Friday night found Dan and Tom standing around the swimming pool. It was nearly eleven at night and Dan had just finished eating his dinner after returning home from work. Tom had waited around for him to finish eating so that he'd have a chance to talk with him alone. Tom asked, "What did you say to Amanda's father?"
"I just explained the facts of life to him," Dan answered wondering what had happened to make Tom ask.
"That's all?" Tom asked.
"Yes," Dan answered nodding his head.
Tom thought about Dan's answer. It didn't explain what he was experiencing with Sidney. He said, "Last night when I went over to pick up Amanda, he apologized to me for his actions last Sunday."
"That's good," Dan said. He looked over at his friend and asked, "Did you accept his apology?"
"Yes, I did," Tom answered. He had even explained that he understood the man's feelings and had not taken offense. His assertion that any father who was in the same circumstance would react the same way had surprised Amanda's father.
Dan asked, "What about Terry?"
"Terry wasn't with me. She figured that it would be better if she kept a low profile. He did invite all of us over tomorrow evening for a cookout," Tom said scratching his head. He wasn't sure that he trusted the man's sudden friendliness. A person didn't go from being that angry to being that contrite without a bit of time passing. Amanda's mother hadn't been a factor in his change of heart. She was still upset and complained relentlessly that her daughter was a lesbian and would never have children. Amanda felt that nothing short of getting pregnant would convince her mother that she'd have kids one day.
"Did you accept his invitation?" Dan asked while moving over to sit down on one of the chairs by the pool. His feet hurt from standing all day and he wanted to sit down for a while.
"Yes, I did," Tom answered taking a seat next to Dan.
Smiling at Tom, Dan said, "I wouldn't worry about it. Just be you and everything will work out all right."
"Okay."
Seeing that that topic of conversation was about dead, Dan asked, "How's the job?"
"I love it," Tom answered with a grin. He hadn't known what to expect when he showed up for work his first day. That whole day had been spent walking around the company going from office to office filling out paperwork and watching tapes covering sexual harassment, cultural sensitivity, and drug use policies. There was a lot of paperwork covering everything from taxes and insurance to intellectual property rights agreements. It wasn't until the second day when they took him on a tour of the facilities that he even had a hint of what he was going to be doing all summer.
"That's good," Dan said. He scratched his head and asked, "So what do you do there?"
"I'm a laboratory assistant to one of the chemists working on creating some new scents for the company," Tom answered.
"Cents? I thought it was illegal to make your own money," Dan said with a grin despite being a little puzzled by what Tom meant.
Tom laughed at the expression on Dan's face. It mirrored the one that had been on his face when they explained what he was going to be working on while there. He said, "They are making odors, not money. Well, I guess by making odors they are making money."
"That clears things up," Dan said with a grin.
Tom said, "I was a little puzzled by it as well until they explained it. This company makes the additives to detergents that give your clothes that spring time smell when you wash them."
"Oh. I guess there is a big demand for that kind of stuff," Dan said. It seemed like everything in the store advertised that it had a new and improved scent. He had never given much thought to what made products smell one way or the other.
"Yeah. It is a strange kind of business when you think about it. I never would have dreamed two years ago that I'd be working on a job trying to make some cleanser smell like citrus," Tom said shaking his head.
"You're trying to make a cleanser smell like oranges?" Dan asked.
"Basically. Although to tell the truth, I'm not sure what citrus smells like," Tom answered.
"Why not just add some orange peels to it?" Dan asked.
Tom laughed at the overly simplistic solution and said, "The real problem is binding the scent chemicals to something so that they are released only when you use the product. You don't want the smell to evaporate during the time between manufacturing the product and the person actually getting around to using it."
"That's a big deal?" Dan asked.
"That's a real big deal. It appears that coming out with an attractive scent can help a product sell better. The money involved is rather substantial," Tom said shrugging his shoulders.
"I've got a million dollar idea. How about you get them to introduce a pizza scent for their detergents? I think that people would really want to wear clothes that smell like pizza," Dan said with a wink.
"Pizza? No way. Of course, that does give me an even better idea. No one would be able to resist clothes that smelled like root beer," Tom said slapping his friend on the back.
Dan laughed and said, "I could."
"Thanks for cheering me up," Tom said laughing. The past week had been pretty rough. Dealing with Terry, Amanda, and Amanda's father had taken up his free time. Learning a new job had kept him busy during the day. They even gave him technical papers to read at night to get him up to speed on their research.
"You're quite welcome," Dan said with a grin. He hadn't been trying to cheer up Tom. He sat back in his chair and said, "I'm stuffed."
"I didn't realize that Alison was such a good cook," Tom said. He'd been rather surprised by the spread that Alison had put out for Dan.
