I was trying to think where to start this tale, and I think I will begin on that Friday night in April. I may jump around a bit for some background but let's start on that Friday.
It was Friday afternoon a little after 5 and I was done with work for the week. The weather in Oregon can be unpredictable in April, but today was gorgeous almost 70 degrees, sunny, not a cloud in sight.
I was in a good mood, work week over and this great weather. What am I going to do this weekend? That's when my mood went south. I had no plans, no dates, nothing to do.
I have been divorced for 3 years, 28 years old, at this point in the story, and not dating anyone. I have tried the online route with no luck, just a waste of money. Most of my friends are married and a couple of the blind dates they have set me up on were flops.
My ex is in a solid relationship with a woman, and they may be my closest female friends. Creeping in to my head is the thought "what's wrong with me?"
I pulled up to my house and felt momentarily better looking at the structure. Through my boss I had gotten a great deal on the house.
It was definitely a fixer and I had spent a lot of time trying to get it back in shape. I had made progress. The 1950's era mid century modern had been a reclamation project and I had invested a lot of time and money to get it to the point It was at now. My industry connections in the lumber business had helped.
I got home grabbed my running stuff and went to change. I looked at myself in the mirror, 6' a fairly solid 190 lbs, not washboard - but certainly some visible abdominal muscles. According to my ex, I was "not bad looking".
So what was wrong with me and how is it I have not had a meaningful date in many months? I was starting to get depressed so I took off on my 5 mile run.
I always feel better after the workout and was enjoying a beer and the late afternoon sunshine on my back deck when my cell buzzed. It was my ex brother in law Mike, " hey Cam, what's shakin'".
Mike is in finance and the little money I have, he takes care of. He is really good. His wife Megan is beautiful, fun to talk to, and keeps his enormous ego in check.
"What do you got going tomorrow?" Knowing I had nothing but reluctant to admit it, i implied I was busy but had some flexibility to my schedule. "Don't tell me the old man has you working on Saturday".
_____________________________________________________________________________________
A little background at this point. I work at Specialty Timbers. Mike's father, Ted Robinson, is the owner and my boss. My ex Kimberly is the accountant and Mike's sister and Ted's daughter. Mike never went into the lumber business, got his MBA and now he has his own investment business, Robinson and Associates.
Growing up my Mom my sister and I weren't exactly poor, but we flirted with that socio economic strata. In high school anything beyond the basics, I had to pay for myself.
After football season my junior year I went to the counseling center and found a lead for a job at a company within bicycle distance of my Mom's place. I knew if I ever were to get a car, no one was going to help me pay for it.
That Tuesday at 4 pm was the first time I entered the front door at Specialty Timbers. It was an open office with windows to the warehouse/shop at the back and 3 private offices on the left hand side. I checked my note card and asked for Mr Hanratty.
10 minutes later an older short guy with long hair falling in his face walked up, "I'm Skip Hanratty" and he offered a large rough hand with part of his pointer finger missing.
We walked to one of the offices with files, magazines, catalogs and blocks of wood everywhere. He sat behind his desk, put his feet up and asked me what I knew about the lumber business. "not very much" I replied, probably not the best answer if I wanted the job.
"Then why are you wasting my time?" I was nervous and intimidated, and didn't know how to answer, he just stared at me.
Finally I said, "Mr Hanratty, I need a job, and I promise you I will work hard."
He kept staring for a good 30 seconds, not saying a word. I was thinking of what other jobs were on the board at the counseling center, when all of a sudden he says " be here tomorrow at 3:30 and be prepared to work."
I was shocked, stood up, shook his hand and left. I noticed a tall balding man poke his head out of the last office and look at me. Little was I to know how the path of my life had just changed.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
So back to that Friday in April sitting on my deck talking to Mike, "no I'm not working this weekend just a lot of errands to try to get done",
"Oh bullshit, tomorrow is Saturday and there is an event at the fairgrounds and I have to be there. Megan has a couple of friends coming and I need you to be there with me."
I actually wouldn't mind going but I had to act like I didn't. But before I could even start any protestation, Mike said "pick you up at eleven," then I heard the dial tone. I guess I'm going to the Spring Fair.
————————————————————————————————+————————-
I met Mike Robinson the same day that I met my ex wife. By the end of my junior year I had been working at Specialty 5 days a week 3:30 - 6:00 and occasionally on Saturdays if they needed it. I had bought a very used Corolla with lot's of miles but it ran well and got good gas mileage.
