Divine Mortals

by Allison, J

  I sighed again, I needed to wash, I had already listened to three songs without moving.

  I opened my eyes with a small scream. Nan jumped back from where she was leaning over me, I had frightened her as much as she had me.

  “Sorry dear,” she apologised but for some reason her grin was huge, “I did call your name, but you didn’t hear me.”

  “Ah yeah, the music was loud, ah…” I tilted my head to one side and studied her a little harder, she was literally ready to burst with excitement, she could barely stand still, shifting from one leg to the other, the smile on her face both excited and mischievous.

  “Did you want me? I was about to have a shower but if you need some more help…” I ventured, narrowing my eyes, her grin grew to even larger proportions creasing her face into mass of wrinkles and pink cheeked delight.

  What was going on?

  “Oh no dear, I don’t need your help, or rather, well, I think a shower would be a good idea. You can’t go out looking like that.”

  “Go out?” I shook my head, confused, was this early stage dementia?

  “Yes dear go out, you see I, well…” She laughed and almost danced towards my wardrobe, I could see I was going to have to speak to Pop, either Nan was on some crazy new medication or she had completely and utterly lost it.

  With a swirl of her arm Nan pulled a gown from my wardrobe. My gown to be exact, actually more to the point my Prom gown, the gown I had worn the night I learnt my parents were dead.

  A wave of emotion hit me full on and I felt as if I was reeling for a moment, I stumbled back, sitting heavily on my bed. I didn’t know what to feel when I looked at this dress. When I had put it on life had been great, full of excitement and possibility. When I had taken it off my world had felt as if it no longer existed, I was amazed how this one insignificant item could hold such a mix of confusing feelings.

  Nan on the other hand was so completely off her rocker with glee she didn’t seem to notice any of this, in fact her eyes had not left the dress since she had taken it from my wardrobe. I tried to look at it like she did, tried to capture some of the majesty I had felt when I had first seen it.

  It was gorgeous, a bright golden yellow with a halter neck top and low slung back, the skirt flowed silkily down to the ground. It really was beautiful. But that still didn’t explain any of this.

  “Nan why do you have my Prom dress,” I smiled the best I could, although it felt a little strange, “If you want to borrow it be my guest,” I tried at humour.

  “Oh don’t be funny with me,” she smirked, “I wouldn’t get near this now, you on the other hand, you need to get in the shower so we can get this on you.”

  “Would you at least tell me what you’re talking about Nan, you’ve lost me.”

  Instead of answering she hung the dress back up, gave me a cheeky smile and headed towards the door, with a flourish she pulled it open.

  My breath caught instantly in my throat and I felt my mouth fall open. He was stunning, and even that was not the right word, somehow it just wasn’t enough, I don’t think that there were any words that would be.

  Robert stood just outside my doorway, dressed in a tailored black suit, complete with jacket, tie and button hole.

  I had never seen him in anything other than jeans and shirt, casual clothes. Dressed like this he glowed, the definition of old world glamour and charm.

  “I was wondering,” he said, a smile wide on his face, “If you would do me the honour of attending the ranchers ball with me tonight.” he finished with a cheeky wink, his usual relaxed air shining through the formality of his attire.

  I tried to speak, moving my mouth wordlessly for a moment, instead I turned to Nan.

  “It’s okay dear, it’s all sorted, Robert asked your Pops permission two days ago, you’re free to go.”

  “You what!” I spun back towards him, he shrugged still smiling,

  “So are you going to leave me wondering or is this a polite way of saying no?”

  I finally managed to arrange my thoughts back into some kind of logical order and pull my mouth closed.

  “Of course I’ll go.” I grinned, feeling a little goofy about the size of my smile.

  “You don’t even have to shower if you don’t want to,” he laughed, taking in my dirty clothes and green stained hands.

  “It would serve you right if I didn’t, springing this on me like you have.”

  He started to say something else but Nan was already bustling out the room like a small grey tornado, pushing Robert out in her wake before pulling the door closed behind them.

