Destiny sits in the dark of the flour factory, long after the equipment has been turned off, so there's no danger of a fire or explosion as she gets ready to light a cigarette.
Upon hearing a noise, she stops, putting her lighter away, picks up a stray crowbar, and walks towards it slowly.
"Come out with your hands up!" She shouts, right as her dad appears out of nowhere with another crowbar. "Dad?"
"Destiny, what the hell?" Matteo demands.
"Take a good guess." Destiny says, rolling her eyes.
"You need to get a life." Matteo mutters. "You know what time it is?"
"Almost midnight." Destiny says, checking her watch.
"I checked everywhere else." Matteo says. "No one's gonna bother us until tomorrow morning."
Matteo starts to walk away, but Destiny stops him, calling out, "Hey dad?"
"Yeah?" Matteo turns around.
"Wanna go somewhere? Get a drink?"
"You remember the last time we did this?" Matteo asks as they're seated at a table in a bar.
"No." Destiny shakes her head.
"Neither do I." Matteo says. "Then again, you have your whole life ahead of you."
"Dad, we need to talk about the business." Destiny says.
"Wrong."
"The place is hanging by a thread." Matteo says.
"No it's not."
"Fine, it's not." Destiny says.
"No, it's getting close to it." Matteo amends.
"I just don't understand how." Destiny says.
"I have no idea."
"A year ago, everything was great." Destiny remembers.
"When I first opened the factory, I knew it was gonna succeed." Matteo says instead. "I don't know how to take no for an answer. I was smart. Plus if it failed, I couldn't stay in America. And no way in hell was I going back to Italy empty handed and worse off than when I left. And then the factory succeeded like I knew it would. Now it's like I'm on a train with faulty brakes and I can't get off. Now I have to take out loans, lying on payrolls to give my employees more money, and those stupid books of your mother's. Now the landlord's threatening to quadruple the rent because he knows I'm broke. But you know what?"
"You shouldn't have gone it alone."
"I shouldn't have gone it alone." Matteo repeats in agreement.
"What happened to all your friends, Dad?" Destiny asks. "Cal? Isaac? Burt?"
"Gone. Burt quit last year." Matteo admits. "Isaac's been skimping. Cal's too sick to work. Still getting paid, but."
"Dad." Destiny takes his hand. "I'm not leaving."
"Leaving what?"
"The factory." Destiny clarifies.
"Hold on." Matteo's already shaking his head.
"I'm just gonna talk with your guys to get everything sorted out here." Destiny says. "It's not permanent, I promise. It's just longer than I was supposed to."
"Absolutely not."
"Dad, we need to sort this out." Destiny insists. "We need an accountant, and we need to deal with the landlord."
"And exactly how do you think you're gonna do that?" Matteo asks.
"By buying the building, of course." Destiny says simply.
"Ha!" Matteo laughs. "And you gave your mother a hard time?"
"We can get another loan." Destiny goes on.
"Another one?"
"From the bank ." Destiny emphasizes. "You know I can do it, Dad. Let me."
"And being saved by a woman means money, I presume?" Matteo asks.
"Of course it means money!" Destiny says.
"So really, you're letting me bail you out." Matteo says thoughtfully as he sips his drink.
"Fine, yes. Okay?" Destiny sighs.
"Prove that you're serious." Matteo says. "Prove you're not just gonna bail once it gets tough."
"del Vecchio's my last name too, Dad." Destiny reminds him. "del Vecchio is synonymous with high quality flour, and so help me that's never gonna change if I have anything to say about it."
Matteo nods, so Destiny tries one more thing, "And can you talk to Uncle Joseph? When I quit, Ian kind of took the brunt of it. Tell Uncle Joseph to bail him out. Take Ian's head off the chopping block."
"So now you want me to stick my nose in your uncle's business too?" Matteo asks, already not liking the idea one bit.
"Ian's one of his best." Destiny insists. "Better than I ever was."
"Fine, I'll do it." Matteo says. "But you have to rehire Sanford."
"What? No!" Destiny says outright.
"If I lose Sanford, I lose his wife Gigi too." Matteo explains. "Gigi is our best saleswoman. She's the sole reason our numbers are as high as they are. And Patricia..."
"The bridge playing bitch in the storeroom?" Destiny asks.
"Her husband Bert is my best guy on quality control." Matteo says. "She goes, he goes. I need him."
"Fine, Sanford and Patricia can come back." Destiny concedes, not liking it one bit. "But for the love of God, Dad, they need to fucking do something."
"Sure. Why didn't I think of that?" Matteo says sarcastically as he sips his drink.
"So?" Destiny pushes. "Is it a deal? I stay until everything calms down."
"Okay." Matteo nods.
"As I said. Not forever." Destiny repeats. "I don't wanna be your partner."
"I know. You're already a del Vecchio." Matteo lifts his glass, so Destiny lifts hers as well.
They toast, and drink.
YOU ARE READING
I Just Want to Be With My Wife
HumorSequel to Thank you and Goodnight! Starting the career was the easy part. Keeping it is a whole other ball game. Disappearing for the whole summer and starting a new romance? Forget it. And yet, Luigi's gonna do it all. What could happen?
