Fake Datin Frances

04: Pizzeria Di Francesco

Red and I stood outside a little restaurant called Pizzeria Di Francesco, looking through the glass. We're trying to decide if we should go in or not and it's been five minutes.

"I don't like the food here, Franz." She sighs heavily.

"I know, but we're meeting Kira in a few minutes and she specifically told me not to mess around and stay here."

"Can't we just have food delivered to my gym? My shift starts-" She checks her watch, "Yeah I'm already late."

"Red you own that place, stop whining. And they actually have decent coffee here."

I hated this restaurant but I was too lazy to move today. This was probably a lingering effect from the humiliation last night. I can't even get myself to think about it.

"Ugh." My best friend groaned heavily as she starts dragging her feet and we step inside the restaurant. We glanced around for a bit, ordered coffee then decided to sit near the windows in a corner.

"I heard they have a new chef." She whispers. Her gym was just one floor up so she would know anything that's going on here and well, her family also owns the entire building.

"See? You might be surprised." I tried to keep a positive tone, all I needed right now was a nice cup of coffee.

There was an old European couple sitting one table away from us who seemed excited and pointed stuff on the menu.

These poor souls. They have no idea that the food here is inedible.

A few minutes later Kira arrives, gives an entire speech about my crass behavior yesterday, and immediately left because she had an emergency meeting at the office.

Great. Now I'm left to deal with Miss Popular Dean Mack all over again.

I googled her as soon as I got home last night. Apparently she has a huge following on i********: and she posts stuff about fashion, food and travel. What a total cliche if I'm being honest. She was this professional influencer but on a bigger scale. She had her own tv show that no one knew about... that I didn't know about.

Red starts laughing as soon as Kira steps out of the restaurant.

"What is it now?" I asked her then eyed someone emerging from the kitchen in the back. She was wearing a traditional chef's white uniform minus the hat. Her hair was pulled back in a neat and tight ponytail.

Is that the new chef?

She then walks closer to the counter and talks to one of the waiters. She glances at the old couple in front of us and flashes a faint smile, it was like she knew them. She then notices us and stares at Red for a few seconds. It slightly offended me that she took a second look at my friend but I was invisible to her.

"I can't believe that you're gonna have to deal with Dean as early as seven in the morning after what happened last night. Have you recovered from the humiliation at the art show?" Red continuously mocked me. I was too distracted by the pretty chef that kept on checking her out.

"Okay, shut up, but I think the new chef is checking you out," She was about to turn her head but I warned her, "DON'T... turn around. Be subtle. She's cute."

Red hasn't had a successful relationship over the past few years that she has sworn to never look for love. She said, in her own words, "Unconditional love doesn't exist, it's the universe's biggest scam."

"Too early for this kind of jokes Franz."

"I'm not kidding, trust me. Oh s**t she's coming over, be cool." The gorgeous chef walks closer and after a few seconds I realized that she was approaching the old couple and not us.

Then they started speaking Italian.

"Dean's here." Red whispers.

"Sssshh!" I shushed her and tried to listen to the conversation as if I understood a thing.

"What are they saying? Is that Italian?" Red tried to flip the menu, pretending that she wasn't trying to listen in as well, "You're right, she's cute. But that kind of face... She looks like someone who would leave you for a dudebro who's obsessed with cars."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"Hey, Dean." Red greets her.

"Hey." She turns to face me, "Good morning, Frances."

This woman has the audacity to look smug as she pulls up a chair and sit beside me. I flashed her an obvious fake smile and she sighs while grabbing the menu.

"Franz, I don't understand a thing. What are they talking about?"

"The old lady said, 'Ce l'hai un ragazzo?' She asked the chef if she has a boyfriend." Dean chimed in.

I scoffed, "Right. And you know Italian because?"

"Because Arvie's half-Italian and we lived in Italy for four years."

Why does she know so much and why is she so damn annoying and right all the time?

I rolled my eyes in exasperation but Red listens thoughtfully, "And? What did the chef say?"

"She said, 'Mi dispiace molto deluderti ma non siamo simili perché a me piacciono le ragazze' It means 'I'm sorry to disappoint you, but we are not alike because I like girls.'"

Red let out a tiny squeal and Dean laughs softly. Not gonna lie, I tried to suppress a smile that was growing on my face too. I hate how I'm kind of enjoying this.

"I think this is my new favorite place." Red maintained the grin on her face as the chef slowly makes her way back to the kitchen.

A few minutes later she turns up with a plate of freshly baked brick oven pizza in her hand. You can see the steam rising as she approaches the couple in front. She said a few words, glances at our direction, smiles sheepishly at Red then lowers her gaze.

I gave my best friend one of those 'oh-you're-getting-some' smirks as she relentlessly blushed in front of me.

"Franz di ako makahinga (I can't breathe). She just smiled at me. I hope she goes to my gym upstairs."

"Quick, let's order something." I immediately waved at her.

"She's not a waiter!" Red slaps my hand off but it was too late. I caught her attention and she was slowly walking towards us.

"Hi." The chef smiled and landed her eyes on Red.

"We would like to order one of your best sellers," Dean says calmly. She's probably the only relaxed person at the table right now. I was almost thankful she's here but then I remembered what happened last night and the bliss goes away.

