Chapter 8: Summertime, an' the Livin' Is Easy

The following weekend was Memorial Day weekend. I should have been relaxing and getting into the summer groove, but unfortunately had three slave drivers in my life.

Uncle Ben was planting and needed help in the fields, so as soon as I got out of school each day it was back to the farm to help my uncle and cousins.

Jim was insistent that we take the car to an all weekend car show in Bloomington to start getting some press, so instead of sleeping in a little, I was up earlier than usual to take care of chores and work on detailing my car. I tried to keep it clean, but Jim wanted it to sparkle, so extra wax and elbow grease was required.

Finally, my loving girlfriend, once she heard about the weekend plans insisted on helping Kelly prepare all the literature we wanted to have on hand for the show.

Together, the two ladies had created a slick brochure listing key features of the car as well as patent numbers and company contact information. I got pulled into final proofing on that Thursday so Kelly could get it to the printers first thing Friday morning.

By the time the weekend was in sight, I was as tired as I had ever been. Fortunately, Mom and Jeryl were understanding. Jeryl came over Friday night for a quiet dinner and some TV. As much as I wanted to take a long road home, she directed me to drive her straight home so I could get some sleep before heading down to Bloomington in the morning.

I gave her a deep kiss good night and then heeded her directions. I was asleep before ten.

Saturday morning was clear and sunny, and looked to be a great day for the first long distance drive. It was only forty miles or so to the convention center, but it felt like I was prepping for a solo crossing of the Atlantic. I knew everything in the car was solid, but I was still nervous.

Mom laughed at my fidgeting. “Are you nervous about driving or about being in the show?” She asked.

I shook my head. “Neither really, but I just seem to have a bunch of energy to burn off.” I had gotten up at six and gone for a run already. It was almost eight and I was ready to be on the road.

“You can’t pick up Jeryl before 8:15 and you can’t check-in for the show until ten, so you better get a hold of yourself. I don’t want you driving when you’re all jumpy like this.”

“I won’t be. I think it’s the waiting.”

“Well, why don’t you get your suit bag with your show clothes and then throw in a couple other changes of clothing. I decided last week to go ahead and book a room for you at the hotel by the convention hall so you won’t need to ride back and forth all weekend.”

“Really?” She nodded. “Thanks Mom. Are you still coming down?”

“Of course. And I know Kelly and Jim will keep an eye on you, too, so no sneaking off to a hotel room with Jeryl when you’re supposed to be working this weekend.”

“Hmmm, that doesn’t sound like too bad an idea. I’ll have to see what I can come up with.”

Mom laughed and I went to my room to pack some additional clothes. I threw a swimsuit in as well as some clean running gear. I knew the show ran from 1:00 to 7:00 on Saturday, 12:00 to 5:00 on Sunday and 9:00 to 3:00 on Monday. I would have a bit of free time in the mornings and evenings.

Finally, it was time to pick up Jeryl and head to the show. I threw my clothes bag in the back seat and headed over to the Salaway’s. Jeryl was waiting and had her own bag of clothes that I took and put in the back seat.

Jerly’s Mom was watching us from the porch with a cup of coffee in her hands. I couldn’t help but think that Jeryl was going to be just as attractive as her mother thirty years down the line. It made me smile at Mrs. Salaway.

“Okay, kids. Drive safe. Jeryl, Jordan or Jyl will be down to pick you up this afternoon. Have fun.”

“Actually, ma’am, my Mom said she’d be happy to bring Jeryl home tonight. She’s driving down to join Jim, Kelly, Jeryl and I for dinner after the show.”

Mrs. Salaway smiled and nodded. “Only if it’s no trouble for her.” I assured her it wasn’t and then loaded Jeryl’s things in the car.

We waved and I backed out of the yard and headed south. Jeryl immediately grabbed my hand and gave my knuckles a quick kiss. “Are you excited? I am.”

“Why are you excited?”

“This is the first showing of your car to the real GM folks, not just the lawyers.”

“What?”

Jeryl giggled. “Kelly didn’t want to tell you, but her dad arranged for some of the real engineers to come down and take a look along with some folks from State Farm. That’s why she wanted the brochures to be complete and look good.”

