A Fangirl's Dream (vol. 5): Elban Holidays #Wattys2021

Chapter XVI: Saturday, August 22nd, 2015 night

Chapter XVI: Saturday, August 22nd, 2015 night

Once they entered the house, the women headed straight for the sitting room and the men followed them, a little surprised because they had expected they would make for the bedrooms immediately; but after all, it was just 10.30 pm and they thought that Nives and Raffaella had something else in mind.

They were right, of course.

In the sitting room, Nives fumbled with the stereo, as Raffaella invited Jerry and Richard to take a seat on the couch.

"Now sit", she said, speaking like the host of some show. "Shortly, you'll watch a performance in honour of the birthday boy, but you need to be patient a few minutes."

"Another surprise?" Richard asked, not concealing his curiosity. "Alright, let's see what it is..." he concluded smiling. He followed Raffaella's directions, and Jerry sat next to him.

"Don't touch the stereo, please", Nives instructed them, and they nodded.

"What are they up to, now?" Jerry chuckled once they were alone.

"No idea, but I'm sure it's something fantastic that will leave us breathless, as usual", Richard considered, grinning in turn. He felt carefree and cheerful, euphoric even, but not because of the good wines they had had – they hadn't had that much – but because of the contentedness that came from the company of the woman he loved and of two good friends in a meaningful day such as his birthday.

Raffaella went with Nives to her room, where she helped her change. Nives had brought a bag that she had kept hidden away in the back of the wardrobe; in it, she had stored all she needed to transform into the seductive odalisque that Richard had seen in photos and in the video she had sent to him months before. She let down her hair, touched up her makeup and donned her lilac costume.

"You're striking", stated her friend, smiling. "You'll take Richard's breath away!"

"I hope so", said Nives, slightly nervous. "And I hope I'll remember the whole choreography without mistakes..."

"Otherwise you'll improvise, as you did that time at the event you told me about", Raffaella reminded her in an encouraging tome. Nives recalled the episode: they had asked her to perform belly dance as a solo dancer during a fete, but at a certain point, in the very midst of the piece, she had forgotten the moves. She had managed not to panic and had improvised, until she had been able to take up the choreography again. She had almost collapsed because of the tension, but she had succeeded in finishing the performance, and that time it had been in front of dozens of people, while now there were only three, and what was more important, they were amongst the ones she loved more. She showed Raffaella thumbs up.

"Let's go", she said.

They went downstairs; Raffaella preceded Nives in the sitting room, where the two men were chatting, and took hold of the stereo remote control, then she turned and gave the announcement that she and her friend had developed.

"Gentlemen", she began. "As previously announced, here comes an exclusive presentation of an art that is thought thousands of years old, coming from the fabled Mesopotamia, an art already known at the time of the great Sumerian civilisation, which preceded the Egyptian one by almost a millennium", she paused to emphasise what was coming next. "In honour and celebration of Richard's forty-fourth birthday, Nives will perform a belly dance."

"Wow!" Jerry cried with enthusiasm, while the birthday boy was speechless: Nives had been truly very good at concealing her intentions – no hint, no allusion – and therefore he had been taken completely by surprise.