So, this is a long chapter. Sorry. I'm glad you're all enjoying this! Also, remember Google Translate is your best friend.
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Austin hadn't been frustrated in a long time. The last time, if he recalled, was when his label made him record a duet with a washed up lounge singer who was looking to make a comeback, but in reality, was the most horrible person ever. She shouted and yelled at everyone and anyone, smoked like a chimney and there wasn't one moment he could remember that she didn't have whiskey on her breath. The song did well, but he had a feeling that was only because it was him and he was never the one to give himself a pat on the back about things like that. In fact, whenever he heard the song being played, he cringed.
Today, he was frustrated for an entirely different reason and it had nothing to do with that experience, but everything to do with the girl who had become Venice to him. When he thought of the Floating City now, he wouldn't think of the gondolas and the bridges, he would think of her and her rich brown eyes and the way she spoke the sweetest Italian words, trying to teach him in the process of it all. It was getting the best of him and not just since he had been sitting at the piano in Santo's classroom, but since three days ago when he saw her last. His hands physically hadn't moved in twenty minutes and when Austin Moon was at a piano, he played it. He didn't hover over it and try to cast an invisible spell to make it play for him.
He hadn't been feeling any pressure from his record label, but that didn't mean he wasn't putting the pressure on himself. Austin had completed five songs for the album, and he had at least eight more to go. Number six was staring back at him, the lyrics telling them to put them to music that just wasn't coming. He kept going back to the night of the party, when he became completely enamored with this girl, who had shown him not just a secret Venice, but a secret her. Up until that party, she was just the woman who was a friend, not the woman who had invaded his mind, thrown it upside down and pinched his heart.
It was like all of the sudden, he didn't just want to learn Italian from her, he wanted to learn it for her; he wanted to run across the island with her like mad people; and he wanted to dance with her and hold her even closer than he did before so he could feel her heartbeat against him and he'd be prepared then, pushing back anyone who even dared break them apart.
Pressing down on the keys, the sound that came out was not pretty but he turned it into something pretty with "Heart and Soul", one of the first pieces he could actually play. Just play, Austin. Taking his conscious's advice that was shouting in his brain, he did just that. He played, and played, and played even more, trying to get a new rhythm and sound that fit with the lyrics leaning on the stand in front of him, but they weren't matching up to what he was looking for. Pulling out another sheet, Austin wrote the new notes down, keeping them for later when more lyrics would come to him.
"These lyrics are amazing, Austin," Santo's voice and footsteps broke in on the mess that was going on in his head. "'There's a fire raging underneath, running through the pages. Here I am coming clean, I'm sick of lying to myself gotta get a little truth. And now I got to do what I gotta do'. Damn man."
"Thanks. Now if I can't get actual music to the new ones."
"Still stuck?" Santo leaned back against the edge of the desk behind Austin, and made him turn around to hand him the other lyrics.
"I want it to be alluring and all I'm getting is...well, this," Austin placed his hand randomly on the keys, pressing down a mess of notes that wasn't music to anyone's ears. He ran a hand through his hair and leaned over, his elbows on his knees. "Any suggestions?"
Santo started to hum a chord, pairing it with the lyrics in his hand and stopped before it got anywhere. He switched to another...and another, and another. Two hours had passed by and they still weren't getting anywhere. It was usually easy for him, and for Santo. Today just wasn't on their side, apparently. Then again, the past few days hadn't been kind to Austin anyhow.
"How long have you been working on this one?"
"I'm embarrassed to tell you."
Santo put the paper down. "We need coffee," he waved Austin up. "A lot of coffee."
"I've been through six cups already."
"You might not need it, but I do," Santo tugged Austin along with him despite his protests. "Plus," he continued as they headed down the stairwell, "new scenery might be good."
Austin shrugged at Santo, pulling on his jacket as they made it outside and walked over to the nearest cafe. It was a busy little shop with more music students and tourists than Austin tended to like. On top of that, it was tiny. Whenever he came inside, which was only when he was really needing coffee, he felt he not only had to duck down but he also had to slide and squeeze his way to the counter.
