Unmasking Elena Montella (38 page)

She pulled out the spare key and unlocked the door. At least that part was fairly quiet and she was still invisible so she should be able to sneak up the stairs into the living room without too much bother. She decided to leave the door open as she hoped to be out again within a couple of minutes.

Her heart was still pounding from her run as she climbed the steps. When she reached the top, she saw Sandro standing at an easel in the corner of the room. He looked furious - as if the canvas in front of him had just sworn at him and slapped him in the face.

Elena sneaked across the room and down the three steps into the spare bedroom where she quickly retrieved her suitcase from under the bed. As she pulled it out from the covers, she watched in amazement at it began to turn invisible. All she had to do was keep hold of it. She didn’t want any more antics like the teaspoon incident. She had to get out of the apartment without event.

Leaving the bedroom, she hoisted her suitcase into the air so as not to make any noise with its wheels on the wooden floorboards. It was, predictably, heavy and she winced as she crossed the room. Sandro, luckily, remained by his easel pulling all manner of ugly faces at it which made Elena grin. But she didn’t have time to stand and watch him so retraced her way down the steps and out of the door again. She realised that she wouldn’t be able to close it behind her without arousing suspicion so she pushed it to.

All she had to do now was to take the mask off and wait for Rosanna whilst pretending to be just arriving at the apartment. She could do that; that would be the easy part. The hard part would be what she was actually going to say to Rosanna.

She stood back a little from the front door of the apartment, nervously looking in the direction from which Rosanna would come.

Elena took the mask off, watching the miraculous morphing from invisible to visible that never failed to make her gasp in wonder. She did hope that nobody was looking out of their apartment windows at that precise moment. It was a quiet street but it would be typical that some old matriarch would be hanging out of the window with a duster in her hand just as Elena was mutating. But, as she didn’t hear anyone screaming, she assumed she’d got away with it.

She put the mask away in a front opening of her suitcase. She was getting so used to its presence that it was now quite impossible to imagine life without it. Perhaps she was getting addicted to magic. In truth, she didn’t know if she was allowed to keep it. Stefano had given it to her as a gift but did he expect her to give it back to him once its job was complete? She didn’t even know if it was allowed to leave the island of Venice. Maybe it wouldn’t work anywhere else. Maybe it was a part of the magic that was Venice.

It would be awful having to give the mask up, though. Just think of all the fun she could have with it back in London. She could wear it at the college and get her own back on all the cheeky students; she could sneak into the staff room and listen to what the other tutors gossiped about.

Remembering the college, she immediately thought of Mark. It wouldn’t be easy working in the same place now that they had broken up. No wonder people recommended not becoming involved with work colleagues. It was fine when things were rosy and romantic but could make for a decidedly uncomfortable work environment when things didn’t work out so well. Perhaps he’d move on. Perhaps she should move on. After all, she was the one to break up with him.

Elena felt exhausted with it all. She’d known her trip to Venice wouldn’t be easy but it was rapidly turning into a tragedy of Shakespearean proportions. If only she could get things sorted out; if only she could make amends.

It was then that she heard the light click of her sister’s boots. It was time.

When Rosanna turned the corner, she didn’t see Elena at first. Her eyes were cast to the ground as if she’d lost something and her mouth seemed magnetically pulled towards the earth too.

‘
Rosanna,’ Elena called quietly. She didn’t know what else to say.

Rosanna looked up instantly, her dark eyes wide, but she didn’t speak. For a few seconds, they just looked at each other.

Elena was the first to speak. ‘We need to talk,’ she said simply, her voice calm, a degree of warmth creeping in at the edges.

‘
Where have you been? I’ve been so worried,’ Rosanna said, daring to edge closer but not quite ready to embrace her sister. ‘Mama said-’

‘
I’m here now,’ Elena said, not wanting to lie to Rosanna. There’d been far too many lies recently. It was now, finally, time for the truth.

Rosanna’s eyes filled with tears and they were instantly mirrored by Elena. And, before they could stop to think, they were in each other’s arms, crying and apologising.

‘
I’m so sorry!’ Rosanna cried.

‘
No - I am! It’s my fault!’ Elena cried back.

‘
I should never have become involved with Reuben!’

‘
No, Rosanna! I never should have! I’ve not been fair to you - to
any
of you.’

‘
I don’t know what I was thinking of.’

‘
I wasn’t thinking at all!’

‘
I’ve told Reuben I won’t see him again - not if it means a rift between us.’

‘
You shouldn’t have done that!’

‘
It had to be said. Things couldn’t go on like this. I’ve been so wretched. Can you ever forgive me?’

‘
But I do forgive you! That’s why I’ve come back. It’s
me
who needs forgiving. I’ve been so selfish. I’ve not thought of anyone but myself for months and then I was surprised when everything started to collapse around me. I’ve behaved so badly to everyone - especially to you. I lied to you and then I blamed you for Reuben’s feelings towards you. I’ll never forgive myself for that.’

‘
But you must!
I
forgive you!’ Rosanna said.

‘
I don’t deserve to be forgiven!’

‘
You’re my sister - my big sister! I don’t know what I’d do without you.’

‘
But you’d have a much easier life without me!’