I chuckled. “And I bet there are more than GM engineers in the crowd. Jim probably made a call to Ford and a few others as well.” I sighed and turned onto the highway heading south. “Well, so much for a relaxing weekend at the show. I was hoping to spend a little time with you, you know.”

“You will. I plan on being right next to you during the show.”

“It could be pretty boring. I don’t want you to be tied down while I work. Wouldn’t you rather do something fun?”

“Being with you will be fun.”

“Okay, but if you get bored, I want you to tell me. You can always go over to my hotel room and relax if you want.”

“Hotel room?”

I explained that Mom had splurged so I wouldn’t have to get a ride back and forth all weekend long. I could hardly take the car out of the convention center at the end of each day.

“Well, maybe we can have a little fun after the show, then.” She stroked my arm as she said it.

Thirty minutes later we were at the convention center and standing in line for the registration desk. Kelly and Jim joined us. Soon we had our badges and were carrying stuff into our booth area to set up. Kelly had boxes of brochures and Jim had a couple of boxes of stuff. Once we knew where we were going, I headed out to get the car around to the showroom entrance.

It was fun to see other show people turn and stare at my car as I waited to pull it inside. A couple of friendly thumbs up made me smile. It took twenty minutes to get through the line and inch inside to our area. Jim guided me onto the two low ramps for the passenger side, and soon I was able to turn things off with the car sitting up at an angle.

As I climbed out, Jim tossed me some towels and a chamois. “Go ahead and wipe everything down again and I’ll get the lights put up.” Jeryl and Kelly were laying out a display on a table.

Working together, we had everything set up and ready to show by 11:30. Jim put the last box under our table and suggested we get a bite to eat and then get changed into our show clothes. An hour later, we were sitting by the car waiting for the doors to open.

I was in clean khakis and the blue polo shirt Jeryl had gotten for me. She was in a short blue dress that almost matched. Her hair was pulled back into a ponytail, but she had done something with her makeup to look very professional despite her age. Kelly was in a black dress and low heels. She looked good. Jim had opted for a gray suit, but no tie.

For the first time of the day, I had a chance to look at the display Kelly had built. It looked a little like a tabletop display case, but instead of merchandise, it held patent drawings and brief summary displays of some of the car features. The thing that caught my attention was the title spanning the display.

PT Innovations. Making cars safer now for the future.

“Nice tag line, Kelly,” I said.

“Actually, that was Jeryl’s idea on Thursday. I liked the way it sounded and looked so went with it.”

I smiled at Jeryl who actually blushed. “Wow, beautiful and smart. I’m a pretty lucky guy.”

“Yes you are,” Jim said. “Now, look like a young genius. Channel Five is coming through before the doors open for some un-crowded shots.”

Sure enough, a portable camera was coming down the aisle with a couple of reporters trailing along. They paused at my car long enough to shoot a few seconds of footage and then moved on. One of the reporters, a twenty-something reporter in a blue blazer and skirt stayed behind as the cameraman and entourage moved on.

“Hi,” she said to Jim as she extended her hand. “I’m Shelly Gables from Channel Five. This is a unique looking car.”

Jim shook her hand. “Thanks. It’s not just unique looking though, it is truly unique. It has features that could change the car industry.” He waved me over. “And it was designed and built by a sixteen year-old genius.”

Shelly stood up straighter and looked over at me. I put my best smile on and walked over to say, “Hi, I’m Paul Taylor. I’m glad you like my car.”

“Did you really design and build it yourself?”

“Yes, ma’am.” I caught Jeryl and Kelly smiling at me.

“And you’re only sixteen?” I nodded. “I bet you have an interesting story to tell,” she said. “How would you like to be on TV?”

“I don’t know, I might be a little nervous.”

“I’m sure you’ll do fine. Tell me a little more about yourself and then I’ll go chat with my producer and see if we can get you in a spot. We’re trying to get a full hour of material to use over the next couple of days as part of our evening news coverage.”

“Okay. What would you like to know?”

“What makes your car unique? I mean, I bet a lot of kids rebuild cars. Is this the same thing?”

