The Italian's proposal

Chapter 27

Chapter Twenty-seven

Timothy

Timothy arrived at his apartment after ten o’clock that night, he has been arriving late at night for three days. He went from his apartment to his work and back. He didn’t feel like going out or seeing anyone, he had to put up with all his mother’s rantings and his father’s disagreement with the decisions he made regarding Melody. He was in no mood to put up with the constant complaints about Giannato’s marriage.

“She left you at the altar!” his mother had told him the same day of the wedding.

“I don’t know what you were thinking marrying a young lady like that,” his father had said, as he poured himself a shot of whiskey. “You could have hit on one who wasn’t pregnant by another man. You’re not bad looking, and with how well positioned our family is, I’m sure, we could find you a wife who would want to be linked to you.”

He understood the desperation and public embarrassment his parents were going through at the moment, he himself felt ashamed, but he did the right thing by letting her go and going his own way. At least, that was what he kept repeating to himself like a mantra. The fact was that his parents forgot that he, above all, was the one who was most affected by this situation.

The company would not be devalued, his profits would not diminish, even the three million that were stolen had been recovered. He had to use the force of the police, because he knew a person there who owed him a favor, and together with him, he made Equilay Thompson hand over all the stolen money.

Even after his sister-in-law intervened on his behalf, he wanted to do the right thing in a good way, even though he did not deserve it, Timothy did not want him to get away with the crime, he wanted to make him pay, at least, he wanted him to hand over all the money, and he did not hesitate for a minute

to use his contacts in the police to put pressure on him. But there were worse things in the world, worse things he had to worry about, things that if he had been aware of them in time they might not have happened. He could have anticipated losing Melody.

“You don’t know her!” he said to his parents, who invaded his apartment at the conclusion of the failed ceremony. “You are judging her without knowing her.”

They didn’t understand the situation he was going through. His parents had no idea of the agreement he agreed with Melody and he intended to take the truth to his grave.

He had enough to do with his sister-in-law and Hamlet knowing the true root of their union.

“Neither do you. You don’t know her, and you’ll never know her, because she’s gone, you don’t know what kind of conflict she might have had with the father of her child. Did you ever stop to think that maybe she wanted to get back together with that man?” his mother walked up to him and put her hands behind his back, he was looking down the street, the buildings seemed so far away, as far away as he wanted to be at that moment from anyone who spoke, who breathed.

Of course, he thought about it! But just as the thought came, so it vanished. Melody was a woman of principle and unbreakable character. If that man didn’t want her baby in the first place, he was sure, she wouldn’t be looking for him.

“I don’t want to be the one to tell you this, my son, because I care about you and I always will, I will support the decisions you make, even when I don’t agree, that’s what we parents are for, to support their children even when we don’t agree. But the truth is that you don’t know anything about that girl, did you meet her what, a month ago? And in that few days you realize that you can marry her? No, my dear son. Relationships don’t work like that.”

“I know her well enough,” he rebutted annoyed, “and frankly I’m uncomfortable with this, mother, you can’t see what I see.”

“We can’t see it because you didn’t give us a chance to get to know this girl. Because you only took her to the family dinner your mother forced you to go to,” this time it was his father who raised his voice.

He rarely heard him get upset, not even when he found out that someone stole three million dollars from the company. His father didn’t lose control over anything. That was why he was one of the most accurate and prestigious businessmen, both, in Italy and in the United States.

“You don’t understand anything, but don’t worry, it won’t be necessary anymore,” his voice sounded sharper than he would have wished, but that was how he was feeling.

That was how his heart felt at that moment. As if it were all steel, and not precisely because it was strong, but because it was cold.

He didn’t think it could hurt so much to say goodbye to Melody, but there, in his apartment without her tiny feet and her sincere smile, without her laughter like a clapping walrus. He noticed her absence and it hurts. Those details that might seem stupid and meaningless, now took an indescribable meaning.

It was true that she was not as delicate as the other women he had been with, she was totally different from the stereotype he was supposed to have as a wife, but he was sure that for the first time in his life, she was the woman he wanted to have by his side. Even if it was for only six months.

He hated having to trust anyone but himself, after what happened with Gia, he thought he no longer had the ability to believe in people.

He was minutes away from proposing marriage to a person who was completely superficial and one who didn’t value his affection, devotion, or commitment. At no time Gia valued the year they were together.

