Speak Easy to Me

Chapter 3

Iwasn’t sure where we were going. It didn’t help that Nathaniel was being very vague and elusive when I would ask for details. He repeatedly asked if I could keep a secret, which made me more intrigued, but also terrified.

The chill of the night was seeping through my coat as we pulled into the alley of a few large buildings. Nathaniel parked the car then proceeded to get out. I hadn’t yet opened my door not knowing if going somewhere this secluded with Nathaniel was a smart idea.

I was contemplating walking back to the house, even though I had no idea where I was, as my door was opened. Nathaniel placed his arm out for me to take. The ground was a little slippery since the temperature had dropped once the sun went down, turning the wet ground icy. I gripped Nathaniel’s arm as I walked like a newborn fawn trying to navigate the slick ground in my high heels.

We walked a little farther down the alleyway and stopped when we had reached a door that was flush to a building with no visible handle or knob. Nathaniel rapped quickly on the door twice, then waited a beat, four more quick taps, followed by two slower knocks. The door opened allowing Nathaniel to step inside with me following closely behind.

The smell of stale cigarettes and beer quickly filled my nostrils. The music seemed excessively loud from the band on stage as blaring horns and whaling drums assaulted my ears. There was so much chatter and laughter I could barely hear Nathaniel telling me to take off my coat. I slid the sleeves off my arms and handed the coat to him, still scanning the room. A moment later his hand gripped mine as he guided me through the crowd as we headed over to the bar.

We were working our way to the other side of the room, moving closer to the bar. I watched as men and women danced to the music the band played. Legs and arms flew everywhere as people moved in rhythm to the music.

“Wild, huh?” Nathaniel yelled into my ear when he noticed me staring at the pairs of men and women dancing closely on the dance floor. I doubted there was room for a piece of paper to fit between them.

We eventually made it to the bar which took up a whole wall. Bottles of booze and various juices lined the wall. There was a giant mirror hanging on the wall making the bar appear to have twice as much alcohol as it did.

The bartender had his back to us as I took a seat at the only open stool while Nathaniel stood behind me. I recognized him before he even turned around. There was no mistaking him. The man standing behind the bar was the mystery man from earlier in the day at the hat shop. His broad shoulders and jet-black hair gave him away.

He was now donning a white button up shirt and black slacks that curved to the roundness on the cheeks of his butt. My eyes were fixated on its perfect roundness when he turned to face me. I didn’t react fast enough, my eyes still lingering in the general vicinity of his ass cheeks, only now it was his front. My face was burning from the embarrassment.

He was wearing a devilish smile when I finally found the courage to let my eyes make their way up to find his face. “Like what you see?” he asked as he rested his arms on the bar top, leaning in towards me, still wearing that cocky grin. My mouth had gone dry, and all words escaped me. I was hoping for the earth to open up and swallow me whole. Luckily Nathaniel saved me.

“Back off Emmett, this is my cousin, Lottie. She’s a farm girl from Wisconsin.” Emmett’s smile instantly got bigger and more sinister. “She’s engaged, so back off. I’m serious, she’s off limits to everyone, especially you.” Nathaniel emphasized “you” by pointing his index finger at Emmett. Emmett backed up, removing his arms from the bar, and putting them up in surrender.

“What can I get for you and Carrots over there?” Emmett said with a playful grin as he pointed a finger at me, indicating that the Carrots he had referred to, was me. I had had the worst day of my life and I just wanted to forget everyone and everything for a little while. Some strong giggly water was in order and quick.

“Two fingers of scotch, neat.” I blurted out before I even thought about it. Emmett looked at me with amusement in his eyes. I could feel Nathaniel shaking with laughter behind me.

“This should be a fun night,” he whisper-yelled in my ear over the roar of music and people. “I shouldn’t be surprised though, my father has that effect on people.” There was a playful amusement in his voice. He continued with his order to Emmett.

“I’ll just take a beer. I’ll be driving her home, and she needs the hard stuff more than I do tonight.” Emmett just nodded his head in understanding before he turned to get our drinks. I was mesmerized with how smooth Emmett’s movements were. Like he didn’t have to think at all about what he was doing behind the bar.

He returned with Nathaniel’s frothy beer first, placing the glass on the bar top in front of me. Nathaniel grabbed the glass off the bar, took a sip, held it up in signal to Emmett that it was good, then he disappeared into the crowd without a word. I was so shocked I was speechless. He brought me here just to ditch me. Nice.

