Chapter 28

The reception was perfect. I danced once with April and once with her mom. I think that April said something to Lindsey and Denise about us, because they both seemed to take care of me and keep me occupied. We danced, and one or the other was always there to keep me from breaking down or doing something that either April or I'd regret later. The happy couple took off in a limo to some other hotel before their trip to Europe.

Ken, April's father came up to me after they threw the rice and asked how business was going. I used that as a turning point to refocus my attention on work. He was a godsend. Those simple words caused me to go from a lonely puppy dog without a home to a businessman in the time it took for me to comprehend his question. My response was to ask him if he'd ever received payment for all of his work that he did for me designing the trucks.

He said, "I wanted to make sure it was going to work. I did it for you, for April, and for Angus. Each for different reasons, but overall it achieved everything I wanted. It proved that Angus could step up as an engineer and keep quiet about projects. I did it to show that I cared about April and her life more than receiving payment. For you, I did it to show my appreciation for the lessons that you taught me with my daughter, my wife, and helping a friend. I think that's enough."

"It may be for you, but for your business, your family, your partner and any future law suits, please send a final invoice. We're up and running and can afford to pay you for the work that you did."

"In that case, I'll have it sent over at the end of the month."

"Thanks, Ken; I appreciate your confidence in my ideas. I sometimes second-guess myself or feel insecure about what I think is right. You stepping in and treating me and my ideas the way you did really gave me the confidence to stand up to others, and convince them to put their money behind those same ideas."

"I'm glad it all worked out. I see those trucks everywhere. I also look out the window when I fly and look at all the trucks down below and think about the changes that are taking place in your industry and what a part ... what a small part that I played in that. It makes me feel good inside as well. So thank you, too."

I went back to the hotel, made a quick decision against staying around for another day or two, so I picked up the phone, and purchased a ticket on the late train, and twenty-two minutes later, I was on the train headed back to DC. The girls were asleep or out when I got home. I took the reports that had arrived from Beth and climbed into bed. At five AM, I had one last report to look at. It was the weekly update from Freedom trucking. I was in bed with my wife, the one I had chosen to shack up with. Being married to the job meant sacrificing being with the women that I loved.

I was trying to forget about April and stay out of the funk that I tended to fall into when I experienced these emotional situations. I usually would work all day and then, if needed, have a quick hard fuck with one of the girls. They took it in stride and didn't complain, but they were asking less often.

It had been a month since the Representative Andy Stewart from Maryland had chewed my ass. As expected, I received a call or rather Shawna received a call from them wanting to talk. I told her that I was too busy to stop by, but if he wanted to come by the home office between three and four, then I could talk with him. Asking a congressman to come to my office was not the way they normally did business, but I'd already lost his vote and wanted to give him a taste of the other side. He asked for a meeting in his office on the next day, and then the following, but we told him that I was available to see him in my home office the next day or in his office in two months.

Wolfgang had been busy, and there was the Van Gogh, The Warhol and several other pieces of fine art hanging in the house. I had to upgrade the security and pay a huge premium for the insurance, but I wanted to enjoy it and not have it sitting in a vault. When I had Ronnie, the decorator, back to lay out the hanging, the total display of fine art totally flabbergasted her. The insurance company actually hung the art using some type of locking hooks and tamper proof frames and glass. They still looked nice, and I slept better at night.

Andy Stewart showed up on time and Shawna let him in the living room and told him that she'd let me know that he was here. She came up into my finely appointed office on the second floor and said, "Andy Stewart is here."

I handed her a jar that said, "St. Jude's Children's Hospital" on it. She looked at me and said, "What's this for."

"I want a ten-dollar minimum donation before I'll see him. If he's going to take ten grand from me, I want him to see what it's like to feel coerced into giving."

She wasn't happy, but left with the can. She led him up the stairs and set the jar on the desk. I stood and shook his hand offering him a seat.

I started with the first volley, "I'm sorry that I couldn't make it to your office. What can I do for you today?"

"You can stop harassing my constituents and blaming it on me."

"I did exactly as you asked. I changed my pricing for all trucks going to and from your district to match the prices of your buddy's trucking company."

"Well it turns out that if all the manufacturers and retail stores have to pay more, they can't remain competitive with their counterparts in the industry."

"So, Mr. Stewart, what you're saying is that I was helping all the manufacturers and retailers in your district when you chewed me out. You didn't want to listen to what I came to tell you, but just blasted me that you had lost the sponsor for your Christmas barbecue bash. I could have sponsored your bash, but instead you made me change the way I did business."

"I did, but I still don't want to see my friend hurt. Can you buy him out or subsidize his business?"

"I know that's the way it works in Washington, but we have to work for our money and can't just raise taxes to pay off our friends. We can't run a business if we know at the onset that we'll lose money and have to raise taxes to cover the costs. Your friend can try to sell me his contracts, but we have already seen that if I'm willing to wait a while, then I can get them without any payment when they expire. It's possible for me to give him a job, but I won't buy his gas guzzling trucks or his real estate unless I have a use for it, and I probably don't.

