Tutti Italia: A Novel
Read Tutti Italia: A Novel Online
Authors: Deena Jordan
Tutti Italia
by Deena Jordan
Tutti
Italia
Book
1
Copyright
© 2014 Kiarah Whitehead / Kiarah Publishing
ALL
RIGHTS RESERVED.
This
book contains material
protected
under International and Federal Copyright
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and Treaties. Any unauthorized reprint or use of
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or transmitted in any form or by any means,
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Chapter 1
Rachel
McArthur
was twenty years old, she had just graduated with an Associate’s Degree in
Arts, and she'd made the Dean’s List. Life should have been good for her but it
wasn’t. She had a boyfriend named Mark who she thought was perfect until he
dumped her without warning. Now, she was hiding between the trash cans behind
the restaurant crying into her shirt.
This had been the dinner she’d been looking forward to more
than any other dinner of her life. Mark had arranged the dinner. It was their
one year anniversary and he told her that he wanted to take her someplace
romantic. Applebee’s wasn't exactly what she had in mind, but she didn't want
to ruin the night by complaining.
Rachel had been so sure that Mark was going to
propose tonight. Needless to say, he didn’t. Otherwise she wouldn’t be hiding
back here with the trash cans crying her eyes out. Mark had started a
conversation with her that she’d thought for sure was going to lead to a
proposal. Instead it had led to a break up. Rachel was heartbroken.
Mark was still at their table, eating his steak. He
thought she was in the ladies room. What was she doing out here? She looked
like a homeless girl dumpster diving for leftovers. Rachel got to her feet,
squared her shoulders, and wiped away her tears. Her hand was on the door
handle to go back inside and face the music, but she stopped. She could see
their table through the tiny glass window and she could also see Mark. He was
acting like nothing was wrong. Like the breakup didn’t even affect him.
Her hand fell away from the door. No, he didn’t
deserve any satisfaction from tonight. She spun on her heel and walked to her
car.
She’d
been the one to drive, so she could easily decide when she
was leaving.
Rachel got in her car and shuffled through her iPod
until she found her rock music playlist. It was the one she used for bad days
when she was mad at the world or hurt beyond any pain she’d ever felt. She put
the car in reverse and listened to Avenged Sevenfold belt out Beast and the
Harlot through her speakers. She drove the twenty minutes home that it took
when she had to keep wiping her eyes. She parked to the side of the driveway
and went into the house.
It was still early, and her parents were up watching
Jeopardy. She slammed the door behind her and ran up to her bedroom. She
slammed that door too for good measure before she threw herself on her bed and
let out the rest of the tears that were pent up inside of her.
“Honey? Are you ok?” Rachel’s mom must have opened the
door in the middle of a sob because Rachel hadn’t heard the door open at all. She
sat up and wiped her eyes again, smearing her mascara beyond any resemblance of
pretty. Rachel’s head popped up off the bed and she looked at her mom.
“Mark broke up with me. I thought he was going to propose.
Instead, he cut me loose. . . .so I left him at the restaurant.” She looked up
at her mom for a rebuke but her mother was smiling.
“That’s my girl. He’ll remember tonight for a while.”
Rachel laughed through her tears. Her mom gathered Rachel up in her arms and
held her. “It’ll hurt for a while, but it’ll be ok honey. I promise you, it
can only get better from here. When you hit rock bottom, the only place you
can go is up.” That was true. Rachel looked up at her mom, and she smoothed a
stray strand of hair behind Rachel’s ear before giving her a kiss and leaving
her daughter’s room. Rachel wiped the rest of the makeup off of her face. She
was exhausted—both mentally and physically. Rachel changed into her pajamas
and crawled into bed. An early night never hurt anyone.
The morning sun shone through Rachel’s window and gently
caressed her face. She wondered how Mark made it home last night. The pain hit
her again, but then the memory of her leaving him came back too and she had to
smile. Mom was right. He’d be remembering that day for a while.
She rolled to her side, and heard her door creak open. She
looked to see if anyone was poking their head in, but the crack was empty. Just
then, a black and white ball of fur jumped up on her bed and started licking
her face. Rachel laughed and hugged her dog. Molly was a mutt, a mixed Bishon
Frise and Papillion. She was still a puppy and the jump onto the bed was only
barely a success. Rachel picked her up in her arms as she sat up and cuddled her.
It was the weekend, her parents loved her, and she had absolutely nothing
pressing to do today. That being the case, she checked her watch. It was seven
thirty. She positioned Molly so she could look her in the face.
“You need to work on sleeping in and being lazy,” she told
the dog. Molly licked her nose. “Yeah, yeah, I love you too.” She snuggled
back under her blanket, holding the puppy in her arms. Molly wriggled free,
then turned around and pawed at her blanket. Rachel knew what she wanted. She lifted
the blanket and watched Molly disappear. Molly liked to sleep at the small of
her back. So long as Molly let her sleep a little longer, she didn’t really
care where she was going to sleep.
