Coalescence - SF3 (2 page)

"Ryan seems like a lovely young woman," he said after a minute, sniffing slightly.

Jamie shook her head and wiped at her eyes, her enthusiasm immediately bubbling out. "Oh, she is! She’s absolutely remarkable, Daddy. She’s been losing weight all week, and she was so sick this morning that I don’t know how she continued, but she got back on that bike and forced herself to finish. I’m just so proud of her," she choked out.

"There, there, Sweetie, it’s okay." He soothed her tenderly, rocking her in his arms. Looking up, he motioned to Mia and Ryan. They both looked a little embarrassed at witnessing such a private moment, but he put them at ease. "I’ve got to leave, girls. Will you make sure my baby gets taken care of tonight?"

"We’ll take very good care of her," Ryan said, as she cast a fond glance at her partner.

Jamie kissed her father goodbye; then with a sob, she turned and fell into Ryan. Jim gave the tall woman a small nod as he passed his only child over to her. He clasped her shoulder, giving it a good squeeze, hugged Mia goodbye, and disappeared into the crowd.

Mia looked at Ryan and made a hand signal to ask if she should make herself scarce. Ryan shook her head, knowing that Jamie just needed a moment to collect herself. "Time to go, Honey," she soothed, stroking her partner’s back. "Can you make it?"

The smaller woman took a deep breath and straightened up. "Yeah, I’m okay." She tilted her head back and paused for a moment, trying to calm herself. "This is just an awful lot to take in at once."

"What happened before we saw you guys?" Mia asked, aware that she had missed something momentous.

Ryan wasn’t in the mood to explain and, since Jamie didn’t look able to, she suggested, "Let’s get out of the crowd. I’m getting a little claustrophobic. I’ll fill you in on the whole thing when we get to your apartment."

Ryan hoisted her own bag in one arm and shared the burden of Jamie’s with Mia. Jamie stayed right by her partner’s side even though the bag prevented them from touching. They located the car in the subterranean parking structure of Jim’s office building. Mia got in to drive, and after stowing the bags in the small trunk, Ryan climbed into the back, right next to her partner.

They struggled through the traffic-clogged streets, finally making their way to Santa Monica Boulevard. Mia peppered them with questions and Ryan answered most of them. Jamie was largely uncommunicative, curled up on the seat and leaning against her partner, who had an arm wrapped around her protectively.

Ryan kept the conversation going by asking Mia all about her job as a production assistant for a major film studio. The work sounded fairly interesting and Mia was meeting a lot of people. She had found a fantastic sublet for the summer, and she raved about the apartment all the way to Santa Monica.

When they reached Mia’s place, both guests were suitably impressed with the rather opulent apartment. It was a spacious two-bedroom unit, furnished in a rich tapestry of greens and golds and yellows. The style was vaguely Italian—modern, sleek and elegant. The most stunning element, however, was the beautiful, unobstructed view of the ocean. They could see the Palisades and the sharp drop from the street to the shore. Hundreds of people were on the beach and the bike path was also full on this cool but sunny day.

The unit had come completely furnished and sported a very well appointed kitchen. Since Mia had yet to make anything more adventurous than microwave popcorn, they decided they would order dinner in.

Ryan stowed their bags in the spacious, understated guest room. She asked Jamie if she would like to shower first. Receiving only a vacant nod, she gave Mia a little shrug, pulled Jamie into the bedroom and pushed her gently onto the bed. Kneeling at her feet, Ryan looked up at her with concern. "Are you okay? You look pretty out of it." While waiting for her answer, she brushed the hair off Jamie’s forehead and felt her cool skin.

"I’m okay," she said weakly. "It was just all so overwhelming."

"Do you want to take a shower? Or would you rather just lie down for a while?"

"I can’t decide whether tired or dirty wins," she muttered, wiping at her eyes with an annoyed swipe. "I guess dirty takes it," she groused. "I’ve got a nasty combo of sun block, sweat, sand and tears going on here."

"Need help?" Ryan asked ingenuously, batting her big blue eyes.

