Whirlwind 01 - Finish Line - Pt. 04

Ariana and Nathan both slept restlessly that night, tossing and turning, with throbbing dreams churning their minds, completely unaware that, by a strange twist of fate, only the ceiling of his room, which was the floor of her room, was separating them.

The start of the Sunday evening performance was only minutes away, and Cassie, Lavender, Linnae, and Marie were in the wings, ready to perform, but keeping an eye on one particular seat. It was in the very front row, just right of center stage... and it was empty. Lavender glanced at the clock. It was five minutes to the lights dimming.

"Who's going to tell Ariana, then?" Cassie finally said in a tone that strongly suggested it should be someone else.

Everyone was concerned about Ariana. For the past three hours she had spent five minutes being nearly distraught, then five minutes serenely calm, then five more minutes distraught. Talking to her might cause her to... who knew what. She didn't seem in any condition to perform, though Marie was of the opinion that as soon as the performance started, habit would take over, and she would be fine.

There was silence, and Cassie huffed. "Alright. I'll do it."

"I'll come with you."

"I'll keep watch," Marie said absently.

Cassie and Linnae and Lavender wended their way through the back stage bustle to where Ariana was currently sitting calmly, letting one of the hairdressers make some last minute adjustments.

After an awkward moment, Cassie cleared her throat and said, "I think you can relax, Ariana. He isna here."

"He was here last night; he'll be here tonight," Ariana said absently, in much the same tone that someone would assert that the sun would come up tomorrow.

Cassie gaped at her. "How did you know he was here last night? Did ye see him?"

Ariana shook her head slightly, checking her mascara for the seventeenth time. "No. I know Nathan. He was here. I could feel him."

The girls stared at each other, wondering what it would be like to go on stage with a madwoman.

"Tis four minutes to time, and...," Lavender started uncertainly.

Marie walked up quietly. "He's here."

Ariana nodded in satisfaction. Everyone else looked at each other. "What does he look like?" Lavender asked.

Marie considered. "He cleans up nicely. And he looks about ten years younger than he does on telly." She considered a little more. "Maybe fifteen."

"Two minutes to time," Ariana said, standing up and walking toward her starting position behind the ranks of backup singers.

Cassie took a deep breath and looked at everyone else. "Well, here we go. Whatever happens, we support Ariana, right?"

The performance went off without any major problems. Every song was sung and all the music was played. The only difference was in the movement of the stars; there was one seat that Ariana would not look at, no matter what. It was the same seat that the other four kept glancing at whenever they got an opportunity.

Linnae and Lavender were on stage, performing their sentimental duet, a mother's lullaby to her child, which neither one had ever actually sung to any child, but was certain to put glistening tears in the corners of the eyes of most of the audience.

Ariana was staring at her phone, watching the seconds tick away, waiting for one text message which should be coming any second. She had deliberately avoided looking at Nathan, and had managed so far. She had no idea how she would face him back stage and tell him that he was just someone who she had raced around the world with, and now it was time to go their separate ways. If she didn't look him in the eye, she could say it; but if she didn't look him in the eye he would know she wasn't telling the truth. She knew that he was attracted to... no, she had to be more honest with herself than that... in love with her. After the finish, after the kiss that flung her world on a dizzying spin through exploding stars and took them both by surprise, as soon as she had made sure that he was okay, she had quietly slipped away to the airport, confused and scared and determined to depart quietly. Someone who was just a good friend wouldn't have raced across the city and shouted over the security barrier after her, in painful, halting, Gaelic, the Irish Blessing for travelers. It had brought tears to her eyes.

She knew him, better than she had known anyone, surprisingly. And he knew her. That could be disconcerting, spending time with someone who knew what you would be thinking, even before you thought it. Or valued you above their own life. She knew that if God asked him to make a choice between her death and the entire rest of the world dying, he would immediately offer his own life in her place, and if told that were not possible, would very likely choose her to live. That was a heavy burden, especially since, if she were put on a lie detector this very moment, she might have to admit she would make the very same choice.             

And then the text message popped up; "Aired. Congratulations!"