The line moved slow and with every inch towards the register, Austin tapped his hands over and against the counter top. Looks like Santo was right, the scenery helped. The tempo was there and remembering the lyrics in his head, matched up. Austin pulled out the notepad from his back pocket and scribbled all the notes down that he could, taking up several pages. He didn't want to move an inch but the people around him were making him do just that, and he bumped into the person trying to get out of the shop.
"Crap, I am so sorry. Mi dispiace," he started to turn around and help the person and lit up when he actually knew who it was - Gianna.
"Ah, Austin, right? I see your Italian is coming along better."
"I'm working on it. It's good to see you."
Gianna smiled up at him. "You too. What are you doing in this shop? I thought it was Santoli's for you and Ally."
"Usually is," Austin admitted and if Santoli's was closer, would be there right now. "Santo and I needed a break from the conservatory." He motioned to his friend who had finally made it to the register.
"That's right. Ally told me about your music," she sipped on her coffee. "Oh, I heard that you'll be joining us for Carnevale."
"Wait, what is this?" Santo came up beside the two, handing a small cup to Austin and picked up the Carnevale bit. "You're going to Carnevale?"
"He's going to be our Lost King."
After introducing the two to each other, Austin listened as they went back and forth in Italian, and left him lost in the conversation. He did pick up bits and pieces - the parts about their careers, a party and the not so subtle drops of his and Ally's names. After agreeing to meet Gianna later at her parents for his own fitting, he found Santo staring at him with a know it all smirk. "What?"
"Carnevale, really?" Santo let his chuckle die down into his coffee as he drank it. "I'm assuming that this girl is also the one turning your musical brain into goop, right?" Austin didn't say one word to Santo, which said just about everything. "Tell me about her."
"Her name is Ally," Austin started and then started to ramble off everything he knew about her. He knew that she was incredibly smart, and used to write music herself; he knew she knew everything there was to know about Italy, and he knew it now drove him crazy when she flipped her hair to the left side. He had no clue why, it just did. He told Santo about the tiny tour she took him on days before and their visit to the island before that, and then Austin told him about the underground party and how it changed everything he felt about her.
"Definitely messed with your musical brain."
"You have no idea," Austin muttered as they walked back into the conservatory. "Now, I just can't think about anything else but her."
"So, use it," Santo advised him as they passed the jazz quartet who were preparing for their concert in an hour. "I've seen you write songs in three seconds about hot dogs, Austin. You can definitely write a love song about this woman who is turning everything in your world upside down. Write about the surprises, the secrets, the world through her eyes. Those are the tracks your label is going to bananas over."
Austin thought about Santo's words and he knew he was right. He should write about those things and he had tried - his apartment wasn't full of crumpled up papers for nothing. "You think I haven't tried?"
He had tried so much. But until later tonight, when he would most likely see her at the Nicoletti's, he'd just have to wait to see if she inspired him more...or, if she could dig deep into her own musical background and help him. Austin wouldn't mind that one bit, actually. Sliding back onto the piano bench as they re-entered the room, Austin started to play the notes he had scribbled down in the coffee shop while Santo grabbed a seat in his own chair behind the desk and listened and shook his head against the tempo.
"Make it faster," Santo said, reading over the lyrics he had placed on his desk before they left and sang them along. "Da da, da da, da da," Santo started to drum the beat on the desk as Austin played.
"If I could stop the world, tonight. I would. Freeze this moment in time. Oh, if only I could," Austin took over the lyrics, singing them out to the updated beat of the music and in between the chorus and verse, he beamed wide. Maybe he would get this song done today after all.
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Her eyes were dry and tired, but weren't moving away from the papers in her hands. She has trying to re-memorize every word she had written down in the two hundred and sixty two page thesis she was due to turn in next week. She was confident in what she wrote, but she just needed to read it for the sixteenth time just to make sure everything was in order and it would give her those initials she had been after for years. Re-familiarizing herself with all the little laws and issues about the Venetian prisoners in the 1500s, Ally found herself silently reading the paper word for word as she was poked with pins on a pedestal.
Standing in the middle of the drawing room, Ally let Silvana do her thing while she studied and hadn't even looked down to see what the dress was looking like. Ally had done this many times for Silvana, as she created dresses and garments for many of her friends and tonight wasn't anything different. There was a soft Italian sonata playing in the corner on Benedetto's record player and Silvana hummed along. If this wasn't the 21st century, and Ally was reading a book of etiquette instead, this couldn't been a scene out of the 1800s. Silvana made her turn just a smidge while she flipped the page, thanking her lucky stars she hadn't caught a typo yet. Two hundred pages down, sixty two to go.
