{empath} "A Birthday Wish Come True" ( M/F oral rom ) [3/4]

Copyright 1997, by Empath

WARNING: 
This narrative contains subject matter that has been deemed 
unfit for the perusal of those under the age of majority. A 
good rule of thumb to follow is if you are unable to vote where 
you live, don't take the risk of getting caught reading this. 
(That also covers the less.'enlightened' of the world's 
governments.)

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The couple walked to the entrance arm-in-arm, her head 
resting against his shoulder and the side of his head leaning 
onto the top of hers. Both squinted as the couple stepped into 
the bright Nebraska sunlight.

It was a clear, sunny day with only a few small 'cotton-
ball' clouds spread across the pale cyan sky. A chilly breeze 
blew across their faces.

He guided her towards a particular car in the lot - an 
anonymous, burgundy two-door sedan. She was lightly surprised 
at him separating from her and making his way to the right side 
of the car.

"What, your vow that I'd do all the driving was sincere?" 

"Well, partly that - it was in jest - but one: you know the 
roads and traffic patterns around here better than I," he 
declared, ticking off points on his fingers, "and two: I figure 
you should drive your car."

"Huh?"

"I mean it. You complained that that old Citation didn't 
handle the winter too well - check the registration slip in the 
visor. You wouldn't BELIEVE all the hassle a foreign national 
has to go through to buy and license a car for a third 
party...without their knowledge!" His dimples deepened as his 
smile was increased. Nadine stared at the piece of paper in her 
hands as the realization seeped into her consciousness.

"You bought this NEW car for me! How can you afford it?" 
Mikel opened his door and got into the passenger seat. "Well, 
my love, I know you well enough that you won't do anything until 
I answer, so I'll tell you a little bit of it: remember what I 
said about work terms, how I didn't need to do one if I found a 
job?"

"You got work already? You just finished school!" She 
lifted her legs into the car and closed the door.

"Ah-ah; that must wait for polite dinner conversation; and 
DON'T bother threatening me, Nadine. You know how much I love 
my little surprises - just humor me, please." The man leaned 
across and pecked her softly on the cheek. She grabbed his head 
and increased the intensity of their kiss by several grades.

"So I just fucked a phone repairman who can somehow afford 
to take time off and give his girlfriend a new car."

"Telecommunications technician, actually; but no - I'm 
working as a Cobol programmer like I trained and I'm well-paid 
for it. Oh, and before you say I'm totally loopy, remember that 
I'm *supposed* to be in my line of work!" His grin threatened 
to split his head in two.

"FINE, fine, fine; I'm getting hungry so I guess I should 
just give up and drive us to the restaurant." She deliberately 
looked around, her gaze finishing its journey on his face. "How 
do I start my new automobile?"

He reached into his pocket, eliciting a sly smirk from his 
paramour, and produced a single key with the manufacturer's logo 
on the base. She started up, turned the heater on full and 
pulled up to the road. "Which way?"

"Get onto highway 41 and - to quote a famous pioneer of 
your people's - "Go west young woman, go west!"

"But that leads out of town!"

"So?"

"The only thing on that road is Clay, and that's *miles* 
away."

"So?"

"All riiight," she consented, looking vaguely hurt at being 
kept out of the secret. They sat in silence as the car tried to 
forge ahead of the weak noon sun, with Mikel keeping his hand on 
her near thigh and brushing her slightly every now and again, 
attempting to apologize to her in a non-verbal way.

After a few minutes, he straightened up, and announced, the 
turning's not far now - on your left and you won't miss the 
track."

She stared at him as if he'd just sprouted horns but 
returned her attention to the road as they started to mount a 
small ridge.

Nadine found and easily took the turn-off from the road; there 
was no fence or sign, and the track was just two tracks in an 
otherwise featureless snowy field.

"Now it's just over this rise..."

She slowed to ease through the snow more safely, and when 
they got close enough the woman's eyes lit up like beacons.

A picnic. There was a second car just up ahead in this 
secluded river gully, and there was a man moving around the site 
Mikel must have chosen for them to eat their first meal together 
in the open air. A windbreak had been erected around a large 
ground sheet, and there were a couple of coolers and a camp 
stove to one side.

