The conciliatory mental space she had only just created for Alex, hoping to reach out to him and connect with him in some way, exploded into dust.
Her feet were moving before her mind had time to stop and reason with her. She tore across thecalle. ‘Alex!’ she called up to the window he always appeared at. ‘I know you’re in there! Come down, we need to talk!’
When she got no response, Lucia continued shouting for another minute before a sleepy-eyed Alex with unkempt locks arrived at the window, yawning. ‘What is it now, Lucia?’ he moaned.
‘This!’ She held up the letter. ‘From thecomune.’
Alex’s face flattened a little. ‘You left me no choice.’
‘They are threatening me with fines, Alex! Do you even understand what—’ But she caught herself just in time. No one except the inner circle, Gatti and Tiziano knew about Edoardo’s buyout deal and she wanted to keep it that way.
‘I’m sorry, Lucia, but things can’t go on like this.’
She exhaled petulantly. ‘And they don’t have to. I’m going to reportyou!’
‘For what, exactly?’ He leaned further out the window, but Lucia had already set off up thecalle. ‘Lucia!’ he cried, quickly returning inside, only to burst onto thecallea few moments later, zipping up his jeans fly as he ran after her.
‘Lucia, wait!’ Alex called again, but, striding ahead, she refused to turn and acknowledge him. Darting between tourists and locals on the narrowcalli, he begged her to see reason. ‘You brought this on yourself. I asked politely. I begged nicely. You just have to do things your way. You’re frustratingly stubborn!’
At this she stopped short, causing Alex to smash into the back of her. ‘Stubborn? You thinkI’mthe stubborn one?’ She half chortled sarcastically. ‘You’re the adult who pinned a ridiculous paper sign to his window in the middle of the day, asking for silence! And you expect us all to satisfy your specific needs?! We have work to do too!’ Her raised voice and dramatic waving of hands was earning plenty of attention from passers-by.
‘Not here, Lucia,’ Alex warned.
‘Fine. I’ll do it in there!’ And she pointed a few metres ahead to thecomuneoffice she had visited only three weeks earlier.
‘Ugh! You’re so frustrating!’
‘Well, too bad!’ Her vibrant green eyes flashing, she darted away again, bursting through the door with a fury that caused it to slam closed behind her.
Alex was only seconds behind her, and the arrival of the irate duo caused all heads in the entrance lobby to turn curiously.
The same man Lucia had dealt with on the main desk during her last visit locked eyes with her and moaned. ‘Not you again.’
‘Yes, me. What isthisabout?’ She slammed the letter on the counter between them.
‘Signorina. We close in ten minutes . . .’
‘Good. This will only take two.’
There were guffaws from patrons waiting in another queue and Lucia waved her hand at them, as if to reassure them she would be done in a moment. Their raised eyebrows and watch-checking suggested they thought otherwise.
‘This man,’ Lucia began, thrusting an accusatory finger in Alex’s direction, ‘has lodged some kind of complaint about me and my business, and I want it rescinded. Immediately.’ She pushed the letter closer to thecomuneemployee, who simply rolled his eyes and collected it for closer inspection.
Assessing the letter, he tapped away at his keyboard for a moment, before a grin formed at the corner of his lips. ‘Signorina Trevisan, this is out of my hands. It has already been tabled for a dispute resolution hearing next week.’ His eyes flicked to Alex. ‘Are you Alessandro Scarpa?’ Alex nodded. ‘A hearing for youboth, as this is in relation toyourconcerns.’ He scanned what was clearly a long document on his screen. ‘Your letter must have been delayed, Signor Scarpa.’ His eyes flicked between them – he was clearly revelling in the power rush. ‘So, I suggest you both return home, quietly, and get on with your lives, heads down, for the next week. As we will be seeing you next Wednesday afternoon at sixteen-hundred.Arrivederci.’
Flustered, Lucia turned on her heel, her cheeks flaming. ‘Look what you’ve done,’ she said to Alex, and her shoulders dropped in defeat.
Just as Alex was about to reply, the man at the desk interrupted. ‘What you’vebothdone. Next please!’
ventisette
Since they had first exchanged introductions at the window, a week of tension had passed between Lucia and Alex. Their verbal tussles. The stares. The covert window-checking. The Verdi concerto and the film. The incident at thecomune. It had all fixed a low-grade anxious tension in Lucia’s stomach.
I can’t believe I was ready to go over there and offer a peace treaty!
She had noted his daily patterns, and knew when he would appear. There were his ‘breakfast runs’ between eight-thirty and nine o’clock at night and his supermarket trips between six and seven in the morning, but there was something she couldn’t work out.
The neat modest posy of flowers he had takensomewherelast Thursday played on Lucia’s mind. Last Thursday . . .
