The Glittering Life of Evie Mckenzie Read online

  ‘I’ll find out.’

  ‘Thanks, Ann,’ Tug said. She’d been told by Ms Guinan that picking up people’s names the first time you met would go a long way toward building fruitful relationships, so she’d been practicing. She knew every dancer’s name. ‘Give me a call, will ya? So I’ll know for sure? We’ll schedule our first night around the costumes.’ She nodded to the other girls. ‘Until then, let’s plan on Monday and Wednesday morning rehearsals to keep it fresh.’

  The girls and the band nodded their agreement, picking up their belongings and moving up the staircase and out into the street. Janie lingered behind as Tug cleaned up a bit.

  ‘Do you really think I can do this?’ she asked. Janie looked nervous, fidgeting with her hands and pulling at her hair.

  ‘I know you can. Just remember, you’re not Janie Evans. You’ve gotta be someone else. Lady Jane, or Madame Red, or something mysterious like that.’

  ‘Well I can’t be Lady Jane.’

  ‘Why not?’

  ‘That’s like blasphemy! She was the queen of England!’

  Tug thought back to her history classes. She hadn’t paid much attention, but she didn’t recall a Queen Jane. ‘You sure?’

  ‘Well, it may have been de facto, but the woman deserves respect, even if she was only queen for a matter of days.’

  ‘I doubt she’ll care much, Jane.’

  ‘Maybe not.’

  ‘So it’s decided. Lady Jane will be performing at Evie’s … the mysterious and alluring Lady Jane.’ Tug elbowed her friend.

  Jane giggled. ‘I kind of like it.’

  ‘See ya later,’ Tug said, smiling as Jane climbed the steps. It was exciting being a part of Jane’s transformation. It was fun being part of the whole club’s transformation, actually. She just hoped Roger would come through with the hooch.

  *****

  Tug didn’t have to worry long. That night Roger confirmed that he had made a connection, and they could expect a delivery in the next few days.

  ‘I was pretty grummy over that column in the paper this morning,’ Roger said, pouring himself a glass of scotch behind the bar and staring down into it, his dark lashes lush against the tanned cheeks. ‘But maybe it wasn’t a bad thing after all. The connections are coming to me now. I don’t even have to look. Now that they know I’m in the business …’

  Tug nodded. ‘I saw that. How’d your folks take it?’

  ‘I think they already knew. They just hadn’t admitted to themselves that I wasn’t out all hours of the night making investments for rich businessmen.’

  ‘But Rog, you do handle investments, too, don’t you?’

  Roger smiled, the dimples appearing beneath the dancing eyes. ‘I have a desk down there and my name’s on the sign outside my door,’ he said. ‘So I guess I do. Or I will when I’m done with school.’

  ‘Your clients must be thrilled.’

  ‘The clients I have now come see me here,’ he said. He rolled the amber liquid around in his glass and watched it, then looked back at Tug over the rim. She tried to control the way her stomach flipped when he looked at her like that, when they were the only two in the club. ‘How’d the dancer hunt go?’

  ‘All set, boss. They should be ready to hoof it out there in a week or two. We just need some costumes, and one of the girls has the inside track.’

  ‘Sounds good.’ He cocked his head to the side and gave her a lopsided grin. ‘Your hair looks swell, by the way. Red really suits you, Tug.’

  A chill ran through Tug’s body at the compliment. She couldn’t pretend that she hadn’t wondered for days what Roger’s reaction might be when she saw him. ‘Thanks, boss.’

  He watched her just a moment longer, something passing through the dark eyes that Tug didn’t recognize – something dark and animal. As soon as she noticed it, it was gone.

  The club got moving at its usual pace, though the door opened and closed a bit more than usual, and Tug sensed that there were just a few more bodies crowding the place than there had been before. The column in the Herald Tribune had outed Roger, but it had also given the club something tough to come by when you were running an illegal business – marketing.

  When Chuck arrived a bit after eight, Tug watched him stop several feet from the bar, staring at her with a question in his blue eyes. He shook his head slightly and a huge grin spread over his features as he approached the bar. ‘Look at you!’ he said, shaking his head.

