Lost in Flight (37 page)

“
BULL-shit
, Christina.  You can’t compromise – or you won’t compromise.  It’s your way or the highway.  I’m not moving to D.C..  There’s nothing for me there,” Riley snapped. 

Christina stared at him.  “I’m there.  You say you want to be with me, but you won’t come.  I don’t understand this.” 

“I have a life in Seattle,” Riley snarled, “I don’t understand why
you
won’t come and be with me.”

It was the same conversation nearly every night and they just couldn’t reach agreement.  Both felt if they gave in the other one would win.  They decided they loved each other passionately, but didn’t like each other very much anymore.

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

The day of the wedding arrived and it was one of the few times the three friends got to spend together without the watchful commandant approach of Asha.  Mandy was stressed out, not because she was marrying Dave, that was the surest decision she’d made, but by the control exerted by her mother and the wedding organization. They dressed Mandy with love and care, keeping up a steady stream of chatter to show they were in her corner. 

Mandy gave them a set of earrings that matched her own to signify the years of friendship and bonds between them.  Mandy put her hand out and each friend placed a hand on top of the others.  “Mandy and Dave for the win,” Mandy grinned. 

They made their way to the church, a traditional half an hour late, gathering themselves at the doorway of the church and waiting for “Pachelbel’s Canon” to start.  Organizing themselves, they straightened Mandy’s gown and veil asking her if she was ready.  Mandy grinned and said, “As I’ll ever be.” 

When Mandy and her father entered the church, the sound of gasps filled the room.  Nearly all eyes in the room were on Mandy.  Dave stood at the front of the church openly gawking at her.  It reminded Christina of the first time he’d ever seen her.  The only person who wasn’t staring at Mandy was Riley.  His eyes were on Christina.

The ceremony lasted approximately half an hour and finished with a passionate lip lock between Dave and Mandy, with cheers from the crowd.  When they finished, the party walked back down the aisle facing the guests in the church.  Mandy and Dave were in the lead, with Bonnie and Johnny behind them.

Riley put his arm out to Christina and she linked hers through his.  “You look pretty hot,” she whispered.

He grinned.  “You don’t look so bad yourself.”

As guests ambled off to the reception area for refreshments, the party went onto the church grounds to take photos.  They had all their formal photos taken in the garden and then they let loose with some fun ones.  Johnny and Riley produced some hip flasks and they all had a little drink before the photographer started his “relaxed” shots.  Dave lifted Mandy’s leg up exposing her garter, while the rest of them made scary faces around the couple.  It was the photo that appeared in all the papers where Mandy, looking glorious, had her head thrown back laughing with Dave looking at her like he was the luckiest man alive. 

There were photos of Dave surrounded by the women pulling his cravat, mussing his hair and making him laugh, the guys in Gangsta poses and the women pretending to be Charlie’s Angels.  The final shots were of the guys sitting down on the ground in front with the women at the back.  The women put an arm over the shoulder of the men diagonally and into their suit jacket.  In the middle, Mandy placed both her arms outstretched over Dave’s shoulders, whose smile was so wide it almost split his face. 

As Christina walked behind Riley he quietly said, “Hello missus.”  When her hand went into his jacket, he reached up and held it in place.  She loved that photo of them.  Unbeknownst to the other, they both did.  It was the one photo neither of them threw away when they went through their purge phase. 

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

The wedding was nearly over and so was Christina’s time in Shanwick.  She planned leaving as soon as she could after the wedding and things with Riley were still unresolved.  She was listening to Riley give his best man’s speech and he was excellent.  At his most charming, Riley gave Dave a heart-warming speech full of selective anecdotes about a friendship that started in elementary school.  His in-jokes were well received and he negotiated the fine balance of teasing Dave and Mandy, without humiliating them. 

Riley ended his speech telling everyone about the first day Dave had ever seen Mandy.  Christina looked his way wondering if Riley remembered that day too.  It was the day he said he fell in love with her, but Riley was facing out to the audience and didn’t look at her. 

He told everyone how Dave looked dumbstruck and spent days afterwards chewing his and Johnny’s ears off trying to work out ways to ask out Mandy.  To a great laugh, Johnny nodded his head in agreement, rubbed his chin in memory and looked up at Riley.  Dave looked embarrassed and delighted, nudging Mandy with his shoulders and kissing her on the cheek. 

