Page 28 of Enzo

What if I've missed Luca?

I’m not too bothered about that now. I can try to reach out to him tomorrow. I look around, hoping to see a wisp of yellow because I want to stay here now for a woman whose name I don't know.

She doesn't know mine.

My earlier encounter with the Austrian woman, the one who was waiting for her partner, and had no hesitation in approaching me, reveals just how different this teacher is compared to most of the women I meet. Most of the women I meet are beautiful and sophisticated, but none of them make me feel anything.

The kindergarten teacher with her crooked eyelashes, her love of food, her overflowing personality and complete lack of pretense, she's like no one I've ever met before.

She didn't seek me out because she knew who I was. She wasn’t trying to get my interest. She poked me in the arm and said, You are alive.

Who does that?

No wonder I forgot about Luca.

The crowd starts to thin and everyone moves towards the banqueting hall. I find myself looking forward to sitting next to her at dinner.

“Enzo, is it you?”

A man dressed as a Venetian nobleman pokes his big, fat face close, examining my mask, trying to work out if it’s really me. I don’t want him to recognize me and I find myself wondering what the teacher would do.

She’d pretend she had amnesia.

“It is you!” He slaps my shoulder.

“Caspar. How are you?”

Caspar Entwistle is a billionaire private-equity investor whose fund is considering coming in on one of our European projects.

“It is you, isn't it?”

His face is two inches from mine. I step back, my muscles tightening under my mask. I force a smile.

“It's me.”

It's just as well that I'm wearing my mask otherwise Caspar would notice my less than enthusiastic reaction.

“We need to talk about the European deal.”

I internally roll my eyes at him, even though I pretend to be polite. Business is business, even if the guy is a boring old fart, I have no choice but to put up with him. He takes my arm and ushers me forward.

“You'll sit with us for dinner. We can catch up.”

I can hardly back out now and find myself listening to him gush about what a splendid event this is, am I here with anyone? How's business? How's my father? He tells me I should look him up next time I'm in Florida.

“Gloria is here, and she'd love to see you. We saw you walk in and she wanted to go over to you but, you know how these things are. We met a few people along the way.”

He leads me towards the banqueting hall. But I can't sit with him at dinner. What about the kindergarten teacher? I glance around looking for a glimpse of yellow in the crowd.

“Are you looking for someone?” Caspar pauses.

I'm secretly annoyed that he's derailing my evening. For the first time since I got here, I was enjoying myself.

I remind myself that I’m here for business. To meet Luca Valizar. Not to chase after a kindergarten teacher in a yellow dress. If I can't meet with Luca, meeting with Caspar could prove fruitful. It’s an opportunity I should make the most of.

“No.”

“I hear that the Knight Empire is doing extremely well,” he says as we walk into the hall.