"That would be a classic Pizza Margherita. You can also try our Neo-Margherita, it's topped with tomatoes cooked down to a dense slurry, dusted with a green flurry of toasted breadcrumbs infused with herbs." She spoke with a little bit of accent, she probably grew up in Italy.

"Sounds amazing, we'll take each of those." Dean responds.

I've been to Naples a few times and loved the food there so I'm a bit of a pizza snob. This better be good.

"Are you the new chef?" I asked.

"Yes, Glaiza." She introduces herself.

"I'm Frances, this is Dean and that's Red, she has a gym upstairs if you need an instructor." I can feel Red kicking my feet from below the table but I ignored her.

"Nice to meet you." I introduced everyone but her eyes were stuck on my best friend. This is like witnessing love at first sight, very pukeworthy, but I'm starting to root for them.

"I'll have your orders ready." She leaves with a smile on her face.

"Franz... I'm starting to believe in love again." Red's face was serious, Dean softly laughs and I sighed heavily.

"I thought you said she looked like someone who's gonna leave you for a dudebro who's obsessed with cars?"

"I changed my mind... women. Have you seen them? They're beautiful."

"Yes, they are," Dean responds and glances at my direction.

Did she do that on purpose? Pinagttripan ba ko neto? (Is she playing with me?) And she thinks I'd fall for that?

I suddenly felt my face burning.

Hoy! Are you blushing?

Frances, wag kang marupok! (Don't be emotionally fragile!) Remember, she's a know-it-all who likes humiliating you. Check your scoreboard.

..............

SCOREBOARD:

Dean - 1 (Art show fiasco from last night)

Frances - 0

..............

I tried to look away and hide my face just in case it turned into a deeper shade of red.

"What time's our read?" She asks as if she didn't know already.

"Eight-thirty." I answered with my head down, fake texting, avoiding her gaze.

"Pizza's here." She adds.

"Here's your classic... and Neo." Glaiza puts them down and Red awkwardly tries to help her but it's of no use as the chef was quick to position them. I slowly shook my head at this disaster and unconsciously glanced at Dean. I was expecting her to do the same but she was texting someone on her phone. I immediately felt stupid for doing that when she's completely oblivious, too busy to notice me.

Why was I even expecting her to notice me?

"G, hey." An attractive guy carrying a green motorcycle helmet called Glaiza from across the room and her face suddenly light up.

"If you need anything else, Ray over here will help you out." She points at another waiter standing from behind. Glaiza leaves and Red's face suddenly crumples as she watches her smile and talks to helmet guy.

"What if you're wrong and that's her boyfriend?" I told Dean.

"I'm never wrong." She takes a slice of pizza, folds it, and slowly stuffs it in her mouth.

She even knows how to eat it properly. I'm getting real tired of this chick.

"This is amazing." She says as she finishes the entire slice.

The chef didn't make another appearance until we were done with our food. Red left for work while Dean and I waited for our cab.

She automatically opens the door for me as soon as it arrived. It's like she's accustomed to opening doors for ladies and being nice all around. I stood there frozen for a minute. I remembered how Alger has never done this for me during our press tours. He was this lifeless bore that just followed me around and smiled whenever he needed to.

"You're gonna stand there all day?" She sneered.

I swallowed, feeling heat claw its way up the sides of my throat and my face. I entered the cab and sat quietly, pulling my phone out.

A few minutes later we noticed that the driving was a little erratic and unsafe. He speeds up, brakes too fast, and swerves a lot.

"Hey! Would you mind slowing down maybe?!" I sounded angry as my eyes jerked to the rearview mirror. Dean sat there with no expression on her face, as expected.

Then the driver makes a fast and unnecessarily sharp turn, we almost bumped heads. I ended up trying to grab whatever I can get my hands on and holding on for dear life when he takes another swift turn and I'm thrown against Dean. My hand ended up grabbing her left boob.

"I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean-" I apologized immediately, withdrawing my hand quickly and shifting to the other side of the cab. I can see her saying something but I was too busy feeling mortified and I have never been more embarrassed in my life.

It was soft... and...

STOP.

I didn't realize that my thoughts had brought a flush to my cheeks.

"I'd usually expect women to at least ask me out or buy me drinks before getting to second base." She says in a very pompous manner, with a soft laugh.

I was about to open my mouth and say something rude but the driver intrudes, "Ma'am? We're here."

"Move, we're late." I instantly said as I cleared my throat, wanting to get out of this tiny space that we're both squashed in. She slowly shook her head and slid out of the cab.

We entered Kira's office then she hands us both our scripts, "You guys can start reading lines here. We're waiting for the casting director." She answers a phone call and leaves the room.

I skimmed the pages:

...............

(SAM)

I miss our simple conversations. I miss the silence in between.

I miss the clatter in the kitchen... the bad coffee in the morning.

I miss that tiny bit of hope that you're coming back to me.

But most of all, I miss you.

[Sam approaches Hannah and touches her softly on the cheek]

(HANNAH)

Sam...

[Hannah wanted to resist her but she was overwhelmed by a familiar comforting feeling of Sam's soft lips slowly pressing against hers.]

...............

Wait... this screen test involves kissing Dean?!

My heart started beating rapidly as I stared at her sitting peacefully in a corner, flipping the pages. Last night I wanted to ruin this read, but why do I feel a little different now?