Her oral presentation was this week and she timed it just so because of Gianna's insane Carnevale schedule. The youngest Nicoletti daughter was certainly on top of things, Ally mused. Not only had she pre-scheduled Ally's presentation for her, but Gianna had given her a strict schedule to stick to - fitting tonight, makeup tests tomorrow, presentation on Friday afternoon, dance lessons all weekend long - she had even scheduled in time for sleep. Ally loved Gianna to pieces, but she was taking this Carnevale to an extreme.
"Sono qui!" Speak of the devil. Ally glanced up to the blonde woman who entered the home, quickly kissing her father and her mother before stepping up on the pedestal and giving her a hug as well.
"Finalmente. Cominciavo a pensare che non avrebbe qui e avrei dovuto fare questo tutto me stesso," Silvana told her daughter and Ally had to hold back her laugh. Silvana was right. Gianna was running late, but Ally hadn't noticed one bit.
Gianna quickly apologized. "Siamo spiacenti, mamma," she said and gave her a good reason. "Ho avuto un incontro presso la banca che ha investito e mi sono dovuto fermare al negozio prima di andare a vedere Inno sulle maschere. Si sta andando ad amarli."
Silvana nodded and quickly told her about the food in the kitchen that was still warm. Gianna got herself a bowl of soup and took a seat on the sofa, pulling her shoes off after a long day.
"Is that your thesis?" All Ally could do was nod at Gianna as she flipped another page, typo free again. "Oh, guess who I ran into today?"
"Hmm?"
"Your Lost King."
Ally stopped her reading and brought the papers down from her face. "My Lost King? Austin? You ran into Austin?"
Gianna nodded. "Sure did. He'll actually be coming here tonight."
"What?!" Austin was coming. Here. Tonight. Cue her freak out now.
"He's got to get fitted to his costumes. He still is your date for this all, right?"
He was, Ally had to remind herself, all while nodding in confirmation. As Gianna told her about running into him at a coffee shop, Ally was having a freak out in her head. She really hadn't spoken to him since the underground party and their almost kiss on the dance floor. She had parted ways with him at Santoli's later on after grabbing their things Suzetta had kept safe for them and on their way there, they hadn't said a thing. The day had been one of the best yet for her and showing him around the city she thought of as her second home was amazing. She had finally found someone who would listen to all the facts, figures and little quirks in her mind, who found it charming that she knew these things.
She wasn't one to really call a day lovely, but that day, with him, was. It was simply lovely. They had started in a mask shop where he had saw her turn into a marble statue for a half hour before she pulled him all over the island city and then on a ferry over to Lido. They spent hours on the barren beach, talking about Venice and practicing his Italian; even talking about music for a while before he was struck by inspiration and wrote almost an entire song while the cool wind blew around them and she reflected on her own musical past that she had only realized she actually missed.
And then, the underground party came. She wanted to surprise him and surprise him she did. Taking him to the old prisoner sanctuary was probably a mistake, but she'd definitely make that mistake again. When she first stumbled on the underground parties, she was in her final year of her fellowship and tipped off by Rico, who was still living with his parents at the time. She had needed something young, and fun, beyond the walls of the family's museum and definitely beyond the walls of Ca'Foscari, so she followed Rico one night and was instantly immersed. Ally thought Austin might enjoy it too...and he did.
He liked the stories she told him about the building, and the dancers around the rooms, and even the drinks they were serving at the bar. Beyond the typical Bellini and Negroni, they were fun drinks with old liquors mixed with shots of gin and vodka. He also liked the guy who was playing piano in his crazy costumes. Pete, as he called himself, was at every party, if she understood right and in a different costume every time. Then the music changed, and Austin started to dance with her...and things changed. The moment he held her hand at his chest and she felt his heart beating just as fast as her own. The tempo was fast, just like his heart and the moment he leaned into her was the moment she felt herself wanting more; more than just friendship.
