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her cosmetic bag, switching on a bright smile ready for whoever
entered. The smile flittered and vanished as she realised it was
Loveday.
'I'm not surprised you're hiding in here!' Loveday burst out, glaring.
'What an exhibition! Dancing cheek to cheek, clinging to him like a
boa constrictor! And then that kiss!' She paused, breathing noisily,
her face very pink and her hazel eyes green with rage.
'I'm s- ' Annis began, and Loveday interrupted sharply.
'Don't you dare say you're sorry! You know you don't mean it, any
more than you meant it when you said you weren't interested in him.
I knew you were after him too, but you kept insisting that you
weren't. Don't pretend any more. If you've fallen for him, you can't
help it, I suppose, but you might at least have been honest about it.'
Annis winced at the contempt in her friend's face, a sigh escaping
her. 'Loveday, I can't explain, but it... it isn't like that. Please don't
be so angry! I wasn't trying to steal him from you. I... I just don't
know what to say -'
'Try the truth!' snapped Loveday.
Annis put her hands over her face, her shoulders shaking, a muffled
sob breaking out of her. She was on the verge of telling Loveday the
whole truth it would have been a relief to her to tell someone yet
she still couldn't bear to talk about it. She couldn't face the
questions, the way Loveday might look at her.
There was a silence, then Loveday moved closer, put a hand under
Annis's chin and lifted her head firmly. Annis kept her eyes shut, but
she felt Loveday inspecting her face, her puffy eyes, the track of
tears down her cheeks. She pulled away, ran a trembling hand over
her wet lashes and sniffed, hunting for a handkerchief in her bag.
Loveday produced a pink tissue from the box of them on the
powder-room wail.
'Here!' she said roughly.
Annis dried her eyes, then blew her nose. In the mirror, her pink-
rimmed eyes met those of Loveday, who grimaced wryly at her.
'Sorry I snarled! You can't help it if you've fallen for him, too, I
suppose! He bowls us all over without even trying Mr Sex
Appeal!' She laughed crossly, then sat down in the chair next to
Annis and stared at herself in the mirror, her hazel eyes inspecting
her red hair, her oval face, her figure, without enthusiasm. 'And I
haven't got a chance with him, anyway. He's not really interested in
me, he has always been more interested in you don't think I didn't
notice that! Why do you think I was always checking on how you
felt about him? I'd seen the way he keeps looking at you.'
Annis looked down, her skin burning. Loveday watched her, and
laughed shortly.
'Oh, I'm not stupid or short-sighted, don't worry! But you said you
weren't interested, and I could tell you were trying to stay out of his
way, so I hoped... Well, never mind! It isn't your fault, it's just
typical of the way my life works out!' She gestured to the mirror.
'You'd better do something about your face before we go back,
hadn't you?' she said in a more friendly voice, and Annis nodded.
She splashed lukewarm water on her face to reduce the puffiness,
washed carefully, patted her skin dry, and began applying a little
light foundation, then powdered over that, before she smoothed
eyeshadow into her lids and put on lipstick, while Loveday watched
her.
'Oh, well, plenty more fish in the sea!' she thought aloud in a wry
voice, and Annis laughed.
'He's not so much a fish as a ship passing in the night, though,' she
pointed out. 'Neither of us are likely to see him again. After all,
we're leaving Corinth tomorrow.'
'That's true!' Loveday nodded. 'He's not worth quarrelling over.
Sorry, Annis.'
Annis smiled at her in the mirror. 'Forget it. How do I look now?
Back to normal?'
'Terrific,' said Loveday, and they went back together to find Raphael
sitting at the piano while the hotel manager stood beside him,
turning over a pile of sheet music.
'Oh, I'd forgotten he was going to play,' said Loveday. 'He asked you
to turn over his music for him, didn't he?'
'He won't need me, he was kidding. He won't use a score he
memorises whole concertos.'
Loveday looked oddly at her. 'How do you know that?'
Annis flushed. Another little slip! Averting her eyes, she shrugged.
'I must have read it somewhere.'
As they walked to their table Raphael shot them a glance and
beckoned commandingly to Annis. Loveday gave her a grin. 'What
were you saying about him not needing you?'
Annis saw the hotel manager looking towards her, and realised that
she wasn't going to be able to ignore Raphael, so she reluctantly
walked over to the piano.
'I'm going to play this,' Raphael told her, taking a book of sheet
music from the hotel manager's hand.
'My favourite piece of music!' the manager said, looking very
pleased.
Annis glanced at the composer's name on the cover, and didn't
recognise it.
'A brilliant modern Greek composer,' Raphael said, watching her.
The hotel manager smiled agreement.
'Do you know the piece?' asked Annis uncertainly, knowing that
although he could sight-read he preferred time to study a piece
before playing it in public, but Raphael nodded.
'It was written for a film, three years ago, and I conducted.'
The hotel manager bowed to him. 'May I announce you now, then,
Maestro?'
Raphael looked amused at the reverential title, but nodded. 'I'm
ready.'
The hotel manager went over to the band, who were playing while
guests danced, and Raphael glanced up at Annis.
'Are you OK?' he asked tersely and she started, giving him a quick,
uncertain look.
'Why?'
'You look washed-out.' His tone was brusque, but his eyes were
concerned. 'You know this heat isn't good for you what on earth
prompted you to visit Greece in summer? You should have come in
the spring.'
'It was the only time we could all get away from the office.'
'Oh, yes, this office are you this Carl Worth's secretary?'
'Yes.' Her voice was flat, her face wary.
'So you're with him all day, in the same office?' Raphael bit out.
'Yes,' she admitted tensely, and then, with enormous relief, she
heard the band stop playing. The hotel manager tested the
microphone, coughed to clear his throat, and began a careful
introduction in his excellent English.
The guests who had been dancing drifted back to their seats,
clapping, and Raphael shifted on the piano stool, flexing his long,
powerful fingers. 'Ready?' he asked Annis, his eyes fixed on the first
page of the music, and she murmured agreement.
When the applause died away, Raphael began to play the gentle,
elegiac music and Annis stood close to him, deftly turning the pages
while she listened.
She had learnt to read music when she was having piano lessons as a
child. She had not been particularly talented and had given up her
lessons during her late teens, but she had not forgotten how to read
music and still enjoyed playing a little from time to time, and her
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