Savannah Ch. 03

Grace nervously played with one of her bracelets, "Ah'm as jittery as a June bug, tonight."

"Why?" Ashlee asked as she found a girlish pack of Virginia Slims, "It's just another dinner banquet. We've been to a thousand of these."

"Ah keep expecting Dylan to slither out of some shadow," Grace glanced around, "and try to put a ring on m'ah finger."

Ashlee offered a cigarette and then cupped hands to work the lighter for Grace, "He hasn't proposed to you yet?"

Grace leaned her head forward until the tip of the cigarette glowed brightly. She clutched the thing between two fingers and exhaled, "Nope."

"I still can't believe you're going through with it," Ashlee lit another one for herself, "I mean, it would be one thing if your parents were hooking you up with a normal guy. But Dylan Montgomery? He's so... vile."

Grace's voice turned sarcastic, "Thanks for the reminder."

"Sorry," Ashlee offered sympathetically. "Listen, there's something you should know. It's about Chase."

Grace looked scared to know, "What is it?"

"He's here," Ashlee warned, "Tonight. Working."

A jolt of nervous excitement ran its course through Grace's body. She desperately wanted to see Chase, to kiss him and tell him she loved him. Knowing he was nearby elevated those feelings, but at the same time she knew it could be a disaster in the making. Dylan would be attending the dinner as well and Grace knew he would be looking for payback after Chase humiliated Dylan and his friends at the Sand Gnats baseball game.

"Hope you're in the mood for some fireworks," Grace dropped her cigarette butt and stepped it out, "Cause tonight could get real interesting."

=======

Hundreds of people filled the Event Center's banquet hall. Not every graduating senior from Grace and Ashlee's high school were there, but certainly all the affluent ones were. They were joined by parents, siblings, grandparents, and even many of the school's teachers and their families. Everywhere Grace looked she saw her classmates being grilled by their elders about their plans after graduation. It was a night to be thinking about the future, Grace knew, but all she could think about was Chase. She wanted him to be her future.

Standing near the entrance Grace scanned the crowd for servers, hoping to spot him, but all she found with her eyes was a table that filled her with dread. Her parents were there, as was Dylan's family. Grace recognized Dylan's younger brother who was two grades below them, as well as his famously rich father. She assumed the older woman next to him was Dylan's mother.

"Find me after dinner?" Ashlee prodded, her family located at a separate table, "We'll have another smoke."

Grace nodded wordlessly, building up the courage to face her future in-laws. But she was interrupted before crossing halfway across the immense table-filled room.

"Grace..."

She turned to see Dylan approaching from behind, dressed in a tailored black suit that fit his slender frame perfectly. Dylan had sandy blonde hair combed straight backwards and a scraggly goatee that was thin from youth. Grace thought he looked handsome but despised the ugliness she knew resided just beneath Dylan's skin.

Dylan had a cocky smile full of white teeth, "You look beautiful, tonight. Just like always."

"Thank you," Grace replied politely, if a little cold. She let Dylan take one of her perfectly manicured hands, abhorring his touch but not wanting to be rude.

"You're going to be the most beautiful bride in the history of Savannah," he said, moving close enough that Grace could feel his breath on her face.

"Dylan..." she resisted, placing a palm on his chest in an attempt to maintain some space, "Have you been drinking?"

"Just a couple of beers with the guys," he put a hand to the small of her back, its placement only inches above inappropriate. "They were helping me celebrate my pending engagement to the most beautiful girl in Georgia."

Grace shuddered and felt as though she were going to be ill as Dylan squeezed and groped her hip, pulling her against his side possessively. She allowed him his familiarity though, as Grace didn't want to cause a scene in front of their families. Resigned to her fate, Grace allowed Dylan to escort her to their families' table.

Conversation was dominated during dinner by talk of the marriage arrangement. Dylan's mother in particular seemed to have the wedding already planned out and fervently compared ideas with Grace's mother. Their fathers seemed heedless of the wedding details and gravitated their talk towards business and the pending partnership between Montgomery Industries and Lattimore Paper. Grace remained polite through it all, nodding and smiling in agreement, though her attention was hardly focused on the table. She continued to look around the hall hoping to catch a glimpse of Chase. Unknowing of what she'd do if she did spot him, Grace simply felt an undeniable urge to see his face.

A very large part of her wanted to find Chase and run away with him, far away from Dylan's family as well as her own. Grace felt suffocated during dinner, as though her future and fate was not her own to choose. Dylan kept putting a hand on her leg beneath the table, his touch a reminder that she was being offered up to a boy she could never love.

