Chapter 36: Moving

After school, Sam and Grandpa are there to pick us up. We all put our bikes in Grandpa’s truck then pile into the two vehicles. When we get home there is a large moving van waiting for us to load everything. It is time to move to the rental property. To make things move along smoother the General lends us another section of men and two deuces. There isn’t that much to move. There isn’t much in the way of tools needed to build skin on frame boats. Most of what we have are building supplies and they are light. The things that are heavy are the filing cabinets and Dahlia’s desk. We leave mine behind and put it in our home office.

It seems a bit strange when we leave. It doesn’t look like the moving of a civilian business. It looks like a military convoy. The AFV leads the convoy, followed by a deuce filled with all the civilians and four soldiers. Next is our moving van. The Capt refused to let Sam drive. He insisted that the cab be filled with his soldiers. Sam and Grandpa went ahead and will meet us at the property. The last vehicle in the convoy is the last deuce filled with the remainder of the soldiers and our Allied Barton rep.

When we get there, I am surprised to see another section of soldiers is already there. They secured the property to ensure there would be no problems upon our arrival. Once they turned over to the section that was on watch, they stay and help unload. It goes fast, with all the bodies there to help. Much of what we need is already there. The only office without a desk is Dahlia’s, and we brought her desk with us. There is plenty of storage space on Carol’s side of the shop, and my side has the milling machine, lathe, tube bender, bike repair stands and equipment for making carbon fibre frames.

The building security is the best for the time. There are CCTV cameras everywhere. The door and window alarms are as tamper-proof as money can buy, and the entire system is computer-controlled. There is an option to turn the entire alarm system off or segments of it so you can turn off the main access routes like the bay doors and main entrance but keep the rest of it armed so the alarm will go off if somebody opens a second-story window.

Allied Barton has sent enough guards to handle security, but they don’t have firearm carry permits, so the army stays on, including their big AFV. Only now, every soldier except those in the AFV has an Allied Barton guard parred up with them. I find security is a bit excessive, but it is better to be too prepared than not enough.

I am expecting it to take all evening, but with all the help we are done by supper time. The soldiers leave, and I take everybody else out for supper to celebrate. Grandpa declines the offer so he can go to the hospital and spend time with Gran.

Our celebratory supper is not much different than our weekend suppers, except it is at a Boston Pizza instead of our dining room. After everybody is finished eating, I get everybody’s attention, then say, “Now that we are done eating, we need to have a short meeting to discuss our new schedule. Every school day we still meet at my place for the morning ride. We will start an hour earlier so we can get in a longer ride and have time to shower when we get to school. After school, we go to the rental property. There aren’t enough desks for everybody to do their homework, so all non-office workers will do it in shifts. When you aren’t doing your homework, you are working. At seven, we end the day with supper at one of the nearby restaurants. Saturday we still meet at my place for the weekly ride and training. Zlata, I know I said you didn’t have to ride with us, but I have been doing some thinking. I have been remiss. It isn’t right that I force everybody else to do it and not you. Every member of our companies will be required to participate. After the weekly training session, we will shower up, have breakfast and then have our weekly meeting. Everybody is required for the meeting and training session. Sunday will be the same as always. Now I know some of you have sports and other activities. I encourage you to continue. It just means you show up late on occasion. Everybody picks two days a week that they don’t work. These days can change. The only thing I ask is that somebody from your company shows up every day. For example, Blair and Carol can’t both take the same day off. Dahlia will be in charge of the schedule. Any questions?”

Dahlia asks, “When is your Uncle Dick getting here and starting construction?”

“There are a lot of things that need to come together before we start construction. Dick should have been here by now. He had some issues handing over a job to his friend but should be here this weekend with my grandfather. I’m going to warn you now. Grandpa has lived a long lonely and harsh life. As such he is a bit of an asshole. For me, please just grin and bear it. He is in the beginning stages of Alzheimer’s and may not understand he is being a prick. He will also tell you the same stories over and over again, not remembering he already told them to you. Just be polite and pretend it is the first time you are hearing them.”

Sam asks, “Where are they staying?

“I’m hoping the first few deals will be done on the Lakeside properties. They will stay at one of those houses and Dahlia has been looking into hiring a nursing service for Grandpa.

“That brings up another important point. My cousin Garret isn’t old enough to be left on his own. He will need a nanny starting this summer. We need to look for one. Ask around. There have to be people at school with an older sister going to UVic, who is looking for a summer job. It will be a live-in position that pays well, and they can stay on when the school year starts up again.”

