The entire household was set a buzz with the very idea that Mr. Ives was spending the evening with the same woman he had spent the previous evening with. It just didn't happen! There was confusion over her identity for a moment or two, but the cook, and several maids all gawked at the red headed beauty that came down the stairs behind Mr. Ives. --Another first that would send them in a fury of gossip amongst themselves once they left. The head butler, Martin, would naturally cause them to settle down and get back to work, but was amused himself that Jake and Miss Reva used the private stairway.
That evening Jake and Reva would arrive to the opening in style, riding in his black Rolls Royce Phantom, driven by the chauffeur, Adam. Seeing all these old faces were starting to get to Jake, but that might not have been evident in the way Jake talked to Adam nearly the entire way there; asking how his family was doing and if he knew what the latest scores were.
Upon arrival, the valet opened the door for Jake to slide out, and then turned to offer his hand to Reva to help her out of the vehicle as well. Jake tipped the valet and then tilted his head to Reva's ear. "I hope you're ready for this," the comment meant for him as much as for her before the bright flashbulb photographers were shouting in their direction for Mr. Ives and his date.
"The back stairs, Jake? I know you're trying to keep my identity hidden and all that, but this is a little extreme..." Reva's complaints followed him down the staircase ever since they left via a door in his room. A door that she initially suspected to be a smaller closet or access to a sitting room. Not a secret passage! "Or is this-- was this--" she changed tenses within the descent of a single step but did not miss another beat in the point she tried to make. "... how you snuck a woman out when another was on the way up from the main staircase?"
The flare of her skirt swished in its heavy silk glory, a wide circle that spared her knees any touch except when she grew closer to Jake, content to keep a hand on the back of his suit jacket for support. A vision in pink -- a color that transcended time and fashion, the attire was made complete with a pair of shoes that added several inches of height to her middling frame, and a skilled application of make-up. It was a different kind of brand she was accustomed to using, but the vibrant color on her mouth and the frame of her lashes enhanced the features of her face and, yet, put a contrast to her usual appearance. She remembered her grandmother's choice of colors -- that the most beautiful were oft times the most natural. So with that in mind, Reva chose a daring red for her lips and smoky gray for her eyes, knowing that Abigail would prefer soft shades of pink and blush.
Reva smiled to the service staff in Jake's employment, and marveled at just how wealthy he'd once been. Rattled by the sudden churn of her stomach and the ache in her chest when she realized that all of these people Jake had cared about were now all dead. She listened with blatant interest as he conversed with the driver, unable to shed a smile that no doubt softened the blue-green of her eyes. This had to be incredibly difficult for Jake, and she made a vow to herself to make sure she'd get him through it -- however long it took for them to get back to the present, modern day.
"I am always ready," she said as her hand slipped into his, fingers twining within his hold out of habit. The barrage of camera flashes was not a novelty, and she refrained from blinking or scowling at the photographers. The way she wore her hair allowed her to shadow a portion of her face, and she tried to mask her full visage by turning her face closer to Jake under the pretense of murmuring to him. The irony was not lost upon her -- that now he was the one in the spotlight!
He'd have to let her think what she wanted, though she wasn't very far off in her depiction of his past. But Jake didn't have any desire to ruin any moment tonight with memories of his murder in his home, and he was not sure he could handle going near the grand staircase and foyer.
Squeezing her hand before raising it to kiss the back of it, egging on the reporters and photographers, before he turned to face the crowd with that familiar (to them at least) smirk of his. Raising his free hand was a wave to them; he let them get a shot or two before making the way to the door and by passing the line of people waiting to get in.
The doorman already had the front door open when he recognized Mr. Ives, and smiled to welcome him to the grand opening of Harry's Hops. Guiding Reva inside and into the crowd already milling about the place, he'd inch her towards a spot at the bar that had just cleared up so they could survey the room a moment or two.
Jake was currently flooded with memories of old faces and not completely forgotten times, so it was not surprising that a man came up and surprised him with a slap on the back, "Well what do you think Ives? This is a great crowd huh?"
Jake didn't jump out of his skin, but turned and recognized him instantly. "Harry!" Shifting to allow him to make the introduction to Reva, he'd release her hand if they had not been apart already. "Harry Gilmore, this is my date Reva Dirmen. Reva, this is Harry and this is his restaurant. Obviously."
"Whatever he has told you about me, it's not true. Expect that last part. And I'm single." Grinning at the red head.
