Lost in Flight

by Neeny Boucher

Christina

  Christina groaned. Of course, she thought he might potentially have diseases, but there was no real nice way of saying that. Instead she said, “Well – maybe. I’ve had to do stuff and things you know – for me.”

  Riley looked exasperated and scowled. “If you say stuff and things one more time, I swear, Christina…” He stared her straight in the eye, but she looked away and down at the ground. This was mortifying.

  Christina looked down and then back-up at him. Waving her arms a bit she said, “Stuff – you know – and things – I mean. I got tested, just as a precaution, because it’s the right thing to do and,” her eyes narrowed, “I hear you’re in a relationship with Steph…”

  Riley cut across her. “Don’t say it, Christina. Don’t go there and stop trying to take attention away from the fact you do think I’m a diseased person, enough to get tested anyway.”

  He pulled himself up to his full height and looked down at her saying huffily. “I’m clean, Christina. I can get you the paperwork if you want it.”

  It was good to know – after the fact – and just her luck. She’d been jabbed with needles and put herself through a serious amount of anxiety for nothing, except her peace of mind. It was also irrelevant. She wouldn’t be having sex with him again and she would make sure she never had unprotected sex with anyone (never plus infinity).

  ********************

  Riley

  Looking at her, Riley felt conflicted with anger and affection. She always roused these sorts of emotions in him and he was prepared to forgive her for thinking he was a walking contagion. As she turned to walk away, he said, “Christina, I’m sorry. I am. I’m sorry for sleeping with you when you were drunk. I’m sorry we weren’t more careful about protection. I’m sorry for the fight and all of it, but I’m not apologizing for the sex because I don’t regret that.”

  When she went to interrupt him, he put his hand up, “And if a baby came out of that… all I’m saying is I’d want it.”

  They held eye contact and Christina surprised both of them when she said, “So would I. Now, if you’ll excuse me I have work to do” and walked back up the stairs to her bedroom.

  ********************

  Riley felt his mouth quirk up into a smile. At least that was settled. He went to his bedroom to shower and change. He packed his bag and got his things together so he could get the hell out of there.

  As he exited his bedroom, she was sitting working on her computer, focused on the screen. When he said, “I’m going to stay at a hotel, Christina,” she didn’t respond. He knew she didn’t know it was his house, but he thought she could have made some kind of “thank you” gesture about him leaving for her.

  Riley felt like he was always leaving for her. He’d left their home, town, Seattle, New York, and now his own house: because of her and she didn’t give a shit. He turned around to say something about it and saw her engrossed in her work.

  Work, he groaned inwardly. Work. Shit. He was “this” close to getting out of here semi-unscathed, but it had to be done. He couldn’t let her drive at night and pick up this Andy guy by herself. He could be a freak for all Riley knew, and more importantly, Christina shouldn’t be on the road period.

  There were innocent people, just driving along minding their own business, not realizing there was a hazard on the road. And hazard’s name was Christina. He didn’t want to do this, but he’d just add it to the list called “crap things he’d done because of Christina Martin.”

  Riley put on his most charming smile saying neutrally, “Why don’t you let me buy you dinner tonight as a way of saying sorry?”

  She spun her head around and looked at him with her eyes open wide, and her mouth turned down. I don’t want to do this either, sweetheart, he thought, but it’s a civic duty. He tried not to be offended at her demeanor, but he was.

  She went to interrupt him, but he hurried on. “I know it doesn’t make up for it, or even come close, but - you know – let me try.” He then gave her an innocent wide-eyed open stare trying to get her to agree.

  ********************

  Christina

  Christina was suspicious and her eyebrows drew forward. What was he up to? She didn’t trust him. It was unlike him to be so forgiving and usually about now, he’d be storming out the door while they traded insults at one another. She didn’t want to spend another night in his company or even five more minutes. Trying to navigate a conversation with Riley was similar to dancing blindfolded through mine-laden terrain.

  Scratching around for a way to politely decline she said, “Oh sorry, I can’t. I have a work colleague coming in tonight, so maybe some other time.”

  To her annoyance, Riley fired back. “We can go early and I’ll pick him up with you. I’m going to stay at the same hotel as your friend, so it’ll be easy.” She tried to keep the horror off her face, but failed dismally.

  ********************

  Riley

  Riley watched Christina purse her lips and scowl. He knew he could talk her into this, but he was going to have to lay a guilt trip on her. He didn’t want her driving - hell, no one that knew her or had experienced a ride with her wanted her driving. She was in denial about how much of a menace she was, but he knew if he played this wrong she’d do it just to spite him.

  Smiling, he said nonchalantly, “So… we can take my car…”

  ********************

  Christina

  And there it was, Christina thought. All wrapped up in a pretty box. It was about her driving and nothing else. He’d never let her drive his truck or even her own parents’ car when she’d borrowed it. Seriously, the way people reacted to Christina’s driving annoyed her.

  She didn’t think she was that bad and there were far worse drivers on the road. She remembered saying this once to Johnny and he’d said, “Where?” But that was irrelevant. They all made out like she was disabled at driving and it was offensive.

