He smiled down to her and nodded. She felt wonderful as she laid her head against his chest and they danced slowly to the rhythm of the music. She looked at his hand within hers, the wrinkled skin against her smooth skin and knew that it was going to be difficult to get past the differences in their ages when it did come to the issue of sex. It was one thing for her heart to be in love with him. She knew it was going to be another for her to lay next to him naked and make love to him. It hurt her to think that she would have problems with it so she began to try to imagine it.
At first it was something that was a little disturbing but then she remembered the look in his eyes and the love that was there. Soon the images no longer bothered her, soon she found she was even becoming aroused and that was something she had never felt before. She looked up into his face. The lines were heavy upon his face but his eyes had youth and love for her in them. As his eyes held hers she found that she did not care, as long as his eyes continued to hold that look of love for her she would be his. She would hold him in her arms and when it came time she would have no problem being his wife and lover.
Melanie realized that she had seen a movie recently about a couple that were called a May/September romance, she smiled for if they compared that movie to her and Papa Zach they would call them a Early March/Late December romance. She held onto him, not wanting the music to end and not wanting to let him go. She wished there was some way she could pass some of her years to him just so she could have him with her for a little longer. Then she heard the music end and felt a tear slide down her cheek. Quickly she wiped it away before he could see it and smiled up at him. As she did she heard a rattling sound on the wall at the back of the shop. She looked that way and the only thing there was a mirror.
Melanie looked at the mirror for a moment and wondered what could have made it rattle and then she heard a large truck pass by on the main road outside. Perhaps that had been it, but she did not remember hearing a truck a moment ago. She turned her gaze back to Papa Zach and put the rattle out of her mind.
As the dance ended Zachariah heard the mirror rattle. He looked to it and could feel the waves of fury coming from Lilith. He had begun to come up with an idea now that Melanie had told him that she loved him that may just save Melanie. He did not yet know if there was a way that it would allow him and Melanie to be together but at least Lilith would not get her.
Zachariah smiled returning the lovely smile that Melanie was giving him and then said, “There is one more thing that you need to go with that dress."
He went to the closet and pulled out a black velvet opera purse then returned and handed it to her. It was just big enough to carry her identification and a little money and a couple of emergency items. Then he made a phone call and ordered a pizza from Chef Jeff's. Melanie looked at him funny and asked, “Won't that hurt your stomach?"
"No, I have a cast iron gullet. Now, sit down and talk to me a bit before you go. You do not want to be too early.” She agreed and they sat and talked for a while. Then there was a knock on the door and Zachariah went to answer it. Turning the latch he let the pizza driver in. He looked outside and saw the large station wagon the driver was using to deliver pizzas and smiled.
After paying for the pizza he looked to the driver and said, “Hey, what's your name.” He had noticed that the driver could not pull his eyes from Melanie.
"Ummm, it's Philip. Why?"
"How would you like to make an extra fifty bucks tonight? Twenty now, and thirty a few hours from now, and all it takes is a five minute detour on your delivery route."
Melanie looked up and began to protest, “Papa Zach, I can walk!"
"Not in that dress you can't."
Philip looked at the twenty being offered to him, “Sure, what do I have to do?"
"Drive Melanie to the High School for the Dance, and in three hours pick her up and bring her here."
"Three hours? Papa Zach, I may not need that long."
"Or you may need longer,” Zachariah thought. “Okay, Melanie, when you are ready to be picked up call here. Then I will call Chef Jeff and leave a message for Philip."
"Philip, the message will be, the pizza was very good, and your service was great. Then you will know to pick her up.” Zachariah looked at Philip; upon his face was a dazed look, “Do you have it? Or do I need to write it down?"
"Nah, I got it,” Philip responded. “It is just no one has ever asked me to do anything like this before."
