Chapter 3
"Lissa, are you finished?" Delemir asked from the outside of a dressing room.
"No!" she called back through the curtain, pulling a sweater over her head. "And if you ask again, I won't let you get that...thing you wanted."
"What thing?"
"That...belt looking thing. The utility belt!" she exclaimed, pulling her hair from the collar. "Ta-da!" She stepped from behind the curtain and posed.
She looked exquisite, though Delemir wasn't about to admit that. With her hair draped over her shoulders and blending with a burgundy sweater, a pair of black jeans slimmed her already slim body. The collar of the sweater was rolled down slightly, exposing part of the ivory skin along the line of her neck. The sleeves were long and covered up most of her hands to where only the tips of her fingers showed. The knitted sweater clung provocatively to her and reached her lower waist. The jeans were a slightly faded black and were just at her hips. She'd called them "hip huggers," leaving Delemir a little more than unnerved at the phrase. The jeans were slightly tight as well, but not so much as to cause fifteen heads to turn if she walked in a place crowded with men and women in slinky little dresses.
"Well? What do you think?" Lissa asked, turning a circle.
Delemir nodded his silent approval, unable to say anything for a moment.
"You're turn. You change into the outfit you picked out while I change back, okay-" Lissa's phrase was cut short as her watch beeped, signifying they had ten minutes until they had to leave the mall and go to Lissa's doctor appointment.
"All right," Delemir said as Lissa turned her watch off and disappeared back behind the dressing curtain. He chose his own and sighed.
Lissa, meanwhile, was humming a song to herself when she shivered and quickly pulled on her jacket. Folding the garments she was to purchase, she heard Delemir mutter something in a language she didn't understand and laughed at him.
"Having troubles, Delemir?" she called to him as she stepped from behind her curtain.
There was rustling again before Delemir said, "I seem to be experiencing difficulties," in a voice that was slightly muffled and strained.
"How decent are you?" she asked.
"I beg your pardon?" he returned.
"How clothed are you? Do you have pants on, at least?"
"Yes."
Lissa sighed, relieved, then slipped in, hoping he wasn't lying. Indeed, he wasn't. But his shirt was halfway on, halfway off, exposing a lithe and lean, well-muscled chest. It took a lot to keep her mouth closed and her wits in her head. His face was slightly distorted in frustration and strain; his hair was pushed back from his face and slightly mussed. His blue eyes were deep and filled with emotions beyond measure, ranging from irritation to embarrassment. It was then that she noticed his cheeks were a slight red color.
"What are you doing?" he asked her, slightly angry.
"I'm going to-" She cleared her throat. "I'm going to help you get your- shirt on," she said, smiling as laughter threatening to bubble up. She stepped forward, turned him around slightly to where he was facing one wall, she the other, and took the hems of the shirt. She tugged it down until it was resting on his shoulders and his arms were inside it still.
Delemir lost his balance and stumbled forward, pinning Lissa with her hands behind her to the wall. She tried to wiggle from under him, but his weight on her kept her where she was. Delemir opened his mouth to apologize, but stopped himself when he saw that he would have to move.
She was soft under him, he realized, all curves and bunched muscles. He could feel the tautness in her stomach against his. He felt power there, strength and power. He wouldn't make the mistake of overestimating or underestimating it. When his gaze strayed to her face, he saw that her cheeks were drained of their color, but quickly regaining it; her lips were slightly parted; her eyes were widened in worry and something else he couldn't identify.
Finding the opportunity too good to resist, he slowly lowered his mouth to hers and felt the softness of her lips under his. Emotions flew through him like the blood racing to his head to pound in his ears. It felt like someone had set fire in his veins and his blood was gasoline, fueling the flames. When he felt her resist slightly, that only fanned the flames more. His senses were becoming dulled as if the taste of her were a drug.
Lissa didn't know what to do. She couldn't move her body at all. If she lifted her leg to try to wiggle away again, she would lose balance and when he fell, she would fall also. If she somehow wiggled her arm free, there was a good possibility that she would hurt herself and him. So, she just waited it out, and saw that that decision was a mistake as she felt the full force of the kiss reaching her mind.
He was making her feel like she should not, like that morning in his room when he had her closed-in in the closet. Her heart pounded against her ribs, sending vibrations throughout her entire body. She thought her most vital organ would burst, it was riding so hard. She knew that this was wrong, but it felt so right. She knew that if this continued, she would give into something she vowed not to, but it felt so good with him pinning her down, his weight feeling like a feather now. Her head was spinning; she felt like she could fly. Her blood was churning; it felt marvelous. Her heart was pounding; it felt like it would leave her.
Finally, Delemir lifted his mouth from hers and saw that Lissa's eyes were still open, watching him. They were full of panic. And fear. Sometime in the past minute and a half Delemir's hands had snaked from the sweater and were around Lissa's waist. He saw her lips quake and her cheeks drain of all color again, but slowly regaining it.
"Melissa, please-"
"Delemir, let go of me," Lissa said quietly, swallowing hard and trying to keep her entire body from trembling.
Delemir did so and pushed himself backwards and against the other wall as Lissa stood up straight and left the small, curtained room. When he stepped from behind the curtain, he saw Lissa talking on a little portable phone. He stood, out of her line of vision, and crept up behind her, listening to whom she was talking to and what about.
"Okay, Emilie. I'll see you in a few minutes. Yeah, just need to make a few cancellations. Blessed be," Lissa was saying, then hung up her phone.
"That was Emily?"
Delemir's breath was warm at Lissa's ear as he spoke. She near about jumped out of her skin in surprise. "Not the one you know," Lissa managed, forced her hand back down to her side that, instinctively, went to her heart. Lissa squirmed uneasily as she felt Delemir's breath still at her ear. "This Emilie is in the theatre club. She's producer and actress in many of her plays."
"Hers? She writes them?" Delemir asked.
Lissa turned around, slowly, and said, "Yes, but I don't know if hers, specifically, been put into works yet."
"Works?"
"Produced, Delemir. Now come with me while I pay for these," she said and headed for the checkout counter. She stopped suddenly and shoved Delemir into a dressing room to change again. When they finally reached the counter, Lissa took out her wallet and cell phone then punched a few numbers to cancel her doctor and hair appointments. She took out a credit card and went through the tedious procedure of paying for her items, oblivious as to what Delemir was doing. At that present moment, he was inspecting a pen thoroughly. He touched the tip a few times, finding little red marks on his fingertips. Then he turned it over and took off the bottom cap. He saw the liquid ink inside, rushing around. It wasn't until he heard Lissa shout his name in frustration that he realized that the ink was rushing out of the pen and onto his hand.
"Delemir, what are you doing?" Lissa nearly shrieked. He looked up at her, down at his hands (covered in red ink) and then back at Lissa. She was apologizing to the cashier. When she felt she'd apologized enough, she pulled Delemir by his sleeve with the bags on her free arm.
One look at Lissa and Delemir knew she was fit to kill him. She seethed, growled, and made incomprehensible noises in anger until she finally found decent enough words.
"I'm going to hurt you!" she yelled finally, pulling him into a restaurant near the exit of the mall. She looked around and walked to the kitchen, ignoring the waiters and waitresses telling her she wasn't aloud in the back. She turned on them, stared at them viciously, then they quickly apologized and let her on her way.
"Jenny, I need to borrow your sink!" Lissa shouted ominously and glared at Delemir.
