Summary

On February 21st, the director returns from Milan and vocalizes his disappointment that Valeria might not come to the office on Saturday. The narrator contemplates that perhaps “Michele was right to be jealous of him. Maybe for years he’s been going to the office every Saturday, waiting for [her] to show up, too” (103). However, on Saturday, the office is dark, and Valeria sits at the director’s desk alone, listening to the switch board ring. When she answers the phone, her boss tells her that he cannot get away from his family and apologizes profusely. Valeria stays in the office, reluctant to return home where she “always feel[s] [she] has to apologize” (106). When Michele returns home that evening, he goes to bed after dinner and insists that he trusts Valeria to advise and reprimand the children.

A few days later...