<em>Carmine?  As in Carmine DeTillio?</em>Simon stared at the screen.  More and more it couldn't be lucky coincidence that he and lovelygirl lived in two different cities that happened to have an old Italian restaurant named Trattoria Almalfi with two maitre'd that just happened to be named Carmine.  Which meant that, more likely than not they did live in the same city.  This was truly a fortunate opportunity to land at his lap, a woman to steal away from her negligent man.  Simon's fingers quivered with excitement as he typed, for now he had to play it cool.<br/><br/>"Not bad Emma, I just woke up about an hour ago.   :-)  I'm glad to hear that this Carmine at the restaurant was able to help you out.  At the very least you will be getting a good meal out of the night.  Have you ever done a video chat before?"<br/><br/>Simon sent it as he activated his webcam, the little green light next to the lens flickered on.  He then went back to their story and posted,<br/><br/>""Excellent choice, madame.  I've just bought a few bottles recently, so we can run our own little tasting first."  Valter smiled.  Fine wine, artwork, and a woman on hand?  What more could a man ask for to have a wonderful night?  The elevator gave a little crystalline chime as it reached his floor and silently slid open.  Valter resumed placing his arm around Emma as they walked down the hallway, her feet sinking slightly into the plush carpeting laid out in the hallway.  As they reached his door, Valter reached into his pocket to retrieve his keys and unlocked it.  The room was covered in darkness and shadows, barely illuminated by the nighttime cityscape winking through the floor to ceiling windows and the dim light from the hallways.<br/><br/>Valter gently guided Emma into the apartment and closed the door, cutting off the light from the hallway completely.  The apartment grew completely dark as the shadows deepened with no light to create them.  The only thing Emma could see were the twinkling night-scape through the windows like an series of multi-colored constellations.  With the darkness cloaking everything around her, Emma could feel like she was floating in a endless void with only the stars in the windows as her companion.  The stillness was interrupted as Emma felt the tingle of warm breath on her back and neck as Valter leaned in to whisper from behind her.  "Sometimes, I just leave the lights off.  The view at night is beautiful, is it not?  Like my own private slice of the heavens."<br/><br/>For what seemed to be an eternity, they just stood there, and then at first Emma thought it was an optical illusion, but there seemed to be an additional glow and the city seemed to grow a little dimmer.  Valter behind her was slowly adjusting the knob regulating the light level increasing it gradually as not to blind Emma all of a sudden.  As the light increased, Emma could make out more and more details of the room.  The walls were not wallpapered but instead had finely polished wood paneling painted with a varnish that gave it a warm glow.  There was plenty of furniture, made in the fashion of the old-country where French Baroque met classical-styled Italian along with other national styles almost like a map in miniature of Europe where the countries were represented by period furniture.  There were the occasional bookcase, filled with pictures and other interesting trinkets Valter had collected over the years.  Then, Emma noticed the paintings and intricate tapestries, each given their own place of honor with a little brass plaque next to them.<br/><br/>Valter stepped from behind Emma and gave a slight bow, "I welcome you to my humble abode.  Why don't you have a seat and get comfortable while I'll go fetch the wine and a few glasses?""<br/><br/>Simon nodded, the story was coming along and a good pace and he was having fun generating the details.