THE MINE
NOTE: This is a work of fiction entirely imagined by the author. Although the names of the locations, if any, referenced in the following stories are real, the business, the people and the events are pure fiction.
© Copyright whitebeard50, 2023 - All rights reserved
April 15th
Frank, a strong rugged masculine guy of 42, an exceptional mechanical engineer, likes to work in the field. He's the hands-on type. Management jobs or any type of desk job are out of the question for him. He refused a couple of years ago a promotion to become VP of engineering of a large engineering firm in Vancouver. The big boss got angry and insisted, Frank left the company and moved to Mt Albert, a small town north of Toronto, where he owns a house just outside of town on a large piece of land. His wife, Nicole, reluctantly followed him. She wanted prestige and social status. His parents own a very large estate on Lake Simcoe, just north of where he lives. His dad is a large building contractor and does very well. He wants his son to join his company, but Frank wants to remain independent. He rapidly found a job with a company in Toronto that buys Caterpillar mining equipment and sells or rents it to large mining sites in Canada. These very large trucks, dozers and gigantic excavators/shovels are sent in pieces and assembled on-site.
Returning home from work where 6 monstrous Caterpillar 798 AC trucks are being prepared by his team to be shipped to a new mine development in northern Québec, he finds a note left by his wife on the small table as he enters the basement where his "quarters" are. Yup! You guessed right.
A dear Frank letter.
His wife, Nicole, owns a hairdresser outfit located in a small shopping strip on the main shopping street of Mt Albert. A bit of a surprise, but it had to come to that sooner or later. Frank is well off but in her goodbye letter, she clearly mentioned that she didn't need his money. She sold her business and decided to leave him for her girlfriend. She didn't leave a forwarding address, but he has her cell number. He drops the note on the table with a shrug. It won't make much difference in his life. They hadn't had sex since they moved here, and she kicked him out of the bedroom. He was too big, too hairy and so on. When he thinks of it, sex was never good with her. It had to be a quick thing, no foreplay. Just get in and out and be gone kind of thing. Masturbation is much better. She was very angry at him for his refusal of that prestigious job in Vancouver. He thinks she will be moving back west. She liked Vancouver and made quite a fuss when they moved back to Ontario. Frankly, he couldn't care less.
He goes to his bedroom. He strips and takes a shower. Once dry, he gets dressed in jeans and a dark blue polo shirt. He puts his leather jacket on and leaves, as he always does, for his favourite diner owned by a good friend. He cooks very little.
"Hey, Frank. How are you, big guy?"
Rick, the diner's owner and chef, knows all about Frank's wife and her personal life. She didn't just own the salon, but the whole commercial strip which comprises 17 businesses renting space. She got $4 million bucks for the whole thing. A developer will demolish and rebuild a new shopping mall with apartments or condos on top. A three-story edifice. Rick never said anything to him about this whole thing. After all, it wasn't his place to say anything. His diner is the gossip centre of Mt Albert. Rita, the waitress, knows everybody and practically everything happening in her town. She goes to that salon regularly and Nicole was her hairdresser. So, you can imagine the gossip. Rick has told her to keep quiet when Frank comes for supper almost every night. Fortunately, supper attracts a different crowd of mostly non-gossipers, and he doesn't want his friend hurt by what is going on. He'll find out eventually, but Rick doesn't want to be the one to tell his friend about his wife's secrets.
"Rick, my friend! Quite well actually. Nicole left me a «Dear Frank letter»." Of course, you know about that, don't you? Don't blush, Rick. It's quite all right. I knew about her girlfriend and that this was coming. You know more about my private life than I do. No, actually, you know more about her private life than I do. That's for damn sure. Anyway, it's over and it's for the best. We had no life at all. She should have stayed in Vancouver. Besides, I had a tough working day and I'm hungry. A 'steak frites' would certainly hit the right spot. Medium rare as usual. Oh, and a beer, please." Rick nudges Frank on the shoulder and goes to his kitchen.
