‘I’m thinking of screening Roberto Benigni’sPinocchioafter theaperit—’
‘Bellissima idea!’
‘Out on thecalle.’
Francesco pulled them to a complete stop. ‘Non ho sentito bene. Scusa. Where, now?’
‘On the school’s façade. Just like we do during summer.’
Suddenly imitating Mariella’s worried expression from the afternoon, he said, ‘Lucia. What are you doing?’
‘Niente. Just following ourusualtried and tested cultural program.’ She gave him a wide, innocent smile.
But Francesco wasn’t so easily fooled. ‘It’s so cold at night, Lucia. No one will want to come and sit in the dark on the street to watch a film. Believe me.’
‘We have plenty of blankets and pillows in storage. And we have the fire pit upstairs on theterrazzo. We can bring that down.’
Francesco rolled his eyes. ‘Lucia, what you really want to do here is get on the nerves of that man across thecalle. Round two.’
‘Oh, you mean Alex?’
Francesco lowered his chin and gave her the look of a disappointed parent scolding their small child. ‘He will surely retaliate; should you provoke—’
‘Shh,’ she said, pulling him with her as she set off again. ‘Who cares about him? It will be a fun new wintry adventure for our students.’
‘It smells of trouble.’
‘It smells likeyou’renot being supportive.’
‘Lucia!’ He scowled up at the night sky. ‘I think I agree with Mariella here. Leave him alone. You have enough problems to deal with at the moment.’
‘I know. I’m acutely aware of them all, Checco. And Alex isn’t anywhere near the top of my list of priorities. Trust me. So,Pinocchioit is.’
Francesco’s shoulders drooped a little under his coat. ‘Va bene,’ he said resignedly.
She didn’t know why Francesco had conceded so easily. In fact, she was half expecting more of a fight. Perhaps he was still feeling the pinch of the Instagram saga? Some residual guilt over the night’s outcome with Claudio? Whatever it was, it only bolstered Lucia’s resolve.
While she didn’t truly understand why needling Alex felt so good, she had a sneaky suspicion it was on account of her standing her ground, holding her own. With Claudio it had been much the same. She’d held her nerve, been assertive, and called the final shot. She’d feltpowerful. It was a feeling Lucia hadn’t known for a very long time.
Feeling buoyant at the thought of Alex returning to his window like a melodramatic damsel in distress, she quickened her pace. ‘Let’s put out the usual popcorn and snacks. And we will need the larger speakers. The built-in one on the projector is not loud enough.’
Francesco’s eyes closed in defeat. ‘It won’t end well.’
She waved away his concerns. ‘It does. You’ve seen the film. Benigniè un genio.’
‘I wasn’t talking about the film.’
ventidue
The next morning Lucia was trying to while away the hours until it was a socially acceptable time to call Tiziano to arrange Saturday’s meeting. In an attempt to appease her restless hands and racing mind, she took to La Scuola Rosa’s front window without her sling. She had done her time and, thankfully, she was feeling stronger and more capable.
Pushing past the hanging puppets and Carnevale display, she made herself comfortable by the glass pane. She collected a rolled-up poster from her basket of supplies, along with some fresh adhesive putty, and used the latter to adhere the poster to the window, for all on thecalleto see.
She smiled, reading the reversed words –Domani sera! Film:Pinocchio, venerdì, ore 20.30.
Lucia ran her hands along the edges of the poster, smoothing it against the glass. She gave the putty points one final press for good measure and was about to turn away from the window when, across thecalle, Alex appeared.
Lucia watched as he locked La Commedia’s door, turned and stepped onto the pavers. He caught sight of her and, by the way he froze to the spot, Lucia knew he hadn’t expected to see her there. With two metres between them, plus the glass shield of the window, they stared at each other.
