Page 56 of Three Times You

“We’ve done that before.”

Then she leans toward me and steals a kiss. “But I’d do it again. With you, I do everything all over again every single day and never get tired of it.” She touches my arm. “Do you know that I desire you madly? I’ve never felt anything like it. I’ve never desired anyone as much as I want you right now.”

I shut my eyes. The idea of someone else in her life tears me apart. I can’t think about it. It’s behind us, over now, as nothing compared to our happiness. I must be able to do this. I’ve done much harder things. Am I not capable of crushing tiny, useless, minuscule shadows of her past with my sheer will? I have to be. So I pull it out of my pocket.

Babi looks surprised. “No…Where did you find it?”

“It’s been with me all these years.” I smile at her. “It’s been waiting for you.”

She touches the threadbare, ragged-edged blue bandanna, a relic of history, an epic souvenir of her very first time. She presses it to her face and inhales the beauty of that memory. Then she gazes at me, her eyes glistening. “What fools we’ve been.”

“Let’s not think about it.” I take the bandanna and unfold it. “May I?”

And Babi turns back into the young girl of those days. She turns around, lets me blindfold her, and gives me her hand. We start walking again.

“Don’t let me trip and fall, okay?”

“No, of course not.”

I smile, but she can’t see that. Then a dog barks at Babi, and she recoils, throwing her arms around me.

The owner yanks the dog back on its leash. “Down, Rocky, down boy.”

Babi asks, “Was this Rocky big and mean?”

“Naw, just a dachshund!”

Babi laughs. “Sorry I missed that!”

I continue leading her by the hand, ignoring all the curious glances.

“Okay, stop. We’re here.”

“Step, we’re not married. What if someone sees you and tells your wife?”

“It was a rehearsal for a commercial, that’s all.”

Babi seems almost wounded by the facility of my lie. “You didn’t use to be like this.”

“That’s your fault.” Then I realize that I’ve offended her. “I’m sorry, I’m an oaf. I’ll never say anything like that again, but we’ve done this now. Watch out for the step.”

“All right.”

I help her into the elevator. I shut the doors and open them again when we’ve reached the penthouse.

“Hey, this isn’t a surprise party with my whole family, is it? I don’t know that they’d like it.”

“No!” I laugh. “After all, this isn’t your birthday…Or is it?”

She tries to hit me, but I dodge the blow in time. Then I grab her arms. “Come on, I was just kidding…Stop here.” I shut the elevator doors and open the front door to the penthouse. “That’s it, a little farther. Okay, stop right here.”

Then I shut the door behind her, reaching up to undo the bandanna. Babi slowly opens her eyes, squinting in the dazzling daylight until she grows accustomed, and then gasps in surprise. Stretching out before her is the dome of St. Peter’s, the red terra-cotta rooftiles of the buildings along Via Gregorio VII, and the vista of Via della Conciliazione.

“I know you like penthouses, and this one’s the highest one there is. And these…”I hand her a keychain emblazoned with the letterB. “…are your keys. I don’t know how this will go, what will happen, and I’m not trying to hurt anyone. But I don’t want to live without you.”

Babi says nothing but just gazes at the magnificent panorama stretching out before her. We’re on a grand terrace, high above the other buildings.

She smiles and points at the Vatican. “Let’s hope we have his benediction.”

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