"Sure, Meliss!" Jenny shouted back and came into view. "Oh, who is this?" She eyed Delemir with obvious approval.
"Ah, a friend of mine. He's thinking of, uh, moving here and I was showing him around. He's staying with me in my house," Lissa answered uneasily, tugging Delemir with her over to a deep sink. She turned the taps on and shoved Delemir's hands under the freezing water.
"It's cold," he murmured quietly to her.
"Well, duh, genius. Did you expect it to be hot?" Lissa sad sarcastically, pouring soap onto his hands and scrubbing at the red ink.
"What'd he do?" Jenny asked, peering between their shoulders and winced. "Cut himself and let the blood stain his hands?"
"No. He was playing with a pen and he let it leak all over him!" Lissa said in a tone that meant he might not be waking up in the morning.
"Ooh," Jenny murmured then walked off to fill an order.
"I'm going to hurt you really bad, Delemir. I honestly am." Lissa glared dangerously at him as his pale flesh slowly appeared from under the dark red ink.
"Why?"
"Do you have to ask? You just cost me an extra twenty dollars to pay for the pen! That totaled to two hundred and sixty dollars that I spent on us today, mostly you!" she explained, then jumped off into yelling in some other language he couldn't understand.
"What language were you speaking?" he asked, hoping he knew it but she was just speaking too fast for him to comprehend it.
"French." She sighed loudly. "Hold still." She pushed his hands further into the water and rubbed at his palm with her thumb.
For some reason, her touch on his hand felt a little more personal to Lissa. She didn't know why, was almost scared to know why, but knew she couldn't go anywhere with him looking like his hands were bleeding. And, without thinking, she spread her hand out and held it against his, palm to palm. His hand was nearly twice the size of hers, she thought. His skin was slightly rough and callused from work-archery and swordplay. There was a major contrast in the skin color difference with hers being olive colored and his being very pale.
She used her fingers on her other hand to trace the dips and curves in their hands between their fingers. Her anger and frustration was forgotten as he twined his fingers with hers in a manner more so than friends.
What was she doing to him? Delemir thought. Why was she making him feel this odd sensation in the pit of his stomach, like there were insects in it, fluttering around? She was making his heart skip beats and jump as her touch warmed his skin and sent his blood running through his veins vigorously. He couldn't believe such a small touch of affection could cause this to happen to him-to them both, he knew as his wrist skimmed over hers and he felt her pulse racing and jumping under her skin.
"Lissa, you gonna get your phone?" Jenny said as she entered the kitchen again, upon hearing the familiar Für Elise tune. Instead of seeing Lissa seething and the gorgeous blonde man cowering under her wrathful growls, she saw their hands entwined and staring into each other's eyes. "Lissa!" She couldn't risk having people kissing in her kitchen.
"Huh?" Lissa immediately broke the physical and eye contact she and Delemir had been sharing and finally heard her cell phone ringing. She answered it quickly with a rushed "Hello?" She began babbling excuses and apologies and finally hung up.
"Who was it?" Delemir asked, finally able to calm his nerves.
"Emilie."
"Which one?"
"Theatre. She said she was getting a little impatient waiting for me and wanted me to hurry," Lissa answered automatically, grabbing Delemir's other hand by the wrist, feeling his pulse skittish, and thrusting it under the water to rub the red off of it.
Ten minutes later, Lissa was in her red, convertible Mustang, the top down and driving like a maniac. Delemir was practically clinging to her arm. He would have been doing just that, but she had already shaken him off in a desperate attempt to get on the highway to go to her house again. She blared her horn at people and finally reached her exit.
Slowing down, she said, "Delemir, please find my cell phone in the bag for me." She pointed at the bag by his feet. He nodded and searched until Lissa was near the residential area, which was about three minutes later.
"Lissa, it isn't in there," he said quietly. He looked at her, then his gaze lowered to her waist where he saw it clipped to her side. "Your phone is on your pants."
"It is? Oh, it is. Will you get it for me?" she asked, hardly paying any mind to it as she turned up on the road to her house.
Delemir made a distinct noise in his throat, then leaned over slowly. He found where the clip was, after setting his pulse and mind swimming as his fingers brushed her flesh a little bit, then pulled the phone off. He held it until Lissa took it from him, smiling.
"Thank you," she murmured, hitting speed dial numbers. "Elenya." Delemir blinked a moment, then realized she was actually TO the phone. He shook his head, then heard it ringing. He zoned out of her conversation as they pulled into her driveway. Lissa shut the engine off, but stayed in her seat for a minute or two. When she hung up her phone, she opened her door casually, then started towards the front door with her key in hand.
"You coming?" she asked him as she turned to face him.
"Yes." He tried to move, but found himself still belted in. Undoing the safety harness, he grabbed the bag of clothes and ran after Lissa before she shut the door.
"Take what's yours and change into it, then come to my room. I told Emilie we'd be there later than I expected due to technical difficulties. Don't bother asking what I mean," she added at his puzzled glance. "She understood and that's what is important."
Delemir nodded and took half of the contents of the bag then headed slowly up the stairs to change. Lissa watched him go up and disappear. Smiling and shaking her head at herself, she picked up the bag and walked to her room. She decided she would show off some of her new clothes at the theatre. She wondered what she would wear.
Pulling the garments out of the bag, she came across two shirts, one quite gauzy for sleeping and the other the sweater she had worn earlier. She pulled out two pairs of pants, the one that went with the sweater, and a pajama pair. Then three dresses, one short and snazzy, a break-your-heart tart red, another full and flowing, a deep, midnight blue, then the last one was her favorite. It was a casual evening dress you could wear anyplace without feeling inferior. The sleeves were belled out from her mid forearm and covered most of her hand. The neck was low and had folds in it. The back was high, covering the back of her neck. The skirt of the dress was straight and long, reaching her ankles.
She smiled and put the dress aside and picked the blue dress. It was sleeveless and loose, one she could wear without feeling too confined in. Slipping into the dress quickly, she had a feeling Delemir was on his way. Just as she heard the door open, she was trying to get the zipper up.
"Delemir, could you help?" she asked, finally giving up.
"Of course. What do you need help with?"
"This stupid zipper. It's too far down on my dress to reach," Lissa said, reaching her hand backwards and getting as close to it as she could.
Delemir nodded and walked behind her. He found the handle on the zipper and tugged it up until it reached her neck. Unable to resist, he ran his fingers down her back and felt her stiffen. She turned, a playful glare on her face, and moved to her dresser.
"Okay, let's see. Come here." She gestured to the spot beside her and wrapped her hair into a bun. "Now, look at me." She turned him by his shoulders.
"Lissa, what are you doing?" Delemir asked, watching her eyes skim over his face and his hair.
"Thinking."
"About?"
"How I'm going to fix your hair. I'm trying to decide if I should just put it in a ponytail like mine and give you the punkish look, or-" Here, she paused and lifted a lock of his blonde hair, tugging it gently. "if I should cut it."
"No," he answered quickly, grabbing her wrist. "Absolutely not. I have seen what you do with scissors. I will not let you come near me with a pair."
"Delemir, I'm pretty good at cutting hair. Especially dying it. I wonder what you'd look like if you had brown hair. I can see it now. You'd look hilarious!" She laughed and shook her head. "I'll just pull it back."
Smiling still, Lissa picked up a black band and moved behind Delemir. She made an exasperated sound then said, "Do you have to be so tall?"