  ********************

  Riley

  Riley knew she was suspicious, so he decided he better pull out the big guns. He slumped his shoulders, pulled his eyebrows together and pretended to look hurt. Putting on a sad face he said, “It might be nice. I mean – I thought we might be having a baby today, you told me about your period and you thought I had diseases.”

  Shrugging for emphasis, Riley said sadly, “I just thought it would be a nice way of showing there were no hard feelings.” He almost laughed out loud when he saw Christina react. Her eyes went big and she pressed her lips together. Game over.

  He looked at the ground to make sure she couldn’t make eye contact, struggling to keep the smile that was threatening to break over his face hidden. It would have ruined it all and she was still close to the pots and pans. He knew he’d won this round and he knew from experience, he had to take his victories, no matter how small, with her when he got them.

  ********************

  Christina

  This was a bad idea and Christina knew it, and she didn’t trust him, but here he was trying to make peace with her. He looked so dejected and sad: the total fake pig. If she rejected him outright, she’d feel like a total bitch. If he told anyone, it’d just reinforce she was the mean one, and Riley was the innocent, injured party.

  She supposed she could go and have dinner with him, but she really didn’t want to. Deliberating, she decided to accept his strange offer, but on her terms. Looking at Riley she said, “Dinner? Ooooh-kay. But… I don’t want to go anywhere that I need to dress up. Can we go somewhere I can wear jeans?”

  ********************

  Riley

  Keeping his face straight Riley said, “Sure. What time do you have to pick up your friend?” When she said 8:00 p.m., he nodded. “Okay. Cool. I’ll pick you up about 6:00.” Then he waved goodbye and left.

  He waited at the top of the steps outside and was about to go back in when he heard her turn the music up. She started singing some pop song about “dirty dancing in the moonlight”
and he smiled. He could forgive her just about anything when she sang like that. She was the most dangerous woman he’d ever met and he’d just agreed to go out with her. He was an idiot.

  Chapter Fifteen – Wake turbulence

  Riley, Seattle, The Present, Tuesday 9 October 2012

  “I think God hates me, Jed.” Looking at his friend with a grin, Riley decided it was the only reasonable conclusion he could come to. After checking into the Alexis Hotel, he’d made his way back to catch up with Gabby and also, more importantly, to hit up Jed about why he hadn’t informed him Christina was at the house.

  As soon as he walked into Gabby’s room, she smiled knowingly and asked, “Did you have a nice evening?” He had had a nice evening. It was the morning that was the problem, but he ignored her trolling and asked Jed if he could speak with him outside.

  After giving Jed the seriously edited version of what had transpired this morning, he joked that he must have offended some deity in this or another life. Riley was pretty upbeat. He’d won a little victory over Christina and he could let the rest of what happened slide.

  He was surprised when Jed said to him. “I suppose you could look at it that way. Or you could look at it like the man upstairs is trying to send messages to really, really dumb people who are just too pig-headed and stubborn to receive them?”

  Riley rolled his eyes and gave Jed a “whatever” look, but didn’t let Jed’s little joke dent his good humor. He’d sure had a quieter life in the last five years without Hurricane Christina tearing through it. Then again, he thought, quiet wasn’t always what someone needed.

  With a grin, he got up and told a still talking Jed he’d see him later. He had an idea for what he and Christina could do tonight. She was either going to love or hate it, but it definitely wouldn’t be quiet.

  ********************

  Jed

  Jed watched Riley depart with a frown. He’d known Riley for nearly a decade and viewed him as a brother. Riley had been a good friend taking Jed with him on the way up and giving him opportunities he’d never had before. Jed’s loyalty lay with Riley, but he’d never seen him act this way before. He was up one minute and on edge the next. Jed thought you’d have to be a dunce not to work out the source of his mate’s problem, but there was no talking to Riley about it.

  For everything, Jed liked Christina Martin, and Johnny, and also their father. He really liked working with Johnny, even when it meant baby-sitting the Princess of the underworld in the next room. He’d been fully prepared to put the hooks and barbs in Christina for Riley, but after getting to know her a bit, he couldn’t bring himself to do it.

  Jed prided himself on being a good judge of character and his gut feelings on people had saved him on more than one occasion. Christina wasn’t perfect by any means, but she was a good person and he admired her commitment to her family. He also appreciated that Christina was one of the few people that would and could rein in Gabby de Ville.

  He and the Martins shared something in common: his mother died young, too. He’d been sent to live with his American based father when he was a teenager and it hadn’t gone so well. His father had another family and Jed felt he was in the way.

  When he’d run away at 16, no one came looking for him to see if he was okay. He’d gone back to Ireland and returned States side when he was 20. He’d gone to see his father, who made it clear, he didn’t give a shit whether Jed was dead or alive. As a young lad, he would have given anything for someone to care for him the way the Martins cared for each other.

  This wasn’t his main concern at the moment though, Riley was. As long as Jed had known Riley, he was solid. He never caved under pressure, could be the voice of reason, and never flinched when things got ugly. He’d relied on Riley on more than one occasion and never been let down. Now, his mate was acting like his pants were on too tight and he’d lost all sense of humor.

