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CHAPTER – 21: The Plot
Kathy opened the door before we rang the bell. She must have been watching from her window. From the way she looked, it was obvious she’d had little sleep. On the other hand, she had the relaxed look of a woman very well—and very strenuously—loved.
“Well, well, well. So you guys finally managed to get out of the bed,” Kathy opened up with all guns. Giving me a quick look, she directed her gaze at Sarah and went on. “You must be slipping, Sarah. He’s still alive and kicking.”
Sarah was ready, and returned fire, “Oh, I’m not slipping, but he was slipping something to me. For a long time, I might add. I didn’t have time to slip or sleep. And you look like you’ve been up all night long. What’s your excuse?”
This is getting ridiculous!
“Hey, girls. Come on. Do you want me and Mark to take a stroll for fresh air?”
“Yeah, why not? It’s a good idea. Sarah and I can compare notes,” Kathy quipped.
“As if you aren’t going to do that some other time,” I said, with a snicker.
Turning to me, Sarah cut in with, “I think Mark should do what you haven’t done all these years. She seems to need it.” It took me a second to figure out what Sarah was referring to—teaching Kathy respect.
Kathy was clueless with the turn of the conversation, and she waited for an explanation, tapping her feet, her arms crossed. When we didn’t clue her in, she gave in and asked, “What are you two talking about?”
Exchanging a look with Sarah, I said, “I think you should do the honors, since I missed my chance.”
With a grin, Sarah turned to Kathy, and said, “I think Mark should get you over his knees and teach you some respect.”
“You turn coat. He fucked your brains out, didn’t he? Otherwise, you wouldn’t side with him,” Kathy retorted indignantly.
Laughing at her accusation, Sarah replied, “Yes he did, and softened me nicely. You seem tense, like a cat on a hot tin roof.”
“I know how to get more mileage without wearing myself out, like you do.”
“I don’t think so. I think you’re the one who’s worn out. Were the jeans too tight for comfort?”
At that quip, I noticed Kathy was wearing a skirt, instead of jeans. As she colored with the implications of the comment, Sarah went for the kill. “I hope you’re not walking funny. It could be embarrassing in the hospital.”
Kathy sputtered for a second, before resorting to name calling, “You slut.”
“You tramp,” Sarah replied.
“Harlot.”
“Alley cat.”
I was wondering when they were going to have a go at each other’s throat, when both of them burst into laughter and hugged each other, leaving me completely flabbergasted.
After kisses, they turned to me, and Kathy asked, “Are you going to stand there and gawk, or are you coming in?”
While I was trying to gather myself, Sarah quipped, “He looks cute, doesn’t he?”
“Yes, he does. So, did he like the book?” Kathy asked.
“He loved it. He was an avid reader.”
“I believe he would be. He just didn’t have many books to read.”
“Hmmm. Strange. He’s a very proficient reader. He didn’t miss a line or a word. Perfect read.”
“Really?” Kathy asked.
“Full points on all accounts. And you know I don’t grade on the curve.”
“Wow.”
“Not really, Kathy. It was a triple wow,” Sarah retorted, while she gave me a teasing smile.
I might be slow on the take and sometimes clueless, but I didn’t have to be a rocket scientist to decipher their code. I was being graded on my performance, and from the conversation Kathy knew exactly what Sarah and I did. The reference to the book suggested that Sarah had described her book contents in explicit detail to Kathy before, probably when they were comparing notes about men and their own activities.
Yep. They are closer than sisters, sharing a lot.
“Girls, girls, girls. Come on. I’m hungry. Now that the grading is over, can we talk about something else, and maybe get a bite.”
“Are you hungry?” Kathy asked.
“You bet I am. I worked my ass off, get graded, and degraded, and don’t even get fed.”
Sarah walked back to me, and putting her arm around my waist, she said, “Sorry, honey. We’ll feed you.”
“Yeah. Sarah will feed you. How about some milk for starters,” Kathy quipped.
Before I could say anything, Sarah responded. “Don’t mind her. She’s jealous. I don’t use my men up, and then discard them as she does.”
“I don’t do that.”
“No, you don’t. You suck the life out of them slowly, torturing them to death.”
