Previously:
"So, are you going to leave town, or are we going to have to make you?"
"No. No, I-I'll go."
Berga helped Emilia stay stable as she stood up. Emilia felt his grip on her arms and realized he could easily break them.
"And remember. No trouble."
"No trouble."
Berga let her go, and she left, hurrying away as fast as she could. Berga followed her out, making sure she went straight out the door. Emilia did. She couldn't get out of there fast enough.
Berga found Luck and Charlie and gave them the news.
"She's gone. I don't think she'll try anything, but just in case, you should probably stay away from your apartments."
"…..."
Keith looked at Luck and Charlie. They could stay with him.
"Are you sure?" Luck asked. "Kate wouldn't mind?"
Keith nodded.
Chapter 11: Meant To Be
Keith Gandor lived in a detached house in West Manhattan, on the edge of Hell's kitchen. Up until the previous year, he'd lived with his brothers in several rented rooms in a nearby tenement, but when Berga had gotten married, they'd each moved into places of their own. At present, only Luck was still living in the old apartment.
Keith unlocked the door and let Luck and Charlie in. His house had more than one guest room, but at the moment, only one of them was fit for a guest to stay in. Kate had stripped the beds to clean the sheets to keep them fresh, and, for whatever reason, hadn't finished folding them all. There was still a set of unfolded sheets in a laundry basket by the sofa, where she must have been sitting to fold them. But they had no idea what she had done with the ones she'd already finished.
Keith left Charlie and Luck to get some blankets from a chest in his room.
"You take the bed," Luck told Charlie. "I'll take the sofa."
"Are you sure?"
"I'm sure."
"We could share the bed." Charlie felt bad taking the warm bed while he slept on the sofa.
Luck knew it was an innocent suggestion, but…
"I'll take the sofa."
"Luck—"
"Do you know how hard it would be on me to sleep next to you without being able to touch you?"
"… Oh."
Charlies cheeks turned pink when she caught his meaning.
"Like I said, I'll take the sofa."
"…..."
Keith came back out with the blankets.
Luck kissed Charlie.
"Goodnight."
"Goodnight, Luck. Goodnight, Keith."
Charlie took a blanket and they basket of unfolded bed linens, and went into the guest bedroom and closed the door. She would make the bed before she slept in it.
Keith handed Luck the rest of the blankets.
"Thanks, Keith."
"…..."
"Goodnight."
Keith left Luck to sleep on the sofa, and he went to bed himself, making sure not to wake his already sleeping wife.
Luck lay awake under the warm blankets, staring at the ceiling. He smiled when he thought about Charlie's offer to share the bed. It was funny how someone who spent her early years growing up in a sporting house and knew every curse word in the book could be that innocent. He thought it was cute the way she blushed. He shifted to lie on his side and closed his eyes, drifting off to sleep.
—∞—
The next morning, Luck woke to the smell of frying bacon. He sat up on the sofa and looked toward the kitchen.
"The bacon's done."
He heard Charlie's voice come from the kitchen.
"Just put it over there, dear."
Kate was talking to her.
Luck stood up and went into the kitchen. Charlie was sliding pieces of bacon onto the plates at the table.
Charlie smiled when she saw Luck and laughed a little.
"Your hair is a mess."
Luck reached up and felt his hair. She was right. He smiled wryly.
"Guess I'd better go comb it."
He went to the bathroom and started getting ready for the day.
When Keith came out of his room, which had its own bathroom, he went to sit at the kitchen table. The newspaper was already on the table for him. He opened it up and started reading while Kate and Charlie finished serving breakfast. Kate added eggs to his plate and Charlie added toast. Kate poured some coffee into a mug for him. And then poured another mug for Luck.
"Orange juice, right?" Kate asked Charlie.
She remembered from the last few times they had breakfast together. Kate preferred orange juice as well.
"Yes, please."
Luck came into the kitchen with his hair combed properly, ready to start the day. He sat down at his place at the table, and Keith handed him the pages of the newspaper that he was done with.
"Can I see those when you're done with them?" Charlie asked.
"Sure," Luck said.
