Recipe for Love

Chapter 16

Anna

"And isn't it a little strange that he comes after you like that?" Daisy thought out loud as I told her on the phone how my life in Italy was going and how Charles repeatedly waited for me after work.
"Seriously? You remember this from my whole monologue about what a great job I got?" I laughed.
"Yeah, that's great, Annie. Congratulations. But I still find the boy strange."
"Well, I gave him my number, so now he doesn't have to come after me like that," I shrugged.
"Did you seriously give your stalker your number?" Daisy was horrified.
"Please, he's a Formula 1 driver. What's he going to do to me? Cut me into pieces and hide me in the freezer?"
"What do you know? It's fishy."
"He's a nice guy, trust me. Maybe he's just happy to be hanging out with someone who has absolutely no interest in F1. Although it's true that Lewis wasn't thrilled about it either," I admitted.
"Lewis?"
"My dad," I explained to her since I had never said his name in front of her.
"That's the first time you said dad and not biological father," Daisy noticed.
"He explained a lot of things to me and maybe I changed my mind a bit," I muttered.
"I'm happy for you. You're acting like an adult," she laughed. "Except you give your number to freaks."

"Hi, what are you doing tonight?" was written in a text that beeped on my phone late in the afternoon.
"Depends on who's asking," I replied, even though I subconsciously suspected and hoped it was Charles, which he confirmed with the next message. Instead of texting back and forth, I dialed his number.
"Hello?"
"Hello?" I repeated with a laugh. "So what are you planning?"
"My friend arrived and said he couldn't stand me all evening. Do you want to join us? We'll have food, play games, talk. What do you think?"
I checked the time on my phone. 6:35 p.m. The night is still young and I'm definitely too young to be sitting on the couch watching TV with my dad.
"Fine, I'm happy to join. Send me the address," I finally agreed, Charles assured me he would do what I asked and then ended the call.

"May I know where you are going?" Lewis asked me as I tried to sneak towards the exit like a ninja. I stopped in mid-motion and turned to face him. He was sitting on the couch with his elbow on the armrest and looking at me with raised eyebrows. Because I suddenly felt respect for him and not just contempt, I couldn't snap at him like before.
"I'm going to see Charles and his friend," I said truthfully.
"Do you think this is a good idea? After what I told you?" he grunted and frowned slightly.
"It's a purely friendly relationship, don't worry," I said. "It's really nothing. It's just nice to have someone here who is at least somewhat close to me in age, that's all."
"If he hurts you, I'll break his...cooler," finally came out of Lewis and I burst out laughing.

Less than an hour later, I parked in front of a low-rise apartment complex on the outskirts of Maranello. In fact, I wasn't even very far from my work, so Charles couldn't take more than a few minutes walk for his evening stalking trips. I texted him that I was there and a few seconds later the front door buzzer rang. I ascended several floors in succession until I came upon an ajar door, from which came loud music and heated conversation in a strange sibilance language, so I understood that it must have been French. I'm really not the sharpest pencil in the pencil case, but it never occurred to me that Charles was French.

"Bonjour," a tanned boy with dark brown eyes and even darker hair yelled at me as I poked my head into the apartment. "Hello," I greeted him, hesitating to take off my shoes. My eyes fell on his feet in white socks, so I kicked off my sneakers and entered the apartment. "I'm Anna," I reached out to him, but he pulled me close and kissed me on both cheeks. "Je suis Joris," he introduced himself and I nodded at him with a smile. "Where are you from? How do you know Charles? Would you like some coffee?" he started bombarding me with questions in English, meanwhile, I noticed Charles, who was leaning against the door frame behind Joris, watching us amused.