Chapter 5

I was finally on my way by ten. I didn't get a full night's sleep, but I was feeling pretty damn good. I was amazed by the way cars were passing me, so I stepped it up and kept pace with the other cars, never overtaking the fast movers. Around one, my time, my phone rang, "Feeny."

"Hi, Dr. Feeny. Do have you have any idea of where you might want to stay over tonight and did you enjoy the accommodations last night? I found out you won a lot of money, congratulations."

I had been giving this some thought and decided to see how far I could go, "Jenny, I'd like to stay at Panama City Beach tonight. What would you think if I wanted to stay an extra day there?"

The girl laughed, "That would be wonderful. You can stay a week if you want. You're making a big change in your life and lifestyle and we want you to be rested when you get here. I'll make reservations on the beach for two nights and if you want another, call. Steve and the guys really want you to enjoy your trip out here. You're saving them so much money that they can afford a whole lot of amenities. Just enjoy yourself and I'll make sure the hotels know that you're riding free."

"Wow, Jenny, I don't know what to say. I'll probably be cheap because I would like to spend an extra day on the famous beach. I'm a single guy and I love to look at the scenery."

"Good answer. I like to hear a guy being honest. If you didn't want to check the talent out, you would have to be gay, but then you would be checking the guys out just like us girls do, ha, ha, ha, ha." She was almost choking from laughing so hard.

"I'm sorry, Dr. Feeny; you're a lot of fun, and I'm forgetting my place with the company. I'll fix you up for tonight. I'll call in a little while with the location and tell you who should be calling you with directions."

S&S was getting better every minute I knew of them, and I was still two or three days from being there.

It was five when I was called. I was off the big roads, heading toward Panama City. I knew from my map where to turn to go to Panama City Beach and was watching for it.

"Dr. Feeny, my name is Henry Zarrow. I'm calling to give you directions to our hotel. Where are you now?"

As soon as I told him I was turning toward the beach, he said, "Perfect, you're only fifteen minutes from us. Stay on the phone and I'll bring you to our front door."

Sure enough, I pulled up to the beach hotel's front door, where a valet was ready to park my truck once again. I had my bag out of the back and was walking into the hotel when a man stuck out his hand, "I'm Henry. Come, let's get you checked in and settled. I hear you're staying an extra day. We might be able to convince you to make it one more."

After signing a card and showing ID, I was led through the hotel and to a door on the first floor. When they opened the door, I knew this was something special. The drapes were all open and the room faced the beach. I suppose I should amend that statement about the room. This was a suite, a huge suite that had a sitting room and a separate bedroom. There were doors out to the beach, but between the beach and the room was a private patio with a hot tub. The tub was totally private and couldn't be seen from anywhere on the beach. If the drapes were closed in the room, a person could go naked between the room and hot tub without being seen.

I tried to tip Henry, but he said, "All of your gratuities are taken care of. You're a special guest. Enjoy!"

I wanted some surf time, but didn't have a swimsuit. I walked to the "Surf Shop" and found some boxer style trunks, a couple of big beach towels, and a handful of suntan lotion bottles. The sun was already low in the sky, but I put my trunks on and ran barefooted to the beach.

I ran right out into the gulf waters and splashed face first into the water. I flipped over on my back and just glided along until I thought I might be getting out too far, and flipped back over to swim back to the beach. I was walking up on the beach, when a guy and girl said, "You should watch how far you go out because of the tide. When you come out, ask, we'll tell you all about how bad the rip tides can get. Oh, and watch the signs for jelly fish, rays, and sharks."

Nothing like a busybody to take the fun out of playing in the surf. Without worrying too much, I walked along the beach, kicking up water and getting knee deep when the surf washed in. I was almost back to the hotel when, "Help, help, my boyfriend is drowning, help!"

I could see a girl about a hundred yards out, trying to hold a guy up by his hair. I ran into the water, dove in, and swam hard toward the couple. I grabbed the guy and asked the girl, "Can you swim back?" The girl looked scared, so I told her, "Hold on to your boyfriend. I'll pull him in, and you with him."

This was a struggle, and I was glad I had taken those lifesaving courses so many times. I love to swim and used the university pools all the time.

I was almost to the edge of the beach when hands grabbed the guy and girl from me. I found the bottom with my feet and followed the two who had grabbed the couple. It turned out the guy was drunk and had tried to get her out far enough to fool around in the water. He got tired and couldn't keep afloat.

When the two were released, the girl came back and hugged me, "You saved us. Thank you. He would have died out there if not for you."

She kissed my cheek and went to her guy who was still coughing.

The pair of guys who had pulled the couple from me caught up to me as I was headed back towards the beach. One guy pushed my arm hard enough to spin me around. "Who the fuck do you think you are? We are the lifeguards here and we were on our way to get those two. You stay away from us, other people, and this beach, or I'll have you arrested."

