The Elusive California Dream, Part 2

   The following story is fictional and is provided solely for the enjoyment
of its readers. While there are references to actual establishments such as
several major corporations, other smaller companies, restaurants and
locations, the characters within the story are entirely fictional. Any
resemblance to a real person either living or dead is completely coincidental.
This fictional account does contain adult language and themes. If such
language and themes offend you, please read no further. This story is
copyrighted by AZ-MAN, all rights reserved. Permission is granted to reproduce
it in any form and for any purpose as long as this notice is reproduced and no
financial remuneration is received, directly or indirectly, by the person
reproducing it.
   
   Also, the author would like to thank SSTORYMAN for all his help and words
of encouragement along the way. You're great, man.
   
   THE ELUSIVE CALIFORNIA DREAM - Part 2 of 9
   
   3. Setting Strategies 
   
   John was still very disoriented when he recognized that a phone was ringing
close to his head. For a moment, he thought he was in bed at home but this
phone's ring was not familiar. It had a computer-generated jingle to it.
Florida, that's right, I'm still here in Florida. He looked at the vast, empty
bed around him. He quickly summoned a vision of Jenni lying next to him...her
blond hair tousled from the night's sleep. He could picture her sitting up in
bed with the covers over her bare breasts, smoking her first cigarette of the
day. God, this could've actually happened, he lamented.
   The phone would not quit ringing. John glanced at the mini-alarm clock on
the nightstand - it said 6:05 AM. Who the hell's calling me this early? He
finally reached for the receiver.
   "Hello?" he spoke with intentional grogginess to remind the caller of the
inappropriate hour.
   "John, good morning, Jack Borgman here."
   "Yeah, hi Jack. What's up? What time is it? Am I late?" John knew the time.
He was trying to subtly remind Jack that he was early.
   "No, no, nothing like that. I just wanted to let you know our meeting's off
for today. We're done."
   This surprised John. "Done? Is the fact-finding over? Is Gaylor
satisfied?"
   "No, Peter called my room last night. Actually, he left a message saying
that since the Navy contingent was so useless, it didn't make sense to
continue today. He recommended that we cancel and I agreed. I called him at
home just after I got his message."
   John was now slightly irritated -- first, that Jack had made the decision
to cancel before consulting him and secondly, that they couldn't wrap this
thing up before heading home. John was under pressure from Ilex, mainly Al and
Conrad to get closure on this big government deal that he was working on.
Having the multi-million dollar program on the Ilex books was part of Al's
strategy to make the Initial Public Offering (IPO) of stock as soon as
possible. "You know Jack, we are so close on this. We could be back here next
week and have this whole thing negotiated and put to bed if we could just wrap
up fact-finding today." Then John added, "At least you could've asked me what
I thought before talking to Peter." He regretted the last part.
   "Yeah, well, you weren't exactly available last night," Jack shot back with
his own irritation starting to show. "Randy and I are heading back to Cedar
(short for Cedar Rapids, Iowa - Collins' headquarters) on an earlier flight.
We're taking the hotel shuttle so we don't need a ride. I'll call you on
Monday."
   Before John could answer, Jack had hung up. Jack was clearly snubbing him,
John suspected. Well, I DID ignore them last night, then I DID run off with
two women. As he thought about it, he liked the sound of that despite Jack. He
didn't see JACK going back to the hotel with TWO stewardesses. John laughed to
himself. He wasn't sure why he made that comparison. Probably some male
competition thing though Jack was the last person he needed to compete with on
the female front. Jack was 53, bald, married and all business.
   John looked around his hotel room. "Now what?" he said aloud. He frowned at
the prospect of heading back to San Francisco without finishing his mission.
He had promised Conrad that they'd have this thing wrapped up by the end of
February, only 10 days away. Out of sheer desperation, John got an idea. He
picked up the phone and left a voice mail at Peter Gaylor's office at Sikorsky
and asked him to call him at the hotel room when he got in.
