Charlie and Clyde

Fisher grinned, "The cables were the first contractor's fault, not yours. We'll eat that expense."

Charlie and I walked out of the building and looked at each other. Charlie said, "Clyde, we have a check for $150,000 in my pocket. That's a huge amount of money for us, even after we settle up with Skinny and Amy."

I grinned, "We're a good team."

She nodded and then came into my arms and kissed me. "No work for the next three days, and sex until we're too sore to do it any more."

We followed the game plan for the next three days. We tried to make up for all the opportunities we missed during our two month project.

We went back to work and quickly had some small projects, which brought in some money but did not create any stressful deadlines.

I walked into the apartment one afternoon and immediately saw that Charlie was upset.

"What's wrong?"

"My mother called. She wants me to come to dinner tomorrow night."

I knew the problem. "Is it going to be as bad as I think?"

She looked at me with sad eyes approaching utter despair. "Not if you go with me."

The glove was thrown down. Not aggressively, but in a way that said, "If you love me, you'll come with me."

I grinned, "Should I bring an M16, or will a frag grenade be enough?"

I should have brought sleeping gas. From the moment we walked in it was no-holds-barred combat between Charlie and her dad. Her mom and I were innocent witnesses. We staggered through an awkward cocktail hour and then sat down to dinner. Her mom kept trying to make light conversation, but it was a wasted effort.

Her dad said, "Have you given up trying to start a company and decided to find a suitable husband?"

Charlie in her innocent, subtle way answered, "We've got a great fucking start-up company that's bringing in big bucks."

Her dad's face turned red and he countered, "Who would hire you?"

I knew it was coming.

Charlie smirked, "Your company, for one. You called us in to solve a database problem. Clyde and I looked at it and we passed. Your documentation was terrible and it's so political there, any solution would be criticized. Your company wasn't good enough for us."

His face flushed with embarrassment and then anger. "Who are you to tell me my company isn't doing a good job?"

Charlie spat, "You called us; we didn't call you."

I looked at Charlie's mom. Her face was ashen and I'm sure she regretted ever trying to get these two hard heads to reconcile.

Charlie's dad changed tactics. "Why don't you find a good man and get married and have kids?"

"I've found my man and when we get married and have kids is none of your business."

He looked at me and visibly winced.

I thought, "It can't get worse than this."

I was wrong. A shattered glass thrown on the floor broke the tense silence. Charlie's mom looked at her husband and said, "How dare you? This is our only daughter. She's started her own business and maybe found a man she loves. If you say another nasty word, you may find yourself living alone with all your money."

We passed on dessert. Neither Charlie nor her dad said another word. She hugged her mom when we left, but she was steaming.

I opened the door to the car for her and she screamed, "I can open my own fucking door... why didn't you open your mouth and help me?"

I was stunned. It was the first harsh word that Charlie had ever used against me; I didn't know what to say. My first thought was one of anger, "Charlie knows I can't stand up to people."

But then another, more troubling thought, struck me, "If I won't stand up for the only person I've ever loved, what kind of man am I?"

I started the car and seconds later she slid next to me. Our legs were touching, but neither of us spoke a word as we headed home. Charlie started crying softly and then let everything out as she wailed. She was in terrible pain, and other than clutch her shoulder in sympathy, there was nothing I could do.

When we got to the apartment she took a shower and we went to bed. The next morning she refused to discuss the previous night; it was like it never happened.

The next few days we were polite with each other, and then the awkwardness created by the unfortunate dinner ended.

We had just finished a three-day project and were home early. We opened a bottle of wine and relaxed. Charlie looked at me and blushed. "I'm a real ass sometimes, Clyde. Why do you put up with me?"

"Because I love you. I let you down at your father's house and I'm ashamed that I didn't protect the only person I've ever loved."

She stared at me. "If you love me you'll take me into the bedroom and eat me and then fuck me. And after we take a shower I'll suck you until there is nothing left in you. And then we'll go to sleep in each other's arms because we love each other."

