Airstream Dreams

"That would be fine with me, Merlin. I'm not looking for a national deal. I thought I could call on the autobody shops, parts dealers, and paint shops to sell it locally."

"I think we can find a way to make that work for you, Carl. I'll let you know when I've got the new formula ready and we can test it the way we did before."

"That's great, Merlin. And thanks a lot. I'll keep what you've told me to myself and look forward to the new Loving Hands," I said, holding my hand out to shake with a smiling Merlin Wiseman.

Chapter 5 Things have a way of working out

I'm not sure why I felt so good after leaving Merlin and Felicity Wiseman's home that evening. Maybe because I got a lot of questions answered about what I'd been experiencing since Loving Hands had come into my life. But then again, it left one huge question that needed to be answered. What did Karen feel about me if it wasn't for the smell of that cleaner? I knew I was going to have to find out for sure, because she was working her way into my heart and I would have a hard time of it if she wasn't serious. I'd just have to be patient until Merlin had the new formula and I could find out for certain.

I went back to my daily routine of work on the weekdays, and being with Karen on the weekends. I wished that I could have her with me everyday, but until I knew for sure that our feelings for each other weren't all messed up by that goop I put on my hands, I wouldn't be able to put my mind at ease.

Time passed by and my life didn't change very much. Fall was dry and cool, but nothing like Sheboygan. I'd still watch the Packers on TV whenever I could and the weather up there looked pretty good. The boys were doing well in school and their mother was looking after them properly. I spoke to Sharise on the phone a couple of times and thanked her for doing a good job with them. She wasn't exactly pleased to hear from me, but her threats and bad feelings seemed to have died down some.

Along about Thanksgiving, I had a call from Merlin and he wanted to see me. We agreed to meet at his place on a Wednesday night at eight o'clock. I had never told anyone, including Karen, about my first meeting with Merlin at his house. I'd sworn to keep that information to myself and I was duty bound to keep my oath. I had a hunch what the meeting might be about, so I was anxious to get up there and see what he had in mind.

"Good to see you again, Carl," Felicity said as she ushered me into the house.

"You too, Felicity. You keeping well I hope?"

"Just fine thank you," she smiled. "Merlin is in his usual place at the dining room table. He has a nice big office with lots of space, but most of the time, he likes to sit out here and do his thinking."

"He's probably keeping an eye on you, Felicity," I kidded.

"Hello, Carl. Sit down here," Merlin said, pointing to a chair across from his. "I suppose you're wondering why I called you here. I think you'll be interested in this."

He reached down below the table and picked up a small jar of a blue colored substance. It looked a lot like Loving Hands, but it was blue. He unscrewed the top and handed the jar to me.

"This is the new formula, Carl. Can you smell anything different?" he asked.

"Yeah," I said, taking a sniff. "It smells different ... nothing like the yellow stuff."

"Yes, and I think you'll find that it doesn't have the same effect on females that the first batch did. I'd like you to be the first tester if you're willing."

"Sure. It's the least I can do for you telling some of your secrets. By the way, nobody knows I've been here at all."

"I'm pleased to hear that, Carl. I know you'll keep a confidence, so I'm not worried."

"You think this is still going to do a good job on my hands?"

"Yes, I do, Carl. I think it's going to be just as good as the original except for the aroma."

"Well then, I guess I'd better get to testing it tomorrow," I said.

Then I had another thought.

"Say Merlin, the boys are bound to notice I'm not using the regular stuff. What should I tell them if they ask?"

"Well, if you were in the marketing department of my old employer, you'd be saying it was a new, improved version of the original," he laughed.

"So what part is the improved?" I asked, laughing along with him.

"It doesn't smell funny," he said, laughing even harder.

I couldn't help it. I was laughing along with him.

When we got past the laughing, we got down to business.

"Carl, I want you to use this for a week and then report back to me. A phone call will do. If it works as well as I think it will, I'll go into production immediately and we can try and replace all the existing original material with our new batch. It will be like a product recall, except they will get a full jar instead of what's left in their first jar."

"That's more than fair. Can you afford that?"

"Oh yes. I didn't do this to make money. As I told you, I'm already well off, so I just want to remove any possible problem that might crop up from the original formula."

"Well, if it's as good a cleaner as the first batch, I shouldn't have any problem swapping the new for the old. I can probably handle that myself if you'd like. Keep you from having to be too visible around the place."

"Well, that's very thoughtful of you Carl. I'd appreciate it. Would you please return the old formula you pick up back to me? I'd like to dispose of it safely."

"No problem."

The week it took me to test it just proved Merlin knew what he was doing. There wasn't anything about the new goop that was less effective at getting out the grime and dirt and it didn't smell funny. He had another winner.

