by Linda Ellen
As usual, it hadn’t taken much to set him thinking of the girl he loved. Shifting his eyes to focus straight ahead, he pictured his Mary Lou as they had said goodbye on the porch the previous night. She had walked him out when he had said his goodnights, and he had maneuvered her into a shadowy corner and pressed her against the wall, where the porch light could merely cast a soft radiant glow on her profile. She had gazed up at him, luminous love shimmering in her eyes as he leaned in to run a finger down her velvety cheek, his thumb gently caressing her bottom lip.
He sighed, closing his eyes as he remembered…
Slowly he leaned down to brush her lips with his and then nuzzle her cheek and ear as he whispered, “This waiting’s drivin’ me crazy. I wanna marry you right now, tomorrow, dang it all.” He playfully growled amidst a whisper soft barrage of kisses and nuzzles.
“Mmm, I do, too…it seems like we’ve been waiting our whole lives…” Louise murmured as she slipped her arms around his back and held him tight, planting a few soft kisses to his cheek and neck.
“I’ve been waitin’ since 7:02 pm, January 8, 1937,” he teased with a soft snicker.
Her brow furrowed and she pushed him back enough to see his face. “Hmm?”
“That’s the first moment I saw ya…when I came to the apartment to pick up Edna – don’t you remember?” His eyes were gleaming with mirth.
She let out a soft laugh and nodded. “Of course I remember…so you fell in love with me right then – and wanted to marry me?”
He pressed his lips together and tilted his head a bit to acknowledge her point. “Well…the marryin’ part might have been a tiny bit later, but yeah…I fell in love with ya right then – hook, line, and sinker. You got your hooks in me deep, girl, and ya ain’t ever let go. I’m a fool for ya, baby,” he growled playfully, nuzzling her neck and making her giggle. Then, he pulled back enough to capture her lips, and the ensuing kiss melted away all levity. But it only served to fuel the ever-growing fire between them, each one beginning to tingle and burn with longing for the other.
Finally, he had to step back and put a bit of space between them, both of them left breathless.
Vic shook his head and opened his eyes, the memory of that fiery kiss beginning to affect him as he sat contemplating in the taxi. He scrubbed his face with his hands and leaned over to get a look at the door to the market, wishing his fare would reemerge so that he could finish the trip and get paid.
Paid. He scowled a bit at that thought. He had arrived bright and early that morning, been lectured about the iron clad rules of the company, been assigned to a cab, and told to stick close to the taxi stand in a designated area of the city to wait for fares. The day had dragged by as he waited in line with fellow B-Line drivers for the ringing of the call box, but he had only received three customers – and none of them had amounted to large fares. Now, it was approaching two-thirty and his shift would soon be over, but he hadn’t made enough to even fill a pocket. This job’s gotta get better than this. I gotta keep lookin’ for something’ better. More money. I wanna help Louise get that divorce so we can get married…before I lose my mind. He chuckled at his own thoughts.
Finally, the woman who had hired his cab came out of the market, one small bag in her hands, and climbed into the back seat. He started the engine and got the cab back on the road.
Glancing at his watch, he willed the time to go faster so that he could see his girl again.
*
Finally, after what seemed to Louise like an eternity, the bell rang for the end of the day – three-thirty – and Louise was sure she had never been so exhausted in her life. Her shoulders and back ached and her eyes were bleary from the close inspection of thousands of cigars. She dragged herself through the huge building, shuffling down the massive staircase with the other workers to the first floor, and gratefully emerged outside and into the fresh air.
The other ladies bid her farewell on the sidewalk.
“So, you think you’ll be back tomorrow?” Wanda joked with a grin, remembering her own first day and her declaration that she wouldn’t be back.
“Oh yes. I need this job…I have something very important to pay for,” Louise answered with a tired smile.
The other ladies nodded with a chorus of, “See you in the morning,” and went their separate ways, hurrying to catch their transportation home.