"Why do you ask?
"Because I can't get to your hair. Kneel down," she commanded, pushing on his shoulders.
He laughed and did as he was told. He felt Lissa's hands go through his hair and pull it back. She confined it in a rubber band gently, covering the tips of his ears. His hair was like water as it slid over her fingers easily and through the band. When she was finished, Lissa walked to her bedside and picked up the handset phone. She dialed Emilie's number at work and carried a little conversation, saying she would catch the metro to Rosslyn, then walk to the theatre. She hung up abruptly after a departing endearment.
"Out."
"What?"
"Out. I need to change again," Lissa said, pushing Delemir out. Quickly, she undid her zipper and slipped into the sweater and jeans from earlier. She put on her boots and ran the brush through her ponytail, then ran out of her room.
"Lissa, what is a metro?" Delemir asked as they walked towards a metro station a few blocks away.
"Kind of like a train but it goes underground. I can't really explain it to you since you came from Middle-Earth, where they're still in the Dark Ages." She snickered and waved at a passing car that honked their horn at her.
"Who was that?"
"I don't know."
"Why did you wave?" Delemir looked down at her, puzzled.
"I don't know," she said again. "I was being polite. It was obviously someone who knew me, somehow or other, and recognized me. Or, it was a complete idiot who just felt like beeping their horn at that specific moment."
"I see."
A few minutes passed and they were finally about a block away from the metro station when Lissa spoke again.
"You have an accent," she said.
"I do?"
"Yes. It sounds British, slightly," Lissa explained. She stopped and pointed at something. "You see that thing where the people are coming from?"
"Yes."
"Race you to it!" Lissa exclaimed and took off.
Once he could function everything, Delemir took off like a bullet and quickly caught up with Lissa. He was still at her side when she stopped a few feet from the escalator.
"What is that?" Delemir asked cautiously as Lissa took a step forward, towards it.
"Come on. It's moving stairs," she explained, walking down them anyway. When they reached the bottom, she walked to the metro card machines and took out her credit cards. "Since I have no clue how long you're going to be here, I'm just going to buy you an unlimited use card, okay?"
"Whatever you wish to do," Delemir answered.
Lissa punched a few buttons, entered a few codes, and soon enough, a small plastic card appeared. She took it and tugged Delemir with her over to more machines that reached Lissa's upper waist. She stopped and turned around.
"Okay. With your metro card, you stick it in that slot there-" She pointed at the card taking slot "then walk through. Then, your card will appear again right here." She pointed at another slot. "Just watch. She stuck her card in the first slot. Gadgets and gears whirred inside as she walked through the machine. Her card reappeared and she took it with ease. "You try."
"All right." Delemir followed her instructions, but couldn't make his way through the gate. He looked back and saw his card there still. "Lissa? It did not work."
"Try again. And you have to stick your card in the correct way. It has to be like this." She lifted her card and turned it a certain way.
This time, when Delemir tried it, the machine let him through. Lissa quickly snatched his card away from him and put it in her wallet. She put hers in there as well.
"Don't need to lose it," she muttered and went down another escalator just as the blue metro pulled up. Delemir clung to her arm and stared at the train-like thing as it stopped.
"Would you let go?" Lissa snapped, pushing at his arm. "It's not going to kill you."
Instead of breaking all physical contact, she took his hand in hers and pulled him with her. She sat down in seats near the back. She took the seat facing the window, not knowing if Delemir would get sick or not. The doors closed and the metro took off. It made one stop in Pentagon City, then another at the Pentagon, and yet another at the Arlington Cemetery before it stopped in Rosslyn. The entire ride, their physical contact never broke. Lissa's hand was firmly caught in Delemir's, occasionally tightening or loosening on her small hand.
"You can stand up now, Delemir. We're in Rosslyn." Lissa was already standing and tugging at Delemir's arm. He looked up at her and nodded, standing as well. He looked down at their joined hands and brought her to his lips.
"I must thank you, Lissa, for being able to stand me. My newness to this atmosphere may be permanent, so I would appreciate it if you were to stand my ignorance a little longer," he murmured to her. Lissa laughed richly.
"Of course. I'd feel bad if I didn't right now, considering we're in one of the bigger cities where everything is.more crowded than Crystal City," Lissa said as they walked out of the metro and up the escalator. They went through the process with the cards again, Lissa snatching Delemir's from him once more when he came through, and then walked to a very tall escalator.
" 'Stairway to Heaven,' " Lissa murmured with a grin on her face. "Come on, Delemir." She tugged him along, her hand once again caught in his, and up the escalator. She guessed it, for the first time, to be about a quarter of a mile high, maybe a little shorter. But, to make her assumptions short, you could hardly see the top of the escalator and the people going up and coming down.
"I am not sure I like those moving stairs," Delemir said when they were on the streets again. They walked up a hill and then to their left, passing a restaurant called Orleans House that, Lissa knew, served excellent scallops from the Bay. She'd had them before on a trip to DC with her father years ago. She smiled at the memory.
"Why not? I quite enjoyed it the first time I went on it," Lissa said whimsically as they crossed the street and went towards the Iwo Jima Memorial. They past street vendors and tall buildings; they went under bridges and by many people. Upon reaching a small turn off that had lush, green plants still on the sides of the walkway, Lissa stopped with a grin on her face.
"Remind me to take you up here later. I'll tell you a great story of when I was a kid about thirteen and came here with my dad," she said, still smiling happily. It was one of her favorite memories, being surrounded by the glass panels with names sketched on them.
"What is the place?" Delemir asked as they began walking again.
"Surprise. Turn here," she said and veered to her left to cross the street. (A/N: I'm not sure about the buildings on the side of the road that they're going to, so this is all made up, but everything else isn't. Trust me.)
They walked about one more block, then stopped in front of a tall building. Delemir craned his neck backward to try and see the top of it. He ogled a moment over how the sun glinted on the glass windows near the top of the building, and thought he saw people walking around. He drew himself back, reluctantly, as he felt Lissa pulling him inside.
"Hey Lissa," one of the people said from behind a counter. Lissa walked by it and leaned on the marble.
"Hello, Logan," she said to the blonde youth. "How are we today?" Delemir noticed something in her voice that was too sweet to be natural.
"I'd be better if I knew what you were going to con me into," Logan said, leaning against the marble counter as well, close to Lissa's face. She smiled wickedly, then as quickly as the grin had come, wiped it off and twirled a finger absently against the marble.
"Well, since I forgot my keycard at my house all the way back in Crystal City, I was wondering if I could..." she looked up from her lazy pattern on the counter and into Logan's eyes deeply "-check me in and say that I had my keycard to see Emilie."
Logan sighed then laughed. "You never miss a beat in a man's weakness," he said, punching buttons on a small computer.
Lissa cast a slightly fond glance to Delemir and a sultry smile crept onto her lips. "No, I don't." She reached out her hand to Logan's hair and lifted a lock of it, saying, "Especially blondes."
Something about that gesture was just too personal for Delemir. It had his blood burning in his veins, but not like it had earlier the dressing room with Lissa. Something like jealousy, and anger, slipped into Delemir's eyes and face. He couldn't believe he was jealous over Lissa playing it sweet with some desk boy.
"Thank you, Logan," Lissa was saying. She leaned over the counter and gave Logan a peck on the cheek.
"Tell Emilie I said hi," he called after her as Lissa pulled Delemir with her to an elevator.
