The long awaited week's vacation on Sandy's yacht had begun. The two sets of twins and Dan sailed down the coast and spent a delightful week together. The weather was perfect and the company couldn't have been better. Dan was accepted as one of family and made to feel most welcome. He tried to join in whatever games he could despite his bad leg. He felt comfortable with them and enjoyed watching them have a good time. There was so much love there, between the four twins, that Dan envied them. It was times like this that he regretted not having any brothers or sisters.
The four were all in excellent physical condition and took to the water like dolphins. The yacht had a speed boat with enough power to pull four water skiers at once. In fact, they did try it a few times, but never did perfect that maneuver. After they took a bad spill, Sandy ended the four of them skiing together. He was afraid that the boys might be injured or get tangled up in the ropes. But, they did well in pairs.
The scuba diving was fun. It was also something Dan could do as well, but not for too long. He really became close to all four of the Dunnlaps. After the boys turned in for the night, the three men sat around and chatted. Pete and Sandy were the most interesting men Dan had ever known. They talked about their businesses and where they thought they would be in two years. Pete talked about his concern for the twins and their future.
They all had just enough brandy to feel mellow. Pete excused himself to check on the boys and to turn in himself. He said the boys had worn him out. Sandy and Dan sat and watched the moon shine on the calm water.
"Sandy, I know you are gay, but I really don't know about what it means to be gay. You don't act any different than Pete, and if you hadn't told me you were gay, I would never have guessed. In high school, we were told that homosexuals are born that way. It is hard to believe that identical twins could turn out to be so different sexually. I've often wondered exactly how a homosexual reacted toward other males. You know, how do you react to be naked in a shower room full of men, for example?"
"It can be difficult at times," Sandy said. "Homosexuals aren't any different than heterosexual men, except in their sexual orientation. Pete and I are the same in every way, other than our orientation. Pete in straight, yet he is not turned on by every attractive female he sees, either. This is not to say, that he doesn't admire some beautiful woman that stimulates him sexually. He may even fantasize a little about these women, but with Pete, or any other happily married guy, that is as far as it goes. There again, that woman has to have that certain something that turns him on. The same can be said about a homosexual. All of us, male or female, are only attracted to that one unique individual, a certain type if you will, and if you are very lucky that individual may become your partner for life. That's what it's all about. "Some of us, like me, seem to have difficulty in finding the right person, and we will continue our search hoping that the next time, we will find our other half. Whereas, Pete got it right the first time and married his life partner."
"Would you mind telling me about Glen?" Danny asked.
Sandy stared out over the water some time before answering. "From the onset, I felt convinced that I had found the ideal partner in Glen. I was head over heels in love with him. He was everything I wanted in a lover, he was handsome, intelligent, sophisticated. He felt the same way about me. He was a nineteen-year-old college freshman when we met. We talked about that before we became a couple. He convinced me, that a five year age difference was not a factor. My shrink agreed. He said that it depended on the person, and where he was in his emotional development. He felt that the age difference was not a factor. However, Glen was going through a very traumatic time in his life. He was facing his first year in college, and trying to make the adjustment from being separated from his home and family. And, finally, he was in a gay relationship with a successful businessman."
"Glen lived a sheltered life up to that point and had everything handed to him on a silver platter. A young man like Glen really needed time to sort things out and find himself, instead of becoming involved in a relationship with me. Of course, I was so in love, I threw caution to the wind, and we became lovers. During that first year, I began noticing subtle changes in our relationship. It was understandable that the bloom had worn off the rose, but that's true at the beginning of any relationship. Yet, we never did settle down into a mature love affair that most couples find. I fought hard to make the relationship work. I was still very much in love with Glen and didn't want my failure with Jack to repeat itself, by losing Glen. I rearranged my schedule so that I could spend more time with Glen. When I was on the road, I would fly him to where I was staying for long weekends. In spite of that, I felt that Glen was slipping away. It reached a point where he found excuses why he couldn't get away for our weekends together."