"She's quite the little homemaker. I don't know how she does it. She worked yesterday and today at the pizzeria most of the day. When she gets done there, she comes home and cleans up the house," Dan said.
"Wow," Tom said. He knew from experience that neither Amanda nor Terry was much of a housekeeper. They both had ambitions that had little to do with keeping up a house. He hoped that together the three of them made enough money to hire someone.
"She's been a great help in the kitchen at work," Dan said. That morning Alison had taken over making the blueberry muffins.
Tom had always been a little amazed at the relationship that had grown between Alison and Dan. She was a very attractive woman and could have had just about anyone that she wanted. He'd been surprised to discover that she was insightful enough to look past Dan's high school reputation. Tom said, "She cares a lot about you."
"The feelings are mutual," Dan said looking in the direction of the house.
"How are things living with three women?" Tom asked.
"It seems to be working well," Dan said although he never knew where he was going to sleep. It seemed to him that he was changing beds every other night. He didn't mind that they had taken charge of his sleeping schedule. It kept him from having three women angry at him.
"That's good," Tom said. He wondered how it would work out if he ever started living with Amanda and Terry. He looked over at Dan and asked, "How do the sleeping arrangements work?"
Although it was a little personal, Dan answered, "I sleep where they tell me."
"That's easy enough although I don't think that would work if Terry, Amanda, and I were to live together," Tom said. He guessed that he could sleep alone every other night, but he wouldn't like it. He knew that Terry wouldn't want to join him and Amanda in bed. He didn't think that Terry would want Amanda sleeping with him.
Ernie walked into the pizzeria looking a lot less hostile than before. Rather than belligerent, he looked nervous and contrite. He spotted Dan leaning against one of the picnic tables near the back of the store. He went over to him and said, "Hello, Dan."
"Hello, Ernie," Dan replied with a slight nod of his head. Ernie was wearing his Parker's Perfect Pizza tee-shirt. It was actually clean and on the proper way for a change.
"I apologize for my behavior earlier," Ernie said looking over Dan's head. He licked his lips nervously after apologizing.
"Apology accepted," Dan said in a pleasant voice. He felt that apologizing had to have been the most difficult thing Ernie had done in years.
Relaxing a little, Ernie asked, "When do you want me to work?"
Dan had been waiting for that question and answered, "You've got some more training to undergo before you return to work here."
"Say what?" Ernie replied staring at Dan. After Jimmy had explained that the Universe didn't care one whit about Ernie Smithers and that the people around him didn't care much more than that, he had been prepared to give the job a real try. Jimmy had told him that Dan was his best, and probably only, chance at a good life.
Dan said, "Talking to Jimmy was only the first step. You've got to work up to this job."
"Huh?" Ernie asked shocked by Dan's reply.
Holding out a piece of paper, Dan said, "Be there tomorrow morning at eight o'clock. Wear something that you can get ruin without regretting it. You're going to work your ass off tomorrow."
"Doing what?" Ernie asked with a sinking feeling in his stomach. His time with Jimmy had let him know what kind of future he faced unless he straightened up. The older black man had laughed in his face when he had talked about how whites were keeping blacks down. Jimmy had drilled him with the facts of life, explained what it meant to be happy, and told him how to take control of his life. Jimmy hadn't pulled any punches.
"Construction work," Dan answered with a grin. He added, "You're not going to like it. I know because I've done it."
"I want to cook pizzas," Ernie said gesturing over at the pizza station. The idea of actually doing physical labor didn't appeal to him at all.
Dan laughed and said, "I'm sure you do, but you're not ready for that yet. By this time next week, you're going to have learned some real good work habits."
"I'll be on time," Ernie said. There was a pleading tone to his voice.
"Good, I'm sure that Leo will be glad to see that," Dan said.
"Who's Leo?" Ernie asked.
"He'll be your foreman for the next few days," Dan said. He knew that Ernie had no idea what he was about to experience.
"Why are you doing this to me?" Ernie asked.
Looking Ernie in the eye, Dan answered, "I gave you a chance and you blew it. Now you're going to have to earn a second chance before I let you have it. Getting a second chance in life is very rare; so don't blow it. You'll never get a third chance with me."
"That's not fair," Ernie said thinking that he had learned a lot during his time with Jimmy.
"I'm sure that Jimmy explained the facts of life to you. You know that life is not fair," Dan replied in a very serious tone of voice. It was well past time for Ernie to wake up and join the rest of the world. It was time for him to learn what it meant to have no salable work skills in the modern world.
Sagging, Ernie nodded his head in acceptance and said, "You're right."
