Chapter 14
Jen was relaxing in a soapy hot tub of water drinking a glass of wine. Todd was sitting on the commode talking about his day. He gave her a general summation and left out many details so she would not be too curious. He told her about his new secretary being gay and that he suspected that his new Public Relations person was gay too. Jen asked him if that bothered him. He said, “No, this is the twenty first century. I could care less about their sexual persuasion. Just doing the job is what’s important to me. I feel both of them are experienced enough to handle the position.”
“Do you want some company?”
“Of course, big boy, take off your clothes and climb in.”
He went in the bedroom and stripped. Hung up his coat and tie and threw the rest down the laundry chute. He walked back in and slide down the side of the tub opposite her. He laid his head back and closed his eyes and enjoyed the hot water on his tired body.
He thought back to the days of lonely Friday nights; wondering if he would ever meet a nice girl that his mother always said would enter his life. He thanked the ‘Higher Spirit’ for providing him with this wonderful girl.
He felt some toes moving up his legs. Soon she was teasing him and he responded to her probing. She climbed on his lap and after a while of intense love making, she with her arms around his neck and back, he with his arms around her middle, they slide down into the water. They came up laughing and she told him to stand up please. She washed him from the waist down and told him to go rinse off in the shower. He did as he was told and she followed him into the shower.
Later they dressed in their usual pajamas and curled up on the sofa. They watched some mind-less programs half asleep when the ten o’clock news came on. The announcer said they had some pictures and some details about the Todd Lincoln and Jennifer Curtis engagement. There was some footage of her house and Jen and her mother going out in a car. Another shot of them in a bridal store shopping. Then, there was some footage of him getting into his car with the top down and driving off. The details were sketchy at best. A close up shot of her hand revealed a ring. The announcer said that the wedding was obviously scheduled but further details were not available. He promised some exclusive pictures and details on Monday night’s program.
Todd said out loud, “Good luck buddy, I doubt your viewers are going to hold their breath. Wait until you meet Alex.”
Jen looked at him funny and turned back to the TV. He turned it off and said, “Let’s hit the sack honey.”
She murmured her agreement and they went to bed.
Todd spent a restless night. The dream came back again and again. He got up twice and finally took a sleeping pill. Pills were something he never took without a good reason.
He woke up and it was nine am. Jen was out of bed and he heard her in the kitchen banging pots and pans around. He was groggy from the sleeping pill. He took a quick shower, put on his shorts and running shoes and went to the exercise room. An hour later, sweat running off him, he felt much better. He took another long shower and she was sitting in the kitchen talking on the phone to her mother.
Fresh coffee was in the pot. He poured a cup and looked around for something to eat. He was hungry. Jen waved her hand to the oven. He opened the oven up and in there were two mushroom omelets, fried potatoes and a stack of toast warming and waiting for him. The table was set and she put down the phone and asked him if he was ready to eat.
“Starving,” he said. Tomato juice in a glass and chilled water in a pitcher waited for him. He downed a glass of water and drank the juice in one gulp. He ate with relish and only looked up at her once or twice, but he smiled each time. She knew he liked her cooking. She so liked to please him. She was glad her mother made her learn to cook. After breakfast, he walked to the window to check out the weather. He saw it was a nice day. He wondered how tired from the week she was. She was in the bathroom and that is where he found her combing her hair and smiling in the mirror at him.
“What say you and I meet the new head of security I hired today for lunch?”
“If you want to honey,” she answered, thinking that he something on his mind and needed to talk to this guy today and not on Monday. Something must be kind of urgent, she thought to herself. He went to the library/study and made a phone call.
Alex answered on the first ring. He had programmed his phone to make a special sound for his boss. Alex told him good morning and waited for Todd to talk to him.
Todd told him if he had time, would he like to have lunch with him and to meet Jen, his future wife.
Alex said, “Name the time and place and I will be there.”
Todd mentioned a restaurant, Luigi, and named one o’clock would be the time. They hung up and Todd returned to thinking about Jen and felt a little bad he was mixing business with pleasure.
Jen asked what time they would be leaving and he said, “Just after noon.”
