OF LOVE AND CORAL

From the opposite of the road near the sun-baked beach along Amalfi coast where a small crowd of half naked people clad in beach suits and bikinis were having fun under the clear bright sunny Wednesday afternoon, was a fancy little restaurant next to the Gran Caffé, facing directly towards the distant ocean whose tidal waves kept ebbing harshly upon the rocky damp soil at the edge of the beachside.

Fairly known for satisfying the needs of its customers, the restaurant was named La Pasta Vita by the lady shopkeeper whose attention to her boring daily routine of running her daily business affairs during the periodical working day hours, was completely restricted indoors away from the hot beach a few meters away from the other side of the road. For the few customers seated inside the public eatery while quietly enjoying their meal, the restaurant not only provided a cozy shelter away from the hot sun shining gracefully outside the comforts of the restaurant but it enabled a relaxing spot for sightseeing passersby roaming around the hot beach as well as the roaring waves of the ocean currents, ebbing continuously upon the damp beachside.

The strategic position of the eatery located near the ocean was the most significant feature the restaurant had in attracting the locals and the few tourists on vacation in coastal town of Amalfi coast. Minutes before the clock struck two pm, an old man dressed in a grey shorts and light blue T-shirt walked into the restaurant accompanied by his little daughter whose puffy face was quite drawn to the eyes of the few customers watching them enter the eatery. They quickly find their way to meet the shopkeeper chattering with an older skinny woman in a blue apron at the counter without paying much attention to the few eyes that kept watching them head to the counter.

“Hello, there, miss.” The old man said gripping the right hand of his daughter more firmly than he had done earlier when he walked in with her. The shopkeeper and the other older lady quickly stopped their conversation as soon as he interrupted them.

“Yes, Hello, what can I get you?” the shopkeeper asked radiantly smiling at the old man who seemed less impressed by her welcoming demeanor since he had only worried about his appetite and with that of his daughter.

“Two dish of fried seaweed and hot coffee.” He demanded.

“You also want it two, right?” the shopkeeper inquired again, looking straight at the old man.

“What?”

“The coffee”, the shopkeeper retorted, “Do you want it two?”

“Yes, please.” He responded quickly despite feeling a lump of crispy dryness inside his throat.

“Then please take your seats over there.”

“Oh, thanks for the offer, young lady but we ain’t staying long.”

“In that case, you can wait here for the dish while I prepare your hot coffee.”

The shopkeeper replied and whispered something into the older lady’s ears which remarkably compelled the older woman to disappear into the back room for a couple of minutes before reappearing with two flat plates of fried seaweed. She dropped the plates at the counter right in front of the man whose white hairy beard adhered tightly to his wrinkled chin.

“And…we’re done here”, The shopkeeper said and grinned shyly at the old man like she usually do whenever she was done as she dropped the coffee beside the two plates, “That would be seventy euros.”

“That was pretty fast for an elderly woman like you, signora.” The old man complimented as he took out his wallet from the right pocket of his shorts and smiled at the older woman standing next to the shopkeeper. Then he took out the euro bills and handed it over to the shopkeeper. Afterwards, he left with the two plates with his daughter accompanying him to sit at one of the seats near the entrance.

“You hear that, Christina. He says I am fast.” The older woman ecstatically said to the shopkeeper after the old man had left with his daughter.

“Elettra, don’t get too excited and please assist him with the two coffees.” Christina said noticing that the old man had left behind the two coffees. Elettra frowned and grudgingly obeyed in taking the two coffees to where the old tourist had gone to sit down along with his daughter near the entrance without protesting. It was only after Elettra had finished exchanging pleasantries with the old man that she noticed that Christina was pulling off her apron to leave the restaurant in haste. Elettra saw her head to the back room most likely to get her outfit changed and it quickly dawn on her that it was about time Christina’s shift in her own workplace temporarily ends to resume in three hours after having to pick her only son from one of the affordable schools fit for her child to study in the city.