When I turned back around after watching my cousin vanish, Emmett had placed a short glass filled with whiskey in front of me. He was leaning back against the counter behind the bar, arms crossed over his chest and one leg crossed over the other. His eyes danced with a challenge I was ready to take. I was beyond tired of men at this point. I just looked back at him, defiance on my face, as I brought the glass up to my mouth and downed the amber liquid in one, long drink. It burned all the way down causing me to cough a little bit.

Emmett’s eyes were filled with mischief as he took my glass, “More?” He picked the glass up off the bar. I knew it was a bad idea but throwing caution to the wind felt like a good idea in the moment.

“Yes, please,” I said a little roughly, still feeling the effects of the whiskey on my throat. Emmett just smiled and went to pour me more. I took the time he was away to cough a few more times trying to remedy the burning was causing.

Returning with my glass and an additional one filled, he sat mine down in front of me, then inclined the glass still in his hand to me. I guess we were going to drink together. I picked up my glass, once again bringing the glass to my lips, closing my eyes, and scrunching my nose in anticipation of the burn.

Emmett let out a chuckle. I brought the glass down enough to say, “Just because I make a face doesn’t mean I can’t take it.” The words were out before I could even register how they could be taken.

His eyes darkened when he said, “Really?” Before I could say anything else stupid, I downed my drink making Emmett scramble to follow suit. While I drank mine as fast as I could, Emmett was taking his time, not taking his eyes off me until the liquid in his glass was gone.

He opened his mouth as if he was about to say something when someone knocked on the bar a few stools down. Pointing at me Emmett demanded, “Don’t go anywhere. I’ll be right back.” He went to help the man holding his glass in the air.

I watched as Emmett started running around behind the bar filling people’s drinks with beer and hard liquor. He had a cool calm about him in the midst of all the chaos, giving his full attention to whomever he was helping.

His effortless smile was hard to ignore as was the way his pants were accentuating his perfectly curved butt. I was stealing glimpses as he would bend or lean over, filling drinks and handing them back to each patron. I was just mindlessly staring when I noticed that Emmett had caught me looking at his behind again. He just smiled and winked at me before wiggling his butt at me. I could feel my face turning as red as a tomato.

The room started to suddenly get hot, the effects of the whiskey kicking in, definitely not from the look Emmett had been giving me. I hadn’t even noticed Emmett had returned until he was pushing a glass of water in front of me.

“Drink this, Carrots. Then you can drink the bar dry.” Even though he said it softly there was a commandment in his voice. I reluctantly looked at the glass filled with water, beads of condensation already gathering on its sides.

“Why are you calling me Carrots?” I took a long sip, letting the cool water slowly go down my throat. The cold water only cooled me down slightly. I took another sip.

Emmet saddled up to the bar, leaning in towards me. “You’re a farm girl, right? Lived there all your life?” he asked those questions as if that would have been some indication as to what the newly acquired nickname he’d given me meant.

“Yes. Your point?” There was a small puddle forming under my glass making it easy for me to slide it around aimlessly as I tried to follow this man’s train of thought.

“Farm girl. Carrots.” Emmett spoke as if saying those words together would unlock some secret code I was supposed to know. My questioning face had him continue, “Carrots come from farms.”

“We don’t grow carrots.” I scrunched up my face in confusion. It was my only defense to why this nickname for me should be stopped immediately.

“No, but you could,” he said as if this was some sort of counter argument. It was not. I was still mindlessly passing the glass between my hands, the water puddle making the glass slide with ease across the bar top. Emmett placed his hand on top of the glass mid-slide averting my attention back to him. His eyes slid to the nearly full glass of water.

“Drink.” It wasn’t a question or suggestion; it was a command. He placed his hand over mine as he guided the glass to my lips.

I downed the rest of my water in a few gulps while Emmett monitored me. “There. Happy now?” I tried giving him a glare, but I think it came off as more of a squint.

He practically gloated as he said, “Extremely.” He held my gaze a little too long than what was considered proper. I blinked rapidly to break the spell he was casting on me.

“I believe I was told I could now drink the bar dry.” I pushed my now empty glass away from me as if the water had been the worst thing I had ever consumed.

“As you wish, fiancée.” He didn’t take my glass, but he turned around and walked away before I could scold him again for calling me “fiancée”. I was confused until he came back with a bottle of whiskey and another glass. He filled mine up before doing the same to his. He raised his glass to me, “Bottoms up, fiancée.”

I snatched my glass up and downed it before he was halfway done. We sat silently drinking, Emmett matching me drink for drink. The bottle was half gone when the urge to pee suddenly hit me. I was about to stand up when I noticed the room started spinning. Emmett noticed my unsteadiness and was out from behind the bar and at my side before I could stand up.

