They say pride goeth before the fall, and in this case, it was coming sooner than later. Mickey had struggled and skimped his way out of personal debt with his business making it a thriving and profitable one in less than 10 years. He had kept his neck having ties with the mafia to going completely legit after his grandmother had passed.
Dreams of becoming a made man faded with that last talk to his dying grandmother. Being of Italian descent, she was, at the time, the only tie he had to the old country he was born in the states and as a child growing up would sit at his grand mother's feet and listen to the stories she'd tell of the rich culture and land of Italy.
The family always had hopes of getting the family to go and see grand ma's old stomping grounds, but like the young Mickey would soon understand, as he got older, his family was different. His family was deep into the mob; his father was an enforcer, meaning he did the dirty work the bosses would order but wanted nothing to do with it. This built a wedge between Mickey's parents as his mother forever wanted her husband to leave the life, and every time being close to deciding on going, he'd be reeled right back in. As tough times would hit the family or just the need to provide for a growing family he'd turn back to the mob.
Things soon caught up with Mickey's father as many of the jobs he was sent on landed him in prison for life. Mickey's mother did her best to keep Mickey from the lifestyle, but the elders always had their way and found Mickey a young strapping boy and enticed him to the life. In a flood of confusion and riffs on loyalty, Mickey found his way out and in the position to run his own business. He took over a dying restaurant that he had started working in when he was a kid washing dishes, mopping floors, and emptying trash or whatever was needed. At that time, he'd work evenings after school only to eventually drop out of school to work at the restaurant full time learning everything he needed to know about running a business and life by watching and doing as the owner did.
The owner was the age of his own grandfather; he had seen and done many things. He was also like the town's conflict manager, as people would come to him openly and in private for advice. As he grew older, he took Mickey under his wing and groomed him to take over the business, as he had no children of his own who wanted it.
Over the few years seeing after the ultimate demise of his mentor Mickey made the appropriate plans to take over the business and revive the restaurant somehow some way in his memory. In those several years, Mickey worked hard to turn a stable profit. Soon the remodeled and the revamped restaurant became a hot spot, and the media took notice this was the unsuspected element that was the seed to Mickey's downward spiral.
It started one night when the boss of the family that Mickey's father was tied to came in with a stunningly gorgeous woman at his side. The woman to Mickey's surprise was a girl that ran around the neighborhood as a teen like he did realizing it was the boss's daughter all grown up. Mickey couldn't take his eyes off of her. Mickey knew the boss having met him on short runs with his Dad to the leisure hall. Boss Martola, as he was called, he would always hand the young Mickey a chocolate caramel filled candy when he saw him.
Mickey now was in his mid-twenties and flying high after years of toiling in the restaurant he now owned walked up. Through all of that time, Boss Martola's daughter Gwen was off at school abroad and was back in the states. Their eyes met as she walked in the door with a twinkle. Mickey greeted her father warmly, shaking his hand firmly with a welcoming smile, knowing he was the reason for his father doing a life sentence. Boss Martola then turned and introduced his daughter Gwen to which the two smiled as they greeted each other, each flashing back to their own special memory of the other. Mickey then on his own looked and secured his guests a table knowing what would be acceptable and impress the two. Going a step further, Mickey ordered up the first course of the restaurant's best as they looked over the menu. Throughout the night passing, glances were shared by Gwen and Mickey. The biggest question of all was, why was the boss coming to see him now?
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