"I SEE THE GIRLS WALK BY DRESSED IN THEIR SUMMER CLOTHES NA-NA-NAH...I HAVE TO TURN MY HEAD UNTIL MY DARKNESS GOES!" Travis Scott was up and about grooving and singing to his latest purchase; The Rolling Stones' Paint It Black. He was still in his pyjamas and hadn't showered yet but was still belting out the songs on his stereo at nearly full volume. Summer had just entered the lounge, by contrast fully dressed, made up and with not one strand of hair out of place, and scowled at him.
"Travis, you've got to turn that noise down...Liberty's still catching up on her sleep!" she said.
"Hey babe! Dig this! TOTAL SOUND!" he replied.
"Total noise more like...turn it down!" she said, hands on hips and staring him down.
"Spoilsport..." he muttered as he reluctantly walked over to the stereo and turned the volume dial down.
"That's better. Liberty's jet lagged, she's been working real hard and she came to the wedding having had only two hours of sleep...the poor thing needs to be left to doze" Summer remonstrated with Travis.
In fact, Liberty was already up. When they had staggered home after the wedding she unzipped her gown, slipped off her shoes and just fell into bed where she fell asleep instantaneously and slept the whole night through undisturbed. She woke up about 20 minutes before Travis' 'total sound' experience with her mind buzzing with the Gemini IX mission, Suzy and Neil's wedding and the thought of returning to life in Willow Creek.
It was great to catch up with her housemates but there was someone else she was desperate to see: Her boyfriend, Gary. They hadn't been together long and her going to Cape Canaveral was the first time she'd been out of touch with him. There was a gnawing feeling in her stomach that maybe he'd found someone else or had grown bored or tired with her. There was still so much about him she didn't know nor he knew about her. Liberty had other boyfriends in the past and she knew those early weeks were when things were at their most vulnerable; where initial attraction could fade away and the signs of incompatibility reared their heads. She really liked Gary and wanted to know if he still liked her.
Meanwhile back in the lounge, Summer managed to get Travis to sit down with her and have a quiet talk.
"The thing is, Travis, is that we must give Liberty plenty of peace and quiet..."
"What's that about me?" said Liberty, suddenly appearing in the room.
"Oh you're awake!" replied Summer, shocked at seeing Liberty up, dressed and full of energy.
"Of course I am! When I hit the sack I fell fast asleep...8 hours of undisturbed peace and I feel fine!" said Liberty.
"I'll put my music back on then!" said Travis, getting up off the couch.
"Oh no, here we go again..." sighed Summer. "Well, if you can stand the din, how about telling us all about your trip, Libs?"
Liberty sat down next to Summer on the couch.
"It was full on, I can tell you! There were...complications...with the mission which I can't really talk about, even with you guys."
"The aborted space walk?" asked Summer.
"Yeah...when I left the Cape they were having a big debrief about it but I'm not on that side of the team so I came home. "
"I wish I knew more about space stuff but I leave that to you and Travis" said Summer. She turned to see him back dancing and singing way out of tune.
"Shall we split and leave dancing boy here?" asked Liberty. "I was going to head to the gym, wanna come?"
"To escape the noise? You betcha!"
The two young women packed their exercise clothes into bags and headed briskly off to downtown Willow Creek and the gym. Liberty said little but Summer knew her friend well enough to notice that there was something on her mind other than getting out in the sunshine and working out. As they walked down the street to Movers n' Shakers, she pried for information.
"So...has Gary called you since you got back?" asked Summer. Liberty turned her head to her friend and smiled ruefully.
"I found a message on the answerphone" said Liberty. "He wants to meet later"
"That's good, right?"
Liberty shrugged her shoulders. "Maybe"
"What do you mean, maybe? He's been missing you!" said Summer, encouragingly.
"Did you see him while I was away?" asked Liberty.
"Erm...no. But why would you think he's not missed you?"
"I don't know...a gut feeling, probably"
Summer didn't understand her friend's reticence. She often found that Liberty overthought problems and created issues where there weren't any.
They reached the gym and stepped inside. Looking around, they saw that it wasn't too busy.
They headed upstairs to the locker room and changed into their fitness clothes. All the while Summer was trying to instil some positive vibes and thinking into her friend. Gary seemed like a nice guy, he was crazy about Liberty and she should trust in him more. Then Liberty let out a little laugh.
