Winging It

"Winging It" - Part VII BY: Pee Jay peejay@twmi.rr.com

A few months later, John had given up his apartment and moved in with Adam and Jim at the condo. He was reluctant to do it, as Jim would not accept money for rent, which made John all the more uncomfortable with the arrangement. John paid every bill he could get his hands on and Jim was grateful for that but telling John it wasn't necessary. John tried to pay the association dues too but Jim's parents had that covered.

Jim had started a relationship with Dave and the walls were beginning to close in at the condo. As large as it was, with Dave spending most of his time there; it was feeling more like a frat house than a home. Adam decided to take it up with John one day before they locked up for the day. He was getting tired of the scene.

"John, do you think we have enough money to remodel the upstairs?"

"Is the situation at the condo getting to you?"

"Yeah it is. It's more like Union Station these days with the four of us. And Dave, all he ever wants to watch on TV is that sci-fi station."

"I know. And there isn't much discussion about it since Jim likes that stuff too. I don't mind once in awhile but every day is a bit much."

"What do you think? Can we afford it?"

"Yeah, and I'm glad you brought it up. I didn't want to say anything but it's starting to bug me too and I wasn't sure how you felt about leaving the condo."

So the decision was taken. The second floor would be converted into living space for them; it would be their first place together. It was May and John had given his notice at work. His resignation was effective June 1 and he was a bundle of nerves and anticipation.

He was giving up the security of a paycheck for the unknown, or so it seemed to him. It was a big leap in his mind and his apprehension was stoked with the decision to spend thirty some thousand dollars on remodeling. He was having trouble sleeping; he would awake with visions of skid row, pan handling, and homelessness, he was driving himself insane. He wasn't managing the transition well, he was tired, haggard looking and not eating right, he was stressed out.

Soon after they bought the business, John had contacted the dean of the aviation school at the University in town and made a deal to bring additional student pilots to the business. The AFROTC (Air Force Reserve Officers Training Corp) program on campus was willing to pay for twenty-five hours of flight instruction to any junior or senior enrolled in AFROTC who wanted it. The program was designed to determine a student's interest as well as aptitude toward flying.

Adam did some price checking on the sly with the competition and determined they were below market with their pricing. After careful consideration, the two decided on a new fee schedule and put it in place. John was nervous about the decision; he didn't want to discourage any existing business. Adam was excited about the additional income, there were plenty of ways to spend it, and he could think of a couple off the top of his head.

Between the additional students and the growing charter business, they were busy all day, every day. That was a big change from not so long ago when newspapers were read with feet propped on the desk during business hours. The new web site was a boon to business as well. Student pilots could book their own time slots over the web. In addition, charter clients could to the same, Jim had done a good job in making the process straightforward and easy to understand, and the graphics were outstanding not to mention professional.

John and Adam had managed to squirrel away a respectable amount of money, John called it their love nest reserve, and Adam rolled his eyes calling John a twit or something like that. They were spending less than half on the remodel, which did little to ease John's mind.

John should have known better; after all, he was keeping the books now. He knew where to hide things and what he could get away with. He didn't have to worry about auditors, just the IRS; and Turner Felstow Aviation, Inc. was small potatoes as far as the IRS was concerned. The IRS had bigger problems than their little operation to worry about; he knew that.

Eventually, May 31 rolled around and found John putting his personal things in a cardboard box at his desk. The word had gotten around the office when he submitted his resignation. Everyone wanted to know where he was going, what he'd be doing and he soon tired of telling the story.

John took a few minutes in Will's office to say goodbye and thanked him for everything he had done. John was a little depressed to leave Will's tutelage and steady hand; he sincerely liked and respected him. He invited Will to come out for a free spin in the Aztec with his family and he said he would. They shook hands and agreed to stay in touch; John said he would call when the apartment was complete so Will could inspect it. They both smiled and shook hands. John preferred to say 'later' rather than 'goodbye'.

