Chapter 30

Monday, December 24 - Tuesday December 25, 2001

Like all airline terminals the last few months, it wasn't possible to meet arriving passengers at the gate. Like most airports, the Indianapolis airport had made inadequate provisions for people waiting to pick up an arriving passenger. The area near the baggage pickup was small, crowded and rather confused. It was well after dark, long after the scheduled arrival, but Dave knew from a phone call earlier that the flight from Denver would be delayed for several hours, so there wasn't much he could do but wait uncomfortably.

A hell of a way to spend Christmas Eve, he thought. At least Shae is easy to pick out of a crowd.

In time she appeared, dragging a wheeled bag from the baggage claim area, wearing a jacket, blouse, and button-up medium-length skirt. He made a beeline for her. "Dave! There you are!" she cried when she saw him emerge from the crowd. As he hurried up to her, she dropped the handle of the bag and spread her arms wide to enfold him; in an instant he was enveloped in them. "Oh, God, it's good to see you!"

"Tough trip?" he asked, hearing the note of desperation in her voice.

"Christ knows why I fly on airlines," she snorted. "The flight was all fucked up, and when I finally could get on the plane I was jammed into the seat like you wouldn't believe. I've seen bondage scenes in clubs that had to have been more comfortable."

"Yeah, I'll bet you don't fit in those seats very well," he said in an attempt to comfort her.

"No shit, Sherlock!" she sneered. "When I fly, I always specify a bulkhead seat since I need the extra legroom, but this time it was take what I could get after they fucked something up. Then I had some idiot in front of me who had to have his seat all the way back."

"Hey, it's all right," he said. "The next leg of the trip you'll be jammed into the front seat of the Chevy, and we can stop so you can stretch your legs whenever you want to."

"Good," she said. "Let's get out of here. I've had all the airlines I can handle for one day. Maybe one century. How are the boys?"

"Just fine," he replied as they broke their embrace. "They're staying at Grandma's tonight, mostly because she has a fireplace where they can hang their stockings."

"Good," she sighed as they started for the exit, with Dave taking her bag to drag behind him. "I take it that means we're going to be able to spend the night alone?"

"What there'll be of it," he smiled, understanding what she was saying perfectly: she was horny. Well, he was, too. He hadn't really planned it that way, but when Cameron raised the issue of not having a fireplace chimney for Santa to come down, it was a no-brainer to build on. Not that Cameron had ever had a fireplace before, and who knew where he'd gotten the idea, but Dave would take what he could get. "It's still going to be a couple hours before we get home."

In spite of the busy Christmas season, Dave had managed to get a parking spot in the short-term lot fairly close in, so the hike to the Chevy was relatively short. He popped the trunk, put her bag inside, and then held the right-side door for her. "Oh, Christ, this feels good," she said as she sat down. "After that fucking airline seat, I feel like I have all the room in the world."

It took a little time to get out of the airport and onto the highway. As Dave got up to speed, he asked, "So, how are your folks?"

"Pretty good," she replied. "Dad is giving some thought to retiring in the next few years, but I think they're going to stay in the Denver area. There's some talk of moving down where it's a bit warmer, say Phoenix, but there are downsides, too. My sister lived there for a while; she says it gets hotter than hell in the summer, worse than putting up with the cold in Denver. Her kids are both in school, now, so she's thinking about getting back into the work force. My brother works for General; he's getting transferred to the Pumpkin Patch distribution center and he's not too thrilled about it. He says Pumpkin Patch makes Bradford look metropolitan."

"I'll bet the weather is better than Bradford," Dave suggested. As a son of an office worker at General, and having grown up with General kids like Shae, he knew a fair amount about the company.

"Yeah, better than Denver, too," she agreed. "He says that's about the only compensation."

They talked back and forth for a few minutes about news from her family. They were not real close anymore; all the kids were grown up and had scattered across the country. It was rare for them to all be together at once. "Dave, I have to admit something to you," she said. "I know we agreed we were going to keep it between ourselves, but I mentioned I'd been seeing you, and told them about Julie. I didn't, uh, go into any details about what we did the last time we were together."

"Well, I suppose it doesn't matter with them," he said thoughtfully. "I guess I don't mind family knowing something is going on. I mean, Mom knows. I told her that things were getting a little more serious than 'just friends' between us and didn't go into any details, either. But she can read between the lines, too. I think that was why she was so helpful about having the boys tonight. But they're special circumstances; we won't be able to pull that trick every trip you make to Bradford."

"At least we get to pull it this time," she agreed. "A few hours of good sex ought to hold me until we can drive back to New York next weekend."

"Did I mention we happen to think a lot alike in a many ways?" he grinned. "I have to ask, though. When were you in a bondage club? Is this another fascination of yours I haven't heard about?"

"Well, no," she replied, sounding a little abashed. "Oh, I've often thought it might be fun to play around with a little but I've never met anyone I trusted enough to play with until you. That episode came back when Eve was working on her master's, before she re-met John and Cheryl. She was doing some research; I'm still not very clear about it, and wanted to check out some various scenes. She wasn't very happy about the idea of doing it alone. I had some time off coming, and it had been a while since we'd been able to hang out together, so I spent a week nosing around the Chicago scene with her. Carl set it up for us, of course. I learned a lot, and some of it I would be just as glad not knowing."

"I suppose," Dave sighed. "Julie and I stuck our nose into some off-the-wall places when we were at Columbia and saw some of that kind of thing. I don't think it particularly inspired either of us, but it was kind of interesting to see what people will do for fun."

"There is that," she agreed. "I mean, I thought I was an exhibitionist, and I am to a degree, but good God!"

They drove along for a bit, exchanging some of the things they'd seen in such places. As usual, Shae had the better stories since the places she and Eve had gone had been rather more extreme than the rather mild scenes he and Julie had observed. After a while, the conversation died out a little, more from lack of interest in the topic than anything else. "So, how are things in Bradford?" she asked finally in an effort to get the conversation going again to help pass the miles.

"Nothing much changes," Dave shrugged. "Hell, you know that; you grew up there, too. If there's anything I haven't heard about, we'll probably hear it when the gang gets together the night after tomorrow."

"Looking forward to it," she smiled. "I've seen a lot of those kids recently, but not together. It ought to be interesting. We're still going to be 'just friends' with them, right?"

"About have to be," he said. "Emily will be there, and I think she suspects something is going on. Sometimes it's been hard to not talk about it in front of her. I wish we didn't have to do it, but I think I should maintain appearances for a while yet."

"I do, too," she agreed. "I think it's more important in Bradford than it would be in the city."

"Why?" he teased. "Are you thinking about moving back to Bradford to stay with me?

"It's not beyond the realm of possibility," she said slowly. "Dave, I don't know what's happening with Avalon."

Dave glanced at her. This was not the response he had been expecting. "Do you think they're getting set to cancel it?"

"I don't know," she said with a frown. "It's a possibility. In fact, I'd have to say it's more than just a possibility, although I don't know exactly what's what. What I do know is that this time last year we were deep in negotiations about a contract renewal for the talent; we're on one-year terms. This year the subject hasn't even been raised, and people are getting worried."

"Don't get too nervous," he advised. "It may be something further up that has things held up."