9
Alex couldn’t believe how much fun this was. To sit with someone he didn’t share an office with and talk about random incidents. Arianna wasn’t a blue eyed teenager, looking at life optimistically. She was a smart and very capable woman who had done so much in her short time at Symantec. It was wonderful to hear about her life. He wanted to know more about her.
“Tell me about your family, Arianna. You have a winery and land here; there must be so much family history here in St. Helena.”
“There’s history for sure. Umm, let me see. My great grandfather, Alessandro Belmonte, came to the US from Italy in the early 1900s. He used to work a lot of odd jobs and found himself in Napa on a job around the 1920s, and he never left. Well, actually, he found my great-grandma in Napa and that was it for his odd job hustles.”
“That sounds great. But how did he end up in St. Helena with his own estate? That’s a journey far away from home for him.”
“Yes, yes, it is. If you ask Sophie about this, she’ll be able to tell you what exactly happened and how the winery was started. All I know is my great grandpa managed to buy a few acres of land and started growing a few varieties of grape. And then that way, we had a small estate and winery to our name. My great grandpa had two children -- my grandpa, Roberto, and his brother, Stephano. All I know is Grandpa Stephano moved out to New York to start his winery there and that side of my family has wineries there. Grandpa slowly started buying more land and that’s how we have our winery as it stands today. I’m sorry, I’m not boring you with all this, right? I have a huge family and lots of cousins. I know it can tend to drag for a little while.” She looked sheepish.
“No way, this is interesting. I never managed to ask you any of this after High School.” He paused.
Arianna went quiet. They had managed to skirt around this for a while, but there was a lot to be said about what happened between them. They avoided each other’s eyes.
“What happened to our promise, Alex?” Arianna murmured.
“I…” Alex was speechless.
“I mean, I know we were kids when we actually left for college, but didn’t you ever want to start again?”
“I, I don’t know how I can explain.”
“But we promised to come back and start over. I came back to St. Helena for a few summers during college, trying to find out more about you. All I knew was you were still in college. I tried talking to your brother, but I could get anywhere. And then finally, I stopped looking.” Arianna looked sombre.
Alex colored. That part of his life wasn’t something he visited often. But Arianna deserved an explanation.
“I don’t know if you heard, Arianna. My father left my mother when I was in college. He left her for another woman.”
“What?” Arianna was shocked. Alex’s family hadn’t been very social and this news had not reached her, even with her parents being active members of the community.
“It was a tough time. Mark, well, he rebelled against the world and got into a vicious drinking habit. He’s only kicked it very recently. I had to manage Mama and my education, so I took her with me. I was the college kid who stayed with his Mama.”
Alex looked away. Managing everything had been emotionally exhausting. Mama was in poor health often, and having her with him was a way of making sure she was fine.
“I’m so sorry, Alex. That must have been so hard.” Arianna put her hand over his. He gently moved his thumb on her hand. That one movement sent tingles down her spine and she pulled her hand back as gently as she could.
“For so long I hated every memory of St. Helena, every memory of the place I called home. There was nothing I could do to make Mama’s pain go away or to get Mark to reform himself. I couldn’t stand coming back to these familiar lanes, lanes I frequented with the man who hurt me so badly. I’m sorry, Arianna. I know I promised. But, I didn’t know where home was for so many years till Mama decided to come back.” His grey eyes bore into hers. She nodded.
“I know what you mean about memories. I used to love coming home until it was time Sophie took over. I’d never had a good relationship with my Papa, but things changed.”
“Changed in what way?”
“Well, he became more impatient in one way, and he’d be very dismissive about what either of us were doing. I guess my sister Valentina moved to Anchorage to work with wildlife around that time, and I have no idea what my other sister was doing, but she had moved out too. So Sophie and I took the brunt of his anger.”
“That must have been tough.”
“It certainly was. He wasn’t like that when I was growing up. He was supportive and nice, even though he didn’t think women could achieve much.” She paused. Alex looked skeptical. She gave him a sad smile.
