Courtship By Proxy

Chapter One – Gary

"Wish they could all be so easy," thought Kyle Mason as he exited the lobby of QWERTY Solutions and headed to his car in the parking lot.

The preliminary security audit that Brandt Consulting performed prior to presenting their services to a corporate customer would typically turn up one or two minor chinks in a company's data security procedures, but they'd hit the Mother Lode with QWERTY.

First, a wireless 'sniffer' identified that the Chief Financial Officer for the company had an unsecured wireless access point broadcasting within his home, probably setup by his son without his father's knowledge, but the end result was that they were providing Wi-Fi service just as free as Starbucks or McDonalds, with the added benefit of granting complete access to their home network to anyone who chose to take advantage of it. Any work performed at home by the CFO was subject to hacking.

Secondly, Kyle was able to quickly guess the passwords for the laptops belonging to the Vice President of Human Resources and the Director of Facilities by assuming they were the same as the passwords on their desktop systems, both of which were determined by reading the Post-it notes affixed somewhere on their own desks.

Most organizations realized that if a preliminary security audit focused solely upon officers of the company identified such basic deficiencies, then their real exposure ran much deeper. Such was the case with QWERTY Solutions, and Kyle left his presentation with marching orders for Brandt Consulting to prepare a proposal for a more comprehensive audit and revised data security protocols for the entire company.

Once Kyle had gotten settled behind the wheel of his rental car, he turned his cell phone back on and paired it with his Bluetooth headset. Retrieving his voicemail messages he heard the voice of his old friend Cliff Saunders, "Kyle, this is Cliff. We need to talk man, so give me a call as soon as you get this message. You have the number."

Cliff and Kyle had been friends since grade school, and still socialized several times a year as their schedules allowed. Cliff had married Linda Flynn and bought a house near Corona, which put him at least an hour's drive from Kyle in Costa Mesa, but the distance wasn't as much a barrier to them hooking up as their careers were. Cliff had trained as an emergency room physician and worked horrendous hours trying to get his residency established.

Since leaving the Air Force, Kyle had merged his own company with Brandt Consulting and accepted a position as the Vice President of their corporate business development team. The merger had made Kyle even wealthier than he was before, and while he had the financial security of less than one percent of the American population, he still lived modestly and led a low-profile life.

Although his role for Brandt Consulting had Kyle on the road ninety percent of the time, he didn't mind. At only 28 years of age, without a wife or family other than his widowed mother who still lived on her own in the house where he had grown up, Kyle found his only challenge from the travel being his exercise routine.

Standing at six feet two inches, with a slender 190 pound athletic build, Kyle still loved to play tennis, but seldom had the opportunity to meet up with his friends to get in a match. Most had stopped even calling him to see if he was available because he had begged off too many times.

He also had few opportunities to work with a partner on his martial arts techniques because his hybrid styles were not taught at any dojo in America. Since shortly after joining the Air Force, Kyle had transitioned his earlier martial arts training into the system known as "MCMAP" or the Marine Corp Martial Arts Program. He was a fifth degree Black Belt (instructor qualified) and had hoped to have reached the sixth degree and achieved instructor trainer qualification by this time, but his good friend and senior instructor Sean 'Recon' Wallace had left on a world-wide pilgrimage after he was betrayed by his fiancée a week before their wedding. There were few others in the civilian space that Kyle could work with, so he focused on his job and did his best to keep in shape on stationary bikes in hotel fitness rooms.

Focusing back onto his phone, Kyle saw that his other messages were routine scheduling reminders that he would use to update his calendar later. He called Cliff back as he drove out of the parking lot towards the airport.

"Hey Cliff, this is Kyle. I just got your message. What's up?"

Cliff took an audible breath and broke the news to his friend, "Sorry to be the one to tell you this Kyle, but Gary Conté died early this morning."

"What happened?" Kyle asked. "I just spoke with Gary on Sunday. We were discussing a fishing trip to Utah."

"He got rear-ended by a drunk driver last night on State College Boulevard," replied Cliff.

