CHAPTER 1
A three-night stop in Chicago and then back on the train to Boston was Harvey Chadwick's plan. He had been visiting his sister in LA after roaming the world for two years following his wife Sophia's death in a car accident only three months after their marriage.
The 30-year-old computer systems troubleshooter had long lost his grief and when reaching his parent's home in Boston Harvey planned to find another lively lady and settle down again. His mom reckoned she had three lined-up although they didn't know it.
Harvey was an MS graduate from UIC so was familiar with Chicago and decided to track down some old girlfriends. Bad luck. The first three he contacted were married, two said they never wanted to see him again (lesbians...or women of good taste he wondered) and hyperactive Dr Midge Main who'd been capable of leaving him almost legless was engaged in field research in Fiji according to her mother and, divorced again, had taken her two children with her. Wow, he thought, doesn't one's personal little world change?
Walking the streets on Day 1 after those phone calls with nothing else better to do, Harvey dropped into Atrium Mall on Randolph and entered the Bonjour Cafe for a bite although it was only 11:30. The curvy young thing who'd entered just ahead of him and was waiting to be served, back on to him, absent-mindedly lifted her short skirt and scratched her ass while looking at the selection. A great ass and the pouch of her blue thong appeared well filled.
She turned, sighted Harvey with his mouth open. She dropped her skirt as if shot and turned her burning face to the counter and ordered Caesar salad and black coffee.
Harvey ordered a hot roasted turkey sandwich and black coffee. He went to the table where the young woman sat alone and said, "Is this chair taken?"
She looked at the other empty tables nearby and squeaked, "No."
"May I join you?"
With her voice a little more under control she said he could please himself.
"You're the only person I know in Chicago. I arrived last night from LA."
"But you don't know me."
"I'm Harvey Chadwick. Tell me your name and I will know you."
She hesitated.
"Look, it's okay. I've been caught scratching my balls and the sky didn't fall in. Believe me, it's okay."
She tossed her short blonde curls. Her blue eyes glanced at his green eyes and away again. "I'd rather we didn't talk about THAT."
"Do you normal censor conversation?"
She lightly labeled him a weirdo although volunteered he didn't look like one. He laughed but lost that smile when she said, "Are you attempting to pick me up?"
"That's a nice thought but I'm sure your answer would be no. My guess is you're an office manager and are taking early lunch. However I suppose you could be interested in me after work."
"You suppose too much. God you have a nerve."
A waitress arrived and poured coffee.
Briefly eyeing the departing butt and legs, Harvey asked, "What's your name? I suppose you don't care to be called Blondie?"
"Freya -- Freya Macdonald and you supposed correctly. I'm taking early lunch because my computer has expired. Our contract technician will try to get to me within an hour or two."
"Want me to take a look at it Freya?"
Freya's face flamed and Harvey could only think she'd assumed he meant her butt. He delivered his best consultant's smile and said, "I meant your computer. I work as a computer troubleshooter for big corporations."
"Oh, I thought..."
"Your butt, perhaps some other time. What is the name of your IT manager?"
"Mrs Wilks."
"Age thirty-four and named Sarah?"
Freya's face hardened. "You said you didn't know anyone in Chicago."
Unabashed Harvey said that was a pickup line and he didn't deserve to be crucified for attempting to date her.
"You unnerve me. I bet you live here."
Harvey reached into the back pocket of his jeans and tossed Freya his train reservations -- LA to Chicago and Chicago to Boston.
Freya looked at the document, colored and apologized.
"Why apologize. You were defensive, not knowing if I were a lovely gentleman or a serial molester."
Wearing a wee smile Freya said, "Y-you not, are you?"
"A gentleman, of course not. But neither do I harm women. My mission in life is to enhance them."
That earned Harvey a curious look and against noise coming from the street Freya blurted, "God you are complex."
Harvey grinned as if having received a compliment and they sat a little awkwardly and as if on cue their meals arrived to step up their association a notch. They chatted amicably and after finishing her salad Freya rose and said, "It's goodbye then."
Running some options through his mind Harvey said, "Sit and I'll be finished in a moment. I'm not allowing your cute ass to walk out of my life. Sarah was one of my part-time junior tutors at UIC. She'll kiss me and allow me to work on your computer."
"Why would Sarah kiss you?"
"She rather fancied me and guessed what?"
"God, you like to shock don't you?" Freya said, sitting down.
Sarah sighted Harvey and shouted "Ohmigod" and obviously holding herself back walked up to him slowly and pecked his cheek. "What are you doing here?"
