Chapter Twenty-Five
There were no visible stars in the sky that Monday evening over the Southland. They had all fallen into the eyes of Danny and Julie Predmore. Love-struck and eager as they had been once before, half-a-lifetime ago, they collapsed into each other’s arms. Neither was thinking about the one small problem that remained between them as together they made their way into the bedroom and onto Julie’s queen-size bed.
Danny made a vow to himself to take it slow. Julie, who less than a week ago, felt her loins seize up and her desire for sex extinguished like a candle in a sudden summer storm, now felt hotter and hungrier than ever. They kissed, and Danny could feel her ardor. It was as though she wanted him with even more pent-up longing than he felt toward her.
She pulled at his shirt, and it came loose from his trousers. Quickly then, her hands were exploring him, reacquainting themselves with his body. Danny allowed her to take the lead though it was completely out of character for him. Perhaps he had changed more than he realized.
Before long, her taut muscular legs entangled with his, and she rolled him over onto his back, all the while planting sweet little kisses on his face. Next, she sat up and put her knees onto his thighs, pinning him down while she unfastened his belt. It came loose with a clank. After unzipping his pants, she undid her own. She then pulled her shirt loose and reached back to release her bra. She kissed him on the lips one time, then smiled and lay down next to him, taking his hand and sliding it up onto one of her breasts. Danny sighed with delight.
“Now, I’m ready to enjoy you a little,” she said.
They lay there together on top of the covers, kissing and caressing until they were lost in each other’s sway. It didn’t take long. Danny had to ask her to slow down twice. She bit into his lip once to stop him from finishing her. “Your touch is too stimulating,” she told him as he winced and took a breath. “You’re going to push me over the edge if you’re not careful.”
Finally, when he could no longer stand it, he asked her if she would allow him to make love to her completely, saying that he wanted it to be her decision too, not just his. “After all, we’re not yet legally married.”
It was what she wanted, she said. She could not remember ever wanting anything more.
He gently removed her clothes and she, his. They pulled back the comforter and sheet, and together slid underneath, side by side. Almost instantly, they became united as one.
As he breathed in her scent and felt the sleekness of her body against him, firm and slender as it had been so many years ago, all at once his senses became overwhelmed.
Julie giggled as she pushed him onto his back again, clinging to him. “Can we just lie here together for a while? I’m having fun,” she said.
“I’m in no hurry. We have all night, and it seems like you’re the one in charge here, anyway.”
“Then let’s take the whole night; let’s use every bit of it.”
“You know what I’ve missed most?” he asked quietly.
“What?”
“Your friendship.”
“Come on.”
He interlaced her fingers into his own and gently squeezed. “I’m never leaving you again, Julie. You’re the only one for me.”
“Is that so?”
“That is.”
They were in complete harmony. Danny could hardly believe how wonderful she had become. Or maybe he had forgotten, but he doubted he could have forgotten something as memorable as this. Clearly, tonight would remain painted onto his memory forever — in living color and multi-sensory 3-D.
After catching his breath, he apologized for neglecting her, and then again for hurting her.
“Shh,” she said. “That’s all forgotten now. Love me some more.”
He laughed.
“What?”
“I don’t know what’s gotten into you,” he said, “But I like it.”
“Just keep treating me the way you have been, and you’ll see a lot more of me this way.”
“You’ve got a deal.”
It was well after midnight when they fell asleep, at peace with their rekindled love. Then, around four A.M., Danny awoke; he still had not completely adjusted to the time change. Finding her there next to him, he was exhilarated afresh. This was better, he realized, than the best of dreams. He had no desire or need to go back to sleep. He sidled up to her again, and drew her close to himself.
“Do you still love me, Danny?”
“Forever, Jul. You’ve made everything brand new, like we were young again.”
“Yeah. I feel it too, only I like you even more the way you are now.”
“I could say the same thing about you, you know.”
The kissing started all over again.
It was just past six o’clock when Danny left for the hotel. He had to shower and dress before heading over to the seminar for the morning session at eight. Also from his room, he would phone Valerie at work and fulfill his promise to contact her this morning. Then he planned to pack up all his things and check out. Julie wanted him home when she arrived back from school tonight. She gave him his own key.