We did all those things and when we awoke, she looked at me and timidly smiled. "I love you, Clyde; sometimes I'm a complete jerk, but you've got to know that I love you."

The next few days the business phone was ringing and we had plenty of short-term projects. We were now actually turning down business. We had decided we would never book a contract when we knew that other commitments would cause us to miss a promised deadline.

Three weeks went by and we got a call from Fisher. He wanted to meet with us. We both feared that the system was messing up, but when we arrived, he was all smiles.

Fisher brought us into the conference room. After his secretary gave us soft drinks, he said, "Your system exceeds our wildest projection, and the two guys you recommended are doing a great job.

"We had a meeting at corporate headquarters last week. We want to install your system in the other three regions. We're willing to pay you for all expenses, and after each region is installed, we'll pay you $25,000 per region."

"How about hardware?" Charlie asked.

"We pay for the hardware. You have your people install it, and again any expenses for that we pay too."

Charlie looked at me; she wanted my thoughts before we were too committed to the project.

I thought for a second and said, "The hardware, once it arrives, will take three or four days to install. You'll have to put up the crew during the installation. Then Charlie and I will have to be around for a week. First we will test and then we'll have to be there when you go live. And Amy will have to be come for three days or so to bring your phone operators up to our standard. Is that what you'll agree to?"

Fisher said, "Yes, that's exactly what we want."

Charlie added, "And we won't be staying at Motel 6 either."

Fisher laughed, "No Charlie. We can afford to put you up in style."

It really was a sweetheart deal. We called Skinny and worked over the hardware part of the deal. It was obvious that to have all four regions with identical hardware and software was the ideal. Fortunately we designed our system for much bigger volumes than any region would have for many years, so the hardware to be ordered was a clone of our system.

The first region to be installed would be where corporate headquarters were located. The hardware was ordered and Skinny and his crew installed it. Charlie and I arrived at the beginning of the second week and started installing and testing the programs. Amy flew in on the third day to train the phone operators.

The hotel that they put us in was fantastic. It was a subsidiary of the Four Seasons and everything was of excellent quality. Charlie and I were overwhelmed.

Amy was similarly impressed. She asked, "Can you make this a permanent job for me?"

The testing went perfectly, and with time on our hands we discussed, with the corporate staff, how they would keep all four regions with the same system. In other words, if a change was made in one region, all regions would make the same change. The discussion was lively since everyone wanted to be independent, but it was decided that there had to be a central control unit.

Charlie and I gave them our best advice and we accepted the $25,000 check and went home.

The third installation was in the western region and it went just as smoothly. Skinny was getting into these corporate expense accounts, and so was Amy. Charlie and I were getting into collecting the $25,000 check at the end of each visit.

Our last installation was for the southeast region, headquartered in Tampa. A limo driver met Charlie and me at the airport and took us to the hotel south of the city. It was obvious that the company was in love with us because the hotel turned out to be a very prestigious resort hotel on the waterfront. Our mini-suite with sitting area and wet bar overlooked the ocean.

We had a quick dinner and went to bed after the long trip. After the first day of program installation Charlie and I decided to explore the resort before having dinner. She took my hand and we walked everywhere. There were three swimming pools, a large gym, a spa for sun tanning and massage, and many tennis courts.

We turned down a corridor and walked to the end and found a door labeled "Chapel."

Charlie looked at me and then tried the door. It was unlocked. We walked into a small room that could hold maybe thirty people. At the front was a decorative table or altar, and behind that was a full wall of windows that looked over the ocean. We explored the room and discovered that the wall of windows was really a sliding wall, and if the weather was nice, the large balcony that was actually over the breaking waves would be the wedding ceremony spot.

We held hands and looked at the waves as the sun came down. When the sun was just barely visible, streaks of red, orange and yellow were beautiful to see.

I thought, "What a perfect setting."

My mind went back over the months that I had known Charlie; the fun that we had together; the crazy crash projects we had gotten ourselves into; the sex. She was my best friend; the truth was she was my only real friend. I asked myself, "Isn't it obvious what you should do?"

