Sophia Pt. 03

"Hi Maria, Freddie, Vanessa, Kathy and my little dew drops from heaven. Did you all have a nice time skiing?"

"Yes, but we're starving!" I answered, as everyone else scurried upstairs. They must have been really hungry and anxious to get cleaned up and back downstairs to eat. I quickly ran upstairs after them; I didn't want to be the one causing a delay in dinner being served.

When I came back downstairs, Megan and Robin were waiting for me. They said that, because Carl and Lucille were here, it had been decided that we would eat in the dining room. They kind of hinted that they wanted to eat there too. It was pretty fancy and I hardly ever used it, but if my babies wanted to eat there I wasn't going to argue.

The house was full of such wonderful smells that it seemed like someone had prepared a feast. The double sliding wood doors to the dining room were closed. Why was that? Megan took one door and Robin the other, then they slid them both open at the same time, leaving me in the center.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MARIA!" Noise makers went off, people were clapping and there was huge banner and balloons with my name on it!

Besides the people that I expected, my friends from the lodge were there, and even Richard, my ex-husband. He was smiling broadly and clapping just as hard as everyone else.

Megan and Robin got on either side of me to give me a big hug and they both said at the same time, "Happy Birthday".

I looked to Don, and he had noise maker in his mouth and was giving it some toots, but for some strange reason I thought he was a little sad.

The table was groaning with food. There were two huge garlic encrusted prime ribs, Yorkshire pudding, Dungeness crab, sautéed spinach, asparagus, rolls, pasta with garlic and olive oil, Italian sausage, shrimp scampi and mashed potatoes. We were going to be eating food for a week! On the sideboard was a massive CAKE, already decorated with candles.

This was the absolute best birthday I've had since my parents died. It was wonderful having a family! I was so happy that my eyes were constantly leaking tears. Megan and Robin sat on either side of me and had to keep encouraging me to eat. Don's eyes seemed to be a little wet, too, and his appetite didn't look to be that good either, Hmmm.

After dinner the cake was brought before me with all thirty-five candles lit. The cake read, "Happy Birthday Maria, We All Love You." I pulled in Megan and Robin really close to help me blow out all the candles, and I knew I would need help with the forest fire in front of me! On three we all blew and cameras went off. I think the tears from my eyes helped with extinguishing the flames.

It was decided that, since we were all too full, we would save the CAKE for later. Then it was time for me to open my presents. I got some lovely and thoughtful gifts from everyone, but when it was time to open the heavy, small box from Don, Megan, and Robin, I did so with both trepidation and a secret plea that it be as wonderful as the gift I got for Christmas.

It was a platinum and diamond broach, matching my earlier pieces. I slowly turned it over, to see if there was an inscription. "To Maria, thank you for coming into our lives. All our love Megan, Robin and Don. 2/26/09"

It was so wonderful that I completely lost it. My girls both hugged me and all my female friends gathered around to comfort me and share my joy.

That night we danced and played games till almost eleven. Then all us women folk settled down in our jammies to watch chick flicks while the men catered to us. Nancy and Lucille in particular seemed to be having a good time. The cake was finally cut and we started to pig out once again!

The men stayed in the kitchen playing cards until about three. During the night, besides the cake and ice cream, they served us pizza, stuffed mushrooms and homemade French fries. Finally, the men all went to bed. Shortly after that we all fell asleep, too, on the various couches, chairs and recliners in the movie room. Throughout the evening Robin and Freddie had been taking a great number of pictures, and I would have to be sure to get copies to help me remember this magic night.

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I finally got to meet Maria's ex-husband, Richard. He seemed like a great guy. The first thing that he did was apologize to me about the invasion of my privacy that he had instigated with his investigation. He explained to me how Maria was like a sister to him that he had to do everything in his power to protect. I accepted his apology and assured him that I fully understood.