"I'm sorry you had to sleep on the sofa, Luck. I was telling Charlie that you all should've woken me up if you couldn't remember where I keep the linens."
"Well, we didn't want to disturb you," Luck said.
"I appreciate that. So, do I want to know what happened that prevented you two from going back to your own apartments?"
"Probably not," Luck said.
"I see," Kate said, and she went back to eating her eggs. "How long do you need to stay?"
"The problem should resolve itself by midnight tonight."
"That's good. Sleeping on the sofa is probably bad for your back."
Kate looked at Charlie next.
"What are you up to today?"
"I'm going to play at the jazz hall tonight. Other than that, my day is pretty much free."
"Why don't you come play cards with us, then?"
Luck thought that would place Charlie somewhere they could be sure she was safe until they were certain that Emilia had left town.
Charlie considered it. She came to the same conclusion as Luck and guessed that was why he suggested it. Even if she wouldn't die, she didn't enjoy being shot, so she would like to avoid that if possible.
"Okay."
—∞—
Sometime later. Coraggioso.
"Ah, not again!"
"Every single time..."
"Give us a break, Miss Charlie."
These complaints came from the three guys Charlie was playing poker with. Luck, Keith, and Berga were taking care of other business, so they had asked three of their men to keep her company and keep an eye on her.
"You shouldn't bet money you can't afford to lose," Charlie said, raking in her winnings. "How about we play a different game?"
"Yes, please."
Charlie looked around and happened to spy something unexpected wedged between the side of a side table and the wall.
"How about The Landlord's Game?"
"The Landlord's Game?"
"Where are we going to get that?"
"What is The Landlord's Game?"
"It's a board game, and there's one right over there."
Charlie pointed her finger at it.
"Oh, she's right."
"That's weird."
"How did that get there?"
"So what do you say?"
"Well, I guess it's fine, if that's what you want to do..."
"I haven't played in a while."
"I haven't played ever."
One of the men, Tony, got up and went over, pulled the board game out from where it had been wedged, and brought it over to the table.
Luck came into the basement.
"We've found which hotel Emilia is staying at and now have someone watching her," he informed Charlie. "She won't be able to sneak up on us anymore."
Luck noticed the game sitting on the table.
"The Landlord's Game? Where did you get that?"
"It was wedged between that table and the wall," Tony said as he, the other two men, and Charlie all pointed at its previous spot.
"Huh. I wonder how it got there..."
"Hey, Charlie, let's play poker," Berga said, coming into the basement, too. "Today's the day I beat you."
"Oh, we've moved on from poker. We're going to play The Landlord's Game now," Charlie said. "Want to play?"
"The Landlord's Game? Pfft. Why would I want to play that? It doesn't even have real money."
"Personally, I think this game is harder than Poker," Charlie said.
"Oh, yeah? This I've got to see."
Berga parked himself at the table.
"Deal me in."
Charlie set the game up so she, Berga, and the three men could all play.
Luck pulled a chair over to watch.
They rolled the dice to determine the order they would take their turns in. Berga was second and Charlie was third. They played according to the monopolist rules, and no matter what Berga did, he seemed to lose money. After an hour, he handed over the last of his money to Tony.
"This game is rigged," Berga said.
"You were just unlucky," Charlie said.
Berga had managed to buy one property, but no one ever landed on it.
"I bet you're glad we weren't playing with real money now."
"You're not doing so hot yourself."
Charlie was in third place at the moment.
"This game is actually pretty fun," Tony said.
—∞—
Three hours later.
It was down to Charlie and Tony. When Charlie had to hand over the last of her money, Tony celebrated his victory.
"We should play this more often."
"Easy for you to say, you won the whole thing," Berga said. "But it was fun watching Charlie lose."
"Too bad we weren't playing with real money," one of the other two men said.
"Yeah, for once it was Miss Charlie's turn to lose."
"You lost too, remember?" Charlie reminded them.
"Oh, right."
"Well, I'm glad you enjoyed yourselves," Luck said.
"We should play again," Tony said.
"No," the other two men said at once.
"I think we should go back to poker," Charlie said.
"Oh, uh..."
"If it's too hard on your wallets, we can play for pennies."
"Oh, that would be much better."
