Lost in Flight Read online

  Christina actually snorted through her nose, “Bad mama jama sex? Seriously? Who would say that? That’s just stupid,” making Bonnie and Mandy cackle with laugher.

  Staring Stephany down, Christina said, “Here’s a hint. Free – just for you. Maybe you should stop referring to sex as some silly disco song and he might ask you to marry him, or even better, be actually seen in public with you.”

  Mandy and Bonnie started laughing so hard they were bent over double. When Bonnie recovered, she made shooing motions. “Go on. Run along now. You’re boring and don’t come back, unless you want me to kick your skanky asses.”

  Glaring at them menacingly, Bonnie said, “Seriously. It would be my pleasure. Actually, I’ve changed my mind. Please stay. I haven’t kicked butt in a long time.”

  The Anys started to move away, but Stephany wasn’t finished. She turned back to Christina and hissed. “Keep away from him. He’s mine and he sure as hell doesn’t need you back in his life.”

  Christina shrugged. “I have no intention of going near him, but here’s another piece of advice: stop treating Riley like an object. He doesn’t go for that, but you being his fiancé and all, should know that. Right?” Then, she leaned forward and laughed in Stephany Gilmore’s face until the other woman turned on her heel with everything bouncing, and fled.

  When the Anys left, the three of them looked at each other and burst out laughing. Christina ordered more drinks and they toasted their petty victory, knocking them back. They hit the dance floor and Christina was drunker than she’d been in years, but she was having a good time. It’s amazing what a face-off with your enemies can do to clear away the tension.

  They danced to La Roux’s “Bulletproof” and stayed for Whitney Houston’s version of “I’m every woman.” They tried to whistle – badly – to Flo. Rida’s, “Whistle song” and when “Bad Mama Jama” came on, they nearly peed their pants. They went over to where the Anys were and started mock disco dancing.

  The three friends were back at the bar before Christina broached the subject. “Do you think Riley really is here in town?” Bonnie and Mandy looked at each other, and then back at her.

  Bonnie narrowed her eyes. “Why?”

  Christina shook her head. “No reason. I was just curious.” They went quiet and then Christina blurted. “Do you really think he’s having sex with Stephany Gilmore?”

  Bonnie turned and stared directly at Christina with Mandy looking around Bonnie at her too. “Why?” Bonnie asked. “Does it matter? I mean would it bother you?”

  Christina pulled a face and waved her hand. “Pffft. Nooooo - of course not. Pfffft. Bother me? Ha! No.” Both her friends crossed their arms and glared at her, but she was saved by Katy Perry’s “TGIF.” When it started she went: “Oooh, I love this song” and headed back to the dance floor.

  Her friends watched Christina dance with a frown on their faces and looked at one another. “How come she can dance so well and be terrible at driving?” Mandy asked.

  Bonnie frowned. “I think there’s trouble on the horizon.”

  Mandy nudged Bonnie on the arm. “I think we should have let her keep her jeans and sweater on.” On that, they both agreed.

  ********************

  Christina was leaning on the bar at the nightclub, mainly for balance and to try to avoid the lights that were impairing her vision. It was way past her bedtime, but she didn’t feel tired, although her feet were killing her and she wanted to take her shoes off. She kept replaying Stephany Gilmore’s comments about Riley through her head.

  The Anys had left a while ago; snarling comments and gestures at them as they left the building. Bonnie and Mandy had responded in kind, but Christina had blown them kisses. She thought Stephany was going to come back and punch her. Even though she knew it shouldn’t, the thought of Stephany Gilmore heading out to Riley’s annoyed her.

  Turning to her friends she blurted. “I want to go see him – you know – clear this up once and for all.”

  Bonnie and Mandy crossed their arms, glaring at her. “No-you-don’t,” snapped Bonnie, “it is a bad idea.”

  Mandy nodded. “Yep bad idea, Dina, bad-bad-idea,” but Christina was full of alcoholic courage and disagreed.

  When she couldn’t convince her friends, she yelled, “Let’s get another drink” throwing her arms in the air with a “wooooo,” making her friends nervous. They watched Christina get back on the dance floor and swing herself around to Bow wow wow’s, “I want Candy.”

