Page 48 of The Dolce Vita Divas
Childishly, we tried to push the other forward and it might have ended in an undignified shoving match, but then Paulo appeared as if by magic, and he smiled at us. At me.
‘Come and meet some of my family and friends,’ he said. ‘You both look wonderful.’
* * *
The thing that struck me as we went into the ballroom was the wonderful scent of the flowers. It was quite intoxicating. There were people congregating in little groups, some laughter and hugs. It looked as though they all knew each other already. And the room was warm, even though the wide windows out onto the Mediterranean were all open.
I felt suddenly nervous. And even more unsettled, and I could feel sweat break out on my upper lip, which was a really unattractive thing to happen at any age.
As we moved into the room, the gathering parted for a moment, and there was Ceci, seated at the top of the room on a glorious blue damask armchair, Freddy at her side.
She spotted me.
‘There you are, Jo. That dress suits you well. I wore it years ago in Ravenna. Or was it Ravello? Anyway, it was a place with wonderful views.’
Her eyes narrowed as they swept down to my footwear.
‘Are you thinking of playing tennis?’
Of course, that meant everyone else looked at my pale blue trainers too.
Susie moved a little closer to my side in a welcome show of solidarity.
I dabbed at my top lip with a tissue and gave a weak smile.
A tall, silver-haired woman next to her shrugged.
‘È molto chic di questi tempi, Ceci. It’s chic these days.’
‘Meraviglioso,’I said with a bright smile.
Ceci gave me a look, sighed and waved a hand at one of the waiters.
‘If you say so. I expect next year women will be wearing football shorts to the opera. Now then, you need a drink. There’s nothing worse than coming to an event where you know no one. And I see Sylvia and Lucia have not made an appearance. I know they are both in the building somewhere. I can sense their negative energies. Perhaps Sylvia has developed some new illness which means she cannot join us. The Lord does indeed move in mysterious ways.’
Moments later, Raimondo appeared with a wide white smile to offer Susie a drink.
‘Carissima, questo è per te.’
So, he was calling her darling now, was he? That man didn’t seem to have a pause button at all.
I felt quite the spare part for a moment but Paulo was suddenly at my side with a glass of crisp refreshing Prosecco for me, and I knocked back half of it in a mild panic. I really should have calmed down. The last thing I needed was to get tipsy. What was causing this?
‘Here’s to you, Ceci, and to Ellen,’ I said, realising too late I should have said that first.
Freddy raised his glass too.
‘To my wonderful, beautiful, talented wife.’
I wondered what it would be like to have a husband who talked like that about me. How long had they been married anyway?
Ceci nodded graciously and then Paulo raised his glass to me and smiled.
‘Come and meet some of my family. They are not so terrifying as you will see.’
I felt his hand touch gently on the small of my back as he steered me towards a group of cheerful-looking people standing by the open window. One of the women had a painted paper fan and was wafting cool air over her face. What a good idea; I wished I’d thought of that.
We went through the introductions and formalities and fortunately all of them spoke excellent English.