I was scared as I turned to Charlie who was watching the sunset. "Charlie?"

She looked at me.

"Let's get married here, this weekend?"

"Are you serious?"

"I love you," I replied. "I've never been more serious. I know I haven't got real class and that I let people intimidate me, but I love..."

She came into my arms, kissing me hard. "Yes, Clyde...absolutely yes."

Our love making that night was aggressive with no restraints. Twice more during the night we woke up and had fantastic sex—we were in love.

Charlie went into the office early in the morning. I stayed behind to talk to the resort about the chapel, the paperwork involved, including the Florida marriage license, along with other details.

The resort had gone through this many times. We reserved the chapel, the paperwork was easy and we booked a small private room for the dinner after the ceremony. Charlie and I had talked the night before. Amy would be here teaching the telephone operators. We wanted her to be the bridesmaid and Bill to be my best man. We called them at one in the morning. After hearing what the call was about, they enthusiastically agreed.

Charlie and I went through the second day of testing, but it was a formality; the system was working in three regions and it was solid. When we got back to the resort Charlie looked at me sheepishly and said, "I owe it to my mom to at least tell her we're getting married. I've got to make the call."

I left the room and she joined me at the bar. She was subdued. "Mom wished us the very best."

I didn't ask about her dad, and she never brought him up.

The next day the testing was still going perfectly. Amy had arrived and was preparing to give her seminar to the telephone operators. I talked to the manager and said since the testing was going great, we wanted to move the going live date up one day to Friday. That way we would have all day to be on site for any problems.

When he found out that it would help our wedding plans for Saturday night, he readily agreed.

Amy was done early and she and Charlie went shopping for clothes for the wedding. I agreed to meet them back at the resort. I had just entered our room when the phone rang. I was sure it was Charlie.

It wasn't. A man's voice asked, "Could I speak to Charlie, please?"

"She's not here right now. She should be back in..."

"Is this Clyde?" he interrupted.

"Yes."

"I'm Charlie's father; we met when you two came to the house for dinner...the dinner that I made an ass out of myself."

I didn't answer.

He continued, "Charlie is my only child. I've treated her terrible over the years—it was my entire fault. Now she is going to marry the man she loves; I want to be at the wedding."

As soon as I knew who he was, I was upset and determined not to be intimidated.

I answered him, "No. I'm not going to take the chance that you'll ruin what should be the happiest day in Charlie's life. I saw how you treated her at that dinner. I'm ashamed that I let you do that to her, but it will never happen again."

There was a stunned silence. He was surprised that I had attacked him so aggressively; I was quiet for exactly the same reason.

For the next thirty minutes we talked on the phone. He tried to convince me that, after all the years of torment he had put her through, he wanted to reconcile with Charlie.

However, his problem wasn't my problem. I had to determine if what he proposed would be good for Charlie. Finally, but with some trepidation, I proposed a compromise. He agreed.

...

Amy finished her seminar the next day, and we finished our high-volume test successfully. On Friday, we went live. I didn't expect any problems, but with computers and systems you never know. Charlie, Amy and I were at the company until four o'clock. Fortunately, things went perfectly, so we headed to the resort.

When we arrived at the resort, I told Charlie that I would meet her in our room after I bought a few things at the gift shop. As the elevator door closed, I went to the house phone and asked for room 368. When Charlie's father answered I said, "She just went to our room."

One hour later I knocked on the door of our room, unlocked it and walked in. I looked at Charlie, sitting on the couch. I could see she had been crying, but she gave me a happy grin.

Her father got up from his chair and walked over to me. "I've been a real ass, Clyde. I apologize for my actions the first time we met, and for the last hour I've been begging Charlie to forgive me for my stupidity over the years. She's our only child and I don't want to lose her."

I looked at Charlie's mom sitting on the couch next to her. She gave me a grin of relief and happiness.

Charlie came over and kissed me. She whispered, "Thank you."

I felt enormously relieved that the meeting with her parents had gone well—I had made the right decision.

