Scarlet Rose

Chapter 14

29th April 1925

Savoy Hotel

The rush with which she left the Savoy was overwhelming her as she walked with brisk steps towards the reception desk asking to bring her car at the entrance. Such were the circumstances when she spoke to the receptionist, she expressed her wish to act as fast as possible. The strain in her face was obvious for anyone to see and she thanked in silence for once the British etiquette for discreetness despite the glances she was getting. She was sure, if someone engaged her into a conversation over how terribly upset she looked, she would burst into sobs right there and then.

The internal fight she was preoccupied with, not to let those tears flow, took every inch of her mental strength. The more she pushed them down, the bigger the urge to just erupt in uncontrollable crying, was becoming. She practically had run when they brought her car at the entrance of the hotel. Jumped in while murmuring a quick "thank you" to the bell boy and sped off. Her nature was not to be so abrupt but time was of the essence. The air in her lungs was getting less by the minute, her throat was aching and she knew. The moment she would take a deep breath in she would let everything spill out.

Candy did not go very far. Once inside the quiet space of her Detroit Electric, she had only managed to drive around the corner from the hotel before the unavoidable took place. The suppressed tears she kept in check with all her might, blinded her in a matter of seconds. She switched off the engine just as her resistance to her feelings withered. Heavy sobs shook her body. She leaned forward and her forehead touched the steering wheel she was still holding. The distress she was experiencing over her strong argument with Archie just a little while ago was not going to be an easy thing to get over right now. Instead, the more she thought about it, the more physical its effects were becoming. She was hyperventilating, feeling her heart fluttering in her chest.

In front of her inflamed eyes she could see Archie's hurt face and could still hear their words of anger reverberating in her ears...the whole scene replaying in her mind minute by minute despite her futile attempts to steer her thoughts elsewhere. Her cousin had said awful things to her...and she had replied in accordance.

The morning after their wild tango dancing, Candy had woken up next to Christian with her spirits high albeit the tiredness she felt from a night of lovemaking with him. Soon after though, Archie came to her mind and the immediate guilt she felt evaporated her good mood.

It became imperative to her to try and find him, to tell him how sorry she was she had forgotten to tell him in person that she and Christian were leaving the Cumparsita. It was not long in the day when Candy realisedArchie was avoiding her, putting his secretary to pass her messages instead, telling her he was busy. So she had decided to wait for him in the hotel lobby from five in the afternoon. She was getting anxious. Almost after an hour and a half into waiting, she had decided to leave when she bumped to him on his way in. His eyes were serious when he looked at her. He suggested to better talk if so she wished in his room.

"Don't you realise you are looking cheap by getting up and leaving in a hurry with a guy from the club?", he had turned to criticise her once they had entered his room.

His words still echoed hard in her ears. Hearing him saying that fell like a thunder between them.

"That guy was Christian, Archie, my partner", she had retorted with a voice that was clear of how offended she was.

She took a handkerchief out of her purse and blew her nose after patting her cheeks dry. More tears were streaming down her face. It was impossible for her to stop crying.

He had poured a glass of whisky on ice which he had almost drunk in a couple of minutes. "You sure know how to pick them...", he voiced his opinion steeped in sarcasm. Blood had rushed to her head. Her eyes sparkled like forests after a storm.