Chapter Seven
COSIMA
“Oh my God, she’s going to kill us!” I screech, grabbing a hand towel for myself and tossing another to Marks.
We fan the smoke detector, trying to get the beeping to stop. I pray Chef Marcello never finds out about any of this. If he does, I’ll never live it down, and he might never let me in the kitchen again.
“Karen is so mean to us.” Marks fans faster. Karen is mean to us, but her grouchy demeanor is somewhat endearing. It's safe to say she's grown on us. She has also fed us more than once, and that's a quick way to earn a number one spot for Marks and me.
As if on cue, Norina, who we call Karen when she’s not in earshot, comes bursting through the back door of the little villa we rented.
She’s speaking so fast that I’m almost unable to follow. “It is always something with you two. You are going to burn this whole town down. What am I going to do with you?” She visibly takes a deep breath, trying to get her frustration with us under control. The smoke detector stops going off.
“I only caught the words burn and town out of everything you said.” Marks doesn't speak a lick of Italian except for what she has been trying to pick up for the past couple of weeks.
"What will I do with you two?" Norina flips over to English for Marks, shaking her head at us.
"I have a suggestion." I hold up one finger like I'm trying to answer a teacher's question.
"Out with it," Norina orders me.
"You could teach us to cook."
"You think I have the time for that?"
"Yes," Marks mutters. I elbow her in the side. "What, she goes for runs, reads, and fiddles in the garden."
"That is what is known as retirement." Norina gives us a pointed stare like we’re ruining said retirement.
"You're too young to be retired," I point out. I would guess her to be in her forties, but I do know she was in the military at one point.
Norina shakes her head at us, muttering under her breath. We both stay quiet like two kids in trouble.
"Clean this mess and come over in twenty." Norina turns, going back out the door.
"Why does it feel like we're being ordered to do what we wanted to do anyway?" Marks picks up the muffin baking sheet, dropping it into the sink. The muffins are blackened and caved in. How are we both so bad at this?
"It's her superpower." A whiff of the smoke and burnt muffin assaults me, making my stomach turn. “Oh noes.” I put my hand over my mouth and run toward the bathroom, barely making it to the toilet before I’m throwing up.
Marks is there a second later, running a washcloth under the water to hand to me. I press it to my mouth.
“That’s the third time this week.” Marks rests her hip up against the sink counter. I shake my head no. Not to her count ofthree but to what she is getting at. “Denying what this might be doesn’t make it go away.”
“Not today.” I drop the cloth into the sink before heading toward my room to use that bathroom to brush my teeth. Of course Marks follows me.
“Have you talked to him at all?”
“No, why would I?” I start brushing my teeth aggressively.
“Okay, your gums didn’t pop your cherry and maybe impregnate you. Take it easy on them.” I snort a laugh, which I’m pretty sure is what Marks was going for. “Can I go get a test now?”
“This whole town will know then,” I remind her.
We’d found the cutest villa in a charming small town on the coast. Since it’s so tiny, everyone knows everyone and their business. Half of the homes are vacation homes here.
“They’ll think it’s mine.”
“They’ll think you went and cheated on me.” We’re pretty sure a few locals think Marks and I are a couple.