Thank heaven he realized before he made the absurd decision, not because he stopped the marriage proposal by an epiphany, but because he discovered her infidelity.

He found it so hard to believe that Melody, such a simple and kind-hearted person, could fall in love with someone like him, so distant and resentful of love. He did not believe himself capable of loving anyone else, although now he was starting to reconsider that possibility, unconsciously.

Even at that moment it was complex for him, he didn’t know that he would be able to offer her what she deserved.

He saw it in her eyes as he watched her drive away in the limousine. He understood that must be one of the hardest things she has ever decided, her future was completely up to chance in the hands of fate and fate hadn’t exactly turned out kindly with her after finding out she was pregnant.

In the month that he lived with her under the same roof, he understood that despite Melody being easy with talking and thinking, there were many things she was silent about. Sometimes he would find her staring at him, and when he asked her if something were wrong, she would just shake her head and tell him nothing.

It was by actions like this that Timothy noticed her. He watched as she made an effort to wait for him for dinner, to go shopping, to sit and watch a movie. She liked to share her free time with him. Something Timothy has never done with anyone. He knew right away; she’d gotten more involved than she’d wanted to.

“You’re shutting down, you don’t say anything, you don’t know anything. While your mother and I are here, waiting for you to tell us what happened. Why did she leave?” his father spoke again, this time more heated and resentful.

“You don’t know what a shame it was, to have walked out of that chapel without a marriage effected. Don’t think you’re going to stay in charge of Giannato Enterprise. You can say goodbye to managing the company.”

“I don’t give a shit, father, what you want to do. I’m sick and tired of you wanting to run my life. You don’t want me as director, then let it be your will. Do you think I’m not capable enough to hold the position of director of Giannato Enterprises?”

His father remained silent without objecting against his words and this did not ease his heart.

He looked at his father with a remorseful face.

It could not be possible that the latter had not a milligram of hope that Timothy could run the company to perfection. Even after more than five years running it, he was grown up, he had been educated to run Giannato Enterprises, and now at twenty-nine his father believed that he didn’t have the capacity to be able to perform a good function.

That killed him.

“I sacrificed five years, Dad, five years! I studied as much as I could, when there were other people my age going off around the world to travel and see life, I was focused on college. I graduated with honors in marketing. Don’t you dare ever imply that I’m not capable of running the company I’ve sacrificed so much for...”

“Tim...”

“No dad. You asked me, and not very nicely, to get married, I tried. Even though I didn’t want to. You set conditions for me to collect what was already mine. I just can’t believe you don’t think I’m...!”

“Tell him. Tell him what’s going on for God’s sake!” his mother shrieked, interrupting Timothy, as she burst into tears on the couch, covering her face with her hands.

“What the...” he didn’t understand at all. It didn’t make any sense at all, his mother’s reaction. “What’s wrong, dad? What’s wrong? Why did mom...?”

“I have cancer,” his father said interrupting him. “I have lung cancer and it’s a little advanced.”

Surprise, and fear, invaded Timothy’s heart.

“Cancer?” he couldn’t believe it. His father was a healthy man. Late in life, but healthy. “Cancer! How long have you known? When did you find this out? How come you couldn’t tell me sooner?”

“I’ve known for a few months,” he admitted simply. He sat down next to his wife and hugged her.

Carlota was crying inconsolably, and now, he was beginning to understand why it all happened.

“That’s why you forced me to marry. That’s why you wanted me to get married in less than six months,” he was a businessman, one who was known for being able to read people’s neurolinguistic language. He focused on his father, the one who taught him to play baseball as a boy, even if he didn’t have much time for the company, he always looked for a way to be in Timothy’s life as much as possible.

“A married man with a family will always be more focused than a single man with a desire to impress women with no aspirations. I can’t know how much time I have left, but I want to see you become a man worth admiring. Admire you even more than I already do.”

“Dad...” Content property of NôvelDra/ma.Org.

“No. I’m not going to die tomorrow, Timothy. Don’t give me that face. I get enough of your mother all hysterical,” his parents seemed more normal at that moment. Timothy scratched the short beard he’d grown and gave them a worried look. “I’m being realistic. This... this disease isn’t something I can be sure to get through another year with.”

“You say you know but you don’t know, do you hear yourself? The only thing we’re clear on is that you wanted to make sure you saw me married, because you don’t know how much time you have.”