Well, he takes it well. Obviously, he knows more than all of us thought he knew,
Rick reflects. A short while later, Rita brought the giant man his supper and put a hand on Frank's beefy hairy arm.
Poor Rick. He thinks that I don't know about her secrets. That's quite all right. This way they leave me alone, Frank thinks.
"I'm so sorry for you."
"Don't be. It's all right. You know that this is for the best for her and me. I know she never loved me and, frankly, it was the same for me. Her family wanted in my father's business. Too bad that didn't work either."
Frank enjoyed his "steak-frites" and as he is getting ready to leave, Rick comes over again and tries to comfort Frank.
"I'm so sorry about your situation, Frank," Rick tells his friend with his big fat hand squeezing his left shoulder.
"Don't be. I'm not. It was inevitable." Frank gives a little nudge on his friend's big belly and leaves.
There is nothing else to say. He shouldn't have married her as his Dad had advised him. He knew about the Hudson's (Nicole's family) desire to try and get a way into the family business. But he did it anyway, and here they are.
***
May 1st
Two weeks later, Frank and his team are leaving for the Québec mining project way up north. They fly to Montréal from Toronto, then on to Val d'Or and from there to a small airport at Némiscau where Hydro-Québec has an important power transfer substation. It's south of the big James Bay hydropower project. The new mine is just a few kilometres north of the airport and west of the power substation. A new 3 km road has been constructed from the route du Nord to the mining site. All the equipment comes by road from Chibougamau, 300 km south, where the railroad ends. The trucks and all the related equipment, in pieces, his arriving on site today.
On the flight to Némiscau, a big solid French guy, Raymond, the new construction logistics manager, is on his way to the new mine. Frank walks towards his seat and looks at the number on the baggage rack, his seat is right next to Ray's who's sitting next to the window. Ray makes a welcoming nod and his pale grey eyes bore into Frank's hazel nut eyes. A little tingling plays along their spines from neck to crutch. He sits down and extends his large hand to Ray and says with a big smile on his face,
"Hi! I'm Frank." He smiles broadly and stares at this bulking mass of muscles.
Ray firmly shakes Frank's hand and replies in a low rumbling voice, quite similar to Frank's,
"I'm Raymond." (Pronounced in French).
I like that big guy. Those eyes. That body. Ummm...
Ray didn't talk much, like Frank even though Frank speaks a very good French à la Québécoise on account of his mother who is a Québécoise from Rosemont, a predominantly French neighbourhood of Montréal. They talked a little bit about the weather mostly. Raymond is returning to work after a two-week holiday.
The flight goes smoothly in this new small jet seating about 30 people. Frank and his troops, 12 of them plus him, arrive at the camp at the end of the afternoon. The camp manager welcomes them and explains how things work around the camp. Everything goes smoothly. His team is staying in the blue section of the trailer camp where they will share a room with one of their colleagues. Frank will share a room with another fellow in the red section of the trailer camp. The one reserved for supervisors, managers and the like. Unfortunately, the camp is still being built and there isn't enough room for everyone, hence the sharing. The team is scheduled here for a period of 3 to 4 weeks, barring any problems.
Frank tells his boys that they will meet at the mess hall at 6 p.m. and leaves to find his room. He's on the second floor of the red section. Each room can easily accommodate two big guys he was told and each room has its private bathroom with a large shower, two queen size beds, desks, chairs and a 42″ TV on the wall facing the beds, and a little fridge. Internet high speed is included. He's in room 2-2, at the top of the stairs, the first one on the left as he enters the long corridor. He unlocks the door and gets in the room. He's in a small hall with a wardrobe in front of him, on his left a large bedroom appears and he walks in.
A big man naked stands at the end of the far bed with his back to him. He admires the strong hairy body, square muscled shoulders, biceps, muscled hairy arms, firm butt, and strong thighs when the man suddenly turns around.
