Chapter 36
Lucky swallowed, trying to regain his composure. He wanted to kick himself for gawking at Liz like that. She was still giggling at his expression, and he quickly looked at the stage in order to distract himself.
"Lucky, you okay?" Elizabeth asked innocently.
He turned back to her slowly and forced a smile, attempting to act cool. "Yeah, I just wasn't expecting to see you tonight. I thought you had better things to do or something."
She shrugged, trying to act casual. "Maybe, but from what I've heard, this is the place to be tonight."
"I guess it is, but after what happened in school, I figured you wanted to stay far away from me!"
"Well, that goes without saying, but I think I can deal with you for one night. Anyway, you never told me if this Ned guy was hot, so I figured I should come check him out for myself!"
He glared at her for a moment, trying to think of a comeback, until Emily interrupted them.
"Liz, I love that dress!" she said, trying to change the subject before Lucky said something he would later regret. She had been friends with him long enough to that when he got that look on his face, he said what was on his mind, with no concern for anyone else.
Liz smiled. "Thanks, Emily. I was hoping I wasn't going to be too overdressed. I've never been here when there was a band playing."
"Nah, you look great. Doesn't she, Nikolas?" Emily said, nudging him in the ribs.
"Yeah, she looks good. Right, Lucky?" Nikolas said, unable to pass up such a perfect opportunity, even though as soon as the words left his mouth, Emily elbowed him even harder.
"Um, sure," Lucky answered, not wanting to egg either of them on. He had finally recovered his senses, and had some serious damage control ahead of him. He could almost feel his dad's eyes boring into the back of his head from the bar.
"So, what time does the band come on?" Liz asked, seeing that they were still setting up.
"I don't know, 9:00 maybe?" Emily answered, checking her watch. "It's only 8:30 now. You guys want to get some food while we wait?"
"Sounds good to me. I'm starved!" Liz said, waving at one of the waiters to bring them some menus.
~*~
"Hey, Angel," Luke greeted as Laura came into the club. He was still grinning, and she chuckled as she sat down at the bar.
"All right, Luke, spill. What did I miss?"
"Well, look over there, and take a wild guess," he said cryptically, pointing at their son's table. She turned to see what he was talking about.
She looked back at her husband and laughed. "Something tells me Lucky wasn't expecting to see her like that tonight?"
"Nope. He didn't think she would show. All of a sudden, here she comes, walking into the club in that little number. The boy's eyes actually popped out of his head!"
Laura chuckled an shook her head. "Halloween's on Thursday, you know. You're almost at the finish line. If you want that money, you better hope something happens tonight!" Laura said, stealing another glance at their table.
"Oh, I'm not too worried. Something tells me it's all downhill from here!"
~*~
"You were right. He's really good," Liz said to Lucky in between Ned's sets.
"Hold on. Did I just hear you right?"
She looked at him in confusion. "What?"
"Did you just tell me that I was right?" Lucky asked, grinning mischievously.
She rolled her eyes. "Well, enjoy it, because that's the first and last time you'll hear me say it!"
"Oh, somehow I doubt that..." he muttered, turning back to the stage.
She sighed in frustration and turned to say something to Emily, until she saw that both her and Nikolas were laughing at them. "What are you two laughing at?"
They shook their heads, unable to speak. Finally, Emily calmed down enough to say something. "I'm sorry, you guys are just too funny!"
"I'm glad we're so entertaining," Lucky grumbled, stealing a glance at the bar to see if his father was still there. He was, unfortunately, and he was watching them curiously, probably wondering what Emily and Nikolas were laughing about.
"Shh, guys, be quiet. He's coming back," Liz whispered as Ned climbed back onto the stage.
"Thank you," he said as the applause died down. "I'm not used to getting requests, but since this one came from the guy who's paying me, well, I couldn't exactly refuse!" He winked at Luke before launching into his next song.
Lucky turned to look at his father, wondering what he was up to this time. Luke just grinned back at him, then turned to watch Ned.
And in your eyes I see ribbons of color
I see us inside of each other
I feel my unconscious merge with yours
And I hear a voice say, "What's his is hers"
I'm falling into you
This dream could come true
And it feels so good falling into you
I was afraid to let you in here
Now I have learned love can't be made in fear
The walls begin to tumble down
And I can't even see the ground
I'm falling into you
This dream could come true
And it feels so good falling into you
Falling like a leaf, falling like a star
Finding a belief, falling where you are
Catch me, don't let me drop!
Love me, don't ever stop!
So close your eyes and let me kiss you
And while you sleep I will miss you
I'm falling into you
This dream could come true
And it feels so good falling into you
Falling like a leaf, falling like a star
Finding a belief, falling where you are
Falling into you
Falling into you
Falling into you
By the time the song ended, Lucky and Liz were staring intently at each other. Luke was grinning like a Cheshire cat behind the bar, and Emily leaned in to whisper in Nikolas's ear.
"Okay, now that's cheating!"
(I had hoped to find a Kurth & Taylor song to use, but couldn't find any web pages that had lyrics, so I settled for the Celine Dion song instead. I thought it was pretty appropriate!)
[Song credit: "Falling Into You" Billy Steinbery, Rick Nowels and Marie Claire D'Ubolda ã 1994 EMI Virgin Music, Inc.]
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