After a very pleasant gondola trip, my wife and I decided to go have a drink at one of those crowded restaurants sweltering with the excitement of the millions of tourists that regularly visit Venice. “Please just get me a coke for now, hun. I need to go to the toilet.” my wife said as she dropped her handbag with me and walked away. The waitress gave me the menu and as I babbled an awkward ‘Grazie mille’ in my broken Italian, I looked at her. My eyebrows immediately frowned. Why did she look so familiar? I had never been to Venice, how could I know her? “Are you ready to order, sir?” she asked in impeccable English, no accent at all, something very rare among Italians. “Oh, yes. Two cokes, please.” Maybe she just reminded me of someone I knew. But who? “You ok, hun?” my wife asked as she came back. “Yes, I am. Just curious about the waitress. She reminds me of someone even though I can’t figure out who.” “Really? But this is your first time in Venice.” “I know. Weird, hey? And she speaks perfect English.” The mysterious waitress came back with our cokes. I forgot all shame and stared at her again, trying to remember. Then I couldn’t take it anymore. “Please excuse my curiosity. You remind me of someone but I cannot remember who. And your English is perfect. May I know your name if you don’t mind?” My wife looked at me in disapproval, straw tight between her lips and eyes wide open. This was unusual of me but I couldn’t help it. I was sure I knew this lady. “It’s funny you say that, sir, because you also remind me of someone.” “Oh?” I felt my wife’s confused eyes on me. “What’s going on?” I could hear her mind ask. “I am from Manchester. I have been in Italy for twenty years now. My name is Jane Watson.” I had to pick my chin back from the floor. This was impossible. Jane Watson? It couldn’t be. “Jesus!” I exclaimed. “I still remember the police and the whole neighbourhood looking for you.” “I’m sure...” she said with a little, sad smile. I looked at my wife who was as puzzled as I was. “You’re Bradley, aren’t you?” “Why did you never go back if you were alive? Eventually the police just declared you were missing and archived your case. Your parents were so worried.” She laughed. A sad laughter, yet I sensed a hint of sarcasm. “Let me finish my shift and then I shall tell you.” she said. She walked away and we didn’t see her for at least twenty minutes. “Who’s this woman, Brad?” my wife asked as she finished her coke. “Jane was my colleague and a friend from high school. A brilliant student. I was very far from thinking I’d ever find her here after all these years. One day she disappeared. Everybody looked for her everywhere for a very long time. After five years, the police told her parents there was nothing else they could do.” “Gosh, what a coincidence indeed to find her here now.” I saw Jane approach from the corner of my eye. She had removed her apron and released her hair. She sat next to my wife, facing me. “I had to leave, Brad. I couldn’t take it anymore.” “What happened? You were a brilliant student, you could have gone really far in life. And you were always so cheerful.” Again, one of her sad smiles. “The most cheerful ones are always those who suffer the most, Brad. Things aren’t always what they seem and my life wasn’t the bed of roses my parents and even I used to convey. We all have a hidden story that nobody ever expects.” My mind was burning with a thousand questions but I let her carry on. “For a very long time - actually since I can remember - my father abused me. It was horrible especially when he was drunk. My mother was afraid of him when he was in such a state. I asked her for help but she said we had to endure it all lest a scandal bursted in the neighbourhood.” My wife and I couldn’t have been more shocked but she just went on. “We became pros at concealing the whole thing. My mother forbade me to ask anyone for help, told me how people would judge and how we had to always look happy. That is why I was such a good student. I immersed myself in studying because I had to look and sound perfect. But studying was actually an escape. Until the day I escaped for good.” I kept swapping shocked and confused looks with my wife. This sounded so unreal. “How did you do it?” “It was hard to remain unnoticed but to be honest, even though my parents must have acted like they were desperately looking for me, I wouldn’t be surprised if they actually dropped the case and told everybody the police had archived it. Better for them to let me be forever missing and act like the poor, unfortunate couple who lost her daughter than having me go back full of accusations and reveal the monsters they were. What a scandal. Plus, they had the money to bribe the cops and other influential people.” My wife and I were both silenced by the ever growing shock. I was sorry for Jane and wanted to find out more about her, but suddenly she just got up, hooked her handbag on her shoulder and prepared to leave. “My job allows me to remain anonymous and I love that. Don’t tell anyone about this encounter and please don’t come look for me again.” She walked away, leaving us lost in our thoughts. I wanted to go back but my wise wife said we should respect Jane’s will. Sometimes the past must remain in the past since the pain can’t.