Episode 27

Chapter 86

Lt. Anna Cork

3:30 pm, November 2nd, 2006

(8:30 am November 3rd, local time)

I was doing something my job as a fighter pilot didn't give me enough time to do. I was waiting outside the guest barracks to pounce on Ashley. It wasn't that I expected her to be up to no good or anything like that. I just needed some mother-daughter time with Ashley.

Ashley walked by a few minutes later. She was carrying her gym bag.

"Where are you going?"

She patted her gym bag. "I'm off to practice my tumbling."

"Do you have a few minutes? I need to talk to you."

"What about my practice?"

"Since you're not going to school while we're here, you have plenty of time to practice."

She thought just a bit. It was as if she was playing a part for me and she really wasn't in a rush to practice. More questions to get answers to. "Agreed."

I pointed out one of the benches outside the guest barracks. "Let's sit here."

We sat down.

I looked at my daughter and asked "Do you mind telling me a few things?"

"Probably not."

"Good. Remember what you told me about the night you and Jacob left the States?"

"Yes." Ashley's face went guarded.

"What happened, exactly?"

Ashley didn't answer.

I waited a bit.

Now Ashley's fidgeting?

"Look Ashley, you already confessed to the party."

"I was hoping you forgot about that."

"Fat chance. Spill it. What happened? Better yet, tell me why you went there in the first place."

Ashley's look became even more guarded. "Do I have to?"

"Yes, you do."

"Two reasons."

"And those reasons are?"

She paused.

It was obvious she was trying to figure out a safe way to say what she had to say.

"Somebody tried to set me up with a guy."

"You went to party because somebody was trying to set you up with a guy? Why couldn't they have set you up with this guy during the day?"

"Because they thought it would seem more natural this way."

"So this guy had no idea this was going on."

"Nope."

"Is this guy a regular partier?"

"Not that I've heard of. He had no interest in being there according to rumors. His friends talked him into coming. Maybe I wasn't the only person being set up?"

Ut oh. This could be trouble. Or at least an inconvenience to Jacob's mother and my plans to set the two of them up. "What did you think of the guy?"

"Very interesting and very smart."

"Do I know this guy? How did he behave?"

"He was a total drunk. He was putting away the drinks with the skill of a professional wino."

I was a bit surprised. "And they wanted to set you up with this guy? These are your friends we're talking about?"

"Yes. They explained why he was like that. He lost a brother and a girlfriend in the space of a weekend. That's why I didn't belt him all the way back to the Bronze Age when he started drunkenly kissing me all over."

"Lost a brother... and a girlfriend. That sounds familiar."

"It should. You met him a few days ago."

I put two and two together. Understanding in this case led to confusion. "No. Not Jacob. Jacob doesn't get drunk. He's way too normal and responsible to do that."

Ashley looked at me shocked. "Jacob?? Normal??? What have YOU been drinking?"

I gave her a look for that comment. "Young lady..."

Ashley talked over me. "Putting Jacob and normal in the same sentence is like putting life and death in the same sentence. It can be done, but not very easily. Think about what you've seen yourself. If he's a standard teenager, then there are a hell of a lot of us substandard teens running around."

I changed what I was first going to say. "Ashley, I know you well enough to know you could have easily told those people playing matchmaker to arrange a meeting at school. What was the other reason you went to the party?"

She looked me straight in the eye. "I was tired of being a good student. I needed some fun."

"That's not like you."

Ashley frowned. "Now I know exactly how he feels. Everybody has expectations for me. Be a good student. Win medals at tumbling. Be an innocent little girl. Follow in your parents footsteps." she paused. "Now saying I know exactly how Jacob feels might be an overstatement, but really. When does my expectations come into it? Mother, I know what happened to dad. You tried to gloss it over, but gossip at funerals is second only to bars and high school hallways. I know he got drunk one night because he lost a lot of money playing cards before a scheduled war game mission. I know he slammed into the side of a mountain at upwards of mach 2. I'm a gymnast because it makes you happy. It stopped being fun when you hired a coach, agent and an accountant. Now I'm expected to perform for everybody else's happiness. What about the reason I started doing it, to have fun? You've got me being recruited by the Air Force Academy. I'm not even a senior yet!"

