Only Time Will Tell
Copyright© 2025 by Charlie for now
Chapter 4
The week went rather quickly, with me spending a couple of evenings chatting with Charlene over the bar and a couple of them at home looking over things I needed to get done. The architect called me into his office on Friday for a meeting with both him and the contractor. We went over the preliminary plans, the layout for the pool, hot tub, and the landscaping I wanted in the front and back yards, then set out to have the office ‘house’ built next door. I told the contractor that he could do that one, too, just use a floor plan they had already used in the neighborhood, keeping it to one story, a ranch preferably. We also needed to make sure to alter the garage area to the one similar to the rental, as well as the new house itself. In addition to the other needs, I wanted a clear floor, no posts internally, in either garage. Yes, I knew that would raise the cost because of the wall and rafter construction. They both would have two double doors in one large garage, with an extension in front of the parking area for a medium sized shop, allowing for several pieces of machinery and enough electricity to wire the entire place, the garage as well as the ‘family room’ in the office house, for two hundred and twenty volts, with several 50-amp outlets.
The contractor asked, “Fifty amp? Several? That’s a lot for a home shop. How many in each area, Mr. Chapman?”
“Let’s say four in the garages, along the back walls, and two in the office house family room on the wall butting up to the garage. I also need quite a few quad hundred and twenty volt twenty-amp outlets, split circuits, and two thirty-amp duplex outlet boxes, each on their own breaker, with an RV and a twist lock outlet on each of them.”
“You a Boy Scout, Mr. Chapman? Prepared for anything?”
I chuckled at that and nodded. “In my line of work, you have to be prepared for just about any eventuality.”
“What line of work would that be, anyway?” the architect asked.
“Tinker by trade, I’m retired, but like to work on inventing stuff and need tools to do things, and sometimes even I don’t know what I need until I need it. I’d hate to have you come out and tear that wall out just to put in a new two-twenty socket for a little lathe, or even worse, a TIG welder, for example.”
“Makes perfect sense. Do it right the first time, think about tomorrow, and you won’t be looking back. I get it. What do you think of what we’re looking at here?”
“I like it. If you can meet all my impetuous demands, desires, and frivolities, I think we’re in business.”
“Mr. Chapman,” Ralph Tillotson, the architect, spoke up, “you are an easy man to work with. You can’t imagine some of the idiocy and the demanding trolls we have to put up with at times. I could give you several examples, but I don’t want to ruin your morning. Suffice to say, you are a dream customer. Probably having an engineering background helps. Some people just don’t get what’s possible and how much that costs. ‘Yes, I can put a rotating dome over your house. No, you can’t afford it.’ That was a quote from me to a Certified Public Accountant that thought he was rich. Like I said, you’re easy.”
The contractor, Greg Jergens, laughed, chiming in with, “You are, Mr. Chapman. We get some pretty crazy requests. I had one ask for a one-piece glass wall, the length of his house. I told him I could do that, but it would run more than the rest of the house, and it would be too thick and too opaque to see through, unless he wanted to wait a couple of years and spend several more million dollars. On the window. Yeah, Mr. Chapman, you’re easy.”
“Okay, then, guys, let’s do this. You call me Charlie, I’ll call you Ralph and Greg, then I’ll give you a million dollars to get you started. I would like to be in on any problems you have, and if you think there is a better way to do something, I’d love to be in on the decision making. The only things that are deal breakers would be the electrical, which I sorely need, and the spanned garages. I’d hate to be trying to handle something twenty feet long in there and not be able to turn it around without going outside in the rain, albeit infrequent rain.”
“You’ve got it. Our initial estimates, not counting the electrical, which is only several hundred added on, is right around two point four million. We’ll use up the first million in about a month, then need additional funding as we progress. The initial startup, the excavation, foundations, and all that is a huge chunk of the parts and labor.”
“Give me the name of your bank, Greg. I’ll put an escrow account together for two five, and hopefully I’ll get some change back. Will that be apropos?”
“Like I said, Mr...”. I gave him ‘that look’. “Charlie, like I said, you’re easy to work with. As soon as Ralph quits scribbling, I’ll pay him off, get him out of our hair, and get down to business. If we do both at once, we can have you in them in ten months.”
I nodded, we shook hands, then I went down to Greg’s financial institution and transferred the money into an account he could use as he invoiced the project.
I love it when a plan comes together.
I called Charlie and told her I’d like to see her before we left in the morning, but she asked me to meet her at the bar around five. She had other things happening and was a bit on the busy side.
