Milan enjoyed the conversation too.

”Yes, I can see grapes and vines around the legs of a dining table, or on the frame of a bigger mirror,” he said thoughtfully.

When Antonia reminded him about the invitation, he smiled eagerly, waiting for the man’s reply.

”Of course I’ll like accompanying you there and seeing all the wonders. I don’t know if you can afford not having me around for a short time, as signor Medina is proposing to hire me for a short time, so that we could learn from each other,” he added tentatively.

He would have loved the opportunity, but he understood it was not easy for his cousin to run the printing house since her father wasn’t able to work anymore.

@Kimmie

He smiled, first toward Antonia, then toward Milan. He nodded to the both of them, “I just hope that my home is not too boring… I am still working to fill it with my own work. I may as well do so to showcase, si?” Because, he thought, I have no reason to live in that place on my own, and I have invested too much into it now to turn back.

“Gracias,” he said to Antonia when she congratulated him. “Si, it is lucrative but slowly so to craft gondolas, and I find that I get bored without something else to do in between.” He said this because he had spent a few years living in one room so that he could scrimp and save to better his own life, as well as to have something if a security blanket for when he had a wife.

To Milan, “I can always give one day a week or so if that is more reasonable for all involved… And compensate.” He said this, not knowing that Milan was to be married soon and that a little bit of extra money would be nice for him and his bride.

@Elena

Antonia laughed.

”How can your home be boring? I think any home in the world has the owner’s personality, and you aren’t boring at all.”

She wasn’t paying compliments. She was genuine.

”I think showcasing is a good idea for promoting your skills.”

Antonia nodded at hearing her cousin’s enthusiastic words. In a way, she was amused by them. On the other side, she wasn’t sure how to manage without him in the given conditions, until signor Medina himself found the best solution.

”I think it is the best solution to work one day of the week for him and the others for us. Maybe two if the week is quieter here, as some quiet times happen in each business,” she said. ”It is true that you could both learn from each other useful tips, and I can see this opportunity. I would be too cold-hearted if I denied it to you. Rocco, Nino and I can take over for you one or two days a week.”

They would agree on the details on the visit, and she was already thinking where to place the advertisement signor Medina had brought, in order to be more visible in the next issue of the Gazzetta.

@Kimmie