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Rosalie POV
The 17th of April
«I'll promote your upcoming nice movies, with nice songs, and post them' nice posters all over America.» In a perfectly dramatized delivery of the Colonel's usual shenanigans for Elvis, he carried his impersonations of him in a smidge of a nasal heightened tone. Probably a little overdone before breaking into laughter shortly after. Dangerously contagious, the way of his joy lived in the root of his presence, and I felt as though I could see him standing before me. Even for being on the opposite sides of a phone cord—one in Memphis and one in Madison.
«Be nice to the man; he's actually pulling through! I even heard my boss say a good thing or two about you now.» I scoldingly joked as I let myself and my left cheek sink into my pillow, resting my frame of pulled-up knees on my bed—hugging the phone handset.
«I'm nice, Sal. I'm the nicest of them all, don't you get it? And your boss isn't exactly the first one I go to for class-act morals,» He laughed, making me imagine him tilting his head back. It was a grave difference in the image they put out of Elvis now—turning Mr. Rebel into Mr. All American boy while letting him continue the same as always with the promise of the army straightening him out.
«Yeah, very nice, Elvis... Anyway, what are you up to?» Our laugh faded after the occurrence of my mildly sarcastic and hearty response—moving on with a smile.
«I'm heading out to rehearse for Jailhouse Rock. We're recording in a few days.» He let out in a breathy tone nonchalantly, mentioning his upcoming picture and its soundtracks.
«How ironic,» I smirked humorously, sounding like the definition of the look my lips took upon—earning a burst of laughter from the other end. Knowing he'd been in real danger of being locked up, it felt good to know he wasn't anymore. Deliberating even.
Sarcasm at the edge of a turtle's pace lived in his response. «Now, why would you say that?»
«Oh... I don't know Elvis?» Pretending to contemplate his question, I amused him. We both knew I put on an act of dwelling on his question, which no doubt engaged the man of thrilling laughter.
With the aftermath of our banter fizzling out, a warm Elvis spoke. «So.. How are your parents doing, Sal? Did your mom like her birthday present?»
«Yeah... She loved it! She's already halfway through the first book of crosswords. She only has like... 99 more left.» Light-heartedly, I teased him while simultaneously feeling infatuated by his desire to give. Elvis had sent my mom a huge box wrapped with a bow containing one hundred crosswords books in all categories. This included the topic of knitting, paired with a bottle of the finest red wine—and knowing him and the lack of alcohol on his shelves, he had to have asked someone for guidance.
«I just... She likes puzzles; I didn't want her to run out before next year's birthday.» He excused himself shyly but clearly grinning, very happy with himself and the reaction he'd gotten from my mom. The thought of his gesture didn't make it difficult to smile on my part either.
«Oh, I can promise you, she has enough crosswords now 'til I'm crossed out myself,» I said, having a fun time messing with him.
Chuckling, he cleared his throat, sounding somewhat nervous. «Sal?»
Making me wonder what he was up to now, I dared to ask him slowly—but for whatever reason, I couldn't remain calm within as the word slipped my mouth. «Yeah?»
A steady but frantic-sounding Elvis got back to me. «Do you think you'd want to accompany me for the premiere of Jailhouse Rock next fall?»
Holding my breath, I felt boggled. Did he mean as a date? Taking no chances, I kindly accepted before returning to our usual ways of talking. «As your friend, I'd do anything for you... And someone's gotta keep you out of jail for real. You might risk the public liking the sight of you behind bars and changing their minds about sending you to Germany.»
«Hah..» His short and sharp chortle fell out of him as if someone took a good swing of a pat at his back—entertained by my cleverness. «Always ready with those feisty comebacks of yours.»
«I'm always feisty,» I said endearingly, as my lips took on a puckish shape, making a joke out of it all just as I heard someone at my door.
A crease of yellow hallway light appeared as my stern dad came into view—the door wide open as he reached the point of imploring. First, it was the wrinkles between his eyebrows that competed with his ominous eyes—then the likelihood of a coming hazard-full destiny for the receiving end of my phone. «Honey, tell that man to keep his dirty mind off of my daughter!»
«Dad, it was just a joke! No one's thinking dirty here.» I raised my free hand, waving the white flag, wanting the situation to just resolve.
Hearing it all play out, a sneaky Elvis murmured back. «... Oh, I don't know about that.»
«Shut it, Elvis.» I sneered, holding back a dying need to curve the very lips speaking, fighting between showing annoyance and ridiculous merriment. Near throwing the handset back in place, I hung up with my dad shaking his head in disapproval.
«I knew I shouldn't have let that boy get a line for you..»
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Author's note:
This chapter is full of cranking out my dry humour—and so it became theirs 😂
I had a ball editing this while stressing over getting it out to you. It's four hours left of this week's Tuesday—but I did it! Still on schedule 😉
Fave moment is definitely the mention of the public liking the sight of Elvis behind bars and sending him back to Germany 😂 I've mentioned this in an earlier author's note, but making up jokes has been one of my favorite parts of writing this book.
Thoughts on this chapter? How are you finding their dynamic and again—Sal's father? What did you think of Elvis' present for Sal's mom?
A big part of Sal and Elvis is how close they are. Their care and friendship for each other. And I think we've seen this portrayed in the previous chapters and that the coming chapters will show how true that is.
With that being said, the next chapter? OH, it's the most anticipated chapter of mine 'til now. Literal butterflies taking place 🦋 Will not say one more word about it; we'll just have to wait another week. Any guesses, though? 🤭
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(Chapter 38/64)
This chapter is slightly edited with Grammarly.
New chapter every week (Tuesdays)
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