Kay Armstrong was hanging around John's desk at the end of the day. John was hoping to make his exit without further ado from her. She had turned into a pain in the ass as far as John was concerned; attractive yes, but a pain in the ass nonetheless.

"Can I come by the airport to see your business?" Kay asked.

"Sure, you know which one it is?"

"Yeah, it's Hughes Aviation, right?"

"That's the one. Would you like to learn to fly?"

"Maybe, I never thought about it."

"The first lesson is free but you have to agree to pay for another one to get it."

Kay smiled, "You must be the number one salesman there".

"Yeah, and the janitor, the bookkeeper, the plumber, the complaint department and everything else I don't feel like paying to have done."

"Maybe I'll come out Saturday."

"You do that," John said as he offered his hand to Kay saying, "Goodbye".

John left for the airport without looking back. He knew he would never again make his living in the field of accounting. If he were to leave his mark in the world, it would be in aviation with Adam by his side. Together they could make it work; no, they would make it work there was no other way. John knew if he was with Adam, nothing was impossible.

When John arrived at the airport, Adam was talking to the contractor. The contractor felt the job was complete and wanted final payment. Adam wasn't sure how to respond so he deferred to John. John told him they would walk through the job and inspect it before they paid and he agreed. With a pad of paper and a pen from the desk, John suggested they do it now. He thought the sooner the guy has his punch list done, the sooner we can move in.

The walk through was smooth. The list was mostly clean this, clean that, touch up here, touch up there nothing real significant. John twisted his arm to get him to clean the windows and told him he could pick up his check as soon as everything was completed. They all shook hands; the contractor went home and the guys waited for the burglar alarm contractor to finish the installation then left for home.

Back at the condo, Dave and Jim were getting dinner ready. John and Adam decided to order a pizza and have a couple beers. They sat down at the island and opened their bottles.

John said, "Well hon, that's it. From now on, we go to work together. You gonna get tired of me?"

"I might, I'll let you know when it happens."

John was too tired to pick up Adam's bantering, he let it go.

"We have to furnish the place now. That means spending more money."

"Aren't we using the furniture from your apartment?"

"Yeah, but it won't fill that place up. That's a big space up there. We need something for the windows and a stack washer/dryer unit for the closet in the bathroom."

"I can use the blank check mom gave me. Do you think it would be over five thousand?"

"Probably," John said.

He didn't like the idea of taking handouts from the Felstow's but the thought of spending more money was less palatable. He decided that Adam would eventually get it anyway being an only child so he quietly agreed setting his concerns aside. The thought of accepting something from old poker face was like admitting he needed him.

"When are you guys going to move in?" Jim asked.

"We can start anytime we want" Adam replied. "We'll probably start taking things over tomorrow when we go to work."

And they did. John had his furniture delivered from the storage company Friday. Adam had a woman come out and measure the windows and Thursday night they went to the store to make selections.

Adam insisted on the more expensive blinds and John tried in vain to talk him out of it. Adam reminded John that nothing was too good for their 'love nest' and John had to laugh, Adam knew how to play him and he loved it. They were planning on Saturday being their first night alone together in the new place.

Adam reminded John that there was still a bottle of champagne left from the signing. He said it would be available to break the place in right and John knew exactly what he had in mind. It made lil john jump.

Saturday morning they got an early start. They loaded Adams things into the pickup truck to take to work. They had boxed the small things up over the previous few days so it went quickly. Jim was helping and it was obvious he was reluctant to see the guys move out.

They had a lot of good times together and now it would be just Dave and Jim. Jim was on the quiet side if not a little misty eyed, he felt like he was losing something. The guys promised to come over often and have Jim and Dave over too. Adam invited them over in the afternoon to show them around the place and Jim accepted.

When they had Adam's things upstairs, John grabbed a hold of Adam, "Well here we are. Our first place together" and kissed Adam and let him go.

"And you didn't carry me over the threshold either."

"God, does it come easy for you?"

"If you think I'm going to bite on that one you're nuts."

