Chapter 6

Chapter 6

“All right. I know you have spaghetti. What about fettucini or macaroni?” I asked for the types of pasta in my Italian accent.

“Yes, yes. Those kinds of pasta are very common. I thought you wanted a different kind of pasta,” he said tauntingly.

“What about radiatori, farfalle, cavatappi, cicioneddos, nuvole, or perhaps cencioni?” I recited slowly the few kinds of pasta that I could recall to the chef. He stared at me, dumbfounded.

“I’m sorry, Miss. I’m afraid I’m not familiar with any of those pastas that you mentioned.” This time, the chef lowered down his tone.

“It’s all right. Do you have the one that looks like a bow-tie? It’s called farfalle,” I added.

“Yes, we do, Miss,” his answer was softer. Then I murmured, “I would like that, please. Thank you.”

After the waiter took Kin’s orders, we stared at each other and burst out laughing. Then Kin spread his fingers on his left hand and pointed them one by one with his index finger on the right hand, quoting my words.

“Let me see. Radiatori, farfalle, cavatappi, cicioneddos, nuvole, and one more; yup, cencioni. Only an Italian would be able to do that,” Kin’s laughter reduced to chuckle.

“Well, I am half-Italian, and my mother is American. So you can imagine my dad expressing himself in his native language at 75 decibels. Any higher than that, I am obliged to wear hearing protection. He would say, ‘Non dovresti guidare così veloce, Amidala! Ora devo riparare l'albero motore perché sbatti sempre in una buca.’” (You are not supposed to drive so fast, Amidala! Now I have to fix the crankshaft because you always ram into a pothole.)

“Whoa… Back up, back up. Amidala??” Kin peered at me, looking incredulous.

“Was that all you could capture after strings of words that I’ve blabbered?” I asked embarrassingly.

Then I sighed resignedly, “It’s okay, Kin. You can make fun of my name if you want to. I’m used to it.”

“Finally. I found my Queen,” uttered Kin in a perplexed state of mind.

“Kin, you’re spacing out. You’re not making any sense,” I murmured.

Leaning back against his chair, Kin started raking his fingers from both hands through his thick black hair and rested at the nape of his neck, grinning at me like a fool.

Before any of us could say anything further, the waiter brought drinks to our table. I rested my eyes on Kin, trying to figure out what was it that amused him so, making him grin like a Cheshire cat. Okay, so my name is Amidala, after the Queen of Naboo of Star Wars. He really needn’t rub it in. My mom loved the original trilogy, and it was later expanded to a trilogy of trilogies; you know, ‘Skywalker Saga’. And, she was crazy enough to name her only daughter Amidala.

“I now realise why I felt what I felt when I laid my eyes on you, Amidala. We were meant to be together,” Kin whispered expressively.

“You’re spooking me, Kin. What’s going on?” I stammered.

Once again, we were interrupted by the waiter with our pasta. Kin just gazed at me and said, “I’ll tell you later. For now, let’s eat.”

Throughout lunch, Kin’s eyes were on me the whole time. He didn’t even lift his soulful gaze from my face. My cheeks started to redden in embarrassment, thinking he must be laughing inwardly. The one person I had hoped to be understandable of my situation was looking at me rather queerly. I caught him curled his mouth a few times, grinning, saying nothing further. God, this is so embarrassing.

After Kin insisted on paying for lunch, we headed back to the cinema in silence. He bought popcorn and drinks for us, still not letting out to me what was in his mind. Perhaps he wasn’t thinking about my name anymore and how silly it sounded. So, I decided to put all my attention into the movie since this will be the only time I’ll ever get to watch The Martian in a historical building.

Once the movie ended, I told Kin how amazed I was at how ingenious and robust humans can be in a life and death situation. The protagonist was a perfect portrayal of a young, brilliant and skilful engineer cum botanist. Even when the hostile environment of Mars threatened his existence many times, he relentlessly refused to quit. Instead, he overcame one problem after another until he was successfully rescued. What I learned from the movie is never to give up, however hopeless things seem to be.

Kin just stared at me, eyes glinting and said, “I have never met an intelligent young woman like you, Amidala. You truly are one of a kind.”

“Thank you, though I feel a bit uncomfortable when you called me by my full name,” I lamented.

“Amidala is a lovely and unique name, just like you. You really should embrace it, love.”

The endearment caught me by surprise but left tremors through my belly. I felt elated that an appealing man like Kin showed his affection towards me. Then, on a more serious note, he said softly, “Amidala, I have something to tell you. Do you mind if we go somewhere quiet?”

I swallowed and murmured, “But I need to check into the inn.”

“The Aurora Inn?” Kin asked, and I nodded. “I’ll take you there. Just follow me.”