We asked them to go do dinner with us and Bill and Amy, but they politely refused. Her dad said, "You four have a great dinner. My wife and I will have dinner alone, and I'll be apologizing to her for my years of being an ass. We'll see you just before the wedding; I'll be giving away Charlie."

The dinner that night was fun. Charlie was happy and kept saying she couldn't believe her father could change so much.

The next morning we were really busy. Amy pointed out that we hadn't bought wedding rings, so Charlie and I rushed off to the jewelry store. Amy was going to buy some flowers, check the chapel for the music that they would play, and make sure the photographer would be there.

The wedding was great. The weather was nice so her father escorted Charlie through the chapel to the outside deck and gave her to me in front of the minister. Charlie kissed her father gently and then turned to face me. The service was short, but beautiful. The sun was setting as the minister pronounced us man and wife. It was obvious that the photographer was getting some great pictures as brilliant streaks of reds and oranges covered the sky behind us and the sun sank into the distant water.

Right after the wedding we went to the private dining room. It was a fairly large room for only six people, but the single large round table was set up perfectly. We ordered cocktails and as they arrived, Bill pointed to a large decorative box on a side table.

"That arrived today on overnight delivery."

Charlie opened the box and it contained a very large and ornate Waterford cut glass bowl; even I knew that it was a very expensive present.

She opened the card that came with the box and read it out loud, "To the perfect couple who showed me things that I had forgotten. We wish you both much happiness." It was signed Marilyn and Ted Olsen.

Charlie looked at me and asked, "How did he know about the wedding?"

Charlie's dad answered, "Ted called me two weeks ago and said how much he admired you and Clyde. He invited us to have dinner at his club the day that you called your mom.

"We accepted and met them that night. After hearing him praise both of you for the first thirty minutes I started to think back about our friendship many years ago, and why it ended—because two ego-centric men forgot some of the basics of happiness. I made my first of many apologies that night.

"When Charlie called her mom to tell her about the wedding, I called Olsen to give him the news—I knew he would want to know.

Her father reached for a small box that was on his dinner chair and handed it to Charlie. "This is from your mom and me."

Charlie opened the box. It contained keys, a title, and a picture of a dark green Lexus mini-van. "It's parked next to your other car in the apartment's garage."

I was overwhelmed. I shook his hand and said, "Thank you. It's a fantastic gift."

Charlie kissed both her parents.

Bill said, "Our present is sitting on your beat-up couch in the apartment."

We sat down at the dinner table. The meal was fantastic and the conversation was lively. Charlie was laughing and teasing everyone. She was having fun. A small wedding cake completed the meal.

We were talking after dessert when I noticed that Charlie and her dad had moved to a couch on the other side of the room and were talking quietly to each other. All of us knew not to disturb them. Twenty minutes later they stood and she hugged him for several long minutes. She turned towards us and I could see the happiness on her face.

Her father stood there and then took a handkerchief out of his pocket to dry his tears. When he pulled himself together, he rejoined us.

All of us went to the resort's night club. After Charlie and I danced with everyone, we said goodnight and agreed to meet in the morning for breakfast.

That night our lovemaking was slow and tender. When we finally consummated our marriage and we lay in each other's arms, we promised our complete love for each other. The week had been busy; the wedding preparation had been fun but stressful. We were tired; we slept.

The next morning we met for breakfast. Bill had arranged to ship the Olsen's gift to our apartment. The four of them had ordered an airport limo that would leave in two hours.

Charlie and I were packed and checked out. The suitcases were in the rental car. We had decided to spend our honeymoon in Key West. We were told it was a goofy little town that was perfect for young couples.

We met at the front of the resort. I pulled the car up and opened the door for Charlie. The last minute kisses and good-byes took place and she got in the car. As soon as I started driving, she moved to the center of the seat and put her hand on my thigh and rested her head on my shoulder.

No words were said; we would have plenty of time for talking. This was the first day of our married life together. There would be bumps ahead—both in our personal lives and in our business—but whatever those bumps were, we would face them together.