Chapter 4

The plane was descending into Phoenix. John and Amanda were holding hands, as Amanda looked out the window, looking at the scenery surrounding Phoenix.

"It certainly is high desert", Amanda remarked, "And Phoenix is really spread out!"

"Phoenix and its suburbs does cover a lot of area", John agreed.

They were flying into Phoenix to check out the area and to give Amanda a chance to see if she liked the area. They knew they were going to be together, and wanted to find a place they both liked to live. The plane landed and they went to get their bags.

As they walked out the door to make their way to the shuttle to take them to long term parking, where John's car was, Amanda said, "Whoa!"

John looked at her, and knew what she was saying that about: It was late September, but it was also 110 degrees.

"Aw, it's alright, it's a dry heat", John said chuckling.

"An oven has dry heat also", Amanda replied, chuckling herself.

They made their way to John's car, and started driving towards John's apartment. Amanda was panting until the Air Conditioning took effect, then was sitting comfortably.

"How hot does it get here", Amanda asked.

"It can get hotter than this. You get used to it, though", John replied.

"Well, if you got used to it, I guess I'll eventually get used to it", Amanda said, but she really wasn't sure if she'd ever get used to this kind of heat.

"The nice thing is that during the winter, the weather is very nice", John said. He was worried that Amanda would find the heat oppressive. He was starting to make up his mind as to where they would live anyway, and he figured Amanda's mind was made up, but wanted to make the effort to show her the Phoenix area.

They parked at his apartment, and brought their bags up to the front door. John opened the door, and they made their way inside. Amanda noticed that the apartment was quite Spartan: A couple of trophies on the TV cabinet, but no real pictures or anything. It didn't have the comfort feeling of Amanda's place and they both knew it.

"I didn't decorate a whole lot because I'm on the road quite a bit", John said by way of explanation.

"That's understandable", Amanda replied, "But you should still have something that feels like home."

"I already do, at least now I do", John said. Amanda smiled as he said this.

They settled in, and then went out to dinner. Afterwards, John took her to Scottsdale, where they did some dancing and talked at an outside table at the club. Amanda, while she wasn't sure she would ever get used to the daytime heat, found the nighttime very pleasant. Warm and clear. They went back to his apartment where they made love tenderly to each other before falling asleep.

The next day, John took her around the Phoenix area, showing her downtown Phoenix and the surrounding area. He showed her the campus of his alma mater, Arizona State, and had lunch at a café in Tempe. Amanda found that she liked the area, especially the small town feel of downtown Tempe and Scottsdale, even though it was very close to downtown Phoenix itself.

John and Amanda later went to dinner at a Steak House, where she met Joe and Don. John introduced them to Amanda.

Don said, "Hi Amanda, it's great to meet you."

"Thank you, Don."

Joe let out a low whistle, "Wow, it's very nice to meet you, Amanda."

"Down boy", John said. They all laughed.

Don and Joe talked to John about what had been going on the last couple of weeks and got to know Amanda. One thing that struck both Joe and Don was how different John was. Oh, he still told jokes and the like, but he seemed so much more open, so content. Joe finally spoke up.

"John, you really seem happy. I look at the two of you, and I see why you had that undertone of sadness without Amanda. With her, you're just one happy sloppy camper."

"Thanks, Joe, I guess it shows", John replied.

"In spades", Don added, "You are obviously so in love, I think I'm going to be ill."

They all laughed at that.

Don asked Amanda how she liked Phoenix. While she said all the right things, Don could tell that she wasn't sure about actually living there. While he hoped a couple of more days there would sway her, he figured that he was probably going to lose John.

As they were walking back to their cars after dinner, Joe and Don were walking together in the parking lot, where they had parked next to each other.

"I think John's going to leave the company", Don said.

"Yeah, I'm not sure that Amanda likes it here. She said she loved the evenings, but I'm sure you saw the look in her eyes when she talked about the daytime heat", Joe replied. Don nodded sadly.

"Seeing the two of them", Don said, "I have no doubts that she'd move here for John, but knowing him, he wouldn't do that to her if she didn't like it."

"I agree, Don. I think there would have been no question before they got back together that he'd stick around for quite some time, at least until he got his dream of his own business going. However, looking at him now, tonight, I can just see that, while his career means a lot to him, Amanda means more."

"I think you hit it right on the head", Don replied. "As a friend, I'm very happy for him, but as his boss, I'm sorry to see him leave."

Joe suddenly had an idea. "It might not have to be that way, you know."

"What do you mean, Joe?"

Joe, who was in Sales at Dyson, told him his idea. The more Don heard it, the more he liked it.

"Look into it tomorrow if you can, Joe, and I'll see what I can do."

"You got it", Joe replied, as he opened the door to his car.

John and Amanda went into John's office the next morning. John met with Don to go over the status of the implementation, while Amanda was being interviewed for a position in their Marketing department. Her interview went well, and she all but assured of a position if she wanted it. John then took Amanda to lunch.

"How did the interview go?", John asked.

"It went great! I think I'm in", Amanda replied with a smile.

John smiled, then took a deep breath. "Now for the big question, how do you like Phoenix?"

Amanda gave a little smile, "If you're here with me, I'll love it."

