One More Day of Life

Part III

Gali immediately felt the change in temperature as she walked into Café La Fortuna. The cold December winter of New York was one she had not missed one bit.

"Gali! I wasn't expecting you."

"Uncle Vinny, how are you?" she smiled.

"Wonderful, but I thought you couldn't make it until later this week..."

"My first appointment cancelled this morning so I thought we could take a look at that paperwork you wanted me to see."

"That would be great! You know how Alice gets when tax season gets near." he smiled.

Gali laughed. She thought back to last year when she had done their taxes for the first time.

"How about some coffee?"

"Never turned down a cup yet." she smiled as she took a seat at one of the tables.

"How's my nephew doing?" Uncle Vinny asked her as he set down a latte in front of her and sat down in the opposite chair from her.

"Rob is doing great. He seems to be adjusting to life back in New York a lot faster than he thought he would."

"I never thought he'd ever return here...he was so determined to leave. I think you had a lot to do with him coming back to New York."

Gali smiled. "One of the things I loved about Rob when I met him was how close he was to his family, despite the distance. I think that is what brought him back."

Marrying Rob had given Gali the family she had always yearned for. When Rob had made the decision to move back to New York, Gali couldn't have been happier. All of his family lived here and they had taken her in as one of it's members.

"Well, I for one, am glad to have both of you here...and both Alice and I are thrilled to have you as our accountant." he smiled. "Let me get you those papers." he said as he stood up and went into the back office.

Gali looked around, admiring the black tin roof and brick walls that were decorated with vinyl records and a few autographed photos. The place had a warmth to it that Gali couldn't explain.

"Here you go." Uncle Vinny said handing Gali a stack of papers.

"I'll start working on these." she said as she saw the first customer of the day coming through the doors.

"Thank you." he smiled as he went to tend to the middle aged woman who was looking at the pastries.

For the next 45 minutes, a string of customers walked into the café. Despite concentrating on the stack of papers in front of her, Gali couldn't help smiling as she overheard bits of conversations between Uncle Vinny and his customers. It was obvious just how fond he was of both the café and his customers, which seemed more like family that clients.

"Gali..." Uncle Vinny said softly.

"Yes?" Gali said looking up at him. He was holding a cappuccino in his hand.

"Why don't you take a little break and come with me for a minute...I want to introduce you to someone."

"Sure." she smiled and stood up.

She followed him through the now isolated café and into the back garden. There was a single man sitting at a table, his back towards them. She walked a few steps behind him until they reached his table and Uncle Vinny set the cappuccino on the table. It was then that the man looked up from the newspaper he was reading.

"John...I'd like to introduce you to Gali...you remember I mentioned my nephew Rob was back in New York? She's his wife."

***