Broken Hearts On Boulevard Unirii novel Chapter 31

I immediately answered the email.

Dorina,

I wouldn't mind being called lover, but only if you were my love. Since you aren't, let's just leave it as "friend."

I trust your judgment, and I want to buy the apartment. I will send my bank, Raifeissen Bank on Unirii Boulevard, instructions to give you one thousand dollars from my account. Use it as a down payment for the apartment. I am planning to be in Bucharest in two weeks, at which time I will finalize the purchase and pay the balance. In the meantime, please prepare the contract and all the necessary paperwork for the transfer of ownership at the Land Registry Office.

I can't wait to see the progress of the renovations of the apartment on Cismigiu.

Your friend,

Giorgio

I had just purchased my second apartment in Bucharest.

Fabrizio, with the help of Angelo, began setting up the bar. They purchased all the basic furnishings they needed from the warehouse that Fabrizio discovered; desk, small tables, chairs, a refrigerator, a television and a display case. He also purchased an almost-new espresso machine that he saw advertised in the local newspaper.

Fabrizio, who had studied music at the Conservatory in Florence, had seen something on sale that caught his eye and gave him an interesting idea. A piano bar, that was intimate, dark with only few lights, and a lot of ambience.

He bought an old piano for two hundred dollars.

In the end, his total expenditure for all the furnishings was five hundred dollars, half of what he had anticipated it would cost him.

He decided to name the bar "Broken Hearts," and had one of Luciana's friends make a sign.

It was just two weeks since I returned from Bucharest, and here I was getting ready for my next visit. I had arranged to meet Claudio and Elia at the Caffé Dei Costanti the day before my departure. Since the weather on that day was gray and rainy, I was sure they wouldn't come. Nevertheless, at five o'clock they showed up.

"So tell us some news. Have you received your Romanian citizenship yet?" Elia asked.

"You must be kidding," I remarked. "What do I need it for?"

"I was just making fun. I was not serious," he apologized.

"Let me tell you something which you may not know," I said to them. "Bucharest is a flourishing and beautiful city that will one day attract many tourists. All this will happen over the next few years, especially after it will be accepted into the Common Market which is expected in January 2007; in short, in six years,"

"What about our jeep trip next spring?" Claudio asked.

"I have no problem coming on that. I am ready to go, if it is organized properly, but without Sebastian," I said.

"To tell you the truth, I tried calling her once and a man answered the phone, so I hung up and decided not to try again," I replied.

The waitress came around to our table and asked, "Would you like anything else?"

"Yes, you," Elia responded.

She smiled and walked away. She was used to hearing these wise cracks.

"Has anybody heard anything from Gert?" I asked.

"Yes, he called me and asked what the two of you were doing in Bucharest for so long. I told him you sold a kidney and needed to recover and that Fabrizio's heart was stolen and he will never recover," Elia answered.

We all burst out laughing.

"Fabrizio is working very hard and I wish him much success. He is very happy with Luciana. They spend a lot of time with Angelo who is currently alone. He had a falling out with Mihaela, and at the moment they aren't together." I said.

I bid my friends goodbye and we arranged to meet again when I returned. Claudio gave me a sporty leotard to give to Roxana along with a letter. Elia just asked for me to send regards.