My Journey with Farrah - Alana Stewart [23]
November 18, 2007
Mimmo arrived. I went to the wrong terminal at the airport and ended up being an hour late picking him up. He was left standing in the international terminal alone, with no idea of how to reach me or where to go. I felt terrible. What a way to start his trip. But I apologized profusely, as much as I could in Italian, and he wasn’t upset at all.
When I first saw him, he wasn’t quite as gorgeous as he was that night in the restaurant. Hmm, it did have great lighting…He was a little shorter, maybe, than I remembered. I checked out the jeans and the shoes. They were at least not embarrassing, and God knows, we can certainly get him a great pair of jeans in L.A. I’ve been taking a few Italian lessons, so by now I can speak enough to have a conversation, which I had rehearsed with my teacher: “How was your flight?” “Did you sleep on the plane?” “Are you hungry?”
We arrived at my house. What immediately impressed me was how much my dogs took to him and vice versa. Lolita, my big French Mastiff and the love of my life (other than my kids), was all over him, and Bliss, my long-haired Chihuahua who I inherited from Kim when she moved to London, and who doesn’t usually like men at all, was right up in his lap. He nicknamed her “Principessa.” I showed him to his room and asked if he was hungry, and he said he’d like to eat something, so I took him to Il Sole, a lovely little Italian restaurant on Sunset. We chatted, finished a very good dinner, although not as good as his cooking, and went back to my house. We both retired for the night, I to my room and he to the guest room. I breathed a sigh of relief. Perhaps this wasn’t going to be so uncomfortable after all.
My only big worry now is that I’ve realized that Thanksgiving falls right in the middle of his visit. How do I explain this strange Italian man to my kids when they come for our traditional Thanksgiving dinner? I begged Farrah to come with Ryan and Redmond so I don’t have to face this on my own.
November 19, 2007
We were hit with unexpected news today. I went with Farrah and Ryan for her scan at Dr. Lawrence Piro’s office. He has become her oncologist here in Los Angeles and he works closely with Dr. Jacob. The results of the scan were not great. There appeared to be several new tumors in the liver. Dr. Jacob and Dr. Vogl were consulted. They feel Farrah needs to come back to Germany immediately for another liver perfusion. “Immediately” means leaving here this coming Thursday, which is Thanksgiving Day, arriving in Frankfurt on Friday, and going straight to Dr. Vogl for the procedure. This was all quite a shock. I had to explain to Mimmo that I was leaving in three days to go back to Germany. He was a little in shock, too, needless to say. He called Jimmy Van Patten, whom he had become friends with when the Van Pattens were at the clinic in September, and Jimmy said Mimmo could stay in his parents’ guesthouse when I leave. I felt bad about leaving so soon, but we had no choice.
Farrah felt much worse than I did. She kept saying, “But Mimmo just got here. I don’t want you to have to leave. I can see if I can get someone else to go.”
“It’s not an option,” I replied firmly. “I’m going. I barely know him, for God’s sakes!” Farrah acquiesced. “Okay, good. Besides, you have to film…” She can see right through me. She knows I would never let her go back to Germany without me, but also that I am relieved that I don’t have to deal with this sexy Italian guy staying in my home.
November 22, 2007 (Thanksgiving Day)
Farrah and I are sitting in first class on Lufthansa, wolfing down caviar and having a cocktail while I fill her in on the latest Mimmo details. It feels almost like we’re going away on a pleasure trip, two girlfriends off to Europe on holiday! But the reality is that we’re going back to Germany in hopes of saving her life. I don’t know how she faces it with such an astonishing attitude. She doesn’t complain. She doesn’t feel sorry for herself or say, “Why did this happen to me?” She just gets on with it and