Still Falling (9 page)

“Thank God.” He said drawing a ragged breath.
 
He opened the door further just as she
reached it and explained rather guiltily what he was doing inside the cottage.

“Thank you, Marco.
 
You always were
a good boy.”
 

“Do you still need help carrying?
 
I can come back later if you wish.”

“Perhaps later.”
She nodded.
 
“I’ll call you.”

“Right then.
 
I’ll be going.”
 
He said slowing
backing out the cottage.
 
“Serena will be
alright though?”

“Si.
Serena will be fine.” She replied.
 
“The Doctors treatment must have been a bit
rough today, that’s all.”

Marco clamped his jaw firmly shut.
 
His face turned several shades darker and he turned and left without
another word.
 
He had always thought
Serena and her mother
were
Catholic.
 
He wasn’t a practicing Catholic but it didn’t
matter whether you attended church every week or followed every rule to the
letter, there were some things that were supposed to be unthinkable as a
Catholic.

 
Just when you think you know
someone they spring something like this.
 
Was this the reason the boyfriend was back?
 
Was he back for this abortion?
 
How could her mother be so calm about
this!
 
Marco had some thinking to do of
his own and headed off the beach.

           
Serena had a long night ahead of her
on the bathroom floor again once she had come around.
 
Her mother spent much of it with her, offering
her sips of ginger tea and iced water.
 
Marco’s
visit earlier had been long forgotten and neither mentioned it.
 
Serena just prayed that it would all pass
before the following night.
 

           
Jo had begged her to attend a charity
auction come dinner dance in the Napoli old
town.
 
It was only held once a year and
although it was not directly related to the fashion world, leaders of the
fashion industry and more importantly the fashion industries best customers
would be in attendance.
 
One of the
drawbacks of her chosen career was the regular social events.
 
Networking was vital.
 
Because Revel was such a small fashion house,
having Serena there would be a lifesaver Jo had argued.

           
“You never know, maybe you will met
some nice handsome boy.
 
It is
an opportunity to be pampered and dress up for a few hours and
maybe have
a brilliant night out.”
 
Her mother argued after Serena expressed her reluctance.
 
The older woman tucked a stray strand of hair
behind her daughter’s ear.

 
Serena knew she wasn’t really up to it but she
wasn’t up to letting her friend and boss down either.

           
“Maybe by tomorrow I’ll feel
differently.” she groaned to her mother.
 

“Jo
said she would have something dropped off in good time for me to wear, a
stylist team will come out for my hair and makeup and Tony will chauffer me in
a limo hired by the company.
 
I guess I
really don’t have to do much.”
 
She
chewed on her bottom lip contemplating the situation.
 
“Alright, I’ll go but if I feel anything like
I do now..... I’m staying right here!”

           
“If you mean right here as in the
bathroom floor child, I will have to get a mattress brought in.
 
This floor is hard on my behind.”
Clucked her Mother.

           
Serena managed a pale smile.
 
“It has been almost an hour since I needed to
bark like a dog.
 
Maybe we can move out
the bathroom now.”

           
Early the following morning, Serena
phoned Jo to confirm that she would be going.

           
“Great!”
 
Josephine had cried before diving into her
note book for telephone numbers.
 
“I’ll
have a hair stylist and makeup artist at your mothers for 5pm and Tony will
pick you up at 7pm.
 
I’ll be running a
bit late because of flights and a few small problems here at the office but I
should see you there at about 9pm.
 
Ciao darling!”

           
Serena now wished she was able to be
more affirmative with her friend.
 
She
would be lucky to be awake for the hairstylist, never mind the Charity thing.

           
The old opera house was alive with
activity.
 
Huge spot lights showed off
the best of her outer facade.
 
Large
potted palms filled the spaces between each of the enormous arched Roman
Windows.
 
The architect tried to recreate
the basic outer form of the coliseum.
 
He
had added much of the ornate luxury that may have been found in the finest
palaces and cathedrals of Roma.
  

           
The expansive lobby extended through
the entire outer circumference of the building, and the full height of the
three story building.
 
The functional
part of the building lay in the middle.
 
A thick, soundproofed and windowless wall formed the skeleton of the
building, lined with private rooms and balconies over three levels.
  
This enclosed the heart.
 
An enormous open circular
space, the full height of the building.
 

           
Here night after night, people would
have thronged to listen to operas old and new.
 
After an earthquake had severely damaged the building some fifty years
ago, the operatic company had been unable to support its repairs and the
building had gone up for sale.
 
Marco’s
grandfather had bought the property and renovated it externally to its former
glory but the inner sanctum had been altered to host more diverse functions.

           
The heart had been stripped bare of
the stage, wings, orchestral pit and tiered seating and re floored to create a
single, large, level space.
 
It now
boasted several function rooms which could be made smaller or larger
  
by simply moving the portable sound proofed
dividing walls.
 
