on board?’
‘What’s the plan?’
‘We go to Europe when everyone is
available.’
‘Europe?! Where in Europe?’ Jack
already knew the answer.
‘I want it to be authentic. I want
the perfect setting.’
‘I see, Hungary, is it? It will be
Christmas shortly!’ Jack said.
‘I have arranged to hire a Shooting
Box near Budapest.’
‘You’re not backing out Frank?’
‘No, why should I do that?’
‘Yeah, no reason, we are old enough
to handle the consequences, right?’ They both laughed.
‘This means, you have decided on the
actors!’ Jack continued.
‘I have! You will approve Jack!’
‘I am looking forward to it.’
‘You know me well, old boy, I did
get some actors to audition through Eleanor but I need confirmation. As far as
I know they aren’t involved in anything they can’t put on hold at the moment.’
‘Who are ‘they’ Frank?’ Jack was
inquisitive.
A slow smile danced on Frank’s face.
‘You will find out soon enough.’
Jack had a feeling that this was
going to be something very different. The story was great. It was true and it
involved them both. Justin had captured every minute of the old times. The
difficult but fun times; - how different everything was then! How beautiful the
women were, always dressed in fabulous clothes.
‘Better get things organised, we
have a long trip ahead.’ Jack said.
‘A trip of a lifetime Jack!’
‘Literally, - lifetime!’ Jack
refilled his glass. ‘I’ll drink to that Frank!’
‘By the way, we need to talk about
the case .’ Frank said.
‘Why do I have the feeling you want
an end to it?’
‘I don’t! But there is something
else.’
‘What are you saying man?’
‘This!’ Frank threw down the
envelope in front of Jack on the desk. ‘Open it!’
‘What is this? Jack studied the
photos. ‘Is this …?’ He asked surprised.
‘Yes, it is!’
‘Explain!’
Frank was agitated. ‘It’s a long
story Jack, but now the time has come to do something about it.’
‘Why am I looking at a photo of Amy,
the girl I just met for the first time tonight?’ Jack asked, wondering what was
going on. ‘Who is she?’
Frank took a deep breath, ‘She’s the
daughter of my sister’s son. My family, if you like.’
‘ What? ’
‘She doesn’t know. I hired a private
detective to look her up.’ Frank said, thinking why he had to share this with
Jack. In truth; he wanted Jack to know. The difficult task was telling Amy who
Frank was.
‘I discovered she was here in LA.’
Frank said.
‘What about tonight? Coincidence?’
‘Whatever you think, I didn’t
organise tonight. Jack. It was a chance meeting.’
Frank wasn’t going to tell Jack that
he knew Ed had a date tonight with Amy. The detective had done a good job as
usual and Frank didn’t need to plan too much. Frank suggested to Ed that
Nonna’s was a good place to take a girl. He also arranged that phone
call earlier, to move Ed out of the way. Also Frank knew Jack would notice Amy,
it was easy.
‘This is a surprise! You have kept
it very quiet. How long have you known?’ Jack leaned over his desk to examine
the photos in detail.
‘I’ve known for a very long time,
but I only wanted to watch, from a distance, nothing else. If you remember, I
left Eva with her husband when she was only sixteen and pregnant. I did try to
contact her but the war made it very difficult.
Many years passed, and then I
finally received a letter from her, written some months before. I learned that
she had a son. She said they were fine. I wrote back of course but I heard
nothing for years, until a letter arrived from her husband informing me that
she had passed away. A picture of her son Louie was included, a grown up man,
but he also left the country because of The Hungarian Revolution in 1956. Louie
was nineteen, a little older than me when I arrived here.
Eva didn’t know where I was living
in America; still I was hoping Louie would turn up one day - he didn’t. When
‘What’s the plan?’
‘We go to Europe when everyone is
available.’
‘Europe?! Where in Europe?’ Jack
already knew the answer.
‘I want it to be authentic. I want
the perfect setting.’
‘I see, Hungary, is it? It will be
Christmas shortly!’ Jack said.
‘I have arranged to hire a Shooting
Box near Budapest.’
‘You’re not backing out Frank?’
‘No, why should I do that?’
‘Yeah, no reason, we are old enough
to handle the consequences, right?’ They both laughed.
‘This means, you have decided on the
actors!’ Jack continued.
‘I have! You will approve Jack!’
‘I am looking forward to it.’
‘You know me well, old boy, I did
get some actors to audition through Eleanor but I need confirmation. As far as
I know they aren’t involved in anything they can’t put on hold at the moment.’
‘Who are ‘they’ Frank?’ Jack was
inquisitive.
A slow smile danced on Frank’s face.
‘You will find out soon enough.’
Jack had a feeling that this was
going to be something very different. The story was great. It was true and it
involved them both. Justin had captured every minute of the old times. The
difficult but fun times; - how different everything was then! How beautiful the
women were, always dressed in fabulous clothes.
‘Better get things organised, we
have a long trip ahead.’ Jack said.
‘A trip of a lifetime Jack!’
‘Literally, - lifetime!’ Jack
refilled his glass. ‘I’ll drink to that Frank!’
‘By the way, we need to talk about
the case .’ Frank said.
‘Why do I have the feeling you want
an end to it?’
‘I don’t! But there is something
else.’
‘What are you saying man?’
‘This!’ Frank threw down the
envelope in front of Jack on the desk. ‘Open it!’
‘What is this? Jack studied the
photos. ‘Is this …?’ He asked surprised.
‘Yes, it is!’
‘Explain!’
Frank was agitated. ‘It’s a long
story Jack, but now the time has come to do something about it.’
‘Why am I looking at a photo of Amy,
the girl I just met for the first time tonight?’ Jack asked, wondering what was
going on. ‘Who is she?’
Frank took a deep breath, ‘She’s the
daughter of my sister’s son. My family, if you like.’
‘ What? ’
‘She doesn’t know. I hired a private
detective to look her up.’ Frank said, thinking why he had to share this with
Jack. In truth; he wanted Jack to know. The difficult task was telling Amy who
Frank was.
‘I discovered she was here in LA.’
Frank said.
‘What about tonight? Coincidence?’
‘Whatever you think, I didn’t
organise tonight. Jack. It was a chance meeting.’
Frank wasn’t going to tell Jack that
he knew Ed had a date tonight with Amy. The detective had done a good job as
usual and Frank didn’t need to plan too much. Frank suggested to Ed that
Nonna’s was a good place to take a girl. He also arranged that phone
call earlier, to move Ed out of the way. Also Frank knew Jack would notice Amy,
it was easy.
‘This is a surprise! You have kept
it very quiet. How long have you known?’ Jack leaned over his desk to examine
the photos in detail.
‘I’ve known for a very long time,
but I only wanted to watch, from a distance, nothing else. If you remember, I
left Eva with her husband when she was only sixteen and pregnant. I did try to
contact her but the war made it very difficult.
Many years passed, and then I
finally received a letter from her, written some months before. I learned that
she had a son. She said they were fine. I wrote back of course but I heard
nothing for years, until a letter arrived from her husband informing me that
she had passed away. A picture of her son Louie was included, a grown up man,
but he also left the country because of The Hungarian Revolution in 1956. Louie
was nineteen, a little older than me when I arrived here.
Eva didn’t know where I was living
in America; still I was hoping Louie would turn up one day - he didn’t. When
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