KILLING ME SOFTLY

Chapter 1: Café Ciao Tutti

Reluctantly, Veda turns off the tap of the shower. The water stops running abruptly and a warm breeze of morning air coming through the open window causes slight goose bumps on the naked body of the twenty-four-year-old woman. Veda grabs her bleached hair and tries to wring most of the water out. Veda dries herself with a rough towel, gently rubbing it in some places. Most of the scars have healed nicely after five years, but the sensitivity - both physically and mentally - has always remained.

When Veda has gone over her entire body, she wraps the towel around her wet hair. With a toothbrush in her mouth, she walks from her small bathroom towards her wardrobe in her bedroom, which is also her living room and kitchen. She has been able to call this 18m2 her home for the past three years and Veda is very grateful for that.

When she arrived in Cáva, a small village on the Italian coast, she never dared to dream of the welcome she received. By chance, Veda had seen an advertisement on a noticeboard at a remote bus stop from an elderly couple: Rico and Nina. They were looking for an extra pair of hands to help them in their café. Veda had gone to the rustic-looking café on a whim, hoping for the job so that she would have some income.

Veda was aware of her questionable background and had not expected them to want to help her. Certainly not when Veda had barely been able to tell anything about herself, considering that most of what she had told her was made up, and she had preferred to remain as vague as possible when asked about her past. But the moment Veda had stepped into the shop, she had the feeling that the seventy-year-old woman had been able to see right through her. After the interview, Nina had pulled Veda into a big hug and softly muttered that Veda could stay here as long as she needed.

Rico and Nina were already busy when Veda walked up. 'Good morning,' Veda greets them, securing the swinging doors of the entrance so that they remain open. 'Morning, sweetheart,' Rico answers as he moves the stacked chairs in the corner apart. 'Let me do that.' Veda walks over to Rico and takes the chairs from his hands. Nina is standing behind the bar and is busy starting up the cash register and the coffee machine.

'You were supposed to sleep in today,' Veda says to the two seniors and winks at them. She places the chairs outside in front of the window at the table that is already set up. 'I was supposed to open the shop and get everything ready for this afternoon.' Rico sighs and shakes his head. 'I don't like sitting still.' Nina shrugs her shoulders with a smile and looks at Veda. 'Did you sleep well?'

Veda feels her jaws tense and a certain hardness falls over her face. She has noticed that Nina asks this question on the days when Veda has barely been able to sleep at night because of the nightmares that continue to haunt her. 'Yes, how about you guys?' Nina gets the hint, smiles lovingly at Veda and doesn't go into it any further. 'Fine, except for Rico's snoring.' 'Hey hey,' Rico calls from the kitchen, responding to his wife's joke.

Veda goes to stand next to Nina behind the bar and takes the iPod out of the charger. 'Any other preference?' she asks, gesturing to the iPod and the selection of playlists on Spotify. 'You pick something nice, darling,' says Nina as she places two cups under the coffee machine. Veda connects the iPod to the music system and clicks on the top playlist. Music immediately sounds through the speakers in the shop and Veda continues her tasks, humming softly.

Rico and Nina expect it to be busy this afternoon because of the warm weather and the start of the school-holidays. The past two summers, the start of the holiday in the region had been very pleasant. Many parents with young children used Cáva as a stopover. Veda had been told by Rico and Nina that it was often the same people who came by, because the village was not so well-known. As a result, the couple knew most of the people personally and these days have something of a reunion feeling.

The start of the school holiday also meant that Elisa, Rico and Nina's daughter, would be coming over with her husband and child. Veda had already seen them a few times and finds them to be very nice people. The atmosphere in Rico and Nina's house was even more cheerful those times and, while Veda thought it was impossible, Nina continued to surpass her own cooking skills.

Although this period provides a lot of fun and a good turnover for Rico and Nina, it makes Veda a bit more vigilant. She has taken all the measures she could have taken. She bleaches her own brown hair and cuts it to shoulder length. This way she hopes to change some external features so that she isn't immediately recognized. Veda has no bank account, mobile phone or any other means by which she can easily be traced.

She does not use her real name, but has been living as Dorine Russi for the past few years. She has not spoken the name "Veda Atlas" since leaving her fathers' home. And if it were up to Veda, she would not use or want to hear that name ever again.

That name belongs to a completely different life, a life she would rather never think about again. A life that has ensured that she always has to sleep with one eye half open, has to keep looking over her shoulder wherever she goes and has to watch her step at all times.