"Sure will," she said as she stepped inside the box.
"She's on the top floor."
"Thanks!" she called as the doors closed. She punched a button with numbers on it and they took off upward. Her smile widened as she leaned back against the wall and closed her eyes. A content sigh escaped her lips and filled the air, joining her soft scent.
"Why did you do that?" Delemir asked suddenly. He leaned forwards on the balls of his feet and stuck his hands in his pockets.
"What? Do what?" Lissa stammered, opening her eyes again, the serene look disappearing.
"Kiss him."
"Who? Logan?" Delemir nodded. "Out of appreciation," she murmured, standing up straight and taking a wary step towards Delemir as the elevator halted. Upon his stern look, she continued as the doors opened. "I forgot my card to get in here, to sign in, and he signed me in anyway because we're friends. I don't know about you, but that's what friends do here. They help each other out in times of need." Lissa pulled Delemir with her out into a hallway.
He sighed and heard soft music in the distance, and strong voices echoing off of a high roof. He felt the hand tucked carefully in the crook of his arm leading him closer to it until she pushed open doors where there was a stage and hundreds upon hundreds of seats in front of it.
Lissa let go of Delemir's arm as a tall, brown haired woman stood and walked to Lissa. She extended her hands and Lissa took them both in hers. The two women hugged each other in their manner of friendship, then linked arms, staring over the stage.
"It's about time you got here," the woman said, ruffling Lissa's hair.
"Yeah, sorry. I had to cancel three appointments, clean up a mess, drive home, change, walk to the metro and ride it here, walk from the station to the building and sweet talk Logan into signing me in. I had a busy afternoon, Emilie," Lissa explained quickly as the people on stage began speaking their lines again.
"How's Bennett?" Emilie asked.
"He's great. He's in love with the neighbor's cat and no doubt causing them to have her fixed," Lissa joked. They both laughed a moment, then settled down again.
"And you? How are you, Melissa?" Emilie asked quietly, her voice becoming more serious. "With all of your doctor's appointments lately, you haven't told anyone what they're for," she added upon Lissa's mouth opening to say something. "It's only natural for us to worry."
Lissa sighed and muttered something inaudibly and incoherently before saying, "The doctors aren't doing anything about it, and can't, so they claim. Bloody moneysuckers."
Emilie nodded.
"Well, what act are we-"
"Lissa, I've never known you to leave one of your friends waiting to be introduced. A very gorgeous friend," she added in an undertone as Delemir walked behind Lissa and placed his hand on her shoulder.
Lissa cleared her throat distinctly before answering. She cast Delemir an uneasy look, then said, "This is Delemir. He's staying with me for a while. He may be moving here."
Emilie skipped a beat, the name sounding slightly familiar, then finally extended her hand, remembering who he was and why his name was familiar. "I'm Emilie. Thought you'd like to know since Lissa didn't tell you," she said, casting a playful glance at her.
"I have heard much about you, Emilie," Delemir said then kissed her hand. "I hear you write stories. Do you write them to be produced?"
Emilie turned an odd shade of red, then cleared her throat. "Some. What were you saying a moment ago, Lissa?" she said, quickly changing the subject.
"Uh, what act are we on?" Lissa improvised, forgetting nearly everything again as Delemir's touch came into full affect on her shoulder. She wondered how the most impersonal of contacts could make her head swim and her blood run hot in her veins.
"Act II, scene I, almost II. Romeo and those two other guys-Mercutio and Benvolio-are talking."
" 'Romeo and Juliet' is a very interesting play, and you're taking on a good bit with Shakespeare's work."
"I know," Emilie murmured, leaning against a chair.
Delemir sighed and zoned out. He hadn't the faintest idea what they were talking about and, quite frankly, didn't particularly care either. He watched the actors on the stage carrying out a desperate love story. It was full of passion and romance, he thought. Something he could never have here.
He cast a wary glance at Lissa as he zoned back in to see her walking down the aisle toward the stage. He watched her gingerly jump onto the platform, favoring her left knee, then walk to the very back of the stage, saying this and that to the actors. He watched her look at the man that was playing Romeo, he'd gathered, and watched Lissa take Juliet's part.
"Okay, say it," she commanded to the man.
" 'She speaks. O, speak again, bright angel, for thou art
As glorious to this night, being o'er my head,
As is a wingèd wond'ring eyes
Of mortals that fall back to gaze on him
When he bestrides the lazy puffing clouds
And sails upon the bosom of the air.' "
Then, Lissa sighed contently and said with a fevered passion,
" 'O Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?
Deny thy father and refuse thy name,
Or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love,
And I'll no longer be a Capulet.' "
Lissa slouched over a little more, as was her usual stance, and walked towards the woman acting as Juliet.
"Did you see how I said it? Full of emotion. That's how you say it. 'O Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?' Like that," Lissa said again, tucking a bit of her hair that had escaped its ponytail behind her ear. She looked at Delemir and smiled. Delemir felt compelled to smile back, so he did; though he could hardly feel the muscles in his face to know if he was frowning or smiling.
And before he knew it, Lissa was walking towards him again, pushing up the arms of her sweater. She had a smile on her face, still, but this one was different. Less personal, he thought automatically as she took his hand.
"You don't mind being here, do you?" she asked, looking up at him.
"No, not at all," he answered quickly, averting eye contact.
"You sure? This may be a long time that I'm here."
"I'm-"
"Okay, guys! Call time tomorrow morning is nine! Be here and be sober!" Emilie called out to her troupe.
"Never mind about my concern for you being bored," Lissa said, smiling and letting go of Delemir's arm. "Hold on a minute."
"Of course."
"Emilie, I can't come tomorrow because my appointments were rescheduled for tomorrow morning, and I really need to trim my hair and color it. And Delemir needs a hair cut too," Lissa said, taking Emilie's hand in hers in a friendly manner.
"Okay. If you have time, I wouldn't mind it at all if you did come in anyway," Emilie said with a smile on her face.
"I'm sure you wouldn't," Lissa joked. "But Delemir and I need to get going before it gets too dark. I wanted to show him Freedom Park and take him through those shops below it."
"Okay, Meliss, have fun."
"You bet. Blessed be." They embraced, then Lissa turned back to walk with Delemir out of the theatre.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Okay, guys, this was an extra long chapter! Whoopee! Well, not really extra, but my longest one so far. ;) But just to clear a few things up, I did go to Washington, D.C. with my dad a few months ago, during the summer. It was after my birthday, so I was really thirteen. The restaurant, Orleans House, does really serve scallops that are great, and there really is Freedom Park and Iwo Jima Memorial. In my profile, the link to the site where the photos of Freedom Park are, in the photo album and Places. Please, don't tamper with the site there unless you really plan on joining it, okay? My friends and I manage it, so don't mess anything up. But anyway, I don't own the sites in DC, the restaurant, or the metro station. If I did, I'd be very, very rich. ;) I don't own any of Shakespeare's works, great as they are. But I do own the theatre, since I made it up, and Delemir, Lissa, Bennett and the house that they live in. But anyhow...if I left anything out that I don't own, you know it! Like Lotr, I don't own it. It's an understood fact. Anyway, blessed be!
P.S. I just got home from DC again today. But I didn't go to any of those places. The places I went will be showing up by the middle of January, hopefully, since that's as far as I've written so far. Heehee. Anyway, talk to y'all later!
