Girl of Mine

Chapter 4 - Cassette river

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Rosalie's POV (Sal)

The smell of rain reached me as I walked out the backdoor of the town's theater. Among me were Bill, Scotty, and Elvis himself. Far from mad, Elvis was highly entertained by my answer. Somehow he had taken an interest in me, and wanted to bring me along for a late-night snack. Between the guys, jokes were thrown back and forth like a bunch of high school boys.

Closing in on who I guessed was Mr. Presley's security team, I noticed they consisted mainly of men dressed in black. The whole team around him was a testament to how big of a star he was, but the fun banter between the bandmates dragged me back to planet Earth. It seemed like such a normal group of friends; if his whole team wasn't there, I might have believed they were just that.

Gazing in front of them, the street lights made it look like the wet pavement glistened. Almost reflecting a clear image of a striking pink Cadillac.

A man dressed in black went to open the passenger door, but Elvis had other plans. «Thank you, sir. I'll take this.» He kindly spoke with his bodyguard, with a genuine smile displayed on his lips. Taking his place, he gently opened the car door with a hint of a smirk in my direction. «Ma'am? I would greatly appreciate it if you would join me.» He very politely gestured.

In my mind, accepting the offer of going with him was based on two things. The first one being I was feeling empty and lost. I didn't want to go home wrapped up in my own head with thoughts of the nothingness coming my way tomorrow. There would be no school, no Wendell, no structure of any kind, no job, no summer wedding or plans for my life starting tomorrow morning. From thinking I knew everything, I knew nothing.

The second reason was that something in me ignited over the feeling of going into a new reality—where I somehow met Elvis Presley.

It was not a difficult decision to make, even if I felt on edge as I walked up to him. «Thank you... Mr. Presley,» I smiled gently, earning a coy smile in return.

«Elvis.» He said straightforwardly, relaxed, holding onto the door. «Call me Elvis, Miss?»

«Wood. Rosalie Wood.» I let him know with a friendly smile.

«Well, Miss Wood... Get in.» He cheekily eyed me with a chuckle.

Lifting my skirt to climb into the car, he kept his eyes on me. Making sure my dress was all inside before closing the door on me. Heading around the car with a kick in his steps, he got in behind the wheel. His hair was damper from the rain than it already was from performing on stage.

With the rain locked out, it caused muffled, ticking sounds of droplets hitting the car. With Elvis putting on his seat belt and pointing to mine to remind me, I bit my lip, unusually nervous.

«You can just call me Sal, by the way.» I shrugged while looking toward my new acquaintance with a trying carefree smile—not wanting to make a big deal out of it. One thing was when his mates and security outside surrounded us. Now alone, it felt daunting.

He nodded with a little smile of his own, the most real one I had seen until now. It looked like he let his shoulders relax as I turned out to be less formal—dropping my last name and jumping straight to informal nicknames.

The car had white leather seats and had that classic new car smell. I didn't care for the feeling of new things, though. I preferred secondhand items, as they usually had history attached to them. Probably because I grew up in the summer mansion, where most things were from generations before me. Though, I had to admit the pink Cadillac was the prettiest car I'd ever been in.