Lost in Flight (25 page)

Mason looked him up and down, leering.  “You got a date?  Or you want me to set you up with someone.” 

Riley kept his face straight.  “I think I can get someone.”  He knew Mason’s type: tall, beautiful, vain, and insecure, with a penchant for freaky and drugs.  Riley had done the freaky and drugs.  He was over both. 

Not that that was bad or anything, but the women Mason set him up with were not his type.  He wanted something different now, not casual and virtually anonymous.  He excused himself, pulled out his cell and dialed a number. 

She answered on the fourth ring and he put a smile in his voice.  “Hey.  Hi.  It’s Riley.  Sorry about today.  I had to take off and wanted to talk to you more, but I was in a hurry.  Look, if you want to, we could change that?” 

He heard her give a throaty laugh that made him grin.  “Sure,” she said.  “What have you got in mind?” 

Riley made his voice low and husky.  He had lots of things in mind, clearing his throat, he said, “If you’re not busy, we could meet up tonight?” 

She laughed and said meaningfully, “I’d love to.” 

So after some further conversation, he arranged to meet her in town at a restaurant that she recommended.  He ended the call with a friendly: “See you tonight, Callie.” 

When he’d organized his date and finished with Mason, promising to catch up later that night, Riley made his way to Bonnie.  He wasn’t looking forward to it, but he had business with her and he wasn’t above pointing out professional responsibilities to her if necessary. 

He and Bonnie Howard had always had an interesting relationship.  They’d known each other forever and their mothers had been friends in high school.  Riley couldn’t tell if he liked her or she liked him.  They just knew each other and that was it. 

Like most guys, he thought Bonnie was smoking hot, but she and Christina were linked to the core like ancient bone.  He knew – like in the deep dark recesses of his being – that if he ever put the moves on Bonnie, he’d regret it.  In truth, he’d only put the moves on Bonnie to hurt Christina and although it was tempting, he figured he’d be the one that came off second best.  So he put the thought out of his mind. 

He and Bonnie Howard had shared a moment - one he doubted they’d ever forget.  She had witnessed him and Christina tearing each other to shreds on the street when they divorced.  They’d never spoken about it, but it was there between them - unspoken.  He hadn’t forgotten and he was pretty sure she hadn’t either.

Riley didn’t have to worry about Bonnie being anything other than a consummate professional.  He could tell by the look she gave him that she’d like to say a few things, but she refrained in her work environment.  She had compiled a list for him of prospective properties that would suit his needs and a few others that he’d never considered. 

As he looked up, Bonnie was looking at him speculatively.  She pursed her lips and Riley thought: 
Here it comes
.  Clearing her throat a little, Bonnie said, “Has anyone run this by Christina?”  And there it was:  the mention of the big crazy psycho, elephant’s name in the room. 

Riley scowled at Bonnie.  “What has this got to do with her?  She’s not moving back to Seattle – is she?”  He hoped Bonnie hadn’t noticed the rise in pitch of his voice on the last question.  He thought she might have because she started with an:  “Ahem.” 

“Not that I know of, but I assume if her father goes in on this property, it becomes Martin family business, but Dina would know the legalities of it more than I,” Bonnie said with a raised eyebrow. 

Riley stared intently at Bonnie.  Seriously?  Was that a threat?  He replied quietly, which really belied the desire to grind his teeth and snap, “I’m not sure what’s been discussed with
her
.  I assume
she
will have no interest in the property since
she
lives in D.C. and all.” 

Bonnie looked at him with eyes like ice and her bottom lip jutted out in displeasure.  She looked at him like “I know you had sex with my friend – you pig,” which made him squirm a bit in his seat.  Instead, Bonnie rose and grabbed a file. “Okay, then.  I’ll get right on it.” 

He was tempted to hire Bonnie on the spot.  These days, Riley was used to people following his orders and he hadn’t wanted Bonnie to be the agent for this project, but the others insisted.  Begrudgingly, he realized she’d just proved him wrong.  Basically, she’d let him know she thought he was an “asshole” in a completely professional manner.  He was impressed.

Riley left with Bonnie staring daggers at his back and for once, he wasn’t quite sure what it was about.  It was just sex, right?  He and
her
– they just had sex.  If the rumors were true, Bonnie had had plenty, so he didn’t understand what she was getting all-moralistic about.

