"My dear Romeo. Could you replace me today in the library? I promise to make it up to you."
She did not wait for his answer because she knew he would text immediately. "For you, my love, whatever you ask."
Romeo worked with her in the library on a rotating basis. After her divorce, he started courting her fiercely and became a real nuisance, but she knew how to use him. It was a complex and complicated symbiotic relationship.
Romeo was still single after years of relationships with a woman. He feared that marriage would force him to start a family, and he wanted his freedom. He never lived with a woman. As long as his mother was alive and he lived in her house, it was a great excuse. Still, when his mother passed away and the woman he had been dating for about ten years asked to move in with him, he was hit by an anxiety attack that made him lie and invent various diseases he suffers from, and she finally left him.
He truly liked Beatrice and consulted with her in everything, even about the most intimate situations of his life. She knew him better than she knew her daughters. He revealed everything to her; his most hidden secrets, thoughts, financial situation, and even that he was in jail as a teenager for a property offense he committed with a street gang.
Romeo was a handsome and orderly man, but Beatrice was not sexually attracted to him. She knew his desires and passions and thought that he had rather strange opinions about women, often referring to them as "lumps of meat" existing for his sexual satisfaction. He did not consider that he may fall in love one day with such a "lump of meat," and she would know what he thought of women.
Since he was not stupid, he tried to explain to her that the women he defined as a "lump of meat" did not compare to her, "They were stupid, boring and empty of content, so I called them as I called them."
Once, during a crisis with her husband, he took advantage of her weakness and managed to persuade her to come to his apartment. He poured wine for both of them, smoked a rolled cigarette he made himself, and they talked and laughed about all kinds of nonsense. When she woke up in the morning, she found herself in his bed in only her underwear. He swore to her that nothing had happened other than a few kisses and hugs, but she was not convinced.
Since that incident, she has been careful not to respond to his invitations and even rebuked him for exaggerating the content of the messages he would send her.
When she did not receive an answer from him, she began to worry. She called to make sure he would replace her in the morning, but her call went unanswered. She quickly got dressed and drove speedily to arrive on time for the opening of the library.
Since the library patrons rarely came in the morning, she was alone when she opened the library door. When she entered, she noticed that the lights were on. The thought crossed her mind that perhaps somebody had forgotten to turn off the lights the night before...
"What are you doing here?"
Startled, she jumped back and almost tripped. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Romeo approaching her from the kitchenette.
"You jerk, you startled me. Why did you not answer when I called?"
Immediately the thought flashed through her head, "Why was the door locked when he was inside?"
Romeo half-smiled, "want coffee?" He held a disposable cup of long espresso in his hand.
"I do not want anything; you just dragged me here with your stupid methods," she said. Her anger was evident in her voice.
"My phone is at home. I forgot to take it so I could not answer you. When you rang, I was rushing out so as not to be late."
"And why was the door locked?"
"Because I made coffee and there is still another ten minutes to opening. Besides, why all these weird questions?"
Beatrice realized that her suspicions had become paranoia. She turned and quickly left the library.
She sat in her car and stared in the distance without thinking. She felt drained. Time passed until she took a deep breath and glanced out at the street. "What the hell is wrong with me? Am I crazy?"
She got out of her car and went back to the library. Romeo was sitting at the reception desk with an open book. He looked at her puzzled, "I thought you went home to bed; why did you come back?"
"Romeo, we have to talk; I have a problem and do not know if it is physical or mental."
He looked at her skeptically, as he wasn't sure if she was serious.
"I'm always happy to talk to you. You know I'm dying for you."
She ignored his answer and especially the sexist remark.
"Meet me at five at Gilberto's Café. Ciao," she said and did not wait for his answer, just turned and left.
Exactly at five o'clock, he arrived. Beatrice had come a few minutes earlier. As he entered, he passed the counter and asked for a long espresso for himself and a cappuccino for her.
"Do you want a croissant too?" he asked. Beatrice shook her head.
"What's wrong with you, darling? I see that you are not yourself."
"I cannot explain it. I feel restless, and thoughts of danger and threats arise in my mind, a sort of incomprehensible anxiety, as I am not in any financial or family crisis. At times I experience a rapid pulse and sweating, weakness, and trembling in my hands. Many nights I cannot fall asleep because I am obsessed with bad thoughts."
Romeo looked at her with empathy and held her hand, "Do not be afraid; I am your friend. I will take you to a clinic. You must see a doctor."
"You mean a psychiatrist? Do I look insane to you? "
"I did not say you are insane; I said a doctor, who will prescribe sedatives for you and look for the cause of your anxieties."
She looked at him and saw a look of genuine concern on his face. "All right, I promise I'm going to have myself examined."
"Tomorrow morning, I will come for you and take you to a doctor who comes highly recommended. He is treating my sister, and she said he is a special person who helped her a lot."
They sat in the cafe for another hour gossiping about the library patrons, each with his own genre. Suddenly the name Claudio Palumbo came up. Romeo smiled.
"Do you know him?" she asked.
"Yes, an unusual young man, always looking for books about the Inquisition. Since we do not have many books on that topic, I referred him to the National Central Library of Rome on Viale Castro Pretorio."