{"id":312,"date":"2011-03-08T06:00:32","date_gmt":"2011-03-07T19:00:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ravenoustales.com\/?p=312"},"modified":"2013-09-27T16:06:34","modified_gmt":"2013-09-27T23:06:34","slug":"field-mushrooms-cannellini-beans-and-a-chance-encounter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/ravenoustales.com\/?p=312","title":{"rendered":"Season 2: Episode 2"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

Willow skipped along the footpath on her way to the market, humming a mix of songs that popped into her head. It was a game she played with her family as a child when they went on long car trips \u2013 each person took turns to sing about the first thing they saw. Sure, it was a bit Brady Bunch, but fun nevertheless. Today she was covering a variety of songs \u2013 some real, some invented \u2013 about cars, coffee and young girls with too few clothes on. She couldn\u2019t quite put her finger on why she was in such a ridiculously chipper mood. Perhaps it was the sunshine? Melbourne had been subject to the wettest summer on record, but now that autumn had arrived it was an uncharacteristically beautiful week of weather.<\/p>\n

Crossing Victoria Street, Willow decided to start at the top end of the market and work her way down, through the fruit and vegetables to the deli section. She and Mia had planned to spend that night at home watching girly DVDs, drinking wine and eating good food. Willow was on the hunt for Mia-friendly ingredients \u2013 fresh fruit and vegetables, legumes and pulses. Although Willow tended to favour the Nigella Lawson approach to cooking \u2013 the more cream and butter, the better \u2013 she had gained an appreciation for Mia\u2019s simple, fresh dishes.<\/p>\n

The market was positively bustling. The good weather had attracted thousands of tourists and locals alike, and Willow had to elbow her way through the throng of people to even get in the entrance. Halfway down one of the aisles she found a stall that sold nuts, dried fruit and legumes. She paused to look at the wide variety of pulses and grains, all beautifully displayed in large, clear sacks with the tops rolled down. Unable to resist the colourful temptations, she stocked up on cannellini beans, kidney beans, chickpeas and quinoa.<\/p>\n

As she was receiving her change from the stall-owner, a surge of people jostled past, knocking her bag to the ground. Without stopping to help, they continued their way down the narrow aisle. Annoyed, Willow bent to collect her scattered purchases, hoping to save them before they became engulfed by the crowds. A group of tourists, busy looking at their guidebooks, knocked her off balance and she found herself being bumped and buffeted by what felt like thousands of feet. She shouted out in pain as someone stood on her hand, whilst another person kicked her in the calf.<\/p>\n

\u201cWatch out!\u201d An angry man with a red face glared at her, before knocking her roughly in the side of the head with his shopping bag.<\/p>\n

Like the end of an old movie, everything around her started to fade to black. She wondered if anyone would notice if she lay on the ground for a minute to get her bearings. Suddenly, she felt a strong pair of arms lift her clean off the ground and place her squarely on her feet.<\/p>\n

\u201cAre you OK?\u201d His voice was deep and he had a strong Italian accent.<\/p>\n

Willow turned towards the voice and found herself staring into the face of the most gorgeous man she had ever seen. His skin was tanned and he had a thick mop of jet-black hair that flopped over his forehead. Long, dark lashes framed his dark brown eyes and a chiselled nose led her gaze to his sumptuous lips.<\/p>\n

Willow\u2019s own lips parted in a silent \u201cOh!\u201d and she proceeded to drop the bag of cannellini beans she had just salvaged from the floor.<\/p>\n

\u201cAre you hurt, Bella<\/i>?\u201d He bent to retrieve the beans from the floor, not taking his eyes off her face for a second.<\/p>\n

Willow was not shy by nature, but this man \u2013 this beautiful man \u2013 had rendered her speechless. Taking her elbow, he propelled her through the crowd to a small caf\u00e9 at the edge of the market.<\/p>\n

