by T A Williams
No sooner were the words out of his mouth than the door behind Annie opened and she heard a girl’s voice, speaking in Italian. ‘Ciao, papá.’
Signor Lago’s smile broadened and he held up his arms. ‘Teresina, carissima! You’re here.’
Annie got to her feet and turned to greet her. She heard Signor Lago’s voice introducing her to Teresa, but it barely registered. Her eyes were fixed on the girl on the other side of his bed. As Teresa straightened up after kissing her father and turned towards Annie, two things became immediately apparent. This girl was tall, taller than Annie, and had the same dark hair as her brother, Alex. In consequence, unless Signor Lago had two daughters, the little blonde girl kissing and cuddling with Alex at Turin airport before Christmas hadn’t been his sister after all.
Unaware of Annie’s surprise, Teresa came over and shook hands with her. Behind her, Annie heard Signor Lago explaining that Annie had been helping with the promotional event. Annie shook her head in an attempt to restore some order to her thoughts and managed a reply.
‘Hi, I’m Annie. It’s very good to meet you, Teresa.’ She spoke in Italian in deference to Signor Lago although by now she had worked out that he spoke pretty good English. But as he and his daughter were speaking Italian it seemed logical. ‘Have you just flown over from London?’
They both sat down and chatted for a few minutes before Annie felt she should leave them to it. One thing she did manage to ascertain in the course of the conversation was that Teresa was indeed Signor Lago’s only daughter. As she stood up, another thought occurred to her. As casually as possible, she enquired about the Caribbean holiday Alex and Teresa had had. Teresa smiled back at her.
‘It was lovely and restful. Did Alex tell you there was no internet and barely a mobile signal? It made such a wonderful break for all of us.’
Her use of the word all had Annie very interested. She did her best to keep her voice level. ‘Were you a big group of people?’ To her surprise, Teresa shot her a look and then glanced across at her father.
‘I’ll walk with Annie to the lift. I need to call Alex to tell him I’ve arrived, and my phone doesn’t work in here.’
Annie kissed the old man on both cheeks and wished him well, before following Teresa out and along the corridor. As they reached the end, where the lifts were situated, Teresa turned to her.
‘I didn’t want to say anything back there in front of my dad, but I was in Anguilla with a boyfriend. Dad’s a bit overprotective, especially seeing as I’m thirty-one, so I don’t talk to him about my men.’ She caught Annie’s eye and grinned. ‘I will do when the right one comes along, but there’s no point rocking the boat until then.’
‘And this one’s not the right one?’
‘He’s fine.’ Teresa was still grinning. ‘He’s great fun and very handsome as well, but definitely not husband material. Anyway, I just wanted some company rather than feeling like a wallflower while Alex and Cinzia were at it in the next room.’
Annie avoided exploding, but it wasn’t easy. She struggled to keep her tone even. ‘Cinzia? Is that his girlfriend? Very petite, blonde girl?’
Teresa nodded. ‘You’ve met her? Yes, they’ve been together now, on and off, for a couple of years. She’s a nice kid and she makes him happy.’ Unaware of Annie’s turmoil, she reached into her bag and pulled out her phone. ‘I’ll just give Alex a call to tell him I’m here. Anything you want to say to him?’
Where do I start? Annie avoided answering and stuck out her hand. ‘No, I’m fine, thanks. Very good to see you, Teresa. I hope your dad gets well soon. He’s a lovely man.’
‘Goodbye, Annie. It was very nice to meet you.’
Annie took the lift to the ground floor and walked out into the early evening air. It was really freezing now and she zipped her jacket tight and pulled up the hood. She walked back in the direction of her car, her mind buzzing with conflicting emotions: jealousy, anger, disappointment and yet, underneath all those, relief. As she picked her way carefully along the icy pavement, she gradually simmered down and realised the silver lining to what she had heard. Here she had been, worried stiff about how to break the news to Alex that their relationship wasn’t, after all, going to develop any further, when all along he had been cheating on her. A two-word text message should do it. Drop dead had a good ring to it.
