“Don’t, Mama. Don’t say things like that.”

“It’s the truth” her mother snapped. “They only want one thing.” Gina gave her mother a weary look and wished that she would at least show a morsel of happiness for her today. But instead the old woman waggled a finger at her. “Don’t go making the same mistake your sister did.”

“Stop it, Mama.”  She hadn’t expected her mother to wish her well, or to hope that she had a good weekend but she hadn’t been prepared for a level of vitriol.

Her mother had never met Davide. In fact, her mother had never met any of Gina’s boyfriends, as few and far between as they were. This was the way Gina preferred it.

Running into her old school friend at Nico and Ava’s wedding last summer had been the strangest thing, especially when so many of the people she had gone to school with had moved away or gone abroad. But Davide had recognized her—it probably wasn’t difficult, she guessed, even though fifteen years had passed. She hadn’t changed much. Her hair was longer and she had more fine lines on her face, but other than that she looked the same now as she had then.

He had come up to her at the evening reception party. It was a pleasant surprise once she got over the shock of seeing him after so many years. Men tended not to hit on her, or notice her much but Davide had come up to her and they had been inseparable for the rest of the evening.

Their courtship had been slow. For months they had remained friends, catching up on the past and slowly rekindling their old romance.

“A weekend in Venice,” her mother sniffed. “Don’t come back pregnant.”

“Mama!” exclaimed Gina, her face burning. She had been looking forward to her weekend away with Davide and didn’t need her mother’s venomous words to taint it. This would be the first time the two of them had planned to go away. Finding time alone wasn’t easy. She never allowed Davide to come here, to the house she shared with her mother, and he lived in a rented house shared with a few friends. With both of them busy with work, they never found much time to spend together but having him around these past few months had made the time more bearable.

Working at the Casa Adriana hotel fulfilled her completely. Nico, her boss, relied on her more than ever and she had never worked harder. Even after he had hired two new people to join the management team, Gina found that her workload hadn’t decreased; neither had Nico’s. Taking on more people had made her life busier because she had been responsible for helping them to settle in while Nico concentrated on the new hotel and spa center that were due to open soon.

She thrived on the frenetic pace of her working life because it took her away from the misery of her life at home. Having Davide around made it even better.

“I’m leaving now, and I’ll call you when I get there, Mama.” Not so much to tell her mother that she had arrived safe and well in Venice but more to make sure her mother was fine. Her mother mostly was fine, albeit that she was getting nervous, and acting up because of her upcoming surgery. Her mother being a glass-half-empty person considered herself as being ill, and therefore in constant need of attention.

“Don’t forget to take your medicine on time,” Gina told her, glancing over her shoulder as she picked up her overnight bag. “The taxi’s here, Mama. I have to go.”

She could barely wait. They had agreed to meet at the train station in Verona at 10. It meant they would be in Venice in time for lunch.

Her mother waved her hand dismissively. “Then go. It’s not as if you care whether I get sick. You probably wish for it to happen so that you won’t have to look after me. Go and leave like that sister of yours.”

Gina squeezed her eyes shut. Increasingly her mother was becoming harder to live with. It had been her fault for coming back home six years ago after the friend she had shared an apartment with got married. Her mother had fallen ill then, and Gina had been the only one around to help. Moving back home and taking care of her mother had seemed the right thing to do.

Her sister Mimi had been the lucky one who got away. In her parents’ eyes she had made the cardinal mistake of getting pregnant at 17 and had left home after a huge row with them.

“Did you get my medicine?”

“Yes. You have enough for the weekend, Mama.” She inhaled deeply. It’s only one weekend.  “Ciao, Mama.” She stepped outside, not even bothering to wait for her mother’s goodbye.

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