“What’s the harm? It won’t be the carnival in Rio, but someone has to care for the dead.”
“So that’s all there is to it? You’re seeing him because he offered you a job?”
“I happen to like Elmo too. He is an honest, polite man, and he’s relatively cultured, which doesn’t hurt. He may not be Brad Pitt, but at least he is not the type to abandon his own kid.”
One shot, one target. She aimed straight for me and didn’t miss.
“I’m not asking you to jump for joy, but at least respect my choice, Elisa. Or if you can’t, at least avoid criticizing me—you’re in no position to do so.”
“Lucia, I just want to see you happy.”
“Well, I will be. Much happier than I am now.”
I shake my head, not understanding the path she’s decided to take. “I thought you were stronger than this.”
“Oh, sorry, Elisa, have I disappointed you? You know what? Have you ever wondered why it’s so hard to get along with you? Why you hardly have any friends? Because you are judgmental. You look down on everyone from your ivory tower, deciding who is worthy and who isn’t, but you never question yourself.”
“Sorry if I expressed a doubt.”
“No, you didn’t express a doubt. You’ve openly insulted me and the person I’m with because we don’t have the same grandiose plans for our future, as if you have it all figured out. I don’t want to have to be mean, but I’ll say this: Look at your life with a little less arrogance and you’ll see that it’s not too different from mine. And decide if you’re okay with being alone and working on a vineyard that isn’t even yours.”
“It is fine with me,” I state with conviction, crossing my arms assertively.
“Perfect, then there’s nothing left to discuss,” she decrees with the same severity with which she calmed our arguments as kids, back when she used to babysit us. “I’m happy with my life, you’re happy with yours, so we’re all happy. I have to go. Tomorrow morning, if you feel like it, we can have breakfast, calmly, at the bakery, before I start moving my things to Forte.”
She leaves without another word, and I remain there, frozen in place, in the middle of the kitchen that looks like a battlefield.
Feeling a little dejected, I start to scrape leftovers into the dustbin so violently that it tips and spills part of its contents.
“Damn it,” I mutter to myself, bending down to clean up the mess.
Among the crumbs, lettuce leaves, crusts, and celery stalks, I find a balled-up piece of paper, which I open.
I don’t know if we can be a good couple, but we certainly have some good times together, you and me.
I also like it when we fight.
If you want, I’ll wait for you in my room tomorrow morning, early, while everyone is still asleep.
Michael
“Am I judgmental?” I ask Giada as soon as she turns on the light and enters her room, where I’ve been waiting for at least an hour.
“God! You scared me!” she exclaims with a leap.
“You didn’t answer my question.”
“Um, yes, you are,” she says bluntly.
“Gee, thanks,” I reply resentfully.
“Why do you care? I thought it was your most prized character trait.”
“I think I criticized Lucia a little too freely for dating Elmo,” I confess.
“No offense, Elisa, but it’s really none of your business,” she says, undressing. And as she takes off her dress, I notice that she’s naked underneath.
“What happened to your underwear?”
