Our last day’s work left us with a big void that we tried to fill with a dinner. I asked the paper if someone else could take my shift and set off for Signor Sandro’s, as arranged. Arianna and Graziano were waiting for me.

“How do you feel?” she said.

“Tired but unhappy,” I said.

I was pleased when she replied, “Even Graziano here isn’t so cheerful. You both look quite fucked-up,” she said, adopting our jargon. “I don’t understand, didn’t it come out well?”

“Please,” Graziano said, “don’t use verbs like come. How about a pick-me-up?” he said next, holding out his glass to me.

“I want one,” Arianna said. “I want to get drunk tonight.”

“Why?” he said.

“Because Leo doesn’t love me anymore,” she said.

We took her car. The sweltering heat had emptied the city, but in Trastevere the trattorias were full of people and guitar players. We chose a place that was fashionable at the time, where you sat on church pews to eat. We had a long wait before we were served and we killed time with a couple of bottles.

Our morale started to improve. Even Arianna drank a lot, and the more she drank, the more her eyes glittered. They must have given off more light than the candles on the tables because there wasn’t a man in the place who wasn’t looking at her. “And what if she says no?” she said.

“I’d like to see her try,” Graziano said. “I’ll take her on a cruise and if she says no I’ll refuse to perform my conjugal duties. What do you think, Leo?” Because he hadn’t yet found the right time to talk to Sandie about the movie.

“Sure,” I said. “No woman can resist if you catch her at the right time, and there are plenty of right times on a cruise.”

“It’s the only place there are any,” Arianna said.

“Sure,” Graziano said. “I’ll ask her one moonlit night on the Baltic. ‘Darling,’ I’ll say, ‘do you want to help me out financially?’ How about you, what are you going to do?”

“Oh,” Arianna said, “I’m still not sure. I’m supposed to be going with my brother-in-law to some friends of his who have a villa by the sea.” That’s what she said.

“Everyone’s going away, only Leo is staying here,” Graziano sang softly. “The old alley cat! He knows a thing or two.”