She nodded her head. She came around the desk and sat in his lap and gave him a nice kiss and told him she loved him so much. He told her how much she meant to him. He nuzzled her neck and she felt a stirring under her. She smiled at him and asked him if he wanted to take a nap before lunch. He smiled and said he would save it for later. She kissed his cheek and said she was going to call Beth and e-mail some friends while he was sitting here thinking about something. He hugged her and said, “I am a little worried about the press bothering your family.”
She went to the bedroom and called Beth. They talked for forty-minutes. Jen on the bed didn’t talk about much except her upcoming wedding and her love for her man. She said, “Sorry Beth that all I talk about is me.”
Beth told her she understood and was there for her always.
The weather was clear and warm for early September. Getting ready for lunch at Luigi, Jen was dressed in a summer outfit. She wore a pale green summer dress with straps that showed off her white skin. A silver necklace, dangling ear rings, her new watch and ring blended nicely with her beautiful skin. Her hair was down and Todd left the top up so it wouldn’t blow her shinny blond hair.
He was dressed causal, but looked every part the young executive. A silk shirt open at the collar showing his chest hair and a new Armani sport coat that arrived Friday. He had on tan slacks with a crease that could cut a loaf of homemade bread. Deep blood red loafers finished off his dress. He had put on a dash of after shave and smelled so good she could devour him.
Todd was thinking about Alex and was anxious to hear what he had to say about what he had been doing and Todd needed specifics, not general news. They pulled in to the curb next to Luigi’s. Jen looked at her watch and it was about a quarter to the hour. They were early. He opened the door for her and they went in. He had called the restaurant earlier and made a reservation. Luigi told Todd that he didn’t need to call him in the future; there was a table for four always waiting for him. Todd thought he heard the sounds of Mario at work from Luigi.
Luigi led them to a secluded table and Alex was standing there waiting. Todd made the introduction and they sat down. Alex thought to himself, man if she was mine, I would be doing the same thing: a twenty hour guard seven days a week! She was gorgeous. He kept staring at her and Todd had a smile on his face watching him look at her. Todd poured a glass of wine for him and Jen. Alex had a file folder on the table. His wine glass was full. He either had just arrived or he didn’t drink much, Todd thought.
Todd jumped in with a little cough and Alex turned to him with the hint of red cheeks. Todd said, “Tell me some things you have been doing. I saw a news clip last night on TV that I didn’t much appreciate.”
Alex pushed his glass aside and opened up the file, but never looked at it. He began his story with specifics. “I rented a warehouse down on the docks. Equipped it with an alarm system and it is staffed with about ten guys who are monitoring all the local and national television stations. We have a copy of the tape and as we speak; it’s at a lab going through extensive scrutiny using
GPS and math to determine the exact location of the camera man. We know who the camera man is and right now one of my men is drinking in a bar making friends with him. My man is wired and we’re recording their conversation.”
Todd listened with complete attention. Jen was in a daze listening to the report. Alex told him that he had men at both houses. “Both teams are wired to our warehouse. They report in every ten minutes and it’s recorded. We notified the local police so they are aware of our activity at both locations. We have another team at the TV station monitoring their hand radios to the drivers and camera men for dispatch. He closed the file and looked at Todd and Jen.”
Todd said two words: “Good job.”
They ordered lunch and they talked about boats. Alex told him he had been a sailor with his father like Todd was with his father. Todd thought they had a lot in common and he told Alex about his sailboat and his love, and now Jens too, for boating. He was looking for a new boat and he and Jen on their honey moon would look at new boats to buy. An hour later, having eaten lunch, talking about security and his past life, Todd and Jen went away feeling good about their meeting with a nice guy.
Todd asked Jen what she wanted to do this afternoon. Jen thought about it for awhile and told him she wanted to ride a roller coaster. Todd said, it sounds like fun.” And they headed for Coney Island. Todd said, with a smile on his face, “I hope you don’t lose your lunch.”
“There is no danger I will lose my lunch,” she replied with a big smile on her face. They arrived at the park. Found a parking space and took a shuttle tram to the entrance.
