Enamoring Vamp

I go up to the counter and decided to sit on the farthest right seat.

“Howdy, what can I get you partner?”

The bartender spoke to me in a calm but loud voice. I was taken aback by it, as I’m still a bit tense from the feelings I felt earlier.

“Just give me a glass of wine please!”

The bartender then check the bottles that are neatly placed on the shelf behind him.

After looking for a minute, he decided to pick a medium sized bottle that is almost empty. I don’t know the brand of it, as I don’t really care that much.

He then grabbed a wine glass and poured what’s left of the liquid in it. Turns out, it was just enough for a glass. He served it to me while speaking in a soothing voice.

“Here you go mister, this white wine is perfect for you. It’s rather sweet taste will calm you down.”

“Is that so?”

“Enjoy your drink mister.”

I took a small sip of the wine, followed by the sound of the front door of the saloon that is opened by another visitor.

The door then closed, as I turned my head a little to see who entered the establishment.

It was a lady who’s wearing a beautiful blouse, long skirt that goes to her ankle, evening gloves that goes above her elbow, sturdy leather boot, and a wide-brimmed straw hat.

The view was rather bizarre. I was wondering why she wore a hat even though it’s night time. But then again, I also wore a hat even though it’s night.

No, it’s not whether she wear a hat or not. It’s about the type of hat she wore. I feel like I’ve seen her before.

Despite almost showing no skins at all due to her attire, I managed a glance at her face. She has a beautiful blonde hair and a white skin as well as beautiful red lips.

I only saw half of her face, but I can tell that she’s not from here. She must’ve came here along with the other settlers from Europe.

I returned to look forward and saw that the bartender has left the bar counter, presumably through the door beside the shelf as I’m pretty sure it leads to the cellar downstairs.

I then took another sip of my wine, it’s still tasted sweet. However, it’s somehow tasted a tad bit different from the first time around.

I set my glass back on the counter. I then noticed that the lady has decided to take the empty seat that’s to my left.

I didn’t hear her footsteps at all.

Perhaps it was drowned by the sound of people chattering, the clanking of glasses, and the melody from the piano

I built up the courage to take a good look at her face, as I bet it all for this moment. It was a worthy bet, as I’m amazed by her beauty.

It seemed that I was staring for too long, as she notices me and turn her head towards me. We made eye contact for the first time, as I can’t look away from her emerald green eye.

She then tilted her head as if she was saying “Is there something on my face?”. I have no clue from which part of Europe she came from, but I bet that she was from France.

I don’t know a lot of french words, but, there’s this one sentence I know.

I remembered uncle Jacque told me about this, and he told me to say this if I want to start a conversation with a french woman.

With my nervousness somewhat suppressed from the wine I drank, I spoke in a friendly tone while uttering words from another language.

“Bonsoir mademoiselle.”

“Bonsoir, comment ça va?” She said, while wearing a gentle smile.

At this point, I don’t know how to respond to that. I never actually fully listened to what uncle Jacque says. He’s an odd man who likes to philander after all, so I often ignored him.

I struggled to come up with a respond. I probably looked so stupid for trying to speak in a foreign language I know nothing about.

As she noticed the confusion that’s written on my face, she chuckled for a bit. She then spoke in a beautiful accent.

“It’s okay, you don’t need to force yourself. I can also speak and understand English.”

Welp, that certainly blew up on my face. Embarrassing yourself in front of the lady you wanted to impress is a grave mistake.

Preceded by a nervous laugh, I replied with whatever pride I have left.

“Yeah you’re right. Since you came here from France, I thought maybe I tried to speak your language and try to learn about it too.”

“How do you know that? While I do live in France for a long time, I’m not french at all actually.”

Good save Marshall. Noticing that my bet was only half right, I pressed on with the conversation.

“Is that so? Are you Italian then? Spanish?”

“My father is German, and my mother is English. We lived in London for a bit, and then decided to move to France.”

“I see, so that’s why.”

The bartender then came back from the cellar while carrying a bottle of wine. After putting the bottle on the shelf, he attended the lady who’s next to me.

“Sorry to make you wait. What can I get you Ma’am?”

“A glass of Rye please.”

The bartender nodded in acknowledgement. He grabbed a bottle from the top shelf and a whiskey glass from the drawer in front of his feet.

As he poured the liquid to serve it to her, I asked her a question.

“A big fan of Whiskey?”

“Hmm? I guess so.”

She said, as she took a small sip. Turning her head right as she gazed at me, she asked while wearing a little smile.

“What about you? A fan of Wine?”

“Not really a wine enjoyer or a drinker myself, as I don’t really like alcohol that much. I guess not.”

“Yet here you are at a saloon. Aren’t you a strange one?”

She said, while giving a little laugh as she took another sip. Without me noticing, I’m entranced by her coquettish and shy way of speaking.

Welp, she’s not wrong. But there’s another thing I found strange beside myself. And that is her pale skin.

I never met a German person before, so maybe that’s normal? Or is it because she’s half German half English? No, that’s not it.

I think I know why. But I excluded that as a possibility as I played ignorant. I could ask her right now, but, that’s asking for trouble. So I asked her the next best option.

“What’s your name ma’am?”

“Ma’am? I’m not that old.” She said while chuckling.

“Then, what’s your name Milady?”

“The name is Lillia Maris Viktoria Ingrid!”

“So...”

“You can call me Lily.”

“Ah I see. Welp, my name is Marshall Mallow. You can call me Marshall or Marsh.”

“So we both has the name of flower in our name.”

“So Mallow is a flower huh? You seem to know a lot about Flower.”

“I used to own a garden back in France.”

As she said that, two men has entered the saloon. Not just any men, they’re the Cherrington. So I was being followed huh?

They scanned the entire saloon, then stopped when they saw me. They then chose to sit at the table on the corner.

“So what brought you here to America? Looking to find your true self?

“There’s that. But... I’m also redoing my life, So to speak.”

She said it with a lower tone, as she clenched to her whiskey glass.

At the edge of my vision, I saw them Cherringtons are gazing at me intensely. I saw that as a cue for me to leave.

“Is that so. Welp, I fully understand you. I’m also trying to start a new beginning.”

I said, as I put a few dollars on the counter next to my half empty glass of wine.

“But no matter how hard I tried to run away, my bitter past always catches up to me. Speaking of running, I have to go now.”

I got up from my seat, as I took off my fur jacket. I then draped it over her shoulders, as I said my farewell.

“It might be spring, but it still gets cold at night. It was fun talking to you Miss Lily. Goodbye.”

They just have to rain on my parade don’t they? With my body feeling heavy, as deep down I still wanted to talk to her. I walked towards the door to exit.

I feel desperation and regret building up inside me. As I realised that tonight, might be the night that I have to pay the price.