Chapter 1.6

Chapter 7

It was Friday and Lena had had an intense week of work, which she had taken advantage of to shed light on her own intentions. She knew herself enough to know that Federico was not just a whim of a mature woman eager to have a younger, handsome man to exhibit, but that the time shared with him on the trip from Buenos Aires to New York had touched some intimate fiber inside her that would not rest until getting satisfied. The boy had also been struck by her which was not uncommon in her life for her outward appearance and personality and Lena was sure that he was not the type of gigolo apprentice hunting for an easy way of life without work. Lena did not want to grow illusions that could later be disappointed, but deep down she felt that it was her chance in life to achieve a mate that fulfilled all her expectations. There was no doubt that the first filter was made by the eyes, and Lena deeply liked Federico.

With all those thoughts boiling in her mind Lena was about to send a new what's app message to the young man to ask if it was the right time to call him and talk directly. A talk is worth more than a thousand text messages and a face-to-face conversation more than a thousand phone conversations, but well... that would be the next step Lena wanted to program.

The moment she pulled out the cell phone a notice popped up on the screen.

"Call of Ira"

Ira Gorkin was her boss and sponsor in the company in which she worked. Lena was conscious that she owed her job and her high salary to her own ability but also to the support of her superior. Ira was a distant relative of his father and had met her when Lena was still a student of architecture. He had proposed her a position in the company and the woman had then climbed due to her own merits.

Although the desire to speak with Federico burned her inside Lena decided that the best thing was to make the work call first to be later free to schedule her weekend to her pleasure. She dialed Ira's number and after the conventional greetings the man told her.

"Forgive me for my haste, but I'm about to enter a meeting. Listen, do you still have your passport valid?"

"Of course, I've just arrived from South America."

"I need you to fly to Venice on Sunday and meet there someone whose details I'll give you by email. We are close to dealing with an Italian apparel chain and it is urgent that you visit the place and choose among several commercial premises that they are offering before we grant our franchise. We have high expectations of doing business with these Italians. Did you have something planned for this weekend?”

“Well. Actually, I ..."

"Lena, I would not insist if it were not so important."

"Ira, I just came back from a trip of several weeks. I would like to have a life too."

"It will only be a couple of weeks, we will reward you well. You know I'm proposing you to replace Steve when he retires."

Lena knew there was no point in insisting because she would have to end up accepting the commission.

“All right. I'm going to Venice."

“Excellent, you will not regret it. By the way you will have a romantic opportunity that does not occur in many parts of the world. Maybe you'll find someone there.” Ira's tone had become ironic." But watch out! I want you back in New York."

Lena felt as if Ira had thrown a bucket of cold water on her and only then did she reconsider the expectations she had placed in a rendez vous with Federico. With resignation she chose to send the boy a message on his cell phone, but a verbal one thinking that it was better that at least the young man remembered her voice. She meditated what she should tell him..

He was at his desk when the cell phone warned that he had an incoming message. When he saw that it was Lena's, his pulse quickened a little. He was planning to speak to the woman, taking advantage of the fact that Paula would travel to New Jersey the following weekend to spend some days with her parents and siblings whom the young woman had planned to talk about him, which by the way gave Federico conflicting feelings. He was already leaving the office so he postponed listening to the message until he had left the building and had privacy to hear it. Paradoxically he was going to look for that privacy in the middle of the crowd that was wandering through Broadway.

When he left the building, he stopped in the street to hear the spoken message.

"I had planned to speak to you to agree a meeting this weekend, but I have just been called by my boss demanding that I travel to Venice. It will be for a couple of weeks. I wish we can meet once I´m back. I'll keep you posted. "

The message had a dual effect on Federico. On the one hand, after the previous mutual short message crossing he had also planned to call Lena to propose her a meeting and now missed the opportunity to do so on a free weekend. But on the other hand the woman's interest in him was evident. Federico sighed, remembered the perfect oval of her face, her beautiful blue eyes, her fair hair with a strange hue, her slender silhouette and elegant posture. Hearing the woman's suggestive and wraparound voice brought a pleasant reminder of their encounter on the plane.

