The Eagle and the Cockerel by Alan Rhode

Author:Alan Rhode [Rhode, Alan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Zinfandel Publishing
Published: 2023-09-15T00:00:00+00:00

VII

Vigevano

‘I vòstar cafè i sun prùnt!’

Nodding warmly at the aged barista, Lucìa took the steaming cups under the ancient portico framing Piazza Ducale. In her early years, Lucìa had perceived Vigevano as the centre of the universe, but now she saw in her home town, more appropriately, a tiny and lovely place suspended in the past. An agreeable perception that made her feel in harmony with the entire world.

Lucìa was on a short trip to Vigevano for her father’s birthday. She had never missed one and, despite all the imaginable difficulties in leaving Birmingham only days before the debate, she had resolved that this time would be no exception. So, the evening before Lucìa had taken the last available flight to Milan. In spite of her informing as few people as possible about her movements, news of the trip must have seeped out, for she had spotted an Italian journalist at Milan Linate Airport, eyeing around in search of someone. Her immediate gut feeling had been that he was there for her. Lucìa knew him from Brussels. Luckily, the journalist had missed her.

‘I smoke too much,’ said her friend Veronica, looking at her vape. They were sitting outside. ‘I think they put some rubbish inside to make you dependant.’

Veronica was still Lucìa’s closest friend. For all the long-lasting bond between the two, their lives had taken quite different paths. While Lucìa had forged with resolve a profession all for herself in Europe, Veronica still worked at her mother’s beauty salon; and, even if she acknowledged that waxing, threading and manicuring wasn’t a dream job, she also admitted her substantial lack of ambition.

‘How long are you staying here?’ she asked.

‘I’m leaving tomorrow afternoon. I really need to get back to Birmingham.’

Veronica was aware that Lucìa had become a sensation beyond Italy’s borders, but she still hadn’t formed a specific picture of what her friend did. It was too far outside her comfort zone. Rather than discussing the future of Europe, the two usually preferred to gossip about mutual friends, remember shared experiences, plan future holidays together.

Lucìa enjoyed the small talk with Veronica, her not taking life too seriously, and the fact that Veronica knew every piece of gossip available in Vigevano. Each conversation with her best friend was for Lucìa a fleeting window onto a carefree world that wisely stayed away from the relentless cycle of 24/7 news. In Vigevano, a private life was still possible, and weekends still mattered.

Sipping her espresso, Veronica informed Lucìa about an acquaintance of theirs – a gastroenterologist at the local hospital, married with children – who had got a nurse pregnant. He wanted her to terminate the pregnancy in Switzerland, where abortion was still allowed, but she was determined to keep the baby. His career at the hospital was tacitly compromised, Veronica concluded.

Time flew rapidly with Veronica. Lucìa had by then received three missed calls from her father.

‘Luci, where are you?’

‘I’m having coffee with Veronica, papà.’

‘Ah. When are you coming back?’

‘Soon. I just wanted some fresh air.

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