Before Kathy could reply, Mark came to the door, asking, “What’s holding you up?”
“Nothing. Sarah and I were catching up,” Kathy replied.
With a smile, Mark countered, “Really. You two weren’t teasing Mitch to death. Hmmm... Since Sarah is laughing, you two must have already finished your usual greetings.”
Seeing the befuddled look on my face, Mark explained, “The usual name calling, you know.”
“Ah, that! Yeah. They were finished with that part.”
“That’s good. It gets old after a while, hearing the same things over and over,” he said, but from his smile I knew he was goading the girls. I wondered how many times he had witnessed that, or how many times the girls had ganged up on him.
“Shall we?” I asked, guiding Sarah in, with Mark and Kathy following behind us.
In the living room, Mark headed to the kitchen, and I noticed he was wearing an apron.
“Are you cooking?” I asked.
“Yep. The missy wanted to be pampered. It seems she was a bit tired,” Mark replied.
When she heard that, Sarah snickered knowingly. After all the teasing, I wanted to score one for myself.
“They’re pretty fragile. Luckily, I didn’t have to prepare something elaborate this morning,” I said.
Sarah tried to give me a hurt look, but couldn’t pull it off, so she gave up and blew a kiss. Kathy was uncharacteristically quiet, and when she sat down gingerly on one of the couches, I caught Sarah smiling at Kathy with a knowing grin.
Uh, oh! Kathy must have had a real work out.
Seeing me watching them, Sarah quipped. “She is a glutton. She doesn’t know when to stop. I on the other hand-“
“Will get what’s coming to you, if you keep it up,” Kathy retorted.
“Which I already had,” Sarah came back.
Kathy called in reinforcements. “Bro, can you please give me a hand with Sarah here?”
Hell, no!
“Leave me out of it. Work it out yourselves.”
I didn’t know Mark was listening to the conversation, but he was. “No, Mitch. Don’t let them,” he yelled a warning.
The girls shrieked with delight, and started to laugh.
I turned to him, confused. Why was he concerned? Then he explained. “Good God, man! Do you believe either one of them need help to handle the other? They were setting you up. They will sort it out, and than gang up on us. You should side with one of them, and work them against each other. Divide and conquer.” When he winked, I knew he was playing a game, so I joined in.
“Damn! So, what do we do now?”
“Nothing. It’s too late. Try to weather the storm and survive,” he replied with a serious expression.
“You mean we can’t bribe or ask for mercy?” I asked.
“Bribe? Hmmm... You might be on to something. Yeah. That might work. We can exploit their weaknesses.”
“Uh... Weaknesses?”
“You know, the usual things; a romantic dinner, flowers, a sensual evening. Women are suckers for those things,” Mark replied.
The girls were quiet, listening to our conversation.
“Oh, man! Do we really have to do that?” I whined.
With a shrug, Mark said, “I know. I’m not keen on the idea myself, but... unless you want to face the storm...”
“Damn! You sure that’s the lesser of the two evils?” I responded, playing reluctant.
Mark nodded with a solemn expression, then said, “Sometimes you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do.”
“Yeah. I know. I wish we had some better choices in the matter.”
“Me too, but... Come on, pal! Keep your chin up. We’ll survive. We’ve survived so far. And pray. That helps too.”
“Pray?”
“Pray that they get their sensibilities back. It’s rare, but miracles have been known to happen. On occasion,” he said with a heavy sigh, indicating he had very little faith in miracles.
“Have you ever witnessed such miracles?”
“I’m not sure, but I think it happened once or twice.”
Before I could comment, I felt a hand on my back. Giving me a soft rub, Sarah hooked her arm on my waist, and kissed me on my neck. When she looked up, I pulled her for a kiss, and saw Kathy and Mark were also in an embrace, kissing.
“Keep on praying, it might get an answer,” Sarah whispered with a teasing tone.
I saw Kathy was doing the same to Mark, and he gave me a discreet thumbs up. Unfortunately, it wasn’t discreet enough, because Sarah caught him. She must have given him an evil look, because he visibly paled.
“Your friend just got you in hot water, Mitch. Both of you are going to pay for it,” she said with an ominous tone. “Kathy! We need to teach these two a good lesson.”