Lena got off the plane after New York's long flight to the Marco Polo airport in Venice. She passed the customs and immigration controls and took a taxi to her hotel. Upon registering the desk clerk handed over a message that was waiting for her.

"I'll pick you up at 5:00 p.m. Today

you are my guest. "

The handwritten note was signed by Tiziana Bressan. Lena confirmed in her cell phone's diary that this was indeed the name of the Venice contact Ira had given her.

Once in the room of the luxurious but old hotel she unpacked her clothes and other belongings placing them on hangers to eliminate the wrinkles of the trip, then connected her notebook to read the mails arrived during the trip, then showered and lay down to rest. Order and neatness were the second nature of Lena who organized the environment in her own way. This characteristic, which was appreciated by her bosses, nevertheless produced to herself certain objections because of the neurotic bias she believed hidden behind the perfectionist zeal that impelled her. Anyway, she had to recognize that it was functional to the achievement of her professional goals.

She wanted now to put that characteristic at the service of her personal life. In fact, during the plane journey the woman had somehow decided to weave several nets around Federico, who was the center of her desires.

Although they had never met before, as soon as Lena got out of the elevator and walked a few steps down the hall of the hotel, the two women recognized and moved toward each other. Tiziana was, however, very different from the classic Italian matron Lena had expected. She was a woman shorter than her, thin and with a very white skin in which her large brown eyes and dark hair stood out, but undoubtedly the most remarkable feature of her presence was her outfit and her bearing. She was dressed in flannel pants and a tweed jacket, a vest of the same material as the jacket with a gold chain crossed from one pocket to the other, boots undoubtedly made to measure by some excellent Italian shoemaker and held in her hand a typically masculine hat. The whole was elegant and her attire made the American woman think of an English landowner. Lena wondered at once whether this was a simple snob posture or revealed the sexual inclinations of her hostess. The subject would soon be revealed.

Tiziana advanced to her and kissed her on both cheeks in a typically European way, which was already familiar to Lena because of her previous relationship with Laurent. The Italian spoke good British English with an accent that to Lena was indecipherable. Her manners were charming and engaging and revealed a careful education.

A taxi was waiting for the women at the door of the hotel to carry them to a tea house where the Italian had reserved a discreet and secluded place.

From the beginning the talk was varied and interesting and became so fluid that it seemed that both women had known each other since their childhood and had only been apart for some time.

Lena learned that her interlocutor was born in Venice and by her maternal side belonged to one of the patrician families of the city, which apparently gave her certain rights that the American could not understand. On the paternal side she descended from merchants with businesses throughout Europe, which evidently gave her more concrete advantages than Lena did understand. She had been educated in Italian and Swiss schools and spoke four languages correctly, which was embarrassing for the newcomer who could only express herself in American English. This universalistic education perhaps explained the neutral accent with which she spoke English.

Then it was Lena's turn to narrate her background, which she did in her sober form.

"Tell me, Lena." The Venetian asked in a seemingly casual tone. "Are you married?"

The personal question took her by surprise, but she answered immediately.

"Not in the present moment. What about you?

"No, even though I've been married." Since Tiziana was a very pretty woman, the answer made Lena more suspicious about her sexual inclinations. Guessing Lena's mental processes, the Italian added enigmatically.

“You know…

The conversation entered a personal terrain which the American woman had never discussed with her friends, which by the way forced her to reflect how close those friends were. To her surprise, Lena did not feel outraged or invaded by this sudden closeness, but she experienced it as a liberation and found herself expressing contents of her own emotions that she did not even know were within her. Suddenly Lena understood the relationship her mother had with her own friends, many of whom were old schoolmates and while she was talking to her hostess, she wondered how many simple things of life she had postponed for her professional career. The decision was growing inside her to fill those gaps in the immediate future, and associated these ideas with her projects concerning the Argentine boy.

In short, and without her perceiving it, a process of re-formatting her life was taking shape in the mind and soul of Lena that would imply very profound changes and openness to radically new experiences.