The private galleries,
very seldom used now, were still visible high above the room.
 

           
It was from one of these galleries
that Marco stood watching the final preparations being made for this evening’s
charity auction.
 
All the dividing walls
had been removed to open the space to its full size.
 
A portable stage and catwalk had been set up
and opulent tables and chairs had been arranged to provide the best possible views.
 
A bar had been set up near the main entrance
and a section of sound proofing carpet had been removed to reveal a polished
oak dance floor for later in the evening.
 

           
The room was a hive of activity with
waiters, flower arrangers, sound technicians and cleaners.
 
In two hours it would be full of bejewelled
women and preened men with money to spend.
 
He had an events team who arranged these functions but still felt it his
duty to be involved in the final stages of preparations.
 
Marco wished he could avoid this
evening.
 
His idea of socialising was a
hand full of close friends in a comfortable home or restaurant, eating honest
simple food and discussing issues that really mattered.
 
Tonight would be full of over polite,
insincere, peacocks, with forced smiles, out to impress.
 

           
His father had felt much the same
but insisted that every job had its uncomfortable or tedious chores and for
Marco entertaining would be one of those chores. As head of a major fashion
house, this was one of his more important jobs.
 
With a touch of dread, he headed off to shower and change in his private
rooms towards the rear of the building.

Serena was grateful to Jo for arranging a
stylist and makeup team to visit the island.
 
She looked great and felt great.
 
They had arrived a little early and now finished, had left Serena and
her mother to wait for the final touch.
 
The dress.
 
Looking
good and feeling great though still didn’t mean she really wanted to go out
tonight.
 
The whole superficial tone of
evenings like this required a level of energy she wasn’t sure she
possessed.
  
There was still three hours
before the evening started and her mother was clucking around her like it was
her first high school dance.
 

“Mama, please! Stop fussing.
 
I’ve been to hundreds of these events and it
is just decoration.”
 

“Serena, let your poor Mama have this pleasure
please?
 
It is not often I get to fuss.”

They
both turned to the sound of a knock on the door.

“The
dress!” they both exclaimed together.

Jo had said she would arrange for a special
dress for Serena for the evening but Serena had no idea what dress it would
be.
 
Serena trusted Jo completely but
given her weight loss, had been very concerned that it wouldn’t fit.
 
If it didn’t, Serena would only have about an
hour to make adjustments before Tony would be there to collect her.

“It’s gorgeous!” exclaimed Serena.

“This is only half of it!” her mother wailed.

“It’s not so bad Mama, let me put it on and
you’ll see!”

Serena came out her bedroom ten minutes later
fully dressed.
 
The dress fitted
perfectly, and was stunning.
 
Even her
mother agreed.
 
Milan fashion week had just drawn to a close
and for the first time in a long time, Serena had missed it.
 
All of it.
 
She hadn’t even followed it on television or
the gossip pages.
 
She only had a vague
idea from some of the early designs Revel had been working on before taking
time off as to what Revel would have introduced during fashion week.
 
She didn’t recognise the design but this must
have been one of the dresses Revel had been working on for the collection. Tony
arrived on time in a Tux, looking good and announcing that not only would he be
driver for tonight but also Serena’s date.
  
He also announced that because it would be difficult for the limo driver
to also be the date, the company had hired a Ferrari for the evening.

“Tony, your sister is amazing!
 
Thank you.
 
I don’t know if I could make it through the night without you and Jo’s
company.”

“Well the bad news is Jo can’t make it at all tonight
which is why I’m your date.
 
Hey and with
all the bigwigs that are going to be there, I might just meet my future
boss.”
 

“Jo’s not coming?
But why?”

“This I do not know.
 
I only do and say what I am told.” He said with shrug.

“Tony, why do you want to be a driver?
 
You can get better jobs than driving bigwigs
around.”

“Si...but then I would actually have to work,” he
grinned.

Kissing her mother affectionately on the cheek, Serena
left the cottage to inspect the sleek black Ferrari that Toni had arrived
in.
 
They were going to get some
interesting attention on the ferry tonight.

They arrived amidst storm of photographers
flashes.
 
A valet parked the car as the
two entered along the red carpet.
 
Serena
ignored the questions from social reporters about the identity of her date and
her ‘miraculous’ weight loss. She smiled for the cameras and almost dragged
poor Tony along the red carpet to make their entrance as fast as possible.
 

Tony
was loving
every
minute.
 
Playing up to the photographers,
waving and flashing his gleaming white teeth and dimples to their best.
 
He sported an exaggerated pout when they
finally made it through the door.
 
That
was until he saw the glittering mill of beautiful women both young and
old.
 
Eyes as wide as saucers and mouth
respectably agape, he took in the view, completely oblivious to the fact that
nearly every woman there had a tuxedo clad escort of her own.
 
Serena gave Tony a nudge and fought off a
giggle.