Love Story: In The Cloud

by Ken Renshaw

  Back to the lodge, Sofia, who had poured each of us glasses of champagne, greeted us at the door. Tina, still dressed in her red gingham dress, ran over and gave me a big kiss and hug. Everyone was jubilant.

  After a few congratulatory minutes, Tina and I sat down at the table with Sofia who was still dressed in her light blue gingham dress. Tina and Sofia were snickering about something, and I sensed it was not about the verdict. I noticed that Tina was resting her hand on an ice pack.

  Sofia laughed and said, "We might have a new client for you: an assault and battery case."

  Tina giggled and said, "It was self defense, perfectly acceptable conduct in the Wild West."

  Sofia continued, "After we had seen the sights of Rocky Butte we decided we couldn't leave Rocky Butte without a little honky-tonkin, so we stopped by the Claim Jumper to have a beer, cowboy-style. We were sitting alone at a table, minding our own business, enjoying glasses of Claim Jumper Pale Draft Beer when Tina excused herself to go to the Ladies Room. I heard a little commotion and saw a big cowboy sliding down the wall, bent over in pain, holding his bloody nose. I saw Tina disappearing down the hall to the Ladies Room. Some of his buddies took him away. I heard a lot of groaning. In a couple of minutes Tina reappeared from the hall walking demurely, as though nothing had happened. The cowboys gave her a lots of room to pass."

  Tina laughed and said, "He groped me. I hit him reflexively. I didn't even know I did it until I saw his nose and felt my knee in his crotch."

  I said, "Sofia, you might have created a monster."

  She replied, "You should have seen that room full of cowboys. Casting directors can't assemble a group as ugly as that. For an instant, I thought the two of us were going to have to fight our way out, back-to-back, doing karate kicks. I was saying to myself, 'Where is my fight choreographer when I need him?' Tina, have you ever thought you would like to be in the movies?"

  She looked at her swollen hand and said, "I think I would rather deal with Beverly Hills High juniors than make a living doing that."

  We all laughed and drank more champagne.

  Buster's cell phone rang, and he walked outside on the porch to take the call. Without saying anything, he went down the steps and drove the SUV down the hill toward the lake and airstrip.

  Steve and Georgia drove up to the lodge and joined the celebration. Steve was beaming. "I knew it would be a win, but not that big. I hope that nobody else will ever have to tell my sad story."

  Georgia then added "Steve said your dark-complexion lady with reddish hair is here. I'd like to meet her."

  I replied "Yes, come meet her." I led Georgia over to the table where Tina was sitting. She arose and introduced her. They seemed to form an instant connection and were soon chatting about metaphysical activities in LA. I noticed Georgia was giving Tina the stare that meant she was reading her pictures. Suddenly, Georgia broke into a big smile and continued on with the conversation.

  I went to Steve and said, "I was a little tense during your court demonstration. You seemed so calm. Weren't you nervous about performing on–command in that environment?"

  Steve said, "I sort of cheated. I went into meditation the night before and traveled in time to the demonstration. I perceived where each of them would all be hiding and what they would be doing. The only thing I didn't know before the court performance was the names of the children. I was able to recheck my conclusions during my testimony."

  I replied, "Oh, I guess I should have known that. Excuse me for thinking so linearly."

  I noticed a vehicle making dust coming down the road from the entrance to the ranch. It was some sort of white delivery vehicle. Sofia walked out of the lodge, talked to the driver, and directed him to the back kitchen door. She came back in, disappeared into the kitchen, and came back into the living room with a fresh bottle of champagne. She said, "The caterers have arrived."

  "From Rocky Butte? That was fast!"

  Sofia smiled, "From Sacramento, I placed the order this morning."

  "How did you know....?" I asked.

  She smiled and turned her head inquisitively and said, "I called Steve. He said the verdict would come back in early afternoon, and it would be cause for celebration. You of all people seem to doubt his predictions."

  Two minutes later a man and a woman dressed in black uniforms appeared from the kitchen carrying trays of hors d'oeuvres.

  Then, to my great surprise, Buster drove up in the SUV. Vince Colson and Dore got out, wearing business suits.

  I greeted them at the door and received vigorous handshakes and congratulations.

  "How did you time getting here now?" I asked Vince.

  Vince grinned and said, "Steve had alerted them that the trial would be over this afternoon. We timed our flight from a business meeting in LA to Palo Alto so that it could be diverted here when final word came. We selected the particular jet for the trip to LA so that our pilots would be comfortable landing here at the ranch airstrip.

  "We wanted to be here to congratulate you and the whole team. I consider this an enormous win in our crusade to widen the scientific paradigm. My security consultants say that we are rid of that Skeptemos guy for good. You know, he put a bomb on one of our airplanes a couple of weeks ago. We have a good surveillance system at our hangar, mostly to know whether somebody places industrial espionage eavesdropping devices on our plane. It works for mad bombers too. Our video surveillance clearly shows it was your guy. That's how we got the FBI involved."

  Dore excused herself and went over and gave Georgia and then Steve a hug and then began chatting with them. I had never seen her enjoying herself before. She was usually all business.

  Dore made the party rounds, spending time taking to everyone. She seemed to already know everyone except Elizabeth and Tina. She spent quite a while talking to Tina. I could see that Tina had been fully assessed and that Dore seemed to like her.

  Vince joined Steve and Georgia. They talked animatedly like old friends.

  After about a half hour, Dore looked at her watch and then pulled Vince from a group conversation. They came over to me.

  Dore smiled approvingly and said, "Is there some place we can talk in private?"

  I led Vince and Dore to the TV room and closed the door. Dore turned to me with her fixed stare and said, "We would like to offer you a position as the CEO of the Colson Foundation, directing our further missionary efforts encouraging scientists embrace the eight-dimensional paradigm. Here is our formal offer."

  She handed me a letter that I opened and scanned. "This is very generous," I said. "I need to discuss this with Phil Bracken before I reply."

  "Of course," said Vince. "I have already talked to him as a courtesy. He said he would be reluctant to see you go but is amenable to the idea."

  I thought to myself, This is a win–win situation. I get a new job and Phil gets to tell Sam Perris of ChralMed that I am no longer with the law firm. Sam will think he won and got me fired.

  Vince continued, "You can set up your office anywhere you like, as long as it is near an airport. The LA area is fine."

  Dore added, "You will report to me for most matters. The first effort will be establishing research grants to various universities, similar to that with Dr. Montgomery. You will have other legal responsibilities, but, as far as we know we don't have anymore trials like this one on the horizon."

  Vince then said, "We can talk details later. Let's get back to the celebration," and led the way out to the living room.

  After a few minutes more of socializing, Dore nodded to Buster, gathered up Vince, and walked over to where Tina, Sofia, Elizabeth, and I were talking.

  She said, "I understand you are taking some well-deserved vacation. Don't worry about responding to that letter until you get back."

  Vince added, "Good luck with your soaring, I have always wanted to try that."

  After we all exchanged pleasantries, they left. I noticed that Dore's goodbyes to Tina were particularly warm. She had pas
sed.

  Soon, the catered dinner was served. It was quite a party.