For some reason, she suddenly developed a yearning for an ice cream. An illuminated green cross outside a pharmacy displayed the temperature and she saw that it was already down to just one degree, and yet, even so, she found she really wanted an ice cream, one of her favourite meringue ones. She headed for the ice cream shop in the main square, her mind still churning over the events of the last twenty-four hours. She glanced at her watch. It was just after six. Twenty-four hours ago she had been heading home to change and get ready for a romantic evening with Alex, hopefully leading to their long-awaited physical encounter.
Now, as a result of just a few minutes in the arms of the man in the golden mask, everything had changed. The fact that Alex had now been revealed as a cheating bastard was unimportant. And he certainly was a cheating bastard; cheating on his girlfriend of two years with Daniela apart from anything else. What was good about this discovery was that it had removed the sense of guilt Annie had been feeling at having to break the news to him that she no longer felt about him in the same way as before.
Annie reached the square and saw the lights on in the ice cream shop. She went over to the open window and, as ever, marvelled at the amazing selection of flavours ranging from caramel with Cointreau to chocolate chip with mint, and from liquorice to passion fruit. The girl behind the counter was wearing a thick fleece, but she still looked cold. Annie, on the other hand, in spite of seeing her breath forming clouds in the frozen air, felt pleasantly comfortable after the warmth of the hospital. She asked for a cornet of meringue ice cream and took it across the square to a wooden bench under the arches. She sat down and slowly, luxuriously, ate her way through the ice cream while she reviewed her options. What should she do next?
She very quickly came to the conclusion that she had nothing to gain from sending a nasty text message to Alex. After all, she hoped she would still be able to visit his father, meet up with Leo the Lab, swim in the hotel pool, and drop in for coffee with Massimo. And, of course, she had every intention of continuing to ski regularly at Montalto. A text message wouldn’t do it, and whether or not he’d been in a relationship with Cinzia or Daniela was immaterial. She had already made up her mind that things with him weren’t going to progress, long before meeting Teresa. She knew the best thing to do was to speak to him, so she pulled out her phone and called him. He answered almost immediately.
‘Annie, hi.’
‘Alex, I’m afraid I won’t be able to come for dinner tonight.’
‘What’s wrong? Has something happened?’ He sounded concerned.
‘No, nothing’s happened. It’s just that… listen, Alex. Things are very confusing for me at the moment. I’ve just found out about Cinzia and Daniela and I’m still coming to terms with that.’ She could almost hear his intake of breath on the end of the line. ‘At the same time, irrespective of that, things changed radically last night. I owe you an explanation, but I honestly don’t know what’s happening to me right now. Last night you said I looked as if I’d seen a ghost. Maybe I had.’ She paused to collect her thoughts, but he didn’t say anything. To her surprise she found she was actually feeling quite cheerful; in fact, very cheerful, and confident. ‘I’ve really enjoyed these weeks with you, Alex. You’ve helped me more than you can imagine. I mean it.’
‘So, you’re saying you’re still prepared to be friends with me?’ He sounded amazed and she found herself smiling.
‘I don’t see why not. I’ve been going through some tough times and it’s only now that I’m coming back to life. I’ve been locked up inside my head for the last two years and the fact that I’m coming out of it now is definitely in part thanks to you. Of cou
rse I’d like us to stay friends, even if you have behaved pretty shabbily.’
She paused, allowing him time to say something. It was a long time coming, but finally he managed to summon the decency to apologise. ‘Look, Annie, I’m really sorry.’
‘Sorry for what? Sorry about trying to have your cake and eat it with two girls at the same time, maybe three? Or are you sorry you got found out?’
‘I’m sorry I treated you badly. You’re a very special girl and you deserved better from me. To be honest, I’m amazed you still want us to be friends. I’m not sure I’d feel the same way if the roles were reversed.’