At nine, Rachel finally got up. She stumbled into the bathroom
and took a long, hot shower. It melted the tension away from her. She toweled
dry when she was finished and took a hair dryer to her long, thick hair. She
brushed it out for about twenty minutes before it was back to the shining
luster that she loved. She quickly brushed her teeth and went back into her
room to get dressed. She really was letting herself have a feel good day to
make up for last night. Her parents were watching television in their room.
Shopping always took her mind off of things so she decided to head to the mall.
“Hey, mom, dad? I’m going to go to the mall far a little
while, ok? Call me if you need anything.” Her parents assured her that they
would. She picked up Molly and put her in her mom’s lap before she headed to
the garage. Maybe a new pair of jeans would boost her confidence? Or maybe a
book where she could get lost in the world of the characters that she loved.
Rachel decided the book store would be the first stop.
As soon as she walked in the store the smell of the leather
journals hit her and she took a deep breath. There was something therapeutic
about the possibilities of a blank journal page. She went to the back where the
fantasy section was and lost herself in the appealing covers of the books and
the wonderful summaries that brought her to different places. Her cell phone
rang and she realized it was already eleven.
“Hello?”
“Hey, honey. It’s mom. I need you to call this number ok?”
“Ok, mom. What is it for?”
“Just call it, ok? They were looking for you.” Her mother
gave her a number, and she punched it in. The phone rang.
“Hello? Federal Teacher’s Agency, this is Melanie
speaking.”
“Yes, my name is Rachel McArthur. I received a message from
you?” There was the sound of paper rustling on the other end of the line.
“Ah, yes. We wanted to extend a job offer to you. You were
the highest qualified candidate in this area. Would you be interested?”
“Um, could you tell me a little bit more about the
position?”
“Of course. I’m so sorry. This is a teaching position at
a kindergarten. It’s a relocation job. You would have to move. Is that going
to be a problem?”
“Is it ok if I think about it for a day or two and get back
to you?” The lady at the other end of the line sounded exasperated when she
answered.
“I suppose. We need an answer by Monday.” The woman hung
up on her. The woman’s last minute attitude shocked Rachel. She didn’t think
that people who worked in customer service should be easily irritated or have
attitude problems. She slipped her cell phone back into her pocket. This was
something major and life changing. She needed to go home and talk to her
parents about it. The drive home seemed unusually long.
“Mom? Dad? Where are you guys?” Rachel called as she came
in the front door.
“In the kitchen,” her dad answered. When Rachel made it
upstairs, she saw that her parents were putting away groceries. Obviously
they’d been out too.
“Can we talk while we put groceries away?”
Rachel took a deep breath.
“I got a job offer as a teacher for a kindergarten. That’s
what that phone number was for.” Her parents both looked at her with happy
smiles.
“Well, that’s great isn’t it? Why don’t you look happier
about it honey?” Rachel’s mom asked. Rachel looked down at the hem of her
sweater and fiddled with it a little, trying to find the right words.
“It’s a good job, but I’d have to move for it.” The happy
smiles were still happy, just a little dimmer. “Ok, well, how far away would
it be?”
“Italy.” Her parents were quiet for a moment.
“It’ll be a great learning experience for you, honey.” Her
mom tried to lighten the mood, always on the positive side. Her dad came over
and gave her a hug.
“It’ll be fun for you. Your mom and I have been through
Italy, too when we were younger, and we really enjoyed it. It’s a really
beautiful place and the food is amazing.” Rachel could let a half of a smile
show. If her parents had been there it wouldn’t be all bad. Who knew? Maybe
then they could talk about some of the places that they’d been too.
“So, I should call them back and tell them that I’ll take
the job?” Rachel still wanted her parents’ approval. Growing up, Rachel had
been a loner, and she didn’t really have many friends. Her parents were her
friends. Her parents both nodded. Rachel took a deep breath and went into her
room to make the call. She waited as the phone rang, and hoped she wouldn’t get
the same woman with the attitude that she’d had earlier.
“Hello? Federal Teacher’s Agency, this is Melanie
speaking.”
“Yes, this is Rachel McArthur again. I just wanted to say
that yes, I would be interested in that position you told me about earlier.”
“Wonderful! We will be sending you your flight information
and ticket, there will be someone there to pick you up at the airport, and
you’ll need to have your bags packed and ready to leave by Friday night.”
“Um, ok. I look forward to it.” The woman hung up again,
and Rachel went to break the news to her parents. She was nervous about this
job, but she couldn’t decide if it was a good kind of nervous or a bad kind.
She would have to start inventorying her room so she could pack her bags.
Suitcases didn’t hold all that they used to, and she had a lot of hobbies. She
sighed and started looking through her closet.