All Chapters of The Florence Promise: Chapter 21 - Chapter 30

For several seconds, we simply stared at each other.Then I snatched the letter out of Matteo's hands."Let me see.""That's my envelope,"he protested."It was lying on the floor.""It's still my envelope.""Matteo!""Fine."He surrendered.I sat down at the desk and began to read.The longer I read, the faster my heart beat.This wasn't a small commission.It wasn't a bathroom.Or a garden.Or a café.It was the complete renovation of an old townhouse on the outskirts of Florence.A full architectural proposal.Interior design.A new floor plan.Renderings.Construction supervision.And above all...the budget was several times larger than anything we'd worked on before."That's impossible."I let out a quiet breath."Exactly what I thought."Matteo nodded."Why us?"That was the first question that came to both of our minds.The letter contained the answer.One of our previous clients had recommended us.The owner of the house had seen the work we'd done for his friend and wanted t

When we landed the contract with Carlo Venturi, I thought the hardest part was behind us.I was wrong.In reality, it was only the beginning.The first client led to a second.The second to a third.And suddenly, something we'd dreamed about for years was actually happening.The phone kept ringing.Emails kept arriving.People were passing our names along.Ponte Tre was becoming real.Not just to us.But to everyone else as well.Those first few months, I was happy.Truly happy.I worked harder than ever before.But I didn't mind.Because every drawing, every meeting, every new project was proof that we'd made it.Some nights I didn't leave the office until after midnight.Florence would be almost deserted.The streets quiet.The shop windows dark.I'd walk home with a tube of drawings tucked under my arm.Exhausted.But satisfied.Matteo claimed he worked just as hard.Technically, he was right.The only difference was that our work looked very different.I drew.Designed.Calculated

The first award came.Unexpectedly.At least for me.Matteo claimed he'd been expecting it ever since we founded the firm."That's not arrogance,"he explained."That's planning.""That's arrogance."I replied.And of course, he only smiled.This time, though, he was right.Ponte Tre was no longer a small studio.Our projects were appearing in architectural magazines.People invited us to conferences.Students were writing master's theses about some of our buildings.It still felt strange.Because I still remembered the office above the bookstore.The crack in the wall.The broken printer.The days when we counted every euro.Matteo remembered them too.He just talked about them far less.The phone call came on a Tuesday morning.I was working on the design for a cultural center.Rain tapped against the windows while I spent my third straight hour adjusting the same façade.The phone rang."Ponte Tre."I answered.The man on the other end introduced himself as a representative of the

A few weeks later, we were interviewed for an architecture magazine.This time, I was there too.The journalist was young.Enthusiastic.And clearly far more interested in Matteo."So, how did the San Lorenzo Hotel project come about?"he asked.Matteo leaned back comfortably."It was one of the most challenging designs of my career."My career.Strange.Because we'd worked on that project together.The journalist scribbled in his notebook."And what was the biggest challenge?""Finding the right balance between history and a contemporary approach."Matteo answered.It was the exact same sentence I'd used during an internal design meeting a month earlier.Word for word.I sat beside him.Smiling.Silent.And for the first time, a thought crossed my mind that I didn't want to acknowledge.What if it isn't a coincidence?The thought frightened me.Because if it were true...I'd have to start asking myself much more uncomfortable questions.After the interview, we walked back through Flo

Matteo was silent for a moment."I see mornings when we'll argue again over a single line in a drawing."He smiled."I see us complaining about impossible clients.""I see us celebrating every building we finish.""I see us growing old in this company."I smiled."That's a very specific vision of retirement."He let out a quiet laugh."Maybe."Then his expression softened."But most of all..."He looked straight at me."In every one of those memories... you're there."My heart tightened."Always."For a long moment, we simply looked at each other."I don't know when it happened."he said quietly."Maybe back at university.""Maybe after Rafael left."He gave a small shrug."I don't know.""I only know that whenever I imagine the future..."He paused."I never see you as just my business partner."The room fell completely silent.I could hear nothing but the rain tapping against the windows.And my own breathing."Violet..."His voice was calm."I'm not asking you to answer me tonight.