Play it like any other role, Reva. She repeated to herself though the chaotic frenzy of conversations, occasional flashes, and the rhythmic clink of crystal glasses was enough to drown out even her most intimate of thoughts. Immersing herself into the atmosphere, pretending it was nothing more than an elaborate Hollywood set, Reva moved and spoke as if she'd been born in the era. It helped, of course, to have Jake nearby, and she could still feel the warmth of his kiss on the delicate skin of her hand.
It almost amused her that despite the rift of time, they were still together and finding an empty space at a bar. Sure, she knew that he chose the location to have a vantage point in which to overlook the guests, and he was absolutely correct -- from there they could see a sea of faces, most of them (to her eyes) looked straight out of a Myrna Loy movie.
Harry's arrival not only startled Jake but Reva as well, and she instinctively reached for his arm. Since he had moved to greet the proprietor, her hand was left in the air for a fragmented moment until it settled behind Jake's suit jacket at the middle of his back.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Harry," she extended her right hand to him while the other was secured in a touch -- a gesture that pleaded ever so silent for Jake not to leave her alone. "He seemed to have left out that part," her smile played saint and sinner, a combination that suited the sultry tones of her voice yet her eyes harbored years of innocence. "Congratulations on the opening, it looks to be quite the success."
Punctuating her remark, a raucous round of laughter drifted up and over the crowd and Reva spied the source of it -- Abigail Pell was surrounded by a number of people, and from the expressions on their faces, not to mention the smiles and chortles, she had regaled them with one of her stories. Reva's hand, the one poised at Jake's back, tapped at his spine a few times in silent code.
"It all looks good from here Harry. There's a line around the block too, have you seen it?" Gesturing to the doors after the handshakes between them were exchanged and the introductions made.
The taps to his back, or perhaps the laughter itself caused him to look over in that direction and caught the source of it all.
Harry also caught Jake's gaze and tipped an amused look to him along with a stage whisper. "Ah, Miss Pell just got engaged Nine, step carefully as you may have missed your window. His eyes wander too much Miss Dirmen, but I am loyal from my head to my toes."
Jake laughed and before Harry could add anything else about Jake's character, he was being waved over to another table. "Oh, I've gotta go now. It was a pleasure to meet you Miss Dirmen. And Nine, I think Dick's around here somewhere I think. Probably at your table."
Once Harry had walked off, Jake's attention turned back to Reva and he tipped his head to her ear again. "So how do you want to do this?"
"I will have to keep that in mind," Reva laughed girlishly, her eyes twinkling with an equal mix of humor and mischief. And it was all an act. "Thank you for the warning, Harry. Enjoy the rest of your evening."
An exhaled breath signaled her relief when he stepped away, allowing Reva and Jake some privacy -- or as much privacy afforded in a busy restaurant. Face canted ever so slightly, she heard the question and answered it with a faint nip of her teeth to the corner of her lip. It was a telltale sign that she was in the midst of thoughtful contemplation. The expression lasted no more than several seconds, and she leaned into Jake's side to voice her response. Words were low, yet she plastered a smile on her mouth to continue the pretense of her act. "You have met her before, right? Maybe offer best wishes on her engagement and introduce me? Though... might best to wait when there's less of a crowd." Her gaze targeted on the way her grandmother conversed with people surrounding her, as if the young woman's presence offered them a life force of energy and entertainment.
Reva continued to watch as a handsome man stepped into the crowd and stood next to Abigail. He was tall and lean, with blonde hair swept to the side in a debonair style. It had to be her fianc?, Marc Lewis-Brandt. His slightly annoyed expression drew a quizzical glance from Abigail, and she lifted a hand to touch his back; a mirrored gesture to what Reva did with Jake.
"Maybe this is our chance," Reva suggested, noting how pockets of people started to drift away once Marc appeared. "Strike up a conversation with him, perhaps, and I'll talk to Gram-- Abigail."
"I have, well I'm pretty sure that I've met her by now." Not everyone kept a planner on their person full of anniversaries of when they met different people! Jake shrugged and decided to wing it.
"At the very least, we both know of each other. I helped Harry put this together." The business side of things he would recall!
He didn't sulk, but did let out a low grunt for Reva's ears only. "Ugh. I'll try, but look --see I'm not the only one who doesn't like him. Here, let me get some champagne first."
Turning about to the bar and getting four glasses full and a tray from the man behind the bar, Jake nodded over towards where Abigail and Marc still lingered. Raising his hand underneath the tray high to avoid any jostling from the moving crowd, he'd let Reva follow him towards the others.