"Wow," said Kyle. "The guy must have been flying to have injured Gary bad enough for him not to have survived."

"Gary wasn't in is truck," said Cliff. "He was on his bike." Gary had owned a Harley-Davidson Softail for the past two years and had been trying to convince Kyle to buy a similar motorcycle so that they could ride together.

"Geez," moaned Kyle. "Poor Gary."

"If it's any consolation, I have reviewed his medical file and I doubt that Gary ever felt a thing," remarked Cliff. "The force of the impact practically severed his brainstem and the efforts of the EMT's were the only things that presented the emergency room with any vital signs at all when he arrived."

"How are his parents?" asked Kyle.

"I spoke to his dad about an hour ago," said Cliff. "They're holding up as well as can be expected. Gary was always the planner, so his affairs are going to be relatively easy for his parents and the partners in his accounting firm to deal with. They're looking at having the service early next week and wanted to know if you and I could serve as pallbearers."

Gary had always been the strategist in the group. He and Kyle had met in high school when they got paired as doubles partners on the tennis team. Kyle was the more nimble and athletic of the two, but Gary made his presence known by out-thinking their opponents, identifying their weak spots, and then instructing Kyle on how they were going to exploit them. Together, Kyle and Gary won honors as the best doubles pair in the district.

"I'll get my calendar cleared for all of next week until we have a firm date for the service," said Kyle. "Is there anything else I can do for his family?"

Cliff hesitated as he considered Kyle's question, "I think we should leave them alone for a day or two. Maybe you and I can stop by this weekend and offer any assistance they need once they've had a chance to consider everything."

"Sounds fair," said Kyle. "I am heading to the San Jose airport right now, and barring any Friday afternoon delays, I should be arriving into John Wayne by 7 p.m. If anything comes up that you think I can help with, please leave me a voicemail."

"You've got it," replied Cliff. "I'm going to see if I can get someone to cover my shift on Sunday afternoon and once I have that confirmed, I'll call and we can figure out when to visit Gary's family."

"Okay," said Kyle. "Thanks for letting me know Cliff. I know it's never pleasant to deliver a message like that."

"Bye."

"Bye."

***

The checkout line at the grocery store was going intolerably slow. She chastised herself for not stopping at a store with self-checkout lanes because even the express "15 items or less" lanes at this store never failed to have multiple customers who couldn't master the technology of a debit card to complete their transactions without help.

"Might as well use the time in a productive manner," she thought as she pulled her personal cell phone out of her purse to check her e-mail. She didn't receive a lot of personal e-mails, and true to form, most of what she saw now were reminders from her bank's bill pay notification service and messages from the few blogs she subscribed to. There was one e-mail subject line that caught her eye however, and it was announcing that one of her Google search alerts had been tripped. She wouldn't know exactly which alert until she opened the e-mail, and she decided that it would wait until she got home to check.

As she replaced her phone and continued to wait her turn in line, she checked off her search alerts in her head. She had been careful to select search strings, which if entered by anyone in their Goggle search, would notify her so that she could duplicate the same search and see if anything was posted related to the subject of her focus.

Although it wasn't likely that the Secret Service monitored search engines to see who might be interested enough in her subject to have established a search alert for him, the fact that his uncle was who he was, and she worked for who she did, made her overly cautious.

Establishing search criteria that filtered searches on his friends, his company, or his favorite activities had allowed her to monitor him for years without her actually ever having to use his name.

"The subject of her focus", she thought with a grin. What would Kyle Mason think if he knew she was tracking him? It would probably surprise the hell out of him. She knew he never suspected the torment that he had put her through for all those years, and she had diligently avoided any contact with him until she was prepared to bring an end to the suffering on her terms.

Her turn to check out finally arrived and she completed her purchase transaction before her items could be placed into bags. The store personnel on this lane were not accustom to having a customer efficiently pay for their groceries, so they had developed a sloth-like routine in their own actions to compensate. Retrieving the bag as soon as the last item was in it, she strolled out of the store to her car and was pulling into her Vienna, Virginia apartment parking space five minutes later.

