She had her arms wrapped tightly around me, but her face seemed more distant, like perhaps she was not sure.
‘What about your mother? Are you sure she’ll be okay with that?’ Lira asked.
‘She will come around, I promise you. We will have dinner together, all three of us, and she will see how amazing you are and then after it will be just you and me. We can sit out here, share a bottle of wine. I want to hear all about the show, about your sisters, your parents on their cruise. There are so many things I do not know about you that I want to learn.’
There was uncertainty in her eyes, I could see it simmering under the surface. The part of me that still felt like a lonely little boy assumed that it was not only my mother she was not sure about, it was me, too. But, then, when we were together, dancing, in bed, whatever, it was like she was totally with me. I did not doubt it for a second. So why was I doubting it now? Was I scared of what might happen if things became more serious between us? Because how couldit ever work, with me here in Italy and Lira in England? And of course with love came loss, and this week had been a stark reminder of that. Could I really give everything of myself to someone who might leave me one day, just like my papa had? And was there any point in pursuing this when I could not imagine a way for us to be together? Or a solution to the fact that I would have to give up my career as a dancer and run my family business instead?
‘Okay,’ she said. ‘I’ll stay.’
I took one of her hands in mine and kissed the back of it, grateful and apprehensive and relieved all rolled into one.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVELira
The atmosphere between Sofia and me hadn’t improved much by the time dinner came around. Gabriele and I had spent the last couple of hours in the kitchen preparing a fresh pasta sauce, a roasted vegetable salad and an apple tart for dessert. Surprisingly, he was a very good cook and approached it in the same way he approached his dancing – there were rules, and he followed them to a tee, but then he added something unexpected on top; something extra that changed it from ordinary to spectacular.
I couldn’t wait to tuck in and thought the feast we’d – mainlyhe’d– created might improve Sofia’s mood, just a tiny bit. But when she joined us at the table in their open-plan dining room, she was so aggressively silent that you could have heard a pin drop. In fact, if somebody haddropped a pin, I’d have gladly dived under the table to look for it and stayed there until the meal was over and I could be alone with Gabriele again. I was going to have to try to work out what I was supposed to have done so that I could take steps to remedy it. Because this didn’t feel like just grief, although of course I didn’t know Sofia well enough to say, and everyone reacted differently. I just had the sense that it was me specifically she mistrusted.
She’d probably guessed there was more between Gabriele and I than we were letting on – and sure, walking out to meet her, hand in hand with her son probably hadn’t been the best idea, not when emotions were so high. Perhaps she didn’t think I was right for him. You only had to look at this place to realize that they were likely one of the wealthiest families in the area and she could probably tell on sight that I didn’t come from that kind of affluent background.
‘Where did you two first meet? At the audition for the show?’ asked Sofia, serving herself a tiny plateful of pasta and salad.
I felt a pang of sadness for her and could almost visibly see the pain of losing Enzo playing out in her inability to eat.
‘Actually, that is a funny story,’ said Gabriele, laughing softly as he stroked my knee under the table. ‘We met many years ago, in Paris. We danced the Argentine tango together – Lira was nineteen and I was twenty-two, and even then we had great chemistry.’
I smiled at Gabriele. Hopefully, he would spare his mother the remaining details of that night…
‘And then, yes, the next time I saw her was when she walked into the audition. Carlos had discovered her working in a dance studio in a small town outside of London. It was completely random. A moment that could so easily have been missed.’
Sofia took a sip of her wine. ‘Carlos found you and put you in his show? Like Cinderella?’
‘There was definitely something fairytale-like about it,’ I admitted. ‘But I wasn’t exactly sweeping floors. My family own the dance studio. I’ve been the manager there for thirteen years.’
‘And now you want a career in dance?’ asked Sofia.
‘Mama…’ warned Gabriele gently.
‘It’s fine,’ I said to him.
It was a fair enough question, although not one I would have asked when I’d only just met someone. Perhaps the Argentinians were naturally direct.
‘I know I’ve left it late,’ I said, looking at Sofia. ‘But I had family responsibilities before. As the eldest of three girls, with parents who still had successful careers in entertainment, I was expected to take the lead with the business my parents had set up. I was very compliant with what my family wanted, which now I kind of regret.’
‘Oh?’ said Sofia. ‘You wish you had told your parents that you couldn’t help them as they’d asked?’
I glanced at Gabriele.
‘I think there might have been a way to compromise,’ I said carefully. ‘Instead of giving up on my dreams completely. Much as I loved –love– working in the studio and teaching other people how to dance, I’ve never quite got rid of the desire to be up on stage myself. So yeah, I guess Carlos did perform some magic that evening. And now I’ve got a chance to experience what it’s like to be a professional dancer. I know there’s only a small window of time, that I’ve only got a few years of dancing left at most, but my plan is to make the most of it.’
‘You are too talented not to, Lira,’ said Gabriele.
Sofia took a sip of her wine. The atmosphere was so loaded that I’d started dreading what she was going to say next. The food was delicious, but I couldn’t relax enough to enjoy it.
‘So what is next for you?’ asked Sofia. ‘More travel? Another show?’
‘I’m not sure,’ I answered honestly. ‘I’m planning to set up some meetings with agents for when I get back to the UK and I’ll take it from there.’
‘And your family’s studio?’ asked Sofia.
