Gilly Flower Writings

Crimson Hues

By Kathryn Evans

Scarlet watched the band on stage through the haze of blue cigarette smoke that permeated the club. The band was loud and enthusiastic, and she enjoyed it despite the drummer’s frequent loss of coordination. The stage lights shone yellow and red on the three boys barely into their twenties wearing faded t-shirts and frayed jeans who all seemed to have had too much coffee as they danced and jumped around the stage.

She absently tapped one of her black boots against the front of the bar as she sat on the tall stool and ordered another ice water while she tried to restrain herself from tapping her fingers on the top of the bar. She enjoyed the enthusiasm of the boys on stage, but they were not why she was here and patience had never been one her virtues. She had just left the dance floor and she could feel the fabric of her red top clinging to the sweat that trickled down her back. She had to resist the urge to pour the glass of ice water over her sweat drenched head and face.

The press of people on the dance floor had been almost suffocating, if you weren’t used to it, and Scarlet felt some sympathy for poor Tara who sat next to her with her eyes closed and her own glass of water pressed to her forehead.

“You should have told me you get claustrophobic,” Scarlet said over the music. “We could have stayed on the balcony.”

Tara tried to smile wanly at her but one look at the crowd surrounding them, even at the bar, sent her hunching over her water again with her eyes closed. Scarlet put a sympathetic hand on her friend’s back and tried to remind herself that Tara had wanted to come tonight. Despite being only a few years younger than Scarlet, the dark haired girl always appeared much younger than her twenty-two years. Her jet black hair was cut short and in the latest fashion, and she didn’t seem entirely comfortable in her plaid skirt that cut off just above the knees and the black tank top that she had only bought earlier that day. Her black, knee-high boots had heels too high to be comfortable on the concrete floor, and every time Scarlet looked at her she couldn’t help the image of a twelve-year-old girl playing dress-up in her sister’s clothes.

Scarlet pulled her long red hair away from her sweat-covered face and tied it in a bun off her neck. Her hair had been purple a week ago, and blond the month before that, but she was starting to like the almost fire engine red and was thinking of keeping it a while. She could never deny how much she liked to stand out in a crowd.

The boys on stage finished their set and were quickly packed off by the club’s management. Even with their small skill and unknown name a group of admirers immediately surrounded them once they left the stage, which set the boys beaming and primping. Scarlet knew they had a good fifteen minutes before the next set so she suggested to Tara they move back to the balcony.

The small club was two-storied, with a dance floor, a bar, and the stage on the ground level, and then the balcony and another bar overlooking the stage. Scarlet mounted the stairs with Tara trailing behind her, all but ignoring the appreciative looks that followed them. The crowd on the balcony wasn’t quite as suffocating as on the ground floor and Tara started to perk up a little as they tried to wriggle into a place where they could see the stage.

Scarlet heard her name being called over the din and looked around to spy a dark haired bartender waving and grinning at her. She murmured to Tara that she would be right back and made her way to the bar.

“Scarlet, my sweet,” the bartender said. “I’m hurt that you didn’t come say hello earlier. Caleb didn’t even tell me you were coming tonight.”

“Hi, Grey. I hadn’t planned on coming tonight, so Caleb doesn’t even know I’m here. I only came because Tara wanted to meet him, and he does put on a good show.”

Grey raised a questioning eyebrow and Scarlet nodded to where Tara stood at the railing, shifting uncomfortably in her boots.

“Not bad,” Grey said appreciatively. “Who is she?”

“New waitress at the coffee shop. She just started at the college, theater major if you can believe it, so she is working at the shop whenever she doesn’t have class. As the most senior of the waitresses I’ve been in charge of her training. She just moved here from one of those New England states, Massachusetts or New Hampshire or something, so I thought I’d take her out and introduce her to some people.”

“You’re a saint,” Grey said, good-naturedly mocking. “Caleb should like her. He always did like drama girls.”

Scarlet laughed and hoped Grey couldn’t tell how fake it was, which it appeared he didn’t as he combed a hand through his dark hair and smiled at a girl down the bar. Scarlet looked back at Tara and tried to remember that she didn’t get jealous over Caleb any more and that she had been the one to tell Tara about him in the first place.

