“Hundreds,” she said.
“I can’t wait to see them. So ... what’s up? Are you calling about the offer we made?”
“I am,” she said. “You’ll be happy to know that the Heliodorus family accepted your offer of five million, three hundred thousand for the property.”
“Fuck yeah!” Jake said happily.
“A dollar in the swear jar!” a gleeful voice exclaimed from the kitchen area—it sounded like Jessica. “You said ‘fuck’!”
Jake shook his head and made a mental note to pay up once the phone call was completed.
“They are agreeable to a thirty-day escrow which will start when the down payment money is wired to the bank’s escrow account,” Jill said.
“Right,” Jake said. “And the agreement was ten percent down?”
“Ten percent,” Jill confirmed. “That’s five hundred and thirty thousand dollars, Jake. More than half a million.”
“Yep,” Jake said. “When can you get it wired?”
“I can do it tomorrow, but you’ll have to come back to LA at some point to sign the papers.”
“No problem,” Jake told her. “I can fly back Saturday night and sign on Sunday and then be back to Oregon on Monday.”
“That’ll cost you extra to have the notary show up on a weekend,” she told him sourly.
“That’s okay,” Jake said. “Start putting things in motion.”
A sigh from Jill. “Jake, I have to ask you one more time. Are you sure about this? This is a lot of money we’re talking about, and when you come right down to it, it’s an unnecessary expense. You don’t really need a house on the ocean right now.”
Jake thought of the earthquake, and the traffic, and the smog, and his general hatred of living in the city of Los Angeles. “But I do, Jill,” he told her. “I really do. Now make it happen for me.”
Another sigh. “All right, Jake,” she said. “I’ll send the money out first thing in the morning.”
Chapter 4: Making Plans
Los Angeles, California
October 13, 1994
The twin engine, propeller driven King Air 350 that belonged to Peterson Aviation Services Incorporated touched down gently on Runway 16R of Van Nuys Airport in the San Fernando Valley one hour and forty-two minutes after going wheels-up from San Jose International Airport in the San Francisco south bay area. The aircraft rolled out and exited the runway quite routinely and then navigated slowly along the taxiways until it arrived at the primary general aviation terminal. The engines shut down one by one and the door was opened from the inside, folding down to make a series of steps for easy egress from the fuselage.
It had been a routine flight in all aspects except one. For the two pilots who had been flying the aircraft these last six months and the group of musicians who had been the passengers on those flights, it was the end of their last trip together. Though there were two more nights of shows to be done—both were at The Forum in Inglewood, just outside of the Los Angeles city limits—there would be no more need for flying on the tour.
For Coop, Charlie, Liz, Little Stevie, and Dexter Price, this final flight meant little to them beyond relief to finally be back in Los Angeles where all except Charlie maintained a steady home and they would be sleeping in their own beds for the first time in months. They simply shook hands with the flight crew, exchanged a few parting pleasantries (including Charlie’s sincere gratitude for the crew’s fastidious attention to the non-existent HEPA filters which had kept him safe from high altitude microbes during the tour), and then gathered up their baggage for the walk to the terminal and the limousine that was waiting for them on the other side of it. For Natalie and Mark, on the other hand, there was a little more emotion attached. The two of them had fallen in love with each other during the tour—or at least deeply into lust—and they did not know when they were going to be able to see each other again. They stood together near the nose of the aircraft, holding each other tightly and whispering things into each other’s ears, and occasionally sharing soft, loving kisses. There were tears running down Nat’s face in a steady stream.
Celia witnessed all of this because this was a bit of an emotional moment for her as well. She was about to walk away from Suzie, the woman she had developed a considerable amount of infatuation for herself. She did not know when, if ever, she was going to see her again. She lingered inside the aircraft with her after everyone else had gone.
“Well ... it’s been fun, Suzie,” Celia told the pilot now.
Suzie smiled. “It could have been funner,” she told her.
Celia gave a sad chuckle at her words. Suzie had offered her mouth and her body to her indirectly many times and, when that produced no results, quite directly, coming right out and offering to service her in any way she wanted to be serviced. That had been last week, in Portland of all places! In the same hotel where she and Jake had come together one snowy night not so terribly long before. Suzie, of course, had no way of knowing or even suspecting what had occurred between her and Jake, so the offer coming in that city, in that hotel had been nothing but a coincidence, but it had still been a little shocking. She had been tempted—very tempted—to take Suzie up on the offer. Just a little lick between the legs. That wasn’t really cheating, was it? Certainly not after what she and Jake had done, right? But, in the end, she simply could not do it. She politely declined Suzie’s offer and spent the night alone in her hotel room, performing her own maintenance yet again.
“Yeah,” Celia acknowledged now. “It could have been, but alas ... it was not. No hard feelings?”
“I would think you’d know me better than that,” Suzie told her.
“I do. Just wanted to make sure. Any idea what your next assignment might be?”
“Returning the aircraft to San Diego,” she said. “After that, I have a few weeks off. I’ll get my apartment back in order, make sure all my bills are paid.”
“No trips?” Celia asked.
“No trips,” Suzie said. “I’ve done so much traveling on this assignment that staying home will be a novelty.” She gave a hopeful smile. “Maybe we can get together sometime. San Diego is not that far. I could drive up here in a few hours.”
“I’d like that,” Celia said. “For the friendship part though. Not for anything else. I enjoy your company. I’d like you to meet Greg. And I’d like to see what you’re like after a few drinks.”
“I enjoy your company as well, C,” she told her. “Even if it doesn’t include anything else. I’ll be looking forward to the visit.”
“I’ll call you as soon as things get settled,” Celia promised—and she was quite sincere about this. “And if I don’t, you have my personal number.”
“That I do.”
“Just don’t give it to the fine people of the entertainment press,” she warned.
“I would never do that,” she said.
“I know you wouldn’t,” Celia assured her. “And don’t feel weird about calling me if you just want to chat. Remember, I’m an ordinary person. I put my pants on one leg at a time.”
Suzie gave her a lecherous grin. “Do you take them off that way too?” she asked.
“Only if I’m the one taking them off ... not someone else,” she shot back.
They had a laugh about this.
“Well ... I guess I’d better get going,” Celia said. “It looks like Nat and Markie are done playing kissy-face with each other.” She held out her arms.
Suzie stepped into them and the two women shared a warm hug. Celia enjoyed the soft feel of her body against hers, the feminine smell of her skin. She drew back a little but did not release the embrace. Instead, she took her right hand and used her fingers to lift the pilot’s face up a bit. She then leaned in and put her lips to Suzie’s, kissing her. Her lips were soft, feminine, and felt good touching hers. She let the kiss linger for a bit before sliding out the tip of her tongue and letting it flit between the lips. Suzie’s tongue shot out to meet it. She moaned a little as they twirled their tongues together on a film of saliva.