“What did they do, now?” Kathy asked, turning to face Sarah.
Mark moved behind her, and wrapped his arms around her belly, and started to nuzzle her neck, making Kathy shiver. In the meantime, Mark was giving me a look, and if I wasn’t mistaken he was telling me to take control of the situation and do some damage control.
“Kathy!” Sarah tried to get Kathy’s attention, again.
Kathy looked up, but she was distracted. Mark was whispering something in her ear, and Kathy closed her eyes, listening in. I pulled Sarah in an embrace and before she could utter another word, locked my lips to her lips to silence her, while running my hands on her back, then her sides, caressing the outer swells of her tits, until I felt her catch her breath. Breaking the kiss, I kissed her neck, before licking her neck all the way to her ear. When I nipped her ear lobe she shivered, and I whispered, “Be a good girl, and you’ll be rewarded. Be a bad girl... well you’d better not.”
When I waited for her reply, she smiled, then said, “Oh, I want to be bad. But, not now. I’ll be good.”
I looked at Mark to see how he was fairing, and he seemed to have things under control. He had Kathy turned around, and was kissing her. When he noticed me, he made a motion as if wiping sweat from his forehead. I returned a thumbs up. The immediate danger was over and perhaps the storm was averted. Of course, the girls knew what was happening, but they had decided to go along with the little game, playing their part. It became obvious, when Sarah whispered, “One of these days, you guys should learn to be more discreet.”
“Like you girls?” I quipped.
“You know, Mitch, if I wasn’t worn out, you would be screaming your head off in one of the bedrooms.”
“You already made me scream, love.”
“As you made me. Every time. And I loved screaming for you,” she replied, following her words with a passionate kiss.
“I think something is burning,” I announced, breaking the kiss. I smelled something.
“Probably, Sarah,” Kathy retorted with a smirk.
“No. I mean it. Something is burning.”
“Shit!” Mark exclaimed. “The butter.”
Quickly disengaging from Kathy, he ran to the stove. We saw smoke starting to come from the pan. He picked it up, and put it in the sink. Before he turned on the tap, I yelled, “Don’t!” freezing him on his tracks.
I went to the sink and took the pan out of the sink, checking how bad the damage was. The butter was burned completely, a black sticky mess, but I couldn’t see if the pan had been damaged. I ran the hot water, and waited until it got hot, and then, turning the pan upside down, I put it under the running water, and slowly added cold water, cooling off the pan. I turned off the cold water and waited until the water got hot, and turning over the pan, I used a spatula to gently scrape off the black lump. The pan was OK.
“Thanks man. I don’t cook much, but I’ve always been careful not to burn anything. This is the first time.”
“It’s OK. I think you can take over from here. We won’t distract you,” I replied.
“Come on, Sarah. Let’s leave the guys to work, so they’re not distracted. I don’t want my kitchen burned,” Kathy quipped, volunteering me to kitchen duty.
“Now, wait a second. Why don’t you girls be useful and get to work, while Mark and I catch the sports on the TV?”
“Because, my dear brother, these girls want to be pampered. We’ve been used and abused all night long and we deserve a break,” Kathy retorted.
“Right on, Sis,” Sarah agreed. “Besides, when you guys keep busy, you won’t get into any mischief.”
“Riiiggghttt! And you girls won’t get into any mischief?”
“Ssshh, Mitch. Don’t piss them off,” Mark said, with a stage whisper.
“Mark is right. You wouldn’t want to get on our bad side,” Kathy warned.
“Well, I want some guarantees. I ain’t moving a finger until I get some guarantees. What’s in it for us?” I asked, looking for a bargain.
“No guarantees, Buster. You take your chances and hope for the best,” Kathy replied with an evil grin.
“No deal. I ain’t working my ass off for nothing. I want peace of mind. I want to relax,” I came back.
“Mitch, man. Have you lost your mind? What the hell are you doing?” Mark urged, but it was obvious he was into the game also, playing the scared boy friend.
Turning to him, I said, “It’s time to make a stand, Mark. Come on. Are you going to let them steamroll all over us?”
“No, you’re right. It’s time to steamroll over ! See how they like it,” he said with a lecherous grin.
