Stormwatch - The Love Boat

The sun still hadn't risen when they gathered for breakfast at the 279 Diner for breakfast over on the east side of the village of Springville. Veronica and Josh sat down with Veronica's dad Mike and his wife Audrey and newborn son Mike Junior, and they were joined by the owners Worzils Bar and Grille Ayato and Julissa Tanaka. When they were all seated the manager of the 279 diner, Janet, rushed over with a pot of coffee.

The coffee drinkers (everyone but Mike Jr.) turned over their cups and Janet began to pour. As she doled out coffee to the early morning patrons Audrey allowed Josh to hold his new brother-in-law. "Smile for me!" called Veronica and she lifted her phone and took a photograph of Josh holding the baby.

Mike Jr. was sleepy, and he snoozed in Josh's arms as the friends talked about the fun ahead of Veronica and Josh, and when their meals arrived the waitress Janet took Mike Jr. from Josh and began walking around the restaurant topping off coffee cups and showing off the baby.

"Josh!" snarled Audrey. "Why does Janet have my baby?" Audrey may have been a bit of an airhead when she was a young teeny bopper who hung around the Andalon offices while her father was VP, but she has a lioness when it came to big and little Michael. Thanks to her parents, Audrey learned all the wrong ways to care for a child, she sees Mike junior as her way of purging the sins of her childhood by raising him the way she should have been raised, and Mike, Veronica and Josh were there to help her with that goal.

"I figured it was time he got out to see the world, learn a new skill, maybe pick up a few tips for Janet..."

"Get. My. Baby. Back." Audrey's demand could not be more absolute, or more threatening.

Grumbling over the abuse of "mom-power" Josh got up and walked up to where Janet was showing off Mike Jr. to a couple of regulars. "Excuse me ma'am, New York State Board of Child Labor, it has come to our attention that this child is not certified on dispensing caffeinated beverages, we need to take him back to his training officer to get his training updated."

"By all means officer," said Janet with a chuckle as Josh tenderly took Mike Junior out of her arms, which made the little guy cry. Josh slowly walked back to Audry singing an old song he learned with his barbershop quartet, "I've Grown Accustomed to Your Face," which calmed the little guy down, it usually puts him to sleep.

"Oh, did that big mean guy scare you?" asked Audrey as Josh returned little Mike to his mother. "That big mean guy, he's the brother-in-law that everybody warns you about."

They had a great breakfast together, friends, relatives, lovers swapping stories and laughing at punchlines they've all heard a hundred times before "What's wrong?" asked Julissa. She's known Josh for almost a decade and has seen him through some tough times in his life. That's what small town bartenders do.

"Why do you think something's wrong?" asked Veronica.

"He's smiling." Julissa shrugged her shoulders, "Something must be up.

"I just like hanging with the little guy." Josh had a rough upbringing too, he and Audrey keep an eye on each other when little Mike is concerned and for a three-month-old child, he's doing a great job healing old wounds. "I can't wait for swimming lessons to start in June." Josh has been teaching Paul and Andi's girls to swim and he wants to teach their one-year-old to swim also, along with John and Macy's one year old daughter. He wants to give them enough skill to handle falling in the pond or a swimming pool.

Veronica looked at Josh and realized it was more than that, this was a determined smile, he really is going to try for her. She leaned over and kissed his cheek, "Are you ready to go?"

"Let's do it," and Josh finished his coffee. Standing and saying goodbye to their friends they headed out into the cold, wet, Western New York morning in Veronica's Lincoln Navigator SUV. The sun was starting to rise in the east, a frosty fog was starting to fill the air and the sun illuminated the fog making the winter morning a glowing, icy, cloud. As they headed down old US219 they were surrounded by glowing fog, but when the road rose up a hill, they came up out of the fog. It was odd to see the road ahead dip into a cloud then rise back up out of the cloud ahead.

Veronica was driving and sipping her to-go cup of coffee as was Josh. "You look awful comfortable holding that baby," she said. "Would you want one of our own?"

Josh was caught mid-sip. For almost a year they prepared themselves for marriage and they never mentioned a baby, Josh never thought about it until Audrey and Mike announced that Veronica would soon be getting a baby brother. From that point on, any thought Josh had about babies was centered around Audrey and Mike, not around Veronica and himself.

Veronica looked over at Josh and laughed. "What's so funny he asked.

