La notte delle rose nere

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The day had begun peacefully for you, it was Saturday, and you had gotten up early to go to the supermarket to do the month’s shopping. The week was somewhat exhausting at your job, as was every week that coincided with a nominal payment, paperwork, paperwork and more paperwork, especially considering that you were the human resource’s director, but luckily everything went as expected, and right now you had no other concern than spending a nice weekend with the girl you loved the most in the hole world.

“Honey! I made a list of things we should take home, I don’t know what you think,” said a sweet little voice behind you as you walked into an aisle with the shopping cart still empty, you turned your body, walking now sideways so you could see her.

“Oh yeah?” you smiled seeing the enthusiasm on her face, “let me see, sweetie,” she handed you a small notebook, in which the list was written, it caught your attention that it was perfectly colored and decorated.

“Well? What do you think?” she asked shyly, her hands clasped on her belly as she played with her fingers.

“Do we really need that much ice cream?” you raised both eyebrows, “and snacks?”

“Hmm, yeah?” she tilted her head, looking at you with tender eyes and blinking several times. You took a few long seconds to ‘think about it’, you even narrowed your eyes, but in the end her tenderness overcame you.

“Ugh, that’s cheating, you know? But okay, you win,” you stopped, only to place a small kiss on her lips, which brought a smile to her face.

Myoui Mina looked as radiant and beautiful as ever, she was a girl with simple tastes, delicate, elegant, and above all, a tender and shy person. She was wearing a purple cotton shirt, baggy jeans and her cream-colored clutch, a basic outfit, but one that she knew how to wear perfectly with her charms.

It hadn’t been an easy process to get to where you two were now. You had met about three years ago when you arrived in Rome, your friends were practically non-existent there, but even so you decided to go to the cinema to see a movie you had been waiting for a long time, coincidentally, she was going to the same movie as you, accompanied with a small group of two other friends, Minatozaki Sana, and the architect of everything, Hirai Momo.

Momo was responsible for welcoming you between them. She and Sana made you feel comfortable throughout the night, they were fun, kind, and above all, exaggeratedly beautiful, but despite that, neither of them caught your attention as much as Mina did. She was quiet all night, enjoying the movie and later your conversations, laughing, nodding, and speaking only when someone asked her something or involved her, but strangely enough, her reserved, delicate and pretty aura made you fall in love from the first moment.

You exchanged numbers with all of them that night, but the only one you started talking to every day was her. The months passed, and the connection between you was formed every day until you began to forge a special bond, she was very attentive, kind and nice to you, and you made sure to reciprocate all those good feelings. It was clear that you  liked each other, but neither of you managed to take that small step forward. You asked Sana for advice for many days, meditating on what would be the best way to declare yourself, but absolutely everything terrified you. The day had arrived, and you two had met in a small cafe north of the city, the conversation was difficult for you to carry, but you ended up telling her, with a long talk explaining your feelings for her included. Lucky for you, the feeling was reciprocated, and the two of you had a very nice date that day, but anyway, things didn’t become official until months later, when at the most special and fun birthday party you’ve ever had your life, you two kissed in your room, completely alone, while Angel by Aerosmith was playing outside.

Since then your relationship hasn’t changed much, she was your girlfriend now, but everything was exactly the same, with the difference that things were much more special for both of you, and you could express your love for each other in any way you wanted. You were very happy with her, and you could tell how happy she was with you, everything was perfect.

“Oh, you said you wanted a box of tea sachets, right?” you remembered, when you were passing by in front of the shelf. The cart was already half full, and a few things were missing.

“Yes! White tea,” she grabbed the box of tea and dropped it on the cart, just at that moment, you and Mina received a message on your phones at the same time.

“Huh?” you took out your phone at the same time as Mina, and then you exchanged glances when you saw who the message was from.

“God, I really can’t believe she’s going to do it for real,” she said, looking back at her phone.

“What? What thing?” You looked down at the screen, opened the message, and saw the photo she had sent you. It was an invitation to a masquerade party, too well designed in your opinion, but suspiciously worded, “did you know about this?”

“Yes, she’s been planning this all month, but she didn’t want to give me too many details,” she put her phone in her back pocket, “what is she supposed to mean by ‘a perfect night to unleash all your instincts and carnal urges’?”

