As the days tumble on the kissing never stops and Austin's behavior becomes more erratic. But the songs and music tumbling out of him sound like magic. The record label is ecstatic with the news of his progress and is talking about an early album release and a tour. The ice cream/candy bar never happens - what does happen though is the liquor in the bar slowly gets restored and when Jonas asks why Austin snorts and explains that it's his way of challenging himself. He wants to prove to himself that he does not need to drink even if there is liquor in the house and adds for good measure that he is getting tired of Jonas' judgy face. Jonas moves out of the house and into his own place a few miles down the road, and he suggests Marli do the same.
She could never, Austin needs her.
One morning Marli is lying half asleep by the pool soaking up the sun when Austin wakes her up. "Get up, we are going shopping," he says pulling Marli inside and pushing her to her room ignoring her protests. By the time night has fallen, they have been to LA and back. Marli feels like she has been caught in a whirlwind, an Austinwind. The day was spent at Giorgio Armani, he buys nothing for himself but everything for Marli. Bags, shoes, clothing, accessories, and jewelry. She is in a constant flurry of hands touching her, being pushed in and out of dressing rooms paraded in front of Austin for a nod of his head in approval. Austin talks to everyone except her, acknowledging everyone except her. He never says a word to her. Doesn't ask if she even likes the stuff he buys her and when she protests he ignores it. It's insane behavior. All Marli can do is shut the fuck up and take part. Now back at home, she is sitting on the floor of the formal lounge hidden between at least 100 boxes and bags while trying to explain to Jonas what happened but she can hardly get the words to tumble past the lump in her throat. Austin has all but disappeared and she wants none of this stuff. Jonas tries to soothe her and suggests she does not unpack anything, but rather sends it on to New York and follows suit.
Marli can't do that, Austin needs her.
After that, the skanks start coming back to the house too. Never to his bedroom though and thankfully he also has the sense to make the cave off-limits to them. He keeps them hanging around the main house, the swimming pool, and spare rooms. They ignore Marli or treat her like the help. Technically she is just the help, but this is still her home and she hates that they are here. That they are always here like annoying little nats. Eventually, Austin also stops kissing Marli and going on their morning runs. He starts a steady flow of alcohol washing over him again, drugs too. Then she finds herself being woken up by him at midnight again, being sick on himself and needing Marli to clean him up. "You drink too much, Austin," she whispers while wiping his face clean. "I know, lil mama. But these demons are loud," he always whispers back. She wishes he would tell her what his demons are. "You need rehab. Please," she will beg but he will only shake his head and smile softly at her as he falls asleep. "That's why I have you," he says.
Marli finds herself wiping tears away daily and Charlie tries to fix her sadness with food while Jonas shakes his head. Austin sees nothing.
~
A few weeks later on a hot Friday morning, Charlie serves breakfast outside by the pool. Although Jonas now lives on his own the promise of an amazing breakfast by Charlie has him showing up every morning bright and early.
"What do you call a belt made of watches?"
Marli moans, the punch line is going to be dumb.
"I don't know Jonas, tell me," Marli rolls her eyes at him.
"A waste of time!"
Charlie picks up the pancakes he just placed in front of Jonas. "Now you don't get to enjoy these. Because you are an idiot," he says.
Jonas' pained face has Marli cackling.
"Good, you are both here and in a good mood." Jonas and Marli turn around to see Austin walking towards them, two tall skinny model skanks following behind him. He doesn't sit down once he reaches the table but he does pour himself a cup of coffee. "Ever been to the Zion National park?" he asks. Marli shakes her head watching the two skanks glug down a glass of orange juice each out the corner of her eye. "You scared of heights?" he asks. Again Marli shakes her head. "OK good. Jonas gets the plane ready we are going on a trip to Zion. Come let's go," Austin says and takes off towards the garage, both skanks hot on his heels. Jonas groans but follows already talking on his phone to the airport. Marli stands, gives each one of her dogs a piece of bacon and a quick cuddle, and then climbs into the car.
When they land at the airport near Zion Austin waives everyone out and embraces a man, Patrick, who is dressed in a jumpsuit. Then Patrick starts telling them about safety precautions and showing them different stances for skydiving.
Skydiving?
Oh, Marli does not care for that. Then Patrick produces jumpsuits for all of them and they are walking to a plane.
"Um....Jonas, I am just watching the jumping. Right? He does not actually expect me to jump?" She asks Jonas as they climb into the plane. Jonas opens his mouth to say something, but Austin beats him to it.
"You said you were not afraid of heights."
"I am not afraid of heights. What I am afraid of is Jumping out of this plane."
"It's safe, you will be fine."
"I don't care how safe it is. I am not Jumping."
The plane starts moving and soon they are up in the air. Marli's hands are cramping from holding onto her seat so tightly. The two skanks are giggling about something Jonas is saying to them and when Marli is finally able to tear her eyes away from her lap she sees Austin staring at her with an intense look. He unbuckles himself and moves closer to her. "I have skydived hundreds of times. It's safe. You will be fine I promise," he says but Marli wants to punch him. She turns to say as much but one of his skanks is sliding her hand over his shoulder, whispering in his ear. His attention remains on Marli though. She looks out the window and immediately regrets it so she puts her head between her legs. She is going to die.
After a while, she feels Austin's hands on her. She snorts at the oxymoron they represent, his hands are soothing, but they are also the cause of her anxiety. "Ok?" he stares at Marli when she lifts her head. "We don't have to do this. It'll be incredible, an experience I know you will love. One that I wanted to share with you. But the kind of fear you are submitting to won't allow you to enjoy it. I'm not going to force you to do something that makes you do that with your hands," he says. She looks down and sees her hands curled up and twisted into her clothing, they are sore from the tension. "Bit late now don't you think?" she manages to whisper out. "It's never too late. I am sorry. I just thought being on top of the world would be fun, the idea appeals to most people," Austin says.
