The Forever Year

by Lou Aronica

  Carl laughed. “Right, which is why Mickey’s commissions are a third higher than anyone else’s in our group.”

  “That’s very impressive, Mr. Sienna,” the professor said. “To what do you attribute such significant success?”

  Mickey felt a little flushed. “I just try to give people good advice, sir. In my business, if you do that often enough, it gets around.”

  “That’s very sound thinking, Mr. Sienna.” He turned to his son. “Carl, Mickey tells us that you’ve taught him everything he knows, but it seems that he might have a few things to teach as well.”

  “That’s why I watch his every move like a hawk, Dad.”

  Carl, Mickey, and Jessica walked away to meet an old college buddy of Carl’s and his new wife. As they were talking, Mickey glanced over to the sofa where two young women were chatting and laughing. The one on the left was very pretty, but the one on the right was stunning. Lustrous black hair, enormous blue eyes, a smile that electrified. Mickey found himself utterly distracted. It wasn’t simply that this woman was beautiful. Mickey had been in the presence of any number of beautiful women. Jessica was beautiful herself in a sculpted sort of way. It was that this woman’s beauty projected itself. Mickey hadn’t even met her and he felt as though she’d gifted him with a bit of her radiance.

  He might even have been staring, because Jessica eventually tugged on his arm to bring him back into the conversation. Mickey made a moderate effort to stay focused on it, but his mind was elsewhere. He wondered if there was a discreet way to suggest to Carl that he introduce him to the two women next.

  It turned out not to be necessary. After one final burst of laughter from his own group that Mickey might have appreciated if he’d been paying any real attention, Carl pulled Mickey and Jessica away and said, “Gotta introduce you to Sis.” They walked over to the couch where Carl first introduced the woman on the left – Mickey forgot her name instantly – and then the woman on the right as “my horribly spoiled sister, Gina.”

  Mickey shook her hand while he swam in her eyes.

  “Carl has told me so much about you,” he said, adding to himself that Carl had failed to mention that his sister was the most gorgeous woman in the free world.

  Gina smiled for both Mickey and her big brother. “I’m sure at least some of it was true and perhaps even a tiny bit complimentary.”

  Mickey quickly began to rummage his mind to think of something that would elicit another smile.

  “Oh Sis, you know I only say the nicest things about you,” Carl said. He turned to Jessica and added jovially, “I’m an excellent liar.”

  Mickey couldn’t see Jessica’s reaction because he steadfastly refused to look in any direction other than Gina’s.

  “Well, I can’t vouch for whether he was telling the truth or not, but I can tell you that Carl said you were bright, talented, and much, much nicer than he is,” Mickey said to Gina. “I’m guessing he understated it.”

  As Gina transfixed him with the glint from her eyes, once again Jessica pulled on Mickey’s arm. “Do you think we could go get a drink? I’m very thirsty.”

  Mickey allowed Jessica to steer him away, but only because he knew that not doing so would be impolite. A short while after they went to the living room, Jessica headed off to talk with some friends who had just joined the party. Mickey, as casually as possible, made his way back toward the den. The room had gotten more crowded, and while he looked for Gina, another broker at the firm accosted him, seeking his opinion on a textile stock. Mickey gave the man a modicum of his attention while his eyes scanned the room. He wondered if Gina had moved to another part of the house or even left the party altogether. He was about to excuse himself when suddenly Gina was standing beside him. Mickey made one additional comment about the stock and the man walked off.

  “Are you the kind of person who talks about business all day and all night?” Gina said.

  Mickey turned to her to get a better view. “There’s a time and place for everything.”

  “And now?”

  He smiled. “Now, we can talk about anything you’d like.”

  “Even if I wanted to talk about the stock market?”

  “We could talk about the telephone book if that interests you,” Mickey said, reminding himself to avoid appearing too obviously charmed.

  “How gentlemanly. I don’t want to talk about either the stock market or the telephone book. I think both are boring.”

  “Then I’ll leave our topic entirely up to you.”

  Gina made a display of giving this serious attention before her face brightened again.

  “Cocktail parties. What do you think of them?”

  “It all depends on who you meet,” Mickey paused and looked around the room. “I’m enjoying myself very much at this one.”

  “Was that intended to be a compliment?”

  “I was thinking of your father,” Mickey said with a grin, congratulating himself on eluding the too-obvious opportunity to flatter her.

  Gina laughed and her eyes flashed up to embrace Mickey again. He’d never been so drawn into a woman’s expression before.

  “Would you like to sit and talk for a while?” Gina said. “Or is it critical that you mingle?”

  “I’ve mingled enough for the night. I think it’s critical now that we sit and talk.”

  There were no seats available in the living room, dining room, or den, so Gina and Mickey moved to Professor Ceraf’s study.

  “Your father won’t mind that we’re in here?”

  “As long as we keep the conversation intellectually stimulating, he’ll agree that the room is being put to good use.”

  They did precisely that. For a half-hour that seemed to define the beginning and end of time for Mickey, they talked about Gina’s education, the President’s latest speech, an editorial in The New York Times, the theatre, and even their favorite comic strips. A few minutes into the conversation, Mickey realized that he was genuinely fascinated with what Gina had to say – not simply because she was beautiful, but because she spoke with authority and dedication. He wanted to know her in a way that he’d wanted to know few people in his life. The party could not possibly last long enough.