"I know. Now head home and get some rest. Tomorrow, you're going to work harder than you ever dreamed possible," Dan said. He had done that job one week and had hated it. It was a miserable experience.
"Yes, sir," Ernie said. He said, "I'll do the job and you'll hear good things about me."
"I hope so," Dan said. He suspected that there was a very good chance that Ernie would never return to the pizzeria.
Ernie left the pizzeria wondering what had happened to the easy going Dan Parker he thought he knew. Jimmy had warned him that he shouldn't expect to return and expect everything to be forgiven. Regardless of the warning, he hadn't expected things to turn out that way.
Kevin had been in the kitchen listening to Dan talk with Ernie. He had been prepared to charge out and take care of Ernie if the guy did anything stupid. Surprised by what he heard, he came out and said, "I didn't know that you could be such a hard ass."
"I'm a man of many talents," Dan said smiling over at Kevin.
"I guess so," Kevin said looking at Dan with renewed respect. He had assumed that Dan would take the guy back and Ernie would return to being a screw-up by the end of the week.
Dan said, "Let's get to work."
"Sure thing," Kevin said.
Dan returned home from work and slipped into the cool water of the pool while Alison finished preparing dinner. Ann was seated by the pool in one of the chairs watching Dan swim. His athletic figure achieved while working construction was already beginning to soften, but he was still a good looking young man. That didn't mean that he was getting fat. The long hours working took off weight just as much as physical exercise.
Dan stopped swimming and started treading water in the deep end of the pool. Looking over at Ann, he asked, "What are you thinking?"
"I'm thinking that I'm very happy," Ann answered. It was true; she was very happy.
"Why?"
"I got another job painting a mural in the lobby of an office building downtown. Thousands of people are going to be walking past it every day. I've dreamed of doing this kind of work my whole life and now it is becoming a reality," Ann said.
"That's great," Dan said.
Smiling, Ann said, "I got home from pricing out the job and Alison had a snack ready for me. It was real nice coming home and being able to relax."
"Yes, it is," Dan said.
"Sally came home from work and we spent a little time together in bed while Alison cooked dinner. I can't tell you how much that meant to me," Ann said. It was amazing coming in from work and being able to relax without having to worry about housework.
Dan nodded his head. He knew what Ann meant about being able to relax upon getting home after working all day. He said, "Sounds like you had a real pleasant day."
"Yes, it was a good day," Ann said quietly. She knew what she was getting out of this relationship, but she often wondered about Dan, Sally, and Alison. What were they getting out of it?
Dan said, "I had my initial doubts about moving here, but I've grown to like this house. It feels like a home and we've only been here a couple of weeks."
"I know what you mean," Ann said thinking that the water looked very inviting. She stood up and stripped off her clothes. She went over to the edge of the pool and lowered herself into the water.
Ann had just gotten into the water when Sally came outside. She looked at Ann and said, "You just couldn't wait to get naked around him."
"That's right, sister," Ann replied with a grin. That hadn't been the reason she had gotten into the pool, but she wasn't going to admit that.
"Alison says that dinner will be ready in ten minutes," Sally said shaking her head.
"Great. I'm hungry," Dan said starting to swim over to the shallow end of the pool.
Raising an eyebrow, Sally said, "She's naked and you're thinking about food. There's something wrong with this picture."
"Who said the only thing I was thinking about was food?" Dan asked.
"Good save," Sally said with a grin.
"You can say that again," Ann said with a laugh.
Dan started to say something, but Sally said, "Don't say it. She was talking to me."
Dan laughed and said, "Yes, dear."
Ten minutes later everyone was gathered around the table for a light late dinner. The meal wasn't complicated consisting of a spread of different fresh vegetables, sliced meats, boiled eggs, and dinner rolls. It was almost eleven o'clock at night and everyone had to be up early the next day. As Alison sat down at the table, she said, "I'm going to have to go shopping for food tomorrow."
"Okay," Dan said wondering why she had brought it up.
Looking around the table, she said, "I'm going to need some money."
While living in the apartment, Dan had contributed two hundred dollars a month towards food. He figured that they would do the same here. Nodding his head, he said, "I'll give you some money after dinner."
"That's good," Alison said. She felt that she wasn't keeping up with her end of the costs of living in the house. She didn't have a job and her parents had refused to support her in living away from the house. She had thought about finding a job, but she was having too much fun helping Dan.
Dan took a bite out of a hardboiled egg and said, "By the way, Friday is payday."
"Oh," Alison said with a puzzled expression on her face. She wondered why he had brought that up and then thought that he might be a little short on cash.
Waving around the half of his hardboiled egg, he said, "You'll have a little spending money of your own."