There were a few more sundry questions like that before the meeting ended. Zlata and Sam drive everybody to my place. They all needed to retrieve their bikes before going home. Zlata and Dahlia don’t go home with everybody else. The four of us are sitting in the living room when I ask Sam, “If Zlata and Dahlia are going to be spending every night here, why don’t they just move in?”

Sam turns a little red-faced but responds, “I never thought about it. I just feel like a kid letting her stay here when in some ways, it feels like we are breaking the rules.”

I laugh and add, “There are no rules. We are all adults here. Man up and ask.”

He turns and looks at his girlfriend with hopeful eyes, “Do you want to move in? You are here all the time. You might as well have your stuff here, so you don’t have to leave early in the morning.”

Zlata punches him in the arm, “That wasn’t the most romantic way to ask. You shouldn’t need Trent to prompt you like that.”

Dahlia asks, “Why don’t we go and bring some stuff over now. Through the week we can pack up and then after the weekly meeting on Saturday we can move. The only question is, do we sell the house or rent it out?”

Zlata replies, “We have plenty of time to figure that out.”

I offer, “Dick will likely hire out of town companies. The contractors here tend to do shoddy work and are always running well past their deadlines. Keep it and we will likely rent it from you. Letting employees stay there, it is far less likely to be wrecked.”

Zlata nods, saying, “That sounds like a plan.”

A few minutes later, we are all piling into Zlata’s car, heading for her their place. Sam heads for his girlfriend’s room to help her pack, and I do the same for mine.

I’m sitting on Dahlia’s bed. She is handing me things and I am packing them into her suitcase. She is going through her makeup and asks me, “Since I am on the pill, I can move into your room.”

I am a bit shocked. We already talked about waiting. I correct her, “I’m sorry, but you have to move into the spare room. It isn’t fair to the girls if you are to sleep with me every night.”

“You are so frustrating. Most girls have to worry about hiding their sex life from their parents. My mom is open and allows me the freedom to do what I want. It is my boyfriend that keeps saying no.”

“You know I want to, but I am not willing to hurt everybody else.”

“You need to grow some balls.”

“In two lifetimes, nobody has ever accused me of that.”

When we are finished, we notice her mom’s bedroom door open, and they are on the bed half-dressed, fooling around. Dahlia grabs my hand and pulls me back into her room. She pushes me onto the bed and attacks my pants, doing her best to tear them off.

“Stop ... We are both filthy. You and I worked the hardest today. Besides you have gone down on me before. It is time I go down on you, but I am not doing it until we have a shower.”

“You mean it? When we get back to your place, we will have a shower together, and then you will go down on me.”

“That isn’t what I meant, but we can, as long as you promise to keep it quiet. Carol is already overwhelmed. She is scared, trying to keep up to you. There is one other thing.”

She didn’t like hearing that and asks, “What is it now?”

“Since we are going to be living together, we will be spending more time together than I spend with the other girls. To make it up to them, I will need to take them on more dates than I do you.”

“I understand, but I don’t like it. You hold me back and now you are canceling some of our dates. We don’t date much as it is.”

“Let’s get your stuff in the car. We will stick what your mom packed in there to. Then we will tear them apart and head home. It is time to christen my shower.”

She perks up at that and quickly jumps up and grabs her luggage, leaving me sitting on her bed with my pants at my ankles. I pull up my pants and head for Zlata’s room. They are so preoccupied they don’t notice me taking her suitcase. Before I get back, Dahlia is jumping on them, telling them to get dressed.

Back at the house, Sam carries Zlata’s bag in, and I carry Dahlia’s. Once inside, Sam and Zlata head for his room. Dahlia insists I drop her bag in the foyer and pushes me towards my bathroom. Commanding, “Get those clothes off, mister. It is time for a shower.”

She doesn’t give me time to comply. Before I get a chance, she is ripping my shirt over my head and is attacking my pants. One of the advantages of having a split-brain is I can focus on the analytical portion of my brain. I have been without relief for long enough that I would have spuged in my pants. As it is, I’m not even hard. It is a trick I use to last a lot longer than most men.

As soon as she has my pants off, I draw her in for a kiss and start stripping her. When I get her pants off, there is a river running down her. I doubt she has ever been this wet before. I warn her, “I know you want to step in the shower and then start acting like some wild animal on the discovery channel. That isn’t what we are going to do. We are going to step in there and explore each other’s bodies sensually. I’m going to wash your hair and massage your scalp then wash every inch of you. Then you can return the favour.”