Upstairs, Downstairs Read online

  She approaches him gracefully, “What’s the sign for?”

  Daniel smiles. “It’s been such a long time since we last saw each other, I was afraid you wouldn’t recognise me!”

  “So, it’s really true – all Italians are crazy!”

  He feels her body relaxing in his arms and they exchange a long, deep kiss, paying no attention to all the people around them.

  However, once in the car, Daniel is surprised to find himself thinking of Anita. Suddenly he recalls her furious face at sixteen, still angry at twenty-eight. But he remembers her sudden smiles, her intense eyes, and the first time they made love, too. He can’t help but think how different Olga and Anita are. Olga is not an enigma. She’s as solid as a rock, and knows what she wants. Never mind if her smile doesn’t reach her eyes. He’s happy to have her next to him now, and with a familiar gesture he places his hand on her thigh.

  *

  “Hmm. Nice here… I guess…” Olga has an unimpressed expression. Garbatella isn’t exactly what she expected. When they walk near the vegetable garden, she can’t help but show her disappointment. Raw earth for her has always meant only poverty. She can’t see the romantic side of it. It reminds her of her grandparents, poor Russian peasants. “Darling, I know you love La Boheme, but I didn’t know you were bohemian to this point!”

  “And you haven’t even seen the water heater yet!” Daniel laughs, dragging her suitcase and cello. He nods towards Matteo Spina and Giovanna who are watering the seeds.

  Matteo looks at Olga’s long, slender legs, while Giovanna comments, “One can’t deny she’s beautiful… this might be a problem…”

  *

  Wrapped in the sheets, Olga watches Daniel at the foot of the bed. Shirtless, he’s playing the double bass. She recognises D, F-sharp and C… repeated as a lullaby in an upbeat tone. She stretches out her leg to touch him. He turns and smiles at her. She puts her head on his shoulder and begins to caress him. She strokes his back, then his chest, and her hand slowly moves down…

  “Don’t stop…” Daniel says, while Olga’s tongue follows the contour of his neck.

  “I love you.”

  “I love you too.” He whispers, before burying his head between her breasts.

  *

  A sweet scent of apple permeates the little kitchen.

  “It should be almost done.” Anita checks her pie through the oven glass. She had some spare time before the visit to the Etruscan Museum of Villa Giulia, scheduled for late morning. It’s a clear, beautiful day and she’s in good spirits. She’s decided to stop obsessing about Daniel, and she’s very excited to see Mizuki’s name on the display when her phone rings.

  “Hi, my love! How are you?”

  Mizuki laughs with pleasure on finding her so loving.

  “Well, very well, Anita-san. And you? Did I disturb you?”

  “Not at all! I’m making an apple pie for you…”

  “I would love to be there to have a slice right now. I miss you.”

  Anita feels slightly embarrassed. “So how did your very important meeting go?” She still doesn’t understand what exactly it is that Mizuki does. The dynamics of big corporate companies are like science-fiction to her.

  “It went great! As soon as I return from London, I’ll explain everything to you.”

  “There must be something new,” Anita thinks, and at that precise moment she recalls her dream. “Mizuki, you know, I had an interesting dream.”

  “Really? I’m sure you’ll tell me all about it!” He’s used to listening to the frequent, funny, and enlightening stories of Anita’s dreams.

  “You were there with your colleagues, in a dark place, maybe a long corridor. I think it was the underground basement of Toyota. Anyway, at the end of the corridor there was a huge Kodo Drum and someone was beating it. The deep sound was resounding everywhere, like a giant’s heartbeat. The point was that all of you had to keep that beat going, or otherwise Toyota would die.”

  “So, you’re really a clairvoyant!” Mizuki is impressed by the dream. “In fact a company is like a living thing, and our job is to keep it alive.”

  “Ok, but I hope you don’t have to do it wearing just your underwear!” Anita laughs. “All of you were dressed like Sumo wrestlers – but – I have to admit – you looked great!”

  “Are you telling me I should always wear mawashi? I will, but only if you’ll wear one too. One of these days I’ll take you to Japan with me and we’ll buy a few!”

