Miami!
Miami had always felt strikingly extraordinary to Arianne. Even the MIA had the touch and the excitement and the sense of euphoria she always wanted in her life but could never give in to for certain reasons. "I love Miami," she whispered in a low tone so only David could hear and he replied, "yes, me too."
The crowd of the airport, as she noticed, constituted not only of homecoming people like David and herself, but also of tourists. In fact, they were more in number. The summer was the perfect time for Miami. The beach, the Everglades, the Suburbs, the Downtown - Miami was for the tourists in summer. But, in the middle of all this hustle and bustle, a few warriors always came here to find their ways back to home, back to the solace of their mind and soul, back to where they belonged. As Arianne dragged her trolley through the airport mob, a little pinch in her heart told her that no matter how much she loved Miami, she had also grown a strong fondness for the city of Seattle.
"Mamma," she ran to her mother when she saw her outside, standing with David's family and St. Gonzales. "What was wrong in the morning?" her mother asked as they terminated the hug. "Nothing," she smiled, "everything's alright." She hugged everyone in turn and went to Father Lewis at the end. "You don't look fine at all, Father," she looked worried, "are you sick?"
"I'll be fine," he said, patting her cheek, "don't worry about me. Just tell me one thing," and pretended to say something secretive, "have you met someone?" "Someone who?" "Someone I need to know about?" "Father," she blushed, knowing that she had no way out, "I'll come to the church some time later, and we'll have a chat."
The drive by the sea was marvelous as always. With the sand in the air, the heat, the setting Sun and the damp maritime fragrance felt homely to both Arianne and David.  "Vanessa's parents called for dinner at their place," David's mother informed Arianne's as they dropped the two at their home, having left Father Lewis already at the church.
Vanessa was the third of the trio, left behind alone in Miami. But, according to her, she was happy that she didn't go out of her hometown. She had graduated already and was doing a post-graduate course on photography. Her mother had a boutique which she handled in the summers.
"Granny," Arianne exclaimed as she entered her house after almost 10 months, "where are you?" She left her trolley and her shoes beside the entrance door and ran inside to the piano she used to learn music at when she was a teenager. Her fingers spontaneously fluttered to play a known and learnt tune.
Her grandmother came out of the kitchen, old yet still capable of doing work and took her endeared granddaughter in her arms. "I missed you so much, my child," she said and they talked a while before Arianne's father called from San Francisco.
After having a chat with him, she went into her room, from which the sea could be viewed perfectly. "Wow," she whispered to herself and sat on her bed to look at the sea. Her phone rang in her pocket and she knew it was him. She smiled at the sea, imagining the waves to be the smile of the sea and picked the phone up, "hello, Ira." "Are you home?" he asked, his voice giving a way to let his broken heart out. She could not help realizing that she was responsible for it.
"Yeah."
"How's everyone? How's the sea?"
"Everyone's wonderful. The sea is wonderful."
They talked for a while but their chat was soon interrupted by Katelyn's arrival, "Arianne, I was calling you downstairs. Who's on the phone?"
"Ira, I'll call you back," she said on the line before hanging up and facing her mother.
"Who's Ira?" she asked, busy spreading a beautiful dress on Arianne's bed, "how do you like it?"
"It's beautiful. Is it for me?"
"For your graduation day."
"Mamma, do you know it's in the February of next year?"
"Really? I thought you have a test right after school opens and then you graduate. I was thinking of not letting you go out this summer."
"That would be so cruel. I don't have a test until November again."
"Oh, then what?"
"Keep this in the cupboard maybe. We'll talk about it later."
"Oh, yeah, tell me who's Ira?"
Arianne hesitated as she knew she was going to be asked about why she did not tell her mother about him earlier. She knew there would be so many varieties of questions once she started talking about him. Some of them would be worthy of answering and some will be equally shameful to. But, she had to tell her mother.
"Ira's Theresa's cousin. You remember I told you about the party she desperately wanted to take me to. We met there, Ira and I, I mean."