While cooking, drinking Carl's beer and cooking some more, I learned a lot about Richard. It turns out, that years ago while Maria was still a model, she had been using a particular financial/brokerage firm to handle all her money. Richard was a junior employee at the firm and was used as basically a messenger between the decision makers at the firm and the holders of the smaller accounts, such as Maria. While Richard was there, the old management team got replaced and the new team started making decisions that he didn't agree with. He knew that it could cost him his job, but he always got on well with the customers that he dealt with and didn't want them to suffer, so he started giving them warnings and advice about what to do.

Sure enough, the company got into trouble. The senior management didn't want to accept the blame, so they very publicly stuck Richard with it and fired him, thereby completely destroying his reputation. I knew from Maria that Richard was an orphan and that he didn't have the most impressive academic credentials; he simply hadn't been able to afford the better schools. He was in dire straits, he had very little in savings, and it looked like that he would never be able to find a job in the financial sector again.

Maria and others that had followed his advice had come out of that financial fiasco without any harm at all. Later, when she asked at the firm about Richard, she was told that he had been let go. She had immediately asked for a cashier's check for her funds and went looking for him. She found him in his cheap apartment going through the want ads. Maria first asked and then convinced him to start managing her money, explaining that he was the only person that she would trust with her life savings. Then she went out and dug up some of the other clients that had dealt with Richard and got them to join in. She was careful how she did it, not wanting to get Richard in any trouble with his former employers. Since these were all smaller account holders, and not very numerous to boot, his old firm barely noticed their withdrawals. However, for Richard it was more than enough to start his own company and he was actually able to pay himself more than he had been making before.

Over the next year and a half Maria and he became quite close, especially after the death of her parents. He admitted that it was a mistake that they got married; they did love one another, but more like a brother and sister than spouses. Eventually they admitted the truth to one another and had an amicable divorce. For some reason he warned me about treating Maria right, saying that she was his only family and it was his job to look after her. I shrugged it off, it was not like I was ever going to harm or marry Maria.

We talked a lot about financial matters and investing. He impressed the hell out of me; he was probably the only financial expert that I would ever trust any of my savings with. I mentioned some of the custom programs that I had developed and used to track and research my investments, and he expressed some interest in seeing them. In turn, he gave me some good advice about other data sources that I could use to make safer investments and make my programs more accurate.

Personally, at the end of the night I thought all the information he had given me was only provided as a distraction. He and Carl cleaned my and David's (one of Maria's friends from the lodge) clocks at pinochle! As an appropriate revenge, I made sure that David and I got the last two of Carl's beers.

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On Wednesday, Maria came by as usual, but we hadn't warned her that we had canceled that night's therapy session. It was decided by my daughters and me that we had to celebrate Maria's birthday closer to the actual date, which was tomorrow.

When Maria arrived, we had the banner hung, and balloons and cake were on the table. I figured they had to be sick of chocolate, so I made a white cake with raspberry and lemon filling.

She got all teary eyed again and insisted that Megan and Robin sit closely by her at the table. For dinner I served that Korean pork dish that they liked so much.

After dinner was gift giving time again.

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They were giving me another party. I wanted this! I wanted them! I wanted to magically transport the four of us, to someplace where we could start new lives together and forever. After dinner and after blowing out the candles on the cake, I was presented with even more presents. I got toys! No one has given me toys since I was a little girl, it was such fun! They gave me four Nerf guns - two big ones and two little ones with holsters and lots of ammunition. Then Megan, Robin and Don reached behind the couch, opened up cupboards, and got out a whole bunch more Nerf guns with holsters and slings. They were some of the craziest looking things I've ever seen! Megan had a big gun that looked like it had a belt going into it. Robin stood in front of me, pumped her gun and said with an evil grin, "Do ya feel lucky, punk?"

