The Maestro (6 page)

She recalled a
conversation they'd had before his departure. She had seen her
picture in a magazine, and Sebastian casually mentioned that she
was to star in the same film as him.

'You're
certainly going to have some fun.'

'With her. Not
my type.' He was sitting on the sofa, downing a whisky and reading
the newspaper.

'I remember
her in that film. Didn't she play a spy or something in that awful
American thing we watched?'

'Yes, but not
very convincingly. I've heard she's hell to work with. Number one
in the prima donna stakes.'

'I'm sure
you'll be able to handle her,' Linda said facetiously.

He had looked
up from the paper and smiled knowingly, almost conceitedly,
confident in his knowledge that like most other beautiful women he
had acted with, he could have her if he wanted.

Just after she
passed the phone back to Maria it began to ring again. She thought
it must be Sebastian. She knew he had a call back facility on his
telephone.

Maria answered
and then passed the phone back to Linda: 'It's for you.'

'Linda,
como estas
.'

'Fine thanks.'
It was Alfonso. She couldn't quite keep the bathos out of her
voice.

'I looked at
the work.' A purposeful, measured pause followed.

'Yes,' Linda
interrupted.

'
Ce fantastique
,' Alfonso answered, showing his polyglot
credentials.

'Really?' She
was now genuinely interested in Alfonso's opinion. She hadn't been
over-impressed by much of his own work that he had shown her, far
too derivative of a certain modernist strand, all concept but
little craft, but Alfonso, she knew, had made a considerable amount
of money in his dealings on the art market.

'The
lithographs are highly original and the watercolours. Where did you
get the idea of drawing all those figures in the 'Satyriasis'
series?'

'They're based
on Minoan primitives.'

'I can't see
any problem in getting an exhibition for you. You must bring them
tomorrow when you meet Delgado.'

'You mean I
have an appointment?'

'Not just an
appointment. If successful tomorrow, you start working with him
this week.'

'Where do I
go?'

'Meet me at
the bottom of Las Ramblas. The studios are in Barcelonetta.'

'Fantastic.'

It was only
some time later, when the passing elation of Alfonso's enthusiasm
for her work had slightly abated, that she recalled that he hadn't
made any reference at all to what had happened the previous
night.

She
breakfasted on fresh orange juice and coffee with Maria beside her
on the tiled balcony overlooking a considerably sized swimming
pool, and beyond the turquoise sea of the Mediterranean.

The house
where Maria lived was beautiful; a white villa perched atop a small
hill overlooking the sea, with a golden stretch of beach below.

Maria didn't
speak much at all, but over her coffee she smiled broadly. The
change in her demeanour caused Linda a great deal of curiosity and
as Maria poured her a second cup of coffee, she could not resist
asking her what had caused the change.

'I was worried
for you.'

'Sorry.'

'Alfonso is an
interesting man. I like Alfonso, but I wasn't sure about what he
was doing with you, you know, the champagne.'

'What do you
mean?'

'I mean I
didn't know what you were like. You're English, you're different. I
thought it was wrong when he told me he was going to take you to El
Attico. I didn't know if you were up to it.'

'But you
encouraged me to go!' Linda remembered the way Maria had grabbed
her arm after they had left the restaurant.

'That was
later. That was after I realised what you were like, that that was
what you wanted.'

'How did you
know?' Linda asked.

'It was the
way you talked and the way you looked at me. I could see you were
hungry for that kind of experience.'

Maria was
right of course, Linda thought to herself. She remembered the
previous night, and how sex had seemed to have lodged in her brain
ever since the idea of coming to work in Barcelona had become a
real possibility, but she was not prepared to confess it to the
younger woman.

'Maybe,' Linda
said noncommittally.

'You feel a
little guilty, about what happened, last night?'

'No, I don't
feel guilty,' Linda said.

Maria smiled
quite impishly.

'Would you
like to go for a swim?' Maria asked.

'I'd love
to.'

