Chapter 9: Discovering Marcia

Friday after work at Robotix I drove the girls to the Dillon train station and they caught a train for the city. From there they’d take a different train line west to Westborough and their home. Margaret had told the girls she would meet them at the commuter train station in Westborough and bring them home for supper. Since it was peak travel time and the weather was good, the entire train journey would only take about ninety minutes. I could drive them in a little under an hour unless there was heavy traffic on the Interstate, but then I’d have to spend even longer driving in heavy traffic to get back to Dillon. The girls insisted that they studied on the train.

Saturday morning, I had one agenda item to get out of the way. I had not flown on instruments for several months and I needed to get signed off by a certified flight instructor after he or she checked my flying under the hood; basically, me flying wearing an elaborate hat with large sides and brim that kept me from looking outside my aircraft for visual cues. The typical routine was for me to takeoff, put on the hood, and then the instructor to put me through my paces, especially putting the plane in unusual attitudes and watching my prowess in recovering to straight and level flight. If I did those maneuvers acceptably, the instructor would have me shoot some approaches to minimum altitude, and if those went well I’d get my sign-off.

By noontime, I had been signed off and was good for the next few months even if I had to fly in what was called IMC – instrument meteorological conditions.

I had an idea about how to spend the rest of the day, so I pulled my cellphone out of my pocket and called Marcia Calassio. She answered on the first ring.

“Marcia, Jim Clark here.”

“Oh, wow. I was just thinking about you. I’m so glad you called.”

“I know this is very short notice, but I had a few things to do with the airplane this morning, and I’m out at the airport now, and I was wondering if you’re free the rest of the day whether you wanted to join me for a flight, an early dinner somewhere up the coast of Maine, and then a flight back after that.”

“OH, GREAT. I’D LOVE TO. YES. YES. YES.” Her loud voice of appreciation made me have to hold the phone away from my ear. “Where are you? What should I wear and bring? I’ve never done this before; tell me what to do.” She talked fast in her excitement.

I laughed and tried to answer her questions. “Given the weather I’d suggest shorts and a nice blouse. Wear sneakers or something you can comfortably walk in for a bit. No heels. I suggest you bring a pair of long pants in case it gets chilly in the evening. Bring a jacket too. Purse. Cellphone. Wallet. Other things you can’t live without.” I then gave her detailed directions to the airport including where to park and how to find me.

Marcia found me about one-thirty, even giving me a hug and kiss on the cheek in her enthusiasm regarding our flight, at least that was to what I chalked up her affection. I showed her my pride and joy, my plane, going over many of its features with her. She’d never ridden in a small plane before, so I also made sure to show her where I kept the sick sacks, although I didn’t think she’d need them.

We took off a little after two o’clock. While I’d waited for Marcia to arrive at the airport, I’d checked the weather, arranged for transport and refueling at our landing destination, and preflighted the plane again. I also did what I usually did when I had idle time at the airport; I spent about two hundred dollars on extra aviation-related gadgets that were for sale in the pilot shop. I lacked for nothing in the aviation genre.

Marcia was the perfect passenger, and her enthusiasm for our flight rubbed off on me. She bounced around excitedly pointing at landmarks she recognized but had never seen from the air, and she asked about a hundred questions a minute.

I flew us over Marcia’s condominium complex, and then we headed northeast for New Hampshire and Maine. I stayed about three thousand feet so Marcia could see some of the details on the ground. When we flew over the building housing Robotix I had her take several pictures with my cellphone. If any of them turned out I thought I might have a nice gift for Ray Jennings.

We flew up to Acadia National Park and Southwest Harbor in Maine, and then turned southwest. I aimed the plane for Wiscasset, and after making a loop over the town we landed at the small, one-runway airport. We taxied in to transient aircraft parking. Right after I got out, I made a quick phone call for our taxi.

Marcia was still agog with the whole flying scene. I made some suggestions regarding what to bring from the airplane, and we went inside the FBO where I arranged for refueling and a stay of a few hours while we went to town to shop and for dinner.

Marcia was suitably impressed when we walked out the landside door and right into the taxi that I’d arranged. Fifteen minutes later we were dropped off in the center of town with several recommendations for nice restaurants. We walked along the waterfront for a short while and then found a nice looking place called the Village Inn. The restaurant specialized in lobster, so we indulged in lobster Newburg.

Marcia had a nice glass of wine and I stuck with sparkling water with a twist. I explained to her that I wasn’t a teetotaler; but that when I was flying I totally abstained from alcohol to keep all my faculties. She was appreciative, and that led to a new discussion about what it took to become a pilot. I could see how she might be a candidate. There hadn’t been anything but excitement in her entire demeanor since I called and suggested the trip.

Marcia was a good interviewer, thus, over dinner she got me talking about what I was doing this summer, and that in turn led to talking about Robotix, which in turn led to my mentioning the teen girls who stayed with me part of the time.

I watched to see whether there was any concern or even an eyebrow rise at that news, but she just took in the information that I had some students as part-time houseguests as a neutral but interesting item about me. She seemed more interested in the work Robotix was doing to develop, as she put it, ‘a thinking and talking robot.’ She asked good questions about possible applications and where investment money should go to capitalize on what would be happening in the future. She proved she was neither dumb nor shortsighted. We had a subsequent discussion about the impact of technology on society.

