by Imogen Rose
“In a minute, Kellan, let’s finish our burgers first, the munchkin can wait!”
“No, she’s no good at waiting,” he laughed as he took of his shorts and shirt revealing his ripped chest and dove in to join them. Ella squealed with delight as he reached her and threw her over his shoulders and mock attacked Sally and Jonas. I closed my eyes enjoying the sun on my face and the happy giggles from the pool.
“Hey, Arizona.”
I felt a chill as I heard the voice behind me. I brought my hands to my neck half expecting Simla to put her hands around it and squeeze again. Ariele reached out and grabbed me. Kellan and Harry were beside me in a heartbeat, even before I had a chance to turn around.
“Simla, turn around and walk away,” Harry muttered quietly as I heard Kellan growl under his breath.
She laughed and said, “See you later, Arizona. Cute guard dogs,” as she walked away.
I sat frozen, not breathing, getting wetter as the drops of water dripped from Kellan and Harry onto me. I could feel a sense of fury rising within me and I felt like I was going to explode. I stood up abruptly, turned around and saw Simla and Justin laughing at me in the distance. My body stiffened and I felt Kellan and Harry grip my hands. I shook them off in anger and started running toward Simla before they could grab hold and stop me. I could feel everyone go quiet. There was no sound from the pool, from the adult gathering by the barbeque, or the group on the lawn. Everyone hushed as they saw me rush over to Simla.
I gritted my teeth and hissed, “You don’t want to mess with me again. You took me by surprise the last time, which is the only reason you’re standing here. That will never happen again.” Simla started to say something, but stopped short as her parents arrived. I could feel a very firm grip on my shoulders and my mom said, “Arizona, may I have a word please?”
I took a deep breath and turned to her, “Sure….” And then turned back to Simla and snarled, “later” under my breath. I could see that she was surprised, but she, much to my anger, did not look even the slightest bit worried. She threw me a challenging glance as Mom walked me back to the house. We walked in silence along the hallways back into the study that I had used earlier with Kellan. It must be the, “let’s have a chat room.” Mom closed the door behind me and waved to the couch for me to sit down. I walked over to it and waited for the onslaught of yelling.
There was none. Mom looked worried and said nothing for ages. I knew instinctively that she had gathered that something was up with me and she probably wondered what. I decided to shock her.
When she finally looked up at me, I said, “Mom, I’m Arizona Stevens. Know her?”
She did not look as surprised as I had hoped. Although I wasn’t sure why I felt I needed a more surprised reaction. This must mean that she had been warned and also prepared. That made me angry.
She looked at me thoughtfully and nodded slowly, “This must be very confusing for you, Arizona.”
I could feel a wave of hysteria building up inside me, “confusing?” Was that the best word she could come up with? I looked at her. It was clear she knew exactly who I was and who I had been. She had taken my life away from me. I got up and started pacing, looking for something to bash her with. I spotted a suitable lamp and walked over to it. I stopped short at the sound of a knock on the door. Rupert came in with Kellan. Rupert took one look at me and immediately strode to Mom’s side and protectively cradled her. That made me angrier, he knew too. Kellan stood at the doorway and looked at me bewildered.
“Arizona, what’s up?” he asked, as he walked over to me, took hold of my shoulders and pushed me back to the couch.
~
Olivia Darley buried her face as far into Rupert’s chest as she could, trying to hide away from the world. This was her only safe place while everything else around her was crumbling. How could this have happened? All the plans had been meticulously planned and executed. She knew that she didn’t need to tell Rupert anything, he would know intuitively. She stole a glance at his face and he just nodded in affirmation and then kissed her forehead. She wondered what the extent of her daughter’s recall/intuition was. There was only one way to find out now. She had to confront her furious daughter. She slowly pulled herself up and turned to face Arizona. Arizona was sitting on the opposite couch, with Kellan almost holding her down. She was glad Kellan was here. He was a good boy, a good friend to Arizona.
~
I waited, not patiently, for my mother to speak. After what seemed like ages, she finally emerged from Rupert’s arms and looked at me.
