Chapter 1 .0
Copyright © 2017 by Oscar Luis Rigiroli.
Cita en Gramercy Park
All rights reserved. Neither this book nor any part thereof may be reproduced or used in any form without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Published in 2018 in the United States of America.
It is a work of fiction. The names, characters, companies, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author's imagination or are used in a fictitious way. Any resemblance to real people, living or dead, or real events is pure coincidence.
Index
Dramatis Personae
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Epilogue
From the Author
About the Author
Works by Cèdric Daurio
Coordinates of the Author
About the Publisher
Dramatis Personæ
Lena Shaw Javit: New York architect specialized in adaptation of commercial premises.
Federico Gribaudo: Argentine Bachelor in computer science working in New York City.
George Adams: Executive of the firm where Federico works and his direct boss.
Paula Rodrigues: Secretary of Adams.
Laurent Castries Foux: Associate and friend of Lena.
Bernard Javit and Sheila Shaw Javit: Lena´s parents. Ira Gorkin: Lena´s boss in New York.
Tiziana Bressan: Commercial associate of Lena in Venice.
Wang Hualing (Hualing Wang): Young Chinese nanny.
Laura Cohen: Hualing Employer.
Carlos and Marta Gribaudo: Federico's parents.
Loretta Brown: Lawyer, Lena's close friend.
Chapter 1
Exhausted by the succession of events of the day and in fact of the entire week she had passed in Buenos Aires, the woman placed her small suitcase in the luggage rack located above the line of seats, sat in her place that was located next to the window and anticipating what the hostesses would ask to all passengers put on the seat belt. The seat, located in the tourist class, was very narrow considering that the flight to New York would take nine hours so she decided that at her arrival she would ask her sponsors to take a ticket in the executive category for the following flights, at least for those that exceed certain duration, for example five hours. She thought that this requirement was reasonable since most of her travels were within the United States and therefore shorter.
Following her usual flight anxiety the woman had been one of the first passengers to board and now the rest were entering the narrow aisles of the cabin. The passage consisted of a mixture of Argentines and Americans, the latter in general couples or small groups of elderly people returning from vacations in the distant southern country, wearing striking multicolored print shirts and other garments more appropriate for Miami or Hawaii than for the hectic South American city, whose inhabitants seemed to walk and travel always with a frenetic pace, so different from other Latin American cities the woman had known. The Argentines were distinguishable by their more austere dress and by the amount of packages that they intended to place in the luggage compartments, even forcing their capacity. She begged the seat next to her be occupied by an American; otherwise as she did not speak Spanish that could be a boring and too long trip.
She unwillingly glimpsed a tall, thin youngster who approached watching at the letters of the rows of seats looking for his own. Although at first sight he seemed to be one of the Argentines the lady secretly wished that he would sit next to her, for he was a very handsome young man. She shook her head as if to scare the idea away.
Ignorant of the thoughts that circulated in the woman's head, the young man stopped in the line where Lena sat, confirmed his location and looked at her smiling.
"Hola." he succinctly said.
"Hello," replied the woman, furious with herself for not having learned how to respond in Spanish a single word.
The man placed his suitcase in the luggage compartment and sat down on the aisle seat.
“Excuse me. I have seat 14B.” He said in English, much to Lena´s relief who however again reproached immediately herself.
The stewardess walked down the aisle where passengers were still struggling with their suitcases, helping them to store them in the upper compartments and close their doors.
Also the young man put the seat belt on and as his legs were too long for the short space between seats he placed them partially in the hallway after the stewardess had passed.
"Very small seats for such long trips." said in tune with what Lena had been pondering before. Then smiling again, he extended his right hand and introduced himself.
“Federico Gribaudo.”
Lena was pleasantly surprised again by the man's formal introduction and answered immediately.
“Lena Javit.”
"New Yorker?" It was obvious that the young man named Federico wanted to initiate a conversation. Although the woman had previously the idea of getting asleep as soon as possible to recover the missing sleep hours of the entire week she willingly accepted the disposition of her traveling companion.
"Yes." she answered. "Born and raised in New York City."
Once the ice was broken so easily Lena continued the conversation.
"Is this your first trip to the United States?"
"No, I was a couple of times in Miami, but never in New York.”
"You are probably anxious to see the Big Apple. You have a whole world to discover.”
"Yes, I actually know it from family references. My father lived several years in New York when he was a young man and my mother, who was then his girlfriend, visited him ... of course all this happened many years ago.”
“Everything in New York has changed a lot and at the same time the city remains the same.”
"My parents came back a couple of years ago for tourism, to visit all the places they had known together so long ago. It was a sentimental trip. They were in front of the building where my father was renting an apartment.”
"Do you know in which area?"
"Yes, in Brooklyn Heights. A historical site. They talked about it a lot.”
“Actually a good place to live.”
To Lena's delight the conversation flowed pleasantly. Although his vocabulary was somewhat limited and from time to time he needed help from a particular term, Federico spoke English in a very acceptable way with a particular Argentine accent that the woman already knew from her business interviews. His talk showed clearly that he was an intelligent young man.
