Chapter 22

"What do you think?" Ignazio asked as I sipped the soup from the spoon.

"Good, but needs more hot sauce," I said, handing him back the spoon from across the cabinet and returning to my laptop screen.

He laughed, shaking his head.

"If it was up to you, we'd put a whole bottle of hot sauce in there!"

"Sounds good to me," I shrugged, and he laughed, turning from me to keep stirring the soup. He was making it for dinner, when the boys and I were going to watch the Grammies together in his hotel room in Philadelphia, a stop on the U.S. tour.

"How are the T-shirt sales going?" he asked, not looking up as he stirred.

"Very well," I said, looking at the sales chart on my laptop screen, but I sounded bored as I said it, and Ignazio looked up and smiled at me.

"What will your next project be?" he asked, and I rested my chin down in my hand and looked up at him.

"I don't know. That's the problem. It's already February, but I don't know what to do."

"I'm sure you'll think of something soon," he encouraged, smiling at me, and I smiled back.

"I hope so."

I sipped the broth from the bottom of my soup, not taking my eyes from the T.V. as Bruno Mars came out to sing his new pop hit. I turned my eyes to Gianluca, lowering the bowl as he clapped along with the audience.

"Bruno Mars!" he said, leaning back in satisfaction as he watched. He smiled at me when he caught me eyeing him, "I'm a big fan!"

I smiled back and let Ignazio take my bowl when he got up and passed by my chair.

"Watch, I bet he's going to sing," he whispered in my ear as he bent down to take it.

I watched Gianluca, and when Bruno Mars started to sing he jumped up and started to sing along, turning around and gesturing dramatically to Piero, who had been sitting beside him on the couch. I had chosen to sit in a chair in the corner of the room with my laptop so I could work. I had listened to them and eaten Ignazio's soup while I observed them, but I mostly kept to myself.

I laughed at Gianluca, and again when Piero jumped up to dance with him, playfully taking him around the waist and almost falling over with him as they both took the lead. I laughed from my corner, watching them, and Piero looked over at me and then broke away from Gianluca and rushed over to me. I straightened, looking up at him in surprise, and he held out his hands and moved the laptop.

"Come dance!" he said, taking my hands, and I rolled my eyes but let him pull me up. He pulled me to the center of the room, but I pulled away when he reached for my waist.

"Salsa!" I said, starting the rock-step, but he couldn't follow me and ended up just walking forward and back.

"No, no, no! You're doing it all wrong, Piero," Gianluca said, laughing at his feeble steps, and Piero laughed too.

Suddenly someone wrapped a hand around my waist and hoisted me into the air, out of Piero's reach.

"Ignazio!" I cried in surprise, and then laughed as he spun me around and set me back down in front of him.

I turned toward him and he reached out for my hands.

"Come on, my dear, let's show them how it's done! Children, observe!"

We started the dance, and I looked up smiling at Ignazio with delight as we danced forward and back in our socks. His smile was bright and energetic as he pulled me close and then spun me quickly around and caught me, making me laugh eagerly. We started moving forward and back again, quickly, to the beat of Bruno Mars' song.

"And…" Ignazio said, a playful gleam in his eye as he seized me around the waist and pulled me close to him, "Dip!"

"Ignazio!" I protested as he leaned forward with me and dipped me back, and then leaned in further and kissed me. Then we both went crashing forward as he slipped in his socks on the hardwood floor and I collapsed onto the ground. He caught himself right above me, in a push-up position with my arm still around his neck and the other on his chest, pushing him upwards. We both looked at each other in surprise, and then we laughed together and he collapsed beside me on the floor.

"I knew that was going to happen!" I exclaimed, sitting up as he gasped for air, "We're in socks, you fool!"

Piero and Gianluca were laughing too, watching us, and Gianluca said, "Somehow I don't think that's how it's done."

"Maybe not," Ignazio agreed, pushing himself up. He reached out to take my face in both of his hands, and he leaned forward and kissed me, sitting back and smiling in satisfaction, gazing at me.

"Like this!" Gianluca said, tapping Piero, and then they both jumped together and started moving forward and back, trampling on each other's toes and almost tripping over one another.

Piero reached up his hand, holding Gianluca's, and Gianluca ducked under it for a turn and they both looked to us, laughing as we watched from the floor. Then Gianluca reached out and took my hands to pull me up, and Ignazio clambered up beside me. We were all breathless and laughing, and Bruno Mars had stopped singing several minutes ago.

"And the nominees for Album of the Year are…"

We all quieted and turned to the T.V., standing still as they showed the nominees.

"I hope it's the Justin Timberlake album," Gianluca said thoughtfully, sitting down on the edge of the sofa, and Piero sat beside him and nodded.

I looked up at Ignazio, who seemed entranced as he stared forward, fixated on the screen.

"Move, Ignazio!" Piero said, reaching forward with his foot and shoving him slightly.

