Which is deeply unhelpful for everyone involved.
Chapter 8
Chloe
By the evening, thenewsroom has the exhausted stillness of a place that has given up pretending it’s productive.
Most people have sensibly gone home. The lights feel too bright. My tea has cooled into something punitive. My article is finished and behaving itself, which feels like a minor miracle after the day I’ve had.
I stare at the screen for a moment longer than necessary, then close the document before it can change its mind.
That should be it. Laptop shut. Bag packed. End of day.
Instead, I pick up the phone.
This is not emotional, I tell myself. This is logistical. A courtesy. Nothing more.
I dial the restaurant.
“La Cucina di Rosa,” a woman answers promptly. “Angela speaking.”
“Hi,” I say. “It’s Chloe. From the Gazette.”
“Oh hello,” she replies, already distracted. “Just a moment.”
The phone shifts. Sound spills through. Cutlery clinks. Someone laughs, loud and unselfconscious. A voice calls something in Italian, answered immediately in English. Underneath it all, the low, steady hum of a restaurant in full Friday evening swing.
Angela comes back on the line.
“Are you trying to reach Tom,” she asks, practical rather than curious.
“Yes,” I say. “If he’s free.”
She exhales. “He is not.”
Fair enough.
“It’s a bit mad here,” she continues. “He’s talking to customers and I wouldn’t interrupt unless something or someone was on fire or bleeding.”
“That’s completely fine,” I say quickly. “I can call back.”
There’s another burst of sound in the background.
“Honestly,” Angela says, brisk now, “you’re probably better off doing that later. It’s one of those nights.”
“All right,” I say. “Thanks.”
She hesitates for half a beat.
“Tell you what,” she adds. “I’ll give you his mobile number, just in case. He won’t answer now, but if you need to message him later it might save you ringing back.”
Just in case.
That phrase does a lot of work.
I pause. Briefly. Long enough to consider whether this is unnecessary. Long enough to acknowledge that refusing would be performative at best.
“Yes,” I say. “That would be helpful. Thank you.”