She put her groceries away, started water boiling for the pasta she was planning and fed her cat. Turning on her computer, she then went to her bedroom to change out of her work clothes while waiting for it to boot. Once she was comfortably dressed in sweat pants and a tank top, she added the ziti to the boiling water and settled down at her computer to check the e-mail on her Google search.

"Gary Conté." It was his name that had generated the alert. A quick review of the search results took her to an obituary on Gary that had just been published in the on-line edition of the Orange County Register newspaper. She read the article and then picked up her cell phone.

"Hey kiddo," was her greeting when the call was answered by Linda Saunders.

"Hi Linda, how did you know it was me? This is a new number for me." she said.

"You're the only person I know in area code 703," replied Linda. "Are you calling about Gary?"

"Partly," she replied. "I just found out when I saw the obituary on-line. I'm sorry to hear that he died, but I really didn't know him that well. How are you and Cliff doing with the news?"

"Cliff, Gary and Kyle had stayed in touch, but they weren't as close as they used to be," Linda told her. "Cliff heard about the accident from Gary's father and he then contacted Kyle to let him know. Cliff and Kyle will be meeting with Gary's family this weekend to offer whatever assistance they can. They've both already agreed to serve as pallbearers at the service. I assume Kyle is the other reason you are calling? Are you finally ready to go after him?"

"I think so," she said. "Only I'm not just going to go after him, I am going to get him."

Linda heard the conviction in the voice on the phone, "Do you have a plan?" she asked.

"I have the basis for a plan. I could use some updated intel on my target if you're still willing to help me."

"What do you need?" asked Linda, "and how soon do you need it?"

Without hesitation she told Linda, "Find out if he has any regrets. I can either work with what he has, or find new ones for him. Also, keep me posted on the schedule for Gary's service. I'm not sure if I can get things rolling here as quickly as I would like, but if I can, then I will try to attend at least the graveside service."

"I can probably get back to you by Sunday evening," said Linda. "How late is too late to call you?

"As long as I have been waiting to get Kyle Mason, you can call me anytime."

***

Kyle saw Cliff and his wife Linda sitting at a table in the lounge. He had accepted their invitation to meet at the Doubletree Hotel for drinks after visiting Gary's family since it was one of the most convenient half-way points between their home in Corona and his apartment in Costa Mesa. Truth be told, it was far more convenient for him, but they had offered and he had accepted.

Kyle approached them at the table, shook Cliff's hand, and gave Linda a hug and a kiss on her cheek. Linda Flynn and Cliff Saunders had been high school sweethearts, and Kyle had known her since middle school where they had once flirted with becoming a couple themselves.

Cliff nodded in the direction of the bartender and said to Kyle, "Steve already has a tab open for us, so just go order whatever you want. He's flying solo right now, so if you wait for table service you'll be disappointed."

Kyle held the chair for Linda to sit back down and then walked to the bar to order a beer. After accepting his drink, he returned to the table and saw that Cliff and Linda were looking through their senior year high school yearbook. He joined them at the table, sitting across from the couple as they shared their review of the book.

Even looking at the pages upside down, Kyle could easily see when they turned to the page that had his senior picture. It wasn't his picture that drew his attention; it was the picture of the person next to his. For as long as Kyle could remember, the easiest way to describe to someone how to find him in the yearbook was to simply tell them "Find the prettiest girl in the class, and my picture is right next to hers." "Mayes" followed "Mason", so Karen Mayes had been next to Kyle Mason in every class picture since fourth grade, and she had held the only space in his heart for just as long.

***

Karen Mayes and her mother had moved in next door to Kyle when they both were eight years old. The house belonged to Karen's widowed aunt – her mother's sister – and since Karen's father and older brother had recently died in a car accident, Karen's mom and aunt decided to share their home and their grief.

Karen and Kyle had become friends initially, but something changed soon after they started middle school. Karen started avoiding Kyle and ignoring him as much as possible whenever they were together at school or other social settings that didn't involve their mothers. She was never mean, or contemptuous towards him, it was more like she just wished he didn't exist.

