The Ayatollah's Money

  Chapter 17 – Back to Charleston

  Shimmey called the airport security office and asked if dogs were allowed in the terminal. He thought surprising the Junes would be nice, but he was told no, except for special assistance dogs and K9 dogs, so he had to make the pickup alone. He had mixed feelings about the Junes returning. On the one hand he would be happy to see them and have them back as close friends, but on the other hand he would have to go back to his apartment where he wouldn’t have walking the dog as an excuse for not working on his novel. Gwen had emailed him and told him the date and time of their arrival, and also had said they would have a friend with them, and would he make sure one of the other guest rooms was ready. He wondered who this friend was.

  Roger and Gwen were the first to come down the ramp and enter the terminal waiting area, looking better than Catherine Zeta-Jones and Clooney had when they arrived at LAX after returning together that year from the opening of Ocean’s Twelve at Cannes. Shimmey loved that movie, and everything about Catherine and George, but not as much as he loved seeing Gwenny again. She looked great, like always, and every guy in the room looked at her as she got a welcome home kiss from Shimmy, after which he shook hands with Roger. At this point his attention, and that of all the guys in the room, shifted from the blond hair of Gwen to the jet black hair of Laleh, who stood just behind Roger, starring at Shimmey. She could see Shimmy was totally different from Roger, but still nice. Roger was distinguished in an unassuming way, while Shimmy was, sort of, innocent. Laleh was surprised to think that an American could look innocent, her having been told from a young age that all Americans were like devils, only worse. In addition to thinking of him as innocent, she also thought he was cute. A cute little devil, maybe.

  Roger introduced them, and then moved the group down the terminal to the baggage claim. An hour later they climbed the back steps into the June’s home, where the dog went berserk in the kitchen, knocking over two counter stools, his water dish, and half of the suitcases. Gwen played with him while Roger and Shimmey lugged the luggage up the stairs, some of it to the second floor, and Laleh’s stuff to a guest room on the third floor. On the way down Shim brought his stuff and set it next to the back door. Roger was mixing drinks at the bar in the kitchen, Laleh and the dog were making friends, and Gwen was looking in the refrigerator for something to serve with the drinks. Roger asked Laleh, “What would you like?” He was mixing a cognac and soda for himself and a Sidecar for Gwen.

  “What are you making?”

  “Cocktails.”

  “What are cocktails?”

  Roger looked at Gwen, then said, “They’re drinks made with hard liquor. Would you like wine instead?”

  “No. I’ll have what Gwen’s having.”

  So he made another Sidecar, and looked at Shimmey, who said, “I’ll have what you’re having,” which pleased Roger, the girls and boys now being equal.

  Gwen sat on one of the stools the dog had knocked over in his excitement, and said, “Did you get all the babes out of the house, or are there still a few upstairs?”

  Shimmey looked pleased that Gwen would joke with him about that subject, her knowing something about his love life over the last few years, that being that the quality was there while the quantity was not. He seemed to be without a girlfriend more than with one, which always puzzled Gwen, given his looks and affability. Laleh sat quietly, her attention divided equally between exploring the delicious drink in her hand and listening to the banter. Gwen’s conversational directness fascinated her. It seemed that Gwen remained on point all the time, yet did so effortlessly.

  “I think they’re all gone, but I kind of lost track over the last few days.” Instinctively, Shim knew that wisecracking with Gwen was all right, but that he shouldn’t include Laleh in it, because he didn’t know her at all, and didn’t want to goof up with her right out of the chute. He wanted to know her story, and what she was doing here with the Junes, but he subscribed to the same code of etiquette as the Junes, and wouldn’t come right out and ask any personal questions. Roger knew what he was thinking, though, and helped him out.

  “We met Laleh at The Savoy. She’s never been to The States, so we asked her to come back with us for a visit; spend some time in Charleston with us. She likes wine almost as much as we do.”

  “Speaking of which,” said Gwen, “we better give some serious thought to drying out over the next week. Starting, like, tomorrow.” Looking at Shim she said, “We’ve been lushing it up over there pretty good.” Roger looked depressed, and if Laleh had been able to follow Gwen’s point, she would have been depressed too, seeing as how she was really enjoying the wine at every meal deal. She went on, “Shim’s a writer, and one of our best friends. He housesits for us and takes great care of the dog.” She looked at him fondly. “You serious about any of the babes? Veronica? Cleo?” He shook his head. She didn’t look at Roger, but telegraphically she sent him the message, “What about these two?”

  He didn’t look at her, either, but silently answered, “I don’t know if he can handle her. You said she’s special, right?”

  “That doesn’t mean she’s a man-eater. I said she’s special, but I don’t know how, yet. We’ll figure that out over the next few weeks. She thinks Shim is cute, though. I can tell that.”

  Roger looked at Laleh, who had drained the Sidecar and was hoping Roger was going to offer her a refill. How could Gwen tell she thought Shim was cute? He couldn’t tell, just by looking at her, but one thing he knew was that his wife never was wrong about stuff like this. So, Shim was in luck. Now, how would he handle this? Whatever was going to happen, Roger thought it was going to be fun, and having two beautiful women in his house was double the pleasure. Not exactly double, of course, but it still was a good thing. He looked around and said, “We ready for more drinks?” Laleh smiled at this, and then smiled at Gwen, and then smiled at Shimmey. Her first night in America, and she was feeling good.