Riley's Reckoning

by Claire Britain

  “I’m going to try, Rosa. JFK terminal four, and hurry, please. If she’s going back to LA, she’ll be on the usual flight,” Joanna stated, as they jumped into the taxi and headed for the airport.

  “Yep, there’s a flight departing in an hour to LA,” Kate said, looking at her cell. “It kind of feels like déjà vu, doesn’t it? Weren’t we just in a car, chasing after Riley this morning?” Kate said with a slight grin.

  “You’re not helping, Kate. If you can’t say anything constructive, I suggest you zip it, your backside will thank you for it,” Helen admonished.

  Joanna was on edge the entire seventeen-mile drive to the airport. She counted out the sixty-dollar fare and tip from her wallet and had it ready. Joanna had done this trip enough times to know the fare and the time it would take to get there. She barely waited for the cab to come to a stop, before she practically threw the money at the cab driver and darted out of the cab and inside the terminal, with Kate and Helen close behind her.

  “I see her, she’s right up there,” Kate said, pointing in the direction of the busy security line.

  “I see her. Riley!” Joanna yelled, pushing her way through the crowded terminal until a uniformed airport employee stopped her at the entrance to the security line.

  “Hold on there, ma’am. No one beyond this point without a boarding pass and ID.”

  “You don’t understand, the young woman at the front, I need to speak with her, it’s urgent.”

  “You still a need a boarding pass to get beyond this point, ma’am.”

  “Riley, Riley!” When Joanna saw Riley turn around and study the crowd, she put her hand in the air to get her attention. Joanna locked eyes with Riley but before she could do anything more, Riley looked down, shaking her head, and turned, disappearing into the busy checkpoint.

  “Shit, what now?” Jo said frantically to Helen, who was busy on her phone.

  Joanna heard the boarding announcement for Riley’s flight over the intercom. “Helen, what do I do? She can’t get on that plane.”

  Helen held up her finger. “Wait.”

  “Wait for what, for Christ’s sake, she’s getting away, Helen!”

  “Here,” Helen said, handing her phone to Joanna. “Boarding pass, now go.”

  “What? I don’t understand, Helen.”

  “I booked you a flight, now go. The boarding pass is on the phone. And Jo, don’t fuck this up, okay?”

  “Thanks,” Joanna smiled weakly at Helen, before practically shoving the phone and her ID in the airport employee’s face.

  “Go ahead, ma’am, LA will be to your right out of the checkpoint. It’s a little hike, gate twenty-four, it’s at the end of the terminal,” he encouraged, after seeing the exchange between the women.

  Joanna entered the security checkpoint and threw her purse onto the x-ray conveyor. She walked through the metal detector without incident and despite the last-minute booking, she was still able to go through the expedited line. She stood anxiously waiting for her purse to come out of the x-ray tunnel. When it didn’t appear, she looked up at the x-ray operator, who was staring intently at his screen.

  “Could you hurry up, please, I have to find someone, and their flight is boarding now,” Joanna said frantically to the young man who was pulling her purse out of the tunnel and putting it on a side roller.

  “That’s my purse,” Joanna stated, looking at her watch then looking back at the young man.

  “Yes, ma’am, we just need to look inside,” he replied, focusing his attention back to the screen.

  “Then go ahead, look in it, look, I really am in a hurry.”

  The young man gave her a blank stare, then returned to focus on the x-ray screen.

  Joanna heard another boarding announcement for Riley’s flight over the PA system. “Oh, for Christ’s sake, what is taking so long?”

  “Hello, ma’am, is this your bag?” a chipper female security officer asked her, as she pulled Joanna’s bag up off the rollers.

  “Yes, it is. Can you please hurry, they just made the final boarding announcement for my flight!”

  “Follow me, please,” she said, ushering Joanna over to a search table. “I need to take a look inside your bag. I would ask that you not try to reach in, or touch the bag while I’m conducting my search. Do you have anything sharp or dangerous in your bag that may poke or prick me?”

  “No, look, if you tell me what you’re looking for…”

  “It looks like you have an LGA, over the allotted three point four ounces, ma’am.”