  “Oh Nan,”

  Her head popped back though the gap quickly and I had to suppress a smile,

  “Thank you.”

  She smiled again, “Your welcome dear.”

  I turned back towards my mirror, I needed more than a shower, I needed to wash my hair and put on some makeup and I needed to do it pretty damn quickly. I didn’t want to leave Robert to my grandparents mercy any longer than I had too.

  I turned the shower on while my brain turned everything over, my plans for tonight had literally turned upside down. From what had been a quiet night consisting of a call to Joel, the customary game shows with my grandparents and early to bed, so that I could spend time with Robert, had now turned into a night of dressing up and dancing and complete and utter terror.

  Sally still wasn’t speaking to me, as far as I was aware. I had tried to talk to her after our ill-fated meeting at the diner but she didn’t want to hear it, hanging up as soon as she had heard my voice on the phone. I had sent her a text after that, again apologizing and again getting nothing back. While going to this ball with Robert was amazing, balls and dances tended to be best shared with your girlfriends and I was going to attend without any female company at all. I was also going to see Sally there and I didn’t know if I could deal with her open disapproval.

  My stomach turned and I felt a little nauseous at the prospect of it, maybe I could tell Robert I didn’t want to go, perhaps tell them I didn’t feel so good.

  My thoughts flashed back to him, dressed like a model fresh from a Tom Ford photo shoot, stunning in his black formal suit, and then to my grandmother, more excited than a kid at Christmas. No I couldn’t disappoint either of them. I would have to go.

  I stepped out of the shower and began to towel off my hair. God what was I going to do with it. I had never been any good with my hair, for the Prom I had had an elaborate up do, styled to perfection by my hair dresser and held in place with ten thousand pins.

  I didn’t have the luxury of a salon tonight and instead dug through the bathroom drawer to find my hair dryer, I hadn’t used it since arriving and eventually I found it in the back, I plugged it in and started to dry my long tangled waves. I would wear it out, any attempt I made at an up do was bound to be a disaster, better safe than sorry.

  I took my time with my makeup, applying it slowly and sparingly, I didn’t normally wear it and I didn’t want to make any mistakes, the whole process took much longer then I had anticipated and when I stepped back into my room I was horrified to see I had almost been an hour already.

  I snatched my gown from the wardrobe, trying to ignore the memories that came with wearing it. Pulling it into place I inspected myself.

  Not bad. I was far more tan now than when I had arrived, giving my skin a glow that seemed to offset the yellow nicely. My hair was falling in shiny dark waves almost to my elbows and my makeup was natural.

  Now all I needed were my shoes.

  I went to my knees searching the bottom of my closet, where the hell were they…

  I dug through, not seeing them, pulling everything else from the floor of the closet as I searched. Soon enough the bottom was empty but sure enough my yellow heels were still nowhere in sight.

  I was sure I had bought them with me.

  Closing my eyes I willed myself to calm down and breathe evenly, all the nerves that were building were starting to make me feel fl
ustered, I needed to concentrate on where I had left my yellow heels. There was another knock on my door.

  “I’m not quite ready,” I called, hating the nervous edge to my voice.

  The door creaked open anyway, much to my annoyance, Nans head poking through the gap for the third time. Upon seeing me she broke into an ecstatic grin, her wrinkles creasing her face gently.

  “Oh Ava,” she gushed, rushing over to me, “you look gorgeous dear, absolutely stunning.”

  I felt my cheeks redden, “Err, thanks Nan.” I grinned, leaning down to receive the kiss on my cheek that she offered.

  “You’ll be looking for these?” she held up my yellow heels.

  “Oh you have them, I was starting to think they had gone to the Ball without me!”

  I sat quickly to put them on, the back of each heel had a long yellow ribbon attached that crisscrossed up my legs tying behind my knees. Nan stood back admiring me, her hand resting gently over her heart, a look of intense pride on her face, I was starting to feel a little uncomfortable in her admiration.

