easily go and cancel on him the next day and then he would look a complete fool - just about to accept, when all at once there was a voice calling out his name across the square. Morrisâs name.
âMorrees! Eccoti qua! Che meraviglioso!'
Oh Morri, I have to speak to you. â The girl was in tears, you couldnât say whether of joy or pain. 'I saw your letter, Morrees!â
Morris looked at her. Massimina was in a complete mess. Red in the freckled face, make-up all over the place, hair tousled, body apparently quite shapeless in a running outfit of all things. And out of breath to boot - nostrils flaring and eyes puffy. Rather horrible.
Just when he might have settled things with Gregorio too! Morris didnât stand up.
âMorrees, thank God I found you, thank God, if you knew, if you only knew whatâ¦â She stopped, unable to go on and burst into tears. Gregorio stood, embarrassed, but curious too, eyes flickering from the girl to Morris. His long delicate fingers moved inside his shirt for his wallet.
âNo, look. Iâll pick up the bill,â Morris told him quickly. âAnd Iâll give you a call as soon as possible about Sardinia, okay?â
Gregorio turned to where Massimina stood there panting, and was obviously waiting to be introduced, but Morris didnât oblige. Introduce friends and they end up going off on their own together. To talk about you behind your back.
âAre you sure itâs okay?â Gregorio asked. 'Yes, Iâll get it,â and he winked at the boy with just the right kind of ambiguity.
âIâll leave you to it then,â Gregorio grinned, nodding at the weeping girl, and he had obviously decided to find the situation amusing. His slim figure swayed off across the square in white bermudas and neon-blue T-shirt.
Massimina sat down and had found a handkerchief. Her tracksuit was brilliant red with white flashes down the arms. Her black hair, fallen forward, stretched down as far as the table. Sympathy was in order. (This was the girl heâd asked to marry him.) Morris put out a hand and took the girlâs wrist gently.
'Tell me about it. Come on. Cheer up now, everybody is looking.â When the waiter passed he ordered two martinis, which would just about break him.
He looked over Massiminaâs body, but there was no sign of a bag or purse.
âCome on now, tell me.â
So bit by bit, sniffling her martini and pushing the back of now one wrist, now the other, into her red eyes, she told. Everything had gone wrong at home, just everything and again everything. Yes? Morris tapped his feet on the marble flagstones under the table. The martini was making him feel extremely comfortable and rather distant, as if he were at the other end of the square.
Grandma was ill, she said, that was the first thing, dying most probably with her angina, and all the others were being so horrid about it saying it was probably better if she went now, if she was going to be so demanding and helpless all the time. Then she, Massimina, had failed all her end-of-term exams, everything, completely, which meant she would have to study all summer to retake them in September, and it just wasnât fair, it wasnât, nor even sensible, because there was no point in her studying, because she just wasnât that sort.
âNo,â Morris said.
Anyway, then she had discovered his letter, which Mamma must have been hiding from her for days, and so now she
knew
he loved her and she was more sure than anything in the world that she loved him and her mother was just being horrible saying the things she did about him. Paola had sent her running to get Grandmaâs pills in the middle of the night from Mammaâs handbag and sheâd found the letter by accident. So after lunch sheâd put on her tracksuit and said she was just going for a run and then sheâd run all the way into town to find him, because she wasnât going home
âMorrees! Eccoti qua! Che meraviglioso!'
Oh Morri, I have to speak to you. â The girl was in tears, you couldnât say whether of joy or pain. 'I saw your letter, Morrees!â
Morris looked at her. Massimina was in a complete mess. Red in the freckled face, make-up all over the place, hair tousled, body apparently quite shapeless in a running outfit of all things. And out of breath to boot - nostrils flaring and eyes puffy. Rather horrible.
Just when he might have settled things with Gregorio too! Morris didnât stand up.
âMorrees, thank God I found you, thank God, if you knew, if you only knew whatâ¦â She stopped, unable to go on and burst into tears. Gregorio stood, embarrassed, but curious too, eyes flickering from the girl to Morris. His long delicate fingers moved inside his shirt for his wallet.
âNo, look. Iâll pick up the bill,â Morris told him quickly. âAnd Iâll give you a call as soon as possible about Sardinia, okay?â
Gregorio turned to where Massimina stood there panting, and was obviously waiting to be introduced, but Morris didnât oblige. Introduce friends and they end up going off on their own together. To talk about you behind your back.
âAre you sure itâs okay?â Gregorio asked. 'Yes, Iâll get it,â and he winked at the boy with just the right kind of ambiguity.
âIâll leave you to it then,â Gregorio grinned, nodding at the weeping girl, and he had obviously decided to find the situation amusing. His slim figure swayed off across the square in white bermudas and neon-blue T-shirt.
Massimina sat down and had found a handkerchief. Her tracksuit was brilliant red with white flashes down the arms. Her black hair, fallen forward, stretched down as far as the table. Sympathy was in order. (This was the girl heâd asked to marry him.) Morris put out a hand and took the girlâs wrist gently.
'Tell me about it. Come on. Cheer up now, everybody is looking.â When the waiter passed he ordered two martinis, which would just about break him.
He looked over Massiminaâs body, but there was no sign of a bag or purse.
âCome on now, tell me.â
So bit by bit, sniffling her martini and pushing the back of now one wrist, now the other, into her red eyes, she told. Everything had gone wrong at home, just everything and again everything. Yes? Morris tapped his feet on the marble flagstones under the table. The martini was making him feel extremely comfortable and rather distant, as if he were at the other end of the square.
Grandma was ill, she said, that was the first thing, dying most probably with her angina, and all the others were being so horrid about it saying it was probably better if she went now, if she was going to be so demanding and helpless all the time. Then she, Massimina, had failed all her end-of-term exams, everything, completely, which meant she would have to study all summer to retake them in September, and it just wasnât fair, it wasnât, nor even sensible, because there was no point in her studying, because she just wasnât that sort.
âNo,â Morris said.
Anyway, then she had discovered his letter, which Mamma must have been hiding from her for days, and so now she
knew
he loved her and she was more sure than anything in the world that she loved him and her mother was just being horrible saying the things she did about him. Paola had sent her running to get Grandmaâs pills in the middle of the night from Mammaâs handbag and sheâd found the letter by accident. So after lunch sheâd put on her tracksuit and said she was just going for a run and then sheâd run all the way into town to find him, because she wasnât going home
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