That Thursday afternoon, adding a final flourish to her depiction of theFontana di Trevi, Stella stood back, brush in hand and colour palette in the other. She tilted her head to the side, as somehow, inexplicably, this helped her gauge the success of her work.
Marco entered the bar from the kitchen carrying a tray of steaming hotarancini. He spotted Stella’s expression and asked, ‘Not happy?’
‘Undecided.’ Stella’s depiction was true to life; she had managed to capture the famous fountain and all its wonder in perfect detail, but something wasn’t quite right. ‘It looks like it’s . . .’
‘Missing something?’
‘Yes! I can’t for the life of me work out what, though.’ She fiddled with some shading, mixing a few colours on the palette. ‘There . . . Is that better?’
‘Looks the same to me.’ Marco joined her and they stood side by side for a minute. ‘You know what it is?’ he said finally. ‘It’s because there are always so many people in Piazza Trevi that you never get to see it this clearly, all at once, no?’
He made an excellent point.
‘Yeah, perhaps you’re right.’
‘Plus,’ he moved closer to the mural, ‘the fountain is so big that you never get to stand back and take it in all at once. You’re either at an angle, looking to the side, looking up or pushing past tourists.Tranquilla. It’s wonderful.’ He gave her a gentle pat on her forearm, ‘Brava, Stella.’
‘Thanks, Marco. What would I do without you?’
Struggling to hide his blushing cheeks, he said, ‘You would starve.Mangia, daje!’ He handed her anarancino, golden fried breadcrumbs on the outside with steaming hot rice and ragù on the inside. ‘Che ti fa bene!’
‘You’re always looking after me.’ She smiled kindly, gratefully accepting the delicious treat.
‘You’re worth it.’ He gave her a wink before tucking into one himself. ‘Aiiii!’ He yelped. ‘Santa Maria! It’s hot!Stai attenta!’ Having burned his tongue on the filling, he was guzzling down some cold water.
‘Did you just say, “Santa Maria”? You’ve been spending too much time with Marcella.’
They both laughed at his misfortune, interrupted by the arrival of Giuseppe from Via dei Giubbonari.
‘Che freddo!’ He burst through the door, wrapped in his coat, and wearing a hat and scarf. ‘I hate winter! I hate it.’ He kissed both on the cheeks and stopped short of the mural. ‘Stella,brava!La Fontana di Trevi! I’ve never seen it that clearly before.’ He continued to walk through to the kitchen.
‘Told you,no?’ Marco just had to point out that he was right.
‘Ok,’ Stella started, taking up residency at the serving bar. ‘I have an idea.’
Marco manoeuvred the tray ofaranciniinto the display case, the heat from which immediately fogged up the glass. ‘Sì, tell me.’ He dusted his hands off on his apron.
‘Can you take tomorrow off work?’
Before Marco had the chance to respond, Giuseppe popped his head around from inside the kitchen. ‘Yes, of course he can. Hechoosesto work every day. I can cope without him. Such apapà’s boy!’ he teased.
‘Papà!Basta!’ Marco snapped, embarrassed.
‘Stella, he is so stubborn. I don’t know who he gets histesta durafrom. Not me, that’s for sure.’ He grinned cheekily then disappeared back into the kitchen.
‘I have this idea. Well, I’ve had it for a while now, but anyway.’ She became more animated, gesticulating excitedly. ‘So, I was thinking about how hard you work. You never have a day off, you work long hours here . . . And I’ve had a rough week with all the Vincent rubbish. How about we have a big fat Roman day together?’
Marco liked the sound of anything that meant spending more time with Stella. ‘Tell me more.’
‘I mean, you and me, a whole day, just us and Roma. Just hanging out, having fun. What do you think?’
‘Sounds wonderful.’ Marco’s insides began to effervesce. ‘What shall we do?’
‘Well, I thought it would be fun if we each chose three things that are typically Roman and special to us. One of us can organise the morning activities, and the other does the afternoon activities. And it’s all a surprise, so you can’t say where you are taking the other person.’
He lit up. ‘That’s easy! I already know my three!’
‘Same!’