Once alone, Julie did not feel much like going out into the cold morning, but she dressed and stretched for a run anyway. All the while she kept thinking how nice it would be to crawl back into bed for an hour or so. She figured her lack of motivation had probably stemmed from too much lovemaking, or then again, maybe it was a result of insufficient sleep. Either way, the run would do her good.
Once she was on the road, her mind found its own rhythm and began to outpace her. She mentally questioned why she had told Danny she would marry him again without taking even a little time to think it over. And why in the world was he so anxious to jump into a commitment after only three days with her? What made him think things would work out better this time? Where would they have the wedding? Would it be a private ceremony, or would they invite their friends and relatives? And, if they did get married, where would they live?
She did not have a single answer, only questions, questions, and more questions. Seemingly, all this uncertainty had been set into motion with that one small statement: “Yes, Danny...” He had gotten her at a weak moment, after charming her all evening and then practically French-kissing her best friend, who had fallen for him like a duck.
She did love him though; there was no use denying that. And he loved her, or so it seemed. Could that possibly be enough? It hadn’t been the last time around.
She ran harder, trying to steal oxygen from her brain. Passing through Cannery Village, she accelerated, breathing hard and noisily, slapping the pavement with her feet. She turned south toward the beach, not slackening but pushing, pushing, nearly up to a sprinter’s pace. As the ocean vista opened to her, she set her mind to dashing across the beach and down to the nearest jetty, the equivalent of two blocks. I am a machine; I am a machine, she repeated in her head like a mantra. She pushed herself harder, straining, flailing her arms wildly, her legs burning with pain. What doesn’t kill me can only make me stronger. I am a machine!
Finally there at the foot of the jetty, she allowed her body to collapse, down onto the hard-packed sand. She gasped for air. Her chest heaved. While the tide pounded the surf and nearby rocks, she watched a fisherman out at the end of the jetty casting a fly line into the water beyond the breakers, then yanking it back and casting again. Over and over he performed the ritual, as if in perpetual motion.
There was another man fishing too, a little further down the shore. She could see him silhouetted against the brightening horizon. He had angled his long pole into the sand and was simply standing there, effortless and blissful, watching the line while smoking a cigarette.
She concluded that both men must be dedicated to their pastime to come out alone on a cold morning like this and go through their respective rites. Both must feel confident that they could be successful. But one seemed to be working so hard while the other simply remained calm and watchful — two distinctly different approaches to the same objective — catching fish.
She was much like the fly-fisherman, she realized, always casting and yanking and casting and yanking, letting out line, pulling it in. Life for her had always been so damn much work, and yet, that was evidently her style — never finding time for a moment’s rest.
Danny, on the other hand, was like the shore fisherman, content to simply wait, to watch for things to happen. Then, when they did, he would do his bit. She always resented him for that, even called him lazy once or twice, but he went on to prove that life could be lived successfully with his laissez-faire method. And she has proved what? — that you can tire yourself out with work and worry. And just when the fish is about to bite, you can yank the bait away and end up with nothing whatsoever for your effort.
Now, what was it she kept telling herself? I’m the one in control; I can make it work. What was that about, and where was it going to get her in the end? Somehow, she had to learn how to let go, to relax, to allow life to come to her. And maybe she was learning. She hadn’t done one thing to try to get her husband back, but sure enough, come back he had. That must be the solution. I’ve got to quit all this worrying, she told herself. It won’t get me anywhere, anyway. The only question that matters is — do I want it to work?
And the answer is — yes, yes, a thousand times yes. We’re going to be all right. Everything will work out. I’ve just got to stop trying so hard.
But she knew: for a natural fighter like her, fishing in the manner of the second man was easier said than done.
Danny looked up Valerie’s number in his day planner and punched it into the hotel room phone. She picked up almost immediately.
“Peninsula Title. May I help you please?”
“Valerie? It’s Danny.”
“Danny. Thank God you called. I was afraid you’d forget.”
“Forget? No way.”
“How’s it going out there…with Julie and all?”
“You won’t believe it. Everything’s coming back together for us.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. We’re going to get married again.”
