Chapter 5

Jim honored Donna's stated wishes and stopped trying to contact her. Christmas was a subdued time for him, although he enjoyed sharing the time with Phil, Sarah and the children. He went ahead and flew to Las Vegas as he had originally planned. He even managed to have a good time, hitting a quarter video poker machine for a natural royal flush that paid him 10,000 quarters. He saw Celine Dion in concert and also went to see a really funny stage hypnotism show. He ate once each day, each time at a different buffet, loving the variety as well as the unlimited quantities of food. When he flew back to Chicago he really wanted to drive over and see Donna, or to call her at the very least. He was sure that, like him, she was probably feeling bad about not having gone on the trip. Again, not doing what he really wanted to do, he just stayed in his room and then left early the next morning. He got back home in time to watch his niece and nephew while Phil and Sarah went out to their party. He welcomed in the New Year with a snore as he slept tiredly on their sofa.

After the first of the year, Jim started putting together a business plan for the international currency and trade consulting business he wanted to start. He set up his own web site and contacted as many of the local area independent banks as he could over the telephone. He would start out first by introducing himself and then talk a little about his company. He followed up later by faxing out a brief resume and a statement of services that he could offer to all those that expressed either a possible need or any interest. He was pleasantly surprised when several banks contacted him right away with offers to broker his services with some clients of their bank. Basically, while they didn't have anything like a full time need for Jim's expertise, and couldn't afford to set up anything like a complete international banking and foreign currency department, they did want to offer an alternative that might keep some of their customers from going to their larger, full service competitors. Jim agreed to work through bank intermediaries and advise them on methods and safeguards to insure better handling of foreign currency transactions for the bank's clients. He was pleasantly surprised with the lack of complexity involved in facilitating the first few transactions. Another bonus as far as Jim was concerned was that he was paid directly from the bank and they handled any re billing for his time. By the time April rolled around, Jim was billing sufficient consulting hours to be assured of success.

Once Jim was confident that he had developed a decent income, he decided to turn some of his attention to reestablishing contact with Donna. He had an idea that he discussed with Sarah, enlisting her help and participation. At the end of a week, he phoned Jill in California to get Donna's new email address. He told Jill about Donna's letter to him and then he assured her that Donna's inability to have children was a much larger problem in her mind that it would ever be in his. Jill told Jim that she was worried about Donna because she hadn't really recovered any of her enthusiastic energy after her surgery. She said that she thought Donna should go back to school and start living her life again. Jim ended the conversation by asking about Sandy and was regaled by several funny stories involving Sandy's antics with her many friends. He thanked Jill for giving him the email address for Donna, assuring her that he wouldn't abuse her trust by putting too much pressure on Donna through the use of that account. Jim had gotten Sarah to take many pictures of him with her digital camera and had gotten them stored on his computer hard drive.

That afternoon Jim wrote a short email note telling Donna he'd really missed her while in Las Vegas. He attached a picture showing him standing naked, holding a newspaper in front and back over his privates. He had captioned the picture. "Jim on his return from Las Vegas." The next day he sent her another short note, attaching a picture of him lying on the ground with a tipped over bucket and white paint spilled all over him, a fallen ladder laying on top of him. This one was captioned "Jim working on his house." The next day he sent her a note telling her that it was lonely living all alone. This time he attached a picture of himself lying under a freshly felled tree, seemingly pinned underneath. This one was captioned "Jim working on his lawn." The next day he sent her a note saying that the only thing missing from his life, to make it complete, was her. He attached a picture of himself in a small pen surrounded by five baby goats. This one was captioned "Jim in the backyard, playing with his five kids."

He stopped his daily emails, waiting to see if he'd get any reaction or response from Donna. A week went by and still he didn't hear from her. After a week, he sent out another email. He told her that he was thinking about getting married and if he didn't hear back from her he was going to go through with it. He attached a picture taken of Jim with his arm around Sarah's 87 year old grandmother. He captioned it "Jim and Melissa invite you to be a guest at their forthcoming nuptials." Still he got no response. The next day he wrote that he and Melissa had sadly broken up when he'd discovered her sneaking around with a younger man. This time there was a picture of Jim, with a shotgun, seeming to chase Sarah's grandmother and Phil Jr. down his driveway. The caption said "Melissa and Jerry invite you to be a guest at their forthcoming nuptials." Nothing from Donna. The next day he sent out another note, telling her that this was his final email until he heard from her. He attached a picture of himself wearing a wedding tuxedo and holding a white sign in front of him. The sign read: Donna I Love You. Please Marry Me. The caption read "Jim, being totally serious for once." Two hours later, he received a reply, it read: PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE STOP!!!!! It was unsigned.

Jim went back to being the old "new" Jim. He still had his work, and enjoyed the challenges associated with that. His mother had written, inviting him down to visit when he got the time. She was renting a small efficiency apartment in a retirement community near Miami and was thrilled to be the youngest one on her block. In June he flew back to California, watching as Sandy proudly walked across the stage and received her high school diploma. He had known that Donna would not be attending, but still, he'd hoped. He spent two days visiting in Orange County, spending some time with Lupe, marveling at how much little Jesse had grown, enjoying the happiness that Lupe put on display when she introduced him to her very special friend, Delilah. He felt the real love the two of them shared and was grateful that Jesse had a second parent to shower him with love and affection. He got to know Jill's husband, Tom and was glad that he seemed such a good match for Jill. Sandy was still the tantalizing temptress, but now she was seriously into college boys, having dropped any pretense of being a tease. She seemed so happy, so full of energy and life. She reminded him so very much of Donna when she had been 16. He thought that this was how Donna would have been if she had been happy and in control of her life.

In September, he wrote a snail mail letter to Donna, filling her in on what had been happening in his life for the last few months and telling her about his trip to California. He told her that he had booked a week long trip to Mazatlan for right after Thanksgiving and would be thinking of her when he was sipping margarita's on the veranda of his cabana, reclining on his chaise lounge, trying to get an even tan while watching the ocean surf pounding against the sandy beach. He told her that he was a little bit happy, but could never be really happy until he had her in his life once again. He told her he missed her. He asked her to please, call, write or visit.

In October, Sandy called him and asked whether she could come to Minnesota for a visit. She had decided to put off going to college for at least a year and was trying to make the most of her newly won, adult freedoms. She said that she would be coming to visit with Donna and her grandparents for a couple weeks and then either coming to visit him or heading back to California if he was either unwilling or unable to let her visit. He told her that she was welcome to come visit and he even offered to come to Chicago to pick her up and take her back when she was ready to leave. She laughed, saying that she had just known that she could count on him. She then asked him what there was to see and do in Minnesota in early November. He told her that early November was a special time in his part of the country. He told her the Box Elder Bugs were in full rut at that time of the year and tourists came from far and near to watch them do their thing. He also said that the state had a contest in early November where residents tried to predict which lake would be the last one to freeze solid for the winter and then guessed what day that would happen. He told her that he was pretty sure that there would be lots of cow flop tossing contests and he told her that midnight cow "tipping" could be lots of fun also. He told her that he was planning a party at his house on November 14th and that he and his guests would be in the parlor, watching the paint dry on his walls. Yes, he assured her, there were always lots of fun things to do in Minnesota. She thanked him for his offer to let her visit and for being willing to provide her transportation both ways.