Beyond The Coral (A Luberto Story)

Chapter 6- Gelato in Genova

"Alberto, feast your eyes on the best, most glorious building in all of Genova! I present to you... drum roll pleaasseee... Genova Gelato!"

Alberto stood dumbfounded in front of the small building that he was looking at. For how much Giulia had been hyping it up, it looked like a pretty average, regular building.

"Giulia..."

"It's great, isn't it?" Giulia asked excitedly, moving toward the door of the building before anyone else could.

Alberto was used to the colorful, bright buildings in Portorosso. They were much smaller than the buildings in Genova. They were quaint. But at the same time, they had a certain charm to them that Alberto had gotten used to.

So when he arrived in Genova, seeing the buildings were slightly off-putting. Something about the buildings seemed a lot less charming. They weren't ugly, but the Genova shop that Alberto was staring at was so different.

"It's... different," he finally spoke.

"That's not always a bad thing, Alberto," Luca chimed in. "Trust me, I've been here before. It'll be fun!"

He did not doubt in his mind that Luca was right. Sure, it may not be Portorosso gelato, but it's still gelato.

You can't go wrong with gelato.

___________________________

On the other side of town, the sound of excitement and the buzzing of the townsfolk could be heard throughout the air as many set up for the big event. Every year, as the summer ended and people were slowly trickling back into Genova, a public event was held right in Genova's main plaza. Surrounded by booths filled with merchandise and delicious food sat rows of tables for socializing and eating. Small stages were placed in the back for music groups to play. Games were spread throughout the area for kids to enjoy. The event was a yearly tradition for those who lived in Genova, but it wasn't only for the fun and games. The candidates for the prestigious position of Genova's very own mayor would often give speeches in the middle of the plaza. Being a relatively small town, almost everyone would hear about the candidates, regardless of if they attended the event or not. In addition, the speeches from each candidate were almost always broadcasted on television. Whether they liked it or not, it seemed like the entire town's eyes would be on the candidates.

One of those candidates was the town's current mayor, a pale and grimly man named Alfred Beckett. Being the son and grandson of Genova's previous mayors, Alfred was the next in line to continue his family's legacy, a legacy which held generation after generation of mayors. And as silly as that sounded, it was taken quite seriously within the Beckett family.

Alfred stood in the middle of the plaza where the podium and microphone stood. He took his notecards out of his coat pocket, shuffling them around in his hands over and over again until they were stacked perfectly even on top of each other. He imagined the crowds of people that he would be presenting to later in the day, straightening his tie and adjusting his circular framed glasses. Alfred was a sickly man, a perfect example of a human who had been driven to insanity trying to keep up with the heavy expectations set on his shoulders. As he became older, the burdens of his family name, which at first seemed to give him respect and admiration from others, further pushed him into following his father and grandfather into becoming the next mayor of Genova. Achieving that goal and keeping his family legacy alive would influence every decision he made, sometimes pushing him to pure desperation to get what he wanted. And that's what he had done— he had been the current mayor of Genova for the past two years. Now, he was facing the struggle of winning his potential re-election. With the general public's mostly favorable opinion of his family, Alfred had no doubt that he could win. But whether or not he wanted to win was a different question.