The Continuation of Hold Back The Dawn
Chapter 13
Bill had promised to take me to the top of the Empire State Building.
Bill said there was no way he would allow me to come all this way to New York and not take me up there. Bill said he would act like a 'total tourist' for an evening and we would go! It seemed everyday there was something to be excited about in New York City. No matter all the vampire business, I was just happy to be with Bill. But, being in that amazing city was the icing on my cake. I know Bill could feel how dazed I was.
The air just felt different up there somehow. It's so hard to describe. Nothing like Bon Temps, where I grew up. Bon Temps was easy, slow, predictable. And very seldom there was a new face in town. But up there, in New York, I was looking at a sea of new faces… sometimes hourly. There was an energy, a freshness like I had never felt before. Like something unexpected was going to happen, every other minute.
The Empire State Building. Three Fifty Fifth Avenue. In the heart of Manhattan. 1050 feet straight up. The outside observatory deck was located on the 86th floor. Besides that, there was another enclosed observatory located even higher on the 102nd floor.
I couldn't wait to go there with Bill. And Bill said the night of the AVL Dinner Banquet seemed like the perfect night to do so.
Before that happened, though, I ended up dancing with everybody who had asked me earlier in the evening. And a few who had not.
Victor Buono. Evel Dunstein. Even the mendacious Mackenzie Bloom made a reappearance for his dance. That surprised me, after the way I had talked to him . Mack actually managed to behave himself for the rest of the evening..
When I danced with Mack, I felt like he was holding me a little too closely, his nose twitching like a possum's. Oh, he was smelling my faeness alright. And of course, probably wondering What I am! But at least he did not make any lewd or provocative suggestions in my ear. And his hands did not stray anywhere that they shouldn't.
Bill was keeping an eye on Mack, that's for sure. We were on a crowded dance floor, after all. He had to be on his best behavior, didn't he? I imagine, the older the vampire, the more should be able to control themselves. Bill was the exception to any vampire rule like that.
Before he disappeared again after our dance, Mack bowed deeply to me, showing his respect and I did appreciate. I guess you really can't blame a vamp for trying...
Bill had stayed near the podium after his speech. But only because, I think, this afforded him a better vantage point to watch me as I danced with all my gentlemen suitors. I enjoyed looking up and realizing that Bill was right there, looking at me, every chance he would get. So many people has surrounded Bill, that I could not find him at several times throughout the evening. They had questions, comments…wanted to know so much about the American Vampire League. And Bill Compton's role in it.
But Bill watched Mack Bloom like a hawk until he left my side. Every turn Mack took me into around the dance floor. I could see Bill following us with his beautiful blue eyes. Bill's expression was calm but fixed.
Surprisingly, Nan Flanagan kept her distance from both me and Bill. I guess she realized there was nothing to be gained by trying to corner either of us while the banquet was progressing. She was quite busy herself. Nan was darting in and out of the dining room all evening, taking care of this or that. She just wanted Bill to meet and greet all of the important people in the room. People are so much more content and approachable when they have full stomachs. Me and Bill were probably the least of Nan's problems that evening.
I did see her glancing at Bill as he went about shaking hands, smiling with the people on the stage, foreign dignitaries and such. She seemed very satisfied when Bill was away from me and performing his regular duties as her AVL spokesman.
Yes Nan … Bill Compton is going to continue to perform his job duties, and quite brilliantly I might add. Whether or not his girlfriend is present at this function!
I felt quite safe while on the dance floor. It was brightly lit. There was glorious music. And there were scores of people, humans and vamps alike, whirling around enjoying their evening. The dance floor felt a hundred times safer than the hallway to the ladies-room, that's for sure. Only trouble was, Victor was the only human I was trying to pick thoughts from at the moment. But, curiously, he wasn't thinking about 'vampire business' at all that night. He had complimented me, physically, in his thoghts quite a bit. But mostly, his thoughts were about his vampire wife and being with her at their home. He missed his wife terribly. He did wish she could have accompanied him to the United States for this event. It would have been her first trip to America.
It was quite sad really. Reading his thoughts about her.
Evel and Mack are vampires. So their thoughts I could not read. That was particularly frustrating, when I knew- and so did Bill- that it was highly likely that some vampires were the true traitors to the AVL. And most likely vampires were at the root of all the rebellion against the AVL movement . Bill had thought maybe with their guards down, one of them might go and speak to a human who they were associated with at the center of the discord. Or perhaps drop a name around me that I would probably not recognize, but Bill might possibly know of the person. I kept my ears focused on many conversations and thoughts that evening at the banquet.