   It was 7:45 AM when John got his return call from Peter. "Sorry to cancel
on you guys. It's just that these Navy pilots don't understand your technical
position. It's useless to continue until they get their engineers down here.
To tell you the truth John, I don't understand your team's approach to the
mission computer interface either."
   Here was the daylight John was looking for. Peter understood the Collins /
Ilex approach but also knew that part of the design was overkill and adding
unnecessary hardware cost to the system. Peter only pretended not to
understand for the benefit of the Navy. "Okay Peter, I think I can help here.
If we can delete the C-5 circuit card from the Collins box, will that settle
the fact-finding?"
   Peter was surprised but recognized what John was offering. "Can you do
that? Are you clear with Jack and Randy?"
   John paused, took a deep breath but did not allow Peter to hear it over the
phone. "Yeah, we discussed it", he lied. "If we de-scope the C-5, can you
close this thing with the Navy?"
   Peter paused to think. "I believe I can sell that. It'll mean, what, about
$10K per shipset and $200,000 nonrecurring engineering?" He had the figures
right at his fingertips.
   "Yes, we'll reduce that much. It's one of the line items in the initial
quote." John knew he was WAY out on a limb now. Collins might have agreed to
this reduction, but certainly not without being consulted.
   "Okay John. I think I can sell that. Let me call you back after I get a
chance to talk to the Navy."
   A pit settled in John's stomach. He had just created a huge potential mess.
Collins'll be so mad, they won't be able to see straight. No, I can handle
them...I'll just reason with them...we were getting greedy anyway. 
   No, I'm in big trouble. John was tempted to call Peter back but he was too
motivated by the prospect of being this close to done. Ilex would forgo $10K
of a $500,000 shipset, which was peanuts. He was prepared to give it up from
the beginning. It was the $200,000 worth of Collins engineering that he had
just negotiated away on their behalf was what scared him. Jack would be
pissed.
   
   The Fort Lauderdale - Hollywood Airport terminal was jammed with tourists
heading to and from their cruise ships ten miles away at Port Everglades.
Despite Delta Airlines flying eleven widebody aircraft in and out of here
daily, the blueheads filled every seat this time of year.
   John was cool though. He had gotten his upgrade to first class over the
phone from his hotel despite changing his flight at the last minute. Being a
Platinum Medallion frequent flyer has its advantages, he thought as he
negotiated the long line at the security checkpoint. He was already assured
one of the best seats on the plane.
   John toyed with the idea of at least leaving a voice mail for Jack at the
bank of payphones by his departure gate to prepare him for the surprise but
noticed his flight was boarding. No time, gotta get on while there's still bag
space in the overheads, he reasoned. Maybe I'll call his office on the
AirFone.
   The big Lockheed-1011 was still practically empty when John hoisted his
carry-on bag into the overhead bin. Just as he was about ready to settle into
his seat, he casually glanced aft towards the tail of the aircraft. All the
way at the back where the aisle ended, he thought he could see Jenni. She was
in her cute Delta navy-blue skirt and white blouse. Her hair was arranged
loosely pretty much like last night. In fact, that's what caught John's eye.
His heart begin to momentarily race faster and he felt his stomach tighten. He
hadn't really thought of the possibility of seeing her again. Now, here he
was, confronted with the option to speak with her and exchange phone numbers
(or whatever people do that want to engage in extra-marital affairs). Or, he
could just smile if she noticed him and let it go at that. After all, he was
headed home to Jill and the children. I can't be setting up a date with a gal
that I'll probably never see again anyway.
