Chapter 3: The Reunion of 1975'

Micki sits on the couch on the opposite side of a stretch of railing separating the shop from the steps to the vault. Ryan slowly walks downstairs. The back of her head can be seen from the stairs. Ryan sighs heavily. Micki sniffles and holds a tissue balled up in her hand. Ryan sluggishly leans on the beam near the desk close to the couch. Micki wipes under her eye with the tissue.

"I didn't mean to mess up your makeup." Ryan blurts out. Micki startled by his voice jumps slightly and holds her hand to her chest.

"What do you want?" Micki says harshly. "If you don't want me in your life then why are you even talking to me." Micki blubbers. She tears up again and turns away from him.

"Micki, I'm sorry...I was wrong to say that to you..."

Micki continues to ignore him.

"Micki..."

Micki sighs and stares blankly at the wall as if Ryan is not there. Ryan walks over to her and sits next to her on the couch.

"Micki I'm sorry...I didn't mean what I said...I wouldn't be here if it weren't for you, I owe you my life."

Micki turns toward him slowly. Ryan stares at her.

"Jack put it in words I could understand...I'm not having this party to celebrate my life, but to celebrate the people in it...you make me feel alive Micki."

Micki stares at him.

"And I'm hurting because...I don't like to see you cry."

Ryan gently touches her hand. Micki looks at her hand and looks back into Ryan's eyes.

"Ryan...does it hurt to have me in your life even if I'm not crying?"

Ryan sighs.

"Oh, Micki...when I'm with you...when I look at you...nothing hurts me."

Micki smiles shyly. Ryan smiles back. He then wipes a tear away from her cheek and places his forehead on hers.

"Do you forgive me?"

"Can we still have a party? Micki asks with a shy smile. Ryan stifles out an airy;

"Yeah."

He nuzzles his nose against hers, then kisses the side of her head. Micki smiles widely. Ryan sits next to her on the couch and wraps his arm around her.

"I forgive you...and I'm sorry I should have told you what Jack and I were doing."

"No...No, and you can still throw a surprise party, I'll still act surprised."

Micki laughs slightly as Ryan grins. Micki then intertwines her fingers with his as they sit next to each other on the couch.

"You know I told Jack...that...I might not be able to stop all of this hurt you feel all the time...and that hurts me, but I'm willing to try."

"You don't have to try... you took all the pain away when you stepped into my life."

Micki smiles and leans her head on his chest. Ryan places his head on top of hers.

"Seems like I've been in your life for years, and then again just a few months, how is that even possible?"

"I don't know...I'm just glad you are... I'm glad we have each other...and I'm glad to have you here to celebrate my birthday with."

"What did you mean when said you wouldn't be here if it weren't for me?"

Ryan gulps and with his other hand circles it in the air as he speaks.

"It was a long time ago."

"Tell me." Micki whispers.

"It was at the family reunion."

Micki sits up and looks into Ryan's eyes.

"You mean when we first met?"

"Yeah."

Ryan and Micki stare at each other.

"Do you remember?" Ryan asks as he removes his arm from around her.

"I think so...let's see it was out at the old church, in that big gym the church owned."

Ryan nods.

"I remember I was dressed in that dreadful grey two flap button pinafore, with those white socks and black flats," Micki says with a snorty laugh. "And a matching headband...Mom wanted me to make an impression on the family... it had been a decade since our last family reunion... you and I weren't born when the family had that one, of course."

"Yeah." Ryan agrees. "And all mom dressed me in was a pair of corduroys and a plaid button-up shirt, tucked in, with a matching belt...we didn't have the best stuff, but Mom always made sure we had comfortable clothes to wear...and corduroy pants weren't cheap back then, she even got mad at Dad for buying them for me."

"Yeah." Micki agrees softly.

"It was uh...sometime after 75' wasn't it? A few months after Jimmy..." Ryan pauses and looks down.

"I remember Father told me to be kind to a small boy that lost his brother... he said he might need a friend...I never knew he was talking about you..." Micki utters tenderly.

Ryan smiles shyly.

"You were my best friend then Micki... and I missed you every day afterward...until I...I got so caught up in the fights... and my depression it...it blinded me to a lot of things...and I uh... couldn't remember that year anymore."

