Rum and Coke

23 Years Later
October 3, 2050

Ryan picked his way through the old cemetery. It had been a rainy night and he had to be careful not to slip on the wet leaves that lay strewn across the woodchip path. Any other person would admire the beauty that the path gave, but Ryan was not a normal person. Most of the maple trees lining the path were still full with their yellow, amber, and gold leaves. A soft breeze floated through the air, rustling everything that it came in contact with. Ryan didn’t notice these things- he had a more important thing to do than to gawk like a tourist. Leaning heavily on the cane in his right hand, he finally reached his destination. Four headstones sat below a concrete angel. Ryan said a quick hello to the two outer headstones before murmuring a small prayer to the one left of center. When he was done, he carefully knelt in front of the stone right of center- the one that was directly below the angel’s feet.

“Hey, Ellie,” He whispered. “I’m sorry it’s been so long, but after the funeral, I-I just had to get away. Your absence was too hard for me to bare. I’m sorry that I was so weak.”

“She would have understood, you know that, Ryan,” a deep, vaguely familiar voice said behind him.

Startled, Ryan fell to the right and looked at the intruders.

“Hey, Ry,” Mark greeted, his arm was securely wrapped around Bailey. “It’s been awhile.”

Ryan furrowed his eyes. “But, I thought...?”

Smiling, Bailey walked forward out of Mark’s hold. She stretched out her hand and helped her old best friend to his feet. “I see that time has not been so kind to you,” she chuckled, supporting him more than she thought she would. “But age has done you well. You look good, even with the salt ‘n pepper look,” she teased.

Ryan ignored her last comment. “It’s my damn legs, you see. They always give me trouble after a good rain,” Ryan replied, trying to regain his balance with his cane. “From the accident, you know.”

Bailey smiled sympathetically as Mark stood next to her once more. “It’s been forever, Ry, what have you been up to?”

“I could say the same to you- to the both of you. I was surprised that you weren’t at the funeral- either one.”

“Yea, I was kind of high…and, by kind of, I mean that I was touching the sky,” Baiely replied in a meek voice.

“And I was trying to find her,” Mark said. “We came, we just missed the service.”

Ryan nodded in understanding.

“What about you?”

“After I ran out of the service, I packed my things and boarded a plane to London. I haven't been back since. I started directing and became a major hit.” Ryan looked between the two. “So, when did you guys fall in love?”

“22 years ago. Once I detoxed, I went to Citadel. Mark followed me and teched at the Kennedy Center.”

“Madam President, we need to go,” a large, heavily built man, that Ryan did not notice before, said to Bailey.

Bailey nodded. “Gordon, can’t you see that I am speaking with an old friend? Kindly back up, we will not be late.”

“I am sorry, ma’am,” Gordon apologized while backing up.

Ryan raised an eyebrow at the woman in front of him. “Madam President? When did this happen?”

Bailey blushed. “Three years ago. I thought you knew?”

Ryan shook his head. “I don’t own a TV. I don’t want Big Brother watching me.”

Bailey shook her head. “Fair enough. I did it for her, she was always talking about how she was going to change the world- how she was going to bring it back to where it was.”

“So, you picked up the flag and changed it because she could not?”

“Yea, I did.”

While they were speaking, Mark moved closer to the headstones. He looked at each of them and ran a hand affectionately over each one. He returned to the one with the angel. He looked into her face while placing a hand over her clasped ones. Chuckling, he shook his head. “You always were an angel, even if you didn’t believe it. Heaven’s own little imperfection.”

“It’s odd, don’t you think?” Bailey asked, stepping closer to the stones. “That a star such as her could have a short life, yet an everlasting effect on us all.”

Ryan smiled. “Isn’t that what stars are? Planets that have died millions of years ago, but we are just now seeing them?”

"Why is it like that old Billy Joel song? Why do only the good die young?" Bailey asked.

"None of them were particularly good." Ryan mused.

"But all of them did leave a big impression." Mark said as he looked over the headstones. He began to chuckle. “What a cute little family, very peculiar, but very quaint.”

Ryan chuckled. “They are the model family for the obscene, don’t you know?”

Bailey nodded. “I miss them.”

Mark wrapped his arm around her waist. “We all miss them.”

“Well,” Ryan said, breaking the tense silence. “I don’t know about you two, but I have three dogs to go back to.”

“No loves for you?” Bailey asked.

“They’re right there,” Ryan said as he pointed to the headstones. “Well, I must be off. Have a good life. Maybe we’ll see each other again in this lifetime.”

“Maybe we shall,” Bailey muttered under her breath as she watched him walk out of her life. “Mark, we can’t keep the press waiting, let’s leave this dismal place.”

Mark nodded and looked back one last time. “Danielle, Ellie, Adam, and Brian- farewell. You have taught us all so much,” he said softly before walking away hand-in-hand with Bailey.