Dreaming of Venice

by Dreaming of Venice (retail) (epub)

  ‘I’ll be quite honest, I’d heard some stories about your mother and you by extension, and neither of you came out of them too well. Stuck-up, arrogant and downright unpleasant were some of the words being used.’ She felt his arms squeeze her to soften the blow. ‘I’m sorry, but that’s what I heard. And now I find that, apart from being stunningly beautiful, so beautiful that you took my breath away when I first saw you this afternoon, you’re a sweet, funny, very intelligent girl without an arrogant bone in your body. So, Olivia, please forgive me for misjudging you. You couldn’t be more different from what I’d been led to believe.’

  ‘How long have you known who I was?’ Penny’s mind was racing.

  ‘Maybe half an hour.’

  She looked up and caught his eye. ‘Half an hour?’ She looked at him in blank incomprehension.

  He nodded, a little smile on his lips. ‘It was Gianni, the big guy with the beard and the earrings back there in the restaurant. You can’t have missed him.’ Penny nodded, remembering the giant on the far side of the table who looked like an Italian Obélix, even down to the blond pony tail. ‘He recognised you. When we were at the cash desk, he showed me a photo on his phone of you with your father, taken here in Venice this time last year. Pity I didn’t meet you back then.’ He was still smiling, but Penny felt anything but happy.

  So much for ships passing in the night. She now realised, with a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach, that nothing more could happen between them. In fact, she had already, if unwittingly, done too much. Rico was now convinced that it had been Olivia who had abandoned herself in his arms a few minutes ago. In all probability Olivia herself was going to arrive in Venice the following day, looking forward to seeing a totally different man, and if she were to meet Rico, all hell would break loose. There was no way Penny could let herself take things to the next level with Rico, much as she knew she wanted to. She had to nip this developing relationship in the bud before it got out of hand and caused all sorts of complications for her employer. With a very heavy heart, she stepped back, forcing him to release her. She steadied herself against the balustrade on the other side of the bridge and steeled herself for what she knew she had to say.

  ‘I think I’d better get back to my hotel, Rico.’ She saw the expression of surprise on his face. ‘I’ve got a terrible headache and I need to sleep it off. Thanks for a lovely evening.

  A look of alarm crossed his face. ‘Olivia, look, I’m sorry, really sorry.’ He sounded very concerned. ‘Those things I said, they were just things I’d heard from other people. You’re not like that at all and I’m sure your mother isn’t either. Oh, God, have I offended you?’

  ‘It’s all right, Rico, you haven’t offended me.’ Penny stepped towards him and kissed him softly on the lips, but retreated as she felt his hands reach for her. ‘I just need to get back to the hotel. I’m afraid I have no idea where we are at the moment so if you could just point me in the direction of St Mark’s, I’d better make tracks.’ She did her best to ignore the expression, not only of bewilderment, but also of hurt, all too visible on his face. He looked like a little puppy who has been shut outside in the cold. ‘This way?’ She set off in the direction in which they had been heading. Behind her, she heard his footsteps and then felt his hand on her arm. His touch was still electric, but she couldn’t shake the cold feeling of bitter disappointment that threatened to overwhelm her.

  ‘Look, Olivia, please, I’m sorry, really sorry. Please don’t go off like this.’ Penny felt her heart breaking as she heard his tone. The emotion in his voice was all too evident. ‘I’ve only just met you. You can’t go off and leave me like this, please. Please, Olivia, I really want you to stay with me.’

  ‘I’m sorry, Rico, but I have to get back.’ Penny did her best to keep her voice as detached as she could and she steadfastly refused to turn towards him, afraid that his little lost dog look would melt her resolve. Inside, she felt awful. This chance encounter and the fantastic evening could so easily have been the precursor to something wonderful, but now it lay in ruins at her feet . From the sound of Rico’s voice, he was every bit as gutted as she felt.