Adam smiled; his plan was foiled. "I have something else you can bite on."

"Forget it, I don't want that cheesy weenie" John said and laughed. "Or maybe I do, I'll have to think about that one... I thought about it. I want it."

Adam put his arms around John's waist from behind and held him. The two stood there motionless and mute looking out the windows at the airport and savoring the moment. After a short time Adam said, "Babe are you losing weight?"

"Yeah, I think so. I had to start using the next notch on my belt. Come on, let's lay down for a few minutes I'm tired."

Within a couple minutes, John was out for the count, sawing logs loudly. Adam took a blanket from one of his boxes and covered him up. He closed the door behind him to let John catch up on some sleep. He had seen how the last few weeks wore on John. He felt for him but there was little he could do; John was over-thinking the situation again, he had to work it out for himself. He looked at his watch; it was only 9:00 am. He decided to go downstairs; his first student of the day would be there soon.

Larry was there and asked about John. When Adam explained, Larry said "Good, he's been looking bad lately" and it was true. John had literally worried himself sick over quitting his job and the remodel project.

Shortly after noon, the phone in the apartment upstairs rang and woke John up. He fumbled for the handset on the nightstand, pushed the on button, and said, "Hello".

"Hi John, its Jim. It sounds like I woke you up."

"Yeah, you did. But I'm glad, how's it going?"

"Good. Dave and I thought we would come over about five if that's okay."

"That's good timing. Adam should be done giving lessons by then. See ya then."

"Okay, bye" and he hung up.

John turned the phone off and went into the kitchen. Adam had made all the selections for the cabinets, counter top, floor and it looked great. It had a contemporary European flair with an quiet elegance. And the best part to John, it wasn't expensive as far as those kinds of goods go. He looked in the fridge and it was empty save the bottle of champagne. He put a sweater on and adjusted the AC higher before he went downstairs; he had a chill in spite of it being mid June.

At the desk, he opened the schedule up on the computer to see when Adam would finish for the day. He decided to check out the web site that Jim had recently completed. Jim had done the work free at home but the guys had to pay for the hosting services. 'It was classy' John thought, much better than Fischer Aviation their chief competitor on the airport. John made a mental note to take Jim and Dave out for dinner as a gesture of gratitude; it could have cost a hell of a lot more.

John was starving so he ordered lunch from a Chinese restaurant that delivered; he was too tired and cold to go out. He made the order large enough to accommodate Larry and Adam who were both due back soon.

Larry was first to return and asked John why it was so hot in there, and lowered the AC, 'it was June for Christ sake' he thought, 'and numb nuts is wearing a sweater'. John thought it was a little on the cool side and couldn't understand why he was complaining, he was too tired to protest he let it pass.

"Larry I'm going upstairs to lay down for awhile. Would you call me when the food gets here?"

It had all been too much for John, it was finally catching up with him.

"What did you order?"

"Chinese and I got enough for you and Adam too. Take the cash out of the drawer and put the receipt in there. Make a note of how much you tip. Okay?"

"Yeah sure. Are you okay?"

"No, I think I'm getting sick. I'm going to bed for awhile" and with that, he went upstairs to bed and passed out as soon as he hit the mattress.

When Adam returned, Larry was eating lunch at the desk talking to a pretty girl that stood at the counter. It was Kay Armstrong, she was asking about John. Adam was giving her the evil eye trying to figure out her motive; he was pretty sure he knew why she was there. She wasn't asking questions about flying.

Adam asked her how she knew John and Kay explained how they used to work together, she had a twinkle in her eye that Adam was beginning to despise, he recognized the glow and knew what it meant.

"So is John upstairs?" Adam wanted to know.

"Yeah, he went up a little while ago saying he wasn't feeling well."

Adam made for the stairs at once taking them two at a time.

