Chapter 25: Professor Stephen Reagan

Steve Reagan stood tall and Dave guessed there might be some military background in his earlier life. He was a solid man, maybe even the kind who played football when he was younger, but as a quarterback or running back, and not a hefty lineman. The man was in his mid-forties, had salt-and-pepper wavy hair, a very pleasant disposition, and a winsome smile. He apparently liked some kind of outdoor activity because his skin had a significant tan, but in Florida that was often hard to gage.

The man was personable and cordial, yet Dave identified certain geek-like tendencies in the man. He walked with a slight uncertainty and shuffle despite his bearing; he sported a pen in his shirt pocket as well as a pair of reading glasses; he seemed slightly nervous and shy meeting people as Tatiana introduced her newfound friends.

Despite meeting thirty or forty of the Circle members at the bar, Steve Reagan remembered everyone’s name, immediately using their name in conversation. Dave knew the technique; it was a surefire way to remember someone’s name longer than five seconds.

Steve Reagan was a full professor in the computer science department. Dave got to talk to him longer than many others as he stood at the bar with Tatiana acting as his hostess for the evening.

Reagan had been in ROTC when he was an engineering student, and postponed his military service until after he got his Ph.D. degree. He then went in for four years and spent much of that time in the Army’s Robotics Laboratory building on work he’d done for his doctoral thesis regarding how the military could best leverage robots in field combat situations.

His work for the Army for the most part was open research that became public. Reagan got a couple of dozen erudite and refereed papers from the work, enough that when he graduated, he easily qualified for the rank of associate professor. He joined the university staff, and after some additional distinguished work and a heavy teaching load of both undergrads and graduate students became a full professor.

Reagan had a precise way of speaking, carefully qualifying statements here and there to avoid hyperbole or understatement. He clearly thought with numbers at the ready: ‘I had four ideas that... ‘, ‘I remember last December 12^th... ‘, ‘We had fourteen of us in the department when... ‘

Tatiana politely stopped him from getting to the boring stage about his work translating natural language recognition into mechanical responses with an artificial intelligence substrate. Dave was fascinated, but even his eyes glazed over here and there during Reagan’s recounting as he got lost in the lingo. Dave chuckled; the Geek Meter was reading about a 9.5 out of 10 at that point.

At dinner, Dave and Alice joined Steve and Tatiana at the table nearest the outside bar. The weather was warm and the sky starlit. The candles on the tables gave the whole dinner a more intimate and romantic atmosphere. To avoid shocking the man, Alice had conceded to wearing a decorative top, and had gotten most of the other women similarly clad.

Steve asked Dave the differences between the Circle Cohousing and a homeowners’ association. The question was a good one, and Dave struggled with the response. The history of the Circle slowly emerged in the discussion; however, Dave kept to the sanitized and PG-13 description of the events leading up to the Circle’s formation.

Tatiana promised to show Steve one of the scrapbooks about the Circle and its members after dinner. She winked at Dave as she made her remark.

At one-point Owen stopped by the table and asked Dave how the trip to China, Japan, Korea, and Europe had gone. He’d read the emails reporting on the progress but was fishing for anything deeper. Dave gave the two-minute response and Owen seemed happy. He joked, “I’ll send you a bill for the aircraft and crew,” and then waved and walked away.

Tatiana explained to Steve, “Dave and Alice were part of a contingent of people that flew overseas to license companies to start production of the batteries that EneRG produces in limited quantities here. They used Owen’s plane.”

Steve asked, “Owen?”

Tatiana explained, “Owen Bennett. I would have introduced you but he was obviously just stopping by to chat with Dave for a minute or two.” Dave had learned that she’d spent a night with him just before his return to the states.

“We have a new engineering building on campus that the Bennett Foundation built. I wonder if they’re related.”

Dave chuckled, “They are. Owen Bennett donated that building. He runs the foundation with one of my wives – his wife actually. He also owns the jet. It’s in a hangar just about five-hundred yards in that direction.” He pointed towards the airport.

Steve carefully digested all that information. “And he just happened to be here tonight?”

Tatiana grinned, “No, he lives in that house right over there.” She pointed. “He’s one of the Circle members. He’s also one of the major investors in Dave’s company.”

Steve said, “EneRG, right?”

Dave responded, “Right. I think you have a couple of our prototype batteries in your university’s robotics lab so you can avoid long extension cords and the like.”

Tatiana nodded. “That’s what Ariel and Kaapor are using on their robotic platform. Dave donated the batteries so we could use and test them. They’re wonderful.”

Steve nodded, “Oh, yes. I remember. I met JR during that arrangement.”