“Arizona, I’ll try to answer your questions, and I am sure you have many. This is not the place or time though. It’s Larry’s barbeque and we shouldn’t be responsible for a scene. This means a lot to him, can we talk more when we get back home?” she asked pleadingly. “This is a private matter to be discussed later.”
She had to be joking! There was no way I was going to give in to this. I wanted answers and I wanted them now. I started to talk, but Kellan took my chin, pulled it towards him and whispered, “Please.”
I looked at his face, hard as this was, I instinctively knew not to risk ruining things with Kellan. This was his dad’s barbeque so I nodded, took his hand and walked back out without looking at my mother.
It was hard walking back out to join the others. All eyes were on us. So I did the only thing I knew would distract everyone and give them something else to talk about. I turned toward Kellan and put my hands around the back of his neck and pulled his surprised face towards mine. I brushed my lips against his, softly at first and then kissed him.
~
Olivia and Rupert watched the teens leave in relief. They needed some breathing space and they needed to talk, but instead just sat in silence. Rupert finally broke the calm by saying, “Ollie, what did she say?”
“She said that she was Arizona Stevens.”
“Anything else?”
“No….”
Rupert tried to absorb this, “So, we don’t know the extent of this? That’s all she said? Kellan did enlighten me a bit on the way here. He’s very worried about her. He only had a couple of minutes while we walked, well ran, over so it’s not much but it’s a start.”
Olivia straightened up, “What did he say? Tell me, Rupert, I need to know.”
“Well, he told me that something changed for Arizona last weekend. She couldn’t explain it, but she suddenly found herself here, living the life of Arizona Darley although she knows she’s Arizona Stevens.”
Olivia was horrified and started trembling, “I don’t understand how.”
Rupert interrupted as he took her hand to calm her down. “Wait, there is more. Kellan also claims that it was Simla who hurt Arizona in the restroom. That explains the incident outside. That’s all he had time to tell me. He also made me promise not to repeat this to Arizona. He doesn’t want her to know that he told us. He’d agreed to let her handle this herself. He now feels that she could do with some help, but gentle help. I have noticed that the relationship between them seems to have changed, in fact look at them now.”
They could clearly see them through the window. Arizona and Kellan kissing each other. Olivia smiled. That was the least of their problems, in fact, it was sort of nice. Kellan was a good boy. He would never hurt Arizona.
Rupert noticed the smile and asked, “You approve?”
“Why not? They are cute together. Rupert, I need time to think and I also need to know how much Arizona knows and what happened to her before we have our ‘talk’ with her. Let’s get Larry in here to find out if Kellan shared any of this with him. And we need to decide how to deal with Simla.”
Rupert nodded and got his phone out, “I’ll text Larry and ask him to come join us for a minute. The kids seem too busy to notice him taking off.”
They could see Larry through the window, checking his phone when his message came though and then making a quiet exit from the yard to the house. He arrived at the library moments later.
“What’s up, k
ids? You look serious.”
Rupert filled him in and Larry’s look turned grave.
“Kellan hasn’t shared any information with me. I am not surprised though. He wouldn’t gossip about his friends with me. Arizona can’t possibly know anything about the portal. She must be totally confused about what’s going on, as are we. Any hypotheses, Ollie?”
She shook her head, “No, Larry, I do need to know what she’s gone through and I need time to think. I can’t possibly have her question me now, when I’ve no information. She’s so angry with me and seems certain that I’m responsible so she is going to expect answers. Answers that I don’t have.”
Larry nodded, “Ollie, I can give you ‘time’ easily enough by insisting that you have work to do at Ames and removing you from this situation until you can figure it out. However, this won’t help you find out what’s going on with Arizona. We could ask Kellan to help. I’m sure he wants the best for her and if we can convince him that sharing his information is in her best interest, he may well. But we’ll have to be completely honest with him.”
