by David Smith
The lanky young man just stood dumbfounded, looking at Blain like he was out of his mind. “Keep dreaming, dude,” the usher said.
Suddenly, there was a change in the sound of people talking as the people inside the room turned and saw Malaysia and Laura walking out from the hallway where their dressing rooms were, entering the larger room. Wearing a very pretty white, sheer blouse with three-quarter sleeves and brush-denim shorts, Malaysia stopped in front of the group of people who applauded enthusiastically when the pair entered. Blain’s friends also applauded as they saw the singer now even more up-close and certainly in a more intimate setting than watching her perform on a tall stage. All of them saw just how much natural beauty both girls possessed. They watched in awe as Malaysia and Laura greeted a few of the people in the room.
“I’m sure she won’t have much time to spend with us,” Bill whispered to Blain, taking hold of Misty’s hand; she was standing a half step behind Bill, a little in amazement and more than a little unsure of the situation.
“Yeah, I’ll bet she won’t even acknowledge us standing here,” Joe added, looking at Blain. “How can you be so calm, Blain?” Joe asked, seeing how relaxed Blain was compared to the rest of them.
“Oh, guys, come on. Give the girl some credit!” Blain said. “In fact, I’ll bet you that she will come over here and give me a big kiss.”
Joe, Bill and Grant all unsuccessfully tried to stifle a laugh. “Blain…man, you are hilarious! You’re living in a dream world,” Grant said.
“Where is that hundred dollar bet now?” Joe teased, laughing.
Blain shrugged.
They watched the singer walk into the center of the room. Malaysia looked a little distracted until she glanced to the right side of the room and saw Blain and his friends.
Immediately excusing herself from the group she had said hi to, Malaysia walked quickly over to Blain’s group.
“There you are,” Malaysia said looking at Blain with a gleaming smile. Blain’s friends backed up a half step out of respect if not shock, as the singer approached.
“Hi Mal,” Blain said quietly. “You look beautiful,” Blain said.
Malaysia just stared at him for a moment, feeling her heart racing. She then looked over Blain’s shoulder at his group of friends and said enthusiastically, “Hi everyone! I hope you enjoyed the show!” She looked back at Blain and then back to his friends again who were standing there puzzled as to why Blain was standing so close to the singer, or, perhaps more baffling, why the beautiful singer was standing so close to Blain.
Knowing she was probably going to shock everyone further, Malaysia then said, “I’m sorry, but will you all excuse me for just a moment?” Malaysia asked Blain’s friends. Everyone shook their heads, ‘sure.’ Suddenly, and to the complete surprise of his friends, Malaysia moved up in front of Blain and put her hand on the side of his face, running her fingers through his blond hair. “I’ve missed you,” Malaysia whispered and then she slowly brought Blain’s mouth to hers as she kissed him softly, sweetly, and then with a bit of added passion. The room became quiet as most everyone inside watched Malaysia kiss Blain. His seven friends all had their mouths half open with eyes bulging out of their heads.
The usher standing beside the group did a double take.
“Your show was fabulous!” Blain finally said as they parted.
“Thank you!” Malaysia said before giving Blain one more short kiss.
Laura walked up from behind Malaysia. “Okay, break it up, you two,” she said coming up to the side of Blain.
Blain gave Laura a kiss on both cheeks. She, too, had changed, now wearing a pair of jeans and a black short-sleeved blouse.
“I would like to introduce my friends, Mal, Laura,” Blain said turning towards his stunned group of friends.
Malaysia leaned in toward Blain before he could start introducing them and said quietly, “Blain, it would appear you have not told your friends about what you and I have been doing this past week.”
“Nah,” Blain said, leaning back looking at his friends again, smiling at the shocked looks painted across their faces. “I like to keep them guessing!”
Blain then turned to Joe and calmly said, “Joe, you may not remember meeting these two beautiful women, but as I said earlier, indeed you had met a very real rock star before,” Blain said. “Of course, when you met them they had much darker hair and it was our band that they had come to see.”
