LITMIR.BIZ

      Gina Ferrelli and Charlie first met after his divorce. He had looked up some of his old college-day friends in Philly and one evening while he and Joey Esposito were having dinner in a small South Philly trattoria that neither had been to before, Gina walked in with a group of friends. One of Gina’s friends worked with Joey and the group joined Joey and Charlie at the table.

      Charlie and Gina hit it off immediately. She had an easy laugh and a relaxed way about her that Charlie found captivating. She was beautiful and sexy as hell but she did not flaunt it. She seemed almost unaware of or perhaps didn’t care about her effect on men – which was considerable to say the least. She possessed the kind of beauty and bearing that causes a restaurant to suddenly get quiet when she walks in as the patrons wonder what movie they had seen her in. She carried herself like the model she could easily have been if she wanted, and her smile was quick and natural. She was a beautiful woman who was comfortable with herself.

      When the evening ended, Charlie asked if she came often to the trattoria and she said it was one of her favorite places and she and her friends often stopped in for a glass of wine. Reluctant to ask for her phone number after just meeting her, Charlie said “Great, I’d never been here before. It’s really a great place and I hope I see you here again.”

      To his surprise, Gina said “Why don’t you stop by this Saturday night? My friends and I will probably be dropping in about 9-o-clock.”

      Charlie could hardly wait until Saturday night to go back to the trattoria and hope that Gina would show up. She did. It was just a little before 9:15 when Gina walked in with a couple and a female friend. She saw Charlie and waved him over to her table. It was all he could do to keep from running to the table.

      “Hello, Charlie, why don’t you join us? It’s nice to see you here again.”

      “Thank you, Gina. Since you said you would be here tonight, I thought I would stop by. I really did enjoy meeting you last week.”

      “Why, thank you Charlie. That’s nice and quite charming. It’s also nice to know you would drive up from Jersey just to see me again.”

      “Is she nuts or just toying with me?” Charlie thought, “I’d drive from Alaska in a blizzard just to get a glance at her. God knows what I would do to be with her for an hour or two!”

      For the first time in his life Charlie was flustered. He could think of nothing to say but, “Well, I enjoyed myself so much last week that I thought I would treat myself to a repeat.”

      Charlie noticed that as soon as Gina had suggested he join her table a waiter was immediately standing nearby with a chair. He mused to himself that beautiful women must always get that kind of attention. Waiters, doormen, taxi drivers, traffic cops, department store clerks, hell, any male of the species will go out of his way to be helpful to a beautiful woman. He couldn’t decide if he thought such deference would be welcome or discomfiting to someone like Gina. Charlie noticed that she thanked the waiter by his first name and did not take such deference for granted.

      The evening was a pleasant one. Gina’s friends were interesting and conversational and not at all part of the “fast crowd” that Mary Jo had wanted to run with. The lone female was a psychologist with a small clinical practice in Philly and the couple was part of Philly’s growing artist community that lived in the area known as “So-So” at the far end of South Philly.

      Once again Charlie had one of the most relaxing and enjoyable evenings he could remember. The conversation flowed. There was no posturing or phoniness. Nobody was trying to prove anything to anybody else. Charlie could hardly wait for another evening like this one.

      However, he was still reluctant to ask Gina for a date or for her telephone number. He was sure that a woman as beautiful as she was constantly being hit on and he did not want her to think he was just one more of the many that probably had tried to get her into bed. Not that Charlie thought that would not be an interesting proposition. He just found her so captivating and fun that he was reluctant to risk seeming to come on too strong. When the evening ended, Charlie once again asked Gina if she would be showing up at the trattoria again the following week. She smiled and said, “Well, if you are going to be here, I’ll make it a point to show up.”

      “Deal!” said Charlie, not believing what he had just heard, “See you then, about the same time?”

      “OK” said Gina “drive carefully back to Jersey.”

      Charlie’s week seemed to drag by. He went bowling on league night with some of the guys from Shoreville, but his mind was in Philly. “Hey Charlie, snap out of it! We need a strike on this one!” Tony Mazza yelled, “Let’s go, you’re up.”

      Charlie managed to force himself to concentrate and rolled the requisite strike for his team to win the evening. Later, over beer Tony Mazza asked him, “You’re not takin’ your work home are ya, Charlie? You look like you’re up in the clouds somewhere. No company is worth messing up your bowling average!”

      Charlie laughed. “You´re right, Tony I was just daydreaming a little. But, we won, right? Let’s have another beer to celebrate. Hey Mildred, bring us another round, willya?” Charlie yelled to the waitress.

      “That all you want is a beer, Charlie?” Mildred yelled back. Tony and Charlie both laughed. Mildred didn’t hide her needs. “Yeah, Millie, that’s all for today at least!”

      Charlie poured himself into his work for the rest of the week and he took off again for Philly on Saturday.

      He was back in the trattoria at 9-o-clock that night when Gina walked in. She was alone this time. Charlie waved to her from his table and as she started over to the table he noticed that she was wearing a simple black dress and a string of pearls. She was absolutely stunning and he had to work to keep his jaw from falling. Charlie

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