I made just about enough to pay insurance, get some gas and I was left with about $10 extra per week to help my Mom.
I was excited to start working full time 7 - 3:30 every day now that school was out for the Summer.
On the Tuesday after Memorial Day I showed up bright and early to start my first full day of work. The shop lead was a wiry man named Don Smith. It was Don who I guess you would call my supervisor during my after school working days.
Smitty new all the machines in the shop, watched over inventory and supervised deliveries and receipt of materials in the shop. He basically ran the back end operation. He taught me a lot and this summer I was going to learn more about how the milling, veneer and other machines worked. My job was basically running the machines maintenance. What I knew I learned from Smitty.
That Tuesday I was informed I got a 15 minute break at 10 AM, 30 minutes for lunch at noon, and then off at 3:30. Smitty sent me to the break room at 10, a place I'd never been before, it was on the far side of the office, near the women's bathroom.
As I entered the office I first saw this preppy little punk smirking at me, I guess it was because of the way I was dressed. "Hiya Smitty, you're going to cause an energy crisis,".
I was wearing an old pair of overalls Smitty had given me and it still had the oval tag with his name sewed on to the bib. It was smeared with oil from my work on the equipment.
That wasn't the worst of it, immediately I heard a giggle and there was this girl, about my age, good looking, giggling behind her hands at me. Who were these people, I had never seen them before at Specialty.
Just then the owner, the tall man that looked at me on the day of my interview, yelled at them to knock it off. I quickly got to the break room, away from these two smug kids. As I was sitting embarrassed, and drinking a cup of copy, the owner, the tall man, came into the break room. In all the months I'd worked there I had never spoken to him.
"Don't mind them, they're just my spoiled children, they are working here this summer, but to be honest I'm not sure what Mike is being paid for. We've never formally met, I'm Ted Robinson" he offered his hand.
I mumbled "Cameron Joseph" as we shook.
"Good to meet you Cameron, I am hearing good things about you from Smitty, let's talk again later this summer, in the meantime, ignore those 2 jackasses."
_____________________________________________________________________________________
And that was my first encounter with Mike and Kimberly Robinson. I heard the horn of Mike's black BMW that Saturday morning, only 20 minutes late. "Where's Meg?"
I glanced at Mike, dark sunglasses, slicked back black hair, tan face, still the preppy I met 12 years ago.
"She met Brandy and Celia for coffee downtown, we're meeting them at the fair". Hmmm, Brandy and Celia, I wonder if this was a set up.
We parked and walked a few blocks to the fairgrounds. "I got to drop this by the fair, office" RA is a co sponsor of the event and Mike was delivering his company brochures. "The girls are over by the booths".
As we walked up I saw the gorgeous, blond and smiling Megan, who gave Mike a kiss and introduced me to Brandy and Celia.
Brandy had long dark straight hair and very curvy but a bit of a hard look. She was showing a little cleavage and I had to keep my eyes up when we shook hands.
Celia was different, dark curly hair, athletic build and a ready smile. She stared into my eyes, "nice to meet you Cameron, I've heard about you", I snuck a glance at Megan and all I saw was a sly smile. My weekend was definitely getting better.
As a group of five we wandered the fair and I found myself often strolling along side Celia. She had a nice way of looking me right in the eye when we talked. She had a great laugh, and I found myself being outgoing and witty.
Every so often I would glance over at Mike and catch him smiling at me. It was turning out to be a great day.
We spent several hours checking out all the exhibits, occasionally running in to acquaintances and having a good time. Mike knew a lot of people and this was networking for his business.
We decided to go to Mallory's and grab a beer and try to get an outside table. Brandy decided to head home, something about a headache, and Mike said we would make sure that Celia had a ride.
We found a great outdoor table and the sun felt wonderful . Mike told lot's of funny stories about work, marriage and his family. I tried to remember the last time I had such a good time. Celia was fun to talk to, interesting, and asked me questions about myself.
After Mike ordered a 3rd round I made the offhand comment, " for sure I need to run tomorrow," Celia asked where I ran and before I knew it, we had a running date for Sunday at 9 AM.
Eventually we left, I was having such a great time with Celia, talking, laughing, learning about her life it was very nice. We just seemed to click, I was just hoping there wasn't some version of a significant other in her life.