  “Are you ready?” her words interrupting my thoughts.

  “I think so.” I gave her a grin, time to face the music.

  “We better get out there.” she gave an exaggerated cringe, “Your grandfather is busy giving Robert the third degree, I thought he was over that after your Aunties married and left home but you have managed to bring it out in him again and he’s loving every minute of watching Robert squirm.”

  I couldn’t help it, I laughed, I was sure Robert could handle whatever Pop threw at him.

  Nan threaded her arm through mine leading me out the back door and onto the porch.

  Grandpop and Robert were deep in conversation, thankfully about cattle and not about my virtue. Robert looked up instantly, his gorgeous face spreading into a wide grin as he saw me, Pop, seeing Roberts reaction turned in his seat, his smile growing instantly as well.

  Seeing the opportunity to get away Robert leapt up, almost a little too fast, seeing his eagerness Nans smile broke free again.

  My breath caught as he stood, would this attraction ever wane, he managed to take my breath away daily.

  “You look beautiful Ava,” he literally glowed as he said it. I could feel the color creeping back into my cheeks, my eyes flashed to my grandparents who were both looking at me expectantly.

  “Shall we go?” I murmured to him, I was feeling more than slightly embarrassed at all the attention.

  Robert linked his arm through mine and I felt immediately relaxed by his touch, I was beginning to think my grandmother would pop with delight if we didn’t get out soon.

  “Have a great night Fred, Norma.” Robert spoke so formally to them, I had to repress a smile. He was trying so hard to be the gentleman, although when I thought about it he had always been a gentleman, I don’t know why I thought it was so amusing now, perhaps it was the nerves.

  “I’ll get Ava home safe.”

  “Make sure you do.” Pop grumped, putting his protective stance on again, he gave Robert a sharp warning look, although coming from a man of almost seventy made it far less menacing then he had probably hoped.

  “Pop!” I growled under my breath, seventy or not I was embarrassed by him all the same, I wasn’t a child. His expression changed instantly back to a smile of such extreme innocence that I couldn’t help but grin stupidly back.

  “Have a great time dear.”

  “I’ll try,” I grimaced inwardly, not letting them see my face.

  If Sally doesn’t tear shreds off me…

  Robert did see however, a slight frown returned to his face as he led me down the stairs.

  “Are you okay?”

  “Yes.” I smiled at him, I wasn’t sure if I could look away.

  A shiny black sedan was waiting for us at the bottom of the porch steps. Upon closer inspection I found it was a BMW.

  “Where…” my voice trailed off, as I turned back to him,

  “Something special for tonight,” he shrugged, dodging the question.

  “Just something for tonight…” I murmured turning back to it, I felt his fingers twine through mine.

  “May I?” his voice bought my eyes back to his as he slid a corsage of small yellow flowers over my wrist.

  “How did you know what color to get?”

  “Just a coincidence.”

  “Sure it was.” I didn’t try to hide my sarcasm.

  Robert laughed out loud as he opened the door for me.

  “After you,” he gestured, holding my hand as I got in, I was beginning to feel like a princess.

  The car was incredible, it smelt new, the interior was amazing, I don’t think I had ever sat in such an expensive vehicle in my life.

  Robert swung into the other side, and with two honks on the horn we were off, heading towards the highway.

  “So how did you manage all of this?” I swept my arms wide taking in both us and the car.

  “You know Fred’s a push over,” he laughed, flashing his dark eyes at me, “especially where you’re concerned, you didn’t really think he would actually keep you from going tonight if you had asked did you?”

  “Okay…” I wasn’t convinced, “I know you said that you wanted to ask me to the dance tonight but I didn’t actually think the whole dressing up thing was your scene, aren’t you more the swoop in swoop out kinda guy, cape flaring?” I couldn’t help myself.

  “You really are going to have to let that one go you know,” his tone was light, “I’m no super hero.”

