CHAPTER 8
It took a while for him to get to me. I was pretty sure Christmas was going to arrive sooner what with all the girls getting in his way and touching him on the arm. I’m sure they were talking to him too, but my focus kept going to the touching. One girl even reached up and straightened his tie although it had already been straight.
Eventually though, he was standing in front of me. I could tell Annie was holding her breath in anticipation beside me, but believe me, her anticipation couldn’t have been anything compared to mine.
“Hello again Sadie,” he said, taking off his hat.
I noticed he hadn’t done that with any of the other girls. It made me wonder if he thought I was a stickler for manners or something and since no one likes a nag, I took it as a bad sign. Annie told me later that it was a sign of respect, which I thought that was ridiculous too since I’d certainly done nothing to deserve his respect. Quite the opposite, if I really thought about it. Which, of course, I tried not to because it just made me feel like such a pill.
“Hi,” I said, looking down, almost wishing I had another one of those Hair of the Dog concoctions even though the thought of another one had me almost gagging again, but I really needed something to do with my hands.
“I’m glad to see you out again,” he said.
Then the silence started. I don’t know why Frankie wasn’t saying anything. He had been the one to come over here, after all, and I was so busy wondering why he hadn’t mentioned the benefit, or if he had noticed the way everyone stared.
Beside me, Annie had finally taken a breath and was now clearing her throat.
“Nice to see you again… Annie was it?” he said, shaking her hand.
“Right back at ya,” Annie said sort of gazing sideways at him. She looked quite demure and friendly as she did this and I really wanted to know exactly how she managed it because if I were to try it, I’d just end up looking like I had a twitching disease.
Frankie turned his attention back to me, which was very nice because that usually doesn’t happen when Annie is by my side.
“I see you don’t have a drink,” he said. “Can I get you anything?”
Annie was so thoughtful to give a snort from beside us. Frankie pretended not to notice.
“Sure, that would be nice,” I said.
“Any preference?” he said, raising an eyebrow.
“Um, no. Whatever you think is good will do.”
He sauntered off and Annie backhanded me in the arm.
“Ow!”
“I thought you said you weren’t drinking tonight!”
“I know,” I whispered, glancing over my shoulder to make sure Frankie hadn’t heard. “But I can’t just say no.”
She put one hand on her hip. “Of course you can. Remember, we’re trying to be modern women here.”
I rolled my eyes. “I am a modern woman.”
She scoffed. “Yeah, you’re about as modern as a nun.”
“Hey,” I said giving her a little smack back. “I am not. I’m here aren’t I?”
“Yeah, and I get to babysit.”
“Well that is just uncalled for!”
She giggled a little. “Okay, okay. I’m kidding. I’m just saying you don’t have to get your heart set on the first guy you see, although I did like your parents reaction.”
“I’m not,” I said, though I wished I sounded more convincing.
I know Frankie and I had just met, and he was the worst sort of man for me, and we could never have a future together, but something drew me to him, and it was something way beyond my control.
“Yeah. Right,” she said as Frankie walked back up to us.
“Here you go doll,” he said, handing me the drink and surveying the room.
Thank goodness his attention was off me for a second because my stupid heart had started pounding out of my chest again. I swear, if he had tried talking to me at that moment, I would never have heard him with the blood rushing through my ears. He called me doll! I’d certainly never been called a doll before! Annie would probably tell me that is was something derogatory, what with us being modern women and all, and I can’t say if I would have liked it coming from anyone else or not, but from Frankie it was music to my ears.
“Thank you,” I said, taking a sip to hide my giddiness.
The drink was deliciously fruity. It may have been even better than the Pink Lady. Even with the day I’d had, I still found it hard to believe that this nectar of the Gods was the kind of poison that would make one feel the way I felt earlier. It was some kind of cruel trick for sure. I took another sip.
“Delicious,” I said, finally able to look up at Frankie.
I’d meant the drink of course, but my mind was taking me elsewhere. It was all I could do not to let my eyes wander up and down him.
“It’s called Planter’s Punch, the house specialty,” he said, then added, “for the ladies.”
I nodded, noticing the brown concoction he was holding. Sometimes I was really thankful to be a woman.
Annie gasped from beside me. “He’s here,” she whispered.
I followed her gaze. She’d been right, the man was very handsome, not as handsome as Frankie of course, but he was dark and mysterious, and was dressed very much like Frankie. If I were to hazard a guess, I’d say they were a part of the same circle.
“Wish me luck,” she said, practically jumping out of her skin.
“No, wait!” I whispered. “You can’t leave me here alone!”
“It looks like you’re in good hands,” she said loudly, smiling at Frankie.
It was definitely loud enough for Frankie to hear. Thanks a lot Annie, you have now officially put Frankie in charge of me whether he wants to be or not.
“Yes, she is,” Frankie said, placing his hand around my elbow acknowledging that he would stay with me.
I could have died. My stupid friend was basically handing me off to a practical stranger, and he was happy as pie to go along with it. Not that I minded the particular company or anything, but geez, I was a full grown woman.
Annie took off so fast she was a blur in her Sapphire fringed dress. Soon, all I could see was the feather from her headpiece bobbing through the crowd. I made a mental note to keep one eye on it. Unfortunately, I was so busy worrying about all that, that I hadn’t even noticed I’d been once again sipping nervously at my drink and it was nearly empty. Before I could protest, Frankie was handing me another.
“Oh, you didn’t have to,” I said, wondering whether I should even take it. But my manners told me I couldn’t refuse.
Frankie just smiled. “How ‘bout when you’re done that one we dance for a while.”
