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Luke's**********
Blues music emanated from hidden
speakers in the
main room of the club, creating
a low-key yet
intense atmosphere. The din of
regular patrons
drifted at different levels,
and it being a Friday
night, the alcohol and good cheer
flowed freely.
Waiters and waitresses moved hurriedly
between
tables, avoiding knocking over
food and drinks. The
recently added dance floor spilled
over with bodies,
laborers and business professional
alike, trying to let
lose some penned up stress in the
seductive
euphony.
The party of three Spencers and
one soon-to-be-
Spencer entered the club, laughing
and enjoying
themselves. Luke looked appreciatively
at the
crowded restaurant.
"Looks like we'll have a good take
tonight," he said.
Strolling up to the bar, he spoke
to Joe while the
rest of the partiers talked.
"So, have you guys thought of where
you want the
wedding?" asked Laura, genuinely
curious.
Lucky and Liz just looked at one
another. "No,"
they said in unison.
Frowning her brow a little, Laura
asked, "Okay.
Well, have you thought of what
type of wedding you
want?"
"No."
"How big? How small?"
"No."
"How many bridesmaids? Ushers?"
"No."
"The cake? The photographer?"
"No."
At this point, Laura was becoming
extremely
annoyed. Heaving an impatient sigh,
she asked,
"Well, have you given any thought
as to when the
blessed event will take place?"
At this question, Liz began shaking
her head.
However, before she got far, Lucky
responded,
"Yes. I think the wedding should
be on November
12, Liz's birthday."
"But why? I mean, its a sweet idea,
but I don't
understand your reasoning," Liz
said.
"Well, you're seventeen. With your
grandma out of
town for an indefinite length of
time and your
parents in Europe, we can't obtain
permission.
However, it'll be legal when you're
eighteen, and
frankly, I'm going to have a hard
time waiting that
long," Lucky said pointedly.
Liz just smiled at him. He returned
her stare. They
remained like that, lost in the
oblivion of one
another, for several minutes. Laura
cleared her
throat, pushed at Lucky, and did
everything short of
actual physical violence to get
their attention, but
nothing worked. By this time,
though, Luke had
returned.
"All right. Joe cleared away a table
in a back corner
away from all the noise. Let's
go eat," he said
eagerly. His stomach was beginning
to growl.
However, then he noticed the mannequins.
Confused, he turned to Laura.
"So, how long have they been in that state?"
Laura, peeved, replied, "Oh, only
seven minutes.
Come on, let's go sit down. They'll
snap out of it,
eventually."
Grabbing Luke by the arm, she pulled
her husband
towards their table. However, Liz
and Lucky
continued staring into one another's
eyes, that is,
until a waiter tripped and sent
five glasses of wine
spilling over the engaged couple.
"Whoa! What the hell--!"
"I'm so sorry!" pleaded the mortified
waiter. "I'll go
get you some towels."
The waiter disappeared in the crowd.
Lucky glanced
at Elizabeth. Her entire front
was wine soaked, and
because she wore a thin, silky
tank-shirt, it clung to
her like a second skin. Instantly,
he felt desire flood
though him. 'Damn, she's so beautiful.'
He honestly
didn't know how he'd survived two
and half years of
not being able to touch her. 'Patience,
Lucky,
patience. You don't want to scare
her.' Trying to
slow his breathing, he frantically
searched the
crowd, looking for any sign of
the waiter.
While Lucky did this, Liz assessed
the damage.
'Well, there goes twenty bucks.'
Not only was her
shirt ruined by the white wine
stains, so were her
Levi's. Casting a look at Lucky,
she noticed he
wasn't in much better shape. His
black T-shirt was
plastered to his broad shoulders.
Like with Lucky,
immediately she felt the heat coursing
through her
veins. A fuzzy, liquid feeling
settled in her stomach.
'Control, Liz, control. Jumping
the poor guy here
and now would not make a good impression
on
Luke and Laura.' However, she couldn't
help but
wonder what his touch would feel
like. She imagined
his hands to be rough, callused
from his various odd
jobs. But at the same time, she
thought those hands
would touch her, cherish her as
they would a fragile
flower. 'Okay, girl, you've read
too many romance
novels.' Blushing at her wanton
musings, Elizabeth
joined Lucky in his scouting out
the waiter.
Ten minutes passed when Lucky said,
"Why don't
we just go join my parents? It
isn't as if standing
here is drying us any faster."
Shouting above the din, Liz agreed.
Hand in hand,
they maneuvered the crowd until
they spotted Luke
and Laura's table. Moving towards
them, Luke
looked up from his menu, shocked
at the soaked
teenagers.
"Now, cowboy, you know there are
laws about
underage drinkin'," Luke said.
