“True that, girl, true that.” Eme ate what she could then set her fork down. “I’m stuffed. Add a few drinks and I’ll sleep like a baby.”
Lily laughed and motioned to the waitress for their check. “My treat—you can pay for the drinks,” she said when Emelise tried to pay for half of their meal.
“You’ve got a deal. I think I’m getting the cheaper end of it though.”
“Maybe, but you’re also paying for the gas for this trip so that evens things out,” Lily pointed out. She added the tip to the bill, paid with her card, and they headed to The Inferno, the jazz club Emelise used to work at.
Lily
Lily watched Emelise’s face as they entered the club. This was where her friend really found her love of jazz, and her calling, and she noticed the way Eme’s face lit up as soon as they stepped inside. “It’s so cool to see how just hearing jazz affects you. You light up. I think opening your own club is probably the best idea you’ve ever had.”
Emelise flashed a grin. “I agree,” she said, then laughed. “Come on, drinks are on me. We might have to leave the car here and come back for it in the morning though.”
Lily shrugged. “I already figured that. No worries. I know it won’t be towed as long as I tell them I’ll be back in the morning for it.” She remembered the policy the club had about patrons leaving their vehicles instead of risking drinking and driving.
“Then let the fun begin,” Emelise said with a grin as they headed to a table.
The last time Lily was there she’d still been so nervous about being found by her old pack that she’d not let herself drink much. She’d been too afraid of letting her guard down. Now that wasn’t an issue. She thought about the last time she’d had a bit too much to drink and warmth flooded her. Why was it everything led back to thoughts of Declan? She shook her head to push the thought away because tonight was about two friends having fun; dragging her mixed up emotions into it wasn’t acceptable.
“Emelise? Is that you? Oh, girl, you are looking good. That southern air suits you.”
Lily and Emelise turned to the person who spoke. Venus was a drag queen who sang at the club, and tonight she was in full glitz and glamour mode, complete with sequined dress, glitter dusting her skin, and her wig piled up in an intricate up-do.
“Venus, oh my gods, look at you. You are looking fine in that dress, honey,” Emelise said with a hug. “Girl, are you doing your Aretha Franklin or Ethel Wells impression tonight?”
“You know it’s Aretha night. You haven’t been gone that long that you could have forgotten that.”
Emelise laughed. “Oh yeah, it is, isn’t it? Lily, you’re in for a treat. Venus, this is my bestest friend in the world, Lily, Lil, this is Venus, the awesomest drag queen in Phoenix and one hell of an Aretha Franklin impersonator,” she said, introducing them.
“Charmed, honey. Any friend of Emelise’s is a friend of mine,” Venus said when she and Lily shook hands. “We have to catch up when my set’s done, so don’t you go disappearing on me, Eme.” She wagged a finger at Emelise and sauntered toward the stage.
Lily laughed. “She’s quite the character.”
“Yeah, she is. When she’s not in drag queen mode, she goes by her male name and prefers male pronouns. It can be confusing to some people. I’m actually hoping to entice Venus to come to New Orleans once the club is open, even if it’s just for a visit.”
“She’d be well-received in New Orleans.” When Venus started belting out some of Aretha’s greatest songs, Lily sat there in awe. “Wow, she really is good.”
“I know, right?”
By the time Venus’s set was over, Lily and Emelise’d had several drinks. “You girls started without me; how rude,” Venus teased as she lowered herself into a chair at their table. “So, what did you think, darling?” she asked Lily. She pronounced ‘darling’ like ‘dahling’.
“I think you’re great; you have such a powerful voice.”
“Thanks. I’ve been singing since I was a kid. I started out in the boy’s choir, but by the time I was in high school, I knew gospel wasn’t where I wanted to focus. My folks aren’t exactly pleased with the choices I’ve made but I’m happy and that’s what counts, right?”
“Absolutely. I know how you feel about making choices your parents don’t agree with,” Lily said.
Venus arched a brow. “Oh? Do tell? You’ve piqued my curiosity, puppy,” she said with a wink. Venus’s given name was Malcolm Savage and he was a lion shifter. ‘
“Puppy? Well, I guess, next to a lion, I probably would look like a puppy,” Lily replied with a laugh. “Once upon a time—yes, I am using a fairy tale beginning,” she said at the arched look she got, “my father gave me an ultimatum. He’s the Alpha of the pack—I’m his only child—and he decided it was my duty to settle down and have babies, but only with a male of his choosing. I made a totally different choice and took off. I know he wasn’t happy with me for that and it took six years for him to track me down.”
“Damn, you let him go that long thinking something might have happened to you? That’s harsh.”
Lily shrugged. “I had to. If he’d known where I was before I really got settled in somewhere, it would have been harder to stand up to his demand that I return. By the time he found out where I was and sent someone after me I’d made a life for myself in New Orleans, and I refuse to give it up.”
“Get this, you’ll love this, Venus. The wolf her pop sent after her? Turns out he’s her mate, but because he’s like fifteen years older than her, they didn’t know it because she was practically a baby when he left the pack to join some secret government operation,” Emelise put in.
“Why do I get the feeling you made him work for it?” Venus asked with a chuckle.
