Allyson wanted an outdoor wedding, so Pietre had booked the cactus garden at Salish Park. There were 167 guests invited, almost all of them having replied that they’d be there. Now, the garden was calm, a light breeze making the wait manageable in the heat.
The night before, at the rehearsal, Allyson and Pietre had met the Justice of the Peace for the first time. Justice Doherty was a tall, skinny man, about 40, who wore large eyeglasses that reminded Pietre of an owl.
“Allyson,” Doherty said. “Pretty name. Nice spelling. You know what you’re doing here, right? No second thoughts or anything? I’ve got to be sure.”
“I know what I’m doing,” she said.
“Okay. And… Pietre?” He pronounced it Pee-yeter.
“Just ‘Peter,’ sir. My mother thought I needed a unique spelling for my name.”
Justice Doherty smiled. “You’re not alone with that problem. No second thoughts?”
Pietre looked at Allyson. She was wearing blue jeans and a scruffy T-shirt from a Linkin Park concert they’d attended a few months ago. She didn’t have any makeup on and her hair was pulled back into a sloppy pony tail.
She was the most beautiful girl he’d ever seen.
Allyson was The One.
He’d never been one to date much. Never wanted to hunt the field like his friend Jonathan. Never wanted one-night stands.
All he wanted was to find the one girl he would love forever.
He saw her first in the Pistachio Café, not far from the university campus. He was in third year and thinking of what might happen when he graduated with his degree in Philosophy. Sometimes he really questioned what he was doing.
Not that night. He saw her reading The Time Traveler’s Wife, one of his favorite novels. He saw the way she smiled as she read, chuckled at some funny bit, and sipped a milkshake as she read.
“Milkshake for me, too,” he told the server. “Vanilla.”
“Not a chance,” Pietre said. “No second thoughts.”
The next day was to be their wedding.
Pietre was sitting in a nearby waiting room, tapping his fingers on his thigh. He wore the perfectly-fitting tuxedo that he’d bought for today. It had been tailored to his exact body shape, which wasn’t exactly the shape he’d always hoped for. He knew Allyson didn’t care that he was a bit overweight. She always said she didn’t care about outside appearances; she only cared about what she saw behind a person’s eyes.
It was 6:55 p.m.
“Don’t fret,” said Jonathan. As the best man, he wore a tux that matched Pietre’s. Sammie was one of the ushers and was helping get everyone settled in the garden.
Pietre nodded.
“Women are always late. Get used to it.”
Pietre looked out the door. The gardens were on the right and he looked back behind there to the parking lot, hoping to see any sign of Allyson. He’d already called her cell phone twice but there was no answer.
Visions of a car accident wouldn’t leave his mind. Allyson’s father driving his imported piece of crap, bringing her to the ceremony, blindsided by an SUV or something that would destroy Pietre’s life.
Allyson was The One. The one girl he wanted. There was an old song that he often thought of, the singer saying he knew he loved his girl before he even met her. That’s how he felt. From that first vanilla milkshake, he knew that he had to be her life partner. She was funny, cute, smart, sensitive, hard-working, generous, and she thought the world of him.
“She would have called if she could,” he whispered.
Jonathan put his hand on Pietre’s shoulder. “Just ride it out. It’s going to be okay.”
Pietre went back to the couch and thought of smoking a cigarette. It’d been a year since he quit, and he hadn’t missed it until now.
7:00 came and went. 7:05.
At 7:10, Pietre felt his cell phone vibrating in his pocket. He pulled it out and clicked to read the text message from Allyson. “I’m sorry…”
His world fell apart.
Chapter 10: Team Superior
Tanya - Galapagos Islands
Tanya hated the dark. It was so scary being in that boat. She swam as fast as she could, doing her best not to panic, but all she could think about was getting to the surface.
Thank God Rob had come for her. She knew she should have been able to get her leg out from being trapped in the shipwreck, but her mind wanted to panic and she couldn’t manage to find a way to freedom.
She shone her flashlight ahead of her and flapped her fins in a controlled manner, slipping through the rooms in the wreck, finding her way out. It’s over, she kept telling herself.
The light from the luminescent fishes looked more eerie now, casting weird reflections from glass or other things inside the wreck. She tried to control her breathing and checked her air again. She had five minutes left as she exited the ship and started to float up to the surface. That’s good. Lots of time.
Again, she kept herself controlled, not moving upward any faster than the bubbles she was exhaling. As she leaned her head back, she hoped to see some lighter area in the water above her, but that didn’t happen. It all looked the same, and she began to worry. Maybe she wasn’t actually going up. Everything felt disoriented and she thought about going a different direction but then saw the bubbles still tracing the same path she was on and she relaxed again.
Four minutes of air.
All of a sudden, four minutes didn’t seem like a lot and she felt her feet paddling faster. She couldn’t really get the bends from this depth, or at least not a serious case, so it was more important to just get to the surface.
Three.
Tanya broke the surface of the water and felt instant relief. Their boat was about twenty feet from her and she started to paddle over to Emma and Maria, who were on the boat waving and calling to her.