"Oh, that was like three to four weekends ago," Katelyn started folding the dress.
"Yeah."
"So, why didn't you tell me earlier?" There!
"Because earlier there was nothing to say, but now..."
"There is?"
"Yes, somewhat."
"Okay, tell me about this Ira then," she still had not paid her full attention to her daughter.
"Well...he's a computer engineer, and is presently working at the Grey House."
"Ira's a guy?"
"Mamma," Arianne rolled her eyes, "of course he is."
"Oh okay, what else?"
"Mamma, a lot happened over the last few weeks."
She said it and waited for her mother to react to it. On the other hand, the middle aged Miss Daveson seemed a bit lost in thoughts. Before Arianne arrived, her mother, that is Arianne's Granny had urged her to no more heave on to the young girl and let her free and do what she wanted to do.
She was well aware of the reason why her daughter always felt insecured about her daughter. Having lost the man she loved, first to alcoholism, then to the aftermath of lost job and then forever for no proper reason, Katelyn was always afraid that she may even lose her beloved daughter. But, Arianne had never given any signs of breaking out of her bondings. She had always listened to her mother, did what she said, without showing rebel almost every time; all she did was to want to study out of Miami and her mother was all the more scared of it. So, every time she heard something suspicious over the phone, like loud music or party noise, or the voice of a guy, she left no attempts in knowing what it was all about. She never liked the fact of her staying in a bustling city like Seattle, moreover, she did not like Seattle. But, now, her mother's speech of letting children free had seeped deep into her and she tried not to get mad about the new name she heard - IRA.
"We'll talk after dinner tonight, okay?" she finally said, standing up with the dress in her hand, "I've something to do. And, well, we're going to Vanessa's tonight. So, wear something you really like."
Arianne dressed nicely in the evening and the first place she went to was the church, promising her mother to turn to Vanessa's from there. She had come to the church to see Father Lewis and tell him about Ira.
There were a few people in the church, sitting scattered on the rows of sitting places, maybe trying to find their solace of mind and peace like she had a decade ago. Not finding Father Lewis there, she concluded that he might be at the counseling room. She went to one of the front rows and sat down to pray. Pray for everyone...all the good things for everyone...just freedom for herself.
"Father," she stood up to greet him, as the  old man came out of his office with a boy, seeming to be younger to her. He bid him and sat with her. "Tell me," he said, taking her hand in his like every time she had something to confess, "who is it whom I need to know about?"
"His name is Ira," she started, "Ira Armstrong," and told him about everything that happened in the last few weeks that related him. "And?" he asked as she stopped, not having mentioned about the last night. "Father," she hesitated, "I gave him my everything, all I had to offer to anyone." "And, do you regret it?" "No, of course I don't," she said, looking away, "he..." her voice choked, and St. Gonzales held her hands tighter, "he is...a really nice guy, very generous and caring, and I want to know him more. I want to be with him, spend time with him and discover his soul and...he's a bit too self-abhorrent. I want him to believe in himself, respect himself and love himself."
"And, you?" Katelyn asked her as she had the same conversation with her after they came back from Vanessa's. It was after a long time the three best friends had come together and there was immense chattering before the parents could bring them to the dinner table. Vanessa invited Arianne to spend her summer helping her with the boutique and she agreed. And, David was appointed as the cashier, so they could be together all the time this summer.
"What do you mean?" Arianne asked, as they sat on the front porch, facing the sea. "Do you want him to love you?" her mother asked, sipping on her cup of coffee. "Why does everyone ask me questions I don't know answers of?" Arianne complained, sipping at hers. "You have to know," her mother said, "who else will, Ari?"
"Maybe," she said, staring at the sea in front, "maybe I do." "You think he does?" "That I surely don't know." "Listen, Keira, I'm your mother and I guess, this is the first time we're having a conversation like this, about a guy you like. I wanna see him first. Then, I can tell you what you should do. But, nonetheless, I must tell you that you should follow your heart. You must do what you want to do. But, yeah, keep some of yourself to you, don't let him have all of you. Men generally tend to take you for granted when you do so."