   John tried to forget Jenni as he stared blankly out the window while the
airliner prepared for takeoff. He closed his eyes but all he could see was
Jenni sitting with him last night at the table in the hotel bar. He clearly
remembered her soft laugh, her very slight but sweet southern drawl and the
way she tipped her head back during her lovely exhales of smoke. In his very
presence, she was getting noticeably better at smoking. John had to admit that
being able to practically get in on the ground floor with a woman just
learning to smoke was quite the turn on for him. He fantasized about teaching
her new techniques, sharing a cigarette (in bed), feeding her his smoke on
exhales and vice versa. It was all very erotic. He got especially excited
thinking about going through the addiction process with her. John knew that
Jenni couldn't possibly be addicted yet, and he wanted to be with her as her
cravings developed. He would want to talk about it with her as she yearned for
a cigarette, and be there to watch her smoke once she was able to have one.
I've got to speak to her again. I'm not going to just smile and ignore her. 
   Somewhere in mid-flight between Lauderdale and Atlanta, John finally got up
from his seat and walked back to see her. The flight attendants were between
services and Jenni was in the mid-galley in the coach section talking with
Tina. John stuck his head in from the aisle, smiled and said, "Hi! Remember
me?"
   He expected Jenni to look surprised to see him or at least act pleasant.
She did neither. She was embarrassed. "Hi yourself," she answered in an odd
tone. Tina just stared at him.
   "I didn't expect to see you again so soon. This is really a coincidence. I
just switched my flights this morning," John announced, trying to sound cheery
but now feeling somewhat foolish.
   "I didn't expect to see you again, period," Jenni retorted. She offered a
wry smile.
   What's she so pissed about? She acts like we made love last night and then
I ditched her. "Yeah, well, amazing what turns life takes. I noticed you when
I got onboard. Just thought I'd say hi." John's face felt flushed. He was
turning slightly red. He knew he was intruding and not being made to feel
welcome. "Well, hi...and bye." He turned to leave. Tina continued her stare at
him.
   Jenni uttered an inaudible, "Bye," as Tina turned her stare on her.
   
   John felt the airliner slow to begin its descent for landing. He was almost
in a daze. His ego couldn't handle what had just happened. He couldn't really
even figure out what he'd done wrong. Maybe I scared her with my talk about
smoking. Maybe she thinks I'm twisted. No, no, she didn't appear that way.
Quite the contrary...she smoked more as she got more comfortable with me. Then
there was the kiss. God, that was fantastic! She practically threw herself at
me... Then it hit him. Oh, no. She thinks I snubbed her. She's embarrassed.
Maybe she noticed I'm married. John glanced down at his wedding ring. I
should've taken it off.
   With his eyes barely closed, John was keenly aware of someone now standing
next to his seat. He opened them. It was Jenni standing in front of him
smiling, only her smile was more benign this time. She touched him on the
shoulder and motioned him to come forward. John rose immediately and followed
her to the front of the plane. They were standing in the forward galley next
to the cockpit door. Jenni looked embarrassed again but she was still smiling.
John concentrated on her full lips. He imagined them compressed around one of
his Benson and Hedges Menthol cigarettes as she took a long puff. She was
talking to him now and he was just beginning to comprehend.
   "....so it was probably just as well," she finished. 
   Oh, her soft voice sounded so good to him. "I'm sorry, what?" he asked.
   "John, I've thought about last night. You did the right thing...I can
respect that. I don't normally act that way." (Ah don't no-mally act that
way).
   "I just love your accent." He smiled back.
   Jenni kept smiling and slowly batted her lashes. "Look, I understand what
you did." She lowered her voice, "I was ready to go off to bed with you last
night then you threw me a curve when you walked away. You were right, I was
wrong. That's all."
   "I wasn't right." (Yes I was). "I had to take several cold showers once I
got back to my room," he kidded. They both laughed.
   Just then, one of the other flight attendants came over the PA system
reminding passengers to take their seats and fasten their seat belts.
"...we'll be landing shortly". Jenni looked at John with an awkward smile not
knowing what else to say. John reached into his wallet and took out one of his
business cards. He handed it to Jenni and pointed to his email address printed
across the bottom. "You have a PC?" he asked.