Kay asked Larry who that guy was that just left; she was weak-kneed over Adam's good looks and sex appeal. Larry told her that was John's boyfriend and business partner, Adam. The shocked look that came over her face was enough to scare an infant to tears, she was completely blindsided, her mouth agape. When Larry saw the look on her face, he realized what he had done and regretted it. She obviously didn't have a clue about John's sexuality.

"His boyfriend?" was all that escaped her mouth.

Upstairs, Adam found John lying in bed with a blanket and comforter over him, the heat in the apartment was stifling making it hard to breathe. He sat on the side of the bed and asked John, "Babe is there anything I can do?" as he felt John's forehead. He was on fire, it felt like a blast furnace, and he was wearing a sweater. Adam thought, 'what the hell'.

"No, I think I have a bug, the flue maybe. I don't know. I get real hot then cold as ice."

"Did you eat?"

"No I'm not hungry now. I'll get some later."

"I'm going to get you something now. You have to eat." Adam went downstairs to get some food for John. He thought John had to be hungry, otherwise why would he order it in the first place?

He brought a couple containers upstairs and made John sit up in bed. As John ate, Adam told him about the girl from work downstairs and John furrowed his brow. He assured Adam there was never anything between them; she was just a pain in the ass at work, nothing more.

Adam could certainly understand the attraction, John was the most handsome thing he'd ever seen, probably ever would see for all he knew. Then he pictured his muscular ass with those dimples and thought 'you'd have to be dead not to be turned on by that' and he smiled.

"I have to get back downstairs. The next student will be here any minute," Adam said as he kissed his 'hot hunk of maleness' he thought silently then got up and left. He mused to himself 'he's hot even when he's sick, messed up hair and all'.

Kay left when Larry and Adam did, since John was feeling lousy upstairs they had to lock up. After a short time, John could hear the office phone ringing downstairs so he made his way to the desk to do what he could.

The rest of the afternoon dragged on for John but flew by for Larry and Adam; they had a full schedule. Saturdays and Sundays were like that, most of the student pilots worked during the week and took their lessons on the weekend.

At four o' clock, everyone was done for the day. Larry went home and John and Adam went upstairs.

"I'm going to get us some groceries," Adam said. "Will you be okay while I'm gone?"

John sat on the couch with a blanket around him and turned the TV on.

"Yeah, Jim and Dave will be here around five. I forgot to tell you earlier. Jim called around noon after you left."

"You want me to call him back and cancel?"

"No that's okay. I feel a little better now. Hon, will you get some juice while you're out? Grapefruit please."

"Sure, if you think of something else call me on the cell. I'm going now."

John tuned the TV to an easy listening station and stretched out on the couch for a nap.

Adam returned just as Dave and Jim were getting out of Jim's SUV. They helped Adam with the groceries, there was a lot to carry, they were starting from scratch. Adam led them to the side door and showed them where the doorbell was that rang upstairs. The side door was a new addition required by the building code for a fire escape.

John was sitting on the couch with a blanket around him watching TV when the three of them came upstairs.

"Are you crazy wrapping up in that blanket in the middle of June?" Jim said.

"Either that or I'm sick. I think I'm sick so no hugs or kisses for you guys. And I don't want to hear any complaining" John said smiling. "Come on in, what do you think of the place?"

"It's nice. I didn't expect it to be this big either," Dave said and Jim agreed with him.

"Don't you guys have air conditioning?"

"Yeah", Adam said and lowered the thermostat. "John hasn't been feeling well."

Adam gave them the tour, which didn't take long, there were only four rooms, but they were large rooms. The dining room and living room were one very large room; that functioned as a classroom before the conversion. Adam showed them the new wall safe behind a picture in the bathroom. Dave wanted to know the combination and Adam gave him a look as if to say 'yeah right'.

Adam pointed out that the window treatments weren't installed yet and the area rugs hadn't been bought. He told them when he receives another blank check from his mother they'll buy the rugs. It was a roundabout way of letting John know too, and avoiding an argument. John smiled at Adam's technique; he was getting to be rather smooth.