“That’s the spirit, Mark.” Turning to the girls, I asked, “So, what’s it gonna be?”
Sarah and Kathy were grinning at our antics, so I repeated my question, my tone firm, resolute. “We are waiting. What’s it gonna be?”
Exchanging a look, the girls chorused, “We’ll be good,” trying to control their laughter.
“I didn’t hear that. Come back again,” I insisted.
“We’ll be good. We’ll be real good,” they chorused again.
“What do you think, Mark?”
“I dunno, man. I’m not sure how sincere they are, but they seem to be cowed.”
“They didn’t sound sincere.”
Kathy piped, “Oh, please. We’ll be good,” with Sarah following behind her, “I’ll be good.”
“I think we are getting somewhere, Mitch.”
“Yeah, I think so too. OK, girls. Here’s what we are gonna do. You two will set up the table, and we’ll do the cooking, serving and cleaning. In return, we want some peace of mind. Agreed?”
“Agreed,” both of them replied.
“OK, then. Let’s seal the deal.”
“How?” Sarah asked.
I walked to her, and locked my lips to hers, checking her tonsils. When the kiss was over, I said, “Like this. That’s what got you girls in trouble in the first place, so it’s appropriate, don’t you think?”
“Oh, yes.”
Then, she returned my kiss. Kathy was watching us with an amused smile. She went to Mark, and they sealed their deal. The girls went about setting up the dining table, while Mark and I decided on what to cook and serve, and got down to business. The brunch was a lively affair, but the girls were being good, to our surprise. Towards the end of it, the phone rang, and Kathy answered it, before she called Mark.
I could see from Kathy’s expression that calls from Mark’s boss on Sunday afternoons were not something she looked forward to. Mark may have been called away earlier than planned on other occasions. She was watching him, trying to ascertain if the afternoon would be spoiled. Mark was pretty animated, but his expression wasn’t one of annoyance, which gave me hope that Kathy would be lucky this time. I didn’t know how lucky she was going to be. Finishing his call, he returned to the table.
“Minor problem I’ll have to attend to first thing on Monday. Nothing serious,” he temporized, with an assuring smile.
Hearing that, Kathy relaxed, and we continued to chat while finishing our coffee. The girls decided to help with cleaning the table, but Mark stopped them with, “A deal is a deal.” The girls didn’t argue the point, and although I did agree on principle with what he was saying, I was wondering why he had been so adamant about something so minor. After all, we didn’t ask for their help and they had volunteered.
While the girls moved to the couches, getting comfortable, Mark and I started to collect the dirty dishes. When Mark gave me a look, I knew he was up to something. Then, we were busy at the sink, washing and drying the dirty dishes, and he explained what was going on.
“You’re not going to believe this, Mitch. That phone call from my boss wasn’t about a problem. He approved my proposal and was telling me to get after it first thing Monday morning.”
It was good news, indeed, but I remembered he wasn’t expecting an answer for a few weeks. What’s more, this came on a Sunday, with an urgency. When I mentioned that, he smiled.
“You’re sharp, Mitch. Yeah. Like all things, this one has a catch. He dawdled too long trying to make up his mind. A few hours ago he heard that one of our competitors is going to setup shop here. According to him it will take them a month to do the leg-work, before they’ll be able to set things in motion. He wants to cut them off, before their little project gets off the ground. So, I’m supposed to spend the next two weeks leasing a place, and hiring the people, while they get ready the first shipment of equipment and spare parts at the end of second week.”
“Will you be able to pull it off?”
“Oh, yes. But it will cost us more. I told him that. He wasn’t happy, but he knows if we’re open for business in three weeks time, we’ll have a better chance to keep the market and perhaps prevent them from making any moves here. I also suggested a promotion campaign. He knows we aren’t going to make much profit, but he’s shrewd and realizes we will benefit in the long run. It might just stop the competition from ever looking at this place, unless his intel is bad, and they are further ahead with their project.”
“Shit! That will be an interesting three weeks, Mark.”
With a laugh, he said, “Yeah, to put it mildly, but no worries. There’s no way we can turn back now. It all comes down to preventing the competition from getting a foothold. Even if they decide to go ahead with their plans, we’ll hit them hard, and make them wish they hadn’t. To tell the truth, I’m surprised they’ve decided to setup shop here, and now. They only supply a few spare parts to a handful of small establishments. We have most of the major contracts.”
