Irresistible You

by Victoria Connelly

  Clutching the box with the mask in it, Elena looked up and saw her sister’s dark scowl.

  ‘I’ve been out.’

  ‘Well, I know that! I’ve been worried about you. Have you been with Mark all this time? What happened? Where’s he staying?’

  Elena reached the top of the steps and walked into the living room. ‘No. I’ve not been with Mark all this time. He’s staying somewhere near the Rialto and I really don’t want to talk about things at the moment.’

  Rosanna shook her head in exasperation. ‘Reuben’s been here wondering where you’ve been hiding yourself.’

  ‘Oh, dear. I meant to go and see him.’

  ‘So, where have you been all day?’ Rosanna demanded.

  Elena sighed and flopped down on one of the large sofas. How could she explain what had happened since she’d last seen her? How could she begin to explain how mean she’d been to Mark and how, after arriving back at the apartment, she’d proceeded to turn invisible.

  ‘Is that the stupid mask you bought?’ Rosanna asked, sitting down next to Elena and peeping into the carrier bag.

  ‘Don’t touch it!’ Elena shouted.

  ‘Why not?’

  Elena bit her lip in panic. ‘It’s still wet. I took it back and they fixed one of the ribbons.’

  Rosanna screwed her eyes up in disbelief. ‘You’ve been getting a mask fixed when you have two fiancés in Venice?’

  ‘I don’t know what else I can do at the moment,’ she said. ‘Anyway, Mark’s coming over this evening.’

  ‘And what about Reuben? He did get here first, you know, and he looked so upset when he was here - all agitated.’

  Elena sighed wearily. ‘I’ll go and see him before this evening.’

  There was a moment’s silence as if the sisters were contemplating the possible complications of the evening ahead.

  ‘How did your afternoon go?’ Elena asked at last.

  ‘Ah! La Stronza!’ Rosanna spat, throwing her arms in the air before getting up from the sofa and marching through to the kitchen. Elena followed her and watched as she threw a cup of strong coffee together. ‘She is such a bitch! I can’t believe that woman! I should never have gone in the first place.’

  ‘Why? What happened?’

  Rosanna threw some lunch dishes into the sink before answering. ‘She insulted me! She treated me like a whore!’

  ‘How?’

  ‘Pah! She didn’t like my dress.’

  ‘But it’s a beautiful dress,’ Elena assured her.

  ‘She thought I looked like a prostitute.’

  ‘She actually said that?’ Elena said, startled. That was pretty rough, even by Irma Taccani’s standards.

  ‘Well,’ Rosanna said, her mouth pouting and her neck drooping into her shoulders like a put-upon tortoise, ‘not exactly. But I could see that’s what she was thinking!’

  ‘I’m sure she wasn’t,’ Elena said, in a vain attempt to calm Rosanna. The unfortunate thing was that she believed Rosanna was right. Irma was the nastiest piece of work Elena knew. Well, that she’d heard of.

  ‘She doesn’t want me to have anything to do with her little boy!’ Rosanna said, firing a jet of water into the sink and squeezing half a bottle of washing up liquid into it.

  ‘But you’re not sure whether you want to have anything to do with him either,’ Elena pointed out.

  ‘That’s not the point! I should be allowed to dump him in my own time.’

  Elena shook her head. Rosanna wasn’t being very practical. She was intensely proud and stubborn and it was obvious that Irma’s Taccani’s behaviour was making it harder for Rosanna to make her mind up when it should have been making it easier.

  ‘So, you are going to dump him?’

  ‘Merda! I don’t know!’

  Rosanna stalked out of the kitchen with her coffee cup and Elena followed.

  ‘I wish I could help you.’

  Rosanna pouted. ‘I think you have quite enough to cope with at the moment without becoming involved in my problems too.’

  Elena knew her sister was right but she was desperate to help her. She could see how miserable all this was making her. If only, Elena thought, there was another man who could take her sister’s mind off things. That’s what was needed: an injection of new love! But who? Elena knew how difficult it was to find a good man. Just look what had happened to her: she’d waited years and years then three had come along at once.

  ‘Hadn’t you better get along to the Danieli?’ Rosanna asked.