  Tug played innocent.

  ‘I had to stop and search my brain to recall if we’d discussed hiring some bombshell to pour drinks back there,’ he said, coming behind the bar. ‘But then I saw your pretty face under that incredible hair, and realized that it was you. You look gorgeous, Tug!’

  ‘Thanks,’ Tug felt herself blushing as Chuck continued to give her appraising looks every few minutes as he settled into his position pulling drinks behind the bar. She was giddy and warm, the compliment and her recent success combining to make her feel happier than she could remember.

  She circulated among the patrons that night, chatting and joking with the men who had never noticed her before, when her hair was less conspicuous. She suspected that their attention was due to both her hair color and to her new attitude, but either way she enjoyed the attention. One man, in particular, seemed intrigued by her.

  ‘Let me take you to dinner, doll.’

  ‘Sergeant Mulroney,’ Tug said, smiling at the man who she had always thought was handsome. ‘I’m not sure that’s a match made in Heaven. I mean, let’s cut the baloney. You’re a cop, and I run an illegal gin joint!’ The men around them laughed, and Mulroney smiled a wide grin, showing one yellowed tooth in front. Otherwise, he had a good build and a nice shock of dark auburn hair over his sparkling copper eyes. Part of Tug recoiled at the idea that a man like this would approach her at all, but an almost equal part felt validated. This was her life now, this was who she was. And this was the kind of man she should be looking for. Her mother certainly wouldn’t approve of this man as a real prospect for Tug, but then again she would have something to say about Tug’s hair and revealing outfit as well. Tug hid her thoughts beneath a flirtatious smile.

  ‘Maybe that’s why it would work,’ the officer said, leaning in close.

  A thrill went through Tug at his proximity. He smelled of liquor and cigars, but there was something else – something clean and refreshing that mixed with it. She couldn’t put her finger on the scent, or on the reason why it made her reconsider her first inclination to turn him down, but she knew that she couldn’t continue being her mother’s daughter. This was part of accepting what she was now and what her life would be. ‘All right,’ she told him. ‘I’ll let you take me out. Where are we going?’

  His smile spread and he took her hand, almost shy suddenly. ‘Anywhere you want. I’ll treat you right, you’ll see.’

  She gave him her phone number and flitted away, a strange sensation swirling within her. She wasn’t the girl who men usually chased, and it felt good for a change. He might not be Roger White, but then he didn’t expect her to be a sparkling clean debutante, either.

  Besides, there was a devilish sparkle in Derek Mulroney’s eye that lit another kind of fire in her, one she rarely paid attention to, and one she certainly wouldn’t have considered if she had been a deb. Tug realized that she was tired of everyone else getting what they wanted and needed from this life. Maybe discovering who she really was meant that it was finally her turn.

  Chapter Nine

  Evie

  Though Roger had called to say hello, it had been two days since the column had published, and Evie hadn’t gotten to see him or ask about it. In the meantime, she’d let guilt and worry gnaw away at her insides and the result was that she was walking around in a daze.

  If she was honest with herself, she had to admit that Jack Taylor had stirred her up more than she would have liked. And despite her understanding that he was not the man for her, she was disappointed that he hadn’t
sought her out again, either after class or at home. He’d come to her house once months before, after all, with his heart in his hands … She supposed he had gotten over those feelings for her. And why would it matter anyway? She was engaged. And if Jack hadn’t been aware of that before, he certainly was now that it had been in the Mouse column. She just wished her heart would be as rational as her head.

  Her own parents were less than thrilled when they learned of Roger’s true business interests.

  ‘What’s wrong with just being an investment banker?’ her mother had shrieked as they sat at dinner a few nights after the column published.

  ‘It’s a gossip column, Bets. No one pays attention to that drivel. It’s probably made up.’ Evie’s father toasted himself with the scotch in front of his dinner plate.

  Mrs McKenzie sipped from her own wine glass as Evie watched her. ‘Mother, are you worried about Roger getting into trouble, or are you concerned about what your friends will think when they find out that your daughter is engaged to someone running an illegal club?’