When dinner was complete the men all rose, Dylan included, to go outside and share celebratory cigars. Grace too eagerly excused herself, scanning the crowded room for Ashlee. She spotted her best friend standing by a back door as though waiting. Grace hurried in that direction, eager to get away.

Together, they slipped outside to the back of a building near some garbage dumpsters and an employee parking area. Grace was immediately reminded of the night she met Chase as several catering employees were also out smoking. Ashlee instinctively led Grace to a secluded spot away from the servers. Rich kids rarely mingled with poor kids; social segregation was simply a way of life in Savannah.

"How did it go?" Ashlee sounded cautiously curious as she distributed a cigarette towards Grace.

Grace frowned as she lit up, "If Mrs. Montgomery has her say, ah'll be doing nothing but charity events and baby showers for the next five years. Jesus, Ash, ah could hardly breathe in there."

"I thought you wanted to go to college?"

"Ah do," Grace sounded sad, "But it's becoming all too clear ah'm nothing more than a trophy mare meant to look pretty and produce sons."

Ashlee stuck her tongue out in a display of distaste, "I can't believe you're agreeing to an arranged marriage."

"Don't fret too much, ah'm struggling with it, too. Ah don't think ah can go through with this..." Grace scanned over the catering staff that was outside smoking, for the third time, "You haven't seen Chase, have you?"

Ashlee shook her head while inhaling a puff, "Maybe he didn't show? He didn't seem too enthused that you'd be here when I talked to him about it this morning."

Grace was willing to accept that, her heart sinking at the fact. It made sense that Chase wouldn't want to see her. What would be the point, she wondered? Her future, whether Grace liked it or not, was being planned for her and it didn't have room for a mechanic from Chicago. She would become Grace Kelly Montgomery and her children would become heirs to one of the largest fortunes in the South. Most of the girls in her school would give anything to trade places with her, Grace knew, but all she could think about was escaping the fate her father had chosen for her. Her head was spinning and she was panicking on the inside, doing her best to keep her emotions in check.

Then Chase finally appeared.

He walked out of the same back service door dressed in his catering uniform of black slacks, white shirt, and red vest. His short brown hair was rebelliously messy and he already had a smoke between his lips, two lazy fingers around it and ready to exhale. He conjured images of James Dean and the mere sight of him made Grace dizzy with desire.

"Chase!" she exclaimed with breathy excitement, brushing past Ashlee.

Chase had been angry with Grace for leaving him and had planned on ignoring her if they crossed paths, but seeing her rush towards him in her gorgeous red dress made all that go away. He flicked his cigarette aside and helped close the gap.

Grace's threw her arms around his neck and Chase wrapped her waist in his. Everyone who was standing outside watched them kiss, the other catering staff members shocked that one of their own was apparently with one of the 'trust-funders'. Ashlee simply smiled, all thoughts of her prior crush on Chase evaporating in the face of such obvious passion.

"What are you doing?" Chase murmured against Grace's lips, "I thought you wanted to be with Dylan?"

"Ah can't do it," she nuzzled her nose against his, "Ah love you, Chase Andrews. We've only known each other a short while, ah know, but ah've been in love with you since the night we met."

"When did you figure this out?" Chase asked, stunned by Grace's change of mind.

"As soon as ah laid eyes on you walking out that door," Grace kissed him again. "Ah'm sorry, sugah. Deep down ah knew ah couldn't go through with it. Ah thought ah could do it for daddy, that it was the right thing, but there ain't any living without you."

"I love you too," Chase squeezed her tightly, happily.

"Grace..." Ashlee suddenly warned, concern in her voice.

Grace glanced at Ashlee and then turned to see what she was looking at. "Tarnation," she said when she saw Dylan and three of his friends rounding a corner on the far side of the building. Dylan had obviously spotted her embrace with Chase as his expression was seething with jealousy.

"Grace...!" Ashlee warned more urgently.

Grace nodded and turned back to Chase, "You have to get out of here, sugah."

"What? Forget it." Chase shook his head, "I can handle Dylan and his friends, remember?"

"Those scoundrels at the baseball team were drunken cowards," Grace began to explain.

Ashlee elaborated, "Dylan's got three-quarters of our football team's defensive line with him, this time."

"I'm not leaving you," Chase refused stubbornly.