“Well, ma’am, why don’t you decide for yourself? First of all, this car is a hybrid gas-electric vehicle. The engine does not connect directly to the wheels, instead it generates electricity to power the electric motors connected to the wheels. That lets me get pretty amazing gas mileage and also gives me some special driving capabilities, as well as the benefits of always having four wheel drive on the car.”

“What sort of mileage?”

“I haven’t finished all my measurements, but it looks to be about thirty-five to forty miles per gallon.” The average coming out of Detroit was well below twenty.

“Wow. What are the special driving capabilities?”

I motioned her over to the display case and pointed at a couple of the pictures and drawings. “I can parallel park in smaller spaces with ease since all four wheels can be steered. I can drive in wet or icy conditions more easily because each wheel can be controlled independently for slippage.” I went on to explain the drive by wire system that made it all possible.

Shelly looked up from her notes and smiled at me. She was attractive, but the predatory look she gave me made me take a step back.

“What else?” She was no longer an interested lady; she was now all reporter on the hunt for a good story.

“Well, I also focused on some new safety aspects in the construction. Once I had removed some of the limitations of the traditional drive train, I was able to re-design the passenger compartment with safety and comfort in mind.” I moved over to the car and began explaining the reinforced cage surrounding the passenger compartment, the anti-lock brakes programmed into the power system, and some of the other patent ideas I had implemented. By the time I was finished, she was nodding.

“Okay, I can see this is a good story. I’ll go talk to my producer and we’ll be back with a camera crew to shoot it.”

Jim patted my shoulder as she walked away. “Good job, Paul. You gave her enough technical detail to make her want the features of your car while also letting her know she had a heck of a human interest story as well. Not many sixteen year olds can be as articulate and as inventive or hard-working as you have been. We’ll be on the news for sure.”

“Is that what we want?”

“Of course. Just don’t say anything about talks with GM. This is all very positive press. We want other manufacturers to hear about this before we strike a deal with GM.”

“Why?”

“I don’t want GM to assume they have exclusive rights to your patent portfolio. By getting some PR on your ideas and the company, we have some additional chips to play with at the negotiation tables. I’ve pulled in a few favors at State Farm as well. They’ve let a couple of the car magazine guys know that there are some interesting safety developments happening in a little farm in the middle of Illinois, and that they can learn a lot more at this show. You’re going to be busy talking this weekend.”

“Can’t you help with some of that?”

“Nope. We need you to do it because it reinforces the human interest side of the story. You being the young kid working in obscurity to turn the industry on its head will sell. The inventions alone won’t. We want the story out there.”

“Okay. I guess I have to trust my attorney on that front.”

Jim chuckled. “Not just your attorney, your friend and business partner too. This is a smart show to start with. There are a couple bigger ones over the summer, but this is the perfect start.”

Shelly and a camera man soon returned along with a man I assumed was her producer and a couple of other assistants. She talked to her producer as the camera man set up and shot some pans of the car and the display case. Shelly waved me over.

“Paul, this is Steve Bickerman, my producer.” I shook his hand. “He’d like us to start with some background about yourself and then focus on the car. We won’t shoot the interview as one continuous piece. He’ll edit it together later. If it looks good, you’ll be on the news tonight.”

“Wow, that fast?”

Steve nodded. “We’re a sponsor for the show. We’d like to get an interesting story out tonight and help drive attendance for the rest of the weekend.”

It made sense to me. I let one of the assistants apply some makeup to me and then let Steve tell me where he wanted me to stand. Soon the lights came on and I found myself looking at Shelly to avoid gaping at the camera.

“So Paul, tell me what made you want to build such a unique car...”

My face felt like it would freeze into an artificial smile by the end of the day.

“It’s been a pleasure talking to you, Paul.”

“Likewise, Mr. Samuels. Feel free to give me a call if you have any other questions.”

I shook the reporter’s hand and then glanced around at the show. Most people were packing things up for the night. It had been a long day. Jeryl and Kelly were putting brochures back into boxes as Jim began shutting off the small spotlights we had illuminating the car. I moved over to help him.

“I don’t think I’ve ever talked so much in six hours,” I said.

“You did a great job, Paul. So did Kelly and Jeryl. How about we go out to dinner to celebrate a very successful launch of PT Innovations? My treat?”

My stomach rumbled just enough to be heard as Jeryl came up and gave me a hug.

