted her glass and clicked glasses with his before taking a sip.

“This is one of my favorite places to come for dinner. You can’t get a steak like this any other place.”

“Interesting.” Pia placed her glass down and leaned on her elbows on the table. “Do you come here often?”

Without hesitation he answered. “I’m not going to lie. Yes. I come here all the time.”

“With the guys?” she asked, giving him a gentle nudge.

“Sometimes with the guys, other times alone or with a date.”

Pia bit her tongue. She didn’t want him to see or hear the disappointment in her voice. But why should she be disappointed? They were only out on a date. It wasn’t like she was his girlfriend and he was cheating on her. Hello. What the hell are you thinking?

Looking up, she caught Lorenzo’s gaze. She hoped he hadn’t figured out the blow she felt when he said he took other women here all the time. Wait. He didn’t say that. Why am I putting words in his mouth and misinterpreting what he just said?

“There’s only one difference between those dates and you,” he said reaching across the table, leaning his hand on hers, “you’re here for me. Not for who’s seeing you with me.”

Pia felt her face heat up. She dropped her eyes to her lap. “I never gave a thought to who saw me with you. I like being in your company. What I’d like is to get to know you better.”

“That’s why we’re here.” Lorenzo squeezed her hand before releasing it to take a pumpernickel roll out of the breadbasket. “I don’t know much about you except that you live in Staten Island and have a best friend who is away on a business trip, missing out on the great seats.”

Pia grinned. “Yeah, that just about wraps it up.”

Lorenzo folded his arms against his chest and rocked in his seat. “And I’m just a Cy Young Award Pitcher who grew up in downtown Brooklyn.”

“That doesn’t tell me anything about you.”

“That’s what I’m saying.” He pointed at Pia. “I want to know what makes Pia Tallisico tick. What you love to do and what gets under your skin. Do you curse? Do you say oh geez instead of oh shit? Lorenzo sat back in his chair, not taking his eyes off of her. “Do you get up in the morning and get dressed even is you’re not going to work? And what kind of work do you do? Are you an undercover detective or are you a dog walker?”

“You’re asking a lot of questions,” she giggled. Taking a mini Italian bread shaped roll out of the basket, she broke it in half and dipped it in the dish of olive oil. “I’m a Real Estate Broker. I own my own company. Can I interest you in a new residence?” Pia tried to keep a straight face but couldn’t help but burst out laughing. “I also love trying to be a comedian.”

Lorenzo grinned, showing off his white pearly teeth. “That I can see. Another quality I like. I also love your playful way, keeping an upbeat approach on life.”

“I do my best to keep a positive attitude. Look how I met you. A negative experience, being stranded in Queens alone with no way to get home turned into something wonderful when you offered to have your brother fix my car and take me home.”

“One of the smarter things I’ve done in my life, taking a few minutes to help a beautiful lady.” Lorenzo lifted his hand. “Now to order my girlfriend the best steak she has ever tasted.”

Girlfriend? Now that’s a first.

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