"Ugh," Marie uttered as she stretched out the kinks in her back. 'Thank the Lawrd, the flight wasn't that long. Ah don't think Ah could have lasted another minute on it,' Marie thought to herself as she walked around her five-star hotel room. 'Well one thing's for sure, if Ah don't get a story out of this trip, at least Ah can acquire myself some nice mementoes,' Marie laughed to herself as she eyed the fluffy white bathrobe and slippers hanging on the back of the bathroom door. 'Well it's only 4, Ah better get a feel of the city,' Marie thought as she turned on the television and turned the station to the local news. 'Lawrd, Ah'm so lazy,' and then she promised herself to explore the city tomorrow.
Marie spent the rest of the night watching the local channels. She only forced herself to turn off the television when the movie of the week came on which featured the, oh so talented Tori Spelling.
'Now, Ah am not that desperate to watch that,' Marie thought as she turned of the television. She stood up and stretched and glanced at her watch. 'Damn, Ah just spent 5 hours watching absolutely nothing,' she thought as she went to the bedroom to change out of her sweatpants. She finally decided to wear jeans, and a light, little gray sweatshirt. She grabbed her black notebook and pencils and threw them in her green messenger bag.
"Well that should do it, Ah'm armed with the essentials," she said as she headed out of her room and down the stairs.
Minutes later Rogue was outside of the hotel and walking down the busy street. She walked towards the French Quarter and searched for a perfect place to search for her "characters." She noticed a bar with a silver huge door. Marie curiously walked in the bar but had only walked two feet in the bar and realized this wasn't the right place. There were too many college students on spring break there, and loud music blaring from the small stage.
'This place is too trendy. Not to mention, Ah'm beginning to feel a bit claustrophobic,' Marie thought as she squeezed through the crowd to get to the door.
Marie busted through the door and gasped for fresh air. 'Ah don't know how people can sit there with that stagnant air, surrounded by tons of people, and with the deafening music,' she thought as she continued down the street with only her thoughts for company, 'These places are too touristy.' She judged as she looked down the over crowed streets filled with people wearing extravagant costumes carrying cups of beer. There were people partying up and down the street.
'Ah need to find something promising, something perfect.' Marie considered as she turned down a deserted side street. She continued down the dark cobble stone street for a couple of minutes in search for her ideal place. She stopped when she noticed an old historic building with an antique green sign over the door that said, "Le joe d'oncle". 'Well this looks promising' she believed as she walked through the door.
Inside, it was dark, mysterious, homey, and just perfect. Marie made her way to the back of the bar and sat at the table in the corner. She set her bag on the table and took out her notebook and pen. She grabbed a hair tie and pulled her hair back in a low ponytail. She tucked a few wild white strands behind her ears, and bite on the end of her pen as she took in the atmosphere around her.
It was a quaint bar filled with 'the locals.' The air gave off a musty aroma. The walls were covered with New Orleans items, mostly consisting of old historic photographs of the city, and the people that lived there. There were a few pool tables in the back, and a large poker table to the left of it where a few men where playing a hand. Marie then looked to her left to see a few tables occupied by some couples that were just looking for an intimate moment. Marie then turned her attention to the bar where two old men were sipping their drinks and comparing their 'war stories' about living with their wives. 'Wonder what they did to be kicked out of their houses,' Marie wondered. But Marie's thoughts were soon interrupted by a petite brunette.
'Like, Hi, I'm Kitty and I'll be your server tonight," said the petite waitress as she placed silverware and a napkin on the table. "Is it just going to be you tonight?"
"Yea, just meh tonight." Marie said as she pushed her notebook to the side of the table. "Ah thought this was just a bar. Ah didn't know yah served food here too."
"Oh, we serve the best gumbo in New Orleans."
"Then Ah'll have some of that."
"Great. You won't be disappointed. And what would you like to drink with that?"
"A glass of water and a whiskey sour, please."
Kitty made a face at that. "Not a real good combo, whiskey and gumbo."
"Ah know but it's just been one of those days," Marie said as she played with one of her rings on her fingers.
"Believe me. I totally understand." Kitty said with a smile. "I'll be right back with your drinks."
Marie nodded. She sat silently while occupying herself studying all the mementos that adorned every nook and cranny of the place.