“I’m serious Timothy! Get that damn face off!” raising his voice, his father tried to pull back together the sea of pain that was ripping through his chest and making him want to cry.

He never cried.

He didn’t and he wouldn’t start now.

He had to be strong for his family, for his father, more than ever, his family deserved him to be strong and to be able to handle the circumstances and achieve what was best for his lineage.

“I’m sorry for putting you in this position. I shouldn’t have been conditioning you. But it’s just that when you broke up with Gia, we saw you lost.”

Timothy walked over to his father and smiled slightly, even though he didn’t really feel the slightest bit of happiness.

At that moment, he was beginning to believe that this was going to be the worst day of his life, the day Melody decided to leave and the dismal day his father confessed having that diabolical and pitiful disease.

But he wanted to be optimistic, he had to be. His parents had no one else but him, he was the only son of that marriage, he was the only son of his parents and therefore, all the responsibility and the duty to maintain strength and emotional stability belonged to him, he was not going to let his family down at such a critical moment.

“We’ll get through this dad. You’ll see how you work it out. I can fix it,” he murmured almost in tears. “Nothing is going to happen to you. I won’t let anything happen to you.”

“Timothy, you have to understand that I’m a grown man, the truths are already being told up front. I made a mistake in not telling you long ago what I am suffering from,” his father got up from the couch

and walked two steps towards him, looked him in the eyes and continued, “but this marriage thing, I only did it because I love you, because you are my only son and the best I could have wished for, even though you lost your way when your relationship ended so suddenly, I know you are a good man and I know you will do your best for your mother in the event of my absence.”

“You’re not going to be absent, dad. Nothing is going to happen, technology, science, everything is extremely advanced. You’ll see how everything will be solved and, in a few months, we’ll be laughing about this. All the money you have made with the Giannato Enterprises must be worth something. Something good must come out of your sacrifice.”

“Thank you for being so optimistic, but...”

“We’ll find a way,” he continued as if he didn’t hear him. He spoke almost on automatic, unwilling to give way to pain. “We’ll go to every doctor necessary, chemotherapy, surgery, we’ll do whatever it takes to save you and keep you with us for another hundred years.”

And he wished to believe that was true.

That’s why he had been more distracted than usual for three days, he promised not to tell anyone, that it would remain a family secret, something between them and only them, until he had an answer to give, until he had the certainty, whether positive or negative of what was going to happen to his father. Even to Hamlet’s parents, who were his aunt and uncle, he would not tell them anything until he was sure he examined all the alternatives.

His phone rang at that moment, he saw the screen and realized it was his cousin. He had no desire to talk to anyone and that included Hamlet. He put the call down and finished entering the room.

Within seconds his cell phone rang again, what the hell could his cousin want at that time of night?

“What the hell do you want Hamlet? I’m pretty busy right now,” he decided to accept the call, just to get him to stop looking for him.

He really wasn’t in the mood, he had too many things on his mind, mainly a black-haired girl who took up all his thoughts. His day to day was spent worrying about if she was eating, if she was sleeping, about how she was doing, even though he kept repeating to himself a thousand times that he didn’t have time for a relationship with someone like Melody, his heart was screaming for him to call her, to look for her, but his pride was stronger than everything.

He told himself that he would not look for her, she decided to leave with pain in her heart and he accepted that she was leaving. He tried not to leave her alone, so he sought out her sister and asked her to check on her, but that was all he was going to do to intervene. Melody had been quite clear, she didn’t want him in her life, she didn’t want him in her life, he knew she was interested in something else, he needed to grant her the vote of willpower she had. Soon, everything his parents said to him that night of the wedding, started to make sense. They were not of the same world, sooner than later, but surely, he accepted the reality of both of them. As Melody said goodbye and left him for good, he understood that they were not right for each other. Not because she didn’t want him, but because he was afraid.

That was it.

He was afraid he couldn’t handle it all. The most important thing now was to stay in charge of his family and take care of his parents. Carlota had fallen into a depression, thanks to the uncertainty of not knowing if her husband would live for long.

“We’re going out tomorrow,” her cousin reported.

“And who told you I want to go out?” he didn’t feel like eating. He didn’t shave and hadn’t been to the gym for the past three days.