"Well there is a first for everything,” Zachariah said as he handed him the twenty, and Melanie followed Philip out the door. Zach could tell she wanted to kiss him goodbye but with Philip there thought better of it, but she did kiss his cheek and said she would see him later. Then out the door she went. After she left Zachariah turned the bar and opened the blinds again. Then he returned to the area where the gemstones were still out. He had not worried about anyone seeing them for the way the counter was set up they were hidden from the view of anyone unless they were looking right down upon them.
An hour had passed and Zachariah had finished sorting out the gemstones he needed. He set those aside and took the last drawer of containing the rest of the gemstones back to its hidden locker and closed the vault. As soon as he heard the click of the vault's locking mechanism he also heard the front door chime announce a visitor.
"Sorry, we do not open until tomorrow.” He hollered out to the visitor.
A woman's voice responded in a very prim and proper manner, “Mr. Zachariah?"
He looked around the corner at a very lovely woman in her late thirties to early forties. She was dressed in a woman's business suit of a blue grey jacket and skirt with black pinstripes. Her blouse was a pale grey, and the thing that passed for a woman's tie was a deep violet. She was blonde and her eyes were a light blue. As he walked toward her he noticed that her skin tone was well tanned, but from the suit and her stance Zachariah was pretty certain it was from a tanning salon and not the beach. “May I help you?” He brushed dust from his hands off on his apron as he neared her.
"You are Mr. Zachariah then?"
"That is close enough, so how might I help you?"
"My daughter is Melanie. I am Rebecca Morgan, Representative to the State Senate from this area.” She held out her hand to shake his.
He reached out and took it and was surprised that she shook it firm like a man and not wimpy or soft. At least that was something she had in her favor. He liked women that showed a strong nature when they took on such responsibility.
"It is good to finally meet you. I had expected you earlier.” Zachariah smiled at her.
She did not smile, but her tone was not harsh, “I have been busy down in Albany and this is the first chance I have had to come by."
She glanced around the shop and then back at him, “You have some nice pieces here. Melanie mentioned on the phone that you had some very interesting pieces. Do you mind if I take a look at them?"
"No, not at all, but don't you wish to ask me any questions?"
She turned and took her gloves off and placed them in her purse and responded, “Not really, Melanie is really not my concern. She was adopted. My husband and I thought we could not have children so we found this girl that was about to get an abortion and paid her to live with us and have her child. It was only days after we signed the contract that we found out I was pregnant.
"My husband, who is a lawyer, was very careful to make certain the contract was unbreakable, unfortunately it was unbreakable by us as well. Our son was born two days before Melanie.
"We have pretty much let the nannies we have had raise Melanie. We knew it would be too difficult not to play favorites, so we did not try. We had two more children after our son, another boy, and a girl. Melanie was raised in the servants’ quarters. We make sure she gets everything she needs. She never gets in any trouble so we pretty much let her do as she wishes. It makes it easier on us to not have to watch over her.
"We have told her that after she turns eigh
teen she can stay until the end of the semester but then she has to find a job and move out."
Zachariah was shocked at how coldly and bluntly the woman told him this. It was like it was common knowledge and she did not care who knew about it. Now he knew why Melanie had said many of the things she had said. She had so many things stacked against her. She had different ideals about the way a woman should be but then the way her parents treated her as well. Now he understood why she was so often the butt of the other kid's jokes.
He almost regretted having agreed to show her the jewelry but he had so he walked to the special cabinet and opened it. Her eyes opened wide as she gazed at the pieces.
"I have never seen anything like these pieces. They are amazing, such craftsmanship and detail.” Her eyes were glued to the pieces of jewelry as she asked, “Are they for sale?"
"Most of the pieces are for sale, there are only a few pieces that are not.” Zachariah pointed out the pendants of Peter and Evelyn, and the Ring he had made for Lilith on their anniversary and said that neither of those was for sale.
She eyed the pieces and finally her eyes settled upon a ring. It was gold with a large black onyx stone. Set in the stone was a diamond in the center, and a ruby in each corner. It was a man's ring.
