Wyatt and Rachel were standing outside his shop, pulling down Evergreen flyers. Rachel stopped and pulled a cigarette from behind her ear, lit it, then leaned against the wall of the store and started smoking while Wyatt continued his seemingly fruitless endeavor. After a moment he too stopped and looked at her.
"What?" she asked. "I really should just hire someone to do this," Wyatt said, "this is ridiculous. Every day it's been like this lately. Goddamned Evergreens. Glad they're going out of town for a bit. Give me some time to remember what life was like before they were around to make things annoying." "Well I'll still be here, so you won't get a totally clean break from annoyance," Rachel said, smirking, making Wyatt chuckle as he stuffed more papers into the bucket he had by his feet; suddenly he heard Rachel say, "someone's coming up to us." Wyatt turned and noticed it was the girl who had approached him the prior days in the parking lot. Angie, he remembered her name for some reason. Only this time she wasn't dressed in her typical Evergreen garb. This time she was just dressed in plain ordinary clothes. Wyatt and Rachel stood there, papers in Wyatt's hand, as they waited for Angie to speak. After a moment or two, she finally opened her mouth. "You might not remember me-" she started. "I do," Wyatt interrupted. "-but I wanted to come by and thank you," she said, "um, I've left the Evergreens." Wyatt felt like he'd been punched in the gut. What had he just heard? Seriously? Had this girl just told him that, because of what he'd said, she'd left the group and turned her life around? Wyatt stumbled a little, leaning against the wall beside Rachel now. "They were talking about going to this convention, protesting things there, and I just...all I could remember were the things you said to me. About how he was a monster, regardless of his otherwise decent beliefs, and you're right. I can't pretend to be a good person when I'm associating with bad people doing bad things under the guise of them being good. That's gross. Also I have a fear or flying, so that certainly helped factor into my decision. Anyway I just...I wanted to come by and thank you personally, because...because what you said really did make a difference." Wyatt blushed and nodded. "Yeah, yeah sure, you're welcome. Anytime. I'm glad to hear you're out of there." Angie smiled, shook his head and then turned and walked away. Wyatt glanced at Rachel as she took a long drag, then put a hand on his shoulder. "You're an inspiration to women everywhere," she said, "the one guy who does genuinely nice things for girls without hoping they'll sleep with him. Truly a once in a lifetime specimen of your gender." "...are you being sarcastic?" Wyatt finally asked, side eyeing her, "that sounds like sarcasm." *** After cleaning up the shop, Wyatt rushed home to get it cleaned up a bit as well. Scarlett was doing yoga in the living room when he arrived, and after a brief kiss they each went back to their respective activities. After a bit of cleaning in the kitchen, and preparing a little snack platter, Wyatt stood in the kitchen and started to wash some of the dishes left on the sink when Scarlett entered, somewhat sweaty from her workout. "Oooh, what a good husband I have, I've trained you well," she said, picking up a small finger sandwich from a plate on the table and eating it, adding, "what's all this for?" "A friend of mine is coming over before she leaves town for a bit, so I just wanted to have a nice clean place to sit and talk, and ya know, have some snacks." "That's so thoughtful of you," Scarlett said, mouth full of sandwich as she hugged him and then whispered in his ear after swallowing, "I'll be in the shower if you wanna join me." As he watched Scarlett leave the room, he smiled, leaning on the counter. He sure had a great wife, and he couldn't imagine his life without her. Sure, things had been a tad rough and bumpy lately, but it was nothing they couldn't work through and weather together. Wyatt dried his hands on a dish towel, hung it on the stove handle, then headed to the stairs to go up and join her per her invitation when a knock came at the front door. He sighed, turned and headed back down the stairs, opening it to find a somewhat disheveled and exhausted Calvin standing on his porch. "What are you doing here?" he asked, "Is everything okay?" Calvin pushed his way into the house, past Wyatt and started pacing in circles in the foyer, scratching at his forehead. "He's leaving. He's leaving today. I don't...I don't know how to stop him," Calvin said, "I went to his apartment to leave it there, but the place was already cleared out. He's going to go back home and he's going to get away with it. What do I do?" "Leave what there?" Wyatt asked, front door still open behind him. "The..." Calvin lowered his voice, "the bomb. I made another-" "You made another bomb?!" Wyatt shouted, before realizing his wife was still in the house; hopefully the noise of the shower was loud enough to drown him out. He grabbed Calvin by the arm and tugged him out onto the front porch, shutting the door behind them; he turned and looked at him now, "You made another bomb? After we specifically said not to?" "You told me to!" Calvin said loudly, "You told me to do