"You looked so shocked, like you never thought about having a baby."

"I guess I didn't. I guess it's because I'm so old."

"You're not that old!" said Veronica laughing. "You're the same age as I am. Are you saying that I'm too old to have a baby?"

"I guess I've been avoiding the idea," Josh sighed.

"Why?"

"Eyes on the road," said Josh "Watch out for black ice, and yes I have been avoiding the subject. On our first real day together, I found you crying in this vehicle because your sister Magda is having another baby with Jameson, the fiancé she stole from you. You were left standing at the altar because he knocked her up and they ran off after your rehearsal dinner the night before."

"Way to rub it in," Veronica growled.

"Later that same night you step into my office, and I almost pop you in the face with a nerf dart when I was shooting at a picture of Yesenia the bitch who tried to get me to pay child support for some other jerk's kid. Then Audrey and Mike and little Mike." Josh went silent after his outburst.

"What are you saying?" Veronica demanded as they pulled into the parking garage.

Josh grabbed their bags, and they climbed onto the bus to the airport, and he answered, "I'm saying that everyone around us is having or just recently had babies, Audrey, Magda, Yesenia, Andi, Macy, all our friends... our boss has seven children! The only ones not having a baby is Terri and Mataeo, and Yi and Kenny. And Yi and Kenny won't have any because they're too busy taking care for Andi and Paul's babies."

"So, if Terri or Yi has a baby, you'd consider having a baby?"

"How I feel about our baby is not determined by Yi or Terri or anyone else or by anything anyone else does. It's about you and me."

When they got off the bus from the parking garage the skycap took a quick look at their boarding passes and whisked their baggage away then inside the terminal they walked up to the end station where a familiar looking woman in a gold blazer stood waiting. She looked like she had just won the PGA tour with that blazer.

"Miss von Köster! So good to see you again, where are we heading today?"

"Melony!" Veronica flashed her rings and said, "It's Mrs. Gravely now." She pulled Josh close and hugged his arm tight, "I got him to say yes."

"Heading to Florida I see?"

"Bahamas. Our neighbors have a yacht, we're going to head out from Jupiter tomorrow morning,"

"Sounds like fun! Have a good day!"

"She was so much nicer than last time," whispered Josh as they headed up to the club.

"She probably heard about Pittsburgh."

"Yer killin' me girl."

After a quick check at security, they headed to the gate area and up the escalator to the business class lounge. Josh started to remember the first time he flew first class and asked, "We're paying for this flight with points, right?"

"No, not this time," said Veronica. Then she saw Josh go pale and the cold sweat started to break out. His hand that clasped the escalator guide rail started shuddering.

"Is the client paying?" he said quietly, his eyes closed dreading the wrong answer. Last time he was here and discovered they were flying first class he panicked. It took Veronica ages to talk him in off the ledge.

"Yes, Justice Atherton is footing the bill for our flight, for the other couple's flight, and for the diesel on Andi's boat." Veronica watched the relief flow through him. He pulled her close and she could feel him shuddering. "Are you ok?"

"No," he whispered. "I'm fucked in the head, you know that" he pulled her closer and gave her a sweet kiss and said, "but you're helping. Thank God I met you." Now their kiss was long and loving, their tongues touching lightly. His fingers tangled in her thick, luxurious hair and held her to his kiss. As their kiss grew more passionate they heard the sound of a disgruntled voice below them on the escalator.

"Newlyweds!"

Josh took a quick glance at the source of the voice, a truly unpleasant looking older woman in a business suit. The makeup that she was wearing probably weighed more than the wheeled laptop case she was hauling. She clutched a bundle of folders to her chest, and standing next to her was a much younger man who was either her son, employee, or was blackmailed into accompanying her. He was as unhappy looking as she was unpleasant looking. It was obvious they wanted to climb past on the escalator and normally Josh would move to the side, but the remark sealed the deal, they were going to have to wait the extra seven seconds they would have gained by being polite.

Josh kissed Veronica again, this time gently squeezing her sweet, athletic ass. "Stop," she said breathlessly in his ear, "We have an audience."

"Our fan club," he said and tried to kiss her again, but she was laughing now. In the lounge they stopped to get a drink and the "odd couple" was still behind them in line. As they waited for their drinks the sad looking man cheered up.

"Aren't you a model?"

