Page 10 of Hello Goodbye Amore

“As soon as we get signoff on the designs, we’ll begin preparations and then set up the process.

That usually takes about two to three weeks.

We’ll do some test runs and check them out thoroughly before delivering the first prototypes to you for verification and your testing.

After that, it’s up to your testing staff, as well as regulatory approval.

Once you give the word, we’ll ramp up to initial production levels, which will take a few months.

Part of how we’ll keep costs down is a steady stream of smaller deliveries rather than a huge run with a large single delivery.

You’ll need to specify the number of units and when they’ll be needed.

” He made it sound so simple, but Chase knew that there were a million and one things that could go wrong; there always were.

“All right. I need to get all this written up and over to the team in the States for their review. My boss is going to need to sign off, and that could take a few days.” And a lot of work on his part making and highlighting the updates to the process specified and making sure it was in language Dewey could understand.

“Very good.” Antonello leaned back in the chair behind his desk. “I expected there would be some time needed. If you like, go ahead and make your updates. If you want me to review them, I’ll be happy to, just to ensure there is no miscommunication.”

“All right.” Chase wanted to get out of the office and back to his own.

Antonello’s citrusy cologne mixed with his natural scent was driving Chase crazy and making it difficult for him to concentrate.

Once again he reminded himself that any sort of attraction to Antonello came with pitfalls that he had to avoid.

“It will take some time for me to get everything together.” He hurried out of Antonello’s office and sat at his temporary desk just to clear his head.

“ANTONELLO,” HE said, bringing his laptop to the next office. Another man sat on the corner of Antonello’s desk, looking like he was making himself cozy. Chase cleared his throat, and they both looked at him.

“You must be the American. I am Paolo. It’s nice for you to meet me.”

Antonello groaned. “You’re supposed to say it’s nice to meet you.”

“I’m sorry. My English, it slides sometimes,” Paolo said with an almost seductive smile and sparkling eyes, and Chase wondered if they were for him or for Antonello. “I am glad to meet you.” He turned to Antonello. “Right?”

“You speak better English than that, so stop trying to be endearing. It won’t work.” Antonello stood. “Paolo is a friend.”

“I see.” Okay, so part of him wanted to gouge Paolo’s eyes out.

Not that he had a right to that kind of reaction, and it went against the whole being professional thing, but still.

Chase could see this guy was a player from a mile—and a language barrier—away.

He was not going to push for a further definition of what “friend” meant.

Though the guy was sitting on Antonello’s desk, making himself very much at home.

“What did you want?” Antonello asked Paolo. “Some of us have work to do, and you draping yourself over my desk isn’t helping. Go find yourself someone to occupy you for a few hours.”

Paolo put his hands over his heart. “Your arrows wound me.” So he was a drama queen to boot. “I came to see if you wanted to go out tonight. There’s a big celebration across the Arno, and it’s summer. We can pick on all the lovely girls who are… warm?”

Chase wondered if this guy was for real, and it was even more amusing that he was likely straight.

“Do women really respond to that kind of routine?” If they did, Chase felt sorry for them.

The women he knew were more interested in a guy who was sincere as opposed to acting like some sort of idiom-flubbing clown.

“Hey. I’m cute… no?” He put his hands in the air like his looks made up for everything.

“And the women like me.” He paused. “Him,” he said, looking to Antonello, “I’m not so sure.

It’s been a long time since he went out and had fun.

You work too much and spend all your time with business.

” In Chase’s experience, women had always liked Antonello, and in college there had been plenty of admirers, as well as himself.

Not that anything had come of it, even if the two of them had flirted pretty hard more than once.

Chase was fairly sure that Antonello was at least bisexual, but he wasn’t about to share those suspicions.

That was Antonello’s business and not his to share.

Antonello switched to Italian, and the two of them had a quick but heated-sounding discussion. Chase wondered if he should return to his office, but Antonello switched back to English. “You go and have fun. I have a commitment already.”

Paolo slipped off Antonello’s desk with a dramatic sigh.

“You are going to end up a male old maid if you are not careful. And I bet I said that right.” Chase couldn’t help smiling and flashing a thumbs-up.

Paolo laughed as he strode out of the office.

“Ciao.” Chase wouldn’t be surprised if he stopped at every desk along the way to talk to each of the ladies as he passed by.

“He and I have been friends since we were children. My father and his father are… like brothers.” Antonello sat back down. “There was something you wanted?”

“Yes.” He showed Antonello how he had updated the specifications.

Antonello read them over and nodded.

“Perfetto,” he said with a smile, and Chase sent them to Dewey and Dave for review and approval. It wasn’t a minute before Dewey was on the phone. Chase excused himself, returning to the office to take his call.

“What is this?” Dewey asked snappily. “We had very specific specifications, and they’re already changing them?”

“In a way. Their manufacturing method is something we don’t do in the States, but it’s better, with more built-in quality checks, and they can do it at the price they already quoted.

I just updated the documentation so it reflects the method that will be used.

I asked Dave to review it as well.” He swallowed hard, expecting more pushback, because that was how Dewey was.

“You can’t let yourself go native. You work for us, and we need these parts to be as exact as possible.”

Chase was glad he wasn’t on video as he flipped Dewey the bird.

A familiar chuckle from his doorway told him that Antonello had seen him.

“You sent me here to work with Glorioso, and that’s what I’m doing.

” He kept calm. “If you read the document, you’ll see that there are a number of quality assurance and testing steps built into the process—more than we originally asked for. ”

“Oh.” That caught him off guard. “Well, then, if Dave agrees, we’ll approve it, but this had better work, or you’ll be the one whose head is on the line.” He hung up, and Chase flipped him the bird once more. In fact, he used both hands.

“You could have just read what I sent you. But then that would mean that you actually had the ability to read beyond a first-grade level. Jackass.” He took a deep breath and settled back in the chair. “Sorry. Did you need something?”

“One hell of a first day, isn’t it?”

Chase nodded and checked the time. It was already two, and he had no doubt that he was going to get a number of additional phone calls that day.

“We could go get some lunch,” Antonello offered. Chase tried to find a way to demur but couldn’t think of anything off the top of his head. Besides, Ricky wasn’t here, and what could a lunch hurt?