Page 47 of Two Chances With You

Romani, the Cat & the Cat, the Serpent, and a few other members of the staff are all seated in the front row, ready for this little show, a minor amusement before the real work begins.

I sit down at the far end of the row, with my gelatos down to the last two spoonfuls, and I enjoy the show from a distance. Gin doesn’t see me. She seems self-confident and relaxed with her hands in her pockets. I don’t know what group she belongs to. She strikes me as unique.

Her friend isn’t kidding around either. Every now and then, she moves her head in an attempt to swish back her hair.

The choreographer has a microphone in his hand. “All right now, take a step forward, introduce yourselves, first and last name, age, and any work you’ve already done. Look into the central camera, camera two, the one with the little red light with a man who’s going to wave at you now. Wave at them, Pino!”

The guy sitting behind the middle TV camera lets go of the camera for a second, without taking his face away from his monitor, and puts his hand in the air to wave at the women.

“Okay! Is that all clear?”

A few of the women indicate a hesitant yes with their heads. Gin, as I expected, remains motionless.

The choreographer drops his arms in disappointment and then speaks into the microphone. “Hey, ladies, let me hear your beautiful voices. Say something to me. Let me know I exist.” A half chorus of yeses, okays, and all rights comes back, even a few smiles.

The choreographer seems to be more satisfied this time. “Fine. Then let’s get started.”

Marcantonio comes over. “Hey, Step, what are you doing back here? Come on. Let’s get seated in the front. We’ll get a better view.”

“No, I’ll enjoy it more from here.”

“As you prefer.” He sits down beside me. “Wait and see, Romani is going to summon us. On every detail, he’s going to want our input.”

“Okay, and when he calls us, we can go down.”

One at a time, the women pass around the microphone and introduce themselves. “Ciao, I’m Anna Marelli, and I’m nineteen. I’ve appeared on various shows as a presenter, and I’m studying law. I also had a small part in a film by Ceccherini…”

Renzo Micheli, the Serpent, seems seriously interested. “What part did you play?”

“The prostitute, but it was just a cameo.”

“Did you like the role?”

Everyone snickers but tries not to be too obvious. Only Romani remains perfectly impassive.

Anna Marelli replies, “Sure, I like making movies. But I think I have more of a future in television.”

“Fine. Let’s move on to the next one.”

“Buongiorno, I’m Francesca Rotondi, I’m twenty-one years old, and I’m about to take my degree in economics. I’ve been in…”

Romani turns to his right and left and then cranes his neck around and spots us. “Mazzocca, Mancini, come up front.”

Marcantonio stands up and gives me a glance. “What did I tell you?”

“All right, let’s go. It seems sort of like being in school, but if it’s part of the game…”

The women auditioning have the light full in their faces and they can’t see. One young woman after another introduces herself. Then the one next to Gin starts. I wind up sitting in the front row, on the right. She still hasn’t seen me. But her friend, Ele, has.

Ele naturally doesn’t let the occasion pass unobserved. “Hey, Gin.” In a stage whisper. “Look who we have in the front row.” Gin raises her hand to shade her eyes from the glare. Then she cranes her neck a little and sees me.

I lift my right hand up to my face and, unobtrusively, wave to her. I’m not interested in bothering her. I know that she’s there for work. But nothing doing, she takes it the wrong way and once again, as usual, with her left hand extended at her side, she gives me the finger, telling me to go fuck myself. And that makes three.

“You’re next, brunette.”

This is her big moment but, because she was distracted, she’s caught off guard. “What? Oh, right.” She takes the microphone that the woman on her right hands to her. “I’m Ginevra Biro, age nineteen, and I’m studying literature with a focus on theater. I’ve been in a number of shows as a presenter.Ta-dah.” Gin pushes both hands forward and then up, taking a step forward and then performing a small bow. “If I’d been holding the usual envelope, it would have flown away.”

Then she steps back to her place in line, and everyone breaks into laughter.

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