"Might I ask how much for that ring?"
"That is a wonderful piece. Legend has it that it was made for a King of France. I would be able to part with it for say $15,000."
"That is a little expensive for a legend isn't it Mr. Zachariah?"
Zachariah smiled and opened the case. His fingers touched the ring and he could almost feel Mrs. Morgan's eyes on his hand as he drew the ring out. Seductively he turned the ring so she could see the inside of the ring.
"If you look at the Maker's mark, next to it you will see that the Maker has added an L and the Roman Numerals X, V, and I for sixteen.
"The legend says that when the King came to pick up the ring he looked at it and was impressed but upon seeing the Maker's mark wanted his own mark on the inside of the ring as well so he ordered the Maker to add an equally impressive mark for him."
As Mrs Morgan reached into her purse she said, “You have made a sale, Mr. Zachariah. Do you accept credit cards?"
"I do not have the gadgets set up yet, but I will trust you as I trust Melanie. I am certain you can bring me the money tomorrow, and I will let you take the ring home tonight."
Zachariah carried the ring to the counter and placed it in a ring box. After placing the box into a small sack he handed the sack to her. Instinctively her hand shot out and he took it shaking her hand but this time he was not impressed for he realized that it was an automatic reflex with her and that there was no real thought behind her actions. Her only thoughts were on her prize within the sack in her other hand.
"This is a true piece of history.” She smiled and turned, then headed for the door.
"Yes, Mrs. Morgan it is.” Zachariah replied. “I will tell Melanie you were here."
"Who?” She asked absentmindedly, “Oh her, yes, do that. I will return and pay you after your Grand Opening."
"That will be fine."
She walked out the door smiling broadly. Zachariah watched her go as he smiled to himself. “Yes, it is, it was on his finger when the blade came down, and Marie Antoinette followed him shortly after."
* * * *
Three hours passed and the phone rang. Zachariah picked it up and as expected it was Melanie. She sounded very happy, but she would not tell him why, not until she was able to see him face to face. He agreed and hung up the phone then called Philip and left his message.
Less than fifteen minutes later Melanie came bounding in the door and raced to him wrapping her arms around him and kissing him hard. Zachariah heard a coughing at the door and looked up to see Philip. He reached in his pocket to get the thirty and Philip said, “Never mind, man, after seeing that. I don't want anything. I will never get that image out of my head."
He left shaking his head muttering something about, how can an old dude like that get a chick like that when he couldn't get a date with anything that wasn't blown up with a tire pump?
Melanie laughed and said, “Oops, I forgot you were going to pay him some more money or I would have waited until he had left."
Zachariah joined her, “It is okay, I kind of think we made his life. I think he will actually have more confidence now."
Melanie jumped up and down, “Papa Zach, Papa Zach, I won!"
"What?” He sat her in a chair and told her to tell him the whole story.
"Well, when I got there, I thought I would be a wallflower all night,” she smiled at him, “but that is not how it turned out.
"Every guy there wanted to dance with me, and you should have seen the looks of jealousy from their dates. Even Rebecca Straine's date danced with me, I almost laughed when I saw her eyes for they were glaring at me so vehemently that she will loose half her eyesight in this one night alone.” Melanie was giggling while she told the story. “However, while all of them danced with me all I could think about was the dance I had with you. I was having fun yes, but I wanted to be here."
Slowly she slipped her hand into his. “Then it came time to count the vote, and I was going to leave but Rebecca Straine and her friends stood in front of the door. They wanted to make certain I saw her accept the crown. Only thing is as she walked toward the stage when they came out to announce the Homecoming King and Queen I was not upset. It did not bother me for I already knew I was somebody's queen. “They announced the King first, for it is custom that he put the crown on the queen's head, and as expected it was Tommy Juckett, the quarterback of the football team and Rebecca's boyfriend. Rebecca had already taken the first step leading up to the stage when they announced the queen. She took the second step before she realized it was not her name they had called. It was mine."
