Work Text:
I could hear him. He was pacing just outside the door no doubt building up the courage to come inside. Or rather wondering what reaction he was going to receive. I had to admit I’d given myself whiplash with the number of emotions I’d been feeling since yesterday. Not that it wasn’t justified. A couple of days ago my moods had been just peachy. Elvis was finally going to be done with his most recent stint in Vegas and had flown me and some of the girls out to meet them. He’d been happy to be almost finished with it which in turn had meant everyone had been in a great mood and he’d been particularly thrilled for us to be reunited.
Or so I thought.
We’d made it one night. In between shows he’d been all over me like a rash which I had missed. I’d even been the one to suggest we head back to the room right after his midnight show was over as our actions were getting all the more amorous. We’d barely made it back to the room before we were all over one another.
Then it happened.
She happened.
In my arms he had called out the name of another woman. Safe to say the mood was well and truly ruined. He had tried to shrug it off as though I had misheard him but that had only angered me. Our loving reunion devolved into screaming and crying (mostly mine) and eventually petered out to us spending the night apart.
That was where I was now, where I had spent the majority of the day. Away from him. My anger hadn’t subsided but I didn’t have the strength in me to argue and since he never wanted to admit he was in the wrong all communication had stopped. Until now.
I’d seen him of course. It never failed to surprise me how the man who could avoid anyone he wanted suddenly popped up whenever I was mad at him. He had made an appearance at breakfast, something that almost never happened as he preferred to rise well after noon. And then whilst I had been enjoying an afternoon with the girls by the pool he had chosen to go for an afternoon dip, his gaze falling on me at the end of every length he did, not that I took him on much.
Now he was pacing outside my door. Well, the door of my friend Sandy who had been kind enough to let me crash with her for the night since I didn’t want to go back to the suite. As I waited for the knock I blotted my lipstick, realigned my cleavage in my dress and ran my fingers through my hair to make it fall just right.
Then it came.
‘Come in,’ I said refusing to get up and let him in. As the door unlatched I busied myself with tidying away the makeup laid on the table in front of me not even looking up as he entered the room. After a moment of silence, he cleared his throat forcing me to look at him.
He looked gorgeous. He was wearing a crisp high collared suit with a white scarf that contrasted his tanned skin perfectly. In the low lamplight, his blue eyes looked electric and his supple lips looked like they needed to be kissed. Any other time I would’ve done so.
‘Hey,’ he said as I stood up and grabbed my purse off the bed, ‘wow, you looked stunning.’
‘Thanks,’ I said with a sarcastic smile that made his fade as he realised it wasn’t going to be as easy as he thought to win me round.
‘Uh, I came to see if you’re coming to dinner…I wasn’t sure,’ he said rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly.
‘Of course I am,’ I said tucking my clutch under my arm, ‘you got a problem with that?’
‘Of course not,’ he said hurriedly. I nodded and moved past to stand by the door leaving him watching me with a confused look on his face.
‘Are we going or not?’ I asked. He nodded and rushed into action, opening the door so I could walk out. Though he led the way I could feel him glancing at me every so often unsure of how to take me.
We’d argued before of course and he was so stubborn I was normally the one to cave first but I wasn’t feeling it this time. Though the indiscretion could be seen as a minor one, well compared to some of the others, it didn’t feel like it. I always suspected other girls. They were part of his lifestyle. But for one of them to make their way into our bed. Our life. It seemed to hurt more than the rumours ever could. So I wasn’t going to let him off the hook easily. If he wanted forgiveness he was going to have to work for it.
We met some of the boys downstairs and headed across town to where we would be spending the evening. As Elvis was shepherded through throngs of fans, signing autographs and having pictures taken, I wandered towards the girls who were congregated waiting to go in, a fact that I knew would annoy him. He liked to have me close by in incidences like this should anything go awry. When we finally walked into the venue he appeared beside me, his large hand grasping mine tightly as he led us to our seats. He didn’t say anything but I smirked to myself at how much I was getting under his skin.
Throughout the show we didn’t talk much. Our booth was made up of just Jerry, Sandy, Elvis and I with the boys and the girls on either side rather than couple by couple. As he chatted to Jerry about how impressed he was by the act I spoke to Sandy in hushed whispers. He was right. The act was quite something, a phenomenal voice and charisma on stage yet that wasn’t what had got me and Sandy giggling like schoolgirls. He was attractive too. Not as much as Elvis but definitely rugged and handsome. Elvis seemed to notice it too, his gaze flitting to the stage as I mocked fanning myself with a napkin to make Sandy laugh. When our eyes met across the table I could see his jaw clench earning a smile from me.
When the set was almost over a stocky gentleman I had never met before appeared leaning over the booth as he spoke, ‘Sorry to bother you, sir.’
‘It’s no problem,’ Elvis said politely, ‘what’s the matter?’
‘Nothing’s the matter it’s just that Tom would like to offer his thanks for you attending tonight,’ he said, ‘he’ll be off stage in a minute if you’d like to come backstage and meet him.’
‘Sure,’ Elvis said but as he glanced across the table and noted my excited expression the clenched jaw returned, ‘you girls wait here okay?’ ‘
‘Oh no they can come if they want,’ the man said, ‘Tom won’t mind.’
