I own nothing but Nicki.
Chapter 29
"All the world's a stage. And the men and women merely players."
Oswald closed the umbrella as he stepped back inside, close at Fish Mooney's heels. The woman looked flawless, as usual, a lot of that due to his keeping her sleek hair dry. He had truly grown to despise his position as umbrella boy, the closer he and Nicki came to their plan taking hold, but he had to admit that he would never fail to be impressed by her attention to her appearance. She always looked amazing. Always. Oswald felt himself fighting to keep his eyes from roaming over her figure in her gold sequenced jump suit.
"Dear Oswald," Fish addressed him, making him snap to attention. "What would I ever do without you?" Oswald gave a nervous laugh. Her smile grew a little wider. "Always keeping the rain off my head with such unprotesting devotion. " She placed taloned hands on either side of his face and gently pulled him down to her level. He could smell her lilac perfume. She placed a gentle kiss on his cheek and then in a hushed voice, whispered in his ear. "Why don't you have Lazlo fix you a drink to chase the cold out of your bones? I don't want my boy getting sick on me."
She pulled back and gave him wink before turning on her spiked heels and sashaying away to greet some of the early arrivals at the club. Oswald took a deep breath to try to calm himself as her intoxicating presence lingered.
"Well that was like watching a cat play with a mouse."
Oswald's head whipped around to see Nicki standing next to him, examining him with frown.
"You don't work tonight," he blurted out, immediately realizing how stupid he sounded.
She cocked an eyebrow at him. "I'm aware…Fish wanted me to come as a…guest."
"Well you look," he took her in, and couldn't help but notice how pretty she looked, this further jumbling his already flustered mind. "Nice."
He offered her a smile, which she returned, but he didn't miss the strange look in her eyes. "Nice," she scoffed. "Well I guess we can't all look 'Fish Mooney' good can we?"
She seemed to be joking, but there was an edge in her voice that he couldn't place. For a moment his mouth worked but he formed no words. His quick mind and silver tongue failing him. What was wrong with her?
"Is everything…alright?" he locked his eyes onto her brown orbs and was surprised that she was the first to avert her gaze.
"Yeah fine," she said her smile disappearing. "You put on a good act Oz." His brow furrowed. Why was that a bad thing?
At a loss for how to respond, he took the next best course of action he could think of and changed the subject. "Did you get my message?"
She nodded, still seeming distracted. "Yeah, Edmund's first lines from King Lear. Subtle." Her eyes shot to his so suddenly that he almost flinched. "And fitting." She added.
Oswald gave a nervous laugh. "I was afraid you'd miss it. I've been right at Ms. Mooney's side for the past two days so it was hard to be subtle. I just wrote it on that candy wrapper and hoped you'd read it before you threw it away…are you sure you're alright?"
Nicki finally gave him a smile, but it still didn't reach her eyes. "Yeah,I'm just being silly. Don't worry about it Oz."
And with that, she turned and made her way to Fish, leaving Oswald very confused and very much wanting that drink he had been promised.
Hey guys! So sorry for going on such a hiatus! I haven't given up on this I just had to let some other things take precedence over it. I love you and thank you so much for your support and for just taking the time to read =)
