Unmasking Elena Montella (19 page)

‘
I mean,’ Sigmund smiled, ‘everything is so beautiful. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a place like it. Paris, Prague, Barcelona, Rome - they have nothing on this!’

Reuben watched him as he talked. He’d never seen anybody as enthusiastic or animated about the subject of architecture. It occurred to Reuben that it must be a part of his job. Maybe he was a travel writer or a historian.

‘
I’m a lecturer,’ he said when Reuben asked him. ‘English Literature.’

Reuben picked up his pencil again as his new companion talked on. He wasn’t really listening as he drew but he wasn’t really concentrating on where his pencil was taking him either so, when he finally stopped, it came as a complete surprise to see what he’d drawn.

‘
Shit!’ Reuben exclaimed.

‘
What’s the matter?’ Sigmund asked, trying to get a look at Reuben’s sketch. ‘Not gone as you planned?’

‘
Not exactly.’

‘
Can I have a look?’

Reuben shrugged and held the sketchbook out to Sigmund who took it and gave a long, low whistle.

‘
She’s beautiful,’ he observed. ‘Is this your romantic interest?’

Reuben wasn’t sure what to say. He didn’t have many friends and wasn’t used to talking about his personal life with anyone other than those who actually made up his personal life. But this fellow looked trustworthy enough. Reuben wasn’t sure if it was the tweed jacket, the round glasses or the bow tie. Maybe it was a combination of all three and the fact that he reminded Reuben of his old geography teacher. But he felt that he could talk to this man.

‘
You could say that,’ he said at last.

‘
She’s very beautiful,’ Sigmund said, handing the sketchbook back.

Reuben took it. ‘She is, isn’t she?’

And then he sighed because he’d gone and drawn yet another picture of Rosanna.

‘
Elena! Where have you been?’ Rosanna yelled as her sister walked up the steps into the apartment.

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 am,’ 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?’