A smug look crossed Sol’s face. “Well, this ass has a perfect idea for Chansey’s birthday, so do you want to know what it is or not?”
I threw my hands up. “Hey, I didn’t accuse you of anything. You’ve always been an ass in my book and that hasn’t changed since Chansey came along,” I joked.
He nodded in recognition and said, “You damn skippy.”
I was anxious to hear his suggestion. “So, what’s your idea, Skippy?”
“If I’m right, Chansey is so going to dig this and you’ll score some major fiancé/husband/Agápe points with her. Do you remember when you went back to Pascagoula about twelve years ago and went by your house?”
I was puzzled by where this was going. “Yeah , I remember.”
“If I recall correctly, you had just become very interested in photography and you took a lot of pictures of the house. You made me look through like five thousand pictures I cared nothing about, but I remember the owners were in some of them and they were having a birthday party for a kid out in the yard. Is it possible for that to have been Chansey and her family? If it was her, then you saw her for the first time when she was a kid and you captured it on film.
He was right. I went crazy taking pictures that day and used every roll of film I had with me. “You are absolutely brilliant, Sol. Girls, you can’t call him a buffoon anymore.”
Gia splashed water at Sol and said, “You don’t know if that was Chansey and her family, so we reserve the right to call him a buffoon until we have proof otherwise.”
Sol dunked Gia and when she came up, he said, “You are both going to eat your words on this one, girls. There’s no doubt in my mind that those negatives are full of Chansey Leclaire and her family because he was like a madman with all of the pictures he took of that girl and her family. At the time, I wondered if he was some kind of weird vampire pedophile, but it all makes sense now. It didn’t matter that she was a child. Even then, he was drawn to her because she was his Agápe.”
“I think you’re right and what makes this even more awesome is that Chansey told me today that she has no pictures of her family together because she lost all of them in Hurricane Katrina.” I started walking toward the house. “I’ve got to find those negatives before Chansey wakes up. Thank you, Sol. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
“Yeah, I know. I’m pretty awesome,” he boasted.
I went to my old darkroom where I kept my negatives filed away and began my search. Ugh! I should have filed these by date or something because I had years and years of negatives to search through. My heart pounded as I searched and I prayed Sol was right. Please let it be Chansey and her family.
After twenty minutes of searching, I found the negatives from that day. I held them up to the light and saw the outline of a family but even my vampire vision couldn’t make out if it was Chansey and her family or not.
I stopped using film when digital photography became popular, so it had been years since I printed photographs from negatives, but I didn’t need any of those supplies because I could scan the negative and upload it to my computer. Got to love technology.
I silently went to my bedroom and moved all of my necessary equipment to another bedroom so I wouldn’t wake Chansey and ruin the surprise. I scanned the negatives and waited to see the images on my computer screen. And there she was...a young Chansey with her family. I was ecstatic because I was going to be able to give her the one thing no one else could...an intact photograph of her family together.
I printed the best one on canvas and chose a few others for an album before I went back out to the pool to tell the others my good news.
I held up one of the photos and said, “Well, ladies, here’s the proof. I’m afraid you better come up with another name for Sol besides buffoon because he was right. It was Chansey and her family.”
“Dammit!” Gia swore as she slapped the water. “I’m sorry, Curry. I didn’t mean that. I’m happy for you.”
Sol got out of the pool and reached for one of the two towels on the table. “I think Mr. Fabulous has a nice ring to it.”
Lairah was fuming. “Well, I think jerk off sounds more like it. You didn’t bring a towel with you, so that means you just stole one of ours.”
“Sorry ladies, it’s one of the perks of being Mr. Fabulous,” he said as he used one of their towels to dry off.
“You make me want to throw up,” Gia gritted through her teeth.
Sol enjoyed the aggravation he was causing and said, “Darling, you haven’t thrown up since you were human.”
“Whatever, jerk off.”
Lairah attempted to cool Gia saying, “Calm down, girl. You’re giving him way too much satisfaction by getting all riled up.” She turned to me and continued, “I was thinking while you were inside. I know of a cool band playing tomorrow night at a club on Bourbon. My friend, Jett, plays bass. Chansey is musically inclined, so I know she will love to hear them. Why don’t we all meet at the club after you take her to dinner and we’ll celebrate her birthday together with a night out on the town? We’ll show her how to party vampire style.”
“I think she would love that and your suggestion gave me an idea. Do you think I could get your cool band to do a special song request?”
“Jett will do anything for me,” Lairah promised.
“And is your friend, Jett, a human or a vampire?” I questioned.
“He’s human, but he’s so cool. I wish he was vampire because I could so dig him if he was. What do I need to tell him to play?”
“Van Morrison’s ‘Steal My Heart Away.’ It was playing during our first dance.”
“Nice one,” Lairah complimented.
“It was such a bittersweet first dance because I thought it was our first and last. I loved her so much and I thought I was about to leave her forever.”
“It was your choice to leave, you ignoramus. Nobody forced you. Maybe you’re the buffoon instead of Solomon,” Lairah laughed.
“That’s what I’m talking about...someone else being the buffoon,” Solomon interjected.
