Sunday, September 19, 2010

Sessions Chapter 36


South Beach - Coast Road



The first kick landed squarely on the door. The second didn't.  Elise shouted at the car as if it were to blame for sliding down the hill next to the bay.  She'd hydroplaned, run off the pavement and dug herself even deeper trying to get back on the road. And she'd dropped her cell. It was lying somewhere down there in the rocks and the heavy surf, and if she didn't rein in her temper, she'd be down there with it.

She'd known about the storm.  Storms weren't unusual this time of year.  She should have stayed home.  No, she should have driven a different way.  Or slower. Or something other than what she'd done. 

 


Half a dozen cars sloshed by. Nobody stopped and probably wouldn't. She could walk. She could walk in high heels for over a mile and hope she didn't get hit by someone else who had driven too fast. Or she could sit here.



Trying to come up with something else, something that didn't involve walking or sitting all night, she saw a car pull up and stop, wipers batting furiously at the water, powerful engine shutting down. Against all hope and expectations Rafe Lombardo stepped out into mud, swore and yelled, "What the hell are you doing out here?"

Defensive, prickly and wet, she tossed it back at him. "I'm meeting Cooper. I ran off the road. I could ask you the same thing, about the road."



"I'm on my way home, and that's what you should be doing. You left your kids there alone in this storm?"



The passenger door opened and a tall man wearing a long leather coat eased out, hunching against the onslaught of rain and wind.



Rafe sloshed back, conferred with him briefly and then together they stared at the car stuck in the ditch. He glanced at her. "Elise Stanfield - Alex Ferguson.  Alex, this is Elise Stanfield, owner of the car stuck in the ditch."



At first she didn't recognize him, and, when she finally realized who he was, it wasn't some wonderful happy moment. Superstar frontman for the band Flight: Alex Ferguson AKA Blade. Another arrogant musician. "Hi Blade."



"Rafe's giving me a ride," he offered as if he expected her to be overcome with astonishment and concern. He was smiling. Bright blue eyes, thick brown hair and a sprinkle of freckles that didn't quite jibe with the name Blade; the freckles reminded her of Ryan.



"How nice for you." She turned her agitated attention back to Rafe. "I have to make it to The Iron Gate and I'm really late. Can you get me out of the ditch?"

"Probably. Alex, give me a hand over here."



He didn't move.  "I hear you and Coop split up. His loss."

Was he, inconceivably, trying to chat her up in the middle of a storm while she was on her way to meet Cooper? Elise stared at him, literally speechless. 



"Cut the shit," Rafe ordered him. "You going to help me or or you going to stand out here in the rain in which case I leave you here standing in the rain."



'Blade' finally put his shoulder to the rear fender, and together they rocked the car until it moved forward out of the mud and back onto pavement. 



She watched, waiting for him to slip and fall face first in the mud, but he grinned at her and put as much muscle into it as Rafe, well almost as much.



Rafe slapped his hands on his muddy jeans, muttered another expletive, and turned back to her. "Turn this piece of crap around and go home. Your kids need you more than Stanfield does; he's probably not going to make it in this weather anyway."



Taking a couple of careful steps toward her, Blade said quietly, "If you need anything, give me a call. I've got a place right up the road, I bought it last week, I'll be there the rest of the month, maybe longer."



"Shit man, drop it," Rafe growled, "she doesn't need anything you've got including directions to your rental."



Rafe shoved into his car with Blade close behind, started the engine and vanished behind the wall of pounding water. She was wet and cold. Lightning hissed and struck, but she was a creature of storms, and if she hadn't been bitten by that electric snake yet, either it couldn't find her or no longer cared.

26 comments:

Van said...

Yikes, that is one freaky storm! Hopefully everyone makes it out okay... :S

I don't blame Raine for being suspicious of a Cooper/Gemma affair, but I do wish she wouldn't jump to the conclusion. On the other hand, it's probably better that she thinks they had a consensual affair than if she thought Cooper had raped her.

Here's hoping at least one of the parents can make it back to the kids. Actually, hopefully both will...

S.B. said...

Van I definitely overdid the lightning, but it's my personal bete noire and we get a lot of it...and it seemed appropriate under the circumstances.

Rayne will be just fine. She found a way to shelter without even trying to get back to Jimmy, and she's got her Nic there to comfort her.

I don't think making it home is going to be the biggest problem either of the parents has with the storm.

Thank you so much

Rachel said...

Love the storm! I just hope no one gets hurt.

Hmm...Blade--very interesting guy. I look forward to seeing if he'll be causing some trouble around that area. He's pretty forward...

I hope Wyatt didn't try to follow Rayne. :( I wonder if he'll start asking questions since Rayne has raised the issue of Gemma with him?

Wonderful as usual! :)

thewynd said...

Van, it is one freaky storm blowing people in all kinds of different directions.