But it did not happened.
At one point, lost in my concentration on another humans thoughts, I was taken aback when Victor Buono suddenly stopped waltzing with me in mid~step, as we were dancing.
"May I cut in, Victor?" To my surprise it was because of Colonel Adibisi. There he was, out of the blue, standing behind Victor. Victor graciously bowed his head and allowed the Colonel to take his place as my dance partner.
"Why, of course, Colonel," Victor said; "if this lovely young lady will have you." Victor smiled politely at me. I was irritated to have to dance with the Colonel.
The Colonel looked at me with wide eyes. "Miss Stackhouse. It's been a long evening. Angelique and I will need to be going soon. But I had looked so forward to the honor of dancing with Bill's beautiful fiancee, just once."
"I told you to call me 'Sookie,'" I said dryly. My right hand still in the air, the Colonel grasped it . Victor was still
"Thank you, Sookie, for a delightful dance," Victor said. I glanced at him, trying to smile and not look so pissed.
"You are very welcome, Victor," I said.
Victor strod away off the dance floor and my full attention was now on the Colonel. Why did he feel the need to dance with me? He had made it abundantly clear, with his thoughts that I was nothing more than a gold~digging whore, in his mind. Why was he going out of his way with me? Was it for Bill's sake? Was he trying to find out something he could use against me because he disliked that I am with Bill? I wondered.
The Colonel had taken my right hand and placed his other hand lightly on the side of my waist. I just as lightly placed my left hand just below his shoulder. He was a big man. He could block out the sun, standing at least 6ft 5in. and probably weighing all of 350 lbs. The many, many colorful ribbons and medals on his tan uniform jacket were nearly directly in my face. I am no more than 5ft. 2inches standing barefoot. And the heels I was wearing that night, probably only lifted me up 3 inches. It was awkward dancing with a man of his height and weight.
*Her hands are so small. Such a delicate, little bit of trouble, she is.*
So flowed the Colonel's thoughts about me, right into my head. He was trouble, too. For Bill. I could sense it.
"I certainly hope you have been enjoying yourself this evening, Sookie," he said to me as we started to move together as much as possible to the waltz. I turned my head to one side staring at him.
"Why wouldn't I?" I asked, looking up into his inquisitive hazel eyes.
"Well, Bill isn't able to be near you every second, is he?" he asked with a satisfied smirk on his lips. I think he meant that comment to be genuinely funny. But everything he said or thought was somehow designed to make my blood boil.
"I don't need for Bill to be near me every second," I said, trying to sound light-hearted enough.
"Well," he chuckled; "isn't that what you really want?"
*Now that she's here in New York , no doubt, the plan is to pull Bill away from every blessed thing that is important to him* The Colonel thoughts continued painting me in the worse possible light.
The smugness of this condescending bastard! I thought. He has no idea what is important to Bill!
"What I really want is not up for discussion, Colonel Adibisi," I said smiling at him sweetly; "but I'll tell you this...Bill wants to be with me, every bit as much as I want to be with him. We are engaged to be married. YOU are married...so I would suppose that you might be able to understand how we feel about each other."
He laughed, moving his great weight around and trying to completely lead me in the waltz, literally pulling me along to one side. His thoughts pounded my head:
*I understand that Bill Compton could easily have a very prominent future in politics here in New York and you, my dear, are trying to come along for the ride*
"Yes, indeed, Sookie," he said out loud; "you have managed a great accomplishment for yourself. To get engaged to Bill, haven't you?"
I kept my smile. Suddenly I wished we were not in a public place.
"You think you know something about me and Bill. But Colonel, you don't understand anything about us, at all. Absolutely nothing," I said staring into his eyes; "and Colonel, quite frankly, my relationship with Bill is none of your business ."
I abruptly stopped dancing and pulled my hand out of his. I could not continue.
No way. His attitude infuriated me.
"I see. So are you, now, going to say something to Bill about this?" he challenged me. He put his hands behind his back, like a schoolmaster, looking down at me.
"Why would I?" I said, a little too loudly. I stared back at him; " you haven't said anything worth repeating."
