Mag bit her bottom lip and turned her gaze to the window of the limousine. She could discern the glow of the streetlamps rhythmically lightening then darkening where she sat with her best friend.
"Mag, are you shaking?" Marni gripped her hand a little tighter "You do know that you've nothing to be nervous about, right?"
"Really? So we're not actually meeting one of the most powerful men in the world, or singing in front of hundreds of people I don't know, in a completely unfamiliar environment? Because I'm sure you could understand why I might be a little on the anxious side if that were the case."
Marni laughed "But it's my engagement party! If I want to sing a duet with my best friend, it's up to all of the guests to indulge me, dammit! And he's not just 'one of the most powerful men in the world' to me, nor should he be to you. He's my fiancé and he needs to meet my maid of honour at some point. He's going to absolutely adore you. Even if he doesn't, he's going to have to do a damn good job of faking it. You were in my life before him, after all."
Mag laughed too this time, relaxing slightly. "I suppose you were mine first. Although I assume that tonight might not be the most appropriate time to bring that up with him..."
"I'm not entirely sure that he'd be averse to the thought of you and I together. But perhaps we should surprise him with that little fact from the past another time."
"Wipe that smirk off your face, madam."
"Fine, I'll behave as long as you do."
"Deal." Mag lifted Marni's hand and kissed it gently "I couldn't be happier for you right now you know? You've never been so beautiful and I can't wait to meet the person who makes you feel this way."
"Oh Mag, thank you." Marni sounded choked up, and cleared her throat before continuing "You need to knock that off though, we're almost there and it took over an hour to get my make-up right. I'm not going to mess it up by crying before we've even arrived."
Rotti Largo stood at the end of the red carpet leading into the marble-decked entrance to the GeneCo ballroom, his three offspring fidgeting by his side. Through the front doors they could see the flashing of cameras as guests arrived to be greeted by Rotti then shown through to the prosecco reception.
"I want you all on your best behaviour tonight. I'll have a gentern take Carmela shortly after Marni arrives, but Pavi I want you in bed by ten and Luigi there is to be absolutely no drinking, do you understand?"
"Aww, c'mon Pop!"
"You heard me. I know exactly how far above the law you believe you are, young man, but in this building, I am the law and so help me, you're not too old for a spanking."
Luigi scowled, prompting a giggle from his sister, who tugged at his trouser leg and gestured to be picked up. Rolling his eyes, Luigi obliged. It hadn't taken long for him to learn how quickly Carmela's tantrums could escalate if he tried to ignore her, so he grudgingly accepted the role of ersatz babysitter in accordance with her two-year-old whims. "I don't understand why we all gotta be here, we see Marni all the fuckin' time since she moved in and why does she care whether or not we get to know her friends?"
"Luigi, mind your language! And Marni is family now, what is important to her is important to me, so I would be grateful if you could show a little courtesy to the people gathered here tonight."
"Daddy" Pavi grabbed his father's hand to get his attention "do I look okay?"
Rotti brushed his son's hand out of the way "you look fine, Paviche, but you're too old to be calling me 'daddy'. It makes you sound like a little girl. Are you a little girl?"
Pavi took a step back, obviously smarting at the comment. "No...father."
"That's better."
A gentern hurried over and whispered something into Rotti's ear. He smiled and strode over to the grand doorway as Marni and Mag entered. He embraced his fiancée warmly before beckoning his children over. "Mag, it is a pleasure to finally meet you, I look forward to getting to know you properly and especially to hearing you open tonight's proceedings with your duet. Marni has played me some recordings of your performances and you have quite a gift. Which piece did you decide on in the end? Did you opt for the Flower Duet?" Mag nodded. "Marvellous. In about twenty minutes I will be giving the welcome speech, after which you two are up. In the meantime, let me introduce you to my children. Luigi, my eldest...Luigi, where are your manners?"
Mag heard the young man in front of her sigh in exasperation as he wrestled with his squirming sister his squirming sister. "I only got two fuckin' hands, dad, I can't hold onto this brat and be shakin' hands at the same ti-" Mag didn't need to see Rotti's expression to recognise the sound of somebody changing tone under the glower of a wrathful parent "erm, I mean, sorry to be rude, miss, it's a pleasure, but my sister here is a little clingy and you don't wanna hear the racket she'll make if I try to put her down before bedtime. Carmela, you gonna say hi?" The toddler regarded Mag quizzically for a few seconds, before blowing a raspberry and nuzzling her face into Luigi's shirt. "Dammit kid, you got drool on me! Ugh, I'm gonna have to go change and get rid of this barf machine, but it was good to meet ya. You wanna talk to my other sister?"
"Hey!" a young boy's protestation interrupted Luigi, who was already walking away with a mocking chuckle. "I'm not a girl" Pavi muttered, mostly to himself. Mag smiled at him, gently.
"You don't sound like a girl. You must be Paviche, Marni has told me about you, it seems like you and she are quite good friends."
Pavi nodded eagerly as he replied "she's told me about you too, she played me some of your songs, you sound lovely." He shuffled a little uncomfortably "I'm, um, I'm really looking forward to hearing you sing tonight. Luigi calls me names when I listen to classical music, but he has to behave this evening, so he can't. "
"I hope that I can live up to the expectation! And you shouldn't take such nonsense from your brother. In future, you must tell Marni if he's being mean to you. I'm sure she'd be more than happy to have a word with your father about his behaviour."