Kitty shortly returned with the drink orders, "Here you go."
"Thanks," Marie replied as she took a sip of her whiskey. "Is it always this crowded in here?" she asked sarcastically and gestured to the almost empty room.
Kitty giggled. "Nah, it doesn't get crowded 'til about another hour or so. Do you mind if I sit with you, I really don't feel like standing over there and listening to Don and Horace telling their horror stories about married life?" Kitty asked as she motioned to the two old men at the bar.
Marie hesitated for a second before answering. "Yea, sure, Ah never did like to eat alone anyway," she answered while motioning to the booth in front of here.
"Thanks," Kitty said with a smile while she scooted in the booth.
Marie took another drink of her whiskey. "So what's your story?" Kitty asked while placing her elbows on the table.
"Well, Ah honestly have no idea. That's whah Ah'm down here." Marie answered as she scratched her forehead with her thumb.
"Yea I hear you." Kitty said kind of disappointed at Marie's short and vague answer.
"How bout yah? No offense but yah seem kinda young and from what Ah tell from yahr accent or lack of Ah should say that yah are not from around here."
"I could say the same about you. But yea, you're right, I am young and not from around here."
"May Ah ask how yah ended up here?"
"Well, basically I followed some guy down here. He had big plans for us. You know the type?" Kitty continued as she looked at Marie who was soaking up her story like a sponge. "No, I should start even before then. Well me and this guy were high school sweethearts. And right before we graduated he proposed to me. You know what could be greater to two 18 year olds then professing their love with rings, the whole grown up thing. Well, we kept the engagement a secret until after we graduated. We finally broke the news to our folks. And you can imagine how they took it?"
Marie nodded, encouraging Kitty to continue, "Well, they basically disowned us. Well that's probably the worst thing parents can do to two rebellious teenagers, I think that just encouraged us even more. It's funny now that I look back on it. We considered ourselves a regular Romeo and Juliet. But anyway, of course we had to elope to prove to our parents just how much we loved each other. So we eloped, and having nowhere else to go, Lance, my husband, had a few connections down here. I worked around at different places trying to earn money to help pay for a college education, while Lance worked with his friends trying to pay the rent."
Kitty continued after taking a sip out of her water bottle,"Well things were actually starting to look positive. We had a nice place, Lance was moving up in the construction business, and I was going to attend college in the fall. But as things would have it, I got pregnant. And long story short, I have a lovely little boy Aidan, Lance's got hurt on the job, had to get surgery and is on disability until the fall and now I work here on the weekends to help pay the bills. Sounds like a bad lifetime movie, huh?" Kitty stopped.
"No, not at all. Ah, mean look at yah. Yah have, from what Ah can tell a loving husband, a healthy son, and a paying job. Yah have what most women dream about."
"I know, but don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining about my life. I love my husband and little boy with all my heart. It's just that I didn't picture myself being married with a three year old working on the weekends to help pay the bills at 22." Kitty said with a shrug.
"Well, where did yah picture yahrself?" Marie said as she stirred her half empty drink.
Kitty shrugged. "I don't know. I always wanted to be a fashion designer though. I always had a thing for fashion."
"Well that doesn't mean you still cannot do that. At the risk of sounding like Oprah on a bad afternoon T.V. movie, yah have to make yahrself happy before others."
"Yea," Kitty nodded absentmindedly, "I'm sorry I didn't mean to sit down here and tell you my life story. It must be horribly boring for you to listen to some stranger talk about her life."
"Sometimes strangers are just easier tah talk tah. Besides it's nice having someone tah talk with," Marie said while she scratched her neck.
"Yea, it's nice to have someone listening for a change. I'm sorry I don't even know your name?"
"It's Marie."
"Well it's nice to meet you Marie." Kitty said as she extended her hand for Marie to shake it.
"Yea, it's nice tah meet yah too, Kitty." Marie said with a smile as she shook her hand.
"Now that we got my life story out of the way," Kitty laughed and leaned against the back of the booth. "Why don't you tell me about yours?"
Marie shook her head and said, "Nah, Ah don't think so."
"Oh come on, I told you mine," Kitty said and she leaned forward on her forearms. "What could be more clichéd than two strangers bonding and exchanging life stories in a bar?"
"Mah life's not interesting at all."
