Crossed fates

Chapter 7

Northern Italy, end of July 2022

Deborah went to her mother to do her research: she went to the attic and she showed her the trunks which contained all the memories of her grandmother. Deborah was excited but also agitated, she didn't know what she would find. On the one hand she hoped that there was a bond, albeit indirect, between her and Gregg, but on the other hand she feared it, because it would mean having him forever in her life and although she wanted him strongly, she knew that sooner or later this would destroy her emotionally. She loved her husband and her family, but what she had felt with Gregg and what she felt now was something special and the guilt didn't help her.

While immersed in these thoughts, she found the bundle of letters her mother had mentioned. They really existed then. They were very old and a little worn, but they still read well.

She didn't have the courage to open them right away. She went downstairs and told her mother that she had found what she was looking for and that, once she read it, she would let her know if there really was any connection with Gregg's family.

She went home with her son, who in the meantime, while she searched, had been playing with her grandparents, and when he went for an afternoon nap, she first texted Gregg: "Letters found, I read them and let you know ".

Almost immediately she received the answer: "Ok, I miss you"

Instinctively she replied: "You too", then silenced the phone and with her heart in her mouth, she opened the first letter.

First of all, she discovered that her mother's American uncle was named Achille and that he was a 3rd degree uncle. She quickly read the pleasantries and then quickly scanned to see if there was any interesting information. In the first she didn't find anything relevant, Achille told his life and his business in California.

Going on with the reading, at one point Achilles was referring to the fact that he was not a blood uncle to Deborah's grandmother but that he felt connected to his family as if he were.

She read still other letters until she found something: in the first that Achille had sent, he explained why he had contacted Deborah's grandmother: he had learned that his sister's husband, after remarrying, had moved for a period to Northern Italy to work and that his second daughter had never returned with him to America, but had remained in Italy because she had fallen in love with a young Lombard and had decided to build a family there: this woman was Deborah's great-grandmother.

Heart beating fast, Deborah opened other letters and found a reference to Nebraska: Achille was the son of a former pony express courier who had married an Italian woman who had moved to America. He had an older brother named Ulysses and two sisters, who are also older: Calipso and Nausicaa, the youngest, who had died at the age of thirty and her husband had remarried three years later with that woman of Italian descent.

Deborah was excited: the accounts were adding up. She wanted to call Gregg immediately to inform him, but she realized she was unable to explain all this intertwining of relationships in English, so she decided to write him a long message: she opened Google Translate from her mobile phone, wrote what she meant, copied and pasted and she sent the message to Gregg, explaining her linguistic difficulty in saying the situation in person.

Gregg shortly after called her: "Hi Deborah, what you discovered is very interesting. We need to meet to compare names and dates and to see if they match ".

"Yes, but this time you have to come here, I can't leave my son with my parents anymore. You could come tomorrow in the afternoon and stop for dinner if you want "

"Do you think that's the case after what happened? Won't it be difficult in your husband's presence? "

"Sure, but if we really have this bond, I have to live with it. The sooner I face it, the better it will be "

"All right. I'll come around 3.30 pm, okay? "

"Perfect. Have a nice day Gregg "

"You too, bye"

Deborah texted her husband to inform him and called her mother to update her. She wanted to meet Gregg, but Deborah asked her to stall, first they had to check the sources.

The next afternoon, Deborah was in great anxiety and tension. When he arrived, she let him in, they kissed on the cheek and she tried not to look him in the eye, it was too hard. She introduced him to her son who immediately took a liking to him and wanted to play a little with him. Deborah was happy, but then she explained to him that her mother had to work with her friend and he started playing for a while.

Deborah showed the letters to Gregg which he obviously didn't understand and she tried to explain to him as best she could, using the translator, the information reported.

Gregg then informed her about his discoveries: the family who had lived in Italy for a while was more or less the age of his paternal grandmother, but he had never known that his grandparents had been there for a while. He knew his grandfather had Indian roots, but that was all. His father was dead, so either his mother knew something, or they would have to fend for themselves. The coincidence was that the names of that family coincided perfectly with the names of his paternal grandparents.

"Gregg, can't you call your mother and ask her for news? Do your brothers or sisters know nothing? "

"No, I don't think they know anything, I can hear my mother".

"Is your mother early in the morning? If so you can try calling her while I put the baby to sleep "

"Usually yes, I can try"

Deborah took the baby to bed and when she returned she found Gregg still on the phone with his mother.

When he hung up he said that in fact she seemed to remember that her in-laws had spent some time in Italy, but she wasn't entirely sure.

"At this point, the only thing to do is go to Nebraska and search the archives, if anything still exists. According to our tour, my family and I should be in Nebraska around August 12/13 "

"I have to go back to America in a week, I could start the research"

"Ok"

Deborah offered him an ice cream and then silence fell between them. It was Gregg who broke it: "Have you thought about my proposal about the possibility of starting to sing seriously?"

"No, I haven't really thought about it. With everything going on right now, it's the least of my thoughts "

"So you give up on us like that?"

