The Life We Lead: Ascending (37 page)

In the moments before the door to the plane
opened, James continued reflecting on how much his life had
changed, and hopefully, how much more it would change in fewer than
forty hours, when he and Carissa would celebrate the one year
anniversary of their first date at Paradise Stadium.

This was going to be the biggest day of his
life, and it would end with a cleared conscious, an unencumbered
path forward, and most importantly, with Carissa being his forever.
Admittedly, she might be upset when he came clean, but he was
certain she would forgive him.

Carissa’s reply text of “See you soon”
accompanied by an emoticon with a smiling face made him smile. To
him, it wasn’t just a happy smile, but, in fact, a smile of love.
This was the same way his mother had ended her notes when he was
growing up, and it never failed to remind him of her. Carissa
didn’t know it, but it was very meaningful to him that the woman he
loved had this small trait in common with his mother.

The journey home took a mere twenty minutes
because of the late hour. As James pulled into the parking space,
he saw the light on in the apartment that had become his and
Carissa’s only a few months earlier. She was certainly staying
awake late to see him. Her day would have started very early, but
they both knew that once she was asleep, there was little chance of
waking her.

“Seeping Beauty,” James called her. Whenever
she heard him say this, she would reply, “Well, now, where is me
prince to wake me then, as your kiss doesn’t.”

The sass made him smile.

“Hello, Love, how was your trip?” Carissa
stifled a yawn and rose from the sofa to greet him as James opened
the door.

“Hi Risa,” James set down his bags and closed
the door, then turned and kissed her.

They stared at each other, holding the
moment, before resuming their normal manner of just enjoying one
another’s company. Theirs was different from most relationships,
and James truly valued how they expressed their love, but didn’t go
on and on about it in some overly dramatized manner.

“The trip was okay, aside from the layovers.
I’m just glad to be home. How was your day?”

“Ah, had a bit of a toss with the system this
morning that caused some issues, but nothing we couldn’t solve with
a spot of help from a new consultant,” she started. “And then there
were some odd lads hanging about outside a good portion of the
afternoon. One came in about half past three to exchange some £10
for coin. Sara had tae come get me tae get him tae remove his
sunglasses, you know. Odd, but no worries. Oh, and Rian, you know
Susan’s boy, had a nasty turn and is in a cast now. Broken wrist,
poor thing.”

She paused a moment and gave him a look. “You
have tae be tired. Did you manage any sleep on the flights? By the
look of you, I would say no then. Are you hungry?” she said in her
natural rambling way, though she seemed to be restraining herself
out of consideration for him.

“I’m fine, but yes, tired. I didn’t sleep,
but that isn’t all that different. I ate just before I left
Amsterdam. Just want to get a shower before bed. I’m shattered,”
said James, truly exhausted now that he was home. He smiled at her,
knowing she was tired too.

“Why don’t you get to bed, and I’ll be in
soon.” He walked his bags to the bedroom as Carissa followed.

“Well, be quick as poss,” she said, grabbing
him and kissing him good night. She knew she wouldn’t last the few
minutes it would take James to shower, and he knew it too.

“Good night, sassy lassie,” he said as his
fingers gently slipped from her shoulders.

As he showered, he thought about her
description of her day, but was distracted by a slight acidy smell,
almost like something decaying. For some reason, the same feeling
he got when things were about to happen came over him. It was
strange, to have that feeling in the shower in his own home.

Perhaps it was the thirty hours he’d been
awake, or the anticipation of the jetlag he always got when
traveling east by more than four hours. Or perhaps it was what
would happen that weekend, or just the relief of finally being home
after all that had happened.

A few minutes later, James smiled to himself
as he quietly got into bed and lay listening to the gentle sounds
of Carissa breathing. Within moments, the rhythmic pulsing of the
fan blades had lulled him to sleep, too.

***

The vibrations from Carissa’s side of the bed
came all too soon. As she always had trouble waking, James had
created a device that would shake her side of the bed when set to
an alarm. She typically needed a solid five minutes of shaking and
then a very loud alarm clock to get her to stir properly.