He missed Christina by fifteen minutes.  He’d gone back to the townhouse, showered and changed.  He was meeting Callie in the city centre at a restaurant for dinner and he was late.  He’d arranged for an early meal so that if it didn’t work out he could cut it short and meet up with Mason.  If it did go well, he’d bring her along and they could go to Mason’s nightclub, Way Point.  It was going to take him an hour to get there and he didn’t want to keep the lady waiting.

He waited at the bar until Callie walked in and he got up to greet her.  She was pretty with a nice smile, blonde wavy hair, green eyes, and about the same height as Christina.  She was about the same size too, but he decided comparing her to Christina in any way would not be a good start. 

Callie had a dusting of freckles over her nose, with full lips, and a decent set of head and taillights.  In a green strapless dress that clung to her body in a good way, with high heels that made her sashay when she walked, she was getting more than a few admiring looks around the place.  Riley thought she was pretty damn cute. 

But god, she could talk.  She was about Gabby’s age and discussed everything from movies to music and magical thinking.  With a beaming smile, Callie said, “I think this was destiny – oh I have a sister called Destiny.” 

When she saw the confused look on his face, she laughed.  “I do!  I guess it could also be fate.  I don’t have a sister called Fate though.”  She frowned and a cute little line formed between her eyebrows.  He figured she was thinking and then her eyes lit up.  “I know!  I could call my daughter Fate, or my son, I suppose it could be a gender neutral name?”

Riley decided this could be a long night.  He signaled to the waiter and ordered food and wine.  When it came, she sighed, “I’m in the food industry.  I want to be a chef – start my own business or get my own place.”  He made encouraging and enthusiastic “good for you” noises, and she carried on. “I’ve done a cooking course.  You know” and she laughed loudly.  “When I first started, I thought baking soda was actually baked.” 

Callie laughed until tears sprang into her eyes and Riley wished she’d take it down a notch.  He looked around and noticed they were drawing attention, which made him sit forward, hunching his shoulders.  She opened her eyes wide, as if she’d discovered the secrets of the universe. “What if it was fried or
deep
fried?  Oh my god!  Can you imagine all the calories in that?” 

Calories
, he thought,
calories might save him
.  Smiling, Riley said, “A woman with your figure wouldn’t have to worry about that.”  When she blushed, he grinned as broadly as he could.  “Eat up.” 

Riley filled her glass with wine for good measure, but quickly learnt that was a mistake.  Wine made Callie even more talkative and random.   As he sat listening to her monologue on Batman, he wondered if he was a crazy magnet or brought it out in women. 

“I guess it would really depend on what Batman you’re talking about,” Callie burbled.  Riley hadn’t talked about Batman at all.  In fact, he couldn’t remember the last time he’d uttered a word in the conversation. 

Shit
, Riley thought, filling his glass of wine and pouring her another one.  He was listing jobs in his head and strategies for an easy exit when he heard Callie apologize for talking too much.  He waved her comments away and hoped the relief didn’t show on his face.

Callie asked him where he lived and when he said, “mainly New York” she waxed lyrical for some time about how she’d always dreamed of going there.  Her question, “What do you do for a living” brought about his usual cagey response.  “I work for myself,” he said. 

When people discovered he was the music manager for Collective Pitch, things went into dangerous territory.  They nearly always wanted to meet the band or fish for information that could potentially be exploited for profit.  Riley always made sure someone was trustworthy before he divulged his connections to anyone.

Callie interrupted her stream of consciousness conversation with a giggle and stroked his arm.  “I’m sorry.  I’m just really nervous, you know.  I broke up with my long-term boyfriend a few months back and I’m not used to this.” 

He smiled reassuringly at her and felt bad.  “It’s fine and I’m enjoying it,” he lied.  It was sort of true, but he was looking forward to getting some respite in loud music at the nightclub.  She batted her eyelashes at him in a seductive and endearing way, which made the decision easy for him. 

Riley leaned over and ran his fingers over her hand.  “Do you want to get out of here and go to a nightclub?”  He almost regretted his decision when she clapped her hands together squealing, “Yes.” 