Grinning easily to the others he passed by before coming up to Abigail and Marc, Jake lowered the tray in one hand and pulled a glass off with the other to offer it to Abigail. ?Well I hear congratulations are in order Miss Pell, Marc. You two are not tired of champagne yet, are you?" Chuckling as he offered another glass to Marc, then Reva and would keep the last for himself.
The tray was passed along to a waiter who happened along and Jake was back to making introductions. "Marc, Miss Pell this is my date Miss Reva Dirmen. Miss Dirmen, this is Miss Abigail Pell and Mr. Marc Lewis-Brandt. You may have seen them in today's paper I believe, they are engaged to be married." Explaining as if Reva had not spent the morning fretting over the front page of the newspaper, Jake settled alongside Marc and raised his glass.
"A toast to the happy couple!"
"Rachel didn't like him, either," she murmured low enough to not be heard by others, knowing Jake would hear the melody of her words without any issue.
A nervous knot settled in the pit of her stomach, and she wasn't sure how Jake did it with such ease considering the warped nature of their situation. Naturally, it had once been his time, his friends, but knowing it all came to an abrupt and violent end could not make it easy. Half-hidden behind the dark suit, Reva followed along until they came to a stop by the couple.
Marc was quick to accept a glass and he even took a sip prior to the toast. Abigail's eyes, a similar shade to Reva's, lit up at the sight of Jake and it did not take long for her smile to catch up. With a glass in her left hand, she extended the right to Reva. "A pleasure... Reva, is it? That's a very pretty name. What origin is it?"
The time-swept starlet was grateful for the mingling conversations -- Jake's introductions and Abigail's question. It provided enough time for her to compose herself, steady her nerves, and recite the words she tried to memorize while traveling in the Rolls Royce. "Ah, yes, I heard earlier. Best wishes and congratulations to you both," Reva extended her hand in a tentative manner, afraid that if she touched her grandmother's fingers there might be some spontaneous reaction to the fractured time. "And thank you, I believe it's Hebrew."
Marc's eyes narrowed at that, his scrutiny of Reva becoming acute as he watched her from over the rim of the glass. All three, Jake, Reva, and Abigail raised their glasses in toast but Marc was slower to follow.
"I'm surprised to find you here with her, Jake. It's usually all blondes." Abigail's eyes sparkled in the tease and she winked to Reva in good-nature. "He's quite a catch..." she continued, though she noted Reva's face blanche. "Are you feeling all right? I told Harry to not invite everyone in the city; it's going to be dreadfully warm in here."
Reva shook her head. "No, no, I'm fine." In truth, Abigail said the same words to Reva that she'd write to Rachel -- in three years. It reminded her of the letter she'd found, the very one when she wrote of her engagement. Odd, Reva thought, that she'd wait so long to inform her best friend.
Then again, she noted Marc's narrow-eyed gaze in her direction. "Stay close to a window or door, just to be safe, Reva. Oh, that name flows right off the tongue. I'll need to remember it should we ever find ourselves expecting." Her laugh was infectious, though it seemed Marc was immune.
"Over my dead body," he muttered against the glass, drowning the words with a swallow of champagne.
Jake laughed at the tease and grinned after the toast to Abigail, "Oh come now. It's not always blondes, I'm agreeable to every hair color. And how could I not approach her? She shines." A light touch to Reva's arm briefly to indicate that he was telling the truth, even in the midst of this plan.
"As bright as your ring too, I might add." Returning with a tease to Abigail and winking her direction before looking to Marc and ever so slightly turning from Reva to give her an opportunity to befriend her own grandmother a bit more privately.
It'd be a testament to Jake's patience that he wouldn't punch Marc before the night was over. "So Marc, what would possess you to leave the bachelor's life?" Such would be the expected conversation from the womanizing Jake Ives.
"That is good to know, Nine," Abigail had no problem using Jake's nickname during the course of the conversation. "Makes me feel better that you weren't purposely ignoring me..." she curled a finger around a thick strand of blonde.
In response to Jake's compliment and the touch that followed, Reva did not (could not) disguise the emotion in her eyes as she looked his way for a span of a heartbeat. She appreciated Jake's patience and his attempt to bring the ring into the conversation. "That truly is a remarkable piece of jewelry. Where ever did your fianc? find such a treasure?" Reva set the glass of champagne down after just a hint of a sip, and reached out to collect Abigail's left hand, studying the diamond that -- many, many years from now-- would be a source of trouble.