Thinking over what he said, I found it strange as well. How the hell did they expect to support their operations with only a few clients, while Mark’s boss had been reluctant to setup shop because of costs and other reasons?
“Mark, why was your boss reluctant to setup shop here?”
“He’s a penny counter, and he likes to keep things under control, run centrally, where he can keep an eye on everything. He knew we would make a ton of money, but he didn’t like the idea of investing, considering it would cut into his profits in the short term.”
“That’s a very short sighted approach.”
“Tell me about it. It’s a wonder he managed to keep things running as it is. Sorry. That’s not really fair to him. Eventually, he listens to reason, but takes his sweet time doing it. That can be frustrating, as you can see. There are some very aggressive outfits out there, especially in spare parts and service. We make most of our profit from sales of new equipment, and smaller chunks from the spare parts and service. We could make a substantial amount from service. We are big enough to subcontract it. Did that in some very remote areas, contracting and supporting local service companies, and it worked.”
“So how in the hell does your competitor expect to support their shop?”
“Good question. Either they have signed up with a major client, which is possible, but I haven’t heard anything, and I have my sources with most of the major accounts, or they are trying to keep their current accounts.”
“Is it worth it to go to all that trouble to keep a few small accounts?”
“Depends. For them it might be worth it.”
“Well, if they knew you guys are setting up shop here, and want to keep those accounts, then they have to do something about it. If they didn’t know, why setup shop now?” I said, thinking loud.
“Shit!” Mark exclaimed loudly.
Kathy and Sarah heard the exclamation, and looked in our direction.
“He almost cut himself while drying the big knife. Luckily nothing happened,” I quickly offered as an explanation.
Mark backed me up. “Yeah. I’m OK. Sorry girls.”
Having satisfied their curiosity, they turned their attention to their own conversation.
“Care to explain what that outburst was about?” I asked.
“What you said made sense. I’m wondering if somebody leaked the information. I didn’t say anything to my clients without having something solid. It was my proposal and only my boss knew about it.”
“What about your private inquiries here for possible employment?”
“Nope. I was checking them out for short and long term commitments. I didn’t mention any hiring or other plans. I played as if I might need some freelance talent on a project basis in our head office from time to time, while trying to get to know what they were doing at the moment, and what they were looking for, if they were looking for something new.”
“So, if it’s a leak, it’s in the head office?”
“Looks like that. Unless of course, it’s pure coincidence. Do you believe in coincidences?” he asked with a knowing grin.
I returned his smile with, “Not really.”
“I figured you wouldn’t,” he came back, with a wry grin. “We really have to get together more, Mitch.”
“Well... let’s get you setup here, first. Then we have to get Kathy and you hitched.”
“Sounds like a plan. I guess you know what we’re doing tonight?”
Laughing, I said, “I think I have an idea. You know any good places?”
“Yeah, a few, but I need to make reservations.”
“So?”
“So?” Mark echoed me. “If Kathy hears the names of the places, she might get suspicious. I took her out to those places on special occasions. Most of the time we went to a small bistro, or the cozy little establishments. Tonight is a special occasion.”
“We need to get you out of the house without arousing suspicion, or I can call up the places for you. I can go out to buy cigarettes, or something and use a public telephone.”
“Hmmm... Yeah, that would work. Keep the girls busy, and I’ll make a list with the names of places and people to talk to. I’ve taken clients frequently for lunch or dinner, so they know me.”
“We have a plan. When do we execute the mission?”
“Not before we find a proper sound track. Mission Impossible?” he asked, acting like an excited kid.
“Riiight! It might turn out to be prophetic if you start whistling that tune,” I replied.
With a small laugh, he agreed. “I guess you have a point there. We’ll do without the soundtrack.”
Speaking of missions... I forgot my own private mission. I’m slipping. I wonder how that happened?
I chuckled at the thought. With a girl like Sarah, what other reason did I need to get distracted?
“I didn’t think I was being funny,” Mark commented.
“Huh? Oh... No, you weren’t. Sorry. I remembered something I had forgotten. Let’s do this.”