"You know, Sum, I don't know anyone as peppy as you! Alright, alright...you've convinced me; Gary still likes me and I'll stop worrying now will you stop with all this perkiness otherwise we'll soon have Disney animals frolicking around our feet!"
They headed back downstairs and hit the apparatus. Liberty was focussed and pushing the limits but seemed happy enough. Summer smiled; as long as Libs had something to focus on, some kind of project (and having a boyfriend was a project) she was happy. The moment her world stopped turning and stood still, she started to fret. Coming to the gym was the best thing for Liberty right now and Summer was sure Gary had a special homecoming arranged for her.
After the session, the two headed home where Liberty noticed a flashing light on the telephone answering machine. Quick as a flash, she ran to find out who the message was from.
"Hello? Hello? I'm not used to speaking into these machines..." the voice was very familiar. "This is Gary, if you can hear me, Liberty, would you like to come down to the Fashion Quarter for drinks and dinner? Hello? If you can here me, call me back: I'm at home. Oh, and one more thing....CLICK!" The tape had run out at that point but Liberty was wasting no time in calling him back.
Summer smiled; she knew everything would be alright. Of course Gary still liked her.
"Oh my gosh, Sum, what if he wants to break up with me in person!" cried Liberty, when she hung up the phone.
"How did he sound?" Summer asked.
"Erm...happy, cool, I guess. He's keen to meet up but I don't know..."
"Just go, have a great time!"
"But..."
"No buts...go...GO!" and with the Summer ushered her friend out of the front door.
Liberty raced down to the Fashion Quarter as fast as she could and once there was frantically on the look out for Gary; her heart pounding and her stomach filled with dread. To make matters worse, there was a Llamaman live event going on and the place was filled with fans and curious onlookers, making it harder to look for Gary.
Her attention was drawn to someone dressed in a Llamaman costume but right next to them, wearing his distinctive flat cap, was Gary. Liberty stood still and looked at him. At that exact moment Gary turned to look at her. There was a moment's pause where both of them looked surprised to see the other and yet no word was spoken. Then Gary's face broke out into a huge, warm smile and Liberty's fears evaporated as they ran towards each other and kissed, passionately.
"Obviously I'm intruding..." said the guy in the Llamaman outfit before walking off.
"You are a heavenly sight, Liberty" said Gary, looking at her admiringly. She, by contrast, looked bashful. "Hey, is anything the matter?" he asked.
"No. On the contrary" she replied, blushing. "I was wondering how this reunion was going to go"
"What do you mean?" he asked.
"Nothing. It's silly. It's wonderful to see you too" she replied.
"Well, I don't know about you but I'm starving" said Gary. "Do you fancy a bite to eat first?"
"First?"
"Sure! We've got a lot of catching up to do" he replied, smiling.
"Lead on, I could eat a horse right now" said Liberty.
They grabbed some food from the street vendors and found a place to sit.
"You look even more beautiful than when I last saw you. That's my favourite outfit on you" he said.
"This?" she said, giving her top a gentle stroke "this is my French look. I saw Anna Karina wear this outfit in a French movie and I wanted to get it for myself."
"Well, vive la France!" said Gary. "So, I hear the mission ran into some trouble" he said, changing the subject.
Liberty took a deep breath. "There were difficulties...first, the target vehicle's launch shroud didn't jettison so Gemini couldn't dock with it and then the EVA..."
"EVA?" interrupted Gary, who wasn't up to date on all the NASA slang Liberty often used when describing her job.
"Oh, the space walk. Anyway, there was a plan to use an experimental manned manoeuvring unit...kind of like a jet pack for space...but that had to be abandoned and finally Cernan, the astronaut, had difficulty on the space walk and almost fell unconscious."
"Oh, so the mission was a disaster!" asked a shocked Gary.
"Oh no. It was a success. We learned a lot from all the things that went wrong. As long as the astronauts make it back alive the mission is a success."
Gary was impressed and let out a sigh. Her job was infinitely way more interesting than his boring administration one. "Well my work was very boring by comparison. I kept counting down the days until you returned." he added.
"You old softie" she said.
"It's true! Liberty...I truly missed you. I couldn't stop thinking about you either. Now seeing you here, once again, looking stunning and with that cute look on your face whenever you describe something you're clearly passionate about I've realised that I can hold this in no longer....Liberty, I love you!"
Liberty was stunned. He had said the words! There she had been all day fretting over whether he was going to break up with her and instead he'd done the opposite. She took his hand in hers and said "I love you too".