That night, neither Ira nor Arianne could sleep well. They tossed and turned in their beds, Arianne three hours ahead of him, and wondered how the night could have passed if their time and space were in phase.
In his apartment, he took out the portrait he had drawn of her from his wallet. Under the bed lamp, he looked at it closely. He even had her pictures on his phone, but her portrait seemed to be more accurate a source of her beauty. He told himself a several times when he saw her leaving, that his emotions and feelings were strong and durable; and that the four months was in no way capable of washing his feelings away. Maybe, he was right; maybe, he was wrong.
But, was his heart wrong? Wrong? Can the heart ever be wrong? Where the heart leads to, can it ever be inappropriate? What it leads to, can it be unworthy of the journey? Of all the hassle undertaken? Of all the time spent in finding something commendable, something irreplaceable?
Monday morning, the Head of Department of Engineering at the Grey House called some of the workers in for a conference, which led them to another bigger conference or, sort of a seminar, organized by the Helmsman Enterprises. Five biggest entrepreneurs of Seattle were invited to show their excellence at engineering and architecture off at the seminar and discuss for more advancement in their projects concerning third-world countries in Asia and Africa.
"That's great news," Arianne said on the phone as Ira talked to her that evening about the seminar on the coming Wednesday, "even I start working on Wednesday. Will Mr. Grey go there with you?" "Yeah, he will." "He's kinda hot, isn't he?"
Ira's eyebrows creaed immediately at her comment. "How do you know him?" "Mr. Grey's a benefactor at WSU. He's been a many times at the college, especially on graduation ceremonies. We've seen him then," she said, her voice adorned with admiration, "he's very handsome." "Yeah, right," Ira said, "and, he's married. Can we please change the topic?" She laughed out, hearing him get jealous,  "you're cute!" "Thank you so much." "When do you think you can come down here?"
Ira drew in a sharp breath, thinking of something to say. He desperately wanted to go to her, right then if that was possible. He wanted to keep his promise, he wanted to be with her, see her laughing, see her sleeping and stare at her for as long as he pleased. "I wanna spend my birthday with you," he said.
On Wednesday, Ira got himself ready and going early in the morning. And, before setting off for work, he called both his mother and Arianne for best wishes. Driving through Seattle, his mind constantly kept going back to the last night's conversation with the latter. Her enthusiastic voice, her song, her adorable way of talking and making the conversation feel comely. They had talked for over a couple of hours, after midnight at her place. "I've never talked to anyone post-midnight," was her first dialog and they had laughed together, compelling the rest of the night to fall into proper order, without much assay. "What are you doing to me?" was his last dialog before they hung up.
The seminar was at the banquet hall of the Heathman Hotel, on the 1st Street. "Why are you late?" was the first words Ira received from his boss and could not answer. Christian Grey, he saw, was standing in the front of the group, the captain of the ship. His wife, Anastasia Grey, standing with him. Ira looked away and looked around at the other groups and invitees and then at the decoration of the room, but his eyes soon fluttered back to the crowd in front of him.
Something felt creepy, the kind of creepy when you know someone had been staring at you but you don't know who it is. A little harder inspection showed him who it was.
After the seminar, the invitees were called in for lunch and that's where Christian Grey introduced Ira to the CEO of the Helmsman Enterprises as one of the brightest and most hardworking engineers at the Grey House.
Ira had given a poised speech on the expected improvements that can be made in the sphere of computers, and had easily claimed for himself a big round of applause. He was praised by everyone, even Mr. Grey and he could only thank Arianne in his mind for her best wishes.
"Meet Savannah," Mr. Adrian Helmsman introduced his daughter, "my daughter. She's way too interested in computers. Hope you've a good chat about it with her, Mr. Armstrong."
With blonde and straightened hair, and high amount of make-up, and a gorgeous black short dress, it was very easy for her to make men turn their heads to her. And, Ira was no exception. "Hello, Miss Helmsman," he introduced himself as Mr. Helmsman and Mr. Grey segregated from them,"I'm Ira Armstrong."