  He tried on several more occasions to speak to her as they walked back through the maze of little streets, but every time she refused to do more than answer stiffly. At last they emerged into St Mark’s Square, right at the feet of the illuminated Christmas tree. She vaguely remembered seeing a hotel just along the road from here and she led him to it. When they arrived at the entrance, she was relieved to see the lights still on in the lobby and a man sitting behind the reception desk. She stopped, turned towards Rico and delivered the little speech she had been working on for the last ten minutes.

  ‘Thank you very much indeed for a wonderful evening, Rico. I loved meeting your friends and I’m very grateful to you for showing me a bit of real Venice.’ She reached up on tiptoe and kissed him again. Although her intention had been just to deposit another light kiss, maybe even just on his cheek, she found herself pressing against him, her lips parting as she felt his arms reach around her once more. Then, taking a deep breath, she pulled back and broke away. ‘Thanks again, Rico. I’ll never forget tonight. Goodbye.’ He must have heard the emotion in her voice, but she managed to keep the tears from falling.

  She didn’t give him a chance to respond, but just turned and walked blindly up to the glass door of the hotel and pushed, banging her head against it as she realised too late it was locked. The noise alerted the man at the reception desk and she heard a buzzing sound. The door swung open and she walked straight in, surreptitiously rubbing her forehead that had hit the glass, refusing to turn back towards Rico. She walked resolutely up to the counter. Realising that Rico was in all probability still standing on the other side of the glass door behind her, watching her, she knew she had to do more than just turn straight round and come back out again, so she summoned a weak smile for the benefit of the man at the counter.

  ‘I was wondering if I could have some information about your hotel and maybe a copy of your price list. Might you have a room for tomorrow and maybe the next couple of days by any chance?’

  The man reached under the counter and produced a colour leaflet along with a printed price list. He assured her that they had vacancies for the rest of the week, although from Sunday, the start of the Christmas holiday period, the hotel would be full. Penny kept her shoulders to the door and spent a couple of minutes pretending to study the leaflet and asking inane questions, until she felt confident enough to glance backwards. Rico had gone. She immediately felt two conflicting emotions. On the one hand, she felt relief that her masquerade had apparently worked and, on the other, a deep and lasting sense of loss. Rico was out of her life. The man who had made her go weak at the knees was no more. She was close to tears as she thanked the receptionist and went back out into the bare, frozen square.

  She walked diagonally across the square, past the bell tower and out between the twin pillars bearing the statues of St Mark and St Theodore, the patron saints of Venice. She emerged on the waterfront. The street vendors with their carts of T-shirts, masks and postcards were long gone and there was barely a person to be seen. A couple came walking past her, huddled close together, probably as much for warmth as out of affection, as the bitter wind blew in across the water, cutting through Penny’s gloves and coat. She screwed up her fingers and pushed her fists into her pockets, hunching her shoulders to try to protect her face. The wind brought with it a light sea mist and she felt moisture on her cheeks, running down her face like tears. Maybe they were tears.

  She made her way along the quay, past the Byzantine beauty of the Doge’s Palace, until she reached the hotel. She stopped at the door, took a few deep breaths, wiped her face with her gloved hand and then went in. The porter on duty gave her a smile of welcome.

  ‘Welcome back, signorina. You look cold.’

  She managed a weak smile in return. ‘It’s absolutely freezing outside.’ Then, not having the strength
to trudge up the stairs, she walked past the reception desk to the lift and pressed the button for the second floor. As she travelled up in the lift she composed a brief text message for Caroline as promised. ‘Home safe and well. X. As she walked along the corridor to her room, she spotted a Do Not Disturb sign hanging from the handle of Caroline’s room and she felt happy for her friend. But not for herself.

  She went into her room and locked the door behind her. She didn’t insert her key card in the slot, so the room remained in darkness. The night staff had closed the curtains, but after taking off her coat, scarf and gloves and dropping them on the bed, she felt her way across to the windows, pulling the curtains open so that she could stare outside into the darkness.

