Lost in Flight

by Neeny Boucher

  ********************

  Christina

  Even for Riley and her standards, Christina decided this was weird. She was about to ask him what was going on when she heard a noise above her head. Looking up Christina saw an airplane taking off that flew directly over them. The noise was incredible and she covered her ears with her hands.

  It was like the sound was inside her, making her body vibrate like loud music. She couldn’t catch her breath properly and had to do some breathing exercises to get under control. She could feel her heart beating in response to the noise of the plane and it was almost overwhelming.

  ********************

  Riley

  Riley was watching the plane overhead and then turned to look at Christina. She had her hands clasped over her ears and was rigid. He had a bit of a chuckle. They used to do this when they were teenagers. It was one of their things, but he had no idea if she would like this anymore.

  As she turned toward him, her eyes were staring and she looked intently at him. He was unsure of her reaction and he felt his shoulders stiffen bracing himself for full impact. Then her face split into a wide grin and she yelled, “I love it!”

  She threw herself into his arms, nearly knocking him off his feet, and he had to grab hold of her so they didn’t go sprawling on the ground. She hugged him tight laughing. “Thank you, thank you.”

  Christina pulled away from him. “I want to do something. Can I plug my iPhone into your car?”

  Riley looked at her and her eyes were bright and shining. Her face was alive with a smile and excitement he hadn’t seen in years. He cleared his throat and said with a smile, “Go for it. Do whatever you want.”

  Christina jumped in his car making him promise that he’d tell her when the next plane was coming. She was still fidgeting around as the next plane began its approach, so he knocked on the window to get her attention. She turned the volume up as loud as it could go and jumped out the car.

  Grabbing his arm, she made him close his eyes, and lean against the car. Riley heard her yell, “M83. It’s M83 “Midnight City”.”

  He had heard them before and they were really good. He could feel the vibrations of the music and plane through every part of his body. It was an awesome experience, which, for once, took him down memory lane in a good way.

  ********************

  Christina

  For the first time in a long time, actually since Gabby’s accident and all the stress, and crazy that had come after it, Christina felt alive. Bonnie often talked about blowing out the cobwebs as a sexual analogy, but to Christina this experience was more fitting and less dangerous. She actually felt happy, as if all her troubles and anxiety had been blown away, clearing the ground for something new.

  Christina knew time was ticking by, but she was enjoying this so much she wished they didn’t have to leave. She jumped into the car making Riley promise again to let her know when the next plane was coming. She selected Florence + the Machine’s “Spectrum” to play because she wanted to feel it in combination with the noise from the aircraft. When Riley yelled a plane was approaching, Christina hit “play” and jumped out of the car.

  ********************

  Riley

  “Spectrum” started playing loudly, but was muted by the noise of the plane. Riley liked this song and nodded his agreement with her choice. They were standing side by side and when he looked down at her, he saw her eyes were closed, and she was mouthing the words to the song.

  He leaned over and said in her ear, “Sing it, Dina. Go on. Do it.” She opened her mouth and started singing as loud as she could. She was audible until the plane went directly over and then she started laughing like he hadn’t seen her do with him in years.

  Watching her, Riley remembered why he loved her and the years melted away. Her face lit up when she sang and she was happy. This was his girl.

  What he had always missed about Christina was her company. She was a walking contradiction: a combination of prissy and hot, responsible and reckless, insecure and confident, serious and passionate. She’d been adventurous and game for any weird daredevil idea he’d come up with. They’d connected in a way he’d never experienced with anyone else and being with her had balanced his melancholy, solitary nature.

  When they’d broken up, it was as if he’d lost the light. Riley had always hoped she was in there somewhere, underneath the other one. He’d often mused, usually when drunk, that Dina had been replaced by some kind of replicant and sold her soul to become Christina, the corporate drone in D.C. But here she was, he thought wryly, if only he’d known. They could have saved themselves all the drama and aired their differences while getting a rush from planes.

  Before he thought himself out of it, he pulled her into his arms, grabbed her face, and kissed her. He felt her arms go around his neck and she was kissing him back with enthusiasm. He half- carried, half-danced her over to the blanket and they lay down facing each other. She didn’t look upset or offended. Just the opposite, she was looking at him with tenderness.

  He rolled over onto her, holding her face in his hands and kissed her senseless. He put his head on her chest so he could hear her heartbeat. She wrapped her arms around him, rubbing his back and shoulders. She kissed the top of his head and they just lay there for a bit, without saying anything.

  Riley could have stayed like that forever, but they had things to do. “Come on,” he said, “we better go get your friend.” He pulled her up by the hand, picked up the blanket and the beer, loaded it into the car, and they left.

  ********************

  Christina

  Christina knew they were cutting it fine for Andy James, but she didn’t want to leave. She’d enjoyed all of it – the planes, the music, and the kissing. She felt something for Riley she hadn’t felt for a long time: genuine heartfelt, love, and affection. She’d always felt lust for him, but this was different. He’d done this for her and she was impressed. No one else would have thought to do it – no one else would have known. Only Riley and he’d remembered.