  Evie’s mother narrowed her eyes at Evie, and put down her glass. ‘I’m worried about Roger, of course. Bootlegging is no small crime, darling.’

  ‘He’s hardly bootlegging, Bets,’ laughed Mr McKenzie.

  ‘Well, selling alcohol is against the law.’

  ‘Mother. You’re drinking wine while you complain about Roger breaking the law.’

  ‘That’s different. Wine should have been exempt from this silly law.’ Mrs McKenzie sniffed.

  Hypocrisy had never stopped her mother from having a strong opinion, Evie knew, and she smiled at her father, who made no excuses for the fact that he still had a healthy supply of scotch. Thanks in no small part to her connection with Roger’s family.

  ‘It’s a fine club,’ Evie ventured.

  ‘Don’t tell me that you’ve been there!’ Her mother’s eyebrows climbed into the dark curls on her head. She raised a hand to her forehead. ‘Oh … See? See, Theo? It isn’t made up! It’s true … I’m feeling ill. Oh …’

  ‘So what? I’m sure he’s making a killing,’ Mr McKenzie said. ‘And Roger’s a smart enough fellow to keep Evie out of it if he is running a club, right Evie?’

  She accepted the out that her father was offering. It seemed he’d prefer not to know. It occurred to Evie that if her parents had any idea just how many times she’d been out to speaks – Roger’s and others – that they would likely do something drastic like try to restrict her to the house. She didn’t want to risk her ability to attend classes, or to see Roger at the club, so she simply nodded. It was hardly a lie.

  ‘Oh thank goodness,’ her mother sighed, picking up her glass again and returning to her meal, the dramatics complete.

  Evie’s heart sank as she realized that there was no way she’d be seeing Roger tonight. She hoped he was doing okay now that the club had been exposed. She wondered what his parents must think. Poor Roger.

  *****

  It was almost a full week before Evie finally made it out to her namesake club. Being kept under her mother’s thumb had resulted in her being dragged to more garden and tea parties than Evie had realized was possible. Her mother led a very busy life, evidently, full of gossip, chatter, and discussions of various indiscretions made by those unable to attend whatever function was at hand.

  The upside was that Evie was able to build a full column around the world of Upper East Side garden parties. She didn’t expose any names, per se, but made the column read like a view through a privileged window instead, hinting at infidelities and bankruptcies that would never be seen by the outside world. She pulled off the veil, revealing that those who occupied the big houses uptown suffered from many of the same problems as those dwelling in tenements and boarding houses in the lower realms of the city.

  Tobias loved the piece. ‘This is fantastic,’ he told her. ‘I like this broad stroke, wiping away preconceptions about what it means to have money. The world is changing, Mouse, and you’ve captured that.’ He paused, leaning back in his chair and stroking his chin. ‘But in the next one, I want what I asked for.’ He eyed her frankly. ‘If you can’t get it, I’ll get someone who can.’

  ‘Yes, sir,’ Evie had replied.

  It didn’t help her nerves that the time she’d found to go visit Tobias had been immediately following Jack’s lecture. She’d felt lightheaded and half-crazed all the way to the Herald Tribune offices.

  She’d worried herself silly about what to do. She considered dropping Jack’s class. Sitting just feet away from him, feeling that magnetic pull and having all manner of reactions coursing through her as he read Yeats and Byron aloud was sheer torture. But she hadn’t yet convinced herself that it would be better not to see him at all.

  For his part, Jack ignored her completely, his smooth exterior revealing nothing. Instead, Evie perceived that he purposely flirted with other girls in the class. Nothing too committed, of course, but he’d wink an eye or offer a sly smile to co-eds sitting in the first rows as he read. His eyes combed the seated students as he asked for answers to his questions, but they never fell on Evie, even when her hand was raised in answer. She left his class each week feeling frustrated, and some part of her wondered what that mountain of frustration was building toward.

  She told her parents that she’d be staying late at school Thursday evening to study with some classmates. Though her mother asked a handful of questions about exactly which classmates she would be spending time with, she eventually relented. And Evie went to Tug’s to change her clothes and get ready for a night out.