  ‘I’ve only just got back,’ Elena said.

  ‘But Mark will be coming over before long and-’

  ‘All right!’ Elena sighed, standing up with the mask in her hand. ‘I’ll go and see Reuben.’

  ‘Good!’ Rosanna said, nodding sagely. ‘And be nice to him.’

  ‘Of course I’ll be nice to him! What do you take me for?’

  ‘A two-timing, no-good, double-crossing madam!’

  Elena blinked hard. She supposed she deserved that.

  *

  Elena caught the vaporetto to San Marco. Of course, she should have gone to see Reuben at The Danieli after visiting Viviana’s in Dorsoduro but her head had been so crammed with confusion that she’d been able to do nothing but head back to the apartment. That had been a mistake though - with Rosanna there checking on her every move, she hadn’t even had a chance to try on the mask again.

  She wondered if she should have told Rosanna about the mask. Stefano had said to have fun with it and hadn’t given her instructions not to tell anyone about it but it felt as if it should be a secret. She had it with her now, tucked inside her jacket. Not that she intended using it, oh no, it was just that she didn’t want to leave it in the apartment in case Rosanna stumbled upon it.

  Entering the Danieli a few minutes later, Elena placed a hand on her jacket pocket. She walked straight by the main desk, passing the grand staircase on her right and the bar on her left and headed towards the lifts, but then a thought occurred to her. There was a ladies toilet here. Looking around her, Elena headed towards it and locked herself in a cubicle. It was risky, she knew. What if she took a bad turn and drowned in the lavatory bowl? What if it didn’t work properly and only half of her turned invisible? What would she do then? But the temptation was too great and she took the mask out of her pocket and tied it on.

  It took a few seconds to begin but she soon felt the strange pins-and-needles in her eyes, and experienced the warm, melting sensation in her body but didn’t experience the nausea or jolting electric shock that she had the first time she’d tried the mask on. She breathed a sigh of relief and then giggled as she looked down at her non-existent body. It had happened so quickly this time. She’d soon be able to tie the mask on and disappear within a few seconds. What fun she could have then!

  In the meantime, how was she going to get out of the cubicle without raising alarm?

  She cleared her throat. ‘Hello?’ she shouted through the locked door. ‘Anybody there?’

  There was no answer. The coast, she assumed, must be clear. Slowly, she opened the door and sneaked back out into the lobby. There was an elderly couple waiting for the lift, a man on the phone behind the reception desk, and well-dressed guests drinking in the bar. Absolute normality. Elena felt a delicious smile spreading over her invisible face. What chaos she could cause, she thought. What fun she could have here. Stefano’s words tickled her ears and she felt she’d be disobeying him most ungraciously if she didn’t have just a little bit of fun before seeing Reuben.

  Walking into the bar, she took a look around the room. There were numerous couples, drinking and talking. Elena watched for a few moments before zooming in on her first victims. A couple in their forties were sipping drinks in the corner of the room. The man was browsing a tourist guide, his face frowning in concentration. Or was it annoyance? Elena walked towards them to find out.

  ‘You’re not listening to me, are you, Phillip?’ his wife barked.

  ‘I a
m,’ he said, his voice weary.

  ‘Well, what did I say, then?’

  ‘You were talking about Murano.’

  ‘About the glass chandelier we saw. We simply have to go back and buy it. We can have it sent over in time for our anniversary. It will look simply stunning in the dining room.’

  ‘But there’s nothing wrong with the one we have at present,’ the man protested lightly. ‘We’ve only had it two years.’

  ‘You are joking, aren’t you? Darling, it’s so last year. No,’ she said, her red mouth set in a solid, implacable line, ‘it won’t do. We’ll go back in the morning and order the one we saw today.’

  The man sighed. ‘Very well.’

  ‘Darling, you know it makes sense.’

  Elena grimaced. The word darling sounded like poison on the woman’s lips. Elena pondered for a moment and then spied the woman’s handbag on the floor beside her chair. Bending down, Elena took the long strap in her hand and dragged it slowly across the floor until it was a good two metres from the woman’s chair.

  ‘Darling,’ the woman said a minute later, ‘where’s my handbag? What have you done with my handbag?’