  When he put his head on her chest, she closed her eyes and breathed him in, kissing him on the top of his head. This was her Riley, not the mean one that identified her weak points and used them against her to twist the knife. It had been a long time, but she remembered something important – something buried underneath all the anger and bitterness between them. Riley could be kind and thoughtful – almost intuitively so – when he chose to be.

  She felt like he’d helped put her back together and she wanted to hang onto him. Christina fought back tears and felt wracked with guilt. Somewhere along the way, they’d stopped fighting for one another and started fighting with each other.

  It made her chest ache thinking about it and she resolved that from hereon in things would be different. She would be different. Holding him in her arms, she could have stayed like that forever, but then he stood up, telling her they needed to leave and broke the connection. They drove in relative comfortable silence to the airport and then made their way to find Andy James.

  ********************

  As they entered the airport, Christina turned to Riley. “Thank you – for what you did back there, I really appreciate it.” He didn’t say anything in response, just smiled enigmatically, and moved her on with his hand in the small of her back. Christina spotted Andy James a mile away in his suit, with a laptop slung over his shoulder. Andy was walking so fast, he was passing people on the people movers.

  Christina and Andy had always got on well. He was about 5’8, with black hair, and dark eyes. His mother was Japanese-American and his dad was white, and in the military. Andy always seemed to be in perpetual motion.

  Andy James had a high-octane energy that supercharged people when he was in their company. He was one of those people that made you feel like achieving anything was possible in his presence. They also shared a shady secret that he’d been sworn to hold even until after death. They were dance partners because she was gym
/exercise allergic.

  Christina wasn’t sure and she’d never asked, but she suspected Andy was gay. Whatever his sexual orientation, he was an over-achieving, single, good looking, organized, cultured, and well-dressed young man. In her mind that definitely equaled gay.

  When she saw Andy, Christina grabbed Riley’s arm. “There he is. Come on.” Andy broke into a big smile when he saw her and then frowned looking at her outfit. “Is it freezing cold out there?”

  Christina shook her head laughing. “It’s not that cold, but we’ve been outside, um watching planes.”

  Andy raised an eyebrow with an: “O-kay then.” Turning, she introduced Andy to Riley. “This is Riley, Nicholas Riley.”

  With a friendly smile, Andy stuck his hand out to Riley. “Like Bond, James Bond?”

  Riley grinned back. “I wish” making both men laugh.

  ********************

  Riley

  Riley was a little surprised when he heard Dina say, “Riley is an old family friend and um, my ex-husband.”

  Andy didn’t react in any way, except to say, “Good to meet you, man.”

  Riley suspected Andy already knew Dina’s family relationship dynamics and he wondered what she’d told him. The two men shook hands for a while and stared into each other’s eyes. They held on for what was longer than necessary, nodded, and let go at the same time.

  ********************

  Christina

  Christina knew that something had passed between them, but she didn’t know what. Andy talked the whole time he was with them waiting for his bag to be unloaded. Once his suitcase was in hand, Andy, who made his living blending in so he could observe other people, went to the bathroom to get changed into less conspicuous clothing.

  ********************

  Riley

  It was a guy thing and if Riley read it right, this Andy was not Dina’s boyfriend, nor interested in her beyond friendship, which made him relax. They obviously got on very well and unlike the last couple of hours, Andy and Dina talked non-stop. The guy was almost as talkative as Callie, but instead of it being verbal diarrhea, it was a cover for a very sharp mind, processing information, and filing it away. Riley decided he was okay.

  Riley wanted to say something to Dina about what happened, but by the time he’d got round to it Andy had reappeared. He’d replaced his suit with jeans, a black coat, some black and white Van’s men’s skate shoes, and glasses. His hair was mussed up a bit and he looked reasonably different to the suited man that just got off the plane. They headed back to the car to make their way to the townhouse.

  Dina was sitting in the back of the car and Andy leaned over to her. “Well, you look better than the last time I saw you.”

  She pulled a face and caught Riley’s eyes in the rear view mirror. Riley looked at Andy and asked “Why?”

  Andy shrugged. “She’d been working 100 hour weeks before she left and I thought she was going to kill herself. I wasn’t the only one. Me and Marie, her room-mate, had to make sure she ate because she started to look like a scarecrow.”

  They all laughed when Dina responded. “Gee, thanks.”

  ********************

  Christina

  To Christina’s surprise Riley and Andy got on really well. They started talking in the car and didn’t stop. If Christina had to pick two people with less in common she would struggle to find it, but here they were speaking like old friends. In fact they didn’t stop talking, even when they went into the townhouse.

  Andy had borderline obsessive-compulsive tendencies and turned up the radio, and started humming. He kept fidgeting and talking, which made Riley grin. He kept changing the channels, trying to find something he liked in no particular order or genre. Not that they could identify anyway.

  Christina asked Andy if he wanted something to eat, but he shook his head. When Riley offered him a beer, Andy looked up. “Now you’re talking.”

