Venus in Venice: The Goddess of Love's Dinner Party

Sumac and Shiloh, come back
"Sumac and Shiloh," called BumberBeeBoogie from the dock, please come back."

She listened to the water's echos, but heard nothing.

"No one meant you any harm, except that disgusting Gustav. Come back," sobbed BBB.

Roberto heard BBB's sobs and ran to the dock. "Bumbles, why are you crying?" He put his arm around her shoulder to comfort her and wiped away her tears with his apron.

BBB's head lay against Roberto's chest. She heard his heart pounding. She reached up and caressed his cheek. Their heart rhythms synchronized as one. They stood there for a few moments staring at the setting sun, then turned and reentered Eva's villa.

As the sun was setting, Giulietta Osso and her companion Giovanni moved across Venetian cobbles trailed by their friends, whose names she still doesn't know. She knows Giovanni is quite the storyteller, and looks forward to the delicious banquet with his company to amuse her. Upon arrival, the four are greeted by a tall fellow wearing a rather Byzantine outfit, who looks them over with a twinkle in his eye. He accompanies them to the glittering salon, and takes Signorina Osso's wrap, and asks the other signorina if he may store her fur coat. She says no, Grazie, and Osso wonders why, since it isn't chilly in the Salon. Signore Twinkle goes back to his post at the palazzo street entrance.

As she and Giovanni start to move to a group of people chatting by the great window overlooking the canale, they are approached by a jolly cameriere who serves them crystal glasses of Spumante. They all smile mona lisa smiles.

Where was Roberto, cav wondered, as he contemplated all that frisee that needed to be dressed and wrapped in fine slices of bunderfleisch for the platters...

All eyes turn to the top of the grand staircase. The Goddess is coming!!!

African drums begin to beat as a dozen Nubian slaves descend, dressed in their finest tribal beads and bones.

They are followed by two incredibly large and muscular Egyptians waving six-foot tall peacock feather fans with long, golden handles.

Behind the feathers come the belly dancers, followed by Arabian musicians. The jingling of coins on the dancers' costumes punctuates the night air, lending an oriental note to the festivities.

Next come the tigers and elephants. The palace is filled with the trumpetings and snarls of the beautiful animals, adorned with Indian jewels. The hastily-reinforced stairs of the palace groan under the weight, but they do not give way.

Finally, the light dims and torch bearers descend the stairs, stopping on every other step. The music has changed. The band has launched into a classic rock standard, the only one appropriate for this splendid evening...

Goddess on the mountaintop
Burning with a silver flame
The summit of beauty and love
And Venus is her name...

And finally, at the top of the stairs, Eva emerges. She is wearing a long, hooded, black velvet cloak with diamond trim. As she begins descending the stairs between the lines of torch bearers, she ever-so-slowly removes the cloak...

She's got it
Yeah, baby, she's got it...

Her long, blonde curls are studded with gemstones of every description...diamonds, sapphires, rubies, emeralds...ropes of pearls circle in and through her curls, over her shoulders, and down her body. In lieu of a dress, Eva is wearing only a simple gossamer silk sash, wound strategically around her form so as to cause all lookers to gasp every time she moves. How it stays put is a mystery. The sash is bright blue. Electric blue. Some might even call it "Shocking Blue"...

I'm your Venus
I'm your fire
At your desire...

When she reaches the bottom step, a servant steps forward and strikes a huge, golden gong.

DINNER IS SERVED!!!

I said,

"DINNER IS SERVED!!"

Eva
BumbleBeeBoogie heard Eva's "Dinner is Served" announcement from the downstairs hallway. She rushed upstairs to Eva's side.

"Where is everyone? I announced dinner is served and no one is in sight. THEY MISSED MY GRAND ENTRANCE!!!"

BBB patted Eva's arm, "I'm so sorry Eva. All of your guests are downstairs in the gardener's room giving Gustav a bath. It took all of us to drag him to the tub, hold him down, and scrub the crude off of that vile-smelling man. No one wanted to sit at your dinner table with that uncouth person polluting the air. Now we are looking for some clothes to replace his stinking rags for him to wear. Any ideas?"

"Aha!," responded Eva. "That was a great idea. But everyone missed my grand entrance!"

"What to do?" sighed BBB.

"What to do?" moaned Eva.

"What do we do now?" said the lead Nubian Slave.

"What are we going to do now?" asked Cav.

The lead elephant dropped a load in the middle of the room. Whew!

BBB shouted, "Is there a shovel in the house?"

ehBeth looks out from behind the curtain, where she has been hiding.

"It looks like they're distracted. I may have a chance."

Liberty pries herself from the chocolate fountains long enough to hear the Gustav/Sumac problem from another chocolate-adoring guest. She then remembered the Valium that her friend gave her for the long flight to Venice, and that she didn't use any. "I'll get them out of my purse to drug the daylights out of Gustav...this can't be happening at a "love party."

She found the little cellophane from a cigarette pack that she placed the Valiums in and was making her way to Cav with the pills when she noticed that BBB was upset and The Goddess had arrived.

Lib runs over to hear that Sumac has left for good and that the Grand Entrance didn't go as planned.

"No worries...I have the perfect solution!" she exclaims as she presents the Valium. "Let's spike Gustav's next drink and then not only will he be better behaved with the other guests, but he will also be happy to clean up after the elephant!"

