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Chapter 7
David Lutman sat slouched in his
chair, doing nothing but stare at a pile of stationary brochures that had been
unceremoniously dumped on his desk prior to his arrival at the office that
morning.
It was now three weeks since
Jeannie’s surprise announcement. His thoughts were becoming much less focused on
work, and more on the trip. He was also beginning to feel a little more
relaxed, even happy in that he had a sense of purpose as to why he was doing
this.
Even so, the holiday was not
coming quickly enough. Arrangements had now been made for the car journey to
the airport with his parents the following Saturday morning, with Jeannie now
added for mutual support. When Lutman asked her whether she had seen or spoken
to her old boyfriend, she made it very clear that she did not want to see him
ever again. Being single once more was great.
So was all this part of the course of events that were
being set up for him? Was it really going to be Jeannie? She loves discos,
nightclubs, late nights, all those activities that he utterly despised. Maybe
she was going to change…
But sleeping with her? Well...
*
‘You packed yet?’ she chirped that
morning, as she had done so every morning so far that week, popping her head
around the partition wall.
‘Not yet,’ he would always reply
with equal enthusiasm, although this time he added that he would be ordering
his dollars later.
‘So how much you taking?’
‘About two hundred pounds’ worth. The rest I'll use my
card.’
‘Rich man! Hey - d’you think it’s going to be cold? I
know it’s usually hot out there.’
‘Well…’ After having been there before, Lutman considered
himself to be reasonably knowledgeable on this subject. ‘I think it’ll be warm
on the coast and also in Las
Vegas Grand Canyon
I reckon we’ll need a sweater or two. After all, it’s going to be close to
mid-October.’
Jeannie grinned. ‘Especially as we’re camping… Hey
David,’ she sniggered, ‘just think, I might need some help keeping warm in the
tent!’
‘Er, sorry…?’ Lutman’s heart skipped a beat.
‘Oh Dave,’ she laughed, after reading his expression. ‘I
really didn’t know you cared! I’d better go now. See ya!’
Was she being serious?
Lutman looked down at the office furniture catalogue he planned to thumb
through. He had to think of something else.
Well, she was the playful type. But did she really
want him to keep her warm in bed? Share the tent, eventually share the sleeping
bags? Eventually have sex?
Stop
it, he kept telling himself. There was no way on earth she would become the
future Mrs. Lutman.
*
With just two days to go, Jeannie
bought a few more clothes and obtained her dollars, and Lutman collected his
tickets and a few other items. He had not really purchased anything of
significance towards the trip as experience had taught him to travel economically.
Even so, he had deliberately packed more extras than usual. After all, he
reasoned, there was a distinct possibility that he would be spending more time
in the States than two weeks if things turn out in ways he did not expect, but
were in fact to be part of the course of events that would lead him to meeting
his wife. And, of course, he made sure he included the most important item of
them all – the green baseball cap.
His daily conversations
with Jeannie were now firmly focused on the trip, but these were not nearly as
jovial. Since that remark about the tent, she seemed a lot more careful with choosing
her words. His feeling was that she was distancing herself slightly; her visits
to his work space had become less frequent, and their discussions had become
more focused on the serious aspects of their trip. This small change in their
relationship convinced him that the possibilities of her being his future wife
were becoming more remote, which he felt a little relieved about. After all, he
just could not feel that there was a relationship to be had with her. There was
no inate desire to do so. But as a consequence he could not help but think that
their once good pals/buddies relationship had irrevocably deteriorated. Jeannie
was supposed to be a good friend.
Come on,
he told himself. There’s no way she was going with him so that he could bed
her.
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