   She nodded.
   "Write me...I'll answer. We can stay in touch. I'd really like to see you
again. Honest." I'd really like to see you smoke again, honest, was what he
was thinking.
   Jenni kept her smile but didn't say anything, as she pondered his proposal.
On one hand, getting involved in a long distance relationship was not what she
wanted. But on the other hand, it would be safe and she could end it if
necessary. John was having the same thought regarding 'safe'. "I really don't
fancy getting into a long distance email romance...you know, the kind they
make movies about."
   Who said anything about romance? He smiled. "Think of it as a friendship,
we can just chat about....you, know, stuff. By the way, do you still have
those cigarettes I gave you?"
   Jenni smiled playfully and hesitated before speaking. "Yes." She looked
down but continued to smile feigning embarrassment.
   She looked so sweet and innocent to him. "Have you smoked any since you
were with me last night?" He returned her smile, enjoying steering the
conversation back towards smoking.
   "No. But I've thought about it," she added.
   "Good...excellent." After he spoke, he just stood there admiring her and
getting hard thinking about her smoking again.
   Activity around the cabin was increasing as people took their seats in
preparation for landing. John could see Tina motioning for Jenni to come back
to the rear of the plane. Just before Jenni turned to leave, she looked around
to make sure no one could see them, then she reached up and gave John a quick
kiss on the lips. It was more of a brush actually. But before he could react,
she was halfway down the aircraft's long aisle headed for her flight attendant
jump seat.
   John was stunned but unbelievably happy. He stood in the forward galley a
moment longer just grinning to himself shaking his head. "My, my...."
   He had to make a quick connection from Atlanta back to San Francisco so
when he exited the plane, he knew he wouldn't get to speak to her again. She
was practically at the rear of the L-1011 blocked by several hundred exiting
passengers. Oh well... Once out of the gate area, he hit the moving escalator
down towards the airport's automated subway system.
   
   
   4. Girl Talk
   
   Jenni and Tina had several hours to kill in the airport before continuing
on to LaGuardia for the continuation of their workday. Atlanta was home base
for their crew and they would return back from New York on a final leg tonight
before their day ended.
   "Let's head over to the A-Lounge," Tina said as they pulled their rolling
baggage behind them in the vast concourse.
   "Sure, okay." Jenni knew Tina needed to smoke and figured that's what
they'd do until their next flight. The A-Lounge was a rest area for Delta's
flight crews and it sat on the second floor of Concourse A next to the Crown
Room. There was a smoking area as well as a place to purchase food and coffee
from vending machines.
   Tina carried over two coffees in Styrofoam cups and set them on the small
end table between their two chairs. She then took out a fresh pack of Marlboro
Lights 100s from her purse and opened it. After taking out a cigarette for
herself she offered the pack to Jenni. Jenni hesitated. Tina went ahead and
lit her cigarette pulling hard and then inhaling. She maintained eye contact
with Jenni the entire time. Then without removing the long white Marlboro from
her lips, she started another long drag and inhaled deeply. Smoke was
beginning to envelop both of them very quickly.
   "Come on Jen...smoke with me." Tina begged with a beguiling smile on her
face. She now held her cigarette between her fingers with her wrist cocked.
"We've only got about an hour here." Smoke mixed with her words even though
she had exhaled a great deal just seconds before.
   Tina had the look and style of a pack-and-a-half-a-day smoker. She was 31,
three years older than Jenni, and had been smoking since she was sixteen. For
a long time Tina had worked hard to interest Jenni in smoking and she finally
got her to first try it a few weeks ago. As a result of Tina's constant
nagging, Jenni now occasionally joined her for a cigarette when they were on
the overnight layovers, and seemed to enjoy smoking the few times she'd done
it. However, she smoked neither between flights nor any other time while
working. 