"What do you mean?" Alison asked while reaching for some of the celery sticks on the vegetable platter.
"You put in thirty hours last week and fifteen hours the week before. You've got to get paid for the time you work," Dan said. He was going to have her fill out the forms for taxes. He took another bite out of the egg.
"I wasn't helping you for money," Alison said. She was up there to help him and kill a little time. She grabbed a couple of stalks of celery and put them on her plate.
Dan laughed at the expression on her face and said, "I know that. Still, you've been helping out at the pizzeria every morning and half of the afternoon. It is a business and you should get paid for it. One of the things that I have to do is keep my personal and business finances separate."
"Okay," Alison said wondering if she had forced him into something that he hadn't wanted to do. She was rather surprised that he had been keeping track of her hours.
Sally winked at Ann and said, "Maybe she'll take us out to dinner one of these nights."
"That would be nice," Ann said smiling over at Alison.
Alison looked at the other two women and realized that she hadn't done anything with them socially. Deciding that it was a nice idea, she said, "That sounds like fun. We'll have a ladies night out."
"Sounds like fun," Dan said. He was tempted to ask if he could come, but then it wouldn't be a ladies night out.
"It does," Ann agreed.
"Are you off tomorrow night?" Alison asked. Her question caused everyone to look at Dan.
"Yes, I am," Dan said. He had decided to take Tuesday and Thursday nights off and was sticking to that decision. Kevin would have to call in sick before he'd change plans.
"What were you thinking of doing?" Alison asked looking at Dan.
"I'd like to have Tom and his two ladies over for steaks tomorrow. I'll grill them on the barbecue," Dan answered.
Ann and Sally exchanged looks knowing that Dan was going to give that answer. The two of them wished that he would occasionally take an evening off and spend it with them. Rather than make an issue of it, Sally said, "That would be nice. You might consider fish instead of steaks for the ladies."
Dan nodded his head and said, "We can swim a little and then I'll fire up the grill. After dinner, we can relax and chat a bit."
"Sounds like an action packed evening," Ann said with a grin.
Shrugging his shoulders, Dan said, "We'll have to make it an early evening. I'd like to get to bed around ten."
Ann and Sally exchanged looks again. Ann said, "That's a good idea. You do need to get your rest."
"Yeah," Dan said. Shaking his head, he said, "It is amazing how much better I feel after taking a couple of nights off a week. I'm hoping that after Ernie settles into his job that I'll be able to take a Sunday afternoon off as well."
"That would be great," Ann said.
"I figure that we could all go to the lake for an afternoon," Dan said.
Recalling her previous dates to the lake with Dan, Alison said, "That would be fun. You and Tom could cook hamburgers. I'll bring some potato salad."
Sally said, "Not you too."
"What?" Alison asked.
Sally rolled her eyes and said, "Ann and I have been trying to figure out how to get him to spend a little quiet time with us."
"Huh?" Dan said looking at Sally with a puzzled expression.
Alison frowned and asked, "Do you want me to leave?"
"No, silly. We want Dan to spend one evening with us. Maybe the four of us could go to a movie together or go out to eat," Sally answered.
"Oh," Alison said realizing that she had been included in the 'us.' She smiled and said, "That would be a lot of fun."
Dan frowned as he thought about it. He realized that he hadn't taken any of them out since opening the pizzeria. He hadn't realized that the women were feeling left out. He said, "Sure. We can do that tomorrow if you'd rather."
Ann said, "Have your friend Tom and his two ladies over tomorrow."
"How about Thursday?" Dan asked.
Sally nodded her head and said, "Thursday would be perfect. We could go to a movie. There's a nice action adventure film out."
"Great," Dan said. He had almost said that Tom would probably enjoy seeing it too and realized that would have been a very stupid thing to say.
"Excellent," Alison said.
Sally said, "It is a date."
With that little discussion out of the way, everyone turned their attention back to their food. As Dan munched on carrot sticks, celery, and cheese, he considered what Sally had said about their desire to spend some time alone with him. He decided that he would try to take one of them out each week as a special date night. It also occurred to him that it was perhaps time to figure out a way to take Sunday afternoons off as well.
After dinner was over, Dan asked, "Where am I sleeping tonight?"
"With Alison," Ann answered while Sally nodded her agreement.
"Okay," Dan said getting up from the table. With a full stomach and tired from a long day at work, Dan was ready for bed. He yawned and said, "Alison, I'll help you with the dishes and then head to bed."
Sally shook her head and said, "Ann and I will do the dishes. Why don't the both of you get to bed now?"
Dan yawned and said, "Okay."
Wide awake and ready to go, Alison said, "Great."
Lazlo Zalezac