1.11 Leftovers

 I awake as melancholy as I was last night. I have never felt this isolated in my entire life.

 It's strange - I've always been a loner ever since I can remember, but today I crave the company of others.

 Why does today, of all days, need to be a day off? The very day I would have loved to go to work and have a good chat with my coworkers - and Erika Lin most of all. Life just isn't fair.

But suddenly I have an idea. If I can't go meet my coworkers today, I'll just have them come over here!

 For the first time in my life, I am going to throw a party. I whip out my phone to invite the few people I've met here so far and then proceed to order a pizza.

Desperate times call for desperate measures.

 I watch the steady rain through the window as I wait for my guests to arrive.

The first person to walk through my front door is a woman I have never seen before.

She greets me cheerily, but I suddenly feel shy. "I'll be with you in a minute," I call over my shoulder. I quickly want to make a Radical Reparum potion before the party starts!

 I've invited Luigi Stefani, the man I met playing chess, and he arrives wearing a white shirt instead of his military uniform. Franco Bianchi, whom I tutored in the painting skill, comes bearing home made chocolate pie. He's a keeper, I think to myself and then blush furiously.

 Why did I have to start making the stupid potion just now? But I need to finish what I started. I can't just leave all those chemicals lying about!

When my concoction is complete, I shrug out of my lab coat. The guests keep filing in, but I feel so lonely!

 Still, I prefer to stare out the window instead of engaging someone in a conversation. Everyone seems kind of busy and I don't want to interrupt...

When I go to the bathroom, I find Luigi Stefani helpfully washing some dishes. And then breaking the sink in the process. Way to go, Luigi!

 In the meantime, Giovanna arrives and begins cleaning my grimy kitchen counters. Now that's a true friend!

 Great, the toilet is clogged. So far, I'm not convinced of the benefits of throwing parties.

Well, I'll get around to that later. Right now I need to muster up my courage and do what I set out to do today: socialize.

A hopeless romantic at heart, I go up to Luigi and hand him a bouquet of red roses. He seems pleased, but that's where the romance ends. Luigi introduces me to the teenager standing beside him - Orlando Romano, his nephew.

Orlando tells me how much he and his mother miss living with uncle Luigi now that he's moved in with his young new wife, Rosaria Stefani. Oh yeah, Luigi is married. I almost forgot...

I'm incredulous when I notice a text message from Giovanna: Hey Gloria, come to my costume party today! 1pm, my house. See you there! -G

How could I have missed that? 1pm? So her party is going on right now...?

Then how come Giovanna is at my house, taking out the trash?

This is just too weird, I think to myself. Such a crowd in my own home! I feel terribly uncomfortable.

Still, I feel the strong need to socialize. I offer a bouquet of red roses to Franco and he looks absolutely delighted when thanks me, "Mille grazie, Gloria! My wife is going to be so happy when I bring these home. She loves decorating our house with flowers."

Well, dammit.

Unaware of my bummed out expression, Franco keeps me engaged in the conversation.

He's quite the chatty guy, actually. I wouldn't have guessed from the night I met him - all he did then was listen to me attentively. But now he bombards me with the local gossip; stories and rumors about people I've never even heard of.

I don't know what comes over me when I suddenly open up and talk to him about my innermost feelings. How lonely and heartbroken I've felt today and how I keep writing about romance without having ever truly experienced it.

Surprisingly, he takes well to my outpouring of emotions.

Then he proceeds to compliment me on my home, graciously ignoring the stubborn water puddle that still refuses to dry up. What a nice guy!

I don't know what it is about him, but it makes me feel particularly bold. "You're such a great guy, Franco," I say, "I'm really jelly of your wife."

Franco responds positively to my flirting, but then proceeds to try and unload even more of his gossip onto me.

But I've really had enough of that for today.

Then I spot Giovanna, wearing doctor's scrubs for some reason. I know for certain that she does not work at the hospital! When I approach her to ask about the get-up, she hisses, "It's a costume for the costume party I'm throwing today, Gloria."

"I-I'm sorry," I try to apologize, "I had no idea you were throwing a party today until it was already too late. If you'd only let me know sooner..."

But she is having none of it.

"I thought you were my friend," Giovanna mumbles, "but apparently I was wrong."

My heart sinks. Not again!