“I can get an idea, but I don’t want to jump to conclusions…” you replied, staring into space and touching the inside of your cheek with your tongue, “shall we go?” you turned to see her.

“You want to go?”

“I don’t know, do you want to?”

“I want to go if you want to go, silly.”

You looked at nothing again, but this time thinking very carefully about what decision to make, going meant taking a big risk, you didn’t know what you were going to get into, and especially what you were going to get her into, but hell, no you could miss out on a potentially amazing night.

“Okay, we’ll go, but that doesn’t mean I’m not dying of anxiety right now.”

“I know, I feel the same way,” she sighed, as she looked at the products in the shopping cart, “let’s finish getting everything and go home honey.”

You nodded, and then set off again with the cart.

1 week later.

The week went by much faster than you could have imagined, this was a product of the anxiety that still caused you to think about what could happen in a few hours. You and Mina bought clothes exclusively for the occasion, with nice accessories and masks included, of course, and everything was ready to go, but the feeling that you were walking into the lion’s den didn’t go away even if you tried to suppress it.

You saw yourself in the mirror for a few long seconds, analyzing every possible angle; you had opted for the easy option: pants, jacket, shirt, tie, and shoes, all black.

“Oh my gosh!” Mina exclaimed as she came out of the bedroom hallway, “Darling, you look amazing! And so handsome,” she smiled at you, as she looked you up and down.

You turned to meet her gaze, but yours quickly shifted to the rest of her body; Mina definitely had a fashion sense far superior to yours, you could tell by the spectacular choice of dress that she had made; it was a short, long-sleeved black dress with protruding shoulder pads and a silver-trimmed belt that encircled her waist. You looked entranced by how beautiful her body looked, but that wasn’t the only thing that caught your eye.

“Baby, do you have hair extensions on?” you asked innocently, taking a few steps towards her with a smile.

“Do you like it?” she cocked her head from side to side to show you the full length of her hair now perfectly ironed and styled.

“God, you’re going to be the most beautiful girl in the place, I’m not even exaggerating,” you took her by the waist and brought her closer to your body, to gave her a small peck on the lips, “hey, we have to go, the party started at 9 and it’s almost 10 o'clock.”

“Let’s go then!”

All the way you couldn’t do anything but wonder how the hell Momo had managed to rent a villa in Olgiata, one of the most prestigious areas in all of Italy, you knew the place only from photos, and you never thought that you could visit it one day, but it was a truly beautiful territory, no matter which way you looked, there were meadows adorned with beautiful houses and vineyards that, despite being at night, completely dazzled the landscape.

“Damn, do you have any idea how much the cheapest parcel should cost?” you said, one hand on the wheel and the other on Mina’s hand.

“I don’t know, but I’m concerned about the means by which Momo got a place here,” she replied, looking out the window.

“Her parents?”

“She doesn’t keep in touch with any of them, bad relationship I guess,” she sighed.

“Oh… that sucks.”

“But,” she continued, turning to look at you, “she loves her sister, who does have a good relationship with her parents.”

“Do you think she got it for her?”

“Who knows, I know her father is a wealthy businessman here in Italy, but nothing else,” she shrugged.

“Well, great,” you looked straight ahead, when a few meters ahead you saw the villa whose address was written on the invitation, “it’s here, put on your mask.”

When you parked next to all the cars lined up along the narrow road and turned off the car, the first thing you noticed was, of course, the blaring music coming from inside. The villa was surrounded by tall, perfectly trimmed bushes, and adorned on the inside by some tall trees.

“Well here we go, are you ready?” you said, after putting on the mask and turning to look at her, “wow, that mask really enhances your eyes, you look like a… what do they call it here in Italy? Oh yeah, un cigno nero.”

“A black swan, huh?” she giggled, “alright, I’ll act like it then, come on.”

You and Mina got out of the car and went to the sidewalk, skirted the bushes and found the entrance to the villa, which consisted of a couple of stone steps that led to a small roundabout with a tree in the middle, it was there when you both could see in all its splendor the spectacular mansion that stood a few meters from the garden through which you were entering.