Grace was about to plead with him to leave, but it was too late.

Dylan sneered, "What the fuck do you think you're doing, waiter-boy? Grace belongs to me now!"

The half-dozen other catering employees outside all backed away as Dylan and his three large friends entered the scene. Grace had been right, Chase realized, and he had serious doubts about his ability to physically overcome the three monsters Dylan had at his back. One of them pointed at Chase, "Where the fuck you from? The numbered streets? You got no place in Ardsley Park puttin' your hands all over one of ours."

"Grace is with me," Chase's right hand formed a fist at his side, sensing a fight was inevitable. "If any of you guys have a problem with that, let's do this."

"Yeah," Dylan spoke up, "I've got a big fucking problem with that. Kick this idiot's ass, guys."

Grace rushed forward pleadingly, "Dylan! Don't!"

To his credit Chase got a solid punch off and staggered one of Dylan's thugs, but the other two got a hold of his arms and quickly subdued him. Chase struggled against their grip until Dylan stepped in and punched him in the gut, doubling Chase over and dropping him to his knees.

Grace yelled for them to stop and rushed Dylan, but he grabbed her by the wrists and spun her around in his grasp. Dylan held the squirming Grace back against his chest and forced her to watch his three friends punch Chase until he was lying on the concrete.

No one among the catering employees wanted to step in and receive the same treatment and most of them hurried back inside the building. Ashlee simply stood with her hands covering her mouth, helpless and horrified until she started digging in her purse for her cell phone.

"No!" Grace screamed as the beating continued, Chase curling up defensively as the three boys began kicking him. She tried to wrench herself free from Dylan's grip, "You bastards! Leave him alone!"

Dylan refused to let Grace go and wrapped an arm around her neck. He placed his lips at her ear and threatened, "Don't ever embarrass me like this again. You're going to be my wife and I won't have you slumming with the help like some kind of whore." He lifted a nod towards his friends, "That's enough, boys."

"Ah'll never marry you!" Grace was finally able to pull herself away. She dropped to her knees at Chase's side, tears streaming trails of eye make-up down her cheeks.

Dylan leveled a finger at her, "You're going to marry me, or my father will see to it your family's business goes bankrupt."

"Stay away from me!" Grace yelled, trying to comfort Chase and determine his condition.

Dylan sneered, "You'll come around." He spat on the ground near Chase's feet, "And as for you - stay away from my future fiancé, or next time I'll put you in the hospital."

Still clutching her phone, Ashlee hurried to help Grace once Dylan and his crew began walking away. "Oh my god, how is he?"

"Ah don't know," Grace was crying, cupping Chase's bloody cheeks in her palms, "Chase? Baby? Can you hear me?"

He moaned, "...I...really....showed...them."

Grace choked out a tear-filled laugh at the fact he was still able to joke, "Ah've got you, sugah. You're going to be okay." She dug in his pocket for Chase's car keys and held them out, "Ash? Can you drive stick?"

Ashlee nodded and rose, "I'll go pull it around."

"Hurry," Grace pleaded as Chase began to fade out of consciousness.

Ashlee pulled off her heels and ran.

=======

For the second time that day Chase woke up with a splitting headache. He tried opening his eyes but only one of them seemed to work. "Ow...." He winced and tried to lift a hand to his swollen face.

"Shh," Ashlee tried to calm him, "Relax, hon. You're okay. You're safe."

Chase became aware that he was in his apartment bedroom, lying on his bed. Ashlee was sitting on its edge gently applying something to his face. "Wh-what are you doing?"

"Quit squirming," she murmured, "I'm putting this disinfectant cream on your scrapes."

"My eye..." he complained.

Ashlee nodded, "It's swollen shut, and you've got a couple cuts on your forehead and cheek; nothing that won't heal, but you've got a big bruise on your side too. Do your ribs feel broken?"

Chase tried moving his chest and shook his head, "It hurts, but doesn't feel broken. Where's Grace?"

Ashlee gently dabbed some more cream on his face near Chase's eyebrow, "In the kitchen, on the phone with her father, trying to explain why she bailed on the banquet."

"I should call my boss," Chase looked for his cell phone and saw it on the lampstand.

Ashlee tugged his reaching hand back, "We already took care of it."

"Thanks, Ashlee," Chase murmured, "I appreciate what a good friend you've been."

"I should be pissed," she smiled teasingly, "After all, I had dibs on you."

Chase made a weak grin, "I could introduce you to some of my friends?"