"My father, actually," Abigail answered. "He owns Pell Brothers Inc." A name that rivaled Tiffany's and Winston in reputation and craftsmanship.
"It is a wonder," Reva smiled, offering a squeeze to Abigail's hand and losing herself in the memories inspired by the woman's perfume, so familiar yet faint.
"No, the real wonder is how Jake looked at you," Abigail beamed, drawing closer to Reva's side while the two men talked. Not that Marc said much of anything.
When his gaze wasn't trained on Reva, it slid to his fianc? to watch her every move. "As with anything, Ives. It's all about good timing. Though, if she has her way, we'll be dead before we're married. Long engagement is a requirement.... or so I'm told. Maybe you've got the right of it," his voice lowered a notch. "Though that one you nabbed tonight is not too hard on the eyes."
Luckily Marc wanted to keep an eye on Abigail, so Jake could in turn stay on the lookout for Reva in the chance that speaking to her got to be too much. He'd already experienced it, though on a different scale, at his home and seeing nearly everyone in the club tonight, so he knew it was no easy task.
"Ah, well then the bright side is everyone will continue to buy you champagne!" Raising his glass a touch before taking a drink.
"Yeah, I think I might nab her for a little longer than just tonight." Winking over to Marc with a wave to the ladies to indicate they were getting along just fine. "You know, it's all about good timing and all. I don't want someone else to sneak by me and nab her." Turning the conversation full circle and talking about nearly nothing. "Is that why you proposed to Abigail? Beating all the bachelors to the punch so to speak? She's a lovely girl."
"Ah, yes. I have some pieces from them-- well, from your family," Reva offered a dazzling smile, not yet ready to release her hold of the woman's hand.
Oddly, Abigail did not seem to mind it in the least. Together, the two women glanced over the gentlemen and while Reva's smile instinctively brightened, Abigail's expression turned more somber.
"Marc is not accustomed to all this attention," she whispered into Reva's ear, an intimate gesture done between lifelong friends. "You're lucky that Jake is, it makes things so much easier."
Reva offered a reassuring squeeze in response and continued with the conversation even though every instinct was telling her to stop. "There's always so much attention centered around engagements. And this ring... it demands attention."
Abigail glanced down to the ring and Reva noted the lack of affection for it. She'd shown more emotion over the fake diamond ring (with strobe lighting!) that Jake had given her as a gag. "I wish he had picked another one, to be honest. This is not my taste. And... it gives me the willies."
Reva was not expecting to hear those words, surprise caused her to blink and she finally let the woman's hand go. "Why is that?" She reciprocated the whispered words, heads tilted together as if they were planning world domination. Jake had been so very right to change her hair color. In such close proximity, they'd be mistaken as sisters.
"This ring was crafted after my uncle passed away. And there's been rumors that---? her words were cut off by an interruption. It came in the form of three women who whisked Abigail several paces away, chattering about the news headline.
Marc stood stoic and scowling next to Jake, though his expression faltered at the question of the proposal. "That was the plan, yes. Her family's well off, excellent breeding --even if she spends far too much time with the likes of the Young girl, and look at her. A man's got to want to come home after a day's work to something worthwhile, no?"
Reva overheard a portion of Marc's response and bristled when he referred to Rachel as 'the Young girl.' No doubt he meant to say 'Jewish' girl but edited himself in time.
She eased closer to Jake and slid a hand around his waist to draw him close. With heels, the added height helped her to nuzzle a caress to his cheek. "I can see why they never married." Whispered, of course. But to all other eyes, it was simply a sweet gesture of affection.
Chuckling at Marc as he listed out the reasons behind his proposal, "Marc she's a lady, not a horse or a dog."
Grinning at his expense, he leaned down into the nuzzle from Reva. "I might need to give you a lesson on how to talk to the ladies. You'll have to keep wooing Miss Abigail if it's a long engagement in order to keep her." Offering his advice before turning his attention to Reva.
"I don't think I mentioned yet tonight, but you look stunning my dear Jezebel." Sliding an arm in return around Reva's waist, he raised his glass to Marc with a look over to him. "Good luck with the long engagement Marc. I'm going to steal this one away."
Still with a grin, he'd start away from Marc, leaving him to scowl on his own. "You doing okay?" Checking in as they tucked themselves in the middle of a crowded dance floor. You know, the perfect place to hide in a crowded room.
((Taken from live play between Reva Dirmen and Jake Ives.))