Louise turned to begin the trek down Madison to catch the trolley for the return trip, thinking of the important thing she wanted the money for – her divorce. Sonny, the week before, had given her twenty dollars to get the ball rolling and Vic had taken her to the Washington Building to see Peter B. Muir, who would be her attorney. Mr. Muir had promised to get right on the proceedings and she had agreed to make payments of five dollars a week as soon as she secured a job. It would cost a total of seventy dollars – a lot of money, to be sure, but well worth it. The lawyer had inquired about Tommy’s support and TJ’s whereabouts, but Louise had truthfully told him she didn’t know where her soon-to-be-ex-husband was, or even if he was still in the city. He had then shared that there was a warrant out for TJ’s arrest over his defaulting on the loan for the furniture, and selling of goods that he didn’t rightfully own, and she was to let the authorities know the minute she heard from him. Privately, Louise had felt that several pieces of the puzzle had snapped into place upon hearing that news – namely the puzzle of why Mr. and Mrs. Blankenbaker had suddenly been so nice to her – they were scrambling to try and keep their no-good son out of jail and hoping she would go easy on him.
Just then, she heard the toot of a horn and glanced over her shoulder. A bright red taxicab with a white stripe, white doors, and the B-Line logo and phone number on the side was several feet away. Inside, underneath a black-billed white cap, she could see the handsome face and mile-wide dimpled grin of the driver as he waved for her attention.
“Vic!” she gushed, smiling for practically the first time that day as she quickly made her way over to his door.
“Hey baby,” he murmured, grinning up at her as he pushed the cap further back on his head. “Go around and get in, I’ll run you home.”
“Oh Vic, I can’t tell you how glad I am to see you! I wasn’t looking forward to the long walk to catch the trolley.” She sighed as she slid into the passenger seat. “I’m exhausted. I think this has been one of the longest days of my life!”
Leaning across to give her a kiss, Vic reared back. “Whoa, babe, what’s that smell? Smells like a cat peed on ya.”
Embarrassed, Louise blushed and drew her hands back from where she had touched his shirt. Her fingers were stained cigar-green, even though she had washed them before she left the floor. She couldn’t wait to get home and scrub them with lye soap. “It’s awful, I know. It’s something they call the ‘binder’, and I’ve got no clue why it smells so bad. The cigars don’t smell like that once they’re finished…”
Vic chuckled and shook his head as he put the taxi in gear and maneuvered out onto the road. “Well, I might take a rain check on the hundred kisses then…not to mention…”
“That’s quite enough,” she retorted, throwing him a mock angry look. “I wasn’t planning on paying you that for a ride home, anyway.”
“Is that right?” he teased, his dimples quite pronounced. “Well, since it’s your first day, I’ll give this one to ya for free, but ever after…”
They both chuckled as they rolled along, happily humming with a song on the radio, while the fresh breeze from the open window helped sweeten the scent situation.
‡
CHAPTER 9
The Hot Date
Over the course of the week, Vic and Louise settled into their new jobs. Louise had managed to make it to work and to her station at the machine on time each day, and slowly had found her balance in the flow of production. By Friday, she was pretty well keeping up with the speed of the tobacco-filled cylinders rolling out of the machine.
The awful smell of the binder remained a
problem, however, as after that first day, Vic had not had the opportunity to come by and take her home. This necessitated that she take the streetcar. It was embarrassing, to say the least, to suffer fellow passengers looking at her in disgust and even scooting a bit away from her on the trip.
Vic had, in turn, already decided he hated driving a cab, as he had quickly discovered being a taxi driver meant constant waiting. Waiting…waiting…waiting. Waiting for the phone at the taxi stand to ring. Waiting for lights to change. Waiting for fares to go inside a building and get the money to come out and pay him. Don’t people plan ahead and take the cash with them? Don’t they think about the fact that they’ll have to catch a cab? Mostly, he hated the fact that he was cooling his heels in his cab and not making much money. It made him feel shame clear down to his bones that – for the five days that week – his girl had made way more cabbage than he had!
