Chapter 65: Graduation

June 1, 1991, Iron Mountain, Michigan

“And then what?” Elyse smirked. “She offered you a ride?”

“You know, the way you three are giving me grief about this, I SHOULD have taken her up to the hayloft and fucked her silly, consequences be damned!”

“That would have been a supremely bad idea, Tiger.”

“No kidding,” I said flatly. “In point of fact, she didn’t really flirt. I mean, sure, she was nice, and talked sweet, but honestly I didn’t get the vibe from her that she was looking for a roll in the hay.”

“So what happened?”

“She showed me her horse, we talked a bit about riding, and a bit more about computers.”

“Riding?” Jessica asked.

“Another part of ancient history,” I said. “Back when I was in Middle School and Junior High, I went to Camp Marydale in Kentucky. I did a lot of horseback riding and earned some horsemanship badges. I had learned to ride in California when I was six at Camp Calamigos in Malibu. Jennifer went to Marydale as well.”

“Nobody ever mentioned that in all these years.”

“I’m pretty sure it was mentioned at some point after we met, but things got so crazy you forgot. I’m pretty sure I mentioned something in my journal about Jennifer and me at Camp Marydale. No matter. I hadn’t even thought about it in a long time until I was talking to Jodie today.”

“And after you talked?” Elyse prompted.

“She walked me to my car, we said goodbye, and I came back here. No kisses. No hugs. No offers of wild sex.”

“I’m up for wild sex!” Elyse laughed. “But I guess I have to wait until Tuesday!”

“Maybe you’ll hear from her when she visits colleges,” Jessica teased.

“More likely I’ll hear from her dad when he tries to convince her to go someplace close to home like Michigan or Michigan State. Or Purdue or UofI.”

“I’ll take that action,” Elyse said. “I bet she’ll be in touch with you in less than six months!”

“No bet for me!” Kara said. “Unless someone wants to bet that she makes a play for him when she visits IIT!”

“The three of you are just impossible!” I chuckled.

June 2, 1991, Iron Mountain, Michigan

“Did everyone enjoy the vacation?” I asked as we packed our things on Sunday morning.

“I certainly did,” Jessica said. “It was great to be away, and to have absolutely nothing I had to do!”

“I enjoyed being here with you and the kids and no distractions,” Kara said.

“I agree,” Elyse said. “And not even a single call from the office!”

“That’s because we have competent people to run things!” I said. “And that is true even with Cindi on maternity leave!”

“She’ll be back in a week,” Elyse said. “I confirmed that with her before we left for Michigan.”

“What about the kids?” I asked.

“The little ones really don’t care so long as all of us are around,” Kara said. “I think Birgit and Jesse did OK once you had your talk with them.”

“It won’t be the last time,” I said. “They’re going to express their love for each other by fighting like cats and dogs!”

“And your little princess has things well in hand,” Elyse said. “She has everyone wrapped around her little finger, which is why Jesse is bristling.”

“You know she doesn’t always get her way,” I said.

“Famous last words, husband!” Jessica laughed. “We all know who the sheriff is in this town!”

“The agent will be here in about fifteen minutes,” Kara said. “Is everything cleaned up?”

“I wiped down everything in the kitchen after I made breakfast,” I said. “And Elyse swept. You and Jess did the rest, so if you’re happy, then we’re done.”

I began loading the bag into the car and finished just before the agent arrived. She was a few minutes early, but since we were ready, she did a quick inspection, signed a form, and handed Kara a copy. Kara thanked her, and we left the cabin. We got all the kids into their seats, and Elyse and I got into my car with Jesse and Matthew. I waited for Kara to pull the minivan out of the driveway, then followed after her.

“I hope we didn’t annoy you too much,” Elyse said after about thirty minutes on the road.

I smiled, “It was a bit over the top, but no, honestly. I wasn’t really annoyed. I’m just curious why you three felt the need to give me such a hard time about that girl.”

“I suppose because we could.”

“Because you knew I couldn’t call you on it,” I replied.

“Exactly! It was Kara’s idea, by the way.”

“Of course it was!”

“You have to admit Jodie was precisely your type, and exactly the kind of girl you would take to bed in a heartbeat.”

“Yes, I admit that, but given the rules, I can’t even contemplate ‘spur-of-the-moment’ trysts. And you know what? That’s a good thing.”

“You do know she’s going to call you at some point. She may not have flirted directly, but asking you to come see her horse was her innocent way of telling you she liked you.”

“I got that drift,” I said.

“You never know. Five years from now, she might apply for a job. You’ve interviewed a few other people that way!”

