Elementary Virtue: The Prophecy (8 page)

Ana glanced at her reflection in the mirror, wow, she thought, hard to believe that she could look like this. She barely recognized herself. Her dark long hair had been first turned to curls and then pinned up. A few strands played loose around her face smoothing the look of the pinned up hairstyle. She looked artistically ruffled, she thought grinning to herself. Besides, her hair glistened slightly, which probably was due to the spray that had been generously spread over her hair and provoked Ana to violently sneeze. They had painted her eyes with brown and golden eye shadow and some thin golden eyeliner. Even her eyelashes were painted golden. She warbled to 'Golden Eye', by Tina Turner to herself. As the neelie but apparently talented stylist, named Vittorio, that her mom dragged her to, was doing some dance of joy behind her. He was fanning air to himself with both hands as if he was about to faint. "Belissima," he screamed out and Ana had somehow to agree with him. She looked like a stranger, a beautiful stranger. Vittorio had really done a great job and was worth every penny, he got. At least, no one would recognize her back home, if the show were on in Europe, which she seriously doubted.

"Wow, Muffin, you look absolutely stunning," her mom came up behind her, her eyes crossed Ana's in the mirror. She looked at her with pride. "Please mom, do me the favor and stop calling me Muffin. I'm not two years old." Vittorio handed her some golden teardrop-shaped earrings to match the golden makeup and clapped his hands, "My God, doesn't she look fabulous? Doesn't she look like a movie star? We have made a beautiful swan out of a duckling," he fanned himself again with his hands. Ana could hardly resist laughing aloud. She had never met anyone who behaved as neelie as this Vittorio, just amazing. She looked at her mom and both had to pull themselves together, not to grin stupidly. They didn’t want to offend Vittorio, because after all, he had done some miraculous work. Her mom was also barely recognizable she had gone through the same procedure. Except that, Ana didn’t think about Golden Eye looking at her, but rather Dramatic Eyes. Unfortunately, there was no such song. However, her mother's false eyelashes looked somehow dramatic since normally she hardly ever-put makeup on her face. She looked as if she would go to the Oscars. Her black long dress was well cut and brought out the best in her and the new hairstyle and makeup made her seem years younger. Vittorio had every reason to flutter around like a rampaging Hummingbird. He had accomplished a masterstroke.

They left a hysterical Vittorio and his team behind, picked up by a limousine. Ana was impressed, apparently her Mom's former flame was someone with connections and more importantly, he pulled the strings willingly for them. Who knew? Maybe the event was not such a waste of time after all and she might even enjoy the evening. She just hoped that her mother wouldn’t be too disappointed if she didn’t win the Award. The chances for this to happen were small. Still it would be somewhat great if she won and certainly, they would have more money than usual. They were often short of money and next month she took a trip to Prague for a week with her class, so again that cost a lot of money. Therefore, the invitation for this trip to Toronto was absolute godsend. It cost them nothing and they were almost VIP's along with the other nominees. Besides, they were invited to stay one week after the Award to do some sightseeing, not so bad. Her mom was looking forward to visiting her former landlady.

The Limousine stopped in front of the Roger Centre, where they got out and walked down the red carpet to the entrance. No one was paying them any Attention. A bunch of teenage girls screamed like crazy when they got out of the limo and fell silent when they saw the two of them. They looked disappointed. Who the hell did they expect to get out of that limo? Justin Bieber? They received an escort to their seats with two seats between her mom and the aisle empty. Mom told her Chris and his sixteen-year-old daughter, who apparently eventually got her mom’s permission, would sit with them. Also, that they might go to an after party when this event was over. Great, Ana thought! If she was not planning to pair her off with a future son-in-law, mom tried to pair her off with a girl. When would she finally understand that she decided herself who her friends were? Ana thought slightly annoyed.