“Married?!”
“Yeah. And I’ve got you to thank. None of this would have happened without you. I’d still be sitting home in my living room eating stale pretzels.”
“Don’t thank me, Danny. I didn’t do a thing. You two were obviously meant for each other. If you want to thank someone, Thank God.”
“Believe me, I have.”
“That’s great. I’m really happy for you, Danny, but what happens next? Is she coming back here to Michigan?”
“I don’t know. We have a few details to work out yet — our home, our jobs, little things like that.”
“Well, I hope you can convince her to come back because, as happy as I am for you two, I’m not anxious to see you move away. I would miss you, Danny.”
“Then maybe you can say one more prayer for me. It’s going to be pretty hard to get Julie to leave this place. It’s too much like home to her.”
“Tell me what it’s like. I’ve never been there, you know.”
“Well, you can’t help but like the weather. January here is more like what we get in April and May. Plus, there are loads of young people.”
“What about the earthquakes and mudslides and things like that?”
“We actually had a little quake on Sunday. It wasn’t any big deal though. Besides, Julie says you have about as much chance of a severe quake as you do getting hit by a tornado in Michigan.”
“I don’t worry about tornadoes.”
“Exactly. Most people out here don’t worry about earthquakes either — or anything else for that matter. They just go with the flow.”
“It sounds nice.”
“Yeah, it is.”
“Maybe I’ll get there someday...Well, I better go. Two other lines are ringing. Call me when you get back, will you?”
“I will. Promise.”
“Bye, Danny.”
“Bye.”
He cradled the receiver, but Valerie’s image remained in his mind’s eye. He would miss her too if they were separated. He should have told her so. Then he laughed to himself over the specter of having two dominant women in his life, both attempting to lead him around like a trained seal. That would be interesting, to say the least. But clearly, Valerie has been good for him, a true friend, and friends like that are not easy to replace. Plus, he had already created a special place in his heart for her that he did not want to relinquish anytime soon. She was his most ardent supporter and perhaps the only person on earth who could help him with the one remaining miracle he needed before week’s end.
He didn’t get back to Julie’s place until almost seven-thirty at night. Earlier, he sat through two ho-hum lectures on prospecting: “The Search” and “Overcoming Objections,” then adjourned to the lounge for a couple of drinks with a person he met during one of the breaks, Chandler Morningstar. Chandler, or “Bud,” as he referred to himself, was a big shot of sorts, President and CEO of a small company in Costa Mesa called Transtaff Accounting and Technology Partners. Mainly, the company supplied computer temporary services to business and industry, but it also did some third-party data processing of small business financials. Bud and a good friend quit Arthur Anderson eight years ago to start a small accounting practice, then quickly recognized the market need for temporary staffing. Sure enough, that side of the business has been growing like meadow grass in June ever since. This success, Bud explained, was why he took three days out of his already jam-packed schedule to attend the national recruiting seminar (plus the fact that it was in his own back yard).
It was terribly ironic, Bud said, that they were on the verge of explosive growth, with placement opportunities out the wazoo, yet his HR people couldn’t manage to get anybody hired. Thus, his customers were beginning to get steamed, and he was losing business to competitors, right and left.
“Tell me about it,” Danny said, somewhat sarcastically. “It’s been the same back in Michigan for over a year. Like trying to draw water out of a dry well.”
When Bud asked what Danny’s company was doing about it, Danny described their team approach to recruiting that operated on the process they had designed to get offers to candidates within two to three days. He also explained how the company had responded by focusing on employees, helping them see Base Line as a great place to work and to make a career. It wasn’t easy, Danny said, but they’d been hiring an average of sixteen people a month.
“Good people get you more good people,” Danny told him. “And I’ve got four of the best recruiters anywhere working for me.”
Still, he was here because his boss did not think they were doing enough. Danny swore the owners were dressing up the company for a merger or an acquisition, primarily because, with the current demand for services and Base Line’s hundreds of able bodies, the owners could pull down some serious cash if they sold out now.
“Then what happens?” Bud asked him.