Rupert nodded in agreement, “That sounds like a good plan. Ollie, you don’t even need to head to Ames. Head over to the cottage and get some rest. I’ll join you there later and help you figure this out before we talk to Arizona. Larry, could you talk to Kellan?”
Larry nodded, “I’ll do so this evening after everyone has left. Ollie, head off, take one of my cars. I’ll let Harry know that we’ve had a work emergency. Hopefully Arizona will buy that. She doesn’t have much choice anyway.”
Olivia got up to go, but stopped at the door and turned around, “What about Simla?”
Rupert said, “Let me think that through.”
She nodded and headed off to the garage.
“Right,” said Larry looking at Rupert, “Let’s go and join the party.”
Olivia looked in awe at the impressive collection of cars in Larry’s garage. Her gaze was, however quickly drawn to the collection beyond the cars, a set of four Harleys. She walked over to them and looked at them in wonder, they were masterpieces. Larry had told her to borrow a car, but one of these seemed so much more tempting. A carefree ride on one of these would be just what the doctor ordered. It would help her get her mind off other things. The concentration she would require to keep one of these in line would be all consuming and delicious.
She looked down at her feet, nude Louboutins, not really suitable for such an adventure. She turned around and looked at the cars again, the convertible Porsche would have to do. She undid the scarf from around her neck and replaced it on her head, tying a loose knot under her chin and jumping into the Porsche. The roof was already down. She carefully backed it out of the garage, throwing the Harleys a last wistful glance and then sped out the driveway.
She had not yet made up her mind where to go. She didn’t really feel like heading to Ames, the office environment would feel too overwhelming and gloomy right now. Rupert’s suggestion of the cottage was more inviting and the thought of him joining her there later extremely comforting. She drove, enjoying the fresh blast of air hitting her face and the feel of the silk around her hair. She decided to take the scenic route. It would take longer, but she needed the distraction. Thinking would have to wait.
It was a beautiful day, as most days in October were. It was her absolute favorite month – home to two meteor showers, Halloween and, most importantly, the month when she had found Rupert. She drove through the winding gravel back roads, not exactly perfect for a Porsche. She should have been more sensible and taken one of the sport utility vehicles but where was the fun in that?
It was already dark when she arrived at the cottage. She parked, retrieved the cottage keys from under the vase by the rose bush and unlocked the door. This was her hideaway cottage. No one knew of its location, but everyone was aware it existed and it had been the butt of numerous jokes over the years. In reality it was more of a shack than cottage. It was tiny. The front door opened into the main room with a fireplace at one end and a kitchenette at the other. There was a settee that could double up as a spare bed by the fireplace but had never been used as such. No guests had ever been invited here. The walls of the main room were covered in bookshelves, mainly paperbacks that had all been read. There was also a small, old-fashioned TV perched on the kitchenette bar, which was hooked into a DVD system since there was no TV reception at the cottage. There were two rooms off this main room; a small bedroom with a king-size bed and a large bathroom with a Jacuzzi and sauna. The bedroom had a set of patio doors that led into the back yard, which bordered on to a pond. Rupert had built a barbeque pit and they had put some old patio furniture outside to lounge on. This had been their piece of heaven since they moved to California, their hiding place.
Olivia lit the fireplace and made herself comfortable on the cushions scattered on the floor. She lay down and stared at the ceiling, her eyes wandering to the bookcase and homing in on a framed picture. It was an old 35mm black and white photograph that Rupert had taken of them just as they were about to leave for Heathrow airport all those years ago after they had reconnected. She got up and retrieved the frame from the bookcase and lay back down on the cushions with it. She studied the faces in the picture, so in love but so somber, the pain of the impending separation clearly reflected in their expressions. The feeling of desperation that she had felt that morning still tore like a knife.
She was exactly where she wanted to be, with Rupert in the cozy flat in London, but she knew she had to cut this reunion short to go back to her daughters. The ride to the airport on the back of Rupert’s Harley had been the most difficult journey in her life. Her body ached with pain from the dismay she bottled up.
