Page 4 of Three Times You

How many years have passed since the last time we saw each other? Five? Six? Yes, maybe six. She’s beautiful, terribly, terribly beautiful, I’m afraid. Then Babi makes a strange face, tilts her head to one side, and smiles with that pout all her own, the pout that won my heart.

“You know that you look even better? You men, I swear, it’s not fair—you get better as you get older, the opposite of what happens to us women.”

She smiles. Her voice is different. She’s a woman now, slender, her hair darker, her makeup restrained. She’s even prettier. But I keep that to myself.

She’s still looking at me. Delightedly, she drops her Michael Kors bag and throws her arms around me, leaning in and resting her head on my chest.

“I’m so happy to see you again!”

At those words, I take her in my arms.

Chapter 5

Now Babi and I are strolling through a perfectly manicured garden. The sun peeks down over the far-flung roofs. The air is still. It’s May 4, and it’s already hot out. We’re sitting across from each other at a table. We’ve just placed our orders. Yes, something to drink, perhaps a bite to eat. I don’t remember what, maybe a cold cappuccino for me.

She takes a sip of her Crodino and eats a potato chip and wipes her mouth. There was a chill in the air, even six years later, about her decision to move on without me.

“Step?”

She’s looking at me, seeking my approval, trying to come to terms, perhaps angling for me to forgive her in a way. Yes, she’s in search of clemency, but I don’t know what to say to her.

So she lays her hand on mine again and smiles. “I know what you’re thinking, I know why you’re mad…”

I’m tempted to tell her that she doesn’t know a thing. She strokes my hand and goes on staring at me, and her eyes start to glisten, as if she is on the verge of tears, and her lower lip begins to quiver. She’s either become a talented actress over the years or she really is struggling with controlling her emotions. What can this be about though? Has she found out about me and Gin? So what if she has? I have nothing to hide. Then the expression on her face snaps back into shape, her eyes open wide as if to make me laugh, and then, suddenly cheerful, she exclaims: “I brought you a gift!”

She digs in her purse and pulls out a dark blue gift wrapped package with a sky-blue bow. She knows my tastes so, of course, there’s a card. It’s fastened to the bow with a length of twine, sealed in place with a slug of wax. I look at it and, I admit, I’m stunned and confused. I start to open it, but she slips it swiftly out of my hands.

“No! Wait…”

I glance at her, baffled. “What’s wrong?”

“There’s something else you have to see first or else you won’t understand.”

“In fact, I can promise you that I don’t understand…”

“Just a second, you’ll understand and then it will all be so much simpler.”

Then she exclaims: “There he is!” And her face lights up. She raises her hand high and waves, shouting in delight: “I’m right here! Right here!”

Now I see a little boy running right toward us, and a woman dressed in white is standing in the distance, holding a small bicycle. Babi throws her arms wide, and he leaps into her lap, knocking her back in her chair.

They hug lovingly. Babi’s eyes seek out mine through the boy’s tousled hair, and she nods, as if trying to tell me something. Suddenly, the boy pulls away from Babi.

“I’m a champion, Mamma! Right? Aren’t I a champion?”

“Yes, sweetheart. Can I introduce you to my friend? His name is Stefano, but everyone calls him Step.”

The little boy turns and sees me. Then he hesitates, unsure about what to do next. But he quickly smiles. “Can I call you Step too?”

“Sure.” I smile at him.

“Then I’ll call you Step! I like that name. It reminds me of Stitch!” And he runs away. He’s a good-looking boy. His lips are full, his teeth are straight and white, and his eyes are dark. He has a striped T-shirt, white, dark blue, and light blue. “He’s a beautiful boy.”

“Yes, thanks. He is.”

Babi watches as the boy reaches his nanny, takes his bicycle, climbs onto it, tries to pedal and, finally, succeeds. He rides a certain distance without falling.

“Bravo!” Babi claps her hands.

---