Friday was a slow day at work; looking at a couple dead end cases trying to find a thread to pull.
At a little after four my cell rang. I saw it was Mac and I perked up from a half sleep state.
"Hey Dad, how's it goin'?"
"Not bad now that I hear your voice. What's up on your end?"
"I'm taking a break. Just two weeks but I'm gonna drive home and see my old man. Matter of fact I'm about fifty miles down the road, out of the city and flying low." Mac laughed, he loved to tell his dad he was doing anything beyond the letter of the law even if it was just speeding.
I groaned, knowing he'd thrown the bait. "Yeah, well I can't fix speeding tickets that far from home so watch yourself."
Mac laughed in response. "So I should be there about five on Saturday. I am going to stop and sleep." He was heading off the 'don't drive too long' speech he knew his dad would serve up next.
At the same time my head was rejoicing at seeing my son it was spinning with how the hell this was going to play out with Jena.
"I'll have steaks ready to grill, along with all your other deprived favorites." Mac could eat more food than any human I'd ever met.
"You're the best dad ever. And I'm gonna hang up before the 'I shouldn't drive and be on my cell at the same time' talk comes."
"You're a pain in the ass you know!" I laughed even as I said it. Giving each other crap was part of our normal routine.
"See you tomorrow, love you."
"Love you." And we hung up.
Guess I've never said but my name is Ryan Jack McNeil, named after my dad. When Mac was born he was tagged to carry on the name. I'd been called Jack my whole life to keep the confusion down between me a Pop. We started calling my son Ryan, but it slipped to Mac around two or three and he refused to answer to anything else by the time he started school.
Now that he was in college and having to sign legal papers now and again he was back to Ryan other than to his family and childhood friends.
About fifteen minutes after Mac called I shut down my computer, threw paper work back in files and stood to leave.
"Early day?" my partner looked up from his monitor.
"Yeah, I'll see ya Monday."
The drive home was by rote with my mind on how this was going to work. Mac rarely if ever got mad about anything so I didn't expect he'd be too pissed that Jena had been with me for six weeks and I hadn't told him. But I expected some hurt feelings. Also I knew we had to get her moved into the guest room to make things look good.
My bedroom had a common wall with Mac's and his had a common wall with Jena's so sneaking around was gonna be out of the question. I laughed out loud thinking of how much noise she made when we were fucking. Okay, I might make a noise or two, but compared to her screaming and yelling I was pretty quiet.
When I turned into the driveway I realized I didn't remember the drive at all and that's a little scary; relying on reflex reaction alone.
Walking into the kitchen I hung my keys on a large replica of a police badge with my number that was a gift from a buddy. When I caught motion in the hall I took a deep breath getting ready to hit Jena with the news that her brother was headed home for a two week visit. No fucking for two weeks, unthinkable!
All thoughts of Mac's visit and its ramifications were swept from my brain. Jena was standing there in a blue business suit, sensible blue heels, with a cream colored blouse that showed no cleavage, a string of pearls and her hair in a French twist.
I was speechless. She laughed, spinning around for my perusal.
"How do I look, professional enough for an office?"
"You look...great. Beautiful. Wow." I was stuttering.
"I have a job." She said it with such pride, her chin held high and eyes sparkling.
"A job? I didn't even know you were thinking of a job. What, where, when, how, why?"
"Geez, an interrogation." She walked over giving me a hug and a wonderful kiss, but not a kiss that leads to bed.
Jena sat me down at the kitchen table with a beer and explained about job hunting for the past four weeks, how she didn't want to 'live off me' and how she wanted to be productive.
"I have another confession." She looked sheepish now.
"Okay, I need another beer."
Jena jumped up before I could even move my chair.
"You know how I'm always sunbathing in a skimpy bikini when you get home? Ever wonder why I'm not brown as a berry?"
She set the open beer in front of me. I shook my head and waited, words were escaping me.
"Well, I ran my job hunts using the want ads in the paper and on line. If I sit right there," she pointed to the end of the table, "I can see you pull in the drive way. I shove everything onto the end chair under the table and scoot out to lie down on the deck before you get in the house. Really, Daddy, I'm not gonna ruin my skin lying in the sun."
The expression her face was like 'could you really be that dumb'.
"Go on, I think there's more to this story." I took a long swig of beer. I thought maybe this is going to make my news a little easier to tell her.
"I had three interviews. I was called back today and hired." She clapped her hands smiling ear to ear. I start Monday morning."
"It's a brokerage firm five miles from here, in the Opus center. I'll be an assistant to the CEO's assistant. I know that sounds stupid, but the woman is getting buried and needs help. It'll give me room to move up the ladder so to speak."
