Chapter 65: Promotions

September 8, 1989, Chicago, Illinois

"Did you have fun in California?" Jessica smirked when I walked into the bedroom late on Friday evening.

"I did," I chuckled. "Thank you."

I went over to the crib and kissed Albert. Birgit was in the nursery with Matthew, and I didn't want to disturb them.

"She came to me to tell me about the guy she met," Jessica said. "Kara and I talked about it and suggested that she fly out to San Francisco and surprise you. Given how much she's helped you since Thanksgiving, it was the least we could do."

"I need a shower before bed," I said.

"She got her 'bend me over the desk and fuck me unconscious' fantasy?" Kara giggled.

"You know, I swear you two are menaces!" I laughed, stripping off my clothes.

"You've been exceedingly calm and stable since you took up with her," Kara said. "How could either of us complain? It's not as if you having sex with another girl is something new."

I walked into the bathroom, and my wives followed me but leaned against the sink instead of getting into the shower.

"Did Abbie move upstairs?" I asked. "She was kind of reluctant."

"She moved on Monday evening after you left. You should probably talk to Katy, by the way."

"About?"

"Jorge. He's acting kind of strange. He didn't join us for dinner all week and cooked for himself, doing his own dishes. Katy said he put most of his stuff in the shed out back, not in her room."

"Shit," I sighed.

I washed the shampoo out of my hair and picked up my bar of soap.

"Katy thinks he's depressed, and I have to agree," Jessica said. "It might even be clinical."

I sighed, "My sister really worked him over, but good. From what you say, it seems like he's barely functioning."

"The only time he seems happy is when he's with Trish," Kara said. "He went to the club tonight with Abbie, and I'm sure Trish will be there. That means he'll be in a decent mood when he comes home."

"I warned my sister about how she was treating him. She doesn't listen any better than I used to."

"You two are cut from the same cloth," Jessica said. "She just hasn't learned the hard lessons yet."

"Neither have I," I said. "At least not as well as I should have."

I rinsed off the soap and stepped out of the shower. Jessica handed me the towel, and I dried off.

"You did the right thing in having her move out," Jessica said. "It'll help her to be away from you."

"I know," I sighed. "That doesn't make it easier."

"No, but it's what she needs. Come to bed, please."

"I have something for you," I said.

She smirked, "Kimmy wasn't enough?"

I laughed, "A gift."

I went to my bag, took out the chocolate Kimmy had chosen for Jessica and Kara, and handed it to them.

"Chocolate! Yes!" Jessica exclaimed.

"Thank you!" Kara said.

I chuckled, "I also got this!"

I held up a jar of Ghirardelli fudge sauce that I'd picked up at a display at the airport.

"I think we can find a use for that, Tiger. Come to bed!"

September 9, 1989, Chicago, Illinois

"Another plane crash," I sighed, reading the article on page 3 of the Tribune. "This time off the Danish coast. A Norwegian charter crashed into the North Sea, apparently killing all fifty-five people on the plane."

"Bomb?" Elyse asked.

"No idea. The article says that search teams are looking for the wreckage."

"That's too depressing to think about," Jessica said. "What's the plan for today?"

"I'll be leaving for breakfast in a few minutes, as soon as Jorge comes downstairs. Then karate, then I guess you and I spend the afternoon together because the 'Chemistry Mafia' will occupy our wife's time today."

Kara nodded, "But we'll be done in time for our dinner date with the Jaegers. Which movie are we seeing?"

"License to Kill," Jessica said. "The new Bond film."

I chuckled, "I love the fact that my wives like Star Trek, Dirty Harry, and James Bond!"

"I still want to see Road House," Kara said. "Maybe tomorrow?"

"That sounds good to me," I agreed.

Jorge came down to the kitchen, and I drained my tea from my cup, and we went out to my car.

"How are you doing?" I asked once we were on our way to Bucktown.

"OK, I guess. I'm moving out at the end of the month."

I nodded, "I'm not surprised. Where?"

He gave a wan smile, "There's an apartment in Trish's building available at the end of the month. My application was approved on Friday."

"Trish, huh?"

"It's not like that. She's a good friend. I do like her a lot, but right now, I need to get my bearings. I've been kicked too many times."

He sighed deeply and looked out his window. I suspected he had tears in his eyes, which wouldn't surprise me. I sure would have in his position.

"Don't stay away from the house," I said. "I don't want to lose you as a friend."

