Unmasking Elena Montella (12 page)

‘
Elena?’

‘
Prof? Look, I’ll ring you back when I can,’ she said, and hung up, turning her phone off in case he tried to ring her back. Putting it away, she headed for the apartment without any further delays.

Letting herself in with the spare key Rosanna had given her, she could have sworn she heard voices from upstairs.

‘
Rosanna? Is that you?’ she called.

‘
Yes.’

‘
Who’s that with you?’ she asked, climbing the stairs.

‘
Nobody,’ she said. ‘I was just laughing at something on the television.’

Elena reached the top and she greeted her with a kiss. ‘I’m sorry I’m back so late.’

‘
I was getting worried. I thought you’d got lost.’

‘
I did for a bit,’ she admitted, stopping as she noticed Rosanna rolling her eyes. ‘What? What is it?’

Rosanna jerked her head in the direction of the oak table and her face contorted in the strangest of manners.

‘
What?
’ Elena asked, puzzled by her curious behaviour.

‘
SURPRISE!
’ a voice suddenly shouted from behind the table. And she was. In fact, for a moment, she was sure her heart had stopped. It was Mark.

‘
Rosanna!’ he chided. ‘You spoilt the surprise! What did you go and do that for?’ he asked. But Elena knew exactly why she’d done it. It was to prevent her from casually talking about Reuben.

‘
Mark!’ It was all she could manage for a moment.

‘
Elena!’

Elena’s heart was thumping in her ears as he hugged her.

‘
God, Elena! It’s so good to see you!’

Think, Elena, think, Elena, think, think,
think!
She mustn’t act too surprised. She mustn’t try and throw him out at the earliest opportunity. She mustn’t mention Reuben!

‘
This is such a surprise!’ she said.

‘
I found this!’ Mark said, producing a piece of crumpled paper from his pocket as if it would explain everything.

Elena took it from him and recognised her own handwriting. ‘It’s the address of this place. I wondered where it had got to!’

‘
You must’ve dropped it on purpose, eh?’ he said with a wink.

She smiled up at the way his mind worked. Never, in a million years, would she have dropped it on purpose. But she couldn’t tell him that - not after he’d travelled all that way and spent money she knew he didn’t have on the air fare. ‘A Freudian slip - right out of the pocket?’ she suggested to him.

He grinned. ‘That’s what I reckon. Anyway, what man would let his fiancé get away with a trip to Venice on her own?’

Elena didn’t dare catch Rosanna’s eye at that comment. ‘You’re right,’ she said. ‘I should have asked you to come with me.’

‘
Yes. You should’ve!’ he chastised, bending forward and kissing her.

Elena felt his arms wrap around her and she had to admit that it felt good. This was Mark, after all. Dear, sweet Mark who would do all her photocopying for her at school so that she could nip out to buy new lipsticks during break time.

‘
But where are you going to stay?’ she asked, practicality raising its ugly head.

Mark’s eyebrows rose a fraction and she saw his glance take in the huge apartment. ‘Well, I was kind of hoping-’ he stopped, looking across at Rosanna.

He was right, of course. How could they think of making him find a hotel at this time of night? Elena turned and smiled at Rosanna, hoping, for once, that she could read her mind.

‘
It’s pretty dark out there. I wouldn’t want Mark to get lost like I did. We can find him somewhere to stay first thing tomorrow.’

Rosanna chewed her lip and sighed. ‘Okay!’ she relented. ‘But,’ she added, holding a baton-like finger up in the air in warning, ‘if Sandro comes back, you’ll have to do the explaining.’

‘
Thanks, Rosanna!’

‘
There’s a single bed through there,’ she said, pointing to a door that led to the spare bedroom.

‘
A single, eh? Won’t that be a bit of a squash?’ Mark whispered to Elena.

‘
Mark!’

‘
Where are you sleeping, then?’

‘
Upstairs, with Rosanna.’

‘
Oh!’ Mark said, looking crestfallen. ‘That’s sounds like much more fun. Can’t I share with you two?’

Elena slapped him on the back and led him through to the spare room. It had low beams and he had to duck to avoid cracking his head, but it was cosy and he soon made himself as home, emptying out the entire contents of his rucksack even though Elena reminded him that he’d be leaving in the morning.

‘
God, Elena, I’ve missed you,’ he said again. ‘I was going out of my head in Harrow on my own.’

‘
You mean, you’ve only come out here because you were bored?’

He shook his head in mock anger. ‘That’s not what I meant and you know it! I
missed
you! I’m no good without you,’ he said, and his arms were around her again.

Elena rested her head on his shoulder and hugged him close to her. She felt so confused. First Reuben and now Mark. What was going on here? Was she being tested? Wasn’t it enough that she’d come out here to sort things out? Why were these extra obstacles being thrown at her? Or were they here to help her? Was Prof’s absence a sure indication that he wasn’t the one for her? But hadn’t he been thinking of her - eating Italian as he’d read her essay?

‘
You’re very pensive, aren’t you?’ Mark whispered.

She looked up at him. ‘Not pensive,’ she lied. ‘Just happy.’

‘
Good,’ he said.

‘
Come on,’ she said, taking his hand, ‘Rosanna will be thinking we’re up to no good.’

When they went back through to the living room, Rosanna had cooked up some pasta and they all ate at the table as if they were one big happy family. For a few minutes, nobody said a word but concentrated on the food, although Mark made many appreciative noises as he ate. Elena had to laugh at her earlier image of him sitting in his flat eating a ghastly microwave meal when, all along, he’d been on his way to her.

