“Hey, Mami, I was hoping I’d catch you.” Vilmari marched over, still wearing a Lululemon athleisure set, her hair pulled into a ponytail through a pink New York Yankees baseball cap.
“I thought you were with Nico.”
“I was. Listen, I have a slight issue,” she said, sitting next to Lora on the bench. “The president of Mexico has finally confirmed when she will make her official visit to the UN. While she’s in New York, she’s doing a press conference with a select group of journalists and guess what! I’m a select journalist!”
“That’s amazing! I’m so happy for you! When is it happening?”
“Thank you! Well, that’s the slight issue,” Vilmari said, sitting on the bench next to Lora. “It’s happening Thursday.”
“This Thursday? Today is Tuesday.”
“I know I was supposed to be here for another week, but you know that this means everything to me,” Vilmari said. “And the weird thing is, I’m having a great time here! And this has been a little challenging, but the food is fantastic andeveryone is so nice. Plus, Nico is honestly the sexiest man I’ve been in the same room with in about a decade, and, well—I really wanted to be here for you. But will you forgive me if I leave tomorrow morning?” she asked, drawing her eyebrows up as far as they could go.
“Of course I will.” Lora smiled, pulling Vilmari into a hug. “I’m not upset! But I would be if you missed this chance!”
“Oh my god, thank you,” Vilmari said, hugging her back. “I was so worried you would think I was abandoning you.”
“Never.”
“I can help you with the document search this afternoon, though! And I know we have to turn the rental car in, but we can extend it if you want to. I just have to switch my flight and I’ll be free for the rest of the night!”
“Well, it turns out that’s unnecessary,” Lora said with a grin. She slid the folder out of her bag and opened it to reveal the birth certificate.
“No way!”
“Yes!”
“Ah!¡Qué alivio!That’s great news too! Now you can really get things going!”
“I know! It’s finally happening!” Lora smiled but felt something heavy settle down in her chest like a stone sinking to the bottom of a pool. She’d be here alone now, trying to make this work. All that was left was her family, but there was no one here for her but ghosts. She looked down, feeling tears well. “I had grandparents.”
“Oh.” Vilmari grabbed her hand and began rubbing the back of it.
“I’m OK,” Lora said quickly. She smiled and squeezed herhand, determined to show Vilmari that she was going to be fine. And she would be. “I don’t know why I didn’t think of it. How silly of me. Of course Ivo had parents. I should have expected it.”
“I don’t think you could have expected any of this. It’s OK to feel emotional!”
“I don’t know why I am like this lately. It’s not me.”
“You know something?” She brushed Lora’s bangs out of her eyes. “It’s OK not to know. Sometimes it’s good to not have expectations, because the second you do, the world has a way of showing you it’s a waste of time. Believe me and the money I’ve spent on a pico laser to remove ‘Enrique Forever’ from my right butt cheek.”
“That’s an excellent point.” Lora laughed as she wiped under her eyes. “It’s a good thing no one is going to see your ass for a while.”
“Oh, it’s no problem. I just have to stay on my back,” she said, giggling. “I’m so proud of you. You’re brilliant and accomplished and also a total fox, let’s be real. And you are going to be all of those amazing things no matter where you go or what you do. I know that this postdoc is so important to you, so I want you to have it. But on the off chance—and I meanoff offchance—that Zurich can’t happen or something goes sideways, you can come back to New York and we will figure it out. You hear me?”
Lora nodded. “I hear you,” she said, but knew that if she ended up back in New York, it would be because she failed somewhere along the way. And even if she had no expectations, there was nothing in her that was ready for defeat.
Chapter 8
RESEARCH NOTES
Maslow believed that one’s intrinsic needs form the base of the pyramid. While it is clear that satisfying basic needs such as food and nourishment is essential, some of the other intrinsic needs may be debated. For example, shelter remains an intrinsic need; however, the concept of “shelter” becomes a discussion of what constitutes a “home,” an imprecise word that conflates physiological with emotional need.
When Andrea First Moved Back from New York, it Felt like listening to an audiobook at half speed. In New York, he had to plan fast and execute faster. His brain had been tuned to living life in hyperdrive for over ten years. Oddly enough, the tendency to push the pace for everything was one of the first things to go once he settled back into life on the Italian Riviera. Here, things were going to take the amount of timethey were going to take, and if he tried to fight this, he’d end up frustrated and miserable. However, hehadbeen a little lax about getting the town house finished. He’d bought a few properties when he moved back, hoping to inject a bit of movement into the economy by turning them into homes or storefronts. Most had been renovated and rented or sold—all but the pale yellow town house with the terrace in the back that looked out over the sea. It was bigger than the rest, with a double-height ground floor where he’d envisioned a big modern kitchen. There were three bedrooms and even two spaces that would convert easily into bathrooms, which was rare for this kind of building. On the top floor, there was an attic space large enough for an office, family room, gym, or whatever someone could dream up. The problem was that it was too big for a single person. There were too many stairs to climb for an older person. And after a complete renovation, he’d have to charge a rent that would be too high for the average local resident for it to make any sense. The perfect tenants would be a young family with some means and a few kids to run up and down the stairs like they were nothing. Maybe they’d have a small dog that liked to sit in the sunshine on the warm stones of the terrace. Right now, he didn’t know anyone like that. So, the house became a hobby and sat empty.
“Dove vuoi che lo metta?” Vittorio asked, pushing an entire wheelbarrow loaded up with a brand-new toilet into Andrea’s office before even saying hello. Andrea jumped, slightly startled out of his focused to-do list writing. Just as he was about to answer the question, Lora appeared in the doorway behind Vittorio.
“Hi,” she said, her eyes darting to the white porcelain commode that looked like a queen on a palanquin. Vittorio nodded and smiled, flicking his eyes to Andrea when he saw her.
