View Message

2000:

---

DH (48): Alessandro Edmund “Alex” Nervetti (Wordsmith)
DW (45): Suzanne Marguerite Dumas (Rowena)

---

DD (19): Antonia Mercedes Nervetti (Wordsmith)
-DBF (21):

---

DS (16): Nico Francesco Nervetti (Princess_Shireen)
DD (13): Rosalie Carmela Nervetti (jessica_p)
DS (10): Claude Triton Nervetti (Rowena)
DD (7): Marie Letizia Nervetti (molly)

---

Much to the distaste of Nonno Nicolò, the running of the family restaurant has thoroughly entered a ‘modern era’ under Alex’s reign. The live renditions of Neapolitan opera have given way to a karaoke machine, encouraging patrons to stand up and deliver their best tone-deaf performances of current pop songs. Nonno Nicolò has been known to sneakily offer free drinks to patrons who can hold a tune in an effort to keep them onstage and spare the rest of the bar’s ears. Most egregiously of all, Alex has fully discarded tradition by allowing Nico to pursue his own interests and instead taking on Antonia as his future successor, his “princess” as he likes to call her.

---

After spending a year on rewrites and editing, Suzanne finally achieved her lifelong dream and published a novel. This did not result in any fame or riches, in fact the book sold very modestly, but she was far less hurt by this than she had expected. Instead of losing her will to keep writing once it became clear a career couldn’t be made out of it, she is now able to enjoy the process of creating without placing pressure on herself. Alex has been extremely supportive and still believes her novel is a masterpiece that will be recognised one day. In the meantime Suzanne continues to write for enjoyment and is now fully dedicated to making a success of her boutique business alongside her youngest daughter, who has become a very valuable partner.

---

Antonia is now the frontwoman of the restaurant and has inherited her father’s sense of duty and family values, though Alex is still unaware that his daughter has found a distraction from duty in the form of a keen young police officer. The pair met when DBF noticed that the back door of the restaurant was left open one night and called the owner to let him know. He was surprised that the muscular tattooed man was accompanied by a beautiful young woman, and dared to visit after his next shift, simply to check that everything was alright. It was an excuse that soon ran thin. Antonia’s younger siblings love teasing her about her attentiveness to the new customer, although they are wise enough to keep the secret from their protective father’s ears.

---

Romance is also in the air for Nico, who has developed a sudden crush on a classmate and is very confused about the feelings. After all, they have been in the same friendship group from the age of 11. What has changed and why? This seems to have caused him low self-esteem, as he regards his thin frame and pale skin as inadequate compared to the tanned athletes that girls seem to prefer. He has consequently filled his room with bodybuilding weights and sports-related books in an effort to remedy this.

---

Rosalie’s love of photography has continued, though she has changed the focus of her ambitions upon realising that, despite the opportunities for travel, wildlife photography provides many plaudits and not a lot of money. Inspired by her mother’s boutique, she is now considering a job in fashion photography. She hopes that this will still allow her opportunities to see the world whilst getting handsomely paid. For now she is honing her craft by taking pictures of her younger sister’s designs for advertising purposes.

---

Claude has taught himself to play the guitar. His parents are encouraging him to pursue music, but whilst he has talent, he lacks the confidence to perform on stage. Like many young boys, he also enjoys sports, but his true prowess lies in archery and he has won several competitions in the discipline. His sister and head cheerleader Rosalie hopes that he will one day go to the Olympics, even if she would prefer to have her brother pursue a sport like basketball or baseball that is more likely to earn him fame.

---

Marie is a constant presence at the boutique and is interested in varying the design of the wedding dresses, finding the endless rows of white to be rather boring. She wants to create something unique that nobody can find anywhere else and Suzanne, intrigued by the idea of a USP, is teaching her to sew in order to bring her visions into reality.

---

**

---

DBF’s name was 30-80 in USA in 1979. His middle name is the name of an English monarch. His surname is a noun.