Richie spent the rest of the week making arrangements. He informed his
five roommates that he would not be making the trip to Maui, but they could
still use his uncle's island jet as planned. Once Alex called with flight
times, Richie made arrangements to miss his last class Friday without
penalty in order to pick up Heather and Brandon. His roommates left early
Friday morning and Richie spent the day washing sheets and getting the
house ready for his impromptu guests.
He got to the airport half an hour before the plane was due. The airport was made of three open huts. One for check in, one for waiting for your flight and one for baggage claim. Richie parked in the small lot intended for the few people who weren't returning or renting a car.
"Hey, Malua, " he smiled at the attendant on duty. They all knew him, he was usually the one who picked up the students who came for Aquatic Adventure's study camps.
"Hey, Rick. No van?"
"I'm here on personal business. No camps for a few weeks yet."
He made his way to the baggage claim to wait. It wasn't long until he heard "Flight 29 from Honolulu now arriving," announced on the PA.
He got up from his seat on the carousel when it started to move. A few seconds later suitcases started around. A few seconds after that, a buzz hit him. Despite knowing whom the buzz was coming from, his back stiffened. He stared at the group of passengers coming until he found the source. A tall, lanky, boy in his late teens with sandy blonde hair and an anxious look on his face met his eyes. Richie smiled at him and he ducked behind the man next to him. Richie approached the boy, trying to appear as nonthreatening as possible.
"Just give it a minute," he told the boy. He nodded compliantly. Richie smiled at the man the teen was hiding behind. "Tell me that's Brandon O'Neal and I didn't just make a complete idiot out of myself."
The man looked Richie up and down. "Are you Richie Ryan?"
"Not anymore."
"Excuse me?"
"I changed my name. I'm Rick Noel now, but I'm still Richie Ryan... that didn't make any sense. And you are?"
"David McCormic, Heather's husband."
"Husba...I mean, speaking of Heather, where is she?"
"She left something on the plane and went back to get it."
"Great, well, why don't we get the luggage and we'll be ready to go when gets here."
He gestured the pair to go ahead of him. As they walked to the carousel, Richie took a minute to size up Heather's husband. He was taller, older, had broader shoulders and was a bit thicker in the waist, but still in decent to good shape. David did grunt when he picked up a large, but not too big, suitcase and put it with the others. Richie couldn't resist showing off. He picked up the suitcase pretending to move it out of another passenger's way. It was heavy, much more than he had figured, but he refused to let on.
"Oh my God..." Richie turned around at the familiar voice. Heather was standing a few feet away. "Richie..."
He gave her a smile. "You look great," he grinned looking her up and down before taking a few tentative steps forward.
She threw herself at him. "You haven't changed at all. You look almost the exact same."
"I look almost the exact same, but I haven't changed at all?" he laughed as they let go.
"Well, not like me. I look so old."
"You're just as beautiful as ever. More gorgeous than I remember," he assured her meaning every word of it.
"And you're still a charmer."
"I try."
David cleared his throat and put his arm around Heather's shoulders. Richie took a courtesy step away from the other man's wife. "Um, Richie this is David, David this is Richie."
They shook hands. "David, husband of Heather," Richie said with a polite smile.
"The ex," David returned squeezing Richie's hand harder than necessary.
"That's me," he answered. "Nice to meet you." David gave him a tight lipped smile. "Well..." Richie diverted his attention to the teen. "I bet you don't remember me at all."
"I've seen pictures," Brandon told him. "From when I was little. You used to date Heather in college."
"Exactly. I spent a lot of time with you those four years."
"Really?"
"I've been explaining to him how I know you and how you can help him," Heather explained. "He knows more than he remembers."
"I expected as much," Richie told Brandon. "You were pretty young."
"So, what have you been up to?" Heather asked after a brief silence.
"Why don't we discuss it over dinner?" Richie offered. "We can take your bags to my place then hit Hilo for some food." They started toward the parking lot.
"Why not go straight to Hilo?" David offered. "We can just put the bags in the trunk. I'm sure they'll be fine."
"They'd be a little out in the open," Richie insisted. "That's me." He pointed to a roofless yellow jeep. "I only live, like, ten minutes away. And it's on the way to Hilo, too."
