Il Vigneto

Viola hadn’t slept well the night before, she had spent most of the night working through the Mt. Everest of work for the new recruits. She had been working so hard that she didn’t even make it home. She lifted her head for the desk, eyes still closed and a wet patch on her cheek. She felt as though there was a massive weight on her head which prevented her from raising her head too high. She glanced at the clock perched on the wall to see it was reading five in the morning. “Oh damnit,” she sighed “I suppose I better hurry home and get washed up before the next shift begins.”

Viola stood up from the desk and shuffled out of the vineyard and into a taxi at a nearby rank. Her head was grateful to be resting on a fine leather seat, which cooled her head from being in the roasting office all night. When she arrived home, she was extra careful not to make any noise, walking on tip toes so her feet didn’t pad too much on the pristine tiles of the apartment. She climbed into the shower and turned it on the lowest setting possible. She had to hurry though by the time she got into the shower, it was almost dawn and the next shift was imminent in a few hours. A few doors creaked open and it appears her parents were up already.

“Was it another late night again, Viola?” called Dino “We didn’t hear you come in last night”

“Yeah, it was, daddy,” she sighed “I had to get through all the paperwork for the new recruits, I thought it was never going to end.”

“I’m proud of you, but be careful not to work yourself too had.”

“I know dad,”

“If you ever find yourself struggling with the administration side of things, please tell me…. I can hire a receptionist to take the load off for you”

“Yeah, I know. I think last night would be a one-off,” she laughed “I think that will be the only night I’ll sleep over at the vineyard.”

Viola heard Dino’s footstep become fainter as he made his way downstairs. She stepped out of the shower and dried off her body and wrapped her hair into a smaller, more turban-like towel. She quickly got dressed while her thick hair was drying and made her way down for breakfast.

As she ate her breakfast, all the sudden changes to her father’s business had left her nostalgic. She was a young girl when she began helping her mother and father out with the business, a ripe young age of fourteen.

The vines were a lot smaller too, a generous half acre the three of them could work on comfortably together. Viola remembered how her father’s face was red most days from the incandescence of a typical Italian summer. The beads of sweat would trickle down his temple in a formation of miniscule river trails down his cheeks. He spent a small amount of time out in the vines to harvest the grapes, but of course, with his grand frame Dino was usually responsible for moving the casks of wine down to the market daily while Viola and her mother would be amongst the vines, joking about the redness of her father and hearing stories of before she was born.

There was always a plush fragrance of Aleppo pine trees and water lilies from the marshes that surrounded her village.

The vineyard itself was in a good spot to catch the warmth in the summer and circumvent the cold during the winter months. It was almost difficult to believe that over twenty years ago, the vineyard distributed wine to the small community of villagers and now it is close to distributing internationally. Which would allow her parents to finally retire with a gratifying income.

Viola smiled to herself with an élan welling up inside her chest. Its warmth spreading to the outer corners of her being.

Conflicting thoughts crossed her mind. The vineyard was good to work at. Although she had considered leaving there to pursue other paths she had also considered with a great amount of thought that she wanted her parents to be happy… to be proud of her accomplishments. Even from her young age, Viola had always been a hard worker. Blood, sweat and tears were put into even the most menial of tasks, she would work her hands to the bone where it was needed. She would look up from the cluster of grapes to swab away the tiny marbles of sweat that would sit stop her forehead.

“I have to stop looking back so much,” Viola mustered up motivation in her breast and stood up from the dining room table. There was a small pile of prep work on the sideboard which she gathered up and made her way through the cool foyer. As the front door of the apartment closed she could hear her parents bidding her goodbye and wished her an uncomplicated day. She let out a small laugh.

Viola strutted up the paved stone pathway of the vineyard to be met by the eager group of comrades at the entrance to the vines. “I’ll be with you all in a minute or so,” she gestured towards the site’s office. Where the new paperwork would soon make a home. Once the pile was set neatly into the top drawer of the desk she made her way back out to begin the first proper day of training.

“So… today we will begin with the basics and probably the most important task in the vineyard.” She looked to her left and waved a hand aloft to the ocean of grapevines in the near vicinity.

“Picking of course! Do we have any questions before we begin?” One hand of the group members flew up from the flock of bustling bodies.

“Yes….?” Viola acknowledged the hand swiftly “What’s your question….err…?”

“Agnella, ma’am!” a bright chirpy voice answered back.

“Ah, of course!”

“Will we be working in teams or just individually?”

“I’m just getting to that. But I do like your enthusiasm!” Viola laughed, “Now…. can you please divide yourselves into groups of five and we will begin… there may even be a prize for the team that collects to the most”

Gasps followed quickly after Viola had stopped speaking

“Today though, we will begin by hand and then maybe if today is a success, then maybe tomorrow my father will be in to show you how to operate the machinery”

The group dispersed amongst the nearby vines, enthusiastically picking away at the fleshy, succulent grapes.

