But there was none. My house was darkened when we pulled up to it at 1:30 the morning of the fifth. We parked the boat and everyone went home. Well, almost everyone, Mike decided he would see Maggie safely back to her apartment. And so ended a perfect day.
Nina and I had no real opportunities to be alone long enough to do what we so badly wanted to do. Tracy had her appointments but they always seemed to be during my work hours. Sure, we could have torn one off on the boat trip, Maggie and Mike had, taking "a little walk" on our island and disappearing for an hour, but both of us, by unspoken agreement, wanted our first time to be in an actual bedroom.
She never left me with blue balls when we went out. She became quite accomplished with her mouth and hands whenever we went out to the movies or on some other date. I received several blowjobs from her while parked in my car at the local make-out spot near her house. Once she even wore a dress and I was able to return the favor, eating her to orgasm in the back seat while Journey played on the tape player. But as for intercourse, we bided our time, knowing that eventually the perfect day would come.
I was sent the applications for the central supply tech from the two Seattle hospitals and I filled them out, sending in an impressively constructed resume that Maggie, who had a flair for such things, had done for me along with copies of my letter from Mindy. It was the University of Washington Medical Center, the hospital that Nina would eventually train in, that responded first. They offered me an interview on July 23 at 11:00.
I didn't want to drive to Seattle for the interview since it was four hours by car so I looked into plane tickets. I was quite appalled by how much a round trip across the state cost on the cheapest airline.
"I'd better get this fucking job," I muttered, mostly to myself as I reserved a seat on an airliner. Dad, who had been nearby, overheard me and asked me what the problem was.
I told him how much I was spending for the ticket and grumbled about the goddam airlines for a moment. He looked kind of thoughtful for a second, and then said, "why don't you give Ron a call?"
"Ron?" I said, knowing whom he was referring to. Ron Valet was the private pilot who worked with Dad and a good friend of our family. It was Ron and his wife Karen that Mom and Dad went to the space needle with every day after Thanksgiving. I'd been up in the plane with him several times during my life, although not since my recycling. He happily jumped on every opportunity to display his skills.
"Why not?" Dad asked me. "He's off work for the summer, just like I am. If you paid for the gas I'm sure he'd be happy to fly you down there and back. Hell, he'd probably even pay for the gas if you couldn't afford it. He was bitchin to me the other day about how he hasn't done any flying lately."
"That's a good idea Dad," I told him. "You really don't think he'll mind?"
"If he's not doing anything else, he'll be more than happy," Dad assured me.
Unfortunately, when I talked to Ron, it turned out he WAS doing something else. "Sorry Bill," he told me with genuine regret. "Karen and I are purchasing some investment property up in Idaho and we have an appointment that day to sign all the papers at 11:30. I wouldn't be able to fly you back."
"That's okay Ron," I replied. "It was just a thought."
"I'd be happy to fly you down in the morning," he told me. "And if you didn't mind staying overnight or something, I'd even be happy to pick you up the next morning. Still might save you some money."
I considered for a moment, my mind going over the figures in my head. I could rent a motel room in Seattle for about forty bucks. The cost of gas for four flights would be only about fifty bucks. That was still quite below what the cost of a round trip airline ticket would be. "I think that's a good idea Ron," I finally said. "Are you sure you won't mind?"
"It would be a pleasure," he assured me with complete truth.
I was flipping through the latest copy of the Seattle newspaper later that day, looking for something to occupy myself with during my overnight stay there. I'd considered and then rejected the idea of asking Nina to come along with me. As much as her parents were growing to like me I did not think they liked me quite enough to allow their daughter to accompany me on an overnight trip. It was as I was perusing the sports page that I happened across a couple of advertisements that got my attention. I looked at them carefully, considering what I was thinking about. Was it possible to take care of two things at once on the Seattle trip?
I made a few long distance phone calls, putting my name down for reservations and promising I'd have checks in the mail the very next day. If my plans didn't work out I could always renege on these promises. I called up Ron again.
"Would it be a big problem," I asked him, "if you picked me up in Seattle around six o'clock at night instead of in the morning?"
"None at all," he assured me. "Got some plans?"
"Something like that." I said. "And would there be any problem with a passenger on the way up and back, and with, oh, say forty pounds of cargo or so for the return leg?"
"None at all," he repeated. "That's well within the weight limit of the plane. What do you have in mind?"
I told him and he assured me again that there was no problem with anything. Smiling, I hung up and then dialed Nina's number. Jack answered the phone and recognized my voice immediately.
"I'll get Nina," he said.
"No," I told him, "it's you I wanted to talk to."
"Me?"
"Yes," I explained. "Jack, you're on light duty right?"
"Yeah."
"Any chance you could take off the 23rd and the 24th of this month?"
He snorted. "All they have me doing is busy work. Besides, I've been there for thirty-three years. I can take off whenever I damn well please. Why do you ask?"
"A friend of my family is flying me to Seattle that day for a job interview," I told him. "And I'll be forced to stay overnight for various reasons. Now I was flipping through the paper and happened to notice that the Mariners are playing the A's on that day at four o'clock. I've managed to get my hands on a couple of home plate tickets. Interested?"
"You want to take me to a baseball game in Seattle?" he asked, surprised.
"Not only that," I went on, "but I also have a couple of reservations on a deep sea fishing boat that leaves the waterfront at 6:30 the next morning and stays out for eight or nine hours. I know you like fishing so I thought that maybe you'd like to come along. Ron, that's our friend, will pick us up at the airport at six o'clock that night and have us home by 8:00."
There was a long pause. Finally, "Bill, why didn't you ask one of your friends to do this with you?"
"I did Jack." I replied.
A slight cough. "Bill," he said, "you've got yourself a traveling companion. Thank you for inviting me. Of course you'll let me pay for…"
"Negative," I interrupted. "It's all on me. I can afford it. Just be packed and ready to go at 7:00 that morning."
"Thank you," he repeated, seemingly touched.
Of course, being me, I DID have an ulterior motive.
I picked Jack up at his house at 7:00 AM on the morning of the 23rd. He carried a small suitcase with him and seemed quite excited to be going on the adventure. Nina accompanied him out and gave me a hug and kiss before we drove off to the small, private airport.
When we arrived, we found Ron already there, performing the pre-flight checks on his small Cessna. Ron was sipping a cup of coffee and dressed in shorts and a T-shirt. Aviator sunglasses were perched on his nose. He was a short, terminally joking man and I'd always liked him. He'd given me fifty bucks as a graduation gift.
The introductions were made and Ron noticed that Jack was giving nervous glances at the aircraft.