"My work began to suffer, and I became depressed. I didn't want to face the fact that I was losing Glen. I dropped everything and flew home from overseas. It was then I learned that Glen hadn't lived at home for over a month. He had moved into the frat house. Naturally, he was surprised when I called asking him to come home, because we needed to talk. The rest is history. This is not to say I'm still not hurt over our breakup, because I really loved Glen, and still do."
"How sad," Danny said. "Did Glen find someone else? Is that why he left you?"
"No, that wasn't it at all. If fact he told me he still loved me, and would like to continue to see me. But, he needed time to get his head together. He could not continue the relationship as it was. He felt that he was too young to make the commitment at this stage in his life. He wanted the freedom to enjoy his college years with people his own age. Maybe after he graduated we could pick-up where we left off. That is if we both felt the same way about each other."
"Like most things in this life, I've learned from my mistakes. At least that's what I kept telling myself. I've learned that before I start another meaningful relationship, I'm going to have a long courtship, and get to know the person before I commit myself again. I know that there is a man out there for me, Danny. One day I'll find him and live happily ever after. Gay life is difficult enough without complicating it with a loveless relationship."
"I don't blame Glen for what happened, he was a college student who wanted to party with people his own age. These are the best years of his life. It was my fault for not realizing this from the beginning. You see, I was judging Glen by my life at nineteen. Glen was on a different level."
"You're a young man, Sandy you'll find the right man. You've have a lot going for you."
At first Dan thought he would feel uncomfortable, listening to the story of Sandy's private life, but since he didn't seem to mind, Dan sat back and listened. He really didn't know anything about a homosexual relationship except for the few lectures in his freshman year about gay bashing and that sort of thing. All he knew about gays was that they love men, period. It didn't bother him one way or the other and he never gave it a thought, unless he saw a guy who acted effeminate. He felt the same way about punk rockers and the way they act and dress. There were many questions he wanted to ask Sandy about Glen and Jack but he didn't think this was the time. It was obvious that Sandy still felt something for Glen. He eyes got a little teary when he spoke about their failed relationship.
Sandy left for his trip to Indonesia as scheduled after their week on the yacht. He returned each month for his Saturday morning board meeting. He flew in late on a Friday and left on Sunday. Dan's leg was healing quite nicely and he was allowed to walk with a cane. By then, he was commuting to Atlanta every day for classes at Tech. The rest of the time was spent working for Brad Stevens. Any spare weekends were spent with Pete and Penny at the plantation. Dan really enjoyed the weekends with the Dunnlaps. Not only did he always have a great time, but he enjoyed the time spent with the kids and the many pleasant hours with Pete and Penny. They talked about his future plans and some of the problems he was experiencing at Tech. They discussed the kids and their crazy antics. It was relaxing and Dan felt welcome. It was the closest he ever came to becoming part of a family.
Sandy was true to his word and called every Sunday, religiously. He told Dan last Sunday that he was winding up his business in Asia and would be coming home for a few weeks. Dan had mixed feelings about his return, but was looking forward of seeing him again. It also meant that he would be moving out of the manor house and back to Atlanta, or into an efficiency apartment in Dunnlap. It was going to be difficult walking away from this luxurious style of living and adjusting to the mundane task of taking care of my own household chores once again.
Dan was in a whirlwind of activities as graduation neared. His mom had sold their home in Atlanta. She and Dan spent over a week going though the house, from attic to basement, to decide what to keep and what to discard. Thanks to a lap-top computer, they were able to make a detailed list of everything in short order. At the end of the cataloguing, Dan was able to make a list for each of them. His mom's things were to be shipped to Manassas and his things were to go into storage until he found an apartment. Roger had proposed to Nora and she accepted. The wedding date was set for the second week in December in Manassas, Virginia. Roger was full of surprises. Nora learned that Roger was well off and he asked that she stop working after they were married. She was delighted to give up her job to become a full time housewife. Dan's biggest surprise came when Nora turned over her share of the house to him. She wanted him to use the money to invest in another house.
Dan was exhausted when he returned home to Dunnlap Manor, Friday afternoon. All he wanted to do was to sit in the whirlpool bath and take a long nap. The whirlpool bath was very relaxing and he had a long nap. When his alarm went off at six, he wanted to sleep longer, but knew if he did, he would wake up too early the next morning. He took a cool shower, and dressed for dinner.