"All the best," Arianne was at her work-place on the first day. There were a couple of customers, but she also had to talk to Ira; give him her best wishes and tell him she knew he was worth it. "All the best," she said on the phone, coming out of the boutique shop, "all the very best. You know it all. You just have to say it there, right? You'll smash it. I know you will."
"When are we seeing this guy...Ira?" Vanessa asked as the customers left, "I'm kinda excited about meeting him." Arianne smiled at the piece of cloth she was tackling with and pretended to not have heard her. "I'm telling you," David said from the cashier's desk, "she's in love with him." "I really wanna meet him," Vanessa cried again, "I wanna see the guy who finally made Miss I-really-don't-want-a-boyfriend fall for him. I wanna! Please, Arianne! Are you even listening to me?" "Get to work," was all she could get out of her friend's mouth for then.
Days at the beach were spent at an amazingly slow pace. Mornings brought with them a happy spree, and the girls generally went jogging along the coastline, the rest of the morning the troika worked at the boutique with customers coming in with various kinds of wishlists. Lunch happened either at any of the three's homes, or at a spot on the more vacant part of the beach where they usually visited as children. The evenings brought a couple of hours of work again before the day was called, and Arianne could go back to her room and converse with the sea through the sliding door and wait for Ira to call.
He called every night...and whenever he felt he needed her. Whenever he actually needed her. She listened to him with all her concentration and spoke less, cause she said she liked it that way. Loved to listen to him...loved his stories...loved his nuisances...loved his care for her...loved his own way of leading life...loved his sense of independence...loved his self-sufficiency...loved his sense of humor...loved him.
Now and then, she wondered why she even told him to not talk about that amazing night. They could. It's not a sin to make the person you want and love happy. It's not a sin to later talk about that little period of happiness and make that person happier. Rather, it's sin to pretend to feel guilty about it.
No matter, how many a time they talked over the phone, Arianne knew there was a barrier in between them. Not the one that distance forms. But, the one that misunderstandings form. She had not paid attention to it, thinking it was gone, taking it for granted. But, with the passage of time, she had discovered it again, like it had unearthed itself, wanting to show off its presence, threatening her to grow larger with time, making her wonder if she was the one solely responsible for it.
"We're going for the Summer Dance Festival," summer was scrolling past and it was the mid of June already, "to the South Beach," Arianne said. She was talking to Ira on the phone in the afternoon of a Sunday when they had decided to keep the shop closed. "Today?" he asked, "now?" "Yes, now. As a matter of fact, I'm getting ready." She had a huge smile on her face.
"Hold on a second. South Beach is ike the other part of the Miami Beach, right? Who all are going?"
"David, Vanessa, I and Sammy, Vanessa's boyfriend that is. What's wrong with you?"
"You're going now? When will you return?"
"Around 8:00 or, maybe 8:30. Don't act like my mother."
"I'm not. I'm just concerned about you. You think you'll be fine?"
"Yes, I'm not even scared. I've been there before. And, c'mon Ira, I'm 22 years old. Don't be my boss. Plus, there were special martial arts classes in my school."
"Oh, you never told me..."
"Yes, because I never attended the classes."
Ira laughed at that. "You know what, you're becoming funny these days. Thanks to me."
"Really?"
"Yes. Anyway, I needa tell you something. I called for a reason."
"What is it?" Arianne put on her shoes and took her purse from on the dressing table.
"I bought tickets for the 7th of July. Will that be okay?"
"Tickets for what?"
"My tickets to Miami."
"Oh," Arianne stopped mid-stairs, "are you serious?"
"Yes, I am," he said, knowing that there would be a great big smile on her lips and knowing that he wanted to see her right then, instead of waiting for another month.
"Oh my God! You're really coming? I can't believe it." There was indeed a huge smile on her face as she came downstairs and into the foyer. Her mother and Granny were seated on the sofa, watching news when she ticked her high heels into the room.
