Lost in Flight

by Neeny Boucher

  Christina couldn’t thank Bonnie enough and her friend winked at her. “Let’s go.” Bonnie opened the door to the foyer, which was cluttered with junk and beyond filthy. It stank of all kinds of nasty things and Christina suspected people had been relieving themselves in there. It made their eyes water. Neither of them wanted to walk in there and pulled “ewwww” faces at one another.

  They were holding their noses and grimacing as they inched their way around the junk gingerly so as not to come into contact with anything. Bonnie muttered. “I’ll kick Riley so hard in the balls if I ruin my clothes because of him.”

  Christina would have offered to pay, but she doubted she had enough money in the whole world to even cover half the cost of Bonnie’s shoes. They got to the fire exit door and both women were so relieved that they were giving each other congratulatory smiles, high-fives and “woohoos.”

  Bonnie pushed up the fire exit door handle. “YES! Now the car should be just over there. If we turn right…” she was still talking when she walked out into the car park and Riley walked in the open door, slamming the fire door shut behind him.

  ********************

  Christina stood there with her mouth hanging open goggling in shock at Riley. Bonnie was locked out on the other side of the fire door and they were alone. She kept looking around the room, but there was no easy escape from this situation. It was the fire door or back the way she came. Neither was an option.

  She felt her eyebrows head into her hairline and her eyes were as big as they could go. She was actually frozen in shock. She’d never understood it before. When people talked about freezing in the face of danger, Christina thought they were just being pussies. She now had some sympathy for the deer in the headlights that sees the oncoming truck and just stands there, waiting for its impending doom.

  Riley started to walk toward her with a predatory menace. He had his head cocked to the side and his narrowed eyes were like cold green glass. They never left her face and there was something else there, some indiscernible emotion but she was too scared to dig further. She kept staring at him – too frightened to break eye contact – because she thought if she did she would be lost.

  Christina felt if she ran she wouldn’t be fast enough or her legs wouldn’t carry her. She’d do the girl in the horror movie thing, falling over as the maniac finishes her off. Riley didn’t say anything to her. He just kept advancing towards her in silence, which actually made the hairs on the back of Christina’s neck stand up.

  She gulped and moved as far backwards as possible until she was against the door trying to find the door handle. She doubted she could navigate her way through the dark again without Bonnie, but she’d try. The closest exit to safety was the fire door and Riley was between her and it. She didn’t fancy her chances of making it passed him without a fight and he didn’t look like he’d just stand aside for her.

  By this time, Bonnie was banging on the door screaming at Riley to let “Dina go.” She called him a “sick stalking freak, a dick and a psycho.” She threatened him with, amongst other things: “Cutting his dick off, making him eat it, and chopping him up into body pieces if he did anything to CHRIS-tina.” Riley just ignored her and continued his slow, menacing, pace toward Christina.

  When it was clear Riley wasn’t going to open the door, Bonnie started pleading with him not to “hurt Dina” saying “promise me, Riley, promise me.” Riley made no such promise so Bonnie ended yelling that: “She was going to come in there and he’d be really, REALLY, sorry.”

  Christina calculated the time it would take Bonnie to get to her and decided if Riley did have plans to kill her, Bonnie wouldn’t make it. She was satisfied in the knowledge that out of everyone she knew, Bonnie had no compromised loyalties where she was concerned. Bonnie would definitely avenge her.

  Riley came to rest about two feet away from Christina. His eyes roamed her face, as if he was looking for something he wasn’t sure about. She noticed his jaw was clenched shut and everything about him seemed taught, poised like a coiled spring. Christina had little choice, but to wait to see what Riley was going to do, while her heart did chicken flutters in her chest.

  For what seemed like forever they just stared at each other. Neither of them spoke or moved. It was like they were sizing up the opposition. Christina just stayed there staring at Riley, hoping that this was all some bad dream created by her overactive imagination.

  Finally, Riley said in a voice tight with anger. “So, I guess we don’t speak now. You just… what? Ignore me? Make out I’m invisible? Is that how it is?”

