Purple Blues [Elvis]

Chapter 20 - A Thousand Years

She was in the recording studio in William Morris. Did I have the guts to go see her after what happened between us? Honestly, I felt embarrassed. I gave in to my feelings and allowed myself to kiss her in a way that I had never kissed a girl before. It shocked me at how much I intensely wanted to do it, and not just because I was desperate to not feel the aching hurt I was feeling at the time.

I just wanted to do it. I just wanted to kiss that beautiful girl who honestly saved my life. I really had to do something about the Colonel. I felt it in my bones that I had to. It was the type of feeling a person would get when they knew they had to do something. It nagged at you until it was done.

 "Elvis, are you listening?"

I came back to attention as I sat on the sofa in my William Morris room, two days after that heated kiss in that hallway. I hadn't had the nerve to call her up, even, and she hadn't called me, either. I think we both knew that it would be very awkward the next time we see each other.

"Yeah, Colonel, sorry. My mind was somewhere else."

"I can tell. Get that girl off your mind and listen to what I'm saying here."

Of course he would know that I was thinking about Katelyn. "Sorry again. What'd you say?"

"I said that our private airline company cancelled your plane ticket to Louisville due to the workers going on strike or some-such nonsense like that, but we were able to purchase another one, through a different airline. You're going to be first class on United Airlines on the 21st." He let out a heavy sigh. "We had no other choice."

"I don't mind flyin' on a normal plane, not a private one."

"I know you wouldn't, but this hurts your reputation."

"What's wrong with bein' like everybody else?"

He gave me a pointed look. "When you're a world-famous person, it's impossible to be like everybody else. You know that. I'm just thankful that you fell for a famous girl and not a normal one. That would've caused so many more problems that I don't want to deal with."

That got my attention more so. A crazy idea popped into my head. "Hey, Colonel... do you think that I could invite 'er to come along to Louisville?"

His brows creased as he stared at my hopeful eyes. "You want to invite her to Louisville for Thanksgiving?"

"My family already knows about us bein' a media couple, and... I admit I told my momma what happened between us, and that means my dad and my grandparents know also."

He knew that I was referring to that hallway. He guessed pretty quickly after he noticed remnants of pink lipstick on the corner of my mouth that I missed while wiping the rest away. He wasn't happy about it at all and requested that I never do it again. We would see how that one goes.

"When did you call your parents?" he asked.

"A couple nights ago after you left the hotel room."

"I see. Well... I don't know, Elvis, about taking her with you to Louisville. I want you to keep yourself in check, and you can't do that when she's around."

"But it could be good for the publicity. We can make a whole thing of it, the trip. I mean, we can shift some things around in my schedule and add a fan meet or two for the both of us. You could talk to Nancy and Sharon about it. I'm sure they would like the idea if it means more publicity for Katelyn. Plus, Katelyn's away from home – far away from home – so why not invite 'er to a Thanksgiving family event, huh? And maybe she can even make a scene in Grandpop's factory a few days later."

He planted his hands on his hips, his lips pursed. He nodded. "Okay. I'll talk to Nancy about it."

"And Sharon."