   Tina was determined to change that. She wanted company. Hardly any of the
Delta flight attendants smoked since the airports (and airplanes) had gone
virtually smoke-free in recent years. Tina could remember when she was first
hired by the airlines back in '88 and actually was allowed to smoke in the aft
galley after completing the cabin service. Those were the days, she told
Jenni. All the smokers rode in the back (in the smoking section) and you could
easily sit and flirt with the men and smoke on the long, cross-country
flights.
   Jenni remembered this story as she stared at Tina's cigarettes sitting on
the table in front of her. Her mind flashed back to her first cigarette with
Tina several weeks ago. It had almost been too easy. They had been on a
'girl's night out' with some other flight attendants from work and Tina had
smoked all evening. One of the other gals smoked with her but not Jenni. Their
smoking had enticed her but she never asked to try -- it was just too
intimidating. When the two of them arrived back at Tina's (where Jenni had
left her car), Tina asked her inside. That was when Jenni finally admitted to
Tina that her smoking had always intrigued her and that it looked fun. Tina
wasted no time lighting a cigarette and handing it to Jenni.
   "No, I don't want that...what are you doing?" she had said.
   "Nonsense, it's easy. I'll teach you."
   "No Tina, really. I can't."
   "Why not?"
   "I just can't picture putting it..." she looked down at the cigarette in
Tina's hand, "in my mouth and taking a puff."
   "It's really no big deal, Jen." Then she got an idea. "Okay. Come over to
the couch with me and get comfortable." 
   Jenni hesitated. 
   "Come on," she said a little more forcefully. "I'll show you something
that's even more fun than 'putting it in your mouth'."
   Jenni had no idea what Tina was talking about but acquiesced. As she got
comfortable on the sofa, Tina plopped next to her and giggled.
   "This'll be fun." She explained, "I'm going to exhale some of my smoke into
you. Don't be afraid, it's really not nearly as strong as inhaling your own
puff."
   "Oh my gosh. You mean I'm actually going to inhale?"
   "Of course you are. That's what smoking's all about. Here, let me show
you." Tina directed Jenni's face to a position only about 12 inches from hers.
The girls looked into each other's eyes as Tina started a long puff. About
mid-puff, Tina realized that she had drawn in too much smoke. So, instead of
giving Jenni any, she showed her a text-book snap inhale and sent the smoke
deep into her chest.
   Jenni watched the dense cloud of smoke in Tina's mouth go pop and got
scared. Tina surprised her.
   With smoke resting in her lungs, she spoke, "This isn't for you. There's
too much...just watch this time." Tina let out a long, slow release of smoke
just out of Jenni's reach. She sighed after her third exhale to show Jenni the
pleasure she was experiencing. "Now it's your turn. Are you ready?"
   Jenni nodded her head nervously and maintained eye contact.
   Tina took about a three-second puff and quickly inhaled showing no smoke
this time. She moved about an inch from Jenni's lips and began a controlled
exhale concentrating on not stopping until all the smoke had left her body.
   To her surprise, Jenni received the smoke just as instructed. Jenni
remembered thinking, if I wasn't a little drunk, I'd never be doing this, as
the smoke entered her virgin lungs. When Tina was done feeding, Jenni
continued to breathe in not quite sure if she should stop or not. This sent
the smoke deeper into her chest than Tina had anticipated. She rested on the
couch with the smoke swirling inside. 
   The next thing she heard was Tina saying, "Uh Jen, you may want to breathe
out now."
   "Oh, yeah, sorry." Jenni pursed her lips as she'd seen Tina do and exhaled.
A thin line of smoke left her body as a smile crept across her face. "Wow.
That was...cool. It was warm and it tasted like...certainly not like it
smells...it was sweeter somehow. Can we try again?"