She makes a very special Scotch & water for Gustav, and approaches the surprisingly fresh-smelling beast with a smile.

"You've been working so hard here in the kitchen...you need a refreshment!"

He drank it in one gulp.

"The Goddess has another request of you, when you have the time. heehee..." Liberty snickers to herself. She then moves out of the kitchen to let everyone know that the situation has been rectified, and that the Goddess has been sneaky in her arrival -- time to be awestruck!

Dressing Gustav
Meanwhile, downstairs, the guests are searching for some clean clothes for Gustav, but none are found in the gardener's room.

"Maybe if we all take one piece of our clothing, we can complete an outfit to decently cover Gustav" suggested Osso."

"I can lend him my tie," said Giovanni.

"He can use my pink boa," smiled Liberty.

In the midst of the commotion, ehBeth dashes from the space between the bay window and the heavy drapes. She stops behind the pillar closest to the butler's pantry.

She listens, and watches, and waits.

Hush
A gentleman offers Gustav his socks.

BBB reached inside her gown and drew out her bra. "I don't need it," she smiled.

"Gustav can wear my vest," an elegant man suggested.

BBB pondered, "Well we've got the top half covered, but the bottom is still bare. I can't stand the site of Gustav's Willie a moment longer. Any other offers?"

Suddenly, BBB held up her hands. "Hush, I hear strange footsteps up stairs."

Everyone listened.

"Who is that up there?" asks Liberty.

Liberty looks around to see what the strange sound was, but all she could see was a bit hat peeking out from behind a pilar.

"hmmmm....I don't remember any coat rack standing beside a marvelous pilar..."

She quietly begins to walk toward the pilar to see who was behind (or underneath) the huge and gorgeous hat.

ehBeth stops. Waits. Carefully bends over and removes her shoes.

<<< click >>>


Did anyone hear that?
Will she be able to achieve her goal?

Liberty stealthily moves toward the mysterious hat. It moves! It's bending over -- ah, no face attached. What's going on?

Eva returns to the stairway and picks up her diamond-encrusted black velvet cloak. "Here," she says, "Now that the elephant mess is cleaned up, put this on Gustav until we can find him some pants." The Goddess shudders. It will be difficult indeed to find pants wide enough to accommodate Gus's huge ass.

Still irritated that her guests were paying more attention to that filthy, rat-testicle-eating Nosferatu impersonator than to herself, the Goddess storms into the kitchen.

"AHEM!!!"

Cav is fussing over another round of hors d'oeuvres. He drops the platter at the sight of the Goddess of Love standing in the doorway, clad in nothing but a blue sash and jewels. He has never seen her this angry before, and the flush it has brought to her cheeks makes her look even more radiant than usual.

"IF YOU DON'T MIND(!)" says Eva, impatiently, "WE'D LIKE TO HAVE DINNER NOW. ENOUGH WITH THE ARTISTRY ALREADY...MY GUESTS ARE HUNGRY!!!"

The Goddess turns and stomps back out the kitchen's swinging doors, heading straight for the champagne pool.

cav pops some valium and arranges for the amuse geuele to be served.

Eva is still muttering as she prepares to dive into the champagne pool. But she notices a disgusting film floating on the top. "Oh damn, that beast has been in here!" she hisses, motioning to two of the Nubian slaves. "Use the skimmers out by the main pool, and clean this up, will you?" After they finish, Eva will have them turn on the special filtering system she had installed just for this evening.

The Goddess steps back into her golden sandals with the 4" heels, laces them up to her knees, then follows her guests into the dining hall.

The places are set with exquisite Versace china and the golden glassware from Murano echoes the matching chandeliers. Vases of multicolored full blown roses serve as centerpieces for a dozen tables. Huge urns full of calla lilies surround a monumental ice sculpture depicting Venus's famous swan-drawn chariot, marking the head table where Eva's favorite guests will share her company.

"Come in, come in everyone!" the Goddess gestures, motioning for the crowd in the ballroom to enter and take their places around the stunningly set tables. A discreet pattering of shoes on the marble floor quickly turns into a roar as the crowd stampedes to get the best seats...

"Gustav!"

"Umm, what..."

"How often do I have to tell you to clean up after yourself after a bath?"

"Hmm...I'm guessing lots of times, but so what..."

"The goddess is displeased. Just make sure the slaves skim the pool okay, and toss in a little anti-freeze for flavour...they won't notice....the 'Champagne' in the pool is Austrian...."

ehBeth cautiously retrieves the key that had skittered to the floor, and pauses. As everyone's ears swivel toward the goings on 'tween the Goddess and the fancier, she runs toward the staircase.

Beth
BumbleBeeBoogie stood back as the other guests scrambled for seats at the dinner tables. The head table at which Eva was seated was empty. There were yellow ribbons tied across the chair seats indicating they are obviously reserved by Eva for some special guests. BBB wondered who would be invited to dine with the Love Goddess.

Suddenly, BBB, who never misses anything, noticed Beth's sly movements up the stairs. She took off her shoes so she could silently follow Beth upstairs to find out what the lady in the strange hat is up to.

When she got to the top of the stairs, Beth was no where in sight.

"I wonder where she is?" She started down the hall when she noticed a feather laying on the carpet. She picked it up thinking it looked like the feathers in Beth's hat. A few steps later she notice another feather and retrieved it. Then the feather trail ended in front of a door.