Chapter 66
In Corso Como a bar attracted my attention, probably because I was beginning to feel very hungry and the smell of toasted bread and food diffused from it, tempting and heart filling. There were tables outside, arranged under red tents, and it seemed just natural to make yourself comfortable on a chair.
“What about having something to eat here?”, I said, approaching the tables
Before Jack could answer a waiter approached up with a smile
“Accomodatevi dove volete”, he said, with a broad gest indicating the tables and then pointing at a free one
I looked at Jack and he nodded yes, so we sat there and looked at the menu, of which we couldn’t guess much because it was all in Italian. We spotted a couple next to us and looked at their dishes avidly.
“We want to have what they are having”, we said when the waiter was back
He nodded and scribbled on his notebook, then asked, “Drinks?”, accompanying the question with a gest of the thumb and the tipped head, although the question was clear enough
“Just water”, I said
“With gas?”, the waiter asked
“Oh, just tap water”, I said and this seemed to confuse him a whole lot
He repeated the question and at last I said, “No gas”, because I understood there was no way for me to communicate the idea of tap water to him
We waited for the food and ate our meals not talking much, not thinking much, simply having a break from ourselves and letting the outer world fluctuate through us, the heat dampening our worries. When the bill came it felt somewhat like those times when as a kid the car came to a stop after a long trip and I had to get up, after laying on the backseat for hours, the lullaby of the breeze flowing through the window singing me to sleep.
“Should we go?”, Jack asked, looking himself unwilling to go anywhere
“I don’t want to but I suppose we must…”
“Are we walking back to the hotel?”
“There is one more thing I would like to see before that”, I said
Jack arched his brows
“Corso Como 10, remember the girl told us to go?”, I said
“We don’t have to see everything today, you know?”
“I know, but it’s so close and it’s not even 9, what are we going to at the hotel anyways?”
“Have a rest after more than 48 hours we haven’t had a decent one?”, Jack said, but then he shrugged and shook his head and I laughed at his half amused, half desolate surrender.