§ § § - July 7, 2001
The gala, by the time the Enstad family arrived, was already in progress, booming with light and sound, teeming with people. Christian, dressed in black slacks and a casual white silk shirt with the sleeves rolled up past his elbows, found it very hard to keep his eyes off Leslie. She was wearing another of the new dresses from the shopping trip—a short-sleeved, black sequined number whose hem stopped only halfway to her knees. She still wore the ruby heart necklace, but had also donned the rainbow-gem bracelet she wore most weekends while working; and there'd been a very enjoyable session in Anna-Kristina's suite during which the new queen, her two sisters and her aunts Anna-Laura and Amalia had played around with her hair for a long time before leaving it loose, but catching it up behind her ears on each side with a pair of hair clips adorned with black silk roses.
"I won't let anyone else dance with you all night," Christian said, an arm possessively around her waist, as they came into Liljefors Slott's ballroom with the rest of the family. "If you only knew the effect you have on me in that dress, Leslie Enstad…"
"And you think I want you dancing with another woman?" she retorted warmly, smiling up at him. "Did I ever tell you I saw you dancing with some strange woman at Gerhard and Liselotta's wedding reception? You should have seen how green I was."
"Oh, you were jealous?" asked Christian with a smug grin.
"You bet I was," Leslie said. "Who was she, anyway?"
"Some senator's wife," Christian said, shrugging. "Someone told me her name, but I immediately forgot it. I stopped dancing after that because she stepped on my feet at least twenty-five times throughout the dance, and they were too sore to go on." Leslie laughed aloud, and he grinned back and guided her along to an empty table near the platform that had been set up for the disk jockey. They took chairs and turned them around so as to face the massive dance floor; the DJ had yet to arrive, but staff were already making rounds, serving drinks and taking dinner orders.
Almost half an hour passed before the DJ showed up, by which time all the attendees had arrived; Errico and Michiko had appeared a scant few minutes after Christian and Leslie had claimed their table, and had joined them there, so that now there was a lively conversation in progress. During a brief lull, Christian happened to look around and notice Margareta inside the DJ booth, handing the platter jockey the two-page list of song requests that she, her sisters, Errico, Michiko, Christian and Leslie had come up with. He brought this to the others' attention, just in time to catch the startled look the DJ gave Margareta. All four broke into laughter.
"What time are they serving dinner?" Michiko asked.
"I'm told it should be around seven," said Christian. It was almost six now. "I can't say I'm especially hungry, though. Too many nerve-racking events went on today, and I'm still recovering from that ceremony. My father and his accursed rules."
Michiko remarked, "I think we were relieved when you sneezed. Errico looked at me when that happened and said he was glad for the human touch. Gracious, how incredibly solemn you all looked up there!"
"It's very rigid, yes," Christian said. "We had to drill poor Leslie in all the intricate little requirements. For having had a crash course, she did beautifully."
"Yeah, well, it's a wonder I wasn't the one who sneezed," Leslie remarked, and they all laughed again. Their chatting continued for a few more minutes; then the DJ made a few remarks over the loudspeakers, and the party was on in earnest.
It took him almost half an hour to get around to tackling Margareta's list, and when he did, for some time there was a long string of 80s tunes, including Toto's "Africa", two or three Duran Duran songs, and the début hit from a Norwegian band called Midnight Sun, a tune entitled "Tell It Straight" from 1984. Christian was highly entertained by Leslie's story of having met them once when they'd played Fantasy Island's amusement park. The two of them were on the dance floor for quite a lot of these songs, and when the DJ announced a break after nearly finishing off the first page of the list, they were relieved to sit down and rest a bit. Michiko and Errico rejoined them a few seconds later.
"Shall we eat?" Errico questioned, looking at his wife. "Cari mie, you are eating for two, so I think it best that you have something at least."
Christian looked around at them in surprise. "You're expecting? When are you due?"
"Roughly mid-December," Michiko said. "Sometimes I'm surprised it took me so long, and other times I'm surprised I got pregnant at all. Errico and I have been married for almost ten years, after all."
"Either way, congratulations are in order," Christian said, shaking Errico's hand and smiling at Michiko. "Are you hoping for a particular gender?"
"A girl," Michiko said, exchanging a merry glance with Leslie. "Our daughter Adriana has pestered me almost ever since our wedding for a little sister."
