Chapter 9
Bud Costain sighed as he pulled himself out of the seat and walked down the aisle to disembark from the jet. He was tired and depressed. The whirlwind trip to Kansas City had left him exhausted. As he stood in line waiting for them to finish coupling the exit tunnel to the plane, he saw his wife and children waiting in the lounge. He waved half-heartedly, but they couldn't see him.
The news had come when he had least expected it. He had just finished processing some documents on his desk when the phone rang and he found himself talking to the executive vice president of the company. After some very brief banter the vice president had gone directly to the issue. Bud was being promoted and transferred to the Kansas City office.
While the actual transfer would not take place for three weeks, they wanted Bud to make an immediate trip to Kansas City to make a report on the operation of that office before the news of the change spread through the company.
Bud had caught an early flight the next morning. His first mistake had been in failing to pack warm clothes and when he climbed off the plane in Kansas City he thought he was going to freeze to death. The whole family would have to prepare for the dramatic climatic difference between Phoenix and Kansas City!
His second mistake was in thinking that his report on the Kansas City operation would be routine. Within an hour of arriving, Bud discovered that the manager had been making a number of suspicious arrangements with suppliers. It took less than another hour to determine that the manager had been guilty of taking substantial kickbacks from these suppliers.
When Bud called the vice president that evening from his hotel room, he was advised to fire the manager immediately. And that opened an entire new problem area. Who would manage the office until Bud arrived in three weeks? The vice president suggested that he talk to the contract manager, a capable young man who had been with the company for less than a year, and make some sort of arrangement with him to handle things until Bud arrived.
Bud called the man as soon as he hung up from talking to the vice president and invited him to come over to the hotel right away for a talk. Then-conversation lasted until after two in the morning, but Bud was satisfied that the young man could handle the routine office matters for the next few weeks.
Faced with the problem of terminating the present manager the next morning, Bud slept little that night. Then, with that unpleasant chore behind, he worked until late the next night organizing things so that the office would run smoothly until he returned.
As he stepped out of the plane to follow people through the exit tunnel, Bud thought that the one thing he really wanted right now was eight good hours of sleep!
"Hi, darling!" Wendy cried, running up and putting her arms around his neck as he walked into the passenger lounge.
"Hi, Dad!" Patty squealed, hugging him at the same time.
"Hi, gang!" Bud responded with an attempt at a smile.
"You look tired, dear," Wendy remarked. "Rough trip?"
"Amen!" Bud replied.
"Come on," Wendy said gayly, "let's get your luggage and go home where you can relax." "Amen!" Bud said again.
They picked up his luggage and Jimmy proudly carried it across to the lot where Wendy had parked the station wagon. Wendy drove and Bud sat in the front seat while the children rode in the back.
On the way home Bud gave his family a blow-by-blow description of what had happened on his trip.
"Does that mean we'll have to move sooner?" Jimmy asked.
"I don't know, son," Bud sighed. "I may have to go back ahead of the rest of you."
"Are we going to sell the condominium?" Patty wanted to know.
"We'll have to," Bud laughed. "We're not wealthy enough to own two homes."
"I talked to that real estate agent again," Wendy offered as she turned on Adams and headed for the entrance to the condominium, "and he thinks he might have a buyer."
"Good!" Bud sighed. "The sooner, the better."
"Darling, I guess I'd better tell you," Wendy said. "I had no idea you'd be this bushed when you came home and I invited Mike and Connie over tonight. Do you hate me?"
"Of course not," Bud laughed. "But I won't pretend that I'm overjoyed at the thought of company."
"I can call them and tell them you're zapped," Wendy suggested.
"No," Bud said. "If I pass out during the conversation, they'll understand."
Wendy pulled into the carport at the side of their home and Jimmy immediately took on the task of carrying his father's bag inside.
"How about a drink?" Wendy offered as they walked into the living room.
"Best idea you've had all day!" Bud replied. "While you mix, I'll get comfortable."
Wendy smiled as she poured almost double the usual amount of vodka into the pitcher of screwdrivers. As zapped as Bud was he'd need a strong relaxer!
Bud come out of the bedroom wearing his chinos and a velour shirt. He was barefoot and comfortable for the first time in three days. Picking up the tall screwdriver Wendy had poured for him, he took several long, relaxing swallows.
"Hell, I might even rejoin the human race!" Bud laughed as he stretched out on the couch and lighted a cigarette.
