“I went to Naples today!”
“You went?”
“Adam took me. I really loved it there.”
Marco smiles. “It is a family place.”
“You must miss her,” I say.
“Of course, yes, but this is life, no? You miss. We miss. It is okay.”
“Maybe if you had some more help here, you could see her more often.”
Marco considers this. Then his face changes. “You agree!” he says. “You are one of them! You go away!”
But he is kidding, his hand waving me off with a playful flourish.
“Is there a restaurant you would recommend in town?” I ask him. We walk side by side down the stairs to the lobby. “Somewhere I can have a drink.”
“Alone?”
I nod.
Marco looks pleased. “Terrazza Celè,” he says. “Beautiful.”
He gestures for me to follow him, and we cross out into the street. He points to the left. “You go down, down, and then up. On the right side. You take a map, but you do not need it. It’s all blue.”
“Thank you,” I say.
Marco darts inside and returns with a map of Positano, the location of the restaurant circled.
“Have a wonderful evening!” he says. “Enjoy the magic of Positano!”
I turn left out of the hotel, and the moment I do, I hear my name being called. It’s her.
“Katy! Katy, wait!”
There Carol is, dashing down the street toward me.
“You’re here!” she says. She’s out of breath, in a blue cotton dress, the straps falling over her shoulders, her hair tied down loosely at the nape of her neck. “I couldn’t find you today!”
Emotion floods my body, but it’s not relief, not exactly. It’s happiness. At the sight of her. At the living, breathing incarnation in front of me. My friend.
“Carol,” I say. “Hi. Where have you been?”
“Working, mostly,” she says. “Where haveyoubeen?”
“I went to Capri! And then Naples today.”
Her eyes get wide. “With who?”
“This guy. He’s staying at my hotel.”
“I wanted to invite you over for dinner,” she says. “Are you free?”
“With Remo?” I ask.
She shakes her head. “Just the two of us.”