I knew I needed to eat, so I headed over to Bennie’s for a couple of chile verde chicken tamales and a guacamole salad with extra pico de gallo, then talked to Angelina for a few minutes while I was there. She was really excited about the trip the next day, hoping the getaway would be fruitful for us while talking about the expansion and all.
“Angelina ... Angel. Are you excited about going for a jaunt, or are you excited about being with my girlfriend?” She blushed. “Be honest. We are asking you to go with us for personal reasons, not business. My girlfriend is evidently pretty good around people and thinks my mechanic might be accompanying us for similar reasons. Do you feel an attraction to Charlie, hon?”
“Shit.” She sat next to me. “Yes. Do I need to apologize to you?” I shook my head. “Good, because if I did, I’d have to apologize to her, too.” She saw my eyebrows twitch, I’m sure. “You two, you and Charlie are a thing. I can see that. What I’m hoping is that I can just be around you two and pretend to be part of that. Have you ever heard of polyamory, Chuck?”
“I have, and this conversation came up between Charlie and I.”
“I’m not attracted to just her. I’m attracted, I think, to the both of you. I knew I liked you and all when you came to gobble Mama’s goodies the first time, but when you came back with her, with Charlene, I saw you differently, more intensely, and saw her as ... As a desire? I don’t know, Chuck, really, but the desire was for the both of you. Jesucristo, ¿qué hacer, qué hacer?”
“WHAT?”
“Oh, sorry, Chuck. I said, ‘Jesus Christ, what to do, what to do?’ I just don’t want to screw this up. I have two people that have volunteered to help us with our livelihood, and I’m romantically attracted to both of them. This is not good. Can it work?” She put her head in her hands and looked down.
“Only time will tell, Angel. Hey, baby, chill. Look up at me.” She did that and smiled. “Your intentions seem righteous. Hang in there. Give me your hand.” I took her hand, stuck a fifty in it for lunch, kissed her knuckles and told her I’d pick her up there in the morning at seven thirty, and to go help her mother. She shed a couple of tears, nodded, kissed my forehead and left me sitting there. I finished my lunch, drained my cervesa, my Dos XX beer, then left. I wanted to get some refreshments for the plane ride into the cooler at home, then hit the bar and see how my girlfriend was doing.
With the sodas and waters safely in the cooler on ice, some high-end granola bars and a few giant-sized Snickers in the snack basket, I headed for the Maverick.
Misty was on duty. “Hey, Chuck. Can I get anything for you?”
“Yeah, hon. A silver bullet will work for now.”
She reached into the ice and got a super cold one. “Here you go. Charlene’s in an impromptu meeting with Bob and Marci. The other partners.”
“Anything big, or am I asking too many questions?”
“Naw. Nothing serious. The weekend night shift assistant, the number two bartender, if you will, quit, moving on to greener pastures, and they need to hire someone. The barbacks aren’t ready yet, Charlene doesn’t do weekends, and as an owner, she shouldn’t even have to work shifts, but does, and I don’t think I could handle it. I’m not that fast on my feet. Friday and Saturday nights in here are a nightmare. Literally. We have two bartenders and two barbacks, with barmaids filling in for breaks, and it’s all they can do sometimes to keep up. They make a mint in tips, but still, it’s rough.”
“I could see that. Wednesdays and Thursdays are pretty busy. Yeah, I could see the issue.”
“Anyway, they’re back there going over applications and making phone calls. Problem is ... Tonight. Dork Ass McDorkelson called in and won’t be showing. So much for the respectable two weeks’ notice, huh? Hope he’s got a job locked in, ‘cause if they call for a reference, it ain’t gonna be sweet. You know what I mean?” I nodded. “Lemme get these guys their beers and I’ll let her know you’re here.”
“No. Not yet, Misty. They’re working. I’m goofing off. Give her a while. Knowing her, she’ll volunteer to fill in tonight and be a mess in the morning when we take off for our little twodaycation.”
“I don’t think so, Chuck. She’s been pretty adamant about her hours. Like I said, she probably doesn’t need to work the bar at all. I think she does it for fun. They have a temp service they may be able to hit up. Who knows. I’m just glad I’m getting off in, let’s see, forty-five minutes.” She grinned. It was Friday, and by eight, the place would be nuts. It was only five-fifteen at the time.
Charlene came out of the office, looked down toward where I usually sit, then smiled, shook her head, dipped in for a cold silver bullet and brought it to me. “I’m going to fill in until about seven,” she said. “We have a temp coming in. One of our bartenders quit today and caused a bit of an issue. You don’t mind, do you?” She looked over her shoulder and waved the other two owners down toward us.