"Lissa, are you finished?" Delemir asked from the outside of a dressing room.
"No!" she called back through the curtain, pulling a sweater over her head. "And if you ask again, I won't let you get that...thing you wanted."
"What thing?"
"That...belt looking thing. The utility belt!" she exclaimed, pulling her hair from the collar. "Ta-da!" She stepped from behind the curtain and posed.
She looked exquisite, though Delemir wasn't about to admit that. With her hair draped over her shoulders and blending with a burgundy sweater, a pair of black jeans slimmed her already slim body. The collar of the sweater was rolled down slightly, exposing part of the ivory skin along the line of her neck. The sleeves were long and covered up most of her hands to where only the tips of her fingers showed. The knitted sweater clung provocatively to her and reached her lower waist. The jeans were a slightly faded black and were just at her hips. She'd called them "hip huggers," leaving Delemir a little more than unnerved at the phrase. The jeans were slightly tight as well, but not so much as to cause fifteen heads to turn if she walked in a place crowded with men and women in slinky little dresses.
"Well? What do you think?" Lissa asked, turning a circle.
Delemir nodded his silent approval, unable to say anything for a moment.
"You're turn. You change into the outfit you picked out while I change back, okay-" Lissa's phrase was cut short as her watch beeped, signifying they had ten minutes until they had to leave the mall and go to Lissa's doctor appointment.
"All right," Delemir said as Lissa turned her watch off and disappeared back behind the dressing curtain. He chose his own and sighed.
Lissa, meanwhile, was humming a song to herself when she shivered and quickly pulled on her jacket. Folding the garments she was to purchase, she heard Delemir mutter something in a language she didn't understand and laughed at him.
"Having troubles, Delemir?" she called to him as she stepped from behind her curtain.
There was rustling again before Delemir said, "I seem to be experiencing difficulties," in a voice that was slightly muffled and strained.
"How decent are you?" she asked.
"I beg your pardon?" he returned.
"How clothed are you? Do you have pants on, at least?"
"Yes."
Lissa sighed, relieved, then slipped in, hoping he wasn't lying. Indeed, he wasn't. But his shirt was halfway on, halfway off, exposing a lithe and lean, well-muscled chest. It took a lot to keep her mouth closed and her wits in her head. His face was slightly distorted in frustration and strain; his hair was pushed back from his face and slightly mussed. His blue eyes were deep and filled with emotions beyond measure, ranging from irritation to embarrassment. It was then that she noticed his cheeks were a slight red color.
"What are you doing?" he asked her, slightly angry.
"I'm going to-" She cleared her throat. "I'm going to help you get your- shirt on," she said, smiling as laughter threatening to bubble up. She stepped forward, turned him around slightly to where he was facing one wall, she the other, and took the hems of the shirt. She tugged it down until it was resting on his shoulders and his arms were inside it still.
Delemir lost his balance and stumbled forward, pinning Lissa with her hands behind her to the wall. She tried to wiggle from under him, but his weight on her kept her where she was. Delemir opened his mouth to apologize, but stopped himself when he saw that he would have to move.
She was soft under him, he realized, all curves and bunched muscles. He could feel the tautness in her stomach against his. He felt power there, strength and power. He wouldn't make the mistake of overestimating or underestimating it. When his gaze strayed to her face, he saw that her cheeks were drained of their color, but quickly regaining it; her lips were slightly parted; her eyes were widened in worry and something else he couldn't identify.
Finding the opportunity too good to resist, he slowly lowered his mouth to hers and felt the softness of her lips under his. Emotions flew through him like the blood racing to his head to pound in his ears. It felt like someone had set fire in his veins and his blood was gasoline, fueling the flames. When he felt her resist slightly, that only fanned the flames more. His senses were becoming dulled as if the taste of her were a drug.
Lissa didn't know what to do. She couldn't move her body at all. If she lifted her leg to try to wiggle away again, she would lose balance and when he fell, she would fall also. If she somehow wiggled her arm free, there was a good possibility that she would hurt herself and him. So, she just waited it out, and saw that that decision was a mistake as she felt the full force of the kiss reaching her mind.
He was making her feel like she should not, like that morning in his room when he had her closed-in in the closet. Her heart pounded against her ribs, sending vibrations throughout her entire body. She thought her most vital organ would burst, it was riding so hard. She knew that this was wrong, but it felt so right. She knew that if this continued, she would give into something she vowed not to, but it felt so good with him pinning her down, his weight feeling like a feather now. Her head was spinning; she felt like she could fly. Her blood was churning; it felt marvelous. Her heart was pounding; it felt like it would leave her.
Finally, Delemir lifted his mouth from hers and saw that Lissa's eyes were still open, watching him. They were full of panic. And fear. Sometime in the past minute and a half Delemir's hands had snaked from the sweater and were around Lissa's waist. He saw her lips quake and her cheeks drain of all color again, but slowly regaining it.
"Melissa, please-"
"Delemir, let go of me," Lissa said quietly, swallowing hard and trying to keep her entire body from trembling.
Delemir did so and pushed himself backwards and against the other wall as Lissa stood up straight and left the small, curtained room. When he stepped from behind the curtain, he saw Lissa talking on a little portable phone. He stood, out of her line of vision, and crept up behind her, listening to whom she was talking to and what about.
"Okay, Emilie. I'll see you in a few minutes. Yeah, just need to make a few cancellations. Blessed be," Lissa was saying, then hung up her phone.
"That was Emily?"
Delemir's breath was warm at Lissa's ear as he spoke. She near about jumped out of her skin in surprise. "Not the one you know," Lissa managed, forced her hand back down to her side that, instinctively, went to her heart. Lissa squirmed uneasily as she felt Delemir's breath still at her ear. "This Emilie is in the theatre club. She's producer and actress in many of her plays."
"Hers? She writes them?" Delemir asked.
Lissa turned around, slowly, and said, "Yes, but I don't know if hers, specifically, been put into works yet."
"Works?"
"Produced, Delemir. Now come with me while I pay for these," she said and headed for the checkout counter. She stopped suddenly and shoved Delemir into a dressing room to change again. When they finally reached the counter, Lissa took out her wallet and cell phone then punched a few numbers to cancel her doctor and hair appointments. She took out a credit card and went through the tedious procedure of paying for her items, oblivious as to what Delemir was doing. At that present moment, he was inspecting a pen thoroughly. He touched the tip a few times, finding little red marks on his fingertips. Then he turned it over and took off the bottom cap. He saw the liquid ink inside, rushing around. It wasn't until he heard Lissa shout his name in frustration that he realized that the ink was rushing out of the pen and onto his hand.
"Delemir, what are you doing?" Lissa nearly shrieked. He looked up at her, down at his hands (covered in red ink) and then back at Lissa. She was apologizing to the cashier. When she felt she'd apologized enough, she pulled Delemir by his sleeve with the bags on her free arm.
One look at Lissa and Delemir knew she was fit to kill him. She seethed, growled, and made incomprehensible noises in anger until she finally found decent enough words.
"I'm going to hurt you!" she yelled finally, pulling him into a restaurant near the exit of the mall. She looked around and walked to the kitchen, ignoring the waiters and waitresses telling her she wasn't aloud in the back. She turned on them, stared at them viciously, then they quickly apologized and let her on her way.
"Jenny, I need to borrow your sink!" Lissa shouted ominously and glared at Delemir.