  The princess of the underworld looked up when Jed entered and smiled in a way that made him nervous. Giving him a grin, Gabby said, “How’s Riley, Jed?”

  Jed shrugged his shoulders and said “good” in a non-committal way. He waited for the Princess to get out her tools of torture to extract more information, but she was strangely silent. He heard her sigh dramatically and huff, but he made no response.

  When she said, “Aren’t you going to ask me what’s wrong?”

  He looked at her and said, “No.”

  She stared at him in a way that made him want to cover his gonads and then smiled like Cruella de Ville. The smile made it worse and Jed forced himself to meet her eyes without blinking. Gabby sighed and looked at him out of the corner of her eye. Jed thought “Uh-oh” and then heard her say, “I think they need some help, Jed.”

  “They” aren’t the only ones, thought Jed but didn’t dare say it out loud. Smiling back at her he asked, “What do you mean, Princess?”

  Her smile turned calculating, “Riley and Christina. I think they need some assistance.”

  Jed shook his head and said quietly, but with force, “Leave it, Princess.” She scowled and pouted at him, which was not a good sign. He began to wonder what lovely little surprises she had in store for him and he doubted any of them would be pleasant.

  ********************

  Christina, Seattle, The Present, Tuesday 9 October 2012

  If they weren’t picking Andy James up at the airport, Christina would have worn her biohazard pajamas. As they were, she picked an outfit that looked like it came from the bottom of her laundry hamper: ripped jeans, a black wrap cable sweater, and white tank top. She set it off with her favorite pair of grungy boots that were ass kickers. Like the rest of her outfit, the boots were functional, practical, and definitely unsexy.

  She didn’t wear any make-up, except for lip-gloss, and moisturizer. She was tempted to plaster a facemask on, but she thought of Andy. Reluctantly, she dragged a comb through her hair. If it were just Christina and Riley, she would have left it as a bird’s nest.

  Riley arrived on time and briefly looked at her outfit without a reaction. For a moment, she was disappointed. She knew she was going for the unsexy look, but she expected some kind of shock-horror. He made out her appearance was normal.

  “Do you have a coat and gloves?” he asked quietly. “You’re going to need them.”

  She pulled a face and went to get them, grabbing her handbag as they headed out the door. He opened the car door for her with a wry smile on his face and she climbed in. This car was far removed from his old pickup truck that he used to drive in Shanwick. It was some fancy, sleek, silver, large European model that looked expensive. She preferred the truck, to be honest because it had character and history.

  ********************

  Riley

  Riley almost laughed out loud when he saw her outfit. It reminded him of the clothes they used to wear in their grunge phase. She certainly hadn’t dressed up for him and he was glad he’d made little effort either. Apart from his jeans, he was all in black from his shirt to his mid-length coat to his Doc Martens.

  On their way to get dinner, he tried to keep the smirk off his face and failed. “Do you have cravings for anything in particular?”

  She spun her head around so fast, he thought she was going to give herself whiplash. Christina made no response and just glared at him. He smiled back at her and laughed, when he saw her mouth turn down in displeasure.

  They got Thai takeout and fought about who was paying. In the end, they’d compromised and gone halves. They ate it in his car and when they’d finished, he drove toward the airport.

  Unlike his last date with Callie, this one was the opposite of talkative. They hardly said a word to each other, so he plugged his iPhone in, turned up the volume to use music to break the silence. He cast a sideways glance at Christina and she was scowling. It almost made him laugh out loud, but he refrained.

  ********************

  Christina

  Christina was enjoying the music, but kept her arms folded
and ankles locked so it wouldn’t show. She didn’t understand why they were driving to the airport so early. They would have over an hour to wait before Andy arrived. Obviously, they weren’t going to sit and talk. There wasn’t a lot of that going on now. So she remained silent and waited patiently for the “worst-date-ever” to be over.

  When Riley turned off the road and into some dirt-parking strip, Christina wondered what was going on. He stopped the car and grinned. “We’re here.” She narrowed her eyes at him. This place was creepy and it crossed her mind he actually might want to get rid of her for good.

  ********************

  Riley

  Riley got her out of the car and he could tell she was confused. She kept glaring at him and looking around nervously, but he decided to ignore it. He didn’t know what went on in her mind and he’d given up trying to work it out because it was dangerous territory.

  As the nervous looks continued, he had to refrain from rolling his eyes. What did she think he was going to do? Murder her? Sure, he’d had revenge fantasies, but they didn’t include murder.

  Riley made her put her coat and gloves on, and when he found out she didn’t have a hat he slapped a beanie over her head. It nearly covered her eyes and she had to push it off her face, with her hair sticking out the sides. She looked ridiculous and he tried not to laugh.

  She stood there watching him as he unloaded the car without saying a word. He spread a blanket down on the ground, putting a six-pack on it. Riley offered her a beer, but she declined so he didn’t have one either. He sat silently waiting.