A Strange State of Affairs Ch. 19

In anticipation of the trip, the next two weeks seemed to drag on forever.  Fye took endless trips down to the beach and filled dozens of canvases with nervous energy.  El, meanwhile, paced the countertop with such focus that her claws wore holes in the stone.  But at last, the day of the trip arrived.

It was early when Fye woke.  The sky was grey and it was blissfully quiet outside.

            He rolled out of bed, stretched exuberantly, and shuffled to the bathroom.  As he was brushing his teeth, the phone rang. 

            It was Riyel.  “Hey, Fye.  Are you leaving now?”

            “Yesh, I am,” the artist replied with a mouthful of toothpaste.  “Pona and Vert are going to kill me if I’m late.  Are you leaving now?”

            “Yeah,” Riyel said, “And I think I packed everything, so I guess I’m all set.”

            “Me too,” Fye stated, “And thish time, I even brought a map sho I know where I’m going.  Hold on a shec.”  He ran to the bathroom and gargled quickly.  “Anyway, I’m heading up.  See you in Oaku!!”

            “See you there,” Riyel replied.

            The line went dead, and Fye grabbed the suitcase he’d packed last night.  He quickly glanced at El, who was eagerly pacing the length of the counter.  Upon seeing him walk out, suitcase in hand, she pricked her ears and looked in his direction.

            “One moment, ‘la,” he said, “I need something to eat first.”

            She sighed impatiently and flopped back onto the counter.  Fye walked out with a chuckle.

            He was back in a flash, quickly making some sandwiches for himself and the cat.  He also packed a few treats to eat along the way.  Elevine sprinted out to his car and hopped into the shotgun seat while the artist checked his car over.  At last, he got into the car.

            They were off!! 

            Traffic was smooth.  Elevine was feeling a bit odd �" it’d been a while since she’d been in a car.  Watching everything zoom by in a blur was slightly disconcerting, so she avoided looking out of the windows and instead lounged on the seat.

            Fye, meanwhile, was insanely busy.  The map was spread along the wheel, and his eyes darted frantically from the paper to the road.  Occasionally he would growl and snap at the other drivers in the lane.

            El watched him in quiet surprise, her heart skipping a beat as the car skidded across a few lanes.  Who knew that he was such an explosive driver? she thought.  She studied him from her seat and felt the urge to laugh; normally Fye was so calm!!

            Fye sped down the highway, eye on the clock.  Consulting his map, he decided to change lanes again and swerved left after checking for other cars approaching from behind.

            As his car bounced into the lane, something in the back �" one of his canvases �" fell over with a clatter.        

            “GAH!!” Fye exclaimed, jumping in surprise.  The vehicle wobbled in the lane.  The artist whipped his head back in a brown blur and eyed his load in the trunk, hands still clamped tightly around the wheel.  “What the hell was that?!”  His eyes were harried, his hair mussed with frustration. 

            “I can’t do this anymore!!” he shouted as the car hurtled down the highway at a breakneck speed.  “I can’t drive; I can’t even understand these directions!!  D****t!!”  He laughed hoarsely.  “Ahh!!  How much longer do I have to drive, anyway?”

            El watched him rant and felt a hiccup of laughter bubble up her throat, escaping her lips.

            Fye was in the middle of his tirade when he heard the laughter of a woman come from his right.  “Wha-?”  He looked down and found El staring intently at him.

            Not this again, he thought to himself, It’s…probably just a hiccup, Fye.  You must really need this vacation.  He sighed and pulled at his hair. 

            It would be two more hours until they reached Oaku.

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            Oaku was beautiful.  The buildings along the street were grand, pagoda-style structures  crafted from lustrous mahogany wood and lined with gold and silver.  Everything was lit with neon lights.  Men and women  paraded the streets, the men dressed in dark, dashing suits and the women clad in unique, flowing silk gowns with trailing sleeves.

            El climbed onto the dashboard to watch a tall young man walk by with a young woman on his arm.  They were chuckling and whispering together, her right hand in the crook of his elbow and his left hand gently tugging at the scalloped sleeves of her maroon gown.  They leaned in, still giggling, and shared a quick kiss.

            Elevine’s face fell immediately.  She clambered back to her seat, disgruntled, and couldn’t help sneaking a disgruntled look at Fye, whose handsome face was lit with excitement.

            “I think it’s time for the Willow Festival,” he said, “We came at a good time.  I like festivals.”

            The hot springs were only 20 minutes away from the town, nestled atop the frigid mountains of Oaku.  Everywhere the eye could see stood willow trees, and the road was littered with their glistening leaves and trailing branches.  The hotel was cozy, and there were already many cars of all shapes and sizes parked outside. 