"I hope they're smarter than you are. What were you thinking facing off against four guys?

Chase flinched as Ashlee touched a tender spot, "Where I come from, you never back down."

"Don't be an idiot," Ashlee capped the tube of medicine and wiped her fingers off on a tissue, "You don't have to be a macho tough guy. That's not what Grace wants, or needs. If she wanted someone like that she'd be with Dylan."

"You're awake," Grace suddenly entered the bedroom and hurried to Chase's bedside. She was still in her tight red dress from the banquet, though her face had been cleaned of make-up and her long blonde hair fall past her shoulders, no longer coiled up.

"I'm okay," Chase assured her as Grace ran a hand through his hair and pressed a soft kiss against his lips.

"You're eye..." she winced, "It's swelling up like a damned grapefruit. Ah'll get you some ice, sugah."

"Let me," Ashlee offered.

Grace nodded, "Thanks, hon."

Chase lifted a hand to Grace's face, "Don't worry, my other eye is still working fine because you look as beautiful as ever."

Grace smiled, "You're so full of it. M'ah eyes are all puffy from crying and ah'm not wearing a stitch of make-up. Ah'm a wreck over you, doll. Ah was so worried..."

Chase joked, "You look a helluva lot better than I do, I bet."

"Don't you fret, none." Grace continued to caress a hand through his messy hair, "You'll heal up just fine."

"Please tell me you're not going to marry that jack-ass," Chase sat up, grimacing at the pain in his side. "I can take the pain of a beating, but I don't know if I can survive you breaking my heart again."

Grace leaned forward and kissed him again, letting her lips linger to show their affection. She whispered against his mouth, "Ah'm so sorry, sugah. Ah swear, ah won't ever leave you again. Daddy'll just have to figure something else out because ah'm all yours, forever and ever."

"Oh my god you two are sappy," Ashlee re-entered the room holding a towel wrapped around some ice. "This is why I never let guys get too attached."

"Oh hush," Grace smiled shyly, red coloring her cheeks. She reached for the ice and gently placed it over Chase's eye, wincing as he flinched against the cold contact on his tender swelling.

Ashlee watched them for a moment, noting how tender and loving Grace was behaving and feeling a twinge of jealousy; not for Chase in particular, but Ashlee had never been that close to a boy. "Listen you guys, I'm going to go. I need to get home before my parents send out a search party."

"You want me to drive you?" Grace offered, "We can use Chase's car."

Ashlee shook her head, "I called a taxi. I'm sure you'd rather stay here with him."

"Thanks again, Ashlee," Chase lifted a hand, "For everything."

"Ah'll walk you out." Grace leaned forward and placed a soft kiss on Chase's forehead, "Be right back, sugah."

The two friends walked the length of Chase's studio apartment. "You're really in love with him," Ashlee noted, "Aren't you?"

"Yeah," Grace couldn't contain a shy smile.

"What are you going to do?" Ashlee sounded concerned, "About the arrangement?"

"Daddy may disown me," Grace sighed, "But ah was just joshin' m'ahself to think ah'd ever be able to live with Dylan Montgomery."

"What if he does disown you? What will you do?"

Grace shrugged, "Stay here with Chase and get a job, ah suppose."

Ashlee seemed more concerned than Grace about her future, "What about college? We were supposed to go to Alabama together and marry All-American football stars, remember?"

Grace grinned fondly at the memory of a pledge they made in middle school, "Ah remember."

"Nothing's been the same since the Spring Gala," Ashlee pouted lamentingly, "We're going to graduate in a week and who knows what'll happen after summer. We'll probably drift apart and never see each other again."

"Ash, don't be silly. We're best friends!" Grace hugged her, "Ain't nothing ever gonna change that."

Ashlee squeezed back tightly until a honking sound came from outside, "There's my cab. Call me later?"

"Ah will," Grace assured her.

Once Ashlee had left Grace returned to Chase's room to find him asleep. She smiled at his peaceful expression and pulled the ice pack away from his face. Not wanting to return home and face her parents, Grace reached behind herself to unzip and remove her clinging dress. Down to her white bra and panties, she slipped into bed beside Chase as quietly as she could. She choose his side that wasn't heavily bruised and draped her body along his, gently laying her head on the nook of his shoulder.

"Ah love you, Chase Andrews," she whispered almost silently, "And ah'll give it all up for you."

Grace didn't know what the next day would bring, but she no longer felt trapped. That was good enough.