"Hey young girl," Ira heard Arianne's Granny say from a distance, "you look very hot," and heard her laughing and say, "it came down with the genes."
"Well, did you know Katelyn invited Mom and Dad as well?" Ira asked.
"Yes, she told me. She thought they would surely come down. She was a bit doubtful about you."
Katelyn had talked to Ira and had also been introduced to his parents over Skype. The Armstrong family had easily mated with the Daveson and wanted to meet up as soon as they could.
"Why's that?"
"She thought you might be busy with office. She was trying to sympathize with me and thought I'd get sad about it. She said, no matter how much I wanted you to come down, I must respect your work schedule...blah blah blah!"
"What did you think?"
"I knew you'd come," she sat down on the steps in front of her house, "you have a promise and a heart to keep from breaking."
"Mom and Dad are coming down along with me," he changed topic immediately.
"That's great. Oh, I see my friends. I gotta go. Will you call me later?"
"Yes, and if I call you when you're in the festival, do pick up. I'll call to check on you."
"Okay," she smiled again, "bye."
"Bye. Take care."
The Dance Festival was amazingly spent. It was after a long time that the three of the gang had fun together, unlike every year that Arianne either did not go or just stood at a corner.
"You know what," David said as they walked back to the car, he, Sammy and Vanessa drunk as hell, "I don't like Ira at all. But, thank goodness he arrived." Arianne grabbed his car keys from him and got in behind the wheels. She was the least drunk and soon enough they were back home. Ira had called when they were at the festival and finding her safe felt contended.
"Mamma's very happy that you people are coming down," Arianne talked to Jess a few days later. "Even we're so excited," she replied,  "and, of course, so is Ira. All this while, he craved, simply craved to see you."
"Oh," Arianne blushed. "Oh dear," Jess said again, "how I crave to see that smile and that blush!" "Jess, talk to Mamma."
Whole June, the trio worked at the shop, filling for their customers' wishes. Lunch was rare. And, often, they had to return home late at night, leaving some stitching, some zipping, some calculations still left to be done.
The evenings were swiped out by cyclones and storms and load-sheddings. And, when the current came back generally after an hour, the three would resume work until late night when they went back to their homes to just spend the night and come back in the morning.
Finally, 4th of July brought relief. The shop was closed and all of the beach residents were in a gala mood. The night sky filled with fireworks and houses were decorated with lights and decor. Everyone wore new clothes and partied. Arianne was the one happiest that night. Not only because it was the 4th of July, but also because it meant that there were only two more days left for Ira to come.
And, like every other year, Katelyn spent the evening and the night in her bedroom, crying and reliving the 4th of July she had met Kendrick. Just like her own daughter, she used to be shy and folded up inside. And then she met a guy at the fireworks shop who was way too extrovert for her. And day by day, they bent themselves to adjust and fall in love with each other.
Bad luck they couldn't stay long in love. But, they brought to this world a beautiful daughter and she thought that the little girl was enough to keep the marriage in place. But, she was wrong. She had to save the marriage herself. She had to hold on to the man she loved and would love her entire life.
Even 12 years after the divorce, she sometimes wondered what she could have done to save the marriage. Was it wrong to let go so easily? Could she have saved the marrige if she tried? Should she have saved the marriage for her daughter? Kendrick had not married, neither dated even after the divorce. Nor did she. What if there was still some love left that could bring them back together?
She definitely didn't want her daughter to have the similar fate. She wanted Arianne to be happy, safe and with a man who would be with her in her ups and downs, handle her and take care of her against all jeopardy. And, in Ira, she could see reflections of a man like that. She could see how much they had fallen for each other. She could see her daughter riant and she wanted her that way.
And, when it was finally 7th of July, Arianne couldn't hold her excitement and joy anymore. She called Ira twice to thrice to know about the flight and when he finally landed at the MIA with his parents, outside the airport, she waited for him with Katelyn and Vanessa.