The Wedding Issue

Chapter Four - Ring-A-Ling

It was almost lunchtime, and I was famished from walking around Manhattan all morning. I decided that I needed to have a big boy's sandwich. Nothing could make this day better than a perfect Pinocchio sandwich from Alidoro's.

Before I could complete that thought, my phone rang. It was my buddy, David. We've been best friends since high school. That bond lasted through college and here we are, in our late twenties, still goofy as ever.

'What did your wife do this time?', I asked sarcastically as I answered the phone.

'She forgot to pack my lunch and I'm starving', he grumbled like a six-year-old.

'Why don't you join me for a sandwich?', I offered.

'Where you headed?

'Alidoro's. It's at 105 Sullivan Street between Spring and Prince Streets in SoHo.'

'Alright. See you in thirty', he said then hung up.

I took a cab and headed there myself. I couldn't quit staring at the pictures of Madison's boss. I took pictures of at least two dozen working women, but none were as fascinating as her. I zoomed in, trying to see her face, but it wasn't as clear as I'd hoped. Maybe after I developed them I could get a better look at it.

On the bright side, I finally found a theme for my exhibit: Women on Top – pun totally intended.

I've had numerous exhibits with numerous themes, but none were as exciting as this one. None were as exciting as her.

And I had no idea why!

And it's not like one of those moments when you imagine sexual scenarios with a woman a couple of times and then get bored of her and delete all those images from your head. No, she actually intrigued me in ways I didn't think possible.

Who was this woman?

I finally reached my destination and met David. He grew huskier by the second, and he looked like he hadn't slept for days.

'Wow! Who died?', I made fun of him.

'We'll talk about that later. I'm starving. What's this Geppetto sandwich that you always brag about?', he asked while we stood in the queue.

I chuckled.

'It's called the Pinocchio. It's the most delicious sandwich ever made by man. It has prosciutto, sopressata, fresh mozzarella, sweet roasted peppers and olive paste. Drooling yet?'

He swallowed his saliva. He clearly was starving. I couldn't help but laugh at his reaction.

'You've got the taste buds of an Italian Nonna', he teased.

'It's kind of a given when your mother's Italian.'

We ordered our lunch sandwiches and sat outside to eat them and enjoy the afternoon summer breeze. A queue formed and dispersed while we sat and reminisced about the good old days.

We were adults now. We clearly didn't know how to adult.

'Why are you so tired, man?', I asked him after a few laughs.

'Veronica and I are trying to conceive. We do it at least twice every night as long as she's ovulating, and it leaves me drained', he complained.

'I think you're the first man ever to complain about having too much sex', I said as I took a long sip of iced tea.

'You would if your boss dragged you to work early in the morning to finish your stupid project.'

David is an architect, and he's a pretty good one too. Every major firm in the city throw offer letters at his doorsteps like the morning paper. He was also very moody and indecisive. That's why firms withdraw their offers with a blink of an eye.