Karen was unquestionably the prettiest girl in school. By the end of high school, she had a wholesome, athletic five foot eight figure which was toned by her daily participation on the school's synchronized swim team, girl next door facial features that were flawless, blonde hair worn short in a style similar to Meg Ryan, and beautiful warm blue eyes – except for the times when they were focused on Kyle. Then they were cold and he was invisible.

When Kyle started driving to high school, Karen would accept his offer for a ride, especially on the mornings when they both had zero period classes, but the trips were laced with her silence and unwillingness to even look at Kyle. Karen didn't date during high school, and she frequently used Kyle to dissuade any boys who would ask her out. It was almost like she wanted everyone to think that she and Kyle were an item, while at the same time treating him like he was nothing more than dog mess on the bottom of her shoe. Whenever Kyle dated another girl, Karen was especially cold to him afterwards, Kyle assumed because it would jeopardize her credibility in using him as her deflection against other boys. The other girls must have sensed this too, because Kyle never got a second date with any one girl.

Kyle watched for years as Karen's popularity grew. With her graceful looks, her compassionate charms, her intelligent contributions to any conversation, Karen won the heart of everyone at the school as she continued to skewer the heart of the boy next door. Karen was nominated for every Homecoming or Prom Princess crown, but refused to participate, or even attend the associated dances. When Kyle was nominated for Homecoming King their senior year, Karen finally accepted her nomination as Queen, and naturally won. While she would not allow Kyle to take her to the dance, she did stay by his side the entire night as they were both crowned and had one obligatory dance with him before refusing any further requests from him or other boys. When they were both again nominated as King and Queen for the Senior Prom, Karen accepted his corsage and allowed Kyle to drive her to the dance but refused his offer to take her to dinner beforehand, and the one dance following their coronation was her only concession to him or anyone else on the dance floor.

Karen was their class Valedictorian, and soon after graduation, left to attend M.I.T. on a full scholarship. As far as Kyle knew, Karen had never returned to Orange County since leaving for college, but upon reflection he assumed that she had returned and simply made sure that Kyle wasn't informed. Kyle remembered their last summer together when he would purposely schedule his martial arts classes so that he would be leaving the house at the same time Karen would leave for her lifeguard job at the community pool. The 'coincidence' of them leaving at the same time would explain his offers to give Karen a ride, and even though she never spoke to him on these trips, it afforded him an opportunity to be with her.

Kyle always felt that if he was with Karen, he had a chance that one time she would explain to him what he had done to push her away. His optimism was finally defeated when, on taking her to her last day of work before leaving for college, Kyle had asked her to keep in touch because he never wanted to lose her as a friend. Her response had haunted him since that day.

"We're not friends Kyle," said Karen. "You may want to think so, but it's just your fantasy."

While the tone of her words wasn't hostile, they denoted a factual acceptance by her that surprised Kyle.

"Why is being your friend just my fantasy, Karen? I've never known what I did to push you away,"

"All you had to do was be yourself," she said. "Goodbye Kyle." Karen began to get out of his car.

"Karen wait!" Kyle implored. "Can't we talk about this? I don't want to lose you."

Karen turned and faced him for the first time. She removed her sunglasses and staring at him through the eyes he treasured said, "For what purpose Kyle? You want to be friends and I don't. What would talking accomplish?"

"Why Karen?" Kyle asked. "Why haven't you ever wanted to be my friend? Whatever I did...I'm sorry."

"If you don't know, then I can't help you. I have my reasons Kyle. Goodbye."

***

"Gary is the third member of our class that I am aware of dying since graduation," said Linda.

Cliff squeezed his wife's hand, "Our ten year reunion is in a couple of months. I hope there is some sort of memorial being planned."

"I hope so too, and I'll mention it to the rest of the reunion committee," she said. "I don't think a lot of people truly appreciate how precious life is and how fragile our relationships with others can be. Life is too short to go through it with regrets.