"There is no US Gregg. I wish there was, but it's not possible, it's not right. I don't deny what happened between us, but it can't go on "

"You told me over and over, but I can't give up on you. Yes, we will hear from time to time, especially if we discover that we are somehow connected, but it is not enough for me. I fell in love with you and given my age I don't say these things lightly. "

Deborah's heart skipped a beat. How many times in her fantasies, especially as a young woman, had she dreamed of hearing these words from him, but now it was different, she had her family she didn't want and could not give up. At that moment, however, she realized that cutting him out of her life would mean not living anymore, it would no longer be her because she could not forget.

She was silent for a moment looking into those deep magnetic eyes and realized that she could not let go.

"I don't want to lose you Gregg, I feel something very strong for you, I don't know what it is, but I don't want you to leave my life. However, I would no longer be able to live as before. Maybe you are right, maybe we should try the path of music to share something that can unite us, but there can be nothing else between us. What happened the other day must never happen again. This must be the condicio sine qua non "

He took her hands and drew her to him. He looked into her eyes and said: "All right, but at least give me the last kiss"

She nodded her head yes and their mouths joined in a long, passionate kiss goodbye.

"Obviously I have to talk to my husband first and I don't want to leave my job or Italy. If you really want to try this path, it must be here, otherwise nothing is done about it. I know I ask you a lot, but I can't do otherwise "

"I am willing to do anything to have you in my life in some way".

They discussed how to handle it and Gregg told her that the next day he would contact his agent if Deborah's husband accepted. They then planned how to get around once they went to America for research.

When Deborah's baby woke up they played a bit together until her husband arrived. Deborah officially introduced the two men, with extreme embarrassment and prayed that her husband would not notice anything and so it was. Deborah had never given him reason before to doubt her, so he would never have thought of his extramarital affair, despite knowing the passion she had for Gregg.

At dinner, they discussed the discoveries made and organized everything. The next week Gregg would leave and begin consulting the archives. Within 7/8 days they would have reached him and would have gone together to see the places where perhaps their families had lived.

When all the details were finalized, Deborah's husband was absent for a moment because he received a phone call and Gregg took the opportunity to tell Deborah that he would raise the other matter upon his return. Deborah agreed.

"Who was it?" Deborah asked when her husband returned.

"My colleague, who won't be there tomorrow, told me to take care of some tasks for him."

Gregg took advantage of a moment of silence to introduce the speech: "There would be another thing we would like to talk to you about, an idea that came to me and that I exposed to Deborah"

"What?" He replied.

"I think you realized that your wife sings well and the video we casually shot and that ended up on the net proves it. I proposed to work with me, to sing with me here in Italy, without completely upsetting her life and her work. I believe it can be successful ".

He, amazed by this proposal, turned to Deborah and said: "Is he serious?"

"Of course he is, do you think I'm joking?"

"Well, this thing seems absurd to me"

"Why, I've always liked to sing and he offers me to make a job out of it, why shouldn't I accept?"

"Maybe because you already have a job?"

"So, you heard what he said, there will be no sensational upheavals, we'll just have to reorganize something"

"Maybe we should talk about it in private at another time, don't you think?"

"Okay, but I would care a lot".

Deborah broadly explained the conversation with her husband to Gregg and told him they had to talk about it privately before making a decision.

The rest of the evening passed quietly talking a bit of everything and returning several times to the topic of the future trip. Gregg then said goodbye and returned to Milan.

In bed, Deborah wanted to resume the discourse on music: "Listen, I really want to try this path, maybe it won't lead to anything, but I don't want to have regrets. I told him that I will continue to work as before and that I don't want to move from Italy and he has agreed. If his manager manages to set something up, I want to try, please ".

"I don't know Deborah, we have reached a certain stability and balance, why change everything?"

"Because these balances can jump from one moment to the next, we have lived with the pandemic. I no longer want to preclude myself from life, I have been clear about this. I just ask you to try, if it is not feasible I will give up. Please, make me happy, let me try "

"Okay, I know that if I were to oppose you, you would never forgive me" and he kissed her. Deborah thanked him and kissed him back, but realized that something between them had changed forever.

The next day Gregg called his agent who took him for crazy when he heard his proposal. Gregg was adamant: either he found a way to put his plan into action or he would find another agent who would do it for him. This would be his new life, he would move to Italy and try his luck there, whether he wanted to or not, this was not a topic of discussion. His agent tried to reason with him, but faced with his stubbornness and the prospect of a sudden dismissal, he agreed to work out a work plan.

Gregg told Deborah who in turn informed her husband. The collaboration was supposed to begin in late August, as soon as she returned from the trip to America, so as to give Gregg time to arrange all his things and organize the transfer.

The following days were hectic because Deborah was thrilled by all the news and the upcoming journey in search of her origins; for his part, Gregg had begun to call everyone involved with him, relatives, friends and colleagues to communicate the news.

On the day of departure, Deborah accompanied him to the airport, while her husband had preferred to stay at home with the baby so as not to shake him too much, as he would soon have to face a long journey.

Deborah and Gregg greeted each other with a candid kiss on the cheek but shook hands in a way that communicated something else and their eyes spoke for them.

"See you in a few days", she told him in Italian, as Gregg had to learn it and they had agreed that she would speak to him in her language to help him learn it as soon as possible.

"I look forward to seeing you" he replied.

They embraced once more, then he turned and walked through the gate: a new life was about to begin for both of them.