Again, I feel incredibly misunderstood. I desperately try to explain, "Giovanna, you can't do this to me. I hate crowds, yet I'm throwing a party today in an effort to socialize. This is really difficult for me. Please don't make it even harder!"

 "Gloria," she yawns, "With that kind of lame attitude you'll never find the true love of your life!"

I am taken aback. "The true love of my life?" I ask, "Giovanna... are you, by any chance... also a hopeless romantic?"

And just like that, we bond again.

Giovanna compliments me on my house again, saying that things are really starting to come together. I remember how she cleaned up earlier and feel all warm and fuzzy inside. I'm so lucky to have such a good friend.

I pass on some of the gossip I've heard from Franco earlier and Giovanna listens raptly.

It seems she's forgiven me about the unfortunate party scheduling mishap. "Really, kid, nice party," she says with a genuine smile.

Now for the hard part. My boss, Erika Lin, has been sitting at the chess table for a while. I go and join her. Her passive-aggressive message about not being my friend anymore was what got me into this whole party mess in the first place.

We talk about this and that. I wonder aloud about what I'm going to do with all these leftovers and Erika laughs, "Oh, a sweet bambina like you won't be living alone for long, trust me."

And we're friends again.

Luigi and Orlando are tossing a baseball back and forth outside, their stomachs growling.

Franco does the dishes. Again, I am struck by what a great guy he seems to be. Too bad he's married...

"Nice party! But I've got to go now," he tells me before heading out.

Despite leaving this feast party ravenous, both Orlando and Luigi say they had a great time too.

Erika and Giovanna stick around a while longer.

"Girl talk time," Giovanna declares.

Erika wastes no time, "So, Gloria, any nice men in sight? I feel like I can hear the wedding bells already."

"Great party, but I've gotta run," Giovanna excuses herself abruptly.

I'm left to answer Erika's awkward question without backup, "Uhm, no. No wedding bells yet. There's no man in sight, really."

Erika is persistent as she sits down across from me, "But bambina, time flies! You've gotta find a husband and settle down before your child-bearing years are over. Don't you want a bambino or bambina of your own?"

I tense. "Sure, I guess I want children... someday. But right now..." My voice wavers. This is really uncomfortable! How can I talk about these things when I haven't even had my first kiss yet?

Finally, Erika relents. "Well, I need to get going too," she says. "Nice party though!"

When she's gone and I'm finally alone, I can think clearly again. I notice how grimy the stove looks and go to clean it right away. I should have done this before the guests arrived, not after they left! How embarrassing!

It's getting late, so I head into the bathroom to take a quick shower before bed.

When I emerge, Franco Bianchi calls me. He tells me how much he enjoyed himself at the party and thanks me for inviting him again. Franco is such a great guy! I immediately feel like I want to show him my gratitude. Maybe I should get him a gift...

No, scratch that. I want to kiss him. I want to have my first kiss with Franco Bianchi.

But Gloria, that annoying little voice in the back of my mind pipes up again, he's married!

Well, I don't care.

I just get off the phone with Franco when the doorbell rings. Who could it be at this hour?

It's a trick-or-treater! I didn't know they did that over here in Monte Vista! I hand the girl some candy I had lying around the house and compliment her on her outfit, "My, what an adorable little kitty you are!"

"Actually," she corrects me, "I'm supposed to be a bunny. But kitties are nice too. I love everything that's kind of girly, I guess."

I quickly discover that, like me, she's a hopeless romantic. I wish her well and send her on her way.

Now that I'm outside, I might as well check my mailbox. Bills, of course, but also a few letters and gifts. I'm surprised to find one from Luigi and several from Franco! It only strengthens my resolve to find a way to kiss this wonderful man.

He's married, the voice echoes. I ignore it.

The pizza I ordered earlier lies forgotten next to the old newspapers. Well, I'm going to bed now. If any more trick-or-treaters come tonight, they can help themselves to pizza.

What's this? A burglar ringing the doorbell?

Nope, luckily it's just another teen in a costume.

"Help yourself to some pizza," I yell from the upstairs window. Maybe she doesn't hear me, because she leaves without even glancing at the offered treat. These ungrateful kids these days...

I wrinkle my nose at a foul smell. Why are there hamburgers and pie in my bedroom? And why didn't anyone put the leftovers in the fridge? Well, I can't be bothered to get up now. I pull up the blanket to cover my nose and try to sleep.