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THE SMOKE TWISTED IN ITS ARTISTIC WAY, forming curls in the room, illuminated only by the age-speckled bar lights. Along the wall was every hue of amber liquid in their inverted bottles.
If Marie could melt into the bar she'd be the vibe. She would soak in the laughter and the smiles, dance upon each octave played by the piano. But instead she sees the muted colours of the bottles and the glitter than finds every spark of light.
As the night went on, she knew she would be more comfortable in this crowd, intoxicated by spirits and the moments all the same.
"Right come on you." She was suddenly turned to face John Shelby with a small smirk on his face.
"What are you doing John?" She shouted over the music, laughing as he dragged her through the crowd.
"What do you think? I'm fucking going to dance with you!" He yelled in response.
"What, not in front of all these people!" She shouted in resistance.
"Let loose for one night, Miss Brown!"
And so she did, as the couple danced throughout the night. Drinking. Dancing. Laughing.
A while later, Marie leaned on the bar, her blonde hair lying over one shoulder of her sequinned dress. She lolled her head to one side, pushing out her red lips just a little. She wasn't drunk yet but she was slightly tipsy. The bar-tender was there to take her order in a flash, eyes dropping only momentarily to her low-cut neckline. She twiddled her hair in a seemingly absent-minded way and giggled girlishly before ordering an Armagnac.
She grabbed her drink, walked back over to John and placed herself on his lap.
Marie took a sip. Screwing up her face and twitching her nose due to the strong taste.
She turned as she noticed John looking at her, feeling his eyes burning holes into the side of her head.
"What?" She questioned innocently.
"You do the most adorable things without even realising." He replied smiling at her.
In reply she just smiled lightly. Feeling a blush rest upon her cheeks before grabbing his hand and pulling him to the dance floor.
"No! No, no, no! Not again!"
"C'mon John please...Let loose for one night!" She shouted over the crowd, repeating his own words from earlier in the evening.
However, soon enough the crowd began to disappear. Leaving only the dancing couple and a few other people at the bar.
"That fella over there keeps looking at you." John spoke suddenly, lifting his head that was resting on Marie's.
"Think he wants to take you home tonight."
"You know I don't do that. Only with you." She said as if in a daze.
"I don't dance but here I am, spinning you round and round in circles." He smiled slightly, instead of his usual smirk.
"Lets just go home. You have a date with Martha tomorrow." She smiled poking him in the chest.
"Alright let's go."
So as the once salmon and purple sky transformed into a vast expanse of jet-black that engulfed the town, the drunken singing of John Shelby and Marie Brown could be heard echoing through the streets. A canopy of luminous stars materialised amongst the ocean of blackness above them.
"When I got up north Clothes I had to spare Sold 'em all to pay my railroad fare"
The pair sang, as the stubbled down the cobbled streets. Holding onto one another to keep themselves steady.
"Just to come back there Ridin' in a Pullman parlor chair"
They burst into a fit of giggles as they finally stopped in front of her door.
"I'll see you tomorrow John" She whispered as she leaned her forehead against his.
"Yeah, you'll call round the house?" He asked, a flicker of hope igniting within.
"Yeah course" Marie smiled dreamily, the alcohol consuming her mind.
"Right give me a kiss." He said suddenly.
So she leaned up and give him a quick kiss. And another. And another. Until he placed dozens of small pecks on her lips.
She smiled and turned back to unlock her front door as he walked down the street.
"I love you!" She heard him shout.
"Love you too!" Marie yelled in response, not caring about the complaints of her neighbours she would receive the following morning.
And as she entered her home and rested her back against her door she thought about him. How he never leaves her mind, how he's always there; mentally if not physically. It's just incomprehensible. He's her one stable force, her one stability in a world filled with chaos and she so desperately needs that in her life. She loves him so much for that. Shes in love with him.
And she couldn't believe she only just realised it.