  Bonnie turned to Mandy. “No more alcohol for her, but screw Candy, I want drugs.” Ten minutes later, they dragged Christina out of the nightclub and headed across the car park to the Bikers’ Bar.

  The chilly air made Christina realize she was a lot drunker than she should be. Watching her swaying, Bonnie pursed her lips. “Since when did you become such a lightweight drunk?”

  Christina just giggled and then started singing to Alex Clare’s “Too Close” that could be heard in the car park from the nightclub. When Maroon 5’s “She will be loved” played Christina sang loudly and with feeling. Mandy looked at Bonnie and sighed.

  “Oh she needs to get loved all-right,” Mandy whispered. Bonnie agreed. Both her friends were determined she wasn’t going to do that with a certain person called damn Nicholas Riley.

  Much to Bonnie and Mandy’s annoyance, Christina was drawing a crowd, which circumvented their need for privacy to do something illegal. Some of the people leaving the nightclub stopped to listen and a few bikers appeared from inside to watch. Oblivious to it all, Christina danced and sang on. She was twirling around, holding her skirt out, doing some weird tap dance routine, and almost exposing herself to the crowd. Mandy and Bonnie gulped nervously.

  Biker 1 yelled: “Who is that?”

  Biker 2: “Johnny Martin’s sister.”

  Biker 3: “The crazy one?”

  Biker 4 yelled: “Both his sisters are crazy.”

  Bonnie and Mandy spun around shouting: “SHUT UP” in unison, making everyone, including Christina, laugh.

  Biker 3 looked at Bonnie and Mandy with a grin. He was young, dark, with an infectious smile. He bowed his shaven head in deferment to them and said. “Hey ladies, she might be crazy, but she sure can sing.”

  Mandy folded her arms. “Yes-she-can. Best damn angry girl singer to come out of this place.” Biker 3 raised his eyebrows and went back inside with the older, scary looking, cowboy hat wearing Biker 4.

  Bonnie did her best seductive walk toward Biker 1 and Biker 2 who were encouraging Christina to keep singing. Both were clad in denim and leather, and seemed friendly enough. Biker 1 was the bigger of the two and must have stood at least 6’3. He had long blonde hair in a ponytail and was about their age. Christina had to tilt her head back to see his face.

  Biker 2 was shorter and heavier set with arms that looked like tree trunks. He had a buzz cut and beard. He had dark eyes that twinkled and he appeared older than Biker 1, maybe in his mid-30s. In her drunken state, Christina thought they actually looked harmless and friendly.

  The women were way over-dressed for that place, but it didn’t matter. There were a few reasons why women like them came to the bar and the top reason was drugs. The women really didn’t want to dwell on the other reasons because they weren’t there for that.

  Approaching the two men, Bonnie asked if they had any weed for sale. Looking Bonnie up and down, Biker 2 said, “Maybe. You’re not cops are you?”

  For some reason, Christina found this hilariously funny. “Cops? Cops? Would cops do this?”

  She took off her shoes and attempted to throw them on the roof of the bar. Every time she threw a shoe, her dress came up flashing her panties, which interested the bikers. It took a few times for Christina to get her shoes on the roof, but when she did, she threw her arms up in the air, unintentionally exposing herself to everyone, and cheered in triumph.

  The bikers looked at each other and then back at Christina. They laughingly clapped her success and ke
pt pumping their arms in the air encouraging Christina to do the same. After she’d flashed herself for the umpteenth time, Mandy made her stop.

  After Christina’s performance, the bikers produced a joint, and Bonnie handed over some money, but they waved it away. All five of them went out of sight from the road and lit up. Christina had two drags and then waved her hand up in surrender. She hadn’t smoked weed since high school and didn’t miss it.

  She’d never been a druggie and now she remembered why. She sat down on the ground to regain some measure of composure, which made her notice her shoes were missing. Where were her shoes? Where the F were her shoes?

  Christina kept asking this question over and over in a loop to Bonnie, and Mandy making them laugh. Mandy had to sit down on the asphalt in the car park and cross her legs so she didn’t wet her pants. Christina stood up and swayed.

  “Right,” she said. “I’m going to see him” and started walking barefoot home.

  Biker 1 yelled. “Hey, where you going?”

  Christina shouted over her shoulder. “To see my husband.”