“I realized my mistake and it won’t happen again. That I can promise you.”
5 Back Against The Wall
I left the compound before Chansey woke so I could have her photographs matted and framed. While I waited for the job to be completed, I strolled the streets of the French Market and decided to stop for beignets and coffee.
For years, I watched people sitting under the pavilion enjoying their pastries and I envied them for something so simple. This morning I wouldn’t envy them...I would join them.
My order arrived and I examined the white powdery pastries before picking it up for my first bite. It would be impossible to not make a mess. While I thought through my strategic plan for how I would eat the beignet, I watched pigeons walk around in search of crumbs and scraps and I realized I was happy, but something was missing. Chansey was missing and I wanted to do this with her. So, instead of enjoying my first order of beignets without her, I fed the pigeons and postponed my first experience until another time when I could share the experience with the love of my life.
I sat under the pavilion and ‘people-watched’ until I decided the frame shop had been given ample time to complete the project I left for them. I left a generous tip for my server and then walked toward the frame shop to pick up the gift I knew Chansey would love.
It was perfect, without a doubt, and I looked at the happy expression on Chansey’s innocent young face. She was truly happy and I knew I would see that same expression on her face again when she saw this photograph.
“It’s perfect. Would it be possible for you to gift wrap this for me?” I asked the aging lady behind the counter.
“Of course, sir. What’s the occasion?” the saleslady asked.
I smiled and said, “It’s a birthday gift for my fiancé.” I loved how the words felt rolling off of my tongue. They sounded so normal...So human.
“Oh, that’s wonderful. Congratulations, sir
. When is your wedding?” she asked while she wrapped the frame in black and white polka dotted paper.
I proudly answered, “October 16th.”
“Oh, then you don’t have long. October will be here before you know it.”
“I sure hope so. I can hardly wait,” I admitted.
“That’s a beautiful time of year to get married. She’s a lucky young lady.”
She was wrong and I felt the need to correct her. “No, I’m the lucky one.”
She smiled and said, “You’re going to be a wise husband. I can see that already, young man.”
≈ ≈ ≈
I parked in the drive and hid Chansey’s gift behind the driver’s seat, careful to not smash the lime green, turquoise and pink bow. I knew my decision to leave her gift in the truck was wise when she met me at the door as I entered the house. She smiled as she said, “You snuck off without me. Where have you been?”
“I had some things to do in town.” It wasn’t exactly a lie.
“Like what?” she questioned.
I gave her a quick peck on the nose. “Some things I’m not telling you about.”
She smiled at my response and gave me her best pouty face. “Well, I’ve been lonesome. Everyone was asleep when I got up.”
“Yeah, that’s sort of the risk you run staying in a house of vampires,” I laughed.
“If everyone’s asleep, then it’s just you and me for how long?” she inquired and I knew she was up to something.
“Hmm, several hours, at least. Why? What are you up to?”
She slapped my arm and said, “Thanks for the vote of confidence. Why do you always think I’m up to something? I just thought we could go swimming. It’s a beautiful day. I might work on my tan.”
Her harmless answer surprised me because I completely expected a response involving sex since she was asking about alone time.
I wrapped my arms around her and said, “Okay. I’m sorry my mind was in the gutter.Will you forgive me?”
“I’ll think about it.” She made a thoughtful face and said, “Okay. I forgive you.”
I kissed her forehead and said, “Thank you.”
She slapped me across my ass and said, “Come on. We’re wasting alone time. Go get your trunks on and I’ll be in to change after you’re finished.”
When I finished changing, I found Chansey in the living room. “Your turn.”
“Okay. I’ll be out in a minute. Meet you in the pool?”
“Sure.”
I knew my sisters only wore skimpy bikinis, so I was a little afraid of what Chansey would be sporting by the pool today. I hoped it wasn’t the new red thong Lairah recently purchased, but then I caught myself hoping it would be.
Sexual frustration was no joke.
I grabbed my shades and a couple of towels before I headed for the pool. I dove into the deep end and began swimming laps to take my mind off of which suit Chansey would be wearing. I stopped on lap number 12 when I saw Chansey come out of the house wearing my button up shirt.
“I had to borrow your shirt again. I didn’t have a coverup.”
“You know you can have anything of mine. You don’t have to ask,” I told her, again.
I noticed that Chansey looked nervous, which was completely unlike her and it didn’t suit her well. Her heart sped as she walked closer to the pool and she seemed unsure of herself. It felt like she was stalling when she said, “You can finish your laps if you want.”
Curiosity sat heavily upon my mind and I said, “I’m good. Are you coming in or do you want to get a little sun first?”
She crossed her arms over her chest as she replied, “I haven’t decided yet.” She was still stalling for some reason.
Something was off and we both knew it. I lowered my head into the water and raised straight up to slick my hair out of face, then ran my hand from front to back, pushing the water from my face. “You’re being weird. What’s wrong?”
She grinned and said, “Nothing is wrong.”
“Come in with me. You know I won’t bite.” It was a bad joke, but she laughed.
She walked to the steps and began unbuttoning my shirt, her coverup. I floated on my back in an attempt to not stare as she shed the only thing keeping me seeing her in a skimpy bikini.
