Chapter 15
15
DARIO
The lunch service in the restaurant had been busy, mostly with workers from nearby offices that had knocked off early because it was the last day of the year, and tourists that had travelled to the city to revel in the celebrations tonight. There were still a few stragglers sitting at tables, making the most of their afternoon off, but Dario knew from experience that they would drift away soon, taking advantage of the interlude before the parties started.
When he and Bruno were kids, his mamma, Alicia, had always insisted that they sleep in the afternoons on New Year’s Eve so that they would have the energy to stay up way past their bedtimes. Years later, when he and Bruno were teenagers and Carlo came along, she did the same with his youngest brother. His father used to say it was the only day of the year that the Scots adopted a Mediterranean schedule: a siesta in the afternoon, followed by dinner late in the evening, usually around 10p.m., which geared them up for their riotous celebrations at ‘the bells’ and the parties that would last long into the early hours of the new year. For those hours before dawn, they didn’t have a care in the world. His mother would spin around the room, laughing and dancing with everyone she passed. His dad would climb on a chair and sing at the top of his voice. And everyone would vow that the days to come would be better than the ones that went before.
Over the years, timings had changed a little, but the restaurant’s dinner sitting was still later than usual on the 31 st , starting at 8p.m. instead of six o’clock. That gave plenty of time for food, for drinks, and for Gino to get the music cranked up and get the guests on their feet to dance their way into the New Year. And it never got old. Not one minute of it. Somehow, Dario’s mind still refused to accept that tonight would be the last time he watched his dad in his element like that. The only way to get through this and hold back the waves of devastation that had been ebbing and flowing all day, was to stay busy, keep his mind occupied.
Dario had spent the busiest part of the lunch service out on the floor, but when the buzz died down, he’d sought refuge in the office, checking and rechecking the figures from every angle. The days to come definitely weren’t going to be better than the ones that went before, but he was going to do everything he could to ease the pain for those around him. He’d meant what he’d said to Sonya. He’d make sure she had a job and an income for as long as she needed it, even if he was paying it out of his own pocket. As for the rest of their employees, the waiting staff were mostly students who worked here part-time, so he knew they’d have no problems picking up other work, and he’d give them stellar references and a month’s wages to tide them over until they landed new jobs.
In the kitchen, Matty ran a pretty tight ship, with just two sous-chefs and a pot washer who kept the place gleaming. Again, there were always jobs out there for reliable, talented workers with good references, so he knew that closing down the business wouldn’t change their lives.
Matty was another story. Sonya had managed to get him back in the kitchen as promised, but Dario knew that the storm wasn’t over. There was a whole lot of banging and swearing coming through the wall that separated the kitchen from the office, so Dario was avoiding him for now, grateful that the main restaurant was too far away for the noise to be heard.
He put his pen down on the desk, and shoved the calculator away, then picked up the mug of coffee Sonya had brought in just a few minutes before, on her way out the back for a cigarette.
‘Here you go, big yin. If you want me to shove a couple of shots of something strong in it, I won’t judge you,’ she’d said, as she placed it down on the desk. As always, especially when she was worried about something, her perpetual ranting was on overdrive. ‘If you’re looking for me, I’ll be outside the back door, chain smoking and plotting ways to force my landlord not to sell my flat. In the old days, I’d have offered sexual favours, but I think that time has passed. He’s about 106 and it would kill him. Actually, maybe that’s worth a go.’ She’d flitted seamlessly from one train of thought to another. ‘Anyway, what time is your dad coming in?’
Dario had glanced at the clock on the wall. ‘I’m not sure but probably about four o’clock.’ Gino didn’t keep him informed of his schedule – just came and went whenever he pleased.
‘Right, well I’ll go and have my breakdown over him being devastated now, and then I can put a brave face on when he needs me,’ Sonya had said, before going out as she came in, at Road Runner speed and trailing a cloud of nervous energy behind her.
Peace restored now, Dario took a sip of the warm liquid and then reached down to his bottom desk drawer and opened it. There was a picture there. His mum and dad, next to him on the day he left school.
He could remember it all like it was yesterday. He’d been about seventeen, and he’d already worked in the restaurant for years, first washing dishes in the kitchen, and then, when he hit his teens, he was allowed out on the floor to serve guests. Dario had soon realised he preferred the seclusion of the kitchen and the artistry of the food. When the time had come for him to make his life choices, there was never an option to do anything other than carry on the legacy that his parents had created from nothing but dreams and graft.
All his life, he’d heard Gino tell everyone who would listen that he was the luckiest man in the world. He had his restaurant, his family and the most gracious woman on earth. What more could he ever want in life?
Only one thing, Dario realised now. For his blessings to last until the day he died.