Jen was very excited as they went through the gate into the park. They warmed up on some kiddy’s rides. First the merry go round, the Ferris wheel and the bumper cars. She was a crazy driver and Todd had to work hard not to be bumped by her. He laughed and she hit him again. Finally they left and walked to the roller-coaster holding hands and having fun like little kids.
The roller-coaster was huge and the cars were going so fast, they stopped and stared at it. People were screaming and arms were flying above their heads. She pulled on him and said, “Let’s go big boy.”
He bought the tickets and they waited in line. Close to the front of the line, he nodded to the attendant who had looked at them because she was a knock out and he carried himself with the look of power. When the cars stopped, he and Jen were placed in the front. Todd slipped the guy a fiver and they buckled up.
The cars moved slowly up a giant hill. Cresting the top and when most of the cars were over the downhill side, the cars took off like a shot. People were screaming and Jen had smile on her face holding tight to the bar. Todd had his arm around her and quickly as they reached the bottom put both hands on the bar as his stomach went to his seat when they started up the other side, again up a short hill and over the top. This time his stomach went to his throat and he felt his body lift off the seat. Jen was screaming and he was laughing with feelings of excitement. Around and down they went, faster and faster and when they came to the three sixty, up and around upside down they went. People were going crazy and Todd felt like an astronaut. A few more minutes and they pulled into the start/finish line. Got out and staggered down the ramp holding on to each other and laughing like teenagers. They stopped at the bottom and she turned and looked at him and gave him a hug and kiss. “That was fun,” she said, “Let’s do it again.”
He agreed and back to the ticket booth and away they went. This time from the back car they had the same great feeling of excitement and when they were finished, made a promise to come back soon and do it all over again.
They left the park and drove home. Took a shower and they did their usual playing around talking about what fun they had today. After the shower he went to the kitchen to prepare dinner. He marinated the turkey breast in a special sherry wine and put it in the oven for an hour. She told him she was going to make some phone calls and check her e-mail.
He went to the library to make some phone calls. He checked his briefcase and his cell for any calls. Nothing there, so he picked up the phone and called his grandmother first. He told her about the Coney Island roller coaster ride and she said, “Todd, your still a kid at heart.”
He laughed and told him she was feeling fine and would see him on Monday.
Next he called Glenda to see if she was in contact with Alex. She answered on the first ring. Told him in a brief few seconds that she was at the warehouse and she and Alex were in close contact with each other. He thanked her and hung up. After that he called his secretary and found her in the backyard in the flower bed weeding. He apologized for calling on a Saturday and she said it was fine that he called and what could she do for him. He asked her if the memo that he sent out requesting the meeting for Thursday had been RSVP. She said, “All have responded and will be here Wednesday night.”
He thanked her and hung up.
Back in the kitchen, he found Jen sitting at the counter on a stool talking on the portable. He kissed her cheek and she grabbed his backside. He smiled and went to the refer to make a salad and a veggie tray. Both the salad and veggies completed, he put them in the refer. He found her in the study on the computer pounding out e-mails to friends.
He told her with a whisper in her ear that dinner would be ready in a half hour. Nibbled on her ear and she made soft sounds. He went back into the kitchen to check on his turkey breast. He stuck a meat thermometer in the turkey and found it was cooked. Left it on the stove and set the table for two. Found a couple candles and lit them. He took two crystal cut wine glasses out of the antique China cabinet and went to get the chilled wine. He then placed all the rest of the dinner on the table and sliced the turkey. When all was ready, he went to find Jen just finishing up on the computer. He told her dinner was ready and they both went into the dining room.
She said, “Wow, this looks lovely. I’ll bet it taste good too.”
They were both hungry from the time spent at the park and ate with a good appetite. Comfortably full, they cleaned up the table and went to the TV room. Snuggled up and watched TV. He asked her if she wanted to watch a movie and she said that was fine by her. He looked though his collection of DVD’s and decided on a rip roaring adventure movie: “Indiana Jones”. They both thought Harrison Ford was a great Jones man.
After the movie they slipped quietly to bed and made soft and passionate love. They fell asleep in each other's arms and Todd spent a dreamless night.