  “Oh but you are,” I laughed out loud, “You defeated both villainous Grandparents and took the damsel to the ball, I’m very impressed.”

  “Hmmmm Grandparents,” he mused, “not really the hardest tyrants to take down.”

  I loved it when he smiled.

  Robert had just proven it, Nan and Pop did have a soft spot for me, I really hadn’t thought about pushing them on their punishment, I guess it was good to know that they could be swayed, I would store that info for future reference.

  “So are you going to explain the car?”

  “No.” his answering smile made my heart flutter and I had to look away. The fields were flashing past on either side of us at an incredible rate, I didn’t dare look at what speed we were going. Robert lent forward and switched the radio on, some sort of Indi rock flowed instantly from the speakers.

  “Really?” I asked, raising my eyebrows in question.

  “Oh come on” Robert shrugged looking a little sheepish, “This stuff is great, everyone likes it.”

  I shrugged and gave him my best ‘not me’ smile, Robert rolled his eyes but he was smiling and his hand reached across the seat to take mine, instantly enveloping it in warmth.

  We were quiet for a while and I was actually beginning to enjoy the music that was playing.

  “Where are we going?” it was much too early for the Ball, it couldn’t be later than six.

  “We have dinner reservations.” he answered simply.

  “Where?” panic made my voice a little higher than necessary, I hoped we weren’t going to the diner, I was far too overdressed to be eating fries and staring at the many pictures of Marilyn Munroe that hung on the walls in there. Just the thought of all the stares we would encounter had me ready to swing the car door open and throw myself out.

  “It’s a surprise,” he glanced over at me, I could see the excitement in his eyes. Okay so I would give him the benefit of the doubt, hopefully not the diner, but there weren’t any restaurants in Huntington so I was a little confused.

  The last thing I wanted tonight was to stand out from the crowd, and in this dress at the diner that was exactly what I would do, I just wanted to fit in. I wondered if this was how Robert felt every day, every time he stepped outside the privacy of his small hut.

  We travelled along the Highway and through the center of town, coming uncomfortably close to the diner, I breathed a silent sigh of relief when Robert turned left at the main intersection and we
began heading out of town. Within a few minutes this turned into a gravel road, although that didn’t seem to slow him down. I was intrigued as we pulled further away from the township and were surrounded once more by paddocks, cattle and horses.

  The road started to climb steeply up the side of the valley and still I didn’t ask, I knew that even if I did Robert wasn’t going to tell me where we were headed.

  This gave me a bit of time to plan my strategy with Sally. Although I couldn’t really come up with anything great, the only thing I could do was talk to her and apologize once more for having hurt her feelings. Even though she had never been with Robert she was obviously very hurt that I was. I could understand that I guess, after all I had endured hours of her talking about him and now I was the one with him, it did seem little two faced. All I could do was plead forgiveness and hope that she came around.

  We were getting higher up the hill and as we rounded the last corner to the summit a huge building came into view.

  It was enormous, made of log and stone, elegant and expensively rustic.

  I turned to Robert who was careful to keep his focus away from me as he pulled smoothly into one of the parking bays, when he turned off the ignition I was still staring at him, waiting for an explanation.

  “This,” he said smoothly, a delighted smile on his face, “Is Red Peak Lodge, it’s a spa resort where people from the city come to stay for a bit of pampering.”

  “Okay…” I gestured for him to carry on,

  “It also has an incredible restaurant if you’re ready to eat.”

  “Oh.” I let my breath out slowly as I looked back towards the very exclusive looking resort.

  The door opened next to me, Robert was already out and around my side of the vehicle. This time he was less formal, grasping my hand instead of linking arms as we walked towards the huge intimidating entrance.

  A large water feature was the main focal point as we made our way towards the doors and I noticed small fish swimming in the base of it as we passed. A doorman swung the huge glass doors wide, giving us a nod as we entered.

  “Good Evening,” he murmured as we passed, bowing his head a little.