He placed his hand around my waist, and I put my arm around his shoulder. He was helping me stand up when my legs gave out for a second, making me lean into him as he caught me. “Whoa there, fiancée.”

I looked up at him, slightly slurring my words, “Why are you calling me fiancée?” I was curious as to what his motives were.

“You said you didn’t like Carrots, figured I’d give fiancée a try, since you are one and all.”

“Don’t call me fiancée. I am not anyone’s fiancée. I’m just someone’s convenience.” If I couldn’t tell any better, I would say I saw pity on his face. His stare was so intense I needed to divert it.

“It doesn’t matter. I was going to die by myself, anyway, might as well make someone else miserable on my way out.” I smiled half-heartedly as we started shuffling towards the bathrooms. “I hate Carrots less.” He smiled back, shaking his head. We stumbled to the bathroom, well, I stumbled while Emmett kept me somewhat upright.

I opened the door about to step inside. “Will you be here when I come out?” I hesitantly asked.

He smiled sweetly at me as he replied, “Absolutely. Now, don’t fall in. I don’t want to have to save you.” I rolled my eyes at him.

“You are too funny for words. And I’m more than capable of saving myself, thank you very much.” I think my words would have had more of a zing if I could have fully articulated that sentence. My tongue had stopped fully working making my words come out a jumbled mess.

I entered the small ladies’ room. There were two sinks to my right and three stalls to my left. I entered the nearest stall and closed the door. I had forgotten that I had undergarments that needed another person to put on in a timely manner. I was almost inclined to jokingly ask Emmett to help, but he might say ‘yes’ and I don’t think I would have the willpower to say ‘no’. I had no other option other than to undo all the clasps and straps myself.

After what felt like forever, I was finally able to sit and relieve myself. The sound of the door opening was followed by more than one woman’s footsteps on the tiled floor. Judging by their shoes, the three women who had entered were fashionable.

I could see they were standing in front of the mirror by the way their feet were positioned. One woman started talking as soon as the door closed behind them. “I can’t believe he hasn’t said anything to you all night.” The rummaging through bags and compacts opening signaled the women were freshening up.

“I’m not worried. We have a date set for tomorrow night.” More rummaging around, lipstick caps popping off.

“You might not have a date tomorrow night by the looks of it!” They all laughed. My ears perked up because I love a good bit of gossip. I heard lips smacking and lipstick tube tops popping back on.

“Emmett would never touch a cow like that. He’s worshiped my body four times now.” Her voice was low and sultry. “Ooohs,” from the other two women echoed throughout bathroom. Emmett’s possible girlfriend continued, “Did you see what she was wearing? Did she think she looked good leaving the house?” They all laughed once again, at my expense.

“I bet they don’t make mirrors wide enough.” More raucous laughter as if it was the funniest thing any of them had heard in their lives. They finished up what they were doing and all three left, still roaring with laughter as I heard the door open and close.

I sat on the toilet, feeling utterly and completely done. I tried holding the tears back, but it was useless. By the time I was washing my hands, they were flowing freely and there was nothing I could do to stop them. I didn’t care anymore. I finished washing my hands not even bothering to try to hide the fact I had been crying when I opened the door. I half expected Emmett not to be anywhere in sight, going with his girlfriend after she left the bathroom, but there he was, leaning against the wall, waiting for me.

“You were taking so long I almost sent in a search party,” he said with a grin until he moved closer and saw my face, the tears still running down. His face turned serious, placing a hand on my upper arm as he took in my face. “What’s wrong? Are you alright?” His eyes were searching for an answer in mine.

“I just want to go home.” My voice was barely audible. I was afraid that if I talked any louder my voice would crack, sending me into hysterics. I closed my eyes as I took a deep breath to steady myself and recenter. “I need to find Nathaniel.” Emmett’s dark eyes scanned my face again as he nodded.

“Okay. You stay here. I will go find Nathaniel for you.” I was going to do what he said, but the crowd, noise, smells, it had all been too much right then. I needed fresh air and to cool down. Between the booze, embarrassment, and the workout I had trying to get my undergarments back on, I needed to feel the cool air on my skin.

“I need to head outside. Tell him to meet me by his car.” I started walking away before Emmett could respond. I felt a tug on my arm and then Emmett was standing in front of me.

“You cannot go outside by yourself at this time of night; it’s dangerous, especially outside of this place,” he was referring to the speakeasy. I wiggled out of his grip.

“Then I guess you better find Nathaniel quickly.” My teeth gritted as I responded. I started to move around the perimeter of the room, avoiding going through the crowded dance floor. I made it to the door before realizing I didn’t have my coat. I was about to turn to go back inside when I saw the wall to my left was lined with coats. I found mine and made my way outside, into the prickly night air.

