Week 18: Ladies Who Lunch

(Deliah Blue - set before and using characters from "Party Girl")

Red

"Deliah?"

"Yeah? – Ouch!" I was concentrating so hard on the engine in pieces at my feet that I hadn't heard Dad come in the garage and banged my elbow.

"Get cleaned up, Dee," he said, looking down. "Your Ma is coming to take you to lunch."

"But Dad!" I wiped the blood on my pants. "I'm almost finished with -"

He held up his hand in that gesture that meant 'no arguing.' "You can finish it tomorrow. Now, you know there's no changing your mother's mind about these things, so you'd best go in the house and get ready."

Brown

My Ma was the most beautiful woman I'd ever seen. Tall and graceful with dark eyes and long, wavy brown hair, she was also the most formidable woman I knew. She didn't walk into a room, she made an entrance and there weren't many people who weren't riveted to her every word.

I was in my room when she arrived, straightening my clean clothes, and the first thing she did was take my hands and inspect my fingernails for grease. She always did that, so I'd scrubbed my hands extra good and they were so clean my nails were shiny.

Black

"Deliah!" She hugged me tight and kissed my cheek. "You look absolutely lovely, darling! Ready to go?"

Turns out that it wasn't "lunch," it was a luncheon with her friends. And not just any friends, but society friends who smiled and simpered and talked about things like flower gardens and who had been seen with who at the latest holovid premier. I would have died of boredom if my cousin Deidre hadn't been there.

Deidre was dressed completely in black - she picked a new color every month - and had brought a friend from school. I really hoped they weren't dating.

Yellow

His name was Derrick and he was gorgeous! Deep, red skin, muscles bulging in all the right places, and a smile that twisted my gut sideways.

"Deidre!" I whispered sharply, pulling my eyes from his fitted, yellow shirt. "Is he with you?"

"Used to be," she grinned, "but we're just friends now. He transferred in this semester and I thought you'd like to meet him."

Did I ever!

Deidre nodded and he sat down beside me. "So you're Deidre's cousin?" he asked, offering his palm.

"Deliah," I answered, taking his hand. Stars, he smelled good. "Very pleased to meet you."

Blue

He put his arm around me, dipping his head down so that his breath was warm on my ear. "I hear you fix things. I got a speeder out back that makes a funny noise on ignition. Think you could look at it for me?"

I leaned in close, tucking my shoulder under his arm. "Be happy to."

My Ma glanced in our direction and pursed her lips to suppress a smile.

His ignition, and everything else, worked just fine and the sun was coming up in the sky when we peeled ourselves from the back seat of his speeder.