            Fye bit his lip and looked about for Pona.  “If she ever finds out how the trip from home to here was, she’d have a fit,” he muttered, giving El a shifty-eyed look.  “So, ‘la, let’s keep this a secret between us, okay?”  He ruffled her ears quickly and hopped out of the car, while El stared wistfully at his back.

            Pona saw Fye through a window in the lobby of the hotel and flew out to greet him, Vert in tow.  “Fye!!”  Her eyes sparkled and her cheeks were redder than usual.  She gave him a crushing hug and stepped back, one arm around Vert’s waist.  “How was the drive?”

            Um…, Fye thought.  He smiled hugely (and falsely).  “It was great.”  He turned to Vert.  “Hey, Verty.  Where’s Riyel?”

            Vert grinned.  “Hey, yourself.  Um, Ri’s actually driving up with Sherry.  We agreed on that this morning.”

            “Yes, well.”  Pona gritted her teeth, though no one paid her any mind.  “That man…he just showed up at our house this morning and decided that he was going to drive one of us here to Oaku.  And of course, I have to travel with Vert, since we made the reservation for the whole party.  So-”

            “So we had to sacrifice Sherry,” Vert cut in, laughing.  He nudged his frowning fiancée.  “And plus, this girl here had too much luggage, and Sherry’s one suitcase wouldn’t fit into the back of my sedan.”  He waggled his brows at Pona, whose stony face melted and reformed into an easy smile.

            Fye looked around.  “You’ve…really got a lot of people here, huh.”

            Pona shrugged.  “That was the idea.”

            Fye sighed theatrically and scuffed at the ground with his brown loafers.  “And I was hoping for a quiet retreat.  I should’ve known that’d be impossible with you around.”

            “I know, right?” Vert chimed in, “And imagine what I feel like.  I have to live with her every day, for the rest of my life.  I’ll never get a moment of peace.”

            “Hey!!”  Pona swatted his arm and stomped inside.  “I have to go check on the guests.”

            Vert clapped a hand on Fye’s shoulder and turned.  “Later, man.  I have to go greet my future in-laws.”  He made a face and jogged away.

            Fye yawned and stretched his muscles, cramped from driving.  So this is love.  Shaking his head, he returned to his car to unpack.

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            “Mr. Jenki- er, Riyel, do you have any water with you?”

            “Mmm?”  Riyel turned his head slightly to look at Sherry.  The young woman’s pale face was slightly sweaty and greenish.  Her eyes were closed, and she was gripping the arms of her seat tightly with her fingers. 

            He immediately grew alarmed.  “Sherry, are you okay?”  He reached out a hand �" the other was on the wheel �" and touched her arm.

            Her voice was quiet, hoarse.  “I…I’m fine…it’s just that I get carsick easily…”  Her voice trailed off and she gulped at the air slowly. 

            “Should I pull over?” he asked tentatively, then gained courage upon looking at her ill, shining face.  “What the hell.  I’m pulling over.”

            The car gently changed lanes and came to rest on the side of the road.

            Riyel hurriedly flew out of his seat and ran to Sherry’s side, his arms supporting her as she climbed shakily from her seat.  He held her up, and she leaned completely against him as she breathed in the pine-scented air of the trees beside the road. 

            Even in illness, she was stunning.  He studied her as she leaned shakily at him, studied the pink folds of her translucent lids and the pale peach of her lips, contrasting sharply with the snowy texture of her skin.  Her hair, white-blonde, clung to her face as she struggled to quell her ill feelings.  Her brows, a surprising dark brown, were thin and slanted as she scowled and tried to battle her nausea.  And without knowing how, his arms were suddenly tight around her waist, and he was clutching her to him, eyes closed and breathing in the scents: of her hair, of the air around him, of the grass, the trees, the ever-busy road �" scents that he would forevermore associate with the dizzy, swooping feeling known as love.

            He was unaware of the passage of time, only resurfacing when he felt Sherry growing tense in his arms.  He dropped his hold suddenly, unable to meet her grey, gazing eyes that stared strangely at him, confused.  “I…,” he stammered, “I…I’ll be in the car.”

            He turned and quickly stuffed his tall frame into the car.  “What’s the matter with you, Riyel?” he hissed to himself, a blush showing on his own pale skin.  “What the hell did you do that for?”

            When Sherry returned to the car and their journey north continued, the car was filled with silence and occasional, stiff conversation.  Riyel was immensely glad when they finally reached Oaku and crept towards the hot springs, hampered by the Willow Festival and the pedestrians scrambling about all over the road.

            He tried to catch Sherry as she hopped from the vehicle and ran to find Pona, but the girl slipped right through his fingers and disappeared into the crowd.  And Riyel, he who had been oh-so-flighty, realized his heart had been captured by a mere girl and there was nothing he could do about it but let her know.