There’s the faint sound of the clock tick being drowned by the bubbling in the fountain. Apart from that minor motion it had been quiet that morning in the square.   Later the market had opened as normal and fast sales of fish cheese ham wine meats olives and all sorts of produce got revving up throughout the day.  That morning too, a local couple had gone to work in the midst of an argument. He to his office some miles from the square and she to her own boutique just a short walk away. She’d stormed out of the house and caught a bus into town instead of normally getting dropped off by her husband.  On the strength of that, he decided to get in his new convertible and get to the office car park early.

When the offices closed for the day, she walked down to the market having calmed a little and waited for her husband to pick her up.  Normal time being 6:30pm in winter as it was.  As she sat by the fountain and thought through the day she somehow regretted being so impetuous with the email she’d sent that afternoon.  ‘How dare he’ … ‘just go buy a sports car like that’ .. who was he trying to impress ?’. she thought.  It was cold on the fountain step outside the hall and when the normal time ticked past she felt she should probably give him another chance.

His nice fast black car slowed a little as it drove through the square about an hour later.  Looking out the window he saw her there waiting. ‘Stupid’ he thought and sped off at a great rate.

For some reason possibly the effect of the fountain and the clock she felt happy.  If he came back around the block, well then good.  If he didn’t well then good for that too and begone with the car.