"I'll keep my fingers crossed that you get one," Leslie promised. "You've got to keep us all updated, you know. The other girls'll be thrilled to hear that news."
They decided to have a scaled-down meal, and the dinner conversation ran to a large assortment of topics; by the time they were finished, everyone's energy was back up and they were ready for the next round of dancing. The very next song to be played was a choice Leslie had made in honor of Gabriella—ABBA's "Dancing Queen", with which she sang along while she and Christian were out on the floor. Once it was over, he gave her a surprised look and said, "You sing better than I thought."
"I hope that's a compliment, Christian Enstad," she said in mock warning, and he laughed and assured her that it was.
Another half-dozen songs went by before Christian's first choice came up—"The Logical Song", with which he in turn sang, surprising Leslie. It was the first time she'd seen or heard him do so, and while he readily admitted to being no professional, he could carry a tune enough to be tolerable. There was an ironic quality to his voice as he sang the lines, which Leslie understood when she listened to the words. "…And they showed me a world where I could be so dependable, clinical, intellectual, cynical… …Now watch what you say or they'll be calling you a radical, liberal, fanatical, criminal…"
"They did that to you, your father and brother," she said knowingly during the song's instrumental bridge.
"I always considered this my private little theme," Christian agreed. "It seemed to express my frustration quite nicely." He dropped a kiss on her forehead and took up the chorus when it kicked in; this time Leslie joined him, though she had a hard time not laughing when he struggled to reach the higher notes that concluded it. At the whimsical little whistle that immediately followed the last word, he rolled his eyes with perfect timing, which did make her break into laughter. Christian joined in and hugged her close, still rocking in time with the song. "So are you having fun?"
"It's a blast," said Leslie happily. "I don't even mind dancing." Christian's laugh this time was quite hearty; she smirked back at him.
Three songs later the lights dimmed and the low, sultry introductory notes reverberated out of the speakers; Christian and Leslie looked at each other with anticipatory recognition and drew in close for slow swaying in time with the languid beat of "Easy Evil." With a particular look, Leslie deliberately started singing along, making Christian stare at her in amazement just for a moment. She seemed caught up in the sensual spirit of the tune, and it took little effort for her to catch him in the suggestive excitement as she sang.
You're such an easy evil
You're such a promise of fun
Sometimes I don't know what I'm doing till I'm done
You're a sneaky one…
Christian couldn't seem to take his eyes off her after that, watching her as she sang up to him, eyes at half mast, head tipped back, a small, knowing smile on her lips. Toni Tennille's smoky vocals lent the perfect atmosphere to the song, shutting Christian and Leslie off in their own private orbit, where they unknowingly drew the attention of other nearby dancers—most of them either envious or wistful to some degree of the amazing connection these two clearly had with each other.
Then Christian surprised her completely when he took over a second voice that half sang, half spoke through a voice-box device during the bridge, just as suggestive as his wife had been. She gazed at him in fascination, watching the gleam in his eyes.
You're such an easy evil, I know you are
But boy, you ought to see what I am
I am the most unbelievable in the whole wide world…
When the words degenerated into murmurings, Christian abandoned the effort and kissed her, right out there on the dance floor, still moving slowly with her in his arms. It was a tease, a promise of things ahead, and seemed to ratchet up the temperature between them. Just before the vocals returned, Leslie let her head tip back again, falling away from him, smiling knowingly.
Here he comes now, touching me, calling my name
Again…
Here I go now, like a moth to a flame
I'm a sucker for you, baby
The last line made Christian smile back, a trace of smugness about him—they both knew the truth of this. She still sang softly along with the words till the song slowly faded out; they had to stand there for a good fifteen seconds regaining their composure while a fast song shattered the mood and people bopped energetically around them.
Then Christian blew out his breath and led her off the floor, dodging dancers here and there. Collapsing heavily into his chair, he looked at her with wonder. "You simply astound me," he admitted. "You realize, of course, that now I'm going to have to seduce you with that song. I was much too close to losing control…"
Leslie rested her elbow on the table and propped her chin atop her fist, giving him another of those suggestive smiles, though with restraint this time. "When we get home, to our own house, and it's dark and we hear the sound of the ocean washing onto the sand…that's the perfect time and place. I'll hold you to it."
"It's a date," Christian said and smiled back.