"Please," Kitty pleaded, "You don't know how long it's been since I actually had a conversation with a woman my age," she looked hopefully at Marie, "It's nice to have just girl talk, I guess it's because it's been a real long time since I had a lighthearted chat with some one and I'm taking advantage of this because I don't know when the next time will be."
Marie sighed and submitted to Kitty's pleas, "Well what do yah wanna know?"
"Umm..." Kitty said as she rolled her eyes thinking for the perfect question. "How long are yah staying here?"
Marie shrugged. "Ah, dunno, guess as long as Ah need to be here."
Kitty, displeased with Marie's answer asked another question. "Are yah on business or pleasure?"
"Business." Marie said as she finished her drink.
"Can I ask what kind of business?"
"Well, if Ah told yah," Marie paused and leaned in towards Kitty while looking intensely at her, "Ah would have to kill yah." They both giggled at this overused response.
"So tell me, do you have any boy toys?" Kitty asked quickly returning to her line of questioning.
"Well, Ah do have a boyfriend. He's in Mississippi right now, takin' care of his sick mom."
"Well, he's a keeper. Hold on to him," Kitty said with a wink. "How did you guys meet?"
"Well, it's a long story."
"Like mine wasn't"
Marie hesitated before speaking again. "Fahne. Well he was the doctor taking care of mah sick grandma. So, Ah spent almost everyday there and we would always look at each other, Ah guess we were too shy, yah know, tah do anything bout it. And well one day mah jeep got a flat tire. So Ah was out on the side of the road, trying to fix the flat in the pouring rain. So needless to say, it wasn't going so well. Ah mean it was horrible, cars splashing puddles of water on me, Ah was soaked and pissed, and just when Ah thought things couldn't get worse." Marie paused to take a breath.
"What happened?" Kitty asked very enthusiastically, practically leaning her upper half on the table.
"He came along," Marie said with a smile. "Liam, the doctor. Well he had meh get in his car. He told me to change into his dry, clean scrubs while he went out and tried to fix the flat. Well Ah mean it was like a monsoon out there and there he was in his shirt and tie trying to fix the flat. Well when he stood up from fixing the tire he slipped on the mud and slide down the hill. Well it would have been hysterical if Ah wasn't so worried that he hurt himself. So Ah ran out of the car tah go check if he was alright but Ah slipped too. And Ah landed right next tah him. So we just laid there in the grass soaked, and cover with mud laughing. And then he leaned over and kissed meh. And we've been together ever since," Marie finished as she scratched her forearm.
"That's so romantic. It's just like the in movies." Kitty said with a dreamy look in her eyes.
Marie laughed and replied, "Close tah it."
"So would you like me to give you the behind the scenes guide to New Orleans?" Kitty said as she folded her hands and placed them on the table.
"Sure." Kitty then continued on a spiel about the "real" New Orleans while Marie observed her and made mental notes. Marie thought as she sipped her water, 'Ah don't know whah Ah keep using the plotlines of mah books and pretending it's mah real life experience. How pathetic am Ah? Why couldn't Ah just tell her the truth. Well, she looked like she needed to be entertained, so that's what Ah did,' she sighed, not buying her rationalization, 'But at least, Ah used my real name this time instead of one of the heroines. Good thing she didn't realize that was a plot from a romance novel. Focus Marie. Focus.' She warned herself against diving to deep in her thoughts. She nodded to Kitty to make sure Kitty knew that she was paying attention to her.
'Wow, this girl is quite a talker,' Marie was in shock that Kitty talked about all the clothing stores in New Orleans for the past ten minutes, 'But then again, not many people would tell a complete stranger their life story,' Marie thought as she observed Kitty. At that moment, a hoard of women walked through the door giggling.
"Shit. They're early," said Kitty as she looked over her shoulder at the group who was now making their claim on a few tables near the pool tables. "Thought I would still have another hour or so," Kitty stood up and dusted off her black pants. "Well let me go and get your gumbo now. It should be ready," she said before heading towards the kitchen.
She returned moments later with a bowl of hot gumbo and another whiskey sour. "Thought you might need more of this," Kitty placed the items on the table.
"Yea thanks, yah read my mind," Marie looked up at Kitty who was now looking annoyed with the group of women who were talking loudly.
"Friends of yahrs?" Marie asked as she nodded towards the women.
