Chapter 26

5:30AM is ugly. I don't care who you are, waking up at 5:30 in the morning is an ugly time. Even for me.

I throw on some clothes, running shoes and a t-shirt with shorts and head out the front door just before 6AM. There are three guys standing outside of the house when I arrive and a truck parked in the drive. "I would say good morning, but how good can this hour of the day really be?" I joke as I walk up to greet the men. "Do you all understand what we are doing here today?" They all agree and I open the door to let them in. "All of the utility work needs to be done downstairs which is this way." We all go downstairs and I walk them into the utility room. "As you can see, we are doing a major upgrade here and the hardware is all being replaced. So feel free to use this room or wherever you need to be to get this done as quickly as possible."

One of the guys there, I didn't catch his name, said that they all knew what was at stake and were ready to get this done before the rest of the workers arrived. With that assurance, I left them to do their work.

As I was walking outside another guy arrived in a real nice Lexus and got out approaching the house. "Can I help you?"

"Hello. I'm Richard Wellington and I own the company that is doing the duct cleaning today. I wanted to get a look around and make sure my guys get this done to perfection." I noticed that he had a British accent which is strange for the mid-west.

We shook hands and I led him inside to the utility room where his guys were busy getting ready to work. Richard greeted them all by name and stood off to the side as they worked. "Richard, how do you know Julie?"

"I met her when we cleaned her house some years ago. She was so impressed that she has called upon us several times to do this same thing to several houses that she is doing. I am so glad that she called us about this one."

"Why?" I asked him. This could be a fun answer.

"When she said that a veteran is person that we are helping, I couldn't stand aside and not do something. Our vets do so much for us; I had to do something to give back. You know?"

"Oh yes, I fully understand."

"Why are you here? You're not the vet are you?"

"No, no. I'm Paul Johnson and the family that lives here are my very closest friends who helped me through the loss of my family and have been friends with all of us for years before that. I wanted to give back to them for all that they have done for me." The look on Richard's face was priceless.

"What do you mean you lost your family? Did you get a divorce or something?"

"No worse than that. They were all killed in a car accident just a few weeks ago."

The color all drained out of Richard's face. Like he had seen a ghost. "That is horrible." What was really unexpected was that he grabbed me and gave me a firm embrace patting me on the back. "I'm so sorry to hear that. Are you OK?"

"Oh sure, I'm devastated but my parents gave me a swift kick in the rump to move on with my life and not dwell in my loss. So, Thursday is going to be my last day at work and I am going to take a wonderful young lady I know on a worldwide trip to get my bucket list all done."

He smiled. "That is great news. I don't know you very much, but I like what you are telling me. This is very good news. What do you have on your list first?"

I hemmed and hawed a bit not wanting to divulge all of my dreams to a stranger, but I went ahead and told him of Italy, the blarney stone, Stonehenge and a volcano trip. "Great Britain huh?"

"Yes sir. It has been a dream to go there and the shows I have been watching through Netflix of the shows from the BBC are fascinating and I would love to get a chance to meet the people I have seen through TV."

He gave me a thoughtful look then pulled his phone out of his back pocket and flipped through what I could only assume are his contacts until he dialed the phone and then stepped away from me and began talking to someone on the other end. I didn't know what was going on so I just stood around watching the men working. "What show did you say you wanted to see over in England?"

"Top Gear for sure."

Richard turned his back to me again and continued his conversation.

After a few minutes, he came back to me with pen in hand. He began writing on a sheet of paper and handed it to me. "When you are ready to go to the show, please give this phone number a call, ask for Leslie and drop my name. They will make sure you are taken care of."

I took the paper from him not believing what he was telling me. "Really?"

"Yes. Leslie is one of the people who work for the BBC and she happens to work for the Top Gear show and has certain access to the presenters that I am sure she can use to get you into the building to meet them and into a taping of the show. Just call her when you arrive in Great Britain."

I shook his hand firmly and gave him a firm embrace. "This is wonderful. Thank you very much for your generosity. I will definitely call Leslie when I get overseas. Thanks."

With a huge smile on my face and on his we walk back outside. "Richard, I'll talk to you later. Julie should be here shortly so I'll leave you to keep an eye on your men."

"It was good meeting you Paul and I'll make sure that nothing happens to his house or its possessions and make sure that my guys get this job done."

