Chapter 14 - The Stairs Back Down to the Music
The upstairs hall went too quiet after she said it. Not the ballroom quiet with music under it, but the kind where you can hear the ice settling in a glass downstairs. The blonde woman stood with her back against the locked service door, both hands now low on that round magenta belly, smoothing the satin like she could press the shape back into place.
Marcello checked his watch, then slipped it off and put it in his pocket. I had seen men do that before a toast at these galas, clearing their cuffs for photos. He didn't look like he was getting ready for photos.
"No toast," he said. His voice stayed low. "Not until we're honest about upstairs."
She gave a short laugh that didn't hold. "Marcello, please. The foundation people are waiting. One photo. Let me keep this gown on for one photo and we walk in smiling, and then we fix whatever she thinks she saw."
I felt Lily shift against my leg. My tray was getting heavy in my left hand. The silver had gone warm where my palm held it under the rim. I'd left a full round of champagne on it downstairs when Lily pulled me toward the stairs, and the catering captain would already be counting glasses. If I walked back into that ballroom carrying an empty tray, I was staff again. If I walked in holding my daughter's hand with Marcello beside us, I was part of the scene.
Lily looked up at me. "Mommy, stay?"
The blonde woman turned to me fast. "Maya, tell him. Tell him three-year-olds hide things and make up stories. You work here. You know how this looks."
I didn't answer right away. I could hear the band starting the intro downstairs, the murmur lifting as people turned toward the staircase. The toast was the hinge of the whole night. Once they poured, everyone would be watching the stairs for him.
Marcello stepped closer to her, not touching the belly, just looking at where her hands were. "What is she talking about?" he asked again, quieter this time. Not the same as in the ballroom. Less surprised. More tired.
She shook her head. "She's only three, she must have misunderstood something."
Lily pulled away from me at that. "I didn't misunderstand," she said, clear and steady. It was the same way she'd said it downstairs in front of everyone, no tears in it.
That stopped all of us. Marcello crouched down to her level, his bow tie catching the hall light. For a second he just breathed, and I could see him deciding whether to pick her up or let her lead.
"Lily, come to Mommy," the blonde woman said, holding out a hand with a smile stretched too tight. "Come here, sweetie."
Lily didn't take it. She walked past the outstretched hand and put her small fingers around two of Marcello's larger ones. "Marcello, I can show you," she said, tugging toward the main staircase.
He let her pull him a step before he stood. He looked at me. "You bring her down, or you bring the tray?"
It was a real choice. I understood that. The captain was at the bottom of those service stairs with a clipboard. If I ditched the tray up here, someone would find it and I'd get written up. Rent was due Friday. But if I let Lily walk down those grand stairs alone holding Marcello's hand while the woman in magenta followed, Lily would be out front with no one between her and a room full of staring adults.
I set the tray down on the hall table beside the locked door. The silver made a soft clink against the wood. My left arm ached when I let go.
"I'll escort her," I said.
The blonde woman exhaled. "Fine. Then at least let me fix my hair." She reached up to pat her updo, then dropped her hands back to her belly. "One photo, Marcello. That's all I'm asking."
"No photo until we go down together," he said. He didn't let go of Lily's hand.
We moved toward the wide staircase. The cream curtains glowed gold from the ballroom lights below. The music swelled, then cut as the emcee tapped the mic. I could hear chairs shifting, glasses being set down. Lily led, her blue bows bobbing with each step, her dark blue dress brushing the carpet. Marcello followed her pace, step for step. Behind us, the magenta satin rustled as the blonde woman gathered it to walk.
May you like
At the landing, the whole ballroom tilted up toward us. Faces turned. Someone near the front lifted a camera. The emcee smiled up, hand hovering over the mic, waiting for Marcello's nod.
Lily stopped on the top step and pointed down toward the floor where the tables ringed the dance area. She didn't speak yet. She just held Marcello's hand tighter and waited for him to look where she was pointing.
