"Get back on the horse. That's my advice. So what if you fell off? It happens all the time."
"I didn't fall off, Kelli, I got bucked off and stomped on!"
"Okay, so you got thrown. I'm not saying I know what it would be like to come home and find my husband in bed with my sister, but I can imagine it and the pain that goes with it. But you can't just give up. You're not a quitter, Janna. I know you better than that."
Unlike Kelli, Janna Reese wasn't married, but she had come home unexpectedly one day to find her boyfriend in bed with Blake Allen, her former best friend. The sense of betrayal was overwhelming and the hurt beyond description. She'd been so sure he loved her, and she knew she loved him. Then again, she thought Blake was the one person on earth she could trust with absolute certainty in any situation. Even now, just the thought of what she'd seen nearly a year ago still made her sick to her stomach.
At 25, Janna was the youngest woman ever elected to the city council in Seattle, Washington. In spite of her electoral victory, she'd never felt more alone and it wasn't just because of the loss of her former boyfriend and her best friend. Unlike the rest of the city council members who were all liberal Democrats, Janna was more of a Libertarian who'd run as a moderate Republican and gotten elected last Fall. Her positions on issues created unending conflict with the rest of the council leaving her feeling isolated and alone.
She was passionate in her point of view and held steadfastly to her principles because to her, honor and integrity were everything. In the world of politics, she'd seen very little of either virtue, and that had served as a large part of the reason she'd run for office in the first place. Since arriving, she'd seen neither honor nor integrity.
Four of the other council members were women and none of them could be called attractive. Matronly or distinguished might possibly apply, but that would be the kindest thing anyone might say about them. In stark contrast, Janna was an incredibly attractive young woman and being so photogenic hadn't hurt her in the election last November. She was 5' 7" tall and weighed somewhere around 115 pounds. She had dark, shoulder-length hair and bright blue eyes and a smile that could both charm and disarm nearly any man and not a few women.
She was pleasant, positive, and hopelessly optimistic about the future—except when it came to her own. She knew these feelings were temporary and that she would indeed eventually get back on the proverbial horse and ride again, but for now her outlook was anything but positive. She'd never gone this long without someone in her life and while she could continue to provide for her own um...satisfaction...that simply wasn't much of a substitute for the real thing.
She vowed that this time she'd find the qualities of honor and integrity in a man before agreeing to a first date let alone getting involved. As each week passed without the real thing, that promise became more challenging, but then all she had to do was envision what she'd seen in her bedroom and her resolve—and patience—were fully back in place.
"I have a job to do, Kelli. For now that's more than enough. We have so many problems in this city I feel like I don't even know where to start most days." Her words were true as there were a ton of issues to deal with. While they were true, they left out what Paul Harvey used to call 'the rest of the story.' She'd love to get back on the proverbial horse but she'd be damned if she'd do so with guy just because he was attractive or even nice. Not this time.
Her executive assistant, an older woman named Kelli Miller, had known Janna for years and knew she was right. The budget was in disarray and due for review, unfunded liabilities in the city's pension plans were threatening to bankrupt the city, they needed more police officers, but public transportation also need help, and the public school system was an outright disaster. There were also never-ending infrastructure projects and a 'go-zillion' other things requiring her attention.
Just once, she wished the solution to a problem—any problem—would just walk into her office. Janna laughed not because something like couldn't happen, but because she was a cold, hard realist who knew the odds against it were astronomically high.
Kelli decided to give it a rest—at least for now—and told Janna, "Don't forget you have the public forum meeting at one o'clock. There's an interesting topic on the agenda called 'The Midnight Basketball Project' that looks interesting. It says it requires no funding. That should make you happy." Kelli smiled knowing how Janna felt about citizens pitching some 'great idea' to the council then letting them know how much money they'd need to implement said great idea.
Her morning flew by and she was lucky to get a few bites of turkey sandwich she'd packed and a cup of coffee before the council convened at 1pm. They heard two proposals in the first hour, both of which required money the city just didn't have. Even so, Janna felt certain the council would vote unanimously—less her dissenting vote—to fund them and worry about where the money would come from later. Except that they wouldn't worry at all. They'd just vote to spend the money and not give it a second thought.
Next up was someone named Nathan Walker. "Oh, right, the midnight basketball guy," she reminded herself. "Someone who's not asking for a handout. This should be interesting," she thought cynically as she watched him approach the microphone. "At least he won't be hard to look at," she also said silently to herself. He looked to be around 40, but he was still an exceptionally attractive man made even more so when smiled; something he did often during his short presentation.
"Thank you giving me a few minutes of your time," he began. He spent less than ten minutes outlining what he wanted to do and the only thing he was asking from the city was for some additional eyeballs from the police. "Just please ask the chief of police to have them to keep on eye on the four courts I'll be refurbishing. Until we can win the confidence of the people who live in these neighborhoods, they won't feel any sense of pride in the courts, and they could very easily be vandalized. So as they patrol the neighborhoods, it's important for them to take a careful look and make sure no one is doing anything to destroy this project before it can grow roots. If we can get this program up and running, I believe we can continue it indefinitely. As I said, I'm providing the initial funding and later on I still won't be asking the city for any financial support. I will however, be asking you to help out by assisting me in holding an occasional fundraiser and perhaps solicit donations." He paused then said, "Of course, only if you feel this is benefitting our community."
He closed by saying, "I haven't lived here for the last 22 years. I've been very fortunate in my life, and I want to give something back. If we can even keep a few kids out of gangs, off drugs, and on the straight and narrow it'll be well worth it. Sometimes they just need an alternative to the temptations that are out there. Basketball isn't the only answer and it certainly isn't the answer for everyone, but we have to start somewhere and we have to try. Like I said, if we can save even a few kids, it's time and money well spent."
There was a smattering of applause from the handful of people in the room who were either reporters, other people making presentations, or a very small number of interested citizens.
Nathan Walker was a 1994 graduate of Auburn High School who'd gone on to graduate from the University of Washington four years later. He then served as an F-18 pilot in the U.S. Marine Corps for nearly 17 years. Because of the glut of officers on active duty after the war in Iraq ended and Afghanistan largely wound down, majors and lieutenant colonels with 15-19 years service were offered early retirement.
Major Walker loved flying and the Marine Corps, but this opportunity for early retirement was too good to pass up. He had a very good friend he'd served with who flew for a civilian charter airline company and as soon as he learned Nathan was retiring, he set up an interview for him. He'd been hired immediately, trained on the Gulfstream jets he'd be flying, and had already logged over a hundred hours as a co-pilot all within a year of leaving active duty.
Walker had never been married, and until recently had no interest in settling down for two reasons. The first was the constant deployment schedule. After flight school he'd been deployed for seven of his almost seventeen years on active duty and for him at least, that was no way to raise a family. The second was that he was as good looking as they came and he saw no reason to limit his interaction with the fairer sex to just one woman. His only restrictions were: no married women, no enlisted women, and they had to be over 18 and living away from home. Even with those three 'no-nos' in place, he was rarely without female companionship for any length of time with the exception of those very long tours of duty in Muslim countries.
Even now, he'd already enjoyed the company of two cute, younger flight attendants, an attractive young female police officer who'd pulled him over for speeding in his black Corvette (she'd let him off with a warning thanks to his amazing smile and even thanked him for his service before writing her number on the back of the warning citation), and an elementary school teacher he'd run into one evening when he went out for dinner when he hadn't even been looking.
"Does the council have any questions for me?" he asked after closing his presentation.