“You can’t just lie down and die. I’ve been talking to Devina and we both think you should go out and have some fun, blow off at least one night so I’m giving you the chance to get you mentally prepared. Tomorrow I’ll pick you up, we could go to that golf bar you took me once.”

“It’s not a golf bar, it’s just called Golf Bar,” he corrected, “and I tell you what Hamlet, I don’t give a shit what you think is best for me. Your redhead has done enough. Tell her I appreciate her wanting to help me, but I’m fine, I’m not going to slit my wrists, or throw myself off the penthouse. You both can rest easy I have too many things to do, to go out drinking with you.”

“I’m being polite with you, out of respect for your parents, but I’ll tell you that I don’t give a damn what you want or don’t want. You’re going out with me and there’s not going to be a rock you can crawl under to hide. So, listen to me, Timothy Giannato, I saw you in diapers, I saw you running around naked, I know you’re hurt, I know you’re sad, I’m trying to cheer you up as best I can. This wasn’t like Gia. You look really upset.”

“You have no idea what you’re talking about Hamlet, I’m not your charity act, I’m not Manello,” that was a cheap shot. He knew that, but he was so angry at life, he was furious at what was happening to him, that he wanted to see the first person who crossed his path suffer.

He didn’t classify himself as the best person in the world, but with his father’s recently discovered illness and the failed, short-lived affair with Melody, things weren’t going so well for him and his mood was starting to fall apart.

Hamlet’s brother was killed in a traffic accident. Manello raced at high speed, a lover of racing cars like Timothy. They both shared the same taste. That night Manello invited him to race, but Timothy planned to have dinner with a Gia, his girlfriend at the time, and declined the offer.

That night, Manello died and for a long time he thought that, maybe, if he would have gone along, nothing bad would have happened and Manello would still be alive.

“I know you’re upset; I understand you. You’ re furious. But don’t you dare mention Manello’s name,” there was no thing that upset Hamlet more than someone mentioning his deceased younger brother in a bad way.

“I’m sorry. I’m in deep shit, Hamlet. I don’t know how to get out of this. It’s like I’ve got a sumo wrestler on my chest constantly, not letting me breathe. Keeping me from moving.”

“It’s called love, dear cousin. I’ve been there. You’re lucky you have a pretty face and money because you’re quite brute,” his cousin laughed on the other end of the line. “She loves you; you know that don’t you?”

“I think she does, but I just don’t...”

“You’d rather let her go than take a chance. Look what an asshole you are! When I knew I wanted more of Devina, I pushed myself until I had her to myself and she saw...”

“It’s not the same thing. Melody’s pregnant, she’s doing what’s best for her child,” he defended himself. Though he knew his defense lacked logic.

“Tonight, while you sleep, think about whether or not you love her. See you tomorrow.”

His cousin hung up and left him all uncertain and troubled.

Did he love her?

Could it be that he really was in love with Melody?

Maybe it would do good for him to go out with Hamlet for a while and forget for a few hours the bad time that was making him so confused and irritated.

With that thought he went to bed, once he showered and had a sandwich for dinner.

The next evening, his cousin arrived punctually at his apartment.

“Ready?” he asked as soon as he arrived.

He wore a lime green shirt and black pants that fit his toned thighs a little snugly.

“Come on now,” he didn’t want to waste any time.

“Did you think about what I said last night, do you love her?”

“Fuck, you look like a woman, Hamlet. You’re letting yourself get contaminated by your little wife. You’re sticking your spoon where you’re not called,” he headed for the elevator and waited for it to open the doors.

“I tried to warn you.”

“What?” he didn’t understand what the hell she meant.

“I tried to prepare you,” he continued as he smiled. “But you’re like a horse, you don’t see out the sides. You go straight ahead.”

“You started drinking early?”

“Look at me and tell me you love her. Then I’ll leave you alone.”

“Fuck yes! I love her! I miss her!” enraged he hit Hamlet in the chest with a half-clenched fist. “Happy? You got me tired with your bullshit! Why the fuck do you care? She’s gone! She’s gone! She decided to leave. That’s the way it is.”

His cousin raised one of his eyebrows and folded his arms as he gave him a huge grin.

“What? Do I look like a clown or what? Let’s get the hell out of here,” the elevator doors opened, and his gaze met his girl’s. The woman who hadn’t been out of his head for a moment. “Melody.”