"Yeah, that could work."
"Thanks, Miss Charlie."
"You guys have no guts," Berga said. "Place a real bet."
"But I've already won this much off of them."
Charlie said, held up the wad of cash that was her winnings.
"You guys..."
"You try bluffing someone who can count cards, Mr. Berga."
"That's a terrifying ability you have there," Berga told Charlie.
Luck smiled wryly. They had created a monster.
"Charlie, don't ever gamble in a casino. If you win too much, they'll feel compelled to do something about it."
Keith came into the basement with Bruno, the man they had follow Emilia. He paused when he saw the remnants of their game.
"…..."
"Since Bruno's here, I take Emilia is gone?" Luck asked.
"…..."
Keith nodded.
"Yes, sir. She's on a plane back to Chicago. It seems she was thinking of moving back here, but wisely changed her mind."
"Well, that's a relief," Charlie said.
"You can say that again," Luck agreed. "It's about lunchtime. How about I take you out?"
"This time it can be my treat."
Charlie smiled and held up her winnings.
"You should let me pay."
"Well, if you insist..."
Charlie and Luck stood up and walked out the basement together.
"What do you feel like eating?"
"I was thinking sandwiches?"
The others watched them leave.
"Those two get along well, don't they?"
"They look good together."
"I wish my girl would offer to pay once in a while."
"Yeah, they make a good couple," Berga said, ignoring that last statement.
—∞—
Charlie smiled, holding Luck's hand as they walked. The sun was shining, sparkling on the icicles that had formed on the edges of the roofs, and the icy breeze seemed a little warmer. It was a beautiful winter day, the kind of day when you feel like everything will turn out all right.
Looking at Luck, Charlie knew it really would turn out all right. As long as they were together, she could face anything—from a crazy stalker to a never-ending future. She was happy when they were together.
Luck saw Charlie looking, and he smiled, too. He held onto her hand a little tighter. Come what may, he was never letting go of that hand. Ever. She made him happy, and he intended to return the favor for as long as they lived.
—∞—
Late May 1931. Lia and Charlie's apartment.
In the kitchen, on the table, sat a serving dish and plates with traces of caponata. Charlie ordinarily would've at least put them to soak in the sink, but Luck had distracted her expressing his thanks for the meal. They were kissing on the couch, holding onto each other as if no one else in the world existed. At the moment they didn't. Luck and Charlie were in their own world, enjoying each other's company without any distractions. (Lia had very thoughtfully made herself scarce for a while.) But Luck wanted more than just kisses.
"I know I said I'd wait until you were ready… but have you got any idea when that might be?" Luck asked.
"Uh, well… I've just had it ingrained in me by everyone around me—including the women at the sporting house—that I shouldn't do that kind of thing until after marriage, so I..."
Luck paused for a moment and thought it over. They had already been together for four months, and in that time they had survived a few arguments and overcome other trials to their relationship together. Luck was sure that he and Charlie could make it in the long run, so was there a point in waiting any longer?
"Let's get married, then."
"Huh? Are you sure?" Charlie asked with a hopeful excitement.
Luck smiled.
"I'm sure."
"But for us 'til death do you part' is really 'forever', so..."
"Are you saying you don't want to marry me?"
"Of course I do! I just don't want you to have any regrets."
"How could I?"
Luck kissed her and gently stroked the side of her face with his hand.
"My biggest regret would be not being with you."
Charlie blushed, kissed him, and said:
"Then it's settled."
"Now we just have to pick a date."
"Let's find out how long it will take to get everything ready first. I want to get married as soon as possible."
Luck smiled.
"As soon as possible, huh?"
Charlie blushed.
"I want you, too, you know."
Luck grinned.
"Well, first we'll need to get you an engagement ring. Why don't you come with me to pick it out? That way we can make sure it's one you'll want."
"To be honest, I'd take a piece of string for ring if you were the one giving it to me."
"A string wouldn't hold up forever. You'll need something that'll last. We can buy the ring tomorrow morning, and then you can show it off as we tell everyone the good news in the afternoon."
Charlie smiled. "Sounds like a plan to me. Should we get out wedding rings at the same time?"
"Might as well."