"Sure, Meliss!" Jenny shouted back and came into view. "Oh, who is this?" She eyed Delemir with obvious approval.
"Ah, a friend of mine. He's thinking of, uh, moving here and I was showing him around. He's staying with me in my house," Lissa answered uneasily, tugging Delemir with her over to a deep sink. She turned the taps on and shoved Delemir's hands under the freezing water.
"It's cold," he murmured quietly to her.
"Well, duh, genius. Did you expect it to be hot?" Lissa sad sarcastically, pouring soap onto his hands and scrubbing at the red ink.
"What'd he do?" Jenny asked, peering between their shoulders and winced. "Cut himself and let the blood stain his hands?"
"No. He was playing with a pen and he let it leak all over him!" Lissa said in a tone that meant he might not be waking up in the morning.
"Ooh," Jenny murmured then walked off to fill an order.
"I'm going to hurt you really bad, Delemir. I honestly am." Lissa glared dangerously at him as his pale flesh slowly appeared from under the dark red ink.
"Why?"
"Do you have to ask? You just cost me an extra twenty dollars to pay for the pen! That totaled to two hundred and sixty dollars that I spent on us today, mostly you!" she explained, then jumped off into yelling in some other language he couldn't understand.
"What language were you speaking?" he asked, hoping he knew it but she was just speaking too fast for him to comprehend it.
"French." She sighed loudly. "Hold still." She pushed his hands further into the water and rubbed at his palm with her thumb.
For some reason, her touch on his hand felt a little more personal to Lissa. She didn't know why, was almost scared to know why, but knew she couldn't go anywhere with him looking like his hands were bleeding. And, without thinking, she spread her hand out and held it against his, palm to palm. His hand was nearly twice the size of hers, she thought. His skin was slightly rough and callused from work-archery and swordplay. There was a major contrast in the skin color difference with hers being olive colored and his being very pale.
She used her fingers on her other hand to trace the dips and curves in their hands between their fingers. Her anger and frustration was forgotten as he twined his fingers with hers in a manner more so than friends.
What was she doing to him? Delemir thought. Why was she making him feel this odd sensation in the pit of his stomach, like there were insects in it, fluttering around? She was making his heart skip beats and jump as her touch warmed his skin and sent his blood running through his veins vigorously. He couldn't believe such a small touch of affection could cause this to happen to him-to them both, he knew as his wrist skimmed over hers and he felt her pulse racing and jumping under her skin.
"Lissa, you gonna get your phone?" Jenny said as she entered the kitchen again, upon hearing the familiar Für Elise tune. Instead of seeing Lissa seething and the gorgeous blonde man cowering under her wrathful growls, she saw their hands entwined and staring into each other's eyes. "Lissa!" She couldn't risk having people kissing in her kitchen.
"Huh?" Lissa immediately broke the physical and eye contact she and Delemir had been sharing and finally heard her cell phone ringing. She answered it quickly with a rushed "Hello?" She began babbling excuses and apologies and finally hung up.
"Who was it?" Delemir asked, finally able to calm his nerves.
"Emilie."
"Which one?"
"Theatre. She said she was getting a little impatient waiting for me and wanted me to hurry," Lissa answered automatically, grabbing Delemir's other hand by the wrist, feeling his pulse skittish, and thrusting it under the water to rub the red off of it.
Ten minutes later, Lissa was in her red, convertible Mustang, the top down and driving like a maniac. Delemir was practically clinging to her arm. He would have been doing just that, but she had already shaken him off in a desperate attempt to get on the highway to go to her house again. She blared her horn at people and finally reached her exit.
Slowing down, she said, "Delemir, please find my cell phone in the bag for me." She pointed at the bag by his feet. He nodded and searched until Lissa was near the residential area, which was about three minutes later.
"Lissa, it isn't in there," he said quietly. He looked at her, then his gaze lowered to her waist where he saw it clipped to her side. "Your phone is on your pants."
"It is? Oh, it is. Will you get it for me?" she asked, hardly paying any mind to it as she turned up on the road to her house.
Delemir made a distinct noise in his throat, then leaned over slowly. He found where the clip was, after setting his pulse and mind swimming as his fingers brushed her flesh a little bit, then pulled the phone off. He held it until Lissa took it from him, smiling.
"Thank you," she murmured, hitting speed dial numbers. "Elenya." Delemir blinked a moment, then realized she was actually TO the phone. He shook his head, then heard it ringing. He zoned out of her conversation as they pulled into her driveway. Lissa shut the engine off, but stayed in her seat for a minute or two. When she hung up her phone, she opened her door casually, then started towards the front door with her key in hand.
"You coming?" she asked him as she turned to face him.
"Yes." He tried to move, but found himself still belted in. Undoing the safety harness, he grabbed the bag of clothes and ran after Lissa before she shut the door.
"Take what's yours and change into it, then come to my room. I told Emilie we'd be there later than I expected due to technical difficulties. Don't bother asking what I mean," she added at his puzzled glance. "She understood and that's what is important."
Delemir nodded and took half of the contents of the bag then headed slowly up the stairs to change. Lissa watched him go up and disappear. Smiling and shaking her head at herself, she picked up the bag and walked to her room. She decided she would show off some of her new clothes at the theatre. She wondered what she would wear.
Pulling the garments out of the bag, she came across two shirts, one quite gauzy for sleeping and the other the sweater she had worn earlier. She pulled out two pairs of pants, the one that went with the sweater, and a pajama pair. Then three dresses, one short and snazzy, a break-your-heart tart red, another full and flowing, a deep, midnight blue, then the last one was her favorite. It was a casual evening dress you could wear anyplace without feeling inferior. The sleeves were belled out from her mid forearm and covered most of her hand. The neck was low and had folds in it. The back was high, covering the back of her neck. The skirt of the dress was straight and long, reaching her ankles.
She smiled and put the dress aside and picked the blue dress. It was sleeveless and loose, one she could wear without feeling too confined in. Slipping into the dress quickly, she had a feeling Delemir was on his way. Just as she heard the door open, she was trying to get the zipper up.
"Delemir, could you help?" she asked, finally giving up.
"Of course. What do you need help with?"
"This stupid zipper. It's too far down on my dress to reach," Lissa said, reaching her hand backwards and getting as close to it as she could.
Delemir nodded and walked behind her. He found the handle on the zipper and tugged it up until it reached her neck. Unable to resist, he ran his fingers down her back and felt her stiffen. She turned, a playful glare on her face, and moved to her dresser.
"Okay, let's see. Come here." She gestured to the spot beside her and wrapped her hair into a bun. "Now, look at me." She turned him by his shoulders.
"Lissa, what are you doing?" Delemir asked, watching her eyes skim over his face and his hair.
"Thinking."
"About?"
"How I'm going to fix your hair. I'm trying to decide if I should just put it in a ponytail like mine and give you the punkish look, or-" Here, she paused and lifted a lock of his blonde hair, tugging it gently. "if I should cut it."
"No," he answered quickly, grabbing her wrist. "Absolutely not. I have seen what you do with scissors. I will not let you come near me with a pair."
"Delemir, I'm pretty good at cutting hair. Especially dying it. I wonder what you'd look like if you had brown hair. I can see it now. You'd look hilarious!" She laughed and shook her head. "I'll just pull it back."
Smiling still, Lissa picked up a black band and moved behind Delemir. She made an exasperated sound then said, "Do you have to be so tall?"