After a pause, Steve said, “I’m confused. Alice, you’re Dave’s wife and work with him at EneRG, but he referred to his wife as working for the Bennett Foundation. Do you do both?”

Alice chortled, “No, I’m the new CFO at EneRG. My sister is one of Dave’s other wives and also recently married Owen, so she has two husbands. I’m Owen’s other wife, as well.”

Steve’s eyes flared, “So, errr ... Dave has two wives?”

Dave offered, “Matter of fact, I have six wives. You’ve met four of them so far tonight, I believe.”

“I have?”

“Yes. Alice, Julie, Pam, and Heather you met. Cricket is sitting at the other table; she’s the short blonde in the navy-blue t-shirt. Scarlett is my other wife; she’s sitting with several others two tables over. She’s the sultry looking blonde in the white scoop neck top and white shorts.”

Steve studied each of the women. He commented, “Cricket is an unusual name for a person. The only other time I’ve heard that name it was for an author of several popular books.”

“Yes, that’s her.”

Steve’s head jerked back to Cricket. He then shifted to Scarlett. “You wife Scarlett looks very similar to a movie star in some romantic film I recently saw.”

“Yes, that’s her.”

“The actress?”

“Yes.”

“What’s she doing here?” Steve gawked at the actress.

Dave, Alice, and Tatiana all laughed. The question could be taken as an affront along the lines of ‘What’s a girl like you doing in a nice place like this?’

Tatiana responded, “She loves her family and wants to spend time with them. They’re important to her, and she is to them.”

“And Cricket?”

“Same answer, if that was meant to refer to the same question.”

Dave hailed Cricket and she came over and joined them. Dave introduced Reagan to her. He obviously suffered a sudden case of hero-worship as he about lost his ability to speak.

Steve got out, “You write?”

Cricket had this experience before, “Yes. I love to write. I wrote Road Trip and Crystal Clear, and they’re both movies that my friend Scarlett starred in. Now, I’m working on a sequel of sorts entitled Crystal Palaces, at least that’s the working title. And, yes, I’m sort of cashing in on the franchise of the previous characters. I have four other books in process, too.”

“So ... so ... so ... nice to meet you,” Steve finally got out. He seemed devoid of further questions so Cricket went back to her other friends.

The group talked some more, mostly about Cricket’s work. About ten minutes later, the desserts were served along with coffee carafes. The bus staff cleared away the dinner dishes as people ate.

Scarlett carried her sherbet dish and coffee mug and came and joined Dave and Alice, and thus Tatiana and Steve. As she sat, Dave asked, “Where’s Rose?”

Scarlett responded, “Oh, she went with Matthew and Heather over to his grandmother’s home for the night. Athena has the night off, too. They have an early trip to some zoo tomorrow morning that the grandmom arranged. One of her boyfriends is taking all of them along with two of his grandchildren. Athena will go, too.”

“Great.” Dave then introduced Scarlett to Steve Reagan, briefly stating his lineage from the university and the robotics lab, and affirming that Scarlett was his wife.

Steve shook her outstretched hand, and then froze. He was speechless and his eyes had locked onto Scarlett like a weapons system locked onto its target. The sudden meeting of the star had frozen his brain cells.

Scarlett moved closer to Steve and then leaned in and kissed him on the cheek in a slow sultry way. She stroked his face with one hand in the process. He about keeled over backwards. Tatiana stopped him from falling off his bench seat, a point that made her laugh.

He said after a few seconds, “I apologize. I’ve never met a movie star. I never thought I ever would ... and ... and ... you kissed me.”

“You were frozen,” Scarlett said. “I always wanted to see if a kiss would breakup that problem. I guess it did. Besides, you’re handsome and I like kissing good-looking men. You can talk now.”

“I’m still speechless. I love your movies. I think you are a superb actress, and very versatile. I just saw Road Trip for the second time a week ago.”

Scarlett gestured for him to continue. “More,” she commanded with a grin. “I like compliments and an adoring public, and you were just getting warmed up.” She laughed as she teased the academic.

Everyone laughed, including Steve. He bowed slightly in her direction, and then made a point of shutting up.

Steve finally gestured between Dave and Scarlett. He said, “You two are an item?”

Scarlett smiled as she returned to her seat beside Dave. “Very much so. We’re kind of married. He’s my daughter’s stepdad; he adopted her and is her legal guardian. She fits in as the second oldest child in his tribe.”

Steve asked, “How many children do you have?”

“Around twelve,” Dave replied. “We’re not certain of the paternity in a few cases but I was a likely culprit. More are on the way.” He gestured to Alice’s pregnant bump.