Blain watched Joe’s face turn from confusion to enlightenment in a matter of seconds.
“At the Caper’s Club!”
Blain nodded.
Joe looked at Malaysia then at Laura. With a sigh, Joe said, “I never would have imagined this in a million years. It is so nice to see you both again.” Joe looked at Laura with a grin. “You look incredible…and you sing beautifully,” Joe said, looking totally smitten with Malaysia’s sister. “I can’t believe I didn’t recognize you,” he added while looking at Laura.
“Don’t feel bad, Joe. It can happen to the best of us,” Blain said with a little laugh as he and Malaysia exchanged knowing smiles, thinking back to a few days ago when Blain himself had finally figured it out.
Blain introduced the rest of the group and Malaysia treated all of them as if they were her friends now, too. Joe and Laura were seen a little later talking together by themselves. When Blain and Malaysia found a moment alone, they chatted, held hands, and then spied Laura and Joe sitting close together on the couch.
“Chances are, Joe and Laura won’t have as much in common as you and I,” Malaysia said, nodding in the direction of the couch.
“No, but then, I doubt too many people will ever have the opportunity to spend the kind of ‘quality time’ you and I have had,” Blain said, his arm now around Malaysia’s waist.
“I think it’s time I leave you with your entourage, Mal,” Blain said to her a little later. “I really appreciate you letting my friends come here with me. They have been blown away. You’ve made quite an impression,” Blain said.
“It was my pleasure,” Malaysia said with a genuine smile.
“Guys,” Blain called out to his group. “Time for us to hit the road.”
Malaysia thanked each of Blain’s friends for coming to her show. Everyone was thankful for her getting the tickets and for meeting all of them.
As the group started towards the doors, Malaysia turned to Blain. “Meet me in the morning?”
“Of course,” Blain said followed by one last kiss.
Blain and his friends left the backstage area and were now walking through the empty concourse towards the exit and parking lot. The group was silent, all lost in thoughts about what they just participated in. Each of them could feel the questions each wanted to ask Blain, but were too blown away from the shock of everything that they had just experienced. Finally, Grant stopped the group by the main entrance doors, jogging up ahead of everyone and holding his arms out, corralling the group.
“Okay, okay. Blain, we are all dying here. Would you care to tell ALL OF US just what has been happening for the past week?”
Blain looked at all their expectant, inquisitive faces. Shaking his head slowly, looking as if he were conjuring up a lifetime of memories. Finally, all Blain could say was, “Oh, man, you guys... Where do I begin?”
CHAPTER 46
The Village
Saturday, July 3rd, 2010
10:15am
“Please Blain,” Malaysia almost begged. “It’s one of the few places I don’t have a picture of us!”
“Okay, okay. You don’t need to beg! I would love to take us back there again,” Blain said, as the two held hands while walking through New Orleans Square at Disneyland.
Malaysia had one thing on her mind. She had one day left with Blain and part of this last day was going to be the show her and her band was going to put on here at Disneyland later in the evening. That left only a short part of the day to spend with Blain. After an early breakfast, Malaysia convinced Blain t
o take her back to Disneyland for a few hours together. Blain thought that they would enjoy a more intimate time somewhere else but Malaysia seemed intent on going back.
“I don’t know why you want to go back, unless you want to risk breaking your leg or twisting an ankle,” Blain said, looking at Malaysia.
“I have my motives,” she said with a smile that told Blain he shouldn’t argue.
Malaysia had on a short denim skirt and a pink, halter top that tied behind her neck. Her blond hair was pushed through the back of her Angel’s Baseball cap and she had slip-on, white canvas flats. Blain knew he was with the most beautiful woman at Disneyland that day, even with her baseball cap and sunglasses on. Malaysia’s looks were just the exterior icing on the cake, Blain thought, however. It was her heart, her personality, and her adventuresome spirit that drew Blain deeper and deeper into her. Blain refused to let the issue of her pending departure limit their fun and time together.
