Elvis & the English Rose.

Chapter 1.

Chapter 1.

International Hotel, Vegas. 1970.

Louise couldn't keep still. She needed everything to be perfect for when Elvis arrived. So, she puttered about moving combs and brushes and hairdressing scissors to different places on the dressing table, as if it would make any difference at all.

She was nervous. You could see it on her pretty face. Louise Kelly was a beautiful girl. Tall, in heels, with curly blonde hair that reached her waist. Thick, it was, and as soft as silk. She had eyes of the deepest blue, so deep you felt you drown in them. She straightened her blue and white poly-cotton dress. And then she straightened it again and again for her nerves were getting the better of her.

'Get yourself together Louise. He's just a man like any other man. Oh, but he's Elvis. ' She muttered to herself as she touched up her black eyeliner in the huge mirror before her. Louise let out a sharp, frustrated sigh as her eyeliner stick slipped. Great. Now she was left with a black streak down her face. She looked like the Miners back home.

'Here.' She heard.

Louise turned slowly. She knew who it was before she saw his face. Elvis had a voice as deep and rich as she'd ever heard in her life. It was unmistakably him.

Dressed in a black shirt and white trousers, with black dress shoes on his feet, he looked handsome. He wore sunglasses, thick rimmed sunglasses. They looked like they'd cost Louise a month's wages.

She breathed sharply, and took the cotton handkerchief from him. Louise was horribly embarrassed. Way to go, Lou, she thought.

'I-I'm sorry. I was just getting ready before our appointment, tidying up and such and my eyeliners a mess and...' Louise frantically scrubbed at her cheek until it was red raw.

'You're gonna take your skin off, darlin'. Here, let me.'Elvis ran the handkerchief under the hot tap, and gently dabbed the eyeliner away. He smiled a small smile when he removed the remainder of it.

' There. Nothin' to it. '

' What must you think of me, eh? I'm daft.'

'Daft?' Elvis frowned, sitting in the salon chair and lighting a small cigar.

'Oh, sorry. It means silly. Or stupid. Well, at least it does in Manchester.'Louise ran comb under the tap, and commenced combing his thick, black hair. He smiled as she bit her lip in concentration.

'I've always wanted to go to England. My manager says I can't do it, so I ain't goin' I guess.'

'You should go one day, anyway. Who cares what your manager thinks?' She said with a triumphant nod. Elvis laughed heartily, in a way he hadn't laughed in a while. He turned to face her, tilted his head to one side and pointed his finger at her. He studied her, from head to toe, as if she was the most interesting thing he'd ever seen.

'You're a little firecracker, ain't you? Not many people around me speak their mind. Nah, they suck up to me, always wantin' wantin' wantin'.'Elvis muttered. He looked deep in thought.

Louise didn't know what to say. She didn't understand his experiences. She didn't know how to make him feel better.

'Well, all I want to do is to cut your hair. And by the looks of it,' She frowned in mock concentration,' it desperately needs it.'

Elvis laughed again, and raised his hands in defeat.

**

Elvis and Louise talked for 2 hours. They talked about England and how Louise missed it. She talked about her family. How her father had died when she was 10, and her mother desperately needs the money Louise sends back home.

Elvis talked about his mother, Gladys, and how he loved her. He bore his soul to Louise without ever intending to. Louise had a way of bringing people out of themselves. She had a comforting, warm presence.

'Sometimes I just wanna runaway, you know?' Elvis said.

'Yeah. But you can't. You have a wife now. That's good, isn't it?'

Elvis frowned and stood. Louise followed him. She was worried she'd overstepped her bounds, and mentioned things she should've left alone.

'Can I see you again?' Elvis asked.

Louise blinked, twice, and gulped. She could not say anything. Her throat felt dry. She simply nodded once, and smiled.

'I'll come back tomorrow. You'll be here?'

Louise nodded again. Elvis took her hand gently.

'You're somethin' special, Louise.' He said quietly, kissing the back of her hand for longer than he needed to.

He could barely take his eyes off her as walked out of the door. He felt like he'd been in another world, another dimension where he was actually happy. It seemed like an impossibility but it wasn't. He felt it.

Louise stood alone in the dressing room, feeling the same.

She leaned against the table and placed the back of her hand on her cheek. She closed her eyes and softly smiled to herself, like she had a delicious secret.