  9

  Why Not Tell the Story?

  Anita, letting out a big breath of exasperation, holds the phone away from her ear to protect herself from Alessandra’s loud, petulant voice.

  “Allie, how many times do I have to tell you? I haven’t seen him since Sunday. I’m busy. Maybe you’re forgetting I work!” Then, realising she’s raised her voice, she tries to be sound more gentle. “As I told you, Daniel left the party at about four to pick up a friend at the airport, a Russian girl, a musician…”

  “Is she his girlfriend?”

  “Shit! Alessandra, I don’t know! He said she’ll stay for a few days. Everyone started making predictable jokes – but he wasn’t fazed. However, for your information, her name is Olga and she’s a cellist.”

  “Well, for someone so uninterested, you seem to know quite a lot! Did you see her?’

  “No, I didn’t… but my mother met her.”

  “When?”

  “Sunday evening.”

  “And where were you?”

  “At the movies – okay?”

  “What does our Russian doll look like?”

  “My mother says she’s a platinum blonde knockout – not someone who goes unnoticed easily…”

  Rethinking her mother’s description of Olga, Anita feels a strange twinge in her stomach. Giovanna had lingered over the details: miniskirt, high heels, blonde hair… she even described how the Russian had looked around, almost disgusted by their vegetable garden, “Very snooty,” she’d said. Giovanna wasn’t able to hide her own disappointment, and somehow passed it to her daughter. Disappointment? Who knows why… yet later in bed, Anita had vivid images of entwined blonde bodies, shining with sweat amongst messy sheets.

  “Anita, are you still there?”

  “Yes, I’m here!”

  Anita finds something very annoying in Alessandra’s curiosity and mocking tone of voice; yet she reflects, “After all, Alessandra is only curious. She was also a Daniel’s friend. It’s natural that she wants to know.”

  “Allie, sorry, but I have to go. It’s after three, and Mizuki’s just returned from London.”

  “Go, go… but be careful not to show him how deeply upset you are about Daniel!”

  “Who, me?”

  “For sure not me!” And she bursts into laughter.

  “You know, when you get started Allie, you can really be a bitch!” And she hangs up.

  *

  Later, Anita grabs her phone and bag to leave. Once outside, she’s immediately enveloped by the humid, hot atmosphere. There’s no breeze at all; everything is still. She didn’t realise it was so warm… “Damn! I brought the wrong jacket – but I’m late.” She’s walking towards her scooter when she sees Daniel hand in hand with the blonde bombshell. Her instinct tells her to jump on Isotta and flee – but it’s impossible to avoid them.

  Daniel is walking, totally spaced out – probably with thousands of music projects swirling around in his mind. Distracted. But their eyes connect. He automatically lets go of Olga’s hand and says ‘hello’ to Anita.

  “Jesus, she really is beautiful!” she thinks. “I know what this intellectual, fine musician is made of! It’s enough that he met a tall blonde and then everything else takes second place.” They’re only a few steps apart now. “Smile, Anita. Smile. You must have inherited something from your actress mother!”

  “Hello!” Daniel is surprised.

  “Hi, how are you?” She answers with a smile on her face.

  “Ol
ga, this is Anita. Anita, Olga, a colleague and a great cellist. She’s here touring with the Russian Radio symphonic orchestra.”

  “It’s been a long time since I’ve been to Rome and I’m finally back!” She has a melodious voice with a slight Russian inflection. “I hope I’ll be able to spend some time with Daniel, although we are both very busy…” then she turns to him, “Darling, why don’t you invite your friend to your concert next Friday?” And she reaches for Daniel’s hand again.

  “Actually, Anita isn’t exactly a friend… well, we were in high school together, but then lost touch. We’ve known each other for many years… hmm, how many is it?” He seems embarrassed.

  “A lifetime!” Anita says, taking pleasure in his embarrassment.

  “So, Anita, you can’t miss it! It’s just nearby… love, what’s the name of the club?”

  “Gazometre… it’s…”

  “I know the place… but…”

  “Come on! Bring your boyfriend and your friends. It’ll be fun!” Olga insists.