When she climbed into the boat, she cheered, and the other girls joined in with her.
“Thank God you’re okay,” said Emma. She hugged Tanya and so did Maria, Team Superior celebrating being back together.
“Rob should be here any second,” said Tanya. “He saved my life!”
“What happened?” asked Maria.
“I had my foot trapped and he came in to free me. I couldn’t get free no matter what I did.”
Emma said, “That’s it for today. We need to get to shore. Too bad about not finding what we were looking for.”
“Oh,” said Tanya. “I forgot!”
She reached into the pouch at her waist and pulled out a green-colored stone that sparkled in her hand.
“Oooooh.” Maria touched it. “It’s an emerald.”
They took turns looking at the gem. After a minute, Emma said, “Shouldn’t Rob be back by now?”
All three looked out at the ocean. The waves were relatively calm, but there was still no sign of Rob.
Five more minutes passed. “Oh, God,” said Tanya.
Emma - Galapagos Islands
Three days later, and Emma still couldn’t believe Rob Bors was dead. She’d only known Rob for a week but in that time he’d become their guideline back to the real world. Team Superior had traveled what seemed to be halfway around the world with Rob. It was the trip of a lifetime, a travel-lover’s dream. But it was also kind of scary. The people in the Galapagos looked different, sounded different, had different customs, expectations, and even her Catholic religion seemed so different from what she experienced here.
Although Tanya and Maria probably wouldn’t ever admit it, Emma knew they were a little unnerved, too. According to a calculator she found on the Internet, they were only three thousand miles from home. It felt like three million.
Rob couldn’t help them with anything. He was there only to record interviews, tape some parts of the trip that the forecams wouldn’t capture, and to pass on information from the producers.
It didn’t matter. He was their lifeline back to home. He was strong and confident and never bothered by the different culture.
Dead and gone.
He’d been replaced almost immediately by the producers.
Cathy Jameson was the new cameraperson, and Emma’s first interview was about to start.
Emma met her earlier that morning. Cathy seemed to be in her early thirties, about Emma’s own age, and when they were introduced, she told Cathy a bit about herself and then asked about her background. Cathy just said she was born in Missouri but wouldn’t say much more. She was just the opposite of Rob, who was so outgoing. Cathy seemed to hide inside herself, afraid to let anyone get close.
Emma really missed Rob.
“Tell me about Tanya.” Cathy started the interview with just about the most boring question possible. Maybe she just wants to work up to the interesting ones.
“Tanya’s great. She has her own views on things and isn’t afraid to take the lead and show how things should be done. She’s an important part of Team Superior.”
Cathy nodded and then seemed to catch herself. Even though the forecams would self-correct for minor movements, there were limitations. Nodding was discouraged for everyone, including her.
“Has she ever made a pass at you?”
“What? No, of course not. What are you talking about?”
“We know she’s a lesbian, and we know that you know.”
“That’s her personal life and you should talk to her about that if you need to know anything.”
Emma looked over to see Tanya sitting on a chair about a hundred feet away. She was sipping a Coke. One leg was crossed over the other and bobbing up and down. Her computer was on a table beside her and Tanya clicked it every few seconds.
“What about Maria?” asked Cathy. “Has Tanya ever said if she has any feelings about her?”
Emma’s heart sank. She didn’t want to talk about Tanya’s sexuality; she wanted to talk about Rob Bors’ death and how frustrating and awful that was, how they missed him and wished he was still there… instead of this trouble-maker.
“No. I think I feel a headache coming on. Can we stop now?”
Cathy smiled with her lips tight together. “Sure. We can finish up later.”
Emma walked over to Tanya and sat down beside her. It was a nice, warm day, about seventy-five degrees. The sun was high and that gave Emma a bit of a sense of familiarity. It felt like they were on a beach enjoying the summer on Long Island.
“Any luck?” She pointed at the tablet.
Tanya pressed a button on the screen. “Nope. We had somebody ask about the emerald size but all I could say was that we didn’t really know. “Jesus, somebody should want it!”
“I’m going to check on Maria,” said Emma.
Maria - Three Years Earlier
Maria Hudson was rich, but she never let her teammates know that. She never told anybody about it, because she never actually thought much of it. Besides, she didn’t want people thinking different of her just because she never had to think about money.
She was born in Miami but moved with her parents to Manhattan when she was fifteen years old. Now at eighteen, she had a weekly allowance of $5,000 from her father, but that mostly just sat as laddered government bonds in her investment account. She didn’t like risk, so even though her father kept encouraging her to at least get into balanced mutual funds, she resisted and stuck to the bonds.
Now she finally had a use for the money. She was enrolled at the New York Institute of Photography. Maria loved photography. More than that, it was her calling. She’d known that from the time she got her first Nikon for Christmas when she’d been twelve. It wasn’t often you saw her separated from a camera since then.
The neighborhood around the school was busy. East 43rd Street. She walked slowly and glanced in the shops that she passed. Lots of souvenir shops, Internet cafes, Starbucks, fast food places.
