Home Away From Home - 49. Chapter 49

When we arrived at Aunty’s, she escorted us out to the patio, where a table loaded with food awaited us. I was glad we didn't have dinner on the plane. Marcus was all smiles. I remember many of those around the table from the first time I was here with Mom and Dad. There were a few a didn’t know or remember, Gio said they were away when I was here.

“Carlo, I wonder if I could ask you something?” I knew she wanted something and the only thing I could think of, someone wanted to go to Guam.

“Aunty, you can ask me anything. And if I can grant it, I will.”

“My brother’s grandchild would normally spend the summer with me. They live in the very south of Italy and it can get a little hot there. So he spends the summer here, where it's a little cooler.”

I thought here it comes. So, should I just jump in and say ok, or wait until she asks. Smiling, “You're going to ask me to take him back with me to Guam, of course I will.”

I got another hug that almost crushed my chest. For an older woman, Aunty had the strength of a young man. “Is the boy here?”

Of course, he's here. Aunty already promised him he would go. “Carlo, this is Alessandro.”

“Hello Alessandro, Aunty tells me you would like to visit me in Guam.”

I noticed he was a little shy, he nodded his head yes. “How old are you Alessandro?”

Aunty whispered something in his ear, “I’m 12, but in two weeks I’ll be 13.”

“I’m on a business trip, when I’m finish, I’ll stop back here and pick you. Then we'll fly to Guam. Can you swim?”

“A little, I can float.”

“Good by the time you come back home, you'll be able to swim like a champion.” The smile I got stretched from cheek to cheek.

Although dinner, Alessandro never left my side, Aunty was beaming. After all the kids went to bed and the neighbors and family left to go home, with the promise of breakfast at 6 am, Aunty and I sat in her kitchen with a cup of coffee. “I’m glad that you agreed to take Alessandro back with you. He's an only child, his mother died in child birth and although his father loves him, the boy is lonely. He always enjoyed coming here because he had cousins to play with. We're a close knit family, as you know. But like everywhere, you go where the jobs are.”

“What if he doesn’t want to come back. You know what it's like at home.”

“I don’t know what would happen. Would you let him stay?”

“Only if his father approved. I travel a lot and I could see on occasion bring him back for a visit with his father. But you know, I never ask, they just ask me. I don’t like breaking up families.”

“When are you coming back to Milan?”

“At the end of my trip, probably in four weeks, if all goes as planned.”

“I need to tell his father he's going with you. Maybe if you tell me when you'll be here, his father can come here and you can meet him.”

“I can’t pin the exact date, but if all goes to plan, it should be 4 1/2 weeks from tomorrow.”

I couldn’t sleep that night, not that the bed wasn’t comfortable, I missed my bed buddy. Five rolled around to soon, I was still tired as I stumbled into the kitchen. Half of Pavia was there, Aunty gave me a cup of strong Italian coffee that jumped started my systems. I must have had a strange look on my face as I drank the small cup of coffee all at once. People start to laugh.

“Did that wake you up?”

“Don’t laugh Gio, I’ll get even at home.”

Who sat next to me, Alessandro. “Who is your friend?”

“This is my cousin and best friend, when I'm here.”

“And what is his name?

“Manolo”

“How old are you Manolo?”

“I’m 14 years old and in 6 months I’ll be 15.”

I looked at Aunty and she nodded her head in the direction of the other end of the table. I looked at her with a questioning look. She mouthed the word Guam.

I took that the only way I could, she either was indicating that Manolo parents wanted to go to Guam or their son wanted to go. I nodded my head toward Manolo, she nodded yes. I nodded back yes. What could I do, they are family.

The parade took us to the airport to arrive at 6:30, I told Alessandro that the next time he would see that plane, he would be going on it. As I was hugging everyone goodbye, “Carlo, you don’t mind taking Manolo with you also.”

“No Aunty, you know what my place is like. He won’t be any problem. I’ll call and let you know the exact time I’ll be here.”

I waved from the plane as Dan shut the door and Roger started to taxi for take off. “You do know you are a softy right.”

“And you would do different?”

“I know both boys, they are good kids. But you need to keep your eye on Manolo, once he sees Maria he may never want to leave.”

“You are assigned as their chaperone.”

Arriving Rome, we were met by my agent, Matteo Di Cicco. He drove us to our hotel, Charles had arranged a meeting room. Our discussions, interrupted by breakfast and lunch, indicated that Matteo was on top of existing projects. When we discussed new projects, he mentioned that there was an engineering issue in Venice. The rising ocean is causing major problems with the structures. “As you know many buildings along the canals have the lower portions under water. If they are eroded, the buildings could collapse.” We discussed various options that had been considered. I asked Matteo to contact out Holland agent, Mr. Daan de Graff.

