AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“See, the two of you will hit it off real well.”
She turns back to him before narrowing her eyes, but she doesn’t lose her smile. “Alright, alright. I’m sure I’ll have a lot of fun with Spade. Now, go. Before you miss your plane.”
She gives him another kiss on the cheek before stepping closer to me and I try hard not to see any of the significance in the move. It doesn’t mean anything. It’s not like she’s fucking walking down the aisle to me and her brother is giving her away. Once I shut and lock the door behind her, show her to her room, and give her a tour of the whole house, I lead her into the sunken living room where I have the TV booted up and ready to go.
“I hope you don’t mind. I already ordered food. Pizza okay?”
“Uh, yeah. Sorry you got stuck with babysitting duty. It’s…kind of embarrassing that my brother doesn’t trust me to stay by myself but… I guess I understand. Still, sorry.”
“Oh, it’s no worry. I, uh, don’t really like being alone all the time either so, it worked out good for me.”
“I can cook for us or do all the laundry or both.”
“You don’t have to do that. You can just stay. It really is no big deal.”
An awkward silence settles over us.
“So, I thought it might be nice to watch the movie you said my name’s sake came from. If you don’t mind.”
She gives me another million-kilowatt smile, “Are you kidding? That sounds great!”
I turn the film on, and we lose ourselves in all the betrayal, backstabbing, and blackmail that comes with a good film noir. When food is finally delivered, I pause the movie just long enough to grab the pizza and some plates before we are right back in the living room watching more.
One movie leads into another as we have a mystery movie marathon. And not just the old stuff, we watch some new mystery movies as well. Pearl knows them all.
“I’m not saying I don’t get it. I just…why do you dig them so much?”
“I think for me, it’s about the romance of the era. How fast people fell in and out of love? What kept lovers apart. It’s like chicken soup when you are feeling a little down, a little sick, a little lost, and you know right from the start…this is it. This is where I want to be, wrapped up in a throw, drapes closed, transported to another time where things are a lot more…well, black and white. Women were bad but they were so good at it you didn’t mind; men were rough and strong but underneath they were putty for the right woman. It’s the whole allure of illicit and sexy and it’s not just me. A lot of the new TV shows do throwbacks to those old movies where they really play up the camp and focus on all the fun stuff. It’s not just the movies, it’s the music. The music personifies the sleek curves of a woman’s body that can prove so treacherous a man can die from them, the dark rainy nights, the coldness of the city’s underbelly.”
I let her go on and on, not wanting to stop her at all. She glows when she talks about it. And when she does, it’s like she is painting a picture with words but also capturing the soul of the genre. When she finally goes quiet, I take the opportunity to tell her how good she is at explaining everything.
“The way you talk about it is magical. You should be teaching a class on this topic, no kidding. Or writing a book or something.”
She gives me a shy look and peeks at me from under her lashes while biting on her bottom lip. “I kinda want to…write.”
“Like…mystery books?”
“Yeah. I know it’s kind of stupid but…I think I would be good at it.”
“You should do it.” I like the way her cheeks turn pink when I compliment her. I like the way she glows when I call her cute little nicknames and most especially I like the way she looks sitting in my living room.
“Yeah, maybe.”
“No, I’m serious. Why don’t you do it?”
“Because…I don’t know how my…well, I guess my parents don’t matter so much but I don’t want to let Roman down. He…expects me to go to college and…make something of myself like he did.”
“And you couldn’t do that writing?”
“I…I don’t know. I…,”
“Don’t answer tonight but think about it. I’d read one of your books.”
Chapter Seven
Pearl
I hate sleeping in new places. It makes me so freakin’ uncomfortable. But for some reason when Spade shows me the room I am staying in for the next how-ever-long, I find it extremely comfortable. All of Spade’s house is like that, the living room with its overstuffed couch that goes all around the room, the kitchen with the warm stone and large stove, and now, this room.
