The Extended Family Ch. 02

Lynn's old brown Chevrolet pulled into the driveway at five-thirty. She had a smile on her face that stretched from one side of the neighborhood to the other. I took that as a good sign.

She ran and threw herself into my arms. My neighbors next door and across the street both gawked at the display of affection and her scream of delight. I hoped they were glad to see I was moving on.

"I've had the most marvelous day," Lynn effused into my arms as I hugged her. "They're going to give me a job. Not just ANY job, but THE job I've always dreamed of. Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you for helping me and building my confidence. You were with me the entire day; I thought of you every second I was there."

She kissed me hard before I could ask a single question. I swung her around and waltzed her inside the house. "OK, I'm on pins and needles, tell me all about it," I injected.

I produced a new bottle of expensive wine, and we went out on the pool patio, Lynn shedding her shoes as we walked outside again.

"Well, the girl in HR that I met first was sooooooo nice, Karen Price, and she told me a lot about the company and about whom I would interview. Initially, it was just supposed to be two guys and that would happen by lunch and then I was to be done. But they LIKED ME," she shouted with glee, "and so they asked me to lunch and then to meet more people, and then even more people, and then the PRESIDENT! Oh, my God, I was sooooo nervous but he liked me tooooo." Lynn was soaring around the patio in a little dance of happiness.

"At the start, they asked me all the standard questions we'd rehearsed. I was very open about why I was here, getting away from Doug and all; they were sympathetic and didn't pry beyond what I told them. Then, we got to talking about how I'd handle some of their internal operations, then we were problem solving and I came up with a couple of good ideas I guess and one thing led to another."

Lynn went on excitedly, "By the end of the day we were all friends and colleagues. Even the President is a nice person and very cordial; he made me feel right at home. They said they'd be back to me in a day or so about the job and offer or whatever. I'm sure they will make me a job offer; I feel as though I've almost started working there anyway."

"When I got back to HR at the end of the day, Karen -- the girl I'd first met, told me she'd talked to my references back in Ohio and they'd all told her I walked on water. She really liked me. I can see she'll be a best friend -- she's that kind of person."

Lynn raved about the company and its benefits, their offices, the people's personalities, and even the cafeteria. I couldn't believe anything was THAT good, but it was important that she did. It was great to see her self-esteem and confidence brimming over after such downturns here and there since she decided to flee Doug and Ohio.

We celebrated at home with a comfortable dinner we both helped prepare and then a walk around the neighborhood. We met several of my neighbors, and I was pleased to introduce Lynn to them. We had a wonderful and sensual evening after we headed for bed.

Friday

The phone rang about ten o'clock. A perky female voice identified herself as Karen Price from Emptive Aerospace and asked for Lynn. I held the phone up and gestured to her wildly with a big grin on my face.

I could tell the call was good news because Lynn started jumping up and down as she held the conversation. She kept saying "Yes," over and over again. After a while her vocabulary expanded to "Wow," "That's Wonderful," and "That'd be fine." After a few minutes she wound down the call with "I'll come in Monday and we'll get things started. I have to take one afternoon off midweek," "OK," and then "Great, see you then." She hung up the phone.

Lynn ran across the room and threw herself into my arms. "I'm the new manager of Sarasota operations! They will pay me $82,500 and give me a large bonus at year-end if all goes well and there are all these other benefits like a car, and ... and ... and ... Oh, I love you." She pulled my head to her and kissed me for all she was worth. My heart skipped a beat, and I returned her happiness. It was the first time she'd used those three words with me.

We hugged as I made enthusiastic congratulatory remarks to her. Next I knew Lynn was pulling me back into the master bedroom. We made happy and vocal love to each other. I often commented that I wasn't sure I should be fucking a manager of operations that made so much money and had such an important job. She assured me that this was my primary function in life and that I was doing a very good job at it too.