  ‘Nothing! What would I want with your handbag?’

  ‘Then where-’ she stopped as she spotted it. ‘What’s it doing over there?’

  Her husband looked up and raised his eyebrows in surprise. Tutting, she got up to retrieve it.

  ‘I most certainly didn’t put it over there!’ she complained, her suspicious eyes narrowing further.

  It was all in the timing, Elena thought, as the woman came back to the table to sit down. One swift movement. It was so simple, so childish, and yet so effective!

  ‘Darling!’ the man cried, real concern in his voice. ‘What on earth are you doing on the floor?’

  The woman looked up at him, dazed and angry, her legs askew and her very expensive-looking skirt exposing a great deal of pale leg.

  ‘Well, don’t just stare at me! Help me up, you idiot!’

  Elena watched as he helped his wife up and led her out of the bar with the rest of the guests watching on in silent amusement. For a moment, Elena wondered if she should follow them. The woman certainly needed taking down a peg or two but, she decided, that now was not the time, and so let her victim go free. She really must go up and see Reuben.

  *

  ‘Where the hell have you been?’ Reuben shouted as he opened the door to Elena.

  ‘That’s not a very nice welcome!’ Elena said, having forsaken fun and games and run through to the toilet to take the mask of in her hurry to be with Reuben.

  ‘And neither was the one you gave me when I first arrived!’ he said.

  Elena shook her head and pushed passed him to get into the room. He could be so childish sometimes but she supposed that she was the cause of it this time.

  ‘Rosanna told you I’d been over to the apartment?’

  ‘Yes. I’m sorry I wasn’t in.’

  ‘Where were you?’ he asked, his expression thunderous.

  ‘I don’t want to be cooped up all day.’

  ‘Then why didn’t you come here to see me?’

  ‘I might very well have done and we missed each other!’

  ‘We didn’t though, did we? You didn’t come to see me here, did you?’

  Elena shook her head. ‘No.’

  ‘Then where did you go?’

  ‘Just out,’ Elena said, sitting down on the edge of the bed.

  ‘And I don’t suppose you’ll want to stay here for long either, will you?’

  ‘Don’t start, Reuben. I’m here now, aren’t I?’ He sat down next to her. ‘You can be such an awful grump at times!’ she said, ruffling his dark hair and kissing his cheek.

  ‘It’s you who makes me grumpy.’

  Elena smiled. ‘I know.’

  He smiled back at her and they kissed. He put his arms around her and nuzzled into her neck and she felt herself floating away on a tide of bliss.

  ‘What’s this?’ he asked a moment later.

  ‘What?’ she said, stirred out of her hazy state by his question.

  ‘This!’

  Elena looked down and saw the mask in his hands which he’d obviously found whilst exploring her clothing. ‘Oh! It’s nothing. It’s just something I bought myself. A little souvenir of Venice.’

  ‘I’ll have to draw you wearing it later,’ he said, winking at her.

  Elena laughed nervously. ‘It’s only a cheap trinket.’

  Reuben ran his fingers along the curved edge of the mask. ‘You could wear it now,’ he whispered in her ear.

  Elena froze. ‘No!’ she said, trying to sound light-hearted - as if she couldn’t care if she wore it or not.

  Reuben frowned. ‘Go on! Put it on. It’ll be fun.’

  ‘Reuben!’

  ‘Don’t be a spoil sport!’

  Elena felt panic rising inside her. ‘I’m not!’

  ‘Then why won’t you put it on?’

  ‘Because-’

  ‘What?’

  ‘Because it’s weird! It’s kinky! And I’m not into that,’ she said, her heart hammering loudly.

  Reuben tutted. ‘It was only for a bit of fun,’ he said defensively.

  ‘Well, it’s not the kind of fun I’m into.’

  He handed the mask back to her and she placed it in the pocket inside her jacket before taking the jacket off and throwing it over a chair.

  ‘Well, that’s certainly killed the mood, hasn’t it?’ Reuben groaned, flopping back on the bed in a world-weary fashion.

  ‘I’m sorry,’ Elena said.

  ‘I don’t understand why you bought a mask if you don’t want to wear it. I mean, what’s the point?’

  ‘Can we stop talking about the mask, please?’

