By Rachel Torrent

“Sure, Jack. I’ll dance with you,” Sahndra said at their table. “You don’t mind, do ya, sweetheart?” She looked at Earl Ray who had his hand on her thigh under the table.

“’Course not. Knock yourselves out.”

They’d finished eating from the buffet, and now Jack was feeling restless. Sahndra couldn’t wait to be near him for a slow song.

She had seen Scottie from a distance only. He seemed to be reveling in his bar duties, and she didn’t want to disturb him. She was enjoying Earl Ray’s company too much anyway. And he, surprisingly enough, didn’t seem as bothered as she’d expected about Roger replacing him in Julie’s affairs.

“We don’t havta go, if you don’t want to,” she’d told him in the car on the way over. “We’ll go somewhere else and have our own little party, Earl Ray.”

He’d smiled. “No way, darlin’. This is the first time lots of people get to see us together. I’m not missing this.” And she had grinned a big goofy grin.

So now she and Jack headed off to the dance floor where a slow Pearl Jam song was playing. And Jack was as smooth and desirable as she’d remembered. His hands grazed her hips and ass while he pressed his chest against her breasts. He probably feels that my nipples are hard, she thought. And, oh, did he ever smell good. Was it Ralph Lauren or Polo? Jack, a man of impeccable taste.

“Does your new man know about us?” he asked her while they danced.

“Whadaya mean, Jack? Nothing happened between us.” He’d interrupted her fantasy.

“Almost……..Could have if I’d tried harder.” he said now on the dance floor. He pressed closer to her to show her “harder.”

“C’mon, Jack. Let’s just dance……..And no, he doesn’t know. I don’t want him to either.”

“My lips are sealed,” he said.

I’d like your lips right down here, Sahndra thought. Right down here where things are hot and wet.

After their heated dance, Sahndra and Jack were walking through foyer that separated the two rooms when they met Roger. She was still flushed from Jack’s overwhelming presence, and now Roger almost threw her off balance. He looked incredible. The Black Knight.

“Well, hello, Sahndra…….Jack. What have you two been doing? Running around the block?” Roger raised his eyebrows slightly.

“Hey, Roger. Dancing. Sahndra wears me out. I gotta get a beer.” Jack kissed her cheek and left her with Roger.

“Just dancing, Roger. How’s it going?”

“Looked like more than dancing from this angle. You’re positively feverish.” He smiled.

“Go to hell, Roger. And what’s with all the black? Somebody die?”

“Don’t worry ‘bout it. I’d offer you a handkerchief to wipe your brow, but I don’t have one,” Roger said.

“Why don’t you just mind your own fucking business, you prick? Where’s Julie?”

“Back in there. With your new boyfriend. You look good together, by the way.” He hadn’t missed the fact that it was one of their first times in public as a couple.

“Get outta my way, asshole.” Roger laughed, and Sahndra went on past him. She loved verbally sparring with him. And it was a treat to just look at him while doing it.

In the dining room, Sahndra chose to speak with Scottie when she saw Julie sitting with Earl Ray. Scottie looked up and gave her a smile as she approached. It made her feel good.

“Hey there, sweet cheeks. Can I still call ya that?”

“Hi, Scottie. Call me whatever ya want.”

“Okay then. I’ll call you a cab. You’re a cab!” He laughed at his own bad joke. Sahndra could see that he’d been drinking all evening. Evan was sitting quietly at the end of the bar, and she spoke to him. He, too, had been drinking all evening.

“Scottie, why aren’t you wearing pants or socks? What the hell’s going on?” Scottie was tending bar in only his shirt and boxer shorts.

“I told Julie that I’d take off something every hour. I’m true to my word.” He had handed her the drink he knew she loved.

“How’ve ya been, Scottie?”

“I’ve been great, Sahndra. And you?”

“Good, thanks. Nothing really new.”

“I see you’re still hanging out with Prince Charming.” Sahndra couldn’t detect any bitterness or pain in his voice. He was simply a smartass.

“That’s going well too, Scottie. You seeing anybody yet?” Selfishly, she hoped he wasn’t.

“Naw. Can’t seem to fit it into my crazy schedule. I hang around Roger’s bar a lot now. He’s cool.”

“Yeah.” Sahndra was glad Scottie hadn’t become interested in anyone else, although she had.

“Step on up to the bar here, fellas.” Scottie looked past her at Lloyd Murdoch and Loyal Truscott. They had recently moved into Scottie’s building, and he apparently knew them. Sahndra smiled at how jovial he seemed to be. He was moving on with life as well as she was.

