Behind the Mask of Moebius Syndrome by Cristina Faragli

Author:Cristina Faragli
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: McFarland
Published: 2016-03-09T05:00:00+00:00

The Long Hot Summer

That July was really intense. I had to undergo written and oral exams with a tiring frequency. I studied at night so as to spend every instant of the day with Jo. There were just a few days left before our separation for the summer holidays, and I would never miss a single moment of happiness.

Believe it or not, Nancy, I even started cooking for him, even though I did not even know where to start with it. I worked all morning on my very first culinary creation, thinking about how to present it, but when I finally brought my masterpiece to the dining table there was a moment of embarrassing silence.

“Uhm … what is that supposed to be?”

“Veal carpaccio on a lettuce bed with parmesan cheese shavings, my love.”

“You mean I have to eat raw meat?”

It became one of his favorite anecdotes. When Jo later told his Greek friends about it, they used to shiver at the thought: you know, in Greece the idea of eating raw meat is some sort of a sacrilege—cook your meat, and cook it well done! Jo did eat that carpaccio, but for months he paid me back by ironically reminding me about that succulent first meal I prepared him.

Men. How ungrateful.

Towards the end of July we had to say good-bye to each other: I would join my parents at the seaside, whereas he would go back to Greece with Vassilis and Ioanna.

The separation was not particularly traumatic: I had fantastic information to share with my whole family and was anxious to do it as soon as possible, as until that moment I had not told anyone the sensational news.

Except one person.

Early in July I had received an unexpected phone call.

“Hi, Cri, how are you?”

“Laura! I’m very, very good! But what a surprise!”

“I so much wanted to hear from you! I dreamt about you last night, you know? You whispered something in my ear, but I could not understand. You know how dreams are—I have been thinking about this all day, and decided to give you a call. Is everything OK at your end?”

“Oh Laura, you’ll make me cry. Wonderful, everything’s going wonderfully. Actually, I have something to tell you, but you must keep it a secret. No one knows about it yet!”

Silence.

“Laura?”

Silence.

“Laura? Are you there?”

“I knew it. I knew it would happen at last. I was positive about that, Cri!”

“Now you are making me cry.”

Long silence.

“Cri, I’m so happy—you can’t understand how much. Do you believe me when I say that I always knew that this day would come?”

“Yes, Laura, I do. I believe you. You have always been there. I know that my sufferings were yours as well. And now, at last, I am happy. One-hundred-percent. Now I know what it means.”

“You will tell me everything about it soon, will you?”

“Of course, Laura, we’ll see each other at the beach. I’m coming over in a few days.”

“Good. I’ll wait for you then. And I won’t tell anyone, don’t worry.”

“Thank you, my dear! So, see you soon.

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