   Tina was overjoyed. She and Jenni shared the entire cigarette this way
until Jenni agreed to try one herself. She had a little more difficulty on her
own though. She had to get used to inhaling after puffing herself. Tina was a
good coach and felt Jenni performed admirably for her first time...she even
said so. "Alright Jen! You're a smoker now!" although she knew the remark was
entirely premature. All she wanted was a smoking partner on her flight crew
and she felt a little encouragement couldn't hurt. There was no guilt. And she
did have to admit, there was a certain satisfaction in getting Jenni to
finally smoke. Now I just need to get her addicted, she thought, if I really
am to succeed...
   
   Jenni started to reach out for Tina's cigarettes sitting on the table in
the A-Lounge as her memory of that first time slowly faded. It had been
pleasurable but she still didn't fully understand Tina's motives. Tina looked
at her inquisitively. "I just remembered, I've got a pack of my own," Jenni
shyly admitted.
   Tina's look turned to surprise. "What?"
   "Yeah, that guy...John, left these with me last night." She produced the
opened pack of Benson and Hedges Menthol Lights from her purse. After placing
one between her lips, she used Tina's lighter to get it going. As usual, Jenni
inhaled delicately after a very short puff.
   "What did you say to him up front just before we landed?" Tina asked
exhaling another very long puff.
   "Nothing much. Just that I had a good time dancing with him last night, you
know, polite stuff."
   "No, you guys were talking more seriously than that, I could tell. You like
him, don't you?" Tina smiled knowingly, sipping her coffee while exhaling
smoke through her nose.
   Jenni grinned but denied it. "He did give me his business card. He told me
to write him using my computer."
   Tina changed her tack. "He gave you those cigarettes? Did you smoke with
him?"
   Jenni took a short puff and exhaled. Very little smoke came out. "Yes. And
you know what? I really like these. I think it's the menthol or something."
   "How can you tell you like these?" Tina asked, gesturing at Jenni's pack on
the table.
   "What do you mean, how can I tell?"
   Tina saw her opportunity and took full advantage of it. "Well, first off,
you can't taste anything the way you're inhaling. You need to send the smoke
deeper into your chest and relax your exhales. Remember what I told you when
you first started?"
   Jenni smiled and looked down for a moment. She had just been thinking of
her first inhale several weeks ago with Tina. Despite the pleasure, it had
scared her. She felt she was doing something to harm her body. But it seemed
her body accepted the smoke quite well actually. In fact, Jenni quickly
decided she liked inhaling but resolved to do it only very delicately. She
still felt deference to all the anti-smoking propaganda she'd received
throughout her teen and young adult years.
   "Let me remind you how it's done. Just watch me," Tina spoke.
   She had just lit her second cigarette and was eager to take a long puff
anyway. Tina raised the long white Marlboro Light to her lips and started a
drag that lasted five full seconds. The cigarette angled down in her mouth as
her cheeks hollowed in creating a vacuum that drew in a maximum amount of
smoke. As she removed it, she opened her mouth to show Jenni the huge creamy
ball of smoke she had just taken in. Then, in less than a second, it was sent
to her lungs. Tina showed Jenni that she relished the feeling of letting the
smoke rest deep inside her and waited another five seconds before starting the
exhale. 
   Jenni wondered where the smoke had gone before Tina slowly began her
exhale, re-inhale process. Tina let her smoke out very gently in bursts from
both her nose and mouth. It took about five exhales before she could not see
anymore of Tina's smoke. 
   "Remember?" Tina finally asked as contentment radiated from her face. 
   Jenni took the cue. She had been experimenting with longer puffs last night
in John's presence but had not even come close to doing what Tina had just
demonstrated. Slowly she raised her B&H Menthol to her lips. She took about a
three-second puff and mirrored Tina's inhale revealing a decent amount of
smoke before sending it to her chest. It was during her Tina-like exhale that
she took full notice of the cool menthol sensation. It washed over her throat
and sinuses and felt wonderful. Each time she breathed out smoke, the menthol
was there to add its cooling effect. This was nice, she thought so she tried
it again before the nicotine had a chance to act on her not-yet-dependant
system. After a second long puff, Jenni was floating. Tina noticed and was
saying something to her but Jenni couldn't quite pay attention. Deciding to
wait a bit after breathing out all of her smoke, she finally spoke in her soft
southern accent, "Well, I've never experienced anything like THAT before."