‘Matteo, I'd like you to consider being our agent in Croatia and Serbia. I have no agents in those countries, although I’m not aware of any major projects.”

Matteo was very pleased with the offer of representing those two countries. I didn’t hold out much hope for major projects, but sometimes small projects allow us to get a foot into a country which we can build upon, putting us into a favorable position for bidding on larger projects.

The next morning, we flew to Amsterdam and took a train to Belgium where I renewed my acquaintance with Liam. After our meeting, I bought a large box of Belgium chocolate and took the train back to Amsterdam, where Charles had arranged dinner with Daan.

This was our first meeting so I was anxious to get to know this agent. I found him to be quite jovial. We had dinner at a small restaurant called Le Garage. The food was excellent and unusual, the kitchen was part of the dining room. Upon departing, we agreed to meet at 10 the next morning at our hotel.

Charles had arranged a small meeting room with coffee and tea for me. Dan arrived on time and we had an excellent discussion concerning current projects. I took the time to mentioned to him that Matteo Di Cicco our agent in Rome would contact him about a water problem in Venice. I was surprised to learn that Venice’s problem was known throughout western Europe. Evidently, it's a favorite tourist stop. Dan said that he enjoy working with Matteo, “After all, we're better at building dams than the beavers.”

From Amsterdam, we continued our tour. I was anxious to get to Switzerland but that wasn’t going to happen overnight. Our schedule took us to England, where we met John Bethan, then to Scotland, where we met Roger Browning and our last stop before heading across the North Sea was Ireland where we met Peter Adair. All in all, the meetings were quite productive, for me. I learned not only about the projects under contract but also my agents. Tony had done a remarkable job in hiring these people.

From Ireland we flew to Sweden, Finland and Norway. Charles had arranged for Denmark’s agent to meet us in Finland. The number of construction projects in these countries were limited, but we had good relationships with the government of these countries. This allowed us more than our fair share of projects.

Then to Germany where I spent a few days with Gerhard. We discussed our friend Otto and his problems. “The project had a new influx of money that will guaranteed it's completion ahead of schedule.”

“Do you know the source of the money?”

“No, the accountant that reviewed the invoices and payments said that sufficient money existed in their accounts that resolved all of the outstanding receipts. I guess that the shortfall from double paying was resolved. That's all I know.”

“Well, I’m glad that business is over.”

We had an enjoyable dinner and the next morning I left for France where I met Jacques Monchet our agent. I was in Paris when I got married, so I wasn’t as ignorant of the country as I was in some of our stops. We met at a small village outside of Paris, we were booked into a very small hotel. It truly was a delightful experience and I knew that Puppy and I would return.

From France we flew too Spain. Charles had overlooked this stop when he made up the itinerary. Having your own plane helped as we didn’t have to fly commercially. I really couldn’t blame Charles for the doubling back, I had reviewed the itinerary and signed off on it.

From Spain I flew to Switzerland where I met Wilhelm Bohren. I always thought of Switzerland as small diary farms nestled in the mountains. Although that may be true, but Switzerland is the money capital of Europe and a few other countries as well. Their banking system is known, world wide and their secrecy is a consternation to tax authorities in those countries.

At the end of our two day meeting, I went to my hotel and was greeted by a kiss that could only come from my Puppy. That night I had the best sleep of the whole trip. All in all we were gone 3 1/2 weeks.

The next morning, I sent everyone back on PUPPY I except Ed and Marcus. Dan went back and Helen stayed with PUPPY II. Puppy and I didn’t leave the hotel room the whole day. We acted like it was our honeymoon. “Carlo, we have an appointment tomorrow with the accountants at 2 PM.”

I didn’t want to hear that but I knew that was one of the reasons I wanted to come to Switzerland. “Hmm, don’t think about it until tomorrow.”

I couldn’t get enough of Puppy. I must have gave him 5 massages, I just wanted to feel his body and I really don’t think there is one spot on his body that I didn’t kiss. Not all massages where on the outside. I think my love for Puppy exuded from my whole body.

The next day we went to lunch, missed breakfast all together, then left to meet with the accountants. When we arrived at their office, we were met by a young lady. “Mr. Thomas will be with you shortly. My I get you coffee or tea?”

We both opted for tea and while she went to get it, I took the opportunity to look around the reception area. “Puppy, for a firm that does so much business, this reception does not reflect their success.”