‘That’s because I’m me and you’re you, Alex. I’m always prepared to see the good in people, even when it’s been pretty well hidden by some of the sneaky things they’ve done. I like the nice guy who lives inside you. I liked him a lot and I still do. What you’ve got to do is to work on changing the bad guy who gets in the way. You’re a clever man; you’ll work it out. But, anyway, like I say, I had already made up my mind about you before I found out about your girlfriend in Rome. Our relationship changed irrevocably last night.’
‘So, is there somebody else?’ His voice was subdued.
Annie just kept it short. ‘I’m not sure. Honestly, that’s all I can say for now. Something’s happening to me and I really don’t know what it is.’
‘But, how…?’ He sounded flabbergasted.
‘Alex, like I say, I’m trying to sort my life out and start living again.’ She paused for a few moments, during which she took a mouthful of meringue ice cream. It was delicious. ‘I didn’t come up here looking for another man or a quick fix for my problems. Being with you has been fun, a lot of fun, but there’s more to a relationship than that. I know that from my own personal experience and last night I got a glimpse of how I might be able to find that once more. But it won’t be with you, Alex. Let’s stay friends, but in a different way.’
‘Ah.’ It was pretty clear that Alex wasn’t used to receiving calls like this.
‘Anyway, Alex, you have a good evening. I expect I’ll see you round.’
‘Um, yes.’ Another pause, another mouthful of ice cream.
‘Well, goodnight.’
‘Um, yes, goodnight, Annie.’
She swiped the red button and sat there, slowly savouring her ice cream. A glorious sense of peace settled upon her as she realised where she had to go and what she had to do next. Janet’s words about Matt came back to her. Deep down inside she now realised she had known the answer all along, but had just refused to ask the question of him or of herself. Now she knew what her answer was. As for his, she would never know unless she asked him. Finally, she ate the last of the ice cream and wiped her fingers on the napkin. She stood up, dropped the napkin in a bin and headed for the school.
As she came down past the school, she saw that the café was open so she crossed the road and went in for a coffee. After the events of the last half hour she felt she really needed a shot of something. It was noisy in there with groups of tourists, fresh from the slopes, rehydrating with beer before heading off to have dinner. Signora Toniolo was behind the bar and she gave Annie a big smile, turning towards the espresso machine without being asked. As she thumped the coffee holder into the drawer to remove the old grounds and then refilled it and tamped it down, she looked back over her shoulder at Annie. ‘How was your week up at the hotel?’ She had to raise her voice to make herself heard over the din.
Annie leant forward and told her all about the promotional event and the ball, but left out any personal details. As Signora Toniolo set the steaming cup of coffee down in front of Annie, she gave her another smile. ‘My coffee’s popular this evening. Matt was in only a few minutes ago. Now he’s living close by, he’s fast becoming my best customer.’ She dropped her voice. ‘And the best-looking.’
So Matt was in Santorso. Perfect. Annie nodded to herself as she swallowed her coffee, dropped a few coins on the counter and said goodbye to Signora Toniolo. Outside the door, she turned right and crossed the road, walking the hundred yards to the magnificent façade of Matt’s old building. She went into the lobby, considered and rejected the lift and started off up the stairs. By the time she got to the top floor, she was feeling quite puffed, but anything was better than the lift of death. She walked along to flat 5A and rang the doorbell, feeling remarkably calm. A few seconds later, Matt opened the door.
‘Hi, Annie, how’s things?’ He was smiling. She studied him carefully but couldn’t read anything more into his expression. ‘How did it all go up at the hotel?’
‘Hi, Matt.’ She leant forward and kissed him on the cheeks just like normal. ‘It all went really, really well. The agents left late this morning and I’ve been in bed all afternoon.’
‘In bed?’ The trademark Matt grin was on his face.
‘In my bed, and on my own, Mr Brown, if you really want to know.’
He changed the subject. ‘Cup of tea, coffee?’ He glanced at his watch. ‘I know, how about a glass of champagne? I’ve got a bottle in the fridge that a very close friend went all the way to Gatwick to buy for me. It’s just dying to be opened.’ Ignoring her protests, he headed for the fridge.