The Colonel gave a very forced laugh. To anyone looking at us, they probably did not see any animosity between us. Only polite conversation. We stared at each other for a long moment. He was still smiling. And still thinking incredibly ugly thoughts:
*She's determined alright. Blonde. Cute. Using her body to hang on to her meal ticket*
I shook my head at him. Then, before I would say something else I should not, I wanted only to get as far away from him as I possibly could. Without another word, I turned abruptly in a huff and started walking away from the Colonel, heading straight off the dance floor.
I rushed blindly past a couple of people as they danced, trying not to run directly into anybody. The couple managed to side-step me just in time. As they moved away in front of me, I ran right up into Bill as he was headed towards me. I had not even seen Bill coming. I stumbled, losing my footing. I clumsily crashed forward right into Bill's arms. He halted me by grabbing my shoulders as I bumped up against his chest. Bill steadied me back squarely on my feet.
"Oh Bill! " I said in confusion when I realized it was him.
"Hey! I was just trying to get the last dance tonight," Bill said. Then he looked more closely at my into my face; "Sookie, what's the matter? I saw you dancing with the Colonel."
Bill could tell I was flustered. This whole evening had been one surprise after another. There I was, supposed to be getting some kind of information for Bill to use. And I could not even concentrate on doing that, because of Mack Bloom's advances. And Colonel Roland Adibisis making me so angry with his thoughts that all I could see was red, and wanting to get away from that bastard as fast as my legs could carry me! What use was I to Bill, like this? Then I felt guilty for not being more focused on what I was supposed to be doing.
"Bill, I'm afraid it's all my fault," said the Colonel from behind me. I quickly turned around to see him standing there. Bill had placed his arm around me; " I must admit. I was trying to get your fiancee to talk about your wedding plans. Sookie wasn't having any of it. So there. I could not get her to share a single detail with me." The Colonel smiled. The lying son of a bitch.
Bill smiled. "That's because there are no details... Not yet."
Colonel Adibisi, the bastard. I could strangle him. How dare he try to pull me into a cover~up. The Colonel stared at me. *No, my dear, you won't say one word to Bill*
"Now, the two of you enjoy the rest of your evening..." the Colonel said puffing out his great chest. "I need to check on Marla and then find something decadent and sweet on the dessert table."
"Thank you,Colonel," Bill said; "I do hope Marla is feeling better."
"That's very kind of you, Bill. Good night. Good night Sookie."
"Good night Colonel," said Bill.
The music had ended for the moment. There was nothing but chatter in the air all around us. I was trying my best to block all of it out. Some couples were leaving the dance floor. Some stood where they were, like me and Bill, waiting for the next selection of music from the small orchestra outfitted with violins, horns, a bass and a piano player.
Bill looked down at me.
"Sookie, are you o.k.? You didn't say good night to the Colonel," said Bill; "and you look irritated as hell. Was he pressing you about something else? Tell me, what was the Colonel thinking?"
"Nothing about vampire business," I said; "I don't like him."
"Not vampire business? What did he say?" Bill asked.
I hesitated. I sighed. I looked around at the other couples standing near us. Bill gently brought me around in front of him, holding me gently by my shoulders. He looked me squarely in my eyes, he wouldn't let me look away.
"Sookie... I want to know this. Are you going to tell me?"
The music started again. It was an old song that I loved from the classic movie, "Casablanca." A beautiful song. I looked at Bill.
"We can't talk about it here, Bill. You know we can't. Hold me...let's dance," I said.
It was almost a repeat of the other night we spent in Brooklyn at the jazz club. I just wanted to relax and enjoy myself with Bill. Surely, we could talk about everything later.
Bill said nothing else about it. He just slowly drew me into his arms. I think Bill sensed that I needed a few minutes where nothing was being required of me. Nothing at all. I did. I put both my arms round his neck this time and held him close to me. No holding hands in a proper dance step. I wanted more with Bill. We started to move together, as did several other couples on the floor near us. I love to dance with my Bill. Dancing with Bill, just like making love with him, is always effortless and completely satisfying. We always moved together as if we had been dancing together for years. Our hearts and our movements in perfect harmony. I closed my eyes for a moment and tilted back my head a little. I pressed my nose against the cool smoothness of Bill's jaw. He smelled so good. Just a little hint of his soap and his hair wash pleasantly mingling together. With my right hand, I smoothed down the hair above his collar at the back of his neck, my forehead resting comfortably against the side of his chin.