After dinner, we walked along the water as the sun sank in the west, and then I called for our taxi back to the airport. I settled up my fuel bill, preflighted the plane, and we got in for the flight home. The sun set on the horizon just as we lifted off the runway. As we climbed, I demonstrated to Marcia how we could recapture the sun and see another sunset from altitude.

This time I climbed to 4,500 feet as we flew southwest. Lights came on everywhere making the land beneath us a sparkling blanket of beauty and wonder. Marcia ate up the whole experience.

When we landed and had put the plane away in my hanger, she apologized for talking so much while we were flying, a fact I hadn’t minded at all. “I’ve never done anything so exciting in my whole life. I LOVED flying with you. I hope you’ll ask me again. I think I’m going to figure out a way for me to get my license too. I hope you know that you’ve inspired me to be a pilot.”

I made the appropriate comments about helping her if she was serious, and promised that yes, we’ll fly again sometime soon.

Marcia came and gave me a huge hug and then kissed me solidly on the lips. I hadn’t made the slightest move on her all day other than a slight reciprocation when she kissed me upon arrival, and then holding hands while we walked in Wiscasset. This time, I definitely kissed back. I also initiated the follow up kiss, which she liked.

I walked her to her car, we shared another kiss, and then I watched as she drove away. I could already sense that I was about to have an interesting problem managing Ashley, Chris, AND Marcia.

Sunday night I told the girls about flying Marcia to Wiscasset and back. I got neutral stares.

Ash asked, “Do you like her?”

“Yes, but not the way I like you.”

Christy posed, “Explain, please.”

I thought a moment and then said, “Let me give you an analogy, albeit a simplistic one. You both like movies; we’ve talked about that. You find a favorite movie, one you know you’ll love forever and watch repeatedly. Does that mean that you’ll never see another movie?”

Ashley said, “Of course not.”

“Well, I love you two. I want to be with you all the time and I want it to be forever.” I took a deep breath to see where this would go. I said, “Marcia is like another movie. It’s not that I love her; she’s different. She had interests and does things that intrigue me, but there is nothing she has said or done that makes me want to prefer her to you.”

“But she kissed you, right?”

“Yes, we kissed. I confess; I kissed back.”

“And you liked that?” Chris asked.

“Yes, she made my heart beat faster.”

“Would you make love with her? Have sex?”

“Oh, wow! That’s probably premature. I think I’ll avoid situations where that possibility would be on the table, especially after how you felt about Ash and me spending intimate time together.”

Chris was logical, “I’m over my snit about that, even apologetic that I over-reacted. We all learned something about managing expectations. I let myself get trapped back in a monogamous mindset, even though we’d been doing things as a threesome. You’re not monogamous. Ash and I aren’t monogamous. We are a triad, and if anything happens to one part of the triad the other two parts keep going. I’ve got my thinking back to where I think it should be about that.

“Now, back to Marcia and my little scenario, say she invites you to dinner as a way to thank you for taking her flying? One thing leads to another and the two of you are making out on her sofa. She takes your hand and puts it on the outside of her clothing like this.” She took my hand and placed it squarely atop her left breast; I could feel her teenage nipple harden against my palm.

I stood up suddenly and in mock humor said, “Well, thanks for dinner. I have to be going.” I took three steps towards my front door.

Chris and Ashley both laughed, but the moment was still waiting for an answer.

Chris continued the role-play the part of Marcia pleading with me, “Jim, I know we’re attracted to each other. Why have you avoided getting physical with me?”

I sat down between the girls again. “I don’t know what I’d say or do in that situation. The obvious thing is not to send out vibes that make her think that I want a physical relationship.”

Both girls laughed.

“What’s so funny?”

“You!” Ashley said. “You are handsome, suave, and polished. You have everything a girl could want including prestigious positions at the university and consulting, money, a car that I assume is paid for, a house that appears paid for, a plane, and probably a bunch of other things we don’t know about yet. You are rated the university’s most eligible bachelor, but have made it clear that you don’t want to be involved with another faculty member because of the bad experience with Meghan. You are perceived as the good guy in that situation too. So, my darling professor, you are a catch. Why you gave your heart to us is one of world’s largest mysteries.”

Chris pointed at Ashley, and nodded to indicate complete agreement.

“But I rebuffed your mother a few weeks ago,” I pled to Ashley.

She laughed again. “Would you have done that if we weren’t here?”

“Yes,” I insisted. “She’s not my type. Fifteen years ago would have been a different story, however. I was driven by lust instead of commonsense.”

“And, when you did confront my mother, you had to scream and humiliate her to get your message across. She would have kept trying to jump your bones otherwise; hell, she still might keep trying to do that. I plan to do that too.”

“And I’ll keep rebuffing her, but if we are in a group situation or in some institutional setting like an event at the college, it’ll make things easier, and we can be civil to each other. She was pretty mortified about my reaction, especially that it was in front of you two.”

Chris insisted, “So, go back to having dinner with Marcia. She puts the make on you. What next?”

“Oh, God. I don’t know. What do you want me to do?”

Ashley said through some laughter, “Oh, no, you don’t. You don’t get us to make your decision for you. What you do, one way or the other, is on you – not either of us.”

I teased, “And, you’d go to other movies despite having a favorite or two?”