Sparks Will Fly

by Daniel Banner

  14

  Lucy sat in a glass box attached to the side of a 1000-foot sheer cliff watching the last vestiges of the sunset over some unknown Andes peaks. Next to her on an oversized lounge chair was a guy who was becoming the image of the Man of her Dreams. Blue was as strong and solid as the mountain to which they were anchored.

  After eating dinner together in the glass box, his guys had hung out for a while, but once the sun had begun setting, they’d gone off to their individual rooms. Lucy and Blue each had a room of their own, but by unspoken arrangement, they’d stayed together in the dining/lookout area. The adventure of scaling a mountainside using handholds and anchors was edgy enough for one day. She didn’t need to get herself or Blue any closer to any sort of precipice—even figurative ones.

  “Look!” said Lucy, pointing up at a sliver of moon that was rising over the northern horizon.

  “Wow!” Blue’s mouth gaped as his head went back for a clear view. “I’ve never seen it so big and bright. Ever.”

  “Me neither.”

  “Looks like it’ll be a full moon tonight,” he said.

  “Uh oh,” said Lucy. “You know what that does to us Lobos.” She craned forward, lifting her mouth toward the moon and let out a howl.

  Blue laughed. “I don’t know if I’ll ever tame that Lobo out of you.”

  She howled again, then fell back to where his arm encircled her on the seat.

  He said, “Don’t tell any of my Aggie brothers, but I don’t think I want to tame that Lobo out.”

  “I can’t believe how wild and free I feel with you. I haven’t howled like that since college. It’s the same spicy, brave feeling I had when I used to put on the Lobo Lucy suit.”

  Blue brought his arm down to take her hand in his. He looked over at her, his strong features barely visible in the low light. “I’ve never felt like this with anyone.”

  That was such an understatement of how Lucy felt. “Watch out,” she told him, settling back into him. “When I go full Lobo I lose all restraint. I do more stupid things. And being with you is the same as I felt back when I was Lobo Lucy. Well, the same but different. It was safe back then because I could hide behind a mask. With you, I guess I feel safe enough to just let it out even though I don’t have a mask to hide behind.”

  “Weird,” said Blue. “The Aggie brings out the Lobo in you. That I get. But if the Lobo is out because it got provoked and riled, how can you feel safe?”

  “Must be the big, strong protective fireman makes me feel that way.” She reached her left hand out and gave his bicep a squeeze. Wow. She wanted to sample every single one of his other muscles. “See? Right there for example. I do some stupid things.”

  “Is this stupid?” he asked, and suddenly he’d gotten them turned toward each other and staring into each other’s eyes, moving together.

  And he kissed her. Slowly, lingering. As confident as their first spicy kiss at Questival, but different in every other way except in the pure pleasure that it shot through every part of her body.

  The memory of the brief kiss lingered as he pulled away. Without realizing what she was doing, Lucy howled again, then said, “I don’t know if that was a stupid idea or not. Poor judge, remember? Senses have fled. You better try it again and see.”

  Blue hesitated, smiling down at her as if trying to figure her out. Instead of kissing her again, he pulled them together side-by-side, leaning against the back of the chair. “I’m not the type to take advantage.”

  Lucy really wanted another kiss, but in her spicy, brave mood, maybe it wasn’t the best idea since she didn’t know if she could stop herself once they got going. So she nestled into his arms and leaned back against the mountain that was Blue Reed. “Are you sure you’re really an Aggie? Because in every story I’ve heard, an Aggie is the first person to take advantage of a poor, defenseless girl.”

  “Sorry to destroy the stereotype,” said Blue. “It’s another case of Romeo and Juliet. If only the families sat down to talk we wouldn’t have had a tragedy, right?”

  “Abuelita will wear a Cienciano jersey before our families come together with civility.”

  The moon was fully in view and it reflected more light into the glass house than the dim lights provided. Lucy couldn’t see Blue’s face, but she could see his thick forearms and strong hands around her.

