Page 1 of Three Times You

Chapter 1

Iam hopelessly in love with Hope.The understated graffiti gleams in all its tough disenchantment on a slat in the gate. I smile to myself, thinking that maybe Hope had given him some reason for hope, but I have no way of knowing whether or not that’s true so, with my heart in my mouth, I walk into the villa.

I walk in silence until I reach that room, and looking out of that window, I take in the sight of the sea. It all belongs to me now, the terrace that gently drops down to the rocky shore, the outdoor showers with their yellow and blue tiles featuring hand-painted lemons, the marble table by the large window looking out onto the horizon. The sun is setting—exactly like that day nine years ago.

“Are you changing your mind? If you don’t want the place anymore, you’ll have to pay double the deposit in indemnity. Or else trigger a lawsuit I won’t live to see the end of.”

I glance at him, amused. This spry old gent has a young man’s energy.

He frowns and coughs. “But you want this house, don’t you?”

I sit down next to him and start signing the pages without so much as a glance. My lawyers checked them all.

“So you’re buying the house, right?”

“Absolutely, it’s exactly what I want…”

The old man collects the documents and hands them to his assistant.

“Let me tell you the truth, youngster. I’d have taken a smaller offer.”

“And let me tell you the truth, sir. I’d have been willing to pay twice as much.”

“I don’t believe that. You’re just trying to get my goat.”

“That’s as may be.” I smile at him.

At last, the owner stands up, walks over to an antique wooden cabinet, and opens the door. Inside is a fridge, and he pulls out a bottle of champagne. He pops the cork with genuine delight and fills two flutes with ice-cold bubbly.

The owner raises his glass in my direction. “I told my lawyer we could have asked for more…”

I shrug and say nothing. Especially about the ten thousand euros that I slipped his lawyer to help grease the wheels.

I sense his eyes focusing on me in concern. I wonder what he’s thinking. He shakes his head with a smile. “I hope you’ll be happy here. Let’s drink to that.” And he raises his glass and drains it in a single gulp.

“Tell me something though. How did you manage to get your offer in the second I put it up for sale?”

“Do you know Vinicio Foods, the grocery store at the bottom of the hill?”

“Of course.”

“Well, let’s just say I’ve known the owner for years.”

“So you were looking for a house around here?”

“No, I was waiting to find out when you’d be ready to sell yours.”

“Just this house? No other house would do?”

“That’s right. I was determined to make this villa mine.”

And in a flash, I am hurtled back in time.

***

Babi and I were in love. I still remember that day.She was on a field trip, and I pulled up on my motorcycle. She walked over, lighting up all my shadows with her smile. I blindfolded her with the dark blue bandanna I’d stolen from her, and she climbed on the motorcycle behind me, holding tight. We rode up the Via Aurelia all the way to Feniglia. The silvery sea, the yellow broom plants, the dark green bushes, and then that villa overlooking the rocks. I pulled over and turned off my motorcycle. We got off, and in a flash, I found a way in. There we were, walking through Babi’s dream house.

I pinch myself because it seems so incredible, as if I were back there right now, holding her hand as she stands, still blindfolded in the silence of that day, at sunset, as we listen to the regular breathing of the sea below and our words echo through those empty rooms.

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