“Good point.”I get my notebook out and take notes as I spread my lady-ness on everything.“Look, I’m getting girl on EVERYTHING.”I sit in a few chairs to maximize my presence and caress a few tables in defiance.
“Yes.Everyone is going to wonder why it smells so lovely when they get in.”
The rest of the building looks surprisingly plain.I guess the main draw is no women, and they don’t need to try hard with the decoration.
There are a few men lounging around, chatting and reading the newspaper, who give us only a cursory glance.I guess they really do take privacy seriously.And anytime someone gets a little more curious, or looks at us too hard, a hoard of rowdy men descends as a distraction, drawing attention and disapproving looks their way.
“Can I see the betting book?”I whisper.
“Yes, you can.”Leo leads me to another room, with a book open in the middle.It’s too high for me to read comfortably, and before I can be sad about it, Leo appears at my side with a few books.My mother would slap me for standing on books because it is very disrespectful to do in Indian culture, but I’ll apologize to them after.
It’s worth it, because the bets are a treasure trove of information!Betting how long a drop of water takes to get down the window, how soon Lady Marquette will get married, whose son is going to reach five feet first between two lords, and how soon it’ll be before the widow Lady Alfred takes her first lover.
Nothing logical to bet on, like sports.But clearly superior in my opinion, because it shows everyone loves petty drama and gossip, even if they pretend to look down on it.
“What’s the wildest bet you’ve made here?”I ask as I peruse the bets.
“I do not bet here.I take my pleasure watching my friends get invested in the contents of the book in front of you, but I do not want to become like my father so I try to stay away.To limit my gambling, at least.”
“Responsiblest rake ever,” I say under my breath but not really that quietly.
“Pardon me?Someone responsible would never take you where I am going to take you later today.”He sounds so genuinely affronted I can’t help but laugh at him.
“Ah-ha!It’s somewhere rakish!”
Leo looks chagrined.“That is one of your questions.”
“No, it is not.It was freely offered information that I didn’t even have to work for.Now, about this rakish place?—”
One of his friends saves him by appearing with a tea tray, complete with sandwiches, scones and pastries, and all the requisite tea equipment.
“Better than having one of the staff bring it.So you can have a chance to enjoy it with less chance of being thrown out,” Leo whispers in my ear.
“This is the most fun we have had in ages.”The friend lingers after he sets the tray down on a table.“But you have been having more fun than us, haven’t you?”
The man leers at me, and I’m more impressed he can be into me when I’m covered in a shapeless clock than angry.Leo wouldn’t let anything happen to me.Because he’s a good man.And because the Queen of England would be cross with him if he did.
What is my life?
“Leave.Now.”Leo sounds firmer than I’ve heard him, and I look up from pouring some tea.Because that tone is working for me.The friend backs off with a smirk, leaving us alone again.“He is more acquaintance than friend.”
We enjoy the tea for a while, Leo relaxing again to charmer and not enforcer (which also works for me, because everything about this man works for me), before we’re interrupted again.By another one of his friends, I assume, since Leo isn’t worried.
“You two might want to hurry.People are starting to get suspicious,” his friend says, then leaves us alone again.
“Oh, damn.I was hoping we would have longer,” Leo says.
My mouth is too full of scone being drowned down with tea to respond.I hold up a finger, signaling I will answer eventually.When I’m not busy inhaling delicious, tiny, illicit, sandwiches, made more delicious with how illicit they are, and soaking in the atmosphere that only a handful of other women have seen.“It’s all right.This has been amazing.”
Despite the urgency of getting caught, I take the time to stuff food in my pocket and take notes.I then take a beat longer and pull Leo down to kiss him.This being one of my last days, probably my very last, with Leo, I’m not going to have many more opportunities to do this.
I’m going to miss him so much.
Leo is surprised at first, standing still and not responding to the kiss.Then he hears a noise outside the door, which spurs him into action.The action is to try to bring me in closer, just as I try to pull away and run so we don’t get caught.
Leo makes a sound of frustration but moves to the door after me.He quickly jogs in front of me and leads us out of the building, a sputtering Englishman scolding after us.
I laugh in exhilaration, making it much harder to run.We burst out into the afternoon, the cool air helping me calm down.Leo keeps us moving until we turn around the corner, collapsing against the brick wall to catch my breath.
