Lost in Verona
By Eurovision Quotes
It had been two weeks since they had won Eesti Laul. Koit and Laura were sitting on opposite sides of their lounge, staring blankly into space. As a married couple, thy did everything together, but now the tables had turned.
"Do you really think this is best for us?" Asked Laura, trying not to let the tears come out of her eyes. She resented showing too much emotion in front of Koit because he had the emotional capacity of a piece of paper.
"I told you, we need space and I didn't want this to wait until after Eurovision." Replied Koit, with a blank expression.
"3 years," mumbled Laura. "3 wasted years. I could have been in L.A. writing music for singers who had a shot, but instead I was stuck here in a marriage which stopped all of my dreams. We probably won't even qualify in Eurovision. I have tried out before with better songs like 'Supersonic' but I got stuck with boring 'Verona'? And what is it based on, some weekend you spent in Italy fussing over flowers?"
"We will qualify! You're a national treasure and the fans love our song! And my trip to Verona was a lot more than fussing over flowers. I had never felt so inspired, it really changed me!"
"Well it didn't change you enough for me."
"Are you saying that I'm not good enough for you?" Yelled Koit as Laura managed a subtle nod. "You know, I need to be honest. It's because when I was in Verona I… I fell in love."
Laura was speechless, breathless, not knowing what to say. A minute passed and Laura whispered, "Who? Who was she?"
"Her name was Claudia. Claudia Faniello."
One week before Eurovision
Claudia was an Italian divorcee, hanging on to seldom. It had been a year since she had divorced her husband Marco because he was married to his job. Since then, she had continued her singing career, even though her songs had become less developed than usual. As she sat at the Eurovision Village bar in Kyiv, she thought back to her weekend in Verona. She was set to meet with the man she had fell in love with, an Estonian named Koit. Claudia never liked living in Italy, especially as she was Maltese through and through, but she thought it may be worth it because of Koit. He was perfect and nothing could ruin him for her, apart from the fact that he was married. His wife, Laura, had been acting distant from him lately and a lot more stressed out. She was beautiful, but the stress had given her wrinkles and bags under eyes that even the best concealer couldn't hide.
As Claudia stirred her vodka cranberry, she noticed a tall figure with distinctive eyes approach her. She knew who it was. He had changed since their last rendezvous, but he still had the same smile. His hair was greying and he hadn't aged very well, but Claudia still felt a tingle as she saw him.
"Claudia. Wow, you look so beautiful." Said Koit.
"I don't know if you should be flirting with me like that, after all you do have a wife." Laughed Claudia as Koit ordered a scotch.
"Nobody knows that she's my wife." Koit replied, appearing more sinister.
"No, the public only think you're temporary music partners." Replied Claudia, seeming quite confused.
"That means that nobody knows we're getting divorced."
"What?" Exclaimed Claudia, pretending to be sympathetic but deep down she was happy that she could finally have the man of her dreams.
"Laura is too sensitive and drives me insane! She thinks I'm stopping her dreams but I'm the only one supporting her."
"Along with lots of Eurovision fans."
"What?"
"I said nothing." Stumbled Claudia.
Koit pretended to ignore that. "Anyway, I have come to the conclusion that I fell in love in Verona. If you haven't noticed, our song is about you, but Laura doesn't know. You changed me, Claudia. Laura noticed that change and suspected something, but ignored it. That weekend, in Verona, we were like Romeo and Juliet: so much passion and changes in ourselves, but at the end we had to say goodbye, for what we thought would be forever. But here we are now, the same people as we were in Verona, now both single and with nothing in our way. "
Claudia was beaming at every word. "I hardly know you Koit. However, I have been told that first impressions count." She leaned over towards him and felt his warm, soft breath on her. She stroked the back of his neck and leaned in. Slowly, their lips touched and pulled together, like electric sockets. "I have been waiting to do this for years." She caressed his hand and leaned in again. She reached into his pocket for a key as they rushed to Koit's hotel room.
The night before Eurovision
"Where have you been?" Yelled Laura as Koit entered with a scruffy shirt and a bottle of wine in both hands.
"Actually having a go-g-good time" Slurred Koit as he put his arm around Laura. "Why do you care? We're not even married!"
"God, this is the third time you've come back to me drunk! And Eurovision's tomorrow! I can't have you like this! I'm like your mother, clearing up your mess!" Laura shouted. She opened up the safe.
"What are you getting out?" Wondered Koit.
Laura became increasingly nervous. "Tic-tacs. They help my voice." She swallowed four at once, then finished off the rest in there. Koit crashed on the sofa, not caring at all. This was so typical of him, not noticing what his wife was doing and ignoring it all the time. Laura lay down beside him and felt at home while being embraced by his alcohol breath. "I still love you," she whispered, kissing him and holding him, never wanting to let him go.
She saw lights flashing in front of her.