it! You approached me weeks ago and asked me if we could! Don't act like this was entirely on me!" "That was a hypothetical!" Wyatt replied, "Jesus christ, you need, like, a team of doctors to be watching you or something, because I am clearly not enough. Where is this bomb?" "In my car," Calvin said. "You brought it here?!" Wyatt asked, his voice rising, just as Kelly's car pulled up in front of the house. Calvin and Wyatt stopped and turned to watch her get out of the car and walk happily up the walk towards them. She put her arms around Wyatt and hugged him, Wyatt giving her a squeeze back, before she turned her attention to Calvin. "Hello," she said. "You're the local weather girl," Calvin said. "Indeed I am," Kelly said, "actually, can I use your bathroom? I always get nervous before I fly and it makes me pee." "Yeah, my wife is in the main one but I can show you to the other," Wyatt said, opening the door back up and letting her into the house before turning back to Calvin and saying, in a hushed voice, "get that goddamned thing out of here now, before you blow somebody else up, okay? We'll find a way to deal with Wattson, but this isn't the way to do it." With that, Wyatt too disappeared into the house. Calvin sighed and walked back to his car and noticed, through the window of Kelly's car, that she had a few bags sitting on the backseat, and that atop those bags was a plane ticket. Calvin stopped and looked closer, cupping his hands around his eyes to get a better view as he inched towards the window. The very same plane Wattson was to board today. Calvin noticed her press pass, and knew she wouldn't have her bags checked. Calvin felt his breath catch in his chest, and he glanced back at his own car. Meanwhile, inside, Wyatt waited by the door until Kelly re-emerged from the bathroom. "Whoo," she said, "thank you. I was about to need a change of underwear." "That's...more information than I needed, thanks," Wyatt said, the two of them laughing as they headed back downstairs. "So what was your friend doing here?" Kelly asked. "He's having some kind of nervous breakdown, it's a whole thing," Wyatt said, "don't worry about him, he'll be fine. I made some sandwiches if you want something to eat before your trip." Kelly blushed and nodded, following Wyatt into the kitchen. As they passed by the kitchen window, Wyatt glanced out and noticed Calvin's car was gone. He shook his head, sighing. He had no idea that a literal time bomb was ticking...poised to go off this very day. *** Leonard Wattson sat on the seat in the boarding area, his bag at his feet, his book in his lap. He sighed and ran his hand up his face and under his glasses, rubbing his eyes. God...what a waste of time this had been. He'd come here and come away with nothing in the end except a former favorite students utter contempt. But he knew Calvin wouldn't do anything. He knew he'd never make good on his threats. He was meek, and he knew that he was safe from any kind of vengeance. Leonard didn't know what he was going to tell his higher ups, he had no idea how to even broach the topic, and was worried he himself might be knocked down the ladder himself a few rungs. Just then he noticed a large group of people, all dressed in a seemingly identical outfit, gather in the boarding area near him, and he groaned. "What the hell is this?" he muttered. "That's the Evergreens," a voice said from behind; he turned to see a woman about his age speaking, adding, "they're on the same plane, apparently. Going to protest some stupid convention. I didn't think they let groups purchase mass tickets like this, but I guess they do." "Ugh," Leonard said, groaning and slumping into his chair, "Great. A plane with a load of weirdos." Just then he noticed someone sit down beside him, and he glanced to his right to see a young woman with blonde hair sitting there, her bags by her feet, a press badge around her neck strung on a lanyard. "You a journalist?" he asked. "No," she replied, "I'm Kelly Schuester, the local weather girl. They just give these to everyone to make traveling easier. What's with the group of people?" "Don't ask," Leonard said, going back to his book. *** Wyatt had had a nice visit with Kelly, and was now cleaning up their plates. She had left for the airport an hour ago, and now it was just him, until Scarlett entered in just a towel and approached him from behind at the sink, kissing his neck, surprising him. He laughed at this display of sudden affection and turned around, kissing her back. "You look so beautiful," he said, as she stood on her tip toes and rested her forehead on his. "So do you," she said, kissing him, making him laugh again; she noticed the plates and asked, "So, your friend came and went?" "Well she's getting on a plane today, so yeah she couldn't stay long. Still, was nice to see her before she left," Wyatt said. He could never tell her. He could never tell her that he'd nearly walked off a bridge. That Kelly had stopped him. That he felt a great immense sense of relief towards her, and that he loved being around her. The last thing Scarlett needed to worry about was having a potentially suicidal husband. Besides, it was a one time thing. Wyatt had never before - nor since - contemplated ending his life. Just a momentary lapse in