They walked into Critter Country, holding hands; Malaysia was leading the way, walking with purpose.
After reaching the hidden door beyond the eerie, unfinished kitchen under Hungry Bear Restaurant, Malaysia pulled Blain to a stop just as they came out into the ‘forbidden jungle’ of trees and shrubs that separated them from the Indian Village at the far other end.
“Blain, stop. I want to say something to you that I’ve been meaning to tell you,” Malaysia said, holding his hands.
Blain stood back against the closed door they had just passed through. He waited, not sure what Malaysia wanted to tell him. He wondered if this were her send-off speech; her “Dear John” letter.
“I want you to know that I’ve never felt this way about anyone before,” Malaysia whispered, looking up into Blain’s green eyes.
Blain smiled. “Malaysia, I feel the…” Malaysia put a finger to his lips.
“Please…Shhhh. I want to finish,” Malaysia said moving her hand to the side of Blain’s face. “I know we have only known each other for seven days. It feels like I’ve known you for much longer—forever, really.”
Blain saw tears forming in her blue eyes. That can’t be a good sign, Blain thought.
“But, I also know that while we may not see each other for some time, I plan to see you again, as often as possible,” Malaysia said.
Blain was taken aback by her statement. He put his hands on Malaysia’s waist, not wanting to let her go.
“You will always be here, in my heart,” Malaysia said pulling his hand and putting it over her heart. Blain held his hand there, feeling her heart beating very fast.
“Is there a ‘but’ in here, Malaysia,” Blain asked tentatively.
Malaysia shook her head. She pulled Blain against herself, placing her head on his shoulder, her lips next to his neck. “I love you, Blain,” Malaysia finally whispered into his ear, expressing the heartfelt emotion that had been growing in her for days.
Blain turned her face towards his and kissed her forehead, then worked his way down over her tear-streaked cheeks, ending on her lips. They kissed for a very long time.
“I love you too, Malaysia,” Blain said as they held each other tight. “No matter what, I know in my heart I will always love you,” he said, kissing Malaysia one more time.
“So you want to check out the teepee one last time, you say?” Blain asked as Malaysia led the way along the nearly hidden path through the ‘Forbidden Jungle’ that grew along the back of the Rivers of America and the back side of Tom Sawyer Island.
“I want to give you something,” Malaysia said.
“Another Mystery Box?” Blain asked, watching Malaysia’s figure in front of him move with every step. The short hem danced across the back of her legs.
“Just follow me.”
“Oh, I am,” Blain said with a grin.
“Who knows, maybe we will discover some other long-lost clue, maybe a key to pirate treasure or a real treasure map this time,” Malaysia said.
“I think we have used up all our ‘lucky discoveries’ for this lifetime,” Blain said with a laugh.
“Who knows, Blain,” Malaysia said, looking back over her shoulder at Blain as she continued along the path. “You never know what you might find,” Malaysia said with a laugh.
“I know what I’ve found in you, Malaysia,” Blain said.
Malaysia smiled, thinking exactly the same thing about Blain.
Reaching the Indian Village, the two looked out across the Rivers of America, over at the back side of Tom Sawyer’s Island. They stood for a moment, seeing the Island perhaps now in a different light. The adventures from the past week culminating in the discovery of the lost cache of money last night certainly had left its impression on Blain.
“I don’t think I will ever be able to look at that Island the same way,” Blain said, putting his arm around Malaysia.
Malaysia had her arm around Blain, looking out over the river. At the moment, there weren’t any canoes or the Mark Twain moving along the bend in the river in front of the Indian Village. In fact, it was so quiet, that they felt they were in some far-off land, isolated from civilization. Malaysia then pulled her camera out of her purse and turned to Blain.” Can you take our picture with my camera, Blain?” Malaysia asked. “This place has so much meaning to us, I want to have a picture of us here.” She handed the camera to Blain who, looked for a place to set the camera on to take a self-timer shot.