  When Riley spoke Christina actually flinched, which he noticed and his eyes opened in surprise then narrowed again. He waited for her to say something and when she didn’t respond, he moved forward and put his hands on either side of her head, so she couldn’t get away. Riley put his face close to hers and just stayed there. His nose was almost touching hers and she could smell the scent of him, which made her heart pound.

  Riley said almost into her mouth, “Damn you” then grabbed her face under the chin, tilted her head up, and kissed her. Christina’s body responded before her mind did. Her arms slid up around his neck and pulled him closer. His nearness had been affecting her the moment he’d stood in front of her – looking at her like she was prey.

  She heard him groan and he opened her mouth up further with his tongue. Christina was leaning into him now holding him as close to her as she possibly could. She could feel the buttons of his shirt digging into her chest, but she didn’t care. She wanted to be as close to him as possible.

  Taking her by the hand, Riley opened the room to the storage area and dragged her in there. He cleared stuff off a table with his arm, throwing it onto the floor, and lifting her up. They started wrenching each other’s clothes off, pausing to kiss, and run their hands over one another.

  Riley stared at her face and then knelt in front of her. She felt him gently bite her thigh and she groaned. He pulled her forward and positioned himself between her thighs, entering her in one thrust.

  She wrapped her legs around him and arched into him. Her eyes closed. She had missed this. She had missed him and she wanted him so badly, it ached.

  They were so lost in each other they didn’t notice the door open from the dark hallway and a horrified Bonnie look in, run across the room and exit into the foyer. Bonnie loved Christina. She was even fond of Riley – sort of – but she drew the line at witnessing them hammering each other on a table. Bonnie wanted to burn that image out of her mind. Instead, being the good friend she was, she headed to her car and sent Christina a text saying she was waiting for her.

  ********************

  Riley and Christina dressed in silence, hauling their clothes and shoes on, buttoning and tying what needed to be done. Looking around her surroundings, Christina decided that this was a pretty nasty place to have sex in, but it suited what had just gone on. Her eyes kept sliding to Riley, but he had his back to her. She wanted him to say something – anything - comforting about what had happened between them, but he was silent.

  Before he left, Riley turned to look at her with a half-smile on his face and a wicked glint in his eye. “I guess I’m not invisible now, right?”

  Christina felt hurt and dirty - like he’d slapped her in the face. She’d wanted him to say something, but not that. Now she wanted to slap him and herself – repeatedly, and with upper cuts to the chin.

  Without another word or backward glance, Riley opened the door to the dark hallway and walked back toward the bar, leaving her alone. She went to call him back, but by the time she’d recovered her composure, he’d gone. She heard her mobile phone remind her she had a message and saw it was from Bonnie saying she was waiting in the car.

  Christina bolted out of the storage room, into the foyer and through the fire door exit. She got into the passenger seat beside Bonnie who looked her up and down with a look of amused disgust on her face. Bonnie shook her head. “Dina. You are such a slut. It was a BR
OOM closet.”

  Christina looked at her with a straight face. “It was a STORAGE room,” which set them both off into fits of laughter.

  Shaking her head, Bonnie said, “They have security cameras in there.”

  Christina stared at her with her mouth open. “Nooooooo.”

  Bonnie said, “Uh-huh.”

  ********************

  Christina and Bonnie found Riley standing at the bar. He turned his head when they walked in with little expression on his face. She walked up to him and hurriedly told him about the security cameras. He did a double take and then signaled for the pretty blonde waitress. Christina bit back her annoyance watching Riley press his mouth in the ear of the waitress as she twirled her ponytail. She wanted to slap them both, but there were more pressing matters: like the accidental sex tape.

  The waitress pointed to a door behind her and allowed Riley through, he turned to Christina and Bonnie, beckoning them to come with him. They went through the backroom and the waitress pointed to a flight of stairs before returning to the bar. They went up and Riley banged on the door, which was opened by a young man who looked like he should still be in high school, chewing food.