  Reuben sat up. ‘What do you want to talk about then?’

  ‘I don’t want to talk at all,’ she said, her voice softening as the fear of her magical mask being discovered drifted away.

  Reuben cocked a dark eyebrow at her and they began to kiss.

  *

  Prof hadn’t been able to find a single restaurant open before seven o’clock and his stomach was rumbling like an angry volcano by the time he finally sat down to dinner.

  It had been a very pleasant first day in Venice, he thought, tucking into a mountain of ravioli. How strange to have met an artist from London. He’d have to make sure he saw him again before he went home. Maybe he would commission something - a portrait perhaps. But did he really want a portrait of his myopic face staring down from his wall? Maybe he’d commission one of Elena. Or maybe not. If he sent Elena round to Mr Reuben Lord, he’d probably seduce her before he lifted a single paintbrush.

  But where was Elena? The island was much bigger than he’d first thought. When people talked of Venice, they made it sound so small but it was a large labyrinth of streets and squares. A person could hide away for years and not be discovered and Prof had only a few days in which to find Elena.

  *

  Elena stretched back on the bed and picked up Reuben’s sketchbook. ‘You’ve been busy,’ she said, flicking through the pages, a sated smile filling her face. ‘Oh my God! You’ve drawn Rosanna!’

  Reuben looked up from the pillow and snatched the pad from her with fingers faster than bolts of lightning.

  ‘Reuben! Let me look! They’re really good.’

  ‘You know I draw everyone I meet,’ he said.

  ‘I know,’ Elena said, the pad back in her hands. ‘You should show her. She’d like them.’

  Elena flipped through the pad. There were endless bridges and canals, a gorgeously detailed study of San Marco complete with a posse of pigeons, and a couple of sketches of Santa Maria Della Salute. And then her eyes halted on one page. There was a sketch of a man wearing a bow tie and little round glasses.

  ‘When did you do this?’ she asked, her voice sounding hollow.

  ‘What?’

  Elena showed him the page she’d found.

>   ‘This afternoon. In the lobby bar.’

  ‘Here?’

  ‘Yes. He’s a guest. English. Quite a nice bloke, actually.’

  Elena felt the colour drain away from her face. It couldn’t be, could it? Maybe it wasn’t. Maybe Prof had a double. She shouldn’t jump to conclusions.

  ‘Are you okay?’ Reuben asked.

  ‘I’m - er - fine.’

  ‘What is it? Do you know this guy or something?’

  ‘No!’ Elena said, trying to laugh it off. ‘He just reminds me of someone.’

  ‘Who?’

  ‘Oh, someone I knew years ago at school.’

  Reuben took the sketchbook from her and closed it, seeming to believe her lie.

  ‘Look, Reuben, it’s late. I’d better be off,’ she said, getting up and feeling her legs quaking beneath her.

  ‘Why don’t you stay here, Elena? I don’t understand!’

  ‘Because I’m staying with Rosanna. I’ve told you.’

  ‘But I’m paying for this amazing room! I can’t believe you’d turn down a room like this. And it’s so late now. I don’t want you walking about in the dark.’

  Elena looked at her watch. It was late, wasn’t it? Mark would be waiting for her at the apartment by now.

  ‘I’ve got to go, Reuben. Don’t worry. I know my way around.’

  ‘And just when am I going to see you next? We haven’t had a chance to talk properly yet.’

  Elena smiled at him. He was right. Every time they met, they seemed to do nothing but make love. ‘I’ll give you a call tomorrow.’

  ‘Tomorrow? When? I might be out.’

  But Elena was out of the room before he had time to protest further.

  Doing her coat up in the lift, she looked at her watch nervously. She hadn’t actually set a time to see Mark, had she? He’d wait for her, wouldn’t he? As long as Rosanna didn’t get all heated up and angry at her absence and start divulging information which Mark shouldn’t know, everything would be fine.

  The lift door opened and Elena stepped out, walking into the hotel foyer. And that’s where she saw him. It was Prof. Sigmund Algernon Mortimer really was in Venice. It hadn’t been his double - he really was here - in this very hotel. He really had spoken to Reuben! And he really was staring at her - right now.