Riley ended his speech by uttering what everyone had always thought about Dave and Mandy:  “that Dave was the luckiest man in the world.”  Cheers from the crowd met this statement and when Riley raised his glass, everyone stood up with enthusiasm. 

Bonnie’s speech was full of self-deprecating and ribald humor with little in-jokes that those in the know giggled at.  She told a selective account of how the three of them had met in elementary school.  Bonnie and Christina had grown up together, living just down the road from one another, so they’d been friends forever. 

They became friends with Mandy when they were about ten.  Mandy, beautiful even then, had moved to Shanwick in the middle of a school year and was being bullied.  They found her crying and humiliated in the bathroom one-lunchtime, lamenting her family had ever moved here.  It was the day the bullying stopped and friendships that last a lifetime began.

Christina suspected this was one of the primary reasons why Asha tolerated their friendship in the beginning.  They’d managed to stop the bullying when the Robinson’s complaints to the school had failed.  The fear of Bonnie’s right hook will do that for you.

On more than one occasion, Bonnie made Mandy blush, much to Dave and everyone else’s amusement, but she never went over the line, just went close to it.  Bonnie wrapped up her speech by publicly referencing Riley saying, “We too, believe Dave is the luckiest man in the world and we’re not giving Mandy to you. We’ll all have to share.”  Mandy started to cry when Bonnie said this and the audience clapped. 

After the formal part of the evening concluded, the Martins began to prepare for their act.  Johnny was still grumbling about performing Asha’s choice of music, but was going to do it, just under serious protest, making sure that everyone knew.  Christina and Gabby couldn’t look at each other because they wanted to laugh. 

They argued for a bit about who had the worst job.  Christina doing Celine Dion’s version of “At Last” was not a simple task, but they all decided Gabby had it worst.  She had to sing two love duets with Dad, which made Christina and Johnny feel a bit better.

The sound system had been playing hits from the 60s, 70s and 80s, which Dad thought were fantastic, making the Martin children roll their eyes.  They sang their songs receiving beams of approval from Mr. and Mrs. Robinson, and applause from the audience.  The Martins performed the best they could because their father would accept nothing less. 

As Johnny finished “Love”, Asha motioned for the sound system to start in 10 minutes, but Christina halted her.  Nodding to Dave, who took off his jacket to wolf-whistles from the crowd, he joined them on stage behind the drums.  Christina looked directly at Mandy saying, “This is for
you
.” 

When they opened with Remy Zero’s “Prophecy” Mandy’s eyes went wide in surprise and then she cried.  She had been obsessed with this song ever since it played on Charmed.  Johnny sang lead and the two sisters backed him. 

Christina sang Nelly Furtado’s, “I’m like a bird” and the smile on Mandy’s face was worth any trouble that might result from their musical rebellion.  They closed with Hole’s “Malibu” to Mandy and Bonnie’s cheering.  She grinned when she saw her two friends take to the dance-floor. 

Although they weren’t wedding songs, Mandy loved them and that was enough.  Mandy blew them kisses, clapped and mouthed, “Thank you.”  Christina caught Bonnie’s eye and held it just a moment, then Bonnie winked at her.

“Malibu” was the last song Christina sang in public for years and as events unfolded, she couldn’t bring herself to listen or sing it again.  She loved this song, but the memories it evoked were too painful.  Although she was unaware, she shared this in common with Riley.  After they broke up, Riley always associated it with Christina and the divorce, and the last time they were semi-happy.

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

Riley found her after the Martins had finished their set and the sound system was playing hits that Mandy’s parents liked.  He grabbed her by the hand and led her to the dance floor, where they danced until Mandy and Dave were ready to leave.  To Christina’s surprise, Riley had learned some new dance moves in his absence and some of them were quite raunchy.  Bonnie and Christina followed Mandy back to her place to help her change, and send her off on her honeymoon with all their best wishes.  Some of their best wishes were quite dirty, but they were given and received nonetheless.