“Nope. You can ask Misty. I was expecting it.” Charlie frowned. “In a good way, doll. You care. You care a lot. Someone has to keep the train running. I’ll take you out for a snack when you get off. If you want to, that is.”
“I want to.” The other owners walked up, and Charlene acknowledged them. “Bob and Marci Watkins, this is Charles Chapman, Chuck, the boyfriend I was telling you about. He’s taking me and a couple of friends to San Diego in the morning. Yet another reason I wouldn’t be able to fill in for dickhead tomorrow night.”
I stood up on the barstool foot rail, leaned over the bar and shook hands with each of them. “Nice to meet you. I should probably thank you for being in cahoots with Charlene. She’s most likely the best thing that has ever happened to me.” Charlene blushed, we chatted for a couple of minutes then they took off, leaving Charlene and me alone.
“Still heading out in the morning?” she asked.
“Yes, hon. I have every intention of doing just that. I had a late lunch at Bennie’s. I told Angel I’d pick her up in the morning at seven-thirty. Should I get you before or after her?”
“Before. You just called her Angel? That sounds telling.”
“Try it. You’ll like it. She smiled when I did so. She explained a bit. How she feels. I’ll let her tell you, but she’s smitten.” Charlene smiled and cocked her head. “With us. Not just with you. Not with me. According to her, she’s got it bad for the two of us together.”
“Kind of alluded to it last week when I talked to her on the phone, but now I’m putting the meaning in line with the words. That’s different isn’t it.”
“My sentiments exactly. She was worried about what I’d think, as well as what you’d think, but I tried to calm her down and told her we’d work it out.”
“And we will, but again, I need to convince you, Chuck, that anything with the two of them is over and above. It’s really you I want. The rest would be nice, and exciting, and interesting, and I hope it’s real, and permanent, but it’s you that I desire first. You good with that, hon?”
“Completely, and I feel the same, Charlie. I’ve never met anyone like you, or that even comes close. You really are the best thing that’s ever happened to me. In my eyes ... Let me qualify this. In my eyes, you are the cutest girl I’ve ever met, and the nicest woman I’ve ever spoken to. You just are.”
“Thank you, dear sir. I don’t consider you a rebound dude, either. I’m quite happy, and just told myself lying in bed this morning that I wished we’d have met twelve years ago.”
“Wouldn’t that have been nice?” I said to her, smiling and puckering to blow her a kiss.
She nodded, pulled my hand to her, kissed it, then put on an apron and started arranging things so she could work for a bit. She wasn’t wearing one of her usual sexy bartender’s outfits; the shorts, hose, and tight tops. Instead, she was halfway glamorous in a nice, collared button up blouse, a modest skort, or culottes, and some high heeled sandals.
“So, cowboy, in an hour and a half I’ll let you take me out for a snack. What kind of snack did you have in mind?”
We wound up leaving the bar at about seven fifteen and having soup and salad at Olive Garden. I took her home, and after a smoldering good night kiss and a promise to be waiting for me at seven in the morning, she pushed me out the door with a promise for more the next night.
Sleep came easy. The closer I got to Charlene Swanson the better my life seemed to be. Coincidence? I think not. I think it was the Lord’s way of telling me she was good for me.
I was up at six, filing a flight plan for San Diego. I called Debbie, hoping she was already up and about, and got the OK to pick her up as well. It looked like I was picking up Charlene first, then Debbie, she was the farthest away, then Angelina, on the way up to the airport.
This could be habit forming. Smiles. Beautiful smiles greeted me in all three locations. Charlene even brought me out a cup of coffee in a travel mug. That’s love, right there. Debbie was smiling as well, most probably just happy to be doing something other than going to school and doing homework. Then, when I stopped for Angelina, the girls met for the first time, and more smiles were shared.
The two of them shook hands, then, after smiling at each other, both said, ‘to hell with it’, at about the same time and hugged each other. They’d both heard enough to be somewhat familiar with each other, then once on the back seat of the four-door truck, proceeded to fill in the gaps between themselves.
They couldn’t have been more different. Debbie was tall, most probably five feet eight inches, quite slim, with long light strawberry blonde hair, freckles, and gorgeous. Angelina was almost five foot five, not at all skinny, but not an excess pound on her, with dark brown hair showing tinges of red in the sunlight, a completely smooth, soft olive complexion, and flat out beautiful. By the time I had put the truck in gear, they were talking between themselves like sisters. The kind that gets along.
