by J.M. Cagle
Chapter Four:
They spun and swirled around for song after song, easily falling into a comfortable rhythm as if they had been dancing together all their lives. Soon they were in their own little world, oblivious to the other dancers on the floor or how the crowds seemed to part for them whenever they breezed past. She was shy at first, but slowly began to open up as they discussed literary masterpieces they were fond of, and authors that were essential for any library. She impressed him with her knowledge of the workings of Christopher Marlowe and Mark Twain. It was as if there was no literary time period she was not familiar with and able to discuss. Luke found as they floated across the floor that, with every step, he was falling more and more head over heels with a stranger, and instead of being terrified, he was elated. Finally, they both agreed it was time to rest. Seating her at a table near the window with the view of the city and the sea, he rushed off to gather some drinks and food for them. Luke was anxious to return back to her, and glancing at his watch in habit, was shocked that it was already 10:45. They had spent hours on the dance floor, spinning and discussing, and he hadn’t even noticed. With a smile on his face, he quickly returned back to the table, but not before artfully avoiding running into his brothers, who would have either insisted they meet the girl who had taken up so much of his time, or chastised him for ignoring so many of the other guests.
Sitting down the platter of food and glasses of water at the table, he caught sight of a waiter walking past with champagne flutes, and quickly grabbed two off the tray as he went by. Pulling his chair closer, he raised his glass into the air. “To Jane Austen and her lessons on love and family.” He smiled, and though she raised her glass and joined in his cheering, the smile didn’t seem to reach her eyes like he’d thought it would. Sipping on the champagne and nibbling on the strawberries, Elle seemed lost in thought as she stared off through the window into the distant water.
“A penny for your thoughts, Elle?” He had long done away with the formality of calling her Miss. Cinder, somewhere along when she had called him an idiot for thinking Shakespeare contributions outweighed those of Christopher Marlowe and the third song. He enjoyed how her cheeks colored and her freckles stood out whenever she was passionate or being shy.
“I am just thinking about the past.” Her tone was flat, and though everything about her was screaming for him not to ask, he wasn’t one to read those signs.
“What about the past? I want to know everything about you, Elle. That is, if you are willing to tell me.” The sincerity in Luke’s tone, coupled with the fact that he ever so gently covered her hand that was resting on the table with his, must have shifted something, because one moment she looked like she was going to brush him off, and in the next she was telling him everything.
“My father died a year ago yesterday. He… he was the famous architect, Richard Cinder. Maybe you’d heard of him.”
Luke just nodded; he had heard of the man, who had been an amazing architect who had designed some of the most beautiful modern buildings that could be seen all around the world, but Luke also remembered that the man had died unexpectedly, that there had been some trouble with a will, as well. But he said none of this, choosing instead to keep his eyes trained on hers, pouring all his condolences and support into his gaze. He didn’t want to stop her story; he just wanted to listen, so he gently squeezed her hand to let her know it was fine to continue.
“Well, I’m the child of his second marriage. My mother, Rebecca, she died when I was seven, and my father, well, he traveled so much that he thought it best that I go to boarding school. Which was fine, but that meant I didn’t get to see him as much. But when I did I loved it, and I loved him. I always thought I was the apple of my father’s eye until… until he died and I found out that I did not mean as much to him as I thought.” She let out a shuddering breath, and gave him a weak smile.
“When he died, it came about that he had not updated his will prior to his divorce. Maybe he thought he had more time and kept putting it off, I don’t know. But the will gave all his possessions and left an inheritance to his first wife, Maura, and his twin sons, my half-brothers, Jake and Jacob. I received nothing from my father.” Elle looked so broken, coupled with the dim lighting, which caused shadows to dance across her face, it was as if she was being swallowed up by the darkness.
“But, surely your brothers would not leave you with nothing. Especially knowing how your father meant to update his will and include you in it.” But as soon as the words were out of his mouth, he knew he had made a mistake speaking them. Elle’s face grew as red as her hair, and her eyes narrowed in anger. “They did nothing,” she spat out viciously. “They told me that he never loved me, for if he had loved me he would have left me something. They are vicious evil brothers and I am surprised we share any DNA!”
“You want to know why they didn’t help. It is because they hate me. Plain and simple, they have always hated me. I have no idea why: I tried for years to love them, I wanted them to love me. But all I ever got from them was rejection and pain.”
She held up her pinky on her right hand, which Luke saw was noticeably crooked. “This was from them slamming my hand in the car door when I was three.”
Moving her hair from near her face, she lifted her chin and showed a pale scar that ran across her jaw line. “That was when they throw a cat at my face, for no reason.”
Elle’s nostrils began to flare and her hands began to shake. “They enjoy hurting me, they always have. They take great pleasure in denying me. I knew they would, but I still went to them and asked.” Tears began to swell in her eyes and her knuckles became white from where she clenched the tablecloth a little too tightly.
“All I asked was that I could continue to live in the home I had grown up in, and for the rest of my school tuition to be paid so that I could graduate with a Masters in Modern Literature. I wanted nothing else of my father’s fortunes. But they cast me out! They in fact moved in the day after his will was read, with their horrid mother, and kicked me out without money, any place to live, and without a way to continue with school. If it wasn’t for my friend, Claire, I don’t know what I would have done.”
Luke wasn’t sure what to say after all of this. Sure, he didn’t always get along with his siblings, but no matter what, he knew they would support him. He could not imagine how hard it must be to know that the only family you have hates you and wants you to suffer for no other reason than for their amusement.