I didn’t need to invent an excuse. Remembering about my diary, I wanted to know where my books and other personal effects were. I joined the girls, and during a lull in their conversation I asked, “Kathy, apart from my clothes, is there anything else that was brought here?”
“No. Just the clothes. Do you need something?”
“I might need some of my old text books to use on the rig. I was wondering where they were.”
“I think Mom moved all your boxes to the cabinet in the spare room. You know, the one where dad keeps old magazine collections?”
“OK. Thanks.”
After that short exchange the girls went back to their conversation, paying no attention to me, but not before Sarah motioned me to sit at her side. Picking up the remote for the TV, I sat next to her, pulling her to a cuddle. She got comfortable, and continued to chat with Kathy. Muting the sound, I scanned the channels looking for the sports channel to see if there was anything of interest. Unfortunately the sports channel was broadcasting women’s volleyball, which wasn’t something I was particularly interested in. I might have been, if the girls weren’t wearing sports bras. I was going to skip it, when I caught sight of coming events in the next few hours, and read through the list. In half an hour they would be broadcasting tennis, a sport I was keenly interested in, not only as a viewer but as an ex-player as well.
After I started with martial arts, at nine years old, Mom had Kathy attend a tennis school the following summer. Seeing I was very serious and occupied with martial arts, she wanted to keep Kathy busy during the summer months. That was before they bought the summer flat by the beach. Since we were almost inseparable, except when I was with my sensei, I went with Kathy to the tennis classes. After two weeks, I was bored as hell, spending several hours reading a book, or watching Kathy, so I asked Mom to get me enrolled in the classes as well. That way, I got to do something with Kathy, and the sport looked interesting. It was an individual sport, competitive, and required a lot of practice; a good challenge and an activity I could share with Kathy.
For the next three years, Kathy and I went to the tennis classes, and even played a few tournaments, enjoying them, even though both of us lost after a few rounds. I was competitive, but martial arts were my first choice, and tennis a clear second. So, when I realized I would have to spend more time to get real good at tennis, I settled for being an average player, because I wasn’t willing to put more time and effort on something that was my second choice. I didn’t want to steal time from my first choice just to be competitive in a secondary sport. Kathy was more serious about it, and over time, she became a better player than I.
Eventually I had to cut back on tennis, as I started to devote more time to martial arts, while my free time got less and less. Kathy managed better, since tennis was her only sport. So, after the first three years, I was accompanying Kathy during the weekends and whenever I wanted to spend time with her. By then we had junior memberships in a small club, so we managed to play during the school year, when the weather allowed.
When Kathy went to boarding school and was home for weekends and vacation times, we tried to keep it up, but school was keeping me busy, and all my free time was being taken by martial arts. I had my own circle of friends, as Kathy got more involved with her friends, the boarding school experience changing her. Then, my parents bought the summer flat, and we spent most of the summer by the beach. I loved it, and Kathy loved it as well, but for two or three long months she couldn’t play tennis. Until that time, a couple of weeks at my grandparents during the summer had not cut into tennis. After my grandparents passed away, Dad and Mom decided to buy a summer house, because they enjoyed the sea. Well, Kathy and I also enjoyed it, but there wasn’t a place where she could play tennis, while I could practice martial arts anywhere. But, she kept at it at her school and during the weekends, as long as the weather allowed, however it wasn’t enough to be competitive. I quit playing tennis altogether when I started college, martial arts being my number one leisure time activity. I only played tennis on rare occasions. The same thing happened to Kathy when she started med school, and tennis became an occasional thing, mostly to relax or to keep in shape, especially when her appetite got the better of her and she put on a few pounds.
Even though I quit the sport, I had enjoyed my experience. Not only had it been good for keeping fit, but I had come to love playing at the net, the ‘serve-volley’ game. It helped keep my reflexes sharp, required very good eye-hand coordination and situational awareness. Martial arts helped with certain aspects of tennis, and tennis helped with certain aspects of martial arts. Choosing a second sport had been one of the best decisions I ever made.
