Children of Toil ✔

Chapter Two

He was leaning against one of the verandah posts outside The Crown as she came around the corner. Meggy wasn't taking any notice. She was looking at the sleeve of her blouse, pulling a loose thread from the lace which cuffed her wrist. She pushed against the door with her shoulder.

"Hello, Meggy."

Startled, she looked up and met azure eyes. A crushing sensation gripped her chest.

"I thought it was you last night," he said with a smile.

Meggy tried to breathe slowly, to contain her anxiety.

"I had ta come back. To make sure...." he added.

It seemed to Meggy that the sentence was left unfinished. She snapped, "Make sure of what? That I'm still the same whore I've always been!"

Lucan jerked his head as if she had slapped him. "It's not what I meant."

Meggy stepped into the dark interior of The Crown Hotel. A surge of fury exploded in her mind. She hated him for being here, for remembering her name, hated him for reminding her of what she had felt when she had been with him. The only man she had ever kissed. It had only been twice, when she first started out and on only one of those occasions, she'd had sex with him. He had cared... hadn't he? Meggy clenched her fists in rage at her stupidity. How could he have cared, he didn't even know her, had used her like all the others.

Lucan followed her into the darkness. He didn't approach her again, but went to the bar and bought himself a drink. He took a mouthful and sat at a table near the door where he could watch her. She had been kind to him once and he to her. Or at least he thought he had been, but from her reaction, well... he gulped his drink and tried to remember. Her name had come to him easy. It had slipped into his head, both then and now. Would she know his? She hadn't then; he had to tell her. He'd had a fight, been sent from the pit, been told to find a release. And he had... with her.

His body reacted at the memory and watched as she moved from bar to table. The movement of her skirt where it draped over her smooth round hips, the pure colour of her skin. She had been the last woman he had been inside of and though he had not thought of her since, the memory came back, clear and crisp, like it had only been an hour before. She was gentle, persuading and patient, the perfect lover for a man who had grief in his heart.

*

Beatrice touched Meggy's shoulder. When Meg-Anne turned to face her, Beatrice bade her come with her fingers. "There's a punter who wants you." Beatrice indicated with her head toward the stair well. "Bill says he's paid. He's upstairs apparently."

Nodding, Meggy glanced at the table where Lucan was still sitting.

Beatrice followed her gaze. "He's the one, isn't he Megs, who was here last night?"

Trying to sound uninterested, Meggy lifted her shoulders and said, "Yeah... maybe. I don't know."

"Ah come on, Megs." Beatrice frowned. "How could you forget a face like that?"

"Yeah... you're right. I suppose you wouldn't." Meg-Anne smiled sadly. "What room did you say this punter was in?"

"Nine, sweet. "He's in number nine."

Meggy stood outside the room. She let her hair down, loosened the ribbon on her blouse and pushed it opened a little. She tapped on the door and waited. When there was no answer she knocked again, turned the knob and entered. "Hello," she whispered. No lamp had been lit and she wondered if she had the right room. "Are you here?" she asked. As she stepped gingerly into the darkness, the door shut behind her on what seemed to be of its own accord.

"Yes." His deep voice, quiet and mellow stunned her.

"I was told you wanted ta see me, sir." Meggy turned shocked that he was behind her.

He didn't answer. As he lit the lamp its light illuminated his face.

Meggy gasped. "I'm sorry I must have the wrong room."

Lucan smiled. "You don't, Meggy."

She took a step backwards and fumbled to do up the ribbon of her blouse. "You'll have tae see another. I'll see to it for you." She moved toward the door but Lucan blocked her way.

"I only want to talk."

"Then why did you pay!" she hissed.

"Would you speak to me if I hadn't?" A small crease appeared on her forehead as she wrapped her arms around her chest. Lucan watched her shoulders slump, and then she walked wearily across the room. "I've upset you," he murmured. "I'd like to know why?"

Sitting on the edge of a chair, Meggy tightened her grip on her body and rocked backwards and forwards. She didn't understand why she was trembling so she breathed slowly in and out, and told herself he was just another man.

Lucan didn't approach her. When she finally looked up, he saw sadness on her beautiful face. He wanted to understand so waited for her to speak.

"It's nae you," she whispered. "You just bring memories, at a time when I dinnae need them."

His eyes narrowed as he tilted his head. Then he crouched down and brought his hands together in front of him and waited.

Meggy smiled over at him. "You told me once, Lucan, that I was too good for a life such as this."

She paused and in that silence Lucan's heart skipped, she had remembered his name.

"I told you," she continued, "That there could be no other life for me, but inside my head you had planted a seed that grew." She paused and took a breath. "So, I emigrated." Meggy sniggered, "A new land I thought. A new life." She looked into his eyes. "But my old life followed and I wasn't able to start afresh." Small tears rolled down her face. "There was a man on the ship. He knew me and ruined my new beginning." Meggy wiped the tears away, bravely took a deep breath, slapped her hands onto her lap and stood. "So, Lucan, here I am." Her courage didn't last long. She burst into tears.

Standing, Lucan stepped toward her, the urge to comfort her strong, but she backed away and waved her hands in the air indicating she didn't want his sympathy.

Meggy took another deep breath. If he touched her there would be no turning back. "You're not getting your money's worth. It cannae be me. But I'll see another comes."

He let her pass, watched as her skirt scuttle across the floorboards, as her dainty fingers took hold of the brass doorknob and as it closed behind her.

When another came to replace her, he turned her away. Lucan's head churned. He remembered those words, and the sadness in her eyes when she had answered him, had told him her life could not be different and he had accepted it. A surge of annoyance bubbled within. He could have helped, should have helped, but his life then, wasn't as his life now.
Lucan smiled and sucked in a breath of awe. Her strength and courage to do what she had done to try to leave that life behind lifted his spirit. Meg-Anne Dunn was certainly too good for a life such as this.

Well, what do you all think of them meeting again? Meggy doesn't seem too keen to get to know him again.

Do you think Lucan handled it well?

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