La Serenissima

The Tour of Venice

It had been a few days since Ally had seen Austin and in between trying to get away from Marco, who only wanted to pry into the progress of her dissertation and a pre-interview with the Italian Consulate, she had kind of forgotten about the tour she promised to take him on. So when she ran into him at Santoli's, Ally couldn't stop apologizing. She was saying the word 'sorry' more than her Mom did to her when she went back to Africa for the fifth time in three years. While he had told her that it was okay and he had been busy too, it still didn't relieve her guilt. A promise was a promise and she never broke or forgot about a promise.

But nonetheless, she still wanted to show him around Venice and she convinced him to meet her at her masking appointment the day after. Giving him specific instructions on how to get there and how many steps to actually take from the conservatory where he had told her he'd be coming from, it was almost one when he arrived and she was still in the appointment.

She didn't intend for it to be this long, but apparently Gianna had changed the plans on her and instead of just one mask, she was getting fitted for two instead. There was the one for the St. Valentine's event and the other for Il Ballo del Doge. Austin walked in on her appointment at just the right time to see her whole face covered in a thin layer of clay.

"This is by far the weirdest thing I've ever seen."

"Sorry," she muffled from behind the stuff on her face as it was hardening. She wasn't supposed to talk, but it was hard when she could feel his eyes on her, sizing her up and probably thinking he was out of his mind for spending even more time with the mad running woman who scared away fans and gets masks of her face done. Yea, she was counting on him running straight out of here and back to the school.

"This is how they're made? It's kind of cool," Austin pulled up a stool and watched as the mascherari kept layering the clay over her face, little by little. "How long does it take?"

Instead of her talking, Innocenzio, the masker, answered for her. "The actual masking is about an hour. Final product in two weeks. Would you like one?"

"I'm not going to Carnevale," she heard him tell Inno.

"I get many requests from tourists for one," Inno pointed out. "All the examples are behind you. We also have ready made designs you can choose from too."

Ally stayed patient and still as the silence surrounded them, her eyes darting all over the place and watching Austin as he checked out the designs that were available. She tried to imagine it in her head, Austin in a bauta or a volto mask and decided he would look insanely hot, possibly even hotter than anyone else at the event - even if the mask covered his entire face. It was all about his eyes anyway. The way the lit up when he talked about music and how the danced in the sunset.

Inno came to check on her lining and found it hardened to the bone. "Stay as still as you can," he told her and slowly lifted the frame from her. "And now you can move."

"Is it safe to kill Gianna now?" she joked with him as he placed the mask in a box on the counter. "I can't believe she sprung another mask on me." Ally rubbed her hands over her bare face once again, and stretched out all the muscles that had to stay completely still for the past hour. Craning her neck from side to side, Ally headed over to Austin's side and watched him checking out all the masks. "Think you'd like one?"

"I don't know, maybe," he shrugged his shoulders. "They are kind of cool." He turned towards her again, letting the masks and ready made designs stay on the counter. "I am ready for my tour."

Ally beamed up at him. "I hope you're ready."

"Me too. What's first?"

Waving goodbye to Inno, Ally followed Austin out of the shop, closing the door tight. "First up, since we're near, the Scala Contarini del Bovolo," she told him and watched his expression get even more confused as each Italian word came out of her mouth. "Spiral staircase. That way," she pointed south.