Coco Chanel Saved My Life (13 page)

“Yes, I'll give you a short synopsis: he's thirty-seven, works in a bank and lives with his parents. His mother buys his clothes.”

“Oh my god! Run!”

“Exactly. I'm afraid he might ask me to start ironing his underpants right away!” I laughed.

“Ok. Give me ten minutes.”

“Perfect!”

“Talk to you then.” She hung up.

I returned to the table. Francesco had finished his cocktail and ordered another one.

“My parents would love you,” he said, and I felt quite embarrassed. “Do your parents live in Venice?”

Rarely do I talk about my family. “My mother lives in Venice and my father remarried. He lives in Rome now. I don't see him much…”

“It must be very difficult for you.” he said and his tone was sincerely full of grief. “I don't know what I would do if my parents separated… Thank god, it won't ever happen.”

I felt almost disgusted.

Finally, my phone rang. I excused myself from the table and answered it, mumbling and sounding a bit frantic. Then I came back to Francesco with a fake sorry face.

“I don't know how to apologize, but there is an emergency – I must go.”

“Why? It's Saturday evening… we were having fun!”

“I know! It's terrible, but unfortunately a friend has had an accident and needs my help.”

“Gosh! I hope it's nothing serious.”

“No, nothing really serious, but I definitively have to go. Thanks for the wine. It was nice to meet you.”

“Can I see you again?”

“Sure… although, you know, it's very busy at work right now. I don't go out that often. Let's do this: I'll call you when I have more free time…”

“I'll count on it!”

He stood up, kissed me on the cheek and then he sat back down to drink his cocktail.

I stopped the first available taxi and asked the driver to take me to Porta Romana where I would meet Emma. I felt sorry for the poor guy that I had just abandoned, but my sense of guilt didn't linger long. Francesco probably would have returned home to have dinner with mommy. We were too different and blind dates definitely weren't for me. However, our
Plan B
worked very well. I was proud of it. I should get an Oscar for my performance!

I paid the taxi and I took Via Muratori. It's a street full of lively cafés and pubs, always crowded, especially on Saturday evenings. While I was passing in front of Bottega, a small pub that has wonderful wine, I heard someone calling my name, “Coco, Coco!” I turned and saw Claudio sitting at one of the outdoor tables, surrounded by other young people who were standing around holding glasses of wine.

He shouted: “and your blind date? Is it already over?” He was shameless!

“I had to resort to
Plan B
.” I went over to him, not wanting everybody on the street to know about my blind date.

Claudio laughed and hugged me. Somehow, I was also finding my adventure to be quite funny.

“Why don't you sit with us? I'm here with an old friend that I haven't seen for a long time. His name is Cristian.” He pointed to a guy with curly hair, amber skin and eyes dark like the night sky. I introduced myself and shook his hand. He was very attractive.

“He's a theatre actor from Bolivia. He's touring Italy with his company for a couple of weeks, and finally we found a way to meet! We first met many years ago in Mexico. I was a volunteer for a government association and working with street kids. Cristian was one of our entertainers. Then he was hired by an important theatre company based in the Andes, and now he's a globe-trotting artist.”

Cristian laughed: “It's quite an honour to be described as an
artist
by a talented journalist like you!” They seemed to be very good friends.

I sat with them. Seduced by the luminous smile of this man who came from far away, I decided that Emma could wait.

“You speak Italian very well…” I said, while trying to call for a waiter's attention to order a glass of wine.

“I worked a lot with Italians and I have many friends here.”

“Are you touring all of Italy?”

“We will be in Milan for two weeks, then we'll be in Spain, Belgium, Germany and France.”

“Wow! It must be exciting travelling all around the world.” I said with enthusiasm.

“Very much.” He smiled, and looking at me added, “You have beautiful eyes.”

“Stop it, playboy!” Claudio interrupted him, laughing. “Rebecca is a dear friend and I forbid you to steal her heart with your wild charm…”

We all laughed. The evening was taking an interesting turn. I sent a text to Emma and decided to stay with them.

