by T A Williams
After leaving the old man, Annie stuck her head round Daniela’s door to give her a quick progress report and then she hurried off to the café to meet Janet as agreed. She was already there, stirring sugar into a cappuccino. ‘Hi, Annie. How’s it all going?’
Annie sat down with her and asked Signora Toniolo for an espresso. She told Janet all about the agents’ weekend and then, after a brief hesitation, she also told her about her dinner with Alex that had so nearly developed into something more. Janet was delighted for her.
‘When do I get to meet him? He sounds gorgeous.’
Annie grinned. ‘Once we’ve officially moved on from good friends to something more, you’ll be the first to meet him. And, yes, he is rather gorgeous, actually.’
‘Boy, you really can pick them. And what about the other gorgeous male in your life?’
‘Would that be Leo the Labrador you’re referring to?’
Janet shook her head. ‘No way; the gorgeous Matt, of course.’
‘Oh, him? Well, he’s down in Turin, cosying up to a bunch of film producers and their fancy women.’
Janet’s eyes became positively dreamy. ‘Well, I certainly wouldn’t mind cosying up to him myself.’
‘You sound like my sister. What is it about women and Matt?’
Janet shook her head. ‘Well, if you haven’t noticed yet, there’s no hope for you.’ She changed the subject. ‘Have you tried the new dress alongside the peacock mask? Sure the colours don’t clash?’
Annie nodded. ‘They go together perfectly and the dress looks great, although it’s just as well Alex is tall. With those killer heels on, I’m about six foot tall.’
‘Just make sure you don’t trip over. You’ve got a long way to fall.’
Annie nodded. The same thought had been going through her head. Knowing her tendency to trip over, it was all too likely.
After seeing everybody safely back to the hotel, Annie went home to prepare for the evening. The ball would start with a champagne reception planned for eight o’clock, followed by the ball at around nine. Music at the ball was being provided by an Italian band and also a DJ. Knowing that Italian popular music wasn’t to everybody’s taste, Annie had already spoken to the DJ and he was primed to play as much international music as possible to offset the possibility of the guests getting fed up with offerings made popular in Italy, but nowhere else, by artists such as Eros Ramazzotti, Mina or Laura Pausini.
Although the invitations to the guests had specified that it would be a masked ball, Daniela had very sensibly ordered a supply of male and female masks for the use of guests who had either forgotten, or misunderstood what they were supposed to wear. A pair of waiters would be on duty at the entrance to the ball room, handing out masks as necessary. Some of these were relatively simple and people wearing them bore a striking resemblance to anti-capitalist protesters. Certainly they weren’t nearly as sexy as her feather mask.
After taking a long, hot bath, Annie started to get ready, pinning her hair up in a complex style that took her ages to do. She dug out some earrings and even applied lipstick and eye shadow, something she hadn’t done for years. It did occur to her that eye shadow was pretty superfluous to somebody wearing a mask, but it was done by that time. When it came round to the dress and the shoes, she realised she had two big problems. First, she seriously doubted that she would be able to squeeze into the Panda while wearing the long, tight dress, or at least, not without pulling it up to her waist first and risking getting it terribly creased and her bottom frozen. Second, there was no way she would be able to drive in the high heels. There was no alternative; she would have to do like last night and change at the hotel. She put on a pair of jeans and a cardigan, hung the dress carefully in its plastic bag, put the shoes and her mask into a shopping bag and struggled into her ski jacket and gloves.
She carried the bags out to the car and stowed them on the back seat. Then she drove back up to the hotel, parked in the underground car park and took the lift direct to the sixth floor. She glanced at her watch as she walked into Daniela’s office. It was half past seven. This time she took the precaution of jamming a chair under the door handle before stripping to her underwear, but it proved to be unnecessary. This time there were no unexpected visitors, welcome or otherwise. After putting on the dress, she stepped into her heels and headed for the ladies’ toilet to check her appearance in the mirror. She slipped the peacock-feather mask across her face and secured it with its red ribbons. She studied the overall effect, pretty sure that her mass of light-brown hair would give her identity away to anybody who knew her, but overall fairly satisfied with the result.