  Biker 1 grinned. “Nice. You’re a good woman… you know that? A man always appreciates being woken up by his woman for sex.”

  Clutching at Bonnie’s leg, Mandy hauled herself up off the ground giggling, “She isn’t going out there for sex. She wants a fight with him.”

  The two bikers looked at each other and frowned. “Hey, that’s not good,” said Biker 1 and shouted at Christina. “You’re a bad woman. Go show him some love. Men are simple. Sex equals good. Fighting? Not so much, unless you’re both into that.”

  Biker 2 nodded. “Yeah, go see your husband. You do a bit of a dance” and he started shaking his hips, “take your clothes off,” he started mock stripping, “shake your money maker.” He started to do things that were obscene, “and he’ll love it.” He winked at Christina, nodded his head then gave her the double thumbs up.

  Biker 1 agreed. “Yeah, Tommy. That’s right. Do that sweetheart and he’ll love it: promise. It’ll all be sweeeeet.”

  Christina glared at the bikers in disapproval. She’d never been a sex kitten and never wanted to be one. She was a feminist, god-damn-it, and she wasn’t about to take advice from bikers on how to degrade herself for men. Standing up straight and pointing a finger, Christina burbled. “Sex isn’t some ultimate feminist statement. Women shouldn’t be complicit in our own sexual objectification. It’s wrong.”

  Biker 2 turned to Mandy with a confused look on his face. “What’s she talking about?”

  Mandy sighed. “I don’t think even she knows at this stage.”

  Then Mandy started singing so badly and to a tune no one else recognized, that the bikers moved away. Mandy had a lot of talents, but vocals weren’t one of them. For some reason, this was hilariously funny and all three of the women started giggling like idiots.

  As Christina started walking away, Bonnie was the first to recover. “You are not going out there, Dina. I swear…”

  Christina turned to look at her friends and then started running as fast as she could toward Riley’s. Bonnie and Mandy stared in shock.

  Biker 1 said to Bonnie, “Red, you’d look pretty sweet on my bike. Do you know where she’s going?”

  Bonnie nodded and looked at the bikers. “Could you take both of us, please?”

  Biker 2 grinned. “I thought you’d never ask.”

  The bikers shared a knowing look. They’d seen this before. These bitches were crazy.

  ********************

  “I am so angry with you right now, Dina. This is a really dumb idea. So-so dumb and it’s on you. If you want to go out there – fine. Just don’t say I didn’t warn you.” Bonnie was so angry, steam was nearly coming out her ears. “We had to chase you on motorbikes, for God’s sake... motorbikes, with, with bikers.”

  They’d caught up with Christina down the road and with the bikers’ help, held her until they forced her into Bonnie’s car. They tried to take Christina back home, but she told them she’d just wait for them to leave and go anyway. Against their better judgment, Mandy and Bonnie agreed to take her to Riley’s, but neither of them was happy about it.

  Christina started giggling, setting off Mandy and Bonnie. Even though Bonnie was trying hard to stay mad at Dina, the giggling was infectious. Bonnie couldn’t stop the giggles either.

  “What is it?” Mandy giggled, setting them all off again into loud, raucous laughter.

  “Do you really think Stephany Gilmore asks Riley for bad mama jama sex? And what would that mean?” Christina giggled. They all laughed and shrieked so loudly that they nearly deafened each other in the confined space of the car.

  Mandy opened her eyes wide. “Oooooh, Dina. I know. Why don’t you ask him? Go on. I dare you.”

  Christina nodded and her eyes lit up. “Yeah-yeah. I WILL.”

  Dares were part of their shared history. Growing up they’d been notorious, getting into more scrapes than the average girls, daring each other to do things. They graduated from sticking all manner of things in people’s mailboxes to semi-dangerous stunts involving bicycles and jumping off bridges.

  They’d kissed ugly boys on dares, mooned cars, and worn the ugliest outfits to Prom. Mandy and Christina had been constrained by having boyfriends in their teens, but they’d all stalked boys for Bonnie. They’d engaged in actions that were not only unhealthy, but what Christina now realized was criminal.

  Bonnie parked the car at the end of the Riley’s long driveway and told the other two to shut up. They stumbled down the Riley’s driveway in the dark and fell on more than one occasion, making so much noise one of the farm dogs started barking. Mandy was frightened of dogs and pushed Bonnie in the direction of where the dog was barking. Hard.

