wry smile made Tug’s lips thin. She wasn’t a fan of her mother at this point, since the woman had changed the course of Tug’s life by simply disappearing from it at the stage where she needed her most. ‘Maybe she did,’ she said.
‘Come on,’ Chuck prodded.
‘It’s Elizabeth Claire.’
‘That’s lovely.’ They walked in silence for a moment, and he added, ‘It fits.’
Tug smiled. ‘Maybe it did, once. Your turn.’
‘Well it isn’t too hard to decipher,’ he said. ‘My name is Charles.’
‘But not just Charles,’ Tug prodded. No one from Chuck’s background had just one name.
‘Charles Merriweather Tate the fourth,’ Chuck confirmed.
‘My, my!’ Tug laughed.
‘Please call me Chuck,’ he said, his cheeks coloring.
‘Well I’m not going to call you “Merriweather.”’
They chatted and strolled, finally hiring a cab to deliver them to the sidewalk outside the hidden entrance to the club where Tug knew she could get the answers she needed.
Chuck let out a low whistle as they elbowed their way up to the bar between the other patrons. The club was raucous, with customers standing in every free inch of floor space, holding drinks, toasting, and laughing. There was a gorgeous black woman belting out a song in a low sultry voice, and the band was behind her as dancers filled the open space in front of her. Drinks slid back and forth across the smooth bar top, keeping the men behind it hopping around in an effort to keep up.
Tug handed Chuck the printed drink menu, which offered things like the Bee’s Knees, the Southside, and the Highball.
‘If you’re printing the drinks right here, how’s it gonna work when the Prohibition officers raid you?’ Chuck asked, his eyebrows high in confusion.
‘Mister,’ interrupted a tall bottle blonde wearing a necklace made of keys draped around her neck, ‘all we sell here is mixers. If these fine people bring in their own alcohol, I can’t exactly stop them, now can I?’ She smiled and then noticed Tug. ‘Haven’t we met before? Elizabeth, right?’
Tug nodded eagerly. ‘Ms Guinan, this is Chuck.’
‘He sure is,’ Guinan gave Chuck an appreciative look, running a hand down the length of his tie. ‘A pleasure,’ she drawled.
‘I have a question for you, Ms Guinan, if you have a minute.’ Tug sounded uncertain and wanted to kick herself. Here was her idol before her, and she sounded like a child.
Guinan didn’t budge, so Tug continued.
‘I just wondered, who teaches your fan dancers their numbers?’
The girls up front all lifted huge fans into the air, as if on cue.
‘Well, nobody, darlin’. They teach themselves!’ Guinan laughed. ‘When you hire a dancer, you hope they know how to dance! I just make a few suggestions and they do the rest.’
The simple nature of Guinan’s answer left Tug feeling even less confident.
‘Are you kids stealing my tricks?’ Guinan raised an eyebrow.
‘Just getting some ideas,’ Chuck jumped in. ‘I have a quiet club across town. Tug here thinks we need to shake things up a bit, and she’s always talking about how you’ve done it right.’
‘That’s lovely, darling,’ Guinan said. ‘But I do very little. I open my doors and welcome people in. They bring the spirit and the hooch. I just give them a place to enjoy it!’ She smiled a glittering smile, revealing perfect teeth. Guinan had been a showgirl herself, and Tug knew that she had appeared in lots of films. As Guinan moved off through the crowd, Tug realized that her background in theater was the reason she was so successful. She used her club like a stage, offering herself, the girls, and the music like acts in a show.
‘She’s incredible,’ Chuck said, his eyes watching the proprietress’s back move away.
‘She is,’ Tug nodded. She had learned a few things tonight. The club wasn’t the only thing that needed to change.
As Chuck helped Tug back out the door an hour later, she had big plans in mind.
‘Did you get what you needed?’ Chuck asked. He leaned forward to light the cigarette that Tug had pulled from her purse.
‘Butt?’ she asked, offering Chuck a cigarette.
He shook his head.
‘Thanks for the light,’ she said. ‘Yeah. I think I know what I need to know.’
They found a cab and rode together in silence.
Tug studied Chuck’s face as they moved through the streets in the bouncing car. He was handsome, she thought. She smiled when he caught her gazing at him and pulled her eyes away, a warm blush creeping up her cheeks. Tug had never really thought of Chuck that way. She’d been distracted by her silly crush on Roger. But she had no doubt that Chuck would soon have some society girl planning a big wedding, too. Her perspective on a few things had shifted tonight.
Evie
Evie sat through her classes feeling confused. Seeing Jack had stirred something within her, left her feeling dissatisfied. She arrived at the lecture hall for her last class of the afternoon and took a seat near the back, her gloom hanging low around her like a veil. She stared at the ring on her hand and gazed around at the room as students arrived. Wasn’t she where she wanted to be? She had fought for the chance to go to college. She’d been proposed to by the man of her choice, and she was slowly building a career as a journalist – even if she was beginning with gossip, a fact that she wasn’t altogether proud of. Still, Tobias loved her work, and the latest column about Babe Ruth’s carousing had him practically leaping from his seat as he read. She should be happy. Content, at least. But she wasn’t. Something was missing.
She was somewhat nervous about this particular class. Her previous teacher had announced before the spring break that she would not be returning, and that her class would be assumed by a new teacher at the University, though she hadn’t mentioned a name. Evie hoped the new professor would be a good teacher.
‘Take your seats please,’ a rich deep voice rolled across the room from the podium at the front, and Evie’s attention immediately shifted. ‘We have quite a bit to cover this semester. Let’s begin.’
There were still students standing in the rows ahead of her, and the professor was blocked from her view, but Evie’s body seemed to know exactly who would be teaching her poetry course this semester. A snapping electricity filled the air, and every muscle in Evie’s body tightened when she heard that voice. By the time the voice moved through the room again, announcing his name, Evie already knew.
‘I’m Professor Taylor,’ he said, just as the man in front of her took his seat.
Evie knew that when she was able to see the front of the room, she would find Jack Taylor standing there, impossibly. But when her eyes fell on the lean graceful form of the man who only a few months ago had known her in some very compromising ways … Evie wasn’t prepared for the heat that rose within her. She scrambled mentally for a recourse. Should she leave? Getting up and rushing out would surely cause a commotion – and then Jack would see her. But staying? Taking a class with Jack as her instructor? She didn’t know if she could possibly manage it. Without thinking, she began to fan herself with her syllabus, and then cursed herself. The motion had pulled Jack’s eyes directly to where she sat.
A sly smile pulled itself across Jack’s face, and the icy eyes danced. He looked pleased to find Evie in his class, or maybe he was pleased to see her so clearly out of sorts. He gave a quick nod of his head,