Her mouth twitched and she set her phone down and thumbed her intercom. "Daniel, I need the few minutes now, please?"

Over her earphone she heard Daniel's voice say, "Everyone rest easy for a few minutes, Ariana has the stage for an announcement."

Everyone stopped and looked at her with puzzled expressions as she strode out onto the stage with resolute steps and a determined expression. Her 'stage' smile came out automatically as she entered the audience's field of vision. The audience, sensing a change in the program, waited for her in expectant silence. Forcing herself not to look at Nathan's seat, she swept the rest of the audience with her eyes. When she judged the audience's expectation was at its peak, she spoke.

"Thank you all for sharing the evening with us. I'm Ariana, though you probably already know that." There were some chuckles and a little scattered applause from the audience. "And for years Madri-Gals has been a great part of my life." This brought more applause, but it died away quickly as they sensed she had more to say. "Eight months ago our publicist came to me and said she had a spot for me on Celebrity Fantastic Race and, please, please take it, it will be great publicity. So I did. Though I should probably mention tha while I hae heard o the Fantastic Race, I hae never actually seen it." This drew a wave of appreciative chuckles and small surge of sympathetic groans. She smiled and nodded encouragingly, spreading her hands helplessly. "What YOU may not know is that the entire race is run and over in less than three weeks and then broadcast one week at a time for months after. Of course, when you get back, the first question everyone asks is...," she paused suggestively.

A thousand variations on, "Did you win?" rolled back at her from the audience.

She nodded emphatically. Her neck was starting to ache; her eyes wanted to look at Nathan, but she couldn't. Not yet. "And o course tha is the one thing you can no tell anyone. They make ya sign this contract with these dire secrecy clauses. You can no say a word until something is aired." She sighed. "So on the night o the first episode, near the entire crew were walking around back stage staring at their little portable electronics. Anytime they were off stage, their eyes were glued to these little screens. We almost missed cues, people literally ran off stage looking for a telly. It was so bad our music director, Daniel, ordered a black out. When a performance starts, all electronics are off until after the final curtain call." The audience laughed, hanging on her every word. "But Daniel is a darlin man, and verra understanding, so he had each episode recorded and a large projection telly set up back stage. The minute everyone is out of wardrobe, they start up the machine and watch the episode. And o course Daniel has a front row seat to that." This got more laughter and a scattering of applause. "And after that I got a hundred questions about that episode." More laughter; which she waited out. "And sixteen weeks ago, on the first episode, what team was I on?"

"Team number one," half the audience shouted out enthusiastically.

Ariana nodded. "And last week was the eleventh week. And what team was I on?"

This time the entire audience shouted out, "Team number one." She even heard shouts from behind her on the stage.

"Yes, indeed. Actually a record. Team number one eleven o eleven times." She paused to let the cheering and stomping die down. "And I just got word a few minutes ago that the last episode had just finished airing." This statement was met with hushed expectation. "And I am now free to tell you... that... team Madri-Gal came in...," she paused dramatically, "... in the top two." There were groans from the audience and one of the drummers let out a dull thump from his largest drum.

There was one laugh; a bright, clear, merry laugh. A laugh so familiar that a broad smile burst out of her. "Alright... team number ONE!" She raised her right arm high, fist clenched. This took everyone by surprise, and a moment passed while it sank in, and then the theater erupted with cheers like foam bursting from a shattered champagne bottle. She nodded and waved as the drummers caught the mood and thundered out a crescendo. Finally she held up her hands and the noise faded.

"Yes. Twelve o twelve times. I certainly didna believe we could do it; but the other half of Team Madri-Gal never doubted a moment. The other half o the team. When I accepted, tha meant I had to find a teammate. So I asked friends and family. But all of them had seen the show and asked me if I was daft." She played the audience for the laughter. "Why should they want to crawl through mud, jump out of planes, get shot out of cannons, crawl through caves, or eat extremely... unpleasant... things. Finally I asked an acquaintance of mine, the president and administrator of my fan forum, and he said, if you are serious, I am in. That was Nathan. We were billed as 'singer and fan,' and I do think he is my greatest fan." There were some cheers from the audience. "And he is here tonight." The volume of cheering doubled. She finally allowed herself to turn and look at... him. His face was coloring, but his eyes were on hers and he smiled exactly the same way he had when he had broken all the boards in the Okinawa challenge. She just looked at him for a moment, then shook herself and gestured for him to stand up. He shook his head slightly. Ariana laughed, put her hands on her hips, and said, "You race round the world, in front o a hundred million television viewers every week for months... and now you are shy? Stand up."