Whether he had noticed the laugh or not, Grey saw how Scarlet looked at Tara, as if weighing her against herself, and said, “Hey, Scarlet, you know you’re still the hottest. Even when Caleb decides he’s gonna be a jackass for a while, he can never deny that.”

She smiled at him. “I guess that’s why we aren’t dating any more, because even when he’s a jackass he makes it too hard to not be infatuated with him.” Scarlet saw them getting ready to announce the next set. “You’re a pal, Grey. I’ll call you tomorrow.”

Scarlet made it back to Tara’s side just as the club’s manager took the mike on stage. “Alright, thanks everyone for coming out tonight. Earlier that was Green Goat’s Grant on stage, wonderfully talented boys, and locals to the area, so let’s give them another hand. And now what you’ve all been waiting for, the man of the night, Caleb Shale!” The crowd erupted in applause as the manager quickly left the stage and Caleb came on.

No more than average height, Caleb still seemed to fill the stage with his very presence. His dark curly hair was streaked with blue, Scarlet’s own handiwork, and was cut just long enough that it fell across his eyes. His dark blue t-shirt showed off his well-defined arms and broad shoulders. He already had his guitar and he looked every inch the heartthrob rocker. He smiled at the audience, dazzling and white in the stage lights, and Scarlet actually thought she saw girls swooning.

One strum on his guitar, the soft opening lyrics to her favorite song, and Scarlet felt her own pulse quicken and her heart tighten. The stage lights were blue and white now and the mass of bodies below seemed to pulse with movement. Scarlet found herself getting lost in the familiar lyrics, music she had heard a hundred times in her head as she fell asleep at night. She closed her eyes and could feel the music moving through her body, making her dance and sway as she silently mouthed the words to the song.

Caleb’s voice was deep and powerful as he sang his songs. He had written all of them, which you could tell from the emotions in his voice and on his face. He sang with passion and that passion seemed infectious. A true performer, he would take breaks in-between songs to tell some joke or anecdote, he would flirt with the audience and there was no doubt that he truly loved what he was doing.

Scarlet lost herself to memories as she listened to the familiar songs, and smiled as much at past anecdotes as new ones. She cast a glance at Tara and found her watching completely entranced. Scarlet couldn’t help chuckling; Caleb had that effect.

Before she knew it Caleb was singing his final song. It was called ‘Cassandra’s tears’ and he always closed his set with it. It had been written for his mother after her death in a car accident four years previously and while even strangers might get a little teary it always made Scarlet feel as if she were choking on grief she would never put behind her. Caleb’s mother had been one of the few women she had truly admired and loved as much as her own mother and she sometimes thought it had only been for her that she had stayed with Caleb as long as she had.

Scarlet suddenly felt the crowd pressing around her and knew she needed to get out. As Caleb finished his song she told Tara that she needed some air, that she should go ahead and introduce herself to Caleb, and Scarlet would meet her in the parking lot. Tara was still fully under Caleb’s spell so she only nodded distractedly and waved a little as Scarlet moved towards the door.

She paused long enough to reclaim her jacket and then pushed open the heavy door to the outside. The parking lot was covered in a heavy powder of snow and her breath steamed in the cool air but Scarlet was still sweating from the club and so left her jacket off.

She unlocked her car and threw her jacket on the seat. She dug a pack of cigarettes out of her bag and put one to her lips but didn’t light it. She looked with consideration at the lighter but ended up just putting it in the pocket of her black pants, though she left the unlit cigarette in her lips. She lay down on the hood of her car, the snow cold on the bare skin of her arms, and tried to watch the stars but the sky was too light polluted. So she closed her eyes and wondered how long Tara would take.

It was probably over half an hour later when somebody kicked her dangling, booted feet and she looked up. Instead of Tara she found Caleb and his coffee colored eyes watching her, his mouth quirked in a little half smile that she remembered as his most common expression. He had thrown his leather jacket on over his t-shirt but that was his only admission to the cold. Scarlet still sat in the snow in only her tank top.

“I met your friend,” Caleb said, leaning against the hood of her car next to her. “Nice girl. A little flighty, but cute.”