“I’ll take that as a yes,” Jim said with a laugh.

Minutes later, we had the car locked up and were in Jim’s car heading downtown. I was in the back seat with Jeryl and Kelly while Mom and Jim rode up front. Soon we were at a nice steakhouse and the adults had ordered some wine while Jeryl and I had soda.

“Paul, I know you’re tired of talking to people, but it was a very productive day,” Jim said after toasting our good fortune. “GM and State Farm have agreed to split the cost of track time to get some performance data on your car next month.”

“State Farm? Why are they interested?”

“They want access to the raw data to assess safety impacts and reliability for insurance purposes. If your designs actually decrease risk and improve reliability of the car as a whole, they would modify their actuarial tables for cars that have these kinds of modifications. If we want them to become standard in the automotive industry, having a major insurer on board is going to be critical.”

I nodded my head. It made sense. And once State Farm weighed in, we would have additional leverage in any future negotiations.

We ordered dinner and I momentarily lost track of the conversation as Jeryl reached beneath the table and began stroking my thigh. I smiled at her. “Thanks for all your help getting ready for this and manning the booth today.”

She smiled back. “I had fun. Kelly and I got to do a lot of flirting today.” I frowned and she laughed. “I’ve got to keep you on your toes, you know. There are a lot of cute guys at car shows.”

Kelly laughed. “Yeah, if you think overweight guys in T-shirts and baseball caps are cute, you had your pick today.”

We all laughed.

“So, is there anyone special coming in tomorrow?” Jeryl asked Jim.

He nodded. “The head of GM R&D should stop by sometime. Also, AutoTrends Magazine is supposed to send a reporter.”

“Jim, what do you think will happen from a negotiation perspective? I mean, will being public with these ideas help us or hurt us?”

Jim took a sip of his wine before answering. “I think it will help. GM is going to know other manufacturers will approach us now that they know about us. It’s in their best interest to close a deal with us quickly. My guess is they will try for exclusive licenses. How would you feel about that?”

Exclusivity would give them a lock on my ideas. They would probably pay a premium for it, but I wasn’t doing this just for the money. I thought hard for a few minutes. I had no idea what make or model of car Mom had been driving the first time through when she was killed. I definitely had no idea of the drunk’s car model. If my safety ideas were to change the future, I couldn’t limit myself to a single manufacturer.

I shook my head. “I think that would be a deal breaker, Jim. I don’t want to make just GM cars safer, I want to make all cars safer. If that means I make a little less on this first deal, so be it.”

Mom and Kelly smiled at me and Jeryl absolutely beamed. She reached over and gave my hand a squeeze. Jim just nodded.

“I’m glad you feel that way, Paul. I think it is the right decision as well, both ethically and economically. You’ll be much better off getting less but being in every vehicle over the long run.”

“So long as they are willing to license my ideas,” I added. “I could see people taking part of the idea, changing a little and going their own way.”

Jim frowned. “What do you mean?”

“Take my anti-lock brake system for instance. The idea has been around since 1930 or so. The idea is simple enough in control system terms. A sensor detects that a wheel is spinning faster than the others, implying a loss of friction. It then brakes that wheel only to allow the wheel to slow and regain traction. My solution is unique because it incorporates both the wheel speed as well as the fact that the wheels are independently steerable. My control system can tell the direction of movement is differing from the signal from the steering wheel and then brake or steer the other wheels to compensate for the wheel that is slipping. Since all wheels are powered, if you are not on solid ice, you should never lose control under normal operating conditions.”

“Now, someone could take my idea, and apply similar logic to a traditional mechanical drive train system and just brake the wheel speed instead of steering as well. They could argue it was a different idea than my patent.”

Jim shook his head. “Not when we’re done with it,” he said. “Kelly will start amending your filing to cover that as well as soon as you give Jeryl some notes on how it would differ from the system you’ve built. Do the same thing with anything else you come up with. We want to make sure the specifics as well as the general concepts you are applying are protected ideas.”

I nodded. “I can do that.” Especially since I was working backward from future concepts. I knew the mechanical ABS system I had described was invented in the mid to late 80’s. I had just brought the idea forward a half decade or so.