"See ya." I exchange a handshake with him again and I turn down the street and go on a little run. If I am going to be awake at this hour then I might as well do something useful with my time and go for a run.

When I arrive home, there are a number of work trucks and van parked out front of John's house and I see Julie's car parked closer to my house which means that she is there keeping everyone on track. I was hot, panting for air and sweaty so I had no interest in walking over there so instead I went inside for a shower.

When I was done with the shower, getting dressed for work and had everything packed up for work, I left and looked back over toward John's house as I backed the jeep out of its new home on the side of my house. Men were coming in and out getting work done and Julie was on her phone as she usually is out on the front porch. I drove up the hill instead of down and waved to Julie as I went past. She waved back but went back to her phone and went to work.

The drive in was dull, as most commutes are. When I got to work, I went to see Ashlee who was up to her ears with people in her office so I just waved to her through the window and continued on my way.

I taught, students started to say good-bye to me in class, and I managed to get Ashlee alone for lunch. The afternoon I met with administrators who wanted me to make sure that all grades were up to date and in the system before I left the building on Thursday, even though it was still Tuesday. I assured them that all of my work would be done and that the new teacher would only have to pick up where I left off without trouble. The new teacher showed up in the evening and we hung out and talked until my evening classes started where he took notes, introduced himself to my evening students and worked to get up to speed with the goings on in class.

After I was done on Tuesday, I headed home talked to Ashlee on the phone, talked to Julie on the phone and listened to voice mails from my parents and from several salesmen who were wanting to help me spend my money. I don't know how they got my number, but I was not going to call them back. The salesmen, not my parents; I was going to call them for sure.

Wednesday and Thursday were pretty much the same. I went to work, said good-bye to a bunch of people, ate dinner with Ashlee at night and sometimes a lunch at work, if she could get away, and it was all just so ordinary. Thursday afternoon, after my morning classes let out, there was a surprise staff meeting for everyone and when I walked him all of my co-workers sang "For he is a Jolly Old Fellow" really badly. It took me by surprise. They did the same thing for Ashlee when she arrived as well which was really funny, you know, since she is a girl. Anyway, the president of the college was there as well as several of the other important people in the college to see me off and to see Ashlee off as well. The President said a few words about losing two such wonderful hard working people and that our absence would be felt by everyone. I tuned out on the rest of it and just smiled and nodded my head and then shook hands once he was done. Diana also got up and said a few things as well and then came over and gave Ashlee and I each a hug saying good bye quietly into our ears.

A large cake and ice cream was brought in and then cut up. Ashlee and I positioned ourselves at the front of the classroom where we were meeting so that anyone that wanted could come up and say a few words to us. We sat close to each other, like couple close and many people asked about that. Ashlee did the honors and confessed that yes, we were a couple and would be traveling together. Well, you would have thought that we had just farted or something because the buzz spread through the room like wildfire and many of our female coworkers ushered Ashlee off to a corner for a confab that I was not invited to. There was MUCH laughter and whispering and more laughter. I was quite surprised. I mean we didn't make out or anything during our lunches together in the break room so this reaction was quite surprising.

I just ignored it as stuff that girls do. It must be a girl thing.

After about 30 minutes, people started to leave and most of the food/cake had been eaten so I walked over to where Ashlee and the last few other women were still talking and told her quietly that I was going back to my room. I happen to do it by putting my hand on her waist and her rump and whispering it in her ear. Well, that set the girls off on another round of whispers and laughter. I just walked away shaking my head. I don't think I'll ever understand women.

Back in the safety of my classroom I busied myself putting the last few things that I owned into my shoulder bag and just puttering around when Ashlee walked in. No, that isn't quite right, she strutted in with her head held high and a roll in her hips that I noticed immediately. "What has gotten into you?" I asked her seeing an attitude change in her.

"Oh nothing. I was told by just about all of the other ladies in this building how lucky I am to have snagged such a great guy. I guess all of the praise like that makes a lady walk with her head held high." She sauntered over to my desk and positioned herself on the corner of my desk crossing her legs then leaning down to me which happened to give me a perfect down her blouse. The sight of her cleavage made my mouth water and as it usually did, struck me dumb. Why is it that boobies do that to men? I mean really.