Annie stood by the window and stared out into the night. As she craned her neck to look down the road towards the far-off high Alps, first one and then more snowflakes fluttered past the window, catching the light from the street lamps below. By the time Matt came back with the drinks, more were falling and the pavements were already turning white.
‘Here.’ Matt came up alongside her and passed her a glass. His eyes followed hers out through the window. ‘They said there was more snow on the way. Looks like they got it right. Anyway, cheers.’
Annie half turned towards him and clinked her glass against his. ‘How did it go with the cinema people?’ Her eyes returned to the scene outside. It was starting to snow quite heavily now and a thick curtain was forming between them and the building across the street. There was no wind and the snow was falling vertically downwards in parallel lines, creating an effect not dissimilar to the patterns on the walls of the lobby downstairs.
‘It went well, very well. They want me to translate the screenplay of that new movie I told you about.’
‘Matt, that’s huge.’ Annie was impressed. ‘I’m so pleased for you.’ She was very conscious of his proximity to her, even though they weren’t touching. For the first time since ringing his doorbell, she began to feel nervous. As if sensing her discomfort, Matt turned away and went over to the sofa. Annie followed him.
Whether it was the fact that she was still tired, because she had other things on her mind, or just her usual clumsiness, she managed to catch her ankle on a cardboard box and fell headlong into the room, her glass full of champagne flying out of her hand. She would have landed on the floor, but for Matt’s quick reactions. He threw himself off the sofa in front of her and caught her in his arms. They came to a halt just short of the coffee table, her head buried against his chest. He helped her to her feet and released his hold on her. But she didn’t release her hold on him straight away.
It started with her nose. This was just about the closest she had ever come to Matt and certainly the very first time she had buried her nose in his chest. And yet the scent of him was very, very familiar. Then there was the feel of him, the way his body and hers felt when pressed together. Just like the previous night, they fitted together like a glove; an old, comfortable, familiar glove. She took a long, slow breath and realised, if she had needed confirmation, that she had no doubt at all that she had, in fact, buried her nose in his chest the previous night. She very slowly unwrapped her arms from around his waist and stepped back. Drops of champagne that had sprayed up from the contents of her glass were running down his cheeks. She reached up with her fingers and wiped them away.
‘I liked your mask.’ She licked the champagne off her fingers.
He took a deep breath and turned away, bending down to pick up her glass that
had miraculously landed on the rug without breaking.
‘My mask?’ The incomprehension in his voice was quite convincing, but she knew she had got him bang to rights. He took the champagne bottle from the table and refilled both glasses. She let him pour the wine before speaking.
‘And your suit. I’ve never seen you in anything so elegant.’
‘My suit?’ He was still trying to keep up the act, but she could sense him weakening. She took a sip of wine. She was pleased to see him swallow half his glass in one big mouthful. So the cool exterior didn’t match the interior. She resumed the assault.
‘You dance very well, Matt.’
‘So do you.’ His defences were down now.
‘But there’s something you’ve got to tell me. Something that’s been bothering me for hours and hours. Last night, why did you just suddenly disappear like that? We were having such a good time.’
He swallowed the rest of his wine and set the glass down on the table. When he spoke, there was no attempt at pretence. ‘Yes, we were having a very good time, but I left because you didn’t know you were having a good time with me. You thought I was Alex. You even said his name.’
Annie remembered her sigh of ‘Alex’ after that amazing kiss. She set her own glass down and stared hard at Matt for a good few seconds, trying to make up her mind. Finally, she stepped towards him.
‘Matt, would you mind if I just try something?’
He made no response so she reached up and caught him round the neck with her hands, feeling his hair between her fingers. She looked up at him. ‘Would you just put your arms around me, please?’ She felt him move and then the touch of his hands. She leant forward and nestled against him and felt, yet again, just how perfectly they fitted together. She rested there for a full minute, maybe more, before she felt brave enough. Finally, she was ready to give it a try. She slowly pulled his head down towards her and let her lips rest against his. Then they kissed and she knew without a shadow of a doubt that he was the one.
