1
It was a beautiful spring day in Naples, the sun was shining faintly over the emblematic city with its beautiful bay. Lorena hurried out of her apartment and got on her scooter that was parked on the sidewalk in front of the apartment building. The greengrocer who had his shop next door to the building said goodbye to Lorena. She nodded back and nimbly drove away between the narrow streets at Italian speed. The greengrocer was a young macho who whistled at every woman who passed, except Lorena. She knew she wasn’t the prettiest woman, but she didn’t care that he never whistled at her. She didn’t have beautiful shiny black hair like most women in Naples. No, with her blond hair she always fell by the wayside, while she’s lived here since she was 8 and still had real Italian blood. She shook off the thoughts. One more day of work and then it was the weekend. As usual she stopped at the bistro cafe to start the day with an espresso, her best friend Nino was behind the counter like every morning. He welcomed her with a big smile.
“Good morning Lory.”
“Hi Nino, how are you?”
“As always, things are going well, I’m almost finished with my new painting, so it’s going to be bubbling again.”
Lorena laughed, it had become kind of a tradition to celebrate with a night out every time Nino finished a piece.
“That’s good news, I’m very curious. Tomorrow evening?”
He looked puzzled for a moment, then nodded. “Should be okay. Look at you sweetie, your espresso.”
“Thank you Nino.”
The two friends said goodbye and Lorena enjoyed the hot, sweet drink that she honestly couldn’t live without. She sat on the small terrace where the morning sun was doing its best to shed some heat between the buildings. She closed her eyes and thought of Nino and how proud she was of him. They had known each other since high school, together with Celia they formed a unit. Nino was a starting artist and Lorena really liked him. Celia worked in a beauty salon, her friend was a very beautiful classic Italian woman. She always knew how to dress well and her make-up and hair always looked great. Sometimes Lorena was jealous of her beautiful friend. Celia made it all seem so easy, but Lorena knew Celia put a lot of time and money into it. Far too soon, Lorena had finished her espresso and got back on her scooter on her way to work. Fortunately, she had landed this job as a secretary at a real estate agency four months ago. It wasn’t her dream job, but she was paid every two weeks, which helped her get by. Without this job she would be lost. Little by little she tried to save up for a nursing education. Unfortunately, it took a while before she could start. But every little bit helped and that’s why she was so happy with her job, and frankly, she was good at it. It turned out that Lorena was a natural at planning and multitasking. And her boss knew that too, making her do more tasks than a secretary had to do.
Across town, Silvano was impatiently waiting for his friend Marco. He looked angrily at his designer watch. He straightened his suit jacket and checked his cufflinks, then adjusted his spotless white shirt and checked his watch again. He didn’t like having to wait and Marco knew that all too well. He always tried to be on time himself, because time was money. And although he had plenty of money, he hated having to wait. After he heard a door close with a loud bang and a laughing Marco came walking his way, he rolled his eyes in frustration.
“Don’t let a few minutes get you so worked up, just chill out,” Marco said, giving his friend a brotherly slap on the shoulder.
“You know how I feel about it, keep that in mind next time. Well tell me, what did you want to show me?”
Marco just nodded and walked to the shores of the harbor. At this point you could see the whole bay which looked beautiful in the rising sun. The sun reflected off the clear blue water causing Silvano to squeeze his eyes shut. He automatically put on his sunglasses and then looked questioningly at Marco. Marco’s smile was still on his face.
“Do you see Capri lying there?” He pointed to the popular island further out in the water. He didn’t wait for Silvano’s response. “I managed to get the port rights, which expanded our territory and allowed us to do more business. And to celebrate I want to throw a party in one of your clubs.”
Silvano raised his right eyebrow at Marco inquiringly. He shook his head and laughed to himself. It wouldn’t be Marco to invent an occasion for a party. “Congratulations on the expansion, when did you have in mind?”
“Next weekend.” Silvano had faced many challenges, but arranging a party for Marco in one week gave rise to some reservations. He looked at his friend again and then nodded. “Okay, but then you’ll have to leave the arranging to me. There are limitations due to the time frame, but I can certainly make it a success.”
“I didn’t expect anything else Sil, I trust you completely. My assistant will contact yours for details.”
Silvano sniffed irritated. “Don’t you know yet? I fired her, she became too clingy, she thought she was taming me, stop it.”
“Did you bang your assistant again? Haven’t you learned by now not to sleep with your assistant?”
“I don’t sleep with them.”
“No, of course not, imagine. Promise me you won’t sleep with the next one.”
“Promise.”
