Chapter 2

Bill was thankful that he had scheduled the following day as a vacation day because he got very little sleep the night before. He was alone in bed; apparently Gail was already up and had started her day. He got out of bed and after a brief stop in the bathroom, headed to the kitchen and the smell of freshly- made coffee.

"There you are sleepyhead; it's about time you got up. Half the day's gone by already."

She laughed as she stood up and took a mug out of the cabinet and poured him some coffee.

"Sit and I'll get your breakfast."

Bill glanced at the kitchen clock as he plopped down in his chair. 'It's only nine o'clock; where does she get all this energy? I'll bet she's already done the laundry and her workout.'

Gail placed a big plate of scrambled eggs and a couple of strips of bacon in front of him saying, "You'd better load up on the protein; we have to build up your strength. I've only got a couple of days before I have to take another trailer load back east and I don't want to waste a minute."

He closed his eyes and a chill ran down his spine as he prayed, 'I hope, dear God, that she doesn't kill me.'

For the next three days, they settled into a more normal pace for a married couple. They did all the normal things: did some shopping, cleaned up around the house, and even had time after he got home from work on Friday to take a ride on their Harleys out into the desert; Gail on her vintage Electra Glide and Bill on his newly-acquired Iron 883 Sportster. Each night they settled into bed and made love as if it were their last night on earth.

All too soon however, Gail had to go back out on the road and Bill settled back into his job. Bill worked as a researcher for a large agro-company in the field of genetic engineering. His goal was to increase food production using less water. He enjoyed his work but disliked his boss and his boss's boss. It seemed that whatever breakthroughs he made, they always got the recognition and the accolades from corporate headquarters. Although he was paid well, and the company offered excellent benefits, including a 401K with a 100% match and a separate profit sharing plan as well, he felt that his bosses placed undue pressure on him to make more and more discoveries. He came home that night to an empty house, warmed up one of the frozen meals that they had made together, and felt sorry for himself, counting the days until her return.

One evening, as he sat at his desk paying a couple of bills after a particularly disappointing day, he suddenly remembered their conversation about their time on the road together. With a renewed sense of purpose he began reviewing their financial situation. He put together a budget determining what they normally spent in a year and, even allowing for an extraordinary amount of frills, he discovered that they could live very comfortably on Gail's salary alone. Their house was paid for, the taxes were low, and their monthly living expenses for utilities, insurance, food and gas were far less than her take home pay, even allowing for repairs to the truck and the extra income tax burden that two salaries required. Bill then looked at what they had saved and invested in the last ten years, including his latest statements from his retirement plans; they could live very nicely in their retirement years, assuming that they both could eventually receive social security benefits to supplement their savings. With this knowledge, he retired for the evening and planned for the day that he could rejoin her out on the road.

The next morning on his way to work in the northeast part of the valley, he was passed by a speeding eighteen-wheeler as he traveled north on Route 17. It wasn't the truck itself that caught his attention, but rather the message written on the trailer. The advertisement was for a truck driving school. "Start on the path to a new career. Learn to drive a truck like this."

'That's it!' he thought, 'I'll learn to drive her truck, get my operator's license, and go out on the road with her, just like she did with her father.' He had to speed up to get the telephone number and almost missed his exit, before he could memorize it. That afternoon, when everyone else was out at lunch, he made the call that was going to change his life forever. He made arrangements to meet with the owner of the company later that evening on the way home from work. Bill explained what he wanted to do and they set up a schedule that would coincide with Gail's time out on the road.

His instructor was very helpful and understanding, scheduling evening and weekend lessons, and after two months of intense training Bill qualified for his operator's license. He was more proud of this accomplishment than he was of his research. With license in hand he now had to plan just how he was going to surprise Gail and how he was going to stick it to his overbearing and obnoxious boss.

It was early fall, the nicest time of the year in the valley as far as Bill was concerned. His company had announced plans for a family picnic scheduled for the upcoming weekend. As luck would have it, Gail was scheduled to be home that weekend and they both were excited about it. For Gail, it was the first time that she would get to meet the people that Bill worked for and their families. For Bill it was a chance to show off the woman he adored to the people he worked for. The flyer that was handed out to all employees said that there would be softball, horseshoes, games for kids and grownups, great food and plenty of adult beverages, and that there was even a large swimming pool for their use as well.

Saturday morning Bill and Gail packed a gym bag with their bathing suits, towels and extra set of clothes and a large blanket in the back of the El Camino and headed to the private club where the party was to be held. When they arrived Bill introduced Gail to some of his lab assistants and their families. They were all happy to finally meet the woman that Bill was always talking about. Although she was bigger than everyone she met, they made her feel perfectly at ease and she absolutely loved being with and playing with their kids. It was a different story when it came to meeting the executives and their families, especially Bill's boss and his fat, stuck up wife and kids. They made her feel like she used to feel about herself: inferior and uneducated. When Bill realized the effect they were having on her, he quietly excused them both and practically dragged her back to the other side of the area, back to the where he knew she was comfortable and would be among friends.

"Don't worry about those snobs, they're all phonies; they're all back stabbing weasels who only think about themselves. These are the real people; these are the ones that matter."

"But Bill, don't you need to socialize with them for the sake of your career?"

"No, that's the last thing I want to do. I never want to be associated with the likes of them."

They walked over to the ball field where a softball game was starting. It was a battle of the sexes, with woman and girls on one team and the boys and the men on the other. The female team cheered as Gail asked if she could play. Bill went out into the outfield and mostly hid. Growing up he was not into sports and had never played softball. He found out later that Gail was an outstanding athlete growing up and had played softball in high school. Even from far out in the outfield Bill could not miss the fact that Gail was coming to bat. The pitcher took one look at her and turned and waved everyone to move back, then turned to pitch to her. She took a full swing at the first pitch and missed it badly; she also missed the second pitch. The pitcher turned around and waved his outfielders back in a little; then threw his next pitch. Bill saw Gail swing, heard the distinctive sound of the ball being hit solidly by the metal bat, and watched as the ball sailed high and far over his head. He turned and started to run but soon ran out of room as he approached the fence surrounding the tennis courts. Luckily no one was playing tennis at the time because the ball landed in the middle of the furthest court and then bounced over the far side fence. Bill looked up and saw a sign at the top of the fence; it read 350 feet. He turned in time to see his wife gliding around second and heading for third, then ran around the tennis courts to retrieve the ball without any hope of stopping her from scoring.