The small trunk space could just hold two of the three suitcases. The other was wedged in the back seat between David and Brandon.
"Sorry, I didn't know how many people were coming," Richie apologized cursing Alex for not warning him. "I would have brought the woody." Brandon snorted in the back seat. "Sorry, I would have brought the station wagon, that better?" Richie joked.
"Yeah," the teen mumbled under his sister's glare.
"Heather, he's fine," Richie assured her. "I would have done the same thing at his age."
David sat quietly in the back seat scrutinizing the man in the driver's seat. He looked no older than Brandon, but according to Heather, he was 36. He had a sun bleached blonde ponytail at the base of his neck tied back in a leather cord, tan skin and lean muscles. He was wearing orange board shorts and a blue button down short sleeved shirt. The only thing that went against his mindless 'surfer dude' image was the wire rimmed glasses he wore.
"This is it," Richie announced pulling into the driveway of a small two- story house on a street of small houses. He turned the car off and headed to the trunk. "Let's get these inside." He tossed Heather the keys and handed Brandon the smallest of the bags, taking the largest for himself. David reached for the bag left and ignored Richie's insistence that he would take the luggage in. Brandon and Heather were inside so they missed the opening battle in the struggle for male dominance. David won the first battle, but Richie wasn't going to give up that easily. It was his house, his state and his territory after all. Once inside Richie took charge again.
"My roommates went out of town so we have the run of the place...except for these guys." He indicated the black dog excitedly sniffing everyone and the Flemish Giant rabbit hopping around in the corner by it's food dish. "This is Skye," he introduced slapping the dog's side affectionately. "And that is Finny." He pointed at the salt and pepper colored rabbit. "Who's hungry...just a second." He opened a low cabinet and put some food into one of the dishes on the floor. "You already ate," he shooed the dog away. "So...rooms."
He put Heather and David in Clayton and Jeff's room because it was the only room with a queen sized bed instead of two twins. Brandon was given his choice of sharing Richie's room or having his own across the hall. He chose to have his own room. Once the decisions had been made, they all went back out to the jeep. Finny ran out with them and disappeared into the shrubs.
"She always comes back," Richie assured a curious Heather. "This way there's less to clean up, you know?"
They drove around Hilo until they decided to stop at Pizza Hut for dinner. They were seated after a short wait. David and Heather sat in one side of the booth while Brandon uncomfortably shared the other side with Richie. The waitress, approached the table.
"Hey, Likeke, didn't know you were coming by tonight," she greeted. "What can I get you all to drink?" She took their order and left.
"Who is that?" Heather asked eyeing the young girl.
"That's Mel; she's in my religion class; we have a study group together."
"Why'd she call you Likeke?" Brandon asked.
"That's Richard in Polynesian. It's like a nickname. Yours would be Pu'ula'ahi [Poo-oola-ah-hi]." Brandon laughed. "Heather is Hekela [Heh- keh-la] and David is Awika [A-wee-kah]"
Mel came by with their drinks and promised to be by in a minute to take their order.
"Lets see if I can still remember," Heather teased. "Extra cheese, pepperoni, sausage, peppers, olives and garlic, right?"
"Actually, I'm kosher now, so olives, mushrooms and tomatoes," Richie answered.
"Really?"
"As of about six years ago."
"Well, I think Brandon and I decided on meat lovers," David announced. "What about you, darling?"
"I think I'll get manicotti and steal from everyone else."
Mel came and they ordered two large pizzas and one manicotti.
"Are you really 35?" Brandon asked suddenly.
"36," Richie corrected. "But as far as anyone else knows I'm 20."
"You don't look 36."
"That's something I'll tell you about when we get home. We can't talk about this in public. But I'll answer everything, I swear."
"Okay."
"So," Heather broke the silence. "What have you been up to?"
"Not much," he shrugged. "Did the lawyer thing for about seven years and decided it was time to start over, so I'm a junior at Hawaii State."
"What's your major?"
"Marine biology."
"Really? That must be interesting, you've always liked science."
"It's harder than I thought it would be," Richie admitted. "But I like it."
"You must have a great job to afford that house."
"I have five roommates. But, I'm a dolphin trainer, mostly. I also do some lifeguarding, and other odd things at the resort I...and, uh...and I work at the cultural center for a month in the summer."