Wendy was about to reply when the doorbell rang.
"Stay there," she said. "I'll get it."
Bud was about to rise when Mike and Connie walked into the living room.
"Stay put, Bud," Connie said with a smile. "It's just us old friends."
"Pour yourselves a screwdriver," Fred laughed. "Hey, Mike, you look like I feel!"
"In a word, shitty?" Mike returned.
"This afternoon my husband joined the ranks of the unemployed!" Connie announced with a flourish.
"Voluntarily," Mike added, drinking almost half his screwdriver in the first attempt. "I'll sue that bastard right into the poorhouse! How was Kansas City, Bud?"
"In a word, shitty," Bud replied with a chuckle. In several brief sentences Bud related the highlights of his trip to Kansas City.
"I'll bet that you're glad that's behind you," Mike sighed as he sat down in the overstuffed chair beside the sofa. "Future look good?"
"A lot of work," Bud replied.
"What isn't?" Mike laughed. "What do you think of Kansas City as a place to live?"
"What little I saw of it looked okay," Bud said, holding his glass out for a refill when Wendy poured herself another screwdriver. "I didn't even get a chance to look for a place to live. Wendy will fly out there next week to look around."
"Well, thanks for telling me!"
"Sorry, forgot! The company pays for two flying trips for you. I thought it would be better to have you do the house hunting because I'll be so busy."
"If I had it to do all over again," Connie said wistfully, "hunting for a place to live, I mean. Do you know what I'd do?"
"What?" Wendy asked.
"Find a big old house on a big old lot. Lots of property the kids and dogs could use to play in. Something away from these rabbit warrens in the city. I get tired of feeling caged in."
"I've always thought that would be fun," Wendy agreed.
"Fixing up an old house?" Mike said. "Fun and work, kids!"
"But look at what you'd have when you finished!" Connie insisted. "You're always complaining that our real estate doesn't earn money, Mike. That's because we buy cages in zoos."
"She's right, Mike," Bud laughed. "Hey, these screwdrivers are great!" Mike exclaimed. "I can feel the vodka already!"
"They're doubles," Wendy laughed. "I made them because I thought Bud would need it to relax."
"Well, Wendy," Mike said, "you can march that lovely blonde ass of yours right back out to the kitchen and make another batch."
"Listen! It's Mr. Discipline himself!" Connie chuckled.
"Speaking of sex," Mike laughed.
Laughter rippled through the warm living room.
"Who in the world would have ever believed that us four sex maniacs would ever become too busy for our favorite sport?"
"Isn't that the truth!" Bud agreed.
"Should we tell them?" Wendy asked, returning with a large pitcher of fresh screwdrivers.
"What?" Connie asked quickly.
"I can't see why not," Bud replied with a smile. "After all, they're our closest friends. And if they don't approve, screw 'em. Anyway, we're moving."
"Tell us what?" Connie demanded.
"We broke Patty and Jimmy in," Wendy said with a smile.
"Really?" Connie said excitedly.
"When?" Mike asked with interest, coming forward on his chair.
"Oh, it's been three times now," Wendy said. "The first one was last week. We were drunker than hell and heard a noise back in the bedroom," she related, continuing to give them a thumb-nail sketch of what had happened.
"I don't think that we'd have done it if we hadn't been tight," Bud laughed. "But it worked out great."
"Having them tied up was what made it work, wasn't it?" Mike asked.
"That and the booze," Bud replied. "I doubt we'd have had the courage otherwise."
"We talked about it," Connie said.
"In fact, we sort of decided we might do it," Mike said, "but we've never had the right chance. Hell, it's for their own good."
"I don't think that Pamela and Johnny play that kidnapped game," Connie remarked. "Having them tied up would be the easiest."
"Hey, if you two are serious," Wendy said, quickly draining her glass and pouring herself another, "why not have Patty and Jimmy tie Pamela and Johnny up? They could invent some game of some sort and trick them."
"Maybe we could make it a party," Bud suggested.
"When?" Connie asked.
"Why not tonight?" Bud said.
"I thought you were zapped!" Wendy said.
"I'm also horny," Bud replied with a wide smile. "We could make it a great big party. All of us."
"But Mike and Connie have to seduce their own children first," Wendy insisted.
"Let's do it!" Connie cried excitedly. "Right after Wendy makes another big pitcher of these great vitamin C cocktails!" Mike added.