Oh, the battle was so on! Sides changed constantly, we ran all over the apartment fighting and even took the war down into the basement. At one point Don and I found ourselves on the same side, and we found ourselves defending the kitchen. By that time we had gotten hungry again and needed a snack, but just as we got the food on the plates, my girls launched a vicious attack with some weapons that Don didn't even know they had, and we were chased out of the kitchen. And to make our defeat more complete, Megan and Robin loudly ate the snack, we had just finished preparing for ourselves! Don and I retaliated by setting up a crossfire outside the hallway leading to the bathrooms and bedrooms. Finally, on the evening of February twenty-fifth, a peace treaty was signed, ending the great Nerf Battle of Don's apartment. It was a long a bloody campaign, and I can only pray that it will never happen again until we do it at my mountain home. I have just got to find a gun that holds more ammo first, though!

We watched movies that night, but only small single shot Nerf guns were permitted, and they were only to be used in self defense per the accords in the treaty!

The next morning, on my actual birthday, I was sung Happy Birthday at breakfast and I got lots of hugs and kisses from my babies and even a polite kiss from Don on the cheek. Damn it, I wanted a kiss on the lips and for him to suck my tonsils out! But it was still a wonderful birthday week.

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When the big change in my life came, it started at Maria's during Saturday night's dinner. I remember that during that day, while skiing, I witnessed quite a few seemingly fierce discussions between Maria and her friends. My daughters seemed to know what was going on and they seemed to be quite tickled by the situation.

That night Vanessa spoke to me at dinner. "Don, you've been doing quite well with your dancing lessons lately and we've decided it is time for your first practice date."

"Does that mean that I've been officially undorked?"

"No, you're still partially a dork, but we love you anyway," Freddie answered with a grin.

"There's a good dinner and dance club that opened a couple of years ago, they specialize in ballroom dancing and they have a small live orchestra on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights. Instead of coming to my gym this Thursday evening, let's go there for dinner and see what you can really do on the dance floor."

"Vanessa, that sounds like fun, but don't places like that have overpriced mediocre food? I would much rather cook you dinner at my apartment. I'll make you whatever you like and we can still pretend to be on a real date there and at the dance club. How does that sound?" Vanessa's eyes lit up when I told her that I would make her whatever she wanted. If I were going to practice my new method to successfully meet more women, I figured that I had better include cooking, too, just to be complete.

"Why, Don, I think…." She started to say, but she was suddenly interrupted by Kathy, who was looking surprisingly fierce.

"Hold it right there! We agreed that you could go first, Vanessa, but none of us knew that Don would be cooking for his first practice date. I think we have to revisit this issue!" The other ladies seemed to be ready to chime in so I figured I had better defuse the issue.

"I'm flattered that you all like my cooking. You all know what I think about restaurant food; I would be happy to cook for all my practice dates, rather than spend big money on so-so food. You tell me what you would like, and it would be my pleasure to make it for you. Anything that I've made you already, except for THE TURKEY, please, that takes too long." My statement seemed to settle them all down and give them big smiles, except for Maria. She still seemed to be a tad upset.

On Thursday, Vanessa arrived at six-thirty. I had prepared prime rib, Yorkshire pudding and THE PIE.

I wanted to play the scene for a laugh, since it was only practice, but she had insisted at Tuesday night's workout that I play it straight.

We exchanged polite kisses at the door. I like kisses from pretty women, even if they are just friendly, polite kisses. Before dinner I showed her around the apartment. Since she had never been inside before she seemed to be mildly surprised when she saw Maria's, I mean the guest bedroom.

"Vanessa, you really look beautiful tonight." She was wearing a short red dress, perhaps too short, but I wasn't going to complain.

"Did you notice I'm wearing the jewelry you bought me?" She stopped to wave her bracelet in my face. "I get so many compliments for these pieces, thanks again for such a lovely gift."

"I don't deserve much of the credit, Vanessa. Ken was the one who really came through for me. I'm just overjoyed that you, Maria, Freddie and Kathy are so happy with them. You've done so many wonderful things for me and my family. For example, what you're doing for me tonight is very generous, and I will have to find some way to repay your kindness."