The tears that were swelling in her eyes, she tried bravely to keep from falling. But one did escape, and Luke gently rubbed his thumb across her cheek to stop it in its track. Elle leaned her face against his hand, seeking its comfort and warmth, and he gently cupped her cheek, wanting desperately to give her it. Leaning in, he pulled her closer and gently placed a kiss on her lips.
Brushing the velvety softness ever so gently, giving her time to pull back in case he had overstepped any boundaries. When after a few moments she did not recoil back in disgust, he hungrily pressed his lips firmer against hers. It was an explosion of emotions of longing and love, and it sent a pulsating heat throughout his body. But he pushed no further, not wanting to scare her off, and also a little afraid of how strongly he was reacting to the kiss. When he pulled back, he was pleased to see that, with her eyes closed and her eyelashes grazing her freckled cheeks, she seemed to have enjoyed the kiss just as much as he had.
“Do you believe in love at first sight?” The words were out of his mouth before he realized he had spoken them, and they hung in the air.
“What?” she answered in a confused haze, before it truly registered what he had asked.
“Do you believe in love at first sight?” he couldn’t take the question back, he knew that. So he had to cross his fingers and hope for the best.
“I used to.” She spoke so quietly that he had to strain to hear her response, but when it registered, it echoed in his mind.
“Used to?” Luke
seemed unable to grasp what could have happened to change her mind.
“I don’t believe men are truly capable of love. Or more specifically, I don’t think a man is capable of loving me.” She seemed resigned to what she was saying, and she looked down to avoid his confused gaze.
Luke cupped Elle’s cheek and turned her face upwards towards his bewildered stare. “Everyone deserves to be loved, and I, only knowing you for a short time, can’t imagine someone not falling in love with you.”
“Well, there must be something wrong with me, or how else could you explain how my father and brothers treated me?”
“They obviously did not know what a jewel you were, but their mistake and ignorance should not cause you to shun the idea of love. You are wonderful, intelligent, funny, passionate, and so beautiful. I have only had the pleasure of being in your company for one evening, and I am already in love with you.” Luke was so focused on changing her mind, and showing her that the attitudes and lack of attention did not mean she was lacking in any way, that he did not notice the slip of his tongue until Elle let out a delicate gasp.
“I…I…What I meant to say was…I…um… I, ” Luke was not sure what to do, and he was terrified he would scare her off if he admitted to what his heart was telling him to be the case, but his head was saying all of this was too soon, to back off. This one time, he decided to go with his heart. “I,” he quickly took a swig of champagne to gather his courage and loosen the knot that had nestled itself in his throat. “I know this sounds impossible, and that everything and everyone will say that love… that love at first sight is impossible. But I know it to be the case, it happened to my parents and…” Luke gathered Elle’s quivering hands in his and tenderly raised them to his lips, placing small kisses across the whitening knuckles, all the while holding her emerald gaze, hoping that she could see into his soul as he was seeing into hers, and know him to be speaking the truth, “and… I have only dreamed for it to be the case for me. When I saw you this evening it happened, the click my parents always told me about, and I knew from the moment you held my gaze that you were the one who I was meant to spend my life with.”
Tears silently flowed down Elle’s cheek as she waged an internal battle over her emotions, over what her bruised heart was beating for and what her mind was telling her logically could not be happening. She opened her mouth to speak, but only a small choked sob escaped. Luke quickly gathered her into his arms. “Shhhh, my love, you do not have to say anything, and I understand if you do not feel the way I do, though I will admit it would break my heart.” Pulling back slightly, he looked down at Elle’s tear soaked face, her mascara running and eyes shining with residual tears, and all he wanted was to heal the hurt her family had caused to her heart, and make her tears go away, and so he did what his body and heart told him to do, and he kissed her. Pouring all his hopes for their future together with his blossoming feelings into the kiss; and when her arms wrapped around his neck and she pulled him close, he felt like maybe, just maybe, he would succeed in banishing these feelings from her heart.
“But how can I believe that you will not be like my father, leaving me broken and uncared for? How can I trust you?” Her tone was accusatory, but her eyes pleaded for him to help her, to show her that he was nothing like the men in her life. He didn’t know how to respond, so he spoke plainly as he gently wiped her tears. “I cannot ask you to place your trust in me, so let me earn it, let me show you how wonderful it can be to be loved by me. I dedicate my life this moment to showing you that I am nothing like your father and brothers. I know we have only known each other a short while, but sometimes life can be a fairy tale, and sometimes love can bloom in an instant, so trust in that. Trust in your feelings.” Entwining his fingers with hers, he hoped that she would take the plunge and realize that this was foolhardy and risky, but that it was worth it.
“Oh my God, I can’t believe it is midnight!”
Confused at her sudden distress at the time, he glanced down at his clock to confirm that it was a few moments after the stroke of twelve, but when he looked up, ready to reassure her that the party was going to continue for a while longer, she was already gone. He caught sight of her breaking through the crowds and running towards the exit, where a pretty blonde girl in a red dress seemed desperately happy to see her, before she was unceremoniously shuffled into the quickly crowding elevator.
Running after her, Luke could not believe how quick she was in heels. By the time he had reached the elevator, it had already been making its way down. He took his chances and hopped into the next open elevator, and followed his gut down. As the doors closed, he caught sight of his brothers making their way across the room towards him, but he had no time for them. He had a woman he had to find and convince that love could happen in just a few hours.