Pop: Chapter Eighteen

     "Dammit!" Addie curses.  "I forgot to update the settings after the layover in Nashville.  We were so pressed for time, I must have missed it.  Chris, where are the other notifications for the watch?"

    Gotta love a woman who swears in front of your family, friends, and her family.

    "There was a notification for a storm watch.  It was issued about the same time I finished the call with my mother.  I must have missed it while I was hanging up the call."

    When your fiancé is a meteorologist, having a weather alert app on you phone is mandatory. A 'bing' chimes as I get more details.

    "And the storm watch was just upgraded to a tornado watch for most of central Kentucky.  Looks like the storm is just over the county line in Woodford, maybe some in Scott, heading this way.  I'm guessing the storm will be here in about fifteen minutes.  Maybe less."

    "How bad does it look?  We should be getting out of here, now, even if it doesn't look that bad yet." Addie asks.

    "There's red on the radar.  Maybe some purple."

    "Okay, downstairs. NOW!  We don't have time to wait."  Addie takes charge.

    I grab the last of the caterers before she follows her crew mates out of the room.

    "Are you still set up in the basement level?"

    "Yes!  We need to get out of here now."  She breaks my grip and flees the room.

    "Quick.  Let's get you too the elevator and down to safety."  Mitch begins to push my Dad into his wheelchair.

    "NO!" me and Addie yell as one.  The lights flicker to add emphasis.

    "You can't take an elevator in these conditions.  You'll have to take the stairs."

    "Good thing I brought the basic model tonight.  The motorized one would not make it."  my Dad says as he gets out of the chair and begins walking to the door.  "Carry my chair and I'll use it whenever I need a break.  Some of you can carry me if we need to speed things along, but I don't think it will come to that."

    "You go on ahead.  I have to find Jim and Cathy.  They could be in trouble." Will kisses his wife before he starts to run off.  "Take care."

    "I'm coming too.  I have to find Sam as well.  Addie, please look after my father for me."

    "Chris, Will, you two can't go running off in a possible tornado like this."  Addie pleads.

    "Don't worry.  We'll hurry.  I'll be back you in the basement in a few minutes." I kiss Addie to stop her from saying anything else.

    "I'm coming too," Pete adds.  "Three people should cut the time down a lot."

    Rick and his wife look at each other, guiltily, for a few seconds.

    "I'll go too.  I've helped my dad with searches over the years.  I know the routines for searching, so we'll get them found even faster."

    "That's good, Rick.  Let's help everyone to the stairs so we can start looking."

    We lead the group out of the room and over to the fire stairs just across the hall, to the left of the elevator banks.  Dad is in his chair to rest up as long as he can before he has to walk.  Will and Pete peel off to search the other spots on the floor, while Rick gets the rest of the party to the stairs.  There's no sign of the caterers.  They must already be in the basement by now.  The lights keep flickering, even with the storm still a ways off.  How bad is it going to be if there's already electrical problems this far away?

Pop: Chapter 17b

    "Sit down, son.  Everything will be okay.  We'll get through this." Dad has come up to Sam to try and calm him down.

    "No it won't!  I don't know what's going on.  I don't know what to do," Sam whimpers.

     To be honest, I don't know what to do either.  Addie suddenly frees her hand from mind and puts both her hands onto Sam's.

    "You didn't understand what you saw.  We can help the two of them to work things out.  I forgive you, and I am sure that Jim and his wife will ultimately forgive you as well."  

    Addie always seems to be able to get through to Sam in ways I never could, but I don't know if it will work this time.  There's a lot of pain and hatred in Sam right now.  We should have told him as soon as Dad got the information.  Sure, Sam would be hurt, but he wouldn't be as vengeful as he is tonight.  I haven't even told Addie everything Dad and I have found out, only the stuff about selling the house.  Dad thought Sam might not like what else he discovered, but still.  We needed to have told him earlier.

    "No.  It's not all right," Sam cries.  "I, I can't do this.  I've, got to ..."

    Sam swats Addie's hands away.  He then takes off towards the door, almost bumping into Will who was still standing near it, trying to decide what to do next.

    Everybody is whispering to one another.  The reverend is starting to bluff, but he hides it well.  The caterers are just standing there, against the wall opposite the door, unsure of what they should be doing.  Addie is grabbing my hand again.  Dad is giving me a hard stare, before giving up and burying his face into his hands.  The entire dinner has fallen into a tableau of frozen chaos.  What else could happen?