“Don’t even say that in jest!” I said.

“Sorry. You’re right about that, of course.”

“Dad?” Jesse asked from the back seat.

“Yes?”

“How long until we get home?”

“A bit less than five hours,” I said.

“May we play with my Game Boy now?” he asked.

“Yes. Elyse, would you get it from the glove box?”

Elyse laughed, “Kara would KILL you if she knew you let him bring that along!”

“For the ride home, only. Jesse, Matthew, and I talked about that beforehand.”

She opened the glove compartment, took out the game unit, and handed it to Jesse. It would keep him and Matthew occupied for the rest of the ride, and prevent incessant questions about how much longer it would take to get home.

June 3, 1991, Chicago, Illinois

“Welcome back!” Kimmy said from the door to my office.

“Thanks. Want to fill me in on last week?” I asked.

“Seeing as how you can’t fill me, yes!” she giggled.

“Not you too!” I sighed.

“Sorry. Elyse put me up to that. You know I usually don’t say things like that to you.”

“No, you don’t. Grab a seat.”

She sat in the chair next to my desk, opened her notebook, and gave me a quick rundown of the previous week. There wasn’t really anything out of the ordinary, though I did have about a dozen calls to return. When we finished, Dave came into the office.

“Did Kimmy tell you that our primary choice turned us down?” he asked.

“No, she didn’t. Well, if Doctor Bauer or Doctor Driesson complain, we have a legitimate response. Do you know where he decided to go?”

Dave laughed, “Sun Microsystems. You’ll never guess who hired him!”

I chuckled, “Scott! It has to be, or you wouldn’t have said it that way.”

“Yes. I called him on Thursday and we had a nice chat. He’s a bit miffed that you haven’t talked to him in over a year, and that you didn’t see him when you were in San Francisco.”

The first time, Kimmy had surprised me, though I hadn’t called Scott in advance. The second time, I was with Jeri, and there was no way I could have seen Scott during that trip.

“I was super busy,” I said. “The next time I go to LA, I’ll arrange to swing by. So, who replaces him?”

“Our third choice accepted, the young woman from Northwestern.”

“When do they start?”

“The guy from UofC will start July 1st. The woman from Northwestern starts a week from today. Did you decide what to do about Greg’s role?”

“Yes. I’m going to talk to a recruiter I met back when I was still at IIT. A man named Steve Markman who works for Pencom Systems.”

“So, we’re going outside.”

“Yes, unless you can make a strong argument for someone internal.”

“I can’t, for the reasons we discussed a few weeks ago.”

“Then I’ll give him a call this afternoon and we’ll start the search. We can always change our mind up to the last moment. Pencom does commission-based searches, so we only pay if we hire someone they bring to us.”

“OK. Let me know when we’re ready to interview.”

“Will do. Anything else I need to know?”

“No. The release went perfectly smoothly, as did the conversion in Philadelphia.”

“Kimmy had that in her notes,” I said. “I was confident. We could have released a month ago.”

“Installation kits and database conversion kits went out to Pittsburgh and Los Angeles. The beta site updates to the release code will begin tomorrow. Cindi’s team has been scheduling dates for other customers. She’s back a week from today, right?”

“Yes. Anything else? I have a bunch of calls to make and a pile of paperwork to review.”

“Have fun!” Dave said.

“Gee, thanks!”

Between the staff meeting, the phone calls, and the paperwork, I was busy until lunch, and then for two hours afterwards. I also met with Julia, Zeke, and Charlie to get updates, and that more or less blew the whole day.

“You got exactly nothing done today,” Penny teased.

“Listen up, young lady! I had enough lip from my wives and Elyse last week for a year! The last thing I need is any from you!”

“You LIKED my lips, if I remember correctly! Especially when they were wrapped around your...”

“Penelope! Enough!” I commanded sternly, but then started laughing. “You’re such a Smart Aleck.”

“I know!” she grinned.

“I do have to apologize for missing your graduation.”

“I totally understand. You needed that vacation. And I’m sure my graduation was as dumb and boring as yours was. I only went because Bart and my mom insisted.”

“Not to mention that you were the first ever IIT valedictorian from the CS program!”

“Well, yeah, that too!”

“You’re glad to be done and back to work?”

“Yes! And hopefully at some point, we can work VERY closely,” she said, licking her lips.

“Penelope Margaret Penfield, cut it out!” I chuckled.

“Or what?” she smirked. “You’ll turn me over your knee? Would you? Please?”

She was right. There really wasn’t anything I could do. Threatening to move her out of my office was, in the end, an empty threat. It was a ‘problem’ of my own making, and something I’d have to put up with for another forty or fifty years. Or more!