Lucky made a face. "Yeah, Dad. Well,
how about
laws against clumsy waiters? One
of your guys has
two left feet. He dumped an entire
tray of wine on
Lizzie and me," he complained.
Laura smiled sympathetically at
Lucky, then noticed
Liz's predicament. "Oh, my! Lizzie,
it appears more
wine got on you."
At first, Lizzie and Lucky didn't
realize what she
was talking about. Then they both
looked down at
her blouse. In the better lit area
where they were
sitting, it became apparent that
the soaked shirt
revealed a bit more than deemed
appropriate by
conventional standards.
"Oh, God!" Liz gasped, and frantically
crossed her
arms over her chest.
Lucky only grinned.
Looking up at her fiancé, Liz glared.
Lucky's grin deepened.
Noticing Liz's growing mortification,
Laura
suggested, "Liz, Luke has some
extra clothes in his
office. Why don't you back there
and out on some
dry things?"
Gratefully, Liz smiled and dashed
off into the back
of the restaurant. Lucky stared
longingly after here.
"Lucas Lorenzo Spencer, I cannot
believe you
stared at her that way!" Laura
scolded at her son.
Embarrassed, Lucky said defensively, "What?!?!"
However, before any of them could
finish, the waiter
arrived. Luke ordered a hamburger,
Lucky the fried
chicken, and Laura ordered Caesar
salads for herself
and Liz.
"So, cowboy," Luke began, "how much
did the ring
set you back?"
Shifting a bit uncomfortably, Lucky
said, "Well, not
much. I mean, its not cheap, but
she deserves better.
I only spent about a thousand."
At that figure, both his parents
started, shocked that
their son had so much money.
"And where did you get that kind
of money? Did
you save some up from when you
were on your
own?" Laura questioned.
Luke, however, had a more devious
thought.
"Lucky, did you have money left
over from when
you worked for Helena?"
Still uneasy, Lucky said, "No, not really."
Expectantly, both parents said, "Well?"
"I, uh, got lucky at a couple hands
of poker. No big
deal. Besides, it was over a year
ago."
Neither Luke nor Laura were expecting that answer.
"Gambling? Lucky, how could you?
Does Elizabeth
know?" Laura asked.
"No. She thinks I saved up my money
from all my
jobs. I told the ring wasn't much
more than one
hundred dollars."
"Well, Lucky---" Laura began.
"Now, now, honey. Its his money.
Besides, it was
over a year ago. Nothing can change
it," Luke said.
Lucky began to smile gratefully.
However, he
faltered at his father's next words.
"---but if he ever gambles again,
Liz will certainly be
made aware of it."
Deflated, Lucky suddenly ached for
Lizzie's
presence. She made everything all
right. Like a
balancing force, she made him feel
like he could do
anything, survive everything.
Getting up from the table, Lucky
said, "Liz's been
gone awhile. I'll go check on her."
With that, he started towards the back office.
Luke's office***********
While Lucky was being berated by
his parents, Liz
was busy in her future father-in-law's
office closest,
desperately searching for something
that didn't look
like it would swallow her. 'Ah,
here's something
promising.' She pulled out a large,
flannel shirt that
was at least five sizes too big
and a pair of jeans that
were definitely too long.
Clad only in her underwear, she
turned to the full
length and held up the clothes
for a closer
inspection. 'I guess these'll have
to do.' Trying the
shirt on first, she concluded that
her original guess
to its size was close. Ending just
above her knees,
the shirt had sleeves that hung
well past her
fingertips. The shirt also was
missing the top two
buttons, so the collar kept slipping
off one of her
shoulders. 'Oh, well.' Then she
looked at the jeans.
She could make them shorter by
rolling up the pants
legs, but fitting them around her
waist would be
difficult without a belt. Looking
back into the
closest, she noticed the end of
a rope hanging over
the edge of the highest shelf.
She stretched to her
fullest height, desperately trying
to reach it.
At this point, Lucky had made it
to the office.
Noticing the door ajar, he glanced
in. The sight
before him was out of some dream:
his beloved, clad
only in an ill-fitting shirt. Because
she was reaching
only with her left hand, the collar
had plunged,
revealing a tantalizing view of
her shoulder and part
of her back. On tip toe, her legs
were flexed to their
fullest advantage, and the shirt
had ridden up to just
above mid-thigh. Lucky felt his
earlier desire return
full force. Giving into temptation,
he entered the
room.
