Page 35 of The Dolce Vita Divas
‘I refuse to wear black. It drains all the colour from my face, and I look like an old crow,’ Ceci said. ‘I am much more myself in bright things, pretty things. They lift my spirits and my soul. People wear too much black and call it fashion. Chanel had a lot to answer for. It’s lazy. Black is for mourning and death. And pretending one is svelte when one only has to look properly in the mirror, preferably side on, to see one isn’t.’
‘This red cocktail dress is gorgeous,’ Susie said.
‘Valentino,’ Ceci said with a wistful sigh. ‘I wore that to a party in Rome where I met the Conte. He loved that colour, but I don’t wear it now. I just like to look at it. It’s a work of art. I was very poor when I bought it.’
‘I don’t think you can have been,’ I murmured.
‘Poor in money but not in spirit,’ Ceci said firmly.
Thinking about it, there wasn’t much spirit displayed in my choice of clothes. Even with my new purchases; they were pretty safe. I was never going to sashay into a party and catch the attention of a titled nobleman.
‘You should wear it tomorrow,’ Ceci said, her face brightening, ‘that would be fun.’
Susie gasped. ‘I couldn’t possibly, it must be worth a fortune. It should be in a museum somewhere.’
Ceci snorted. ‘So should I. But that’s foolish. And I think it would suit you. You are not fat like so many women these days.’
We all stood up a bit straighter then and pulled in our stomachs. That was something else about Ceci: her posture. Not slumped over as we often were. I would try to do something similar from now on. I was aware that I had adopted a rather round-shouldered look recently. Was this because my muscles were slack or because I was old and lazy? Probably the latter.
There was a timid knock at the door to Ceci’s apartment and she motioned me to open it as I was closest. It was a small worried-looking woman in a floral overall, whose face tensed up at the sight of Ceci holding court to guests.
‘Signora, posso tornare se non è conveniente?’
She was clutching a canvas holdall, which she held defensively in front of her.
‘Nonsense, Gina, it is perfectly convenient,’ Ceci said, ‘and as I am now in the mood to have some fun, I haveuna sfida– a challenge for you.’
The woman looked even more worried at that point, and well she might.
9
We finished our coffee soon after that and I went back to my room to have a look through my wardrobe for suitable degrees of glamour that Ceci might find acceptable.
Susie, meanwhile, was held back by a crooked finger and a knowing nod from the Contessa, which brooked no disagreement.
‘You will see,’ was all she said. ‘I know what I am doing and so does Gina.Ci divertiremo,such fun. You can go now, Jo, yes now, and I will see you later.’
Mystified, I obeyed and went back to my room to rummage unsuccessfully through my clothes, realising that new shirts, dresses and trousers from chain stores in the high street were no match for Valentino originals.
I sat down on my bed, suddenly remembering a dress I had bought for one of Greg’s work parties, just after we got married, in Schiaparelli pink. Greg had taken one look, smothered a laugh and made me return it to the shop. I’d really liked it too. Why had I done that?
Still, I did have a sparkly skirt I had seen and coveted for months in Jigsaw. But I hadn’t bought it until it was in the sale. How typical of me. And I had a top that could go with it, although I would have to push the sleeves up as they were a bit long. If I just turned up in my black outfit, Ceci would have given me one of her looks.
What did she want Susie for, I wondered? What sort of fun was she planning? Perhaps she wanted to dish the dirt on Raimondo? Warn her off because he was another of the caddish sorts to which Susie seemed to be attracted. Maybe he had a mistress in a penthouse flat somewhere in Naples that he thought Ceci didn’t know about. And he was keeping it quiet in case she wrote him out of her will.
But I had to be honest, he was very handsome. There was something about a lot of Italian men that was very attractive. I always did have a bit of a soft spot for Robert de Niro. And Al Pacino. And John Travolta. It’s something about the eyes.
Perhaps Ceci was persuading Susie to try that dress, and Susie was resisting because she didn’t have decent underwear on, and she was trying to make excuses so she could go back to her room and find her Spanx?
Don’t be daft. Why would she buy shapewear? She certainly didn’t need them.
And why were some women trying to make their bottoms look smaller, and the other half trying to make them look bigger? Life could be very confusing sometimes.
Having decided what I would wear, I realised I was hungry. It would have been nice to have a car; well, a theoretical car, because there was no way I was driving on those narrow roads, and then I could go out somewhere and find a café or a wine bar. Instead, I would have to stay in the hotel, which of course was no hardship.
And I was sure someone could rustle me up a couple of sandwiches if I asked.
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