The night of Eurovision
Laura was stressing like crazy. For the entire morning, she had her hair and makeup done, which was meant to sooth her, but it only made her more nervous. Heir eyebags were still visible under her concealer and her hair was falling out as it was being brushed. She hadn't seen Koit all day. He must have run away from the hotel room to 'visit' Claudia. Laura had never met Claudia. Part of her wanted to kill the woman that stole the love of her life, but part other was intrigued to see what Koit was fussing about.
Laura had rehearsed the song with Koit, each time their chemistry died that little bit more. All she could do was pretend, but it seemed like she'd been doing that her whole life. She fit into her dress and could a glimpse of herself in the mirror. Her eyes had a sparkle that the white, long dress brought and she saw 5 years instantly taken off herself. She was beautiful. With all the time she was with Koit, she never realised that. Her beauty was more or less ignored when she was married. For the first time in a while, she felt happy.
Koit was sitting backstage with Claudia as the show went on. They were both in the same semi-final so they had more time with each other. Claudia had enjoyed all of the passion she felt in Verona with Koit years later. However, Koit was getting older, so he was beginning to get tired. He felt excited when he saw Claudia, but could only follow through with everything he did if he had a drink by his side. He definitely had changed, but not for the better. He had a pounding headache constantly and Claudia was clinging onto him like a limpet. He began regretting everything. He was still in love with Laura. But no, he couldn't be. The divorce was his idea. He had to see where she was. He rushed out into the green room without Claudia, who was about to go on stage. He saw Laura, who was sitting and smiling at the stage. Koit was shocked, she wasn't stressing out. She was calm and enjoying herself. She even smiled at Koit as he came to sit with her.
"Look, Laura, I have to tell you something…" began Koit, but he was cut off when the lights went down and a giant LED flashed into the image of Claudia. Koit's lover walked gracefully centre stage, starting off the slow song with a strong but tired voice. You could hear her pain in her voice, but the song said nothing. Koit couldn't bear to watch it, so he prepared himself backstage, whereas Laura sat there, in awe of Claudia. For a second, it felt like their eyes met. Laura was embraced by Claudia's warmth and didn't care about the song: she wanted her.
The minutes that proceeded the Estonian performance felt like an eternity. Koit was backstage, overthinking all of his mistakes and Laura was being escorted from the green room, still in awe of the Maltese performance. Koit finally saw Laura, but none of them were able to say anything. The air between them was thicker than blood as they walked out onto the stage. The two of them were trembling, dreading what could be the last performance between them. At first, Laura was out on her own. She opened her mouth, letting out the most powerful voice she could muster under the circumstances. She somehow felt comfortable, as if this was meant to be the way to go for her, independent, without anyone to help her. The lights all blurred in front of her as Koit walked on the stage, partially tipsy. Laura's heart sank as she saw him, but tried not to let it show on stage. She finally had one of her big notes, so she breathed in as much as possible and let the notes escape her, controlling them as if they were wild animals. She began strolling as casually as possible over to Koit, standing by his side unwillingly. He turned towards her, as choreographed, then stroked her hair. Laura tried her best not to grimace as he pulled her closer and she was made to hold him steadily. They delivered their last note in unison, so Laura had to hold her vocals back or she would overpower Koit, who evidently wasn't trying. As they absorbed the half-hearted cheers of the crowd, they let out a sigh of relief. They had come to the conclusion that they didn't want to qualify, so they wouldn't have to perform that again.
Laura had pinched a key from Koit's jeans pocket and rushed to the other side of the hotel. She had taken some more of the tablets, more than she should have. Koit had crashed down on the bed with a bottle in his hand, as usual. Laura had taken this opportunity to visit the person she should hate the most in the world, but she only felt admiration for her. Quietly, she opened the door with the key and took a look around the room. There was a large double bed with a table beside it full of drinks. She almost laughed at that, because it made it obvious that Koit had been here plenty of times. She could hear the shower turn off, so she sat down in the chair by a desk and had one more pill. The silence felt as if it could kill someone. As Laura waited, she imagined Claudia walking out and becoming violent because she intruded. But she walked out, a towel wrapped around her body, and looked sympathetically at Laura.
"I should hate you," said Laura, feeling tears in her eyes, "I feel so confused right now." Claudia sat on the bed and listened intently. "Koit and I have been married for 3 years, but recently he had changed and it's because of you! But you made me realise that I can do better, that I deserve better. I felt trapped, but I feel more liberated, because of you."
Claudia fiddled with her moist hair and decided to tell the truth, "I only was with Koit because he distracted me from my divorce. When he wasn't around I remembered how sad it was without a man, but when he was lying next to me, I felt almost complete. But this week, it's not how I remembered. Koit was drinking a lot more and it never felt natural to me. I wanted someone who loved me passionately, but didn't need to drink all the time to do that."
