Lost in Flight (26 page)

Christina thought of her father’s words,
easy as breathing and necessary
and agreed.  She certainly felt better after the music fest with her family in Shanwick and other things that she refused to think about.  She knew her family were fanatics when it came to music and she laughed thinking about singing in the shower when she was at home.  Dad and Johnny stood outside the bathroom door joining in on the harmonies.  It was sort of sweet and also really kind of weird.

********************

Riley

Riley was jolted awake by what sounded like a football team running up and down the stairs.  When he saw it was 8:00 a.m., he groaned and covered his head with a pillow.  Then, the music started at an ear splitting volume that made him wince and swear. 

He decided Jed was the most inconsiderate person in the world and he was going to tell him so.  He hauled himself out of bed, pulling on some boxers and a t-shirt.  Jed might be an inconsiderate bastard, but even he didn’t deserve to be confronted by an angry full-frontal and hung over Riley. 

Riley wrenched the door open and was on his way to kick the stereo when he stopped.  It couldn’t be.  It-could-not-be.  He’d know that voice anywhere and he stood at the bottom of the stairs looking up in disbelief. 
She
was here, singing, and she was good.

He looked up the stairs and at the iPhone.  The shower was still going, so she wasn’t going to stomp down here any time soon.  He grimaced when he heard the song she was singing and the lyrics hit him:
“Somebody that I used to know…”

This was one of the major differences between him and Christina, and it had taken them time to work it out.  Words were meaningful to Riley, whereas it was the music for Christina.  All the Martins were the same.  They lost themselves in music.  It spoke to them and lyrics were secondary. 

He’d found it difficult to reconcile because Christina always brought a raw pain to songs that made her performances special.  How could she not understand the affect she had on people when she sung the way she did?  He shook his head. 

Drawing in a breath, Riley stood listening to her voice.  She really was incredible and there it was – that edge – and on this song?
 
It felt like she was firing the words right at him like he was a target. 

Then, he pursed his lips and sighed.  “Okay, Dina.  What you got?”  He didn’t make it to the iPhone before it flicked to Rihanna’s “We found love” so he stood listening to her rendition with a smile on his face. 

Checking out her music library, Riley found Adele’s “Set fire to the rain” and a whole lot of other pop crap.  When Rihanna finished, he put on Adele.  “Let’s see how you sing this one, sweetheart,” he whispered.

********************

Christina

Christina was just getting out of the shower when she heard Adele’s “Set fire to the rain” start.  She loved this song, loved it.  It was powerful and made her want to sing from her soul.  Christina opened her mouth and sung her heart out.

She stopped as she hauled some clothes on.  She put on a tank top with track pants and a hoodie.  She was half-singing, half-jumping about and not doing Adele any justice, but picked up at the end of the song and finished strongly.

********************

Riley

Riley stood there listening in awe to her sing “Set fire to the rain.”  “We sure did, sweetheart,” he smiled.  He hadn’t heard Christina sing for years.  The last time was at Mandy and Dave’s wedding, and he thought/hoped mean spiritedly that her power would have diminished from lack of use.  He gave a rueful smile and shook his head. 
Damn she was good
.  When he heard her footsteps at the top of the stairs he bolted back into his bedroom, so she wouldn’t see him.

********************

Christina

Christina came bounding down the stairs combing her hair.  She turned her head to the side to try to get more water out of it before putting it up in a towel.  She pulled the sleeve up on her hoodie and replaced the bandage on her arm from the blood test.  She started singing and dancing when Calvin Harris’s “Feel so close” came on.

********************

Riley

Riley was feeling increasingly guilty and amused watching Christina’s performance.  Singing was one thing, but dancing another.  She had her eyes closed, holding the comb to her lips like a microphone, and doing some dance routine with a hand in the air. 

He found this exasperating – not just the dancing, all of it.  She didn’t need a pretend microphone.  She could have a real one, but for her own reasons and everyone had a theory, she refused to pick one up.

Riley came and stood in the doorway of the bedroom waiting for her to finish so he could catch her attention.  She was rocking her head from side to side in the same way that Johnny and Gabby did when they got into a song.  Everyone called this the Martin “Stevie Wonder” and Jack did it too.  Christina was trying to hold the towel up and he saw she had a bandage on her arm.  The song was reaching its conclusion and just as he was about to make his presence known, she turned toward him, and opened her eyes.

********************

Christina

Christina liked this song.  It was fun and it always made her happy.  She moved her head to adjust the towel, opened her eyes, and saw Riley leaning with his arms crossed in the doorjamb watching her.  Her eyes went wide and her mouth fell open.  She opened and closed it multiple times, then screamed.

********************

Riley

Her scream went straight through Riley’s head like someone had plugged an air compressor into his brain.  He put his hands over his ears to try to block it out, but it didn’t work.  It was so loud, he started seeing spots and he tried to make her stop by yelling, “SHUT UP” over the top of her.  It didn’t work.  She kept screaming and he took a step toward her, automatically, to try and make her shut her pie hole.

********************

Christina

Christina couldn’t believe it.  She was frozen in shock screaming like the little girl from Aliens.  Riley had his hands over his ears and it looked like his eyes were watering.  He was yelling.  “SHUT UP” and “SHUT YOUR PIE HOLE” at her and when he took a step toward her, it snapped her out of it.  She ran to the kitchen counter to put it between them.  She had no idea what he was doing here, but he’d appeared as an apparition from her own private hell.

********************

Riley

She’d stopped screaming so Riley stopped advancing.  His ears were still ringing, but the pain in his head had eased to a dull throb.  He wasn’t game to follow her into the kitchen.  There were all sorts of sharp objects in there she could grab, not to mention pots and pans.  Martin family legend was that she’d once hit Johnny over the head with a pot when they were kids and he had to be taken to the doctor for concussion.  She’d always denied it, saying it was exaggerated, but he wasn’t going to give her the opportunity to make it real on him.