Liz, meanwhile, was so consumed
with reaching the
rope that she never realized someone
was in the
room with her until she felt Lucky's
body align
entirely with her back. He casually
reached up and
grabbed the rope. For a few moments,
he merely
stood there, taking in her
scent and the feel of her
against him. He gently kissed her
hair, the perfect
shell of her ear. Kisses continued
to trail down the
delicately-sloped column of her
neck, and onto her
shoulder. Liz reveled in the sensation.
She moaned,
and abruptly, Lucky spun her around.
Capturing her
mouth with his, he sunk into her,
almost devouring
her. Using the rope, he pulled
her tightly into him.
Both of them drowned in the liquid
fire boiling
around them. Lucky continued his
manipulations
down her neck, along her collarbone.
Liz laced her
fingers through his hair, and she
tenderly pressed her
lips to his head. However, when
Lucky reached the
very top of her breasts, she hesitated.
Pushing away from him, Liz panted,
"Lucky...Lucky, we'd better stop."
Reluctantly, Lucky moved away. Breathing
heavily,
he said, "God, Liz, I'm sorry.
I don't want to
pressure you."
Caressing his face lightly, she
said, "I know. But I
think we should wait. Okay? You're
not mad?"
"Of course not, baby. I want our
first time, and
every time, to be special. I'm
not mad," Lucky gently
reassured her.
Pecking a light kiss on her lips,
he said, "Finish
dressing now. I'll wait outside."
With that, he turned to go. However,
his legs hadn't
quite revived, and he stumbled.
Elizabeth began
giggling uncontrollably. Lucky,
quite humiliated,
recovered his balance and went
outside the office.
Scrambling for the rope, Liz hitched
up the jeans
and belted the waist. She rolled
up her sleeves and
found a safety pin to secure her
shirt. That done, she
joined Lucky, and wordlessly they
proceeded hand
in hand to their table.
Luke's--the table**********
Worriedly, Laura scanned the crowd.
"Luke, where
could they be?"
"Darlin', they're good kids. They
won't do anything
stupid," Luke reassured his wife.
"Well, what do you really think
of their getting
married?"
"Honestly, I wish them the best
of luck. Its obvious
Lucky loves her very much. You
can see it in the
eyes: a sort of wistfulness. People
tell me it was the
way I looked, and still look, at
you," Luke said,
smiling.
Blushing, Laura replied, "The same
way Liz looks at
Lucky. Oh, they've grown so much.
They deserve
happiness."
Anymore love talk was interrupted
by the DJ,
announcing a special request.
"This next song isn't blues, but
its a chart topper. A
little romantic ditty for all the
lovebirds out there
tonight.
He began to play the song.*.
When the rain is blowing in
your face,
And the whole world is on
your case
I would offer you a warm
embrace
To make you feel my love.
Luke rose from his seat and walked
in front of
Laura. Holding out his hand, she
took it and rose as
well. Luke lead her onto the dance
floor. Embracing
one another, they began to dance.
When the evening shadows,
And the stars appear,
And there is no one there,
I could hold you for a million
years
To make you feel my love.
Entering the main room of the club,
Liz and Lucky
walked to the dance floor, taking
in all the couples.
Turning to Liz, Lucky said, "My
lady? Would you
do me the honor of sharing this
dance?"
He did a little bow, and she feign
a curtsey. Lucky
took her arm, and they approached
the dance floor.
Taking her in his arms, he pulled
her close. She laid
her head on his chest, and they
drifted around the
dance floor, as if they lived only
for each other. No
one could invade their world in
this moment.
I know you haven't made your
mind up yet,
But I would never do you
wrong.
I've known it from the moment
that we met.
No doubt in my mind where
you belong.
Picking head up, Liz whispered in
Lucky's ear,
"That's they way it was, you know."
"What was?" he murmured softly.
"Us. I knew the moment I saw you,
we'd be like this
someday. Of course, then you went
and ruined the
picture by lecturing me on the
evils of smoking."
Laughing quietly, Lucky said, "Well,
I was so
overcome by your beauty that it
was the only thing I
could think of to say."
"Lame, Spencer, very lame," came
the sardonic
reply.
Sheepishly, Lucky said, "I know.
I know. Honestly,
looking back, your shenanigans,
as Ruby puts it, is
what endeared you to me. I just
didn't know it at the
time."
Looking up at her fiancé,
Liz seriously asked, "Is it
because I was raped that you stuck
around?"
Lucky examined her eyes for any
sign of jest.
Realizing her gravity, he replied
emphatically, "No!
Elizabeth, I stuck around because
of you. You
amazed me. Everything you said,
everything you
did. It was...pure magic. I loved
your strength, your
courage, your wit, your passion.
The rape
emphasized these qualities, yes,
but its not because
of that incident that I was drawn
to you. Its those
qualities."
Leaning down, he intensified his
words with a kiss.