"Why do you ask?
"Because I can't get to your hair. Kneel down," she commanded, pushing on his shoulders.
He laughed and did as he was told. He felt Lissa's hands go through his hair and pull it back. She confined it in a rubber band gently, covering the tips of his ears. His hair was like water as it slid over her fingers easily and through the band. When she was finished, Lissa walked to her bedside and picked up the handset phone. She dialed Emilie's number at work and carried a little conversation, saying she would catch the metro to Rosslyn, then walk to the theatre. She hung up abruptly after a departing endearment.
"Out."
"What?"
"Out. I need to change again," Lissa said, pushing Delemir out. Quickly, she undid her zipper and slipped into the sweater and jeans from earlier. She put on her boots and ran the brush through her ponytail, then ran out of her room.
"Lissa, what is a metro?" Delemir asked as they walked towards a metro station a few blocks away.
"Kind of like a train but it goes underground. I can't really explain it to you since you came from Middle-Earth, where they're still in the Dark Ages." She snickered and waved at a passing car that honked their horn at her.
"Who was that?"
"I don't know."
"Why did you wave?" Delemir looked down at her, puzzled.
"I don't know," she said again. "I was being polite. It was obviously someone who knew me, somehow or other, and recognized me. Or, it was a complete idiot who just felt like beeping their horn at that specific moment."
"I see."
A few minutes passed and they were finally about a block away from the metro station when Lissa spoke again.
"You have an accent," she said.
"I do?"
"Yes. It sounds British, slightly," Lissa explained. She stopped and pointed at something. "You see that thing where the people are coming from?"
"Yes."
"Race you to it!" Lissa exclaimed and took off.
Once he could function everything, Delemir took off like a bullet and quickly caught up with Lissa. He was still at her side when she stopped a few feet from the escalator.
"What is that?" Delemir asked cautiously as Lissa took a step forward, towards it.
"Come on. It's moving stairs," she explained, walking down them anyway. When they reached the bottom, she walked to the metro card machines and took out her credit cards. "Since I have no clue how long you're going to be here, I'm just going to buy you an unlimited use card, okay?"
"Whatever you wish to do," Delemir answered.
Lissa punched a few buttons, entered a few codes, and soon enough, a small plastic card appeared. She took it and tugged Delemir with her over to more machines that reached Lissa's upper waist. She stopped and turned around.
"Okay. With your metro card, you stick it in that slot there-" She pointed at the card taking slot "then walk through. Then, your card will appear again right here." She pointed at another slot. "Just watch. She stuck her card in the first slot. Gadgets and gears whirred inside as she walked through the machine. Her card reappeared and she took it with ease. "You try."
"All right." Delemir followed her instructions, but couldn't make his way through the gate. He looked back and saw his card there still. "Lissa? It did not work."
"Try again. And you have to stick your card in the correct way. It has to be like this." She lifted her card and turned it a certain way.
This time, when Delemir tried it, the machine let him through. Lissa quickly snatched his card away from him and put it in her wallet. She put hers in there as well.
"Don't need to lose it," she muttered and went down another escalator just as the blue metro pulled up. Delemir clung to her arm and stared at the train-like thing as it stopped.
"Would you let go?" Lissa snapped, pushing at his arm. "It's not going to kill you."
Instead of breaking all physical contact, she took his hand in hers and pulled him with her. She sat down in seats near the back. She took the seat facing the window, not knowing if Delemir would get sick or not. The doors closed and the metro took off. It made one stop in Pentagon City, then another at the Pentagon, and yet another at the Arlington Cemetery before it stopped in Rosslyn. The entire ride, their physical contact never broke. Lissa's hand was firmly caught in Delemir's, occasionally tightening or loosening on her small hand.
"You can stand up now, Delemir. We're in Rosslyn." Lissa was already standing and tugging at Delemir's arm. He looked up at her and nodded, standing as well. He looked down at their joined hands and brought her to his lips.
"I must thank you, Lissa, for being able to stand me. My newness to this atmosphere may be permanent, so I would appreciate it if you were to stand my ignorance a little longer," he murmured to her. Lissa laughed richly.
"Of course. I'd feel bad if I didn't right now, considering we're in one of the bigger cities where everything is.more crowded than Crystal City," Lissa said as they walked out of the metro and up the escalator. They went through the process with the cards again, Lissa snatching Delemir's from him once more when he came through, and then walked to a very tall escalator.
" 'Stairway to Heaven,' " Lissa murmured with a grin on her face. "Come on, Delemir." She tugged him along, her hand once again caught in his, and up the escalator. She guessed it, for the first time, to be about a quarter of a mile high, maybe a little shorter. But, to make her assumptions short, you could hardly see the top of the escalator and the people going up and coming down.
"I am not sure I like those moving stairs," Delemir said when they were on the streets again. They walked up a hill and then to their left, passing a restaurant called Orleans House that, Lissa knew, served excellent scallops from the Bay. She'd had them before on a trip to DC with her father years ago. She smiled at the memory.
"Why not? I quite enjoyed it the first time I went on it," Lissa said whimsically as they crossed the street and went towards the Iwo Jima Memorial. They past street vendors and tall buildings; they went under bridges and by many people. Upon reaching a small turn off that had lush, green plants still on the sides of the walkway, Lissa stopped with a grin on her face.
"Remind me to take you up here later. I'll tell you a great story of when I was a kid about thirteen and came here with my dad," she said, still smiling happily. It was one of her favorite memories, being surrounded by the glass panels with names sketched on them.
"What is the place?" Delemir asked as they began walking again.
"Surprise. Turn here," she said and veered to her left to cross the street. (A/N: I'm not sure about the buildings on the side of the road that they're going to, so this is all made up, but everything else isn't. Trust me.)
They walked about one more block, then stopped in front of a tall building. Delemir craned his neck backward to try and see the top of it. He ogled a moment over how the sun glinted on the glass windows near the top of the building, and thought he saw people walking around. He drew himself back, reluctantly, as he felt Lissa pulling him inside.
"Hey Lissa," one of the people said from behind a counter. Lissa walked by it and leaned on the marble.
"Hello, Logan," she said to the blonde youth. "How are we today?" Delemir noticed something in her voice that was too sweet to be natural.
"I'd be better if I knew what you were going to con me into," Logan said, leaning against the marble counter as well, close to Lissa's face. She smiled wickedly, then as quickly as the grin had come, wiped it off and twirled a finger absently against the marble.
"Well, since I forgot my keycard at my house all the way back in Crystal City, I was wondering if I could..." she looked up from her lazy pattern on the counter and into Logan's eyes deeply "-check me in and say that I had my keycard to see Emilie."
Logan sighed then laughed. "You never miss a beat in a man's weakness," he said, punching buttons on a small computer.
Lissa cast a slightly fond glance to Delemir and a sultry smile crept onto her lips. "No, I don't." She reached out her hand to Logan's hair and lifted a lock of it, saying, "Especially blondes."
Something about that gesture was just too personal for Delemir. It had his blood burning in his veins, but not like it had earlier the dressing room with Lissa. Something like jealousy, and anger, slipped into Delemir's eyes and face. He couldn't believe he was jealous over Lissa playing it sweet with some desk boy.
"Thank you, Logan," Lissa was saying. She leaned over the counter and gave Logan a peck on the cheek.
"Tell Emilie I said hi," he called after her as Lissa pulled Delemir with her to an elevator.