Kitty laughed. "Not quite. They are the snobbiest women you would ever want to meet. Not big tippers, even though they have loads of money. But they come in every night around this time," Kitty put her hands on her hips, "Just wait, more will come in. Everyone will come in, people ranging from millionaires to paupers. It's like a ritual; all the locals in the city who are under 30 meet here every Saturday night. And lucky you get to be in the middle of this madness." Kitty smiled at Marie who was now testing the gumbo, "How is it?"
"Still hot but excellent" Marie said before taking a sip of her water.
"Yea, you might want to wait a couple of minutes before eating it. Joe, the owner, made it and his motto is 'if de gumbo's not scolding hot den it ain't gumbo," Kitty replied imitating a Cajun accent.
At that moment, a new herd of people walked in and made their way next to the tables the women were occupying. "Great," Kitty muttered under her breath. "Well I better go entertain the locals. It's just me tonight so I'm going to be running around the place. But if you need anything just holler and I'll gladly come a running," Kitty laughed and began to walk away before she turned around again, "It was really nice talking to you Marie, you don't know how much I needed to talk to someone who either wasn't drunk or still wearing diapers."
Marie smiled, "Yea Ah know how yah feel. Ah think Ah needed it just as much as yah did."
Kitty smiled in return, "Well my shift ends in two hours, and if you're still around maybe we could continue our chat."
"Yea, that would be nice."
"Great," Kitty turned around and headed towards the crowd.
"Good luck," Marie called after her.
Kitty turned around and smiled, "Thanks. I am definitely going to need it." And with that she disappeared into the mass of people.
Marie sighed and pushed the gumbo aside, and decided to start eating it again when her tongue recovered from the 3rd degree burn it left. She grabbed her notebook, opened it and started writing about Kitty. She recorded the jest of the conversation and the observations she made about her. When Marie was satisfied she had enough details about Kitty, she pushed aside her notebook and then decided to return to her gumbo.
As she ate the gumbo, she examined the now overpopulated bar. At the bar, it was filled with men and women. The men were trying to pick up the women, while some guys were succeeding, others were failing miserably. They were trying to pick up girls who were way out of their league, but that didn't seem to discourage them.
And maybe after a lot of drinks, the girl might succumb to his persistence; that was the beauty of a bar. The influence of alcohol can turn any man into Prince Charming and any girl into a regular beauty queen.
Marie then turned her attention to the pool tables. Laughter and loud clamors were emitting from this area. Marie could barely make out the individual conservations in the uproar of various conservations. She then turned to the poker table where the group of men was still playing their hand.
Marie then turned her attention to the giggling couples to her left. There were about five couples who sitting at various tables. They seemed were giddy and very much in love. How long the love would last? Who knew? But at that moment those couples were ecstatic and filled with passion for their loved one.
Marie then noticed that some tables were cleared out of the way to make room for a miniature dance floor, where a few were already dancing to some new pop star's single. At that moment, Marie turned her attention to the front of the bar where shouts were coming from. She noticed a man just arrived, and that people were shouting at him.
'It kinda sounds like they are saying Remy, must be his name,' Marie thought as she squinted to get a closer look at the man.
The man wore a brown tattered trench coat that reached down to the middle of his calves, and underneath it he wore a tight black shirt with black pants. Marie squinted to see his face. He had pieces of brown hair that just fell perfectly over his face, with a few longer thick strands tucked behind his ear. And when he turned to the side, she could see that his hair was pulled back into a little ponytail. He had high cheekbones and perfectly kissable lips and a grin that could make a girl melt inside.
'This guy looks like he was just pulled of a cover of a romance novel,' Marie thought as she continued to stare at the man, 'He is absolutely perfect.' Marie grabbed her pen and notebook and began writing his description down while still staring at the man.
He walked with long, confident strides, as he kissed every girl on the cheek as he walked by. It looked like the girls were greeting a king, they came from the four corners of the bar to huddle around and greet him. He slowly made his way to the back of the bar where the pool tables were. He stood there with his hands on his hips and shouted over the talking, "What? De party has started wit out Remy?"
Everyone stopped what he or she was doing and laughed. A few guys came up and either shook his hand or gave him a half hug. Marie could only make parts of what they were saying but it sounded like, "Where the hell you been Remy?"