Both Kathy and I also enjoyed the sport as viewers, especially watching the Grand Slam tournaments, whenever we could catch the matches on the TV. I still remembered how Kathy and I used to swear when the broadcast of a Wimbledon tournament was cut short to broadcast football or a Formula-1 race, and almost got our mouths washed with soap by Mom. We always ended up listening to half hour lecture on proper language and proper behavior from her, while we were still simmering inside and silently cursing the ignorant assholes that made the broadcast schedules. I still felt the same about the bastards as I had then. They wouldn’t cut short a football match when it went to overtime, but the ignorant pricks wouldn’t consider extending the same courtesy to tennis or any other sport that had a lesser following. Over the years, it had improved, but at the time, Kathy and I, and a few of our friends who were equally interested in tennis, were seriously pissed off every time we had to endure the indignity.
At least there was something interesting coming up on the TV in a short while. I hoped Sarah and Mark wouldn’t mind, because I knew Kathy still followed tennis matches, but not everybody enjoyed watching tennis. If you haven’t played the game, you wouldn’t. I didn’t understand the enthusiasm of people about golf, because I never played it, finding it very boring. Sure it required skills, a lot of skills, and I understood that. But, walking miles and hitting a dime sized ball to put it into a dime size hole wasn’t my kind of activity. As my dad used to say, “Each to his own vices and devices.” I understood playing tennis, or watching a tennis match wasn’t something for anybody, as playing or watching golf hadn’t been something for me.
As Sarah finished what she was saying, I interrupted their conversation, and asked Kathy, if anybody would mind if we watched the upcoming tennis broadcast in a while. Sarah said she didn’t mind it, mentioning Kathy had started her on it in the last few years, and she had enjoyed playing and watching it. That was a real surprise.
So, Sarah is into tennis. A child of the Mediterranean, and a tennis fan... What other interests are there, Sarah?
That left Mark. I didn’t figure him as a tennis fan, and I was correct... and I was wrong. According to Kathy, Mark didn’t play tennis, but he played squash.
Damn! Squash. Bastardized tennis!
She was smiling at me when she said that, because she knew how I felt about squash. I was prejudiced about squash, and I never hid the fact. Perhaps, if I had to compare martial arts with street fighting, then it might give an approximate impression of how the two compared, and my feelings on the subject. At least, in my book. As some close friends remarked occasionally, I could be a bullheaded, prejudiced son of a bitch on little things like that.
“Is he a hardcore squash player, or a fitness player?” I asked.
Kathy laughed long and hard, when she heard my question. Well, she had good reason to. She knew that I didn’t care for the first kind, but the second kind were all right in my book. Almost. At least, most of the guys who played squash to stay in shape were doing it for exercise, whether they were competitive or not. Being competitive was something else. The problem I had was with the hardcore players, who thought of squash as a legitimate sport, like tennis, and some even went overboard, claiming tennis was a sport for sissies, and squash was for men, real men—Yeah, right!
When she didn’t answer my question, I started to think the worst. I liked the guy, but I wasn’t sure if this could drive a wedge between us. Sometimes, silly things like that could cause a lot of problems.
“You think I would date a hardcore squash player?” she responded, after what seemed like ages.
“You’re a doll and a witch, Kathy. I was losing faith in you. Don’t do that again.”
Laughing, she said, “OK, Mitch. I’ll let you in on a secret. He feels the same way about the hardcore players, having played against a few of them. It’s not because he lost to them. On the contrary, Mark won quite a few games in competitive matches with hardcore players. He doesn’t like their attitude. What’s more, he tried tennis, and finds it elegant.”
“That’s a surprise. How come?”
“Well, you know you can play real dirty when you’re competing in squash. There’s too much body contact, and some players can be real kamikazes. Even if you’re a skilled squash player, sometimes you can lose to one of those ‘you know who’ who has some skill playing, more skill at playing dirty, and no sense of fair play. So, he knows you can hardly measure individual skill, and proficiency when competing in squash; at least not every time, when one of those types is involved. We both know the playing field is equal in tennis, and the end result of a match is a true measure of skill, endurance, and proficiency in the sport. So, yes, he saw the difference between the two sports, and agrees with your point of view.”
“You should really get married, Sis. He’s a real find.”
“Riigght! Just because he thinks as you do about squash and tennis?”
“Well, that’s one good reason. But, there are more good reasons. Take for instance... I get to see you wearing a skirt instead of jeans,” I quipped.
