For the second time that day, Phoebe steps through the door of Giuglia’s. Except, unlike this morning when she felt excited about the day ahead, now disappointment and exhaustion weigh down her steps. Thank God they serve wine.
CHAPTER 27
Kate takes a long sip from her large glass of Italian white, savouring the smell and the warmth that fills her throat as she swallows. It’s her first taste of alcohol since having Rosie. She’s been trying to avoid it because of breastfeeding, but when Phoebe ordered a bottle from the handsome deli owner, she found herself not wanting to say no. She can ‘pump and dump’ later. She needs this, especially after the emotions of the day.
‘I’m sorry I didn’t mention Rosie when we chatted this morning,’ she says to Phoebe after taking another sip. Catching her eye across the table, she notices how Phoebe’s expression seems to have been relaxed by the wine too. It’s just the two of them in the deli, but the owner has discreetly disappeared to the kitchen, where Kate can hear sounds of him moving about, preparing the food they’ve ordered.
‘You don’t have to apologise. I guess we didn’t share that much about ourselves at all. Too busy spotting kingfishers and eating cake.’
‘And yet we saw each other semi-naked.’
Phoebe lets out a laugh. ‘That’s very true. I’ll be honest, I nearly didn’t recognise you in your clothes.’
They share a giggle.
‘I’ve always thought it’s a strange thing about swimming,’ Kate says. ‘You take all your clothes off in front of total strangers in the changing room – or by the river, in our case this morning – but then you put them back on again and go back to your dry-land life, maybe not seeing those people again until the next time you’re wriggling into a swimsuit alongside one another.’
‘Or until you bump into them in the street and that stranger forces you to come for coffee with them, which turns into wine,’ says Phoebe with a smile, raising her glass.
‘You absolutely didn’t force me. I was pleased to see a friendly face.’ Looking over at Phoebe, Kate senses that maybe she has had a bit of a day too. ‘Long day?’ she asks.
Phoebe slumps a little lower in her chair, taking another long sip of her wine.
‘Something like that.’
‘Tell me about it?’
On the other side of the table, Phoebe raises an eyebrow.
‘Are you sure you want to hear?’
‘Positive. It will be nice to focus on someone else’s baggage for a change.’
Phoebe raises an eyebrow but doesn’t say anything. Instead, she takes a deep breath and starts to talk. Kate sips her wine and listens as she describes the pressures of her job. Kate can hear the stress in Phoebe’s voice and wonders how she missedit earlier when they swam side by side in the river. How didn’t she see that this woman who is so different from her in so many ways carries so many of her own fears?
‘I get that feeling of letting people down,’ she tells Phoebe. ‘I feel it all the time with my daughter. It’s like, however hard I try, I’m still getting it wrong. And it matters so much. Ican’tget it wrong.’
‘Yes!’ says Phoebe, slapping a hand on the table. ‘That’s exactly how it feels.’
‘And I bet you feel guilty too because you chose your career? So you feel like you should just be able to suck it up and cope with the hard parts?’
‘That’s exactly it. My patients need me to be strong.’
They nod at one another in understanding and Kate suddenly feels very glad that they ran into one another. When Phoebe gets onto the subject of her ex-boyfriend, Kate can feel her fists curling in anger on behalf of her new friend.
‘He took all your furniture?’
Phoebe nods.
‘So, what have you been sleeping on?’
‘A mattress on the floor. The benevolent bastard left me the mattress at least.’
The kitchen door swings open and the owner of the deli comes towards them holding a large wooden board piled with slices of cheese, rolls of cured meats, chunks of bread and little pots containing oils and olives.
‘Jesus, that looks fucking amazing, Luca,’ says Phoebe, smiling up at him.
As Kate looks on, she wonders if there is something going on between him and Phoebe.