"And tell me, Federico." The conversation had already become colloquial. "What other places did your parents tell you about?"
The long list of museums, galleries and other sites ended up convincing Lena that the boy came from a family of good cultural level.
"You want to visit those places?"
“Yes. I'm going to spend a relatively long time in New York.”
"And what other places did your parents tell you about?"
“Let me think ... there was a park they were especially fond of ...”
"The Central Park?"
"They were not referring to the Central Park. There was a small park, a closed place, to which for some reason they assigned a romantic connotation. I remember seeing pictures of my parents in front of that place.”
"Gramercy Park?" Lena flinched in her seat with her enthusiasm.
"Yes, I think that was the name.”
"But that's where I live."
The conversation entered insensibly into slightly more personal matters. Lena tried without much success not to make her interest too obvious.
"What are you going to do in New York? Are you going to settle in the United States?”
“Not for the moment. I will work in the headquarters of my company for six months, which is what the visa I have at present allows.”
"What company is that?"
Federico gave the name of the firm.
“What is this company´s business?”
“Financial services.”
“Are you an expert in finance?
"No, I'm a systems graduate. I'm going to get trained in the systems that the firm uses around the world. In Buenos Aires they have just opened a branch that will be in charge of their business throughout the South America except Brazil.”
"Have you worked with them long?"
“Six months. As I told you, the firm recently settled in the country.”
Lena finally decided to ask the question that was hanging around her mind.
“How old are you?”
“Twenty three.”
It was the approximate age the woman calculated. At that moment the pilot of the aircraft announced the departure of the flight and the stewardesses made a last control to confirm that everything was in order. Immediately the aircraft began its takeoff and it quickly gained in altitude. After it the conversation continued and it was Federico's turn to ask, which seemed logical to the woman.
“How long have you been in Argentina?”
“Eleven days.”
“Did you like Buenos Aires?”
"I barely had time to get to know it. I had to travel to Rosario, Cordoba and Mendoza. In each place I could only take a bus for sightseeing. And answering your question ... yes, I liked a lot what I saw and I have already made the decision to come another time on a private tour.”
"It means that you just came on a business trip?"
"Yes, actually a work trip, with the expenses paid by my employer.”
“Who do you work for?”
Lena gave the name of a renowned high-end clothing company.
“And what do you do there?”
“I'm an architect. I choose sites for points of sale of our products and direct the construction and decoration of the premises according to the norms and the international style of the company.”
"You make the decisions?"
“Yes, based on protocols established by the firm.”
"And who writes those protocols?"
"To a large extent myself.” Lena laughed at saying this, “But then they are approved by the presidency and the Board of Directors.”
"You are an important person." concluded the young man.
"Only an employee with some standing."
"So your company is now settling in Argentina?" The phrase was somewhere between a question and a statement.
“Yes, they have decided that growing tourism makes the country an attractive place for sales.”
"Your job sounds like a position with a lot of responsibility. Are you satisfied?”
“Yes, I like my profession and what I do is very rewarding.”
Lena pondered the boy's question. She had not asked it herself recently and was actually very reasonable. The professional side of her life was actually very successful and she secretly wished that the other facets were successful to the same extent, but kept the remark to her. At the same time the questions confirmed her opinion about the intelligence of her travel mate.
The plane had already reached its cruising altitude, and the flight attendant announced that dinner was to be served, actually a brunch.
"Where are you going to stay in New York?"
Federico gave the name of a hotel located in Lexington Avenue and 23rd Street, of an average category.
"That's very close to Gramercy Park, where I live." Lena exclaimed.
"I would like to meet with you." The phrase was spontaneous and the young man realized that it was a bit hasty.
"I mean ... it would be nice to have some familiar face in a strange city."
“Yes of course. I'll give you my phone number and address." Although she did not want to acknowledge herself, Lena was pleased with the request from her traveling companion.
After dinner the lights in the cabin dimmed, and the sounds were reduced to passengers coughing and some child's crying. Lena and Federico continued talking quietly until finally the woman was asleep.
The lights went on and the pilot announced that breakfast would be served soon since the arrival at New York City would happen soon.
"You slept through the night." Federico observed.
"I'm so busy in my job that I have to take every opportunity to sleep. Have you have not slept?”
"Fitfully. The seat is a bit short for my legs ... and besides I guess the prospect of arriving at New York keeps me excited.”
At the end of the breakfast and before closing the folding table Lena extracted a paper and a pen from her purse.
"I'm going to give you my phone number and address. Since the cell phone cannot be switched on due to the proximity of the landing, I will write it down on paper.”
When the turbines were turned off all the passengers rushed to take their luggage from the upper compartments. Federico lowered Lena´s case and his own. They both started to move together and descended from the aircraft in the middle of the human tide. They kept talking until they arrived at Migrations but then they had to separate, since she woman joined the fast moving line of American residents, while Federico had to join the slow line of foreigners.
"Call me when you want!" exclaimed the woman as they had to separate, trying to hide her anxiety.
After a while Lena looked at the boy. His tall, thin silhouette was now visible from a distance. The woman's memory had engraved his face, his handsome features, the green color of his eyes and his reddish hair. She could not help a sigh.