Friday evening, Vic stood at the sink in the shared bathroom at his new digs, thinking about everything that had transpired over the weeks since he had received that phone call from Alec letting him know about the major upheaval in Louise’s life. Carefully scraping a razor over his chin as he prepared for his date with his sweetheart, he ran his fingers over his skin, making sure he got every whisker. She sure don’t like ‘bristles’ scratching her when I nuzzle her neck, and I plan to do a lot of nuzzlin’ tonight. The previous evening, in a hurry to see her, he had skipped his evening shave and now he chuckled, remembering her soft squeal as they had bid one another goodbye on the porch the night before. “Ooh Vic! That tickles,” she had giggled and squirmed.
It crossed his mind that a mere three months before, he hadn’t cared as much about his appearance, and he sure hadn’t taken such pains to get ready for a date. But with Louise, he wanted everything to be right, to be the way she preferred. He’d spent too much time away from her and now that he was blessed to have her back in his life, he intended to do everything in his power to make her happy. And if that meant shaving three times a day, by golly, he’d do it!
Satisfied he’d done a good job, he rinsed his face and splashed on some Old Spice aftershave that he knew she favored, before padding barefoot back down the hall to his room to finish getting ready, whistling as he went. Although it wasn’t a lot, it felt good to have money in his wallet, change in his pocket, and plans for an enjoyable evening with the girl he loved. They planned to see a new movie, Tarzan’s Secret Treasure, starring Johnny Weissmuller and Maureen O’Sullivan. The thought of it made him grin, remembering several times that Louise had mentioned she thought he resembled Weissmuller. Personally he didn’t think so, but hey, if his girl thought he looked like a movie star, it was all right with him.
*
Across town, Louise was also getting ready for their date, which she had dreamed about all week. Friday was payday, and she had been intrigued to see the paymaster being wheeled around from machine to machine in a tiny rolling cage. Each girl handed him her punch card from the week and he handed over cash money! So, after work she had taken the bus to her attorney’s office in the Washington Building, a tall slender skyscraper at Fourth and Market. Feeling accomplished after making the first installment toward paying for her divorce, she had caught the streetcar for the ride home.
Once there, she rushed inside, greeted her little boy as he sat on the floor playing with blocks, headed to the bathroom to start the water running for a bubble bath, and came back into the bedroom to lay out her clothes while the tub filled.
Lilly came to the doorway and stood perusing her daughter rushing around. “What are you doing?” she asked, seemingly perturbed about something.
Louise glanced at her as she unbuttoned her blouse. “I’m getting ready to take a bath. I’m going to the movies with Vic tonight…remember?”
Lilly’s expression soured and she came on into the room, making a pretense at dusting the bureau.
Louise paused a moment, trying to ascertain what was going on with her mother. “Something wrong?”
Lilly sniffed offhandedly and gave a petulant shrug. “Why should anything be wrong?”
Louise shook her head. Gracious, what now. I don’t have time for this… Figuring Lilly would tell her if something was on her mind, she continued gathering her things to take to the bathroom. Lilly said nothing, merely turned and walked back into the kitchen as she mumbled under her breath.
Minutes later, Louise stepped gratefully into the hot water brimming with fragrant suds from her favorite bath liquid, White Blossom. It had a clean, fresh scent, remarkably like magnolia flowers. Sinking into water up to her neck, she sighed in pure euphoria. A hint of a smile graced her lips as she remembered times when she and Vic had stolen off to a corner to kiss and snuggle and he had growled low in her ear that she smelled so good it was driving him crazy.
Her eyes closed, she ran her hands softly up and down her arms, glorying in the silky feeling of the water and the suds gently tickling the sensitive skin around her neck and jaw line. A delicious shiver reverberated through her body, bringing to mind the tingles that would run up and down her spine whenever Vic held her in his arms and kissed her. Was it his lips and hands…or just his mere presence that affected her that way? She truly didn’t know, for she had always felt tingles whenever he was near… And tonight, I’m going to be out with him, alone, just him and me. I plan on feeling lots of those tingles…
Louise lounged in the bubbles until the water began to cool, and then she sat up and began to scrub the disgusting binder smell off of her skin – especially her hands. In one short week, nay from the first day, she had learned to hate that stench. But, tonight there would be no thoughts of work, or cigars, or gossipy women, or vile binder odor, or sticky cigar glue. There would just be her and Vic, in a world all their own…no responsibilities…no interruptions…
She couldn’t wait.
