"Ah, Gina Bianchi! I'm glad you could make it." Mike Romero, the owner and operator of Romero's Bakery, extended a hand. Romero's had been a downtown staple for almost 30 years now, famous for its chocolate chip cookies. People came from far and wide for a sampling of those delicious, chocolatey morsels, and now they were finally opening up a second location.
Gina smiled and shook the old, portly man's hand. "It's great to see you, Mr. Romero. Congratulations on the new bakery! My father sends his congratulations as well. He wishes he could come, but he had to be back on the plane pretty early."
Romero twirled his thick handlebar mustache. "Oh, yes, we spoke on the phone this morning. He seems to be enjoying Florida, wouldn't you say?"
"Well, my papa has done so much work on these restaurants in his life. He deserves to have a good retirement somewhere that's warmer."
"I'll say. How have the restaurants been?" A waiter carrying a tray of champagne glasses walked past them, from which Romero quickly grabbed two glasses, handing one to Gina.
She took a sip of the champagne and sighed. "I've taken on a lot of work. I don't want to be one of those CEO's that sits around and cashes checks. It's a lot sometimes, but it's rewarding. We're more successful now than we ever have been."
Romero nodded and sipped. "I'm glad to hear that. I was telling your dad, I'd love to form some sort of partnership now that Romero's is getting bigger. Maybe we could provide part of your dessert menu?"
"That sounds like an idea I'd be interested in. Be sure to follow up with me on that, we'd be honored." Gina smiled. This is what she was here for! The Bianchi dessert offerings were rather basic compared to their entrees, but if they were to get some of Romero's decadent cakes and pastries on the menu... she was seeing green.
"I'll be sure to let you know." He cleared his throat, taking another sip of champagne. "Well, I'll let you go now. I need to keep making my rounds. It's always great to see you, Gina, take care and enjoy the party!"
She shook his hand and congratulated him again before he walked away to start speaking to a couple she didn't recognize. It was your standard after-party affair here in the garden behind Mr. Romero's house. Lots of dressed up people milling about and talking business. Boooooring. Gina's ideal parties had beer pong, dancing drunks, and maybe some property damage. But oh well. At least she had champagne.
Then, she bumped into somebody and spilled her champagne on her dress. Fuck! She was distracted by her thoughts remembering college parties, just totally not paying attention. She started to apologize as she wiped champagne off her chest as if they were crumbs or something. The guy she bumped into turned around and... oh my god he's cute. He had longish brown hair, blue eyes, a sweet smile... His body was thin and tall but not TOO thin or TOO tall... Gina stammered a little and turned her apology into a demure "hello".
The guy was confused but didn't seem to mind that much. "Uhhh, it's okay. Are you good? You got a bunch of that on you."
"I'm okay! I'm good! It's just champagne, it'll come out! I'm Gina by the way, hello!" She waved a little and grinned a stupid grin. Good lord, she was a mess.
Luckily for her, the guy just smiled. "I'm Chris, hi." He extended a hand to her to shake, which she very excitedly did. "I'm here with the catering company."
"Oh! The catering company. Wooow. Catering here has been really good!" A blatant lie, she hadn't had any of the catering.
"Thanks. What brings you here, do you work at Romero's or something?"
"Oh, no. I'm... haha, I'm the CEO of Mama Bianchi's. The restaurants."
"Oh!" That piqued his interest. "I've never been there. I hear it's good."
"Well, Chris, if you ever want to go, let me know. It's on me."
He grinned. "Are you asking me out to your own restaurant?"
Gina's brain short-circuited. "Well, I..." She giggled. "Yes. I am, yes. What are you doing after this?"
"I don't have any plans. What time?"
"Uhhhh, 7?"
"Sounds good. I'll see you then, Gina." He winked and got back to work moving a catering pan of veggies while Gina just stood there motionless. She'd just bumbled into a date with, like, the perfect guy. Completely accidentally.
Gina's brain kicked into overdrive. She had to call the restaurant and have them reserve a table for her. She had to change out of this wet, sticky dress. And, most importantly, she had to call her sister.
She got into the back of her vehicle and called up Izzy, who picked up with a sleepy, "Hey Gina."
"Hey sis! Did I wake you up?"
"Yeah, it's okay though." She smacked her lips. "I should really get up and have some lunch."
"Ah. Well, listen, I've got a date tonight! With some guy Chris I met at the ribbon cutting!"
Iz's voice perked up. "Oh wow sis! Is he cute?"
"Of course he's cute, who do you think I am?"
"Wow. I hope it goes well!"
Through the phone, Gina could hear a distant but audible deep gurgle that cut off her train of thought. "What was that, did you just flush the toilet or something?"
"Oh, no!" Izzy laughed. "That was my stomach. Your petite sis is thinking about lunch." She laughed again.
"Oh!" Gina giggled. "You better eat something, then." At that moment, Gina's stomach gurgled as well, though not as loudly as her sister's. "Shit, I should get some lunch, too..."
"Good idea! I gotta run, Gina, but let me know how your date goes! So happy for you!"
The sisters blew kisses to each other over the phone and hung up.
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