* * *

Julie had walked over to talk to Earl Ray when she saw Sahndra leave with Jack. Coincidentally, Alan asked Carli to dance with him at the same time, leaving Earl Ray alone at the table.

“Can I sit on your lap, mister?” she said when she sat down.

Earl Ray blushed, remembering instantly what had happened at the last party. “Hey, you. Don’t do that to me.” He smiled.

“Ya having a good time?”

“Yeah. ‘Course. The food’s great, as usual,” he said to her.

He looks good, she thought. Not unhappy or stressed out like she’d anticipated. She had worried that he’d be uncomfortable with Roger hosting. But that didn’t seem to be the case. He almost glowed.

“Ya look good, Earl Ray. Sahndra must suit you well.”

“I don’t guess I could do without her now. She’s wunnerful.”

“I’m happy to hear it.” And she really was.

“And how goes it with you?” he asked.

“Just fine. I couldn’t ask for anything better,” she said.

He looked at her seriously. “I gotta tell ya something, Julie………” She waited. “I’m real glad it turned out so well for ya……Really, I am. I’m glad ya found what ya wanted……..even if I wasn’t too thrilled about it at first……I wish ya all the best……That’s what I want ya to know.”

Julie let the air out of her lungs that she’d been unconsciously holding in. “God, Earl Ray. That was nice. Thanks.”

“I mean it.”

“I know ya do. I appreciate it.”

She left when Carli returned to the table. Carli looked overjoyed and giddy to be spending such quality time in public with her Alan. And Alan was on a high too. He couldn’t keep his eyes off Carli, despite Amy’s angry looks. Carli and Alan knew what their future held, and they could hardly contain themselves.

Julie laughed to herself at Amy’s misery. She was completely unsympathetic because she knew Alan knew what was best for him. She was happy for Carli.

She went to check things out in the big bar area and found Sahndra talking to Tyler Barnes. Roger was at the bar itself with Ben Farlow. Slick, while expertly making drinks, was chatting with Merle Draggett, another new guy in town.

Sahndra left Tyler and walked over to Julie. “Nice soiree, Jules. You and the prick did a fine job.”

“Not as much sex going on in the back rooms as last time. But…….”

“Don’t remind me…….Scottie seems okay with things,” Sahndra said.

“He’s great. I told you……If he’d just keep his damn clothes on.”

Sahndra laughed. “That’s Scottie for ya.”

“Julie! Darling! May I have this dance?”

Jack was back. Julie had spoken to him earlier, with Roger present. “I’d love to, Jack.”

And to the dance floor they went. Sahndra watched them with a smile on her face. Jack was fondling Julie and whispering in her ear exactly as he’d done to Sahndra. And Julie was laughing and sucking it in just as she had. Jack was just plain fun.

Then Sahndra noticed Roger at the bar. He had turned around in his chair to watch the dancing couple too. But, unlike Sahndra, he wasn’t smiling. He didn’t look happy at all. She walked over to him and placed her hand on his leather-clad arm.

“Don’t worry about it. It ain’t nothing,” she said.

He didn’t look at her. He kept his eyes on them. “Look at how he’s touching her……..and she likes it.”

Sahndra hadn’t yet seen a jealous Roger. And Roger hadn’t yet seen Julie interact with Jack. “That’s not how it is, Roger. Jack’s a womanizer. He doesn’t know any better…….and Julie’s just friendly with him. That’s all.”

“I don’t like it.” He had anger in his quiet voice.

“Roger, look. As far as Julie’s concerned, no fucking body on the planet holds a candle to you. She’s just having innocent fun with Jack.”

“I’ll break his face.”

“Don’t bother. I told you – it means nothing……..See? They’re done. It’s over.”

Julie and Jack walked over to where they were. Julie was still laughing. She hadn’t noticed Roger’s expression.

“Hey, honey,” she said to him, out of breath. It was then she realized that he was glaring at Jack.

“Jack, look. Don’t touch her like that again. Dancing or not.” A soft demand. Roger screamed without ever raising his voice.

Sahndra closed her eyes in dread. Jack put up his hands. “No problem, man. Sorry. I didn’t mean to piss you off.”

Julie was outraged. “Oh, come on, Roger! Don’t do this at our party!”

He moved only his eyes to look at her. “Sorry.”

“Sorry? Is that all you can say? And by the way, I’m not your damn property either!”

Jack had seized the opportunity to slink away, but Sahndra stayed. She had never seen them argue. She didn’t even know they did argue except for that time in his bar when Julie broke glass.

