{"id":2298,"date":"2015-02-14T20:09:07","date_gmt":"2015-02-14T20:09:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/developing-characters.com\/?p=2298"},"modified":"2015-02-14T20:09:07","modified_gmt":"2015-02-14T20:09:07","slug":"deception","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/developing-characters.com\/?p=2298","title":{"rendered":"Deception"},"content":{"rendered":"

Deception <\/strong>by Alice L. Doughty<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

When Amanda walked into the hotel bar in Moncton, the country music was blaring all around her, and the place was packed. It was standing room only, and they were lined up three deep at the bar which ran the full length of the room. In the polished mirror behind the bar, she could see the crowd on the dance floor, and she could see the four bartenders working their hearts out to keep up with the crowd.<\/p>\n

This was no little dive club like the one she was used to back home; this was the epitome of country dance clubs, and as much as Amanda wasn\u2019t a big country music fan, she knew that this was the very kind of place that Skeeter would hang out, the kind of place he and his friends would have lived in as teenagers if there\u2019d been one back home.<\/p>\n

Amanda was quite sure that Skeeter wouldn\u2019t recognize her after all these years. She wasn\u2019t the chubby, little high school student she was all those years ago, with the long, scraggly, mousey brown hair. She\u2019d lost a good seventy-five pounds; grown six inches and added another three with her spiked heels; and she had gone to a very fashionable hair stylist who\u2019d clipped and trimmed and dyed her hair into a very chic, short, blonde cut with several pink stripes all of which suited her tall, slim figure. Then, she\u2019d added several piercings including an eyebrow ring and a lip spike, gone to a tattoo parlour and added a very detailed angel tattoo on her left shoulder blade, and bought an outfit that was so revealing that she turned every eye in the bar when she entered.<\/p>\n

And she was right; Skeeter never recognized her. The thought never crossed his mind when she walked in that she might be there looking for him, although, he was certainly good enough looking to believe that once she saw him, she wouldn\u2019t bother looking at anyone else in the bar. And he really was good looking with his slightly spiked, slightly mussed hair trimmed short in the back, a little longer on the top.<\/p>\n

It didn\u2019t take Amanda long to spot her quarry, but she never let on that she was the least bit interested in him. Making her way over to the centre of the bar about ten feet away from him, she smiled her way between several male customers, and bellied up to the glistening hardwood bar. Catching the eye of the nearest bartender, she ordered a Smirnoff Ice with cranberry juice.<\/p>\n

It was a very fluid crowd at the bar that night with people constantly moving up and down from the bar and on and off the dance floor as the songs they liked were played, but Amanda held her place, and it wasn\u2019t long before she heard a familiar voice in her ear.<\/p>\n

\u201cA beautiful woman like you shouldn\u2019t be drinking alone. The next one\u2019s on me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Turning slowly, Amanda looked up and into the eyes of the man she once knew as a boy. The rest of him might have changed, but the deep, smoky, blue of his gaze was just as she remembered from ten years ago. Forcing her eyes away from his, she let them wander down the length of his face, lingering a few seconds on his full lips curved in their ever-so-familiar grin, and then passing down to take a cursory look at his full length. Then, she pulled her eyes back up to his and allowed a slow, sultry smile to cross her own face.<\/p>\n

\u201cI never drink alone. Just look around; I have an entire bar full of people here to drink with me.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSo I\u2019m just one more face in a crowd, is that it?\u201d asked Skeeter, his grin deepening at this banter.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo. From the looks of things, I\u2019d say you\u2019re a player,\u201d Amanda responded, running her tongue over her slightly parted lips.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd you\u2019re not?\u201d questioned Skeeter. \u201cIt looks to me like you could play with the best of them.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOh, no; not me. I\u2019m as innocent as they come.\u201d Amanda allowed her eyes to flicker enticingly and then looked at Skeeter directly.<\/p>\n

For a second, Skeeter\u2019s breath caught. There was something about this girl. \u201cHave we met before?\u201d he asked her, a puzzled look on his face.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo, I\u2019m quite sure we haven\u2019t,\u201d Amanda lied, and then quite truthfully added, \u201cI\u2019m new in town. So new that you\u2019re actually the first person I\u2019ve talked to other than the hotel clerk.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, in that case, I\u2019ll have to put myself at your disposal. I\u2019d be happy to show you around town, not that there\u2019s that much to see. Where are you from?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOh, just here and there, you know how it is. How about you? Are you from here?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBorn and raised. So what brings you to town?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m just seeing the sights,\u201d Amanda lied again. The nerve of him, to tell her that he was born and raised here. They\u2019d grown up next door to each other. They\u2019d made out in the bleachers back home when they were still only kids. And then, he\u2019d left her behind for the glitter and glamor of the city. He\u2019d never even know that she was pregnant with his child, not that he would have cared if he had known. Oh, yes, he knew her alright, and she knew him. Now it was time for payback. \u201cSo what\u2019s your name?\u201d she asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s Lonnie, Lonnie Jackson. And yours?\u201d<\/p>\n

Oh, the lying skite, she thought. He wasn\u2019t even going to tell her his real name. Well, two could play at that game. \u201cIt\u2019s Lou Ann,\u201d she replied, gracing him with her sultry smile again.<\/p>\n