‘I’ll do.’
She switched off the lights and went down in the lift. When she arrived at the ballroom, she was pleased to be asked her name by one of the waiters, even though he actually knew her quite well. Clearly, the peacock mask was working. She went inside and made a final tour of the room, checking arrangements, talking to the band, and making sure everybody knew what they had to do. By the time she had done a full circuit, guests were already arriving. As they came in, those without masks were given one from the piles on the table and then offered champagne and canapés. Annie was delighted to see that a lot of the guests had entered into the spirit of the thing, particularly the Chinese, many of whom had brought brightly coloured masks, some depicting ferocious, red-faced demons complete with horns, some beautifully painted red, white and black designs, and one even a massive orange dragon complete with scales and horns.
Most of the masks covered all but the wearer’s mouth, so making it possible to eat and drink. A few, like the dragon mask, covered the mouth as well, and they were soon pushed up onto the forehead when the canapés and champagne came round. Annie moved from group to group, checking that all was well and everybody happy. She was delighted to hear very positive comments from all sides and hoped that this would result in numerous bookings for the hotel in the months and years to come.
At around half past eight, she caught sight of an unmistakable figure. It could only be Paolina, wearing what looked like a harem costume from some Sultan’s palace. The whole ensemble was made of layers of lightweight, translucent, antique silk. In its day, it must have been immensely expensive and it still looked amazing although it was in all probability a hundred years old. The airy leggings were gathered at the ankles by golden ribbons and the top was equally soft and translucent. Matt’s word, diaphanous, definitely summed it up perfectly.
She was wearing a matching cream-coloured mask in the Venetian style, with swirling patterns across her face and forehead and soft white feathers rising up into the air above it. She looked delightful. Beside her was the slim figure of Paul, wearing a dark suit and a scary-looking, hook-nosed mask in the style of the plague doctor. Annie studied it critically. There were two disadvantages to this type of mask. First, as his mouth was covered, he would find eating and drinking impossible, and second, any chance of dancing close up against Paolina was out of the question. Still, he did look very elegant and mysterious. She went up to them.
‘Ciao, Paolina. You look wonderful.’
‘Annie?’ Paolina didn’t sound sure. ‘Is that you under there?’
‘Sure is. You’re looking fabulous, and you, too, Paul.’
‘So are you, Annie. We’ve been watching you a few times, wondering who it was in the amazing green dress. You look like a film star.’ Paul sounded impressed and this did wonders for Annie’s confidence. She left them to enjoy themselves and continued her rounds.
She kept checking for Alex and from time to time spotted a few tall, dark-haired men who could have been him. One, in particular, wearing an intricate gold mask, even approached her and clinked his champagne glass against hers before moving on without a word. He was tall, he had broad shoulders, and his evening suit was quite evidently of the highest quality, so she felt sure it was Alex. Unfortunately, the eye holes of his mask were too small for her to spot his bright blue eyes, but she could clea
rly see his stubbly chin so she was pretty confident she had him pegged.
At nine o’clock, the lights dimmed and the band struck up. Before long, the dance floor was full of couples and Annie found herself being invited to dance by a variety of men, a remarkable number of them short and dark-haired, wearing oriental masks. She thoroughly enjoyed herself, reflecting that this was the first time she had been to a dance for many years. She had always loved dancing, but Steve hadn’t been keen. Now, tonight, she felt liberated and, to her great satisfaction, her new shoes proved not only to be comfortable, but easy to dance in. The only slight downside of the high heels was that her shorter partners were constantly bumping into her boobs with their faces, either accidentally or on purpose. But even that didn’t bother her in the general euphoria of the event.
