Page 52 of Three Times You

Ashort while later, Babi and I arrive at my motorcycle, and I barely have time to see Valenti leaving, holding hands with a man who looks to be about twenty years her senior, but that’s certainly none of my business. We put on our helmets, and in the blink of an eye, we’re out of there and roaring through the night wind. She has her arms wrapped around me, holding tight just like back then. She’s not afraid because she’s used to the way I drive, and so she abandons herself entirely, placing her trust in me. Every so often though, she squeezes me a little tighter. I can’t believe the wonderful sensation I’m experiencing: the two of us, together again.

Babi slips her hand inside my shirt, running her fingertips over my skin, gently caressing my abdominals. Like me, she must feel the need to touch, to feel that it’s all real, it’s all true, we’re not dreaming this.

I turn my head to look at her, and I give her a smile. “Where are we going?”

“Head for the Via Aurelia. I have an idea,” Babi says.

Then I see her take out her cell phone and send a text message to someone. I continue driving, following her directions. Half an hour later, a barrier gate swings open, letting us through. We drive a little farther, and then I see her before me. TheLina III. I help Babi off before putting down the kickstand and getting off in my turn.

The captain of the yacht is awaiting us by the gangway. “What a pleasure to see you both again.”

We take off our shoes and board the yacht. The captain steps closer to Babi and tells her in a low voice, “I sent everyone to bed, as you requested, and I arranged to have everything ready, exactly as you wanted it.”

“Perfect, Giuseppe. You have no idea how nice it is to have someone you can always rely on.”

“Well, unless you need something else, I’m going to turn in. Anyway, ring the bell; there’s always someone available to help you.”

Babi smiles at him. “I’ve already asked you enough, and at the very last minute. Sleep well, and thanks.”

“Good night.” Giuseppe vanishes down a hallway that leads to the crew cabins on the lower deck.

“Come on. Let’s go up.”

This time it’s Babi who takes me by the hand and leads me up a broad spiral staircase, carpeted in a soft ice-white wool pile. We reach an area surrounded by picture windows with soft, pale blue lighting. The sofas are upholstered in light-colored leather, and on the deck, there’s a gorgeous powder-blue-and-beige carpet. There’s also a large cabinet, and in it is a plasma-screen television set, a gleaming steel fridge, and a Bose sound system with an iPod.

Babi hits a few buttons, searching for something, and then turns around and grins at me, like a mischievous little girl. “It’s my playlist.”

She sets the iPod down in its base just as I hear the first notes and then those words,Will you think back to the angels…

“You remember this?”

“Of course I do. We used to listen to it all the time. We were crazy about Tiziano Ferro. And this song.”

“That was our song, from when we first met.”

And Babi sings with him, “While the news about the two of us goes distractedly by…”And she continues singing and moves giddily to that melody until I stand up and I sing with her. “Of dark nights…when there’s no time, when there’s no space, and no one will ever understand…”

And we look each other in the eyes, and we sing to each other, to ourselves, to the sleeping world that pays us no mind. “Because it hurts, hurts, hurts like crazy to die without you.” And we embrace, and we continue listening in silence to this splendid song that talks about the time we’ve wasted and how badly that “without you” has hurt us. And in our eyes, I see sorrow and pain and joy and happiness. I see everything I don’t know, I see her jealousy, her desire for me to be hers forever. Then she squeezes me tight, very tight indeed, as hard as she can, and she whispers into my ear as the song is coming to an end, “Please, I’m begging you, never again without you.”

“Yes, never again.”

And as if that had been the greatest, most earth-shaking oath ever sworn and she felt something like shame at having dragged it out of me, she pulls away from me and, without looking me in the eyes, asks me, “Would you like something to drink?”

“Yes, whatever you’ve got.”

Then she opens the fridge and rummages around in there before turning to me and smiling as if shy at this new intimacy of ours. “Here…”And she puts a craft beer down in front of me—a L’Una—and a small glass of rum. “It’s Zacapa XO.” Then she hands me a large glass. “You can drink the beer from this, the way you like it.”

I follow her instructions. I fill the glass with beer, and then I let the small shot glass full of rum drop into it, and it slides down the side, wobbling as it sinks, and then clinks to the bottom and is lost in the bubbles. I drink it with gusto, savoring every detail of this moment. Then Babi walks over to me, I put my arms around her, and we start to kiss. I’m immediately aroused.

“What are we going to do?” she asks.

“I don’t know…But could we just not think about that right now?”

She laughs. “You’re right, I always have the worst timing.” And she straddles me, climbing onto me and hiking up her skirt.

Chapter 43

Itook Babi home, and now I’m driving slowly through the night. I’m starting to see the faint light of dawn when suddenly I remember those words.

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