Chapter 5
Alison sat up abruptly in bed. She looked at the clock, which read 6:32am. Leaning over, she turned off the 8:00am alarm and slipped out of bed. She couldn't sleep anymore. She felt like a child on the morning of her birthday, excited to see the present her parents had for her. Alison made sure to not wake Donnie up as she slipped out of her pajamas and into yoga pants and a long-sleeve blue shirt, finishing the outfit with a puffy white vest. Humming to herself she pulled her hair back, collecting the errant strands that escaped their confines in her sleep the night before into a ponytail. After she tied up her hair, she looked in the mirror. She could see the yellowing bruise on her forehead poking out from beneath her bangs. She stuck her bottom lip out, deflated.
Alison heard a small click from the front door.
She tiptoed over to find a slip of folded paper that had been dispensed beneath the door. She tried to tell herself it was probably some resort advertisement, but she knew the author immediately upon seeing the handwriting.
A smile from the 'burbs,
a wink from the station.
A flower at the entrance,
to further your vacation.
Alison's cheeks burned red. She placed the note to her chest and inhaled a deep breath. Stealing a glance behind her, she slipped the note into her vest pocket. Alison tiptoed back to the vanity and ruffled the front of her bangs. It was futile; there would be no way to hide the wound. Alison didn't care. She swiped her shoes and snuck out the front door.
"Alison!"
She jumped, her heart lodged in her throat. Alison turned around and forced a smile as Sarah walked up.
"Thanks for watching Kira with Fee last night," Sarah said.
"Oh, no problem, no problem." Alison said as she lifted a foot behind her to slip on one of her running shoes.
"You guys were up pretty late," Sarah observed, "I'm surprised to see you out this early."
Alison tried to hide her anxiety, "You know me," she said, "breakfast for the kids, a house to clean, up, up, up." The last 'up' was an octave higher than Alison intended.
Sarah smiled. "Where are you off to?"
"Nowhere," Alison said, "Just figured it was too pretty out, thought I'd get a jog in before all the fog burned away."
"Would you like some company?" Sarah asked.
"No!" Alison said much too quickly. "I mean, no offense Sarah, but I didn't think you were much of the jogging type and I'm horrible company when I run."
Alison cocked a sympathetic, awkward smile as she lifted the other leg and slipped her opposite shoe on.
Sarah caught the hint. "You're probably right. Maybe I'll wake Cal up and force him to go with me to breakfast."
Alison and Sarah said their good-byes as Alison jogged out the front door. Once she was far enough away from the resort she turned around to make sure no one was watching. She hoped she didn't come off as rude to Sarah. She actually would have loved to spend some time with her, but Alison's mind was on one thing this morning.
A flower at the entrance,
to further your vacation.
It wasn't the most cryptic note she'd ever gotten from Beth. Alison remembered one she received in the mail that she had to look up the references online before she knew what the heck Beth was trying to tell her. It didn't matter; Donnie would have thought it was some fancy turn-down service memo. Alison arrived at the entrance of the drive and found a lily on the top of the sign. She scooped it up looking around.
"Where are you, Beth?" Alison whispered to herself. She began to wonder if she came too early, if Beth hadn't expected her till later. She really didn't want to sit on the ground waiting. Alison began to wonder if she should do a lap and then come back.
"Early morning?" Beth's voice came from behind.
Alison turned around and smiled. Not a small, dainty smile, but one of those large smiles that wrinkles up your face.
"Beth." Alison slipped out with a sigh of relief.
Beth walked up slowly, stepping within Alison's personal bubble and standing barely a foot away.
"Hi." Alison said softly.
Beth smiled. "Hey."
Alison's eyes dodged from Beth's eyes to her lips and back again, unsure of what to do. She wanted to say something clever but her mind couldn't get off of one topic, one action, one-
Beth kissed her. The touch was foreign and subtle. She didn't slam in with a hard desire like a man would, no, Beth pressed her lips against Alison's with a soft, building pressure. The kiss simultaneously lasted forever, and not near long enough.
Beth pulled back. "Miss me?" Beth said.
"You're all that's been on my mind the last five years." Alison said.
"I'm sorry." Beth said.
"Don't be," Alison insisted, "or do, but I don't want to talk about it. I'm over the anger. I just want to savor this. I sat at dinner last night, with people I've spent more time with the last five years than I ever did you, and all I could think about was how much I wanted you there."
Beth smiled.
"Doilies Beth," Alison said, "I forgot how ridiculous this all was."
Beth laughed, "Need I remind you, that you came on to me first?"
"I did not," Alison said before pausing to think, "did I?"
"Well, I should say the wine came on to me." Beth laughed. "You just happened to be the container for the wine."
"I wasn't that bad." Alison declared.
"Officer Beth," Beth said in a mock-Alison voice, "have you ever strip-searched anyone before?"
"I did not!" Alison cut in.
"Oh, you did," Beth protested, "and I almost gave in to your charm but after a few failed passes at me, you passed out in my lap. I looked at you there, asleep, and I realized that if you were sober I would have accepted those passes. I remember sliding a pillow under your head and wrapping you in a blanket. I remember looking at you as I turned off the light and headed out to my car. I remember thinking of you the entire drive back to the city."
"You never told me this story," Alison said.
Beth looked at her feet, somber, "I didn't get to tell you a lot of things that I wanted to."
An awkward silence hung in the air. Alison leaned against the entrance sign and Beth continued to be lost in thought. After a while the two of them slipped behind the sign and sat on the ground, backs to the wood. They talked about their past, and Beth asked questions about Sarah. Alison explained how easy it was to fool Art, which Beth laughed at. Then Alison began to describe Kira. Beth was attentive and listened to every word. Alison smiled at her enthusiasm.