I was tying the belt around the waist of my coat as I made my way to Nathaniel’s car. I heard footsteps behind me thinking they were Nathaniel’s. My footsteps ceased once I reached the car the ones behind me picked up in pace.

I smelled him before I saw him. I turned around to be greeted by a man in a dark coat, hat pulled down low, smelling of cigars and so much beer it was as if he’d been dipped in it. He moved closer to me, pinning me up against the driver’s side of the car. His breath was hot and acidic making me gag.

“What’s a pretty thing like you doing walking around by herself at night?” He took another step closer to me, the crunching of rocks on the icy concrete made me snap out of my frozen state and allowed me to react.

As he placed his hands on my shoulders I lifted my knee, making contact between his legs. The impact forced a loud yell out of him. My victory was short lived.

It would have been a good defensive move if I had remembered that it was icy out. My foot on the ground slipped, causing me to fall, hitting my head on the side of the car on the way down while simultaneously taking this man down with me after my flailing legs hit his. He landed on top of me with a hard thud knocking the wind out of me.

“You bitch!” he screamed in my face. “You are going to be…” His sentence was cut off at the same time I felt his weight leave my body. I could finally take a sharp, deep breath. It took me a minute to realize what had happened.

Emmett had the man on his back, repeatedly punching him in the face. The sound of Emmett’s fist hitting the man’s face bounced off the brick buildings. He was hurling curses, insults, and threats amid each punch. I got to my feet as quickly as I could. Emmett pulled his arm back to land another blow. I grabbed onto him, stopping him. I looked down at the man’s blood covered face. Emmett was breathing heavily from the combined adrenaline and exertion.

He immediately stood up, cupping my face in his hands. “Lottie, did he hurt you?” He looked me up and down, examining my clothes, making sure every garment was in the correct place.

“No, he didn’t. I hurt myself actually. I slipped when I kneed him in his balls, hitting my head on the car. Then he fell on top of me, knocking the wind out of me. All my fault, really.” I tried lightening the mood, but there was no humor on Emmett’s face.

“When I saw him on top of you, Lottie.” There was true panic still in his eyes. I put my hand on his face, forcing his eyes to look into mine.

“I’m fine. Really. Nothing happened. You came in time” We were still looking at each other in silence, “I would also add that my virtue is still intact, but I lost that a long time ago.” Emmett let out a relieved laugh.

There was a groan of pain coming from the bloody heap of a man on the ground next to us. “What about him?” I asked as I inclined my head to my attacker.

“Don’t worry about him. Let’s get you home, Carrots.” He put his arm around my shoulders, leading me away from Nathaniel’s car.

“One, I told you not to call me that anymore.” Emmett just smiled as we continued to walk.

“You told me you prefer Carrots over fiancée.” He wasn’t going to back off the nickname. “And two?” He said with a humor laced laugh. I stopped walking and turned to him.

“Where are we going? Why isn’t Nathaniel out here?” I put my hands on my hips waiting for his reply. He mirrored my gestures.

“Nathaniel is indisposed at the moment.” I made a face of disgust. Judging by the look of delight on Emmett’s face, he knew what my reaction to that detail would be and he enjoyed it.

“I didn’t need to know that.” His smile just got bigger as put his arm back over my shoulders and started leading me to wherever he had been taking me before.

“Carrots isn’t growing on you?” he joked.

“Yes, like a mold that just keeps coming back,” I said as monotone as I could muster as my heart was still racing.

“That’s the spirit!” he said with a little too much glee. Maybe if I didn’t make a big deal out of it, he’d get bored and drop it, but knowing him the little I did, he didn’t seem like the type that would give up so easily.

We walked in comfortable silence for a block before we came to his car. He opened my door for me. I was settling in my seat as he opened his door and got in. He placed his hands on the steering wheel, catching my attention.

Before I could stop myself, I exclaimed, “Your hand!” as I reached out and took his hand in both of mine. His hand was all bloody; whether any of it was his I was unsure. I was trying to examine it, but the darkness of the night made that almost impossible to do. He winced slightly as I moved it from side to side.

“I’m fine. I don’t think it’s broken or anything.” The blood was starting to dry so I couldn’t tell if he had any cuts to his hand or not. “Blood washes off,” he said as casually as someone telling you about the weather.

“Well, cuts don’t wash off and if you have a cut, it can get infected. Human mouths are full of bacteria.”

Emmett just studied me for a minute as if what I just said was totally out of our world. “And how do you know this, Carrots?” I rolled my eyes at him. I rolled my eyes around him a lot.

