Randa (2 page)

Two years later, Buck went to Oklahoma for the holidays. After exchanging and opening gifts and eating Christmas dinner with his family, Buck drove his pickup truck to the local bar in town where he was going to meet some old friends from high school. He was welcomed warmly with hugs, handshakes, and shouts of ‘hello.’ Buck was enjoying the camaraderie of his friends and the evening. He excused himself to the restroom. Upon returning to the table, he saw that a man and woman had joined their party. He recognized the man, Andy, as someone a couple of years younger than him who had attended the same high school. The female was introduced as Claire, but that was all anyone said about her. Everyone seemed to know her, but Buck! Within minutes, he was unable to take his eyes off Claire as she swayed gently to the music. Assuming from the conversation that she wasn’t Andy’s date, Buck jumped at the chance to move his chair closer to Claire’s when the opportunity arose. She was the prettiest girl that he had ever seen. He was drawn to a sense of innocence about her. Claire smiled shyly at him and sweetly said, “Hello.”

Buck swallowed hard and cleared his throat as he relaxed and a smile slowly grew across his face. The pair became inseparable and proceeded to fall in love during the rest of Buck’s stay in Oklahoma. Claire had no idea that he owned a company and was quickly on his way to becoming wealthy. She was swept away by the unconditional love that Buck filled her heart with, easily meeting both her wants and her needs. Claire, in turn, practically worshiped him and showered him with adoration and genuine love and care. Before he boarded the plane, which would be the first leg of getting him back to the Slope, Buck reluctantly said good-bye and promised that he would be back for her the next summer. They exchanged letters throughout the next six months and their love and bond became stronger.

Just as promised, June arrived and Buck went to back to Oklahoma. He gave Claire an engagement ring with many dazzling diamonds and asked her to be his wife. Claire joyously accepted. They had a simple, lovely wedding. Skipping a honeymoon, they flew straight to Anchorage and found a home to purchase. Buck cherished his bride and promised her that even though he would be working on the North Slope; his priority would still be her.

Claire blossomed into a confident young woman with Buck’s love and she took great pleasure in making the residence their home. She also couldn’t wait to become a mother and give Buck a child.

Buck still remembered Claire’s vivacious excitement when he had proposed and slipped the engagement ring onto her finger.
Now, it may all be coming to a terrible end.

John was trying to shake himself awake. What was that yelling he heard? It sounded like his dad’s voice. He sat up in his bed and stayed still for a moment as he listened. His parents were fighting. They rarely fought, but when they did, it scared John. He got out of his bed, tiptoed across the room lightly, and opened his door without making a sound.

“Claire, did you sleep with him?” Buck roared angrily at her.

There was only silence and then Claire began to cry. Buck stepped back, very dismayed. “How long has this affair been going on?”

“Almost four months,” Claire said quietly.

Oh no
. John’s heart sank.

“How could you just throw away all of our years together Claire? What about our marriage? How long have you just been pretending with me?” Buck snorted as he questioned her.

“I have never pretended with you Buck,” Claire insisted. “Your mistress has been that damn North Slope. You’ve put it before me our entire marriage.”

John knew this was serious. He had never heard his mother utter a curse word before and it upset him.

Claire continued, “Oh, at first and for a long time you were able to juggle us successfully, but what happened? Did you get tired Buck? You just couldn’t be satisfied with the way things were. You kept pushing and pushing while your company grew, and suddenly you thought that you had no choice other than to give it every ounce of energy that you possessed. You could have at least given me something to hold onto instead of throwing me mere crumbs. Really Buck, just how much money did we need? You could have sold the company and joined John and I here on the ranch and we could have been a normal family, but no. Fox has done a good part of raising your son for you. And me? Well, I finally got to the point that the well ran dry, Buck. You haven’t given me love in so long. I was dying on the inside. You have thoroughly deprived me.”

Buck stood there in stunned silence. “Why didn’t you tell me these things Claire?” He asked in disbelief.