After our climaxes, Lynn pulled me into the shower, and then took me downtown to a place she'd seen and wanted to try for lunch. After lunch, she drove me by the Emptive Aerospace offices so I could see where she would be working. She was bubbly the entire afternoon, and it rubbed off on me too. I felt the best that I had in years.

The Following Week

Lynn started to work at Emptive on Monday though she spent only part of the day at their offices doing all the things human resources had to have done. In the late afternoon, I drove her around on some errands such as getting her a bank account.

I encouraged her to call Mel, her daughter that evening and share her good news. She did, bringing Mel up to speed on getting a divorce and the restraining order against Doug as well. Mel told her that Doug was looking for her and had called daily to see whether she'd heard from her mother. She said he knew she'd gone to Florida somewhere. They were scheming a bit, and I left Lynn to have a private call with her daughter at that point, heading out to the pool for a dip.

"Mel's going to come down for a long weekend in February," Lynn announced when she came out to join me in the pool wearing a black bikini. I almost missed the comment as I gazed over all the skin that was suddenly visible. Lynn snapped her fingers at me to get my attention; "Hello? Earth to Jim. Earth to Jim."

"Good," I said finally paying attention again, "I'm glad you invited her. I'm glad you feel comfortable having your family and friends here. We haven't talked about it," I said reaching out to her, "but I hope you'll stay here and not think about needing another place to live." We both grinned at each other, and then she threw herself into my arms and let me shower her with kisses.

We talked about Mel's trip and how to arrange her flights and such as we swam around the pool. After dinner, I called my friend Martin Williams and thanked him for putting me in touch with Marilyn -- Lynn. I explained that she was living with me for now, and we'd "struck up a nice friendship." I know Martin read between the lines.

I also called George Bunsen and thanked him for seeing Lynn and then introducing her to Emptive Aerospace. I told him it appeared to be a good match, and everyone had started their honeymoon this morning when Lynn started working there. He laughed and thanked me for introducing such great talent into a company he loved. Lynn was sitting listening to my calls with a smile on her face.

Wednesday afternoon I met Lynn about two o'clock in front of Emptive Aerospace. She followed me out to the Interstate in Doug's car, and then we drove about three hours north of Sarasota to Gainesville. Don Urquart's directions were accurate, and we found his fraternity house and Don in a few minutes off the Interstate.

With Lynn's help, I had prepared maps and details on where and how to leave the car so that he wouldn't have to see Lynn's husband or have to do any embarrassing explaining about why he had Doug's car. I suggested he drop the car off in the middle of the night or middle of a weekday and leave the keys on the visor. We tossed Lynn's phone into the car to get rid of the last tie to her old life that we were aware of. I counted out $300 for Don and then gave him a check for another $300 to cover his airfare back to Florida from Ohio. He was a happy camper.

Don called the next day. He'd driven all-night and part of the next day and dropped the car off about four o'clock as soon as he'd gotten to Hamilton. His girlfriend had picked him up. He said no one was home, and he'd had no problem with the car. I let Lynn know when she got home from work. She gave a definitive nod with pursed lips, apparently indicating that a part of her life had finally ended.

Lynn and I fell into a routine as she got back to work. I was still going to the beach first thing in the morning for my meditating and thinking time. I'd wake her up when I returned and help launch her into the new day feeling loved and in a confident frame of mind.

After a couple of weeks, Lynn got a nine-month restraining order issued from the local Circuit Court against Doug Seaburn, her soon-to-be-ex-husband. Wade Garborrow, our lawyer, had it served on him in Ohio without revealing our address. He continued to work on her divorce papers; his case for the unilateral divorce now strengthened with the approval of the restraining order.

Then, we had a shock.

I was working in my home office on a Friday afternoon. My desk faced out a window to the street. I happened to glance up as I was working and watched Lynn's old brown Chevrolet drive slowly by the house. I leaped out of my chair and ran to a second window so I could watch it pass out of view. Sure enough, it had Ohio license plates on it. We'd been discovered.