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‘You’d think of all the places, Florence would be somewhere you could get coffee easily, but the funny thing about this place is that nothing really happens before eight o’clock in the morning. It’s quite civilised, when you think about it, I mean.’ The woman smiled at Stella.
‘I was wondering why there was nothing open. You sound like you’re used to it. Do you live here?’ Stella turned to face her.
‘For about four months. I’ve been working as an au pair. Well, worked.’ She pulled a face.
‘Oh no, what happened?’
‘Turns out the husband had other ideas about what services an au pair offers.’
‘How awful.’ Stella instinctively reached out a hand but was too far away to touch the woman. ‘I’m so sorry to hear that.’
‘It’s fine, really. I got out before anything happened but found myself without a job or somewhere to live, so I’m staying with a friend and I’ve got an interview this morning for another job. As a tour guide, actually.’ The woman picked up a dog-eared guidebook beside her. ‘I’ve been swotting up all week. Ask me anything.’ She laughed.
‘OK…’ Stella looked around. ‘Who’s the guy in the fountain?’ She pointed at the one to the side of the Palazzo Vecchio.
‘Neptune, commissioned by Cosimo de’ Medici, of course, most of the statues were, to be honest. This one was to celebrate his gift of clean water to the city because Neptune is the god of freshwater. Apparently,’ the woman nodded towards the statue, ‘his features were modelled on Cosimo’s.’
‘Very good,’ laughed Stella. ‘Anything else?’
‘How are you with gory stories?’
Stella grimaced. ‘How gory?’
‘See that clock tower?’
Stella glanced up.
‘Another family called the Pazzis tried to overthrow the Medicis, but the plot went wrong and they only managed to kill one of the Medici brothers who ruled at the time. So, when the perpetrators were finally caught, they were hung from ropes out of the windows of the building.’ The woman looked up at the Palazzo.
‘OK, that is quite gory.’ Stella too looked up towards the tower, then down to the windows below.
‘That’s not the gory bit. When they hung them out of the window, one of them started biting another one, literally sinking his teeth into the leg of another, eyes practically popping out of his head, in a desperate bid to stop himself from hanging to his death.’
Stella pulled a face. ‘That is truly horrible.’
‘Sorry, I didn’t mean to put you off your breakfast. Talking of which, looks like you’re in luck.’ The woman pointed over to the cafe on the far corner, its shutters now up. ‘I’ve got to go, but promise me one thing, you’ll order a cornetto con crema with your coffee. Honestly, there’s no better breakfast.’ The woman went to stand up.
‘I will, thank you,’ said Stella. ‘Good luck with your interview. And for what it’s worth, I think you’re going to be brilliant.’
‘Thanks.’ She smiled back.
Stella watched as the young woman headed across the square, her stride purposeful, until she was out of sight, then Stella stood and made her way across to the cafe. Taking a seat at a table outside, she watched as more people poured into the square. Soon, the sound of teaspoons hitting saucers surrounded her like a morning orchestra. She ordered her breakfast exactly as instructed and the waiter appeared with it swiftly, placing the cup along with two cornetto pastries on a small plate on the table in front of her. Stella devoured them, catching the flaky pastry in her hand held below her chin. She licked her fingers, then picked the remaining flakes from the saucer with her fingertips and ate them too. The coffee afterwards was strong and bitter, a perfect contrast with the sweetness of the cornetto.
Stella took in the blue of the sky above, the people milling about the square, the sheer splendour of the setting. Just then, her phone buzzed in her pocket. It was Lucy, checking to see if she was all right. Stella sent back a photo of her empty coffee cup and said she’d be back in fifteen minutes.
* * *
Lucy dropped her phone onto the duvet, which was so deliciously light it was like sleeping under a marshmallow. She sank back into the pillows and sighed. She thought of her cousin, of her laughing the night before.
They’d always been especially close, her own mother like a surrogate to Stella when she lost hers. They’d play endless card games as children, talking for hours as teenagers about what they might be when they grew up. She smiled to herself, remembering how they’d planned to live next door to each other when they were older so that their families could be friends and they could carry on seeing each other all the time. But life hadn’t turned out like that, of course.
Stella and Simon really had seemed like the perfect couple. The fact that they worked together, building up a successful company, was a feat in itself. Lucy worked in the same industry as her husband, and they sometimes talked about work at home, but she couldn’t imagine actually working with him. There was no way she’d be able to leave the argument about who’d left the top off the milk or forgotten to put the bins out at home and be able to act like nothing happened at the office. But, then again, Stella and Simon were very different people. Stella had always been meticulous about whatever she did, while Simon was driven by ambition. Thinking about it now, his focus on goals was one of the things Lucy had liked about him at first. But, over time, she had watched him become more involved in Stella’s business, and before long he had talked about it more than she did. Like it was his business.
Lucy stopped herself. If Simon hadn’t done a disappearing act on Stella, she probably wouldn’t be thinking like this.
Her phone pinged. Fumbling for it among the covers, Lucy picked it up and squinted at the screen. It was a message on the group chat from Bridget.
I THINK I’M DEAD!!!