"What I can do is provide the safest, fastest, and most cost efficient freight hauling for the rest of your community. I can lower prices at the register, so they can better afford to pay the taxes they're forced to cough up to support the waste and pork that we call government."

"I don't like the tone you're using, but if you change your rates to what they are for everyone else, then I think that we're done here. Can we do that?"

"Mr. Stewart, I'll make a call as soon as you leave. Thanks for the donation to the children's hospital. Have a good day." I stood and extended my hand, and he thought about leaving me hanging, but eventually gave it a quick shake before showing himself out. Shawna was in the office soon after he passed the front door and heard me finish telling Joe to change the pricing back to normal for the fine people of Maryland's ninth district.

She said, "I'm glad that I'm on your side. You've been in a different mood since you returned from New York. Did something happen?"

"April got married, and she was the first woman who I could have happily had as my wife. It felt like I was on 'Let's Make a Deal'. Of course, I passed on the first box, and there was the shiny new car inside. Then, I had to watch him open door number two, and I got a box of reports and a schedule full of meetings instead. I'm feeling sorry for myself and instead of crying and getting drunk, I'm focusing on work."

"That's why you've been different in bed as well. You used to focus on me, and now you just focus on your orgasm. I'm not complaining because I can usually get off while you do, but it's different. I used to have a skilled lover and now I have a fucking machine."

"I'm sorry. It's just me being childish and selfish. When is that party that you're planning?"

"Not this Friday, but next. Ten days."

"Do you need me to do anything?"

"No I still have some money left that you budgeted. Are you done for the day?"

"I guess. What do you need?"

"I need you to sit out back and smoke a big fat joint with me. Then I want to have slow, unhurried sex with you and then order a pizza and have some beers. Then I want to smoke another joint and have you cuddle with me all night. I want you to come out of your funk. I told Beth about how you've been acting and she's bringing her bull whip next week for the party, and she'll use it if you aren't out of your funk."

"It sounds like you have this all figured out."

"I don't have a clue, but this is my first planned attempt. I like the soft and friendly Britt when we meet with the Senators and Representatives. In case you hadn't heard, since all the board members and investors will be in town for the party, we have scheduled a meeting after lunch on Saturday. Well, lunch is part of the meeting, but you know what I mean. We'll hold it at our office in the large conference room and Craig has allowed Mr. Timmons to give a brief commercial plug for our company"

We followed Shawna's plan, but I smoked and drank more than I should have. In the end I focused on changing back into the friendly guy that I was before the wedding, and even focused on changing my reputation in Shawna's mind about being a sex god. That didn't happen, but around midnight, she called out my name as she had another orgasm. I thought that was a good sign and held that awesome naked body while I slept through the rest of the night.

The weekend saw a lot of activity as planning and preparing for the party started at the house. First, we had to move some furniture. All the services came by to see the house. Later in the week, things started to show up. I woke on Friday morning to see two guys out front. It was only six-thirty, but they'd wait for my neighbors to leave for work and then reserve the spaces for valet parking. I saw a spot on the other side of the park open and ran in to get the keys so I could move my car to give them another space. Before I left, though, I knocked and then walked in on a naked and still sleeping, Shawna. I asked, "Did we give invitations to our neighbors? We're stealing all the parking on this block."

She said, "Yes, leave me alone."

I trotted down, said good morning to the valet guys, and asked if they needed any food or coffee. They held up a thermos and said they were fine for now. I hopped in my car and moved it to the other spot before starting my morning run. It was a wasted day for work. Beth and John arrived by cab at noon. At around one, a town car delivered Craig and Joe, and then it really started to get busy. Joe was taking the room on the top floor, and Craig was in the second floor guest room. John and Beth were across from me. Shawna and Annie offered to bunk together and open a spot for Marshal and Peggy, but I just called and got them my old suite at the Hay Adams, where they had a better view and didn't have to climb to the fourth floor. April and Angus were still traveling and Ken and Missy couldn't make it.

The caterers weren't there yet, but since we had cleaned out the refrigerator for them, we all went out to lunch. I gave them a walking tour of the neighborhood and stopped in to show them the club that was almost completed and almost ready to open for business. They all liked it a lot and asked if they got memberships. I told them that they could be my guests and save the five thousand dollar membership fee.

We returned to the house, and there were florists, musicians, caterers and valets all setting up. They had gotten a permit to block off the street, and the valets had changed the street from parallel parking to nose in parking to make more room. I spent the evening with Shawna on one arm and Annie on the other. Shawna would let me know whom I was about to talk to and Annie would make sure that I said the right thing.

We met Senators, Representatives, Chiefs of staff, DOT employees, neighbors, other lobbyists, people on the 'A' list, and all the CEOs and wives that wanted to come to Washington from our different divisions. It was a long night. People came and left. Some came back. Most people knew each other or at least someone to talk to and have a drink with. I was drinking to save my voice, not to get drunk. It was almost ten when I needed to take a leak. With both bathrooms on the first and second floor occupied, I went up to the one in my room. I walked into my suite to find a woman looking at the pictures on my wall. She couldn't drop the hand from pinching her nipples in time, so I caught her. I had to take a leak bad, so I just moved to the bathroom and took care of my business.