Luca and Maia settled on the sofa and fell into a lively conversation. Dub stood nearby, and whatever they yammered on about didn’t interest him as much. While they carried on, Sophia took the opportunity to catch up with Maira.
“Wow, I haven’t seen you since…you were a little girl, I think!”
“Yeah…something like that.”
Sophia had no trouble jumping into conversations with Luca’s parents or even Alessia, even though she didn’t reciprocate. But somehow she struggled with his friends. They were all beautiful women who probably had feelings for him in the past, or maybe still. And she met them all that night for the first time, right before she hitched herself to Luca’s wagon for the rest of her life. He told her nothing untoward had happened, but she knew better. The inner-workings of a woman’s emotions were a minefield, and she tried to be sensitive to that while trying to befriend them.
“You look amazing tonight,” she said.
Maira flashed a quick smile.
“So do you.”
They stood there, smiling nervously at each other, trying to maintain eye contact but also trying to avoid it. Maira cleared her throat and began again.
“Luca kept things so close to the vest, I didn’t realize it was you.”
“It is I, heh.”
Maira looked her square in the eyes.
“That makes me feel good. I know you’ll take good care of him.”
Sophia smiled confidently, relieved to have the support of his best friend.
“I sure will.”