“Yeah, well, that’s why I stopped coming, I guess. I didn’t want to hear someone spell out my own insecurities. And once I got hired, that was it. I only came for the holidays or if I wanted a break.”
“You’ve accomplished a tremendous lot, Arianna. Not many people do exactly what they dreamed of doing and enjoy it. It’s a privilege to be that happy with your career choice.”
Arianna smiled widely. That wide smile warmed his heart. I want her to keep smiling.
Arianna’s phone rang and the moment broke.
“It’s Sophie,” she said, taking the call and moving towards the entrance.
Alex looked up to see a beautiful blonde woman enter. Even though they looked nothing alike, it was evident that Sophie and Arianna loved each other very much. They still held hands coming to the table.
“Sophie, meet Alex. He helped us with the legal work. Alex, meet the love of my life - Sophie. She’s the man, and I mean it, the MAN behind Belmonte Estate.”
Sophie smiled and her blue eyes twinkled.
“Nice to see you, Alex. Thank you for your help with the estate. Why don’t you join us for lunch?” she said, taking the spot Arianna had occupied.
Alex stood up.
“No, no, I’d be imposing. I’ve got to go back and look through the agreement once more in case I’ve missed something. You ladies enjoy your lunch.”
He looked at Arianna.
“I’ll be in touch. Have fun.”
Arianna nodded. Alex started walking towards the exit.
“Alex?” she called out.
“Yeah?” He turned.
“See you around?” She looked hopeful.
“Sure, you promised to buy me dinner.” He smiled and left.
Alex dialed Brian when he entered home.
“Hey, what’s up?” Brian said.
“Oh, a congenial tone. Not in office, I see. Any update? Did Buzz say anything?”
“No, man, unfortunately not. I’ve been buried with casework and I haven’t followed up. You tell me, anything new on your front? Have you uncovered something?”
“Not much here apart from what I sent you over already. I just know their bank and correspondence details. I’ll need Buzz to run them down. Maybe I should give him a call….”
“NO.” Brian almost shouted in the phone.
“Excuse me?” Alex was surprised.
“I, I mean don’t call Buzz. I’m keeping this investigation under the wraps for now, and if you alert Buzz who knows, it may set something off.”
Alex frowned.
“Wait a minute. Didn’t you say Buzz was already on the case?”
“Y-yes, he is, but he told me not to call him because he was being monitored by his team too.”
“Okay, I guess I’ll lay off on calling Buzz for a few days.”
“Thank you.” Brian sounded relieved. An alarm bell started ringing in Alex’s head; something was not right. But this was Brian and Brian was on his side. He pushed aside the feeling that something was wrong.
“Tell me, who is the chick you’re doing all this running around for? Someone you knew already? A love interest?”
“No, why would you say that.” Alex turned red.
“Coz you’ve never done anything for friends before. Not taken any personal cases, I mean. So I guess she must be special. What’s her name?
“Arianna Belmonte. She has a winery and some land in St. Helena. I mean, her family does. There’s something fishy going on about the sale. I’m thinking of reaching out to the BBB.”
“The BBB? Why?”
“Well, the BBB will be able to provide me details about their business and whether they have had other fraudulent complaints from people, and if not, I can lodge one. I can’t see why the winery has to pay money to these parties without knowing why they’re paying.
“Okay, you’ve clearly thought this one out.” Brian’s response was curt.
“Wouldn’t you do that if you were in my place, Brian?” Alex asked.
“Yeah, I guess I probably would. I’ll talk to you later.” Brian disconnected the call.
Well, that was weird. Why would Brian get so worked up about me talking to Buzz? Is he hiding something? Was he telling me the truth about Mr. Schneider having an independent investigation into what happened?
Everything in life was very confusing at the moment. He couldn’t figure out why things were happening to him at work. He couldn’t help Arianna with her problems.
The only thing he was not confused about was his feelings for Arianna. They were deepening. He wanted to see her, wanted to spend time with her, and wanted to keep talking to her. He didn’t like this distance between them one bit.