"That's not what I asked, love", John said gently.

"I know", Amanda replied. She took his hands in hers, saying, "I don't know, it's only been a couple of days. I guess I'll get used to the heat, but if I had my choice, I like Santa Rosa better. However, I don't like it if you're not there, so here we are."

"Yes", John replied. He had a feeling that was the case. He then told Amanda what Don and Joe had suspected the night before. "You know, Amanda, I've always been driven. I've had goals in mind and knew what I wanted to do."

"I know, honey", Amanda replied softly.

"However, what I've found in my searches and travels that in the long run it means nothing without someone to share it with. That someone for me is you, Amanda."

Amanda looked at him with tears in her eyes, as John continued, "So, there's really only one choice, isn't there? I'm going to quit and move to Santa Rosa with you."

Amanda was happy and gave John her best smile. She then said, a little worriedly, "What about your career, John? Your job? There isn't an opening for you at the winery, I've already been told that."

"Well", John smiled back at her, "Fortunately I'm in a great career field for the San Francisco Bay Area. I'll find something quickly, I'm sure. I have some vacation time so I'll be paid during at least part of a search. There's another reason for my decision. Do you remember what I said when I walked into you apartment for the first time?"

Amanda thought for a moment, then said, "Yes. You said it felt nice, instead of looked nice."

"Well, it does look nice, honey. It has your touches. But it felt nice, because it felt like you, it felt like home. Besides, I'm from the Bay Area, and although I've lived here for the last six years, its time to go home."

Amanda beamed at John.

"John?"

"Yes, love?"

"Will you move in with me? Live with me?"

"I thought you'd never ask", John said, as he kissed her passionately.

While this scene was going on, Don and Joe met over lunch. They discussed Joe's idea and it sounded like it might work. When Don talked to Joe's boss, things started to quickly fall into place.

John and Amanda went back to John's office after lunch. John decided to tell Don right away, and wanted Amanda to come with him. John knocked on the door to Don office, and they both went in and sat down.

"Hi John", Don said, "What do you need?"

"We need to talk, Don", John replied.

"I see. Oh, first of all, Amanda, it looks like the job is yours if you want it. Congratulations!"

"Uh, thank you, Don", Amanda replied nervously.

"Don, this is part of what I want to talk to you about", John said. "Amanda and I have been talking, and she's not thrilled about Phoenix." Don frowned but didn't look shocked.

John continued, "Anyway, I want to be with her, but I also want to be where she is the happiest, and that's back in Santa Rosa."

"I see", Don said. "What about your career?"

"Oh it's important to me", John replied, "but it isn't complete without Amanda being there, sharing it with me."

"I understand, John", Don replied, "Does this mean you are going to resign? If so, how much time do I have?"

"I'll give you two weeks, longer if you need it, Don. I won't leave you high and dry, you know that."

"I do know that", Don replied. He then sat back and smiled a little, telling John, "What if there's an alternative. Would you be interested?"

"Alternative? What do you mean?", John replied.

"Give me a second", Don said, as he picked up the phone.

In a couple of minutes, Joe came into the office along with his boss Pat Jamison. When they walked in, Pat nodded at Don. Don smiled more now, and asked them to sit down.

"This is Pat Jamison. You already know him, John, but Amanda has never met him. Pat, could you discuss your proposal with us?"

"Certainly, Don. Well, as you know, John, we're doing a lot of sales in the Bay Area. So much so that we have folks practically living there in hotels." John nodded and a smile crept onto his face.

"Anyway", Pat continued, "We have been meeting over the last couple of months discussing opening a field office in the Bay Area. In San Francisco, in fact." Amanda, catching on, was starting to smile as well.

"So we are in the process of doing just that. We have the property, and we're looking to open an office there next month. This morning, Joe came to me with a proposal, one you may be very interested in, John. Joe?"

"Well", Joe began, "When we were all out to dinner last night, John, I had a feeling that you were probably going to resign to live near your girlfriend. I also knew about this new field office starting in San Francisco. In fact", he looked at Pat, who nodded, "I have been offered a position in that office. Now, I had been talking to Pat about the need for integration experts to work out of the same office. After all", he said with a smile, "It doesn't make business sense to have local sales folks, then have to ship in an integration team from Phoenix every time we sold a software package. We had been talking about hiring someone local to the Bay Area and training them, but with this new development with Amanda and you, we may be able to solve everyone's problem in one fell swoop."

Amanda was bouncing in her seat with excitement and John was dumbfounded. He couldn't believe his luck.

"So", Don picked up the conversation, "What I would like to counter propose to you, John, is, instead of you resigning to live with Amanda, that you accept our position of Integration Supervisor for our field office in San Francisco. How does that sound?"

"How does that sound?!? It sounds fantastic", John shouted. "Where do I sign? I'll be more than happy to do this. Thank you!"

"Well, it wasn't necessarily for you personally", Don said with a smile, "It makes good business sense for us, because we don't have to train someone new to run the Integration team, you will have to train folks under you, instead." Everyone laughed. "However", Don continued, "On a professional level, you are very good at what you do, and we need to keep you, while on a personal level, I am ecstatic that you're happy and that we'll still be able to talk and get together every so often. Congratulations."