She knew it was foolish to even think of because he was Austin Moon, the popstar that millions wanted all over the world, and he wasn't here indefinitely. It would only be a few more weeks until he was gone, just like she would be. Ally didn't want whatever they could have together to just be a fling, a little fling that happened in, in her opinion, the most romantic city in the world. It was that moment that she was cursing whoever the person was drunk off their ass that broke them apart. If he had kissed her, she knew she would've kissed right back. When she had finally gotten home that night, all she could dream about was their almost kiss and how it would actually feel.
"Ally, are you listening?" Gianna's voice broke through her thoughts again and Ally turned towards her. "Stei bene?"
"Bene," Ally told her, but her eyes and frozen stature were tell all signs that were saying everything but fine. "Whe...when is he coming?"
"I told him after seven. You sure you're okay?"
"Still fine, Gianna."
"You're acting really weird though. Did something happen between you two?"
Ally felt a more pins go into her side as Silvana placed a stunning beaded section on the sweetheart neckline. It sparkled like nothing she had ever seen and only hoped she could pull this dress off. Holding her arms up as Silvana did the bead work, Ally murmured under her breath about the almost kiss.
"Wait, what was that?"
"We almost kissed."
"And you're just now telling me this? Ally, this is good news!"
"How is this good news?"
"Because you're you and you need to get some and he's Austin. You two are adorable together. Even Mom was saying it after he joined us for dinner. Non e vero, mamma?"
Silvana nodded, taking another pin out of the cushion strapped to her wrist. "Certo. E' bionda, sei bruna. Lui ti guarda con meraviglia. Voi due potrebbe fare una bella coppia."
Ally wanted to face palm. She would sacrifice a few pin pricks for it. But instead, she just shook it, with her eyes closed shut. "As much as I would like to believe that. He's only here for a few more weeks. I don't want to start something and fall hard only to have my heart torn in pieces when he leaves."
"But isn't that the allure of it all? You'd have this love story made for the books," Gianna fantasized and pulled out her sketches of the dresses from her bag, grabbing a few things from her mother's stash of adornments to help out. "You're leaving here soon too. You exchange numbers, emails, keep in touch. Just because you start something here, doesn't mean you have to end it here too."
"It's just...complicated."
"Ogni storia d'amore e complicato, mia cara," Silvana spoke up, slipping the extra beading over Ally's shoulder just as all of them heard the bells chime throughout the home. "Benny," she told her husband, "andare a prendere la porta, per favore."
Ally slipped her arms down, watching Benedetto walk off with his paper still in hand to let who she only presumed to be Austin, inside. Looking down at the dress she was being fitted for, Ally only now realized the color. Crap, now he's going to think I'm getting married. Footsteps echoed in the hallway that lead up to the main floor and she could feel all her nerves bottle together and make her even more anxious. The last time she had been this jittery about a guy, or anything, really, was in high school. It was the talent show and she had signed up for it before fleeing on her audition to MUNY. She had tried to go out on stage, but it didn't happen. She sat on the piano bench for a mere second, behind the curtain, before bolting off. That was the last time she was ever on stage for music.
Gianna snapped her fingers in front of Ally, breaking her thoughts once again.
"Aletta, mi e necessario smettere di farlo stasera. Bisogna fare attenzione perche tutto va bene con il tuo vestito."
"Siamo spiacenti." Ally offered her a small smile, and prayed to God that Austin hadn't picked up her full name. "Hi."
"Hi," Austin greeted her with his own smile and she scolded her nerves for making butterflies pound against her stomach. "That's some dress. I hope mine isn't as extravagant."
Ally held back her laugh. "Oh, just you wait."
"She's joking, right?" Austin looked nervously over at Gianna, who showed him the designs and saw him take the biggest gulp she'd seen this week. Austin glanced back up at Ally once more and she let out a laugh at his expression.
Ally helped Silvana spread out the layers of the dress around her while Gianna got Austin's measurements. "Oh, you are going to look so good as the Lost King," Gianna got excited, writing down each number in her notepad.
"I'm a little scared now," he admitted.
"Don't worry," Gianna assured him. "We have two balls. The first is St. Valentine's where we're all going as a bouquet of roses. You, along with my father, and brothers and brother-in-law will be the 'thorns'," she started to explain to him. "The other one, is a week later and the most prestigious ball of the season called Il Ballo del Doge. They have a theme and this year's is The Court."
