Traveling Bug

by Curry, Edna

  "Jeff! I thought you said you wouldn't make it back in time?"

  "I'm leaving for the airport now. Is that a yes or a no?"

  "Yes, I'd love to!" Diane said.

  "Great. I should make it by 8:30 or so. We could have a late dinner first, okay?"

  "Sound's great. Shall I pick you up at the airport?"

  "No, I left my car there. I'll pick you up, then!"

  "Okay."

  "Diane?"

  "Yes?"

  "I really missed you!"

  She caught her breath at the enormity of his admission. "I missed you, too, Jeff."

  Vince was waiting to drive Jeff to the airport for the return flight to Minneapolis, still grumbling at Jeff’s decision to leave. "What a way to spend New Year's Eve, on a plane," he said. "You might as well have gone to the club dance with us. Arlene would have been pleased, you know. I think she's still in love with you. That's not so unusual you know, lots of secretaries fall in love with their bosses."

  Jeff grinned. "I know, Dad, and you know I didn't like it then, or now, even if her father is rich."

  "Now, Jeff, be nice to her. If her father hadn't come through with that big loan in exchange for preferred stock a couple of months ago, we might have had to sell out to one of our competitors. Don't forget, she still has an important part to play to make our little surprise work without too much backlash damage to ourselves."

  "I know, Dad," Jeff repeated, smiling at him.

  "As it is, Jeff, I hate the way this project is going to make you look. If there was any other way..."

  "Skip it, Dad. We've been over that a dozen times. It's already in motion anyway, sailing through the modems of every person who is right this minute dialing our bulletin board. It's too late to change our minds, now, so just flow with it, and don't worry. I'm a big boy, now. I can take care of myself."

  "But...you...," Vince said, stopping at the terminal.

  "No 'buts', Dad. This was my idea, and my project. So, I take the blame. We'll worry about the rest after the Mexico trip. Just relax, and have a good time, okay?" Jeff stepped out and collected his luggage from the trunk. "See you on the fifth. Take care, now."

  Jeff couldn’t believe how good Diane looked when she opened her door to him. Instinctively, he opened his arms for her, and she stepped into them.

  Their lips and tongues seemed to have a mind of their own, as they hungrily made up for a lost week. Hot desire surged through him, and the way she’d melted in his arms told him that she felt the same way.

  Only the fact that he'd promised her dinner and dancing stopped him from obeying his hot impulses and staying in her arms the rest of the evening.

  He lifted his head and surveyed her kiss-swollen lips, then smiled into her eyes. "God, how I missed you!"

  "I missed you, too. Did you finish your project?"

  "For now." With one long finger he traced her lips, then bent his head and kissed her again.

  She struggled to free her lips enough to ask, "Does that mean you have to go back to Milwaukee?"

  "No, no. At least, not until after we come back from the trip. I'll see how things go by then."

  "Then tonight is ours?"

  "Every night until we leave if you want."

  They found a dance floor. Dancing the old year out and the New Year in, they decided both years were wonderful.

  Afterward Jeff couldn't remember what they'd eaten or said. For hours he laid in bed, unsatisfied, reliving their kisses and the delicious feel of her breasts under his exploring hands, wishing for so much more.

  Chapter 8

  Departure day arrived. Diane and Jeff flew to Milwaukee to meet the rest of their group, so they were at the airport early. They checked in all their own luggage and stood ready with their name-badges on their shoulders to identify them to the Banning Corporation's people, most of whom would be strangers to Diane. Jeff, of course, knew most of them from the years when he'd worked there with his father.

  "Nervous?" Jeff teased, as she checked her make-up surreptitiously.

  "Some," she agreed. "I do hope everything goes all right."

  "Did I tell you my stepmother, Janet isn't coming? She came down with a virus the day after New Year."

  "Your father's still coming?"

  "Of course. As host, Vince can hardly stay home. Anyway, Janet's doing fine, she's just still weak. She won't be alone. She has a housekeeper and relatives nearby."

