Page 40 of Retrograde
‘Umm, I don’t really know what I’m doing here except… being spontaneous, I guess? I’m staying in my aunt’s apartment. Been a while since I travelled solo.’
‘When’s the last time you had a sightseeing tour of Roma?’
‘Forever ago.’
‘Well then, once you finish your drink and I finish my beer,’ he raised his glass, ‘would you like to come and explore with the best tour guide the city has to offer? For free, of course. I only ask for your company. And maybe someone to indulge my love of coconut gelato.’
Lucie grinned at him, grateful to have someone new to traipse around with. This was half the fun of travelling. ‘You’re on.’
Climbing the Spanish Steps was not the best time for Davide to be asking her questions, but he was insistent on knowing the ins and outs of her job. He was excited when she started her story with the fact she’d begun working for a catering business. Of course, that was onlythe start, and when she told him all the details, like which team she worked with and the places she got to visit for work, he looked like his head might explode.
‘So, you get to travel around the world with this racing team? And film them?’
Lucie laughed at his wide-eyed expression. ‘You make it sound so easy.’
‘I don’t mean to! You seem to have a lot going on.’
‘Let’s put it this way, my laptop comes everywhere with me. I left it in Sydney once and had to edit a week’s worth of daily vlogs on my phone. Way harder than you think.’
‘So, you’re in charge of the entire race organisation’s social media?’
‘Yep.’ Lucie nodded. ‘Faith, Bea, Esme and I all create content and post on the IEC’s main accounts and manage the socials team, and Faith and I are responsible for Revolution Racing, too. Each team has allocated social media people, but we have to make sure everything they post is up to a certain standard and ensure nothing inappropriate is put out on the internet.’
‘Have you ever had a big scandal? Where one of them has posted something bad?’
Lucie thought about it, taking pride in her ability to do her job. ‘No, not really. We once had someone convince their drivers to do a dance challenge which was trending at the time, but the song wasn’t really family friendly. We want the content to be suitable for everyone. It was never posted because it came to me first.’
‘I’ve thought about taking my talents online, creatinga brand for myself as a chef. Could probably get more work that way.’
‘Have you seen that reality show?’
‘Oh,Below Deck? Yes, that’s what gave me the idea to go into the private charter business. I just think, why would anyone want to be stuck in one place? I’ve travelled a little bit the last few years, since my divorce, and it gave me a taste of what I’ve been missing. I’ve done three charter seasons already.’
‘You were married?’
‘Yes, which is crazy considering I once vowed I would never go down that road. But, for the right person, a man will do anything. As it turns out, she was not the right person for me. We were both miserable. Got married on a whim. You know how we Italians are, hopeless romantics.’
‘Uh, yeah. I have to say, that trait didn’t really insert itself into my DNA. So why did it all fall apart? Other than being miserable. There had to be a reason.’
‘She wanted to settle down, have eight billion children the second we tied the knot, stay here in Roma. I wasn’t opposed to children, just didn’t want them yet, and she was insistent. I wanted to leave the city, definitely wouldn’t raise children here. It’s too dangerous, there’s too much going on, too many people. We ultimately realised that as much as we loved each other, we wanted very different things and there was no way to compromise. We were at different stages in our lives.’
‘I get that. I have a… well, a Brett.’
‘What is “a Brett”.’ He raised an eyebrow.
‘He’s my best friend. One of the drivers I do social media for.’
‘Oh, and you have feelings for him?’
Lucie bit her lip. She’d never admitted it to a stranger. ‘Yes.’
‘And you’ve crossed the line…’ Davide looked like he was enjoying getting the gossip.
‘Quit looking at me like that!’ She elbowed him jokingly, feeling at ease after spending a number of hours getting to know him already. ‘It’s a very recent thing. Well, two years ago. Then nothing until we kissed a week or so ago. But he isn’t… I don’t know,rightfor me? Well, he is. He’s perfect. We know each other inside out. I just mean he sleeps with all these different girls, as any single racing driver would, and he likes to be a free bird. I can’t see him ever giving that up.’
‘He might, for you.’
‘But he shouldn’t have to give anything up.’
