Chapter Twenty

1675 Words
As they walked into the bank together, Kate's mind was still clouded by Mario's story. She knew she had to focus if she was going to be of any use to him, but she couldn't help thinking about Raphael. It was literally part of her job to be able to judge someone's character, how could she have been so wrong about him? They all sat waiting in silence, Mario was again looking terrified and Raphael, well Kate wasn't sure how much he knew or how he felt. Was her text to him the first he had heard of Mario's troubles?  A plump brunette woman emerged from one of the rooms and called Mario in for his appointment, Kate and Raphael followed behind him. She wore thick round glasses and a blue blazer over a plain white shirt. Her eyes looked kind and Kate wished this nice woman would turn out to be the bank manager, but no such luck. The three of them took a seat in the office and were asked to wait patiently while she fetched the bank manager, Mr Fabiolo. The seats were rather comfortable and the office modern, save for an old painting of the building that hung behind the manager's desk. At least a dozen awards sat inside a glass display box along with a number of photos which Kate assumed were of Mr Fabiolo, shaking hands with a few of his famous clients. It was quite clear the bank wasn't running low on funds. Shortly after, Mr Fabiolo entered the office. Unfortunately, his eyes did not read as kindly as the woman who had brought them in. He had a severe look on his face and wore a rather stiff looking navy suit to match. Groaning, as if he had been interrupted from something important, he took his seat and slid some documents across the table to Mario. He began to ask him something in Italian. Raphael translated for Kate in his own words, “He wants to know how and when he’s going to pay the outstanding loan.” Mario had already begun responding, apologetically. Kate placed her hand on his arm and assured him it would be okay to let her speak. She looked directly to the bank manager as she spoke, assuming he had to understand some English being in a job such as his. Kate proceeded to explain to him the information Nina had texted her earlier today. It was a new law passed just a few years ago that now allowed businesses to continue using assets that were nearing or already in foreclosure. This meant Mario was able to continue to earn an income, pay back debt and possibly even stay in business. She appealed to Mr Fabiolo's hopefully softer side. “In Mario’s old age, finding a job would be difficult. Repossession or even the sale of the hotel in order to recoup just fourteen thousand euros is quite unreasonable. Mario would simply be left with the remaining proceeds of the sale but with no means to earn any further income. It is in the best interest of this community that he is allowed to continue to run the hotel, in fact in order to recoup your losses sooner, it is in the banks best interest to lend Mario a further ten thousand euros. This, so that he may complete the improvements he had once started and begin seeing a profit from the business.” Kate had no idea where all of this was coming from, but she kept going. Words were spilling from her mouth at a speed poor Raphael could barely keep up with. The stern look on Mr Fabiolo's face seemed to have softened somewhat and when she was done talking, he took a few minutes to think over what she had said before responding. Raphael translated his response verbatim, “Miss, I understand what you are saying and I assure you I do believe in the best interest of our community. You are putting me in a very difficult position.” Kate replied, “Sir, you are putting Mario in a difficult position. Your company will recover. If this falls through, the equity in the hotel covers the debt more than ten times over. Please Mr Fabiolo, let us show you what can be done when people come together and help each other. ” As Raphael translated, she could see that Mr Fabiolo wanted to agree with her, but it was genuinely a difficult decision, he wasn't just playing hardball. When he spoke, Kate listened for the tone in his voice. She looked at Raphael and at Mario and tried to judge by the looks on their faces but was getting nothing. Raphael began to translate, “Miss you are very convincing, I must say. Mario is very lucky to have a friend like you. I will grant the extension to pay, but I cannot loan a further ten thousand euros without a new contract.” With that, he picked up his phone. A few minutes later, the woman who had brought them in appeared with an envelope and some paperwork. Mr Fabiolo took the documents she had brought in, placed them in front of Mario and explained the new contract to him. Raphael translated for Kate in his own words, “The new contract has a twelve-month extension on the original due date, but he has to start making repayments in two weeks. The bank will only lend a further ten thousand euros in three months time when Mario has shown he can continue to make regular repayments on the original loan. What do you think?” He asked Kate. “It’s brilliant and I have no idea if that’s actually even possible." Kate turned to Mario, "Do you think you can make those repayments for three months?” She asked, pointing to the amount listed in the new contract. Mario nodded, tears threatening to spill from his eyes. “Si. Thank you so much.” He said, speaking to Kate and to the bank manager. Mr Fabiolo handed him a pen from his shirt pocket and Mario signed the new contract. He thanked Kate and Raphael no less than a hundred times on the short walk back to the hotel. Raphael assured Mario it was no trouble at all, as did Kate.  She tried to remind Mario that this was the easy part, he now had to actually make a profit so he could keep up with the new repayments. Mario was far too happy to let her bring him down with reality just yet and brushed her by inviting both of them to join him for dinner. Kate, realising she hadn’t eaten since breakfast, was suddenly famished. She agreed and looked to Raphael who thanked Mario for the offer but said he had to leave to teach an evening class, rescheduled from this afternoon. Raphael turned to Kate, he stared at her briefly as if he wasn't even sure what to say, then simply said goodnight and headed off to teach his class. Kate was confused and a little intrigued, she was sure there was something more to it. Inside the hotel, a few of the guests were already waiting for the evening dinner service to start. Kate sat at one of the tables and waited for Mario to close up the front desk, he joined her shortly after.  "Thank you again, I promise I do everything I can to pay the bank." He said to her. "I know you will Mario, and I will help you if you like. I can go through your books and your budget?" "Budget?" Mario said, laughing. "Signora Kate, the budget was Mrs Botelli but she no here now. She go many years ago." "I'm sorry to hear that Mario, I was wondering, but I didn't want to ask" "Oh no be sorry Signora, she was a witch! Always want me to double price. Always the money more important. No once she comes to see only she tell me what to do. She leave when the hotel stop making money." "Oh, now I understand. I'm sorry you had to deal with that, some people are just not like us. Still, you may need to make some small changes, I notice there are a few areas you can tighten up a little without affecting your guests too much. Would that be okay?" "Si, I think okay, we do that." After enjoying a lovely dinner and managing to prepare Mario for the changes he needed to make, Kate thanked him and wished him goodnight. It was late and Kate was looking forward to bed but hadn’t checked her phone since they got back to the hotel. She wanted to send a quick message to Nina and thank her for her help, it was just as much her victory after all. As she was about to place her phone on the pillow next to her, she felt it buzz, it was a message from Raphael.  “You were amazing today. You don't know how much it means to me, Thank you, Kate.” He texted. Kate? Did he really just call her Kate? Smiling, she realised today was the first time they had had a real conversation. No little digs, no smart comments and not once did he call her Katerina. She wasn’t sure what to say, Kate had only done what she thought was right and she did know what it meant to Raphael.  Kate replied, "I'm so happy we were both able to help Mario today. Thank you for coming at such short notice.” Still smiling from the message he had sent, Kate placed her phone on the pillow next to her and closed her eyes. It had been a long day and although she wanted to stare at her phone for the next fifteen minutes and wait for his reply, she was far too tired.
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