Following their lunch with Dr. Nespolo, Double R Guinigi and his beautiful wife, Gigi, walked to a little caffè in the piazza in front of the church of San Frediano.
They sat down at an outdoor table. The owner of the caffe saw them and immediately went to their table.
“We are so honored to have a visitor of your immense importance Signor Guinigi!
How may I help you?”
“Please bring us two espressos and a couple of your best biscotti,
and send one of your men across the piazza to the office of the geometra Tommaso Tricoci,
I want to have a word with him here.”
“Yes of course!” the caffè owner replied enthusiastically.
Two minutes later, the slim and extremely handsome geometra Tricoci walked across the Piazza and, with a big smile, exclaimed:
“It is very fine day in our humble Piazza to be visited by such distinguished guests! Double R, how are you?” and the men embraced warmly. “And Lady Gigi, you are as beautiful as ever!”
“Please sit down, Tommaso” Double R invited. “Once again, I need your extraordinarily valuable advice and assistance.”
Double R told the geometra all about his plans for a fabulous new tower to be built adjacent to Palazzo Guinigi, that would have Reba Oaks planted on top of it.
“What do you think? Can you get all of the needed approvals for this, my friend?”
Tricoci ordered a Punt e Mes with a slice of lemon, and pondered the question.
“Yes, but unfortunately it is going to be more complicated than you might first expect...
“There is a very powerful group in Brussels now called the Special Commission Of United Regulatory Governmental Edicts or
‘SCOURGE’
which has issued several thousand pages of regulations governing anything and everything associated with planting trees on top of towers” the geometra explained. “The planting, sunlight and watering of the trees is meticulously specified and regulated.”
“What?!!!” Double R exploded. “These oaks are going to be outside!
“They will get planted by my botanist!
“They will get sunlight from the sun!
They will get watered by rain clouds!
How dare this SCOURGE presume to tell me how to plant Reba Oaks on MY tower!”
“You are absolutely correct to be outraged. But if you will allow me to indulge them, I believe that I can have the 219 page application completed within two or three weeks, and because of your personal prestige and influence within the corridors of power in Lucca,
I believe that all of the 35 or so necessary approvals, notarizations, seals, apostilles, recorded covenants, contracts, deeds, blueprints, protocols and pronouncements are attainable within nine months, possibly within six months,” the geometra replied nervously.
Double R rose to his full imposing height of six feet four inches and pointed his index finger at the geometra.
“Start the paperwork today Tommaso, immediately. But I want you to be sure to stop by Caffe Savoia tonight and have a private chat with that little weasel Rossi who somehow got appointed as the Lucchese Tower Commissioner.
“You tell that nitwit that I’m sending a very expensive expedition overseas to bring back some Reba Oaks for my fabulous new tower, and if all of those approvals and documents aren’t on my desk before those trees are within 100 miles of my palazzo, Rossi and all of his friends are going to be inspecting pig farms in Pistoia for the rest of their careers,
and they are going to smell like them too!”
“Understood, Signor Guinigi!” the geometra responded.
Double R calmed himself, and smiled at his lovely wife Gigi. “Gigi, shall we take a leisurely stroll down Via Fillungo?