"Just pull next to the other car to let Mitchell out," he 
requested nonchalantly, trying to suppress a smile at her 
amazement.

"This must've taken a lot of effort," she managed to say as 
she parked.

"Not THAT much - I went over a topographic map of the area 
back home: since there's not enough trees to use for privacy, I 
decided to use the land itself - this small valley. The added 
effect of the low hill between here and the road helps, too."

"And our 'waiter'? How does he figure on our solitude?"

"Oh, he's just from the catering company in Hastings - I'd 
have done all this myself, but I needed someone to hang around 
and watch everything. He'll be leaving now that we're here."

And sure enough, the tall man started walking towards the 
couple as they exited the car. "Thanks for all your help; you 
didn't have to do this!" Mikel declared as he shook hands rather 
pointedly with the caterer. "All in the cause of romance, Mr. 
Torsson!" He then looked at his palm and started with surprise. 

"I can't take this-"

"You already have - and don't say you wouldn't have earned 
that much with your employers; I hope they don't get too mad." 

"I'll plead car trouble; dead battery maybe. Thank you and 
my best wishes to the both of you."

"Right. Drive carefully, Mitchell; and I'll drop off the 
windbreak and stuff after we're done."

"Good-bye, miss."

"Good...bye...." She watched the man get into his car, 
pull it around and disappear over the rise. "Who owns this 
land?"

He stepped behind her and embraced her, resting his chin on 
her shoulder. "That's rather up in the air, actually - I 
checked the title registry and the last record they had was the 
purchase by a 'Seth Donaldson' back nearly a century ago. I 
tracked down his descendants living in Grand Island, and the 
lady didn't even realize she owned the property. Married and 
with kids, the woman doesn't seem too interested in it either; 
she wanted to know what my offer was."

Nadine turned her head to regard her lover. "God, you 
didn't buy it, did you?"

He laughed. "No, I can't afford THAT! When I explained I 
was just looking for permission to hold a picnic, she okayed my 
request immediately. It is beautiful though - that semi-frozen 
river nearby."

"Yes. I love it, Mikel."

They sat on the center of the blanket, and Mikel reached 
behind one cooler to pull out a small, multi-shaded blue knit 
afghan, and draped it over his lover's shoulders.

"This is..."

"What you knitted for me - I just had to bring it. Now 
relax while I get us something to eat." He cracked open one of 
the coolers, grabbing two bowls.

"And what is on the menu, good sir?"

"Well, I apologize for not providing a choice, but I figure 
you won't mind too much: chili. We could use something warm in 
this weather." He started to dish out food for her.

"Fine by me, but WHAT'S YOUR STORY? We're eating now; 
*tell* me!"

"Oh, all right - uh, what would you like to drink?" Mikel 
asked, holding several bottles of different beverages.
She pointed to one, and he poured her a measure. "My 
usual, of course, but don't change the subject!"

"Right, right. Now this story actually begins not long 
ago, on a miserable night...just after I called you. I'm taking 
a long drive trying not to be...so frustrated about having to 
break my promise of being with you for Valentine's Day."

"Awww," Nadine interrupted, pausing from her meal. 

"Do you want me to tell this or not?" he joked, taking a 
moment to fill his glass.

"Go on."

Mikel told his story between mouthfuls of chili. 
"Well,...I'd driven north, past Bedford and Sackville and when 
I'm almost to the airport..., I notice a glow coming from 
somewhere across the divided road - down the far embankment, it 
looks like. So...I turn around, and come back down the other 
side. And sure enough,..there's a car that's gone off the road 
and into the chain-link fence at the bottom. I stop, hit my 
hazard lights...and make my way down to see if I can help. 

"When I get there, I find an unconscious middle-aged 
man...in the driver's seat; the car doesn't seem too banged up, 
but the driver's hurt...he's breathing and got a steady pulse, 
but he's out cold and there's blood on the steering wheel..and 
his forehead. So I dash back up to the road, and wave someone 
down to call an ambulance..then I go back down to the victim, 
doing a closer examination - no other injuries. ID says he's 
ironically a Nebraskan."