The mention of dancing sent a wave of heat up the back of my neck, but he looked so hopeful that I didn’t know how could I possibly refuse those words. Not, I suppose, that I wanted to, if I were being honest. Besides, we were in a speakeasy, no intruding eyes of upper society here.
“Sure,” I said, already sipping.
Frankie was surveying the room and drinking his thick looking drink quite fast, so I tried to keep up. I promised myself it would be my last drink of the night since my legs already felt heavy and I desperately wanted to dance with Frankie for as long possible.
“Hey Frankie,” a girl strode up, sneaking into what tiny space there was between us. Of course it was because she was so tiny herself that she could even squeeze in there. She was a bit shorter than me and her feather—red to match her dress—was getting right up my nose.
“Oh hey Doris,” Frankie said. I was pleased to hear the slightly bored tone in his voice.
“When are you going to ask me to dance?” she asked, leaning in close to him, grabbing his tie for balance.
What a hussy!
“Not tonight,” he said. “I’ve already asked someone.”
Doris straightened up, surprised, and turned slightly toward me. “What? That one?” she asked, waving her cigarette holder. The ember of her cigarett
e dangled dangerously close to my hair..
Frankie sighed. “Yes.”
“Well, she’s just a kitten, ain’t she?”
Boy how I wished I hadn’t been prone to blushing at that moment.
“Doris, I’m afraid I’m being rude to my friend here, you’ll have to excuse us.”
With that he reached around the chippie—okay, that wasn’t nice, but I couldn’t help thinking it—took my arm again, and led me gently away. A glance back at Doris told me she was a little stung, but I was sure she’d get over it. In fact, she was already sidling up beside the next guy at the bar.
“Sorry about that,” Frankie said. “Doris is always trying to get free drinks out of us.”
“Oh,” I said, suddenly very aware that I was holding my own free drink.
“Are you ready to dance?” he asked.
“Sure,” I said, setting my almost finished glass on the tray of a passing barmaid the way I’d seen others do.
The song was a fast one and it was all I could do to keep up, especially with my heavy legs, but a few songs in, it was like I was sailing. All that weight seemed to lift off me and I could move as well as the rest of the dancers out there. Maybe it was all the practice Annie and I did over at her house, but I swear, it was as if I’d been born to dance. I even learned the Charleston from watching the girl beside me. Maybe, if I was feeling generous later, I’d teach it to Annie!
Finally, after what must have been ten songs, Frankie pulled me off the dance floor. “Whew, this old bird can’t keep up with the likes of you,” he said, raising a hand to the drink girl to get her attention. “Don’t you ever get thirsty?”
I shrugged, remembering I had already sailed past my self-imposed limit of none for the night. “Not really.”
Of course he’d already motioned for the waitress to bring two drinks, so what was I supposed to do? I sure could have gone for a big glass of water—though I knew these places didn’t like to serve it—and when the drink arrived, it did look so refreshing that I just couldn’t help myself and dove right in.
Frankie found a place for us to sit, which was nice because the dancing shoes I’d worn the other night, and spent half the day today cleaning, were getting another chance to be broken in. And boy were they breaking. My feet, that is.
“So, that was funny what Doris said back there hey?” Frankie said, sort of out-of-the-blue.
“Hmm?” I said, taking another sip.
I hoped he wasn’t talking about that silly kitten comment. I’d been so relieved that he’s seemed to forget about it out on the dance floor. The worst part was, I’d sort of let myself forget about it too.
“The kitten comment,” he said.
My heart plunged into my stomach. “Heh, heh. Yeah, funny,” I said, looking around at the crowd. “I wonder where Annie has gotten off to.”
I thought I was being quite sneaky with changing the subject, but Frankie was too smart for me.
“Yeah, Annie. Right. So,” he said, gently tipping my face toward his so I could meet his gaze. “How old did you say you were again, doll?”
I blinked. And somehow my brain and eyes got stuck on that last little word, doll. Oh how it looked so good coming out of his mouth. I couldn’t tear my eyes off those soft lips of his as I gave my oh-so-clever answer of, “Um…”
He raised his eyebrows, jerking my attention from his magnificent mouth. The room swirled, and the blinking lights suddenly went from exciting to entrancing. My eyelids got heavy. Now that I’d stopped moving, all my body wanted to do was shut down. The lights got more intense and the room spun faster and faster until all I could do was lean back in the chair and just close my eyes, holding on to the table for support so I wouldn’t take a dive off the chair.
I sucked in air, trying to find a hint of oxygen in the smoky room.
“Sadie, are you okay?” Frankie asked, concerned.
I nodded, though I probably shouldn’t have, and opened my eyes, just a little. The glass in front of me was empty. Had I downed that entire drink already? I supposed that might have contributed to the little episode I was having.
“C’mon,” Frankie said, “I think you need to get some air.”
Boy was he right. I could only imagine how delicious fresh air would taste right then. He swung my arm over his shoulder and I tried to walk like a normal person as he limped me out the back door. We emerged into a dark alley, and normally I would have been terrified of such a place, but I either wasn’t caring because I had more pressing things to worry about—like not upchucking all over Frankie’s silvery suit—or I just felt a lot safer with Frankie than I would have with anyone else.
Of course, all those secure feelings went straight out the window when we suddenly heard footsteps coming toward the ally from the street.
Three men came into view, rounding the corner to start up the alley. I couldn’t see their faces, just the silhouette of a short, round man with two taller men on either side.
Frankie took one step ahead of me, effectively blocking me from the view of the men. It was nice to be protected like that and all, but the thing I really did not like was the way he stiffened and slowly rested his hand gently on his hip.