This was by far the best thing about being at the AVL Banquet. My vampire's arms around me, his lips only inches from my throat...
Then, the lights in the banquet room slowly began to dim down. There was a special affect to the lights that made a million 'tiny stars' begin to go round and round the room, the walls and across the dance floor. Kind of old~fashioned and very, very nice.
I closed my eyes again as Bill swayed me in his embrace. I thought of the lyrics to the song the orchestra was softly playing:
'You must remember this...a kiss is still a kiss,
A sigh is still a sigh.
The world will always welcome lovers,
As Time Goes By...'
It wasn't the last dance of the evening, but it turned out to be the only dance for me and Bill. Because Bill continued to be so busy that evening. Part of me was ready to get out of there. I don't think I fully realized, until Bill and I were dancing so peacefully together, just how much of a strain that evening had really been for me.
But those few minutes on the dance floor with Bill were worth it all. I just wanted to hold Bill close to me and enjoy the dance. Part of me could not help feeling dishonest. I needed time to try and begin to measure just how much of what was absolutely necessary to share with Bill about everything that had happened that evening. It was so totally ironic. Hypocritical of me. It felt so weird. After everything that had happened between me and Bill in Bon Temps... there I was trying to decide what was best for Bill to know! Mentally picking and choosing information. Although not every part of this circumstance was the same as what had broken apart me and Bill, didn't this sound so familiar?
Only it was me this time- not Bill- hesitating about telling the Whole Truth.
Me, this time, considering omitting information for his sake. Me, wondering about how much should be filtered or omitted altogether. I knew that at some point, I would surely tell Bill everything.
I truly believed I had gained Countess Magdelina as an ally. But, I still felt as though I had not come across any usable information re: the AVL or the Authority. Everything else just seemed like static.
Would telling Bill everything that had transpired between me and Colonel Adibisi jeopardize what Bill was trying to do? Would Bill's focus shift to defending me? That's the last thing I wanted to happen.
I was supposed to be helping Bill, not changing his focus. Not giving him more to be concerned about. Especially when Bill had not wanted me involved in 'vampire business' in the first place. I had begged to help him with this. It was not supposed to be about me!
Before we had finished our dance, I spied the Countess Magdelina walking between the dining tables on her way out. She looked at me on the dance floor holding Bill, his back to her. The Countess winked at me and waved her hand good-bye. It was then that I noticed she was walking across the floor in her bare feet! When I had read her thoughts earlier, she had been wanting to get out of those shoes for quite some time. Well, good for you Countess, I thought. She finally said 'what the hell' and did just as she pleased.
Sometimes, only royalty can get away with such things.
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Bill and I had a very interesting time getting away from the AVL Banquet. Just as before, everybody wanted his attention. First we were stuck on the dance floor. Several people walked up to us. I listened to as many thoughts as I could. But most were vampires, giving Bill their congratulations and good will on the Vampire Rights Amendment that was predicted to pass nationwide. Some had expressed a desire to speak with Bill privately about future dates, meetings, agenda topics and fund-raising ideas to add to the upcoming AVL Conference. Or some ideas they had for next year's conference. Bill had tactfully listened to everyone for a long while, then ended by given them his business cards as he tried to extricate himself as politely and charmingly as possible, from their presence. It wasn't easy. They wanted to go on and on.
Without a doubt, Bill Compton could charm the birds right out of the trees! His smile was irresistible. His manners were impeccable. The people that came up to us had their mouths agape while listening to Bill talk, their eyes intently looking at him. It was almost like he was glamouring them. Although, he was not. People just wanted to be near him. Near to this handsome, articulate vampire, who was not the least bit scary. Everyone could sense that Bill Compton was up and coming. Young, old, vampires, humans.
Bill has a special way of appealing to everyone and his temperament could put anyone at ease. He shared little jokes with some. He remembered others from past conferences. Bill has a gifted way of making others feel relaxed and their presence important. It was natural for him. I was so proud of Bill. So proud of who he is. So proud to be with him.
Colonel Adibisi was right. And so was the Countess Magdelina. I could see it.
Bill could have a whole new life. A whole new world open up for him in New York City.
If Bill really wanted it.
We were stopped again as we tried to make a beeline for the exit. This time by the Mayor of New York and his wife! They called to Bill as if they knew him, but they had never met before that evening. Bill had to spend a few minutes with them, of course.
