It was only as I entered the hotel that I remembered my suspicion that the mugging hadn’t been an accident. I wondered if I should tell Nick. The thought of it spooked me, and for once I actually wanted him to laugh at me and dismiss my conjectures as foolish.
I paused at his door and was surprised to hear his voice from within. He must be on the phone. I raised my hand to knock, then froze as a high-pitched female giggle filtered through the door.
I backed up and hurried away to my own room, feeling like I’d been punched in the guts. Flopping down on my bed, I unexpectedly burst into tears.
Why did he have to be such a pig? And why was I crying? It was hardly as if I was jealous, especially since I was still hoping for a reconciliation with James. And after the cruel way Nick had spoken to me earlier—the contempt in his voice, his dismissive tone—it was clear he had zero respect for me. But I was hurt, I couldn’t deny it. It brought back all the pain of my dashed hopes after the night we’d spent together, the humiliating aftermath that I thought I’d got past.
But then, as hard as I tried, I couldn’t forget the way he’d looked at me when he’d thought I was hurt. He must have followed me after I’d stormed off, or he wouldn’t have seen me get mugged. He had seemed genuinely worried about me. But obviously I’d just imagined it, because now, a few hours later, he was screwing some bimbo he’d just met.
Even so, my reaction was completely out of proportion to the circumstances. I groped blindly for my mobile and searched for James’s number. If I could just speak to him, maybe everything would start to feel normal again.
‘Hi, this is James. Leave a message and I’ll get back to you.’
‘James, please call me.’ I couldn’t keep the tears from my voice. ‘I really need to speak to you. Everything’s gone to shit here… I got mugged and my bag was stolen. I just need to hear your voice. Please.’
When I woke up, I made a decision: no more wallowing in my own misfortune, no more emotional responses to Nick’s words and actions, and no more grovelling for James’s attention.
I was an adult, and I was a professional. This was a temporary respite, but I wasn’t going to waste it. I might be stuck here, but that wasn’t going to stop me trying to find out more about Ford.
After breakfast, I once again boarded the bus to Testaccio and found the little piazza with the cafe where I’d seen and spoken to Ford.
‘Buongiorno.’ I gave the waiter my biggest smile when he approached. ‘Do you remember me from yesterday?’
‘Sí, signorina,’ he replied, a little stiffly. ‘You tried to run away without paying for your coffee.’
‘Yeah, sorry about that. I was just wondering whether that man I was talking to comes here often?’
The waiter’s face remained impassive. ‘Man, what man?’
‘He’s a friend of mine and I’m supposed to be staying in his friend’s apartment tonight,’ I went on. ‘He had to leave suddenly yesterday, and then I got robbed and my phone and wallet were stolen. I can’t get in contact with him and I don’t know where the apartment is. I can’t afford to stay in a hotel again tonight, so I really need to find him.’
His expression softened. ‘I have seen him many times. When he is in Rome he comes to my cafe every day.’
‘Do you know where the apartment is?’ I pressed.
His expression was guarded. ‘No, I do not know.’
‘All I have left is fifty euros,’ I said slowly. I took the note out of my pocket and held it between my first two fingers. ‘I’d be ever so grateful if you could just point me in the right direction.’
His gaze fixed on the fifty euro note and I thought he might start drooling. ‘I know his friend,’ he said grudgingly. ‘Perhaps I can call him.’
‘No!’ I cried in panic, and his eyes darted back to my face. I gave him a conspiratorial smile. ‘Actually, his friend doesn’t know that I’m staying there, if you know what I mean.’
‘Ahhh.’ The waiter tapped the side of his nose, and I knew I had him.
‘He’s going to be out tonight and Chris was going to sneak me in. So I guess I was hoping you might know the address, and then I could keep my agreement with Chris without his friend finding out.’
He smiled with obvious enjoyment at our little secret. ‘I suppose I could look up the address for you.’
‘That’d be fantastic! Why don’t you bring me a cappuccino and write down the address for me, and then we can discuss the bill.’
He disappeared into the cafe, and soon returned with my coffee and a piece of paper on which he’d scrawled a map. He leant over my shoulder, a little too close for my liking, and explained the path I would have to take to get to the apartment.
‘And then you just need to follow this street all the way to the end and find number cinquantadue. I mean, number fifty-two.’ He chuckled. His eyes weren’t even on the map anymore—he was too busy looking down my top.
I drained my cappuccino as quickly as I could and handed him the fifty euro note. ‘Keep the change.’
I felt a momentary twinge of guilt at the way I got my information. Fifty euros was a lot to pay for a tip, plus I’d thrown a free view of my cleavage into the bargain. But there was no point dwelling on it. I couldn’t have found the apartment otherwise, and plus, it was Nick’s money, which added an extra element of pleasure. I took the map and escaped across the piazza in the direction the waiter had
