Snowbound

It was the Night Before Christmas... "Ladies and gentlemen, if I could please have your attention for a moment." the young man in the neatly pressed blue suit said as he stepped in front of the ticket counter. He had to repeat himself several times before the din of the crowd subsided enough for him to be heard.

"Oh shit, this can't be good." Ilyssia Giordano thought as she took note of the all too artificial smile on the man's face. "I knew I should have taken the flight out yesterday." She chided herself. Her father always told her it was bad luck to travel on Christmas Eve.

In a more perfect world, she would've taken a flight out of Chicago yesterday, and by this time would be on her way to the Bahamas. Instead, she'd been sitting here in O'Hare Airport, spending the day before Christmas watching the snow pile up on the runways for the last four hours. There was no way she was ever going to make her connecting flight in New York. Peter Sullivan, a fellow Associate in her office, had invited her to spend the holidays with him in a much warmer climate. A glance at her watch reminded her that he would be leaving JFK at 06:30 - three hours from now.

"I'm afraid I've got some bad news, folks." the man from the airlines said, now that he had everyone's attention. "The weather people now say the storm won't let up until well after midnight. The earliest take off times we're looking at are tomorrow morning."

"Fuck!" Ilyssia said out loud without realizing that she had.

The volume of her outburst brought a disapproving look from the old woman standing next to her. At first, Ilyssia thought she would offer an apology, then her anger get the better of her.

"Screw you lady!" the 24 year old blond thought. "You'd be pissed off too if you just traded Christmas Eve on the warm beaches of Nassau for the snowy streets of Chicago."

When the older woman continued her stare, Ilyssia whimsically stuck her tongue out at her.

"Well, I never..." the old woman stammered.

"Well, maybe that's your problem." Ilyssia said to her, unable to resist such an old but well used line.

With that, Ilyssia's antagonist walked away in a huff.

"Well that was fun." Ilyssia thought, "Now what do I do?"

It suddenly occurred to her that since she had checked out of her hotel this morning, she had nowhere to stay in Chicago. With the airport, as well as practically every other form of transport in the city, shut down, it was going to be impossible to find someplace to stay. Glancing out the large window, Ilyssia concluded that even if she could find a place, there was no way a cab was going to make it through those streets.

"Looks like I'm sleeping here." she said quietly to herself as she ran her hand across her pinned backed hair, rubbing the back of her neck as she remembered the last time she had to sprawl out on one of those hard lounge chairs.

At least the trip isn't a total loss, the young woman reassured herself. The extra day she'd spent in Chicago had helped secured her the Davidson account. Seeing as it was worth a half million dollars a year to her firm in advertising fees, she could look forward to a very warm reception from old man Wilson and the rest of the board when she got back to New York. That and a really big Christmas bonus.

Most everyone in the office had written off Davidson Electronics, knowing that a rival firm had made them a better offer. That was why they were willing to let an Associate make her own presentation. After all, who wanted to hustle off to the Midwest a few days before Christmas on a lost cause. Well she had showed them.

Thinking of the office, Ilyssia thought she should at least call Peter and let him know she was never going to make it. No sense him taking a chance that he might miss his plane waiting for her. Swallowing her disappointment, she headed for the phone bank.

Ten minutes later, Ilyssia's disappointment had turned to pure rage. Of course everyone in the office was overjoyed by her success with Davidson, but the key phase there was - everyone in the office. It only took Sally Levin, the receptionist who answered the phone two minutes to mention that Peter had left for the airport over an hour and a half before. More importantly, he hadn't left alone. Not waiting to even see if Ilyssia was going to be able to get back in time, Peter had offered her ticket to Jennifer Maris.

"That bitch!" Ilyssia thought as she slammed down the phone. She could imagine the silicone breasted redhead taking her place on the plane, in the Bahamas, and in Peter's bed.

It wasn't that Jennifer would be humping Peter that so offended Ilyssia. After all, even though she and Peter had gone out a few times, ending up in bed together the following morning - it had always been a casual thing. What really pissed her off was the fact that Jennifer would be screwing him on her bed, on her beach, and on her vacation!"