"I won't. I'll come to Guys' Night and the Rap Sessions, at least. Trish said she wanted to hang out with the girls. She likes them all."

"She's a wonderful person. You could do a whole lot worse than Trish. How was the club last night?"

He grinned, "It's the one place I feel happy these days. By the way, your friend Rhonda was pining for you."

"She's all yours," I chuckled. "She's not my type."

"She's a crazy one, that's for sure!"

"I'm glad you can find a way to have some fun. Is work going OK?"

"Yes. The strike only lasted for a couple of weeks, so it didn't really impact us much at all. How was your trip to California?"

"Good. We found someone to hire in Los Angeles, and I met with four customers."

And had a heck of a lot of sex with Kimmy, but I couldn't exactly share that with Jorge! We made small talk the rest of the way and then had a wonderful breakfast at Alex's bistro. After breakfast, we drove home, and then Kara, Jessica, and I headed to the dojo for karate practice.

As far as I was aware, nobody else knew what was going to happen. Sensei Jim asked Therese to lead the exercises, and then she took the lower belts to the small practice room to work with them while the blue belts and above stayed in the main practice room to spar. I suppressed a smirk when Sensei Jim called out Jolene's and my names.

We put on our pads, took our places, bowed to Sensei Jim and each other, and then began to spar. Jolene had improved a lot during the six months that Sensei had been in Japan, and I had to be very cautious so as not to let her catch me off guard. I ended up winning, but it was a very close thing.

"Very good," Sensei Jim said. "Baxter and Westergard!"

Darla Westergard was a new brown belt and very good at sparring. Jolene beat her, but it was very close. I suppressed a chuckle when Sensei Jim called Jolene's name again, as well as Will's. He'd made blue belt while Sensei Jim was away and was nearly as good as the brown belts above him. He landed a few strikes on Jolene, most of which I felt were because she was getting tired.

"Adams, relieve Kells. Send her out."

I saw Jolene grimace and went into the small practice room, quickly got the lay of the land, and sent Therese out to spar with Jolene. She was back eight minutes later.

"Did you win?" I asked.

"Yes, but Jolene is really tired. It wasn't a fair fight," she said.

"I think that's the point," I chuckled, turning the class over to her again.

I returned to the larger practice room to see Jolene trying to spar against two blue belts and having significant difficulty. I smirked and shook my head.

"Adams! You think this is funny? Front and center!"

"Yes, Sensei!" I responded and moved to stand in front of him.

He walked over to the small lockers and opened his. I suppressed a groan. I was going to get my ass beat, and badly, all because I couldn't keep a straight face. At his indication, I put on my pads and returned to my spot. I took a few deep breaths and turned to wait for him. He came and faced me, and we bowed. Fifteen seconds later, I was flat on my back on the mat. I scrambled to get up, barely evading a blow that would have sent me sprawling again, only to be thrown a second time. I knew I wasn't able to 'tap out' and ask for mercy, so I once again scrambled up.

That's how it went for five minutes. I landed one strike, but even then, it was only glancing. I was hit more than a dozen times and thrown twice more. I was being taught a lesson, but I was going to take every bit of punishment that he could dish out without complaint. When he'd decided I'd had enough, he called 'stop', and we bowed and removed our pads.

"Line up!" he ordered.

We all took our places, and Therese brought her charges back into the main practice room.

"Adams! Step forward!"

"Yes, Sensei!"

I moved from my place at the far left to the center of the room and stood directly before Sensei Jim. He smiled broadly.

"Despite Mr. Adams seeming inability to stay on his feet when sparring, he has shown himself worthy of the honor of receiving the rank of 3rd Dan."

I removed my belt and handed it to him, and he handed back a new belt with three stripes on each end. I tied it on, then bowed to him. I turned and bowed to the class, all of whom bowed back. Jessica, Kara, Stephanie, Melody, and Jacquelyn had huge smiles on their faces. I straightened and took my place. Sensei Jim had found a way to both praise and humiliate me at the same time. My ego often seemed to get the best of me, and he knew just how to beat it into submission.

"That promotion is the first I have ever made to 3rd Dan. But it is not the only promotion today. Another person in the dojo has shown themselves worthy of a significant honor. Baxter! Step forward!"

Jolene's eyes grew wide, and she glanced in my direction. I smiled and kept facing forward. She took her place in front of Sensei Jim and bowed.

"Miss Baxter has learned patience, perseverance, and dedication and is worthy of the honor of promotion to 2nd Dan."