She briefly left the man to enjoy his meal with his daughter and head straight to find Christina in the back room. Her suspicion was correct. She found Christina already tidying up some of the few things that were messy in the fancy look cubicle. Instead of helping her out, Elettra stood by the door and watched her carry on with cleaning up the mess which obviously was the last thing she wanted to do before leaving temporarily. Although Elettra could hardly count the number of times she watched Christina leave the restaurant she inherited from her mother who had already passed away to pick her son from school, she could clearly recall that it had been six years since Christina’s divorce with her ex-husband that she had come to witness the same moment over time. To Christina, she was not blood related neither was she a family friend nor a close relative like most people living in the neighborhood thought about their relationship but she had been a close friend of Christina’s mother long enough to witness her friend’s tragic death as well as Christina’s wedding ceremony including Christina’s early divorce which unexpectedly ended Christina’s happy married life with an Italian race car driver who left her with a son. She knew Christina had not foreseen that she would become a divorcee very early in life and felt the pain her friend’s daughter had to go through.

That was six years ago and she could vividly recall that she had to watch the ordeals Christina had to go through to cater for her only child as single parent not to mention shouldering the responsibility of paying the bills for her son as well as the day-to-day expenses of the restaurant which she was battling to put deal with for the past six years ever since her divorce after the untimely death of her mother. Knowing fully well Christina was attractive and elegant enough to get a married a second time, she had advised the young divorcee to find someone to lean on but her efforts have been pointless.

Satisfied with watching her tidy the plates, Elettra drew closer to help her out.

“You can leave this to me and go pick up Aldo from school.” Elettra said softly as she took over from where Christina had left the dishes. Christina felt relieved that Elettra was sympathetic enough to come to her aid and almost shed a tear when she moved aside for the old woman to assist her get the plates done. Christina felt a similar motherly affection from the old woman which she had a number of times craved to feel from her dead mother and sniffed a little to stop a tear from falling from her eyes when she realized that she was about to cry. It felt like a déjà vu to Christina but she was not going to let such circumstances of her crying heavily in Elettra’s arms repeat itself. She quietly washed off the soap from her hands with the water streaming down speedily from the narrow faucet and wiped them clean with a little napkin she took from the top of the refrigerator. Thankfully, the customers were already too busy eating their meal and exiting out of the restaurant that they barely had time to notice that the two women were absent from their usual place at the counter.

After wiping her hand clean, Christina set out to leave quietly but she stopped by the door after having forgotten to do something. She returned back and embraced Elettra from behind. Elettra stopped what she was doing and hugged her fully.

“That’s enough now”, Elettra said after they both squeeze each other’s body tightly, “Aldo won’t be happy if you arrive there late.”

“I know but Aldo will have to wait.” Christina said feeling more cozy in Elettra’s hands as she pressed herself against Elettra.

“But this can’t.” Elettra replied and pulled herself away from Christina’s clutches. Then she fixed her eyes on Christina who was almost about knowing what the older woman wanted to say. Elettra made a face and Christina quickly caught on with the old woman’s intentions.

“Oh, please, I don’t want to hear it.” Christina said as soon as she realized what was about to come and defiantly drew away from Elettra.

“But you’ll keep hearing it from me until you give in.”

“No…I won’t give in.” Christina said agitatedly.

“Come on, Christina. Aldo needs a father and you know it.”

“It seems that way because of what we are going through right now but I can’t let another man ruin my life a second time”, Christina replied, “Not with the pain and anger Claudio left inside of me when he betrayed me.”

“There are different men out there who is more trustworthy and loving than Claudio.”

“Of course, there are”, Christina said affirmatively, “But I am tired of being played by them.” She said softly and folded her hands across her chest. She was about weeping bitterly but she was quick to sniff twice to hold back the tears in her eyes. With the deepest affection she could render, Elettra drew closer and took Christina in her hands.

“For once, listen to me, child. You need someone to lean on and the responsibility of raising Aldo alone is too much for you.” Elettra advised but Christina remained adamant.

“I can’t trust any man anymore and I won’t be looking of one”, Christina replied with sheer agitation and pull of Elettra’s hands off her face, “It’s not going to easy training Aldo to be a better man but I’m okay with it. I’ll endure it to make sure we have all the comforts we need to live a better life.” She said further and broke away from Elettra’s hands. Then she walked out of the back room and exited out of the restaurant, wiping off the few teardrops on the face with the back of her hand.