"The bottom of the sea."
"What?"
"When I was a kid, I would dream of being able to lie on the bottom of the sea and look up. Seeing the fish and their world above me. I was always sad when I woke up and realized it was just a dream. Being on top of the world never held much appeal for me, it was the bottom of the sea," Marli explains.
"Would you feel better if you were strapped to me and not Patrick? You can trust me."
Marli looks up into his eyes. She trusts him. Blindly. She nods then shuts her eyes again. She feels Austin's breath on her neck, his oakwood and leather scent in her lungs. "Tell me about your bottom-of-the-ocean dreams, lil mama," he whispers in her ear.
"I would float down from the surface of the water to the ocean floor, but I would never get wet." She can feel Austin slide his hands around her waist and pull her up to her feet and then pull her back, flush to his chest.
"The sand on the ocean floor was always so soft and felt like powder between my fingers." Austin attaches her body to his via a harness and pulls tight, she can hear the clasps click as he snaps them into place.
"While lying on my back I can see all the way back to the surface of the water. There is always a turtle with her baby that swims overhead and once I even saw a swordfish" He removes the hairband from around her wrist and pulls her hair back into a tight bun then slides her helmet on and clicks it into place.
"The light from the sun will filter through the water and the little silverfish will shimmer and shine as the light reflects off them, like little stars under the sea." Austin puts his hands on her waist and moves them forward a few paces then stops. He pulls her goggles over her eyes and she can feel him checking the harness that is attaching them. Then she hears the door slide open and suddenly there's a rush of wind.
Austin pulls her even tighter into his chest. She can feel his lips on her ear. "You have nothing to be afraid of. I have you. I will always have you. Open your eyes, lil mama," he says. Marli counts to five and opens her eyes slowly, her breath is knocked out of her. There is so much wind and they are so high up, she just doesn't have the words to express how she is feeling. She feels like she is on top of the world, she can see Zion National Park far below her. Then the adrenaline starts to kick in - she feels limitless like she could jump. Austin grabs hold of her hand and squeezes, she nods and they jump.
The wind is whipping past her ears so much that she can hear nothing but a hollow shooshing sound. They are going so fast and when she looks down she can see the ground rushing up to them. It's a weird feeling. Austin grabs each of her hands and stretches them out like wings, she feels like she is flying. It's amazing and she catches sight of Jonas on her left he gives her a thumbs up, and she returns it and looks back down. She should be scared but with Austin strapped to her back like this, she could free fall for the rest of her life and not care.
The insanity of her thoughts starts a rumble of laughter to escape her and when Austin hears it he laughs too. Just before they get a little too close to the ground Austin wraps his arms and legs around Marli and then yanks the parachute cable. The force of the parachute being freed jerks them back, pulling them up and for a few seconds, everything feels like it's out of control.
Then everything stops.
Silence.
The wind in her ears stops whipping and they are no longer falling but gliding softly and gently. Austin taps her shoulder and when she turns her head to look up at him, he is smiling at her then he gently kisses the tip of her nose.
Being in love with Austin Post is like skydiving and Marli wonders when or if she will ever land on solid ground again.
~
They part ways after their jump, the skanks fake pouting and blowing Austin kisses as they get into the car he has hired for them to start their four-hour car ride back to Salt Lake City. Marli, Jonas, and Austin take Austin's plane down to LA. Austin has a meeting on Monday with his record label and so he wants to spend the weekend catching up with friends. Jonas looks skeptical, but shrugs. Once in LA Marli does not see Austin till Monday morning. He shows up to the meeting hungover but claims he has a cold starting. Jonas looks pissed off, but he plasters a smile on his face and suggests the company listen to the 25 songs that Austin had written and recorded. The cords of the first song knock around the board room and Marli is mesmerized, she along with the rest of the world is in love with Austin's voice. He sounds amazing. She does not know much about music, never grew up in the music world, and can't play an instrument or hold a note, but she loves Austin's music. The record label loves all the songs too, they are all looking at Austin like he has opened the sky above him and money will be raining down on them any time now.
They talk of other music stuff, finishing off the album, photoshoots, promotional appearances, and finally a tour depending on the album sales Austin is looking at either an American or world tour. The next year will be very busy. So busy that it is suggested they move back to LA for now. Once the tour is done and Austin takes a break they can live in Utah again. Austin nods and Marli has a weird swirling start in her stomach. Not much different from how it is now really. They have been spending more time in LA again lately than in Utah, but there was some comfort in the idea that whenever they were in LA, Utah would only be a few nights away. Now? Well, Utah almost feels like a fever dream, a little make-believe place she has made in her head when she wants to get away from the world.
~
Marli is woken early the next morning by a soft rap on her bedroom door. It's the pilot of Austin's plane. "Morning miss. Austin asked me to take you back to Utah, said you needed to pack and collect your dogs," he says. Marli smiles at the small man, she has always liked him. His name is Hank and he has always been nice to Marli. "I will be ready in ten minutes, thank you, Hank," she says.
Driving up the driveway to the Utah house hurts Marli's chest. This is home and she feels sad knowing that it will be a few months before she gets to live here again. The idea of keeping her dogs with her helps to ease the pain a little.
Her dogs.
She makes quick work of packing up her clothing and then Austin's. He has so much that she is not sure what to take so it turns into a guessing game. She knows he won't need any of this stuff. He gets new clothing nearly every day depending on what endorsements he is working with. When she is packed up she heads for the car. Colt, Otis, and Willadeene are already in the back seat. She takes the front passenger seat as she can't fit in the back with those three babies.