James was in the middle of a long dream when
the vibrations woke him. This annoyed him, but not as much as the
headache he was now getting from the jetlag. He lay there, dreading
the alarm, but it didn’t go off that morning. Luckily, Carissa rose
quickly.

“Good morning, my love, I will be quick and
quiet as poss, then. Go back tae sleep.” She ran her hand over his
head as she left the bed. Her touch was as soothing a feeling as
any he had ever known.

Fifty minutes later, he heard her depart. She
made every effort to be quiet, but that wasn’t really her strong
suit. Feeling he could finally get back to sleep, James decided to
set an alarm for a few hours later. He wanted to get up and get a
workout in. The endorphins would help him work through the jet lag.
Plus, he needed to check on the arrangements for tomorrow.
Unfortunately, his bladder was in need of relief, so that needed
addressing before going back to sleep.

Slumping off to the bathroom, James let out a
loud yawn before making use of the toilet. After flushing and
turning to rinse his hands, he got that faint odor again. He
started to look for the source when his cell phone rang. It was
Carissa’s ring tone, so he answered.

“Hello, Risa,” he said, a slight crack to his
voice.

“Sorry to wake you, Love, though I was sure
you weren’t back asleep yet.”

James smiled. She knew him well.

“I forgot tae tell you something. Well, truth
be, I just didn’t want tae bother you last night then, you know.
But the telly is on the blink. I missed me shows last night. Can
you have a look then, please? It just stays black, the picture, and
I would like tae see that documentary tonight.” As was customary
for her, she said this all quickly, as if getting off the phone
would make it easier for him to get back to sleep.

“I’ll give it a go. I’m going to try to get a
session of weights in before taking a nap. See you tonight then.”
James turned off the alarm, having returned to the bedroom, feeling
he might as well stay up and fix the television and start the
day.

“Bye, Love,” came Carissa’s voice as he hung
up.

It turned out she’d somehow managed to unplug
the TV from the power strip.

The TV turned on when plugged in and a news
caster said “. . . has been missing for two weeks now. She is the
daughter of the long time congress. . .” James turned it off.

Normally this would annoy him, but with
Carissa, it just made him laugh. Details were not her strong suit
in most everyday things, but somehow when it came to math and bank
ledgers, she was as keen as could be.

She had risen quickly within the Royal Bank
of Scotland and was on a fast track. Her coworkers adored her, and
she had great relationships with customers. Everyone seemed to love
her, and James constantly felt lucky to have her. For the life of
him, he didn’t see what Risa saw in him, but he didn’t care,
either. He was happy and in love.

James went to make some food, but quickly
found they were out of eggs and bacon. He didn’t want cereal with
milk before going to the gym. After finding his gym clothes and
making a protein shake, he was off.

At the front desk, he greeted Janie.

“Hi there, stranger. Had another long trip?”
she asked as James handed her his identification.

“How did you know?” James asked.

“Well, you haven’t been here in as many
months, it’s the middle of the morning, and to be honest, you look
a bit worked over, lad,” she said with a smile.

“Is that your way of saying I look like hell
in a hand basket, then?” James said.

“Yep.” Janie smiled, handed him a towel, and
returned to her work.

“How goes finding a lad of your own?” James
asked with a slight smirk, knowing full well that Janie was a
lesbian.

“Har, har, har,” she replied, looking up at
him and giving him a rather rude hand gesture that made James
chuckle as he walked away.

The gym was a fair size with an indoor pool
that connected via the women’s and men’s locker rooms. The locker
rooms were set up in large stall areas with double-stacked wood
cabinets for lockers, giving each stall about fifty lockers. The
shower area/toilets were nearest the pool entrances. James tended
to quickly look for the areas with the least amount of people
changing, but also with the most locks so that, at least in theory,
he could get ready without a lot of people casually loafing around
and getting underfoot. Like many things, gym time was work time for
James, not social hour.