"Has it been that bad?" I asked quietly.

"Not all of it. But I want you to understand that it's my life too. I'm going to make choices of my own."

"Then why have you gone along with it this far?"

"Because I was a dutiful daughter. But now I'm learning what I want in life. I don't want my life to be a constant performance for others. I want to enjoy a lot of what I do."

"What about the Air Force? Do you really have any interest in that?"

"A little. I'm going to ask Jacob to take me out to the Academy next week."

"Speaking of Jacob, it's really odd that that's who those high school matchmakers were trying to set you up with."

"Why?"

"Because his mother and I have been talking about that very idea for ages now."

"WHAT???"

"Our families have been friends for decades. We both heard about each other's children as you grew up. I admit I'm not sure I like some of his attitudes anymore, but I do know he is a good man and a strong person. He had to be in order to have survived half the things he's gone through already without going crazy."

She looked as if hitting me was a distinct possibility. "Exactly how long have you been working at this?"

"A few years now, since he turned thirteen. Since then his mother's been dropping subtle hints about the ideal girl for him. Those hints described you. I dropped a direct hint on him a couple days ago."

"I have to know. What did you say? How well did these hints describe me?"

"They glossed over any minor flaws we'd thought he'd ignore, and everything we did not know as far as any secrets you may have successfully kept."

"So you're saying you didn't paint an idealized picture of me?"

I shook my head as if the reason I wouldn't should have been obvious to anybody. "No. It would have sunk the whole operation. We want you to get together. Telling lies about the other person to make them look or sound better would not have held up to any long term scrutiny."

"No, not with the two teens in question being me and Jacob Jehosophat Stone. His mother told him a few things about me?"

"Not really. More like she gave him hints here and there. She hasn't told him your name yet."

"Ok. I'll think about a relationship with him. I was already considering one anyway. However, now I want the full story. What were you planning to tell me about him?"

"A lot of things. I'd rather we talk about this with his mother here so that we get it right. She's probably got more recent information."

"All right I suppose. But I do want the answer to one question."

"What's the question?"

"Where did he get that silly middle name from?"

"His parents gave it to him to honor his crazy uncle in Iceland. His uncle died when Jacob was eight. He got it because when he was very little, we took him to see his uncle. This was about a week after he was born. He was working in his lab when we came into the room. He shouted something and Jacob responded in a very happy baby sort of way."

"What was the phrase?"

"Jumping Jehosophat."

Chapter 87

Karl

4:10 pm, November 2nd, 2006

Finally.

I swear that teacher is making me hate math. All the interesting books that there are out there to teach math from and he has our class working from the most boring text ever created.

Lottery winners could not be as happy as I was when I finally finished my homework. At last I was able to close my textbook and put it in my school bag.

Next I went upstairs to my bedroom. As I looked around, I checked to make sure it was not the mess it usually was. I didn't know exactly what tonight's actions would result in, but I wanted to be ready for anything.

The bed was made and the books at least were on the shelves.

Hell, I'm still a male teenager. Something would not be right if all my stuff was put away perfectly.

Ok. My room was ok for tonight.

But the clothes I was wearing were not. I needed something that was nice, but not dress up. It had to look cool without looking like I wanted to impress her too much. And given tonight's plans, it also had to be easy to get out of. A really good sweat suit will do. After all, the goal is to attempt to be cool.

I put them on my bed.

Next I headed downstairs. Clothes were important, but if I've asked her over for a dinner date, I should have dinner ready. The only problem was, I had no clue if Julia could cook.

Only one way to find out. I picked up the phone and had a quick conversation. Soon it was settled. We were having steak and salad for dinner.

Then I chose dinner music. To most people, dinner music meant classical music. Not me. Dinner music for me was something soft and relaxing. I selected several pieces and set up a multiple disk player.

Then I soaked myself in the tub for a long and relaxing bath.