  “Thanks for staying out here with me,” she told him. “I’m sure your bed would be a much more comfortable observation point.”

  “There you go, trying to get me to take advantage of you again.”

  “No I wasn’t!” Lucy started to push up so she could turn and show him the sincerity on her face, but he chuckled and held her tightly.

  “As comfortable, and exciting, as it would be in either one of our beds, I’m pretty much in heaven right now and that’s good enough for me.”

  For the next four hours they sat together and watched the moon rise. They talked about the best vacations they’d ever been on and future dream vacations. College days and goals for their lives. They told stories from their pasts as if they could fill in the decades they’d been apart, and talked of the future in a way that made Lucy think there was a very good chance it would be spent together.

  The moon eventually reached the end of its path in Lucy and Blue’s sky. “Looks like my night is over,” said Lucy.

  “What happened to the untamed and uninhibited Lobo from earlier?”

  “I think I finally got a leash on her.”

  In his deep, close voice, he asked, “So you’re of sound mind?”

  “Yeah,” said Lucy. “No more crazy stunts for me tonight.”

  Blue pulled his arm free and faced her. “So it’s safe for me to do this?” He came forward and took charge of her lips, holding her captive in the ecstasy of the connection they’d been building over their hours together. Lucy gave in to him willingly, allowing him to take her to a place even more thrilling than the mountainside lodging where their bodies were. As their mouths explored the connection, her hands played over his firm, rounded shoulders. It was exhilarating yet safe. The danger had somehow passed with the moon’s disappearance and a few minutes passed with Lucy finally doing what she’d been waiting for all night.

  “Wow,” said Blue, as he released her and they both caught their breath. “That was worth the wait.”

  “Yeah, thanks for waiting until it was safe.”

  “Safe?” said Blue. “I was scared for my life, of course I waited.” They stood and turned to each other. Blue surrounded her with his arms. “There may be a lot of waiting for us in the future, since we live in different states. But I’ll wait. I won’t let you get away from me.”

  Lucy wanted to climb up into his arms and let him carry her wherever he wanted. But they had a flight to catch in a few hours, and how could she say she slept in a Skylodge if she never actually slept.

  “Thanks for an amazing five days,” she told him.

  “Stick with me,” said Blue, “and I’ll do everything I can to give you many more amazing days.”

  She answered him with a kiss, then pulled herself away before it was too late.

  Not bad, thought Lucy as she climbed into bed. Not bad for a quiet little office worker.

  15

  Blue sat in the skybox of Aggie Memorial Stadium staring down at the far corner of the field. A gap in the bleachers allowed the visiting team mascots to go back to their locker room or green room or whatever they called the rest and rehab area. The first half of the game was almost over and it was close, but Blue wasn't really feeling it. He was probably the only one in the sold-out stadium who wasn’t on the verge of hysteria. Both colleges had promising years, with a strong chance of going to a bowl game and competing for their conference championship, but Blue couldn't keep his eyes off the furry gray mascot popping in and out of that tunnel.

  Blue had never been a mascot or studied them as much as he was doing today, but the people powering the hated Lobo image today seemed a little flat. N
ot as much life as he expected from Lucy’s cohorts. Not everyone could be a ball of spicy, excitement like Lucy.

  What held his eyes glued to the corner was Lucy. Sometime around the start of the third quarter, Lucy would be down in the little corner of the field where the visiting mascots were allowed, doing her thing. Blue had been shocked when she told him that she would be back in the suit again, but apparently it was tradition for some of the old mascots to come back during one game a year and relive their glory days.

  Blue chuckled at the thought of him trying to compete on the field without an entire preseason of practice, training, and conditioning to get him ready. According to Lucy, usually the mascots got their chance to get back into the suit at the homecoming game. Lucy had trained hard since Peru, and made a special request this year to get her time in the mascot suit today, because she wanted to do so at a game Blue was attending. Apparently some major strings had to be pulled to break the tradition of alumni mascots performing only on their home field at Homecoming, but apparently her family had the strings to make that happen. Someone plopped down in the seat next to Blue. He looked over to see his brother Jesse.