Kira would love her, Alison thought. For some reason that held weight with Alison.
"And Felix!" Alison exclaimed, "He has been the best friend I could ever hope for. Oh, I can't even begin to explain him to you. He's like a male version of me, but he has confidence where I have paranoia, and he pretends he doesn't care but no one has cared about me the way he has."
"Sounds like he's really been there for you." Beth said.
Alison couldn't understand why she was getting emotional. "He's been there when I needed you." She said. "I really don't mean that to be cold, but I kind of went all Rocky Horror after you died. Felix showed up one day and never left my side."
Beth turned to Alison and placed her hand on Alison's cheek. Alison reflexively moved her own hand on top of Beth's. "I love you," Beth said finally. "I was in a rough place back then, and I handled it poorly. I got too hooked on medications and I fell into a depression from all the drastic change in my life. You kept me from the edge Alison. If it wasn't for you I would have jumped sooner."
"Except for you didn't jump at all." Alison said.
Beth smiled. "I mean figuratively." Beth said. "Just because I'm here now, doesn't mean I wasn't going through very real depression then. I can't imagine making it through that without you. I hate myself every day for not being able to tell you. I was selfish. I couldn't bare to see your face when I said goodbye."
Alison shook her head. "We're not talking about this Beth. You're alive, you're here now and I don't want to get wrapped up in the pas-"
Alison's phone rang.
Pulling it out, she looked at the clock. "It's already nine-fifteen?" Alison exclaimed. "I'm late."
Alison bolted up from the ground and wiped the dirt from her rear. "I'm sorry," Alison said, "I have to-"
"Go." Beth said with a smile.
Alison took off in a jog towards the resort before realizing she hadn't kissed Beth goodbye. She turned around with a smile but saw that Beth had already left.
"I love that girl." Alison whispered to herself as she ran through the large red door.
"Where have you been?" Donnie asked.
"I went for a run." Alison said noticing Sarah's gaze. Alison's heart picked up pace. She had been gone almost three hours. Alison was in shape, but even she didn't run that much, and on top of that, she barely had any perspiration. Alison felt the noose of her lie tightening around her neck.
"Well you owe me twenty minutes of my life back." Felix said.
"Don't worry," Cal cut in, "from what I know of Alison, she'll end up out-doing us all with this."
Alison felt a little conceited to admit that he was probably right. The group of them had all planned to meet in the venue to work on the wedding arch. It was Alison's idea to begin with. The arch was made of twisted wood, curling in on itself. The whole thing was gorgeous but much too rustic for the union of two beautiful ladies. Alison had wanted to get up at five in the morning the next day and weave living flowers throughout the entire thing. The rest of the group had declined, and Alison was forced to settle with fake flowers.
This was her event, and she showed up twenty minutes late. Alison was horribly embarrassed with herself at her tardiness.
"Auntie Alison!" Kira said. "They let me do the front!"
Alison's heart jumped before Cal placed a hand on her shoulder and leaned in. "The two sides are identical," he whispered in her ear, "we'll make sure Kira's work is in the back." Alison immediately calmed.
"Thank you," she whispered back before heading over to Kira.
The group had been weaving the faux-flowers throughout the arch. The concept had been to fade the arch from a deep purple, through an indigo and ending on the other side in bright emeralds. Felix had fought to fade through all of the colors of the rainbow but Alison had felt the whole rainbow-gimmick would take away from the individual importance of their union. Alison demanded that the more-subtle three-color fade would be much better suited for them.
Looking over the arch, Alison was surprised to learn that the entire thing hadn't been botched in her absence. Kira was working on the back of the green-side, and Sarah and Donnie were handling the purple. Felix was balancing on a ladder in the middle weaving in the blue flowers.
"It's beautiful." Alison said to Kira. "You are a natural at this!"
Kira smiled up at her while she continued working. Alison slid down on her knees, grabbing a hand full of greenery.
"Did you fall asleep at Felix's?" Donnie asked.
"No," Alison said, "I just came in at about two."
"I didn't notice you at all," Donnie continued, "I woke up around seven and you had already left."
"Couldn't sleep." Alison said absently, "the beds, you know."
"I love the beds here," Cal interjected. "I can't remember the last time I slept on something without a spring poking my back."
"I'm with Alison," Felix cut in, standing precariously on one foot atop the ladder, "the beds are absolutely atrocious." He shot Alison a wink.
Alison gave him a small nod of gratitude.
"Well," Donnie began, "maybe tonight we can get some alone-time. If you know what I mean."
"Donnie!" Alison said, motioning to Kira, "would you mind not making me out as some harlot in front of our friends?"
"What," Donnie asked incredulous, "we're married. It's what married people do."
"And many not-married people," Cal added quietly to a slap from Sarah.
"We may very well be married," Alison said, "but we don't have to broadcast it to the world. Really, Donnie."
Felix again saved the day. "Well. I'd take some alone-time with an abbot right about now."
Alison stifled a giggle. Cal let his out in the form of a boisterous laugh. The morning went by with much the same banter. The arch took a few hours and after they finished they met Cosima and Delphine for a nice lunch. The entire time, Alison kept playing Beth's kiss over in her head. She would have to find a way to end Donnie's fantasies if she was going to be able to meet Beth at the pond tonight. How did Beth phrase it? Our pond. The words made Alison smile to herself. Just a few more hours, and a couple more obligations and she could finally have her first date with Beth in five years.
Alison was hit with a terrifying realization. She had no idea what she was going to wear.