She is a "svolta filetti"

Tonight, dinner at Duke in viale Parioli. My hand is interwoven with that of A., it’s our third date. There’s five of us, the two ladies and one man. He is sleeping with one of the two and the other doesn’t know anything about it. Better to ignore it. We are all reading our menus when a couple walks in; he is in his 60s and she is a sexy looking 40 and the conversation shifts from “prawns or tartare” to “do you think they’ll fuck tonight?”

“She will never give it to him”. A. declares “she is a svolta filetti”, la svolta filetti (from the verb ‘svoltare’ which in roman slang means ‘to succed in obtaining something’ and filetti as in fillet steak, which in the summer could be also ‘svolta spigole’ as sea bass) is the most degrading female category. Worse than a leech, she is attached to the male’s wallet not to obtain jewelry or holidays, no, just to get a dinner. “That’s how it works” A. starts to explain while we listen engrossed in his story. “late afternoon she calls? hi darling what are you doing tonight? I was thinking about you… why don’t we go out for dinner?’ but she doesn’t choose Dante or Gusto (che tipo di ristorante sono? Sono categorie piu’ costose?) she would go to Duke or Due Ladroni, medium to high price restaurants. ‘It’s so nice’, she would say, ‘and I have not been there in such a long time’. at the restaurant, she will aim to look her best and will likely order an expensive wine and fillet, the most expensive item on the menu, and she’ll be flirty all throughout the meal. After dessert, she will receive a phone call where there will be inevitably something wrong: her mum is sick, the baby sitter cannot stay. The waiter brings the check, she will not even attempt to pay her share and you, a gentleman, will end up paying. You will take her home while she will apologize for having to end the date so abruptly.”

I start thinking if similar episodes happened to me but then I am reassured: if I go on a date I always chose to go for an ‘aperitivo’ which is low cost compared to a dinner. The ‘spinster’ at our table looks troubled, my guess is that she has ‘svoltato’ some dinners in her life. It’s time to ask for the check, we all take our wallets out but A. has paid already. On my way out I see the waiter carrying a dish with a beautiful fillet steak al pepe rosa, and I wonder: who’s gonna pay the bill tonight?

La canzone che mi è venuta in mente mentre scrivevo!