Rayne is very tenacious and she really does not trust women when it comes to her father.

Thanks!

Rachel, doing the storm was an interesting experience. As for Blade, he is interesting indeed. Another arrogant rock star. We'll see what he is up to soon I'm sure.

Thanks!

Christina said...

wow, the shots here are incredible! i'm tempted to go grab myself a blanket..

I've been introduced to some new characters in this one, which is exciting..Nic is really, really handsome! if he's been around, i can't believe i've missed him!

as for Rafe..it's been a long, long time since i can remember seeing him encounter cruz.

and this Blade? he's definitely arrogant and..well..straightforward. But, beth holds her own for sure. i'm anxious to see what's going to happen..will she turn back? or keep going to find that cooper is not there? how will she find out he's at the house with the kids?

and for Rayne, *sigh*, i hope that girl finds some direction..she's such a bundle of rage and hormones!

great shots again! the setting was so authentic; it really supplied some in-depth feeling of the environment.

thewynd said...

Hey Christina! Nic is Rafe's son, Randi's sister, and has had it bad for Rayne since they were kids. Rafe's family hasn't really been included in Sessions but we have put a few side pieces and photo shoots up with them.

As for Blade...stay tuned. I don't think too much time will pass before we see what Blade's up to.

Thanks so much!

Qui. said...

That was a serious storm!
Good to see Nic and Randi in this one!

I love Rayne. If I've never said that before, I'm saying it now! She is up on everything and never fooled. Wyatt had a point, Gemma is his agent but we know better.

This Blade dude rubs me the wrong way!

GREAT chapter! I was on twitter through my phone and when I saw this, I snatched my laptop off my table before I even had the chance to read the rest of the tweets!

Valpre said...

Yay, update!

Wow, it's true, when it rains it pours. I loved the storm, and your mad photoshopping skills.

Rayne's on to something with Cooper and Gemma, and I have a feeling she won't let it go so easily.

I hope everyone, especially Beth, makes it through the storm.

Phoenix said...

I love the storm being in the background while other storms are brewing all over town. And the shots are just amazing!

Rayne needs to really get through to Wyatt because she's on the right track. I'm sad that the thing with her and Toad seems to be over since she thinks she doesn't have anywhere to go!:(

Blade is WAY hotter than Ryan. I may be biased since I don't care for Ryan at all! :P

Good thing that Rafe was driving by otherwise Beth would have been SOL! And those kids by themselves...they always seem to be on the back burner when it comes to Beth and Coop. I guess because they feel as if they're older...still!

This was great! I read it on my cell but I couldn't leave a proper long comment via text without annoying myself!:P

S.B. said...

Phoenix, Rayne's angry with Jimmy but staying overnight with her best friend doesn't mean she's breaking it off. She's making a statement. She has some decisions to make. If she joins Jimmy's band, she is basically paying her father's mistress, at least from her point of view. Plus the storm made it difficult for her to get back home even if she felt like going for it. She didn't expect to run into Nic. The storm threw her in an unexpected direction.

I do think she got through to Wyatt. Just like his sister, once he gets something stuck in his head, it's hard to dislodge it, but he heard her.

The kids have always come in second place although they haven't been neglected. Rafe's lecture was appropriate.

Blade is certainly hot. He's hotter than Ryan on many levels. Cooper could dismiss Ryan as an employee, nothing but a bodyguard. Blade is another rocker and climbing fast behind him. This is a very different challenge under different circumstances since, after all, Coop and his wife have publicly split.

thank you so much - the storm is background and driver.

S.B. said...

Hey Qui!

Nic and Randi fit perfectly in this one! Rayne is a cynical young woman, frequently right, but sometimes spectacularly wrong. She knows something is up with Gemma and Cooper (even Jimmy acknowledged it seemed likely), but she doesn't see it from the right perspective yet.

Blade is full of himself...sort of like Cooper LOL!

thank you!

S.B. said...

Hi Valpre!

oh god I have no PShop skills. I throw everything at it and hope something sticks and that it's not too awful.

Rayne's in a difficult position with her father and Gemma. It really isn't her business, particularly since her parents split. But Jimmy's contractual relationship to Gemma, and therefore her own contractual relationship with Gemma if Rayne joins Jimmy's band, definitely infuriates her.

Oh they'll all make it through the wind and water. What else hits them in the storm is another matter.

Thank you!!

Laura said...

Oh hi, Blade! *wipes drool* lol! I know, he's probably an ass, but he's sure pretty to look at! ;)

Rafe had me cracking up in this, lol!

Oh my, I was worried there might be a reason nobody could reach Beth! The tension here was beautifully done! Put together just so precisely that it finally hit me, and I was fighting myself to just skip ahead to make sure she was okay. Glad to know it was just because she dropped her phone, rather than some other more morbid reason I worried about! :\ Hope she makes it back safely!

