Girl of Mine

Chapter 58 - I just got...

Rosalie POV

The 15th of July, 1957

Symphonies of a crowded street park in Memphis called out our names through the broad scale of shouts and screams. What felt like an uneven beating heart surfaced, trying to keep up. The mass of people spread barely enough to give room to let us through—Red, Lamar, the Colonel, and the two of us—Elvis and me.

Elvis' fingers folded themselves to mine like a secure knot, wrapped around my hand like a form-fitting mold—keeping me close. Sheltered by his presence, he ensured I didn't slip away from him at the hand of handsy fans.

Grinning, he signed whichever photo, record, tee shirt, or arm came his way. The sea of waving hands became too thick to move, and we stood back to back at the toss of an anchor. With the security of trusted men, Elvis dared to let go of me.

I hadn't walked the streets like today since before my name blew up. Elvis had told me everything would change, but it had been long over a month—almost two, since the press conference on the 19th of May. I had barely seen the outside of Graceland, counting those times on one hand, all at night or close to deserted places.

My hand wasn't left alone for long. The pulling of my hands to greet me, men holding photos of my legs by the bench, and cut-out pieces of the shoot in the diner, just showing my face with lips on the straw, both astonished and frightened me. With love hearts in their eyes, there was not a moment of peace. Questions came left and right as I signed a playful shot by the poolside with an inflatable bathing ring in my hand held up high—with Elvis at my feet, gazing past his shoulder at me. His legs dangled below the pool water.

Taking a step back, I bumped into Elvis. Looking past his shoulder with a smirk, once again, he winked at me as if to tell me, 'I told you so.' I hadn't exactly had to think much of my name blowing up because I hadn't been anywhere to see it.

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Chiming, my ears had grown to hold a ringing noise for the following few rounds of the clock. Born from the hour we spent with his fans, and I guess mine—after a visit to the local music shop—where we prepared for Elvis' upcoming tour by the end of August and the beginning of September.

Having bought a few new instruments, Elvis had asked me if I wanted my own guitar. I had no plans to get into music, and my fingertips hurt by the second I started playing. Despite that, it was something we could do together, and I knew it meant a lot to Elvis to share his world with me—other than joining his tour this fall. It seemed to be distracting Elvis from Judy whenever we made something out of each day, so I thanked him and told him yes.

A white-dotted yellow dress cupped my waist and flew out from my hips as if it had lightly flown and landed on my frame—but the skirt hadn't let go of wanting to go with the breeze circling the trees.

Invited by Nick Adams, the night turned into a party rather than a calm night with the guitar in my lap. I didn't know how often the two of them got together, but I knew he saw him back in Las Vegas and that I hadn't met him yet. Even if I'd never met June either, Elvis shared that she disliked him. I wasn't surprised, as the reluctant Elvis mentioned Nick didn't want him with June.

There were three main things I knew about Nick. One, he was an actor with over ten film roles. Two, Elvis met him on the set of Love Me Tender. And just like the Colonel, he tried to infiltrate his love life.