\u201cSit,\u201d he commanded before disappearing inside. He returned minutes later with a strong espresso \u2013 to which he added a generous spoon of sugar \u2013 and a plastic bag with ice in it.<\/p>\n

He handed her the cup. \u201cDrink.\u201d<\/p>\n

Willow obliged. The sugar and caffeine woke her out of her daze and she realised that she was shaking. Her leg ached where it had been kicked, her hand was already swollen and her head throbbed. She gingerly rubbed the side of her face, feeling a lump already starting to form where she had been hit.<\/p>\n

I must look awful<\/i>, she thought, groaning inwardly.<\/p>\n

\u201cHere.\u201d<\/p>\n

He gave her the bag of ice and she pressed it gently to her head, wincing as the cold touched her skin. After a few minutes the pain had subsided and she became very conscious that the Adonis who had rescued her was still there.\u00a0She stood up with the intention of thanking him for his help and demonstrating that she was much better, however, as she did, the colour drained from her face and the dizziness returned.<\/p>\n

He laughed, taking her arm and guiding her back to her seat. \u201cI think you need to sit for a bit longer.\u201d<\/p>\n

She made a vague attempt at protesting. \u201cI have to prepare dinner for tonight\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou are cooking for your boyfriend? Husband?\u201d he enquired with mock innocence.<\/p>\n

\u201cOh no!\u201d Willow shook her head vehemently, not caring about the pain. \u201cMy housemate.\u201d<\/p>\n

He grinned at her. \u201cWait here. I\u2019ll be back in 10 minutes.\u201d<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

When the man returned he was carrying a box overflowing with brightly coloured fruit and vegetables: leeks, rhubarb, crispy apples, aubergine, zucchini and large field mushrooms as big as dinner plates! He loaded everything into her shopping bags \u2013 refusing to accept reimbursement \u2013 making sure that they weren\u2019t too heavy for her to carry home.<\/p>\n

He handed her a folded piece of paper. \u201cA recipe. For your dinner tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n

She hesitated before accepting the note.<\/p>\n

He laughed at her uncertainty. \u201cI can<\/i><\/b> cook, you know.\u201d<\/p>\n

As she placed the recipe in her bag, his phone rang. He glanced at the screen before pressing the answer button and saying to the caller \u201cUn momento.<\/i>\u201d<\/p>\n

Covering the mouthpiece he said to Willow, \u201cI\u2019m here every Saturday. Just over there.\u201d He indicated towards the far left corner. \u201cCome and tell me how the meal was, yes?\u201d<\/p>\n

Willow nodded.<\/p>\n

Taking her hand in his, he bent and softly kissed it \u2013 his lips feather-light on her skin \u2013 before being swallowed up again by the masses. She thought she heard him call out \u201cCiao, Bella\u201d<\/i> over the noise but when her eyes scanned the crowd, he was gone.<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

Closing the front door behind her, Willow sank back against the wood, beaming.<\/p>\n

Mia poked her head out from the kitchen. \u201cI got Dirty Dancing and Centre Stage to watch tonight. I thought\u2026\u201d she trailed off.<\/p>\n

Willow was somewhere else, a radiant glow emanating from her whole being.<\/p>\n

Mia laughed and shook her head. She knew that look! \u201cWhat\u2019s his name?\u201d she teased.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have no idea.\u201d Willow said breathlessly. \u201cOh, Mia. I think I\u2019m in love!\u201d<\/p>\n

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

Willow skipped along the footpath on her way to the market, humming a mix of songs that popped into her head. It was a game she played with her family as a child when they went on long car trips \u2013 each person took turns to sing about the first thing they saw. Sure, it […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_s2mail":"yes"},"categories":[198],"tags":[9,30,73,126,155],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/ravenoustales.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/312"}],"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=312"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/ravenoustales.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/312\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1182,"href":"http:\/\/ravenoustales.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/312\/revisions\/1182"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/ravenoustales.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=312"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ravenoustales.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=312"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ravenoustales.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=312"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}