"Yeah," Jamie smirked, her normal attitude reasserting itself. "Take my shoes off."

Ryan returned the smirk, grumbling, "I get all the crummy jobs."

"You just wait, Buff," Jamie promised. "Tomorrow, you’ll have full access."

"Tomorrow?" Ryan gaped.

"Oh, shit," Jamie cried. "I mean Monday." She dropped back onto the bed and let out a frustrated moan. "Damn, maybe we should just go home tonight."

"Nah…we can’t do that," Ryan demurred. "I think Mia’s looking forward to spending some time with you. We can’t blow her off now."

A heavy sigh greeted this thought. "Of course, you’re right. I can’t let my baser instincts rule my world."

"Base? You think I’m base?" Ryan pounced on her partner, pinning her to the bed and tickling her furiously. Jamie squirmed and cried, seeming more like herself every minute.

"Okay, Love-Bug," the breathless blonde managed. "You go play with Mia…and get a snack."

"Snack? Did somebody say snack?" The always-hungry woman rose immediately and left the bedroom, nose twitching--every sense attuned to the presence of food.

Ryan went out to chat with Mia for a few minutes and look for that snack. The good news was that Mia was familiar enough with Jamie’s emotional responses to not be bothered by her withdrawn behavior in the car. The bad news was that there was nary a bite to eat in the house. Her desires frustrated, Ryan went back into the bedroom to organize her things.

Jamie wasn’t in the shower very long and when she emerged, wrapped in a big towel, Ryan expressed surprise. "That didn’t take long. Weren’t you tempted to stay in there all day?"

"As a matter of fact, I was, but I decided to make it quick, since I knew I had to leave some water for you." She tilted her blonde head and grinned at her partner, and Ryan was reassured to see the playful glint in her eyes once again.

"Well, I’m not going to be so moderate," Ryan warned. "I’m gonna stay in here until my fingers prune!"

"You go right ahead, Pigpen," Jamie teased, lightly flicking her thumb at the dirt-smudged face. "You’re my little dirt raccoon."

"Dirt raccoon?" Ryan queried.

"Yeah. The dirt sticks to your face, but it doesn’t get behind your sunglasses. So you get this raccoon effect. It’s pretty cute," she decided.

"Dirt raccoon, indeed," Ryan grumbled, going into the bath to dispute the moniker.

After looking into the huge, well-lit mirror over the double sinks, Ryan had to agree that she looked more raccoonish than human. "I’m going to scrub every particle of dirt from myself, Babe. Would you see what you could get for us to eat?"

"Sure Hon, anything in particular you’d like?"

"I’d eat the back door buttered," Ryan assured her in her best Irish accent.

Jamie shot her a fond smile, always amused by her partner’s endless Irish aphorisms. "I think I can do better than that, my little colleen. You take it easy and take a nap when you’re finished with your shower, okay? You’ve had a tough day, Baby."

"Okey dokey," Ryan agreed, shutting the bathroom door.

Ryan stayed in the shower for a good 15 minutes, even though she knew that water conservation was important in Southern California. She needed to pamper herself a little bit today, so she indulged in the extravagance without guilt--washing her hair three times before she finally felt that all of the grit was washed away, then shaving her legs carefully, luxuriating in the feeling of actually being able to move freely in the pounding water after a week of showers in facilities the size of a phone booth.

When she had finished, she was pleased to note that she was feeling much like her old self. Her energy level was better, and she felt so clean that her mood was much improved. Pulling on her cleanest sweats, she climbed onto the neatly made bed and was asleep within seconds.

While Ryan was in the shower, Jamie put on a tank top and a pair of running shorts and went out to join her friend on the balcony.

Mia was sitting in the cool ocean breeze, the wind blowing her jumbled curls all around her head. "Hey," she said in greeting when Jamie poked her head out.

"Hi," Jamie smiled. "Do I look like a human again?"

"Yep. I knew it was you under that layer of grime, but you look perfectly normal now. Feeling better?"

"I feel pretty good, actually. The ravenous beast is going to need to be satisfied soon, though. Where can we get plenty of food really fast?"