'So his name is Remy,' Marie thought as she continued to stare and write at the same time. She watched him for a good ten minutes. She noticed how he interacted with everyone. How he made sure to greet everyone, like he owned the bar. She also noticed how he made each girl feel. No matter what he said, they all had the same reaction, turning red and giggling. He practically turned the girls into mush when he grinned.
Marie continued to stare. He was now playing a game of pool with his friends. And she could have sworn that every once and a while he would look at her and wink. But it happened so quick she wasn't even sure it happened at all or if it was just her imagination. Besides she felt pretty confident being hidden in the corner by the shadows, that she was pretty much out of sight from everyone. But Marie's stalking was put to a halt when Kitty re-emerged from the crowd. She was carrying a tray filled with empty glasses and headed towards Marie. "Don't worry I haven't forgotten you," Kitty laid the tray on the table and took a moment to re-adjust her hair clip.
"So yah survived the trenches?" Marie asked as she closed her notebook.
Kitty laughed, "Yea, but the nights not over yet. So how was the gumbo?" Kitty asked as she placed the empty bowl on the tray.
"It was delicious."
"See, told you, you wouldn't be disappointed," Kitty picked up the empty whiskey glasses, "You want more to drink?"
"Yea, please," Marie replied.
"Great. If I'm not back in five minutes, send a search party out." Kitty smiled.
"Kitty?"
"Yea?" Kitty responded and tucked some of her hair behind her ear.
"Who is that guy that just walked in a here, and practically caused all the girls tah have heart attacks?"
"Oh, him. That's Remy LeBeau," she nodded with her head towards him, "He's New Orleans own heart throb. Most eligible bachelor, and as you can tell every girl has her sights on him, and I probably would have too if I didn't have Lance. But he's a pretty nice guy once you get past his flirtatious attitude and cockiness. Why?" Kitty asked as she raised one eyebrow.
"Just curious, Ah guess." Marie said with a shrug. "Just wanted to know who the big fuss was made about. By the sound of it Ah thought Johnny Depp was here or something."
"Honey, he's the next best thing if not better. Believe me," Kitty picked up her tray, "Well let me go fetch your drink. Be back as soon as I can."
"Thanks," was all Marie could manage to say before Kitty was once again engulfed in the crowd.
'Now back to my writing,' Marie thought as she opened her notebook but before she started to write, she glanced up to see Remy who was still playing his game of pool. She then pushed up her sleeves and began to write possible scenarios involving a local Cajun heart throb. Marie continued to write for 10 minutes and stopped. She stretched and then read over what she had just written.
The man walked into the dark bar. As he walked through the room, every girl's eyes followed him. He walked with long confident strides as his trench coat flapped behind him.
The man was a god. He was what every woman craved. Tall. Dark. Handsome. Mysterious. He is the reality of what every girl yearns for. Where ever he went he left a trail of broken hearts behind him.
He owned the city. He was the city. And the city was him. Just as the city came alive at night, he did as well. When you were there, you felt alive, reborn, as if taking your first breath of fresh air. It was intoxicating and seductive, just as he was. The man was the Prince of the City.
Marie continued to read over the page as she bit on the end of the pen.
'Still seems kinda awkward, but it's just the beginning. Ah think ah just found my new hero. Instead of having the novel from the girls' point of view, Ah'll have it from his,' Marie closed her eyes briefly, 'Still don't know where Ah'm gonna go with this story, but hell that's the beauty of writing,' Marie concluded to herself as she scanned through the crowd for her new 'muse' but could not find him. 'Damn, how could Ah loose him already?' Marie yelled at herself before returning to write more.
But she didn't get far into her writing when she heard a low husky voice come from behind her. "Now, what are y' writin dere, chere?"
The next chapter will have a little bit of this and a little bit of that with of course more Romy, lol. The next chapter should be up before the next weekend, and here's a hint the more reviews you make, the faster I write, lol.
Thanks for the reviews guys, positive reinforcement does wonders for my self esteem, keep it up, lol. You guys are the best. If you guys have any ideas or comments feel free to tell me.
So do a "Ebert and Roeper" and tell me if it's a thumbs up, down or just if- y. Well basically just tell me what you think and believe me when I say, I am not above begging for reviews, lol