Page 12 of Three Times You

“Pleasure to meet you.” She’s a lovely young woman with short hair, hazel brown eyes, a slender physique, and a determined smile that dazzles over a sky-blue blouse with turned-up white cuffs and a pair of dark jeans. Her shoes are serious and dark, possibly a pair of Tod’s.

She seems perfect, almost to a fault, but I wouldn’t want to trust my senses, which are somewhat befuddled as of this moment.

Giorgio smiles at me, pleased with himself. “I told her about what happened. You can go, Alice.”

“Yes, thanks, but there was just one more thing I wanted to say. This job is very important to me. I like the way I see Futura growing, and I like what you’ve built so far. I’d never sell my soul for a handful of cash, and I’d never tell a corporate secret to others. If I received a more attractive offer, I’d come talk it over with you, and I’d try to find an accommodation.” With that she turns to go and shuts my office door behind her.

Giorgio glances at me. “Well? What do you say? Do you like her?”

“In what context?”

“Professionally speaking.”

“She scares me a little bit.”

“You’re afraid of someone who speaks the truth? That doesn’t seem like you.”

“You’re right, I was just kidding. She seems reliable to me. She’s direct, sincere, and transparent.” I go and sit down behind my desk. “I’m just curious about one thing. How did you find Alice?”

“Research…”Giorgio knows what he’s doing but I wonder what’s involved in that research. Then he points to something on my desk. “If you don’t believe me, take a look at her résumé. You place so much stock in the internet, but then when someone uses it the way it’s supposed to be used, you become all suspicious and refuse to believe him because you think it’s unreliable somehow. I applied the filters for what we needed and hit ‘search.’ I came up with roughly five hundred résumés. Then I narrowed it with my own filters, and Alice Abbati popped up.”

“So what are these filters of yours?”

“Now you’re asking too much.”

“You’re right. I was just wondering if there was something I missed.”

“Well, how about this? She speaks perfect English, and she knows Chinese, and you know that it would be a great thing to grow Futura in China. Last minor detail, her father is a general in the Financial Police.”

I look at him curiously.

“Someday that could come in handy.”

“I sure hope not. I’d like to be able to just go on working without having problems.”

“Sometimes the problems you have are because other people created them for you. That’s why it could come in handy.”

“Okay, fair enough. So, you know what I say?” I scan through her résumé, stunned at the sheer volume of her skills and achievements. “I say that Alice strikes me as truly the perfect assistant. Congratulations on your recruitment skills and hiring choices. We should give her a raise right away.”

Giorgio starts laughing. “I can never figure out if you’re actually paying me a compliment or if you’re still just pulling my leg…”

“One thing or the other is correct. You be the judge.”

He sits down across from me. “The strength of a company is the team that runs it. We’re united, we’re winners, and today is a very important day. By the way, how did it go yesterday? Can we talk about that?”

I look at him. I seem to glimpse Pollo sitting on the sofa to my right, nodding his head. All right then, there are two possibilities. Either I need to cut my drinking or go see a psychiatrist and admit that I’m having continuous visions. I open the grates and throw open the windows overlooking the garden. That way it’s much nicer, and there’s more light too. “Yes. It went well. I discovered in a single day that I’m a father…”

“You already told me that.”

“But a father of two children, though!”

“Another one? I wasn’t expecting that. I think you need to examine one aspect of your life. I know that you love women, but let me remind you that you’re about to get married, and as if that’s not enough, Futura is growing, and if you keep pumping out children like this, I’m not sure the company will be able to keep up with you so you’ve never, by any chance, heard of those strange objects made of latex that resemble balloons? We call them condoms, I believe.”

“Don’t worry. Gin is expecting the other baby.”

“Then I’m happy for you. Should we be expecting more news of this sort today? Any other occurrences we might have forgotten to put into our calculations? No? I mean, I’m asking just in case there’s anything I should know.”

“As strange as you might find this fact, over the past few years, absolutely nothing has happened that might result in babies I wouldn’t be well aware of, okay? I’ve devoted myself body and soul to Futura, and yet…”

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