Thread: Southern Girl [ Ariamella & Reydan ]

RE Southern Girl Ariamella Reydan It had been a cruel idea. To bring Lucy to this place. A cruel idea. Virgil cursed himself for it, as he watched her struggle to come to terms with what she saw. He had almost forgotten how she really was, after years of pushing her to the back of his mind. Of convincing himself that she had been symptomatic of the world he had left behind. Had cursed on that train as it sped North. But in truth that was unfair. The slaves on the Rayne plantation had not been that badly treated. No worse than at the Abernathy estate. And Lucy had not been a part of that, only attached to it as he himself had been. On the train up his ardent young mind had not seen any difference. Now, he was not so sure. He watched her study the faces and the work, moving between the long benches at his side, as Greggs served as guide, pointing out small things here and there to her. She paused, by the women, and Virgil saw her bring her hands up, study them, turning them over and over. Was she wondering what such work might do to her slender fingers? He watched as a shaft of dusty light caught her actions, enshrining her hands in a golden glow, and he felt something stir within him. Old feelings moving about, detaching themselves from dusty ledges and crevices, shaking off the weariness of inaction and age. He was all a-stir since Lucille Rayne had returned to him. He swallowed, throat suddenly dry. He walked along with her, letting her take it all in, not wanting to thrust his opinions or thoughts upon her lest she think him judging her. The factory had, until this day, been Virgil's moral compass. A sign that, whatever heart-ache and sadness accompanied his cold marriage and lonely life in the North, his flight from the South had been the right decision. The moral one. He could not believe in his wife's cold evangelical vision of God, although he loved her as a husband should, for he had grown up in the warm luxuriousness of an episcopal faith. As Lucy Rayne had done. Where good deeds were not just their own rewards but the way of atoning for past sins. The factory was his atonement. But now... ...Now Lucille Rayne was here, walking around as if in his heart or his mind, and all his senses were jangling. They were discordant and lilting, and his mind was sent back to the windchime that hung from the veranda of the Abernathy home. His mother had put it there, to gauge the weather in its own subtle way, and it had chimed sweetly as he waited for Lucille Rayne of an evening. How he had loved her... He almost missed her question, so wrapped up in his reverie was he, and he stared at her for a moment or two before answering. He could see the tension in her eyes, the strange mixture of interest and fear, and saw her lips tremble in anticipation. She was levering up, on her tiptoes, and at that moment he almost craned his neck down and kissed her. So powerful was the muscle memory of such a moment. He almost reached out and tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear and pressed his lips to her sweet little mouth. Almost. Sometimes they say bad things he smiled, trying to put her at ease, When they have to work very hard for an order. But they always talk to me. And I to them. And I pay them. They are free to go at the end of the day. And....if we are not friends then, I think, we respect each other. He took her arm, wanting to guide her through to the finished shop at the front of the warehouse when the doors swung open and a cart of boots was wheeled past on the rails. Lucy, on her toes, was caught off balance, tumbling against him, and he caught her in his arms. They were pressed together, in the small space of shadow behind the door. He could hear Greggs, on the other side of the wood, chastising the cart man for his carelessness. In that small space all was Lucille Rayne. Her soft curves. Her rumpled silk. Her unmistakable Southern scent. I never stopped waiting for you to come to me he whispered, eyes locked on hers. He didn't know why he said it, the words falling from his lips before he could even realise, but he said it. I wanted you so badly Lucy. Needed you. Don't think you were alone in yearning. I still.... Then the door was pulled back by an apologetic Greggs and Virgil righted Lucy on her feet once more.