“Hi, Gina, how was your week?”
“Hi to you too, Charlie, it was fine. Nice and calm, the way I like it.”
The idea that Gina would like a calm week and could actually have one was something Charlie could not quite grasp. He imagined her having to run from guys following her around the entire time.
“Where are your friends tonight?” Charlie asked. “You look like you just came from dinner at some nice place. That’s a nice dress.” Charlie thought, “Mullins, you are sounding so damned stupid!”
“No, I’m not coming from a dinner. I’m going to one. I thought maybe you might be a bit tired of this trattoria, so I thought you and I might go out for dinner. I hope I am not being too forward. I mean we can stay here if you want, but I thought you might want to vary the routine a little. Is that okay?”
Charlie’s heart was almost in his mouth. He had not expected to be invited to dinner by this marvelous creature sitting across from him. “Why no, I mean, yes. I mean yes it’s okay and no, you are not being forward. Yeah, let’s go to dinner.”
Suddenly Charlie wondered where he should take Gina. Her outfit was appropriate for any nice restaurant but her looks justified only the best. He had no idea what she might be used to. This was not the kind of woman you would take out for a Philly cheese steak sandwich! On the other hand, he did not want to seem to be showing off or seeming to be trying to impress her. After only a couple of meetings, he knew that Gina Ferrelli was not easily impressed and would not be bowled over by the most expensive place in town. He thought, “Where the hell can I take her to dinner that we can eat well and have the right atmosphere without seeming to want to impress?”
He suddenly remembered a very nice restaurant on S. 17th Street. “He asked Gina if she knew the place. She did and liked it.
“I know it, and it’s just fine Charlie. I would just like a quiet evening, a good meal, and some interesting conversation with a gentleman. That OK, Charlie?”
“I can’t imagine a better suggestion.” said Charlie.
Johnny, the waiter, suggested that they take a cab to the restaurant, leaving Charlie’s car in the parking garage across the street from the trattoria. He went outside and flagged down a cab for them. He told them not to worry about a reservation. He had a friend who worked at the restaurant and he would make sure they got a table.
Over dinner Gina asked Charlie about himself. He told her that he was a financial executive at the Shaw Corporation and that both his parents had died while he was in the Army. His father had been a technical representative – a kind of troubleshooter with customers and his mother a housewife. His father died of a heart attack during a visit to a client company and his mother died about a year later of cancer. He was sure that his father’s death just sapped his mother’s will to live. They had been close and were exceptionally dedicated to each other. Living alone for either would have been a death sentence. He told Gina about his days at La Salle and his friend Joey Esposito. He mentioned his marriage and divorce and what now seemed to be a rather boring life in Shoreville. Gina listened attentively. Charlie had never felt so comfortable around anyone and he told her everything about his life. He was surprised at his own openness given his almost obsessive concern with privacy.
He suddenly realized that he had practically monopolized the entire evening talking about himself. Gina, however, appeared interested. He was not boring her, or at least it appeared that way.
He stopped, “Jeez, Gina, I’ve spent almost the entire evening talking about myself. I’m sorry. Tell me something about you.”
Gina told him that her parents had died in an automobile accident when she was a toddler. She was raised by her uncle to whom she was totally dedicated. She went to Catholic grammar and high school and went to college at Bryn Mawr where she majored in Literature. Her uncle was a wealthy businessman and did not want her to work so he paid her a hefty allowance and put her up in an upscale apartment in a building in which he was a partner. To keep herself busy and not feel like a parasite on her uncle’s largess, Gina was involved in numerous local charities and did volunteer work at the Catholic grammar school where she had studied.
Charlie had a bit of difficulty getting his mind around the idea of not having to work for a living. He was from a working class environment. His father literally worked himself to death for the Shaw Corporation and his mother managed the house, saving every available cent to send Charlie to college. Charlie had worked his entire life starting as a bag boy at Joey Wilson’s father’s grocery store. He had held part-time jobs in high-school for spending money and to help finance his college education. He had worked part-time in the library at La Salle for spending cash. He could not even imagine a life without work. He wondered why Gina was so unpretentious given her circumstances. She obviously had the money and the poise to be running around with Philly’s “hoity-toity” crowd. But she was a down-to-earth person who appeared to be unconcerned for those people. The only people he had known who did not have to work were the daughters of Old Man Shaw and they were the most pretentious, self-centered people he had ever seen. If Gina had not told him about her circumstances, he would have thought of her as a young career woman maybe working for a publishing company.
By the end of the evening, Charlie was totally taken by Gina and he wondered what sort of chance he would have with someone like her. Having shared their respective pasts and mellowed by the good Tuscan wine that accompanied their dinner, Charlie said, “Gina, I really enjoy being with you. You didn’t mention any guys in your life and I wonder if we could see each other more often. I have to confess that I have never been around someone like you, but I really enjoy your company. Could we do this again?”
Gina laughed easily. “Charlie, do you think I had nothing to do this evening? My friends called me and wanted to go out. I said ‘no’ because I wanted to have dinner with you. Just the two of us. I wanted to get to know you because I like being around you too. As for any men in my life, no, I am not in a relationship. I am well aware that I am attractive to men and my financial situation makes me even more so, but I am totally bored by the guys I have met. They are all so bent on impressing me that they come across as totally phony and so damned self-centered that they have no time for me as a person. I’m not anyone’s trophy.”
Charlie was ecstatic and he was down for the count. Gina had him totally wrapped up and he had not the slightest concern about it. He had opened himself up as never before with a woman he had known for only a couple of weeks and he did not feel vulnerable. His privacy had not been invaded – he had opened the floodgates himself.
They finished their dinner, had some espresso and then called for a cab to take them back to Charlie’s car. The trattoria was still open when they got back to the parking garage. Gina turned to Charlie and said, “Don’t worry about taking me home, Charlie. I’ll stay in the cab and you can go get your car.”
“You sure, Gina? I don’t mind dropping you off.” Actually, Charlie wanted to spend as many minutes as possible with Gina.
“No, I don’t live far from here. I’ll just stay in the taxi. Thanks for a wonderful evening. I’ve really enjoyed it and I hope we can do it again. Shall we meet here next Saturday?”
“Yeah”, said Charlie a bit too quickly, he thought. “Same time next week?” He wanted to ask Gina for her telephone number but since she had not offered it, he decided not to. The trattoria would serve as a meeting place for the time being.
Gina gave Charlie a light kiss on the cheek and said good night. Charlie stepped from the taxi and offered to pay the driver when Gina said, “That’s OK Charlie, the dinner was my idea, I’ll handle the cab.”
“No, Gina, let me get this. You’re not supposed to pay your own way. I’m still a bit old-fashioned. I’ll get it.”
“No Charlie, I’m a liberated woman and one of independent financial means. I can handle a cab fare.” She laughed gently and Charlie realized that he was not going to pay the cab no matter how much he insisted.