‘Yeah baby,’ I said grabbing my purse off the table as I feigned the most innocent expression I could muster, ‘unless you have a problem with me and Sandy coming?’
He glanced at Sandy and then Jerry before his gaze landed back on me. Not only did he hate having to jump through hoops for forgiveness he hated fighting in front of other people. If he agreed he’d be conceding to jump through even more hoops. If he said no he’d be the asshole. He was stuck.
‘Why would I?’ he said with a tight smile.
‘Great,’ I said, ‘then let’s go meet Tom Jones.’
✵✵✵
The night was almost over and though I had enjoyed myself I still wasn’t happy. From the moment we had landed in Tom’s dressing room, Elvis had shifted into entertainer mode. He and Tom had had pictures together and spent ages talking about performing and how they admired each other as entertainers. We’d even headed to dinner with Tom and some of his entourage. And to anyone else, we seemed like a perfect couple.
He was so good at pretending everything was normal I had even started to doubt myself. Was I being unfair? Was I overreacting? It was one measly name. And after all, I had spent the night flirting with Tom freaking Jones to try and get a rise out of him and nothing. Maybe it was time to give up the ghost. Wave the white flag.
I had excused myself to the bathroom, not bothering to ask Sandy to come as she was too enamoured with Tom to leave. Once I was done I gave myself a once over in the mirror and tried to plaster a smile on my face though the feeling of futility never left me. It looked convincing enough though, so I exited the bathroom with every intention of heading back to the private function room we had been in though my path was blocked as Elvis appeared the minute I stepped out of the ladies, grabbing my arm as he steered away from peering eyes towards the end of the corridor.
‘What are you doing?’ I asked, wrenching my arm from his grasp though it was pretty fruitless. I was trapped between him and the wall, I couldn’t go anywhere even if I wanted to. That thought was also made clear as I peered around his shoulder and found a couple of the guys blocking this end of the corridor off. Instead, I watched his flaming blue eyes look down on me.
‘Conceding,’ he said with a small smile.
‘What?’ I asked incredulously as he pulled back, his hands going to my waist.
‘You win,’ he said.
‘Oh I do, do I?’ I asked folding my arms across my chest, ‘and what exactly am I supposed to be winning Elvis?’
‘Me, admitting I was in the wrong,’ he said unfazed by my coolness as he moved a strand of hair off my face. My resolve crumbled a fraction as he smiled down at me. Only he could admit to his shortcomings and still seem so attractive.
‘You realised that huh?’ I said scrambling to keep the upper hand though it was slipping through my fingers by the second.
‘I knew from the moment I did it,’ he admitted.
‘And yet it took you a day to admit it,’ I grumbled pulling away from him to lean against the wall. Elvis stroked his chin with his thumb as he watched me.
‘Don’t pretend you haven’t enjoyed putting me through the wringer Mama,’ he said. I tried to protest but he raised an eyebrow, ‘the dress, the cleavage, the fawning over Tom.’
‘He is Tom Jones,’ I said cockily.
‘Are you telling me you’d have paid him half as much attention if we hadn’t been fighting?’
‘Maybe,’ I said feeling my cockiness crumble, ‘okay probably not and anyway it’s not like you even noticed.’
‘What because I didn’t whip out my pistol and shoot him? Baby I noticed every time you looked at the goddamn man,’ he said pulling me to him, ‘the way you put your hand on his knee, the way you laughed at all his jokes.’
‘Didn’t call out his name in bed though, did I?’ I said. It was a last-ditch attempt at winning and we both knew it. Though the way he sighed made me feel as though it had had some impact.
‘No, you didn’t,’ he said finally meeting my eyes, ‘but like I said. I’m conceding. You were right to be angry…I’m sorry.’
‘Why didn’t you just admit then and there?’ I asked.
‘I don’t know. Stubbornness? I didn’t want to ruin our night…I’d just got you back.’
‘It ruined it anyway,’ I grumbled.
‘I know,’ he said placing his hand on my neck as his thumb stroked gently across my jawline.
‘You really hurt me E,’ I admitted feeling whatever resolve I had well and truly disappeared when I heard the vulnerability in my voice.
‘I know,’ he said, ‘sometimes I feel like it’s the only thing I do well…that’s why seeing you with him like that hurts so much.’
‘Why?’ I asked.
‘What if you realise you wanna be with someone like him? I couldn’t blame you for that.’
‘But I don’t love him,’ I said, ‘I love you.’
‘Foolish really,’ he said with a sad smile.
‘Probably,’ I agreed placing my hands around the scarf he was wearing so I could pull him towards me.
‘What if I can’t stop hurtin’ ya,’ he murmured sadly.
‘If that’s the price of loving you I’ll pay it.’
‘I’m lucky you still do,’ he said.
He leant down, brushing his lips against mine for just a moment before pulling back. He was right. It probably was foolish of me to love him given all the hurt he put me through and yet I couldn’t stop. Even if I had to put him through a couple of hoops before I could forgive him I never stopped loving him. I would never be able to stop because the price of loving him didn’t take away the fact that to be loved by him meant everything. And that was something I couldn’t lose.