“Buck, I did try to tell you in little ways, but you were no longer listening. Getting married doesn’t give you a right to stop doing all of the things that made the other person fall in love with you in the first place.”

“On our wedding day, you committed your love to me for forever. Don’t you remember exchanging those vows with me?” Not waiting for a response, Buck continued, “We used to be so close. I just can’t believe this. We have lost everything. Have you thought about what kind of example you are setting for John?”

“Do you honestly think that I did this on purpose, Buck? It has been so long since I have gotten real attention and love from you. I fought my feelings for as long as I possibly could with everything I had. I have been totally devoted and committed to you and John. I’ve spent my entire adult life making a comfortable home for you and raising John into a fine young man. In a few years, he leaves for college. Where is that going to leave me? You didn’t want to sell the company and move to Oklahoma permanently. Life in Anchorage with you coming home once a month wouldn’t work for me. Tom loves me and he wants to build a life with me. And a huge part of that life will be based on what I want to do. He puts me first and happily fulfills my needs. I am his priority.”

“Claire, don’t you ever mention his name to me again, do you understand?” Buck shouted at the top of his lungs as he picked up a glass vase full of fresh flowers off the dining room table and hurled it with all of his might into the fireplace.

Buck’s anger didn’t scare her. Claire easily understood his feelings. She looked at him and her heart sank. He appeared simply devastated.

After a few minutes, Buck said weakly, “What are your plans? If you break things off with this man, I would like to work things out and stay married to you.”

Suddenly feeling wistful, Claire was filled with deep regret for her actions, but she knew that it was too late. She bowed her head. Their marriage was like a fine piece of china. It was beautiful and flawless, but once that sole chip had harmed it, it would never be perfect again. It could never be the same. She believed that Buck could never forgive and forget.

“If you plan to continue this affair, I want to know immediately.”

Claire didn’t utter a word. She just couldn’t tell him. Buck looked at her and he knew what the answer was. He put on his cowboy hat, turned and walked out of their house. Claire could do nothing to stop the tears from coming. She had already grieved for the loss of their marriage, but it was while she enjoyed the pleasing distraction of falling in love with Tom. She cried for Buck because she knew that he was now experiencing excruciating heartbreak and his life would never, ever be the same.

And after that night, John’s life would never the same either.

Randa spied the ad in the Sunday edition of her hometown newspaper. There was going to be a talent show! Scanning down through the listed categories, she saw exactly what she was searching for, song lyrics. Excitement swept through her! Of late, Randa had been devoting her free time to turning many of the passages that she wrote in her journal throughout the years into song lyrics. She felt that with more work and lots of polish, she could have a real hit. The problem was getting the songs into the hands of a person who could make her dream of becoming a successful songwriter come true. Randa knew that it was not only important to have dreams and chase them, but to be able to live the life that she desired, she knew that she must catch her dreams too. An opportunity now presented itself, even if it was a small opportunity on the local level. Many people started at the bottom, so she would too, or so she thought.

She called her best friend, Taylor, with the idea. After exchanging hellos and letting Taylor talk for 20 minutes nonstop, Randa began. “There’s a local talent show and one of the categories happens to be song lyrics.”

“That’s fantastic, Randa! I’m guessing that means that you are going to enter a couple of your songs then.”

“Yes, I am,” Randa replied, “but I wanted to ask you a favor Taylor.”

“Sure Rand, you know I would do anything for you.”

“Would you sing one of my songs in the talent show? You have such a beautiful voice and you would bring the song alive, as opposed to me singing it with my just so-so voice. And this way it could be entered into two separate categories, songs and lyrics.”

Taylor was asked occasionally to sing for various functions, but she never pursued it professionally.

“I would love to, Randa!” Taylor squealed.

“Thank you so much! Come over this afternoon and we can look at what I’m working on and what I have finished. I’ll put the finishing touches on each one and then you can sing both and we’ll choose the best, so that you can start practicing it.”

“Okay, see you then,” Taylor replied.

