The Performance Ch 01

Part 1 - The Unfolding of the Fantasy

Rebekkah was a little disgruntled as she sat at the airport gate waiting for the flight's arrival. Once again, it seemed Christian was passing a duty that he should be doing himself off onto her - like she didn't have a busy enough schedule of her own?

And yet admittedly, she was more than a little curious, having caught herself staring at Bryan's picture several times over the past months that she and Christian had been living together. What a contrast they were - Christian - her blonde God (in her eyes), slight of build, ever-changing hazel eyes, gentle of demeanour and Bryan - with his chiseled features and Irish good looks, black hair and piercing bright green eyes, the penultimate "hell raiser" according to Chris. Just thinking of them together (well, not really "together") made her squirm a little in her seat.

But there were times too, over the past months, when she thought that if she heard the words "when Bryan and I were at college together..." one more time, she would scream. She too, had friends from her past, but Chris' intrigue with Bryan seemed almost obsessive.

She was certain that she knew every story about them by heart. From the time Bryan broke Mrs. McNeill's window with a baseball and blamed Chris...to the time they picked up and bedded the twins from the bar they frequented. But Chris, it seemed, never tired of talking about "the good ole days".

And now here she sat, waiting for Bryan's flight from Dublin, her palms damp, her heart racing. But airports had a tendency to do that to her anyway. Always the emotional one, crying at both arrivals AND departures.

She caught herself checking out her own appearance in the waiting room window. She tried to convince herself that she would've taken equal care with herself to pick ANYONE up, but deep in her tummy, she knew it was because Bryan was Christian's oldest and dearest friend (and a might fine looking one at that) and the fact that she wanted to make an especially good impression on him (and hence on Christian - as she was always striving for Chris' approval).

The announcement came over the loudspeaker: "Announcing the arrival of Air Canada Flight 103 from Toronto at Gate B". That was his flight. She knew he would be exhausted after almost a full day of flying. First from Dublin to Toronto where he would've had to clear Customs and then, with only a few moments to spare, boarding the direct flight to Calgary. She didn't really know what to expect. She expected him to be weary-eyed, bedraggled and barely able to function, let alone carry on intelligent conversation.

She stood, smoothed the lines of the straight, ankle-length dark denim skirt she had chosen to wear, turned to make sure the high slit in the back was straight, pressed down a wrinkle in her tight red jersey knit top and fluffed her hair with her fingertips. She walked over to where the passengers would come through and waited for Bryan. She laughed to herself when her eyes misted up watching grandparents greet their grandkids, friends greet friends and lovers greet lovers.

She was still standing there, a silly grin plastered on her face when she saw him walk through the double doors. She did a double-take and swallowed hard. "Bedraggled, my ass", she thought to herself. "How can it be that he has traveled nearly all day and still looks as though he's walked straight out of the pages of GQ?"

His eyes seemed to capture her immediately...the glaring green meeting the almost-black ones. He quickened his place straight over to her, wrapped her in his arms and swung her in a circle. "Bekkah...at last!", calling her by one of Chris' playful nicknames in his lilting Irish brogue. "Where's the big guy?", he asked as he looked around.

She just stared at him...captivated not only by his mere presence, but by the gorgeous accent (which have always held a certain appeal for her). Clearing her throat and regaining some semblance of composure she managed to stutter out "ummmmm...well....uhhhhh unfortunately Christian got called into work with an....ummmmmm...emergency so he sent me in his place. He should...ummmmm...be at the house by the time we get there", thinking to herself "nice one Bekk, you babbling idiot!" and blushed furiously.

He didn't seem the least bit taken aback by her reaction, simply smiled, swung an arm over her shoulders and said "then point me in the right direction, Ms. Chauffeur".

After retrieving his bags from the carousel, they headed to the car and she found she needed a moment to collect herself to try to remember where she lived. "This is nuts", she thought. "You have truly lost your marbles, girlfriend". Bryan looked over at her and gave her knee a squeeze "did you say something, mavourneen?" he asked quizzically. Stammering again, her cheeks a deep crimson "Nooooo...ummmmmm...just...uhhhh...I seem to have forgotten where I've put the change for the...ummmm parking", she forced out with a tight little grin, hoping and praying that he wouldn't think her a total freak. Fortunately, she had put the change in one of the drink holders so it was a fairly plausible explanation and she pulled out of the garage without further incident.

Because of the beauty and splendour of the scenery, the majestic Rocky Mountains in the distance, there wasn't much need for small-talk during the 20-minute drive (for which she was extremely thankful), other than pointing out the occasional landmark which she could do almost robotically because she had had many visitors over the years.

She made a mental note that Bryan was an extremely "touchy feely" person, touching her arm or her leg whenever he asked a question or wanted to emphasize a point. She couldn't help feeling that wherever he touched, an almost burning tingle was left behind. But then again, no one but Christian had touched her in such a very long time, she chalked it up to it being simply a new sensation.

"Finally", she muttered, as she pulled into the driveway of her townhouse complex, feeling quite awkward and not really comprehending why. "Well, Bryan, there's no place like home and for the next few days...mia casa sue casa, as the saying goes", trying to keep everything lighthearted but hearing a hoarseness of her a voice that surely couldn't be hers.

She lead the way to their townhouse - and then she saw him - her Christian, waiting at the door. A wave of calmness immediately fell over her; just the mere sight of him could do that. He enveloped her in a tight hug and whispered "I'm sorry I made you go by yourself, baby", using the playful pet name he knew would make her blood boil. He bent to kiss her cheek. Rebekkah smiled softly and murmured "Twasn't a great hardship, Mast...errrrr....Christian", catching herself quickly. He raised his eyebrows at the apologetic stammer, but knew why and winked at her. "I believe you two know each other", she laughed playfully stepping aside to let the dynamics of the "reunion" take over.

She stood back and admired the beauty of the complete opposites as the "two men suddenly turned boys" embraced and her mind started to wander. "Ohhhhhhh, this is gonna be ONE interesting weekend", she thought to herself, then widened her eyes as she realized what she was thinking.

How interesting? Stay tuned for Part 2!!