As he walked out of his suite, he saw the lights on in Sandy's suite. No doubt Ludlow was checking it to see if everything was shipshape for Sandy's return. Looking in, he saw Sandy pacing back and forth while speaking on the telephone. Sandy waved him in, and gave him a big smile.
"Look, I've got to hang up now, I'll talk to you first thing tomorrow," Sandy said to the person on the other end. He replaced the phone on the end table and walked over and gave Dan a big bear hug. "God, it's good to see you again, Danny boy. You look terrific."
Dan smiled, "I wish I felt as good as I looked. When did you get home? We were not expecting you until late tonight."
"I left early and let my VP clean up the loose ends," Sandy said. "Ludlow told me you've been staying in Atlanta all week, what was that all about?"
"It a long story," Danny said. "How about discussing it over a bottle of champagne to celebrate your triumphant return?"
"Great," Sandy said. "I've told Ludlow to hold dinner until you made an appearance. I knew you would be up between 6 and 7PM. Let me tell Ludlow to dig out a bottle of my best champagne."
"You know me too well. Have I become that predictable?"
Sandy smiled, "It's not a bad thing, and it's one of the traits I admire in you, Danny." They took the elevator down to the main floor and went into the drawing room. A few minutes later, Ludlow appeared carrying a silver tray with a bottle of champagne resting in a carved crystal ice bucket, and two tulip-shaped wine glasses. He popped the cork and poured the wine.
Danny raised his glass, "Congratulations on the successful conclusion of your merger, and may you continue to enjoy good health and prosperity." They touched their glasses and took a sip of their wine."
"Thank you, Danny."
"Now tell me all about your trip to Ireland," Danny said.
"That will take a while, and I would like to have Pete over when I tell you about the mergers. I'd rather hear about what you've been up to since we last spoke. First, let me apologize again for having to cancel your trips to Indonesia and Ireland. I just couldn't work it in. I wanted to break away so I could show you some of the countries. But, every day was accounted for. I'm truly sorry. I know you were looking forward to the trip. However, I'm planning something special to make up for your disappointment."
"Look, Sandy, my only disappointment was not being able to see you. I did miss you. Now that I think about it, maybe it was a blessing in disguise after all. I've been kept busy catching up on my studies, and software projects. I've had little time for anything else."
"You'll be happy to know that I've passed all my exams with flying colors, and in spite of my missing some classes, I maintained a 3.87 average. My grade advisor said I should start working on my MBA. More good news, Mom has decided to marry Roger, and they are to be married on December 15th. " Dan told him about the sale of the house and his mother's gift. "Next week I plan to start looking around for an apartment in Dunnlap. I thought Dunnlap would be the ideal place to live. I feel I can get more for my money and still be able to continue to work for Brad. That is, if you will allow me to hitch a ride into Atlanta on your chopper every day."
"I don't understand," Sandy said. "I thought you liked living here with me?"
"Of course I do, I've never been happier. Living here has been fantastic, and your dinner parties are the best. You can't imagine how thrilled I was to meet all the movers and shakers of industry. But, like all bigger than life experiences, it must come to an end. Our agreement was that I move when I could manage on my own. Well, Doctor Woodruff gave me a clean bill of health."
"Danny, I don't want you to leave, I want you to live here. Forget about the deal we had before, unless you have some pressing need to be off on your own?"
"Like what?"
"I don't know," Sandy said. "Maybe you met someone since I've been gone? You know I'm not in the habit of prying into your private life?"
"I'm not seeing anyone, if that's what you mean, and if I where, I would have told you."
"What do you say, Danny? Will you stay on and live here with me?"
"Only if you allow me to pay you rent. If it's alright with you, I'll pay you the same rent as I would for an apartment in Dunnlap. I realize that's pocket change to you, but it will ease my conscience. I've been taught that you pay your way in this life, and I would feel uncomfortable if I allowed you to support me. It was different when I was in the nursing home. You were being a Good Samaritan. But now, I am able to work, thanks to you, and I feel that I should be paying for my upkeep."