"Mmm, we can order in or walk some place close. The nearest place is a little Chinese…"

"Sold!" Jamie decided. "That’s Ryan’s favorite."

"It’s not fancy, Hon. It’s cheap and quick, though."

"Even better," Jamie laughed. "Those are Ryan’s primary requirements in a restaurant!"

After they both got shoes on, they started off on their short quest. As soon as they hit the street, Jamie stretched her arms out and took in a deep breath, tilting her head back to gaze at the milky blue sky. "God, it feels good to be off that bike!" she cried to the heavens.

Mia draped an arm around her shoulders and gave her old friend a squeeze. "Was it really hard, James?"

Pursing her lips together, Jamie considered the question. "Yes and no. In a way, it was absolutely ridiculous, it was so hard," she laughed. "If I never see another hill it will be too soon! My legs feel like I ran three marathons, and I have no feeling left in my ass." She paused and considered the conflicting feelings that flooded her brain. "It’s hard to explain, Mia. I never thought I’d say this, but in a way, it was easy. The energy of the group was so infectious that you found yourself doing things that you didn’t think possible. And mealtimes were so nice! I met tons of people—and some of them hadn’t even slept with Ryan!"

"Yikes!" Mia cried. "Did you run into old lovers?"

"Yep. All ages, all sizes, all shapes. The only thing I’m sure of is that she never slept with a man. Other than that, all bets are off!"

"You seem awfully cool with it," Mia said with a suspicious glance. "Why doesn’t that bother you?"

Jamie thought about that for a minute. "Oh, probably because it wasn’t a surprise. I knew that she’d slept with tons of women, and it stands to reason that lots of them would be on the ride. It was a little weird, but in a way, it helps me to know her better."

"Yeeeeaah, that sounds like you," the mischievous woman teased.

The no-nonsense look on Jamie’s face gave Mia a clear signal that she was completely serious. "Well, it is like the new me. I don’t want to change her. I love her just like she is. And if I really love her, I have to accept that she is who she is because of the sum of her experiences. What matters is that she loves me now, and I believe that she’s committed to me."

"Are you really sure about that?" the curly-haired woman asked, a niggling doubt about Ryan’s ability to be faithful troubled Mia’s mind. As much as she liked Ryan, her loyalty was first and foremost to Jamie, and she wanted to protect her friend as much as possible.

"Yes. I am." The confident look had not changed, and Mia found herself smiling at her friend’s assuredness. A gentle smile slid onto Jamie’s face, and her voice turned wistful. "She’s soooo cute about telling people about our relationship, Mia. She introduces me as her partner, and when I asked her why, she went into this explanation about all of the terms she’d thought about using, and why each of the others wasn’t quite right."

"She told everybody about you?"

"Uhh, we both did," Jamie said, taking a noticeable gulp. "And I do mean everybody."

"Huh? "

"Right before you found us, a group of her friends got the band to play a song for us. We were up on that stage with thousands of people singing to us!"

"Holy crap!!! What were they singing?" Mia gaped.

"Going to the Chapel," Jamie informed her with rolling eyes. "It’s an old song that I think I’ve heard. My beloved knew every word, of course, and we ended up with me sitting on her knee while she serenaded me! We were making out in front of that huge crowd!" As these words left her mouth, all of the color drained from Jamie’s face, and she reached out blindly to steady herself against a building. "We were making out in front of that huge crowd," she repeated in a whisper, clutching at her suddenly pain-wracked stomach, eyes wide with alarm.

A short time later, Ryan woke with a start as her partner hurled herself onto the bed. "Shit!" the dark woman cried as she jerked up into a sitting position. Turning wide eyes to her partner, she asked, "What’s wrong?!"

"We were making out in front of that huge crowd," Jamie moaned, still clutching her stomach.

"What?!" Ryan demanded, sleep-fogged and confused.

"We had thousands of people singing to us…We were making out in front of all of them…There were probably television cameras there…My parents’ friends might see us on the news…Cassie might see us on the news…What part of that don’t you get?" The words came out in a monotone, all of the blonde’s emotion lodged in her cramping stomach.