Riley put his hands up in apology.  “I’m sorry.  I didn’t mean to frighten you.  I was waiting until you, um, finished and then I was going to let you know I was here.” 

She stared at him with hate-filled eyes and bared her teeth.  “Why are you here?” 

Riley just stopped himself from saying he owned the place and glared at her.  “What are you doing here?  He sneered.  He knew it was childish and petty, but he couldn’t come up with a better response.  Secretly, he also liked the fact she was staying in his house and didn’t know.  He acknowledged it was sad that he got enjoyment from her complete and utter ignorance on the matter, but he didn’t care. 

Christina’s mouth opened and she looked him up, and down in disgust.  “You ruin
everything
,” she snarled, pushing past him and knocking him on the arm as she went by.  She stomped up the stairs with Justin Timberlake’s “Cry me a river” blaring from the stereo and slammed the door.

********************

Christina

Christina slammed the bedroom door shut and locked it.  She didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.  How was this possible?  She didn’t understand it.  How could he appear out of nowhere and be here?

Then her face went bright red and she cringed.  Had she done anything else out there that he’d heard?  You know – really embarrassing, private things?  Things you did when you thought you were alone.

She didn’t know what to do.  She didn’t want to stay holed up in the bedroom all day, but she didn’t want to be in a room alone with Riley either.  If she was really lucky, maybe he’d just take the hint and leave.  She doubted it, but one could always hope. 

Christina liked to think of herself as a cynical optimist.  She didn’t know why, but it was better than being a confirmed pessimist.  When “Cry me a river” found its way into her consciousness she opted for crying over laughter.  At this point, laughing was just too crazy.

********************

Riley

Riley stood there trying to get the image of her hate-filled eyes and bared teeth out of his mind, but he wasn’t sure if he could.  It was nightmare material and freaky.  Christina had big tombstone-type teeth and when she’d exposed her chompers, combined with the stink-eye, she looked like a wild horse. 

Also, being hung over, he wasn’t at the top of his game.  He shook his head to clear it and then began to laugh.  He ruined everything did he?  What had he ruined?  She was singing and dancing by herself.  If she was speaking about her peace of mind then that was a joke.  She’d been back in his life for a matter of days and wreaked havoc. 

Riley winced when he heard her slam the bedroom door.  It made the throbbing in his head start again.  He really needed some painkillers.  He waited to see if she would come down and start yelling at him again, but she didn’t.  He turned the stereo down from nosebleed volume and quietly went up the stairs, standing outside her bedroom. 

He was about to knock on the door when he heard her crying.  Riley sighed.  He had always hated making her cry.  He would have given her anything she ever wanted – if only she’d cried, but she always had too much pride for that.  Why try getting bees with sugar when she could just douse them in gasoline and set fire to them instead?

Riley leaned his forehead against the door.  “Christina, let me in.  I’m sorry.  I didn’t mean to make you cry.” 

When there was no reply, Riley became insistent. “I said I’m sorry.  Come on.  Open the door, Christina.”  There was no response and he heard her muffled cries from inside the room.  He waited for the door to open, but, of course, it didn’t.

Getting irritable, Riley said loudly, “Christina.  I mean it.  Open the damn door” and started rattling the door handle.  He rolled his eyes.  “Stop acting like a child!  Open the door!”  He started kicking the bottom of the door with his foot to make his point saying repeatedly, “Open the door.  Open the door.  Open the door.  Open the door.  Open the door.  Open the door!” 

********************

Christina

Christina stared at the door with a mixture of horror and annoyance.  She started in fright when Riley rattled the door handle and kicked it.  All she could hear was his voice getting angrier and more insistent, as he demanded to be let in.  Then she got mad.  Who did he think he was?

She stood up, wiping her eyes and her hands down her track pants.  She was done crying about that fool.  Christina knew she was going to have to say something; otherwise he’d never go away.  The only things she wanted to say to him were mean and counter-productive. 

She stood back from the door – just in case he kicked it in.  He’d done that before and she didn’t want to be hit in the head if it came flying her way.  Then, a thought occurred to her and she smiled. 

Clearing her throat Christina took the wounded approach.  She knew he hated it when she cried, and normally, he’d do anything to make it stop.  This might be her best chance of making him go the hell away, even if it meant doing something she hated: exposing weakness. 

Putting a little sob in her voice, Christina said quietly.  “I’m sorry, Riley.  I didn’t mean to yell at you or say mean things.  I just… I was… I just got a fright.” 

You damn arrogant, insufferable pig
. 

She paused for effect and when there was no response, put a hitch in her voice.  “But,” sniff, “I don’t want to see anyone right now.”  She made her voice crack saying, “Please.  I’d really appreciate it if you left me alone.” 

You lunatic asshole.

Christina smiled when she heard him give an audible sigh and say, “Okay, so long as you’re alright.  I’m going to go now.  See ya.” 

She heard him walk away heavily from the door and down the stairs.  Christina rolled her eyes and stifled a groan.  How dumb did he think she was?

********************

Riley

Riley walked away from the door with heavy footsteps to show her he was leaving.  He was part way down the stairs before he tiptoed back up as quietly as he could to stand outside her door.  He waited with his arms crossed and tried not to tap a foot with impatience. 

After a while, he heard her say, “Riley.  I know you’re still there.  I can hear you breathing and fidgeting.”  He put a fist to his mouth, but it was no good.  He started laughing and she joined him.

Riley was about to start round two of “open the door” when he heard a cell-phone ringing.  He flew down the stairs, looked around, found it and answered:  “Christina Martin’s phone.”  The person on the other end paused then and asked to speak to “Ms. Martin.”