JOHN SHEA
195
"He certainly is," she said with a smile. She drew her tanned
legs up and arranged herself in a modified lotus position on the
chair. Her white shorts were a fine contrast to the tawny smoothness
of her skin. Her toes, so like the amiable little pigs of legend,
wiggling in pleasure, had nails painted a glossy pink. Terry glanced
at her face and shook his head .
"So we have you his Beatrice and his Laura, all in one. I sup–
pose I would have added Sophia and Gina and Claudia ... but per–
haps that's just my less spiritual mentality. Anyway," he continued,
scanning the letter, "he goes on about that evening, that evening,
that evening! No more allusions, though, from what I can see...."
"Read it all," she said in a whisper. "I want to picture him."
"In my dreams I had never imagined anyone so sweet, so ...
tender, so something something with an, a willingness to give. Here
it gets a bit explicit, I'm afraid." She said nothing but sat perfectly
still, listening with her eyes closed. Her lips were parted the briefest
bit. To the casual observer, she could have been an Oriental sculp–
ture, a cool alabaster personification of tranquil thought. But he was
quite sure that her thoughts were anything but tranquil. "Your flesh
touched mine, and the electricity of our meeting, encounter ... was
to me as a warning-no, that would change things-was like a . . .
avvertimento,
an announcement ... of a new life. Oh my God, now
it's
La Vita Nuova?
This guy's too much. Maybe he's cribbing."
"Fabrizio? Well, could be." She came to his defense, her eyes
full on him now. "But if so, it's because it says what he wants to say.
What was the name of it, Terry?" Her voice rose with the question,
the notes dancing on the molecules of air, charging them, spinning
with each word, dancing higher on the sound of his name.
"Another bit of Dante . What did you say this guy does,
anyway?"
She laughed and shrugged, still balanced on the chair, one leg
tucked under the other. "Signore Fabrizio,
I'll
have you know, is an
architect. He told me all about Palladio and took me to see the best
churches and palaces .... Unfortunately," she added, drawing out
the word with a wry smile, "he is currently seeking a job."
Terry noted this bit of information without a visible reaction.
Fabrizio Randazzo, architect.
Disoccupato.
Jobless.
Cercando Lavoro.
Seeking a job. Best of references. I know la Signorina Marie
Gardner, of the United States of America. Please, then, give me a
job commensurate to my abilities and vision of beauty.