  "That's good. I'd love some coffee, but they should start arriving, soon."

  "You stay right here in case they do. I'll get some coffee in take-out cups. We can drink it here," he said.

  Jeff was back in a few minutes with the coffee. By the time they had finished it, the first people from their group had arrived and she was too busy to be nervous.

  She introduced herself, glad they were wearing the name tags she had sent to Arlene to pass out to help her in identifying them for her and vice-versa. She helped them through the routine of filling out forms to enter Mexico and made sure they had passports in hand and not packed in their checked luggage. Then she steered them with their carry-on luggage down the correct concourse to the correct gate to the departure waiting area. Jeff was kept busy doing the same for others.

  Arlene and Jeff's father were among the last to arrive.

  Diane caught her breath as she watched Arlene approach, sleek in a ruffled white blouse and trim dark green suit which set off her red hair and fair skin to perfection.

  She's gorgeous, Diane thought enviously as she watched Jeff step forward with a big smile to help Arlene with her luggage. They made a handsome pair, his curly brown head next to her sleek red chignon. They exchanged polite greetings, then Jeff asked his father how Janet was.

  Diane could see no sign of antagonism in the affectionate arm he placed around his father's shoulders.

  "You remember Diane Foerman, Dad."

  "Nice to meet you again, Mr. Banning."

  "You're looking lovely, Diane."

  "You look very handsome yourself," Diane returned.

  He laughed heartily, clapped his arm around her slim shoulders and gave her a friendly hug.

  "I can see we'll get along fine," he said, ignoring Jeff's frown of disapproval. "You'll find I'm not nearly so proper and reserved as my son, here. His mother, rest her soul, used to say that Jeff was the older of the two of us!"

  "You two can visit on the plane, Dad," Jeff put in testily. "I've seated you together. But right now, let's see your entrance forms and passports, or we'll be missing our flight."

  "Of course, son. Arlene, you have those?" He turned to her and she produced them for Jeff to check.

  Diane checked their luggage and waved them down the concourse, then turned to the next group of late arrivals, a smartly dressed young couple. Jeff introduced them as Sue and Mark Errington, one of his dad's best programmers. Sue was tall, willowy and platinum blonde, Mark dark and handsome. They seemed nervous and apologized for being late.

  After checking their list to make sure everyone had arrived, Diane and Jeff followed them through the metal scanners and down the concourse. When they joined them at the departure gate, they handed each one their boarding passes.

  Everyone chatted in excited anticipation until at last a smartly uniformed woman stepped up to the microphone and called them to board the plane.

  Diane tucked her carry-on case under the seat ahead of her and settled down beside Mr. Banning with a sigh of relief.

  He turned and smiled at her. "Oh, there you are, Diane," he said. "It was nice of Jeff to arrange for us to sit together, wasn't it?"

  "Yes, Mr. Banning," she agreed, returning his smile politely, while thinking sourly that Jeff'd had reasons of his own. By doing so, he could place Arlene in the seat next to himself; she could see them a few seats ahead of them.

  "Call me Vince," he said. "By the end of the week, we'll all be really well acquainted, I'm sure. Jeff has told me so much about you already."

  She looked at him in su
rprise.

  "We do talk to each other, even if we don't see eye to eye on everything," he said dryly, guessing her thoughts.

  She had the grace to blush, wondering desperately what Jeff had told his father about her.

  "Buckle your seat belts, please," the stewardess said, walking by and checking each person for compliance.

  Diane buckled up, glad of the interruption, and soon they were off. She found Vince a friendly and interesting companion. He drew her out and soon they were talking as though they'd known each other for years. He even made her forget, for a while, that the curly brown head a few seats ahead of her was not interested in her at all, but in the sophisticated redhead beside him.