Spending the next hour and a half roaming the airport, Ilyssia despaired of finding even a halfway comfortable place to sack out. More seasoned travelers had already staked out the more comfortable spots. In addition, she felt guilty about antagonizing that old woman.

"A great way to spend Christmas," she thought." She's probably a grandmother with a dozen grandkids."

Up ahead, she saw one of those volunteer Santas, collecting money for poor kids. She could see that the Santa was an older man, with an actual white beard. The traditional setting made her think of happier holidays back home.

Passing the Santa, she saw that his iron pot only held a handful of change. Dropping two tens in his pot bought her a very cheery Merry Christmas as well as a somewhat soothed conscience.

"Thank you very much, young lady." the Santa had said. "I wish for you, the Merriest Christmas ever."

With a brighter step, she continued her odyssey, this take taking the time to notice all the Christmas displays and humming along with the carols being played over the PA system.

"Robby, you're a life saver." the salt and pepper haired man said into the receiver of a pay phone. "I'll expect you in about an hour."

The small piece of conversation on the other side of the wall caused Ilyssia to stop in mid-step. It struck a familiar cord.

Ilyssia was sure she knew that voice, but couldn't get a good look at the owner. The high walls of the phone bank hid his face. Carefully she made her way across the obstacle course that was normally a thriving air terminal.

Try as she could, she just could it get a good look at him as she moved. All she could tell was that he was tall, nearly a good foot taller than her five foot four frame. Dressed in an soft tan overcoat, the man looked much younger than his years. Certainly not the fifty-two his driver's license proclaimed him to be.

At the last second, Ilyssia realized that he had turned the other way after hanging up the phone. By the time she managed to get around another stack of piled up luggage, he would be gone.

"Mr. O'Shaughnessey!" she called out as loud as she could, waving her hand in the air to get his attention. Realizing at the same moment that she was going to look pretty stupid if she was wrong.

A smile filled her face as the tall man turned at the sound of his name. He looked around for a moment, perplexed as to who had called him.

"Mr. O'Shaughnessey!" Ilyssia repeated, this time getting his attention.

Seeing the rather attractive young woman waving to him, Sean Michael O'Shaughnessey was more than a little confused. He had no idea who she was, or what she could want with him.

"Mr. O'Shaughnessey, I can't believe I'm running into you here of all places." Ilyssia grinned as she caught up to the older man.

"Excuse me, Miss." he smiled, ever the gentleman. "Can I help you with something?"

The look of puzzlement on his ever so familiar features cause Ilyssia to laugh. It had after all been at least two years since he had seen her last. And while he hadn't appeared to have changed a bit, she had definitely undergone a renaissance.

"You really don't recognize me, do you?" she laughed.

"I'm not sure," came his reply. "I think..."

Then it hit him. She was a lot slimmer than the last time he'd seen her, and the hair wasn't blond back then - more a dirty brown. And of course that flawless smile had been hidden by a set of braces.

"Lisa Giordano!" Sean exclaimed in recognition. "Well look at you, I can't believe it!"

"Boy, it's been a long time since anyone's called me Lisa." she smiled. "I use Ilyssia now.

"I remember how you used to hate that name." Sean chuckled.

"Well, I sort of grew into it." she smiled back.

"So you did." he agreed. "I can't get over how much you've changed."

"Well, it was like you always told me, Mr. O'Shaughnessey." she replied. "You just have to believe in yourself and not worry about what anyone else thinks of you."

"Did I say that?" Sean laughed. "I must've been quite a smart fellow once upon a time. And you can do away with all that Mr. O'Shaughnessey stuff, you're all grown up now. I answer to either Sean or hey you."

"Okay Sean it is then. You were that and a lot more." she answered back.

Back when Ilyssia Giordano had been just plain Lisa, she had been friends with Kimberly O'Shaughnessey, Sean's youngest daughter. As a matter of fact, she'd even been the maid of honor at Kimberly's wedding four years back. A fact that surprised her at the time since she had once dated the groom. But it hadn't seem to matter to Kim at the time.

As warm as the memories of her friendship with Kimberly were, they paled against those involving Sean O'Shaughnessey. At one time or another, it seemed like he was a 'favorite uncle' to almost every kid in the neighborhood. He was never too busy to lend a helping hand.