"I understand." Micki replies then gently touches Ryan's knee. "I think you were sitting by yourself when I approached...your father was talking to your mother near the buffet table...having a very loud discussion."

"And to me, it was like Jimmy's funeral all over again... total strangers would come up to me and offer their condolences, but I'd never seen any of them before in my life... I was so lost."

As Ryan continues the story, and as Micki reminiscences with him, we are suddenly transported to that fateful day.

"I remember I was sitting with my head down until you tapped my shoulder." Ryan continues.

A 9-year-old Ryan sits at a small table, wearing the clothing Ryan described, with his head down. A 9-year-old Micki walks up behind him, wearing her grey jumper, including a matching headband and tie, resembling that of a rich schoolgirl. She gently taps his shoulder. Ryan startled looks up at her.

"Sorry...I didn't mean to scare you." She speaks out, a hint of an accent. She speaks properly almost like an adult. "Are you just as bored as I am?" She asks.

Ryan stares at her and only nods.

"Michelle Foster." Micki punctually explains and holds out her hand.

"Ryan...Ryan Dallion." Ryan tells her and shakes her hand.

"Dallion?" Micki questions.

"Yeah...like "Da-lion."

Micki smiles. Ryan smiles back.

"I um...I like your hair." Ryan says shyly.

"Really?" Micki replies. "I'm not too fond of it...people tease me all the time about it."

Ryan looks confused.

"Why?" He asks.

"I don't know...but they call me mean names... and treat me different because of the color."

"Well...I like your hair...it's pretty."

"Thanks," Micki says in almost a whisper.

"Hey, Michelle?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you know that lady?" Ryan says and points. Micki's head turns. "She's my cousin Katherine."

"Oh yeah...well she's my mother."

"Oh."

"There has to be something else in common besides my mom, do you like Crissy dolls, I have 4 at home, most of my friends only have one."

"I don't have one no."

"Oh," Micki says sadly and looks down.

"Hey, do you like air hockey?" Ryan asks.

"What's air hockey?"

"There's a table over there I can show you how to play, come on."

Ryan gently takes her hand and pulls her over to the hockey table.

"See when the puck enters and drops inside a player's goal, the player's opponent receives one point."

"Okay?" Micki inquiries. "Is it dangerous?"

"No it's fun...here I'll start."

Ryan begins by dropping the puck and bumps it with his striker. Micki moves her striker to the side, and the puck goes in the goal.

"Okay, that was a freebie, since you don't know how to play, but just try to keep the puck away from that side and try to shoot it into my side."

"Like this?" Micki asks and drops the puck and bumps it hard with her striker. The puck goes into Ryan's goal.

"Hey I wasn't ready!" Ryan shouts.

"Sorry...I'm just playing...you're a good teacher Ryan..."

"Thanks, Michelle."

"Um... you could call me Micki...all of my friends do."

"Okay, well Micki you're about to get beat," Ryan says with a smile. Micki smiles widely at him. They laugh a couple of times as they continue to play. The hour passes, and Micki laughs loudly as they continue to play with the air hockey table.

"What's the score?!" Micki asks.

"I don't know I lost count after 25 to 30!" Ryan says with a laugh. "I'm in the lead though I think."

"What?!" Micki scoffs. "No way!"

"Hey Micki, my hand is getting tired though, we can call it a tie, you want to go outside for a bit?"

"Sure." Micki replies with a smile. The kids leave the hockey table and walk out back behind the church. There is a dumpster, and a swing set out there. Ryan walks next to Micki with his hands in his pockets.

"So what are your folks like?" Ryan asks.

"My mother and father are very nice people, and Daddy buys me lots of toys, he's so nice, and mother is always buying me pretty dresses."

"Oh yeah?" Ryan retorts. He then picks up a pebble and tosses it.

"What about your parents?"

"They're pretty loud sometimes."

"Loud?"

"Yeah, hey want to go swing?"

Micki nods.

"I'll race you!" Ryan shouts. He then takes off running toward the swings. Micki chases after him. He and Micki fight over the same swing.