We spent a couple of hours drinking wine and eating focaccia, cheese and prosciutto. We laughed a lot listening to Cristian's adventures and funny stories.

There was something enchanting about this guy. He was beautiful, well read, interesting, but most of all he had a natural ability to make everybody feel at ease with him. I liked him and couldn't take my eyes off him.

Claudio sensed the feeling and whispered in my ear: “At last someone worthy of Mademoiselle's attention!” I smiled and gave him a little pinch.

At some point Claudio saw two colleagues inside at the bar, and left to say hello to them.

Cristian and I remained at the table. “I would like to see you again.” He said with a definitely sexy South American accent.

I couldn't believe that this handsome guy, with everything to be my ideal man, was asking me out. I also had learned, during our conversation, that he was even single! Beautiful, fascinating, and all for me, although for only two weeks. It sounded like a dream.

“I would like that too… What about tomorrow evening?” I felt very audacious!

“Unfortunately, tomorrow evening my show will end late… But we can meet tomorrow morning for breakfast, what do you think? I will stay at Claudio's apartment tonight, and he told me you two live in the same building.”

I hated to get up early on Sunday mornings, but for a man like him I could set my alarm at sunrise!

“Ok! So, where do you want to meet?”

“Your home would be perfect!”

“Ah, breakfast all together. I like it!”

“Perfect! Claudio and I will go and buy the pastries and you'll make coffee.”

“An impeccable plan!” I laughed.

Claudio returned to the table and we shared our plan with him.

“Tomorrow we have an invitation for breakfast across the hall!”

“Really? Are you telling me that Rebecca will be up that early in the morning, and open her royal quarters for us, her poor subjects?” Claudio asked.

“Idiot! I decided to make you my best coffee, only because your Bolivian friend promised to bring the best pastries in Milan.”

“I got it. Tomorrow morning a gigantic task will await us!”

Being able to find decent pastries in Milan on a Sunday morning wasn't easy at all. But I knew Claudio would perform some kind of magic trick, and I would have my warm pastries.

We left the pub and walked towards home. It was a chilly night and winter had arrived. Thank god wine kept our souls warm… We got to our building that was immersed in an unreal silence. We took the elevator without a word and parted in front of our respective doors. Before disappearing, Cristian kissed me on the check, “See you tomorrow morning.” His scent enveloped me and I felt a shiver down my spine.

Hadn't Chanel said, happiness is nothing more than the perfume of our soul?

That night I went to sleep happy. I closed my eyes and began thinking of that wonderful man. It was so exciting to be able to desire someone who wasn't Niccolò. It's true what they say about the heart: until we free it from old stuff, there won't be any space for new things.

Just that morning I had sworn to my friends that I would turn a page. The
new page
had dark hair and beautiful hands.

I fell asleep. That night I dreamed I was in Venice. It was summer and I was on a sail boat. The sun was warm with a light breeze. In the distance I could see San Marco's steeple and the island of San Giorgio. Behind me a man was steering with confidence. I felt secure and serene.

After only six hours of sleep, I opened my eyes feeling unexpectedly rested. I jumped into the shower, feeling the pleasure of the hot water on my back. I slipped into my jeans that I paired with a striped t-shirt and a light sweater. I applied only some mascara to my eyes, the eyes Cristian had complimented the night before.

I couldn't stop singing silly songs. I felt cheerful and beautiful.

I had set the breakfast table with cups, fresh fruit, toast, butter and marmalade. I put the coffee pot on the burner. Thank god that week I had stopped at the grocery store, so my refrigerator wasn't the usual empty, desolate place.

Precisely at ten the two guys rang my bell.

“Welcome, darlings! Sorry for the mess,” I added, to feel like a true Milanese.

“Good morning, Coco,” Claudio said kissing my forehead, “Actually, for the first time your apartment doesn't look like a battle field!”

“Very kind!” I laughed. “Did you bring the
treasure
?”