“Julie……It looked like he was gonna fuck you out on the dance floor.” He was still yelling quietly.

Julie was furious. “To YOU it looked that way. And YOU don’t know shit about how I am with Jack. There’s a lot of stuff you still need to learn. So back the fuck off!”

She stormed away from him, and Sahndra followed her into the foyer. “Here. Slick had this waiting on the bar for ya.” It was a glass of wine.

“Bastard.”

“C’mon, Jules. Don’t let him get to ya. He was just jealous. That should turn ya on.”

Julie drank the wine. “And now Jack won’t ever come around me again.”

“But you’ve got Roger. Look at him. He’s outstanding,” Sahndra said.

“Fuck him.”

“I’ll bet you do later.”

“We’ll just see about that,” Julie said.

* * *

When she was sure Julie was okay again, Sahndra went back to Earl Ray. She’d missed him. He was talking to Lonnie and Roy Dean amidst a pile of engagement gifts. So she went over and spoke to them too.

Earl Ray took her hand in his as they walked away from the premier table. “Wanna dance?”

Sahndra was surprised. She’d never danced with him before. Not even during one their own private parties. “Sure, sweetheart.”

So as they made their way to the dance floor, the inevitable happened. They came up on Roger, face to face.

“Hey, Earl Ray.” Roger showed no signs of his previous controversy.

“Hey, Roger……Nice party.”

“Thanks, man. Glad you guys could make it.”

Sahndra tugged on Earl Ray’s arm, and they went on, politely. Enough had been said. Those two had nothing else to say to each other. And she was well aware of that.

The song that was playing was, of course, a slow song. Sahndra melted into his arms when he pulled her as close as he could get her to him. They moved in a slow rhythm, hearing each other’s heartbeats instead of the music. He kissed her hair and her ears as he massaged her back with his hands. She thought everyone else must have gone home and that they were the only two in the place because that’s what this time felt like to her.

“I think I’m falling in love with you, Sahndra,” he whispered in her ear.

Her knees buckled, but she didn’t fall because he was holding her. Had he really said what she’d heard? Could it be true or was she about to wake up from a cruel dream? She pulled away from him enough to see his face.

Yes, it was there in his eyes. “Really…….Would that be okay?” he said, very low.

She gasped, and words wouldn’t come out. She put her head back against his chest and squeezed him tighter to her.

When she thought she could speak again, she looked at him and said, “Okay? What are you? Drunk? I feel like I’ve loved you forever. I’ve been waiting for you to love me too. It’s more than okay.”

He laughed a little. “Good. ‘Cause I don’t think I can help it.”

“I love you more now than ever, Earl Ray.”

He kissed her temple. “Ready to go home? Maybe I could convince you better there…….if you’re still having doubts.”

* * *

Julie was standing all alone in the dining room surveying the damage. This room was dimly lit, and most of the people who’d been in here had moved on to the more rowdy bar area for dancing and carousing. Her kitchen workers were removing the buffet tables and clearing the other tables of dishes. Even the newly engaged couple had gone to frolic next door.

Scottie was still dutifully behind the fancy bar, now wearing nothing but his boxer shorts, and laughing very loudly and drunkenly with his buddy Evan Freed. He’d really been faithful to his word, she thought, and had such an entertaining time doing it. She didn’t mind. That’s what a party was for.

As she stood there deep in thought, someone came from behind and enveloped her, completely paralyzing her in a powerful grip. A grip that reeked of alcohol and leather.

“I’m sorry, sweetheart.” Roger.

She couldn’t turn around to see him. He was kissing her neck. “Sorry for what exactly, Roger?”

He released her and turned her around by her shoulders. Looking at her, he said, “For embarrassing you in front of people. For trying to possess you. For being an asshole……..Am I leaving something out?”

She couldn’t hold back a smile. “I guess that covers it………Don’t you know Jack is nothing to me?”

“I said I’m sorry. I can’t help what it looked like to me. I guess I’m just that way.”

“Will I ever be able to speak to Jack again?” she asked.

“Of course you can, baby……….I saw him again and got it straightened out with him.”

“It’s you I love, Roger. I don’t care what you think you saw.”

“Well, what I see right now I like. Can we finally go home? Everyone’s leaving in there.” He reminded her of that kid again.

“If you go and tell Caleb we’ll pay him double time to clean up and shut down.”

“I’ll pay him whatever he wants if it gets you to leave with me right now.”

“Then let’s go and talk to him.”