“I was the designated nurse on the farm. We were too far away from town to have anyone go to the hospital for nonlife threatening injuries. With men on a farm, there were always nonlife threatening injuries.” He seemed enthralled with my story, so I continued. “Gashes, burns, severed fingers. I’ve seen it all.”

“Wait.” His face was full of confusion and horror, “There was more than one severed finger?” He shivered.

“Sometimes more than one a day.” I informed him wiggling my eyebrows at his obvious disgust. The look of bewilderment on his face made me burst out laughing.

I could tell he was about to ask me a question, so I beat him to it. “You can’t tell a farmer anything. They also don’t learn from past mistakes because they think they can do it better than the last time.” He just shook his head as he started the car.

“You really should let me look at your hand though. It would make me feel better.” He kept his face forward, fixed at the road, but I could see his eyes glancing over my way.

I felt a slight bit of victory when he relented, “Fine. We will go to my place so you can examine my hand, Carrots.”

We pulled into the driveway of a plain looking white house with a green door. After Emmett unlocked the door, we made our way into the house. The inside matched the outside. Plain white walls with no decorations adorning them. There was minimal furniture. Emmett took my coat and hung it up in the coat closet next to the front door.

“Nice place,” I said, not sure what to say since I had never been to a man’s house I didn’t know before.

“I know it’s not much to look at. I’m hardly here, so decorating doesn’t seem worth it.” He started walking down the hall. He opened the room to his bedroom and walked in. I stood there, hesitant. “In order to get to my bathroom, you have to go through my bedroom.” He held his hands up in surrender. “I did not design this house.”

I gave him a look of disbelief. “How convenient,” I joked. The words spoken by the three women from earlier came rushing back to me putting me in a sour mood again. I tried to push their words back out of my head as I made my way to the bathroom. “First, I’m going to have you wash your hands with soap and water, then I’ll assess the damage.”

Grabbing the soap and turning on the water Emmett said, “Whatever you say, Doc.” I watched as Emmett washed the other man’s blood off his hands, red mixing with the clear water, turning it pink as it was going down the drain. Once his hands were thoroughly washed Emmett turned off the water and dried his hands. I carefully took his hand in mine to look it over. There was bruising already on his knuckles and a few small cuts in his skin, but nothing alarming that needed attention.

“What’s your diagnosis, Doc?” The words came out with a playful tinge to them. I could tell he was smiling without even looking at his face.

“We won’t have to amputate, if that’s what you’re asking.” I matched his tone. I looked up at him and he was staring at me intensely. “What?” I asked as I took in his face. He had gone from playful to serious in a matter of seconds.

“It’s getting late. I think I should take you home.” He abruptly stood up before he left the bathroom. I heard the front door open and then slam shut. I wasn’t even sure he had enough time to grab his coat from the closet. I straightened up the bathroom the best I could, wiping the little remaining blood that hadn’t washed down the sink with the hand towel Emmett had used to dry his hands with.

I opened the coat closet to get my coat and noticed Emmett’s was still hanging in on its hanger. After putting on my coat I grabbed his and headed outside. Once I was in the car, I handed him his coat. He snatched it out of my hands and mumbled a halfhearted, “Thank you,” before putting the car in reverse leaving the driveway.

Apparently, Emmett knew where my uncle lived because he did not ask me for an address, which was fine since I didn’t know it anyway. We rode in complete silence the whole way to my temporary house. I honestly had no idea what had transpired in that bathroom to make Emmett’s mood change so drastically the way it did.

Emmett pulled the car right up to the iron gates. Something else I hadn’t taken into consideration was how I was going to sneak back into the house now that I was here. Either Emmett could read my mind, or it was written all over my face, his voice filling the silent car, “There’s a weak link in the fence over to the right. Just push it in and you can slip underneath.” Gone was the cheerful tone he’d had earlier, replaced by a tone of annoyance.

I opened the car door and got out, but before I shut the door I said, “I’m sorry for whatever happened to change your mood.” He just kept looking straight ahead, no expression on his face. “Thank you for the ride home.” Still no reply so I slammed the door shut. I made my way around the fence to the part he’d told me to go to. I hadn’t taken four steps away from his car before he was backing up and leaving faster than I’d ever seen a car go. What a completely shitty day!

I just wanted to go inside and wash away the remnants of the whole day. The grandfather clock greeted me as soon as I entered the house, letting me know it was now 2 o’clock in the morning. I trotted up the stairs looking forward to soaking in my tub, maybe even sleeping in there.

After my bath where I soaked in water saturated with lavender oil and brushed my teeth, I piled myself into my bed and promptly fell asleep. Tomorrow, well, technically today, was a new day, things could only go up from here, right?