"And you go to school full time...overachiever," Heather teased him.
"What about you two?" Richie asked. "Alex says you're in Virginia now?"
"Yes. I run the Community Theater," she said.
"Like, at the top? Master and commander?"
"That's me."
"Wow, that's cool." He turned to David. "What about you?"
"I own my own catering company."
"Maybe you can make dinner some night. Just make a list and we'll get what you need."
"Maybe."
"So.... How did you guys meet?"
"At church in Missouri."
"I bet Steven liked that...a good church going guy."
The pizzas arrived and conversation stopped in favor of dinner. They ate in silence. Richie found himself studying David as they ate. He wanted to find fault with the man Heather had married. He wanted to know he was the better man. But then again...if he was such a bad guy why did she choose David and reject Richie?
David watched how Heather and Richie interacted. Despite their messy and emotionally draining break up they were at ease with each other. When Heather took a piece of his pizza, Richie reached over and cut a piece of her manicotti. No apologetic words had passed between them, no mention of their emotional parting, only an instant, comfortable, playful and affectionate relationship.
When Mel passed by to refill their drinks, Richie handed her a credit card.
"You don't have to do that," Heather chided.
"Don't worry about it," he assured her. "As long as you're my guests, you don't have to spend a dime."
"That's very nice of you..." David started.
"I suppose," he interrupted. "But it's also my duty. So don't worry about it."
"Duty?" Brandon asked.
"You're under my protection now, which means that I take care of everything. And when you get a teacher, they'll do the same until you're ready to be on your own," he explained. Then to David and Heather, "That's just the way it works, so no arguments."
"Like Duncan," Heather asked putting it all together. "He's imm... I mean, he's like you?"
Richie paused, it really was none of his business to tell them who was and wasn't immortal. But, if things went according to plan they'd be finding out soon, anyway. "Yeah. He was my first teacher. He took care of me for a long time. Hey, uh, Alex didn't come with you guys, did he?"
"He had some business. He said he'd be back in a few days. Why?"
"I just need his help with something. I'll call him tonight."
Mel came back with Richie's card and receipt. Once he signed they headed back to his house. The car was filled with a terse silence that continued even as they entered the house. Richie let Finny back in and headed straight to the living room to make his call. If any of this was going to work out, Alex had to pull through for him.
He got to the airport half an hour before the plane was due. The airport was made of three open huts. One for check in, one for waiting for your flight and one for baggage claim. Richie parked in the small lot intended for the few people who weren't returning or renting a car.
"Hey, Malua, " he smiled at the attendant on duty. They all knew him, he was usually the one who picked up the students who came for Aquatic Adventure's study camps.
"Hey, Rick. No van?"
"I'm here on personal business. No camps for a few weeks yet."
He made his way to the baggage claim to wait. It wasn't long until he heard "Flight 29 from Honolulu now arriving," announced on the PA.
He got up from his seat on the carousel when it started to move. A few seconds later suitcases started around. A few seconds after that, a buzz hit him. Despite knowing whom the buzz was coming from, his back stiffened. He stared at the group of passengers coming until he found the source. A tall, lanky, boy in his late teens with sandy blonde hair and an anxious look on his face met his eyes. Richie smiled at him and he ducked behind the man next to him. Richie approached the boy, trying to appear as nonthreatening as possible.
"Just give it a minute," he told the boy. He nodded compliantly. Richie smiled at the man the teen was hiding behind. "Tell me that's Brandon O'Neal and I didn't just make a complete idiot out of myself."
The man looked Richie up and down. "Are you Richie Ryan?"
"Not anymore."
"Excuse me?"
"I changed my name. I'm Rick Noel now, but I'm still Richie Ryan... that didn't make any sense. And you are?"
"David McCormic, Heather's husband."
"Husba...I mean, speaking of Heather, where is she?"
"She left something on the plane and went back to get it."
"Great, well, why don't we get the luggage and we'll be ready to go when gets here."
He gestured the pair to go ahead of him. As they walked to the carousel, Richie took a minute to size up Heather's husband. He was taller, older, had broader shoulders and was a bit thicker in the waist, but still in decent to good shape. David did grunt when he picked up a large, but not too big, suitcase and put it with the others. Richie couldn't resist showing off. He picked up the suitcase pretending to move it out of another passenger's way. It was heavy, much more than he had figured, but he refused to let on.
