At the End of a Dull Day
“A moment later his secretary and his personal assistant appeared in the doorway. Ylenia and Nicola. Good-looking, well dressed, young, and cheerful. They looked like something straight out of an American TV show.
It was aperitif time in the establishment, and there was a steady flow of customers, drinks, and hors d’oeuvres. Outside on the patio, mushroom-shaped heat lamps kept the tightly packed crowd of smokers warm. I knew almost everybody there. I’d cultivated my clientele over the years... with painstaking diligence. There were no cocaine, whores, or dickheads in my bar, and I had a guy on salary who had fried his brains on steroids but who still could be relied upon to stand discreetly outside the door and keep away vendors peddling flowers, cigarette lighters, and bric-a-brac of all kinds. You could only get into La Nena if you were looking to pay reasonable prices in exchange for a peaceful, refined, and yet “bubbly and amusing” atmosphere. Mornings, from 8 to 10, we served fine teas, fragrant croissants, and cappuccinos made with milk shipped directly to us from a small mountain village in the Dolomites.MoreLess
It was aperitif time in the establishment, and there was a steady flow of customers, drinks, and hors d’oeuvres. Outside on the patio, mushroom-shaped heat lamps kept the tightly packed crowd of smokers warm. I knew almost everybody there. I’d cultivated my clientele over the years... with painstaking diligence. There were no cocaine, whores, or dickheads in my bar, and I had a guy on salary who had fried his brains on steroids but who still could be relied upon to stand discreetly outside the door and keep away vendors peddling flowers, cigarette lighters, and bric-a-brac of all kinds. You could only get into La Nena if you were looking to pay reasonable prices in exchange for a peaceful, refined, and yet “bubbly and amusing” atmosphere. Mornings, from 8 to 10, we served fine teas, fragrant croissants, and cappuccinos made with milk shipped directly to us from a small mountain village in the Dolomites.MoreLess
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