  “I have to admit,” Gina said, “I was hoping we would meet tonight. Carl speaks highly of you. And since he has so few nice things to say about anyone, I was anxious to get to know someone about whom he was so consistently charitable.”

  “I hope I haven’t disappointed you.”

  “No, not at all. In fact you’ve surprised me. Carl is usually a terrible judge of character and his other broker friends have a tendency to be – how should I say it? – single-minded.”

  “You mean they’re focused entirely on money?”

  “Entirely,” she said, rolling her gorgeous eyes. “One of the most boring of all possible topics in the world.”

  Mickey looked around at the mahogany-paneled room and the leather furniture they were seated on. “I think it might be more boring to those who have always had money than to those to whom it is all very new.”

  Gina’s lips turned upward ever so slightly. “You may be right about that.” As had been the case with everything else they discussed that evening, she seemed to be giving his comments serious consideration. “You’re a fun debating partner.”

  Mickey smiled and was about to suggest something else they could debate when he heard a voice from outside of the study say, “Oh, there you are.” It was Jessica. She didn’t seem pleased. “I was wondering where you’d gone.”

  “Jessica, hi. Sorry, there was no place to sit, so we came in here. You remember Gina, don’t you?”

  Jessica’s expression was flat. “Yes, of course.”

  Gina stood and walked toward the door. She touched Mickey’s date on the shoulder. “I apologize, Jessica. I won’t monopolize Mickey any longer.” Then she left the room quickly.

  Mickey immediately felt empty. He was completely unprepared to do anything other than continue t
alking to Gina. He knew it would be horribly rude to say as much to Jessica, but chatting up strangers and associates with a woman who was only marginally interested in him was so much less appealing than the alternative.

  Regardless, if he didn’t want to be impolite, he really didn’t have any choice. They stayed at the party for another hour. Jessica didn’t seem particularly concerned about spending time with Mickey and didn’t even involve him in many of the conversations she brought them into. All the same, she didn’t seem inclined to let Mickey drift off again. Several times during the hour, Mickey caught glimpses of Gina talking to other party guests. Twice, their eyes made contact and Gina smiled before returning her attention to whomever she was speaking. Mickey desperately wanted to go back to the study to learn more about her, but he feared that not only would he incur Jessica’s wrath, but that the moment with Gina might have passed.

  Their coats on and ready to go, Mickey and Jessica said goodbye to Carl and several others at the entrance to the apartment. While they were doing so, Gina walked up to them.

  “Leaving?”

  Mickey tipped his head toward her. “Yes, sadly. We both have busy days tomorrow.”

  “Perhaps my brother will invite the two of you over again sometime so we could get to know each other a little better.”

  Jessica placed her arm inside Mickey’s. “That would be very nice.”

  With that, they walked out the door and into the hallway. As they rode the elevator down to the lobby, Mickey could think of nothing other than Gina’s eyes. When the elevator door opened, he walked out after Jessica and then turned and said, “I forgot something, I’ll be right back.”

  Jessica looked at him quizzically as the elevator doors closed. A moment later, Mickey was back in the apartment asking the man that Gina was talking to if he could excuse them for a moment.

  “I need to see you again,” he said.

  Gina smiled, underscoring the point for him. “But what about your girlfriend? She seems very possessive.”

  “Jessica’s just a friend. In fact, since I have her waiting in the lobby, she might not even be that anymore.”

  “I wouldn’t want to get between the two of you.”

  “I promise you it’s not like that.”

  Gina held Mickey with her eyes for an eternal moment.

  “In that case, you can take me to dinner next Saturday night.”

  Saturday? That was an entire week away.

  “I’d like that,” Mickey said, though he had no idea how he was going to wait that long.

  ~~~~~~~~

  It took three days for Mickey to get a reservation at La Coquille. Finally, a client was able to procure it for him, though Mickey felt a bit guilty about asking the favor or for even bringing up his personal life. Under any other circumstances, he would have gone to Carl for this. Carl had the remarkable ability to free up tables, theatre seats, and hotel rooms, and had become Mickey’s source for the necessary things. Mickey didn’t want to tap his friend for this assignment, though. He wasn’t even sure how to raise the subject of dating Carl’s sister with him.

  “So where are you taking her, anyway?” Carl said out of the blue on Thursday afternoon.

  “Coquille,” Mickey said, certain the awkwardness he felt was clear on his face. “Do you think she’ll like it?”

  “Coquille, huh? Were you planning to go there with someone else already? It’s impossible to get a table without a month’s notice.”

  “You just have to know the right people,” Mickey said, repeating a phrase that Carl had delivered to him several times after doing favors.

  “Good to see you’re taking this seriously.”

  Mickey hesitated before speaking again.

  “I’m sorry I didn’t say anything to you before this. You don’t mind, do you?”

  Carl smiled. “That you’re dating my sister? No, not at all. You’ve given all indications of being a gentleman, Sienna, and I’m sure you’ll continue to be so with Gina. Besides, as long as you’re dating her, I’ll be able to get her to do whatever I want. Anything to prevent me from telling you about the scandalous tutu affair when she was five years old.”

