It was turning out to be one of the busiest weeks of my life, and it was driving me nuts. I was working more hours in a day than I'd ever worked as the manager of the department, going in around 7:00 each morning, and not leaving until at least 6:00 each night. And it seemed like when I finally DID get off of work, there was always something to do. Most of it had to do with the upcoming wedding...not that that was a bad thing. But that meant that Ann and I didn't have any alone time to speak of.
And THAT...was a bad thing.
~*~*~*~*~*~
When I'd gone back to work on Monday, I settled down with Kevin, and began the arduous task of training him. Dad was taking care of working with Tommy on the production side, teaching him while learning the process himself so he'd be better able to support the department. And he was quick to pull Howard out of his new maintenance role if he needed a quick answer on something...the weight of his VP position pulling rank on the few times that was necessary. And that was huge. It was going to be a big enough chore to teach Kevin the ropes in two weeks. Having to also train a new production leader wasn't something I'd anticipated.
First, I had to give Kevin a crash course in what we did; contrasting it against the services the main plant offered that he was more accustomed to. That proved to be pretty easy. Kevin was a quick study, and he seemed to grasp the concept of what we were doing as a department, and the processes that we were using to cultivate new opportunities with our customers. It was the customers that were going to be the challenge.
We had three main customers that were driving the department. Two large ones that we'd had for a while, including T-S Incorporated, where Mark worked. And now, we had the even larger customer that we'd just landed. But, in addition to those, there were around a hundred smaller ones. They didn't send in the steady orders like the other ones. Most would send in just one or two a month, but those jobs helped to fill in the production gaps.
Those customers were just as invaluable to the success of the department as the big three, as I started calling them. And their needs were so varied, that it took a lot to grasp the subtle differences that made each of them a unique challenge. And that meant teaching Kevin in the idiosyncrasies of the customer base was going to take some time.
Since the production department worked unusual hours compared to the rest of the world, it changed how I trained Kevin. We spent our 9:00 to 5:00...well, our 7:00 to 3:30, dealing with the day to day production issues, scheduling the department properly, and going over the routine paperwork that came with the position. Then, we'd use the time from 3:30 to 6:30 calling customers in different time zones, introducing Kevin to them and assuring them that the transition would be smooth and painless on their end. It was also a way for me to thank each of them personally...so those calls, given the number of customers I'd acquired over the years, were taking a lot of time.
I left work on that first Monday feeling totally drained. I was almost to my house, driving on automatic pilot, when it occurred to me that I'd insinuated to Ann that we'd have dinner together. She'd even said that she'd wait to eat, not caring what time I got there. I ended up going around the cul-de-sac at the end of my street, and heading over to the Franklin's house, pulling in front a little before seven.
When I knocked on the door, Ann answered, and she had this odd look on her face. "Neil, are you okay?"
"Yeah...why?"
"You look like you've been hit by a truck."
"That good, huh," I chuckled.
"Come in...let me make you something to eat."
"You don't have to go to any trouble, Ann. I..."
"It's not trouble. It's love. Now get in here," she said as she grabbed my hand and pulled me into the house.
I took off my shoes at the door, and followed her into the kitchen, sitting at the little table in the breakfast nook her parents had there. Ann made me a sandwich, and got out some other things for me to munch on, and we sat together.
"Aren't you going to eat?" I asked.
"Huh...oh, shit! I was supposed to wait on you, wasn't I," she said as she put her hand over her mouth and smiled. "I'm sorry, Neil."
I let out a little laugh and said, "I guess none of this day is turning out like I thought it would."
Ann put her hand on mine, her eyes showing a little sadness. "Ooooh...I'm sorry, baby. I..."
I smiled and said, "Don't be. I never said it was bad. In fact, I can't tell you how amazing it is just to be with you at the end of a long day."
"Aw...that's sweet. But I know you wanted..."
I turned my hand over, taking her palm in mine and squeezing her hand. "You know...right now, this is what I want. Just being with you."
And I meant that. Yes, I was still horny. But in truth, I was more exhausted, and just being in the presence of Ann and feeling her love was uplifting at the moment. And I thought that maybe once I ate...I'd get some energy. So, when I finished eating, and Ann asked what I wanted to do, we found ourselves downstairs on her parents' old, beat up couch in Marlin's trophy room. It was still a little strange being around all those stuffed animals that he'd hunted, sort of feeling at first like we were being watched. But the room was warm, and cozy, and we were alone. Ann was curled up next to me, the two of us underneath a big old afghan, watching television.
I had thoughts of us as teenagers, sitting on that same exact couch, and what it would have been like to just sit there necking with Ann as my High School sweetheart. Ann must have had the same thought, because she turned and started kissing me, her hand finding my chest. But then we heard the distinctive footsteps of Marlin making his way down the stairs, and Ann turned her head, giggling like a nervous schoolgirl afraid she was going to get caught.
Marlin just stopped in for a moment to say hi, before heading back upstairs, but that kind of changed the mood, and Ann sank back into me as we settled down to watch an old movie. The next thing I remembered, Ann was waking me up, and asking me if I wanted to just sleep there on the couch. We'd both fallen asleep...the exhaustion from our trip finally catching up to us. I must have drifted off shortly after Marlin left, because I didn't recall anything about the movie as the credits rolled across the little screen.