"Sure will," she said as she stepped inside the box.
"She's on the top floor."
"Thanks!" she called as the doors closed. She punched a button with numbers on it and they took off upward. Her smile widened as she leaned back against the wall and closed her eyes. A content sigh escaped her lips and filled the air, joining her soft scent.
"Why did you do that?" Delemir asked suddenly. He leaned forwards on the balls of his feet and stuck his hands in his pockets.
"What? Do what?" Lissa stammered, opening her eyes again, the serene look disappearing.
"Kiss him."
"Who? Logan?" Delemir nodded. "Out of appreciation," she murmured, standing up straight and taking a wary step towards Delemir as the elevator halted. Upon his stern look, she continued as the doors opened. "I forgot my card to get in here, to sign in, and he signed me in anyway because we're friends. I don't know about you, but that's what friends do here. They help each other out in times of need." Lissa pulled Delemir with her out into a hallway.
He sighed and heard soft music in the distance, and strong voices echoing off of a high roof. He felt the hand tucked carefully in the crook of his arm leading him closer to it until she pushed open doors where there was a stage and hundreds upon hundreds of seats in front of it.
Lissa let go of Delemir's arm as a tall, brown haired woman stood and walked to Lissa. She extended her hands and Lissa took them both in hers. The two women hugged each other in their manner of friendship, then linked arms, staring over the stage.
"It's about time you got here," the woman said, ruffling Lissa's hair.
"Yeah, sorry. I had to cancel three appointments, clean up a mess, drive home, change, walk to the metro and ride it here, walk from the station to the building and sweet talk Logan into signing me in. I had a busy afternoon, Emilie," Lissa explained quickly as the people on stage began speaking their lines again.
"How's Bennett?" Emilie asked.
"He's great. He's in love with the neighbor's cat and no doubt causing them to have her fixed," Lissa joked. They both laughed a moment, then settled down again.
"And you? How are you, Melissa?" Emilie asked quietly, her voice becoming more serious. "With all of your doctor's appointments lately, you haven't told anyone what they're for," she added upon Lissa's mouth opening to say something. "It's only natural for us to worry."
Lissa sighed and muttered something inaudibly and incoherently before saying, "The doctors aren't doing anything about it, and can't, so they claim. Bloody moneysuckers."
Emilie nodded.
"Well, what act are we-"
"Lissa, I've never known you to leave one of your friends waiting to be introduced. A very gorgeous friend," she added in an undertone as Delemir walked behind Lissa and placed his hand on her shoulder.
Lissa cleared her throat distinctly before answering. She cast Delemir an uneasy look, then said, "This is Delemir. He's staying with me for a while. He may be moving here."
Emilie skipped a beat, the name sounding slightly familiar, then finally extended her hand, remembering who he was and why his name was familiar. "I'm Emilie. Thought you'd like to know since Lissa didn't tell you," she said, casting a playful glance at her.
"I have heard much about you, Emilie," Delemir said then kissed her hand. "I hear you write stories. Do you write them to be produced?"
Emilie turned an odd shade of red, then cleared her throat. "Some. What were you saying a moment ago, Lissa?" she said, quickly changing the subject.
"Uh, what act are we on?" Lissa improvised, forgetting nearly everything again as Delemir's touch came into full affect on her shoulder. She wondered how the most impersonal of contacts could make her head swim and her blood run hot in her veins.
"Act II, scene I, almost II. Romeo and those two other guys-Mercutio and Benvolio-are talking."
" 'Romeo and Juliet' is a very interesting play, and you're taking on a good bit with Shakespeare's work."
"I know," Emilie murmured, leaning against a chair.
Delemir sighed and zoned out. He hadn't the faintest idea what they were talking about and, quite frankly, didn't particularly care either. He watched the actors on the stage carrying out a desperate love story. It was full of passion and romance, he thought. Something he could never have here.
He cast a wary glance at Lissa as he zoned back in to see her walking down the aisle toward the stage. He watched her gingerly jump onto the platform, favoring her left knee, then walk to the very back of the stage, saying this and that to the actors. He watched her look at the man that was playing Romeo, he'd gathered, and watched Lissa take Juliet's part.
"Okay, say it," she commanded to the man.
" 'She speaks. O, speak again, bright angel, for thou art
As glorious to this night, being o'er my head,
As is a wingèd wond'ring eyes
Of mortals that fall back to gaze on him
When he bestrides the lazy puffing clouds
And sails upon the bosom of the air.' "
Then, Lissa sighed contently and said with a fevered passion,
" 'O Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?
Deny thy father and refuse thy name,
Or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love,
And I'll no longer be a Capulet.' "
Lissa slouched over a little more, as was her usual stance, and walked towards the woman acting as Juliet.
"Did you see how I said it? Full of emotion. That's how you say it. 'O Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?' Like that," Lissa said again, tucking a bit of her hair that had escaped its ponytail behind her ear. She looked at Delemir and smiled. Delemir felt compelled to smile back, so he did; though he could hardly feel the muscles in his face to know if he was frowning or smiling.
And before he knew it, Lissa was walking towards him again, pushing up the arms of her sweater. She had a smile on her face, still, but this one was different. Less personal, he thought automatically as she took his hand.
"You don't mind being here, do you?" she asked, looking up at him.
"No, not at all," he answered quickly, averting eye contact.
"You sure? This may be a long time that I'm here."
"I'm-"
"Okay, guys! Call time tomorrow morning is nine! Be here and be sober!" Emilie called out to her troupe.
"Never mind about my concern for you being bored," Lissa said, smiling and letting go of Delemir's arm. "Hold on a minute."
"Of course."
"Emilie, I can't come tomorrow because my appointments were rescheduled for tomorrow morning, and I really need to trim my hair and color it. And Delemir needs a hair cut too," Lissa said, taking Emilie's hand in hers in a friendly manner.
"Okay. If you have time, I wouldn't mind it at all if you did come in anyway," Emilie said with a smile on her face.
"I'm sure you wouldn't," Lissa joked. "But Delemir and I need to get going before it gets too dark. I wanted to show him Freedom Park and take him through those shops below it."
"Okay, Meliss, have fun."
"You bet. Blessed be." They embraced, then Lissa turned back to walk with Delemir out of the theatre.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Okay, guys, this was an extra long chapter! Whoopee! Well, not really extra, but my longest one so far. ;) But just to clear a few things up, I did go to Washington, D.C. with my dad a few months ago, during the summer. It was after my birthday, so I was really thirteen. The restaurant, Orleans House, does really serve scallops that are great, and there really is Freedom Park and Iwo Jima Memorial. In my profile, the link to the site where the photos of Freedom Park are, in the photo album and Places. Please, don't tamper with the site there unless you really plan on joining it, okay? My friends and I manage it, so don't mess anything up. But anyway, I don't own the sites in DC, the restaurant, or the metro station. If I did, I'd be very, very rich. ;) I don't own any of Shakespeare's works, great as they are. But I do own the theatre, since I made it up, and Delemir, Lissa, Bennett and the house that they live in. But anyhow...if I left anything out that I don't own, you know it! Like Lotr, I don't own it. It's an understood fact. Anyway, blessed be!
P.S. I just got home from DC again today. But I didn't go to any of those places. The places I went will be showing up by the middle of January, hopefully, since that's as far as I've written so far. Heehee. Anyway, talk to y'all later!