"I was in the café in the mall and conversationally said to this young woman was she having early lunch because she had no work to do. Freya then told me about her computer problem. I'm here to fix it."
"Company policy does not allow..."
"Since when have you obeyed rules and regulations to the letter?" He turned to Freya and said, "When I was at UIC in my second year I took a fancy..."
"Freya," Sarah almost shrieked. "Take Harvey to your computer. If anyone can fix it he can."
Harvey had no diagnostic discs and other testing equipment with him so made an intelligent guess. Noticing all the laptops were identical he said, "Freya go to Sarah and ask for a motherboard out of store please."
Sarah returned with the board in sealed foil. After swapping the boards Harvey booted the computer and it fired. He executed a full back-up, reinstalled Windows and handed the computer over to Freya. Within a few minutes she said it appeared to be working perfectly and she'd not found anything missing.
She said without embarrassment, "You're a darling."
"Well you better take Harvey to dinner this evening," Sarah said, arriving alongside Freya. "You are just his type, young and succulent but tell him it's just dinner. Harvey, Freya has had a couple of bad experiences with men over the past year so has been right off them. Just tip-toe with her."
"Of course. Pick me up at the Sofitel Chicago Water Tower at 7:30 Freya. I'll wait in the foyer for you until 7:45 when by then I'll guess you are a no-show because you don't trust me. Well, goodbye ladies -- a real kiss please from both of you."
Freya decided not to go on that date with Harvey. Definitely not. Then her mom said, "Are you in again tonight? If you don't get yourself back into the dating circuit you'll end up on the shelf reserved for old maids. You've recovered from that uninvited attempt to enter your rear you and must think all men are inclined that way. I know, I'll call Mrs Meek to see if her William..."
Almost panicking at the thought of gangly William pawing at her Freya cut into her mom's well-intended ramblings. "It's okay mom -- a guy I knew from high school (a lie) wants to meet me for a drink at 7:30. Please call me a cab."
Dressed in short black -- that is, short at both ends -- Freya entered the foyer and found herself facing at least forty guys dressed in smart casual. She almost fainted at the thought of giving head to forty guys -- it would take all night. It must be a conference on. She frowned and suddenly Harvey was in front of her, grinning, an eyebrow lifted.
"I was watching the revolving door like a hawk, determined to get to you before any of these guys began pawing you. God, you look sensational. Do we kiss?"
She puckered her lips and held up her head, her eyes focused. His smiling green eyes almost swallowed her they were so huge. The kiss was soft, his breath was fresh and she visualized her nipples pressing into his shirt and buckling She thought, you slut, you'll let him fuck you.
But he only wanted a kiss, and a short one at that. People around them were looking at them curiously while some were smiling. All men.
Harvey said, "Let's go. These guys are on the loose and the idea of ten or twenty of them circling you might be a bit off-putting. Freya took his arm and hurried him out to the sidewalk.
"I thought I'd take you somewhere cheap and nasty."
He grinned. "That will take me back to my UIC days."
They remained arm-in-arm as they walked almost three blocks, turned and just around the corner was an Italian restaurant called Green Door, in English. Freya opened the green door and led Harvey in. The interior was so decrepit it was almost funky. Harvey wasn't worried. The idea of a nice girl taking a guy on their first date to a crap house of a restaurant was as unlikely as a nice girl opening her legs for a guy on their first date.
The place was almost full. A fat Italian woman with huge collapsed tits almost reaching her panty line steamed up, held open her arms and said, "Oh Freya." Harvey thought uncharitably Freya would deliver the corny line, "Oh Maria, it's been a long time -- too long."
"Oh Maria, it's good to be back again. I've missed you. How are you and Luigi?"
"We're good, very good but need more money. Come, introduce me to your father and I'll table you."
Harvey queried, Table you? You father? Was this a joke?
"Maria you big tease, this is my new friend..."
A snappy looking waitress who looked familiar to Harvey cut in and said, "Mama, oh God, this is Harvey Chadwick, the guy I wanted to father my children but you and papa insisted I marry an Italian boy."
"Greetings Gabriele," Harvey beamed. "I can recall twice attempting to avoid making you pregnant. You look great -- four little ones I suppose?"
"Yes, we have four little ones," Maria said suspiciously. "How did you know?"
"It just computed. One year after graduating for Gabi to find a husband, one pregnancy each year after that and lo, four children."
"Mama, this is Harvey Chadwick, voted the most popular guy in our class, who was runner-up in our vote of the person most likely to catch every form of STD."
