A Fiery Gal

By Tara Lavelle

Maggie Brice, 33, every day growing more crestfallen and broke, is a struggling artist living in a modest pre-war apartment on New York City’s Upper West Side. Having just lost her corporate job that paid the mortgage, she works round-the-clock trying to paint a collection that will sell but is uninspired. Adding to her melancholy she is recently estranged from her boyfriend.

One restless evening, Maggie discovers a hidden apartment untouched since the Roaring Twenties. Maggie indulges in the suite’s lavish Art Deco design, antiques, and vintage clothing. She becomes a modern day flapper. She studies the likes of Mae West and Dorothy Parker, and begins to emulate them. She relishes in her new decadent living quarters and spans the ages incorporating the charm of the Twenties in her fine paintings.

Maggie is smitten by the lingering spirit of the suite’s former occupant, Jasper Jacqua, a handsome scholar killed by his former lover, the seductive femme fatale′ Delfina. Inspired by the carpe diem mentality of a past era and new-found treasures, she quickly scales the social ladder and becomes a famed artist. Maggie transforms from a crisis- ridden recluse into a money producing artist. She meets Michael, an emerald-eyed editor, who adores her but is her dead 1920’s dream- boy better than the reality of today’s fleeting romance?

Her fabulous find proves to be the work of the contriving Ruby, a fierce socialite, who has planned the discovery to serve her own needs. Maggie, her pigeon, may lose everything.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tara Lavelle
• Release date: May 11, 2011
• ISBN: 9781458118790

Tara Lavelle

Tara Lee Lavelle writes works of fiction and is a published novelist and poet. She also produces on-line educational materials. She has written four educational modules for New York City real estate licensing programs. After high school, she attended Florida State University for a year, then she returned to New Jersey and continued her pursuit of a degree at Rutgers University. She did well in expository writing, scriptwriting, Shakespeare, and poetry that further impassioned her to write. She received a BA in English concentrating in creative writing. She paid for her education with student loans. After graduation, her writing ambitions were shelved for the corporate world and a solid credit score. After working at Merrill, Lynch and Company for a year she was hired by the now defunct Bear, Stearns & Co. Inc., New York City. She worked up the corporate ladder. She wrote business reports. In addition, she completed an advertising campaign, named two businesses and wrote for two technology company entrepreneurs. After close to 10 years, she left the corporate world to further pursue her writing career full-time. She has published a novel, written several novellas and screenplays. Tara Lee Lavelle spends her time split between New Jersey and New York City and enjoys creating imaginary literary worlds. Other books by Tara Lavelle: Behold the Fountain of Youth Forthcoming books by Tara: The Jersey Devil Living an Epiphany Connect with Tara Online: Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/profile.php?id=100002281726400 Email: [e-mail] Website: http://www.thenovelt.com

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A Fiery Gal

Tara Lee Lavelle

Smashwords Edition

Copyright 2011 by Tara Lee Lavelle

All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book. This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously.

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Dedication

This book is dedicated to my good-hearted friends

who know how to have a roaring good time.

Special thanks to:

Sandra Haven, Editor

Maureen Lavelle, Webmaster

Matthew Laznicka, Cover Illustrator

Susan Marotta, Reading Editor

Donald Schiraldo, Videographer

Tara Lee Lavelle

www.thenovelt.com

[e-mail]`

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Chapter 1

The bus stopped abruptly outside the Woolworth building between Park Place and Barclay Streets in Lower Manhattan, opposite City Hall. Inside the litter-strewn tour bus, I gazed lovingly at the striking neo-Gothic architecture. A smile played at my lips as I mumbled, A gem of a building constructed with plenty of nickels and dimes. I had left work early and was on my way to spend a lot of my nickels and dimes purchasing the apartment I had lived in that had recently gone co-op. As a reluctant first-time homebuyer on the way to the closing, it was my opportunity to take the scenic route via a tour bus to calm my nerves as I headed to meet with the seller's agent and my lawyer to sign the paperwork.

The bus moved off and in a few minutes curved around a couple of blocks to Church Street and zipped to the future site of the rebuilt World Trade Center. I stared out at the half-constructed foundation wall and sighed--when would the new towers ever rise? After a brief pause the bus re-entered the ebb and flow of the organized chaos of New York's traffic patterns until it reached the Art Deco marvel, the Empire State building, at 5th Avenue and West 34th Street. This time I shook my head. Brilliantly constructed from 1930-1931 in only one year, forty-five days.

The bus driver piped up, Yeah and how many friggin' years to rebuild the Towers?

I lowered my head. I hadn't meant to be overheard, yet all New Yorkers felt this frustration as the glory of the past surrounded us, as if ridiculing the meager and inadequate efforts of the present.

My own meager efforts to survive in this city felt woefully inadequate too. My apartment was fraught with gloom and no bigger than a walk-in closet. Regardless, I, Maggie Brice, and my social security number were signing up for a thirty-year mortgage to buy the place.

For the past three years, I had spent most of my waking hours in a clerical position at a Fortune 500 brokerage house. I was actually a fine-arts painter, but had to give up the artist's life for financial reasons, and gained a stable income, but found myself mired in the administrative arts. Unless I was sketching on my blotter during the downtime, the job was totally devoid of any satisfaction.

If you are wealthy, New York is a wonderful place to live. There are always exciting things to do, from shopping at Henri Bendel—where even the chocolate-striped paper shopping bags exude class—to taking in entertaining, soothing concerts at Lincoln Center. If you are not rich, the city can be fun but challenging, for things are expensive. In New York City you always find yourself giving for the cost of living--shelter, food, entertainment and transportation are pricey.

However, the landmarks could be viewed for free.

As I took a parting glance at the Empire's spire, the bus accelerated into a sea of scrambling cars. It entered the exodus cross-town to the east side and headed uptown to the Turtle Bay area. It stopped at the intersection of 42nd Street and Lexington Avenue where I stepped off the bus for a few moments with a group of tourists. I stared up at the Chrysler building, the trophy of Art Deco architecture, constructed from 1928-1930. Its stainless steel terraced crown was designed in a sunburst pattern that shines like lame in the blue sky. From my purse, I took small antique binoculars and focused on the building's adornments, which replicated Chrysler's automobile embellishments. The 31st floor had scaled reproductions of the 1929 Chrysler radiator caps, then being used