"Oh my God..." Richie turned around at the familiar voice. Heather was standing a few feet away. "Richie..."
He gave her a smile. "You look great," he grinned looking her up and down before taking a few tentative steps forward.
She threw herself at him. "You haven't changed at all. You look almost the exact same."
"I look almost the exact same, but I haven't changed at all?" he laughed as they let go.
"Well, not like me. I look so old."
"You're just as beautiful as ever. More gorgeous than I remember," he assured her meaning every word of it.
"And you're still a charmer."
"I try."
David cleared his throat and put his arm around Heather's shoulders. Richie took a courtesy step away from the other man's wife. "Um, Richie this is David, David this is Richie."
They shook hands. "David, husband of Heather," Richie said with a polite smile.
"The ex," David returned squeezing Richie's hand harder than necessary.
"That's me," he answered. "Nice to meet you." David gave him a tight lipped smile. "Well..." Richie diverted his attention to the teen. "I bet you don't remember me at all."
"I've seen pictures," Brandon told him. "From when I was little. You used to date Heather in college."
"Exactly. I spent a lot of time with you those four years."
"Really?"
"I've been explaining to him how I know you and how you can help him," Heather explained. "He knows more than he remembers."
"I expected as much," Richie told Brandon. "You were pretty young."
"So, what have you been up to?" Heather asked after a brief silence.
"Why don't we discuss it over dinner?" Richie offered. "We can take your bags to my place then hit Hilo for some food." They started toward the parking lot.
"Why not go straight to Hilo?" David offered. "We can just put the bags in the trunk. I'm sure they'll be fine."
"They'd be a little out in the open," Richie insisted. "That's me." He pointed to a roofless yellow jeep. "I only live, like, ten minutes away. And it's on the way to Hilo, too."
The small trunk space could just hold two of the three suitcases. The other was wedged in the back seat between David and Brandon.
"Sorry, I didn't know how many people were coming," Richie apologized cursing Alex for not warning him. "I would have brought the woody." Brandon snorted in the back seat. "Sorry, I would have brought the station wagon, that better?" Richie joked.
"Yeah," the teen mumbled under his sister's glare.
"Heather, he's fine," Richie assured her. "I would have done the same thing at his age."
David sat quietly in the back seat scrutinizing the man in the driver's seat. He looked no older than Brandon, but according to Heather, he was 36. He had a sun bleached blonde ponytail at the base of his neck tied back in a leather cord, tan skin and lean muscles. He was wearing orange board shorts and a blue button down short sleeved shirt. The only thing that went against his mindless 'surfer dude' image was the wire rimmed glasses he wore.
"This is it," Richie announced pulling into the driveway of a small two- story house on a street of small houses. He turned the car off and headed to the trunk. "Let's get these inside." He tossed Heather the keys and handed Brandon the smallest of the bags, taking the largest for himself. David reached for the bag left and ignored Richie's insistence that he would take the luggage in. Brandon and Heather were inside so they missed the opening battle in the struggle for male dominance. David won the first battle, but Richie wasn't going to give up that easily. It was his house, his state and his territory after all. Once inside Richie took charge again.
"My roommates went out of town so we have the run of the place...except for these guys." He indicated the black dog excitedly sniffing everyone and the Flemish Giant rabbit hopping around in the corner by it's food dish. "This is Skye," he introduced slapping the dog's side affectionately. "And that is Finny." He pointed at the salt and pepper colored rabbit. "Who's hungry...just a second." He opened a low cabinet and put some food into one of the dishes on the floor. "You already ate," he shooed the dog away. "So...rooms."
He put Heather and David in Clayton and Jeff's room because it was the only room with a queen sized bed instead of two twins. Brandon was given his choice of sharing Richie's room or having his own across the hall. He chose to have his own room. Once the decisions had been made, they all went back out to the jeep. Finny ran out with them and disappeared into the shrubs.
"She always comes back," Richie assured a curious Heather. "This way there's less to clean up, you know?"
They drove around Hilo until they decided to stop at Pizza Hut for dinner. They were seated after a short wait. David and Heather sat in one side of the booth while Brandon uncomfortably shared the other side with Richie. The waitress, approached the table.
