Culinaria L'amore

Culinaria L'amore Chapter Two*

Chapter Two

Silence followed Garrett's dramatic entrance, no one speaking until the handsome intruder's face turned red from anger and he exploded.

"What is the meaning of 'Robert Bianchi proud to announce that his son will take over the Bianchi Culinary Institute at age 25!' What crap is this dad? When did I ever agree to any of this shit?" Garrett waved his arms around and that was when I saw the crumpled People magazine in his hand.

Mr. Bianchi stiffened as he gripped his salad fork harder; suddenly his once kind face became a blank mask, but not before an uncontrollable rage in his eyes could be stopped.

The tension in the room was stifling and I awkwardly prodded a piece of squid, not looking up from my plate, realizing that I wasn't supposed to be hearing such a private conversation.

"Garrett, sweetie, please calm down. Rob, can't we talk about this later? You didn't forget about our guests did you?" Yivanni said sweetly, her hand rubbing her husband's back. "Do join us Garrett; you do remember Mrs. Bellini and her daughter Kirsten. Right?"

My mother cleared her throat awkwardly before standing up and giving a reluctant Garret a hug. "How are you Garrett? It's nice being able to talk to you for much longer than the last time we met. It's a shock to see you so old."

Garrett shot his father a murderous glare before taking a seat. The seat next to mine. I stiffened unconsciously as a whiff of his cologne came over me and his arm rested on the table where mine had been a millisecond ago.

"It's been decent Mrs. Bellini. I just got my teacher's permit so I'll be teaching at the Institute once school begins." His voice was slightly stiff as a maid set down his plate. From the tone of his voice, I could tell that he didn't seem to like the prospect of teaching, or taking over anything.

An awkward silence followed as everyone resorted to eating and conversation seemed to die. I couldn't help myself but glance at the handsome guy sitting next to me. From the side view, I could see his strong facial bone structure and high cheekbones, a face worthy of being on the cover of Vogue. 

His dark brown hair was slightly windswept and his skin was tinged a pale pink, contrasting with his creamy, tan skin. I was wondering what his eyes looked like because for some reason they looked blue instead of grey tonight, but didn't want to stare openly to find out the answer, when suddenly, he turned in his seat and smirked at me.

My heart nearly stopped when he gave me an arrogant smile and whispered, "Like what you're seeing?"

I was not exactly wrong when I had thought his eyes were blue. Surrounded by long eyelashes, his eyes were tinged with a light blue and green, getting lighter and lighter as it went closer to his pupil.

But that didn't matter. I was simply appalled; how could someone so effortless move from being completely upset to arrogant and suave? It just didn't make sense, unless he was a superb actor trained by Meryl Streep. Or he was bipolar which seemed much more likely than the previous idea. Actually, bipolar seemed to fit him a bit too well.

Looking around with a blush on my face, I realized that my mom was in an avid conversation with Garrett's parents and that they hadn't heard anything he had just said to me. Remembering that he was waiting for a reply, I turned to face him completely, dropping my fake smile along with my etiquette as a scowl appeared on my face.

"In your dreams."

He grinned at me as I stabbed my remaining green olive and leaned close enough for me to get affirmation that he smelled like my personal heaven. Vanilla and aftershave definitely hit my weak spot.