Remember, I forgot chapter 26 originally. Go back and read chapter 26 and then move forward. So I haven't asked for reviews in a long time. I am now. Please please review :))))
Felicity
May 14, 1901
Spence Academy for Young Ladies
His eyes upon your face
His hand upon your hand
His lips caress your skin
It's more than I can stand
El Tango de Roxanne, Moulin Rouge
The first thing I see when I wake up is the stunning sun-tanned skin on Adalae's beautiful face. She sleeps soundly next to me—so relaxed and subtle. I smile at the realization of last night. Everything we did was perfect. She was perfect. I suddenly realize that I would not mind waking up next to Adalae every day for the rest of my life. I erase the thought as soon as it comes.
Gently, I reach out and brush a strand of hair behind her ear. Adalae's eyes open slowly, blink once and look around confused.
"Good morning," she slurs as she yawns. "Excuse me," she smiles when she finishes the yawn.
"Good morning," I smile back.
"That was incredible," Adalae remarks as she rolls onto her back and looks around my room. Suddenly we are interrupted by a knock at my door. We both freeze.
"Felicity? Are you in there?" The voice of Gemma asks.
"Yes, I am just. Hold on a second!" I shout back. "Get up!" I shove Adalae out of the bed. She falls loudly to the floor.
"Where are my clothes?"
"Who cares! Hide!" Adalae runs behind my dressing screen and ducks low. "Come in," I tell Gemma with a little too much kindness.
Gemma takes a step in and looks around as if searching for another person. "What was all that no—" she begins to ask, but is interrupted when she notices that the only thing I am wearing is a sheet. "Why are you naked?" She inquires, with one eyebrow arched into the air.
"It was hot in here last night." I lie through my teeth.
"Why didn't you just open a window?"
"I was too tired to get out of bed. So why are you here so dreadfully early?"
"I couldn't sleep and I thought I would come talk with you. I am sorry for pressuring you to tell me about your father. It was wrong of me to try to make you explain."
"You're forgiven," I say as I pick up my undergarments from the floor and run behind the screen. Adalae is curled up on the floor completely naked. I have no idea where her undergarments are. I begin to slip my clothes back on as Gemma continues her apology. I am thankful for her talking because Adalae keeps reaching up and tickling me. When I try not to laugh, I snort.
"Are you alright?" Gemma asks.
"Yes. I'm fine." I reply as I bend down to Adalae's level. "Stop it," I whisper. "I mean it."
"Are you talking to yourself?"
"No, I'm singing!" I answer loud enough for Gemma to hear.
"How do I get out of here?" Adalae asks quietly.
"Pretend you overslept. When I am already gone, put your petticoats back on and sneak back to your room. I will see you at breakfast." Standing up I slide the last of my dress over my shoulders. Adalae stands too. She pulls me into a gently kiss before pushing me away from the curtain.
"What are you singing?" Gemma inquires as she laces up my corset.
"A song I made up."
"Is it any good?"
"No." Our conversation ends there. When I am ready, we leave on our way to breakfast. Ann and Charlie sneak in a few minutes after Gemma and I have been seated. Adalae is no where to be found.
"I wonder where Adalae is," Gemma ponders.
"Oh, we just saw her on our way here. It was actually very strange," Ann exclaims. "She was leaving your room Felicity." I can feel the blood rush to my cheeks. "And the oddest part was that she was dressed very improper. She was only wearing her undergarments! I understand that at night when everyone is tucked into bed, but not first thing in the morning."
I do not look at Gemma for I fear she will make the connection. Charlie continues Ann's story. "We asked her what she was doing in your room and she said she was just looking for you. And then she ran off to her bedroom and slammed the door shut. She was very jumpy and nervous looking."
"What do you think, Felicity?" Ann asks.
I look up from my bacon and smile nervously. "I think Adalae was looking for me. As for the lack of modesty, she has always been somewhat strange. You all just didn't believe me." Finally, I look to Gemma. Her eyes pierce holes in my face. I find myself blushing again. Something tells me she knows.
Gemma
Adalae sneaks in at the very end of breakfast. After apologizing for oversleeping, she eats her cold bacon with a scowl. I look back and forth between Adalae in Felicity in hopes of figuring out what is going on. They stare in opposite directions and face away from each other.
When Felicity catches my observant eye, she clears her throat and says, "Adalae, Ann here said you were in my room this morning."
"It is true. I was looking for you." Their eyes meet when Adalae looks up from her plate.
"What did you need?"
I can't help but notice the way Adalae takes a second too long to formulate an answer. "I was actually going to ask you if you had any nice perfume from France that I could use."
"I actually have more than one. You are welcome to use them anytime you want."
"Thank you," Adalae warmly smiles.
"Why did you go to Felicity's room without your clothes on?" I ask in an attempt to catch them in their lie.
"I overslept this morning and I wanted to catch her before she came down here. I was too late though." Adalae lies smoothly—too smoothly. I find myself wondering if maybe they are being honest—at least more honest than I originally thought. I guess it is possible that Adalae was in her room when I was there. And it is possible that Adalae hid behind the dressing screen like I thought. But, why did she hide? What are they hiding?
"Why do you need perfume?" I press.
"Because I am pretty sure that Mr. Walsh will be calling on me today. And if I am supposed to woo him, I must smell fresh." I find myself out of ways to try and catch Adalae in her lies. I honestly do not know whether I should believe her, but I do anyway.
Just as Adalae imagined, Nick Walsh arrives at Spence in the mid-afternoon. Adalae comes down from her room wearing a fine dress. I notice that she does after all smell like Felicity's expensive perfumes.