They all took a stool at the snack bar that demised the kitchen from the breakfast nook. Adam put a CD on the sound system and they chatted for some time.

Jim commented on the kitchen and John told him how Adam made all the selections down to the paint color, both of them were impressed.

Dave said the place had an art deco feel to it and reminded him of Miami Beach; everyone chuckled at the analogy. He said the radiused corners of the building made of glass block was very Miami Beach. The others had to take him at his word; they had never been there. He said the stucco exterior was another facet of the look and Adam told him the building was built in the 1950's; about the time John was born. John responded by sticking his tongue out at Adam.

"We'll have to buy a palm tree if we're going the Miami Beach route," John said.

"Actually that would look real good in the corner with an up light for night illumination," Adam said.

"It's true, the best decorators are gay," Jim said to Adam grinning.

Adam frowned, he was unsure how to take the comment. John was smiling at Adams dilemma as he tried to determine if it was a compliment or a jab.

"Since we're all here let's have a toast to the new place" Adam said.

He rose and grabbed the champagne from the fridge. He had to go downstairs and get some Styrofoam coffee cups because everything was still in boxes.

When he came back, he placed them on the counter in front of the group.

"John, are you sure he's gay? He's putting champagne in Styrofoam cups," Dave said.

Everyone laughed.

"I'm pretty sure he is. Last time I looked I didn't have a pussy."

"Oh yeah you do, it's a boy pussy. The best kind" Adam said with a grin.

Everyone got a charge out of that while John turned red.

"Get your pussy over here stud boy and receive your discipline," John said.

Adam came to John's side of the snack bar, kissed him on the head, and gave him a quick squeeze; John was all set and happy with that.

It was getting close to 7:00 and Adam wanted to know if anyone wanted pizza. John asked if they could order something different for a change but he was overruled so they ordered pizza.

Dave was standing at the windows overlooking the airport. A 737 landed and Dave remarked how cool it was to be able to watch it from the living room. Adam reminded him that when it took off it would be quite loud in the apartment as the building was at the lift-off end of the most frequently used runway. Fortunately, there was only a few commercial flights per day at the airport and less on the weekends.

John told Dave that this is how the poor people live and Adam rolled his eyes. He reminded John that they weren't exactly broke and the money was accumulating faster than it was going out. John pointed out the thirty some thousand dollars they spent and how long it would take to replace it.

"Damn it babe, why are you always so negative when it comes to money?"

"You can't have it if you spend it; and I don't get blank checks from home."

Adam was beginning to understand John's frugality and fiscal conservatism. 'Not being able to have it if you spend it' had a certain veracity to it, a simple truth in and of itself. 'Damn' Adam mused to himself, 'only an accountant could come up with something like that'. 'No, only John could come up with something like that' and he smiled at the notion. No wonder he loved that gorgeous hunk of manliness that made him bone up at the most inconvenient of times, he was...what was he anyway...he was John!

"What's so funny?" Jim wanted to know.

"I just picked up on Turnerism."

John excused himself to go lay down for a while and everyone expressed their wishes for a speedy recovery. He pulled the blanket around himself as he stood up and closed the bedroom door behind him. Adam thought about breaking-in the apartment the right way, it would have to wait.

Jim and Dave stayed for quite some time after the pizza was delivered chatting and joking. Adam hesitated to thank and compliment Jim on the web site for fear it would touch off a round of computer garble but decided he had to do it. Adam was right. Dave and Jim launched into a discussion that Adam could only nod his head at from time to time. It was evident that Jim and Dave were well matched. Between the computer thing and sci-fi, it seemed the two thought with one head. Adam wondered if that was good or not, having too much in common.

Adam feigned a yawn hoping the guys would pick up on it and consider leaving; he was bored to death with the conversation. He was as lost as Jim would be if they were talking about flying.

"Well guys, I'm going to hit the sack and check on John."

"We should be going," Dave said. "Thanks for the pizza and you guys have a real nice place here."

