Lila took a deep breath and tried to quell her nervous excitement. "I will."
"You will what?" Rivka rapped poor Mick on the head with her fan again. He scowled, rubbed the sore spot, and ducked back beneath her gown.
"I’m going to find Tom." Lila waited for her sister’s response.
Rivka only smiled. "I’m glad, Lila-love."
They hugged again, crushing Mick between them. He didn’t complain, but bore it stoically. Lila bent down and kissed his cheek for his patience, then was off into the crowd.
She had just wiggled her way past a group of people costumed as a cruise ship when the music stopped. The DJ, who had set up his portable dance floor and other equipment in one corner of the room, began asking everyone in the gallery for silence. Curious, Lila followed rest of the crowd as people began moving toward the small platform Rivka had planned to use to display sculptures. It was bare at the moment, making it the perfect place for someone to stand and make announcements.
Which was exactly what someone was doing. Two someone’s in fact; one dressed as a rather rumpled Julius Caesar. Lila’s stomach lurched. It was William Darcy. The other, the one who made her breath catch in her throat, was a handsome Mark Antony. Tom.
"Attention, everyone!" Tom had commandeered the DJ’s microphone. The room quieted at his command, a massive feat since the place was jammed full. "My fellow Roman here has something to say."
Tom handed the mike to William, who took it between two fingers as though it were covered in slime. The man she had once thought moved the sun and stars didn’t look well, Lila decided with mean satisfaction. Sweat had broken out on his brow, wilting his laurel leaves.
"Friends, Romans, countrymen," William began, and the crowd laughed appreciatively. "I have something to say."
William fell silent, casting a look of desperate disgust at Tom. Tom merely nodded stonily, directing William to the crowd. William cleared his throat.
"It has come to my attention that, by my words and actions, I have brought pain to a certain person here tonight."
The crowd murmured. Lila’s heart jumped. Boldly, she began pushing her way to the front of the throng. She wanted to see this from up close.
"I just wanted to apologize." William sounded strained. Lila caught sight of a scowling Pansy and repressed a chuckle. William’s wife looked ready to kill him. "Many of you tonight have had the pleasure of viewing the paintings in the gallery’s Bold Room. As you may know, those paintings are all of Rivka Delaney’s sister, Lila Lazin."
Lila had pushed her way to the front of the crowd. Behind her, a woman grumbled that she couldn’t see over Lila’s headpiece, but Lila didn’t care. She didn’t want to miss a word.
"I once told Lila Lazin that I thought she was not only unattractive, but of less than average intelligence as well." The mouth Lila had once found so handsome now pursed with anger. "I told her that by dating her, I was doing her a favor."
Some in the crowd gasped; others laughed. The laughter was different now, however. When William had begun speaking, they had been laughing with him. Now, as he obviously was aware, those who laughed, laughed at him.
"Jerk!" someone called from the back of the crowd, and this time more people burst into rude laughter.
"I wanted to say I was sorry." William was as stiff as any good soldier.
His fingers were white-knuckled on the microphone. Lila had never seen him so discomfited. The Iron Prince was falling off his pedestal, and she felt a little sorry for him.
William cleared his throat. "Lila Lazin is one of the most intelligent women I know. I broke up with her because she intimidated me. I wasn’t man enough to handle her."
His last words came out in a strangled growl that sent shrieks of feedback bouncing from the speakers. His eyes spitting venom, William thrust the microphone back into Tom’s hand. Glaring at the crowd, the fallen Caesar prepared to get off the platform.
"William!" Lila’s voice cut through the crowd like a knife through butter. She climbed the steps to stand between him and Tom. The crowd hushed.
"I always knew you were a snake, William." The microphone in Tom’s hand sent her voice clear to the back of the room. "I didn’t realize you were such an asp."
The silence that followed was broken by the sound of someone applauding. Lila looked to see Rivka, in all her queenly glory, clapping wildly from her corner. Rivka was joined by Mick, then Martin. Soon the room swelled with the sound of people clapping, applauding her and laughing at the crestfallen William, face the color of fresh strawberries. He stumbled off the platform, grabbed Pansy’s hand, and disappeared into the crowd.
Lila turned to Tom as her heart thundered in her chest. He was smiling at her. She stepped into his embrace and didn’t care that a roomful of people watched them. Feeling Tom’s lips on hers was all that mattered.
"I’m sorry." She clung to him, mouth next to his ear. "I was stupid and afraid."
"It’s all right." Tom held her shoulders. "I don’t care. I’m sorry I didn’t make you understand before how much I love you."
"And I love you. Nothing anybody says or does will ever change my mind."
"Kiss her!" someone yelled from the crowd.
"Antony and Cleopatra!" another voice called. "The perfect couple!"
She realized without embarrassment that the crowd had heard their every word. She didn’t care. She would shout her love to the rooftops, if that was what it took. She loved Tom Caine, and he loved her.
All at once, Tom fumbled with something at his waistline. Confused, Lila watched as he pulled out a small velvet pouch. Dropping to his knees, Tom took her hand in one of his and the microphone in the other.
"Lila Lazin, I love you more than I ever thought I could love someone. You are the reason I wake up in the morning. Without you, I have nothing. Will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?"
The swarm of party goers was roaring, or perhaps it was only the blood pounding in her ears. Lila’s knees trembled, and her fingers grew cold in Tom’s hand. His hazel eyes shone at her, and his wonderful mouth smiled with such love she had to smile back.
There was only one right answer. "Yes."
As Tom slipped the diamond ring on her finger, the crowd’s voice swelled as one, calling out congratulations and other well-wishes. Lila didn’t hear them, though. All she heard was her own name breathed from the mouth of the man she loved.
"I love you, Lila." Then the shouts and cries of the other people in the room disappeared for her, because his was the only voice that would ever matter.
#####
Author's Note:
Nothing In Common was originally published in 2002.
About the author:
I was born and then I lived a while and I did some stuff. Then I did some things and whatnot. Now, I mostly write books.
Connect with Me Online:
Twitter: http://twitter.com/Megan_Hart
website: http://www.meganhart.com
blog: http://www.readinbed.net
photo credit: scottchurch
Megan Hart, Nothing In Common
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