Mr. Walsh happens to be a very attractive man. He has black hair that slips into his blue eyes every time he looks down. With a little bit of stubble on his chiseled chin, he resembles a sophisticated man who should be married. It is a shame that the Rakshana don't marry because any woman would be lucky to have him.
We stay out of his way while he waits on Adalae. I can sense his stares as we converse in a corner of the parlor. When Adalae does come down the stairs, he directs full attention to her.
The two of them take a walk through Spence's gardens. We have an almost perfect view from my bedroom. It is there that Felicity, Ann, and I press up against the glass and watch.
From what I can see below, they are laughing and having a good time. Adalae walks close to him, but not too close. At one point of their outing, Mr. Walsh takes Adalae's hand in his and leads the way to a bench. When they sit, their backs are to us. He keeps his hand firmly around hers.
Eventually they come inside. When they do, we can hear their goodbyes from the top of the stairs.
"Well goodbye Miss. Carmichael. It was so nice to see you again."
"Thank you for coming. I greatly enjoyed your visit." At this point, Felicity leans over the railing so she can see them. I pull at her skirts, but she does not budge. "I do hope you can visit again."
"I would love that. And it would be my honor to return. "When their conversation ends, I expect to hear his footsteps. Instead, there is no sound. Felicity's body stiffens next to me. "Goodbye Adalae. I will see you soon."
"Yes, goodbye Nick." The admiration in Adalae's voice is piercing. For the first time the thought occurs that Adalae could easily fall in love with Nick. I now have another worry to add to my list.
When Adalae struts up the stairs, Felicity grabs her arm tightly. I can see the white of Felicity's knuckles as she fumes. "What the hell were you doing?"
"What are you talking about?" Adalae asks as she wiggles free from her grasp.
"You kissed him!" Felicity shouts back.
"He kissed me! And what am I supposed to do? Sabotage our mission by backing away from him?" Felicity is silent as she thinks this through. I am even more confused about what is happening between Adalae and Felicity now. In a way, Felicity appears to be coiling with jealousy. But, at the same time, I can still see so much pain in her eyes when we are in the realms.
"I'm just saying that you should find some other way to make him fall in love with you," Felicity murmurs.
"Why do you even care?" I ask. Felicity sends me a nasty glare for my interruption and storms off angrily. I look to Adalae and ask, "What is going on?"
"Honestly, I do not know. Do you think I should not have allowed him to kiss me?"
"No. If you would have backed away, he might have figured that you don't really like him. You don't like him, do you?"
"He's a good man, but I know it is all probably a lie. I think that I have him smitten with me."
"But you're not smitten," I continue after a scowl, "with him?"
"Gemma, why don't you trust her?" Ann prods.
"It is not a lack of trust that I am worried about. I just now how charming those Rakshana men can be. They are dangerous."
"I completely understand your concern. Don't worry; I am not attracted to him." I want to believe Adalae, but I keep getting the sense that she is lying. "Anyway, I am going to go check on Felicity. I think she has some more to say to me." I laugh as Adalae climbs the stairs slowly.
"Do you think she is lying?" I ask Ann.
"No. I think you are acting very untrustworthy though. It's not just Adalae too. I have seen the way you look at Felicity. It is like you are always one step away from criticizing her every move. What has caused this behavior?"
I forgot that all the years of being invisible taught Ann how to observe without being caught. "I am just worried about writing up the constitution tonight. I have too much on my mind. I think I will go take a nap." Before Ann can reply, I make my way up the stairs and through the halls of Spence. As I pass all the class pictures, I notice our class for the first time. I peer into the glass and see the smiling faces of my friends. I feel a slight pang when I realize that Pippa would have been in that picture had I been more responsible.
Felicity
"It didn't mean anything!" Adalae snarls as she steps closer.
"It didn't look like it," I reply coolly. Adalae's face is just centimeters from mine. I can feel her hot breath on my lips as she spits back, "You sound jealous. I thought we weren't going to get attached."
"I'm not jealous. And I am definitely not attached. I just don't think you should be falling in love with the enemy."
"I am not falling in love with anyone!"
"Will you stop whining? You are too loud and stop crying to me. I have no sympathy for you. I cannot even trust you."
She steps even closer. Now I can feel her bust against mine. Her face is so close that I can only look into her flaming eyes. "The only person here that is falling in love is you. I am whining because you accuse me of exactly what you are doing."
"What are you saying?"
"You understand me just fine."
"I-I am not in love with you," I stutter as I back up.
"Prove it," Adalae taunts.
"How?"
"Apologize to me for overreacting about kissing Nick. And then tell me that I am welcome to do what I want with whomever I want."
I know that the only way to prove to Adalae that I am not in love is to say those things. And, I know that I do not love her. I clear my throat and look into her eyes again. "I am sorry for overreacting about your relationship with Nick. I realize that you had to kiss him in order to keep your cover. You are welcome to do what ever you want with whomever you want."
Adalae's lips are on mine as soon as the words are out. I know that staying in my room for the rest of the evening is suspicious behavior, but Adalae's touch causes me to lose any desire to be productive. I vaguely can feel our feet shuffling towards the bed. My thoughts are clouded with Adalae's peppermint flavored lips and warm skin.
The bed folds under my back as Adalae's body press me firmly against the sheets. Her lips find my neck and kiss softly. I have dreamt of this before. Adalae even bites down, but not too hard. I sigh into her hair as her lips trail down my neck to my chest. Suddenly I feel too constricted in my corset and dress. I want to take it off, but deep down I know that this is not the time to do that. If we are ever going to return to our friends, our clothes have to stay put.