I smiled at his side as he introduced me. Thank goodness, I wasn't required to say much. And as incredible as it seemed, the mayor offered us the use of his private country club facilities as a place for me and Bill to have our wedding and the reception! I could not believe it. Just like that. I read the mayor's and his wife's thoughts. Not only were they being cordial. They were completely serious. Honest and forthright people. I was not naïve enough to think this invite had no political favors attached. But, it was a very nice gesture of them, of course. But they were interested in getting to know vampire Bill Compton, just like everybody else. They really liked Bill and what he had to say in his speech about vampires and humans co-existing in the 21st century. Their intentions were to get to know Bill and I and the AVL much better. Bill and I looked at each other. We were almost speechless. We thanked the mayor and his wife profusely. It was just too generous of an offer, though.
More photographers came up to us wanting to take our picture along side the mayor and his wife. The photographers also wanted pictures of Nan and Bill together. Yes, Nan was quickly there at Bill's side as soon as she saw the mayor talking to us. She nuzzled her way in, getting her picture taken at the very last second.
Finally the mayor and his wife were about to leave. The photographers were still there. We found ourselves standing near the entrance of the banquet room again and Nan was making one last ditch effort to corral her AVL spokesman alone.
"Bill, don't go anywhere! I need to talk with you," Nan said sternly. But as fate would have it, a regal sheik walked out of nowhere, dressed in his full Middle Eastern robes.
He walked up to us intently wanting to speak with Nan Flanagan. Nan's attentions were momentarily torn in both directions at once.
And as always, Bill Compton knows how to make the most of any grand opportunity that presents itself.
"We're leaving now. We must go. Thank you all!" Bill announced, flashing a broad, charming grin, and taking me by the hand. We turned away from Nan Flanagan, who was quickly being bordered by the Arabian shiek and his entourage.
'Good night everyone!" Bill raised his hand in goodbye.
"Bill! Bill!" Nan called to him in vain, trying to move to one side of the sheik.
But me and Bill were quickly out the door.
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Bill wanted to take a taxi cab to the Empire State Building. But I wanted to get to Fifth Avenue by subway train.
Bill was not wild about going underground, which I thought was pretty funny for a vampire.
"Bill, this is part of my education in the big city," I teased him, hugging him to my side as we walked briskly down 42nd Street together; "When will I have a chance to ride in the New York Subway system ever again?" I asked him. Bill's right arm was round my shoulder holding me close.
"Never," he said, with his brooding scowl. I laughed as we descended the steps to the subway, not far from The Sanctuary Hotel. Going down, down into the depths of the concrete portal that would lead us to the amazing underground trains.
Earlier, after the banquet, we had gone back upstairs to his rooms, quickly changing our clothes out of the formal tux and gown and into our normal street clothes. Bill pulled on a navy-colored henley, dark jeans, and his favorite boots. I wore my little pink sweater set, my pleated dark green military~type skirt and a pair of ankle boots. I combed my hair up into my ponytail and kept the little gold earrings in. I also kept on the beautiful diamond tennis bracelet that Bill had given to me the other night. I never wanted to take it off. It is just so exquisite. I smile to myself whenever I look at it. So unexpected a gift and doubly romantic of Bill. I wanted everyone to see it.
I had thought, after the banquet, I might be too tired to go out. But somehow, after leaving the event, I felt renewed energy and a curiosity about our new adventure.
It was still warm outside at quarter past eleven, but we noticed the sky was becoming overcast and brewing slightly for rain maybe. So, at the last minute, Bill grabbed a black light-weight trench-coat from the hall closet right before we left. I didn't bother with any rain gear. It didn't matter to me. There could have been a hurricane outside... as long as I was wrapped in Bill's embrace, I was fine.
It was just as I had expected it to be, though, after watching so many movies about New York City. The underground space was noisy of course with the trains zooming back and forth. And there was the lightly distinguishable odors of diesel fuel and urine wafting through the air.
There were characters of every description walking by us and standing around. The homeless guys eye-balling us and each other. Many of them watching to see who might have some change to spare. There were businessmen checking their cell phone messages. A couple of teen-aged girls giggling in one corner near a huge pillar. One girl was carrying a bottle in a brown paper bag. Both me and Bill knew exactly what they had been up to. There was a certified nurse standing near us, in a long knitted red sweater and her white hospital shoes. She appeared to be just getting off work, looking very tired.