“It's all part of the image. Imagined if you had millions of dollars to invest and walked into an reception room with expensive carpets, furniture and original prints on the walls. Would you trust someone with your money knowing they'll probably take a large cut of the profits they'd make on your money? This room is comfortable, not overly done, but the furniture is good quality. The walls are decorated with taste. They are saying, give us your money and we'll make sure you get all of it, minus our fee which won’t be extravagant.”

“I never looked at it that way. How do you know so much about it?”

“I asked the same questions when Dad brought me here. I gave you the same answer. Dad feels that these people have earned his trust. Don't be surprised that Dad knows we're here and has already told them what they can show us, as well what they can’t show us.”

“I’m amazed at the connections and political power Dad has. The business doesn’t require all that power so where does it come from? Sometimes, I think he has connections very high in our government.”

“We have connections in our government. You have the commander of the base owing you favors and certainly you know that the guys will never forget you or what we have done for them. Who knows, maybe one will become a senator or president. They won’t forget you. Life is more than money, it's also friendships.”

“I never looked at it like that. I know Colonel Haskins wouldn’t turn any of my reasonable requests down, but I would never take advantage of that.”

“Mr. Robert’s will see you now.”

“I guess he's finished talking to Dad.”

“Hello Anthony, it's good to see you again. And this must be Carlo, I’ve heard a lot about you.”

Mr. Thomas was a man in his fifty’s that looked like a late thirty. Nicely dressed in a business suit, had a warm smile that went with his warm eyes. You felt an affinity to him, basically, you liked him. “Mr. Thomas, it's nice to meet you.”

“I see you are drinking tea, can I refresh that for you.”

“Yes, thank you.” He pushed a button on his phone and a few minutes later the young lady who met us in the reception area, entered with a tray containing three cups, 2 tea and 1 coffee.

“I think I know why you are here, I remember Anthony coming here his first trip with his father. I have all of the reports with your salary, tax filings and your portfolio.”

“Before we get to those reports, can you tell me how I pay my agents.”

“The agents are paid in two ways, they receive a pay for just being agents, then they get a percentage of profits from any contracts they negotiate. Let me get you a list of your agents.”

Another button and the young lady came in, he asked for the Wyman agent files.

“I suppose we should change the name of that file to yours, Carlos.”

“No, that isn’t necessary.”

“Here are the files, I could send you a copy of them.”

“Yes, that would be nice. How do you handle an agent taking on another country, for example if my agent in Germany also became the agent for Austria.”

“We have do procedure for that, I would propose a salary recommendation to you based on practices of other firms, but not in the same business. Your business is quite unique.”

“I assume these numbers are in the currency of the country.”

“Yes and the adoption of the Euro has simplified our accounting system.”

“Ok, now I’m ready to look at my earnings and portfolio.”

“This is your earnings year to date. It reflects the profits from the various projects. This is your costs to date, which includes agent salaries, security salaries and staff salaries. This leave you with this as your net earnings so far this year.”

I couldn’t believe the numbers. Are your sure these are correct?”

Puppy whispered in my ear, “Carlo, they are correct.”

“I can’t believe these numbers, I never expected to see these numbers. What about my expenses?”

“Here is your expenses year to date.”

“I knew I should have bought Harou’s business. PUPPY II cost that much and I still have money left over? This is incredible, I never in my wildest dreams thought I'd have this much money. I’m afraid to look at my portfolio.”

“Here is your portfolio?”

“That line there, is what Dad contributed. When we got married, he started that account with the same amount he started mine when I reached 13.”

“Where did this rest come from?”

“At the end of the year, we make a contribution to this account of 80% of unspent money, that and the income from the dividends, accounts for the total.”

“We have three children, I'd like to open an account for each of them. Could you do that?”

“Yes, just fill out these forms, add the amount you want to invest in the trust and we'll take it from there.”

We took the forms and were shown to a small conference room. “Puppy, I can’t get my head around those numbers.”

“Don’t think about it. How much money did you want to start their trust with?”

“I was thinking a million, what do you think?”

“I think that's ok and I'll also add a million, so each trust will start with 2 million.”

I smiled, we kissed in agreement and completed the forms. Puppy had brought the adoption papers with him. I think he was thinking of doing the same thing.

We returned to Mr. Thomas’s office with the papers, he had us sign some withdrawal papers to release the money from our accounts. When I had copies of everything, I thanked him and we left the office. “Want to bet he is on the phone to Dad right now?”

“I don’t bet on sure things.”

For the next few days until was time to fly to Milan, we went sightseeing, had romantic dinners and had many massages. It did feel like a honeymoon. I told Roger and Bob that we'd be leaving the next morning to fly to Milan. They said the plane would be ready.