Dropping her playbill absent minded, she bent to pick it up at the same time as her seatmate. Their heads collided painfully. Ana held her aching forehead and heard a concerned gentle voice. “Are you ok?"
“Yes, everything is fine no harm done, thank you," she looked up into two light brown eyes full of concern, and held her breath. The guy was hot and totally sweet. He also somehow looked familiar, but she didn’t know why. "I'm really sorry, usually, I am not as fierce, are you okay?" Ana nodded, "no harm done," she saw out of the corner of her eye, that her mom had noticed the incident and smirked apparently amused. Then after she squinted and had a better look at her seatmate, she heard her mutter in a low voice, "Unbelievable, such coincidences are not normal." Ana had no idea what she meant and silenced her with a well-aimed nudge of her elbow. "In what category are you nominated?" He glanced at her with interest. "Are you a singer from abroad?"
"No I'm not nominated, my mother has written a book series and has been nominated," she pointed at her mom beside her, who was meanwhile talking to a girl beside her, looked as if Renée had arrived in the meantime. "Maira Hano is your mother. Wow, I'm impressed." Ana looked at him in surprise, “You know my mother?”
"Sure, who doesn't know those books? She is well-known around here for her Fantasy Books. You are from Switzerland, aren't you?"

Ana nodded, who would have thought that her mom’s books were apparently that well-known here. The trip to Prague seemed within reach. She looked at him, "What about you? Are you one of the nominees or are you accompanying someone, like me?" He looked slightly irritated as if he were not sure, if she was trying to put him on with her question. His eyes had taken a suspicious expression before he answered. Holy shit, she thought. What had she said to piss him off that way? "I sing," he said in a distended voice. "Awesome, this means apparently, that you're singing is pretty good if you are nominated."
"I always try to do my best", he still looked somewhat weird at her. Did he expect that she recognized him, or what? He was really cute and there was something about him. She couldn’t get a hold of it, but he was extremely alluring and at the same time likable. "Should I know you because of your music? You know, we don’t hear many Canadian Singers in Switzerland. The only one that pops to my mind is good old Justin Bieber, and I must say that I don't like him that much."

He gave her an amused glance, but apparently, he was as relaxed again as before. "What is it you don't like about him? His lifestyle or his singing?" She started to babble. This guy made her nervous, "I guess his life style. So, then what's your Name?" He was completely at ease again and reached out his hand towards her, "My name is Saul Marques."
“Holy crap," she held her hand over her mouth in horror. Moms, dream son-in-law! How were the chances statistically for something like that to happen? 1: 1,000,000? Yet, here she was sitting beside him, nearly having him knocked out just one minute ago.

"Ok, your reaction makes me guess, that you've heard of me, but couldn’t remember?" Well what should one answer to that without looking too stupid, Ana wondered feverishly. "Guess you could say that. Besides you looked somehow different in the photos and on the YouTube videos."
"What do you mean by different? Different better or worse?" Shit this guy asked some mean questions. Ha, my ass, perfect son-in-law, she thought to herself. "Don’t know," she mumbled uncertainly counting the small black dots on the back of the front seat. Counting always calmed her immediately when she was nervous. She heard his chuckle and looked up, "Well saved, but maybe a little vague. It’s probably the pimple that showed up this morning on my forehead, something like that changes a person a lot." He glanced amused at her with his hazel eyes. Ana couldn’t see any pimple. He seemed to enjoy himself about her embarrassment. Ana had no idea what she should say. Considering the guy was not much older than her and was most probably chased most of the time by a bunch of teenage girls, he was unflappable.

Fortunately, she didn’t have to answer, as the woman sitting next to him asked him something and at the same time, her mom tapped on her shoulder. She wanted to introduce her to Renée but whispered first gleefully in Ana's ear that her seatmate was quite fascinating, "Well, at least, your reaction makes me guess, that you didn’t have anything to do with the seating arrangements."
“Believe me, Muffin even if I had wanted to, it wouldn’t have been possible." She poked Ana in the ribs, "But you do know that I don’t believe in coincidences. Isn’t he cute?" Ana rolled her eyes, "Ok, he is nice, but he is also cheeky and doesn’t behave like a dream son-in-law!"
"Of course, he doesn’t. After all, he isn’t eighty yet right?” Ana crossed her arms defiantly not saying anything more. Saul Marques had faced them again becoming acquainted with her mom. He pointed to the woman on his left, "May I introduce, my mother," the very British and stiff-looking woman nodded friendly towards them, “Pleased to meet you, my son and my daughter love your books. Good luck for the Award."