As Bonnie and Christina left the Robinsons, Riley was waiting for her by his truck.  He automatically took his jacket off, placing it around her shoulders and Christina waved Bonnie goodbye.  Bonnie gave her a hard stare and then left to go back to the reception.  He opened the door of the truck, helping her in and drove to the farmhouse.  They didn’t say much because words were fraught with danger and she was leaving.

He led her into the farmhouse by the hand and inside started to slowly undress her, stopping to kiss the back of her neck and lips.  Riley held her face in his hands and kissed her, whispering that he loved her and always would.  When she went to take her shoes off, he said, “Leave those on,” he pulled his tie off and threw it on the bed.  Staring at her with a wicked grin that made her knees weak, he said, “I’d like to try something different.” 

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

Christina was drifting off to sleep when she heard Riley say, “Baby, why don’t you sing?  You should sing – with your voice – I don’t understand this.  I don’t know why you won’t do it.” 

She was half asleep and mumbled.  “I don’t want to.  I just want to live life under the radar.  I wish you’d understand.”

“I do understand.  I understand you’re living someone else’s life and dreams.”

Her eyes snapped open and she was wide-awake now.  “Instead of the life you think I
should
be living.  This is the same conversation over and over.  It doesn’t change.  You don’t hear me…”

Riley rolled on top of her and kissed her on the collarbone.  “I
hear
you alright,” he murmured, “I hear you calling my name.”  He cupped her breasts in his hands and shook his head.  “These are perfect – do you know that?  Perfect.”  He ran his tongue over her right nipple and then sucked her breast into his mouth.

She arched her back and then pushed him away.  “We understand each other’s bodies, Riley, but that’s about it.  Maybe that’s all there is left?  I don’t know...”

Riley flipped himself onto his back and stared at the ceiling.  “There’s more to us than that Dina, for fuck-sake.  It pisses me off when you say shit like that.  Is that what you think?  That all we’re good for is what?  Fucking?  There are plenty of girls out there I could fuck, Dina.  This isn’t what it’s about for me.”

Christina flinched.  “I didn’t mean it like that, Riley.  I’m just saying maybe we’re confusing our feelings and holding onto something that’s no longer there.  I’m not the same person, Riley…”

“Oh yeah.  I get that,” he laughed, “and I don’t know who you want to prove that to more:  me or you?  It’s what you’ve done since you’ve been back.  Oooh, my life at college, I want, I want, I want, for fuck-sake.  It’s like you’re a fucking “I” specialist.”

“Hey – wait a minute…”

“No, you wait,” growled Riley sitting up and glaring at her.  “I’m not the sort of person who gives my heart away because I’ve got confused “feelings,” he air quoted.  “And neither are you.  Believe me, if I could have fallen in love with someone else in the time we’ve been apart – I would have.  But I didn’t and all it took was one look at you, and we’re back in this mess.”

Christina sat up and stared at him.  “So what’s your answer?” 

He shrugged.  “I’m out of here, Christina.  We’ve survived our time apart – let’s just carry on.” 

As much as it hurt, Christina agreed with him.  It was over – so over and they couldn’t resolve it.   In some ways this would be a nice way to end it.  They’d had a great time together and more time would lessen the pain.  “

Okay,” she said, “we can do that.  You sign the divorce papers and we can formalize things.”

Riley rolled out of bed and started getting dressed.  She could tell by the way he was hauling his clothes on that he was furious and she didn’t understand.  He sat on the bed putting his shoes on with his back to her before he made any comment.  “Fuck you,” he said.

“Excuse me?”

“Fuck you, Dina.  I’m not signing.  If you want a divorce, you can fight me in court.”

“Don’t speak to me like that,” she snapped, “and I don’t get this.  We’re over, but you don’t want a divorce it makes no logical sense.” 

Riley turned around and stared at her.  “What’s the hurry?  Are you planning on marrying someone else?”  He tapped her on the arm and said with a sneer.  “I tell you what, I’ll sign when we want to marry someone else, okay?”  He gave her a wink and she wanted to slap him. 

Christina hauled herself out of bed and got dressed.  “You are being ridiculous and I never realized what a control freak you are.  Take me home.” 

“With pleasure,” he snarled and exited the bedroom.