He drove an impressed and chatty Callie to meet Mason in his Audi A4.  She loved European cars too and thought they were sophisticated.  He wondered if she’d like the old pickup truck he drove in Shanwick.  If he valued any possession in this world, it was that old beast and his box of sad memories that he left at the farmhouse. 

Riley parked his car as per Mason’s strict instructions and made his way to the front of the line at the nightclub.  Callie was “super-excited” when he gave his name to the bouncer and they were let straight in the door.  He made his way to the VIP section and even he was impressed.  Mason had outdone himself.  It was Monday night and the place was pumping full of good looking people grinding on the dance floor. 

When he saw Mason, he gave him the head nod.  Riley watched Mason extract himself from two hot women wrapped around him and make his way over.  Flinging his black hair out of his eyes Mason grinned, looking Callie up and down.  His eyes lit up and he turned to Riley with a raised eyebrow, giving a “nice” wink.

Mason yelled over the music.  “What are you drinking?”  When Riley said he wasn’t because he was driving, Mason snapped.  “Bullshit.  I’ll have someone drive you and sweet ass wherever you want to go.  I can get your car dropped off later.  We’re drinking.”  So they went for whiskey. 

A pretty drunk Riley and Callie staggered out of the nightclub around 3:00 a.m.  They’d danced, kissed, groped, and had a pretty good time.  Even her talking didn’t bother him anymore, although he was having a problem concentrating on what she was saying.  His focus was on her cleavage.  They got into Mason’s town car and Callie straddled him, grinding with enthusiasm. 

She locked lips with him and started thrusting her tongue in and out of his mouth.  He grabbed her hips and kissed her back, running his hands over her body.  He was seriously interested, but he decided they were too drunk to take it any further.  He wanted to bury his emotions in a random connection, but she was a nice girl and deserved better than being screwed in the back of a car by an almost stranger. 

Under protest, he got Callie’s address out of her and made the driver take her home.  She was pretty determined to spend the night with him and she didn’t mind what place it was at.  She didn’t mind if it was in the car as she kept whispering in his ear, repeatedly, emphasized with her tongue and hands on his zipper. 

Riley grabbed her hand and put his arm around her.  He kissed her on the temple and smelled her hair saying in her ear, “If we’re going to do this, I don’t want us to be drunk.  Okay?  I don’t want you to have any regrets.”  He ran his fingers over the back of her neck and she moved closer into his arms. 

She was a little flattered and agreed saying, “Wow.  Chivalry isn’t dead.”  It didn’t stop them from kissing and groping all the way to her place.  He had a serious debate with himself over taking this to its proper conclusion or waiting.  In the end, he decided to wait and they made arrangements to see each other Friday night.  He promised her if things went well, they could pick up right where they left off.

By the time Riley arrived back to the townhouse it was about 4:00 a.m. and he was shattered.  One of Mason’s workers had driven his car back for him and when he’d opened the garage for the guy, he saw some 1980s Porsche 911 in there.  Jed must have company, so he decided he’d be as quiet as possible. 

He had trouble unlocking the door and flicked the lights on before stumbling through the kitchen to his bedroom.  He managed to wrench his clothes and shoes off before crashing into bed, and out to sleep.  He had a good, solid sleep for a drunk person, but it was disturbed all too soon by loud music.

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

Christina, Seattle, The Present, Tuesday 9 October 2012

Christina woke up in a good mood and it just got better.  On waking, she found definitive proof that she wasn’t pregnant and jumped for joy.  It was about 8:00 a.m. and since she’d had such a good start to the day, she wanted to get to work as soon as she got herself ready.  She ran down the stairs to check Jed’s room and when she found he wasn’t there she smiled. 

The lights were on, which was strange.  She was sure she’d turned them off, but it was no big deal.  She hit the music on her iPhone, put it on shuffle, and cranked up the volume.  She ran back up the stairs to the shower just as Gotye’s “Somebody I used to know” started booming over the speakers. 

Stripping off, Christina jumped in the shower and let the hot water wash over her.  She loved singing loudly in the shower and when no one else was around to disturb her.  She didn’t sing in public or for a living anymore, but she cut loose in private and being with her family, she realized music was important to her too.