Before Veronica could answer Josh said, "I'll handle this dear, I get this all the time," and he extended his hand to the little man, "Hi, I'm Agostino Lanzoni, you're probably confusing me with my older brother Fabio, since he got a haircut, it happens all the time..."

"Would you stop!" said Veronica trying unsuccessfully not to laugh. She elbowed Josh and said, "yes, I've done some modeling."

The woman started a pitch Veronica has heard a thousand times before, "We represent the McCall and Dershowitz Agency and..."

"Stop!" The only thing that kept Veronica from putting an upraised hand in the woman's face was the fact that Josh had just handed her a glass of wine. "I left the game years ago. I'm done. I have a very successful business career and I will not discuss business on my honeymoon."

"But Miss von Köster, we will guar..."

"ENOUGH!" Josh has only heard Veronica use that tone of voice once, and the target of the previous outburst went to prison. "One more word that even smells like business talk and I'm calling security," as the man reached into his pocket she snapped, "That includes business cards. Have a good day." With that she turned and led Josh away.

"What was that all about?" asked Josh as they seated themselves in a love seat where they could snuggle.

"I'm not sure but I get a feeling they represent a start-up ad agency who are looking to poach accounts from long-time agencies. I don't want to deal with the headaches."

"Headaches? You're posing for pictures."

Veronica sighed, "Modeling is a world unto itself. It's really easy to get a reputation and I don't want a reputation of being the model who poached an account from a respected agency. I'd rather have a reputation of the model who retired."

"So, no more modeling ever?" Josh was thinking of nude photos on the beach for their private collection.

"Wellll," Veronica rolled her eyes and smiled, "Anthony and the boys asked me to do a test video for a pod cast explaining to businesses how Andalon Data Systems can save them money yadda yadda yadda." By yadda yadda yadda she meant "Josh and his team will create a detailed IT network for a business that barely understands computers and make a buttload of miracles happen."

"The Boys made this idea up all by themselves?" asked Josh. By "the boys" he meant Jared Connely, VP of Marketing, Stanislaus "Stan" Dombrowski, VP of Finance, and Vincent Saia, VP of Legal. When they got rid of Audrey's dad Brandon Mitchell it was amazing how well the company got along, it was almost as if he placed a bet in Vegas that Andalon would collapse (which he tried to do) and he worked within sewing discord and suspicion. Now the executive committee of Ant, Jared, Stan and Vinnie are getting along fine, golfing at Fox Run on weekends, now planning a family camp out on Josh and Ronnie's campground over the Fourth of July weekend.

"Yes, they want me to talk about the financial advantages of a contract with Andalon Data Services and Terri to talk about the hardware involved."

"Terri!?" Josh nearly spit his virgin Beam and Ginger Ale all over the lounge. "She talks like she's trying to break the world land speed record for most words uttered in one minute but fifty percent of everything she says is the word "like."

"She knows the job, she knows the equipment, she knows the set up..."

"I love Terri, she's like the daughter I never wanted to have, but communicating a complex idea succinctly to a customer? I don't think she has the chops."

"I know," said Veronica sadly, "but we knew you would never do it so we had to choose someone that you trained and Terri was..."

"Who said I wouldn't do it? I've communicated system requirements to every contract we service."

"If you would do it, it's not too late to change Terri for you," said Veronica hopefully.

"For you, I'll do it," and he was rewarded with the warmest, sexiest kiss in weeks. "I think you just talked me into the mile high club," he gasped.

"I was hoping to talk you into getting me another glass of wine," as she held up her empty wine glass. As Josh got up to order another red wine with a "Ginger and Lime on Rye," Veronica pulled out her phone and sent a text message to the CEO of Andalon, Anthony Friedman, "Re: New customer video. Josh is in."

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The flight went well, Josh had become accustomed to first class seating and luckily the plane only made one steep left-hand turn. He could feel it coming up, his gunship training told him that the left-hand turn is when the guns start firing and suddenly everyone on the ground knows where you are. The bright muzzle flashes of the 30mm Bushmaster and the 105mm Howitzer almost shout "I'm up here! Shoot me!" You're the lowest, slowest target in the sky and everybody on the ground has a stinger missile with your name on it.

