He grinds his voice into a sigh. “Can you make sure she gets out? Send her to a movie or something?”
“Uh, will do! Mister Piero.”
I feel a little better as his smile turns genuine.
“Have a good day, Catarina.”
“Will do!” I walk away to the hallway door, unlocking it.
“Wait, are you going to ask her right now about the movie?”
“...Yeah?”
“What the fuck. How come I don’t get to—I’m her brother!” He storms off in a mess of cursing and mumbling that I find humorous enough to laugh at. “Tell her to go fuck herself when she feels better.”
“Of course, Mister!”
I knock and patiently wait by Vincenza’s office door.
“Yes, Catarina?” She opens it, clear glasses standing on the bridge of her nose, eyes shining through them.
“You wear glasses?”
“Not typically. These are just transition lenses, no prescription.” She pushes her glasses up. “I don’t own sunglasses.”
“Oh. Uh… Piero came by. He wanted me to ask you to go to the movies.”
She narrows her eyes. “Why?”
“He wanted you to get out of the parlour. It could… They have food there! Snacks! We could… have some?”
“Now, which of you two invented the idea I would go withyou?”
“Oh, uh… me. I guess. Sorry. I just—Sorry.” Ah, fuck. It sounded like I wanted a date.
“I like that addition. Eighteen hundred, we finish a quick lesson on calculus, and you can say you’ve earned the break.”
“Thanks, Mistress. Will your eyes be fine by then?”
“Hopefully. The lenses won’t work at night.” She takes them off. “Tell me if you need anything, Catarina.”
I nod and—Wait. “Piero also said you should fuck yourselfto feel better!”
“What?”
“Hm? Uh, he was mad at you for seeing me and not him. So… go fuck yourself? From him! N-not me!”
She brings her hand to her mouth while a smile forms. “Mmhm.”
Did I say something wrong? I feel too awkward to ask and just go back to the desk.
Is she snickering back there?
I jump back into the car, searching the glove compartment for scissors to cut the tags off these blankets. They’re black, soft—and warm when three of them are layered on top of each other.
Vincenza doesn’t waste time getting us back en route to the theater, engine still hot after my quick trip to the corner store. “No snacks?”
I shrug. “None of the candy seemed appealing.”