  “I’m not sure…” Anita doesn’t know how to get herself out of the situation.

  “We’ll be waiting for you! Won’t we, love?” She turns towards Daniel.

  “Well, yes… it will be an interesting evening: sax, piano and double bass. We’ll play Stan Getz too. We have a young singer as well – who’s phenomenal with Helen Merrill’s songs.”

  “Ok, I’ll let you know… thanks. Sorry, but I must run now…”

  *

  “I don’t understand myself! Why didn’t I just say ‘no’?!” But Olga seemed sincere in her enthusiasm… “I couldn’t refuse – and boy, she has such magnetic eyes! Actually, I tried hard, but I couldn’t find any flaws in her… shit! Anyway, I might ask Alessandra, she’ll enjoy coming. I can already hear her – ooh! a jazzzz evening!” Anita speeds up, she feels a fierce urge to be with Mizuki again.

  *

  “Wonderful to see you, Anita-san!” He smiles at her, opening the door. But Anita doesn’t have time to exchange pleasantries. She puts her arms around his neck and holds him tight. When she desperately needs affection, she can’t express what she feels with words. Anita lets her body talk. She quickly leads Mizuki to the bedroom.

  *

  Only later, when their breathing’s returned to a normal rhythm, Anita says, “You know I missed you a lot.”

  “Really? I didn’t notice…” Mizuki laughs, thinking how she can be amusing and serious at the same time. He’s never met someone like her before. Anita is a woman, yet she hasn’t lost that childhood spontaneity which has charmed him since their first encounter. He thinks about how important she’s become in his life.

  Now she’s lying on his bed, her head on his shoulder. He kisses her forehead and strokes her hair. “Did I tell you I also like it when you have straight hair?”

  “Dear mawashi-man, the use of the word also shows all your diplomatic skills. But sooner or later you’ll have to confess which version of me you prefer!”

  They both laugh and fumble around in bed for a while, until Mizuki suggests they go out. “We could take a walk. My week in London has been so intense…”

  “Hmm… no, let’s stay here a little longer. It’s been a difficult week for me too – not because of business reasons though. I wanted to talk to you, but everything happened just the day before you left. I was unbearable that evening… I’m sorry!”

  “I noticed there was something wrong… I didn’t know if you were upset with me.”

  “No, no… it has nothing to do with you! The fact is that a person – whom I hoped not to run into ever again – came to live in my apartment building. And now he gets in my way all the time! I told you about Paolo and Rudy’s party, well he was there too! He’s everywhere: when I leave the house or when I come back. I always run into him. I hate it! The other neighbours seem to like him. They don’t know what hides behind his good boy-intellectual-musician appearance: an asshole! A putrid rat! A creep…!”

  “Anita, calm down! Breathe… Why are you so angry with him?”

  “Ok… I’ll tell you the story. It happened in high school… I was sixteen, he was in his last year. We became friends; he was also good friends with Alessandra… I liked him. I liked him a lot. You know, first crush… It was my first time, the first boy I made love to… I was shy and clumsy. I was so ashamed to show myself naked… then it happened. It was in the afternoon at his home – his parents were away.”

  Anita swallows. Mizuki is looking at her with tenderness. He follows her words, but also notices her change in tone, her sudden tension.

  “We were meeting the next day at his birthday party. But you know what he did? He bragged to his friends about it! He told them every detail; he even described me physically, including a flaw I was so embarrassed about… that evening the world collapsed on me. There were a lot of people at the party. At some point I went to the bathroom and one of his friends followed me. He jumped on me in the corridor, come on, don’t be difficult! Everybody knows you sleep around… come on show me your tits! I want to see the bigger one… Is it true you put padding on the other one?! I pushed him away and ran, but he kept yelling at me, anyway everyone knows… everyone! He laughed at me. I left that house and those people. I was disgusted by them! That asshole had described even my most intimate details!”

  Mizuki holds her tight. He holds the woman and the wounded girl. He kisses her softly. “I don’t think that…”

  “Please, don’t laugh at me, too! For more than a year I had such a terrible complex about my breasts. The difference was so visible, and I thought I would be like this forever… then it went away.”

