Page 79 of Beyond Her Manner

She noticed in Viola’s manner that she, too, was still riding the waves of adrenaline from her performance. There was anundeniable glow about her, an excitable energy that radiated from her, illuminating her face. She took a sip from her glass and placed it on the table. Turning her back to Gillian, she pulled her hair to one side.

“Unzip me, would you? I must get out of this dress before I suffocate.”

Gillian located the zip and pulled it down, immediately realising Viola was braless. As she reached the bottom, a pair of light pink knickers revealed themselves.

“Thanks,” Viola said, making her way towards the door. With her back to Gillian, she let her dress slip to the floor and stepped out of it effortlessly. Before Gillian could process what was happening, Viola unhooked a dressing gown from the back of the door and slipped into it.

Caught off guard by the sudden intimacy of the moment, Gillian found her pulse quickening as she tried to steady herself. Viola, seemingly oblivious to her effect, picked up her glass from the table, gestured for Gillian to sit, and then settled beside her.

“Thank you for being here. You don’t know how much it meant to me to see you before I began.”

“It was my pleasure, I assure you,” Gillian replied with a smile, happy to influence such a sublime performance. “Your first song was beautiful. German, I presume?”

“Yes,” Viola confirmed.

“I didn’t know you spoke it.”

“I don’t. It’s only a few words when you look at it. It’s easily taught.”

“What is it about?” Gillian asked, still wondering what was the meaning of the words which had affected her so much.

“It warns against the attraction of superficial values like riches, youth, and beauty. Mahler composed it based on a poem by Ruckert, ‘If you love for beauty’. He wrote it to his wife.”

Viola broke into song:

If you love for beauty, Oh, do not love me!

Love the sun; She has golden hair.

If you love for youth, Oh, do not love me!

Love the springtime; It is young each year.

If you love for riches, Oh, do not love me!

Love the mermaid; She has many shining pearls.

But if you love for love, Oh yes, do love me!

Love me always, I shall love you evermore!

Gillian smiled, her skin tingling from her private recital.

Viola leaned towards her, hand outstretched. “You have an eyelash.”

Frozen to the spot as her heart pounded in her chest, all Gillian could do was take Viola in as she drew near. The scent of her perfume and the fold in her dressing gown revealing her bare breasts were overwhelming her senses.

Viola’s fingers brushed against her cheek. “Your eyes are a little red too.”

Gillian’s body tensed at her touch. Her head was foggy, heavy even, as she desperately tried to relax. “It was an emotional performance.”

“Think of that,” Viola said, trying to remove the eyelash. “I made Gillian Carmichael cry. And she didn’t even know what I was singing.”

“Please don’t mock me,” Gillian replied, her tone hard.

Viola levelled her face with Gillian, her hand pressed against her cheek. “I’m not mocking you. I’m in awe of you. You are a remarkable woman.”

Gillian tilted her face away. “I hardly think so.”