But the turn was quick, wings leveled out and the blessed sound of landing gear extending was heard. Landing gear is like a victory shout, we made it, we're home! As the plane touched down and the reverse thrust slowed the 757 Veronica felt Josh's tense body relax like an overinflated pool toy when the air valve is opened. He simply melted into the comfortable first-class seat, with a look of relief on his face.

"You did so good!" Veronica gushed as the plane turned off the runway. "That Xanax worked wonderfully."

"Yeah, and it didn't affect my ability to work either." Josh and Ronnie worked together on an outline of their podcast video during the flight, it was the first time they ever actually worked on a project together as their jobs kept them on opposite sides of the building and on the corporate structure. Both were convinced that if they ever attempted a project together they would end up having sex and they were right, the desire to slip off to the toilet and join the Mile High Club was overwhelming but they found they truly liked working together on a business task.

Soon they were able to get up and Josh pulled their bags out of the overhead. He handed the laptop bag to Veronica then pulled down his messenger bag and began putting his laptop in the bag when he noticed the pill bottle he picked up at the pharmacy two days before still had two pills in it. "Didn't you give me a Xanax at the lounge in Buffalo?"

"No, you said your back was hurting so I gave you a Tylenol."

Walking up the jetway Josh handed her the pill bottle and she couldn't believe at first what she saw, then the realization dawned on her. "You made it? No alcohol? No pills?"

"Well, I did have one whiskey and ginger at Buffalo, the other two were just ginger ale."

With a cry of joy Veronica threw her arms around peppered his face with kisses, "You did it!"

"Ok lovers, mind starting the honeymoon somewhere else?"

Josh was going to look and tear into the unpleasant sounding woman behind him, but he was in too good of a mood, he just took an airplane flight without getting blind drunk. "Karen is right honey, she has something terribly important to go to, we should be more considerate of her and her needs, she's a very important person."

"You're so awful," gasped Veronica as they continued up the jetway, slowly.

Their next flight was on Space A commuter airline, and their plane was an Avro RJ85, a high wing aircraft with a T-tail and four engines hanging from the wings on pylons. To Josh it looked like a tiny version of a USAF C-5 or C-17 military cargo airplane. "It's so cute!" he said as they got off the small bus and walked up to the entry ladder. He wanted to give it a quick pre-flight inspection, but Veronica pulled him back in line.

"I'm sure the flight crew did the inspection for you," she growled. Josh was sure that her tone of voice was a warning.

Eying up the bomber jacket that Veronica had given Josh for Christmas, the jacket had his callsign Bounce 27 embroidered on it along with the Specter of Death, one of the crew members asked, "Did you fly in the service?"

"Yeah, I was gun crew on several models of AC-130."

The crew member extended his hand, "I was right hand seat on MC-130s, we may have punched holes in the same clouds."

"Possibly," said Josh as Veronica pulled him away. "We'll talk." A flight steward led them to their seats and the interior of this plane was luxurious, all first-class seating. The plane was full of people that were obviously wealthy, many in suits but without a tie, but most were dressed like they were ready for a game of golf. If Josh felt out of place in his threadbare cargo pants and faded Comp USA Tech Lead polo shirt that he received years ago when he was hired by the failed company, he didn't show it.

"Welcome aboard Space A flight 207 to Jupiter Florida with continuing service on to South Bay..." Josh didn't listen to the rest of the announcement; it was no different than on a larger commercial airline. He had the bottle containing two Xanax pills and considered taking one but in the end he handed the bottle to Veronica and said, "Keep track of these please."

"You're not going to take one?"

"No, these RJ-85s are supposed to be smooth riding."

And Josh's prediction was correct, it was an incredibly smooth and very quiet aircraft, and the seat was the most comfortable he's ever experienced. By the time they reached altitude and were able to unbuckle and get out the laptops, Josh was asleep. The next thing he remembered was Veronica nudging him to wake him up. "What do you want?" he mumbled.

"Put your seat in the full upright position, we're landing."

"What?"

"You made it honey; you slept the whole way."

"Holy shit!" He raised the back of his seat and said, "I want a chair in our living room just like this."

"Well, you were up all night last night texting Ellie, weren't you." Ellie was a crew member on Josh's last flight. She was sucked out of the aircraft when they were hit by a missile but she was on a safety strap. He fell out of the airplane while he was trying to pull her back in and he ended up dangling from the strap himself. Quite often they'll call or text each other when they have flashbacks, and the one thing that sets Josh's PTSD off is having to fly somewhere.