  “What are you doing down here all by yourself?” asked Jesse. “You've been distracted today.”

  With divorced parents and only one brother, who was a bachelor like Blue, this annual football game against their rival University was the closest thing they had to a family reunion. The skybox was full of Jesse's friends and their dad’s acquaintances. You could feel the testosterone in the air, as thick and pungent as the aroma of bratwurst and beer. The seating at the front of the skybox was comfortable and offered a better view than anywhere else, but it had been a tradition for as long as Blue could remember that not a lot of sitting went on during this game. As the Athletic Director for the university, Blue's father hung his hat on this rivalry game as much as any other university event of the year.

  Taking one more peek to the corner of the stadium, Blue stood then went to join the guys milling at the top of the steps that led down to the seats. He didn't really know any of Jesse's friends. They weren't the guys he'd hung out with growing up, but higher society types – lawyers like Jesse and clients of Jesse's law firm. Back when Blue was playing ball, it had seemed like this crowd was it. Capital ‘I’ It. And he kind of pictured himself fitting in with them once he got established and started his life. But after eight years in the fire station and building up a true camaraderie with his brothers there, he was put off by the puffed out chests and expensive Polos.

  The fire department was all about hierarchy, and there was always plenty of jockeying for position, putdowns, and trying to just be all-around more manly than anyone else. Blue had nothing against these guys, but their form of social positioning felt snobbish, and based on a system that Blue had outgrown. There was no true manly grit to it. Not the way Blue thought of it anyway. They probably thought Blue was less of a man because his yearly income was only in the five-digit range.

  One of the guys Blue hadn't been introduced to said, "Sitting down there wishing you were taking snaps, huh?"

  It surprised Blue, but he hadn't even thought of that today. Usually he thought back to his days as the big man on campus and his hopes of playing in the NFL but he was happy with his life. It couldn't have turned out much better so far. Especially now that his horizon was broadening in regards to letting someone else share life with him. Lucy hadn't just occupied all of his thoughts while here in the stadium, but pretty much all of them since they parted ways in L.A. after their flight back from Peru. After being up almost all night in the Skylodge talking, and then kissing a little, he had expected to sleep almost the whole way home. But the time had been too precious to waste sleeping and he and Lucy had gotten as comfortable as possible on the plane and talked the entire way.

  Since then they had talked or texted every day. But it wasn’t the same as being together. And even though she’d used that nickname he hated when she texted him from the airport this morning—Blucy—he still couldn’t wait to see her, hold her, talk to her face to face again.

  He was spacing out again. "Nah, let the young guys have their fun."

  Another guy Blue didn't know said, “Man, I still remember that Hail Mary you threw at UTEP. I had a hundred bucks riding on that game. I already had my wallet out to pay it off when you hit Dixon in the end zone." He held up his hand for a high-five.

  Just like that Blue was accepted into this prestigious group and given a place of honor because of what he done almost ten years ago. He gave the guy a high-five, and talk turned to the current season and the odds of going undefeated. The guy who had almost lost a hundred bucks obviously hadn't learned his lesson because he was looking for the best odds he could get on an undefeated season for the Aggies.

  Blue wandered over to where his dad was talking to a couple of silver-haired university boosters. They both had wedding rings on but had left their wives at home. This skybox, for this game, had always been a bachelor suite. Both of his dad’s guests this year had a distinctive slimy feel to them. Whether it was the multiple gaudy rings the one guy wore on multiple fingers of each hand, or the rat-like face, and obvious comb-over of the second guy, Blue couldn’t tell. His dad never did make the most noble choices when it came to friends and acquaintances. It was a big part of what led to his parents’ divorce. That and the burner cell phones he’d been busted with, trying to hide women, his bookie, and who knew what else from Blue’s mom.

  The two guys in the skybox were ‘Whales’ according to Blue’s dad. They were both considering seven-digit donations to the university, and Blue’s dad was hoping that between the two of them, he could make it eight digits.

