Let's see if it gets taken down again. If it does, I quit.
"Season to Season"
4/07/11
She was already on her third drink when she heard him calling.
"Allie!"
Only two people in her life had ever been permitted to call her by that name, and since her mother had been dead for almost three years, that left only one guy. Alison turned her head, smiling, and raised her hand in greeting.
The friends kissed hello, cheek to cheek, and Alison motioned the bartender to bring the usual. A few moments later, a rum and Coke was set down by her hand, a scotch and soda by his. Alison studied the man out of the corner of one eye, admiring the way his blond hair gleamed in the dingy bar light, the slant of his blue eyes in his fair face. He reminded her of the paintings by the old masters, angels and gods with hair like golden fire descended to earth to afford foolish mortals a single glimpse of paradise. She wished again that he would consent to sit for a painting, but understood why he could not; she asked every week, and the same word was his answer.
"How's Katie?"
Wind drank down his scotch and soda and waved the glass, signaling the bartender to bring him another. Liam McGrundy, Old Man McGrundy's grandson, obliged him readily enough. Both Wind and Alison had an agreed upon limit: no more than eight drinks at half-strength, and straight soda after that. It was more than once Li had had to call someone to come haul one or the other of them away.
Wind sipped at his fresh drink, shrugged. He kept his eyes down and occupied himself doodling on a coaster with a pen he fished from his breast pocket.
"The divorce has been final for the last two months." He swirled his drink moodily. "Guess I forgot to tell you."
Alison winced at the news, gestured to Li to set out a bowl of pretzels and took another sip of her drink.
"I'm sorry, Wind." He shrugged, despondent. "You're still wearing your ring."
He raised his hand, dull surprise lighting his eyes when he realized she was right.
"Oh. Habit, I guess." Frowning, he pulled the wedding band from his finger and dropped it into Li's tip jar.
Alison reached over and squeezed his shoulder, expression compassionate.
"How you holding up?"
"Okay, I guess." He scooped a handful of pretzels from the bowl and started breaking them in half, one by one. "I get a check from Katie every month, and that helps with the expenses."
"Wait," Alison leaned over, eyes wide. "She's paying you alimony?"
Wind nodded, eyes intent on the snack food mutilation before him.
"I supported her when she was getting her bartender's license, and even after she started working, I kept paying everything. The judge sided with me this time, and since my other two exes are married now, I only pay the bills and the payments on the house boat." He shrugged. "I actually have money to spend on myself, for once. But there's nothing I want to buy."
"Tell you what," Alison scooted her stool closer to his and put an arm around his shoulders. "If it makes you feel better, you can pay for drinks tonight."
Wind looked over at her and surprised them both by laughing. He ruffled Alison's long brown hair, and she squawked indignantly and ran her hands over it, trying to smooth it down.
"I stopped by the house today."
"Yeah?" She gave up trying to fix her hair and picked up her glass again. "How's your brother doing?"
"He's on tour with his band for the summer. They're getting better; I hear they're getting requests from bars up in Boston, now."
"Good deal. Hey, maybe they'll make it big," She turned a playful smile and tipped him a wink. "And I can start dating me a rock star."
They shared a chuckle. Li came around to refill their glasses again, and someone put The Four Seasons on the juke.
Don't let your love go astray, save it for me.
Don't give your sweet kiss away, save it for me.
I know you're feelin' blue 'Cause I feel blue like you.
I'll be strong as long as you are and wait just as long as you...
Don't waste that look I adore-
"Save it for me!" The friends sang together, then laughed again as they listened to the record play.
"Janey's back from college," Wind threw out casually, and Alison's smile froze, then slowly slipped away.
"Oh, yeah?" She swallowed convulsively. "How's she doing?"
I know that you must cry,
Cry baby, so do I.
Just sit tight and leave on your light...
"She's pretty good. She just came down to visit for a couple of weeks with her friend, then they're going back to Boston for the rest of the summer. They have an apartment together."
"So they worked it out." She nodded, a tiny smile on her lips. "Good for them."
"She told me what happened." Alison closed her eyes in an involuntary wince and turned her head away. Wind frowned sadly at her, watching her reflection in the bar mirror. "Allie, did you really try to get her drunk?"
"I made a mistake." She still would not look at him, spoke to the bar rather than turn and see the disappointment and disgust she knew must be in his eyes. "I really liked her, and I didn't think I could get her any other way. I know it was wrong, Wind."