Me and Bill made our way to the token stand. The disinterested, half-awake little man behind the glass showed Bill and I a tiny folding map when we asked which train would take us to Fifth Avenue and the Empire State Building? Although, I spied another huge map of the city on a wall just behind his booth. But it was faded out and difficult to read. The little man gave us the information we wanted and after Bill paid him for our train tokens, we walked over to the correct turnstile and deposited our tokens one at a time.
The turnstile dutifully lowered to permit each of us through and we walked directly to the train platform.
I looked to my left and then to my right, seeing the huge, girded steel subway train tracks stretch off into each dark direction. Not a lot of light down there. The platform were we stood was quite high and there was a tiny, consistent breeze blowing through the open space.
Bill brought his arm back around my shoulders, darting his blue eyes, looking around suspiciously at the other people standing near us on the platform. They were waiting for the same subway train. I was still amused that Bill did not like the subway, at all.
I looked up at him, smiling.
"You know, I'm not one bit afraid down here," I said, playfully, placing both my arms around his waist; " I'm in the subway with a big, bad vampire. So are you, by the way."
Bill looked down at me, now half a smirk on his lips. "Sookie...it is always best that one remain vigilant and aware of one's surroundings in a place like this."
"Oh, yes, I totally agree!" I said smiling. I leaned in and kissed his lips.
In spite of Bill's resolve to remain focused on our surroundings, we did a pretty good impression of two people in love for the next few minutes while waiting for our subway car to appear.
Bill opened his mouth and I happily gave him my tongue. Then after a moment he took mine in return, our lips clinging and exploring each other. Bill's kiss was sensual and intense. I gave a little moan because his kiss felt so good. I put my arms in behind his back, inside the black trench-coat he was wearing. I pulled him closer to me. It was the first time we had kissed all evening, since before the AVL banquet. It seemed like such a long time ago that we had kissed. I felt rejuvenated. Out on the town with Bill.
Eleven o'clock in NYC was not even thought of as late. Not by the city that never sleeps standards. This was a magical time of the evening in New York. Things were really just getting started around midnight. I thought of home just then...Bon Temps. Everything was quiet there by now. All the storefronts silent. The shops closed along the main streets. The street lamps on. Basically, Merlotte's was the only place still left open. And only until one o'clock or so. Everything is open in New York City. And would remain that way all night long. Some people in New York don't even get home until dawn. Would not even dream of going home until dawn. It seemed to be the perfect city for vampires.
The sound of the approaching train interrupted our kiss. Bill and I reluctantly backed away from each other. I saw the two teenagers had been looking curiously at me and Bill as we kissed. They continued to look sheepishly at us, covering their mouths with their hands, suppressing their giggles. I smiled at them both. Someday, I thought, hope you girls get to have what I have. It's incredible.
The train was suddenly upon us and SWOOSHED past before stopping. The interlocking steel cars making a singing noise as it whizzed by, it seemed at vamp-speed, until it finally came to a complete stop and a pair of doors opened in front of us. We walked inside and sat down on some nearby cushioned seats. It wasn't very crowded at all. Everyone filed in that had been standing around on the platform with us. The lights flickered a bit and then the train began to move again. Lurging forward at first, then off it went, gathering speed, rapidly cruising through the lighted tunnel.
Bill and I sat very close together. After our delicious kiss on the platform, Bill was no longer interested in paying attention to our surroundings. He looked at me intently and lightly kissed my cheek.
"Sookie, are you sure you want to go to the Empire State Building?" he said into my ear. He gently stroked my cheek with his fingers. I could tell by the look in Bill's eyes that our kiss had started him thinking of other things.
"Yes,Bill," I said staring back at him; "We're on our way. I haven't bought not one souvenir since I got to New York. I have to get some tonight."
I crossed my legs and Bill looked down at them.
"You promised," I added.
Bill nodded his head. " I promised, yes."
Then he lightly kissed me on the forehead, placing his right arm round my shoulder. We were sitting side-by-side, the windows at our backs. I turned a little, leaning back, resting onto Bill and positioned myself into the crook of his arm, as the subway train sped away at lightning speed down the tunnel. It was rocking and swerving as it turned a corner really fast. It was like an amusement park ride. Bill had his arms round me and I felt completely safe and content.
There we were...me and Bill together. Hundreds of miles from home. Sitting on a subway train at midnight in New York City, headed for the middle of Manhattan. The improbability of the whole scenario -that I was even in New York- still just blew me away! It still seemed so surreal.