"Voi due fara la regina piu perfetta e cavaliere," Silvana told them.
"You'll be the Lost King to Ally's White Queen. All of us will be in the purest white costumes and you'll be in black and candied red, bringing the color to her life," Gianna stopped, noting the measurements and making adjustments on her notepad. She turned back to her dad, who had fell back into his chair and was still reading the paper from front to back. "Papa, posso prendere in prestito uno della giacca? Voglio vedere se lui andra bene?"
Once Benedetto nodded, Gianna raced upstairs for one of his blazers and Austin looked back at Ally. She helped Silvana spread the skirt of the dress out, watching as it bunched in just the right places and from what she could tell, really did look like the most beautiful wedding dress ever. "How have you been?" she asked, a bit timidly.
"I've been alright. Been having some trouble on some songs though," he placed his jacket on the sofa and turned back to her. "You?"
"Alright." Why was this so awkward? In an ideal word, also known as her mind, she would go up to him and kiss him, getting the awkwardness out of the way and everything would go back to normal. But this wasn't in her mind. This was real and he was in front of her, while she was wearing a wedding dress. "Why the trouble with the songs?"
She watched him sheepishly smile away from her, running his hand through his already messy hair. "I think I was still trying to get that party out of my head."
"Va bene, scendere e andare a piedi in giro per la stanza," Silvana pointed around the room, holding on to one of Ally's arms and helped her down the pedestal.
"Non ho bisogno le scarpe?"
"Ah, si, si," Silvana left her side for a moment and grabbed the pumps from the box that sat just beside her sewing supplies. She opened them up, pulling out both of the clear heels from their protective sleeves. "Puoi aiutarmi?" she looked up at Austin, handing him one of the heels. They were beautiful, with the actual heel and the back strap glittering with sequins; the sides that you could see were a light material in the softest rose color before going completely clear.
"Sarebbe il mio piacere."
Ally's mouth dropped a bit in delight. "You're learning."
"I did have some help." Austin knelt down in front of her as Silvana helped Ally grab the ends of the dress without unpinning anything. He carefully took the back strap and slipped it over her heel as the sole covered her foot.
Ally let out a deep breath that she didn't know she was holding in. Major Cinderella moment. She really wasn't much for fairytales, but she was sure every girl dreamt of that happening to them and she wasn't any different. She was suddenly actually the lost princess to his prince and once that slipper was on her foot, they'd live that happily ever after life. Then Ally remembered that Cinderella stories were crap and there was no such thing as happily ever afters. It was hard work and staying together was something not everyone was meant to be - like her parents.
Looking back up at him, she placed her heel on the ground and saw him get ready for the other one. Silvana held her elbow gently and she lifted the rest of the skirts up, her bare toes sticking out from the edges. The next shoe slipped on her foot with ease and she adjusted her stance, praying for her clumsiness to disappear for the night. But apparently, it didn't want to take a night off, because just as she took one step, she stumbled over the edge of the dress and fell into his arms.
"Sorry," she quickly apologized and looked up at him as he helped her. They were close again; close enough for him to see the rosy blush creep on her face and close enough for her to know he smelled good - really good. "Thanks for catching me."
"Anytime." Austin stared down at her, almost to the point that she was losing track of time before Gianna came back and he backed away a bit.
"Here, try these on. I think you may be the same size as my dad, which would be perfect."
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You know those moments where you see someone across a room and can not just tear your eyes away from them? They make you do a double take and you just keep staring because you're enamored. All you want to do is race across the room and greet them with the biggest hug possible. That was the state Austin was in right now. He had exchanged pleasantries with Benedetto and the moment he set foot in the drawing room, it was like there was a spotlight on Ally and it wasn't going away.
The dress she wore was gorgeous and impressive and over the top - exactly how he had imagined the costumes for Carnevale to be, but to see her in one, he just couldn't look away. She deserved to be on that pedestal and have roses thrown at her for looking so beautiful. He tried to play it cool around her and was doing good, up until she fell into his arms and all he wanted to do was kiss her. He didn't care that Silvana was staring at them or that Gianna was coming down the stairwell like a stampede of wildebeest.
