LITMIR.BIZ

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very beautiful.”

      “Well, I know he hits a mean softball, Gina….”

      “Uncle Carlo, have you been spying?” Gina said, surprised.

      “Ah, bambina, you are so excitable. Maybe you could call it spying. But I was just checking on him. Nothing invasive, just a kind of overview. You know how important you are to me.”

      “Yeah, I know Uncle Carlo, but I’m willing to bet you came up with nothing bad, right?”

      “Right, my little niece. And you were right about his looking ‘Italian’. Nice lookin fellow, your ‘Irish’.”

      “Well, you don’t need to spy anymore. I want you to meet him!”

      “Well!” Carlo replied, “It sounds like you got something really going with this guy. Are you sure you know where you’re going with this?”

      “I’m positive, Uncle Carlo, I’ve thought it through over and over. I’m sure he’s not perfect, but he’s perfect for me. He can hold his own with me. He’s neither intimidated nor mesmerized by my financial situation. He’s a gentleman at all times. My friends love him. He’s from a nice solid family. He’s loyal. He’s….”

      “Managia,” interrupted her uncle, “you make this guy sound like Saint Anthony!”

      “God, I hope not!” laughed Gina, “I’m not looking for a saint. I’m looking for a man in my life.”

      Carlo laughed out loud. “Ah, that’s my bambina. You always did know what you want. I’m sure that even if I said I didn’t like the guy, you would see him anyway.”

      “No, Uncle Carlo, I wouldn’t see him that way. I am just sure that you will like him so I don’t think that is going to be an issue.”

      “Gina, my little baby, you know how to wrap me around your finger so easily. It scares me sometimes. Here I am a tough businessman and I’m like soft clay around you. You know I trust you, I brought you up so I know how your devious mind works when you want something and nobody, I mean nobody, can resist.”

      “Well, Uncle Carlo, will you meet him or not?”

      “How could I say no? Of course I’ll meet your ‘Irish’. I have to travel up to New York next week, but the week after, I’ll be home. The guy works, right? I figure you will want to bring him by on a Saturday or Sunday. Why don’t you bring him by for lunch on the Sunday after next?”

      “Oh, Uncle Carlo, thank you. I just know you’ll like him! I just know it!”

      “How like a little girl you are sometimes, Gina. If this ‘Irish’ meets with your approval and he makes you as happy as you look right now, you know I will approve. I think the meeting will be more for him than for me.”

      “You’re not going to call him ‘Irish’ are you Uncle Carlo?”

      “Oh, I don’t know. Maybe I will, maybe I won’t. It will depend on his sense of humor.”

      “Uncle Carlo! Be serious, please! This could be the man of my life!”

      “Not to worry. I’ll be on my best behavior, I promise.”

      “That’s what I was afraid of,” Gina laughed.

      Carlo laughed with his niece.

      Gina joined her uncle in another espresso before going home to get ready to meet Charlie.

      Charlie made a trip to the cemetery that Sunday morning. He made his way to his parents’ gravesite as he had done so often since his parents had both died. “Hello Mom, Dad. He crossed himself as he approached the pair of headstones, “I’ve got some things to tell you. The girl I’ve been dating could easily become my wife. We went out last night and we decided that we really care a lot about each other. I mean in a really serious way. I’ve never felt this way about anybody. I’m almost certain this is going to work out. I hope you can bless me and pray for me up there in Heaven. Dad, the job is going really well. Fred Perkins is his usual pain-in-the-ass self, but I’ve got him under control. The guys in the department say I drive him nuts. I know you never had much contact with Fred but I also know that you didn’t think much of him. Sometimes I feel sorry for the poor bastard, but the operational word here is not ‘poor’, it’s ‘bastard’. He really can be nasty. I remember that you once told me that when you left the company parking lot you would keep your windows shut and wave to the ‘big shots’ and say, ‘Good night’ and then whisper ‘asshole!’ I feel that way sometimes when I leave the company. I work around some nice people, but I’m not too big on the corporate scene. There are a hell of a lot of phonies looking to screw their buddies for a promotion. It can be pretty nasty sometimes. Mom, I don’t know what to do about some of the women in this town. A couple of them followed me up to Philly yesterday. It was the weirdest thing I ever experienced. I mean what the hell do they care about my life, you know? Well, there’s nothing I can do about it, I guess. I’ll just have to wear them down. Well, that’s the news for the week. I hope you and Dad are together in some place beautiful. I love you both.” Charlie said a brief prayer and went back to his car.

      He drove home and took a shower and changed before heading off to Philly to see Gina. While he was toweling off after his shower Gina called. “Charlie?” her voice was excited.

      “Hey, Gina. I’m getting ready to drive up there. Trattoria again?”

      “Yes. Can you be here by about one-o-clock?”

      “Sure,” answered Charlie.

      “Charlie, I can’t wait until you get here to tell you that I have set up for you to meet my uncle. He agreed and I’m so excited. I’m sure you two will hit it off! I’ll tell you everything when you get here. Kisses! See you in a little while! Bye!” Before Charlie could say anything, Gina rang off.

      Charlie laughed to himself. Gina sounded really happy and like a little kid. He was sure that her uncle’s approval would determine whether they got together or not. It was clear that he had a lot of influence, if not control, over Gina.

      After dressing in jeans and a rust-colored sport shirt, and putting on a pair of sport moccasins, he walked out to his car to drive to Philly. He looked up and down his street and saw what he thought was the same car that had followed him on Saturday. He could see what looked like two women in the car. The car was parked some distance away so he decided to drive right by it. When he got fairly close, the two heads disappeared below the dashboard. He made a mental note of the license plate and without even checking what he had written down before, he was sure it was the same as the one on the car that followed him yesterday. He pretended not to look into the parked vehicle as he drove by. His peripheral vision allowed him to see into the passenger seat and he could see what he was sure was a woman hunched down. He couldn’t see her face.

      Because he was going the other way and the street was practically deserted on a Sunday, the other car did not give chase. Charlie chuckled to himself. “Too bad ladies,” he said to himself, by the time you get turned around I will have lost you! Why don’t you go home and fix lunch, do the laundry, or something?”

      Charlie went straight up I-95 again because he was sure he had eluded the two women who were watching him. They couldn’t get their car turned around until he had traveled down the street a good distance and by that time he had taken some evasive maneuvers and then gone down to the entrance to the bridge to Wilmington to connect to I-95.

      He checked along the way just to be sure the two women had not caught up to him on the interstate. “Coast clear,” thought Charlie, ‘maybe I’d make a good spy!”

      When he got to the trattoria Gina was waiting for him. She was fantastic in a pair of jeans, a cream-colored silk blouse, and a pair of cross trainers that didn’t look like she ran in them very much. “Don’t you look great!” said Charlie, “I’ve never seen you in jeans. You’re a knock out!”

      “Well, aren’t you the

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