Italian old woman

Milan, August. A shop's metal shutter, a dull grey in the midday glare, formed a stark wall behind a scene of unexpected leisure. An elderly woman, her figure full and her style impeccable, reclined beneath a broad, striped parasol. The clink of ice in her cocktail, the slow, deliberate sip, suggested a beach, not a deserted city street. The air shimmered with a heat that felt distinctly 1970s.