  “LGA, what’s an LGA?” Joanna asked, getting more and more agitated.

  “Liquid, gel, or aerosol, ma’am, it can’t be over three point four ounces.”

  “Yes, I have lotion in there at the bottom.”

  “Yes, here it is, now let me explain your options to you, ma’am.”

  “Please, I’m very late, just take it,” Joanna said desperately, trying to maintain her cool at the upbeat officer.

  “Yes, ma’am, one of your options is to surrender it to us,” the woman smiled, handing the purse back to Joanna.

  Joanna grabbed it and flew out of the checkpoint, running as fast as she could to gate twenty-four.

  Joanna approached the boarding area, which was nearly empty, and Riley wasn’t anywhere in sight.

  “No, no, no, shit!” Joanna pleaded to herself frantically, as she knocked on the closed glass door of the jet bridge.

  Joanna walked to the counter in the boarding area but that too was empty and the word ‘boarded’ flashed on the monitor behind the counter.

  Joanna’s heart sank; she had missed her.

  Just as she was about to turn back toward the exit, the gate opened and an airline employee emerged from the door.

  “Am I too late, is the door closed?” Joanna asked the attendant, who seemed to recognize her.

  “Just a minute, Ms. Armstrong,” she said, getting on the radio. “Sam, is the door closed? We have a frequent flyer runner out here.”

  “You’re in luck, Ms. Armstrong, a minute longer and you would have missed it,” she said, unlocking the jet way door.

  “Thank you,” Joanna said, running down the jet way onto the plane.

  Most of the passengers were already settled into their seats, as Joanna boarded the aircraft. Joanna scanned both sides as she walked up the aisle looking for Riley. She was nearly all the way to the back, when she spotted Riley, putting her bag in the overhead bin.

  Joanna rushed over to her. “Riley, please, don’t go. Look, I didn’t mean what I said, please come home with me?”

  Riley looked at Joanna, then at some of the passengers around her, who had taken an interest in the conversation.

  “Why, Jo? You’re right, I put my life in danger and Alex is in the hospital because of me. I’m just a fuck-up, you deserve someone better,” Riley said with glassy eyes and a grimace, turning her attention back to her bag. She took her seat and fastened her seatbelt.

  “Oh, honey, you’re not, please! We’ll deal with that later, I just need you to come home. I nearly lost you once today and I don’t intend on letting that happen, ever again.”

  “Ma’am, we need you to take your seat, we’ll be closing the cabin door shortly. You can take this one if you like, it’s empty,” the same flight attendant who helped her earlier told Joanna, pointing to a seat across the aisle from Riley’s.

  Joanna nodded, and crouched down in the aisle next to Riley’s seat. “Please, Riley, don’t leave. We can work this out. It’s all over now,” Joanna continued to plead.

  “Miss, I really need you to take your seat,” the flight attendant reiterated.

  “Please, just give us a minute,” Joanna asked, getting an understanding nod in return from the gate agent when she saw the obvious look of distress on both the women’s faces.

  “You’re right about that. It is all over, I’m going back to LA, Jo. I’ll look for another job if you can give me a little time. I’m not good for you, and I’m so
rry,” Riley said with fresh tears.

  “Riley, dammit, you listen to me, young lady,” Joanna directed, putting two hands on Riley’s shoulders. “I love you, and I can’t imagine my life without you in it. So I’ll follow you to the end of the earth if I have to. If you stay on this plane to LA, that’s okay, but just know I’ll be right here with you. You’re not getting rid of me that easily, Riley. We all make mistakes and I’d hoped in some ways, I was helping you through some of that. If you stay with me, I guarantee there are going to be more tough times, but I also guarantee if I don’t ask you this now, I’m going to regret it the rest of my life. Apparently, I haven’t done a very good job of reining you in as my girlfriend; perhaps I can do a better job as your wife.”

  The plane seemed to come to a halt and the passengers around them hushed almost to silence as Joanna got down on one knee in the aisle, holding both of Riley’s hands.

  Riley looked down at Joanna and looked around at the passengers, who were hinged on every word, trying to comprehend what was happening.

