“What, you didn’t think I’d show up?”
“I knew you
would,” she breathed. Turning back
towards Lillie, Charlotte waved her over despite the annoyance clearly
wrenching her face. “Lil! Come over here!”
Lillie slowly
made her way, and Charlotte reached out and grabbed her hand. “Lillie,” she beamed. “This is Harry, the mystery man from the
other night.”
Jay looked
steadily into Lillie’s baby blue eyes, coaxing her to open up. He could tell she had a crush on him, he knew
as much last night. Unblinkingly, he
gradually crept his hand towards her.
Arms crossed tightly across her bosom again, his fingers grazed her,
persuading one hand to untangle itself from her constricted stance. Snaking his fingers beneath her fingers and
across her palm, he could see her eyes widen and dart over to Charlotte and
back to him just as quickly, her lips slightly parted. A twinge of a smile twitched there as he
lifted her hand to his mouth. Bowing
down slightly, he kissed it, letting his lips linger a moment longer than he
should have. Remaining bowed, he raised
his eyes to meet hers again, and electricity jumping out towards her. “You must be Lillie.” He sighed the words out low as if he were
divulging a secret. “Charmed.”
Blinking several
times, breathing unevenly, Lillie could no longer hold back the smile as she
willingly let her hand remain in his.
“Pleasure’s all mine.”
At this Charlotte
snickered but Lillie paid it no mind.
Glowing he turned back to Charlotte.
“I brought you ladies a surprise.”
“Oh, Harry, you
didn’t have to do that!”
“Well,” he
admitted, glancing back over at her friend.
“It’s more for Lillie.”
Cocking her head
to the side, Lillie gasped, taken aback.
“For me? What in the world for?”
Chuckling he explained,
“I thought it might be weird having the three of us, because, you know, the
third person always feels left out.
So…” Flicking his eyebrows up and
down curtly, he jumped off of his barstool and pushed past them. “Excuse me for a moment, ladies.”
As he walked
away, Charlotte and Lillie looked at each other, confused. “What is he doing?” Lillie whispered.
“I haven’t the
slightest,” she answered, shaking her head.
“But I guess we’ll see. He’s
coming back already.”
Disbelieving,
Lillie ran up to meet Jay, who was now with another man in the doorway to the
dance floor. He cleared his throat. “Lillie, this is my friend, Calvin. I told him about you and he said he’d love to
meet you.” Turning to Cal, he said
confidently, “This is Lillie. Isn’t she
as lovely as I said?”
“She sure is,”
Cal agreed and stepped closer to Lillie.
“It’s nice to make your acquaintance.”
“The pleasure’s
all mine,” Lillie replied, dreamily. Her
eyes locked on Cal’s, Jay walked back over to Charlotte.
“You don’t mind
that I brought her a date, do you?”
Charlotte grabbed him by the collar of his jacket and kissed him. That was all the answer he needed.
The two couples
eventually made their way out to the dance floor, which was full of people and
smoke. Letting Cal and Lillie lead the
way, Charlotte stood on her tippy toes and said directly into Jay’s ear, “Do
you mind if Lillie and I have a dance by ourselves? We just reconciled… in a way.”
Jay nodded but
let his fingers linger from her shoulder down her arm and to her fingers tips
as she floated away. Soon he was joined
by Cal. “You were right, old boy, Lillie
is a tasty one!”
“What did I tell
you?” Jay laughed. “Let’s just sit back
with our brandy and watch these beautiful hoofers.”
“Sounds great to
me,” Cal agreed and they clinked their glasses together.
Jay initially did
not want to merely watch Charlotte dance, but as she moved along side Lillie,
he was mesmerized. She was wild, set
alight by life, and set apart from the other girls. The floor was full of girls, but she was the
only one that towered over them with her passion, with those luscious brown
eyes that glanced at him every so often.
She only looks at me that
way. Not Teddy, only me. Waving her arms about, her hair flying from
side to side, she closed her eyes and let the jazz flow through her, jumping
around, her white and silver skirts flailing up to show well above her knees,
inching up towards her thighs. Her blush
hue grew deeper, her smile wider. Her
bare shoulders glistened in the twinkling lights, the plunging neckline
outlined with ruffles sunk lower as she danced.
The crazy night pulled him in, and he wondered why he ever held it all
in, it felt so good to let loose, to let it out. All of those memories of his childhood, all
the hurt, the loss, how he covered it up and became a different person, he had
to let it alone and let off some steam.
Half under and spinning, he loved the feeling of freedom, of pushing the
envelope towards doom, of falling head over heels for this wild child.
Lillie and
Charlotte -along with several other ladies- had drawn a crowd now, and as the
multitudes urged them on, they began to chant.
Jay joined in, urging his alluringly untamed Charlotte to, “Get hot! Get hot!”
Feeling the
magnetism, Jay began to float towards her, pulled in by life. Gulping down the last of his drink, he sat it
on a nearby table absently, eyes locked on Charlotte. Noticing he was coming to join her, she
beckoned him with an outstretched finger, curling and pulsing fluidly. Her lips formed shapes, like she was saying Jay I want you although she only knew
him as Harry, but he was so in the moment he didn’t even think about that part
as he reduced the space between them to virtually nothing. Hot on hot, his lips then his tongue found
hers, while her hands found their way under his jacket, and in this moment, all
was right in the world.
“ALRIGHT THIS IS
A BUST! GET ON THE FLOOR!”
The horns wound
down to a halt in an instant, drum sticks were hitting the floor with high
pitched clinks, and the singer
stopped mid-note and threw herself to the ground. The crowd began to scatter. Jay and Charlotte looked at each other with
alarm. They both had the same look:
fright, surprise, guilt. Grabbing her
waist without a word and rushing her towards the back of the establishment like
everyone else, a high buzz took up all of Jay’s thoughts. The one thing that made it through the static
was, Get out, now!
Charlotte’s head
thrashed from side to side and she yelled, “Lillie! Lillie!” but Jay rushed her onwards, and away
from her friend, anyhow. The sheer
reality of the situation discombobulated his brain to the point that he could
only feel his life falling apart before him. Shaking
his head as they ran, people flying this way and that, shoving and pushing and
screaming, his face shaking not only out of fear but out of frustration. The pair of them lammed into the confused and
loud crowd, heading for the exit. How,
his mind buzzed, did he not realize that the very first time he’d let his guard
down, the hired thugs of Chicago would show up to bust the joint? It would only figure, and it would only
happen to him! He found his freedom, the
woman of his dreams, he had a nice smooth drink in his hand, his friend nearby,
laughing, singing, trumpets blaring his eardrums out, and the army was called
out. But why? To get him?
To get Charlotte? You’re being too paranoid, he told
himself, but still he shook his head, because anything was possible.
Copyright © 2013 "Dauntless" by Erin M. Truesdale