On the way
down the steep stone steps to the swimming pool, Linda wearing a
white bathrobe that Maria had lent her, Maria explained that her
parents were away in America for the next few days. They too, it
transpired, were dealers in the art world. When Maria told her that
her surname was Rojas, Linda instantly realised that she was with
the daughter of one of the most prestigious art dealers in Europe
if not the world. It dawned on her that the Kadinsky on Maria's
bedroom wall had been no reproduction.

'Don't worry;
this pool was built for seclusion. You can be naked here if you
want.'

Again some
inherent sense of timidity overcame the English woman as she
watched Maria unveil her beautiful body, the velvet skin, the body
tan, the wonderful round swell of her breasts, the curve of her
hips, the wispy black pubic hair, and above, the flat stomach.

Naked, Maria
dived into the pool and once she was in Linda divested herself of
the robe, climbed into the water, and began to breaststroke to the
other side of the pool.

She loved the
feel of the cool water on her body, the freedom of swimming naked,
feeling the water on every pore of her skin, and on her face as she
turned onto her back, the sun on her cheeks.

After both
women had swam a few lengths they climbed out of the water and lay
side by side in the shade on two sun loungers.

'Tell me
Maria, how did you meet Alfonso?'

'The art world
is a small world, and my father has helped him a lot. It was
inevitable that we should meet.'

'Is he your
only lover?'

'I don't have
lovers, Linda. I love life and I love making love, but I don't want
to commit to anybody, not in that way, not yet.'

'That sounds
like something Alfonso might have said.'

'We are not so
dissimilar.'

'Why were you
so cold with me last night?' Linda couldn't resist asking the
question.

'It's my way I
suppose. I know I pretended that my English wasn't so good.
Actually, it's really quite excellent. I lived in Oxford for two
years when I was a child. I wasn't laughing at you Linda. I like to
study people. I like to find out who they are before I allow myself
to be free with them. It was a way of hiding until I got a closer
look.'

'How old are
you?'

'Twenty-two.
Why do you ask?'

'You seem very
wise.'

'Is it not
that you think, knowing what Alfonso is like, that he has somehow
corrupted me?'

'I did
wonder.'

'We had a
meeting of souls. Perhaps I could marry Alfonso because we think in
the same way.'

'How did you
get to think like that?'

'You mean how
was I corrupted?' Maria laughed, her eyes smiled, but her mouth
turned pouty.

'No, I don't
want you to get the idea that I am judging you.'

'No, I know,
you are not so different from me, Linda.'

'I really
don't know.'

'Let me tell
you something.'

'Please!'

'I had sex
when I was a young girl, but like most young girls who lose the
virginity it was not such a special experience for me. It left me
too hungry, too curious. I wanted to know more. I wanted to learn
more. I am a very sensual girl. I love the pleasures of life, not
just sex, everything. Making love with a boy my age did not fulfil
me so much. I wanted to know more. Do you understand?'

'Yes, I think
so.'

'When I was
eighteen I went to study with a private tutor, Hugo Fernandez and
his wife, Laura. My parents were disappointed with my results from
school. I was not so stupid, but the things that they made me study
were boring to me. I also liked the idea of going to Hugo's. He was
a special friend of my parents and it was known that sometimes when
he wasn't buying or selling paintings he would take a young person,
how do you say, under his wing?'

Linda
nodded.

'It was like
an experiment with him. He had met me before and he thought that I
was interesting enough for him to undertake to teach me for a
summer.

'He was forty
years or so, but a very virile looking man, tall and slim with
short, thick hair and these incredible eyes, so powerful, so
magnetic. Of course I fell in love with him. And after I arrived
there I became jealous of his wife, Laura. She was Austrian, at
least ten years younger than him. A strong looking woman, blond
with cold blue eyes, and she had these long, long legs. I mean they
were amazing.'

Linda was
thinking how wrong she had been about the girl's English. She spoke
quite concisely and fluently. She also could not help casting
occasional glances at her divine body as she lay prone beside her.
Maria's head was slightly raised, supported by her hand as her
elbow rested on the lounger; Linda saw the wonderful sumptuous
curves of her buttocks, and the way her hair fell loosely down her
slender back.