    With that thought, my phone goes off with a loud, constant droning.

    No.  Not that.

    I grab my phone out of my jacket pocket, as Addie grabs hers.  I think I see her parents and brothers do the same.

    I check the notifications, silencing the alert as I do.

    "Storm warning?" Addie asks a she fiddles with her phone.

    "No.  Tornado warning for all of Lexington/Fayette county."

Pop: Chapter 17a

    ******************************************

    "How was last night?"

    "Ugh, morning Addie.  Last night was horrible.  I never want to drag a two hundred plus pound nan through a house again.  Especially when I have to strip him afterwards."

    "What?!"

    "Only down to his boxers.  I swear.  He's even hairier than his brother.  I set the alarm to wake me every ninety minutes, with the phone or the computer recording him after the first check in.  Nothing happened.  He slept fairly well.  I, however, didn't.  Also, my phone needs to charge soon.  I'm only down to 60%, but I think I'll need it fully loaded for later.  Why are you calling so early?  It's not even six yet.  Five your time."

    "We changed to an earlier flight.  Those storms that were trying to form last night?  They've developed into supercells.  Looks like they'll become a derecho soon.  It'll just miss here, but I thought it would be better to change flights anyway.  We'll have a brief layover in Nashville now, but we should be in Lexington by five."

    "That's a little close, but that'll still be an hour or so to rest up."

    "Maybe.  Maybe not."

    "What gives?"

    "Those storms look like they'll be hitting Lexington sometime between seven and eight.  You should see if you can get the center and caterers to move up the time, to say six or so?"  

    "No problem.  I'll call as soon as they open.  No, I'll leave a message.  That way they can start changing plans as soon as they can."

    "Good.  I don't think these storms will be too bad, but it's better to be prepared."

    "You're the meteorologist.  See you this evening.  I'll call if there are any problems."

    "Please do.  And I'll remember the next time you complain about carrying my bags."

    "Hey, your shopping is nothing compared to Jim.  He was trying to slip from my grasp.  I bench and deadlift way more weight than him."

    "Nothing my big, strong, future husband can't handle.  I better go now.  They are getting ready to call my flight, and I need to get my family lined up.  Bye."

    "Bye.  Love you."

    "Love you, too."

**************************************

    "No.  NO!  That's not what I saw!"  Sam stammered.

    "It's what happened," I say as I stand up.  

    "You only saw the first part, before I called Addie," I turn to look at her.  "She was there on the phone with me.  I can show you the video I shot to make sure Jim didn't have any problems.  I guess you told your family about some of what went down last night?"

    "Well, I didn't include the kissing, but I did mention that you had a guest stay over and that he got a little drunk.  They aren't completely surprised about what we just discussed."

    I turn to look over at the Fairbanks.  Although they were surprised, none of them had gotten up yet of spoke.

    "Get off me!"

    I turn back around and see that Jim has pushed his brother away and finally gotten back on his feet.

    "You!" Jim shouts and points at Sam.  "How could you do this to me and your own brother?  How!  I have never cheated on my wife ever, and in one brief moment, you ruin both of our lives! I've got to find her and straighten things out.  I'll be back for you."

    Jim runs from the room, yelling his wife's name.

    

Pop: Chapter Seventeen

    "You pervert!  How could you?"

    I shift my gaze from Sam to the table to see Jim laid out on the floor clutching his jaw, his wife standing over him with a dreadful look on her face.  I think she slapped him, hard.

    "Oh, I knew something was up with you, the way you sometimes kept your distance from me.  The way you would look at men on occasion. Yet, you were always there for me, lying to my face.  We're through, you hear me! Through! How could you?  How could you?"  she keeps saying.  The tears are rolling down her face so hard.

    She races out of the room before anyone can stop her.  It takes another second for Will to get his wits together to check on his brother.  Rick, Pete, and the other wives keep looking around at Jim and me, wondering what was happening.  Dad just buries his face in his hands.  Considering some of the things he did when he was younger, I can only guess at what he's thinking about Sam know.  And me.  For their part, the Fairbanks are relatively calm.  I'm guessing I know why, but it could be that they are all in shock.  I try not to look at the minister.  Things are already awkward enough as it is.

    Addie is just looking at Sam, staring straight through him. 

