Page 28 of Three Times You

“What am I supposed to say?”

“That you’ll get to the church even before me and you won’t play any weird tricks on me!”

“I swear to you, cross my heart and hope to die.” And I kiss my fingertips, twisting them together in front of my mouth.

“That’s no fair! You see, you crossed your fingers. You’re the usual old liar!”

“Come on, I’m just kidding. Can you imagine me showing up late? You’re the one who’s always made me wait for you.”

“Well, you’re right about that…”Then she turns serious again. “You really talked for a long time with Don Andrea.”

“Yes.”

“You had a lot of things to tell him.”

“He wanted to listen. We talked about film.”

“Come on, can you really never be serious with me for even a minute?”

“What do you want me to say? It’s all covered by the secret of the confessional.”

“It is for him. You’re allowed to tell whatever you want!”

“Now you’re the one who won’t be serious.”

Gin sits in silence. She turns and stares out the car window.

But only for a short while. Then she changes her mind and turns back to me.

“That’s true, you have a point.” She has a bright smile on her face now. “I hope it was useful to you in some way.”

“Yes, I like him. He’s a super nice guy.”

“Of course he is! Do you think I’d choose a horrible old ogre for my wedding? Here, look at this. He gave me some readings to do in church, so we can choose the ones we want.”

“Ah. So are we going to be praying this evening?”

Gin smiles at me, and then says in a low voice, “Of course. What else do you think, you know, my folks are right there!”

“I wasn’t talking about here in the car. I meant later, at home.”

“You’re such a dope. They’re taking us to your office. You have your motorcycle there, don’t you? Grab it, and we can go home, okay?”

“No, let me go up to the office for a bit. I need to read some things for tomorrow. Then I’ll join you.”

“Okay.”

“Okay, you can just drop me off here, Gabriele. Thanks.”

The car slows to a halt. I open the door and get out.

“Thanks for everything. See you soon.”

They say goodbye to me. I plant a kiss on Gin’s lips, and I shut the door. The car takes off, and I head for the office. All the lights are off in the building. I take the elevator, ride up to my floor, and open the door. There’s no one around, silence reigns. I turn on the light, and then I shut the door. I walk over to the espresso machine and switch it on.

I won’t stay too late, but I’m looking forward to this. I pick up the remote and switch on the stereo, tuning the radio to FM 102.7. “One song you remember, one song you live.” It seems like pure chance, but a song by Ligabue, “Certe notti,” is playing. I don’t think that it’s an omen.

I head for my office, and I see that the door is shut, the way I’d left it. I go in and turn on the light. On the desk is the project that I’d used as a decoy. When I pick it up, I find the photo album underneath it. It seems as if no one’s touched anything.

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