§ § § - July 9, 2001 – Fantasy Island
It was late afternoon when the charter plane landed just off the coast of Fantasy Island; the gentle bump of the pontoons hitting the water woke its two exhausted passengers, who looked around with sleepy confusion at first. "Oh," Leslie murmured with great relief when she realized what had happened. "We're home."
"At last," Christian sighed and yawned hugely. "I think I could sleep for an entire week. Do you suppose Mr. Roarke is going to want us to stay for dinner?"
"Probably, but I don't think it'll kill us," Leslie said, patting his arm. "Besides, my stomach is empty, and you know Mariki's going to consider it her personal mission in life to fill us up till we explode."
Christian snorted tolerantly. "Does she still think you have anorexia?"
"Yes," Leslie said with a groan, and he grinned. They joined hands and watched the scenery slide past them while the plane taxied into the lagoon and finally moored to the dock; then they got to their feet and disembarked, so tired that they both staggered slightly on their feet as they stepped onto home turf. Then Leslie looked up and brightened: at the edge of the clearing stood Roarke, waiting for them, smiling broadly.
"Hi, Father!" she called out, making Christian look up with a grin of his own. He let her loose as she broke away and ran across the clearing to hug Roarke, and caught up with her just as they let go.
"Welcome home, both of you," Roarke said with feeling, squeezing his daughter a last time and grasping his son-in-law's hands. "I can see you're worn out, but if you don't mind indulging me long enough to have dinner, I'd be very interested in hearing about your trip and all the events that took place there. Christian, you in particular must have had quite the sense of displacement, what with the great upheavals you've just endured."
Christian smiled ruefully as they started for the car, Leslie in between him and Roarke with an arm linked with each. "It seems as if we were gone longer than two weeks," he said. "Just before Leslie and I left for the airport, I warned Gabriella that she'd better live to be at least a hundred, for I have no wish to go through another coronation in my lifetime."
Roarke laughed. "Completely understandable. Well, shall we?"
He drove them back to the main house, leaving their luggage in the car for the time being and urging them to take their seats at the table on the veranda before going back to the kitchen to notify Mariki that Christian and Leslie had returned. Mariki, as always, made an overblown fuss over both of them, served more food than they could eat, and then left them to their meal. Roarke let them take the edge off their hunger before giving Christian a compassionate look and asking gently, "Are you quite all right?"
Christian sat quietly for a moment, contemplating Roarke's question, and smiled at Leslie when she laid her hand on his arm in silent support. Finally he looked at Roarke and said, "I think it's only fair that I give you an honest answer, Mr. Roarke. I'm not really back to normal, not yet, and it's going to take me some time to get there. Leslie pulled me through the worst of my grief and the attendant guilt, but now and then I still find myself wondering if I didn't really deserve some sort of retaliation for my thoughts."
Roarke regarded him for a moment or two. "When you find yourself falling into that trap," he said, "it may help you to remember this. The world is filled with coincidence, both comic and tragic; and too often we find ourselves visited by it, sometimes to the point that it amazes us. You were affected by tragic coincidence: your thoughts, followed by the passing of your brother. But it was not possible for you to know what would happen." He sat back. "Leslie told me how she brought you back from the edge of madness, and though I didn't tell her this at the time, I found myself thinking that perhaps she learned something from me after all." This came with a teasing smile at his daughter, who rolled her eyes and grinned at him. "The things she said to you, Christian, are very much the words I myself would have chosen in her place. Keep them in mind in those darker moments, and remind yourself of their truth: they are your absolution, and you deserve the peace they will give you. And don't forget, Leslie is there as well."
Christian looked up with tears standing in his eyes. "My absolution," he repeated softly, a look of hope dawning on his face. "Perhaps I did in fact receive the absolution I've been searching for. It was something Leslie's been trying to tell me for days, and now I think I finally understand. Thank you, Mr. Roarke."
"You're always welcome," Roarke replied, then smiled. "Once again, welcome home, both of you. And please, finish eating so that Mariki has one less excuse to nag." Through a burst of laughter, Christian and Leslie nodded and squeezed hands.
The lyrics quoted above come from the following sources:
"The Logical Song", words and music © 1979 by Rick Davies and Roger Hodgson
"Easy Evil", words and music © 1971 by Alan O'Day
As always, your thoughts and comments are welcomed and highly appreciated. There's loads more down the road…stay tuned…