‘
It’s great to finally meet you,’ Mark told Rosanna as he all but scraped the pattern off the plate with an eager fork. ‘I’ve heard so much about you.’

Rosanna looked up at him and gave the tiniest of smiles. ‘And I’ve heard all about you,’ she said with great control.

Mark laughed. ‘I dread to think what you’ve heard!’

Elena glared at Rosanna, making sure she didn’t elaborate. She had a devilish glint in her eyes.

‘
So, Rosanna, what’s it like to be a model?’ Mark asked before Elena could think of anything else to say. Elena almost choked on her mouthful as she saw Rosanna flinch. Nobody asked her about her work. She was always incredibly secretive about it as if she were ashamed of what she did.

‘
It’s - er,’ she stumbled, staring down at her empty plate, ‘good.’

‘
Yeah? Don’t you get embarrassed? I mean, having people gawping at you all the time?’

Elena cleared her throat. Even though Rosanna had been threatening to drop her in it since the unexpected arrival of two of her fiancés, she decided to help her out.

‘
She only gets embarrassed when people ask her questions about it!’

‘
Oh!’ Mark said. ‘Sorry. It’s just, I’ve never met a model before.’

‘
It’s okay,’ Rosanna assured. ‘It’s just there’s not much to say. I sit there and they paint me. It’s-’ she gazed up at the beams in the living room as if hunting for the right words, ‘calm,’ she concluded.

Mark nodded, as if he understood perfectly. ‘That is definitely something you can’t say about teaching.’

Elena smiled. He was right there. Teaching was as far away from
calm
as Venice was from London.

‘
Anyway, the pasta was great. I haven’t been cooked for in a long time,’ he said, and Elena immediately felt like the worst fiancée in the world.

Rosanna, suitably flattered, smiled at him and blushed as she cleared the table.

‘
I’ll do those,’ Mark said. ‘It the least she can do.’

‘
No, no. I wouldn’t hear of it,’ Rosanna said. ‘Why don’t you make yourself at home?’

Mark nodded. ‘Well, I wouldn’t mind a shower.’

Elena’s mouth fell open at the shocking symmetry of the day and Rosanna caught her eye briefly but, this time, it was merriment twinkling there eyes rather than devilry.

‘
I’m not sure we have any clean towels left,’ she said. ‘I don’t know how we get through so many.’

‘
I’m sure we can find one,’ Elena quickly interrupted, knowing that Rosanna was enjoying her discomfort immensely. ‘I’ll go and have a look.’

Mark followed her through to the bathroom and gave a long, low whistle.

‘
I know. Imagine having a place like this.’

‘
I’m imagining,’ Mark whispered, squeezing her to him and kissing her neck.

‘
Mark! My sister’s in the next room!’

‘
She could join us if she wants to.’

Elena glared at him. ‘I hope you’re teasing!’

‘
She’s very cute,’ he continued.

‘
Cute? Cute is not a word I’d ever think of to describe Rosanna,’ she said, thinking of her sister’s scolding tongue and her tempestuous temper.

‘
That’s because she’s your sister.’

‘
Are you going to have this shower or not?’

He raised his hands in defeat and began to get undressed.

‘
It’s late,’ she said. ‘I’ll see you in the morning.’

They kissed goodnight and she left him to it.

Walking back through to the living room, Elena sat down next to Rosanna on the sofa. Rosanna looked up from her magazine and Elena was ready to receive a tirade on the appalling day she’d put her through but Rosanna surprised her.

‘
Did you see Reuben off okay?’

She nodded. ‘He’s in the Danieli.’

‘
Porca Madonna
! Can he afford it?’

‘
I think so.’

There was a moment’s silence.

‘
He seemed nice,’ Rosanna confessed.

‘
He is.’

‘
And this Mark - he seems nice too.’

‘
Well, you didn’t think one of them a monster and the other being a prince, did you?’ Elena groaned. ‘Now do you see how difficult it is? It’s not as easy as eeny, meeny, miny mo! They’re both wonderful - in different ways.’

Rosanna nodded. ‘But you’re still only one person. You can’t split yourself in two. I mean, how have you been coping with two fiancés?’

Elena stifled a giggle. ‘It’s not been easy,’ she said, thinking of dear Prof and what Rosanna would say if she knew she was juggling three.

‘
And now you’ve got me involved,’ Rosanna said. ‘I’ve never known a day like today.’

‘
I’m sorry,’ Elena said because, believe it or not, she was. ‘It won’t happen again,’ she added.

Rosanna stared at her. ‘It had better bloody not!’

And then they both burst out laughing.

Prof’s tiramisu tasted bland and bitter after he got cut off from Elena and he couldn’t concentrate on the next student’s essay. All he kept thinking about was Elena in Venice. It had been echoey and there’d been some street noise and he had an awful image of her wandering around the dark alleys of the city on her own. What was she doing out on her own? There was no excuse - he should have been there with her. She’d even told him that she’d wished he was there. So what was he doing eating alone in
Reggie’s
?

He took one last spoonful of tiramisu, collected his essays together and asked for the bill. Leaving the restaurant, he remembered how cold it was and cursed having taken neither car nor coat. A brisk walk and thoughts of Elena would have to do their best to warm him up, he thought.