Part 5 - New Friends in a New Home
The Chevelle was headed back to the motel after a successful interview with Katherine McCullough, who had agreed to our becoming tenants in the downstairs of a duplex where Bruce and MaryLou occupied the upstairs.
The top was down in the fresh mountain air and I was being verbally attacked, "How could you dump on the poor woman like that?"
I counterattacked, "What if we groom her for VP of Marketing? Some new clothes and fancy heels? A proper hairdo? She will knock them down right and left."
Silence while wheels turned. Robin turned to me, "You are right, you horny thing. You have to promise to let us be her makeover specialists and not molest her!"
"Let's make it interesting. She gets a free makeover and we get free ski lessons after I take us to the store to rent gear."
Kate pulled my head down to her lap for swats. "Mac, you oaf, whatever has gotten into your head that you can learn to ski? This is going to be one of the funniest blog episodes ever."
After delivering a fake karate chop, she added, "We need something professional in the way of video gear. Let's ask Bruce for suggestions."
Munching our deli sandwiches in the suite, I asked, "Are you happy with progress? Do I get a wrestle on the floor?"
It took almost ten minutes before bodies relaxed. Robin said, "We need a gym membership somewhere. Especially if we are supposed to have ski muscles. I haven't been on a hill since I was in college."
"Oui. My cousin took me to Grenoble a couple of times. Mostly to fall down!" A-M laughed and attacked me with her lips.
Kate was flat on her back, fingers exploring a bare middle. "Jeremy is excited about bouncing on moguls!"
"Who is going to be the CAO and keep us on the straight path?"
Robin sat on my chest and said, "I learned some of those words in school. It doesn't matter who is Chief Administrative Officer. That is business school talk. What we need," she paused for emphasis and a pull of my hair, "is talent applied in the right place at the right time."
I closed my eyes and lay back. Speaking of talent, how did I deserve the amount these three were delivering? I got to my feet and gave Kate the phone and my laptop. "Call Bruce about the video. Let's move on that item so we can begin some test shots." Then I rolled Robin into my lap and whispered in her ear. "I'm impressed with your talent. Your wonderful sense of timing. The ease with which you subdue the male animal..."
She turned me on my stomach and bounced on my ass, keeping quiet while Kate talked to Bruce. She went to a full out body press and dropped on me. Her lips at my ear said very quietly, "If you keep up those compliments, I am going to melt away..."
We snuggled in each other's arms until Kate clicked off and said, "Bruce thinks we should talk to people at Mountain Light. Since you are so impatient, I assume we are headed there now?" Kate and A-M both applied kicks to bodies on the floor. "Get up. No more lovey-dovey."
Chapter 14 - Upping the Video Game
Robin and I followed the others out the door, arms around each other, pooh-poohing our friends.
The camera store was impressive. Lots of beautiful enlargements on the walls. I asked for someone familiar with videocams and was referred to Tom. A short back and forth narrowed our quest.
"Go Pro owns the market for action videos in the field, but has quality issues. Sony owns the market for pro and semi-pro video cameras, but charges an arm and a leg for them A lot of DSLR cameras do good video, but were not designed for that use."
"Do you rent equipment?
"We are not really in the rental business, but if you buy a videocam from us, I'll take it back in a week if you don't like it."
We spent the next hour walking around the shop taking video with several different cameras. I made sure each woman handled every camera.
Tom could tell we were needing to compare notes and showed us to a quiet corner with soft chairs. Coffee and tea were on a counter next to us.
"All right, ladies, what's the verdict?"
Go Pro was first choice of everyone. Kate said, "This is the camera for blogs. The WiFi transfer is fantastic. We will need the weatherproof features. The quality is fine for our blog. The image stabilization will cover up our amateur moves!"
My lovely wife was in her element. I asked, "What about the quality issues?"
She looked at Tom, "How many Go Pros have come back to you for quality problems?"
He hesitated and said, "Maybe ten percent. If you are going to use this for a business, I would recommend two. They are under $500 anyway, and I'll give you a discount for two, plus a commitment to a loaner if one has to go in for repair."
I looked at Kate, "How's your checkbook holding out?"
"You are draining it faster than ever!"
Later, in the suite, the coffee table was covered with cameras and camera manuals. Bruce and ML walked in and smiled. "You've been to Mountain Light."
I pointed to Kate, "She is in charge of all things video. Says the first job is to post a porn shoot, just to get the feel of it, so to speak..."
We were about to be treated rudely when I apologized. "Sorry, meant to say skiing shoot."
Bruce clapped me on the shoulder with a smile. There was an immediate decision to eat in at Bruce's apartment. The women organized to shop. Bruce said he needed to do some cleaning up before we arrived. ML asked if Katie should be invited and we all nodded. I asked Kate and Robin to stay behind and then jog over because I needed to talk to them about something.
They sandwiched me with frowns. "Why are we not helping?"
I turned to Kate, "Tell her about the cash economy."
It didn't take long. I added at the end, "There probably isn't much need for secrecy anymore, but I would rather not relax just yet. Marigold's parents are unpredictable and the newspaper article about the marriage may have torched them off all over again."
Robin asked, "Where do I figure in this?"