“I don’t know. To tell you the truth, I’m pretty fed up with the way things have been going lately. The execs are making hideous profits but we’re still being held with our feet to the fire. Plus, I’m about to get married again to my ex- wife — we’ve been divorced for over a year — and she lives out here in Newport Beach. So, I guess you could say I’m at a crossroads in my life. I’ve got some decisions to make.”
“Do you have a resume with you?” Bud asked him.
“Well, I haven’t updated it for a while, but I could put one together by tomorrow morning. Why do you ask?”
“Well, Danny, in coming here this week I was hoping to learn one or two things. You see, even if there was a simple answer to improving our hiring picture, I’m not so sure my HR director would find it. He’s never done any serious recruiting before, and it’s clear he doesn’t have much interest in all the prospecting and networking successful recruiters have to do to compete. Not that he’s a bad personnel manager. If that were the case, I’d have gotten rid of him long ago. He does have his strengths. But, after two days of sitting through this conference, my assumptions have been confirmed. I need to hire somebody to focus one-hundred-percent on recruiting, somebody who knows the services business because that’s where we’re growing right now, which of course eliminates most of my competitors’ people from the candidate pool since they’re all tied up with non-compete agreements. They’d be totally useless to me here in Orange County for at least six months. And so, that is where you might fit in, Danny — if moving out here is something you’re seriously considering, that is.”
“I’d have to say it is,” Danny replied, rather assuredly. “I’ll get that resume to you first thing in the morning. Any chance we can meet for lunch tomorrow?”
“No problem. How about right here, if that’s okay with you?”
“I’ll be here.”
The ride down to Newport Beach went quickly. Danny’s mind was busy sifting through possibilities. After eating a large burrito he snagged at a drive-through, he drove the last leg of the trip to Julie’s house.
When he got inside, finding himself alone, the first thing he did was get down on his knees and thank God for what looked like the final miracle coming his way in this, the most bizarre three weeks of his life.
It had to be Valerie, he concluded. She must have been praying for him again. He had done nothing more than help her out of a little jam when her car needed a jump. And now, she had seemingly put all heaven and earth into motion to turn his sorry life right side up. And she didn’t even want any credit.
Not knowing how to officially go about it, he just prayed out loud and then made a silent vow to himself to do that more often. He figured that any God who could create such a beautiful creature as Valerie Robinson was worth getting to know. He would also put some energy into helping Valerie straighten out her finances and ultimately make the break from her parents’ house. He certainly owed her a favor or two, plus he wanted to remain in her life. He could hardly imagine his life without her.
By the time Julie got home from class, Danny had typed his resume on her laptop and printed it off. He knew she wouldn’t mind him using her computer, but he decided not to tell her about the potential job opportunity with Transtaff — not yet, anyway.
He put on a James Taylor CD (one they had selected together some years ago), nuked up some hot chocolate, and filled the tub with steaming water just prior to her expected arrival. Julie beamed at finding him home when she arrived. She had been coming home to a dark and lonely house for so long, she had almost forgotten about this most basic benefit of a romantic partnership.
They sat in the tub listening to folk music and sipping hot chocolate. The last lingering doubts in Julie’s mind began to ebb away. Life was beginning to come to her, and, for a change, she was going to let it. Curiously enough, what she and Danny had effortlessly rebuilt over the past several days seemed somehow stronger and more beautiful than that which she had struggled for years to obtain from their marriage. All her striving had put them both under an enormous load of pressure that, when finally released, produced an earth-shaking, marriage-shattering tremor.
Yet tonight, she came dangerously close to beginning the destructive process all over again, though doing so was neither her aim nor her express desire. Fortunately, once she arrived home and saw Danny as happy as a sea otter, and felt his tangible love for her again, the plan she had conceived earlier seemed patently ridiculous. She changed her mind on the spot, and, instead of confronting him as she had planned with questions about how he could be so confident that their second marriage would work out, and where on earth might they end up living, she bit her tongue and put every single uncertainty out of her head.
For once, she would simply relax and watch her fishing line angled into the ocean of her future. She had a strange feeling that, somehow, things would work out better that way. Her hopes and dreams could be realized without any labor or maneuvering on her part. Like the shore fisherman, with a touch of faith and a little patience, she would get her catch. The fish would come to her.