Page 19 of Wish I Were Here
I look back and forth between them. Someday, I’m going to get to the bottom of this woman who is apparently fiddling with the elevator. Maybe she just needs someone tostop by to tell her to knock it off. I get the feeling Luca is too nice for that. Beyond the front desk, I spot another bike in the mail room. He lets people in this building get away with everything. But today I have my own mess to clean up.
“Thanks again,” Luca says to Dante before turning to me. “Let’s get you to the Social Security office.”
Thirty minutes later, I shift in my hard plastic chair and glance from the backs of the heads lined up in front of me to the paper number in my hand:150.
The light-up board above the counter flashes from 111 to 112. Beneath it, several workers calmly type on their keyboards, occasionally glancing at their screens without any sort of urgency.
I am going to be here all day.
Luca wandered off about ten minutes ago, and now he’s chatting with a pretty, dark-haired white woman by the vending machine. My frustration grows every time I glance in their direction. I thought he was coming to offer me moral support, but I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that Luca is an equal-opportunity flirt who directs his charm at young people at the Social Security office in addition to older ones at the DeGreco.
I turn back to the light-up board. The number flips to 113. I sigh.
From across the room, I hear Luca call my name. “Catherine.” He and the woman are making their way over to me. “Over here.” He waves me from my seat.
I stand and squeeze past the older man sitting next to me so I can meet them in the aisle.
“This is Ellie.” Luca gestures at the woman, and she’s even more attractive up close. “My cousin,” he adds.
Another cousin. I don’t want to think about why I’m relieved to hear they’re related. “Hello.”
The woman laughs and gives Luca a nudge. “I hope I’m not your cousin, because that time you kissed me would have been highly inappropriate.”
“Oh.” My spine straightens. Okay, so definitely not related.
“Ellie is my grandpa’s brother’s second wife’s son’s kid.”
I blink, trying to add all that up. Fractal geometry is easier to understand.
“So not blood-related, but she’s basically family.” Luca’s dark eyes lock on mine. “When we kissed, we were in fifth grade.”
I don’t know why he felt the need to add that last part. Luca doesn’t owe me an explanation. Even more confusing is why I’m stupidly glad to hear he hadn’t been kissing Ellie recently. “It sounds like you have a lot of family.”
Ellie’s laugh is light, sparkling. “When you start paying attention, you’ll find Morellis all over the city.”
Luca shrugs. “My grandpa had eight siblings and seven children. We’re a dynasty.”
My eyes widen. “Wow.” Growing up, it was always just Dad and me. His parents passed away when I was two. Apparently, they were supportive of Dad and involved in my life, but I don’t remember them. And of course, I don’t know anything about my mom’s side of the family.
“More like the Mafia.” Ellie laughs. “Wellconnected.” I’m not sure whether to take her seriously or not, but at the next moment, she’s waving toward the front counter. “And speaking of, let me hook you up with Tonya in booth two. If anyone can help you sort this out, she can. Come on.” Ellie turns and heads across the room.
Luca moves to follow her, but I hesitate, smoothing the crumpled number in my hand and glancing at the rows of people sitting in uncomfortable chairs and waiting for their turn.
“Catherine.” I feel Luca’s breath on my cheek as he leans over to whisper in my ear. An involuntary shiver runs through me. “You’re worrying about the rules, aren’t you?”
“It’s just that I’m not sure it would be fair to cut the line…”
Luca takes my arm and pulls me toward him, backing up slowly as he goes, and we shuffle a couple of feet toward Tonya’s booth. “I promise it’s okay to let your hair down this one time. Nobody will ever have to know.”
My face is only inches from his chest, and I’m momentarily distracted by his citrusy scent as he shuffles me another couple of feet. “But—”
“Don’t you have some sort of faculty something or other to get to?”
At the wordfacultyI snatch my arm from Luca’s. “Yes.” I check my watch. “Oh my God. The faculty luncheon starts in an hour.”
“Then let’s get moving, darling.”
Unfortunately, Tonya isn’t a Morelli, and she seems to be the only woman on earth who is immune to Luca’s charms. After Ellie explained my situation and—with a hug for Luca—headed back across the room to her office, Tonya coldly took my Social Security card and has been silently typing numbers and clicking buttons on her screen ever since.
