I laugh out loud, I worked for months on this tender. “Thank God it paid off.” I smile. “Can you imagine if we did all this work and we didn’t get it?”
“But we did.” He laughs. “But we did.”
“I’m so excited.”
“Now comes the work.” He smiles. “You know that it will mean a lot of international travel.”
“I know.”
“And long days and even longer nights.”
“I know.”
“I want you to head the design team.”
What?
My eyes widen, I put my hand on my chest. “Me,” I gasp.
“Why not? It’s your pitch that won us the account.”
I open my mouth to object, I’m not experienced enough for this. No way in hell.
He holds his two hands up. “Now, now, I’m not taking no for an answer. You are the right person for this job.”
“Are you sure? I don’t mind working under someone on this, it’s a big responsibility, Pierre.”
“One that you can handle.”
“Thank you.” Oh my God, this is incredible. “Thank you so much.”
Pierre smiles. “We start in two weeks, I’m unsure of the first hotel they want to start on. I’ll get more details shortly, I’ll keep you posted.”
“Thanks.” I beam as I stand.
“Congratulations, Francesca, this is an amazing coup for our company. Take next week off, you won’t be getting a break for a while.”
“Okay, that sounds great, thank you so much.” I bounce out the door and float back to my desk, I immediately dial Marcel’s number.
“Hi.”
“We got the account,” I splutter.
“Are you serious?”
“Yes,” I whisper in excitement.
“Congratulations, well done.”
“Can you believe it?”
“I can. Are we celebrating tonight?”
“You bet we are.” I laugh.
“Cordoni’s for dinner?”
“Yes.” I laugh. Cordoni’s is my favorite Italian restaurant, there are a few things from Italy I can’t live without.
“Do you want Anna and Frank to come?”
“Is that okay?”
“Of course.”
“Okay, I’ll call Anna now.” I laugh. “I’m just so excited.”
“Congratulations.”
“I have next week off so I might go home and see Mom for a few days, maybe you could meet me in Milan for the weekend?” I offer. “If I go Tuesday, you could meet me there on Friday and we’ll fly home together on Sunday night or something?”
“Yeah, okay, that sounds fun.”
I smile, excited. “See you tonight?”
“Goodbye.”
Cordoni’s is bustling and busy, the restaurant is semi-lit with a tantric beat being pumped through speakers, it has a trendy European vibe.
There’s a cocktail bar and a dance floor and the restaurant spans over three stories. Frank and Marcel are friends, they met through Anna and me but are happy to hang out together, which makes life a lot easier for us.
They are at the bar getting our next drinks and Anna and I are sitting at the table, we are on our fifth margarita.
Liquid gold.
“Oh my God, I feel drunk.” Anna hiccups.
“Right?” I whisper. “I’m seriously a lightweight now.”
“Wow.” Anna’s eyes widen. “Look at that guy over there.”
“Where?”
“At the table over there.” She gestures with her glass and I casually look over.
A tall, dark and handsome man has just sat down. “Yum.” I smile as I watch him.
“So hot.”
“He is.” I swoon. “You have to admit it; Italian men are the hottest race in the world,” I whisper.
“Undoubtedly.” We both watch him for a moment. “Do you reckon that’s his wife?” she asks.
“Well, if he’s Italian, it’s probably his mistress,” I murmur into my drink.
Anna laughs, we have a constant running joke about mistresses, my father scarred us both for life. In my family no man has ever been faithful to his wife, it’s pushed me to lose faith in Italian men.
My phone vibrates on the table and the name Mom lights up the screen.
“I’ll quickly take this,” I say as I answer. “Hi, Mom.”
“Hello, darling.” She smiles. “Where are you, sounds noisy.”
“In a restaurant,” I reply, there’s no point telling her about the account we won today, she doesn’t care about my work. “What are you up to?”
“Angelina Linden died today.”
My face falls. “What?”
Suddenly the restaurant is way too loud and I need to hear what she has to say. I hold my finger up to Anna, “Back in a minute,” I mouth, I stand and rush from the restaurant and out onto the street. “What do you mean?” I reply.
“Angelina Linden died.”
“When?”
“Today.”
“How?”
“She had a cerebral hemorrhage, collapsed on the spot. It was sudden with no warning signs at all.”
“Oh no.” My heart sinks. “Was she alone?”
“She had her two guards with her, she was rushed to hospital by ambulance, but unfortunately she died a few hours later.”
“She was so young.”
“Only sixty-one.”
I stay silent on the line as I try to process the information.
God….
“I just thought you should know.”
“How’s Lorenzo?” I ask, “He and she were always so close.”
“Distraught. There are men crying everywhere here.”
Giuliano.
I stay silent, unsure what to say, my mind is running a million miles per minute.
“When’s the funeral?” I ask.
“No idea. I’ll let you go sweetie.”
“Okay, thanks for letting me know.” I hang up and stand still on the pavement in shock. It’s dark and people are rushing past on the busy street but my mind is a jumble of confusion, sadness and shock.
What the hell?
She was so full of life, why would she be taken so young? It’s just not fair.
Life can be so cruel.
I stay outside alone for a few minutes, for some reason, I feel like I need to show my respect for a woman who changed my father’s life.
He loved her and she loved him.
And now, she’s gone too.
Giuliano.
My heart sinks in sadness, he’d be so devastated.
I trudge back into the restaurant and sit back at the table, Marcel and Frank are back at the table now.
“Everything alright?” Marcel asks.
“Oh….” I frown as I try to collect my thoughts. “Angelina Linden died.”
“Oh my God,” Anna gasps.
“Who’s that?” Marcel asks.
“My half-brother’s mother.”
Frank frowns, confused.
“Long story.” I roll my eyes as I sip my drink. Marcel doesn’t know about my family’s roots, I’ve kept them from him. It hasn’t been easy.