  ~~~~~~~~

  Saturday night could easily have been intimidating if it hadn’t felt so natural. Gina was dressed in a black chiffon dress that made her look at once completely irresistible and utterly refined. Mickey had dated many sophisticated women, but he had never been with anyone as sure of every movement and inflection as Gina. At the same time, she made it unmistakably clear to Mickey that she wanted to be with him. In fact, she made him believe that she would rather be with him than anyone else in the world. It was a heady feeling.

  The restaurant was less inviting. Darkly paneled, dimly lit, and filled with rigid, tuxedoed staff, La Coquille announced itself as unavailable to all but a select few. Fortunately Mickey, dressed in his finest suit, accompanying a woman like Gina, and with a ten-dollar bill tucked in his palm, felt worthy of entrance. He’d eaten in many of the City’s best dining rooms and would not be daunted by the forbidding aura of this French establishment.

  “Do you take all of your first dates to places this impressive?” Gina said after they were seated.

  “You mean this little neighborhood joint? I thought it was best if we started out casually.”

  “Very sound thinking. So are the hamburgers good here?”

  Mickey smiled. In his mind, he and Gina were sitting on a park bench eating hamburgers. Over the past week, he had imagined himself and Gina in a variety of situations. It seemed that any sight or snippet of conversation prompted a vision of a life in which Gina was the center. This was all very new to him. Mickey had been smitten before. He’d certainly been impressed by physical beauty before, but Gina was the first woman who had ever caused him to dream about the future even ahead of their first date.

  At this stage in his life, Mickey was performing a balancing act between honoring his upbringing in a neighborhood comprised mostly of first generation Italian-Americans and striving for the more urbane and worldly air of the New York financial community. He never wanted to forget the warmth and nurture of where he came from, but he couldn’t help but gravitate toward the appeal of the cosmopolitan Manhattan life. Mickey felt that he could appreciate quality and, since he had recently been blessed with the means to surround himself with it, he felt that it would be wasteful not to make the most of the situation. On this night, the refinement that Mickey was cultivating would serve him well. The wine steward complimented his selection. Gina agreed to let him order for the two of them and offered a satisfied smile when he made his selections. When the captain came to their table to check on them, Mickey engaged him in a conversation about a mural on the far wall that coaxed the man into temporarily shedding his blank expression. Mickey wanted to seem polished and wise to Gina, and he actually appeared to be accomplishing that.

  At the same time, everything about Gina impressed him. That she knew the Puligny-Montrachet he had chosen, that she could talk passionately about issues in the day’s news, that she could be amused by things like the little scallop-shell shapes both carved into the walls and embossed on the linens. What impressed him most about Gina, though, was her ambition. Gina didn’t go to college for the sake of an education and the possibility of meeting a husband, as so many other women did. She went because it was a stepping stone toward getting things done.

  “Why the Mayor’s office?” he said as they ate their entrees, hers a pressed duck and his a rack of lamb.

  “I thought about a few things when I got out of school. My father was trying to convince me to do something at Columbia. He said he thought it would make the best use of my skills, but I think it was really because he’d be able to keep an eye on me if I was there. I thought about newspapers, but I had a feeling that they’d try to make me write an advice column or something like that. That tends to be what they do with women. You might think this is odd, but I even thought about going into television.”
/>   “Television?”

  “Yes, I know. Who knows if it’s going to last or if anyone is going to care about it? But I have a feeling that people are going to respond well once they figure out what it is. And I think it might be a good way to do something meaningful.”

  “I can’t say that I’ve paid much attention to it. It’s not like going to the movies.”

  “You’re right. But in the future? Anyway, I asked myself a lot of questions about what I wanted to do with my life, and I realized that, much as I’m not convinced that O’Dwyer is the right person to run New York, the City has a lot of programs that could really help people if those involved make a genuine commitment. When I found out I could get assigned to the women’s shelter project, it just seemed perfect for me.”

  “These are women who have been abandoned by their husbands and can’t support themselves?”

  “That’s a piece of it. But we’re really trying to create a place where women can feel safe and come for refuge. We want these women to know that they don’t need to stay in abusive marriages any longer.”

  It dawned on Mickey that this was yet another way in which Gina was different from other women he’d dated. Most of them had no political opinions at all, and even if they did, they would never consider sharing them on a date.

  “That’s pretty progressive thinking,” he said.

  “It’s time for progressive thinking. Men can be awful to women sometimes.”

  The image of Jackie Pandolfo immediately flashed into Mickey’s mind. Any reminder of the attack on Theresa still wounded him.

  “I’ve learned that,” he said quietly.

  Gina took a sip of wine and looked down at her plate. It appeared to Mickey that she was trying to restrain herself.

  “I must sound strident to you,” she said. “My father tells me that I can get on a soap box faster than anyone he’s ever met in his life.”

  “No, not at all,” Mickey said, brightening. He didn’t want Gina to think that his suddenly darkened mood had anything to do with her. “It’s very stimulating.”

  “Do you really think so?”