Liz returned it fully, and they
lost themselves once
more in the beautiful music.
I'd go hungry, I'd go black
and blue.
I'd go crawling down the
avenue.
No, there's nothing I wouldn't
do,
To make you feel my love
The storms are raging on the
rollin' sea.
Down the highway of regret.
The winds of change are blowing
wild and
free
You ain't seen nothing like
me
Nothing that I wouldn't do,
Go to the ends of the earth
for you.
I could make you happy, make
your dreams
come true,
To make you feel my love.
As the song winded to an end, Liz
whispered in
Lucky's ear, "You are my dreams.
Our children, our
grandchildren. Our past, our present,
our future.
Everything is you."
Lucky smiled down at her and said, "Ditto."
Leading her off the dance floor,
they made it back to
the table. All the Spencers ate
their meals, and it was
a wonderful celebration.
Unfortunately, viscous eyes watched,
waiting, yet
again.
The Hardy's---near midnight**********
'Dammit!' Liz said to herself as
the keys slipped from
her hands. She bent down in the
pitch blackness,
groping for them. The Spencers
had offered to walk
her up, but she had insisted they
go. Now, she
regretted her decision. Finding
her keys, she fumbled
with the right one, and jerkily
inserted it in the hole.
Sliding the deadbolt, she entered
her home.
Closing the door behind, Liz took
off her coat and
hung it up. 'Damn you, Sarah.'
Her inconsiderate
sister not only hadn't turned on
the porch light, she
also hadn't left on any house lights.
Flicking on the
living room light, Liz flopped
down on the couch,
thinking of her and Lucky's interactions
in his dad's
office. She felt the languid edges
of that all-
consuming warmth return. She had
stopped Lucky
not because she didn't want to
make love with him,
but because she wanted their first
time to be in a
special place, preferably on their
wedding night.
'Well, if that's gonna happen,
you don't need to be in
the same room, perfectly alone.'
Banishing these
thoughts, though, was her notice
of an odd, but
pleasant smell coming from the
kitchen.
Rising from the couch, she headed
for the kitchen.
Upon entering, her eyes beheld
a shocking sight.
Lining every available surface
area were what
seemed dozens of roses. Bright,
blood red roses,
their perfume creating a sickly
sweet scent. 'Who
could have done this?' Gazing around,
she was
completely bewildered. She then
spotted a white
card amongst a pool of red. Picking
it up, she read
the note:
A small reminder of my presence.
'What presence?' The note didn't
tell her damned
thing. All she had to go on was,
well, nothing. She
honestly didn't think it was Lucky,
but who else?
Her musings, however, were forgotten
as a loud
crash came from the front area
outside the house.
Running to the front window, she
looked out and
saw that the entire stack of firewood
had been
toppled. Puzzled by the mess, she
couldn't think of
any reason why it would fall. Then
she heard
mewing on the porch.
"Gatsby!" Liz yelled.
Jerking open the front door, she
looked down and
saw the wayward cat, sitting on
the front steps.
However, he was startled by the
sudden noise and
ran off into the woods.
"Stupid cat!" Liz muttered under
her breath. She
ventured to the far edge of the
porch and looked
into the trees. Calling out his
name, she walked a
little further. However, she had
come out with no
coat, and though it was only early
September, the
night air held a chill edge.
She moved towards the front door,
but as her hand
reached for the knob, she heard
the deadbolt slide
home from inside. Looking up frantically,
she saw
the lights flicker out through
the window. Thinking
Sarah was playing a prank, she
began banging on the
door.
However, she received no response.
'Fine. I'll go to the back.' Making
her around the
back of the house, she silently
wished Sarah all the
little torments she could think
of. 'Maybe Chinese
water-drop torture.' Though she
didn't know exactly
what it was, she had heard it was
extremely painful.
She reached the back door, but
it was locked as
well.
'Great,' she thought. 'What am I
supposed to do
now?' Deciding to head back to
the front, she turned
on the path. It was then that she
saw the figure.
Standing at the end of the path,
it was tall, wearing a
black duster and a black ski mask.
Bile rose in her
throat as she realized it wasn't
some juvenile prank.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" she screamed
at the
figure.
Instantly, she ran into the nearby
forest. Branches
scraped at her face, and leaves
rustled under her
feet. Running was difficult because
the ground was
still slick from the previous night's
rain. However,
when she heard the belabored breathing
and heavy
footfall of her pursuer, she ran
faster and harder.
Suddenly, though, her feet slipped
from under her,
and the world tilted. She felt
her head make contact
with something hard and jagged,
and consciousness
began drifting away.
The last thing she saw was a black-clad
figure
bending over her. It said, "Not
one word."
Then the darkness consumed her.