New York_ The Novel - Edward Rutherfurd [362]
To prevent New York from becoming a great grid of dark canyons, the city had insisted that skyscrapers could not arise vertically from the boundaries of their sites, but that at specified heights there must be setbacks to let the light in. At its crudest, this sometimes caused builders to raise skyscrapers that looked like upturned telescopes. But architects had soon seen that this was an opportunity to create complex patterns with elegant steps, shelves and cutaways. The French building was nearing completion, and with its carved bronze entrance, inspired by the Ishtar Gate, and its high terraces like hanging gardens, it might have come from ancient Babylon. Passing through its rich art deco lobbies was like entering a temple. But most lovely to Salvatore was the soaring facade of warm orange brick, trimmed with deep red and black at the edges. There was no other brickwork like that in New York.
For the next two weeks, the brothers worked together on the splendid building, and Angelo seemed glad to be there. Then Teresa came into the city.
Had she come to give him her decision? It was hard to tell. She came with her cousin as usual, and suggested that all four of them go to a movie. After the movie, she asked if Uncle Luigi would be at the restaurant, because she had not seen him in a while. Certainly, Salvatore told her.
So they went to the restaurant, and Salvatore treated them to a meal, and Uncle Luigi waited on them. It was a lively meal. Salvatore told some good jokes, and everyone was laughing. Uncle Luigi, who always followed the news avidly, was full of the latest about the daring aviators.
“Any day now,” he told them, “someone’s going to win the big prize.”
Mr. Orteig, the French-born owner of the Lafayette Hotel in the city, had for years been offering a prize of $25,000 to the first aviator to fly non-stop either way between New York and Paris. Just recently, two brave American airmen had been killed in the attempt, taking off from Langley. But Uncle Luigi had heard that two French airmen would shortly take up the challenge from Paris.
“Now you have money,” said Angelo with a smile to Salvatore, “here’s your chance to make even more!”
“The top of a skyscraper is high enough for me,” he said.
It was toward the end of the meal that Teresa asked Uncle Luigi if she could speak with him privately for a few minutes. She did not explain herself further, but the two of them sat together at another table, deep in conversation for nearly a quarter of an hour. At the end of it, she got up and kissed Uncle Luigi.
“It’s nice to have a real talk with your uncle,” she said as she sat down again. “He is very wise.”
After the meal, Teresa said that she must go home. Uncle Luigi wanted Angelo to run an errand for him, so Salvatore escorted the two girls to the station. When he kissed Teresa good-bye, he gave her a little questioning look, but she only returned a gentle smile.
“I’ll be coming back soon,” she promised.
On Wednesday, Uncle Luigi had the evening off, and it was agreed they’d go out to eat together. It was a fine day, and Salvatore was enjoying working up in the clear blue sky. At the top of the building, on the flat roof, a large water tank would be screened by outside walls with gorgeous colored panels. The big tiles arrived that morning, and the foreman obligingly showed the designs to the brothers. Two panels depicted the god Mercury, but the most dramatic was the huge green rectangle, in the center of which a bright red rising sun was flanked by two griffins with golden wings. Angelo was quite enraptured by this.
When they got home, however, Angelo complained of feeling tired. Salvatore looked at him with concern, but his brother assured him he’d be fine.
“We’ll go out,” said Uncle Luigi. “Let him rest. We won’t be late.”
They found a little steakhouse near Greenwich Village. It wasn’t too crowded. They both ordered sirloin and Uncle Luigi