Nicola Rocca - Two Drops Of Water

She casually rolled the wheel of her mouse to scroll up the screen in search of yesterday's messages.

It might not be the most fun and light-hearted topic for most people, but it is for me. What do you do? For work, I mean.

And then...

Don’t tell me I’ve touched another nerve with work!

She decided to try and respond to that final comment, which was probably the easiest to cope with. She wrote her message but waited a couple of minutes before sending it, hoping he would come online.

Nothing.

She opted to finish the fag with a triple drag that brought tears to her eyes, before stubbing it out firmly in the ash tray, steeling herself and decisively hitting the return key to send her message.

04/02/2016

SadChantal 10.18

You're right. You did touch a nerve as far as my work is concerned… :-(

She focused on what to type next, her fingers once more drumming against the desk. The sentences were beginning to form in her mind. She was almost there when she was distracted by a familiar ping .

04/02/2016

AlfreDario77 10.19

Hey...welcome back! You took your time...

04/02/2016

SadChantal 10.20

Sorry again about last night...

04/02/2016

AlfreDario77 10.20

No problem!

Chantal thought about what to say next, but he beat her to it.

04/02/2016

AlfreDario77 10.20

So I did touch a nerve with work? I'm sorry. I'm all ears if you want to offload...

She knew it was time to come clean. If there was anyone who should be ashamed of themselves it was those tossers at Robobi's, who had refused to renew her contract after turning her brain to mush for two years with bills, receipts, tax returns, payslips and whatever else.

Bastards!

Her jaw tightened every time she thought about it.

04/02/2016

SadChantal 10.22

I've been out of work for 5 months...

Only eight words, but that was all that needed saying for now.

04/02/2016

AlfreDario77 10.22

Sorry to hear that…

04/02/2016

SadChantal 10.23

Tell me about it…:-(

04/02/2016

AlfreDario77 10.23

Do you know what? I might be able to help you out...

04/02/2016

SadChantal 10.23

Really?

04/02/2016

AlfreDario77 10.25

I run a B&B in Grosseto, Tuscany. It's mine, I own it. Last year, the girl that was helping me out decided to move on. So I'm looking for a willing replacement.

04/02/2016

AlfreDario77 10.26

What do you think? Would you be interested? Do you know anything about the hospitality sector?

Chantal stared at the monitor for ages. She couldn't believe it. She'd sent off dozens of copies of her CV without managing to get an interview. In fact, no one had even bothered to reply. And here she was, chatting with some guy she'd only met two days ago, and he was offering her a job.

Hardly local though, was it? Tuscany, for goodness' sake.

04/02/2016

AlfreDario77 10.29

Done another disappearing act, have you? If you're not interested, there's no need to turn off your PC! You can just tell me :-)

Chantal chastised herself for taking so long to reply. She took a deep breath.

04/02/2016

SadChantal 10.30

Sounds incredible! A B&B! I did some bar work for a few years...is that any good?

04/02/2016

AlfreDario77 10.31

Perfect. It's not quite the same thing but at least you wouldn't be starting from scratch.

04/02/2016

SadChantal 10.32

If your B&B was in somewhere in the Brescia area, I could come for a trial. But Tuscany...blimey! That's a hell of a long way...

04/02/2016

AlfreDario77 10.33

I know it's quite far. But it's not as if you'd have to go back to Brescia every night. You'd have board and lodging on top of your salary. A bedroom and bathroom all to yourself.

04/02/2016

SadChantal 10.35

I'd have to drop everything...leave my hometown...

Chantal realised what she'd written was total bollocks. It may have been a throwaway comment, but more likely she was lying to herself about the tragedy of the previous twelve months. Drop everything? She didn't have anything to drop.

She wondered if he'd figured as much. Right from the off, she'd spilled her guts and basically let him know that she was on her own.

04/02/2016

AlfreDario77 10.38

It might do you good. Draw a line in the sand, turn over a new leaf...

Look, I don't want to pressure you. I know it's a tough decision. You'll need time.

04/02/2016

SadChantal 10.39

You're right...it's not an easy decision. Give me a couple of days, OK?

04/02/2016

AlfreDario77 10.40

Take all the time you need.

Chantal reflected on what had just happened. It was a great opportunity, but she'd need to be brave. Drop everything (even if it was nothing) and go to Tuscany.

She had been on several trips with Giulio, all fairly far away. She'd been to some beautiful places, some on the other side of the world. But Tuscany, which was just down the road in comparison, was somewhere she'd never been.

04/02/2016

SadChantal 10.42

I'll just say thanks for the offer at the moment. I'll have a think about it and let you know as soon as possible. Is that OK?

04/02/2016

AlfreDario77 10.44

Like I said, there's no rush. Take as long as you need, within reason! The season gets under way in about a month's time. People start to arrive at the beginning of spring.

Chantal closed the chat window and decided to treat herself to some peace and quiet and a smoke before heading to the shopping precinct to buy some lunch. Trouble was, there was no peace and quiet to be had: a voice inside her head kept asking the same questions over and over.

Do I? Don't I? Do I? Don't I? Do I? Don't I? Do I? Don't I? Do I? Don't I?

She may have told this guy she needed a few days to think it over, but Chantal knew deep down that she'd already made up her mind.

CHAPTER 5

The key turned twice in the lock and the door opened.

She entered her flat, food shopping in one hand and purse in the other. She raised one foot behind her and kicked the door shut, before dumping her shopping bag in the kitchen and heading towards the bathroom. But as she walked through the living room, something caught her eye.

She froze and stared at the photo.

Her mouth turned down at the corners and she began to weep.

She made no effort to wipe away her tears as she drew nearer the photo frame. Her stomach tightened.

She took another two steps closer to the photo of the woman, who appeared to be smiling right at her, and swallowed tearfully. She raised her hand to her mouth and bit down on her knuckles.

"Mam..." she sobbed. " Mamma ."

She sniffed and turned once more to face the woman in the photo, as if she could hear her.

"I miss you so much, you know?"

She gave in to the anguish and broke down in floods of tears, leaving herself drained but somehow liberated.

As the torment began to subside, her lips forced themselves into a wry smile as she remembered how much joy her mother had brought her.

Chantal was in Year 6. Until that year she had always been shy around boys, but in Year 6 everything changed.

There was a knock on the door during Maths. It was the caretaker, and with her was the most handsome boy Chantal had ever seen. He had fair hair and blue eyes. Just looking at his smile made her feel good.

"This is Davide," the caretaker announced.

The teacher nodded at the caretaker and took up the story. "Davide has come from Veneto. He'll be joining our class from today."

From that moment on, Chantal learned nothing more about decimals, fractions, multiplication or division. From the minute he entered the classroom, she didn't take her eyes off that boy for a second.