58. THEO
58
THEO
ONE WEEK LATER
‘We are gathered here today to celebrate the Summer of Return.’
Dante, Anika, Magdalen and I sit on the cool stairs underneath the bell tower in Chivasso. It is 3 a.m. and the town is asleep, with only the moon to light the piazza. In a rare occasion, there are no crickets – just silence and Dante’s loud fucking breathing.
‘The return of my baby sister and the king of Chivasso.’ He has an open wine bottle in his hand, and points to Magdalen and me before taking a swig. ‘Who are now fucking.’
Magdalen gasps and covers her eyes. ‘Dante!’
‘The truth will set you free, sister. We’re in front of a church, do you really want to deny your sin on Theo’s last night here?’ Even as a joke, my heart lurches when I think about leaving them again.
‘Objection.’ Anika reaches across Magdalen to take the wine bottle from Dante. ‘They haven’t fucked.’
Yes, we fucking have.
‘This is not happening.’ Magdalen buries her head in her hands further.
‘Yes, good Magdalen, cover your ears,’ Dante says. ‘Theo? Is this true?’
‘Not talking about this.’
‘Okay, you’ll tell me later.’
‘No, I really won’t.’
Anika stands up and shoves the bottle into Magdalen’s lap, holding up a small black plastic bag.
‘Enough of this. Whether the two consummated the union is irrelevant. Let’s consummate the summer.’
Before any of us have time to ask what she means, Anika pulls out a small teal gun and Dante screams.
‘What the fuck, Anika? Is this some sort of Romeo and Juliet murder-suicide?’ I let their chatter fill my head so I don’t have to think about my beautiful phantasma . She’s a metre away. I can smell her from here, honeysuckle and lavender, and I lean closer, breathing deeper. Memorizing.
Anika stares at Dante, dumbfounded. ‘I’m genuinely afraid to go away with you.’
Magdalen perks up, and I realize I’ve been staring at her, so I clear my throat and try to focus on Anika’s words.
‘Go where?’ she asks.
Dante groans, annoyed. ‘Fuck, Anika. Way to go ruin the surprise.’
‘What’s going on?’ Magdalen looks between Anika and Dante, who stare at each other anxiously.
Annoyed, in love, I yell loudly for Magdalen’s sake. ‘Tell us right fucking now!’
‘Well, we were going to wait until it was all ready,’ Anika starts and sounds genuinely nervous. ‘But we bought a space.’
‘A space?’ Magdalen asks, clasping her hands together. ‘Like the space?’
‘We’re officially the owners of a wine bar!’ Magdalen jumps up, screeching happily, running towards Anika. ‘Well, technically it’s just a dilapidated hole in the South of France, but it was cheap and Dante and I are excellent on a budget.’ She grunts as Magdalen squeezes her tightly.
‘Oh my god! Oh my god! How could you both keep this from us all summer?’
‘We were supposed to wait until it was ready to tell anyone,’ Dante complains, but I see him try to suppress his smile, happy with Magdalen’s response. ‘But I guess this is fine, too.’
‘I’m so proud of both of you.’ She wraps her arms around Anika, hugging her tightly, and one of her hands squeezes Dante’s wrist. I pat Dante on the head, trying to scruff his gelled hair, but it doesn’t even budge.
‘While you two were drooling over each other, Anika and I were building a motherfucking business.’ He shrugs, winking at me.
‘Proud of you,’ I mouth.
‘You too,’ he smirks.
Anika sniffles happily, unwrapping herself from Magdalen, and my heart clenches. My little sister and best friend: business owners.
‘Anyway,’ she wipes her eyes. ‘Of course, you two are required to come to the opening.’
‘Of course,’ Magdalen agrees, her eyes shining as she looks at me. ‘We’ll be there.’
‘Good.’ Anika reaches into the bag, taking out a small clear box with metal pieces in it, and shakes it excitedly. ‘Now we’re piercing our ears!’
‘Oh no, I am not. No. No. No.’ Dante swipes the bottle from Magdalen as she sits back down and takes a long swig. ‘I don’t know what kind of back-alley dealer you got that from, Anika.’
‘It’s an ear-piercing gun, Dante. Not a pound of cocaine.’
‘Ever heard of an ear infection? Who’s the idiot now, dumbass?’
I raise my hand to Dante, gesturing for the bottle. ‘I’ll do it.’ My voice is bleak and I take a long glug of wine, closing my eyes as it warms my throat. I want to be happy for them but it’s hard, knowing their life is beginning together. And ours is...
‘Only if Magdalen pierces me,’ I hear myself say.
‘Poetic. A romantic till the bitter end.’ Dante grabs the bottle, taking a quick sip before handing it over again. ‘This is why the ladies love you.’
Magdalen tries to look at me, but it’s becoming increasingly difficult to pretend this isn’t our last moment together for a long time.
‘I could barely cut your hair, let alone pierce a hole through your flesh!’
‘I’d be honoured to be hurt by you.’ The wine has made my voice rough, exposing my growing sadness.
‘Gross,’ Dante chimes in behind us.
‘Only if you pierce mine.’ Magdalen walks over to me and sits down, her leg brushing against me. Her hair bounces wildly down her back as she scoots onto the step next to me. I am trying to not feel sad. I think of the seasons, how they come and go – leaves shrivel, we buy scarves and decorate trees and eventually, with enough time, summer returns. The cycle is inevitable. I try to think of Magdalen as my summer, to remember that she can return.
She props up her head on one hand, our eyes lock and it hurts so much that I almost believe I’ll cry in front of them all. It hurts not to be whole. My hand is moving her hair away from her face before I remember that I shouldn’t touch her any more and I brush my thumb over her earlobe. She shivers.
‘Pierceable?’ she asks lightly, green eyes dancing across my face.
‘I don’t want to hurt you.’
She stares at me knowingly. Too late , she seems to say , both of us recalling the night at the wedding a week earlier. My eyes burn and I drop my hand, going to look away, but her fingers lace through my hair before I have the chance, tugging slightly so I’m forced to meet her eyes. She traces my ear gently and I lean into her touch, wondering if this can be enough between us. Did letting her go mean letting him win? It’s difficult to know.
‘You know, I’ll look for you everywhere,’ I whisper, my voice barely audible.
‘I know.’ Magdalen smiles and takes the bottle from my lap, putting it on the step behind us. She then takes my hand in hers, bringing it to her lips, and kisses my palm softly.
‘I’ll be the one in overalls.’