The audience added applause to their cheers, and Nathan reluctantly rose to his feet, waved briefly, smiled at her warmly enough to soften her resolution dangerously, and sat down.

"Just so you don't think I've completely spoiled the episode for you, and you think you don't have to go home and watch it, we beat the second place team by ten meters. The closest finish ever." That got some whistles and a smattering of cheers. "So we were a standin there, Nathan covered in blood." The collective gasps were a breeze through the theater. "And you will have to watch to find out why that was. And were told we were team number one. And the World AIDS Coalition will get a check tomorrow for one million two hundred and seventy-five thousand dollars."

When the audience had quieted again, Ariana said, drily, "And the second most asked question I got from all of the women was, 'did he rub my feet after every leg.' And yes he did rub my feet after every leg." This drew a wave of feminine cheers across the theater. "An, I made him a promise before we started, I made Nathan a promise, an I am a woman o me word." The theater hushed immediately. Ariana managed to tear her eyes away from Nathan and look out over the anonymous multitudes. "When I sent him the ticket for tonight, I wrote a e-mail note that said only, 'Please come.' And he sent back the most elegant RSVP that had the name of a song, and the words, 'line 17.'" The audience was puzzled and restless. "You see, I promised that if we won, I would sing a song." She paused dramatically and looked over her right shoulder. "Without music." She looked over her left shoulder. "And without backup singers." There was a collective intake of breath from the audience, and she could imagine the startled looks on the troupe.

Daniel's voice over her ear piece said, "Ariana, do you know what you are doing?"

She nodded and gestured to the audience and said in a supremely regretful tone, "Yes I am regretin that right about now, and I really did not expect to win, don ya know. But I am a woman of me word." She took a deep breath and nodded regally to the audience. "So I decided ta sing the song he used in his reply. Let's see if you can pick out line seventeen."

She took a deep breath and closed her eyes.

That was her undoing.

Completely unbidden, an image of Nathan grinning at her as he rubbed her feet filled her mind, and she opened her eyes - only she didn't see the audience any more, all she could see was that smile.

She rolled right into TRUE COLORS, not from her diaphragm, but from her heart.

The audience cheered and quieted, but she didn't hear them.

She dared not look at him when she sang the line about 'love', but it burst out of her. There! She had said it out loud, out loud where everyone could hear, even if it was hidden in a lyric. The relief was exhilarating. Even if it could never be, even if she never saw him again, she would know, from this day to that when the angels took her home, what being truly in love felt like.

The lyrics flowed through her lips so effortlessly that she didn't even know she was saying them. She couldn't see the audience, but now she could feel him surrounding her and hear him whispering in her ear, "I promise I won't let you fall again."

She paused, finally allowed herself to look right at Nathan, and sang, long and slow and passionately, Line 17 - the line about being there.

The audience made no noise, but every one of them smiled. Ariana had to admit, deep in the privacy of the heaven she was now soaring through, that if he had raised his arms, she would have jumped right into them with the same complete trust she had had when he had told her to jump in the park on the last day of the race.

And she drew the last word out like a bow across the back of the theater, and finished with a gasp.

The silence was respectful but brief, and then four thousand throats started screaming themselves hoarse in approval.

Daniel said into his intercom, still more than half entranced, "Did ya record tha?"

The Director's awed voice came back, "Yes, evra bit."

"T'will sell a billion copies."

Cassie, Lavender, Linnae and Marie watched from the wings as Ariana walked off the stage borne like a clipper ship on the waves of thunderous applause.

"She did say she was goin ta say 'good bye' ta him tonight, did she no?" Cassie asked absently.

"Tha she did," Lavender agreed.

"I think she might hae just sent him tha wrong message," Linnae observed, drily.