"Hey, Likeke, didn't know you were coming by tonight," she greeted. "What can I get you all to drink?" She took their order and left.
"Who is that?" Heather asked eyeing the young girl.
"That's Mel; she's in my religion class; we have a study group together."
"Why'd she call you Likeke?" Brandon asked.
"That's Richard in Polynesian. It's like a nickname. Yours would be Pu'ula'ahi [Poo-oola-ah-hi]." Brandon laughed. "Heather is Hekela [Heh- keh-la] and David is Awika [A-wee-kah]"
Mel came by with their drinks and promised to be by in a minute to take their order.
"Lets see if I can still remember," Heather teased. "Extra cheese, pepperoni, sausage, peppers, olives and garlic, right?"
"Actually, I'm kosher now, so olives, mushrooms and tomatoes," Richie answered.
"Really?"
"As of about six years ago."
"Well, I think Brandon and I decided on meat lovers," David announced. "What about you, darling?"
"I think I'll get manicotti and steal from everyone else."
Mel came and they ordered two large pizzas and one manicotti.
"Are you really 35?" Brandon asked suddenly.
"36," Richie corrected. "But as far as anyone else knows I'm 20."
"You don't look 36."
"That's something I'll tell you about when we get home. We can't talk about this in public. But I'll answer everything, I swear."
"Okay."
"So," Heather broke the silence. "What have you been up to?"
"Not much," he shrugged. "Did the lawyer thing for about seven years and decided it was time to start over, so I'm a junior at Hawaii State."
"What's your major?"
"Marine biology."
"Really? That must be interesting, you've always liked science."
"It's harder than I thought it would be," Richie admitted. "But I like it."
"You must have a great job to afford that house."
"I have five roommates. But, I'm a dolphin trainer, mostly. I also do some lifeguarding, and other odd things at the resort I...and, uh...and I work at the cultural center for a month in the summer."
"And you go to school full time...overachiever," Heather teased him.
"What about you two?" Richie asked. "Alex says you're in Virginia now?"
"Yes. I run the Community Theater," she said.
"Like, at the top? Master and commander?"
"That's me."
"Wow, that's cool." He turned to David. "What about you?"
"I own my own catering company."
"Maybe you can make dinner some night. Just make a list and we'll get what you need."
"Maybe."
"So.... How did you guys meet?"
"At church in Missouri."
"I bet Steven liked that...a good church going guy."
The pizzas arrived and conversation stopped in favor of dinner. They ate in silence. Richie found himself studying David as they ate. He wanted to find fault with the man Heather had married. He wanted to know he was the better man. But then again...if he was such a bad guy why did she choose David and reject Richie?
David watched how Heather and Richie interacted. Despite their messy and emotionally draining break up they were at ease with each other. When Heather took a piece of his pizza, Richie reached over and cut a piece of her manicotti. No apologetic words had passed between them, no mention of their emotional parting, only an instant, comfortable, playful and affectionate relationship.
When Mel passed by to refill their drinks, Richie handed her a credit card.
"You don't have to do that," Heather chided.
"Don't worry about it," he assured her. "As long as you're my guests, you don't have to spend a dime."
"That's very nice of you..." David started.
"I suppose," he interrupted. "But it's also my duty. So don't worry about it."
"Duty?" Brandon asked.
"You're under my protection now, which means that I take care of everything. And when you get a teacher, they'll do the same until you're ready to be on your own," he explained. Then to David and Heather, "That's just the way it works, so no arguments."
"Like Duncan," Heather asked putting it all together. "He's imm... I mean, he's like you?"
Richie paused, it really was none of his business to tell them who was and wasn't immortal. But, if things went according to plan they'd be finding out soon, anyway. "Yeah. He was my first teacher. He took care of me for a long time. Hey, uh, Alex didn't come with you guys, did he?"
"He had some business. He said he'd be back in a few days. Why?"
"I just need his help with something. I'll call him tonight."
Mel came back with Richie's card and receipt. Once he signed they headed back to his house. The car was filled with a terse silence that continued even as they entered the house. Richie let Finny back in and headed straight to the living room to make his call. If any of this was going to work out, Alex had to pull through for him.