  Mizuki lifts her chin. “You know, boys can be silly at that age. Perhaps he didn’t realise what might happen. And anyway Anita, it was a long time ago. You’re strong; don’t worry too much about something like this. Life goes on.”

  “Yes, maybe you’re right. Actually, I’d stopped thinking of all that, but when I saw him again, all the pain resurfaced.” She kisses him. “And he and his girlfriend even invited me to his concert; he’s a musician. It’s on Friday night.”

  “Let’s go together then!”

  “Yes! Why not?” Anita feels a sense of relief.

  Then their bodies search for each other with renewed desire.

  *

  The waiter stands near their table. Anita and Mizuki are reading the menu.

  “I’m not really hungry…”

  Anita laughs. “But you should be starving with all the exercise you’ve had…”

  Mizuki can’t help but laugh too. “I would like something cool, I feel hot…”

  The waiter – by now growing impatient and weary of witnessing their intimate dialogue – intervenes. “May I suggest crudités with pinzimonio?”

  “Pinzimonio?” Mizuki has never heard of it.

  “Yes, it’s a dip of olive oil, lemon, salt and pepper which goes perfectly with raw vegetables.” The waiter explains courteously.

  “Wonderful idea!” Anita realises that it’s already 11 p.m.

  *

  The evening continues in a cheerful mood. Anita feels light-hearted and relieved. She’s happy that she was able to tell Mizuki the story about Daniel. She feels a new sense of freedom. She takes Mizuki’s hand across the table.

  “Anita, I received an important offer in London…”

  “Tell me!”

  “They offered me a position that’s difficult to refuse.”

  Anita’s hand suddenly becomes a piece of ice in Mizuki’s warm grasp. “What exactly?” She asks in a whisper.

  “I would be the CEO of an important project. They asked me to move to London.”

  “For how long?”

  “A year… maybe more… so I thought, Anita-san, that you could come with me. I don’t want to lose you.”

  She bites into a carrot.

  “Anita, are you listening to me?”

  She nods, looking down. Yes, she has heard what he said. He’s asking her to le
ave her job, to tell her mother everything, to go to London, to be there waiting at home for him – busy with his project – alone in a foreign country and dependant on him.

  Her throat closes up, and when she can breathe again she asks, “And when would you leave?”

  “I took some time to think this over… it’s an important decision and I wanted to talk to you about it first.”

  Anita finally finds the courage to look into his eyes again. Here in front of her is a man who bares his soul before the woman he loves. Here I am. For you. Answer me.

  “Mizuki, you took me by surprise. I need to think about this.”

  He nods silently.

  “I disappointed him…” she thinks. “Maybe he thought I would throw my arms around him. Just when you think a problem’s been solved, another one pops up!”

  “Do you want me to sleep at your place? I can call my mother…”

  “No, probably it’s better another time.”

  10

  Just Friends, Lovers No More

  It’s dark. There’s a comforting smell of fresh laundry. “My neighbours are so soft… we are all such a wonderful underwear team.” She tries to open the drawer, but her panties get in the way. She pulls, but she can’t open it!

  Anita suddenly wakes up from an afternoon nap. “What’s happened?” Slowly her heartbeat is returning to normal. Back to reality – she checks the time. “I need to hurry up. The concert’s tonight!”

  The shower brings her entirely back from her dream. Clothes and underwear are scattered everywhere in her room. The white lace underwear set, the selected one, is on the bed. She feels very insecure and tonight she’d like to give the opposite impression. She must impress… but whom? Maybe she wants to be more attractive… than Olga? Apparently, there shouldn’t be any rivalry. Or even any conversation. Apparently. Yet she feels so nervous, as if she’s going on a first date.

  She puts on a sheer, transparent, silk tank top with a light sweater; the buttons are strategically left open to revel her cleavage.

  Her incredibly tight charcoal trousers are one option; but her short black skirt is a possibility, too. The skirt wins. Anita has been walking all day, nevertheless she decides on high heels.