Author's note -
This is the second chapter in an ongoing series of character studies. Here the two leading characters discover each and their world. Maybe age is just a number. This is not a stroke story; of course, this being Lit, there are some sexy scenes.
All characters are over eighteen years of age and are fictional. While some places may be geographically correct, what takes place is fictional.
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"Good Morning, Sally. Two things, first did you get an overnight package addressed to me? Second, is everything set up for the conference this morning?"
"Yes, I got the package. What am I suppose to do with it?"
"Call Raul and have him come to the office. Put him in my private office. He'll know what needs doing. He will give you the package back and which I want to be sent back to me for 8 AM delivery to me here in Watkins Glen tomorrow morning. Make a guaranteed reservation at the Riverside Inn in Overlook, NY for me beginning the day after tomorrow and running for the next eight days. I am not sure when I will be arriving, likely sometime during that time frame. I will need a suite when I get there. Give Raul the address of the inn. He will know what I need."
"Yes, sir."
"All right, connect me to the conference room, and let's get this ball rolling."
Two hours later, I finally got off the phone with the team, and we all had a clear idea of how to go forward. Walking back onto the bus, "Kat? What's wrong? You look upset. What's going on?"
"You know the little ring I always wear? Aunt Flo gave me that ring when I graduated from high school. That ring belonged to her mother. It's lost. I've looked everywhere, and I can't find it."
"It's got to be here. I know you have taken everything apart, looking for it while I was outside on the phone. But, for sure, the ring is here where I can't say. When I misplaced something and could not find it, I walked away for a day instead of running around looking for it. Almost always, I found it the next day or the following day. Baby? It is here, and it will turn up. Ok?"
"Neil, I, I just can't understand what happened. I'm upset, and well, I'm worried that it is lost. And what do I say to Aunt Flo? Give me a few to calm down. Losing something this important is so unlike me."
"Kat! Do not beat yourself up. The ring is here, and it will turn up. Making a guess, it will turn tomorrow morning." All right, genius, how are you going to get the ring back without stirring up all kinds of stuff on her part?
"Hun, let's go in town, get a bite to eat, and then go to the Corning Museum. Have you ever seen crystal done as a statue?"
"No? I've seen pictures but not in person."
"As you know, I love to do landscape photography. Taking either crystal or glass and shaping it into something else is another art form that I find endlessly fascinating. In Chicago, you'll see I have a few small pieces of glass in the condo along with some photos as well."
After lunch, we got to the museum and began wandering about the galleries. Seeing the exhibits was the first time Kat had seen works like this and how they came to be. As we strolled about, she struck up conversations with one or another staff member, talking about techniques and what all else I didn't know. What became very clear to me was that Kat was a genuine artist in her own right.
"Kat, at some point, I am going buy or build a house, a house for the both of us. As you saw, they have some great design concepts I'd like to incorporate into our new home. What do you think?"
"Neil, my darling man. You have no idea what this place has done to me. It is incredible, breathtaking, and it has changed my notions of what and where to go next."
I was taken aback by Kat's reactions. Her eyes bounced from one exhibit, one piece to the next, and back and forth as she drank everything in. She absorbed galleries in ways I did not understand. But she was incorporating everything she saw.
I stepped outside and called my office. "Sally, I need you to get a hold of Raul and find out from him when the earliest he can have it in Albany. Then send me a text with what he said. And no, I will not give you any details, just let me know what it says. Thank you, Sally." Thirty minutes later, my phone chimed in, telling me I had a text. The text said, "tomorrow afternoon, not later than three. The other thing will be there by eight in the morning." Well, well, tomorrow is going to be a busy day.
"Sweetheart? Roll over and go back to sleep. I'm going to take Ru out for a walk and run. We'll be back in a little while. Ok? When I get back, we will need to start moving towards Albany. I'd like to get there around four or so."
I was waiting at the office when FedUP arrived. Yes! They did have it. Thank all the gods in all the heavens for that. Very carefully and securely, I slipped the ring into my pocket. Together Ru and I roamed around the campgrounds. About an hour later, we headed back home and heard the shower running when we came inside.
I carefully put the ring just inside the back fold of the sofa in the front of the bus. Where I hoped that Kat would find it there as it was next to where she usually sat. Then, walking into the bathroom, I held a towel out for my wonderful woman. "Does anyone here need their back dried?"
"Get over here, sailor man! I need lots and lots of your hugs." Wrapping my woman in the towel and holding her deep in my arms.
"Honey? If you are interested, there's a cup of coffee in the kitchen with your name on it." Going to the kitchen and pouring the both of us a cup of coffee. I put Kat's coffee down in front of the sofa where she usually sat and where the ring was half-hidden from view. Looking up, I saw her moving very slowly, wrapped in the towel toward the sofa. As she started to sit down, she saw it, the half-hidden ring.
The discovery led to a scream, then tears, then a huge sigh of relief. Never in my life had I seen anyone as happy as she was. At first, Kat stood there wrapped in the towel, simply looking out into space. Then the smile came back and came back, and my woman, well, my woman, has back. The smile that lit my day was back. Her eyes were glowing like the precious emeralds they are. The warmth was there. All was good in the world.
"Neil, you have heard me say that since meeting you, my world is entirely different than what I might have dreamed. The world I dreamed of was teaching school kids how to draw and some handsome man riding a white horse sweeping me off my feet. Instead, yesterday I saw a world in glass that, to be honest, I don't know existed. But, for sure, it changed my views on what art is. Add to that not being able to find Aunt Flo's ring, and well, I was lost."
"I don't have any kind of horse. The best I can do is a fuzzy dog with pointy ears that barks a lot and will, on occasion, nip your fingers lovingly. Would that work?"
Kat answered my question with peels of laughter. "Asshole! Get over here!" I happily scampered out of the dog house with my morning worries fixed. However, this evening promised a lot more.
"Is it ok if I move his lordship off the sofa? Maybe he can go back to his throne upfront?" Ru! Move it, or I will sit on you, go on, dog. Move it.
With that, Ru slinked off with his tail between his legs and went up front and jumped on Kat's seat there.
"You only think your world is different. You have changed everything I thought would be. I had it set that Ru and I would wander back roads looking for the next great photograph. What I got instead was an icy cold beer and you. You reversed the course of my life, dear Lady."
"Hey, do you think we can shake our collective asses and get to Albany by four this afternoon? There's a package at the hotel I will need to sign for and review quickly. Are you good with this change in plans?"
"Neil, tell me one thing. Will we be together? If, yes then I am good with whatever."
At three-thirty, we rolled up to the inn where we were to stay. Kat stayed with the bus while Ru ran around and chased whatever there was to pursue, much to her amusement. I went into the hotel, got us registered and the keys for our suite, then met the messenger waiting for me. I dashed off my signature for the package, and he was on his way. Then I walked back out and found the dynamic duo, "hey, good looking? You and your buddy gunna stay out here all day? Or might you give me a hand getting stuff up to our room?"
"Old man? You have been so good all day. But you have to revert to form and start your shit again. You know Cathy told me she has to kick Carl's ass almost every day, or he just doesn't act right. I can see now that you are the same as he is in every respect. So what do you need a hand with?"