Melanie beamed, “I won. I cannot believe it. They voted for me as Homecoming Queen, Papa Zach!"
Zachariah hugged her, “I am so happy for you, Melanie, you deserved it."
"So I walked from the door where I had been waiting to leave all the way to the stage and climbed up on the stage. Tommy stood there waiting; even after I stopped he still waited like he was expecting something. I asked him what he was waiting for, and he said I would have to remove the tiara to put the Homecoming Queen's crown on, but when I put my hands on the tiara I could not remove it. I did not want to."
"It meant more to me to be your Queen than it did to be the Homecoming Queen, so I looked at him and said, ‘No.’ He said, ‘What?’ and I said, ‘No. I do not want to be the Homecoming Queen,’ and I turned and walked away.
"Everybody looked at me, and I heard Tommy ask the Dean what to do. The Dean said he was not certain because nobody had ever refused the position before, he guessed that they should take the runner up. So then Rebecca Straine's name was called.
"I was told as I left that she was runner up yes, but that is because she was the only other person to be voted for and there were only five votes for her, which means that if you count her and her four friends and her boyfriend one of them did not vote for her."
Zachariah smiled at her, “In other words you won by unanimous vote."
She wrapped her arms around him tightly and whispered in his ear, “I do not know how you did it Papa Zach, but thank you."
"Melanie, there is magic in the jewelry yes, but often that magic only reveals what is already there. This magic I think just made people see what is already within you. So I do not think I did anything. I really think it was you.” She brightened at his words, and then kissed his lips, “I know you had something to do with it, but thank you."
"Now, let's get comfortable, and I will tell you your story for the night. I am going to pull the recliner over to the cabinet and you can pick out the piece and then if you wish we can cuddle while I tell you the story."
Zachariah could almost see a scolding coming from the look in Melanie's eyes. Suddenly her voice got very s
trong and she became very protective as she said, “You listen here, Papa Zach, you are too old to be pulling furniture around the store like it was nothing. Now you go stand over by that cabinet and I will pull the recliner over there."
He tried to stifle the laugh but had to cover his mouth to do so. As he walked over to the cabinet he watched the little Melanie that did not weigh much more than the recliner did struggling to move it across the room. First she tried to pull it; finally she kicked off the low heeled shoes and got behind it and with all her weight pushed it over to a spot near the cabinet. She then worked on positioning it and finally announced it was right and he could come and sit.
As she stood breathing hard Zachariah noticed that one of the straps was hanging off her shoulder and that she had not realize that part of the gown had slipped and most of her breast was exposed. He was thankful that her nipple was still covered or when she discovered it she would probably have burst into hysterics. The thought of telling her about it dominated his mind and he was about to do so when she noticed it herself and quickly lifted the strap. As she turned her head to see if he had noticed he glanced toward the cabinet.
After a moment he turned back and saw that she was waiting for him and her dress was on correctly again. He walked by her and sat down in the chair and then looked at her and repeated, “Why don't you pick out your piece and then come and sit on my lap, then I will put the recliner back and we will cuddle while I tell that story."
Melanie smiled at him, then she walked to the door of the shop and locked the door and pulled the blinds before returning to the cabinet and opening the door. Zachariah could see her eyes scanning the variety of jewels within and then he saw her gaze fix upon something. She reached inside and chose a piece and closed her hand tightly about it. Slowly she walked to him then paused, “Should I go change back into my other clothing first?"
"That dress gave you a special night, are you ready to let that night end or do you want to keep it going a while longer?"
Melanie did not say a word, she just climbed upon his lap and Zachariah reclined the chair. After the chair was sat back, Melanie wiggled to get comfortable. Zachariah gritted his teeth for her bottom wiggling about in his lap was highly arousing and he had to focus his mind on thoughts that would keep his arousal from becoming obvious to her.
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