  Riley said, “The security tape – I want it.” The guy had sandy hair and big blue eyes, and he stood blinking at Riley as if he was speaking a foreign language. Riley snarled, “NOW,” which sparked the guy from his reverie.

  Smiling and shaking his head, the guy said amiably, “Sorry, no can do, buddy.”

  Riley stared at the guy and gave him a cold smile. Both Christina and Bonnie yelped when Riley grabbed the guy by the front of his clothing, pushed him back into the room, and slammed the door shut behind them. They could only see bits and pieces, but they could hear the altercation, which went something like this, but with a lot more cuss words:

  “Dude – let me go.”

  “Give me the tape.”

  “I can’t. Stop it. Hey dude, take your hands off me. Aaaagh. Owwww. You can’t see anything on it anyways.”

  “You watched it? You freak!”

  “No, no. Don’t hit me. Dude! Come on. Aaaagh. Stop it.”

  The air was punctuated by smacking sounds and cries of, “it’s in there – take it, take it.”

  Christina and Bonnie shared a disbelieving look before the door suddenly burst open. A furious Riley appeared with a tape in his hands, pulling out the thread and breaking it. He turned around snapping, “You tell anyone freak – I’ll be back.” Of course, the guy told everyone, but only after Riley and Christina had both left town.

  Bonnie and Christina could hardly look at one another for fear of bursting into cringe-induced, embarrassed laughter. They followed in Riley’s wake and kept a straight face until they reached the bar. Without a word, they walked out into the car park and stopped. All three made eye contact and then started laughing.

  Riley handed her the mangled tape and looked at her with his half smile. She grinned back and said, “Thank you.” He leaned over, pulled her into his arms and kissed the top of her head. She heard him say quietly. “Welcome back, missus, I’ve missed you.”

  She nodded. “I’ve missed you too” and she had. Then they exited the place as fast as possible before the police arrived.

  ********************

  The next morning, Christina arrived at Mandy’s ten minutes late and was met by a “tut-tutting,” watch tapping Mrs. Asha Robinson. She embraced Christina and directed her up the stairs to Mandy. Asha was an incredibly stunning woman even in middle age, she was shorter than Mandy, but they could have passed for sisters.

  Christina found Mandy and they hugged each other. She hurriedly whispered in Mandy’s ear what had happened last night and Mandy was trying not to laugh, but tears leaked from the corners of her eyes. Bonnie was already there and the three women shared a grin, and a wink before attending to business.

  The dressmaker, Nula Fitzpatrick, who was a sixty-something, chain smoking, church going friend of the Robinsons, was fitting them for their bridesmaid outfits. On her mother’s directive, Mandy had gone for bridesmaid dresses in emerald green to bring out the color of her eyes. Asha had placed food and champagne out for the girls to make the occasion special.

  Christina and Mandy were starving, so they tore into the food. When they went for a second glass of champagne, they put the bottle down in the face of Asha’s disapproval. After they’d finished, Asha made them wash their hands – twice –so as not to get anything on the dresses. Then, she’d ordered Bonnie and Christina in a nice, but firm way, into Mandy’s room to try them on.

  Chatting excitedly, Bonnie pulled her clothes off and Christina helped her into the dress. Bonnie looked a-ma-zing. The color against her skin and with her red hair made Bonnie drop-dead-gorgeous.

  Hauling off her clothes and standing in her bra and panties, Christina turned when she heard Bonnie’s sharp intake of breath. Bonnie was standing staring at her in shock and went to say something, then thought better of it. She put her fingers to her lips and Christina said, “Bonnie, what is it?”

  Bonnie just pointed at her body and then down toward her thighs. Christina lifted her boobs up to try to look underneath, but couldn’t see much. She put one leg on the bed to see in between her thighs and groaned. She had enormous hickeys. He wasn’t going to be “invisible” indeed.

  Christina ran to Mandy’s mirror and looked in. She had hickeys all over and underneath her breasts. In a panic Christina asked Bonnie to check the back of her neck and shoulders. She breathed a sigh of relief when Bonnie said it was all clear.