Ten days after receiving the first jar, I had collected up all the jars of Loving Hands that had been originally sold to the boys and traded them for a big jar of the new formula.

I drove back to his home and once again I was welcomed by Felicity.

"Where would Merlin like me to take these jars, Felicity?"

"He said he'd meet you at the first barn and you can unload them there."

I drove up to the big barn and Merlin was standing out front waiting for me.

"How many jars did you collect, Carl?" he asked as we began to put them on pallets.

"Sixty-three, Merlin. That should be all of them."

Merlin was stroking his chin and looked a bit concerned.

"You thinking that's not all of them?" I asked him.

"I was pretty sure we shipped sixty-four," he said.

"Oh. Well ... I wonder where the other one could be?" I said, scratching my head. I was pretty sure I'd collected all the jars at the shop, so who else would have one. Then it dawned on me.

"I know where the last one is. Karen, my girlfriend ... her uncle has it. I'll look after that tomorrow if that's okay."

"That will be fine, Carl. You've done a great job collecting up all the 'evidence.'"

"Yeah. The more I think about it, the more I can see what could go wrong. Nobody objected to the trade, though, so I guess no one twigged that the cleaner was the reason for their hot sex lives."

"There may be an after-effect, Carl," Merlin said. "It's possible those who have reconnected with their spouse or girlfriend may find that even without the aroma they may have an improved personal life. I hope it works out that way."

"Me too. I found my current girlfriend thanks to Loving Hands, and I'm hoping she'll still be there now that I've switched to the new formula."

"If she is, then you know that you didn't need any help after you got to know each other."

I nodded. "I'm kind of counting on that."

Friday night, I was nervous. I didn't know what to expect from Karen. All I could do was keep my fingers crossed and hope for the best. When I pulled up in front of her apartment building, she was waiting for me on the sidewalk. I opened the door for her and she climbed quickly in, giving me a nice, warm kiss before she sat in the co-pilot's seat.

I had a different plan for tonight. I wanted to take her for a first-class dinner, then to a nice lounge that had soft music and a small dance floor. I planned to talk to her about us. About our future ... if we had one. I figured I might as well know now and not wait to see if the cleaner was the only magnet I had.

Now Karen is a real bright young lady. She figured out right away that something was different. We were sharing a dessert after our main course and not say much at that point.

"Carl, I have a feeling there's something you want to talk about. Am I right?"

"Uhhm ... yeah ... I guess I do." It wasn't starting very well. I wasn't very ready for her question.

"Karen ... you and I ... we've been going out for a while now. I think we get along really well and I hope you feel the same way."

"Go on," she said. I thought I saw just the slightest hint of a smile, but it was only for a fraction of a second.

"Well ... I'm trying to find a way to say this ... without being too clumsy. You've become real important to me. I mean, I think about you all the time. I was wondering though, how you felt about me? I mean, do you think about me too?"

She looked pretty serious as she listened to my question. She didn't answer right away and my heart sank, thinking maybe she was trying to find a way to let me down easy.

"Carl, for the last few years I didn't think I would ever find a man I could trust or love. I just didn't think I could after the disaster of my first marriage. Then you came along and things happened so fast that they made my head spin. I've never in my life gone to bed with a man the first time I met him. Hell, we weren't even on a date.

"But somewhere along the way, you turned out to be special. You gave me time and space to get to know you. You treated me like a lady and never once did you make me think it was an act. I've done things with you that I never thought I'd ever do, but somehow, they weren't dirty or wrong.

"So here's what I'm trying to say," she said, still looking dead serious. "I'm hoping you're going to tell me that you're falling in love with me. I hope that's it because I've already fallen in love with you."

Well, that wasn't what I expected, but I guess I couldn't help myself. I let out a great big "Yahoo!" and the whole restaurant turned around to look at me.

"Karen, I do love you. I'm past falling in love. I'm already there, just like you. You just made me the happiest guy in the country."

We stood up and I took her in my arms in kissed her as deeply as I knew how. I don't think I'd ever felt this good ... ever. When I looked around, I could see people were clapping and some were whistling. Looks like they approved too.

"Karen ... will you marry me?" There ... I'd said the four words I never thought I'd say again.

"Yes, I will, Carl. I will marry you," she smiled and then kissed me again.

I hadn't intended to make this all public, but that's how it turned out. After things settled down, I paid the check and we went out to the Airstream. It was cold and dark, but I was warm and happy, and I could tell Karen felt the same.

"Carl, let's just go back to your place and spend the night together. I don't need to go dancing, and I don't need a drink. I've got what I want right here with me and I just want to spend some time with you."

