Chapter 5: Things have a way of working out

I'm not sure why I felt so good after leaving Merlin and Felicity Wiseman's home that evening. Maybe because I got a lot of questions answered about what I'd been experiencing since Loving Hands had come into my life. But then again, it left one huge question that needed to be answered. What did Karen feel about me if it wasn't for the smell of that cleaner? I knew I was going to have to find out for sure, because she was working her way into my heart and I would have a hard time of it if she wasn't serious. I'd just have to be patient until Merlin had the new formula and I could find out for certain.

I went back to my daily routine of work on the weekdays, and being with Karen on the weekends. I wished that I could have her with me everyday, but until I knew for sure that our feelings for each other weren't all messed up by that goop I put on my hands, I wouldn't be able to put my mind at ease.

Time passed by and my life didn't change very much. Fall was dry and cool, but nothing like Sheboygan. I'd still watch the Packers on TV whenever I could and the weather up there looked pretty good. The boys were doing well in school and their mother was looking after them properly. I spoke to Sharise on the phone a couple of times and thanked her for doing a good job with them. She wasn't exactly pleased to hear from me, but her threats and bad feelings seemed to have died down some.

Along about Thanksgiving, I had a call from Merlin and he wanted to see me. We agreed to meet at his place on a Wednesday night at eight o'clock. I had never told anyone, including Karen, about my first meeting with Merlin at his house. I'd sworn to keep that information to myself and I was duty bound to keep my oath. I had a hunch what the meeting might be about, so I was anxious to get up there and see what he had in mind.

"Good to see you again, Carl," Felicity said as she ushered me into the house.

"You too, Felicity. You keeping well I hope?"

"Just fine thank you," she smiled. "Merlin is in his usual place at the dining room table. He has a nice big office with lots of space, but most of the time, he likes to sit out here and do his thinking."

"He's probably keeping an eye on you, Felicity," I kidded.

"Hello, Carl. Sit down here," Merlin said, pointing to a chair across from his. "I suppose you're wondering why I called you here. I think you'll be interested in this."

He reached down below the table and picked up a small jar of a blue colored substance. It looked a lot like Loving Hands, but it was blue. He unscrewed the top and handed the jar to me.

"This is the new formula, Carl. Can you smell anything different?" he asked.

"Yeah," I said, taking a sniff. "It smells different ... nothing like the yellow stuff."

"Yes, and I think you'll find that it doesn't have the same effect on females that the first batch did. I'd like you to be the first tester if you're willing."

"Sure. It's the least I can do for you telling some of your secrets. By the way, nobody knows I've been here at all."

"I'm pleased to hear that, Carl. I know you'll keep a confidence, so I'm not worried."

"You think this is still going to do a good job on my hands?"

"Yes, I do, Carl. I think it's going to be just as good as the original except for the aroma."

"Well then, I guess I'd better get to testing it tomorrow," I said.

Then I had another thought.

"Say Merlin, the boys are bound to notice I'm not using the regular stuff. What should I tell them if they ask?"

"Well, if you were in the marketing department of my old employer, you'd be saying it was a new, improved version of the original," he laughed.

"So what part is the improved?" I asked, laughing along with him.

"It doesn't smell funny," he said, laughing even harder.

I couldn't help it. I was laughing along with him.

When we got past the laughing, we got down to business.

"Carl, I want you to use this for a week and then report back to me. A phone call will do. If it works as well as I think it will, I'll go into production immediately and we can try and replace all the existing original material with our new batch. It will be like a product recall, except they will get a full jar instead of what's left in their first jar."

"That's more than fair. Can you afford that?"

"Oh yes. I didn't do this to make money. As I told you, I'm already well off, so I just want to remove any possible problem that might crop up from the original formula."

"Well, if it's as good a cleaner as the first batch, I shouldn't have any problem swapping the new for the old. I can probably handle that myself if you'd like. Keep you from having to be too visible around the place."

"Well, that's very thoughtful of you Carl. I'd appreciate it. Would you please return the old formula you pick up back to me? I'd like to dispose of it safely."

"No problem."

The week it took me to test it just proved Merlin knew what he was doing. There wasn't anything about the new goop that was less effective at getting out the grime and dirt and it didn't smell funny. He had another winner.

Ten days after receiving the first jar, I had collected up all the jars of Loving Hands that had been originally sold to the boys and traded them for a big jar of the new formula.

I drove back to his home and once again I was welcomed by Felicity.

"Where would Merlin like me to take these jars, Felicity?"

"He said he'd meet you at the first barn and you can unload them there."

I drove up to the big barn and Merlin was standing out front waiting for me.

"How many jars did you collect, Carl?" he asked as we began to put them on pallets.

"Sixty-three, Merlin. That should be all of them."

Merlin was stroking his chin and looked a bit concerned.

"You thinking that's not all of them?" I asked him.

"I was pretty sure we shipped sixty-four," he said.

"Oh. Well ... I wonder where the other one could be?" I said, scratching my head. I was pretty sure I'd collected all the jars at the shop, so who else would have one. Then it dawned on me.

"I know where the last one is. Karen, my girlfriend ... her uncle has it. I'll look after that tomorrow if that's okay."

"That will be fine, Carl. You've done a great job collecting up all the 'evidence.'"

"Yeah. The more I think about it, the more I can see what could go wrong. Nobody objected to the trade, though, so I guess no one twigged that the cleaner was the reason for their hot sex lives."

"There may be an after-effect, Carl," Merlin said. "It's possible those who have reconnected with their spouse or girlfriend may find that even without the aroma they may have an improved personal life. I hope it works out that way."

"Me too. I found my current girlfriend thanks to Loving Hands, and I'm hoping she'll still be there now that I've switched to the new formula."

"If she is, then you know that you didn't need any help after you got to know each other."

I nodded. "I'm kind of counting on that."

Friday night, I was nervous. I didn't know what to expect from Karen. All I could do was keep my fingers crossed and hope for the best. When I pulled up in front of her apartment building, she was waiting for me on the sidewalk. I opened the door for her and she climbed quickly in, giving me a nice, warm kiss before she sat in the co-pilot's seat.

I had a different plan for tonight. I wanted to take her for a first-class dinner, then to a nice lounge that had soft music and a small dance floor. I planned to talk to her about us. About our future ... if we had one. I figured I might as well know now and not wait to see if the cleaner was the only magnet I had.

Now Karen is a real bright young lady. She figured out right away that something was different. We were sharing a dessert after our main course and not say much at that point.

"Carl, I have a feeling there's something you want to talk about. Am I right?"

"Uhhm ... yeah ... I guess I do." It wasn't starting very well. I wasn't very ready for her question.

"Karen ... you and I ... we've been going out for a while now. I think we get along really well and I hope you feel the same way."

"Go on," she said. I thought I saw just the slightest hint of a smile, but it was only for a fraction of a second.