Rosanna tightened her arms around her. ‘I just want us to be okay again.’

‘
Me too,’ Elena whispered back, feeling the breath in her body being slowly squeezed out.

Finally, Rosanna inched back a little. ‘We’ve made such a mess of things, haven’t we?’ She gave the tiniest of smiles.

Elena returned the tiny smile and dared to laugh as she wiped her eyes.

‘
Let’s go inside,’ Rosanna suggested and Elena nodded, taking the handle of her suitcase.

Rosanna was just fishing for her key in her pocket when she said, ‘The door’s open.’

‘
Is it?’ Elena said, realising that she hadn’t quite divorced herself from lying to her sister yet.

‘
It’s Sandro! And he had the nerve to blame me.’

Elena frowned, hoping she wasn’t about to cause another scene between the two of them. Rosanna led the way back into the apartment and Elena hoisted her suitcase up the stairs she’d only just come down.

‘
Sandro?’ Rosanna hollered.

‘
What?’ he hollered back.

‘
You left the door open again.’

‘
What are you talking about? I did not!’

‘
Well, it was open,’ Rosanna said, once inside the living room.

Sandro frowned deeply at her. ‘I’ll have to get it seen to-’ he stopped, noticing Elena standing behind Rosanna. He also noticed the suitcase.

‘
This is my sister, Elena,’ Rosanna explained. ‘She’s in Venice for a couple of days.’

Before she could say any more, Sandro interrupted her, ‘It seems like you have a whole retinue of friends here in Venice at the moment.’

‘
Sandro,’ Rosanna began again, her voice firm, ‘I was hoping she could stay - just tonight. We really need to spend some time together. You’d be doing us a huge favour.’

There was something in her tone of voice that seemed to be working its magic on Sandro because he nodded.

‘
Tonight, you say?’

Rosanna nodded. ‘That would be great.’

‘
Okay,’ he said. ‘As long as all those men don’t start turning up again.’

Rosanna and Elena blushed in unison.

‘
Do you want to put your suitcase in the spare room? I’m downstairs now that the big bad boss is back,’ Rosanna explained unnecessarily as Elena followed her through to the very bed she’d slept in the night before. ‘There’s plenty of room.’

Elena nodded. She looked across to Rosanna’s bed which had been neatly made up that morning but all she could think about was the quiet crying of her sister the night before.

‘
Elena? What’s wrong?’

Hot tears slid down her face and, for a moment, she couldn’t speak. ‘I’m sorry,’ she managed at last.

‘
I know!’ Rosanna assured her. ‘And I’m sorry to.’

They sat down on Rosanna’s bed together.

‘
I can’t bear to think how I must have hurt you,’ Elena said.

‘
You didn’t! I’ve told you, it was
me
who was in the wrong. I should never have had anything to do with Reuben. It was unthinkable. I can’t believe I let it happen.’

‘
Have you seen him?’ Elena dared to ask once her tears had stopped.

Rosanna nodded. ‘This morning. I broke up with him.’

‘
But he loves you.’

‘
How do you know that?’

Elena bit her lip. How was she to explain that? ‘It’s just a feeling I have. We weren’t quite right together. But you and him - who knows? It could really work. You shouldn’t throw that away.’

‘
You mean that, don’t you?’

‘
Of course I do.’

‘
But he was your fiancé.’

‘
But he shouldn’t have been.’

Rosanna sighed. ‘This is too strange. I’m not sure I know what to do.’

‘
You should speak to Reuben. Tell him I’m fine with all this.’

‘
Are you sure?’ Rosanna’s forehead crinkled.

‘
It’s about the only thing I am sure of at the moment. I really think you two should be together.’

Rosanna’s eyes were sparkling with tears once more. ‘Elena-’

They fell into a hug and it was then that Elena remembered something.

‘
Hang on,’ she said, getting up off the bed and opening her suitcase. ‘I’ve brought you Fernando.’

Rosanna’s lips trembled in response and fresh tears fell from her dark eyes as she took the teddy bear in a warm embrace.

‘
I’d forgotten all about him,’ Rosanna said.

‘
I thought it was about time he put in an appearance.’

‘
Where was he?’

‘
I’m not sure. Mama had him. He just seemed to be waiting for me.’

‘
He was always there for us, wasn’t he?’ Rosanna smiled, holding him up and gazing fondly at the slightly faded face of the old bear.

‘
Everyone should have a Fernando.’

‘
Thanks for bringing him, Elena.’

Elena smiled. ‘Thanks for accepting him.’

There was a pause. Things still felt so strange and new between them, as if they’d been separated for a decade rather than just a couple of days.

‘
What are you going to do now?’ Rosanna asked at last.

Elena sat down on the bed next to her and shrugged her shoulders. ‘I really don’t know. I thought I did but I’m not so sure now.’

‘
Why not?’

‘
I’m just so relieved that we’re okay again. That’s all I’d really hoped for.’

‘
What about Mark?’ Rosanna asked in a quiet voice.

‘
I broke up with him,’ she said. It was the first time she’d said it out loud and each word stung her like an angry wasp.

‘
I know.’

‘
You do?’

‘
He came over here after you left.’