{"id":201,"date":"2011-01-18T06:00:34","date_gmt":"2011-01-17T19:00:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ravenoustales.com\/?p=201"},"modified":"2013-09-27T15:54:17","modified_gmt":"2013-09-27T22:54:17","slug":"homemade-pasta-with-wild-mushrooms-and-goats-cheese","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/ravenoustales.com\/?p=201","title":{"rendered":"Season 1: Episode 8"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Tom looked at the shopping list in his hand and shook his head. He had no idea what half of this stuff was, let alone what it looked like. But, Ana needed it for dinner tonight and he wanted to make sure everything was perfect.<\/p>\n

She had mentioned a stall that her friend Willow said he should go to\u2026Lorenzo\u2019s? Tom dived into the market, hurrying past deafening salesmen all trying to entice him with cut-price fruit and vegetables. He looked around him for a stall with wicker baskets hanging above it and spotted something up ahead. There<\/i>, he thought, that looks like it<\/i>.<\/p>\n

Tom walked over to an old man wearing a leather apron. \u201cLorenzo?\u201d he asked. \u201cWillow sent me.\u201d<\/p>\n

The man\u2019s eyes lit up and he ushered Tom to his stall. Even Tom could see this guy\u2019s stuff was exceptional, way above the standard of the others at the market. As Lorenzo busied himself getting everything on the list, Tom couldn\u2019t help but think of Ana. Tonight was a big night for him and he wanted it to go well. Ana was introducing him to her best friends for the first time and Tom was feeling like the new kid at school all over again. It had been a long time since he\u2019d fallen hard for someone but he knew it was happening with her. He had never met anyone like her in his life. He couldn\u2019t believe it had only been four months since they met. And now that he was going to be in Melbourne for a while \u2013 no more work trips or holidays (unless they were with Ana!) \u2013 he was excited about spending more time with her. Just thinking of her brought a smile to his face. Determined, passionate, beautiful… and the sex! The thought of her naked body writhing in those crisp, white Egyptian cotton bed sheets made him hard with desire. Maybe if they had time before dinner he could take her upstairs and…<\/p>\n

\u201cMister? Here you go.\u201d Lorenzo’s voice cut through his thoughts as he handed Tom two bulging plastic bags. Tom awkwardly held them over his rapidly bulging groin. Lorenzo then passed over a box of fruit: nectarines, plums, peaches and apricots. \u201cFor Willow,\u201d Lorenzo explained with a smile, \u201cyou tell her we say hello. And tell her not to forget she has to come and meet Carlo.\u201d<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

By the time Tom got to Ana\u2019s house, he knew she\u2019d be stressed. It had taken him way too long to find Lorenzo and then traffic had been a nightmare going through the city. But he didn\u2019t know just how angry she could get.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhere have you been?<\/i><\/b>\u201d Ana demanded as she snatched the shopping bags out of his hands. \u201cThey\u2019re going to be here in an hour!\u201d<\/p>\n

Tom stammered through an apology, inwardly kicking himself for running so behind schedule. The box of fruit wobbled in his arms. \u201cI\u2019m sorry. I\u2019ll chop, I\u2019ll stir, whatever. Just let me help,\u201d he pleaded.<\/p>\n

Ana turned her back on him and walked into her large, immaculate kitchen. A red pasta machine was midway through a chunk of dough. \u201cDon\u2019t worry about it, it\u2019s faster if I just do it myself,\u201d she snapped. She set to work slicing the mushrooms; the razor sharp stainless steel of her chef\u2019s knife glinting in the late afternoon sun that streamed through the window.<\/p>\n

Even when she\u2019s angry, she\u2019s gorgeous<\/i>, Tom thought.<\/p>\n

But even after Tom had poured her a glass of wine, put on some music and laid the dining table, Ana still wasn\u2019t talking to him. He didn\u2019t get it. He knew he\u2019d stuffed up but surely this was going overboard? Then he noticed a large bunch of roses sitting in a vase in the corner of the living room. A postcard showing tropical blue waters lay crumpled next to it. He turned it over:<\/p>\n

You should try to get here sometime. You deserve a holiday!<\/i><\/p>\n

Thanks for all your hard work,<\/i><\/p>\n

M.<\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cYour boss sent you these flowers?\u201d Tom called through to the kitchen.<\/p>\n

Ana quickly looked up from the bench. \u201cOh, yeah,\u201d she said, hurrying over to Tom. She picked up the postcard and crushed it in her hand. \u201cWe break our backs for weeks getting the campaign done and he gets to just jet off with his wife to the Maldives! Like it doesn\u2019t matter!\u201d Ana\u2019s voice had become a little shrill. Tom looked at her quizzically.<\/p>\n

\u201cDoes it matter?\u201d he said. \u201cI mean, wouldn\u2019t we all like to go to the Maldives if we could?\u201d<\/p>\n

Ana glared at him and walked back to the pasta machine. \u201cThe flowers were late, anyway. He got back two weeks ago.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tom was worried. \u201cAna, what the hell is wrong? Why are you so mad at me? Is it because I was late?\u201d He tried to take her hand but she pulled it away.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo,\u201d she said, \u201cI\u2019m just feeling a little\u2026a little\u2026suffocated at the moment. You\u2019re just always in my space.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tom was shocked. He’d never even spent the night at her house! Not to mention the fact that he\u2019d been away in South East Asia for the last few weeks, and had only seen her twice since he\u2019d got back a fortnight ago.<\/p>\n

Just then, Willow came bursting through the door.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhere is he?\u201d she demanded, a tight smile on her normally relaxed face. \u201cWhere is this man who\u2019s stolen our Ana\u2019s heart?\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tom looked at the shopping list in his hand and shook his head. He had no idea what half of this stuff was, let alone what it looked like. But, Ana needed it for dinner tonight and he wanted to make sure everything was perfect. She had mentioned a stall that her friend Willow said […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_s2mail":"yes"},"categories":[197],"tags":[84,109,115,125,159],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/ravenoustales.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/201"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/ravenoustales.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/ravenoustales.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ravenoustales.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ravenoustales.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=201"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/ravenoustales.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/201\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1167,"href":"http:\/\/ravenoustales.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/201\/revisions\/1167"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/ravenoustales.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=201"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ravenoustales.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=201"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ravenoustales.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=201"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}