"She certainly would!" Marni interjected, rejoining the conversation. "Pavi, I'm afraid I have to steal Mag away for a final run through of our piece before we go onstage, but we will have plenty of time to catch up after the performance." She gave him a soft kiss on the forehead. "Enjoy yourself and don't be scared to stand up to Luigi. You know you've always got us on your side."
Blushing and grinning from ear to ear, Pavi scampered off to the ballroom.
"Mag, may I speak with you for a moment? I noticed that Marni is being quite the social butterfly this evening, I wanted to make sure you're not feeling uncomfortable or left out or-"
Mag smiled and placed a hand on his arm "I'm fine, really, Marni gave me a tour when we arrived, so I'm not going to get lost or injured or desperately frightened if she isn't by my side all night. I can find the bar and the ladies' room, between which I'm quite content."
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to patronise you." Rotti Largo was not a man who showed humility often, but he sounded sincere.
"You haven't, don't worry, I just stopped trying to be discreet about making people aware of my limitations, or the lack thereof, very early in life. The only thing I might have struggled to do alone tonight is dance to this rather charming waltz I can hear which, if I'm not mistaken, is what a number of your other guests are doing. Would you consider being so kind as to oblige me?" She held out a hand, which Rotti gladly took and gently led her to the dancefloor. They fell easily into the rhythm of the dance, resuming their conversation. "How are you enjoying your party so far?"
"It has been pleasant enough, certainly, although it's difficult to fully relax in the presence of employees and stakeholders. Tonight was never meant for me though, it's all for her. She is having the time of her life, which is what matters to me. But I also know what really matters to her and with that in mind, I have a proposition for you. I have been thinking about this for some time, but it was meeting you tonight that really made my mind up. You've been blind since birth, is that correct?"
"Yes, that's right."
"Would you like to be able to look at your best friend on her wedding day? To see the world as the rest of us do?"
"Mr Largo, I'm not sure what to say to-"
"Please, call me Rotti, there is no need for formalities amongst friends."
"Well, Rotti, of course I've thought about it and wondered how life could be, but there's no way I would be able to afford the necessary surgery. Without meaning any disrespect to you or your business, I don't wish to find myself in debt."
"What if I were to offer you new eyes with no financial implications whatsoever for you?"
"Are you serious?"
"You have a gift, a talent, something beautiful and rare. This whole room was silent, two hundred people enraptured, by your performance this evening. For those few minutes, you took them away from here, out of themselves. There is misery all around us, but you have the potential to bring so much joy. I want to help you give that to more people, to the world. I hope I'm not overstepping a mark to say that Marni has told me that you've dreamt of it for years but never believed that it was within your reach. I can make it happen, Mag, if you'll let me. Come and work with me, I will give you new eyes and in return you will be the voice of GeneCo. You'd have your own penthouse in GeneCo towers, you'd travel the world to perform and share your gift, you would want for nothing."
"My goodness. That's incredibly generous, thank you. May I take some time to consider it? I don't wish to seem ungrateful by not immediately leaping at the offer but what you are proposing is huge, it would change everything for me, change who I am. I need to think about this."
"Of course, I would be surprised if you didn't need to reflect on this somewhat. It's not a time limited offer so feel free to take as long as you need. But I believe this could be a truly rewarding partnership, for both of us. Let me know your decision and enjoy the rest of the night." The song moved on as they headed back to Mag's seat, Rotti excusing himself to schmooze with the rest of his guests.
Mag flinched slightly at the hand placed indelicately on her left arm.
"Oh, I'm sorry, Miss Mag, I, um, I didn't mean to scare you." The nervous apology came in a young boy's voice with a slight Italian lilt. The middle Largo child.
"Pavi? It's Pavi, isn't it?"
"Yes. I'm sorry if I scared you. I've never met anybody who couldn't see me before, I don't know how I'm supposed to say hello."
Mag gave him a gentle smile "usually, just saying hello will do the trick, there's nothing wrong with my ears. And yes, you startled me, just as I'm sure that it would make you jump if I sneaked up behind you and tapped you on the shoulder. But I know you meant no harm, most people aren't sure of how to approach me at first. Are you enjoying the party?"
His face lit up "I love daddy's parties, although I'm not allowed to go to many of them. There's something special about these nights. Everybody looks so pretty and so happy. And I really like the music, especially tonight. I heard some of the songs that Marni gave to daddy before tonight, I really liked them, but you sounded even more beautiful in person. I mean, Marni sounded lovely too and I like it when she sings to me at night sometimes, but your voice was even more special. Oh, but please don't tell her that I said that!"
Mag could feel herself blushing as she laughed at his hurried addendum. "Don't worry, I won't say anything. But thank you, Pavi, it's really lovely of you to say so."
"It's true, I mean it. I hope I get to hear you sing more one day. I think you should be famous, everybody was so happy when they were listening to you. I think you could make more people happy too."
She smiled "I would like that, very much. It's something I've thought about for a long time, but I don't know if I ever could. Maybe one day."
Mag heard chair legs scraping as he pushed back from the table "I should go, I promised that I would be in bed ten minutes from now. But thank you for singing so beautifully, it was lovely to meet you."
"You too Pavi, you too."