Unmasking Elena Montella (20 page)

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.

‘
Elena?’

Elena froze for a vital, stupid moment and then darted, like an arrow from a bow, to the ladies. The mask! She had to get the mask on. There was nobody in the ladies and she reached for the mask and tied it on. She couldn’t take a chance on becoming trapped in the cubicle - invisible or not. She had to risk it here.

‘
Elena?’ Prof’s voice was outside the door.

Her heart drummed madly as she tied the black ribbons around her head with shaking fingers and waited for the tingling to begin. She counted silently to herself as the warmth flooded her body and she watched in astonishment as her solid self began to fade away.

‘
El? Are you in there? Open up? It’s me -
Prof!
’

Elena bit her lip. Just a few more seconds.

‘
If you’re not coming out then I’m coming in,’ he said in a sing-song sort of way as if she might be playing games with him.

Elena screamed silently. There was still the faintest outline of her body - like a strange mirage.

‘
Okay,’ Prof yelled from outside and, sure enough, the door opened and he was there, staring right at her -
through
her.

The mask had worked its magic but she didn’t know what to do next.

‘
Elena? Are you in here?’ Prof’s expression was one of extreme puzzlement, like the one he wore when doing The Times crossword. ‘I know you’re in here,’ he said but he didn’t sound at all sure of himself as he approached the cubicle door. ‘El?’

Of course, there was nobody there and he frowned at his mistake as he stood right next to her. Elena didn’t dare breathe in case he heard her, and she didn’t dare move in case he became aware of her presence. They stood, inches apart, only a tiny channel of air separating them. She could see the pores of his skin and the tiniest of shaving cuts. She could smell the deep sandalwood of his aftershave and, if she stretched out a finger, she’d feel the wild scratchiness of his tweed jacket.

Her dearest Prof had come all this way to see her but he didn’t know where she was staying. How did he propose to find her, she wondered? Was he just going to wander around Venice in the hope of running into her? But wasn’t that exactly what had happened?

Elena wondered what had made him stay at the Danieli. She knew he had plenty of money tucked away but to spend so much in the hope of finding her was rather silly. And what was he to think now? Would he believe the evidence of his own eyes? Or would he think he’d merely imagined seeing her?

Elena watched as he sighed and shook his head just as a woman entered the room, unleashing a torrent of Italian which, luckily, he couldn’t understand but which made Elena smile in intense relief as he backed out of the toilets and disappeared down the hall.

Rosanna was ready to pounce on Elena as soon as she got back to the apartment.

‘
You’ve missed him,’ she said.

‘
Who?’

‘
Mark! Who else? You knew he was going to be coming over this evening. Where have you been all this time?’

‘
He could at least have waited for me,’ Elena said, tired and confused.

‘
He did - for nearly two hours! But the poor guy got the feeling you were avoiding him.’