The rest of dinner was pleasant and all too soon we were saying our goodbyes outside the restaurant. Mom gave Jim a kiss on the cheek as Jeryl and I climbed into her car.

“Jeryl, what time are you coming down tomorrow,” my mother asked as we headed back to the hotel.

“I think Jordan is planning on driving me down right after church. I should be here by eleven.”

“The show opens at noon,” I reminder her. “I’m sure we can cover things if you need a little more time.”

She scooted closer to me. “I should be fine. I actually had a lot of fun today. I’m looking forward to another good day tomorrow and Monday.”

“Well, Jim suggested a cookout at his place tomorrow after the show, and Kelly thought you might like to spend the night with them so you didn’t have to get up so early for Monday. You should discuss that with your folks.”

“Cool, um I mean, thanks. I’ll ask my mother as soon as we get home. I think they are planning on visiting the show Monday.”

“Well, if you can talk them into changing their plans and coming tomorrow, I’m sure Jim would be happy to invite them to the cookout. Since I’m the one picking up the food, I know there will be plenty.”

Jeryl snuggled against me, pressing her breast against my bicep. “I’d like that a lot,” she said.

Sunday morning, I was up early and went for a run before breakfast. Afterwards I cleaned up and got into my ‘show clothes’: khakis, loafers, and a polo shirt. I was just about ready to head over to the convention center when there was a knock on my door.

I opened it to find two delightful ladies waiting to be let in. Jeryl was in a black skirt, cream blouse, and low heels. Her hair was loose and flowing around her shoulders and there was only a hint of makeup. Jordan was dressed in a yellow and white sundress with sandals and had her hair pulled into a loose ponytail. They both looked beautiful.

Before I could even say hello, Jeryl jumped me and locked her lips to mine. I forgot about Jordan for a minute as we stumbled back into the room holding each other. Finally, we broke our embrace. I smiled. “Good morning, sunshine.” I managed to say.

“Good morning to you, sir.” Jeryl let me go and then reached outside the door to grab her two small bags. Jordan laughed at us and came on into the room.

“Nice digs, Paul. I’m surprised my sister didn’t try to get Mom and dad to let her stay down here last night.” The room was a pretty typical Holiday Inn: king-sized bed, a chair and desk and then a reading chair.

“Like either of our mothers would allow that,” I said.

“I can always dream,” Jeryl said as she started undoing the buttons on her blouse.

“What are you doing, you hussy?” Jordan asked as she saw Jeryl shrug off her blouse to stand in her skirt and lacy white bra.

“You said you needed to use the bathroom as soon as we got here. I’ve got to change. Paul is ready to head over to the show. I want to go with him. Stop staring at me, go pee, and let me change.” With that, she unfastened her skirt and stepped out of it.

Her lightly tanned skin contrasted nicely with the white lace bra and panties she was wearing. She turned around giving me a little show. She paused to show me her tight derriere and I forgot all about the convention center.

Jordan just laughed and headed into the bathroom.

“Can you hand me that small bag?” Jeryl asked as she pointed at the bag sitting on the end of the bed where she had dropped it. I stepped over to pick it up when she pounced on me again and pushed me on my back on the bed. She straddled my groin and ground herself against me as she leaned down to kiss me again.

“Thank you for letting me help you with this.”

I stroked her arm and then kissed her collarbone. “Believe me, the pleasure is all mine.” I gave her another light kiss on the swell of her breast just above her bra and then she jumped off me and grabbed her bag.

She pulled out another blue skirt, shorter than the one she had been wearing along with a white button down shirt. She rummaged through the bag for a minute, teasing me in her underwear, and then pulled out a blue hair tie. I drank in the sight of her as she lifted her arms to pull her hair back and tie it in place.

“You are incredibly beautiful, you know?”

She smiled at me. “I’m glad you think so. I wanted to make sure I was top of mind today in case any other cute female reporters try to turn your head again.”

“What?”

She began putting on the shirt. “I saw that harpy eyeing you yesterday. Even my mother commented on it when she saw the news last night.”

I did not know what to say. “I was on the news?”

