AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Chapter Twenty-Two
‘Geli, this is Bella and Roxy. Roxy and Bella, this is Geli.’ Geli stepped inside my hotel room. She looked colourful as always, dressed in a bright red velvet skater dress with tights and biker boots.
‘Ciao!Nice to meet you, Bella,’ said Geli, kissing her on both cheeks. ‘AndRoxy…’ Her eyes widened and she ran her hands through her blue hair, which was bolder than usual. She must have coloured it this morning. ‘Hello…piacere. You are even more beautiful than the photos Sophia showed me.’ She took Roxy’s hand and kissed it gently.
Looks like someone has an admirer…
‘Grazie!’said Roxy.
‘Prego.So,’ said Geli, still clearly distracted by Roxy, ‘I see you ladies are all dressed up and ready for some fun inFirenze.’
‘We certainly are!’ Roxy winked. Such a flirt.
Luckily I’d packed a little black dress and some heels, just in case Lorenzo and I went out for a fancy dinner. Thought it would be good to make an effort and dress up as we hadn’t been out on a date in so long. Thankfully, as it was one of my early maternity dresses, it was able to accommodate the extra weight I’d gained and was nice and comfortable. Not sure I could say the same about these heels. It had been ages since I’d worn any.
Roxy of course was in her signature leather skirt and knee-high boots, and Bella had on some smart black trousers and a sparkly silver top. I couldn’t remember the last time we’d had a proper night out together.
As much as I missed Leo, I had to admit that it felt good to spend some time away from being a mum. Lorenzo said Leo was absolutely fine when he’d stopped by Marta’s to see him, so that helped me to relax even more. I had to admit that there were benefits to having her around to babysit. Without Marta, I wouldn’t get the chance to do my Italian lessons, I wouldn’t have met Geli and I wouldn’t have come away on this weekend. So although I knew we weren’t going to become best buddies anytime this century, I was grateful for her help. I’d had an amazing day with Lorenzo and was having such a fun time with the girls today. And now that Geli was taking us out for a night on the town, something told me more excitement was on the cards…
‘Bene. Let us go.’
We set off down the street, heading towards the centre.
‘So, where are we off to tonight, then, Geli?’ said Bella.
‘First, we will go foraperitivo. It is a very important ritual.’
‘Isn’t that just like happy hour?’
‘Pff!’ said Geli. ‘It is better. In Italy we like to have drinks and snacks to open the stomach and prepare it for dinner. We will start by going to a few bars, then have dinner and after that—well, we will see.’
‘We were thinking it would be fun to go clubbing,’ said Roxy. ‘I fancy a good boogie, and Soph here needs to let her hair down and get a little release, seeing as she’s not getting it in other ways.’ There went her famous cackle.
‘Christ, Roxy!’ I slapped my forehead. ‘You’re obsessed!’
‘What!Just saying. Dancing will be good for you.’
As much as I liked Geli, I wasn’t sure if I was comfortable with her knowing about my sex life, or lack of it.
‘Perfetto!I know a great club that we can go to. Tonight will be fun!’
Three bars and two restaurants later, we were on our way to the club. I was surprised I was even able to stand upright.
At the first bar, Geli had ordered multiple rounds of Negroni. She joked that it was ‘illegal’ to come to Florence and not have one. Thank God we’d had a load of crisps, olives and chips to try and soak up the alcohol. Good thing I wouldn’t have to breastfeed tomorrow either.
Around eight, we went to another bar and then another... After that we went out for dinner, followed by a pit stop at her friend’s restaurant for dessert, by which point I was ready to burst. And topple over. These heels weren’t made for bar and restaurant crawls. Or for holding up a very tipsy woman.
We’d arrived. The club was so hidden that if Geli hadn’t taken us here, I doubt we would have been able to find it. Once we got inside, we walked down the winding staircase to the main floor. It was in an ancient crypt, with stone walls and arches, so had a lot more character than most clubs I’d been to in London.
The music was pumping from the speakers. I think it was a seventies or eighties song. The dance floor was just as retro. It had illuminated red, yellow, blue and green flashing squares, like something fromSaturday Night Fever. Everyone seemed to be having fun, though. It didn’t seem like one of those places where people just came to stand and look cool, which was good. The DJ switched to ‘I Gotta Feeling’ by the Black Eyed Peas and the crowd whooped. Now I was here, I was actually looking forward to shaking a leg.
‘Look at those two!’ Bella laughed as she watched Geli and Roxy on the dance floor. It was one o’clock in the morning. We’d all been dancing non-stop since we’d arrived around eleven-thirty, but now my feet were killing me, so Bella and I had come to sit down for a bit and left them to it.
Geli and Roxy were both singing at the top of their voices to Beyoncé’s ‘Single Ladies’ and giggling as they tried to remember the next move in the routine. Queen B. would be proud. Or, more likely, smiling at how funny they were. But that’s what made it great. It was so bad, it was good.
Whilst Geli was attempting the pump walk, with her left hand out in front of her like a teapot spout, Roxy was shaking her hips, dipping and bending and waving her arms in the air like a lunatic. She then started strutting around haphazardly, her face full of sexy attitude and doing the iconic side-wave hand gesture every time the song reached the chorus, pointing enthusiastically to her ring finger.
After her messy divorce, I very much doubted that Roxy wanted to be within five thousand feet of a wedding ring again, but that didn’t stop her from getting well and truly into character whilst she was dancing.