"So what brings you to Chicago?" Sean asked.

Ilyssia quickly told him all about the Davidson account, and how, since they had all but written it off, they let her fly out here to take one last stab at it. Sean seemed quite impressed that she had managed to sign them up. She decided to leave out the part about Peter Sullivan and the trip to the Bahamas. Sean was far from a prude, but she didn't what him to think less of her for planning to shack up with a casual friend for a few days of sun, fun and sex.

"I always knew you'd accomplish great things." Sean laughed. "Make all those old fogies sit up and take notice."

Ilyssia was surprised to realize how much his admiration suddenly meant to her.

"And how did you find yourself trapped here?" she asked in return.

Sean explained that his company had a distribution problem with their Chicago outlet and they needed to have it straightened out before Christmas day. It was a small matter really, but one which needed an on site approach and couldn't be handled over the phones.

"But why you?" Ilyssia asked curiously, "After all, you're one of the partners. I'm sure you have a lot of bright young men who could've come out here and handled that."

"A lot of bright young women as well." Sean added, reminding Ilyssia that he had offered her a job right out of college as well. "But I really didn't feel right pulling one of them away from their families so close to Christmas. I really didn't have any plans other than visiting the kids, so I hopped on the plane and here I am."

Ilyssia smiled. That was so like him. Who ever said that a nice guy couldn't run a successful business had never met Sean O'Shaughnessey. With his two partners, he'd built a small one town business into a multi-million dollar company.

"You're never going to change." Ilyssia commented.

"I hope not." Sean replied. "I'm way too old to start over. You know what they say about old dogs and new tricks."

"You are never going to be old." the blond girl laughed.

Sean laughed himself. "Tell that to my body," he grinned. "My brain keeps insisting that it's still only 21 but my body says otherwise. Sometimes very forcefully."

"Well it's really great running into you here." Ilyssia said. "At least I have someone to talk to while we wait out the storm."

"Wouldn't you rather have a warm bed somewhere to spend the night?" Sean asked.

From anyone else, Ilyssia would've immediately took that as a pick up line. Seeing it came from Sean, the thought never crossed her mind.

"I had a warm bed. Unfortunately I checked out of it to try and catch the flight. If I hadn't been in such a hurry, I'd still be there." She said. "And even if I could get a cab in this mess, I doubt there'd be room at the inn."

"Well, I know of a motel not far from here where I'm sure you could get a room." Sean smiled. "In fact, I was on the phone with the owner when you found me. He's holding a room for me now and I'm sure he'd be able to come up with something for you as well. We're old Army buddies. Let me give him a call back."

"Looks like some things never change," Ilyssia grinned. "You're still bailing the kids out of trouble."

A quick phone call told Sean that his friend was unavailable at the moment, but that he'd sent one of his workers out to the airport in a 4x4 to pick him up. They should be there in about 45 minutes.

"Well I'm sure he'll be able to come up with something once we get there." Sean said as he told Ilyssia. "What say we get a cup of coffee and warm up while we wait."

"Sounds fine to me." Ilyssia said, the prospect of trading a hard plastic chair for a soft bed already warming her deep inside.

Luck was with them as they entered the closest shop. A couple were just getting up from a booth. They ordered coffee and spent a few minutes catching up. Ilyssia told him all about life in New York, at least the sanitized version that she normally told family members. She was sure that Sean wouldn't react the same way as her parents had when they learned that their 'little girl', as they still referred to her, hadn't been a little girl since her 18th birthday. That was when she had let Tommy Mallory put his thing inside of her. An event that happened more and more frequently the older she got. Ilyssia was far from what anyone could call promiscuous, but she was a sexually aggressive woman and not afraid to go after what she wanted.

Sean, in turn, brought her up to date on the doings in Spring Valley. Ilyssia took in every word, surprising herself at how interested she was in what her friends lives were now like.

"And you know Kimberly had twins last summer." Sean was saying as he sipped his coffee. "Johnny's taking over his father's lumber business couldn't have come at a better time."

