Any Other Name

Chapter 9

"I think I'm crazy."

Marshall pulled back from her and looked her in her eyes. Something between worry and curiosity flipped through his expression but he seemed to take her at her word. "What do you think you're crazy about?"

She held onto his lapel and inched closer to him. "Where are we right now?"

One of his eyebrows shot up and he looked around the room. He took Eliza's hand gently in his and led her over to a vacant space by the wall. He blocked her view from the rest of the room with his body. "We're at a hotel, Elly, at one of my work parties. What are you getting at?"

"This doesn't seem weird to you?"

He screwed his face up as he scrutinized her. "What did you hear?"

Eliza shook her head, trying to remember. The champagne was warm in her belly and she felt sleepy. "They were saying that you're hiding something from me, about your job. Other people in your job have dangerous jobs that they have to 'go out' for and then those big guys in suits showed up in the corners and at the door and—"

"Elly, Elly, calm down. My job's got some facets that I haven't told you about, is all. It's perfectly okay, you're normal." He ran his hands down her shoulders to soothe her.

Eliza shook her head, looked down at her dress and leaned back. "She said everything looked like polyester," she spat.

"What?"

"Polyester," Eliza repeated. "Fake. Everything here looks fake, is what she meant. I'm not the only one!"

"Lower your voice, El." His eyes were on fire and Eliza shrunk under the weight of his shadow. He squeezed the bridge of his nose and spoke lowly, replacing his grip on her shoulders and rubbing his thumbs along the lace sleeves. "Listen, I'll explain at home, but don't embarrass me here tonight." He looked out behind him and cleared his throat. "I've got a lot riding on this."

She swallowed hard and nodded. If he could see all this then it had to be real, and if he said he would explain then he would. She wasn't crazy (in this instance) and that was the main relief.

"Smile," he deadpanned and grabbed her hand. He squeezed hard until she produced a smile, then put one on his own face. "Good, now just a couple more hours and we'll go home."

Eliza woke up from a headache and smelly dog breath. She reared back from River and immediately regretted it, putting a hand over her eyes to block out the sun streaming through the blinds behind her. She groaned and looked for a pillow to put over her head.

A few minutes passed and she heard Marshall come up the stairs. "Hey, Elly." He spoke quietly and when she peeked out from her pillow she saw the tray in his hands. "I think you've got the flu. How do you feel?"

She groaned in response and tried to remember... something. Marshall had gotten her ready for some event and when she got there--polyester?

"You were tossing in your sleep. Were you dreaming something weird, Elly?" She felt a cool hand on her heated skin and she leaned into it.

Her voice came out harsh and gritty. "Ballroom," she said and wondered briefly if her head was going to explode.

Marshall laughed quietly and rubbed circles on her shoulder with his hand, adjusted the blanket that had slipped halfway off the bed. "I took the day off to take care of you."

She groaned and shook her head. Her brain felt like it was on fire. "Money."

"We can afford a day, dear." He slipped his hand under the pillow and ran his hand through her hair. "There's some medicine and food on the side table. Take it when you can." He kissed her hand and left as quietly as he came, taking River with him.

Eliza pressed her face farther into the mattress, trying to force herself to fall back asleep. Her dream flashed through her head—elegant women claiming polyester, bouncers at the doors, musicians playing a familiar tune. It all felt so real, so crazy that it had to be real, but she knew that it was probably a fever dream.

Her mouth was dry and her stomach twisted from being empty too long. She reached out blindly for whatever it was Marshall left in the side table and found bread and club crackers. She pulled a slice into her and gobbled it up without thinking about it.

Ache soothed, Eliza slowly pulled herself from bed and looked around for River. She checked Marshall's alarm clock but remembered him saying he was staying home today. She figured he ought to be downstairs and stumbled to her feet.

The room spun as she made her way to the stairs, hugging the walls with one hand held against her burning forehead. When she reached the top of the stairs she heard Marshall's voice and stopped to listen.

She couldn't make out much, not anything between the roar of her pulse, but he sounded vaguely upset with something. River was whining in the way she did when she wanted to go out and he hushed her.

She struggled to get downstairs but managed to without falling. River yipped the moment she saw her and jogged over, whining the entire way.

Eliza leaned down and rubbed her between her ears. She'd take her outside and sit on the porch while she did her business. It was her chore and she needed to be responsible.

"Hey, hey, hey; you're not supposed to be out of bed." Marshall came up quickly behind River, holding the phone to his chest. "Come on," he shooed, "back to bed."

"I need to take River out."

He pressed a hand to her forehead. "You need to get back in bed, is what you need."

"But River—"

"But nothing. I'll take her out when I'm done with this call. Now come on, let me take care of you for once." He turned her around and helped her back up the stairs, making noise each time she opened her mouth.

River trailed behind them and seemed to try to help when Marshall was trying to get her back into bed.

"Now, I'm going to come check on you in fifteen minutes," he said. He wagged his finger at her. "Be good."

"Yezzir," Eliza slurred.

A/N: Sorry for updating so late and for the chapter being so short!  Senior year is a bitch so it's taking me a while to even sit down to write.  Thanks for reading!