The gym was a single level with racquetball
courts on the far left, while cardio equipment stood in rows in
front of the courts. A mixture of equipment organized by muscle
group stood in front of the dance studio and basketball court that
made up the far right wall. Toward the back, were walls lined with
mirrors, free lifting weights, and machines that utilized manual
plates. It was a relatively new gym, built in the last year, part
of a franchise from the U.S. that attempted to keep its facilities
within three potential designs.

For James, this was leg day. He reminded
himself of the saying, “Friends don’t let friends skip leg day.”
After last week, he clearly needed to build more leg and lower back
strength. Then again, if he was walking away from all that, what
did it matter?

Sixty five minutes of squats, lunges,
presses, step-ups, abductors, adductors, and calf raises later,
James didn’t feel his best as he made his way back to the locker
room. He hadn’t even finished his last set of calves. He sat down
on the bench that split the middle stall where his locker was and
instantly downed half of the protein shake. He sat for a minute and
felt better.

After finishing the shake, stripping down,
and grabbing his towel, he noticed that a man wearing sunglasses
had walked in and was looking around. James headed to the showers,
but once again, he had that strange feeling that something was off.
Simultaneously, he noted that faint acidy odor again. For the life
of him, he couldn’t figure out what that was.

Upon returning to get dressed, the odd fellow
was gone, and James felt much better. Back home, before taking his
nap, he called Paradise Stadium to speak with Larry, who was
helping him get everything in place for the next day.

“Hi, is Mr. Flent there, please?” he asked
the young woman who answered the phone with a cheerful “Thank you
for calling the home of the Celtic, how may I assist you?”

“One mo’ please, sir, I will check to see if
he is in,” she replied, and a few seconds later Larry was on the
line.

“Oops.”

James heard a banging sound, then “Damn!”
followed by, “Sorry ‘bout that, dropped the phone, right, ‘ello
this is Larry Flent.” He spoke rapidly, with a strong Scottish
accent.

“No worries, mate, this is John Boyd, how
does the day find you?” asked James, silently laughing.

“John, mate! Cheers. Back home, then?
O’course you are. All set for tomorrow then, eh?” exclaimed
Larry.

“That’s what I was ringing you about,”
replied James. “We have everything in place as we discussed?”

“Ah, yeah, no worries t’all mate, won’t be a
trouble in the world. I will have the chef on board and have the
wait staff know what we got brewing, Mr. Stewart will be there, and
we can get the team to help out after the match. You done your
part, then? You picked out the ring and ‘ave it and all?” said
Larry.

“I’m all set here, thanks, mate. Just wanted
to make sure you’re all set,” answered James.

“Could I get a current picture of you two, so
we can know we have the right bloke and lass then?” Larry
asked.

“Yes, sure enough. I will send it in a fax if
that is all right?”

“Yer, no worries. Thanks again for paying up
front in cash and all. This should go down well with the boss after
some messes up I had a few weeks’ past. But this one, I have
planned out and will go smooth, promise mate.

James felt a little less than reassured, but
he didn’t let Larry know that. “Right, thanks, Larry. Tomorrow is
going to be a great day, and I seriously appreciate all the
efforts, mate. I’ll chat with you later, then.”

“Yeah, alright then, cheers,” said Larry.

James lay down to take a much-deserved
nap.

Just then, the phone rang. James listened to
the ring tone and picked it up.

“Hey, Risa.”

“How was your workout?” she asked.

“Good, thanks, did legs. How is your day
going?” James inquired.

“Not bad, just getting things going for the
property’s office. So for dinner tonight, would you like tae go tae
a new pizza place? Sara was telling me about it then, and it is a
make your own pizza with a lot of add ons. I am really craving
pizza, oh and blue cheese, oooh, and capers. The chair in my office
broke today as well—it won’t lean back properly. And this cute old
couple walked into today whilst Sara was training the new lad to
make deposits for their grandchildren, which is just so sweet.”

Carissa said all of this in her normal way,
to which James replied, “That’s fine. Odd topping choice,
especially for you, but pizza sounds great. Ask Jim to give the
chair a look, and yes, that’s sweet. Risa, I was going to catch a
quick lay down and …”