  Vince asked about her family, and she told him of her father's accident and how depressed it had made him. He asked her more questions and soon he had her smiling again, describing her father's hobbies, how he had gotten her interested in computers, and of the fun they'd had together with their first computer, trying out new programs from computer magazines, painstakingly typing them in, then trying to get them to work.

  "I always seemed to make a typing error or two and it seemed to take hours to find some little mistake or other," she laughed. "But Dad has lots of patience, and he would always stick with it until we found the error, and it worked. Computers have come a long way since then."

  "You get along with your father very well, then?"

  "Yes. Much better than with my mother, I'm afraid."

  She sighed. "We seem to be at odds quite often. Except when it comes to caring about my father. She loves him dearly, too."

  "I wish Jeff and I got along that well," Vince mused. "I thought maybe this trip would help. When he knew that I needed his help, he was more than ready and willing."

  "His help?" Diane asked, puzzled. Jeff had indicated Vince had insisted on this trip to help him, not the other way around. "Oh you mean with the computer project."

  "He told you about it?" Vince looked oddly angry.

  "Only that it was something he was working on for Banning Corporation. He's been very secretive and I've hardly seen him."

  "Yes, well, sorry about that. I hope this trip will make up for that. And I hope Jeff hasn't been too hard on you. He's been under a lot of pressure on this project, and I know he can be very testy, then. But I mustn't bore you with my business problems. What would you like to drink?" he asked as the stewardess stopped beside them with her cart. And after that he steered the conversation to other things, and would say no more.

  Soon they were ready to land in Phoenix and Jeff got up to announce the new gate number that their group was to go to for the transfer to the next plane. Diane stood at the gate, counting heads and making sure that everyone understood where they were to go.

  She noticed in dismay that one of the men had changed his name tag. He had crossed out "Christianson" and written in "Christensen" below it. The moment she had dreaded had come, her first goof and they hadn't even arrived! Was this was an indication of what the trip would be like? She remembered in dismay that Mr. Christensen was on the board of directors.

  Forcing her smile to remain in place until everyone had passed, Diane tried her cell phone, but had no signal. So she headed for the bank of telephones along one wall. The more she thought about it, the more she was sure that she had typed that name "Christensen" many times in the last few weeks. Was her memory playing tricks on her, not wanting to admit she had made a mistake? But if not, how had his name been spelled wrong on the name tag she had typed herself? She had to know if she had goofed. The cost of the long distance phone call would be worth it if she could only be sure it hadn't been her fault!

  Sally answered the phone on the second ring and Diane told her the problem.

  "Go to my office and find Banning Corporation's file. It's in the second file drawer down on the left side of my desk."

  Sally was back in a few minutes. "Look for the hard copy of their mailing list and also the letter Arlene sent me with the list of names and tell me how 'Christensen' is spelled there," she said.

  "You're right," Sally said. "I don't get it. Maybe you just typed it wrong that one time, you know how sometimes you can make mistakes when you're typing and thinking of something else..."

  But Diane knew that wasn't the case. "Thanks, Sally." She hung up, more baffled than before, and walked quickly down the concourse to catch up with the others. She knew she was over-reacting, but Jeff had been so touchy about every little thing lately! She was sure he hadn't acted that way when she had first met him. She was on edge herself through the rest of the flight. Jeff said nothing about it though she was sure he would have noticed. She had seen him talking to Harry Christensen at least twice.

  They watched the lovely bay take shape below them as the plane lost altitude preparing to land. She couldn't believe the difference between the sun-drenched scene below them and the stark winter scene they had left just a few hours before.

  "It's looks just like the pictures on your brochures!" Vince exclaimed in surprise.

  "Of course," she smiled. "How else would they get the pictures to put on the brochures?"

  "I guess," he returned, laughing with her at himself. "But I didn't expect it to be so...so bright and colorful."

  "That it is!" she agreed. "It's the tropical sun, I think. It's so strong, it brings out the colors in everything."

  "The water's so blue, almost the same color as the sky."