Olivia was brought back to the present by the loud roar of a bike, Rupert hopefully. She got up and walked over to the door and opened it. There he was, sitting leather-clad on his bike. It was always a thrill to see him. He got up and took his helmet off as he walked over to her.
“That was quick, I’m glad,” said Olivia welcoming him into her arms.
“I left the kids with Larry. They were having such a great time that the teens decided to have a sleepover. Larry will make sure they get to school on time in the morning. Ella is staying over with Sally.”
“Perfect! That means we can have a sleepover here….,” beamed Olivia. “Make yourself comfortable. I’ll get some refreshments from the wine cellar,” she chuckled.
The wine cellar was a small cupboard in the kitchenette. She fetched a bottle and two of the Tiffany wine glasses that they had received as a wedding present, and brought them over to the cushions by the fireplace. She found Rupert looking at the photograph that she had put down. He reached over and took the bottle and glasses and put them down on the floor before taking her hands and pulling her down on the cushions next to him. He pulled her close, kissing her neck and moved to her lips. They lay there enjoying the closeness, both reluctant to break the perfect moment by discussing the issues that needed to be dealt with. They could wait, just a bit longer. They lay enjoying the music of each other’s heartbeats until they fell asleep.
Olivia awoke to the delicious smell of newly ground coffee beans and cinnamon buns. She stretched and she could feel her bones complaining about the night on the floor. She sighed… age! Rupert brought coffee over and they sat and enjoyed it while listening to the crackle from the fireplace. After she finished, she laid her head down on Rupert’s lap and while he stroked her hair, he asked, “Ollie, any thoughts?”
She giggled, “Plenty, most involve tearing your clothes off. Is that what you mean?”
“Silly goose! You know what I mean. We can’t put this off any longer, we can’t hide from the kids forever.”
“You certain?” she teased. Then she sat up and looked at him wearily. “Rupert, I am avoiding thinking about it mainly because I don’t know what to think. I have no idea what’s going on with Arizona. Who she’s told, what she knows. How did she take the news that I had to leave and the
‘talk’ was going to have to be postponed?”
“I didn’t really have to deal with it. Ariele, Ali and Maria had already decided on a sleepover so they were too busy being excited about that. Teenagers are so easily distracted.”
Olivia nodded thankfully, “I’ll need more information before we can decide how to deal with this. I’m hoping Larry has had time to talk to Kellan. I’ll give him a call.” Olivia picked up her cell and dialed Larry’s number and spoke to him while Rupert restocked the fireplace. She came back and threw herself back on the pillows.
“Larry didn’t get much of a chance to talk to Kellan this morning, the kids were in a state trying to get organized for school and the tryouts. He drove Harry and Arizona home so they could pick up their kits. He suggested talking to Ariele though. Kellan mentioned that she would be useful to talk to. I’ll call Glenda.” A number of phone calls later, a despondent looking Olivia returned to Rupert who was strumming on his guitar by the fireplace.
“What’s up, you look disappointed?” Rupert asked concerned.
“The kids are all busy today, they’re going to the hockey tryouts after school. I would love to go too, but I’m concerned that it would upset Arizona and it’s probably best to leave her be for the moment.”
Rupert nodded, “Yes, you’re right. Let me take care of this. I’ll call Larry and Glenda and set something up for later tonight with Kellan and Ariele. In the meantime, since you are not heading into work today, come to the studio with me. It would be great to have you around. I’ve missed us hanging out.”
“I’d love to and then we could pick Ella up from school together and bring her back to the studio. She’ll love that.” Olivia looked out the window and asked, “Porsche or Harley?”
They changed into their leathers and put the fire out. They looked around; the tranquility of this haven was unparalleled. They must make more time for it. It deserved to be used more. They took the scenic route again, perfect for this bright, clear but windy morning. They drove back to the house first and took Gertrude for a walk along the woods at the back of the house. Olivia looked at Gertrude. She had been the latest addition to the family, the last piece that she had gone back for. It had seemed insane to go back for a dog. But Gertrude meant a lot to both her and Arizona.