'Hugo was a
fantastic teacher. I mean fantastic. All those things that bored me
in the classroom became alive when he spoke about them. I could see
clearly the great scenes from literature when he described them, or
imagine being in a picture, say on a canal barge in a Canaletto
painting. And science, neutrons, protons, the process of osmosis,
photosynthesis, he could describe anything, using these clear
analogies. He was a genius as a teacher.

'I would sit
in his study, the sun shining through the big open windows - Hugo
lived in the Pyrenees in a beautiful stone house on the side of a
mountain - and try to concentrate as hard as I could on what he
taught me. I was only distracted by my passion for him. Sometimes
his wife would sit in the corner of the room. She worked as Hugo's
secretary.'

Maria's eyes
seemed to come alive as she recollected the time she had spent with
her tutor and his wife.

'It was about
six weeks after I had been there when it happened. His brother,
Bernardo, was staying at the house at the time. Bernardo was two or
three years older than Hugo and looked quite different. He was a
fat, bald man, an accountant who lived in Gerona. He was quite
repulsive. I always felt that he was staring at me in a sexual way.
He always looked dirty, greasy to me. That particular morning he
had come out of his bedroom at the same time I came out the shower.
I was covered with a towel but he was quite naked. I could see his
cock. It was limp but even limp it was enormous. He smiled at me in
a disgusting way, staring at my breasts as he passed me. I am sure
that he used to watch me through the keyhole when I was dressing
and undressing. When I used to go to open the door to try to catch
him I would hear his footsteps as he ran away back to his room.

'Anyway, that
day I was studying with Hugo as normal. It was a beautiful spring
morning. Hugo sat at the end of a long pine table and I sat beside
him. Hugo for some reason always dressed in white, a big white
shirt and white linen trousers. His wife was sitting there too, at
a desk in the corner, answering correspondence, but I noticed that
that day in particular she watched me very closely, sometimes
leaving her desk to walk around and then stand behind me, making me
very nervous. I was dressed in a white dress with a motif of pretty
red flowers.'

'You must have
looked very beautiful,' Linda said, trying to imagine the scene.
Maria smiled at the compliment before continuing her story.

'I think Hugo
thought so. His leg seemed to brush against mine a lot that
morning. We were studying algebra at that time. Even Hugo, though
he tried, could not make that interesting. It must have been nearly
lunchtime when his brother came in and sat at the other side of the
table. He seemed very agitated. He kept on looking over at me, his
shifty eyes staring at my body.

'Hugo turned
to me when the lesson was over and took my hand. His eyes burning
into mine, he said softly, "We want to teach you something
different now, Maria, something a little more interesting." I
smiled at him thinking that maybe he was going to take me out on a
nature walk like we had done the day before. "But there is one
thing, my darling," he continued. "What Hugo?" I asked. I was aware
that both Laura and Bernardo had stood up and come to stand over
me. "You must trust us and do everything we say. Will you do that,
Maria?" "Of course, Hugo." "We are going to teach you about the
pleasures of the body."'

Maria looked
over to Linda and smiled demurely, the sun having moved its
position, catching her face, her jutting lips glistening under the
rays. Linda was engrossed in the story, and in the way that Maria
told her tale.

'There is
something else that I haven't told you. During the night sometimes
I couldn't sleep, thinking, as I was, of Hugo. I would get up and
go downstairs into the cool of the garden. One night I had heard
sounds coming from Hugo's room, screams from Laura. I knew I
shouldn't have gone to investigate. I also knew that it must be
something sexual. I wasn't so naive. But I couldn't resist going. I
climbed the stairs slowly, but even before I reached the top I
could see their door was open. I could see Hugo riding his wife.
Laura had two huge clamps attached to her nipples. I could also see
in the moonlight red marks across her bottom and the lower part of
her back. There was a huge riding crop on the bed beside them. Hugo
was fucking her so furiously, so hard, clutching her burning skin
while Laura screamed like a wild animal. I was so jealous of her. I
wanted Hugo to whip me like he had whipped his wife. I wanted to
give myself totally to him. Watching him fuck his wife like that,
seeing that her pained screams showed her pleasure, and that what
Hugo was doing to her was an intimate act of love, made me want him
even more.