Page 69 of A Place in the Sun
‘Well, yes. We were together. But it didn’t work out. You know how it is.’
‘Yes. You could say that. Part of why I ended up out here. My … partner didn’t like the hours I worked. She didn’t like the amount of time I spent at the restaurant. In a way, she was jealous of the time I was there. She didn’t understand how hard I was working to try to make it in that world. Trying to climb the ladder, to get the chef’s attention. People scrambled over each other to get his approval.’
His fist, resting on the table next to his coffee cup, suddenly clenches.
‘And the burn on your hand?’ I ask.
He rubs it with the other as if back there, in the moment. ‘A new boy’s initiation. Kitchen life can be brutal.’
I turn to him. ‘That’s awful!’
‘It is. And then you find yourself doing anything to stand up to these guys, get one over, be better. You eat sitting on the floor. Sleep hardly at all, live off cigarettes and anything else you can get your hands on to keep going, stay awake, alert.’
‘And your partner?’
He shakes his head. ‘I decided I’d had enough of kitchens, living with the other kitchen rats. It was no life. So I gave notice and went home early to find her in bed with someone else. A kitchen colleague of mine. He was on a day off.’
‘I … I’m sorry.’ That’s all I can think to say, unable to imagine the betrayal.
‘And then I needed to get out, get away. I packed a bag and hit the road, working for various builders on the way to make money. It was like cooking. Following instructions. Measuring, mixing, spreading. I caught on quickly. One job led to another … until I found myself making my way through Europe and landed here. I didn’t plan it. I didn’t want to go back to Rome where my family were from. No one was left there. By the time I got here, I had no idea who I was or where I was going. I was in the middle of a thick fog. But, gradually, I found the sortof peace I needed. Thenonnas fed me, and sat with me when I needed it. That was when I decided to stay and repay them. Once the mist lifted, I saw it wasn’t food I’d fallen out of love with but kitchen life. Fine dining. Food is much more than something pretty on the plate.’
‘It is,’ I agree. ‘It’s somewhere safe,’ I find myself saying. ‘It was the glue that held Marco and me together, but things started to unravel when the bills went up. Then Marco died and meals were the last thing on my mind. Just making the business wash its face was all that mattered. Until I couldn’t any more. But, here, the glue has started to stick us together again as a family.’
He nods and we look out, the church bells ringing.
‘I should get off,’ I say. ‘We need to go to market to buy the pizza topping ingredients for tonight. I have the minibus coming.’
We stand up close to each other, as if a bit of the wall between us has been chipped away. And then he says, ‘Is Sebastian going?’
‘To the market? I think so. Why?’
He smiles. ‘Just …’ He pauses.
‘What?’
‘Have a nice time. Enjoy it. You deserve it.’
I stop in my tracks. Was he going to say something else? Or does he mean it? As if he’s read my mind, he says, ‘Take some time to soak up the sun and catch up. We’re nearly done here,’ he says. ‘We shouldbe finished. You can just put your finishing touches on it.’
‘Giovanni … I …’ He turns to me. Why do I feel the atmosphere between us has changed? Something has shifted: where my wall has crumbled, he’s building his up again.
There’s a knock at the door, and Alessandro arrives with Enrico. They let themselves in.
‘Buongiorno,Thea,’ Alessandro smiles.
‘Buongiorno,Alessandro.’ I smile back.
‘You’re going to the market?’ he asks politely.
‘Yes. And tonight there will be pizza!’
‘I love pizza!’
‘Then I will make sure you have one all to yourself,’ I say.
‘Grazie mille!’ and he sets to work, whistling.
‘He’ll like that,’ says Giovanni. ‘He and his brother are doing really well. It’s just them and theirnonna. It’s good for him to have fun and not feel responsible for her all the time. For Enrico too … It’s good he can spend time feeling like a young man, not a parent and carer.’