"Yeah," Jim added. "Thanks, we'll have to do it again sometime soon."

Adam escorted them downstairs to the side door and thanked them for dropping by. When he closed the door behind them, he sighed in relief. It wasn't that he didn't like them; he did, Jim was his roommate and friend. He didn't realize how wrapped up in the computer world Jim was because they never talked about it. And they couldn't talk about it because Adam's knowledge was very basic like John's.

Adam turned off the lights and went to the windows overlooking the airport to marvel at the view. The airport had a very different appearance at night. The runway and taxiway lights were so pretty with their different colors, the beacon on the tower that spun beckoning VFR pilots, the flashing strobe lights on the aircraft as they taxied, the sequential strobes of the ILS; the scenario could be a poster if anyone cared, it was interesting and beautiful at the same time; he understood it all.

Monday morning found the two of them in bed when they heard Larry unlock the front doors. He knocked on the door that led upstairs to check for some sign of life from above; there was none. He called upstairs from the office phone and got the answering machine. At the tone he left a message, "Get your queer asses out of the fart sack", and hung up. He was proud of himself evidenced by the grin on his face.

He started the coffee pot then booted up the computer to check the schedule. He had a charter in an hour with some real estate executives. He hated that kind of charter it was always boring flying around looking at buildings or vacant property. However, he reasoned, at least I get to log airtime in the Aztec.

Adam came downstairs barefoot wearing jeans and a T-shirt, his hair sticking out in all directions, "Is the coffee ready yet?"

"No and you better go back upstairs you're going to scare someone."

"Very funny, don't you have a charter run this morning?"

"Yeah, in an hour."

"You better get the Aztec out of the hangar then."

"Yeah, yeah where's John?"

"Taking a shower. He'll be down in a few minutes."

When the coffee was ready, Adam poured two and went back upstairs with the morning paper under his arm. He was glad it was Monday; it was a much slower pace than the weekends, usually no students came in until the afternoon. He sat at the snack bar in the kitchen sipping his coffee and reading the paper. The phone rang and Adam hollered at Larry downstairs, "What do you want?" The doors at the top and bottom of the stairs were open.

"It's not me" came back at him.

Adam reached for the cordless on the counter top and answered, "Hello".

"Hi honey its mom."

"Oh hi mom, how are you?"

"Good. How are you and John?"

"John was sick over the weekend but he's fine now."

"That's nice to hear. The reason I'm calling is that I would like to come visit you. I want to see the new apartment."

"Are you bringing dad?"

"Not this time. He's in France negotiating prices for next year."

Adam was relieved to hear that. He wasn't up to another run-in with the old man so soon.

"Okay, when were you thinking of making the trip?"

"This weekend."

"Weekends are a bad time mom. We're really busy now and weekends are the worst days."

John was out of the shower and in the kitchen listening to the conversation. He whispered in Adam's ear to tell her to bring her checkbook and Adam chuckled into the phone. John patted at Adam's hair trying to make it stay down but it didn't do any good.

"How about Wednesday and I'll leave Friday morning?"

Adam told her it would be fine and they hung up. John quizzed Adam about her plans and he told him. John said they would have to get the place put together in the next couple days and mentioned that the blinds were being installed tomorrow. That having been said, John went downstairs and Adam went for a shower.

It was a quiet day compared to Saturday and Sunday and a welcome respite for the three of them. At four in the afternoon, Larry and Adam were done for the day. Larry went home early and John and Adam hung out in the office waiting for the clock to strike five.

"Hon, I think we may have made a mistake. Do you realize we will never get away from work as long as we live here?"

"Yeah, it's not forever though. And for now, I really like it."

"So do I, mostly because it's ours. After last weekend, it sank in. It doesn't matter upstairs or downstairs; we're always at work. I feel like a shop keeper in colonial times."

"You need a partial."

"I don't need any dental work, I was just there."

"A partial lobotomy, you think too much."

To be continued. Thank you Nels for a good and useful suggestion.