  “There's the hero of 2009," said the man on the left. "If the NCAA gave you another year of eligibility I'd go down there right now and tell Coach to put you in for the second half. I don't care what kind of shape you're in or whether you know the new coach’s plays. Any Aggie would follow you anytime, anywhere.”

  Blue wondered how much of his optimism had to do with the alcohol he’d consumed that was now slurring his voice.

  “What do you mean what kind of shape he's in?” said the other man who had obviously had a few drinks as well. “He's built like Arnold Schwarzenegger in his heyday. Linebackers would bounce off this guy.” The man patted Blue's bicep. “Wow, are you a professional bodybuilder or something now?”

  “No, I’m a fireman.”

  Both men looked surprised and somewhat disappointed. “Oh,” said the first man. “I'm sure that's, uh, very… rewarding for you.”

  The reaction was similar to his dad's reaction when Blue had told them during his last semester of college that he wanted to be a fireman and not pursue a career in business, which was the field of study of his degree. It didn't matter to Blue; he'd seen all sorts of reactions to his career choice, most of them positive. In the end, it came down to him doing something he loved and something that made the world a better place at the same time.

  “I love it,” said Blue, when he realized they were waiting for some response.

  "I know what it is," said the second man as he stepped forward and put a hand on Blue's shoulder. Blue felt like he was the buffet, the way these guys had their hands all over him. At first he’d felt like they respected him or looked up to him, but now he realized they felt some sort of ownership of him since they were ready to shell out so much money to the university.“You still want to be a hero. You want to be the guy with the ball, the big hero making a difference. It's the same as being on the field down there. You save the day, you pull the kids out of the burning house. The crowd goes wild!" His hands shot into the air in a touchdown signal.

  The man's tone was condescending and his drunkenness in general made his unsolicited assessment of Blue's life feel inappropriate, but maybe there was some truth to his words. Well, if it was selfish to enjoy helping people, then maybe Blue was guilty of self interest. So be it. He was doing a job he loved that paid him a good salary
and let him have time off for more things he loved. And unlike some of the slimy cretins in the room, Blue wasn't hurting anybody by doing it.

  Okay, so slimy cretins might be an overstatement but today everyone in the box was rubbing him the wrong way. And he knew for a fact that a couple of Jesse's friends were the worst kind of ambulance chasers, building and pushing for cases where none really existed.

  Blue looked at his dad, wondering if he would step in at all and take some pressure off or distract these guys. Nope. He was standing there with his arms folded, smiling along with his drunk buddies. It was stupid to even think his dad would make any waves. Jeff Reed hadn’t gotten to the very politicized position of Athletic Director by having any sort of a spine when it came to big boosters and rich alumni.

  Blue excused himself and went to take another look at the food selections. Now that the calendar shoot was over, and since he didn’t have to suit up on the field, his diet was more relaxed than it had been a month ago. A roar from the crowd announced the Aggies taking the field for the second half, so Blue diverted back to the chairs at the front of the box. Even behind the glass Blue could feel the excitement of the sold-out crowd. His team was up by one, so it was anyone’s game.

  The Aggies kicked off to the visiting Lobos. The kick receiver caught the ball at the 10 yard line, busted through the wedge, and ran it all the way back for a touchdown. The crowd just outside the skybox erupted, making Blue’s world tremble even as the rest of the arena went suddenly silent. Apparently the bulk of the visiting crowd was seated just below the skybox.

  When the replay came up on the Jumbotron, the Aggie crowd went crazy. The refs had missed an obvious block in the back by the Lobos that probably would've prevented the touchdown. The crowd was livid. Of all the games and in all the seasons for the refs to miss such an obvious call, why did it have to be this one? Inside the box there were some choice words directed at the refs and more beers opened in frustration. On the other side of the glass, indistinct taunts rose from the Lobo sections to the stadium at large, then back from the Aggies. It had been years and years since the rivalry game meant as much as it did today. Lucy was probably doing backflips right now.