"You're making dinner and paying at the club is thanks enough, Don. I do get to take the left over PIE home with me, don't I? Her question seemed to have an implied threat to it. I assured her that she could indeed take THE PIE home with her. Years ago I had foolishly made too many of THE PIES for myself and I had gotten a little burned out with them. Currently I was working on a variation of a lemon meringue pie; I wanted something that would hit with all the power of a good glass of lemonade, made with fresh real lemons, but so far no success, though.

I like to serve fruit preserves with my Yorkshire pudding, just for a change; I offered cherry-almond butter. At first it was a bit uncomfortable being alone with Vanessa, but once she started eating, the predator emerged, just like the tiger on her bracelet. I didn't know that tigers liked cherries!

Both Vanessa and I really enjoy having healthy bodies with lots of endurance, but we never have as much time as we would like during the week to work up a sweat. I was amazed; I thought we had expended every available topic concerning physical activities during my work outs with her, but we found lots of new things to talk about like hiking, bicycling, scuba diving and sky diving. I hadn't been scuba diving in years and I really missed it; as for sky diving, I've always wanted to try it. I think that Vanessa started hinting with me about going on a dive vacation to Hawaii, the Florida Keys or the Cayman islands and it almost seemed like she had some romantic thoughts about me. No, couldn't be, just because she's a woman I think that way; she probably just wants a dive buddy.

Vanessa ate three big pieces of THE PIE after dinner. I couldn't believe it after how much prime rib and Yorkshire pudding she had just eaten. Sure enough, just before we started to leave the house for the club, she suddenly got a distressed look on her face. I had pretty good guess what was causing it too.

"Don, could I use your bathroom, just for a minute?"

"Vanessa, please don't think I am rude, but you just ate a huge meal so don't rush yourself. I want you to be comfortable tonight. It's okay if you take an hour or even more. The only thing worse than having an upset stomach; or being stuffed to the gills and having to use a dirty public restroom, is having no bathroom at all. I'm going to take a quick look at my computer while I'm waiting; you just take your time."

A look of relief spread across her face. "Thank you, Don," and she sped off for the main bath. I didn't really need to use my computer, but I wanted her to know that I wouldn't be twiddling my fingers while she warmed the toilet seat in the bathroom. Maybe I should have offered her a magazine?

She was in there for forty minutes. I know my cooking didn't make her sick, she just ate too much. When I heard her leave the bathroom, I pretended to be hard at work on the computer; I didn't want her to be embarrassed. Her footsteps came hesitantly down the hall.

"Don, are you there?"

"I'm in my office, Vanessa, sorry I lost track of time. I was just looking at the latest tool sales. There's a new joiner that I've been thinking about buying, but the thing is never on sale." When she came into my office I could see an embarrassed expression leave her face. I clicked off the computer and stood up.

"I'm ready to go."

We walked out to her car; it was a Mustang GT500, white with red racing stripes. I'm a guy who always picks function over form. I would rather have a minivan, which I can pack to the gills, than a sports car. But after seeing Vanessa's new ride I thought I might have to change my priorities. I was in complete lust with the car!

"I hope you don't mind me driving, Don, but this club is a bit tricky to get to and I know the best places to park."

As I settled into the passenger seat I said, "Driving is not something that I enjoy; it is something that I do because it is necessary. I could live very happily being chauffeured around for the rest of life. Especially like right now, I am in a hot new sports car being driven by a fantastically beautiful lady. Forgive me for being such a male chauvinist pig, but this is great!" I grinned at her.

"You are forgiven, silly man. I've just had a great meal and I've got half a PIE left. For all that I'll even let you fart and stink up my new car," she grinned back at me. Her joke might have been a little crude, but we were work out buddies. I can't even count how many times one of us was busting a gut with some exercise and suddenly we would cut loose with a real stinky one. You've just got to laugh, farts happen. Sometimes it was so loud it sounded like a drive by farting, ha ha. Oh man, was that a bad pun or joke or whatever!