  "Oh, look, there's a sky-diver," she cried, pointing out the tiny speck hanging from a parachute over the beach.

  "For goodness sake! Isn't that dangerous?"

  "It's not a recommended activity," she agreed dryly. "You have to sign a form relieving them of any responsibility for your safety before they let you go up. But lots of people seem to enjoy doing it."

  "What if the wind blew you against those buildings?" he asked, watching the parachutist who did indeed look close to a building from this vantage point.

  "Hitting a brick wall wouldn't be pleasant," she agreed dryly.

  In a few minutes, they were deplaning outdoors in the sunshine. They carried their coats under their arms, the eighty-five degree air making them feel overdressed in moments. Walking across the tarmac, several people sent up a cheer, reveling in the change in atmosphere.

  Flowers were blooming against the building in profusion. It was such a thrill to see green grass and leaves and feel the sunshine after the fifteen below temperatures they had left early that morning.

  "Do you realize that that is a one hundred degree difference in temperature?" Vince marveled, mopping his brow in the sudden humidity.

  "Isn't it amazing? It's hard to believe. It's always a shock. I understand the climate differences in the world in my mind, but it's something entirely different to experience the change from one to the other physically."

  "Do you travel often?"

  "I used to with my parents. I always enjoyed it so much. That's the main reason I took this job, to be able to travel again. You haven't, have you?"

  "No. I've always been too busy with my business, or thought I was, anyway. Is it so obvious?"

  "Well, I guessed from your enjoyment and enthusiasm," she laughed. "It's too bad, but people who travel often sometimes lose that excitement."

  Their group was caught in the huge crowd lined up at the customs gates. She caught sight of Jeff up ahead, talking to a man wearing a purple badge to match the ones they'd put on their luggage, bearing the hotel logo. Jeff waved at her and as she caught up to him introduced the man as "Speedy Pedro" who would be their local contact man for the hotel and who was charged with problem solving for them.

  Soon they were herded into a special line for just their group and rushed on through, much to the envy of some of the others who had been waiting longer. Diane guessed some of their special treatment smelled of bribery, but was too happy not to have to wait to object. "Pedro" could do whatever was the local custom, she decided, feeling the heat in her business suit more than she cared
to admit.

  Pedro assured them that they did not have to wait for their luggage, his helpers would do all that and it would be waiting for them at their hotel. He quickly waved them outside to the row of vans he had waiting.

  They sped through the narrow streets which seemed to be twice as busy, since they were partly closed for repairs. They arrived at the beautifully landscaped new hotel, and were soon being welcomed with tall, frosty glasses of a rum drink called Pina Colada. It was delicious and refreshing, but too potent for Diane's taste.

  The pretty bronze-skinned girl sitting at the table in the side hallway of the hotel introduced herself as Lola and said she was to be their helper if they had any questions. A table had been set up for their headquarters in the hallway near the side entrance, and envelopes with each room number and the name of the occupants lay ready for them to hand out.

  It seemed hours later, but must have been much less, when everyone had disappeared up the elevators at last.

  She wrote the time and place for cocktails and dinner on the blackboard beside their table for anyone who might forget and come to their table for information while they were gone.

  Then she and Jeff picked up their own envelopes and hand-luggage and headed for their rooms. She was beginning to feel the rum taking effect and wanted only a little peace and quiet for a while.

  They found the correct bank of elevators for their rooms and ascended. Though their room numbers said the 1500's they were only on the fourth floor. Apparently that was because the hotel had been built in sections, and each section had been given the new numbers as though it were a new floor. To her dismay, she was just two doors down the hall from Jeff's room.

  Noting that she had two hours until the cocktail party, she dropped her hand luggage and locked her door, then stripped off her much too warm suit.

  The room was stuffy and smelled awful. She threw open the sliding glass doors and let in the sunshine and fresh air.

  She stood there drinking in the exotic view of palm trees and tropical flowers, and listening to the soothing sound of the waves crashing onto the beach.