Laura nodded and stared deeply into Claudia's eyes. At first, she saw no emotion, but she dived right in and saw lots of sorrow and pain. Overcome with emotion, Laura sat next to Claudia on her bed. "I need to get away somewhere. I need to truly find myself." She confessed as she held Claudia's hand.
"I could do with a trip," answered Claudia, almost laughing as she said it.
"I want to go with you," stated Laura, becoming more serious. She felt as if she had lost everything in the world, but that only meant she had nothing to lose. She leaned in slowly and felt Claudia's rose breath on her face. They both let go of all doubt and went in for it. Their lips met and held there for a few seconds. Claudia got even closer to Laura, attacking her with passion. She let her towel slip off, laying down on her bed invitingly.
The morning after Eurovision
Laura felt refreshed as she woke up in the morning, feeling happier than she had in a while. She kissed Claudia on the brow before taking a shower. She thought about her future and began planning her trip with Claudia. She was thinking of flying to L.A. where she could rediscover her love for music with Claudia. They could go on the beaches, see Hollywood and they could let go of their past. The thought of this brought a smile to Laura's face, which hadn't happened in a while. She stepped out of the shower, dried off and stepped back into the room, about to tell Claudia what she was planning, brimming with excitement. However, she was taken aback when she saw Claudia sitting crying on her bed, sitting next to Koit.
"Laura, I still love you," confessed Koit, "Let's go back home and sort everything out." Koit was sincere and for once didn't have a bottle in his hand. This was too much for Laura to handle. She sat down on the chair, leaving a thud from the weight of the world.
"Look, Koit, I don't love you," replied Laura, shook from the statement, "I can't go back I need to get away as soon as possible. I've already packed."
"Laura, this isn't your choice. You HAVE to come back," shouted Koit as he grabbed Laura's arm.
"Get off me! I want to stay here!" shrieked Laura as Koit kept grabbing her. "Get off me!"
Koit was restraining Laura as if she was a dummy. She kept fighting, but Koit was too strong. He pulled a hip flask from his inside pocket and made Laura drink some as he drank the rest. Laura was now gasping for air. She saw lights flashing violently around her. Koit held back her weakened thrashed, but stopped: Claudia was holding a gun towards him.
"Get off her, or I shoot," cried Claudia curtly. Koit put Laura down, with his hands in the air. Laura could breathe now, but she still saw the lights. Her ears popped and she only heard blurred voices. She lay down in Claudia's lap while she held the gun.
Claudia stood up and approached Koit. "Do as I say," she ordered. Koit was in no position to disobey. Claudia tied his hands to the pillar by the curtain and put a tissue gag into his mouth. "If you do so much as make a sound, I will shoot and call the police. OK?" Koit nodded frantically. Claudia went back to the bed and consoled Laura. Her vision was now almost cut off and she was gasping. Koit's outburst couldn't have caused this. As Claudia wondered, Laura managed to stutter a sentence:
"Claudia, I…I…" she gasped, unable to speak fully, "I will miss you."
Her eyes shut and she stopped breathing.
"Laura! Wake up! WAKE UP!" yelled Claudia, in shock. She couldn't do anything. She was speechless.
The police came in and investigated the room. Hysterical, Claudia stood at the door and cried over the drama the just happened. She couldn't believe that the two people she had got so close to were in danger, one of them may be dead. And in a way, it was all her fault. She split up the couple and made Laura want to stay instead of going back to her home where she would be safe and happy for sure. Claudia couldn't take any more of this. She ran outside and called a cab, crawling in and getting out her phone.
"Hey Valentina? Meet me at Kyiv airport as soon as possible. I know you said we'd have our trip next week, but we need to go now. Love you, bye." She sat back and relaxed. A month in San Marino with Valentina Monetta would be sure to clear her mind of everything that just occurred.
Koit was unbound from the bondage and spoke out, "She passed out because of some drug she was taking, not because of me." He had to speak immediately or he would be ignored. "I admit, I did try to hold her back when she wouldn't come with me back home." He was being honest and knew he wouldn't be prosecuted just for that. She had overdosed, so that was her fault.
"Sir, I'm sorry, she is dead." Stated the policeman. This hit Koit like a bullet. "And you, sir, are coming with us."
"Why, I did nothing wrong!"
"Sir, we are taking you to a rehabilitation centre. Did you see how many drinks you've had this week? It's the right thing to do."
Koit yelled and tried to resist, but it was no use. After all, it was what he deserved. He cheated on his wife, who seemed to be taking it well, but she was secretly on anti-depressants. He kept cheating on her during Eurovision, one of the most stressful weeks of her life. Then she was about to find herself, but he stopped that. Now he couldn't turn back. He should never have gone to Verona. His true self had disappeared there. All his life had in front of him was disappointment and regret, which is what he deserved. Claudia should have shot him right there and then.