Viola observed the group while she filled her own basket with oval green pebbles. The rest of the group was chatting away and bonding like siblings. Gossiping over who was going to cave to the pressure and high standards demanded by the business. Occasionally, there was a thunderous uproar of laughter and chortling. Viola raised her head, swan neck stretching as far as it could to attempt to even get the smallest indication as to what was tremendously hilarious.

As noon approached the sun beat heavily down on the group of amateurs, beads of sweat pattered to the ground momentarily before disappearing, leaving no hint that liquid had ever saturated the surface. Viola signaled the group, to her cluster of new recruits, it was time for lunch. In the break area there was a huge selection of tapas. From miniature pizzas to fruit kebabbed on wooden skewers; rice-stuffed wine leaves to sweet dates and a carafe of Prosecco waited for them all to devour. It was truly an amorous sight. Many in the crowed looked on as though they had languished it for a long time.

“Help yourself, everyone,” Viola announced with glee, “There’s more than enough to go around us all…. And then some!”

A loud cheer emitted from the group as they scampered over, munching into everything in sight.

She poured herself a glass of well-earned prosecco, the bubbles danced the length of her tongue and burst in her chest and the ice was the perfect chill to diminish the beating heat of the sun. It was a satisfying chow down, Viola was happy to see so many smiling faces, it had felt like a long time since there was true cheer within the walls of the vineyard. While the group was busy chattering and scoffing down their lunch, she stepped over to the side of the break room to observe the apparent blossoming friendship in her view. The chortles of her newly-appointed subordinates brought a rosy vision in her gaze, as if someone had shifted a filter in her line of sight. It was nice to have a minuscule amount of characters; the vineyard needed an overhaul of personality. The elder workers seemed to keep to themselves mostly. The diversity was a breath of fresh air for Viola.

As her eyes scrolled over the hungry masses. Viola found her eyes locking with Raphael’s again. A surge of electricity swept out through her chest and navigated its way along her nerves and to the pinnacle peaks of her nails. Her heart had suddenly become a thunderous boom and it felt as though it was due to erupt from her chest imminently. Viola drew breath sharply as he widened his mouth in a ravenous fashion.

'Control yourself Viola,' she thought desperately to herself. She then buried the charge deep within her ribcage. Raphael lifted his arm to sweep the flowing black hair away from himself, as though the hair hindered his vision.

“Everyone, listen up!” She called “Lunch is now over, it’s time to get back to work.” Her squadron quickly dispersed with haste to the vineyard with enthusiasm, clattering the lunch plates hastily onto the buffet table. For the rest of the afternoon, grapes were harvested left, right and centre chorused with a multitude of voices laughing and chittered away like crickets. It was productive to say the least and Viola admired the group’s interest in the task at hand. As the sun began to disembark behind the horizon, she called the group over for the finale meeting of the day.

“You all have done so well,” she praised them with a smile. Sweaty faces glowed with pride back at her like hopeful beacons. Agnella cheered loudly alongside the rest of them as they threw fists into the air in triumphant glory.

“I think it’s safe to say I will show you how to work the machinery tomorrow,” Viola’s eyes looked over her colleagues with pride. She dismissed them for the day and changed out of the sweat-drenched gear for the day, the others followed suit in agreement.

“I’m home!” Viola declared as the sauntered into her home and dinner had already been prepared. Chicken parmigiana was for tonight. She took her place hungrily at the dinner table and began wolfing down the food as though she was a starving child. Today’s work had worked a big appetite for her, Dino and Gianna could barely get a word in edgewise to hear about how their daughter’s day went. Once dinner had been devoured Viola picked up the clipboard from today’s harvest and began to review the numbers collected.

More than ten thousand fruits had been collected that day. Viola was impressed, she had not seen such a large number harvested in a single day for god knows how many years, she had a small silent prayer that in the following months there would be countless days like this to come. She told Dino and Gianna in excitement and they listened in astonishment, perhaps hiring the extra help was the best step forward after all

“My, my, my…. I’m so glad I decided to take on the extra help!” Gianna beamed

“Yes,” agreed Dino “Productivity at this rate will increase at least ten-fold”

There was a small pause, Gianna stood up from the table and walked over towards the kitchen.

“I made tiramisu for dessert”

She emerged from the kitchen, holding three medium bowls of the sumptuous dessert.

“I think I used a little bit too much whiskey this time, if you can’t eat it … I won’t be offended,” she explained.

“I thought you might have a treat stored away in there,” Dino laughed. “Especially from the amount of time you have spent in that blasted kitchen today.”

“I hope this comes on the regular” laughed Viola. She could certainly get used to it.