Jeryl laughed and finished buttoning her shirt. “Yes. Mom and Dad said you got almost three minutes of coverage. Not bad for a thirty-minute news broadcast.” She picked up the skirt and stepped into it. “She said you looked very handsome on the air as well and asked if many girls were at the show. It made me think.” She fastened the skirt in place and then flipped up the edge high enough to flash me her panties. “I want to make sure I’m the only girl on your mind today.”

I laughed, stood up and kissed her again just as Jordan came out of the bathroom.

“I thought you were in a hurry to get over to the show,” she teased as I let Jeryl go.

“Two beautiful women in my hotel room or a car show?” I tapped my finger to my lips. “Do you think I’m stupid?”

We all laughed and Jeryl grabbed a makeup bag and ducked into the bathroom. Jordan moved over to sit in the reading chair and I decided to fold up Jeryl’s clothes.

“Are you going to the show today, Jordan?” I asked.

“Yes. So are my folks and Jyl. Your Mom invited us all over to your lawyer’s house for a cookout this evening.”

“You don’t sound happy about it.”

She frowned at me and then forced a smile. “You definitely are wiser than your years, Paul. Steve and I broke up last week. He was being a possessive jerk. I can’t say that I really miss him, but I was thinking about having an itch scratched this weekend. Going to a car show all day and then a lawyer’s cookout doesn’t lend itself to much itch scratching, if you know what I mean.”

For the second time in ten minutes, I was left speechless.

Jeryl came out of the bathroom. “Jordan, can’t you give it a break? If you think you’re horny, think about me or Paul. We’ve been working together all week, but never alone. If we didn’t have to get over to the convention center, I’d be jumping him right now.”

Jordan blushed. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to be a whiny brat. Maybe I can help you guys out today at the booth.”

Jeryl smiled at her sister and pulled a pair of classy heels from her bag to slip on. She then twirled again to model for us. “Do I look like a booth babe now?”

She did. Classy, sophisticated, but youthful and sexy at the same time.

“Maybe we can do a little itch scratching before we go,” I said as I reached for her.

She danced away. “No time, Paul. But Mom said I could stay at Kelly’s tonight, so maybe later.”

Jordan shook her head, but eyed us both as she stood. It was the same look the reporter had given me yesterday. It was more than a little predatory.

“Don’t forget your swimsuit, Paul.” Kelly called as we separated at the exit of the convention center. “After two days of standing on your feet, I’m sure you’ll like our hot tub.”

“I’ll make sure he grabs it.” Jeryl said as she hugged my arm. “I brought my suit with me, too.”

It had been another successful day at the show. Jeryl, Jordan and I were headed to my room to change and pick up clothes while everyone else headed over to Jim and Kelly’s house. I had the directions tucked in my pocket.

As soon as the door was shut on the room, Jeryl was pulling my shirt out of my pants and wrapping her arms around my waist from behind.

“Ahem,” Jordan said from in front of me as she turned around and saw what her younger sister was up to. “We don’t have time for that, Jeryl.”

Jeryl lifted her hands and pulled my shirt up and over my head. “If you stand around, we won’t. If you give me a hand, we will.”

“What?” I asked.

Jeryl dropped a hand to stroke my stiffening member through my pants. “You have to be as horny as I am,” she said. “I saw you trying to sneak a peek up my skirt all day.” Her fingers began unfastening my belt. “I’ve been thinking about this since you kissed me while I was getting dressed this morning. We’ve got just enough time for all of us to get a little relief.”

“All of us?” Jordan asked.

Jeryl pulled open my pants and pushed them down my legs. “All of us,” Jeryl said. My boxers dropped next as my girlfriend turned me sideways and dropped down to suck my dick into her hot mouth. She didn’t stop until I was fully erect. It took about two seconds.

She gave me a long lick and then looked at her sister. “If you want a little of this to scratch an itch with, you had better get rid of that dress and get over here.”

She returned her attentions to my dick as I looked over to see the confusion on Jordan’s face. She looked at her sister sucking my cock, and then looked up to my eyes. Finally, with a smile, she reached down to the hem of her sundress and lifted it up and off in a single move. Her tan panties barely hid the dark strip of hair over her pussy. The matching sheer bra did nothing to hide her pointed nipples. I groaned at the combination of the sight of her and Jeryl’s tongue working me over.

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