Lost in Flight (29 page)

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.

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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.

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

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.