Late in the evening, Annie was resting against a pillar, sipping a glass of water, when the man in the gold mask appeared and took her hand. He didn’t say a word, probably because the volume of the music was such that conversation was impossible, but she didn’t mind. She felt sure she knew who it was. He removed the glass from her unresisting hand and led her onto the dance floor where they danced to a number of tunes. He was a very good dancer and Annie had a whale of a time.
By this time, the band had stopped for a well-earned rest and the DJ had taken over. True to his promise, he was playing a series of classic international hits and the dance floor was crowded. Then, as she heard the wonderful slow introduction to ‘Sittin’ on the Dock of the Bay’ by Otis Redding, she felt his strong arms reach up and catch hold of her shoulders, drawing her towards him. She nestled happily against him, feeling his warmth and smelling his scent, their bodies fitting comfortably against each other. She relaxed and enjoyed that dance more than she had enjoyed anything for many years, since the early days with Steve. Resting in his arms just felt so very right, somehow. She was almost purring.
As the song drew to a conclusion, she raised her face towards him. She saw the blank, emotionless mask bend in her direction and then she felt his lips against hers. It was a short kiss, but more intense than she could have imagined. For a moment she genuinely thought she was going to faint.
‘Oh, Alex…’ She managed to get the words out during one of the quieter moments of the song. Then, to her surprise, he stepped back, took both her hands in his and kissed them softly. Without a word, he disappeared into the crowd, leaving her feeling abandoned. Why, she wondered, had he left so abruptly? She returned to her glass of water and took a large mouthful. Her head was spinning with the sensations aroused by his touch and his kiss. There was no doubt about it. Alex was the one.
She was roused from her daze a few minutes later by a man wearing a black-and-red-chequered mask that covered his eyes, nose and cheeks, but left his dark hair and stubbly chin uncovered. Annie did a double take. So Alex had got two masks? She wondered why. He was carrying a bottle of champagne and two glasses. The eye holes of this mask were wider and as he bent towards her, this time she saw the unmistakable bright blue eyes reflecting in the light and knew it was him again.
‘I thought you might like a drop of champagne.’ She recognised his voice immediately.
‘You’ve changed.’ She spoke just as another song started, this time much noisier, and she could hardly hear her own words. He took her hand and led her to a table in the corner, in the hope of getting away from the noise of the loudspeakers. He set the glasses down and filled them, sitting down alongside her, his thigh touching hers. She snuggled closer to him as he passed her the drink. She felt his arm reach round and cradle her against him.
He leant towards her and she thought she heard him say ‘Cheers’, but it was impossible to be sure. It didn’t matter anyway. All that counted was that amazing kiss on the dance floor and the fact that he was with her now. She took a small mouthful of champagne, not really wanting to drink any more alcohol. Then she put the glass down and reached up to take his head in her hands and pull him down towards her. Her lips sought for him, but this new chequered mask was much trickier than his previous mask. The twin wings that extended down his cheeks to his chin either side of his mouth protruded too much and she could barely reach him. Without removing the masks, all she could manage was a light touch of the lips, but she was content to settle for that.
They sat comfortably like that for some minutes, just happy to be together. It was well after midnight and the guests were drifting off to their rooms. She knew that the DJ was booked until one o’clock and it looked as if there wouldn’t be many dancers left by then. She found herself wondering what would happen to Alex and her at the end. His apartment was only a few floors above them. She felt a naughty sensation of anticipation at the thought of what was to come.
‘I’d better do a last round of the guests.’ His mouth was right beside hers and she could just about hear. ‘They all seem to be having a good time, but it won’t do any harm to check. You’ll be here when it finishes?’
‘Of course.’ She had to shout.
He kissed her clumsily on the neck and stood up. Taking the bottle, he set off into the room. Annie watched as he made his way through the guests, stopping now and then to shout something into an ear or pour some champagne into a glass. A few minutes later she saw him on the dance floor, dancing with a tall girl wearing one of the hotel masks. Annie didn’t need to see the blonde hair piled up on her head to recognise her as one of the German girls. But this time, Annie wasn’t worried. She knew that Alex would be with her at the end of the dance.