  Bonnie fell head first into a hedge and came out swinging. She landed a hit on Mandy’s arm and they started arguing until Christina told them to “shush.” All three sat down on the ground with their hands stuffed in their mouths to stop laughing so they didn’t wake Riley’s parents.

  As they passed the larger house and she caught sight of the old farmhouse, Christina stopped, and stared. It had got bigger and she pointed to her friends. Mandy nodded. “They put an extension on a few years ago. I forgot you wouldn’t have seen it.” It made Christina a bit sad and nostalgic for the old version. She’d always liked its rustic qualities.

  The women shuffled along to the side of the farmhouse, which looked deserted and made them hesitate. Bonnie hissed in Christina’s ear. “Which one is Riley’s bedroom?” Even after all this time she knew. Christina pointed to a window around the side of the house and they inched around in the dark, stumbling and falling until they found it.

  There were no lights on and not a sound from inside. Christina whispered. “There’s no-one home. Let’s go.”

  Mandy whispered back. “Shhhh. Of course he’s home. It’s nearly 3:00 a.m. He’s probably asleep.” Going up to the window Mandy started knocking on it and when there was no response, she started banging harder, and harder calling. “Riley. Riley, RIIIILEY, RIIIIIIILLLEYYYY!”

  Both Bonnie and Christina tried to drag Mandy away, but she was determined. Yanking Mandy by the arm, Bonnie swung her away from the window, but Mandy tried to pull away. Wrenching free, Mandy fell over backwards into the garden and hurt herself. She stood up and started wailing. “Fuck, fuck, FUCK, FARRRRRRRK!”

  Bonnie and Christina went into hysterics. All three decided they were just going to run away, but Mandy’s actions and loud “fucks” had attracted attention from inside. They all stopped still in shock when the lights went on in the house and the door opened. There stood Riley on the porch looking at them.

  He had no shirt on and was wearing jeans, and looked like he’d just woken up, but he didn’t look angry. When he saw Christina, his eyes opened wide in surprise. Grinning, Riley said, “Evening – or morning, ladies.”

  Mandy and Bonnie both gave, “Hey Rileys” back. Bonnie said to Christina, “Are you sure
about this?” When she nodded, Bonnie sighed. “Be it on your own head” and gave Christina an almighty push, which nearly flung her head first into the garden.

  Looking up at Riley for the first time, Christina took in all the little changes. His hair was cut short at the back and spiky on the top, which gave him a bit more of a dangerous look, accentuated by a large, heavily inked tattoo running down his arm. Christina thought he didn’t need to look dangerous. He already was, especially to her.

  When they’d been together, his hair had been long. His face hadn’t changed much, just filled out. He had a strong jaw line, wide mouth, and reasonably full lips. Riley could give most women a run for their money in the pouty-sullen stakes when he wanted to.

  It was the smile, though, that was the panty-dropping killer. When Riley smiled or laughed, he could charm the pants off most people. Christina knew this from experience. He’d charmed the pants off her on more than one occasion.

  Riley’s nose was long and straight, but his eyes were his most effective weapons. They were green with gold irises that changed color depending on his mood and framed by dark thick lashes. If Riley set his sights on you and locked eyes, you didn’t stand a chance. Christina never had and there he stood looking at her, with a half-smile on his face, and half-naked.

  He came down the steps, pulled her out of the garden, put an arm around her and took her inside. Before he closed the door he looked at Bonnie and Mandy with a smile. Mandy blew him kisses and gave him double thumbs up. Bonnie just nodded her head in acknowledgement, with a stern look on her face. Both women left with their arms around each other and walked out of sight.

  ********************

  Riley, Shanwick, The Past, Saturday 6 October 2012 (One day ago)

  When Riley first heard the noise outside, he thought Stephany Gilmore had arrived with friends. He was going to tell them he wasn’t interested, until he heard Mandy swearing in the garden. She was the wife of one of his oldest friends and he spent a lot of time with Mandy and Dave in New York. He would have recognized Mandy’s voice anywhere, but he didn’t expect her to be using language like that outside his house, or to be accompanied by Christina.