Chapter 3

“I am really am glad you made it tonight Max, I look forward to seeing you here even when I don’t always have time to come out and say hello…the restaurant business can be so transitory..well... you take comfort

in the regulars…”

Swallowing down a big chunk of Salami...”Well I love it here Gina…I love the surroundings and I adore your food, I like being a regular here...I feel…welcome. Not every place makes such an effort to make me comfortable...heck I noticed you have really strong chairs…”

“I don’t want anything to keep people away...anybody...any size...I have dated some guys that were big and I know how hard it is for them to go out to eat and feel welcome. Never knowing of they are going to be sturdy chairs…or always having to ask for a table instead of a booth…”

“Yeah! I hate that...it’s embarrassing to have to say...no booths please I am too big to fit...”

“You notice I only have a couple booths here and they are really far apart? I know how tough it is for big men like you…”

“Like me? You have dated men as big as me?” I asked, stunned to the core.

“Yup…and bigger” She smiled, rising from the table and heading to the kitchen, but not before she laid her hand on my shoulder as she passed.

My heart began to thump in a rather unusual way at that point, in a way entirely new to me. I sat there mouth agape for a moment trying to absorb what she had just said until I realized I was about to loose a mouthful of half chewed mozzarella with Soprasotta to gravity.

“No way…no freaking way…” I mumbled through the food in my mouth. I looked in to the kitchen to look at her. She looked to be breading something when she looked at me and smiled a twinkle in her eye.

“God, I am sorry I ever doubted you…” I said to myself

I have heard tell of a mythical creature, a creature so rare that there is almost no written record of them. A creature of such power as to be unseen by human eyes…no not Bigfoot. Have you been reading the story so far or did you start in the middle? Jeez... I am talking about the “girls who like fat guys” Could it be that young Max has stumbled upon such a creature? Could it be that our corpulent protagonist has found his own mythical FFA?



I tried hard to calm myself; a big swig of wine seemed to help. Popping olives in my mouth seemed to help too as I set about making sense of all that I had seen. I could hear frying coming from the kitchen so I knew I had a couple of minutes.

“You gotta be calm Maxy, even if she doesn’t like fat guys…she sure seems to like you, and she is being incredibly nice. So just stay calm, enjoy the food, enjoy the kindness of a wonderful host. If anything else comes of it, then let it happen, try not to make an ass of yourself, ok?

I can be very reassuring to myself when need be.

“How are you doing Max? Do you need anything?” She said, peaking her head out.

“Just your company” I said, which was received with a mind blowing smile.

“I’ll be back in a couple of minutes” she said, and slipped back inside, I think she may actually have been blushing a little. I had to smile at myself…and of course have a big piece of bread with cheese and some red pepper.

Just then some music began to play over the speakers, not very loud.

“I hope you don’t mind some music Max” she said from the kitchen.

“Not at all” I responded, it was nice to have some background music “Is this….Al Green?”

“Yeah… I love the old classics” she said leaning in from the kitchen “Would you prefer something else?”

“No no...This is great” She popped back into the kitchen. “She is playing make out music! How cool is that?“ I said to myself.

She came back in the room making sure to put her hand on my shoulder as she went to her seat. She carried with her the smell of garlic and warm food. She looked down at the antipasto plate and smiled when she saw how much damage I had done.

“I like a man who knows how to enjoy his food” she said looking into my eyes. We stared at each other for a moment. Breaking our stare and blushing for a moment she said “So Max, I know you come in here alone…is it safe to assume that you are not seeing anyone?” She gulped her wine…I think she might be as nervous as me.

“Yes Gina, I think it is safe to say that I am not seeing anyone …”

“Would you like be?” She asked eyes twinkling again.



“Why Miss Gina, are you asking me to go out with you?” I asked…as calmly and charmingly as I could muster. I think I did fairly well considering I was about ready to vomit with nerves.

“Yes Max I am, in fact I was hoping this could be our first date” And she did it again, she smiled that smile that makes my heart flutter.

“Gina, I would be...and am honored to be your date tonight” I smiled back.

“Great!” She hopped up and did something that shocked the hell out of me. She leaned in fast put her hand on one check and kissed me softly on the other. “I think we are going to have a very nice night” she said softly and at that scurried off to the kitchen, which was convenient since I had to restart my heart anyway. At this point I was 99% sure I had crashed my car on the way to the restaurant and was, in fact dead. This doesn’t happen to me…hell it doesn’t happen to anybody but in the movies. The woman you’ve longed for from afar does not end up with you in real life….does she? Holy crap, I hope so. Shut up, don’t harsh my buzz your naysayers.

I heard her coming in and I turned to see her carrying a big platter of pasta dressed in her delectable meat gravy (that’s sauce for you all you non Italians) with four gorgeous looking pieces of fried veal atop the pile. She remembered I loved her veal parmesan.

“My god” I gasped as she slid the platter in front of me

“Don’t worry, I’ll help” she said, reaching over and grabbing her small appetizer plate. More importantly she was moving to the seat next to me not across from me. I was painfully aware of the fact that our knees were now touching.

She reached over with a fork and served herself a small amount of pasta and a corner of the veal.

“Go ahead Max, like I said I like a man who enjoys his food” At that I grabbed a fork and began to swirl some pasta around it. The smell reaching my nose was heavenly as I stabbed a piece of veal on the end of the pasta. An amazing flavor filled my mouth as I slipped the fork in...