    "I'm so sorry about this Addison, but you had to know before you went through with the wedding.  You had to know what type of man my brother is.  He did something so wrong.  Oh, so wrong, betraying you.  I just had ..." Sam is on the verge of laughing, I'm sure of it, before Addie gets up and stops him.

    "No, he didn't," Addie says calmly and directly as she walks by me to stand right in front of Sam.

    Addie barely comes up to his chest.  With three brothers, all of them at least six feet, she has a lot of practice standing up to those bigger than her.  However, I don't think she has ever stood up to someone so much taller than her.  We grab each others hands.

    "I know you want to think the best of Chris, but I saw them, kissing each other.  I was on the stairs.  I saw it," Sam explains.

    "No, he didn't!" Addie replies.

    "How can you not believe me?  I was there, and you weren't! Chris cheated on you with ..." Sam is stopped again.

    "Because," Addie whispers, staring Sam down the best she can, "Chris called me when it was happening.  I know what really happened."

*********************

    "Rick.  I know it's late, but I need you and Will to come back immediately.  It's Jim.  There's something wrong with him and I..."

    "Chris?  Why are you calling me so late?  You know I've got an early flight in the morning."

    "Addie?  Sh-Shoot.  I was trying to call Rick, and I must have hit the wrong contact button.  Sorry.  Let me hang up so you can get back to sleep."

    "Why?  Why!  I shouldn't have done that.  I'm so sorry.  So sorry," a man sobs in the background.

    "Chris, who's that crying?  What's wrong?"

    "It's Jim, Will Greenwood's older brother.  He was a surprise guest at the bachelor party.  He was the one who got the four of us together back in high school.  Apparently, he snuck it some booze, got drunk. and realized that now was the best time to admit that he has had a thing for me ever since the day we met."

    "He's gay?  And you never knew?"

    "I don't know.  He dated girls in school.  He's married with three kids.  I don't know what's going on. All I know is he kissed me and tried to hug me.  I managed to drag him back into the living room and lock the hall door, but I don't know what else to do.  I was trying to call Rick so that he and Will could come over so that the three of us could figure out the best way to handle this."

    "Does Will know about his brother being, well, gay?"

    "What? No?  I guess not.  Why is that important?"

    "If his own brother doesn't even know, then this might not be the best way for him to find out."

    "Wait, what?"

    "Jim might not want his brother to see him this way, drunk and professing his love to one of his oldest  friends.  If he's kept this a secret this long, if might be too hard for him to let his brother know."

    "Okay, you might be right, but what should I do right now."

    Jim continues to sob from somewhere behind Chris.

    "Where is Jim now?"

    "I've got him sitting on the new couch right now, the suite we picked out for the living room.  The one that is extra-long but narrow."

    "I know.  I guess it might not be easy to sleep on."

    "Well, we're about the same height, but he got about forty or fifty pounds on me.  Took awhile for me just to drag him in here from the entryway.  He's not going to be able to lie down comfortably.  Besides, he's drunk.  He could have an accident while he's asleep.  On the new couch."

    "Right.  How about your bed?"

    "Where would I sleep?  I might not throw up or wet the couch, but it's too small for me either.  And I'm definitely not sharing a bed with someone who just proclaimed their lifelong love to me.  That I'm not engaged to, that is.'

    "Smart.  Don't you have a old bed from the apartments?"

    "Yeah, one of them.  The other one had been cracked some time ago, and the former tenant had hidden the fact. That one was tossed out, but the other one is still here in the weight room.  It's going to be picked up Saturday with the rest of the old stuff so the final phase of the demo can start."

    "Good.  Throw some sheets and it, and put him there.  That's going to be for the best.  Has it gotten quieter there?"

    "Yeah.  I think Jim's fallen asleep.  I make the bed up for him.  I'll set the phone up to record him to.  In case something happens overnight.  I'll set something up to notify me in case he has any problems."

    "There.  A solution," Addie yawns. "I need to get back to sleep.  I've changed flights to an earlier one, and I really need to get back to bed."

    "Why the change?"

    "There are some storms in Iowa forming tonight.  Not bad yet, but they could be severe when they hit here late morning.  Better to leave early.  By the way, they could tack into Lexington tomorrow evening.  I'll know more in the morning."

    "Call me when you wake up, okay?  I might need that weather info.  And I want a witness to check in on Jim."

    "I will.  Night, Chris.  Love you."

    "Love you too Hon.  Night."