He felt Gianna pull him out of her arms and slip on one of her dad's blazers, which were to her disappointment too big on him while Silvana made Ally walk slowly towards the sofa, making sure the dress wasn't too big around. He stood still, watching her while Gianna made adjustments on the jacket before pulling out more fabric from a closet by the door. Blinking and giving his attention over to Gianna again, he was surprised at the magic of this place.
"So, when you said fitting..."
"I really meant a fitting. Arms out."
"Perfetto, Ally. Ora abbiamo bisogno di assicurarsi la possibilita di valzer in questo. Benny, vieni a ballare con lei," Silvana went over to her husband and pulled him up, bringing him next to Ally and resetting the player in the corner.
Austin recognized the 3/4 time signature from playing it many many times during his piano lessons when he was younger and watch as Benedetto framed Ally's stance and guided her around the floor - stepping on her dress and her on his toes in the process.
"Deve essere Austin, mamma," Gianna called out behind him and tapped on his arms so he could put them down. "Papa non sara ballare con Ally al ballo."
Ally spoke up then and he tried to decipher it as best he could. "Non vorrei dire di no se Benedetto mi ha chiesto, pero." She wouldn't say no if he asked her to dance.
"Ma tu sei la Regina Bianca, e balla solo con lei perso Cavaliere," Gianna argued back.
"Chi lo dice?"
"La leggenda," Gianna told her. "Non si scherza con i miei piani Ally. Ho una visione."
He saw Ally roll her eyes. "Tu ed io sappiamo no c'e leggenda della Regina Bianca. Non ho bisogno di ballare sempre con Austin...e come la Regina Bianca, dico che posso ballare con chi voglio."
Now that, he understood perfectly. "What's wrong with dancing only with me?" Ally bunched up the skirt of the dress and took careful steps towards him. "I promise I'm not the worst dancer in the world."
"You aren't, but I am. Plus, I am the Queen and you, as my Knight, according to Gianna's legend, are late," Ally poked him in the chest.
"Still, as your Knight, I will request that you wait for me and dance with no other," Austin played into the so called legend that Gianna made up strictly for Carnevale.
"But say I meet the most romantic guy there and you're late, I have to say no?"
Austin laughed at her. "Yes, you have to wait. Plus, you can't even see his face behind the mask."
"I don't pick who I'm attracted to based on what they look like," Ally pointed out, getting some help from Silvana and him as she stepped back onto the pedestal.
"I'm glad you don't. Neither do I." He never had. "If I'm doing this, you're only dancing with me." Ally stared back at him and he couldn't tell if she was mad at him or shocked that he was telling her not to dance with. He hoped it was neither and she was actually liking that he was being the stereotypical jealous boyfriend type.
Silvana made a few adjustments on the length of the dress and Gianna draped few fabrics over his shoulder for a custom cape he'd be wearing in only a few weeks' time.
"Danza," Silvana told them both as Ally came down to the floor again. "Ballare con lui, Aletta."
"She wants me to..."
"Dance with you," Austin finished off, hoping she would notice how good his Italian skills had actually gotten. He held out his hand for her, letting out a low breath he didn't know he was holding in as soon as she slipped her fingers in his palm. He hadn't ever been this nervous before...not even with his high school girlfriend, Jamie. Jamie and he were young and silly and that typical high school relationship you knew wouldn't last beyond those walls. But that didn't mean he still didn't miss having it. She was a great girlfriend and they had bonded over how actually different they truly were. He was the music guy, she was the sports girl and they were bonded by their mutual crazy friend Dez, the guy who wore ridiculous outfits and filmed anything and everything going on around him. He even filmed the part where he and Jamie shared their first kiss after her winning the championship game with her volleyball team. But he had never been nervous with Jamie. It was always straightforward.
Now, with Ally, it was a different. He was nervous, because Ally was more like him than he probably realized. She was musical, she was nice, she was carefree to a point, she was compassionate, she was a storyteller, and as he pulled her close with his hand around her waist again, she was a not so amazing dancer. "Do you even know how to waltz?"
Ally pressed her lips together, spitting out a 'pfft' in the process. "Of course I do...kind of..."
"Define kind of." They had only been dancing a few minutes and while she hadn't stepped on his own toes yet, she was stepping all over her own. Maybe it was the heels. "Okay, stop," he backed away for a moment, and framed her out once more before stepping back in. He clasped her hand tight and his right hand resting softly on the fluffy material of the gown. Making sure her hand was clutching his shoulder, Austin counted out the beats with the music. "One, two, three, one, two, three," he moved their bodies along. "Look up at me, not down or around."