judgement, as he'd put it to Kelly the night she found him. Scarlett excused herself to get dressed, and then the phone rang. He picked the landline off the kitchen wall and answered. "Hello?" he asked. "Wyatt, we have a problem," Rachel said. "...that's something I'm getting kind of tired of hearing," Wyatt said, "what is it?" "Calvin built a bomb," Rachel said. "Oh, I know that already, he was here, he told me," Wyatt said, "how did you find out?" "Cause he just told me," Rachel said, "I'm in his parents kitchen, they're not here, but I came over to see how he was doing, and we were in his shed and he just started sobbing and apologizing." "Apologizing? What the fuck for? He just built a bomb, he didn't do anything wrong," Wyatt said. "That's kinda the thing..." Rachel said, "...he did." *** Kelly hated flying. Well, she didn't hate flying exactly. She hated the process of getting on a plane. This is partially what she appreciated about being part of the press, was that they just let her on. Authority was a hell of a thing. As she walked with just her little backpack down the aisle, searching for her seat, she couldn't help but notice just how many people from this group was on the plane with her. She finally reached her seat and sat down, realizing she was seated right next to the man she had been sitting next to in the boarding area. "Well, you have to be better company than these whackjobs," Kelly said, making Leonard chuckle as she took her seat and shoved her backpack under her chair. "Yes, well, sadly we don't have private jets," Leonard said, sipping from his can of open lemon lime soda. "God, that's the dream isn't it?" Kelly asked. "It's not a long flight. Just try to ignore them," Leonard said, picking up his book, "get some reading done!" Kelly giggled and nodded. She used to read a lot, but she hadn't been doing that lately. Maybe this man was right. Maybe it was time for her to get back to it. After all, she'd recently returned to so many other things from her past, like being friends with Rachel, and starting new things, like her friendship with Wyatt. Maybe it was time to do the same with her hobbies. Kelly leaned back in her chair and pulled her headphones on down over her ears, relaxing. Nobody knew the bomb was in her bag, in the plane, ready to go as soon as the timer went off. Nobody on the plane knew that, in a matter of an hour, this plane would explode. *** Wyatt opened his front door to Rachel, who stumbled in past him, Calvin closely behind her. In the half hour since he'd gotten the call, Scarlett had gotten dressed and gone out shopping, leaving the house to themselves. As they entered the living room, Wyatt put his hands on his hips and looked between the two of them. "...what exactly is going on here?" he finally asked. "I had to do it," Calvin whispered, his eyes glued to the ground, "I had to. He had to be stopped. Even if it's at the expense of so many others." "What...what are you talking about?" Wyatt asked, his voice wavering, like he was nervous now. "He had to be stopped, Wyatt. He was just gonna go home and do it again, to more little kids," Calvin said, collapsing onto the couch. Calvin buried his face in his hands and started sobbing. Wyatt felt extremely uncomfortable, like he was missing some crucial piece of information. Just then someone else knocked at the door, and he sighed, excusing himself to go answer, only to find Celia standing there. She also pushed her way into the house and then stopped, looking at the group. "Did I miss something?" Celia asked. "What are YOU doing here?" Wyatt asked. "...uh, you haven't seen the news have you?" Celia asked, picking up the remote control and clicking a few buttons, until Rachel rolled her eyes, leaning against the wall with her arms folded. "It's the middle button, Merlin," she said, and Celia pressed it, the television coming to life, before she began scanning through the channels, finally landing on a news channel. An anchor was sitting at the desk, giving a report. Celia turned up the sound. "-because we don't know the severity of it just yet, but it seems like Flight 469 might in fact be going down. We'll keep you updated as this story develops." Everyone stopped as Celia muted the TV and looked at Wyatt. "That's the plane the Evergreens are on," she said. "And Mr. Wattson," Calvin whispered. Wyatt still didn't understand, and then it hit him like a ton of bricks. Kelly. *** Standing in her parents living, staring at the television screen in awe, Angie Dickinson couldn't believe her luck. She should've been on this plane, and the only reason she wasn't was because she'd taken Wyatt's advice. She flopped down onto the couch as her mother came in, handing her a glass of orange juice, which she sipped casually while staring at the screen. Wyatt had saved her life. Maybe she did have a higher purpose. Maybe... ...maybe she was just worshipping the wrong man.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
About
A group of former high school classmates reunite at their 10 year reunion, and discover they each want something different, many with someone else there. What ensues is a labyrinthian relationship amongst them involving crime, murder, romance and, in one particular case, terrorism. Archives
May 2024
Categories |