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Shealmostmeant it.
She would find her fireman, or a man who worked the vines, and she would love him completely, and he would love her in return.
And she would not hanker for Rome.
Nor for sitting in a bar with Nico and the sheer exhilaration of being near him.
And she would not regret that abrupt goodnight. She would be proud of her resolve. For instead of kissing his palm, and going where that would have led, she had called a halt and said goodnight.
Good, Aurora!
And she would say this to her daughter, if God gave her one.
I knew a wicked man once. A man who made my heart both bleed and sing at the same time…a man who made me succumb to my wildest urges. A man who made me believe we had been together in another life, for even if I did not know him completely I recognised him in my soul.
But I walked away, dear daughter. I did not let him use me again and again. And I don’t regret it. No, not even for a moment.
So why was she suddenly crying and scrabbling in her purse for a coin? Throwing it into the water with her eyes closed as she wished with all her heart for her time again…?
Because she wouldalwaysregret Rome and the decision to walk away from the man she would love until her last breath.
She couldn’t tell that to her daughter…
Her wings were unfurling in colours she had never envisaged, and no matter how hard she tried she could not stuff them back in.
Aurora tossed in the coin.
Let me return to you, Nico. Let me in. Make love to me in Rome.
She was ashamed of her coin-toss in a way it would be too complicated to explain to someone else, or even to herself, but Aurora also felt better for it. And her mood lifted.
Today she was to work in the Club Lounge, which the very best of the guests frequented, and she had been told to dress to impress.
Back in the hotel, her curls fell into perfect shape as she ran her fingers through them, and she took out the make-up she had bought and applied it.
A little blusher, but not too much.
Eyeliner. Her new best friend.
Mascara.
And a slick of very subtle lipstick.
Should she wear the red dress, even though Nico would never see her in it?
Aurora couldn’t make up her mind.
But first she put on a new bra and panties in the most stunning coral.
They would clash, if she wore the red dress, but who cared? No one was going to see.
Aurora wore the red dress.
She found the Club Lounge rather fascinating.
There was breakfast, and then pastries mid-morning, and even champagne cocktails just before midday for a couple who, Aurora found out, had just got engaged.
‘Complimente!’Aurora smiled as she placed the drinks down.