She removed her belt, exchanged it for one with two stripes on each end, tied it, and bowed to Sensei and then the class. She took her place beside me again.

"Dismissed!" Sensei Jim called.

Everyone bowed, and then bedlam erupted as Jolene and I were congratulated on our promotions. I received a kiss on the cheek from Jacquelyn, a 'high five' from Will, and kisses and hugs from my wives, Melody and my little sister. Jolene, the recipient of similar congratulations, moved to stand next to me.

"Thanks," she whispered in my ear as we hugged.

"You're welcome," I said, then teased, "Too bad you can't have your reward!"

"Asshole!" she hissed, but she was laughing. "It had to happen after I got serious with another guy, didn't it?"

We released our hug.

"So now what?" she asked.

"We keep doing the same thing. Sensei told me I'd probably have to go to Japan to achieve the next Dan."

"Wow. Why?"

"It's all mental at this point. He wants me to work under a Japanese master and truly learn what it means to be a leader. Did he talk to you about what happened in Japan?"

"No. Didn't he train?"

I chuckled, "About the same way Daniel-san did in The Karate Kid."

"No way!" she laughed.

"As I said, it's all mental at this point. He beat me because he out-thought me. Not because he's that much better. Yes, he's better, but not enough to win that easily. That's what he was trying to show me."

"By humiliating you?"

"By showing me that I'm neither as smart nor as good as I think I am. I need to be reminded of that fairly often. Just as you do."

"I'm going home and soak in the tub. I ACHE."

"I bet," I chuckled. "You could come use the sauna if you wanted."

"Thanks, but I have plans for after lunch."

"OK. See you Monday night!"

September 11, 1989, Chicago, Illinois

"I have some candidates for you to interview later in the week," Dave said when I came into the office on Monday morning.

"OK. Just set it up with Keri. I no longer have to deal with karate classes in the middle of the day, so my schedule is more flexible."

"How was California?"

"Good. I assume Charlie filled you in on the offer we made to a young woman from Stanford who Jennifer knew?"

"Yes. I was cc'd on the electronic mail she sent to Elyse and Julia. They told you that she accepted, right?"

"Keri told me when I called in for messages on Thursday. Who are your candidates?"

"Jody Pancook is one. She had taken a job she didn't like, and we really liked her before."

"I don't need to see her," I said. "Make the offer if you want her. Which team?"

"Tasha's. She really only has two people because Penny is on her leave of absence. The other one is a guy from UofC. He didn't graduate in June because he was a few classes short. He got sick during his Sophomore year and missed two quarters. He finished up over the Summer."

"What's his name?"

"Park Sung-ha. His family emigrated from Korea about ten years ago."

"OK. Set up the interview and let me know. Has Charlie made any progress on finding consultants?"

"I don't think so. You'd have to ask her or Julia. I'm up to my eyeballs in my own work!"

I chuckled, "Aren't we all? I'll talk to Julia after the staff meeting."

Kimmy brought me coffee, something I'd finally acquiesced to allowing her to do for me. I quickly went through my cc:Mail and found nothing pressing, then checked my mail on the Unix server. I had a move in my chess match and results from the last Diplomacy turn, but those would have to wait because Julia called the staff meeting to order.

After the meeting, I stopped to talk to Cindi about the User Group meeting and the requests from Ben Jackson and Dale Monroe. She let me know that Ben had called her, and they had a tentative agreement to hold the 1990 user group meeting in San Francisco. Cindi's goal was to do everything she could to cultivate her relationship with the California State Bar because, combined with New York, we'd have inside relationships with the two most important in the country.

I went to Julia's office to check on Charlie's progress on hiring, and she said that Charlie had done a number of phone interviews but hadn't found anyone she liked enough to bring in for face-to-face interviews. I asked Julia about her pregnancy, and she said everything was going well and that Kimmy had found an apartment we could lease from December through April. Julia let me know she planned to take three months after her baby was born, using up her sick time and vacation time in addition to the maternity leave.

After that, I ended up in a meeting with Alonzo and the rest of the team that lasted most of the rest of the morning. I detested meetings, but this one was necessary because there was so much to discuss about the 4.0 release of the legal software. Greg joined us and did a quick 'tech talk' on what we'd need to do to switch to Microsoft SQL server and what that would mean for customers.

"Did we talk to Cindi about this?" I asked. "It's going to create potential issues with Novell drivers and potentially increase costs."