The door opened again, and Nicky popped her head in. ‘That’s the worst of the madness over out there, so I’m going to nip home for a couple of hours to restore my fabulousness. How’re you holding up? Anything to report?’ She spotted what he was holding in his hands and came all the way into the office, letting the door close behind her. ‘Bloody hell, it’s a long time since I saw that photograph.’
‘I was thinking the same thing,’ Dario told her, with a sad smile, as he placed the wooden frame down on the desk, glad of the interruption from his thoughts.
‘You all looked so happy there. And your mum…’ Nicky peered at the image. ‘I’ve always thought she looked like Sophia Loren. Your dad definitely got lucky the day he found her. And look at you, all smiles and skinny legs.’
‘Yeah, I still had them when we married, so they must have worked for you,’ he teased, before his eyes drifted back to the photo. ‘You know, I’m not sure that I was really happy that day. All my mates were going off on holiday or to start jobs and figure their lives out, but mine was all a foregone conclusion. Choices didn’t factor into any of it.’ He paused, surprised at himself. ‘I don’t know that I’ve ever said that out loud before.’
‘So let me ask you,’ Nicky said, moving from standing beside him, back to the chair she’d been sitting in earlier. ‘If you had to go back, would you do it all again? Make all the same decisions?’
‘Some of them. Maybe not all.’
They let that sit between for a few seconds, until Nicky let out a slow, meaningful sigh. ‘Want to know what I think?’
‘I don’t think so. The freedom to ignore your thoughts was one of the perks of the divorce,’ he joked, trying to cover up an uncomfortable feeling that he wouldn’t like what she had to say.
‘True, but being allowed to piss you off is one of my perks, so I’m going for it anyway.’ She took a breath. ‘But I want you to remember that all this comes from a loving place in my heart.’
‘Oh God. I’ve never wanted someone to press a fire alarm more than I do right now.’
That didn’t dissuade her. ‘I think that you’ve spent your whole life doing what was expected of you, Dario. I think you trained as a chef, because it was what your parents wanted. I think you went into the family business because it was always taken for granted that you would. I think you worked harder than was asked of you, because you didn’t want to let anyone down. And I think you’ve sacrificed so many other things along the way, including our marriage and time with our kids. I don’t think any of that was ever a conscious choice, but that was the way it all turned out.’
He thought about arguing, but he didn’t have to dig too deep to know that there was some truth to what she said.
‘I really hate it when you’re even partially right,’ he shot back, making her smile.
‘I know,’ she said, her grin getting wider. ‘Another perk of the divorce for me. I get to be way smarter than you and I don’t have to pretend otherwise.’
Even as the barb made him wince, he knew that he’d miss this. Not many people got to see their best mate every single day, and have her point out his flaws in a way that made him laugh, even in the shittiest of times.
‘The thing was I didn’t see any of it at the time. I just went with it all, told myself that it was just the way it was. I’d grown up with a dad that worked day and night and it was just bred into me. That’s just the way it was done. My brothers are exactly the same.’
‘I know. And I worry about them too. Bruno is on his third wife…’ Bruno was the middle brother, the one who’d moved to Asia a decade ago to manage a fabulous restaurant on an island resort, ‘…and Carlo is lucky that Yvie has the patience of a saint. I don’t think any of you ever learned that there’s more to life than work. It was okay for your dad, because him and your mum were true partners in it all, but for you… You just worked a million hours a week and we all had to fit around you. Around this place. Sometimes I used to wish that you came home late and skipped out on holidays because you had a bit on the side. At least that I could compete with.’
‘For what it’s worth, I’m sorry,’ he admitted.
‘I know. I am too. But maybe… don’t shoot me… maybe this is a chance for you to make some of your own decisions, Dario. Start living life on your own terms. At the risk of sounding like one of those shite notepad mottos, life’s too short to waste.’
He took in the poignancy of her words, the sincerity in her voice, right up until she added, ‘And at this rate, you’re going to die a lonely old man who hasn’t had sex for decades, so maybe it’s time you started prioritising finding someone to spend your life with. Have a bit of fun. Live a little.’
‘It’s been so long since I thought about anything else but keeping this place going that I don’t think I remember how.’
‘It’s easy. I’ll draw you pictures,’ she quipped, before adding more seriously, ‘Look, it’s not too late for you to start another life, one that makes you truly happy. Just promise me you’ll think about it.’
Before he could answer, the moment was broken by a familiar booming voice out in the restaurant. Dario knew that the owner of it would be greeting the waiting staff and the guests and that any minute now he would work his way back towards the office.
His dad had arrived.
His personal life and his decisions about his future priorities were going to have to wait, because Dario couldn’t hold off on breaking the news, or his father’s heart, any longer.