The image of Johnny North, now Sean's son-in-law came to mind. Of course the image that Ilyssia kept was much different than the one carried in the older man's wallet. In Ilyssia's image, Johnny was both naked and muscular, holding a cock the size of which that you rarely saw outside of a porno flick. If she learned nothing else about Johnny during the spring they had been an item, it was that he was equally fantastic in bed. No lover since had equaled those two fantastic months. She envied her friend when she considered that Kim had him in bed with her every night.

Well, it had been her decision to end the relationship, she reminded herself. As good as they were in bed together, they shared much different dreams. Johnny had no greater goal than to one day run the family business. A goal she was now glad to hear he had reached. She, on the other hand, had her sights set higher - and spending her best years in Spring Valley wasn't part of the plan.

"And how is Amanda doing?" Ilyssia asked, immediately realizing that she had made a stupid blunder.

"I hear she's doing fine." Sean said unemotionally, taking another sip of his coffee.

"I'm sorry, I asked without thinking." she apologized.

"That's okay," he said. "She's someone you know and it's only natural for you to ask about her." he paused a moment, then added, "If you'll excuse me a few minutes, I need to use the facilities. Another problem with growing older." he grinned.

"Damn, that was stupid!" Ilyssia admonished herself. "How could I ask him about Amanda. What was I thinking?"

Amanda Murphy O'Shaughnessey was Kimberly's mother and Sean's wife of over 30 years. That was until their divorce last year. They had been married when Sean was 19 and she had just turned 18. Over three decades, they had raised 4 children and saw 6 grandchildren come into their life as well. Then one day it all came apart. Rumor had it that Sean came home unexpectedly one day and found Amanda in a compromising position with one of her students. She was a professor of English literature at the local community college. No one in town was really sure, since Sean hadn't made an issue of it at the divorce hearing. He had simply said they had irreconcilable differences and Amanda hadn't contested that statement.

Actually, one other person in Spring Valley did know what happened. Amanda had frantically called her daughter right after Sean walked out. Kimberly, needing someone to talk to, someone she trusted but still distant enough to keep anyone in town from knowing, had called Ilyssia in New York.

Considering her own somewhat sexually adventurous background, Ilyssia shouldn't have been shocked by the story Kimberly confided in her - but she was. It wasn't the sort of thing that she imagined happened in their home town. Of course she was wrong about that. Things like that happened in small towns everywhere. They just didn't get talked about as much as in the big cities.

Sean had indeed found Amanda on the floor of their basement party room with one of her students, both of them wearing less clothes than you'd see on the beach.

What no one knew was that aside from the sandy haired 20 year old, who's cock was at that moment siding in and out of the 48 year old woman's mouth, there was a second, similarly clad, young man who was busy burying his own cock between her legs. Standing beside them was a third young man, totally naked and stroking his cock, eager to join in on the fun.

A dozen possible actions had flashed through Sean's mind as he beheld the orgy going on in his own home. The most extreme of which was to grab the shotgun he kept in the next room and blow them all to hell. Few people in this small town would've convicted him under these circumstances. Instead he simply stood there until he knew Amanda had seen him. Then he simply turned and walked away. He never came back to the house and never saw Amanda again until the day of the divorce hearing. He had sent his three sons to pack up all his things and move them into a new house he rented.

What not even Kimberly understood was the real reason Sean had simply walked out of a 30 year marriage. The obvious reason, that his wife was screwing around on him was also the wrong reason. Sean O'Shaughnessey was no innocent babe in the woods, especially in sexual matters. Back when they'd first been married, before the kids had started coming with astonishing regularity, he and Amanda had led a somewhat sexually adventurous life of their own. They were young, and it was the 60's after all. They'd been at parties where they'd swapped partners, had a third in bed with them - of both sexes. Amanda had even had a brief same sex affair during their second year of marriage. Then when the first baby came, they both decided it was time to settle down and put their games aside.

It was the knowledge that Amanda had started those games without his knowledge that bothered him the most. He later found out that she had been bedding students for the better part of ten years. Yet even that he could've dealt with. What he couldn't come to terms with was the fact that she had come to him almost a year before and told him that she no longer had any interest in having sexual relations and she would appreciate it if he wouldn't make any demands on her in that area.