Ana’s Mom smiled, pleased, and Saul's mother continued, "You know it's really a pity that Edith cannot perform with my son. She got the flu, and the organizers insist on a duet, a real shame. Now I’m afraid that the American and this Disney brat will perform a song," she wrinkled her nose. Saul seemed embarrassed, "Mom, he is my friend, don’t be such a racist." Ana felt out of place and tried to make herself look as small as possible in her seat. Better not to get caught in the crossfire of these two clucking mothers, she thought, as her mom was fully in her element, "You ought to know Ms. Marques, that I'm a big fan of your son." Good God, help me, then why don’t you adopt him? Ana thought desperately, hoping that she wouldn’t bring up her dream son-in-law story. Clearly, the woman was capable of anything tonight. If she could have, she would have put a hand over her mom’s mouth to silence her, but unfortunately, it was too late and once her mother was in the mood, it was difficult to stop her, "We love his songs, don't we Muffin?" Ana surrendered, closing her eyes and shaking her head, she hated it when her mom called her Muffin in front of other people.

Startled, she looked up when she heard what news her mom shared with her new acquaintances, "Ana has a beautiful voice, and she knows the song with Edith, she could fill in for her." Ana could hardly believe her ears, "What am I, a horse that you are praising for a race? Are you out of your mind? No way, I am going to make a fool out of myself," then she looked at Saul. He looked at her with interest and she continued enraged, "You truly are asking me to make a fool out of myself in front of all these people." She was beside herself. This time, her mom really had gone too far. She wouldn’t make a fool of herself. Looking at Saul and his mother hoping to get approval, she saw to her horror that they looked both full of interest at her. As if she was the solution to their problem. "Do you think you could manage it?" Saul's mother asked hopefully. "No, no way I'm going to embarrass myself in front of all these people." Saul looked at her intently and under his intense gaze, she felt like a hypnotized rabbit. She would have fled if she could have, but the escape was blocked on both sides. "Forget about the people. Do you think you could sing the song with me?"
“I know the song, but I can’t possibly step up to that stage with you without practicing!"

There was panic in her voice. His mother smiled, patted Saul's arm and winked at him cheerfully, then she reached for her phone. Ana heard her saying to someone, that Saul would be able to perform the song after the program break. She shook her head wondering, what the hell she was getting herself into. She looked at Saul imploringly, "I swear, both of you are crazy, no way I am going to sing down there," she pointed to the stage and looked at him still shocked, "don't forget that it is a certainty that I am going to embarrass you and I am sure that this isn’t really helpful for promoting your song, or get on with your career."

"It's really very important for me to perform that song, it has something to do with my record contract. Besides, I'm only on after the break. So, we have plenty of time to practice during the break. Besides, I have to tell you that you look like Edith from afar. No one will notice."
"Of course, they'll notice if I sing off-key."
"You would really help me and I'd be eternally grateful." From his left side, they heard his mother's sarcastic voice, "and this American wouldn’t be able to sing, I’d gladly invite you for lunch for that." Despite the impossible situation, Ana couldn’t help it, and she started to laugh aloud. At first, Saul looked surprised but then he joined in. "So does that mean you are in?" Ana shrugged, "I guess I have no choice, otherwise, the American your mother dislikes that much is going to perform!”

"Hallelujah," his mother said and clapped her hands. Even her mom was speechless for once, but not for long. Then she introduced her to Renée, who was very nice and apparently hadn’t noticed anything about this unfortunate deal. Her Mom whispered in Ana's ear, "I'm so proud of you, Muffin, I'm going to get your performance on video."
"If you call me Muffin once more, I'll scream."
"Ok, don’t get upset Pumpkin." Ana squinted reproachfully, but her mother seemed to be having a wonderful time. No wonder she didn’t have to sing in front of thousands of people. During the break, they practiced the song and Saul was full of praise. When it was time, Ana was so afraid that she could hardly breathe, but Saul was full of confidence and encouraging her. He was completely calm, a real professional, and Ana totally admired him for it. She was shaking like a leaf, and when they got on stage, she had no clue about the lyrics anymore. Panic seized her, but miraculously she remembered every word at the right moment. Soon as he began to sing, she fell in and forgot about the people listening to them. It was as if they were alone, only the two of them.