With arms entwined they drifted up the long gravel strewn drive which led up to the imposing chateau at its western end. The oppressive heat of the early evening summer sun would have been overpowering for the guests had it not been for the tall slender Cypress trees that had been planted close together; their long clustered shadows providing cooling shade over the driveway. The couple had first met just 20 minutes previous...their pairing, and those of the other invited couples..having been decided upon by an unknown committee ..the couple's chemistry was immediate and electric....their collective sense of anticipation of what could lay ahead was palatable to them both.
His Armani white close-fitting tailored suite, black shoes and open necked black silk shirt complimented her elegant full length white satin evening dress. Her neck was adorned with a thick banded silver chain matching the one that she wore around her bronzed ankles.... her hair had been taken up off her neck so accentuating its beautiful lines.
A prerequisite of this special event was the use of masks to bring out the beautiful, deathly, and exotic facets to the free living but well heeled guests. The couple chose to wear a complimentary pair of wonderfully exotic and mysterious black and white masquerade masks..their surfaces dotted with minute embedded glistening gem stones ...the lines of stones snaking gracefully across the otherwise smooth surface of each mask. The half-height masks covered the upper portion of their faces but left their cheekbones and mouths exposed....masks that told a story by leaving out some of the details but at the same time telling the world who or what the wearer truly were or would like to be...their exposed expressive eyes a window to their most inner thoughts.
Outwardly the guests and the party venue were an epitome of elegance, class and respectability, but beneath the false facades both had a different agenda. The evening's happenings were soon to commence but each of the couple's role would be different but ultimately a variation on a common and endemic theme....
The couple, and several dozen others, causally walked arm-in-arm up the sweeping white marble steps whose flanking balustrading was adorned with twisted white ribbon partially encapsulating white roses in varying states of bloom...the heady perfume of the roses wafting on the hot breeze.
The music from a string quartet greeted the guests as they strolled into the magnificently beautiful vaulted entrance room, the walls to the room adorned with exquisitely detailed wall hangings depicting a myriad of scenes selected from all periods and areas of Romanic history.
The temperature inside the building was comfortable and in sharp contrast to the sweltering unshaded temperature outside.
The guests were guided forward by two opposing thick white ropes strung between paired sets of glistening chromed bollards topped by silver orbs, the necks of the bollards having been embellished with flowing bows of white ribbon. ..the opulence seemingly continuing. The guests were ushered forwards towards the entrance into the central core of the property ...the end of the aisle being flanked by two smartly dressed male concierges, their faces hidden by creatively crafted masks..their expressions featureless but their behaviour and gestures outwardly respectful....their words few and appropriately selected.
An air of suppressed excitement and developing expectancy amongst the guests blended seamlessly with the mixed aromas of expensive perfume ..of aftershave ....of interlaced pheromones....to generate a truly explosive atmosphere...an atmosphere populated by a cacophony of numerous conversations and distant chamber music.
The myriad of individual couples and groups of couples drifted across the polished white marble floor towards the cooled but oddly smoky environment of the grand central hall. At each end of the long rectangular hall rose opposing pairs of wide sweeping staircases; the flights of stairs closely hugging the smooth white curved end walls meeting at their crest at a carpeted landing...ornate chromed balustrading, also decorated with large trailing white bows, flanked the four sets of stairs.
The gently curving plane white ceiling to the grand hall was punctuated at its third positions by two pendulous cut glass chandeliers, the group of pendants was interspersed with polished chrome slender steel tubes ..the glass orbs and steel tubes randomly reflecting and directing the light of the enclosed halogen lights across the floor. Tall modern uplighters were fixed at head height at regular intervals along the two flanking walls. The uplighters were interposed with large white frames holding pieces of modern art...not to everyone's taste but nevertheless appropriate for the modern design of the grand hall.
The raised voices and laughter of the guests created a ambiance of bustling excitement... their attire and unique gender specific masks instilling an air of mystery ..the identity of each person only known to that person and to that person alone...each person's intentions, expectations and needs specific and unique.