When we had reached our destination and finally entered the Empire State Building, there were thongs of people in the lobby lining up wanting to purchase tickets to ride to the top of the elevators. Someone had said that the very last elevator left the bottom floor at 1 a.m. Bill never hesitated once. He took me by the hand and together we walked up to a security guard dressed in a navy uniform standing near the ticket booth. To my surprise, Bill then pulled out a special card from his jean pocket and showed it to the guard. The guard immediately nodded and Bill and I followed the guard around a corner...away from the crowd of people who were still standing at the ticket booth. We walked behind the guard, past the main public elevators, to a smaller brass-plated elevator. The elevator doors opened.
"Enjoy your evening up top, Mr. Compton... Miss," the guard nodded at me.
"Thank you," Bill said. The guard waited until we had entered the elevator, then he walked away. We stepped into the elevator and the doors closed. I looked at Bill raising my eyebrows, speechless. Bill smiled.
"Diplomatic Pass," he said shrugging; "All of the liaisons with the AVL have one."
I looked at him with a straight face. . "Oh, of course." Then my hand flew to my mouth, as I could not keep a straight face any more. "Oh Bill, this is so cool!"
Apparently, there was no end to the surprises Bill had in store for me.
"Sookie… It's no big deal, really."
"The hell it isn't!" I laughed.
We held hands as the elevator climbed upward. "This isn't your first time here, is it Bill?"
"No."
"When were you here before?"
"May 15, 1931."
"Wha~a~t?"
"I had just returned from overseas. From Paris," Bill said looking up at the elevator dial;" This structure was the talk of the town. The tallest building ever. A testament to the Twentieth Century and man's attempts to achieve the impossible. In the newspapers and on the radio...people talked of nothing else."
"Where you...with Lorena?"
Bill looked at me then. "Not at all," he said gently; "We had gone our separate ways by then, Sookie. I had been back and forth to Europe several times."
"Oh. I guess I never thought about that, " I said looking up at him and squeezing his hand.
"There was no reason for you to think about it," Bill said; " the Empire State Building had just been completed and dedicated. The city officials at that time were bragging about the construction only taking one year and 45 days to complete. There was quite a bally-hoo going on about it all."
"I can imagine," I said; "did you come up here with somebody?"
Bill looked at me intently, a small smile on his lips.
"You mean, did I come up here with a girl?"
"Yes, I mean a girl, Bill Compton."
Bill shook his head. "Sookie. There was no one I was interested in like that. Ever. I was a vampire roaming the world in search of…I did not even know at the time. I was anxious to see the view from the top, that's all."
I stared into his beautiful blue eyes for a moment. "When do you want to talk about what happened at the banquet dinner?"
Bill brought the back of my hand to his lips and placed a tiny kiss across my knuckles.
"We will talk about it whenever you are ready, Sookie," he said gently.
The elevator had finally reached the 86th floor. The doors opened. Bill and I stepped out.
I immediately felt the warm night air envelope us again. I heard the lilting, whimsical notes of a saxophone in the air. We walked out onto the observatory deck, with its spacious expanse and the iron safety bars that arched away high above our heads. There were many observatory telescopes located every few feet down along the stone deck.
Electric lamps lit the way every few feet.
In complete awe, I let go of Bill's hand and slowly walked up to the marble ledging and looked out over the incredible City of Gotham. It is an indescribable sensation, looking out and down at the glittering landscape of New York City at night.
I felt a little dizzy at first. Then after a moment, it got better. In the darkness, the tall buildings seemed to resemble huge, lighted dominoes that stretched out at my feet. All at varying heights and shapes, covering every inch of a magnificent vista. And to our left, the East River, a darkened gray color, snaked away below us. The water appeared to be a translucent and ethereal thread in the darkness, heading out towards the Atlantic Ocean.
There was a star-less sky overhead. And the smell of approaching rain definitely in the air. The entire scope of this sight and being so high up, took my breath away!
I felt Bill come up behind me and place his hands around my waist.
"Incredible view, isn't it?" he asked.
"Oh my God…" I said breathlessly; "Bill… it's absolutely… amazing."
"Not as amazing as you..." he whispered.
His arms held me a little more tightly. He brought his chin down along side my cheek.
I turned my head and kissed him.
"Bill...I need to tell you everything that happened tonight."
End of Chapter 13.…to be continued…