Randa was on cloud nine. She presumed that Taylor would sing, but it was never wise to take anyone for granted. They had been best friends since Taylor had moved into Randa’s neighborhood the summer they both turned twelve even though they were almost opposites. Randa was tall and slender and had straight long dark hair and was a bit shy and introverted, whereas Taylor was shorter, blonde, bubbly, outgoing, and charismatic. She was always the life of the party and talked more than anyone Randa knew. They were fiercely loyal to each other and they easily made it through that age when some girls changed best friends as often as they changed boyfriends.

Taylor arrived while Randa was still sitting at the desk in her bedroom working on the lyrics of one of the songs. She jotted it down for her to look at. Taylor read it and started laughing aloud.

“You need something to rhyme with ‘globe’ right?”

“Yes,” Randa responded curiously.

“How about…

Circling the globe

While I’m nursing my Michelob

As I unrobe”

The two girls burst out laughing uncontrollably. Once they regained their composure and realized that the only other words rhyming with globe were lobe and probe, which weren’t usable or appropriate either, Randa scrapped that set of lyrics and used ‘Crisscrossing the planet’ instead. As she worked on completing the words, Taylor picked up her guitar and played around with the music a bit, fine-tuning it so that Randa’s lyrics were emphasized as opposed to the music grabbing the audience’s attention instead.

Randa made the final changes on her songs. Taylor sang both. They unanimously agreed that she would sing “Hitching” at the talent show.

Three weeks later, Taylor, looking adorable as always, was introduced at the talent show. She strolled to the center and of the stage and stood totally erect. Looking out into the audience, she just waited until the crowd grew silent in anticipation. Taylor inhaled deeply and exhaled. Then she began, tearing into the song with such vigor:

I’ve climbed every mountain

And I’ve swam every sea

Where, oh where, oh where can you be?

Finding you is what I must do

Even if I have no clue

So, I’m…

Hitching my wagon to a star

I’m looking for you near

I’m looking for you far

Shooting up through the sky

Oh Giddy-Up, Giddy-Up, Giddy-Up I cry

I don’t know how far I’ll have to go

I only know how deeply you’ll touch my soul

Searching high and searching low

Once I find you, I’ll never let you go

Wow! Randa thought exuberantly. The audience loved the song and were halfway dancing in their seats. Taylor was on fire, injecting passion into the lyrics and singing them as they were meant to be sung! They had both been extremely busy the past couple of weeks studying for their final college exams, so Randa had only seen Taylor practice the song once, but she had complete confidence in Taylor’s abilities. Seeing this performance was an incredible surprise. Taylor smiled profusely and continued:

Crisscrossing the planet far and wide

Knowing how very long I’ve tried

But I’ll never give up until we ride

I know you are out there

Living on a dream and my care

Our love is oh so truly rare

So I’m…

Hitching my wagon to a star

I’m looking for you near

I’m looking for you far

Shooting up through the sky

Oh Giddy-Up, Giddy-Up, Giddy-Up I cry

I don’t know how far I’ll have to go

I only know how deeply you’ll touch my soul

Searching high and searching low

Once I find you, I’ll never let you go

Whirling all about

There is never any doubt

How we will soar

Always reaching for more

Whirling all about

There is never any doubt

We were meant to be

Totally one and totally free

So I’m…

Hitching my wagon to a star

I’m looking for you near

I’m looking for you far

Shooting up through the sky

Oh Giddy-Up, Giddy-Up, Giddy-Up I cry

I don’t know how far I’ll have to go

I only know how deeply you’ll touch my soul

Searching high and searching low

Once I find you, I’ll never let you go.

As she finished, the audience jumped to their feet, cheering wildly for Taylor, as Randa ran backstage. Taylor had brought so much energy to the song. Her incredible voice certainly did not hurt her performance either. Taylor bowed to the audience flamboyantly and flashed her dynamite smile at them. After blowing kisses and taking more bows, Taylor ran backstage and she and Randa started jumping up and down screaming. Taylor’s mom appeared backstage and she had to shush the two girls because the next contestant was about to be introduced and they were still bursting loudly at the seams.