  Riley and Christina started shedding clothing waiting for Andy to tell them what was going on. When she took her hat off, Andy looked up saying, “WHOA, Martin! Scary.”

  She looked at Riley who was trying not to openly laugh. She said, “I’ve got really bad hat hair haven’t I”? Riley nodded ‘yep’ so she went to the bathroom to try and do something with it.

  When she came back the men were talking and she heard Andy say, “So what martial arts do you do?”

  She was surprised when she heard Riley say, “Wing Chun and I’ve done a bit of Jeet Kune Do too, but right now I’m doing MMA. What about you?”

  Andy shrugged. “I’ve done Wing Chun too, but I now do MMA and weapons. I’m also into Parkour – you know just in case there’s a Zombie Apocalypse.”

  Christina laughed, but the two men looked at her like she’d just declared she was a communist. They stared intently at each other and gave ‘yeah man’ head nods to one another. Oh-em-gee, Christina thought, they’re actually serious. How sweet. She was witnessing the birth of a twisted bromance.

  Andy was in full bonding mode, telling Riley his life story. Then the two men were off talking about things Christina had no idea about with imaginary fight match ups between people she’d never heard of either. To her own surprise, she found herself enjoying the bizarre conversation.

  ********************

  Riley

  Riley decided this Andy was a pretty interesting guy. He found himself asking Andy what he did for a job. Normally, Riley sat back and let people reveal themselves, but he found Andy easy to talk to.

  Andy said, “Well, I’m a private investigator/computer security consultant. That’s how I met Martin over there. Bindmans is one of my top clients. What about you?”

  ********************

  Christina

  When Andy turned to Riley and asked what he did, Christina held her breath. She knew Riley wasn’t forthcoming with strangers and she was surprised when he answered. “Me? My career has been a bit, um, interesting. My parents were farmers and it wasn’t me. I couldn’t stand it.” Andy gave him an understanding, ‘yeah man’ look and Riley continued.

  “So, I did a road trip when I was in my early 20s and let’s just say, I went off the beaten track.”

  Christina was all attention now. Riley’s road trip was when he disappeared from her and she didn’t know what he’d done. She tried to remain as cool and collected as possible, giving nothing away on her face.

  ********************

  Riley

  Riley wondered what he should disclose and then thought screw it. After tonight, he was just going to put it all out there. “I’ve done lots of stuff. I was a cook at some dive down South, I worked farms and orchards… drove trucks, did sales, I was a bartender and a doorman, and,” he grinned, “I was a male stripper for a bit.”

  Andy burst out laughing, but Dina’s eyes and mouth goggled open. She said, “You were what?” Andy and Riley started laughing their heads off.

  Still laughing Andy sat forward. “What was that like man – seriously? I’d love to know.”

  Riley shrugged. “At the start, it was pretty embarrassing, but you get over it. It’s an interesting scene. Put me off drugs for life. I used to do a bit, not a lot – mainly pot, but every now and then, something edgier. Four of us ended up setting up our own troupe and going that way. We got rid of all the druggies and criminals. We just watched each other’s backs. I still keep in contact. Most of them were really good guys.”

  Dina’s response was priceless and predictable. He wouldn’t have said anything if Andy wasn’t here, but it was funny. He saw her eyes go wide and mouth drop open before she closed it, trying to act cool. He said with a grin in his voice. “It was all a learning experience as far as I’m concerned. Not sure if I’d do it again, but not sorry I did it then.”

  Andy looked impressed, but he imagined Dina would want to grill him for all the details. Riley paused for a bit, “And now, I’m the music manager for Dina’s brother’s band, Collective Pitch. I’ve got a few other busin
ess interests as well, but band stuff takes up most of my attention at the moment.”

  Andy frowned at Riley and grinned mischievously. “What did you call her? Dina?”

  Riley nodded and Christina sighed. “It’s a childhood nickname. People from my hometown call me it. When we were kids, my brother couldn’t pronounce my name and called me Dina instead. It just stuck.”

  Andy smiled at Christina and then focused on Riley. “Did you know you aren’t allowed to ask Christina about her brother at work?”

  Riley gave Christina an amused look and then turned back to Andy. Andy nodded. “Oh yeah. If people mention it she gets all stare-y and scare-y.” Then he did a pretty good impersonation of Christina staring people out, making Riley laugh.

  Christina glared at him with mock ferocity. “You’ll pay, James,” making Andy grin and raise his fists.

  Andy jumped up from his seat and bounced around like a champ. “Bring it, Martin. You have no idea how many people you’ve disappointed being over-protective about your brother. Just think, all those leeches wanting free tickets and hook ups, like me.” Riley and Christina threw their heads back and laughed loudly.

  Riley decided to push his luck, glanced at Christina and leaned forward to Andy. “What’s Dina like to work with?”

  Andy hunched forward and adopted the thinker’s pose. Frowning he said, “She’s awesome. Really driven and focused.”

  Riley saw Christina cringe and thought this was too good. Looking at Andy he kept his face straight. “Speaking of driven – did you know she’s like the worst driver in the world? Like B-A-D bad.”