Chapter 1

Dan Adams was not a fan of trans-Atlantic flights that he boards in Kansas City go to Chicago where he changes planes and then goes to Frankfurt Germany. The only reason he was taking this flight, a flight he takes every two months was that Conrad Schiller the CEO of the company Dan works for requires that Dan come to Frankfurt to give a status report on how Dan’s department is progressing. Dan’s title was that of a Vice-President but in actuality he was the head of the property investment division of the company. His department or division bought, sold, converted or managed large apartment complexes and other commercial property.

Generally because of the profitability of Dan’s department these meetings went well. Dan had tried to convince Conrad Schiller that these meetings could be conducted via video conferencing but the CEO said he preferred that they be done face to face. Since he was the boss Dan had no option but to comply.

The only time there was a problem at one of these meetings was when in Dan’s presentation he indicated that he had sold a considerable number of the properties and instead of purchasing other properties Dan had put these funds into long term corporate bonds. Dan explained his reasoning for doing this was that he was of a strong opinion that there was a real estate investing bubble in the United States fueled by low rate adjustable mortgages and low down payments that was going to burst and rock the market. Further he said the interest rate return that the bonds were generating was substantial and guaranteed.

The CEO thought that they were missing out in maximizing their profits because of the rising real estate prices in the United States but he reluctantly agreed to go along with Dan. He however did stipulate that there should be no more of this done and for Dan to hold on to the present properties.

About six months later Dan was proven to be right when the bubble burst because real estate investors came to a realization of what the quality of real estate derivatives were. The ensuing drop in real estate values was a blood bath.

This bursting caused economy to be in trouble which caused the government to drop interest rates. The bonds Dan had purchased rose markedly in value.

Dan waited till he was fairly sure the bottom in the real estate market had been reached or would only go a little lower. He then he jumped back into the property market with both feet. He sold the long term bonds at a considerable profit and used those funds to purchase apartment complexes and commercial properties at a forty percent discount to what the asking price was a year ago. The amount of properties now under management by Dan’s department almost doubled. The CEO no longer questioned Dan’s expertise and was very generous in the stock options and bonus he gave to Dan.

Dan thought this was the last time he would he would be taking this flight. At the meeting he was going to announce he was taking an early retirement. Even though he was only fifty five years of age and enjoyed his job, Dan was jolted into thinking about his mortality. Earlier in the year a lifelong friend of his, Peter Dollan had a heart attack and passed away. Dan had been friends with Pete since first grade and his passing bothered Dan.

Couple that with the news Dan just received yesterday about Fred Rollins passing away told Dan it was time to stop and smell the roses before his time came. Fred was ten years older Dan and they both had gone to the same high school. In Fred’s senior year he had quarterbacked the football team to a State Championship. Fred was doing well in college playing football till a freak tackle blew out both of his knees. That injury ended any chance of Fred having a pro career which resulted in Fred after graduating coming back to town. He capitalized on his popularity by opening up what became a successful insurance agency.

Fred was a member of the same country club as Dan. They golfed together and became friends. Dan along with Fred and four other fellows from the club during the summer had taken fishing trips together. Generally they went to Canada for the fishing and twice had gone up to Great Bear Lake in Canada’s Northwest Territories. These trips brought Dan and Fred closer together as friends. Fred’s death had solidified Dan decision to retire.

Flying business class enabled Dan to relax a little and check on the power point presentation he would be giving tomorrow. Another added benefit to flying business class on this flight was the attention he received from the flight attendant who was assigned to his section. This flight attendant Dan could describe as “classy and good looking.”

It was like when he was growing up and the flight attendants then were called stewardesses and were only women and every young man’s dream because of their perceived beauty. The height, weight and age restrictions which were in effect then but now were gone reinforced this perception of the beautiful stewardess. Dan had heard some of the Asian airlines still enforced these restrictions.

The flight attendant assigned to him was about five foot six inches tall with shoulder length auburn hair. The just above the knee length skirt she was wearing showed some nice legs and was tight enough to show a nice small butt with a definite curve to it. Her face was cute and if he had to guess he would think that age wise she was somewhere in her late thirties maybe early forties. She gave Dan some looks that he found intriguing. Her name tag said Lynn V.

Lynn was very attentive to Dan and when she was serving him breakfast he had a chance to talk to her.

He asked her, “Where to after we land?”

“It’s a layover for me and tomorrow I will work a flight that goes to Atlanta and that is home for me. I live in a suburb there and I will have a few days off before I am scheduled to work again. Because of my seniority I am able to get assigned to the flights I want to work. I do Atlanta to Chicago to Frankfurt, a layover then the next day Frankfurt to Atlanta. I do this twice a month and throw in an Atlanta to LA and back gives me my flight hours for the month and a considerable amount of time off. I can do some modeling in the time I have off.”

While Lynn was talking Dan noticed that there was no ring on her finger and thought that he was getting good vibes from her. He wondered what kind of sex partner she would be and concluded she would be pretty good.

It was a smooth landing in Frankfurt. Dan decided to take a chance and see if his hunch that he had about Lynn was correct. As he was exiting the plane, Lynn was standing by the exit door thanking the passengers for choosing this airline. In passing by her Dan smiled and handed her his business card and kept on going.

On the back of his business card he had written, “Entitles the bearer to one dinner at Villa Kennedy 6 pm today.”

At the hotel Dan took a short nap to try and reduce the jet lag. When he awoke he showered and shaved and wondered if he would be dining alone or with Lynn tonight.

Fifteen minutes before six he was in the lobby watching the people coming in to the hotel. Precisely at six Lynn walked in and saw Dan sitting there. She looked good as he rose and she walked up to him. Lynn was wearing a four inch above the knee dark green dress which was cut tight enough to emphasize the enticing feminine curves of her body. Her makeup was impeccable and showed her to be a very attractive lady. He could see why she would be wanted to do some modeling.

Lynn greeted Dan with a smile and handing him back his business card said, “I am her to collect.”

“Please keep the card.”

“You handing me the card was surprising. I have never been asked out that way.”

“With your looks I would think you get asked out quite a bit. You are a very attractive lady.”

Dan had long ago learned that women in general have a low confidence level as to their appearance and complimenting them as to their looks was one way to make them feel good and enjoy being with him.

“Not has much as you think nor to a nice place as this for dinner.”

Taking his extended arm she walked with Dan to the restaurant.

Dinner was nice and enjoyable. Lynn was an intelligent lady and could converse on many subjects and not just talk about her travels. She asked Dan about himself and he told her about being divorced, who he worked for and what he did as well as living in a suburb of Kansas City.