"What?" Nadine asked in surprise, wiping her mouth with a 
napkin.

"God's truth. Name's Peter Van Heyn. After a few 
minutes...the ambulance arrives, I briefly confer with them and 
we move the driver out and up to their vehicle. A few 
minutes...later, the police finally decide to come out and I 
spend a short time explaining what I knew of the accident...and 
then I make my way to the hospital to see how 'my' patient is 
doing. They let me up to see him,...he's conscious now, and he 
thanks me for helping him out. The doctor tells us that Mr. Van 
Heyn is in fair condition and they just want to keep him 
overnight for observation what with his head-injury. You want 
any more?" Mikel asked as he took their empty bowls. Nadine 
just shook her head.

"Now, you know what I'm like; I feel he could use some 
company, being in a strange town, in a *hospital* on his own, so 
I stay and chat with Mr. Van Heyn. Of course, after a while I'm 
telling him about my problems: falling in love with a woman 
thousands of miles from me. Lucking into an Information 
Technology training program that delays our being together. And 
then - when it looks like I can get to you for a romantic 
meeting and go on to my work term just in the next state, that 
falls through and I'm stuck in Halifax.

"Well, sure enough, visiting hours are over, and we wish 
each other well, and I go home to be despondent some more and 
get some sleep before my last week of classes. Imagine my 
surprise on Monday morning when I walk into the training center 
and I see Mr. Van Heyn talking with the course administrator!"

"No!"

"Yes! It turns out he works for Mutual of Omaha, and heard 
about our I.T. program and came looking for more programmers to 
help with their Year 2000 problem."

"I'd have thought they would be well into it now."

"Oh, yeah - they've been working on it for over a year now, 
but the number of programs they've got running is enormous! 
They don't so much need skilled programmers to deduce how to 
solve their problems, they just need people who know Cobol and 
can make the changes they've figured out, and they need *lots* 
of them! Van Heyn came looking to get our entire class. And 
Mutual of Omaha is fairly desperate - they're paying us 
handsomely for something that's only slightly more challenging 
than data-entry."

"You're getting paid right out of school? No probationary 
period?" Nadine snuggled up next to him as they looked down on 
the frozen stream.

"Well, I think I got slightly more than the rest for my 
good deed to Mr. Van Heyn, but they're paying me! I got enough 
of a signing bonus to take a vacation and buy you a car. 
They'll accommodate all of us for free - the whole class jumped 
at the offer - provide each with a car for transportation, and a 
nice per diem for food and entertainment. I won't even TOUCH my 
paychecks; they'll go straight into the bank!"

"But you're Canadian, what about work visas?"

"They've done all the paperwork; I'll have to renew myself 
after six months, but all the hassle has been taken care of."

"Sounds great!"

"Yes, and I start as soon as I can. Here's the clincher: 
I'm working on contract - I work with them for the rest of 1998 
and we see what happens then."

Nadine looked worried. "So you could leave at the end of 
that."

"No, so I could start my own consulting business wherever I 
wished...like maybe Geneva, Nebraska. I signed the deal Friday 
and started packing. I landed in Hastings last night." He 
leaned over and kissed his lover on the lips, and the kiss 
lasted for as long as they could manage. 

Nadine pulled him into her arms and replied, "You given me 
the best birthday present you could; thank you." Her eyes 
started to glisten under her glasses.

"I honestly couldn't think of anything else I wanted to do. 
You are the most important thing in my life, honey." Mikel's 
voice began to crack.

They held each other for another few moments and then lay 
back onto the blanket. They kissed again, and their mouths 
wandered; her lips massaged his cheek. He started to whisper to 
her: "Iloveyou-Iloveyou-ohGODIloveyou..." Mikel ran his hand 
down her arm, gloved fingertips massaging her muscles through 
the coat, reaching her hands. Their hands locked together, and 
he rolled Nadine onto her back, spreading her legs with his 
knees.

"No, Mikel - please."

