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‘I can’t believe it’s our last day.’ Scott leaned on the balustrade of the Rialto Bridge and gazed down the Grand Canal. ‘This week has gone so fast.’ He felt Evan’s arm wrap around his waist.
‘It wouldn’t be our last day if you weren’t forcing me to go home.’
Scott had tiptoed around Evan’s mood all day. It was quickly apparent over breakfast that the post-holiday blues had kicked in prematurely. Even allowing for his aversion to mornings, Evan had been extraordinarily monosyllabic over his coffee and croissant. His only smile so far had come when he’d managed to get a Wi-Fi signal. He’d shown Scott an Instagram post from Zach, who had reached Rome. It was a selfie with Deborah outside the Colosseum and the caption said: “Hanging out with the antiquities”. A “crying with laughter” emoji underlined the double meaning.
Given he probably couldn’t make matters worse, Scott decided to get to the bottom of Evan’s grump. Their way over the bridge was blocked by a gaggle of Japanese tourists whose enthusiasm for photographing every angle of the panorama had overcome their legendary politeness. Scott had taken quite a few photographs himself, mainly of Evan at various landmarks, more than enough to jump start his memory bank when he wanted to recall this marvellous week.
Once they had made it through, he located a relatively peaceful spot by the Canal. He turned to face Evan. ‘I’m guessing this is about Mel. Your blues, I mean. Perhaps we should talk about it.’
Evan broke Scott’s eye contact. ‘I’m worried about her.’ He looked at his feet. ‘I suppose I should be angry with her after the stuff at the wedding, but I feel sorry for her.’
Scott put his hand on Evan’s shoulder. ‘Me too.’
‘You are?’
‘Yes. Admittedly she handled it badly, but it was pretty crappy of Sally and Carl to spring it on her like that.’
‘Exactly. I should have tried to call her the next day, but I was worried she would take it out on me.’
Scott knew there was only one way to resolve this. ‘Call her now.’
‘On my mobile? It will cost a fortune.’
‘Not that much these days. It will be worth it.’
Evan took out his phone. ‘Do I need to add a code?’
Scott took the mobile and showed him how.
Evan took the phone back, hit the dial button and held it up to his ear. ‘There’s a recorded message. It says this number is not in use.’
‘Did I dial it wrong?’
Evan peered at the screen. ‘Nope.’
Scott squeezed Evan’s arm. ‘It could be down to any number of reasons.’
‘Sure.’ Evan’s face fell into a frown. ‘I’ll go and see her when we get home.’
They ambled along in silence. Scott had a sinking feeling the Mel drama was far from over. A little way along the bank he saw a group of gondoliers touting for business. He grabbed Evan’s hand. ‘Come on.’
Scott approached the gondolier with some trepidation. The last time he had taken a gondola ride was with Patrick, his first husband, it must have been the very late nineties. He recalled to this day the curled up lip of the gondolier as he realised his clients weren’t father and son. He’d been happy enough to take their money. All along the route people had laughed and pointed at them. Scott had felt humiliated, he remembered fighting back tears. So, it was with some relief that his gondolier today was purely focussed on upselling them, with offers of a longer route and a serenade.
Scott asked to be taken along the quieter side canals, away from the vaporetti and mayhem of the Grand Canal. Evan was giddy, Scott felt him trembling.
‘I thought this would be cheesy, but it’s brilliant,’ Evan said. ‘It doesn’t seem real. This city is impossible.’
Scott put his arm around Evan’s shoulder. ‘There is no place on earth quite like it.’
The buildings that hemmed them in on both sides looked like they might crumble into dust and rubble at any moment. Even after almost a week, Scott couldn’t get used to the eerie peace that hung over the back streets, with only the occasional bell or bird call bending the air.
‘This has been the best week of my life,’ Evan said. ‘Thank you.’
Scott pulled Evan closer and kissed him on the cheek. If life had a pause button, he’d be hitting it right now.