  She stood by the window, her eyes stinging, still stubbornly refusing to let the tears run. How could it be that, just as her career as an artist was hopefully on the brink of taking off, her personal life could go so wrong? First Rick, then Owen and now, most painful of all, Rico. Tonight had been one of the most enjoyable of her life and yet, with just a few words, Rico had ruined everything. Of course it wasn’t his fault. It was hers, for agreeing to pretend to be somebody she wasn’t. If only the Obélix man hadn’t recognised her, if only she had used her real name from the outset, if only she hadn’t got involved in this increasingly complicated deception, playing the part of another person. She knew full well what her mother would have said if she had been able to talk to her about it, when it had all started, way back in September. ‘It’ll end in crying,’ she would have said. And it had.

  Penny stood there and watched the lights of a lone vaporetto as it made its way out from the quay and up into the Grand Canal, and did her best to think positive thoughts. At least she now had the confirmation that love at first sight existed, not just for other people, but for her as well. The thrill of his touch, the pleasure of his company and the overwhelming delight that had spread throughout her whole body during that long, passionate kiss told her, without a shadow of a doubt, that it had happened. The fact that she had now got herself into this insoluble mess of deception and lies couldn’t obscure the fact that it was real. And, she reflected, if it could happen once, it could surely happen twice. She did her best to hold onto that thought and believe it but, deep down, she knew it was a forlorn hope.

  She left the curtains open and made her way back across to the door. She felt for the slot and inserted the key card. The lights in the room came on, momentarily blinding her. She was standing there, blinking, when her phone started ringing. She glanced at the time. It was almost one o'clock, midnight in London.

  ‘Hi, Penny, I haven’t woken you up or anything, have I?’ It was Olivia.

  ‘No, in fact, I’ve just come in. I tried to phone you earlier but there was no reply.’

  ‘Yes, sorry about that, but I’ve been out to the movies.’

  ‘Really? Who with?’

  ‘By myself.’ Olivia sounded really proud. ‘And I even went into the bar for a glass of wine first. So, how’s everything over there?’

  Penny really didn’t know where to start so, to give herself time, she asked Olivia if she had made a decision about coming over to Venice. Olivia’s reply was very positive and Penny felt a surge of pleasure, in spite of her depressed mood.

  ‘Yes, I’m coming. I’ve done it. I’ve booked the plane for tomorrow. I should be arriving in Venice mid-afternoon.’

  ‘Fantastic, Olivia, I’m so pleased.’ And she was. This was excellent news and a definite sign that Olivia’s troubles were sorting themselves out. ‘I’ll book myself into another hotel and I’ll be out of the way for when you arrive.’

  ‘But I still want to see you.’ Olivia sounded genuinely concerned. ‘I want to get all your news. There must be some way we can meet up without giving the game away.’

  ‘I’m sure we’ll think of something.’

  ‘Are you all right, Penny? You sound a bit down. Nothing wrong, is there?’

  Penny hesitated. It would have been nice to talk to her friend about what had happened, not least as Olivia was one of only two people with whom she could discuss this, three if she included Jimmy, but she felt too worn out to try. She did her best to sound more cheerful. ‘I’m just tired. I think I’d better get to bed. I’ll sort out a way for us to meet up and give you a call in the morning. Then I can tell you all about everything that’s happened since I got here.’

  ‘Is there much to tell?’

  ‘More than you can imagine.’

  Chapter 19

  It took Penny a long time to get to sleep that night and she slept badly, tossing and turning, her mind constantly going over the events of that evening. On the occasions when she managed to drop off to sleep, she had a series of her regular dreams of Venice. But this time she was running through the streets, crisscrossing the maze of canals, looking in desperation for something or, more probably, someone. When she woke in the morning she felt jaded and miserable.

  As she stood under the shower, she remembered her promise to phone Olivia, to tell her how the two of them could meet up without being seen. If it hadn't been so very cold here in Venice in December, they could have met up outdoors in any one of numerous places around the city, particularly down towards the area of the Biennale, where a park with trees, bushes and benches afforded ample opportunities for a clandestine meeting. The problem with meeting on a park bench, particularly in the dark, at this time of year was that the two of them would probably freeze to death within minutes. They either had to meet in the daytime, when the weak winter sun still offered some vestiges of warmth or they had to meet indoors in a dark or very isolated place. With thousands of tourists milling round, isolated places in Venice were few and far between, and with several hundred people from the conference knowing and recognising their shared face, the chances of discovery were substantial.