*
At five-thirty sharp, Vic pulled up to the apartment and sprang out of his vehicle, making short work of the front walk. He rang the doorbell, smoothing his hair back with one hand, ready with a wide grin, but it faltered a bit when a stone-faced Lilly opened the door and motioned him inside without a word.
She let him precede her crossing into the living room as she called, “Louise! Your young man is here.”
The sliding doors to the bedroom opened a bit and Tommy came hurtling through, all smiles and dimples. “Misser Vic! Misser Vic!” he chattered, launching himself into Vic’s arms as he crouched down to his level.
“Hey there, sport!” Vic returned, hugging the child to his chest. When Tommy leaned back, his face a wide grin of perfect little white teeth, Vic asked, “What you been doin’ today, huh?”
“Wearing his grandmother to a frazzle,” Lilly grumbled, crossing her arms on her chest. “Someone refused to take a nap,” she added, pinning Tommy with her sharp eyes.
Tommy’s mouth immediately puckered into a pout and he looked down, away from his grandmother’s fierce stare.
Vic felt uncomfortable. He could feel Lilly’s animosity as he ruffled Tommy’s hair.
Just then the pocket doors opened more and Louise stood framed between them, looking lovely, and quite shapely, in a flowered dress of blue and lavender he’d never before seen. It was short sleeved, with an open square neck. The cinched waist finished off with a belt tie of the same fabric, hanging fetchingly at her hip and ending halfway down the length of the pencil skirt. On her feet were white open-toed pumps.
Vic rose to his feet holding Tommy and whistling approvingly, Lilly’s rancor temporarily forgotten.
Louise’s smile lit up the room and she stopped short, posing for him and smoothing her hands down her hips. “You like?”
“Mmm, I like,” he nodded with a rakish grin and waggle of his eyebrows. The dress fit her figure perfectly and was quite becoming. He’d never seen her wear anything quite so…womanly.
Lilly scowled. “Where’d you get that dress?”
“Fleet gave it to me…” Louise responded d
efensively, thrown off a bit by Lilly’s tone. One hand reflexively rose to touch her necklace. “I just had to hem it up a bit.”
“Remind me to thank her next time I see her,” Vic teased. Louise fairly blushed from the hot look he was giving her and she flashed him an appreciative grin of thanks.
“Mama, pwetty!” Tommy agreed, squirming to disengage from Vic’s arms and running over to his mother to flop against her legs. She grinned down at him, fondly rumpling his hair. “Thank you, sweetheart.” Louise was thoroughly enjoying all of the male attention, although Lilly’s continued frown was putting a tiny drag in her buoyancy.
Lilly sniffed disapprovingly. “In my day a decent girl wouldn’t be caught out in public in a get up like that.”
“Styles are changing, Mama. I see stuff like this in Lerner’s front windows every day.”
With a huff, Lilly crossed to the settee and sat down. “Well, what time will you be back? I want to go to bed early tonight. I’m out of practice with little ones, and this one’s a handful.”
“Oh…well…” Louise began.
Lilly interrupted with a peevish, “Don’t remember anybody asking if I’d watch the boy tonight…”
Vic was taken aback. His brow furrowed and his eyes met Louise’s anxious gaze. He could see that Lilly’s attitude stung, so he offered, “I saw Miss Irene this mornin’. She said to remember she’d watch him anytime we need.”
Pressing her lips together and making a snap decision, Louise nodded. “All right. Don’t worry about it, Mama,” she murmured, determined to let nothing spoil the joy of her and Vic’s evening out. “I’ll get his things together.”