And Hugs, breaking her daddy's heart on that phone call, lol! I actually kind of felt for him there, being stuck and having to hear how everything is falling apart and he can't do anything about it.

Can't wait to find out what happens next, with all of them!

And wow, *amazing* work on the rain and lightning! That must have taken forever!

S.B. said...

Hey Laura!

Blade is sure some smoking eye candy! Yeah, he's a bit of an ass, but Cooper has been called the same by more than one person, including Rafe. I loved working with him again btw.

Coop usually means well. It did break his heart to hear his little girl ask him when he's coming home.

Oh thank you about the tension, from both of us. We tried hard. The rain and lightning were not hard, just PShop brushes.

Thank you so much from both of us!

Aussie Karima said...

~ It's taken me several days but I am now up to the present,LOVE this story! I will be reading everything you two put up,everything is amazing!
~ Thank you for sharing!love,love love it!

Rad said...

Great staging! I especially love the shot where they're pushing the car.

I feel for all the kids, but Nate, Eric and Hugs in particular. Too many things for them to manage at such a young age.

Muzegoddess said...

I LOVE the rain effect. Absolutely beautiful and it really fit with the turbulent storms that are brewing with everyone right now.

Round two of Wyatt and Rayne still seems to have him with his head in the sand. I'm wondering why he won't even entertain the possibility of what his sister is saying. Is he really that into Gemma or does he just not want to think of the worst of his father?

I'm also wondering if Nic is going to use this opportunity of seeing Rayne to his advantage and what Jimmy's decision to sign with Cooper is going to mean for he and Rayne. I'm sensing a distance begining to materialize between them.

And just when Coop and Beth have enough crap between them here comes Blade; definately gorgeous and definately ready to give Cooper a run for his money. Just when I think things couldn't get any worse...bang another layer of tension, another obstacle and I love that.

The Lunar Fox said...

Blade just looks like trouble. Complete trouble! I love the bio for him though. Very interesting. The way he's worked in here it's almost like we've known him all along.

I also loved the rain effect here. Something about storms sort of throw you off balance, and it seems that everyone in this chapter was off balance in one way or another. Loved it!

S.B. said...

Aussie Karima! Thank you so much! You have absolutely made my week! We both get very excited over every single comment but it's a huge thrill when someone new leaves us feedback. Enormously gratifying, and constantly amazing to hear from someone who has read the whole thing. Wow!

Thank you!!!

S.B. said...

Thank you Rad. I get lazy with the staging but Gayl always finds a way to make things look fantastic!

Those kids have a lot to deal with. Nate and Eric have had to grow up fast and deal with difficult and not very pretty adult situations. As young as Hugs is, she is already feeling the same confusion.

S.B. said...

LunarFox, thank you! We're both glad the bio helped to slide Blade into place smoothly. We wanted to put this piece together in a way that drew some parallels between Rayne and her mother even though their situations are obviously different. Everyone here is a little off balance, and everyone is seeing things from inside a storm.

S.B. said...

Muzegoddess, thank you!

Wyatt doesn't have any reason to believe Cooper is interested in Gemma (apart from Rayne insisting he is), and very good reasons to believe he's not, including his father's open antipathy toward the woman. Why would his father be having an affair with a woman he obviously and openly dislikes? It doesn't make sense to Wyatt. From his perspective, it's a great deal more likely that Rayne is simply jealous (Jimmy and Gemma) and unstable.

Whether Nic makes a move or not, he's there. He's there and Jimmy is not, and Rayne is not happy with Jimmy and not certain where she's going or what she's doing. She made an impulsive decision to move in with Jimmy and has begun to realize that she cut off a lot of options by doing that. She doesn't even have a place of her own where she can retreat and think. Using Nic as a haven would be a bad thing, but despite her personal growth, Rayne may not be above doing that.

We didn't see Blade coming for the longest time, although we knew we were missing something. It was one of those AHA! moments when he finally stepped forward and we saw it. He's definitely ready to give Cooper a run for his money, both personally and professionally.

KDSGS said...

I am loving this sib talks between Wyatt and Rayne, love the back drop of the storm, very telling.
The shot of cooper looking wistfully out the rain soaked window spoke volumes. Great shots all around.

I want to commend you both for stunning updates this summer. You have taken difficult, somewhat selfish characters and fleshed them into meat and bone and feeling. Wonderful.

And I am caught up~

thewynd said...

Drew thank you so much. Knowing that the characters are coming across as real, flaws and all, that means a lot to both of us.

We have enjoyed this arc and there is definitely more to come!

S@n said...

Seems like the universe is conspiring against Cooper and Beth, just when they had agreed to meet to talk, there is a raging storm! and there is Blade, he really loses no time at all! he is making his first move right there under that crazy weather! LOL he really is something!

S.B. said...

S@n, Blade really is something, isn't he? Rafe didn't find him very amusing LOL!

Thanks from both of us!