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.
Plainly masked and sparingly clothed male and female waiters carrying trays of slender glasses of champagne or a selection of carefully prepared hors d'oeuvres spilled from a single door at the far side of the grand hall and dispersed across the floor and into the various corridors and vestibules that led into adjacent areas of the simplistically decorated building. As the waiters slowly passed among the collective of guests outstretched hands reached for the glasses or the finger food...the waiters returning to the food preparation area when their trays became empty.
The Caucasian male waiters, carefully selected by the event's organisers, were tanned and had beautiful athletic physiques, similarly the dark skinned waiters included for those guests that preferred their coffee black had similar athletic physiques.... the female waiters were selected regardless of their height but were seen to be pert, slender and with toned figures. Their dress code could be regarded by some as being provocative...by others erotic and stimulating .....the men were dressed in a mixture of various designs of beautifully tailored figure hugging three-quarter length black silk shorts..shorts that left little to the guests imagination. Their bare torsos were covered in similarly coloured waistcoats.. the halves of the waistcoats held together by a single white leather thong...their tanned feet were left bare.
Each of the female waiters, their hair carefully groomed and held in place by a single plainly embroidered white clasp, were dressed in black figure hugging boned balcony bra corsets. The silk corsets were laced at the back by thin white silk ribbons...the loose tails of the ribbons trailing down over their tastefully short black silk skirts.....their legs were sheathed in sheer black lace topped stockings...their feet cushioned by simple black flat shoes with each shoe being finished off with a tiny white silk bow. The appearance of both genders of waiters was classy but sensuous and was specifically designed to complement the dress code of the assembled guests. It was a case of seen but not heard as the waiters stealthily circulated amongst the guests disposing of their merchandise as and when required.
As the evening wore on the lighting level was slowly lowered and supplemented by hypnotic laser light that randomly bounced off circular mirrors strategically positioned around the walls of the grand hall.... theatrical smoke filtered into the room through concealed air vents accentuating the fine beams of the lasers. Low level ultra violet lights highlighted the white items of clothing in a ghostly glow. The previously subtle background music imperceptibly transposed into a pulsing hypnotic beat..its pitch decreasing to the point at which it could be felt reverberating within the guests chest cavities..the mood of the evening began to change from one of sophisticated mystery to one of sensual mystery.
Daniela and Gus, having finished the last one of several glasses of champagne, placed their empty glasses on a passing waiter's tray and walked slightly unsteadily towards one of the curved staircases located at the western end of the grand hall. They walked to a point about half way up the flight of stairs and stopped. Turning around they stood next to the wide chromed handrail ...they watched the behaviours of the constantly moving throng of select guests partying below them with curious interest. Daniela's and Gus's eyes swept back and forth across the dance floor watching for anything unexpected or out of the ordinary...but then practically no one below could realistically be classified as ordinary. It soon became readily evident to both of them that the mood of the evening was beginning to transform into something a little more playful and sensual .....many of the couples stood stationary in close embrace with their arms wrapped around each other...their lips sealed in sensuous stolen moments...tongues playing ...probing ....other couples were gyrating to the tempo of the music ... their legs interlaced in their desire to be close.
Daniela studied the seemingly countless designs of mask worn by her fellow male and female guests circulating below her. There were the beautifully simple and strikingly sophisticated black moulded cut-outs frequently worn by the men to the wonderfully ornate and sensuous and erotic Venetian masks worn by the women. Many of these incorporated delicate flowing filaments of beaded or corded black lace fixed to a semi-translucent underlay..the mask often being adorned with gracefully dynamic black feathers attached to one side of the mask giving it an asymmetrical appearance.. the feathers gracefully oscillated back and forth as the wearer walked or in response to sudden movements of the head..the motion decaying gradually over time. In one case a women had applied white foundation across the whole of her face so as to provide a complete contrast to the blackness of the lace whilst another had made-up using a vividly coloured blusher to the area of her face than lay beneath the mask...regardless the effect was simply stunning and evocative...