Curiosity got the best of me and I raised my head just as Chansey tossed my shirt on the lounger and saw she wore nothing but the skin she was born in. She slowly descended into the pool, watching my face for a reaction to her bareness.
What are you doing, Chansey? My mind thought it, but my mouth was unable to say it.
She shrugged her bare shoulders and said, “Sorry. I forgot I didn’t have a swimsuit. What’s a girl to do?”
I began to back away from her and said, “A girl can borrow one...that’s what a girl is to do.”
“Lairah and Gia were asleep,” she weakly argued.
“You could have just gotten a swimsuit from one of their closets. You know they wouldn’t mind.”
She swam closer and said, “There’s no way I’d risk waking a sleeping vampire. Would you really advise me to do that?”
I backed into the wall of the pool and could go no further, which couldn’t have made her happier. “Your back is against the wall and you have nowhere to go, Curry.” She swam until she reached me and placed her arms over my shoulders. Her wet breasts pressed against my chest and she wrapped her legs around my waist. She watched my eyes for a signal to stop and when I didn’t shut her down, she wasted no time in leaning forward to kiss me.
She took my mouth, claiming it as hers, and I freely gave her what she wanted. In that moment, I think I would have given her anything she asked of me. I lifted my face to the sky above and exposed my neck to her. She kissed me along the most sensitive part for a vampire, my carotid, and I groaned, “Why are you doing this to me?”
“Why are you willing to give me anything that belongs to you except yourself? That’s what I want more than anything. None of this other stuff matters,” she pleaded.
Her convincing scent permeated me and flipped an inner switch I couldn’t find to turn off. She slid her hands inside the elastic band of my swim trunks on each side of my hips and I realized that I wasn’t going to tell her to stop.
I placed my forehead against hers and said, “Let’s go inside. The others are asleep.”
She stopped to look at me. She searched my eyes to see if she could trust me to not change my mind from the time we left the pool until we reached my bed. “I’m not going to back out, but the pool is not where this is going to happen.”
She breathlessly said, “Okay, let’s go inside.”
She released her hold on me and took my hand to lead me up the pool steps when we heard the sound of closing car door, then another. She turned to look at me in hopes she imagined the sound, but then we heard the voices of two men.
Oh, hell no. “What time is it?” I grumbled.
“I don’t know. Probably around two o’clock?” Chansey guessed.
“Baby, I am so sorry. It’s Harvey Janson, the contractor. You had me so distracted that I forgot we were meeting with him about the construction today.”
I heard the steps of Harvey and his assistant walking closer and I streaked to our towels and back, covering Chansey before they got an eye full of her nakedness.
She wanted to be furious, but found the whole situation too laughable to hold much of a grudge against me. She gathered her towel under her arms and started walking toward the house. “I’m going to kill you and send you to your true death. Do you hear me? I can’t go on trial for killing someone that is already dead. You understand that, right?”
I could not stop myself from laughing. “I’m sorry, but the look on your face is hilarious.” I kissed the end of her nose and said, “I’ll be inside to get dressed after I tell Harvey to give us a minute.”
She turned to go in the house and I couldn’t take my eyes off of the sway of her hips as she walked because I knew she was naked under h
er towel. I reached out and smacked her across her cute little bottom as she walked past me and a squeal escaped her lips. She whirled around and narrowed her eyes at me. “You think this is over, mister, but it’s a long way from over. I’m not finished with you, yet.”
“Well, you’re finished with me for today because the family will be up by the time we finish with Harvey.”
She gave me a wink. “Only gives me more time to formulate my next plan of action.”
After we were dressed, we met with Harvey at the intended construction site and spent the better part of the afternoon making plans for our quarters at the compound. When Harvey and his partner weren’t looking, I would mouth the words, “I love you,” to Chansey just so I could see her smile.
“Mr. Janson, would it be possible to draw off where our bedroom will be so I can get a better feel for the layout?” Chansey asked.
Harvey was taken by Chansey’s beauty and eager to please her. “Not a problem, Mrs. Brennan. I’ll do that for you right now.”
We both smiled at his honest mistake and watched as Harvey chalked the outline of our future bedroom. She held her arms up at a 90 degree angle and I wondered what she was doing.
“This is the exterior wall with the windows?” she questioned.
“I think that is right,” I agreed.
She continued to hold her arms up with a rather serious, contemplating expression on her face. She took about three steps toward the wall and I finally took the bait. “Okay, you have me. What are you doing.?”
“This is the spot,” she said.
She loved to play games with me. “What spot?
She leaned closer and placed her palms against my chest, then whispered low enough that Harvey wouldn’t hear, “This is where I’m going to rock your world every night, Curry Brennan.”
She turned away from me, as though she didn’t just say the sexiest thing in the world and nonchalantly spoke with Harvey about a room for my art and photography. I smiled to myself as I thought about the surprise on her face when she found out I had secretly planned a room of her own just off of our bedroom. I didn’t have a concrete idea of what she would use it for other than her own private space, but I couldn’t shake the nagging feeling that she would want it for something one day.