  She was still thinking about this problem as she went up to the top floor restaurant for breakfast. She was surprised to find Caroline already there.

  ‘Hi, Caroline, I thought you and your man would be having a champagne breakfast in bed this morning.’

  Caroline looked up and grinned. ‘He did the walk of shame an hour and a half ago. He’s chairing a session on alternative energy today and he has to be at the conference…’ She glanced at her watch. ‘…around about now.’

  ‘So, how did it go? Did the lovely Doctor Nick live up to expectations?’

  ‘The word you’re looking for is exceed.’ Caroline’s face was relaxed and happy and, in spite of herself, Penny felt a touch of jealousy at her friend’s happiness, as compared to the train wreck of her own life. The jealousy disappeared as soon as it had come, however, and she gave Caroline a big, genuine smile.

  ‘I’m so pleased for you. You two took your time, but I’m so glad it’s all worked out in the end.’

  ‘Oh yes, and definitely worth the wait.’ Caroline glanced up from her toast and gave Penny a quizzical look. ‘Now don’t get me wrong, Penny, you look as lovely as ever, but you do look a bit… weary. Have you been burning the candle at both ends? Maybe spending too much of the night with your pirate?’

  ‘I wish.’ The waiter appeared and Penny ordered a cappuccino. She waited until he had left before recounting the evening's events, and its bitter conclusion. As ever, Caroline was very supportive.

  ‘I’m sure it’ll work itself out. Just talk it through with Olivia. I got a text from her, saying she’s decided to come over. You know that, too, don’t you?’ She glanced at Penny who nodded absently. ‘By the way, kudos for that. Like I’ve said before, you should give up painting and take up counselling. You’ve pretty much got Olivia back to normal. Anyway, surely when she comes over you can talk it through with her and sort things out. The conference finishes at the end of the week and, after that, she’ll be flying home. Now that she’s resuming her role at the head of the Foundation, there’s no longer any need for the deception. You can revert to being Penny again and you can see your pirate/artist man and explai
n everything to him. He’ll understand, you’ll see. And, by the sound of it, he’ll probably like you all the more when he finds out you’re a fellow artist, rather than a multi-millionaire.’

  Penny didn’t answer at first. Deep down inside, in a little compartment she had been trying to keep firmly locked, an uncomfortable thought. She waited for her coffee to arrive before opening up to Caroline.

  ‘What if the kiss on the bridge was only prompted by the discovery that I was a multi-millionaire? He pretty clearly doesn’t have a lot of money, what with his battered leather jacket and his bohemian friends. What if it was the discovery that the girl he picked up at the art gallery turns out to be super rich that decided him to make a play for her?’ She reached for her coffee and took a sip to mask the sour taste in her mouth. Somehow, when looked at in that light, those wonderful minutes in his arms in the shadows of a Venice backstreet assumed a far less appealing aspect. Could it be that his interest in her had been, if not generated, then at least enhanced by the knowledge that she could be his meal ticket for life?

  ‘Of course not.’ Penny could hear the forced confidence in Caroline’s voice. ‘The fact is that he only found out who you are a few minutes before he kissed you. Up till then you and he had had a lovely evening and the subject of money hadn’t reared its ugly head at all.’

  ‘Yes, I know, Caroline, but I’ve been thinking about what you said about the few men in Olivia’s life; you know about her not being sure whether they were after her for herself or her millions.’ She caught Caroline’s eye. ‘Somehow I feel even more pity for her now. In my life up to now, all I’ve had to work out has been whether the men I’ve met have been interested in the contents of my brain or my pants. For somebody in Olivia’s position, there’s a third unknown in the equation.’ She sighed and stood up. ‘I’m going to get myself a plate of bacon and eggs. I need it this morning. Can I get you anything?’