  “Riley Carrington, will you marry me? You’ll make me the happiest woman alive if you say yes.”

  Riley’s head snapped up to meet Joanna’s green eyes. “You… want to marry… me?” she stammered.

  Riley looked around, confused; she made eye contact with several of the passengers, who were now frozen with various states of grins and smiles on their faces. She turned back toward the flight attendant, who had her hands clutched over her chest, nodding to Riley excitedly.

  Riley looked back into Joanna’s eyes, which were searching hers for the answer.

  “Yes.”

  Applause rang out in the aircraft from the passengers who had witnessed the proposal and the flight attendant had a huge grin on her face almost as big as Riley’s.

  Joanna stayed on her knee, leaning in to give her fiancée a kiss, to the sound of the cheering and clapping passengers.

  “Come on, let’s get off, before they close the door,” Joanna said, getting up and retrieving Riley’s bag from the overhead bin, while the flight attendant telephoned the cockpit not to close the door.

  The flight attendant waved her hand in front of her eyes as she unhooked the microphone from the wall.

  “Ladies and gentlemen, it will be just a couple more minutes. We have just had a marriage proposal on the aircraft, and the happy couple will be deplaning the aircraft.”

  “Thank you,” Joanna said to her with an elated smile.

  After Joanna and Riley were escorted off the aircraft and back in the boarding area, the two women stopped and faced each other.

  “I love you, Riley Carrington, don’t you ever try to leave me again.”

  “I love you too, Jo,” Riley replied, burying herself in Joanna’s arms.

  Joanna kissed the top of Riley’s head. “Let me take you home.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  Riley snuggled into Joanna’s chest; the events of the day were taking a toll, and Riley was exhausted.

  “Hon, you’re exhausted, try and sleep, okay? It’s been a long day.”

  Riley looked lovingly into Joanna’s green eyes. “I think I’m still trying to process all of it really. I mean, it’s not often you get shot at and proposed to in the same day. Jo, I screwed up today and nearly got Alex killed. I don’t know what I was thinking, I should have told you, I’m sorry.”

  “Honey, we’re going to deal with all that tomorrow. The important thing is you’re safe and here with me, and Alex is going to be okay. I’m not sure that’s going to be a good thing for you tomorrow morning, my love, but tonight you rest.”

  “Oh, it’s going to be bad, isn’t it?” Riley asked with a grimace.

  “Well, suffice to say, sitting down is not going to be pleasant after tomorrow. You, my love, have a reckoning coming that you’re not going to forget for a long time!”

  Riley gave a little shiver at Joanna’s words, but she smiled before drifting off to sleep.

  It was still dark when Riley woke up and she glanced over at Joanna, who was sleeping soundly. It was a bittersweet feeling that tormented her. Even though she was elated that Joanna had asked her to marry her, she couldn’t shake the feeling of guilt about Alex. She was lying in a hospital bed because of her reckless actions, and she couldn’t forgive herself for that. She silently wished she had been the one shot, and not Alex. How would the injuries affect her career?

  By the time Joanna woke up, Riley was in a tailspin. She was angry and the guilt consumed her. Why would Joanna want to marry her? She was a complete fuck-up who nearly cost someone their life. She never gave the detectives a chance, they were forced into the killer’s lair, and it was all her fault.

  * * *

  “Riley, what is it?” Joanna asked urgently, seeing Riley’s distress.

  “Why do you want to marry me, Jo? I’m a complete fuck-up in case you haven’t noticed. Alex is lying is a hospital bed because of me. I thought I could fix it, I disregarded the danger to Alex and Carl. God, I’m such an idiot!” Riley blurted out angrily, throwing the covers from the bed and storming into the bathroom where she slammed the door behind her.

  “Riley, open the door, please,” Joanna instructed, trying the handle on the locked door.

  “No, go away, Jo, I want to be alone.”

  “And I want you to open this door. Honey, it’s going to be okay, please come and talk to me.”

  “No, it’s never going to be okay, Jo, I nearly got Alex killed, you know that, so what part of that is okay!”