Sarah shrieked with delight, when I hit Kathy with that quip, and immediately agreed. “That’s a very good reason,” she said, nodding with a serious expression on her face. However, the amused glint in her eyes gave her away.
“You’re such a tramp, Sarah,” Kathy retorted.
“And what are you, Kathy? A girl scout?” Sarah came back.
“Girls, come on. You were going to be good!”
Surprisingly, Sarah cooled off. “Sorry, Mitch. I’ll be good.”
But, Kathy wasn’t going to let it go. “I wonder why?” she retorted with a smirk.
“Because, a deal is a deal,” Sarah replied, seriously. However, she couldn’t keep her face straight more than a few seconds, and she burst into laughter, Kathy following her.
Mark walked in as the girls were collecting themselves, and asked, “What are they laughing about?”
“What do you think?”
“The usual Kathy–Sarah silliness?”
Thinking quick, I used the opportunity to get Mark away from the house.
“Yep. Why don’t we leave them to it for a while and get some air? I need to buy cigarettes. Perhaps, when we are back, they’ll have worked it out of their system.”
Seeing the opening, Mark improvised. “Sure. Let’s take your sporty thing. I want to see how it rides.”
“You be good when I come back,” I said to Sarah, and kissing her, I stood up.
Mark went to take his jacket, and we left with my car, looking for a public telephone. On the road I was thinking about our plan, and I had some ideas how to move it along, but I wanted to get Mark’s opinion.
“I think we might pull this off without resorting to all this cloak and dagger stuff. We can do that in plain view of them, without getting them suspicious,” I said.
“What do you mean?”
“We can tell the girls, they are being good, and that we have decided to treat them to a night out. They’re expecting something like that anyways.”
“Yeah, but—”
“The special occasion is easy to handle,” I cut him off. Hearing I haven’t forgotten about the complications, he gave his full attention to what I was planning.
“I’ll play the brother who wants to have something different, perhaps special, and you’ll make the suggestion. No girl would be opposed to such pampering.”
“I like the way you think, Mitch. That would work. We’ll let Kathy or Sarah suggest a few places, and I know they would chose one of the places we regularly go, and you turn them down, and I come up with one of the special places.”
“Exactly. It would look like I want to go to some place exclusive, because I want to treat Sarah and Kathy to something nice. I haven’t seen Kathy for a long time, and Sarah for ages. You’re the boyfriend, and of course, you want to do that for Kathy. Throw in celebrating our new friendship and such, you have a special occasion.”
When I finished he was grinning like a cat that ate the canary. “I’m sold. We’d better get you some cigarettes and head back.”
After I bought cigarettes at a gas station, we drove back home. On the way home, Mark talked about his work, and tried to recruit me.
“You know, you should join our company. You’re a good tactician, strategist. We could use a guy like you. Marketing and sales, but especially marketing is all about strategy and tactics.”
“Mark, I don’t have the faintest clue about marketing or sales. I’m just an engineer. I like my job, and what I do. I wouldn’t know how to read a sheet of numbers or understand supply and demand. I know the terms because I took a few courses on economics for engineers in college, but that was a long time ago, so that doesn’t make me qualified for what you have in mind.”
“It’s not difficult to get the basics. They’re pretty straight forward. You’ll have guys doing most of the leg work anyway. It’s the tactical analysis, looking at options, and the planning of a strategy that are important. I think you have a potential there. A definite potential.”
“It’s really not something for me, Mark. I like my job and what I do. I’m not a guy who’d enjoy sitting behind a desk. Seriously. I like getting my hands dirty, the irregular hours, the mental challenges, but the physical ones as well. Sure, it would be a mental challenge to do something like that, but it lacks in other aspects. Besides, I don’t have the knowledge or the training.”
“We’ll get you the training. But, I understand. You have to want it to be really successful. I see that you already have what you want. If you ever change your mind, give it a serious thought. I’m not bullshitting you. I think you have the raw potential to pull it off.”
“Thanks for the vote of confidence. I’ll keep that in mind. I’m always open to options,” I replied with a smile.
“Yeah, I noticed,” he said, with a hearty laugh.
* * * * *
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