“Here, Mal. Stand next to that mannequin. Let me take one of you first,” Blain said, motioning toward the black-haired squaw that was standing between the two teepees.
Malaysia walked over to the left side of the mannequin and put her arm around the statuesque squaw.
“Like this?” She asked, making a funny face.
“Sure, that works,” Blain said. “Scoot down just a little bit more so your head is even with hers,” he added, focusing and zooming in on the pair.
Malaysia moved down a few inches. As she did, her arm moved the mannequin’s top over a few inches revealing a little more wooden ‘cleavage.’
“Uh, I think your friend is being a little too sexy for this picture,” Blain said, lowering the camera. “While it would look incredibly sexy on you, and tempting as heck, I think you need to fix the mannequin’s top.”
“I like tempting you,” Malaysia said with a soft, teasing voice, smiling while she adjusted the leather fringed top of the mannequin.
“Okay, perfect. Just smile,” Blain said bringing the camera back up as he looked at the video display in the back of it.
“On three, say, ‘beach,’” Blain said. “One, two…” Blain suddenly stopped. He looked at the display in the camera as it was zoomed in on Malaysia and the mannequin.
“What is it?” Malaysia asked.
“Mal…look!” Blain said, lowering the camera and pointing to the mannequin next to her.
Malaysia confronted the mannequin and her mouth dropped. “It can’t be, can it?”
Blain walked over next to Malaysia. “It sure looks like it.”
Blain reached to the mannequin’s neck and slipped his hand under the gold necklace that hung around her neck. He ran his hand down the chain until his palm rested under the heart-shaped pendant that was clasped at the bottom, the exact same shape that Nathan Duncan had intricately drawn in his notebook.
Suddenly Blain felt heat in his hand and searing images shooting forth in his mind.
An image of the Mark Twain was there, its whitewashed bow moving towards him; next, an image of a hand shooting out of a small opening; another image: lips on his. Blain saw a dozen such images in a matter of seconds. There was one more image he saw, and this one, he believed, needed to be shared.
Suddenly, a loud whistle could be heard in the distance. The sound broke Blain’s focus and he let go of the pendant shaking his head of the vision. Looking down along the river, Blain could see the Mark Twain steamship was just rounding the bend before the Village.
Malaysia looked down the river too and said, “I know we ca
n’t be seen here.”
Blain nodded his head. He quickly lifted the necklace over the head of the mannequin and carefully opened his shorts pocket and let the red diamond drop inside, guiding the chain in after it. He looked at the approaching Mark Twain as it moved forward towards the village. All of a sudden Blain thought to himself, the first vision.
Blain turned around. “Mal, I…” Malaysia was no longer behind him. “Um, Malaysia?”
Unexpectedly, Blain saw a hand appear from inside the small rear-opening of the first teepee.
“Blain, come here,” Malaysia’s voice from inside the teepee said, her hand reaching for his. Blain thought to himself as he looked at her hand reaching out through the small opening: The second vision.
Ducking through the small opening in the back of the teepee, Blain took Malaysia’s hand as she led him towards the middle of the teepee where they stood together, facing each other. Malaysia smiled at him; her eyes spoke for her mouth. Words were not necessary between them at this point. Silently, she reached up with her hands cupped his face in them and pulled Blain’s mouth to her lips.
The third vision.
The sound of the Mark Twain could be heard approaching the Indian Village, its paddlewheel rotating, making its distinctive sound against the water. Blain ignored the sounds outside, thinking not of the people who might be on the Mark Twain or of those paddling in the canoes that would soon pass by.
All Blain could think about was sharing the last vision.
Blain reached into his pocket and pulled out the pendant, holding it up by the long chain, letting the heart-shaped diamond dangle between him and Malaysia, standing close within the confines of the teepee. Wordlessly, using his right hand he reached across and took Malaysia’s right hand. Slowly, he led her hand to the side of the red diamond. Blain then used his hand to trap the pendant between her hand and his. For a moment, Blain looked in Malaysia’s eyes, holding her with his.