Page 43 of The Dolce Vita Divas
‘Well, before you do, come and see what I’ve got.’
Susie led me to her room and pointed with some excitement at some cotton clothing bags hanging from the curtain rail.
‘Ceci said we could borrow these. She got them in Paris about a million years ago. Heaven knows what they’re worth. Just take a look.’
She unzipped the bags to reveal four cocktail dresses, each more dazzling than the last.
‘She did say she had gone through a phase when she was bigger than she is now, which I think was her way of being polite about the fact that we are both fatter than she is. I’m going to wear the red one, so you can choose one of the other three.’
I reached out to touch the silky fabrics, one heavily embroidered with leaves and flowers, the other two beaded and shimmering with each movement.
‘I can’t wear something like that,’ I said. ‘I’d be bound to spill something down myself. And considering Eric just peed on me, I’m not going to let him anywhere near them.’
‘He didn’t?’
‘He fell asleep on my lap. I feel quite sorry for him actually. His parents are lovely, but they obviously don’t have a clue how to handle him, and now Andrea is out of commission for a couple of days, you would think their world had come to an end. I’ve offered to keep an eye on him.’
‘And this is the thanks you get?’
‘Look, I’m going to have a shower, and then I will come and have a closer look. So, you had a good time?’
Susie gave a happy sigh. ‘I really did. Raimondo is such a gentleman. We had a meal down by some little harbour. Everything tasted so wonderful, and then we just sat and chatted, and he drove the long way home, so I got a chance to see the scenery. And then we stopped for coffee at some out of the way place with Roman ruins in the garden. This glamorous life is marvellous, isn’t it? I’ve had more compliments from him in the last twenty-four hours than I had in four years from Simon.’
‘I often think that when I am getting into bed at seven thirty with a cup of tea and a Penguin to watchStrictly Come Dancing.Somewhere, people are still getting ready and going out to dinner. Did we have that energy back in the day?’
Susie nodded. ‘We must have done. And how are you and Paulo getting on? I keep forgetting to ask.’
‘It’s fine,’ I said, trying to sound unconcerned, ‘nothing at all to worry about. We are just old friends now, nothing more.’
‘Really, Jo?Really?That’s not the impression I got,’ Susie said.
‘Why, what impression did you get?’ I fired back. ‘What did he say?’
It was the same as it had always been, and probably still was. Girls asking their friends what a boy thought of them.Did he say anything?
‘He hasn’t said anything to me. It’s just the way he looks at you. As though he is remembering things as they used to be.’
‘That’s nonsense. There was nothing to remember. He was very happy with Ellen; I know they were. She was much better for him than I could ever have been.’
‘Yes, probably, but then – well, life goes on, doesn’t it? Raimondo told me she was quite strict about things, an absolute powerhouse, and that’s why the hotel was so successful. People change. Circumstances alter. We still have needs and hopes, don’t we? Just the same as when we were young. We can learn new things all the time, now we have YouTube. There’s nothing wrong with that.’
11
I thought about this a lot as I lay in bed that night.
Circumstances change; people alter.
Greg had been increasingly predictable over the years. In charge of everything, the one who would sulk if he didn’t get his own way or the biggest cake in the box. He was the one who had control of our finances and occasionally, under pressure, the little maintenance jobs around the house. He’d had an impressive collection of tools and gadgets to help too, and a special shed where they were all kept which he liked to call his man cave, and I wasn’t supposed to go in in case I broke something or put a screwdriver back in the wrong place.
And actually, he had been pretty clueless. I’d had more luck putting up roller blinds in my cottage than he ever had, and I was better at decorating too. In the years since we had divorced, I’d had to learn. And none of it was that complicated, even though Greg had liked to pretend things like pressure washing the patio or putting oil in the car were difficult.
Susie’s long-term partner Simon had been much the same. Making a big fuss about the smallest of tasks and expecting effusive praise when he did anything.
I wondered what sort of husband Paulo had been. Had he been like that too? Or were he and Ellen more of an equal partnership? He’d always seemed pretty capable to me, and when the kitchen in our student house had flooded because the drains were blocked, he had been unflappable. He hadn’t needed lavish praise or special equipment; he’d just gone outside, pulled his sleeve up and stuck his hand down the drain to clear the leaves.
After that night when we had kissed each other, holding each other as though we never wanted to let go, he had kept unexpectedly cool and shown none of the passionate Latin temperament I had expected. And at the time I had found this rather disappointing. I would have liked him to show some emotion. Explain how he felt. But then it was my fault. He had tried to say something and I had shut him down, unwilling to find out what could have happened next. I must have been mad. But Ellen had been my friend, hadn’t she?
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