Well if that didn't put a smile on a fellow's face, nothing would. I started up the big turbo diesel and headed for my pad. If there was one problem with the Airstream it was that you couldn't get close to your passenger when you were driving. We held hands, but that was about as close as we got. I had to wait a whole fifteen minutes to get back and hook up the power and water connections. After that, we could spend the night any way we wanted to. I had an idea of what Karen wanted, so I knew I would be doing fine.

I bought Karen a ring that she really liked the next week. I called Merlin to let him know that I had hit the jackpot and Karen had agreed to be my wife. He and Felicity were very happy for us and wanted me to bring her out to meet them. We agreed to do that the next weekend.

We decided to hold off on the wedding until next summer. We would take our vacations and drive the Airstream to Sheboygan so that the boys could be there for the wedding. It would just be a civil ceremony, but it would mean we were properly married. We were going to have a reception when we got back to Hermiston.

Over the winter, I got started making some calls on the autobody and paint shops, showing them the new, improved Loving Hands. Except, we didn't call it that any more. We had a new name for our product: Merlin's Magic. Just as I predicted, it sold like hot cakes. Karen pitched right in and was helping me with the sales, and keeping records, and even doing the odd delivery. We were selling the product in medium size containers so that we could keep the price around ten dollars. That left us a very nice profit and a real incentive to make our little venture go.

I was thinking of that saying from that Kevin Costner movie, Field of Dreams: "If you build it they will come." Well, change "build" to "make" and "come" to "buy" and you had the story of our success. Merlin's Magic did everything we said it would except make women horny. Even then, we had fellows tell us that with their clean, soft hands, their ladies were really grateful. That is, reeeeally grateful.

When we got ready the next summer to head out for Wisconsin on our vacation/honeymoon, Karen and I had pretty much decided we could give up our old jobs and just go about distributing and selling the cleaner. Its fame was beginning to spread and we had inquiries from all over on how they could get some. We talked to Merlin about it and he suggested we be appointed a national agent, and we could set up distributors and sub-distributors ourselves.

Well, once again, Karen and I talked it over and decided that this was the opportunity of a lifetime and we shouldn't let it go by. So ... we didn't. Karen is the brains of the outfit, since she keeps all the records and agreements straight. She is really good at that, and she figures by the end of the year, we will have made nearly a quarter of a million dollars in profit. I can only shake my head at numbers like that after less than a year in business.

None of that would be possible if Merlin Wiseman wasn't able to produce, but somehow, he can, and he does, and keeps on doing it as we grow. He said he'll probably have to expand because his bulk industrial business is getting bigger too. He buys some kind of synthetic lanolin by the tanker truck load. He'd buy it by the railcar if there was a spur nearby. I'm thinking that might be a good investment for us.

Karen and I are planning to build a house not far from the Wiseman's. Not some big monster, just a nice three bedroom rancher with a pool and a big garage for my Airstream. I traded the old truck in on a nearly-new 350 Heavy Duty Silverado, and the little Yamaha will be retired for a Can Am Commander X that both Karen and I can run around our property. I'm putting a lot of miles on the Airstream since Karen and I use it for our sales trips.

Jerry and Bonnie are still going strong and Karen thinks they'll be getting married in the not-too-distant future. Their attraction didn't wear down when Jerry changed to the new formula and I guess Merlin was right. Once two people got together that were right for each other, the extra help wasn't needed.

My boys will have their college education looked after thanks to our good fortune. I want them to have all the things that I wasn't able to have, but I want them to work for and appreciate those things as well. We'll be getting back together in a few weeks for the wedding and I'm really looking forward to seeing them. I hope they feel the same way about Karen and me.

Of course, going back to Sheboygan brought up the problem of back alimony that I owed Sharise. As usual, Karen and I talked about it and we came up with a plan. I wrote six checks totaling the outstanding amount and post-dated them two months apart. Karen said that if the court saw we were making an honest attempt to catch up, they wouldn't give us a hard time. On the other hand, we had to be careful not to talk about our new venture with Merlin's Magic. If Sharise heard about that, she'd be down to the courthouse quick like a bunny looking to get her alimony increased.

Karen's not able to have children either, so we'll be a twosome as we grow old together. Hell, she's only thirty-three it turns out, while I'm not exactly over the hill going on thirty-seven. Having a family young has its advantages. We'll have enough money put away for Larry's college education at any school he chooses. Chuck has already decided to work for the grocery chain in their office in New Jersey before they give him a management opportunity at one of their stores.

I don't think I ever imagined how my life would change when I cut out of Wisconsin and headed west. I keep thinking my luck mostly changed when I tried Loving Hands, but when I think about it, I'm not sure it didn't change when I traded for my Airstream. I doesn't really matter I guess, as long I've got Karen, my boys, and the Airstream.

END

Edited by ErikThread and DaveT with my thanks for their thoroughness and helpful suggestions. Any errors are mine.