He shifted position without skipping a beat in nibbling her 
jawline, kneeling outside her legs. "S'ok, honey," he whispered 
as his teeth neared an earlobe.

"It's not that I don't want to, it's just that we're 
so...exposed. It's daylight," she moaned, still holding him on 
top of her.

"You didn't complain this morning," he pointed out 
sarcastically.

"No, I mean we're in public-"

"Hardly, this is private property, and we're not visible 
from the highway - heck, even overflying aircraft can't see us!"

"Planes?" She frowned and released his hands, hugging him 
to her.

"Oof! Yeah, Mitchell and I saw a couple contrails of high-
flying jets when we were setting up - probably commuters from 
Omaha to Denver or something...they wouldn't be able to pick us 
out even if we started waving flags." He smiled at her, and 
kissed up the side of her nose to comb her eyebrows with his lips. 

"Well, that may be, but I just don't feel comfortable," she 
replied, before sucking on the tip of his chin.

"Fine, we'll just neck for a bit longer," he announced, 
shifting down her face to fulfill his prediction. "<muh> We 
should be getting back to the apartment, anyway: what time was 
that phone guy supposed to show?"

She placed a kiss on each of his closed eyes, and shifted 
them into a sitting position. "I thought you knew exactly what 
was going on..."

"Well, sadly my memory is as leaky as a colander - a lot of 
unforgettable stuff has happened to me in the last few hours, so 
the details just slid out of my head," he sighed, his lips 
curling into the grin she saw so often on his face. 

The man pulled his lover tightly to his chest, as if he 
wanted to force their bodies into one complete being. "I love 
you," he announced, "and meeting you and loving you, Nadine 
Sanders, has only strengthened that."

"I can't find anything wrong with you - even your few scars 
are attractive to me; you are just so perfect," she gasped.
"Flatterer! Anyone'd think you wanted something."

"I do...I want you - but just not here."

"Well, I've said my first priority is your happiness - 
where do you want to go? Back home? To a cheap motel, or to 
the most expensive hotel in Nebraska?"

"NNNNNNgh, you KNOW I've got that appointment about the 
phone line, you *tease*," she laughed, reaching up and tousling 
his hair.

"Fine then, let's get going so we can meet this cable 
monkey and get on to more serious things..." He released her 
and stood, holding her hands to help her up.

"Finally!" She gave her man a quick hug, and looked around 
at all the gear of their picnic. 

"Do we take this?"

"Yep, we'll put everything else in the trunk and then come 
back to collapse the windbreak and pop that in the back seat. 
You can give me a lift to Hastings tomorrow and we drop it off. 
I check out of my hotel and we get down to business of a happy 
life together," he finished with a wicked, mischievous smile as 
he tossed the afghan onto a cooler and packed up the camp stove. 
"Of course, I'll have to find a place to sleep, but I hear 
there's a campground near Geneva - I just have to get a tent and 
a warm sleeping bag..."

"Ha! Like I'm gonna let you out of my sight for a SECOND," 
the woman retorted.

"So you'll put me UP?" Mikel inquired suggestively.

"Heh-heh, I'll see what I can do," she replied, running her 
hand on his thigh.

"<growl> - fine then, but grab that cooler and take it to 
the trunk; you've got the key!" Nadine complied with his 
request, easily hefting the empty container. She walked to the 
car and placed her load on the bumper. She fumbled in her 
pocket, fished out her key, and opened the trunk. About to heft 
the cooler into the car, she was confronted by a black case. 

"Hey, what's this?" 

"What's what?" Mikel replied, stepping up behind her and 
putting down his load. "Oh, that. What does it look like?"

"Duh; a briefcase!"

"What's in it?" he asked, taking hold of her shoulders.

"I don't know," Nadine replied, playing along. "Let's 
see..." She reached down, flipped the catches, and lifted the 
lid to find a portable computer. "Hmmm - a laptop. Yours?"

"Noooooooooo," he replied, his voice almost a purr.

"Another gift?"

"Well, I figure you could use something a little more 
flexible than that old thing you had on the table. 'All the 
better to read my posts'," he answered, embracing her. 

"Love you, you extravagant man."

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End of Chapter Three