Chapter 5

My date with Joanne went well, for the most part, on Wednesday. I say for the most part, because we ended up not having that test drive we'd both agreed on. Instead, my grandmother, mother and sister monopolized all Joanne's time from the minute she came to our home until five minutes before she left at ten o'clock that evening. Those last five minutes were when I was walking her out to her car.

She looked great when I first saw her, tanned and relaxed. Her breasts were a bit bigger than I last remembered, and there was something different about the way her eyes looked. She certainly wasn't showing any sign of being pregnant. Not that I could notice, anyway.

"Your mom is so nice. Your grandmother scares me a little. Erica is very sweet too. What happened to you? My father wants you to call him to confirm again for Friday at ten. Are you going to call him?"

"I was kind of hoping you and I would be able to spend more time alone today. If we had done that, I'm sure I would be in a better mood to talk to him again. The way things stand, we'll both be snarling at each other if we have another meeting."

"Come over to my house at nine tomorrow, and I'll take care of you then. Mom is golfing with three of her friends, and Daddy will be at his office." I agreed to do that, first making sure that I still remembered where they lived.

The next morning was an eye opening experience. As I mentioned, I was no great shakes in bed, but the same certainly wasn't true for Joanne. She was light years ahead of anyone else I'd ever been with. Sex with her was certainly the best overall experience I'd ever had. I didn't ask Joanne to critique my performance. I did tell her she passed my test drive, but she didn't make any comment when I did.

On Friday, I showed up at the Dunleavy Holding Company fifteen minutes early. The guard on the first floor made a phone call to tell someone that I was downstairs. At five after ten, a woman came down to take me up to the executive floor. Miss Sheridan was again waiting for me at reception. This time she led me straight into Mr. Dunleavy's office.

"Kevin, sit down. Thank you for your promptness. I'm still hopeful that we can get an agreement ironed out sometime today. To that end, I've had a contract drawn up. It spells out everything offered and agreed to. If you care to look it over, we can smooth everything out before close of business today."

As soon as he handed me the contract I saw the words "the sum of five million dollars ($5,000,000.00)" written in bold type in the center of the page. I put the page back on his desk, standing up as I did so.

"I understood the figure to be ten million, Sir. I'm afraid that five million is not sufficient for what you're asking me to do."

"Not sufficient? Five million dollars is a lot of money. Most men would jump at such an opportunity."

"If that is your position, then I guess we have nothing further to discuss. I wish you well in finding someone decent for Joanne. She's a lovely girl, and most men would count themselves fortunate to take her to wife."

"Sit down, damn you. Is it just the money that concerns you? If it is, then I guess I can afford an additional five million to satisfy the requirement my daughter set for me."

I sat back down. I wasn't smiling though as I reached across the desk to take another previously prepared contract he held out to me. This one had ten million substituted for the other that said only five million. I started reading some of the other clauses contained in the contract. I found none of them to be too onerous, nothing for me to make a big fuss over. It took me less than twenty minutes to read the four typed pages.

"I need that clause that gives me the sole right to name the baby. Without that, there won't be any agreement."

"What name did you have in mind? Traditionally, both parents need to agree on a name. I won't have my grandson saddled with a ridiculous name. Tell me the name, and, if it isn't too terrible, we'll stipulate to it within the contract."

"Josiah Trumball Twain. Josiah was my paternal grandfather's name. Trumball was my paternal grandmother's maiden name."

"Josiah is an old fashioned name. Would you settle for Joseph instead?"

"No. Josiah is the name I've picked. If you want an agreement, that name will be included in the contract."

Two hours later, the contracts had been signed and I was notified that the wedding would take place in the bride's home, in one week's time. After the ceremony, I would get a check for the promised funds. Even though the time frame for the upcoming nuptials was shorter than I had thought it would be, I was well satisfied with the deal that had been struck. While there had been no job offer, I can't say that the prospect of not having to work for my future father in law troubled me to any extent.