Once more, he faltered, another look of puzzlement crossing his face. There was something about this girl. He could almost swear that he knew her from somewhere. Giving himself a mental shake, Skeeter reached up and gently ran his fingers down her jaw line and across her lips. \u201cWell, Lou Ann, here\u2019s to new acquaintances,\u201d he said, and raised his glass to her.<\/p>\n

Amanda cringed at his touch but steeled herself to the task at hand. Returning his smoky gaze, she, too, raised her glass and took a sip. This was the hardest act she\u2019d had to play since their high school production of Grease. \u201cRight back at you, Lonnie.\u201d<\/p>\n

But that was the point at which Amanda realized that she couldn\u2019t go through with her deception. Even after all these years, she still loved this man, and their nine year old daughter was waiting for her at home. That was really all that mattered. She was the best part of both of them.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have to go,\u201d she said suddenly. \u201cI don\u2019t feel so good. Good-bye, Skeeter,\u201d she cried and hastily made her escape into the crowd.<\/p>\n

Skeeter was so shocked by her sudden departure, and by the fact that she had called him by his real name, that he stood there dazed for a moment. So he was right; he did know her from somewhere. And then he had it. Amanda!<\/p>\n

Quickly, he scanned the crowd trying to find her. If only he\u2019d known. This was the one woman he wanted desperately in his life. There was never a day passed that he didn\u2019t regret leaving her, but by the time he had realized that and went home to her six months after he\u2019d left, her family had moved, and try as he might he couldn\u2019t find any trace of her. She\u2019d vanished off the face of the earth. And now she was here.<\/p>\n

Leaving his drink unfinished, Skeeter rushed out of the bar and went to the front desk of the hotel. \u201cI\u2019m looking for one of your guests, Amanda Stevens. What room is she in?\u201d<\/p>\n

After checking his computer, the desk clerk answered, \u201cI\u2019m sorry, sir. We have no one here by that name.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cShe told me she\u2019d talked to the desk clerk, so she must be staying here. Would you please check again?\u2019<\/p>\n

The desk clerk checked once more. \u201cNo, sir. There\u2019s no one here by that name. What does she look like? Maybe you have the wrong name.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cRight. Right. She did tell me a different name. Lou Ann. She said her name was Lou Ann.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo. There\u2019s no one here by that name either.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOk. Well, you couldn\u2019t miss her. She\u2019s quite tall, blond hair with pink stripes, piercings, a tattoo.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOh, yes, sir. I did see her, but she isn\u2019t staying here. She left a few minutes ago in a taxi.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDid you see which cab company?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, sir. It was a White cab, just like the ones outside the door there.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThank you,\u201d Skeeter called back over his shoulder, already halfway to the front door.<\/p>\n

There were two other White cabs waiting outside the door when Skeeter came out, and going up to the first one, he leaned in and asked the driver, \u201cDid you see the woman who just came out here?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou mean the hot blonde with the pink stripes,\u201d the driver asked, and at Skeeter\u2019s nod, he continued. \u201cSure. She just pulled out in the last cab. They were headed for the airport.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSkeeter hopped in the passenger seat. \u201cThen so are we, and drive like my life depends on it, man, because it does.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou got it,\u201d the driver said, and he put the car into gear and tramped down on the gas.<\/p>\n

This was the longest drive of Skeeter\u2019s life, and he barely registered the constant chatter of the driver as they made their way through the streets of Moncton and up onto the highway heading for the airport. He couldn\u2019t stand to lose her again; he just couldn\u2019t.<\/p>\n

And then, there were the runway lights, and he was jumping out of the cab tossing the driver more than enough money to cover the fare. Dashing into the terminal building, he gazed around wondering where he should look, for even at this hour, the airport was full of travellers making their way to and from the various exit gates, or having just arrived, standing around the carousels to pick up their luggage.<\/p>\n

Jumping up on the nearest bench seat, Skeeter scanned the crowd for any sign of Amanda, and then he spotted her. She was way down at the far end of the terminal headed for one of the exit gates.<\/p>\n

Cupping his hands together and not caring what anyone thought, Skeeter yelled out as loud as he could, \u201cAmanda.\u201d His yell turned heads all down the length of the airport, and when he yelled her name a second time, she heard him and turned to look.<\/p>\n

Amanda was amazed. He did remember her. He\u2019d called her by name. Even with all the efforts she\u2019d made to disguise her identity from him, he\u2019d still figured out who she was.<\/p>\n

By this time, Skeeter had jumped down off the bench and was running down the length of the airport, weaving in and out of the crowded aisles desperate to reach her before she could board a plane and leave him again.<\/p>\n

And then, they were facing each other across a rope barrier. \u201cPlease don\u2019t leave, Amanda. Please don\u2019t go,\u201d he pleaded. And with tears in her eyes, she slipped under the rope and into his arms. They had a lot of catching up to do, but maybe, just maybe, after all these years, they would have this one last chance as adults to make things come out right.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Deception by Alice L. Doughty When Amanda walked into the hotel bar in Moncton, the country music was blaring all around her, and the place was packed. It was standing room only, and they were lined up three deep at … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":624,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2298","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-lesson-5"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/developing-characters.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2298","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/developing-characters.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/developing-characters.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/developing-characters.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/624"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/developing-characters.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2298"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/developing-characters.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2298\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2299,"href":"https:\/\/developing-characters.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2298\/revisions\/2299"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/developing-characters.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2298"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/developing-characters.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2298"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/developing-characters.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2298"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}