  Bonnie was looking at her speculatively with a raised eyebrow. “I’m proud of you, Dina. You must be a contortionist.”

  Christina just closed her eyes and groaned. Seeing Christina’s distress, Bonnie went into full damage control mode assuring Christina that everything would be “just fine” and her dress would cover all the hickeys. Bonnie helped a shaken Christina put her dress on so they could check.

  She put her head in her hands in shame and Bonnie said with a laugh. “You are a dirty, dirty girl, but that’s why I love you.”

  Christina didn’t have anything to say, so Bonnie kept up a steady commentary accentuating all the positives. “You can’t see a thing. It’ll all be just fine. This will just be between you and me. No one else needs to know and I’m sure we could cover them with makeup if we had to.”

  Bonnie hurried Christina into the sitting room where the others were waiting for them to appear in their dresses. Asha’s smile was a mile wide and she positively beamed at how the girls looked in their dresses. The dressmaker got Christina to stand on a stool and pinned the hem of her gown to just the right length.

  After the dressmaker finished, she asked Christina to carefully take the dress off for her. Right there - in the room – in front of everybody. Oh hell no.

  Christina played dumb and tried to get off the stool to walk back to Mandy’s bedroom, but both Asha, and Nula stopped her with a firm, “Stay still, dear.” Speaking to her like she was an imbecile, Nula said, “You need to be careful. We’ll just take it off here, so we won’t ruin it.”

  She looked pleadingly at Bonnie who was pulling an “I’m so sorry face” and shaking her head. Christina allowed Nula to carefully lift the dress over her head, so as not to “ruin it” or stick her with pins. Standing there in her bra and panties, Christina tried, unsuccessfully to cover her hickey-laden body with her hands, and arms.

  At first, no one said anything. They just stared. Then Christina saw Asha’s eyes widen in disbelief and her mouth drop open. Asha’s hands flew to her face and she physically turned away from Christina.

  Mandy was also staring at Christina in wide-eyed, open-mouthed, shock. To her credit, Mandy was trying not to laugh and making “don’t worry” gestures at Christina. Nula, however, was looking her up and down like she was the whore of Babylon.

  Bonnie buried her face in her hands in sympathetic shame, but she was the first to react. Taking the serene approach,
Bonnie said, “Dina, here let me help you down from there and we’ll get you dressed.”

  Bonnie’s comments inspired Asha to take control as well. “What a good idea, Bonnie. Come, Christina, sweetheart. You don’t need to stand there in your underwear in front of us all.”

  As Bonnie needed to have her dress hemmed, Asha led Christina out to Mandy’s bedroom. When she was leaving, Asha rubbed Christina’s shoulder and then squeezed it in sympathy. Christina was so embarrassed. Right now, she hated Riley and herself.

  Quickly getting dressed, Christina returned to the sitting room where all eyes were on Bonnie. Nula gave Christina a filthy look when she returned which she studiously ignored. Keeping her eyes on Bonnie, Christina caught Mandy’s signal. Looking over she saw Mandy mouth the words: “What the hell?” Christina shrugged her shoulders and shook her head. There was quite an uncomfortable silence in the room and no one knew what to say.

  After the bridesmaids had been fitted, Mandy put her wedding dress on. It was a white strapless Princess Wedding gown, with a soft satin shimmer, and a full organza skirt. She had satin gloves to go with it and a tiara. Yes, a tiara, and Mandy was an absolute vision. She was going to be the most beautiful bride one could possibly imagine.

  ********************

  When Christina arrived home from Mandy’s, Johnny had arrived and was in the garage. She heard voices and stiffened, but relaxed when she realized it wasn’t Riley. Her relief didn’t last long, when she heard part of the conversation. It was Dave Warnock, Mandy’s soon to be husband, giving Johnny the low-down on what happened last night. “Have you seen Riley?”

  Johnny said, “Uh nah. I just got here.”

  “He and Dina hooked up last night,” Dave said in an annoyed tone. “I told him, but he won’t listen.” When Johnny made no response, Dave continued. “Dina has hickeys all over her. Like all - over-her and…”