“Pastries, just out of the oven!” Cristian handed me a warm paper bag fragrant with a sweet smell.

“Don't worry, Coco, everything is low calorie!” Claudio winked at me.

“Coffee is ready. Please, sit down.”

“We met Mrs Leoncini downstairs. She's quite an eccentric person,” Claudio said.

“She's an intense woman.” I could say this since now I felt I knew her much better…

“She went out with a beautiful flower in her hair, but she forgot to put a skirt on over her slip.” Claudio bit into his first pastry and his moustache and beard became all white with powdered sugar.

“You look pretty odd yourself right now!” Cristian said, while Claudio tried to understand what was wrong with him. “You remind me of someone… ah, Santa Claus!”

“Please, pleeease, Santa, bring me lots of gifts this year. I've been such a good girl!” I couldn't stop laughing.

Claudio stood up and looked at himself in the mirror, “you're both too funny for this early in the morning…”

I handed him a napkin, trying hard to stay serious.

“Well, I can't judge anybody. I'm so absent-minded too… A couple of days ago I started the washer without soap. So, at the end of the cycle, I had to start over, but I forgot to put the soap again!”

“You're working too hard, Coco. You should have more fun.” Claudio said, while he cleaned sugar off of his face.

At this point it was like a mantra that everybody repeated to me,
you must have more fun
.

“I hope you're not thinking of organizing another blind date for me!”

“No, no! I won't be the one to put my best friend into the arms of some squalid dude. Promise.”

“Good, because I'm perfectly fine. I decided that I will go out again
only
when I meet the right person.”

I felt Cristian's gaze and blushed. I was relieved that Claudio was too busy with his second pastry to notice my embarrassment.

“Remember,
it can't rain all the time
,” he used one of his movie quotes.

“However, I'm also working too much.” Cristian said, pouring another cup of coffee for himself. I was happy he liked it. I've always been very good at making espresso.

“But you have a great job… That's not fair!” I told him, while finishing my almond pastry.

“It's true, I'm lucky. I do what I love and I feel privileged. Yet, it's also hard: we have rehearsals, lots of travel, sometimes we are in a different city every night in impersonal hotel rooms.”

“Sure, but don't forget your audience, the applause, the gratification…” I continued.

“Are you telling me that nobody applauds you, when you do your job well?” Claudio seemed especially positive this morning. Being with his friend was good for him.

“Of course! Every time I pick up the right wedding dress everyone bursts into applause and they throw bouquets of flowers at me!”

“Be careful not to catch one, otherwise you'll have to organize your own wedding!”

We kept laughing and drinking coffee. The sky was grey and the sun had hidden behind the clouds. A gust of wind blew through the open window. I went to close it. Cristian took this chance to stand up and bring the cups to the sink. This was such a nice gesture that I smiled sweetly at him.

“Don't worry. I can do it later.” I said.

“No worries, it's a pleasure!” His smile was so endearing. He wasn't only handsome; he was a gentleman too. Did this guy have any faults?

Claudio also began to help, bringing plates and the coffee pot to the kitchen counter. Then, as if he had suddenly remembered, he said, “Sorry guys, but I really must go. Late this afternoon my movie club will show
El Topo
. It's the first film of the Jodorowsky series, and I need to help with it. Coco, if you are free tonight, stop by.”

“Thank you, but I think I'll stay home and go to bed early.”

“Ok! I run. Cristian, you can stay. You have my house key…”

“Yes, I think I'll stay a little bit longer.” He looked at me with his deep, dark eyes, and I looked down.

As soon as Claudio left, there was an embarrassing silence between us. I was putting plates and cups into the dishwasher, while Cristian looked at my books on the shelves. Then he came close to me and asked: “Would you like to take a walk? I'm free until four, and I want to see a place in Milan where I used to go years ago.”

I would have gone to the moon with this guy, so I enthusiastically accepted.

“I'll put a pair of shoes on, and I'm ready!”

“Hey! Comfortable shoes… we will have to walk a little bit.”