As much as I wanted to stay there, and just be with Ann, I knew I needed to get home so I could get ready to do it all over again the next day. Ann walked me to the door around 11:00, and she said, "I'll make it up to you baby. We'll have some fun tomorrow."
"Believe it or not, Ann...I had fun tonight. It was perfect just to be next to you on the couch like that. You know...we don't have to have sex EVERY night."
"I know we don't HAVE to...but that doesn't mean we shouldn't!"
I laughed as I kissed her goodnight. "Okay, babe. I'll see you tomorrow. Want to do lunch?"
"I can't. I'm meeting Penny at Tina's. She called this evening. She wants to get her...'hair' done. And she wants me to be there so she doesn't chicken out. Want to come and watch?" she asked with a wink.
I laughed again and said, "I think that would be incredibly dangerous. How about dinner...we can go out."
"We're already going out. We've got a lot of things we need to do for the wedding that I won't be able to do once you leave."
"Really...like what?"
"Tomorrow night we're going to see the minister and set our wedding date," she said...her voice full of excitement. "We need to be there at 7:00. Can you make that?"
"I wouldn't miss it for the world, baby."
~*~*~*~*~*~
I didn't miss it, but that didn't mean I didn't cut it very close. I'd left work so late I didn't have a chance to go home and shower...I had to go straight from work to pick up Ann, and then we drove straight to her parent's church. If it weren't for living in such a small town, we would have been late.
And Ann let me know it. She was tense; visibly upset when I pulled into her driveway, her foot tapping on the concrete as she stood at the end of it waiting for me. It was as angry as she'd ever been with me, but she wasn't saying anything when she got in the car.
Well, other than, "We're going to be late, Neil."
"No we're not. We'll be there in five minutes...and we've got seven," I said as I backed out and shoved the car in first gear.
We parked in the paved lot of the church less than five minutes later, and we were inside with a minute to spare. But that didn't stop Ann from being anxious. As we waited on a little bench seat outside the Pastor's office, Ann was fidgeting with her purse.
"Ann...I'm sorry."
"It...it's okay. I forgot how fast you can get to places here. I was just worried for nothing."
"Well, I WAS late getting to your house, babe. I'm still sorry for making you wait, and worry."
I moved in to kiss Ann on the cheek, but I saw the Pastor walked out of his office out of the corner of my eye. I stopped, and he laughed.
"Don't stop on my account. It's always great to see people in love," he chuckled.
I gave Ann a quick peck, and then we stood up. "Neil Thomas," I said holding out my hand.
"I'm Pastor Kane," he said holding out his hand. He was in his middle 50's, with silver hair and a big, broad smile. His glasses gave him a studious look, but he didn't look the part of a Pastor, standing there in a sweatshirt and jeans, along with a pair of Reebok's.
"This is my fiancée, Ann Franklin," I said, introducing Ann.
"Ann...I've heard so much about you. I know your parent's are really proud of you, and they're so happy for both of you. Come in to my office...let's sit down and have a little chat."
We talked for well over an hour, with Pastor Kane asking us both a lot of questions about our background, and how we came to be engaged. Having been through that kind of thing with my first marriage, I knew what to expect. He was doing his job, making sure in his mind that Ann and I weren't rushing into anything, which I'm sure it must have seemed based on the story of our courtship we shared with him.
What I hadn't expected was when he said, "So, Neil...I understand you're divorced. Would you mind telling me a little bit about that?"
I know I shook my head a little, shocked at question. Not that he shouldn't be asking it...again, it was part of the territory. I should have expected him to broach it. It was more of the fact that we were in town, and I knew he'd been the Pastor at that church for about 5 years.
"You DO live here, don't you?" I asked with a defensive laugh.
"Yes...why?"
"My divorce wasn't exactly a big secret, Pastor Kane. I was the talk of the town for about six months."
He let out a little laugh and said, "Funny thing about the rumor mill, Neil. It tends to stop when it gets to clergy. When people are talking about something they probably shouldn't be talking about to begin with, they tend to stop in mid sentence when they see me. It used to bother me, but now I actually have fun with it. It's amazing how you can get people to volunteer to help around a church when they're feeling a little guilty. Anyway, I haven't heard about what happened, and I wouldn't have believed what I heard anyway. Most rumors are wrong...they only have enough truth to get them started and then the take on their own life."
"Well...you must be the only one in town that hasn't heard about it," I sighed.
"I don't need to know everything, Neil. I just want to know a little of what you went through, and how your heart has healed since then."
So, I told him. I edited out the nasty parts regarding my ex, trying to be as gracious about what I'd gone through as I could. And the truth was it wasn't all that hard. I was holding Ann's hand at the time...and the anger and bitterness that usually came with the subject matter just wasn't there. It was like some metamorphoses came over me, and what used to be so difficult to talk about came easy to me. Ann gave me strength, and perspective. And all of that came because she gave me love.
