Rosie knocked on the door and heard the familiar ‘come on in’. She stepped inside the warmly lit, sweet smelling, room. The couch was against the wall opposite the door, just underneath the window which overlooked the main street. There was a cabinet next to it with a few bottles and glasses sitting on top of it. There was a large comfortable bed which backed onto the wall on Rosie’s right which was shared with the neighbouring Room 3. It stretched towards the centre of the room. There was a dresser which was directly opposite the bed on the wall backing onto Room 1. And above the dresser was a brand new substantial ‘mirror’. For most of the day there had been men in here banging away with hammers, first of all knocking a large hole in the wall and then fitting what to all intents and purposes appeared to be a large window, except the glass that was put into it was nothing like Rosie had ever seen before. And no matter how many times she had looked at it – from both this room and Room 1 – she still couldn’t understand how it worked. From this room, it was a mirror. From next door, it was a window allowing a person in there to see everything in here. She just didn’t understand it at all. But she knew what it was for, particularly when Room 1 was set up with a table, bottles of whisky and glasses, a box of cigars, an ashtray, some chairs, and nothing else.
Sitting on the couch was the Mayor. The top three or four buttons of his shirt were open as he relaxed, his legs stretched out in front of him, crossed at the ankles. He had a cigar tucked in the corner of his mouth and a tumbler of brandy in his right hand. Clara was sat next to him, leaning against him in the curve of his left arm as it swept around behind her, the left hand caressing her left thigh. Clara’s left hand was slipped inside the Mayor’s shirt, softly caressing his chest as the two of them chatted and laughed. Clara was telling the Mayor exactly what had happened in the saloon last night after he had left. As far as Mayor Harris was concerned, he was going to have a fun evening with Clara. The Town Council had had a meeting earlier on that evening, and it was his usual habit to pay a call to Clara after that. But Mayor Harris was in for a nice surprise. Raf and Clara had other plans; having a grateful Mayor beholden to them was no bad thing. Even better if they had the ability to control access to something the Mayor wanted. Marshal Brookes was the key to them being able to control the main political power in the town.
Both of them were looking at Rosie as she stepped into the room.
“What is it, sweetie?” Clara asked, smiling, knowing exactly what it was. The Mayor wasn’t too concerned. It wasn’t unusual that Clara had business to deal with at times but he knew she would always be back and he enjoyed Rosie’s company while she was away. It was always Rosie that came to fetch her and she always stayed, keeping him amused until Clara returned.
“Mr. Hollister sends his apologies, but he wondered if he might have a few moments of your time.”
Clara turned to the Mayor and kissed him on the cheek before pushing herself up. “I won’t be long Mayor, but ... I promise... I will make it up to you when I come back... “ She stood up and straightened out her skirts and petticoats.
“Promises, promises.” The Mayor said, smiling back at her.
“Oh... I think that I can almost guarantee that you won’t be disappointed.” Clara was confident that she would be able to switch Katie on; the first act for the evening was in here with the Mayor. After that... it hadn’t been decided. Maybe they would try and get Katie back out into the saloon like they did last night; maybe this time the eager customers could pay for the room. But Clara thought that Raf would probably want to keep the use of this room and Room 1 for either special customers like the Mayor, or for guys like Ben... people he could trust not to trash the place. Anyway... not her problem. Rosie took Clara’s place on the couch as Clara stepped out into the hallway, closing the door behind her.
As she walked down the stairs into the main saloon, she could see Katie at the bar with Raf and Ben either side of her, just as they had agreed, Ben’s hand on Katie’s rear and quite a lot of the men in the bar already watching, expectantly at how things were going to develop. As Clara passed by each table, the sense of anticipation and excitement grew.
Katie was unaware of her approaching. She sipped the whisky as Raf spoke to her. She was about to tell Ben to remove his hand, even though she was enjoying how it felt, but Raf’s comment silenced her. She looked at him trying to work out whether his reference to pleasure was purely accidental or whether someone had told him what the priest had said to her. She looked to Ben for a moment who merely smiled back at her and kept his hand moving. He turned his hand so that his fingers pointed down and then slid his hand up and down... up and then down a little lower, his fingers on the verge of pushing between her legs. Then he turned his hand back and resumed his slow circling movements left and right again. Katie was trying to remember where Ben was when Mathew had told her that she was allowed to take pleasure from what she was. Was Ben was already leaving? Maybe he was waiting for his men to pick themselves up? Maybe it was someone else? She turned her look back to Raf. She decided to ignore the comment. She smiled and took another sip of whisky. Truth be told she had expected Raf to challenge her actions earlier; question why she had threatened to arrest his men. But he just stood and smiled at her. She was about to ask whether his men had recovered, when Clara made her presence known. She slipped in between Raf and Katie and moved so that she was stood in front of Katie, making Katie step back a little from the bar.
“Well good evening sweetie.” Clara took her face in her hands and gave her a soft kiss on the mouth. “I hear you had to deal with some of Raf’s men making idiots of themselves today.” Clara’s hands moved down onto Katie’s shoulders then slipped onto her upper arms, caressing softly up and down. “This Town expects far too much of you... you work far too hard.”
“Really, Clara, it’s not...”
“Hush now.” Clara lifted her fingers and placed them over Katie’s lips. “When you’re in here, you don’t have to give any thought at all to what’s happening outside." She trailed her fingers from Katie's lips down over her chin and down her neck. "In here, you can just relax and enjoy yourself. Isn’t that right boys?” She looked to Raf and then to Ben, and Katie did likewise as both of them mumbled their agreement and nodded.
“This is a very pretty shirt Katie.” Clara changed the subject but tried to keep everything ‘normal’, ‘pleasant’, a simple conversation between girlfriends, between a woman with a kind heart who was looking out for... looking after someone whom she considered less worldly-wise. Katie looked down as Clara’s left hand reached up and her fingers ran down the edge of the shirt from the collar to the first button. Katie looked up and smiled softly
“Thank you... it nothing... special.”
Clara brought her right hand up and gently took hold of Katie’s chin and stepped a little closer.
“Then perhaps it’s the fact that you’re wearing it sweetie that makes it look so pretty. This pink really does suit you though” Clara leaned in and kissed Katie again but this time she lingered, letting her tongue run along Katie’s lower lip. Katie hesitated for a moment but the combination of Ben’s hand on her rear, of Clara’s tongue soft on her lip... the words of the priest ringing in her head but in Raf’s voice... Katie kissed Clara back, opening her mouth to her. At that moment, Clara undid the button on her shirt and slipped her hand down to the next button.
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