I think we were both anxious to go home. Although we enjoyed our alone time, we missed the kids. “You know we'll have to stay over night at Aunty’s.”

“Yes, that's ok. What about our airplane crew?”

“I think they could stay in Milan. There's a nice hotel across from the Dom. I’ll have the hotel concierge book it.”

The next morning when we were checking out, the concierge handed me the confirmation for the Milan booking. A taxi to the airport and we were ready to go.

“Carlo, how long are we going to stay in Pavia?”

“Marcus, long enough for you to get a good meal at Aunty’s.”

Marcus really likes Italian food. By the time we arrived at the airport and boarded, we had an eleven take off time. “Carlo, I will serve lunch as soon as we are at altitude.”

That was fine with me. Puppy and I had a light breakfast knowing what it'll be like when we arrive Milan. We also opted for a light lunch.

“Carlo, we'll be leading in 30 minutes.”

“There's going to be some excited people to see us. We’re taking two boys back with us, one 13 and the other 15. The 13 year old, Alessandro, hit me up and then when his cousin Manolo heard about him going, he asked to go along as well.”

“Did they just come up and ask you or was Aunty involved.”

“Aunty did asked me to take Alessandro, but when we were eating breakfast the next morning, I had Alessandro on one side and Manolo on the other side. Aunty kept looking at me and nodding her head to the other end of the table. Manolo ’s mom and dad were sitting there, urging him to speak up. I mouthed the word home to Aunty and she nodded her head. I think it was Alessandro who spoke up. He said Manolo was his best friend and could he come along. So I said yes. Gio said I would have to watch Maria, I told him he was her chaperone.”

As Helen walked towards the back of the plane to open the door when the ramp was wheeled up, “You know each time I come here the crowd get’s bigger and bigger. It's kind of scary.”

Door open, Marcus out first, Puppy next, I followed and Ed followed me. I had already told Helen about staying in Milan and to have the plane ready for a 9am departure.

“Carlo, who are those kids yelling your name and jumping up and down?”

“The shot one is Alessandro and the other one is Manolo. Be ready, I think they're going to jump us.”

As soon as we cleared customs, I had two boys jumping on me. I knew what was coming and braced myself, which was a good thing or I would've been on the floor. Puppy laughed and I saw Aunty laughing as well. As we approached the crowd, and is was a crowd, I tall man came up and help unload my baggage. “Aw Dad, we were just glad to see him.”

“I’m sorry the way they jumped you. Mom told me about you taking Alessandro to your home. I can’t thank you enough. I’m Alessandro’s father, people call me Sandro. Alessandro and I have the same name so as to not mix us up, they call me Sandro.”

“I’m very glad to meet you. This is my partner, Anthony.”

Then we were pulled toward the rest of the family. I gave up trying to sort friends, neighbors and family. We got a hug from Aunty and a cheek kiss. She introduced us to Manolo’s parents. Then we were off to Pavia

I was glad I ate light today because the spread on that patio table was unbelievable. Marcus was salivating, Puppy was laughing at him. “Hey, I’m a working man and working men have to eat.”

We just laughed and after giving Thanks, he did eat. I sat across from Puppy and fell into deep thought looking into his eyes. I could do that all day and made a resolution that I'd always place him across from me so I could do that. I had two boys sitting on either side of me. Sandro sat next to Puppy. As Aunty started to fill my plate, I had to break eye contact with Puppy. She was going to get another empty plate for me. I called her back, Puppy was laughing, the boys were giggling, “Aunty, one plate is enough, I’ll get seconds.”

“Sandro, Aunty said that most of your work is done during the summer months.”

“Not really, the weather in Southern Italy is generally good all year around. But Alessandro is out of school during the summer. When he's in school, I’m generally home shortly after he arrives. A neighbor watches him until I get home, you know that in Italy, kids in a neighborhood belong to every one. I don’t always like to send him to Mom’s but she likes to have him and likes to be here.”

“And now, he'll be going with me.” I said that as I put my arm around him and hugged him. Puppy smiled at me, it was a smile that said I love you. If you have ever been in love, you know what that smile looks like.

It took me 4 hours to eat dinner. I'd take a bite, then the kids would ask a questions, or one of the relatives would come and talk. Paolo and Gianna added to the conversation. I enjoyed the leisure dinner, even if some of the food got cold. Mom use to laugh at me, when I came home from school, my snack was cold spaghetti.

Eventually, the party did break up and we did get to bed. I told them when we had to leave for the plane. Sleep came easy for me, I had a loving Puppy in bed with me. I never want to sleep alone again.