The rest of the day passes in a blur. I’m in such an excited state, I hardly know what I’m doing. On the way out I decide to treat myself to a taxi, even though I live only a few blocks away. Once home, I kick off my shoes, shuck off my jacket, and without even bothering to hang it in the downstairs closet, I pick up my phone and head over to my couch. I curl up and FaceTime Star.

“You’ll never guess what,” I said when she comes on.

“Judging by your expression it must be brilliant news.”

“Unbelievably brilliant,” I tell her, as I lean my head back against the buttery softness of the old leather. I’m so going to miss this sofa in Rome. “They want me as editor of the Italian arm of the magazine. I’m going to Rome!”

“What? You’re kidding!” she screams.

“No, I’m not.”

Her reply is to leave the phone on its holder, fly off the sofa, and start doing a crazy dance all around the room. All I catch is her body zipping past.

Grinning at her antics, I shout out, “Stop that and come back here.”

She comes back laughing. “I want to know everything.”

“When I got to work this morning, Mary told me the dragon wanted to see me right away. Naturally, I thought I was in trouble, but Willa gives me this news.”

“It’s so incredible. This is what you have dreamed of all your life. Remember when we were kids and you told everybody that one day you were going to be the editor of a magazine in France or Italy.”

I chew on my lower lip. “Uh huh. I remember.”

“So how long is it for?”

“I don’t know all the details. The contract is being couriered over to me tomorrow from Milan. If I accept I’m supposed to leave next week.”

Her voice drops an octave. “If I accept? What does that mean?”

“It means I’m crazy excited about the prospect, but something is bugging me.”

Her forehead creases. “It’s not the baby, is it?”

“No.”

She sits cross-legged and leans her chin on her knee. “Then what problem can keep you away from Rome, the most romantic city in the world, well, apart from Venice in spring, of course?”

“That’s part of the problem. Maybe the biggest problem of all.”

“What on earth are you going on about?”

I push my hair away from my neck. Even thinking about him makes me hot. “In a word, Dante.”

She grins. “Dante? Your playboy.”

I roll my eyes. “Not my playboy, Star. Definitely not mine.”

“Fine, but quite honestly, I don’t see what the problem is.”

“He lives there with his one thousand and one girlfriends, Star.”

“I know that, but he’s the father of your child, and you really should start getting to … know him better.” Her expression is serious, but her eyes are twinkling.

“Whose side are you on?”

“Yours, obviously.”

I sigh. “It would be a totally different matter if I was not up the duff. Now I’m going to be in Rome with the job of my dreams, the man who terrifies me, and I’m going to have a baby. I’m worried about juggling the three things in a foreign land. I won’t even have mum at hand to help out.”

“Haven’t you heard of nannies, Rosa?”

“I can’t get my head around the idea of entrusting my newborn baby to a total stranger. Haven’t you seen the You Tube video of women abusing the children in their care? Actually, I’m freaking out just thinking about it now.”

“I love you, Rosa, but you’re crazy. Why are we even having this conversation now? The baby is not here yet. Plus, didn’t Dante say he wanted to play a bigger part in bringing up his child?”

“Hand my baby over to that Casanova? No way. He’s a complete animal.” I have a sudden image of the way he growled while he ate me out. Heat spreads through my body. I scowl at the phone as I burn that image away. “He’s almost uncivilized. I bet he has pineapple on his pizza.”

She giggles. “Oh, don’t.”

“And he probably doesn’t know how to use a semi-colon.”

She laughs. It’s a pet hate of hers. “Seriously though, the baby is months away. You never know what could happen in the future. Why don’t you go try the job out? If you don’t like it, or change your mind you can always come back.”

“I guess so,” I concede.

“Good. I’m glad to hear it. So why are you still frowning?”

“I’m thinking of the usual things, I suppose. You know—moving from one country to another. All the red tape. All the little details. What to do with my apartment.”

“Whether to keep it or not?” she asks.

“Well, I certainly don’t want to move all my furniture to Italy. And things like dishes, linens, you know. Willa told me the place I’ll be living is entirely furnished so what do I do with all my things? Should I sublet my place here? Should I put my things in storage? Should I keep the flat just in case …”

“Well,” she says reasonably, “why not do nothing for a couple of months until you decide for sure? I can keep everything ticking along for you.”

“But everything has to be done quickly. I don’t know if it’s possible to do everything in the time I have.”

“You’re leaving that soon?” Star sounds surprised.

“Next week.”

“Oh,” she says and swallows hard.

Star is very vulnerable, and even though she tries hard not to show it, she can’t bear it when the people she loves are not around her. When she first met Nikolai, she wanted me and Cindy to move into his mansion. ‘It has like a hundred rooms,’ was her justification. Both Cindy and I just shook our heads in wonder.

“Rome’s not on the other side of the world, Star. We’ll keep in touch—phone, email, Skype.”

She nods sadly. “Of course, we will.”

“And with the money I’ll be making … I can afford to fly back to London any time I want, and you and Nikolai can come over for a dirty weekend too, right?”

“I’ll miss you,” she chokes out.

“And I’ll miss you, Star,” I say with feeling. Star and I have been through thick and thin together. Except for the time right after her first marriage to that dickhead, when I went to America to intern for Cosmo, we’ve never been apart.

“Right,” she says with a sniff. “I’m going to stop being selfish. This is not about me. This is about you. Your big break.” She makes a great effort to smile broadly. “I’m so, so, so happy for you, Rosa. This could be the best thing that ever happened to you. Other than the baby, of course. Obviously, I’ll do whatever I can to help you.”

The future stretches out, foreign, but exciting. “Thank you, my sweet Star.”

“You said you have a week to move, right?”

“Signore Ricci, the owner, wants me to go to Rome immediately.”

“Wow. So why you?”

“Uh huh.”

She laughs. “Ooops … that didn’t come across the way I meant it.”

“No, it bloody didn’t,” I scold good-naturedly.

She giggles in the way that only Star can.

“From what I understand, Mr. Ricci’s granddaughter is a fan of mine.”

“His granddaughter?”

“Gina Ricci.” I put on a melodramatic accent. “She adores every word I write apparently.”

“Who knew you have such a big fan in Rome?”

I make a face. “I don’t know. Doesn’t it all sound a little fishy to you?”

“Fishy? In what way?”

“This offer coming totally so out of the blue right after I turn down Dante’s offer of living in Rome with him. You know I don’t believe in coincidences.”

She shakes her head and looks at me strangely. “Stop being so paranoid. It’s called good karma, Rosa. You deserve a break. Just enjoy it.”

“It’s probably the pregnancy. My head’s never been the same since I found out. Okay, I’ll just take it as a wonderful opportunity and enjoy every minute of it.”

“That’s my girl,” she says, nodding and beaming at me.

We chat a few more moments and promise to get together for lunch the following day.