“She seemed like your type,” said Scarlet, sitting up and pulling her knees to her chest. “Besides, I wanted her to meet someone other than the girls at the coffee shop. Kelly and a few others are alright, but for the most part their all bimbos with their college boyfriends and BMWs. Where is Tara, by the way?”

“I introduced her to Danny, and Gray is in there too so she should be okay for a while. Danny is wowing her with his vast knowledge of the only good clubs in the city.”

“I’m surprised you let her go. You said yourself that she is cute.”

“Why didn’t you stick around after the show?” he asked, ignoring her words. “It’s rude to come to a show, not even tell anyone you’re coming, and then take off before the last song is even over.”

Scarlet didn’t look at him. She couldn’t think of an answer so she just remained silent. It had started snowing again and she watched the light, powdery flakes drift lazily through the air. She was feeling the cold now and shivered but didn’t bother to get her jacket out of the car.

After a few moments Caleb reached into his jacket, pulled out a CD and handed it to Scarlet. On the jacket cover was a hand drawn picture of Caleb, Scarlet recognized his sister Erin’s drawing style, done in red ink and across the bottom was written ‘Caleb Shale, Crimson Hues’.

“We finally finished recording it,” Caleb was saying. “This is one of the few copies we’ve been able to make so far, but we’re hoping to have more by the next show. I thought you should have one of the first ones. After all, if it weren’t for you most of the songs on there would never have been written.”

“Thanks, I really appreciate it,” Scarlet said, putting the CD in her pocket. She knew most of the songs were about her, and some were not exactly flattering, but her friendship with Caleb was deep enough that she was still proud of him for writing them.

Caleb noticed her goose-pimpled arms and took off his jacket and put it around her shoulders. “You look freezing. Don’t you have a jacket or something?”

“It’s in the car,” said Scarlet. His jacket was warm from his body heat and had that indefinable smell she remembered so well. For a few moments she allowed herself to just look at him, to try and remember what it was that was so intoxicating about him. He saw her watching and raised an eyebrow.

She just smiled at him. “Just trying to figure out what I ever saw in you.”

“Besides my dashing good looks and rustic charm?” he said, grinning back.

Scarlet slid off the hood of the car and gave him a sisterly kiss on the cheek as she gave back his jacket. “I’m glad we’re friends, Caleb. Because you are far too infuriating as a boyfriend.”

Just then Tara came out of the club, surrounded by a group of guys that worked at the club. Danny Finn was obviously trying to hold her attention in any way he could, but Scarlet noticed her cheeks redden and a smile creep on her face when she saw Caleb waiting with Scarlet.

Caleb replaced his jacket and when Tara and the guys reached them he slipped an arm around her waist, half way between friendly and flirtatious. “So you ladies are going to come get something to eat with us, right?” he asked, that half smile back on his face.

Scarlet sighed, but for Tara’s sake she nodded. She couldn’t help a little smile either. She knew all Caleb’s tricks, had both witnessed them and been victim to them. She knew Tara would spend the next few months in heaven, and at the end it was possible she might hate Caleb but Scarlet doubted it. Caleb was too smooth for any girl to hate him for very long.

Tara’s cheeks reddened even more when Caleb causally suggested that she could ride with him and she nodded her head so much Scarlet worried it might fall off. He turned to lead Tara off to his car, but just before he did he winked at Scarlet.

Scarlet laughed softly and shook her head. Love might be one of the most exhilarating, frustrating, heady, heart-wrenching, and wonderful things in the world, but there were times she was more than happy to keep her wits about her all the time and not be a constant victim to her emotions. She watched Caleb and Tara walk off and felt that little twinge of jealousy. Okay, perhaps she was still a victim sometimes.

She laughed softly again, this time at herself, and climbed into her car. She put Caleb’s CD into the player and pushed play. At the opening words to the first song, ‘Love was so easy’, Scarlet burst out laughing in truth. She laughed till tears ran down her cheeks.

She waited till she sobered a little before turning on the wipers to clear the snow from her windshield. As she pulled out of the parking lot she idly wondered whether she was dreading or looking forward to the next time she fell in love. The thought made her burst out laughing again.