Taste of Italy

C H A P T E R f o u r

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     "Should I give him a call?" Iris questioned.

Iris sat on the sofa, staring at her phone. She didn't know what to do about the situation. On one hand, she could meet with Dante and discuss books and stories and plots. But on the other hand, she didn't know if she should have. Was Dante lying to her? Did he even want to be with her? Was she overthinking everything?

Confusion buzzed inside her brain. After all, she never dated much. Between her and her two sisters, Iris was the less experienced person as her sisters were man-magnets and dated quite frequently. She didn't have time to date; with working at the restaurant and staying up late to write, a relationship was the last thing on her mind.

"Don't call him," said Jane, walking over to the living room and plopping over one of the chairs. She laid on it sideways, with her legs dangling off the arms of the chair. "It's just going to make it worse."

"What do you mean by 'worse'?" Iris put her phone beside her, on the empty cushion.

Jane gave a sigh. "When a guy says, 'Maybe we could have dinner sometime,' and gives you a phone number, that basically means, 'Let's have dinner never and I'll give you a fake number.'"

"But why would someone do that?" Didn't that happen to you, though? No. I don't want to think about it.

"I don't know. Men are stupid and useless these days."

Kelly approached the couch as she was in the kitchen; Iris grabbed her phone so Kelly could sit. "So that's why you've been married twice and engaged once, right? Because men are pigs?"

"That's not the point," said Jane.

"So then . . . what's the point?" Iris shook her head and shrugged. I don't understand your point.

Jane's eyes focused on Iris's. She went silent for a moment, going into deep thought. "We're here for two weeks, Is. We're here to have fun—"

"And I . . . can't have fun on my own?" She paused. Jane opened her mouth to say something else until Iris interrupted her. "You two can have fun but I can't?" Iris squinted her eyes.

"What I mean is that . . . we're here to spend sisterly time together. Not to go out and meet people and spend our time with them."

"Jane," said Kelly with a sigh. "Maybe she could just spend some time with him? I mean, I do have work and you want to do your own—"

"But that defeats the entire purpose of coming—"

"What do you mean?" said Iris. She shook her head, feeling disappointed at her sister. "We came here to have fun, right? To experience this visit together? Then how do you explain leaving me stranded at the Colosseum?"

"What?" Jane yelled, squinting at her. "Kelly had to do her photography thing—"

"I know that much!" Iris opened her mouth to say more until Jane interrupted her.

"And we didn't strand you! We were there with you!"

"I can understand Kelly needing to go take pictures, but you and I could have walked around together. Instead, you go wandering off with Kelly." Her voice went softer, not wanting to cause more drama by being angry all the time.

Silence fell between them.

Iris knew that she shouldn't be acting childish, that she could have let everything slip away and ignore Jane. But she didn't think it was right to do so. Jane was getting away with it like she always did. How was she going to learn if no one told her the truth?