Page 40 of Three Times You

I riffle through the mail, but it’s just promotional brochures, bills, and a few letters for Gin, but nothing strange with my name on it. So much the better. I wonder what Babi knows and how she’s dealing with everything that’s happened, if she’s still thinking about me or if it was really just a one-nighter, a fling. I wonder if she meant what she said. Such lovely words.

I stop on the landing and shut my eyes. I see her again, her hair tangled, from time to time covering her face, her smile, her tears, on top of me, talking, telling me her thoughts, her dreams, her fears. But it’s too late now, Babi. There are things that have a special magic because they happened then and there and are confined to that moment.

I open the front door. “It’s me. I’m back.”

I shut the door, trying my best to leave all those thoughts out on the landing behind me.

Chapter 32

Iset the mail down on the coffee table in the living room. “There’s a few letters for you!”

Gin picks up the mail and leafs through it. She rips open an envelope. “Look at this, twenty percent discounts at La Rinascente department store. They have my number. Why do they use up all this paper instead of sending me an email or a text? Poor old trees! I swear to you, every time I open an envelope that could have been avoided, my heart bleeds for them.” Gin and her love for the natural world. Then she opens another envelope.

“I can’t believe it! It’s an answer from the Merlini law office. They’ve invited me for an interview!”

“Nice.”

“Yes, but of all times, just when I’m pregnant. Usually women get hired and then they get pregnant. Whereas I do the exact opposite. How smart does that make me?”

Gin and her work ethic, her sense of duty.

“But you look great. If you don’t know, no one would say that you’re pregnant.”

“Would you cut it out, you con artist? What are you going to teach this baby on the way?” She touches her belly. “To lie? To be dishonest? And then they’ll turn it around on you, you know that? Don’t you think it’s much better to be clear, straightforward, and sincere? I can’t imagine people who just tell lies all day, especially because then they have to remember to keep their stories straight, which is the hardest thing about it. You can remember the truth perfectly because it happened, but lies are much harder because you just made them up.”

“Oh, good Lord, you remind me of Giorgio. I just hope I don’t start getting you two mixed up.”

“How do you mean?”

“I wouldn’t want to start turning over the projects I think are promising to you and then, when I’m feeling it, I start kissing him.”

“You’re such a dope.”

“We’re seeing him tonight. Try not to fall asleep, that way we can get right back onto our time zone without too much jet lag.”

“I’ll try.”

We exchange a light kiss.

“If you need anything, give me a call. I’ll be in the office or maybe somewhere nearby, at the most.”

“Okay, sweetheart, have a good day.”

Chapter 33

Gin walks into the medical building and heads over to the elevator in the lobby. She summons it, and while she waits, she muses that, in the old days, anything could happen, anyone could pick an argument, but no matter what, Step would have come. Then she enters the elevator, pushes the button, and the doors shut. Okay, she thinks, but now he has more responsibilities.

She rides up to the floor, steps out, and walks over to the receptionist, who checks for her name. When she finds it, she points Gin to the waiting room. A short while later, the doctor arrives. “Ginevra Biro?”

“Yes, that’s me.”

“Come this way, please.”

Ginevra follows him into a small room where a nurse is waiting.

“Lie down here, thanks. Now I told you that I wanted to draw some blood. You’re still fasting, right?”

“Yes.”

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