  But when the door opened at Tug’s, she barely recognized her friend. ‘Oh my God, Tug! Is that you?’

  ‘In the flesh.’

  ‘It’s positively berries!’ Evie reached out to touch the flaming red hair perfectly waved around her face.

  ‘You really think so?’

  ‘I do. It’s the bee’s knees!’

  The girls giggled together in Tug’s room, each helping the other get dressed for an evening out.

  ‘I can’t get over you, Tug. You look about ten years more sophisticated. Like a movie starlet, or …’

  ‘Or the proprietress of a successful club?’

  ‘Definitely!’ Evie felt a tiny pull of jealousy. Tug looked older, wiser, and far more exotic under her red locks. She’d also begun wearing much more makeup, and the dress she chose for the evening had a plunging neckline that she doubted brunette Tug would have ever touched. Together, the transformation was incredible.

  They went together to the club, Tug taking her father’s car as usual.

  And if Evie thought the transformation she’d seen in her friend was exceptional, it was nothing compared to the changes that had been made at her namesake club. To begin with, there were people waiting in small groups on the sidewalk near the entrance, signaling that the place was already packed.

  Evie and Tug descended the stairs and Sal ushered them in through a thick crowd of people. The music blared from the front of the room – the trio had expanded, and there were several horns and a bass player that Evie didn’t recognize. People were moving all over the club, dancing in front of the band where the tables had been cleared away. But most shocking perhaps was the group of scantily clad women holding huge feathered fans in front of the band. They shimmied and shook, and Evie found herself transfixed. The dancers’ outfits left very little to the imagination, and Evie – who considered herself fairly worldly – felt the tiniest bit scandalized.

  Tug was grinning from ear to ear as Evie turned to her to remark on the changes, but Roger swept in between them before she got the chance.

  ‘Hey honey,’ he said, kissing Evie on the cheek. Then he turned to Tug, ‘I can’t believe it, Tug! We’ve been turning people away all night! We’ve already pulled in more than we normally do in three nights, and we’ve only gone through half as much of the good stuff!’ He looked around with a wide smile across his face. ‘And the dancers…’ He leaned in. ‘You were r
ight.’

  Chuck waved from behind the bar, but he was so busy that Evie didn’t get a chance to speak with him. Roger took her light coat and guided her to the bar, and then ducked under to get her a drink.

  Left alone for a moment, Evie gazed around in fascination. The place had transformed completely. It had been a quiet place to get a drink and talk, and now it was an absolute scene. Tug slinked between tables, her green gown glittering in the lights and her red lips pulled into an enthusiastic smile. She winked and flirted and Evie saw a whole new side to her. She was a performer, Evie could see. She’d come alive in the noise and light of the place, and she was holding court out there, chatting up her guests.

  Good for her, Evie thought. She watched the dancers for a while, her shock fading as they performed. They were just girls, after all, just doing a job. They looked beautiful, even if their outfits were just a little bit scandalous. And she couldn’t wait to see Janie again, because the small dancer on the end looked like she could have been her naughty twin sister!

  *****

  Roger returned to her side after a while, and put an arm around her waist.

  ‘What do you think?’ he asked. They had to speak loudly over the music, and Evie missed the intimacy that the old Evie’s offered.

  ‘It’s swell,’ she said. ‘Noisy, but swell!’

  ‘It’s all thanks to Tug,’ Roger told her. ‘She’s quite the businesswoman. And I guess I should thank the Manhattan Mouse, too. That column brought new customers out of the woodwork.’

  Evie had to turn her head to see if Roger meant her – did he know? But he was still smiling his warm smile, the eyes deep and rich above it. He didn’t know. ‘I wondered about that,’ she said. ‘Were your parents upset?’

  He shook his head. ‘My mother pretended to be shocked, but I honestly think they already knew. I haven’t kept it a secret, I just haven’t told them about it explicitly. My dad came down a few nights ago, so I think it’s safe to say that he’s not upset.’ Roger gazed out at the crowd, his eyes lingering on the dancers. Then he turned back to Evie. ‘What about your parents? I guess I owe them an explanation.’