Austin stopped counting aloud, locking his gaze with Ally while they completed a few successful box steps. He had drowned out Gianna and Silvana's conversation behind them and was focused solely on her, on them. He didn't know what her final costume would actually look like, but he could imagine her all glammed up, her hair in soft waves and a mask covering most of her beautiful face except for her eyes. The same eyes that were lighting up as they circled around the room and flickering with gold as the ceiling light hit it every other minute. They were eyes he was getting lost in and despite the old sonata in the corner being the soundtrack for their dance, a whole new melody had erupted in his mind. Their melody.
"I'm going to twirl you now. Step with your right foot inside, crossing over your left," he instructed her and let her arm twist in the air before bringing her back into his arms. "Perfect."
Austin heard Silvana's claps from where she watched with Gianna. "Perfetto! Cosi bello." And he agreed. It was beautiful.
+++
An hour or so later, Ally had changed out of her ball gown and traded it for leggings and an oversized sweatshirt. She didn't look like a slob, just someone who was very comfortable. Knee socks covered her bare feet and her hair was pulled up into a high ponytail as she walked down the stairs and breathed a sigh of a relief and gladness when she saw Austin still there. He was kneeling next to Silvana, helping her clean up her sewing supplies while Gianna packed up her own and practiced the Italian he did know. She heard him talk with Silvana about his costume and his excitement for Carnevale, getting some help from Gianna along the way.
Ally never used to get the butterflies over someone speaking Italian. Sure, it had been charming with Lazzaro teaching her and she blushed whenever Rico would tell her a dirty joke in his native language, but to truly get butterflies - it just never happened. But when he did it, the way he rolled his r's and curved his b's, it made her swoon. Ally stood at the bottom of the stairs, slipping down to sit on the bottom step and watched him in silence. Tonight really hadn't turned out as horrible as it had in her mind. Tonight was actually pretty nice.
After being poked with a few pins and re-reading her thesis for the thousandth time, they had danced. Dancing was not her foray at all. In fact, many would say that she sucked. Strike that. Not many, all. All would say that, even her. She was a horrible dancer, coming up with wacky ass moves to compensate for how clumsy she looked and it only made her look more like the mad woman Austin had once described her as while running about the city. But this dance, their dance, was anything but. She could dance with him. Ally pulled her legs close and wrapped her sweater covered arms around them, thinking that she could really do mostly anything with him.
Before she met him, she was stuck on her thesis, and now it was done. Before she talked with him, she was going to give the last internship to Marco instead of taking it herself; and before she invited him for dinner, she was close to losing her mind over her law class. But since he had been in and around her life, she was doing things that she needed and wanted. Everything was better with him.
"Stai guardando."
Ally broke her gaze on the trio and looked up at Benedetto who was passing her by to head up to bed. "Buona notte," she told him as he kissed the top of her head. Turning back, she noticed Gianna looking at her, with her eyes darting from her own to Austin. Pushing off the bottom step, Ally was nipping Gianna's hints in the bud and headed towards the sofa were her thesis laid safely before he grabbed it instead.
"Aletta, ricordate che e necessario prendere le maschere domani dalla Inno," Silvana reminded her as Austin turned around to come and talk to her, or so she presumed. Ally nodded and made a mental note to head to Inno's as soon as she turned in her thesis to the board.
Austin cleared his throat. "Signora, potrei rubare Ally via per qualche tempo anche domani? Voglio mostrarle quello che faccio al conservatorio."
"Really?" Ally couldn't help but beam up at him.
Austin nodded. "I want to cash in on our terms ahead of the festivities." Silvana, of course, gave her permission although Austin didn't need it.
"Do you want some coffee? I know it's not Santoli's, but it's still good," Ally offered, still holding the thesis close to her and hearing the thump of her heart against it. She could've sworn it did a flip when she saw him nod. Turning towards the kitchen, Ally led him away from the talkative Nicoletti's and inside the updated kitchen.
