Viola Santangelo breathed in and took in her surroundings. The sun was merciful that spring morning, burning only over seventy degrees. The soft sea breeze that flew over the water and cradled their cottage only added to the beauty of the morning, and to her great pleasure, her little garden was blooming. She reached in as she tended to the blue hydrangeas that sat along her walls.
The yellow walls created a cheerful and bright ambience that she loved. It was one of the things that she loved about the resort. It was one of the things she loved about their mountain resort at Lake Maggiore district.
"Viola!!!"
A voice called out from the door and she turned and waved. It was their housekeeper Alessandra, she hated it when Viola got herself involved with the gardening, she always told her that she was making the gardener's job a little too easy.
"Vieni dentro!!"
The woman shouted as she signalled for Viola to come inside.
"I'll be in soon Alessandra."
"But Nonno wants to see you now!"
"Nonno?"
She turned towards the cottage and abandoned her hydrangeas. Her grandfather could be touchy at times and she didn't want him to be too impatient with her.
She hurriedly took off her gloves and set her hat properly on her head. She dusted her yellow sundress and quickly took off.
She wondered why her Nonno wanted to see her, she had only recently arrived from America after her graduation. She missed America but Milan was where her heart was.
Viola Santangelo lost her parents at the age of eight, ever since then she had been under the care of her strict and imposing grandfather who had done everything to keep her sheltered all her life. She attended the best private all girls boarding school and even went to a finishing school before she managed to get away to school in America. That was one of Viola's finest achievement, but it was short lived, her Grandfather had not only sent her to America with a personal chaperone disguised as a friend, he also liked to drop in at her school unannounced, threatening Viola with her freedom if she didn't follow the rules he had laid down for her.
"Welcome Miss Viola." The maid at the front door said visibly struggling with her English. Viola felt bad that her grandfather had forced them all to speak English to her ever since her arrival, well, all except for the housekeeper Alessandra.
She walked in the cozy cottage and took her shoes off before stepping on the soft plush rug in the living room. Her grandfather was seated on a rocking chair with a paper in his hand. He looked exactly as she remembered him, not a grey hair about him had changed.
"Nonno?"
She called out and he gestured for her to sit down. She sat down across him in one of the sofas and waited for him to address her. There were very few similarities between Viola and her grandfather, she didn't think there was anything she inherited from him.
They didn't kook alike when it came to looks and their attitude were polar opposites too.
Violetta Santangelo was the daughter of Lucia Gianna Santangelo, her Nonno's daughter. Her mother had married but her Grandfather never approved of the union. Her father had been a mechanic and a motorcyclist and till date Viola knew very little of how they met. There was much her Grandfather didn't tell her of her mother.
When her Grandfather heard about his daughter's devastating death, he fought tooth and nail for the custody of Viola, his only granddaughter. Viola's father named James Cooper died a few days after the messy custody battle. He died from a drug overdose.
Viola never heard from his family or anyone related to her father again.
Ever since her parents whom she had little or no memory of died, all she had was her grandfather. Her grandfather who decided to raise her even more strictly than he raised his own daughter. And he changed her last name to back to his. Because she was his only heir she had the right to carry on the Santangelo name.
"I'm glad you're back from that place..."
Her grandfather said and Viola nodded.
"I'm happy to see you too."
Her Nonno scoffed.
"We have a lot of things to discuss Viola... A lot of very important things to discuss."
Viola nodded. She had been anticipating their discussion. Now that she had finally graduated and she was home, she knew that it was time for them to discuss about her taking over the company.
Her Nonno wasn't too old, but he was already an aged man and Viola had always looked forward to the day that she would take over the family business. Wines were always her thing, the times she spent in Milan, she had spent in the grapevines and their winery had been the best days for her.
"If it's about the company, I can assure you that I will perform excellently well if given a chance Nonno. I am ready to resume when you want me to."
Viola stated with confidence and there was a long silence before her Nonno raised his eyebrows at her. Her heart sank a little bit, she hoped that her Grandfather wasn't thinking of telling her how she was too young. Because Viola believed she wasn't.
She spent a lot of time learning about the company and she even got a degree for studying business administration, every career path she had taken had been to suit the fact that she was going to take over the family business.
She had done everything she could to prove herself worthy of the position.
Her Nonno folded the newspapers and looked at his granddaughter squarely in the face, he adjusted his glasses on his face and smiled at Viola.
"I'm not talking about the company. I'm talking about something else."
"What is it?"
She asked furrowing her eyebrows in confusion.
"You're young Viola. You've finished schooling, there is only one thing left for a young girl your age and you know it."
Viola lowered her eyes, she hated when her grandfather brought up the marriage talk with her. She particularly hated it because she knew she had no say in it. That was how much control her grandfather had over her. He was going to choose her marriage partner. And in his defence, he didn't want her to make the same mistakes that her mother made. And there was little she could do, she loved her grandfather and she didn't want to ever do anything that would upset him or make him unhappy.
She also didn't want to hurt him, talking about her mother was a painful subject that he rarely addressed and Viola knew that he just have been really hurt to find the topic painful.
"I think it's too early Nonno. I'm not ready."
She answered in a timid voice but her grandfather wasn't listening to her.
"I've prepared you for this your whole life. You will marry my friend's son. You know Gino? He has a grandson. Very good boy with a great head on his shoulders."
Gino was her grandfather's best and oldest friend, several times her father always implied that they would be joined in marriage but Viola never bothered. She had never met the grandson despite how close her father had been to his friend Gino, so she always assumed that there was no chance that they would be matched together. Besides, from the way Gino talked about him grandson, he could be described as a spoilt rude brat who only did whatever was of good use to him.
"He has a grandson?"
Viola exclaimed pretending to be surprised.
"Yes! A grandson!!! You don't know him. He spent all his years in America."
"Nonno are you sure this is the right choice?"
"Of course it is! Don't worry, he's a good man. He will take care of you. "
"Do I have a choice in this?"
She asked angrily and her grandfather became deathly quiet.
"I am saving you the stress of having to deal and meet thieves and deceitful men. I am saving you from making the same mistake your mother made."
"The one that led her to her untimely death."
Her grandfather added painfully.
Viola grew silent after that. She didn't know why her Grandfather always blamed her mother's loss on the fact that she married her father. Her mother was involved in a car accident and she knew it must have greatly devastated her father when he was alive. From the little pictures she saw of both of them together, they looked hopelessly in love with each other.
Too bad she wouldn't be able to experience that kind of love in an arranged marriage. She thought with a sigh.
"What's his name?"
Viola asked gulping hard. Her grandfather grinned happily like he had won the lottery.
"Leonardo."