June 8, 1991, Chicago, Illinois

“Well, that was about as boring as anything I’ve ever sat through,” my sister said as we left the field house at UofC.

“I think all graduation ceremonies are like that,” I agreed.

“We’re all proud of you, Stephanie,” my dad said.

“Thanks!” she smiled.

“When do you start at Arthur Andersen?” I asked.

“July 1st. That’s when all the newbies start. I guess it makes it easier for them. I have a couple of weeks of training, and then I’ll get assigned to an audit team.”

“Cool,” I said.

“Did Kara hear back from UofC?”

“Not yet, but she was pretty sure they wouldn’t call her until the quarter was over. I’m guessing she’ll hear on Monday or Tuesday.”

“I hope she gets it!”

“Me, too!”

We were on our way to dinner, though I wasn’t thrilled because my brother was along. So far, he’d kept his mouth shut, and I hoped it stayed that way, because neither Stephanie nor I were in any mood for BS from him or my mom. I’d already had a heated debate with my mom about him coming to the house, and had only prevailed when Jessica intervened and told my mom that if she continued to insist, then my mother would be banned from the house, permanently, with no chance of a reprieve.

My sister’s choice for dinner was Ruth’s Chris Steak House. We took the minivan because it was far more comfortable than trying to squeeze six adults into my BMW or my mom’s Toyota. Dinner was excellent, and both my mom and brother behaved which made it even better. When we finished, we dropped my parents and brother at their hotel, then Stephanie, Ed, and I headed to the house for my sister’s graduation party.

She’d invited a dozen friends from school, my wives, kids, Elyse, Jennifer, Josie, Abbie, plus some of our close friends and former housemates. She’d arranged with Fawn to babysit the kids to ensure that my wives could enjoy the party. I was very happy that she’d invited Jorge and Trish, and that they’d accepted. Kurt, Dave, and I had volunteered to run the grill, and Elyse and Josie were handling the rest of the food. Abbie was, naturally, responsible for music when it came time to dance.

We served everyone food, including the kids, who had help from Fawn, before she took them into the coach house. Jesse wasn’t happy about not being allowed to join the rest of the party, but he had friends to play with so he didn’t make too big of a deal about it. A look from me had been enough to get him to cooperate.

“Hi, Steve!” Laurie said.

I was surprised to see her at the party, but assumed my sister had invited her at Abbie’s request. She had Claire and Becka with her.

“Hi, ladies! Did you get enough food?”

“Yes! The burgers were awesome!”

“Great!”

“Can we ask you a question?”

“Sure. What’s up?”

“We were wondering if you’d like to have all three of us? Together!”

I almost laughed, but I managed to hold it in. There was NO doubt in my mind that Elyse had cooked this up, and probably had help from Abbie. I decided to play along.

“That sounds like fun,” I said with a grin. “There’s only one problem. You’ll have to ask permission from Jessica, Kara, and Elyse!”

“I thought you had permission to fool around,” Laurie said.

“I do, but it’s on a case-by-case basis, and a foursome with you three is an unusual request! I mean, I’d love to slide slowly in and out of three tight, hot pussies for the next few hours, but I need my wives and Elyse to tell me it’s OK!”

I could see in their eyes that there was no way they were going to ask Jess or Kara, so I decided to push it.

“I also would LOVE to slide my tongue in and out, taste your hot, sexy juices, and make you scream with pleasure!”

They were shifting uncomfortably now which was a nice turn of the tables, because usually I was on the receiving end of this kind of treatment. I saw Elyse out of the corner of my eye with a smug look on her face, which confirmed my suspicions.

“We have to go ask,” Laurie said, almost breathlessly.

“Uhm, I don’t know,” Claire replied.

Laurie grabbed her arm and dragged her away from me towards a corner of the yard, and Becka followed them. I smirked and walked over to Elyse.

“Nice try!” I chuckled. “But I think you’ll find those three are now so worked up that they’d fuck the stick shift in my BMW!”

“What are you talking about?” Elyse asked, trying to sound confused.

I laughed, “I saw the smug look and I can see in your eyes now that you put them up to it, probably with Abbie’s help. I told them they needed permission from you, Jess, and Kara. Then I told them what I’d do to them. The jig was up when Laurie said they had to ask and Claire said she didn’t know. I got you this time, Ms. Clarke!”

She laughed, “OK. OK. You figured it out.”

“It was too obvious. You should have had them wait until it was time to dance and had them gang up on me then!”

“What are you going to do if they DO ask?” Elyse asked.