"She said she's not mad at you anymore." Alison jerked her head around, eyes wide. "She explained everything. I don't think..."
Wind paused as he fished a pack of cigarettes and a disposable lighter from his pants pocket and lit up. Alison frowned and plucked the cylinder from his mouth.
"You said you quit." She took a deep drag, then held the cigarette in her left hand, where Wind could not reach it.
Wind smiled indulgently and ran his fingers through the ends of her hair.
"I did. But I still slip, sometimes. Anyway, I don't think Jane was looking for a replacement for her friend, like you thought."
Alison smoked her stolen cigarette, eyes on her drink, and waited.
"What I think she was really looking for was someone to look up to. Our sisters are bitches," Her eyes widened at that; Wind was not the type to speak poorly of anyone. "And our mother, well, she's a lot like the butterflies she likes to talk so much about. She doesn't stay in one place for very long before fluttering off and disappearing for a season or two."
I know that you must cry,
Cry baby, so do I.
I'll be strong as you are And wait just as long as you Save it for me.
"What Janey needed was a role model, someone she could look up to." He turned and smiled, and Alison glanced at him out of the corner of one eye. Wind managed to hold her gaze despite her attempted evasion. "Someone she could admire. I think that's the real reason she wanted to be friends with you, Allie."
"Yeah," Alison's voice was hoarse, throat burnt by smoke and emotion. "And I tried to get her into bed and ruined everything we spent the summer building. I knew she was straight, but I pushed her anyway."
Save It For Me ended, and the next record dropped; it seemed tonight at McGrundy's Pub, The Four Seasons were king.
"Actually, I think..." Wind spun a pretzel on the bar and watched it fall. "Maybe, if you had given her a little time, she might have come around."
Shock turned Alison's head and she stared into Wind's guileless blue eyes in mute astonishment.
"What?"
"That's what she implied when we talked today." He shrugged and took a sip from his drink, then set it aside. "She grew her hair out. It's past her shoulders, now, and she dyed half of it copper."
Wind held his hand to Alison's shoulder, then swept it downward to indicate Jane's new hair style.
"I haven't seen her since she was in high school. She's really changed; it s like she s a completely different person."
Alison nodded absently, mind running over Wind's quiet words over and over again.
"For all sad words of tongue and pen," Alison quoted softly. "The saddest are these, 'It might have been.'"
"She wants to see you." Wind gestured for the tab, and Li started ringing up their drinks. "She thinks you can still be friends."
"Wind," Alison's eyes were moist, and they searched his with something not unlike frustration. "Why are you telling me this? Do you really think it's possible after more than four years that Jane and I could be friends?"
"I think it's worth a shot. It's important," he said as he reached into his pocket and removed a small box. "That my family gets along with the woman I want to marry."
For what seemed like the tenth time that night, Alison stared bug-eyed at her friend. He opened the box to reveal a small, tasteful ring set with a large opal and flanked by tiny diamonds on either side. Another record dropped, unnoticed by either of them.
"I-is that... is that a..."
"It's an opal." He smiled hopefully. "That's your birthstone, right? I thought it would mean more if I got something more personal."
Tonight you're mine completely
You give your love so sweetly
Tonight the light of love is in your eyes
But will you love me tomorrow
"But, Wind," Alison took his free hand and squeezed it gently. "You just got divorced. Do you think we could really make it work?"
Wind thought back on his three failed marriages, considered his sister Summer's four fatherless children, then his own parents' relationship. His eyes found Alison's again, and a sure certainty stilled his doubts. For her, Wind had no empty promises, however sweet. Only the truth.
"We can try."
Is this a lasting treasure
Or just a moment's pleasure
Can I believe the magic of your sighs
Will you still love me tomorrow
"I wish someone would change that damn song," Alison laughed as she took the ring box from Wind's hand. He grinned as he slipped the opal ring onto Alison's finger and for the first time, the new couple kissed.
"Will you talk to Jane?"
"Someone will have to tell her the bad news," Alison murmured against her fiance's lips. He pulled back, eyes wide.
"What bad news?"
You said that I'm the only one
But will my heart be broken
When the night meets the morning sun
"That she's going to be a bridesmaid."
Laughing, Wind ordered them a bottle of champagne to go. Their tab was paid and they left the bar arm in arm, Frankie Vallie singing them off into the warm summer night.
Will you still love me tomorrow?