"It was me I got here first!" Micki says and scoffs.

"Excuse me, Princess but I got here first."

Micki sticks her tongue out at him. Ryan does the same.

"Just kidding, ladies first."

"Thank you." Micki replies properly. She then sits on the swing and Ryan presumes to push her.

"Hey Ryan, what did you mean about your parents being loud?"

"Well, I love them but they fight...a lot."

"Oh... about what?"

"Me I think."

"You?" Micki asks and kicks her legs out as she is pushed forward, then brings them in again as Ryan pushes her. "What did you do?"

"I um...I think I hurt them."

"How did you do that?"

"Someone I loved... he's dead and it's all my fault."

Micki's shoes run through the dirt as she stops herself. She then falls back in the swing against Ryan's chest. He holds on to the chain of the swing and looks at her. Micki looks confused and stares at him.

"But if it weren't for you today...I would've been dead myself."

"What do you mean?"

"I was going to do it today..."

"Do what?" Micki questions.

"End it all."

Micki stares into his eyes. Ryan stares into hers.

"Michelle Ann!" A voice calls. Micki looks up. Her mother stands outside the door. "Come on honey, we're leaving."

Micki looks back at Ryan.

"Will I see you again?" Ryan asks.

"I...I don't know..." Micki whispers softly. "But listen... whatever happened... I'm sure your parents aren't fighting about you... and whatever happened... could never hurt you that much to not want to live anymore... you haven't even met your wife yet, or joined a band, or worked in one of those fancy offices or nothing."

Ryan stifles a laugh.

"There are lots of things to live for Ryan, and if you can't think of anything...and even if we never see each other again, if you want to know where your heart is, look where your mind goes when it wanders. And wander towards me."

Ryan smiles at her.

"Michelle Ann, say goodbye to everyone honey, we're going!" Her mother's voice is heard again.

"Goodbye Ryan." Micki says sadly, but with a smile.

"Goodbye...Micki." Ryan looks down. Micki frowns and kisses his cheek. Ryan closes his eyes against it then gasps.

"Remember where to wander." Micki says with a smile. She then takes off running toward the door. Her red hair swishes back and forth as she runs away. Ryan stares off as she disappears. He looks down, and slowly sits in the swing Micki was sitting in. As he sits down he looks up at the back door of the church.

"No matter how hard I tried...I couldn't wander your way..." Ryan's voice is heard as he tells the story. Now back in the shop, Micki, now at the age of 25 looks up him. "I was so lost...and then I dropped out of college...then...I took in this shop... I never thought I would find my way back until that day you walked in..."

Micki stares at him.

"I remember looking at the letter...I remember reading the name Micki Foster...and I couldn't even picture your face." Ryan says and stifles a laugh but is about to cry.

"Do you remember when I said, all my friends called me Micki... the truth is... up until that reunion no one called me that... except you... "

Ryan looks at her.

"I asked my parents if I could use the name Micki for important stuff, like school, and my driver's license...it stuck because of you... but for the life of me, I couldn't remember why I loved the name so much...or where it came from...but I did have that memory of that day on the swing even though all contact with you was lost..."

Ryan turns away from her with tears in his eyes.

"You had that memory, and I couldn't remember a thing...but...I'm still here..."

"You are."

"So I guess...even without realizing it... while my brain was so scattered... my heart knew where to wander..."

Micki turns him to face her. Ryan has tears in his eyes. Micki smiles.

"And it's inside that heart...where I'll always be...I know the song of your heart Ryan Dallion...and I'll always sing it to you when your memory fails."

Ryan smiles shyly. Micki kisses his cheek, as she did when they were kids. Ryan closes his eyes against the kiss. Micki backs away slowly.

"Remember?"

"Yeah." Ryan chokes through his tears, he then wraps Micki in a hug.

"Micki...you giving me my life, is the best present I've ever gotten." Ryan squeaks through his cries. He coughs a few times. Micki hugs him tightly and strokes the back of his head, running her nails through his hair. Ryan hides his face in Micki's shoulder.

"Happy Birthday Ryan." Micki whispers softly. "Happy Birthday."

Jack watches from the stairs and smiles widely.