Isabella's road to becoming a depraved-mother began when a calm, cool, and collected businessman made an indecent proposal.
As the owner of a fancy Italian restaurant in the downtown area, she had endured the 1-2 punch of a horrible year. First the extended lockdown, then the massive protests. The city had stringent rules regarding customers. Only 50% capacity was allowed, which was terrible for profits.
So she accepted the offer, because in this line of work, keeping customers waiting is never a good idea. It gives them time to look for alternatives. And there are always alternatives in a big city.
At that hour, the restaurant should have been closed. Isabella had already informed her employees that they'd be working overtime hours. At the moment, she could only afford to retain two waitresses and five members of the kitchen staff.
Her sons were also working there in a much smaller capacity. Jeremy, her oldest son, had been furloughed from his job as a sales rep. Her youngest son Ryan was still a college student, finishing his courses online. They had years of experience doing menial tasks around the restaurant.
But as the private dinner service approached, she began to have second thoughts about a few things.
The food industry was a small world and rumors travel fast. God forbid anything about tonight's service finds its way onto twitter and goes viral. As much as she tried to ignore other people's opinions, the fact was, her reputation meant everything to her.
As a former financial analyst for a large bank, Isabella knew how tonight's clients were. Proper in suits. Hard working. Deviant when it was time to play. Years ago, she used to routinely attend group meetings with clients in strip clubs. She pretended to like it for the sake of her job.
It was exactly why she left the finances and followed her heart to pursue a career in food service. Now everything had gone full-circle and she was once again at the whim of these sorts of men.
The kitchen staff was obviously essential and they didn't have a view of the dining area, so she decided to let the waitresses go for the night.
"You two can take the night off," Isabella said as diplomatically as possible to the young waitresses.
The waitresses seemed perplexed by their early dismissal. But when they were handed an extra $200 each, they went home with a smile.
As a proud Italian-American, blood was thicker than water. She knew that she could depend on her sons to keep a secret. It was time to fill them in on the rest of the details.
"Can I have a word with both of you?" Isabella asked her sons when the waitresses had left.
The boys huddled around the front of the restaurant, expecting the usual talk about strategy and the night's menu specials.
She tried to be professional about things. "I've asked the waitresses to go home. It'll be a private affair tonight."
That got their attention. She saw the surprised looks on their faces and was peppered with the obvious questions.
"Really? You want us to handle the service?"
"You realize we're not as good as the waitresses, right? We've never been in charge of that before."
Isabella tossed her hair back. "It'll be fine. I don't want the waitresses to spread gossip about what they see tonight. Our patrons are paying a lot of money and they want special accommodations. You two are grown-ups and you know what men want from their dates. So let's keep tonight's service between us. Not a word of this leaves our restaurant. Ever."
Her tone was conclusory and her sons knew the conversation was over.
All 23 guests arrived at the same time and Isabella flashed her customer-service smile. The men were financial figures wooing wealthy clients from Germany. The men varied in age and they all wore suits. Each man was there with a woman, who Isabella could tell were either high-end escorts or upscale strippers. Possibly a combination of both.
Aphrodisiac food had been pre-selected as the main courses; oysters, asparagus, all served with red wine, and a fancy array of chocolate pastries and gelato for dessert later.
During the private dinner service, she noticed men getting frisky with the women, and the women being flirtatious in return. She saw kissing at one table. On another table, she saw a man slip his hand down a woman's dress, briefly exposing a breast. The others seemed amused and laughed at the display.
As the clients enjoyed their meals, Isabella's sons went to the kitchen and backroom area to help prepare the extravagant desserts, while she remained in the dining area to tend to the patrons. She refilled wine and engaged in the usual banter, ignoring the occasional breast she'd see falling out of someone's dress.
"Ms. Ciccarelli, these oysters are divine,"
the businessman who organized this dinner event said as he ate.
Isabella winked at him. "It's a recipe that's been in my family for several generations. I put a small American twist on it, using locally grown ingredients. I'm honored that you're all enjoying it."
"Your skills are admirable. Here, have a taste of your family's legacy and your hard work."
The man held out a fork with an oyster on the end of it. It was more than just a kind gesture. The man wanted Isabella in a state of submission, bending to his will, eating from his fork.
She bent down and wrapped her lips around the end of the fork, taking the oyster into her mouth. She stood upright again and chewed while the people at that table watched her eating.
"Delicious," she said of her own recipe.
"A perfect way to describe your dishes. Are all of your recipes this good?"
Sensing an opportunity for new, loyal customers, she answered, "You better believe that everything in this restaurant is that good. In fact, you haven't even tried my best recipes yet. Come back for the lamb or meatballs. They're to die for."
"Maybe we will,"
he laughed.
"I haven't had authentic Italian food like this in a long time."
"Thank you, sweety," she smiled. "And speaking of sweets, dessert is almost ready. Wait until you try tonight's offerings. I guarantee you'll fall in love."
"How about a preview? You looked so beautiful bending over, isn't that right, ladies? Can we see it again?"
The businessman gestured to the giggling ladies next to him, who all seemed to agree that she was something to behold. When she looked over to the other tables, she saw more kissing. More breasts and nipples subtly coming out of their dresses like it wasn't a big deal.
Isabella brushed off what she was seeing. The money she was getting kept her in a good mood.
"Good things are worth waiting for," she winked. "Be a little more patient with that. I'll be back with more bread and sauce."
The businessman reached in his pocket for a wad of cash.