(Whel, Ah've neveh expeh-ienced anyth-ang like TH-AT befo-ah.) She was smiling
like a schoolgirl that had just gotten an 'A' on her homework.
   Tina was impressed. "Once you're addicted like me, you'll be doing it that
way all the time. Tina gently put her hand down on Jenni's thigh. "It's fun,
huh?"
   "Addicted? Oh, I don't plan on getting addicted," Jenni rapidly shot back.
"I'll just smoke every now and then." Somehow, she knew those words sounded
false. Smoking WAS fun. And she wanted to continue to do it.
   "Believe me, girl, You WILL get addicted. But the cool thing is, you won't
care. You'll WANT to get addicted. If you're like me, you'll feel gratified
that your body is letting you smoke and asking for more all the time. All
you're doing is allowing the indulgence it seeks. I couldn't quit smoking now
if I wanted to." As if to demonstrate, Tina took a four plus four second
double pump on her Marlboro and sent the entire mass of smoke deep into her
lungs. She talked between exhales. "Once you start sending the smoke into your
chest like you just did, and like I'm doing now, you'll get hooked, no
question. It's just a matter of time." Tina paused for a moment and looked
deeply and sincerely into Jenni's eyes. She spoke softer this time. "It's okay
though. Smoking is wonderful...and it'll change your life, you'll see..."
   Jenni decided Tina was making sense. She wanted to believe she was already
feeling her body crave the intoxicating experience that smoking offered. She
took another long puff of her own and closed her eyes during the inhale. As
the rich smoke swirled in her lungs, she realized that she was probably
advancing herself to the next level. So what? As the menthol caressed and
cooled her insides, she knew that this was something she'd want to do again
and again.
   "He's married, you know," Tina spoke matter-of-factly in a tone that was
almost reproachful.
   Jenni interrupted her exhale and spoke, "I know...I saw his ring." She was
surprised at Tina's quick change of subject.
   "Did you talk about it with him?"
   "God, no. I just met him...why bring that up?"
   "Trust me," Tina said rather haughtily. "Did he seem bothered by your
smoking?"
   "What do you mean? He was smoking himself." Jenni seemed puzzled.
   "Yeah, but did he say anything to you about it? Did you discuss smoking at
any point during the evening?"
   Jenni knew the answer to that. She distinctly remembered John saying how
sexy she looked, especially while sitting at the table smoking. That was when
she decided she wanted to go to bed with him. However, Jenni certainly could
not relate this to Tina -- not just yet. "Yeah, we talked about it a little."
She was starting to get afraid that Tina knew something that she didn't.
   "Yeah, I thought so," Tina said letting her words drift out slowly.
   "What do you mean, Tina?" Jenni was trying to sound abrupt, maybe a little
challenging.
   Tina quickly softened yet remained instructive. "Jenni, listen to me. Some
men like it when women smoke. They like to watch. They're drawn in by it."
   This was news to Jenni. She tried to assimilate the meaning. Something did
seem plausible in Tina's statement but it sounded too bizarre to take at face
value. "How do you know?"
   "Experience. Sometime I'll share a story with you but for now you need to
decide if you're going to email this guy like he wants or just let him go."
   Jenni took another three-second puff on her waning B&H and held the smoke
in her chest. She smiled softly and said, "I think I'd like to write to him,"
The smoke mixed with her words giving her a very veteran smoker appearance.
   "Well, my advice to you is, if you're going to get involved with him, you
need to find out if his wife smokes."
   "Why?"
   "Because, silly...she's the competition." Tina giggled softly and
knowingly.
   Jenni just stared back at her.

Previous part | Next part