I think Charlene and I were both doing the math in our heads. Eighteen years ago, Debbie was about two or three, which would make her about twenty, maybe twenty-one. Angelina had just graduated from the University of California at San Diego, so she’d be about twenty-two or so. Hmmm. We had a lot to learn about each other, that was certain. I already had a plan to facilitate that action.
I’m sure Charlene wouldn’t mind the seating arrangements on the way to the coast, as I planned on having my head mechanic with me in the cockpit, and having her and Angelina in back, fetching us drinks as needed. Since it was only a fifty-minute flight, roughly, there wouldn’t be much fetching, and I doubt Debbie would have the wherewithal to ask for anything in any case. I’d probably have to do it for her, if it happened at all. I’m sure it was because we were basically strangers in an adult/young person relational dynamic, but still, she had a pretty quiet and meek personality.
Once at the plane, I put Charlene and Angelina on board, reminded them where everything was, then went back out and had Debbie help me with the preflight inspection, using both the hardcopy and tablet versions of the checklists. Everything was fine, naturally, since the plane only had fourteen hours on it at that point, but it all has to be checked, very well, and every time. Debbie was also a big help with the other tasks. She familiarized herself with everything, then kept me informed, as I asked her, with any information I needed.
“Debbie, have you ever thought about getting your pilot’s license?” I asked her.
“Not seriously. There is no way I can afford to do that, at least not while putting myself through school and all that takes. Maybe tomorrow I’ll look into that, I used to think, but tomorrow never came. I think there’s a song about that.”
“It’s ‘Tomorrow Never Comes’, and your mother loved that song. It was a hit for not only Ernest Tubb back mid nineteen hundreds, but several others since then and might even outdate my grandparents,” I informed her.
“Wow.”
“I may make you a deal one of these days. Let’s see if we can stand each other on this trip and see where we stand after a bit of time getting on each other’s nerves. Sound reasonable?”
“Yes, boss.” She looked at me and smiled. “If we can’t, I’m in big trouble. I’m hoping for more, not less.”
“Me too, sweetheart. Me, too.”
When we landed in San Diego, out at Mongomery Field, Crown Air took care of the plane for us, and had a rental car waiting. Our game plan was to head straight downtown to have lunch, then stroll the waterfront and Seaport Village. The goal was to goof off and talk. Getting to know each other, at this point, was the most important thing.
Angelina had laid her cards out on the table with me the day before and did so again while we were waiting for our drinks at the Edgewater Grill. This time Charlene was there to listen to her, and Debbie was there to hear the whole thing. When Angelina said she wanted to get to know us better, in a personal way, as in romantic, I caught Debbie smiling.
I looked at her. She looked at me. She smiled more. She started to turn pink while I was looking at her. She’d never win a poker championship. “Debbie, why are you smiling like that?”
“I was hoping beyond hope that there was a chance this would come up. You three wouldn’t be having this conversation right now if it was so personal that someone not a party to the shenanigans would hear it. Charlie, I’ve had your picture up on my fridge since I was five or so. I didn’t know it at the time, but then, when we were going through Mom’s things before Christmas last year, I found the other pictures with your name and stuff on them. I’ve always thought highly of you. Mom certainly did and shared nothing but kind words about you and your times together. That’s the information I was going off of. What Mom always talked about. When we talked, you and I, you offered me help if I needed it, then on the phone you talked to me about options and what the future might and might not look like, and when we met at the airport I admit, I was ... I was taken a bit by you. Sorry, Charlene, but he’s not ugly, and he’s really nice.” She giggled. So did Charlene and Angelina. “In any case, if there is a chance, I want to date you, too. You two, too.” Again, giggles broke out. “I know the old boss and worker relationship thing is bad news, but if it gets in the way, I’ll go find a worser job. Is worser a word? Probably not. That’s my take. Sorry for hogging the conversation.”
Drinks and bread arrived while she was talking. It didn’t stop her a bit. She was serious, and as shy as she seemed at times, when she was trying to get a point across, she was sure of herself and pretty damned articulate.
Angelina looked around the table. She gave Charlene a serious look, then me, then Debbie. “Well, it looks like maybe we need to hear from Charlie squared.” I love to hear women giggle.
“Chuck, you first,” Charlene said, looking at me, smiling.
“I have fallen in love with Charlene in a short period of time. Angelina, you acted like a schoolgirl with a crush on Charlene, so I thought this might happen. I’m glad. Very glad. If it doesn’t affect my relationship with her, I’m as open as I can be toward it. If it fails. If we don’t work out, I’ll still help you with your business plan if that is in the works. No doubt about that.
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