ONE TO WATCH

BIBIANA: PIAZZA CASTELLO

Bibiana wandered aimlessly around the Piazza Castello. She appreciated the solidity of the castle walls and the fairytale-like towers. She watched the water dance in the fountain, imagining a world where all her problems vanished with the start of this new contract. She'd move out of the apartment and work in Paris with Carmen. As she walked, a soft mist from the fountain settled on her face. She shivered and wrapped her coat tighter around her shoulders. Though the sky was clear and the day still warm, a deep suspicion was starting to form in her mind that good things didn't happen to bad people.

Bibiana had lied to Delyan earlier; she hadn't weighed herself in weeks. When Carmen left Milan, she'd shoved the bathroom scale to the back of her closet. Now, with this contract offer validating all her hard work and sacrifice, she'd have to face her demons and haul it out again. She was stuck in a classic catch-22. If her body mass index had fallen under sixteen, no doctor in Europe would sign off on her medical, and if it hadn't, her eating disorder would punish her relentlessly.

Summoning all her strength, she evoked her rational brain—the part that wanted to work, be healthy, and join Carmen in Paris. When she felt confident and in control, she perched on the cold concrete lip of the fountain and reached into her purse for her phone. Carmen answered on the third ring. Upon hearing her sister's voice, any confidence she had crumbled.

"What's going on?" Carmen sounded weary.

Bibiana took a breath. "Something's happened... something good," she said, her voice low and uncertain.

"I can't hear you. What's happened, Bibiana? Are you okay?" Carmen's no-nonsense tone cut through the noise in her brain.

"Yes. Yes, I'm fine."

Bibiana pulled her knees to her chest and hugged her legs. She was frozen to the core but didn't have the energy to get herself home.

"Well, what is it?" Irritation oozed through Carmen's words.

"Remember that casting I went to a while back in Paris?"

"LVMH?"

"Yeah." Her sister had remembered. "They came through with an offer," she said. "It's great. It's a fantastic offer."

"Okay..." Carmen responded. "I'm sensing a but..."

"I need to update my medical." Bibiana began to shiver, the sensation of shaking came from deep within her bones. She clutched her knees tighter to her chest.

"So do it!" Carmen's tone was brisk and instructive. "Book an appointment with a GP. It's not an issue." Carmen paused. "B, please tell me it's not an issue?"

Bibiana said, "I... don't know. I haven't weighed myself in a while."

"Why not?" Carmen snapped, reminding Bibiana why she never asked her sister for help. The shame was crippling.

"You know I find it difficult to get on a scale," she said, her voice barely a whisper. She'd started to tear up. She removed her sunglasses and tucked them into her bag.

"But you must!" Carmen's voice rose. "Last week, you told me you're healthy. Book the appointment. Get on the scale. And for fuck's sake, stop making everything into such a big issue!"

Bibiana lay her head on her knees. Her sister's rant was more than she could cope with.

"Carmen, I'm scared," she said weakly. "I just needed someone to talk to. I miss you."

Carmen paused before responding. When she spoke, her delivery was slow, as if speaking to a small child. "If you were healthy, you wouldn't be afraid of anything. You've got me worried now. What the fuck is going on there?"