Scarlet Rose

Chapter 24

Candy had closed the door of Lord Wooster's study room with a heavy heart. The night that was supposed to be the last whistle on her old life she had enough of and the beginning of her new life, as light and intoxicating as the bubbles in a glass of champagne was getting from bad to worse.

First, it was the sudden appearance of Terry back in her life. The timing of this encounter had unsettled her deep down to her core. Like a tectonic shift, had moved her whole reality to another plane which she had to get to grips with and fast. He had said he was in London on holidays but the coincidence was...she had a hard time to think it was truly a coincidence. She had struggled to put Terry behind her, in the life she had decided to close the door to, and in all honestly, she had never thought of him actually remembering her after all that time. There was no sign from him whatsoever in ten years. If she only knew...

Then Christian, the man who changed her life around, who had pushed her to face her feelings, past and new, wasn't there with her. He had showed her what it was to live in the moment and had made her heart feel light. Like the sweet smelling smoke that came out of their hash pipe after enjoying each other's bodies, he had disappeared and all the lightness she felt, dissipated into thin air.

The man she saw outside the Gallery, who had insisted of talking to Christian, reminded her of those goons who had chased her outside that East End pub, the London Apprentice. He had a heavy cockney accent and an appearance that would make a lot of folk eager to hurry their steps if they were to cross paths with that guy on a dim lit night street. She already was aware Christian knew people from all walks of life. She remembered him drinking at that pub. The way he had intervened the night they met and had fought off those guys, he didn't really look fazed by them or what they represented.

What did that guy outside the Whitechapel gallery want Christian for? And how important that something was for Christian's face to darken and leave as fast as he did, leaving her and Archie to make an appearance without him at the party which was thrown for his work! By God, she felt shivers up her spine.

It was a desperate attempt of hers to phone Christian's flat. The chances would have been slim for him to be there, but she hoped. Mostly, she had wanted to hear his warm voice, telling her that everything was fine. Before turning at the end of the corridor to step down the staircase that would take her back into the joyous dancing crowd, she pulled her compact out of her silver purse. Examined her face. Two lines stood between her finely arched eyebrows. All her worry hid in those furrowed eyebrows. She took a deep breath and let a long exhale. She had to trust Christian was all right. Explanations would come later. She patted a thin layer of powder over the freckles on her nose and cheeks and reapplied her red lipstick. She heard clapping. The song had come to an end.

She turned and stood for a moment at the top of the staircase. The cloud over the green valleys of her eyes didn't match the effervescence of the crowd below that particular night. She bit her lip in an unconscious attempt to bring her mind back to the party. She thought she saw Archie waving and broke a wide enough smile before starting to walk down the stairs.

A nostalgic waltz started playing. The irony she thought. Just when her mind was gazing to the past, prompted by that particular song, she saw Terry approaching the staircase, making his way through the dancing couples. Sweat prickled her skin and her heart raced inside her ribcage as her eyes followed his handsome figure. He had locked her eyes so, she had to stop moving when she reached the bottom of the stairs.

"Care to dance with me...Rose...?", she heard his smooth voice asking her as he extended his hand towards her. As if hypnotised, she laid her hand into his, and let him lead her on a quieter spot on the floor. Their bodies came close together as they started moving to the song. She could feel the intense charge filling the little space between them. Enough to feel the sparks the closer they got. Absurd, it surely was, but that's how she felt. She could swear voltage was coursing through her body just by holding onto Terry.