across from the bag she had used on the previous day and zipped it shut. She grabbed her scarf from the bedroom and wrapped it several times around her neck before walking over to the door and lingering as she stood on the threshold. The borderline. A fine line that separated the light tiles of her flat from the dark marble slabs of the landing.
A thought crossed her mind and made her smile.
Light, dark. Sea, sky. Yes, no...
...In or out?
She took a deep breath and stepped over the line into a brand new chapter of her life.
A shot at redemption, she told herself.
Chantal closed the door, inserted the key and turned it all the way round in the lock. She shoved the bunch of keys in her bag as she went down the stairs, and got in her car.
As she started the engine, her thoughts turned to the moment when Alfredo had replied to her message. He'd been brief, writing only that he was happy she'd accepted the job and that he'd have her come down to Grosseto immediately in an ideal world. She took him at his word, replying:
"I can leave tomorrow".
He replied with three smiley faces and just two words: Can't wait!
Chantal sighed and pressed the button on the remote control. The gate opened, revealing yet another borderline, this time separating the apartment block from the rest of the world.
As she crossed it, she thought to herself that life threw up more thresholds than anybody could ever imagine, each one putting us at a crossroads, presenting us with a choice, a decision to make.
On the radio, the newsreader's voice gave way to a familiar tune.
Chantal smiled
and turned up the volume a few notches. With or Without You by U2.
As she belted out the chorus, Chantal felt the weight lift off her chest only for it to return even heavier as her head filled with memories of a relationship that was no more.
With or
without you.
Without the man she had loved more than life itself. Without Giulio.
It would never have lasted anyway. I'd never have stayed with a woman who couldn't give me a child.
"BASTARD!!" she yelled, drowning out Bono and banging her fist on the steering wheel.
It was all her fault. She was barren, so she couldn't possibly have hoped to find a man who would stay with her forever.
She wouldn't be falling in love again in a hurry, that was for sure. From now on, she would chew men up and spit them out, just like she herself had been.
It would never have lasted anyway...
With the town she grew up in fading into the distance, Chantal drove at a steady pace and turned onto Via Meucci, her mind racing. She took a left onto Via Italia and stopped at a red light.
She glanced at the trees on either side of the road, their tapered trunks holding firm against the icy gusts of wind. Chantal's teeth chattered and she shivered as she rubbed her hands together.
Someone behind tooted impatiently, making her jump. She raised a hand to say sorry and drove off quickly by way of further apology.
She decided to concentrate on the road ahead, but no sooner had she regained her focus, she was distracted by a noise. Her mobile was ringing.
She looked all around but there were no police, so she picked up the phone.
"Hello?"
No answer.
She looked down at the screen: Missed call.
She put her phone back in her bag.
After taking another left, she reached a roundabout and took the exit that led to the motorway toll booth. She took her ticket and the bar in front of her raised.
As she emerged from the toll booth, she noticed it had started to rain. She pressed a button to close the driver-side window and instantly felt more secure, as if she were inside a glass bell jar protecting her from the outside world.
Temporarily reassured, she moved into the inside lane and began to fiddle with her phone, keeping her other hand on the wheel. When she accessed the list of missed calls, she saw Alfredo's name against the one she had missed just a few minutes earlier.
What did he want? Did he no longer want her to come and work for him?
She decided to call him back.
A hoarse voice answered after just one ring.
"Hello?"
"Oh, ermm, is that Alfredo?"
"Yeah, hi Chantal. What can I do for you?"
"I'm just returning your call. I didn't pick up in time, sorry."
"Oh, right, of course. I just wanted to check you'd left and ask what time you might be getting here."
"Well, I looked online yesterday and it said it would take around five hours. So, I reckon I'll be with you at about seven. I'll turn the sat nav on when I stop for a coffee in the next hour or so, see what my ETA is. I'll let you know, yeah?"
"OK, I just wanted an idea because then I can rustle you up something for dinner. What do you say?"
"That's really kind, but..."
"But what?"
"I wouldn't want to put you out. Perhaps it's best if I grab something while I'm o..."
"It's no bother, really," he insisted. Suddenly, his tone became rather abrupt. "Anyway, I'll leave it there. See you later."
Chantal didn't even have time to say goodbye before he'd hung up.
Why?
In fact, why her in the first place? Why had he chosen a girl who lived three hundred miles away over someone local?
She couldn't remember if she'd already asked him, but she would sure as hell find out when she got there. She'd ask Alfredo why he hadn't hired a girl from around these parts to...
Her stomach lurched as her thoughts were interrupted suddenly by a loud boom that sounded as though someone had fired a cannon. The car jerked violently and began to swerve all over the road. Chantal lost control and slammed on the brakes in desperation. The tyres of her Citroën C2 screeched plaintively as the vehicle travelled another few yards and spun round twice before
slamming sideways into the barrier that ran alongside the hard shoulder. Sparks flew up as metal ground on metal, the noise piercing Chantal's ears.
She closed her eyes, fearing the worst.
CHAPTER 11
The