And a bookstore.
Second Chance Books. She hadn’t seen it before. There was a collection of Anne Geddes’ photographs in the window, and that stopped her in her tracks. Geddes’ work always grabbed her. She loved the way she posed the babies. Maria planned to work with children one day with her own photographs.
The store was bigger than it looked on the outside. It was shaped like a T with the vertical bar all you could see from the street, but once inside you could see thousands of volumes on every topic you could imagine.
The place was so cozy! There were two armchairs off to one side, a love seat, and a coffee table where customers sat and read. Meanwhile a sweet blonde girl hustled between the till and the sitting area to serve the customers coffee.
“Hi,” said the blonde girl. “Welcome to Second Chance.”
“Thanks!”
“I can help you in a bit if you want anything, or you can just feel free to browse. I’ll get you a coffee or tea if you like. We’re very — ”
The girl turned as a customer tapped her on the shoulder. Maria could see she was the only person working here, and she was bouncing between the customers, trying to keep them happy. The coffee pot she was pouring was empty, and she called “Back in a minute,” as she hurried to the far end of the store and turned left into the bar of the T.
Must be where the coffee machine is.
Maria walked to the first aisle of books and started browsing through architecture books when she heard a light ding. She looked back to the front counter and a fiftyish looking man stood glancing at his watch. He held three books.
She thought he’d make a great photo. Gruff with a light black beard scattered with gray specks. A brown tam sat on his head and he exhaled loudly, unhappy at having to wait.
An impatient customer is an unhappy customer
Maria walked up to him and said, “One minute, sir.” She smiled and hurried down the center of the store to the back and turned left. The blonde girl was cutting open a pouch of coffee.
“Let me,” said Maria. “You need to get to the front.”
“What?”
“It’s okay. I can make coffee. I can do lots of things. Go.”
“Thanks!”
She pulled away and rushed to the front of the store.
Maria smiled. She always felt good when she could help somebody. Her dad always figured she’d end up working for a charity, because she thrived on helping other people.
She rinsed the pot and poured cold water into the machine to get it going. Then she found a cloth and cleaned up the area, arranging the cups and sugar bowl and spoons. She washed the few dirty cups that were waiting.
“Hey.”
Maria was startled by the sound.
“Thank you so much for helping me,” said the blonde girl. “I’m Emma. I own the place.”
“Glad to help. I’m Maria.”
They shook hands. “I’m a bit short-staffed right now. I have a part-time helper but she’s not here right now, so it can get a little crazy.”
Maria laughed. “I can hang around and help if you like.”
“Well, I was thinking of something more permanent. Can you use a job?”
Chapter 11: Production
Cynthia - New York City
Cynthia Wright sat in her favorite chair. It was in her quiet little studio office. She worked best sitting there — a nice comfy office chair that looked like any other, but it was filled with down and had the softest seat she’d ever felt.
It was her one concession to comfort. Her office was basically split in two. The right side had an oak desk and space for her laptop. The wall behind her held advertising posters from her best successes. There were five posters arranged in two rows. The top row had three and there were two on the lower row with an obvious space for the final poster. She was waiting until the first ratings came in before declaring Scavenger Hunt a success and hanging the poster.
The first episode would air tomorrow and the overnights would tell the story.
The left side of her
office, where she sat now, was wall-to-wall technology. A dozen monitors, and several control panels to let her switch between scenes and make editing notes for Lance and Norm, the two technical editors who actually cut the footage.
It was now six o’clock Saturday morning. 38 hours till airtime on the east coast.
38 hours to figure out what the fuck to do.
Cynthia stared at the monitor directly in front of her. It held a close-up of Rob Bors. His funeral would be later today, but she couldn’t be there. She couldn’t fly to Utah the day before her near-real-time show aired.
Rob would understand. He’d forgive her from wherever he was now.
Cynthia reached to touch the monitor. “I’m so sorry.”
Several minutes passed while she thought again of the footage they had of Rob’s final minutes. Ironically, they had a much better view of things than Rob himself had. He’d died inside the sunken ship, not being able to really see his way out. His forecam though, had automatically switched to infra-red. When the special effects crew had built the ship, they’d included warming devices throughout, not enough for anybody to notice, but enough that the infra-red cameras could get a very clear image of Rob struggling and banging into the side of the ship instead of being able to find the exit just three feet from him.
“Rest in peace, my friend.”
Cynthia switched the monitor to roll the opening credits. At the same time she sent an IM to Rick Sanderson, who was down the hall in his own office. Within a couple of minutes, he was in her office.
“Final decision time,” he said.
She turned to face him and smiled. She didn’t want him to see the pain she was feeling, even though she knew she wouldn’t be able to hide it much longer.
Scavenger Hunt had an eight week run. She couldn’t help but wonder if she’d still be in the control center on week eight. Or six. Or four…
Somehow she didn’t think so. The pain in her leg was back and a feeling of déjà vu popped into her head. She knew she had to get to her doctor, but she also knew that meant hospitalization. No dice.
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