"Cassie, you're up now," Daniel's voice sounded in their ear phones.

The remainder of the performance was nearly anticlimactic, the closing song evoked the usual standing ovation, and the encore song had half the audience clapping along. With waves or bows as appropriate, the troupe had exited the stage, and the audience began to disperse to the various night spots in the city.

Linnae patted the sweat away with her lucky, monogrammed towel. The exertion was thrilling but exhausting, and the intense stage lighting didn't help. Cassie handed her a water bottle, which she guzzled greedily.

"I am going to change," Ariana said, gathering up the voluminous skirts. She seemed completely un-phased by the performance, and almost supernaturally calm.

"He'll be here any moment," Cassie protested. "Will he no? Nathan, I mean?"

Ariana shook her head absently, quite preoccupied as she walked to wardrobe. "No. He is a gentleman. He will no rush a lady, no will he keep her waiting. I hae about ten minutes."

Nathan waited about ten minutes. He was a little conflicted. He was anxious to see Ariana, if nothing other than to gauge her mood, but he didn't want to charge back stage while everyone was still changing and coming down from the performance. But a gentleman didn't keep a lady waiting either. He took his best guess at an acceptable compromise, and spent the time being courteous to some audience members who were also Fantastic Race fans and wanted to congratulate him or get his autograph. When his watch 'beeped,' he made his excuses as politely as possible and made his way to the door.

The stern face of the door's guardian blossomed in a broad smile as Nathan approached. Nathan flashed his precious pass... and the door was opened for him. "Congratulations, sir, and thanks," the burly guard rumbled. "I had a hundred Euros on you and Ariana."

Nathan laughed and shook the man's hand firmly. "Happy to oblige. Enjoy the winnings." Then he was submerged in the commotion of the backstage action. He looked around. There must be some organization behind this much chaos, but he wasn't a part of it, and for a moment he felt like a small furry animal which had darted out onto the center line of a busy highway. An older man lugging an armful of glittery background material gave him a grin, a 'thumbs up,' and pointed to the side of the stage where an open door beckoned. Nathan waved his relieved thanks and made his way through the obstacle course to the haven of the room.

"So thar be tha other half o tha team," a clear, mellow voice said behind him.

Nathan turned and beamed. Mentally hoping for the best from his Ancient Order of Hibernian tutoring and Rosetta Stone lessons in Gaelic, he cleared his throat and pulled up his first line; "Ah, with the tongue of an angel you can be no other than Cassie. Tis a delight to meet you."

Cassie blinked in surprise, and then beamed in response. "I am. Ariana didna say ya spoke Gaelic, Nathan."

He chuckled and pressed on in the unfamiliar tongue. "To pass the time on those tedious flights, I gave her some computer lessons and she attempted to teach me some Gaelic. She learned more than I did, I'm sure. Anyway, I wanted very much to be a pride to my teacher, so I've practiced for five months." He shook his head ruefully, "Though I think my lead tongue murders a musical language."

"You are doin quite well, all things considered," Cassie responded encouragingly.

Two slender women, one with long hair of pale gold, the other with slightly shorter, honey gold hair, came up beside Cassie.

"Ah, I would recognize Marie and Linnae anywhere. I am enchanted to finally meet you both."

At the passable Gaelic, Marie arched an eyebrow and smiled. Linnae chuckled and looked up and said, "And we have been curious to meet you. Ariana has told us so much about you." Marie's elbow twitched ever so slightly, as if she had just quelled a reflex to nudge Linnae's ribs. A quick shadow flitted across Cassie's face, but the warm smile didn't falter. There was a moment of slightly awkward silence; typical of strangers who know much of each other by reputation, but have never physically met.

Nathan was just about to use one of the compliments he was reasonably confident as to having memorized correctly, when a extremely slender woman, her long red hair now gathered behind her in a no-nonsense pony tail, strode up briskly and eyed Nathan closely. In Gaelic she said, "So here is the wealthy man. When Ariana is done, do the rest of us get a turn playing with him then?"

The faces of the other women went bright pink, and Nathan ran through the words a few times, not letting his smile slip, to make sure he had translated them correctly.