In fact, in the words of the song, Alex saved the last dance for her. It was the Righteous Brothers’ ‘You’ve Lost That Loving Feeling’ and couples all around the room clung to each other in a last embrace. Annie felt Alex’s arms slide round her and hold her close. She let her whole body press against his, burying her face in his shoulder as they swayed to the music.
Then a funny thing happened.
It started with her nose. As they moved from side to side in time to the music, her face pressed tightly against him, she gradually became aware that he didn’t smell the same as before. It certainly wasn’t an unpleasant smell, just different. Maybe, she thought to herself, he had run upstairs to spray on some deodorant. But then there was the realisation that his body against hers didn’t feel the same as it had done an hour before. That was strange. And then there was the suit. From the feel of the cloth, this one was silk, while the other had been soft wool. Had he changed clothes? It was the strangest feeling, almost as if this were a different man.
She didn’t have time to dwell on these strange sensations as the song finished and, after a pause, the lights came up. The dance was over. She and Alex stood by the exit and waved goodnight to the guests as they made their way back to their rooms until there were just the two of them left. Annie’s ears were still ringing from the volume of the music before, but she clearly heard him as he lowered his lips to her ear and whispered. ‘Are you coming upstairs?’
She nodded and they went over to the lift. She still had this strangest of sensations that all was not what it seemed. When the lift arrived, Alex pressed the button for the top floor. Seconds later, the doors opened and Annie found herself outside the familiar sign marked Direzione. Alex took her elbow and they turned left, walking down the corridor until a marble stairway appeared. He led her up a dozen steps and they came to a door. He unlocked it and pushed it open. A familiar face appeared.
‘Ciao, Leo.’ Annie bent down to stroke the dog who pressed himself against her legs, wagging his tail furiously. As she reached down to scratch his ears, she saw Alex remove his mask. He was perspiring and red in the face, but it was unmistakably him. Some of her unease left her and she straightened up, removing her peacock mask. She turned towards him and held out her arms. ‘A real kiss now, please.’
He took her in his arms and kissed her, first softly and then with real passion, pressing her back against the wall, letting his hands run slowly across her whole body. She abandoned herself against him, fee
ling the excitement build in her.
Then it happened again. He didn’t feel the same. Somehow, the perfect couple they had made downstairs when he was wearing his golden mask had disappeared. Yes, this was a good kiss, maybe even a great kiss, but it was different. He was different. She jumped, as the realisation dawned like a slap in the face. He really was different. The man in the golden mask had to have been a different man.
‘Is everything all right, Annie?’ She became aware that Alex was staring at her strangely and she struggled desperately for an answer. ‘You look as if you’ve seen a ghost.’ He wasn’t far from the truth. A sudden vision of Steve flashed through her brain and she felt a shiver run down her back. What on earth was going on and what on earth should she do? A movement at her feet supplied a possible way out. She pointed down at the dog.
‘I was just thinking about Leo. Shouldn’t he have a walk, or at least a chance to go out and cock his leg?’
The expression on Alex’s face would have been comic, but for Annie’s state of befuddlement. ‘Leo? You were thinking about the dog at a moment like this?’ The disbelief in his voice was palpable. She rushed on, jumbling her words as she realised she had to get away and sort herself out. Something very, very weird was going on and it frightened her.
‘I’ll take him if you like. I’ve got an early start tomorrow so I’d better get home. Otherwise I won’t be able to function properly in the morning.’
‘But, Annie…?’ He was lost for words. Taking advantage of his moment of bewilderment, she reached up and kissed him on the cheek.
‘Alex? Just one thing… did you have two masks tonight?’
‘Did I what? No, of course not. But what’s that got to do with anything?’ He now looked totally confused.
Annie shook her head. ‘It’s all right; I just wondered. Anyway, I really have to go so I’ll take Leo down and let him out. One of the night staff will let him back in again, won’t they?’