Ignazio broke out of his trance as he moved out of Piero's way and sat on the couch beside him. I turned to go back to my chair and my laptop, but Ignazio reached out and caught me, sitting me on his lap and moving his arms around my middle. I didn't protest, letting him hold me as the four of us waited for the announcement of the winner.

It was Justin Timberlake's album, and when they announced it Gianluca cheered with the crowd and pumped his fist in the air.

"Yes!" he exclaimed, and Piero laughed and high-fived him.

I watched as Justin ascended the stage on the screen, and reached out, smiling wide, to receive the award, a shimmering gold gramophone on a black plaque.

I silently watched the way it glittered in Justin's hand, and then I turned on Ignazio's lap to look up and catch his amazement as he watched. He stared in awe at the screen, completely silent, never taking his eyes away from the award as I looked up at him.

"American recognition. Your dream," I said softly, and he nodded, a smile breaking his quiet fascination.

"How does-" I started to ask, but he shook his head and jostled me on his knee.

"Shhh…," he hushed me, and I pulled back and raised my eyebrows at him. "I want to hear the speech, my dear," he said gently, leaning forward to quickly kiss my forehead.

I let him hush me for once, turning back to the screen, and he held me tightly around my middle, his hands warm and gentle on my sides. I leaned back against him and listened, thinking as Justin thanked the usual people: family, fans, producers, collaboration artists, mentors.

"What would we say if we won a Grammy?" Ignazio asked, and Gianluca smiled and pulled out his phone.

"We would thank these people," he said, holding it out to show Piero, Ignazio, and me.

I laughed.

"You have a list ready for when you win a Grammy?"

"Or any award," he said, smiling. "I want to memorize it, though, if I'm the one who's going to be saying it. I don't want to be one of those celebrities who reads everything off their phone."

"It's good," Piero said, reading the list, "But it's too boring."

"Boring?" Ignazio asked, "What would you say, then?"

"I don't know. I was thinking maybe doing it in a song, or cartwheeling onto the stage or something."

"I could see that, actually," I said thoughtfully, "Piero cartwheeling onto the stage in his camouflage suit to receive his Grammy."

The three of them laughed, and Ignazio kissed the back of my neck.

"What were you asking a minute ago, Tamzin?"

"How does the nomination and voting process work?"

"I think I have an article on it saved on my phone," Ignazio said, reaching into his pocket and pulling it out.

Gianluca muted the commercials on T.V., and I pulled out of Ignazio's grasp and sat on the arm of the sofa as we all waited for him to find it.

"So what happens is…" he said, finding the article and handing me his phone. "Record companies enter their recordings and music videos released during that year."

"Okay…Submission…" I said softly, emailing the article to my laptop.

"Yes. Then experts make sure everything is actually eligible, no cheating…blah, blah, blah… And then there's voting, by the judges, of course. And then…results!"

"Okay, seems simple enough…but entirely up to the judges," I observed, and then thoughtfully went to Google and searched something else. "What about the American Music Awards? How does that work?"

"I've read about it before," he said, watching me search. "It's based on the people- the music buyers, the public, not the judges."

"That'd be pretty great, wouldn't it?" Piero asked, leaning back against the couch and smiling into space. "Picked by the public to receive an award. It sounds better than a Grammy to me."

I nodded and emailed myself an article on the AMAs, then handed the phone back to Ignazio, grinning uncontrollably.

"What?" he asked, watching me and sharing my smile as he reached out and took the phone from me.

"I see those gears turning," Gianluca said playfully, reaching out and gently tapping the side of my head. "What are you coming up with?"

"I'm just thinking," I said, and turned back to the T.V. as the awards program returned to the screen. Then I jumped up and moved slowly back to my chair in the corner of the room, as if in a dream.

"Tamzin…" Ignazio called, seeming very far away, and I turned to smile at him as I sunk into the chair and pulled the laptop onto my lap. They were all staring curiously at me, and I laughed and shook my head.

"Don't mind me," I told them, turning to my laptop with an exhilarated smile on my face.

They returned to the screen, watching someone else get up to perform, and I secretly looked up and eyed them, looking from face to face.

I looked at Gianluca's handsome attentive expression, and then to Piero's sweet smile as he sang along with the performer, and then finally to Ignazio's intent gaze. I smiled, watching him.

The Grammies were picked solely by judges, so that was out of my hands. But…The AMAs were picked by the public. If only Il Volo was more well-known, they'd have a pretty good shot at getting an award. Everyone who knows of them already loves them, and so if we expanded their audience…

I smiled and opened my email, pulling up the article on the AMAs. I looked back at Ignazio and he looked over and caught my eye. He smiled, and I quickly looked away. After a moment I looked back over at him, smiling to myself, feeling myself beginning to tremble in excitement.

I had found my new project. I was going to help them get their recognition. I was going to get them their award.