Despite the ancient home being built in the early 1600s, the rooms were pretty updated, including the kitchen. Separated by a frosted sliding door from the dining area, the kitchen had all the modern appliances encased in a spicy red color that only made her hungrier each time she came into it. There were buttons for everything and if one could imagine it, it almost felt like a kitchen out of the Jetsons age. Turning up the under cabinet lights, Ally plugged in the age old coffee make that Benedetto wouldn't let Silvana get rid of and started to prepare a pot of the brew. She was kind of glad he made her keep it too. While most loved their Keurig's and instant coffees, she was one of the minority still loving how a pot of coffee made the room smell. It was almost heavenly.
Pulling out two cups from the side cabinet, Ally set them by the machine and turned around just slightly and running into Austin who was silently standing behind her. "Goodness," she placed her hand on her heart.
Austin chuckled. "Didn't mean to startle you."
"I think you need a cowbell," she joked with him, which made him chuckle even more. She found she liked him laughing a lot. It was sweet. "Black, right?"
"Mostly. With just a shaving of sugar," he pinched his fingers close together.
"How about a cube? We have cubes," she explained and he nodded, pulling out a seat at the tiny table on the kitchen side of the sliding door. Ally leaned up against the countertop as the coffee brewed, trying to find anything to talk about to break the ice between them. Their relationship had changed so much in just a few days and she wasn't exactly sure where they were. Friends or almost more? "How, how is your music coming?"
Austin leaned forward, breathing out a breath he had been holding. "Alright. I've been a bit...blocked for a few days."
"How come?"
"Just distracted. But I think I'm over it now. I actually have a song in my head right now, thanks to Silvana and Gianna."
"Really?"
Austin nodded and told her about being so frustrated that the music had stopped coming to him. She laughed when he told her he thought it was all the fault of the underground party and she partly agreed. She also wasn't herself these past few days. He told her about how his apartment looked like a trash bin instead of a dwelling and how when he finally got a melody to use, it went away just as fast. "But I did finally finish it today."
"That's good," she started and turned back around to the pot that told her it was done with a ding. Slipping the cubes in the bottom of the cups, along with some milk for her, she poured the black liquid to the top and brought them over to the table, sitting across from him. "How many more songs do you have to go?"
"Eight."
"I didn't think it was that many."
She watched as the curve of his mouth lifted, drinking the coffee she had just made. "Always write as many as you can. If I don't use them, I can give them to another artist for their album. Also, this is really good coffee."
It was her turn to beam up at him. "I'm going to tell Suzetta you said that."
"I'd be banned for life. She'd never forgive me."
"Your secret is safe with me," Ally sipped on her own drink. "Were you serious about me coming by the conservatory tomorrow?"
He nodded. "Dead serious. You showed me your Venice, I want to show you mine."
"You have ulterior motives, sir."
"Sure do," he raised his mug towards her before he dived in, naming all the places in the age-old school he wanted to show her. There was room after room after room and Ally actually couldn't wait.
She had been to the conservatory before, but only for a concert that Mercede had invited her two years ago. This time it would be different. She would be seeing more than just the grand hall and watching a string quartet play songs that although were beautiful, were lifeless in her eyes. This time it would be more than just the grand hall, it would be Austin showing her his passion, his work and she was looking forward to it.
A half hour later, Ally was stepping outside the door with Austin who announced that he should probably head out to his own place for the night. Learning he lived in the Rio Novo area, Ally gave him easier directions than the ones he was planning on taking. There was really no reason to head south when he could just walk west.
"So you'll be there around noon tomorrow, right?" Austin double checked, zipping up his jacket just as the snowflakes started to fall. "Just come in the main door and I'll be there."
"I'll come with treats from Suzetta," Ally promised him. "You still sure about Carnevale, Austin? Gianna didn't scare you away?"
Austin took a step towards her. "They can't scare me away," he confided in her. "Because even though they're loud and nosy, they're good people and I've never felt more at home in a foreign city. Plus, they do have the coolest host daughter slash tour guide in town."
Ally didn't try to hide the blush on her cheeks now...especially since it could blend right in with the coolness that was also making her skin red. Giving herself a boost on her tip toes, Ally placed her lips on his equally cold cheek. "I'll see you tomorrow."
She watched him nod and suddenly felt even colder as he stepped away...but not before he took her hand and bowed to her. "Until we meet again, my White Queen."