  “Baby, I’m not saying what you did was without mistakes. You’ve already touched on that and we’ll deal with it, so please open the door.”

  “No, go away!”

  Joanna took a deep breath; she had planned to deal with Riley’s reckless behavior and putting her own life in danger this morning but it was clear that Riley harbored an enormous amount of guilt about Alex, and that would need to be addressed first.

  “Riley, open the door! At the moment, your backside is racking up more debt and if I have to take the hinges off this door I’ll be cashing it in with my paddle. Now open the door!”

  Joanna heard Riley unlock the door. She opened the door and found her girlfriend leaning against the sink, her arms folded across her chest and an angry scowl on her face.

  “Riley, we’re going to deal with this. Yes, you did put Alex’s and Carl’s lives in danger but even more so your own. Come on. I wasn’t going to address this with you so soon but I think we need to,” Joanna said, grasping Riley gently by the arm.

  Riley looked down at Joanna’s hand on her arm, which was obviously unwanted, then jerked her arm away, glaring at Joanna defiantly.

  “Okay, young lady, we’ll do it your way!” Joanna said, reaching up and grasping Riley by the ear and leading her out of the bathroom.

  “Ow, shit, fine, spank me, I don’t care. Probably would have saved you some trouble if you just left me on that plane last night.”

  “Oh, I’m definitely going to spank you, Riley, but I think you need a little time to think and listen,” Joanna replied as she led her into a corner of the bedroom. “You stay right there and keep your nose in that corner!”

  When Joanna released her ear, Riley spun around and addressed her lover. “Why, Jo? I fucked up and I can’t fix this!”

  Joanna knew she needed to step it up a notch to get Riley in the right mindset.

  “Last chance, Riley, turn around and face that wall.”

  When Riley stood her ground, Joanna wasted no time spinning her stubborn girlfriend around and whisking her pajama bottoms and panties down to her knees. Her short tank top exposed Riley’s pale globes. Joanna grasped Riley’s ear again when she began to protest and she began to pepper her backside with crisp spanks with her palm. Riley grimaced, while Joanna rained down the hard swats. After a minute or so, Joanna stopped and regarded Riley, still with a firm grip on her ear. She leant down close to the ear she had a hold of. “Young lady, you will stay on that spot. Do
you understand me?”

  Joanna waited hopefully for an answer and when it didn’t come right away, she closed her eyes in frustration. She started the spanking again, this time landing swats to Riley’s tender sit spots and thighs.

  “Ow, yes, ma’am, I understand,” Riley replied, after a few of the hard swats.

  Joanna released Riley’s ear and put her hands on her shoulders. She moved in close behind Riley and she could feel the warmth that Riley’s behind was emitting through her own cotton pajamas.

  “Now, let’s try this again, honey.”

  Joanna gently squeezed Riley’s shoulders before taking a deep breath. She knew Riley was fighting with herself and she needed to make sure that the spanking she was about to deliver was not to Riley’s detriment. Getting her in the right frame of mind was half the battle. She let Riley settle for a couple of minutes before turning her around again. Riley just buried her head in her lover’s chest, wrapping her arms around Joanna tightly.

  Joanna felt tears well in her own eyes, and she held Riley tightly. She knew she wasn’t entirely blameless for the events that had occurred. How could she have not seen it? Or how could she have not acted on what she had seen? She knew something was amiss with Riley but she didn’t do anything. She was supposed to be there for Riley but Riley didn’t trust her enough. She was supposed to protect her. How she could have let Riley nearly get herself killed? The realization that Riley could have been killed hit Joanna again, but this time she couldn’t hold back the tears as she sobbed into Riley’s shoulder.

  “Jo, what is it, what’s the matter?” Riley questioned urgently, pulling back from Joanna and searching her face for answers.

  “I wasn’t there for you, Riley, I should have protected you. Instead, you plan this hare-brained scheme that nearly cost you your life, and I don’t know if I can forgive myself for that, especially with you so distraught about Alex. This was my fault too, Riley. I hope you can forgive me?”

  “Jo, it’s not your fault, how can it be? I was the one who did this, just me.”