Holy smokes, what did I do wrong? I asked, "What's the matter with helping someone in trouble? No one was around and I was closest. The guy wasn't going to make it and the girl was dead tired. I pulled them in and that's that."

It didn't help that a lady came up to me with a microphone and a guy behind her with a huge video camera. "We have that daring rescue on tape, Sir. How did you rescue both of them at the same time?"

The first lifeguard was about to explode when I told the reporter, "I just did what I could until the lifeguards could get to us."

The reporter, "That's not what the camera saw. It has the lifeguards on their tower facing away while you were swimming out to get the couple. You were almost back to the beach before they were told by another beachgoer that someone was in trouble. Sir, you are a hero. What's your name?"

The two lifeguards had vanished, and I was stuck with and surrounded by the reporter, the cameraman, and a couple of dozen people, including the couple I had helped. She repeated, "What's your name, the people here want to know?"

"Sal Feeny."

"Great to meet you, Sal. I'll bet you'll be the toast of the parties tonight. Where are you from and what do you do, Sal?"

In for a penny, in for a pound. "I'm from Lubbock, Texas, but I'm on my way to Tampa for a new job with S&S Enterprises. They're a good sized comp..."

"S&S is a really important company in Florida. They have operations and stores in several cities. They are aircraft builders, an air charter company, a big boat and fishing charter company, and if you're a racing fan, they build some of the best motors and frames for NASCAR."

What could I say? This babe knew more about my new company than I did.

"What do you do for S&S, Sal?"

I really didn't know yet, so I answered, "I'm going to be a part of their R&D group."

"That's wonderful, Sal. I'm sure glad you were on the beach to help this couple. Watch the news tonight to see this interview. We'll make sure your rescue is shown in Tampa so your new company can see it."

Do you say thanks for something like that? I didn't say anything but I did smile at the camera. The couple came up to me, and both hugged me as the girl kissed me on the cheek again. The camera was right there catching it all.

I made it back to my room and showered the salt off. Dressed again, I walked to the restaurant they had in the hotel. They served buffet style, so I grabbed a plate and began filling it up. There was a guy playing the piano in one corner of the room, doing a lounge act. When my plate was overflowing, I looked around the room when I heard, "Hey, everybody, Sal Feeny is looking for a place to sit. Who wants a genuine hero to eat with tonight? Wave at him to get his attention."

A hand pulled at me and I sat at a table with two obviously youthful (under sixteen) young ladies and a more mature lady. One girl said, "That was so cool the way you swam out and saved that guy. I saw it all and I was standing by the TV guy. Mom and Joanie saw it too."

I smiled and answered a waitress who asked what I wanted to drink. I really wanted a beer, but asked for unsweetened iced tea and lemon. The girls were non-stop motor mouths telling me what school they went to, what grade they were in, why they were on the beach, and finally admitted to being only thirteen, total jailbait.

Their mom said to me, "Hi, Sal Feeny. I may know you from Texas. You were some kind of child prodigy in the electrical engineering school and computer science department at Tech in Lubbock, right?"

I didn't get to answer before she continued, "I remember that no one gave you any slack and all of them were nasty to you, calling you nerd and other names. You have your PhD, right?"

I was shoveling food into my mouth, but nodded at the lady. The jailbait twins were staring at me as if I might be a delicacy to eat. The mom continued, "I think my ex was about one of the most obnoxious back then. You were probably forty to fifty percent of the reason I dumped the asshole. He doesn't give a hoot about the twins, and I sure don't give a hoot about him. He's working for some high profile computer company now and sends me nice fat checks. Or rather he sends my attorney nice fat checks. My attorney, Sarah Perkins, is one mean babe. She'll rake a guy over the coals and pour salt in his wounds."

I was still eating and enjoying the food. The girls had tried to pace their eating with mine as I finished up my plate. I told them, "I'm going for seconds of the other stuff. Anyone need anything?"

The girls had their plates in hand and were leading me to the food. I took a bunch, and the girls took a few of the classic items that were fun to eat.

Back at the table, the mother said, "I've not been very nice." She stuck her hand out, "I'm Rita Martin and these two junior hussies are Janice and Joan."

I shook her hand and had to shake with the two junior hussies. They had giggled at their mother's description. They had no idea how close the description was. They were both darling, and built far beyond what should be on a thirteen year old frame. On the beach, it would be easy to mistake them for seventeen or eighteen, total jailbait.

After a pause, I said, "Nice to meet you Rita, Janice, and Joan. Thank you for letting me sit with you tonight. I hope I will see you on the beach in the morning."

"We'll be out early, Sal. We love mornings on the beach. It's as nice as it is in Clearwater."

Rita said, "We live near Tampa, but my folks have a condo on Clearwater beach. We try to stay there most weekends. Did you say where you're going to be working?"

I looked up at her and just knew there was a connection somewhere, "I'll be working in the R&D department at S&S Enterprises.