Page 77 of Three Times You

Chapter 59

You’re Babi, aren’t you?”

Who is that man who stops her like that, outside her front door? Today Babi left home a little later than usual to head to the office, but she didn’t have any appointments, and she wasn’t expecting any messengers either. She’d completed and handed in all her most important projects. This is a relaxed period, or at least it had been until just a moment ago.

“I’m Giorgio Renzi. Pleased to meet you.” He extends his hand, but Babi doesn’t move.

“I don’t know you. I don’t recall ever having met you before.”

“Yes, we did meet once, at the Goa Café, but there were lots of people there. It’s only normal you wouldn’t remember…”Renzi smiles at her. “In any case, I’ve heard so much about you. I work with Stefano Mancini.”

Babi stiffens.

Renzi goes on, “Step…”

“Has something happened to him?”

“No, he’s fine. But the situation is pretty complicated. His wife, Gin, is very sick.”

“I’m sorry to hear that, but I don’t know what you want from me.”

Babi wonders what this Renzi knows about her, what on earth Step could have told him, but especially why Step might have sent him to see her. She’s about to ask him when Renzi beats her to the punch.

“It’s Gin who sent me to see you. She’d like to meet with you.”

Babi suddenly feels the blood drain from her face. What, meet with her? What could have happened? What did Step tell her?

“This is the paper that she gave me this morning.”

Babi takes it. On it, she sees a printed photograph of her along with a list of her scheduled appointments and all her likely routes, including when she goes to pick up Massimo. Now Babi grows defensive. “What do you want from me, sir? What did she say to you? Why does she want to see me? I don’t like having her know about all of my personal matters, to say nothing of my son. With this sheet of paper, I could report you to the police.”

“I don’t think she wants an argument. She just wants to talk to you. She doesn’t have the strength for an argument. She’s dying.”

Then Babi tries to calm down and hands him back the sheet of paper.

Renzi folds it up and puts it back in his pocket. “If you’re unwilling to accept, I can certainly understand. Finding yourself face-to-face with sorrow is unsettling. Not long ago, it was for me. But now, being here with you, trying to convince you, doing something to help Gin—well, it makes me feel better. So my line of reasoning is purely selfish. If you did come to see her, it would be an act of love toward everyone involved…Sometimes, doing good helps us to erase a little bit of our worst sense of guilt. At least, that’s the way it works with me.” Then he smiles at her. “But I’m going to have to do a lot more good, that’s for sure.”

***

Gin has Aurora in her arms when she hears a knock at the door. “Come in.”

Renzi walks into the room and shuts the door behind him. “I’m back.”

“Well? How did it go?”

“Fine.”

Gin smiles at him. “I was sure you’d succeed. Let her come in and then make sure I’m not disturbed for any reason whatsoever. But let me know if you hear that Step is about to arrive.”

“No, don’t worry. He’s very busy.”

“Great. Can you wait until I’m done? It won’t take me long.”

“Okay. Can I show her in now?”

“Yes.”

Gin puts Aurora back in the crib, sits down in the easy chair, adjusts her robe around her, and shuts her eyes for a moment. Then she hears someone knocking on the door again. “Come in.”

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