"If that is what it's going to take to have you stay, then that's the way it will be. And, Danny, that same philosophy was instilled in me when I was growing up."
"Good, then that's settled. I'll have the movers deliver my things here."
"Do you have anything planned for next two weeks?" Sandy asked.
"Well, I was supposed to have a meeting with Brad to discuss a new project he wants to assign to me. Now that I don't have to find an apartment, my calendar is wide open."
"Brad's project can wait. We both need a vacation and we're taking two weeks off. I'll have Ludlow pack our bags. We'll fly to Savannah tomorrow afternoon and spend a relaxing four days sailing the Caribbean. After we rest up, we'll fly to Paris and do a little shopping. Paris is absolutely beautiful this time of year. From there we can fly on to Rome. After that, it's up to you. You pick the city and we'll go. We'll have a good time. What do you say, Danny?"
"I'm speechless! It sounds fantastic."
"You did take care of your passport?"
"Yes, sir, everything is in order and I've taken the shots I'll need for Europe. God, this is really exciting. I'm glad I had a nap this afternoon, because for sure I'm not going to sleep tonight."
Sandy laughed heartily, "You did say you were in were in Europe before, didn't you?"
"True, that was one of those budget mini-trip specials that you buy through the high school. I think half the graduating class took the tour together. This trip will be different. Knowing you, this trip will be first class all the way."
Pete and the twins were parked at the landing pad waiting for Sandy's chopper. Sandy and Danny walked over to the group to greet them. Pete hugged his brother and Danny. "You two look great," Pete said. "The trip did wonders for you both."
"We had a marvelous time," Sandy said. "The only negative was that it was not long enough."
"You were smart taking your vacation when you did," Pete said. "Hal Golden was giving me an ear full last Sunday at the Sadler's cocktail party. He told me that the deal with WorldCom is in trouble, and he refused to sign the contract."
Sandy said, "I know, I talked to Hal earlier. He made the right decision. When I left, everything was settled. All that remained was to make the changes in the final contract and sign on the dotted line. When Hal and our attorneys read the final contract, they discovered that WorldCom arbitrarily slashed their guarantee from six-months down to two-months. Not only that, but they also changed the percentages in the payment schedule. Now they want 50 percent of the purchase price upon signing the contract, another 40 percent three months later, and the final 10 percent, six months later. Hell, that doesn't leave us enough time to do a proper audit, and there is no way in hell that I'm going to hand over our millions without verification. I'd rather walk away from the deal, as much as I would like to own WorldCom."
"What are you going to do?" Pete asked, as he was driving back to the house.
"I'll call Ian McConnell on Monday to tell him that I'll sign the contract we agreed upon by 6PM Wednesday, or the deal is off."
"Do you think they'll agree?" Pete asked.
"They'll come back with some face saving counter proposal at the last minute, Wednesday. I know how these guys operate. They like to play brinkmanship. They've been playing that game for months now. I'm tired of their stupid games. Now it's our turn to play hard-ball, in fact, I'm going to call our PR director to leak the news to all his reporter friends, that I'm having second thoughts about buying WorldCom, and were looking at some other possibilities. That should give Mr. McConnell something to think about."
"How is the other Asian deal going?" Pete asked.
"Signed and sealed, "Sandy said. "No problems there. Well, it looks like I may be traveling overseas again, Danny."
"It sure sounds that way," Danny said. "I don't suppose you've had a chance to talk to Brad yet?"
"Sorry, Danny, Hal and the legal team keep me busy, but I will tomorrow," Sandy said.
Pete smiled, "I talked to Brad last week and he told me what your next assignment was going to be," Pete said.
"Are you going to share that with us, or are we going to have to beat it out of you?"
Pete chuckled, "You shouldn't threaten me like that, or my boys and I will make mincemeat of you two wimps."
Sandy and Danny howled with laughter. The twins looked at their dad and smiled. "Go on, tell him, Dad," Pete Jr. said.
"Oh, so everyone in the family knows, but me?"
"Brad is making you the project engineer for the renovation of my new processing plant. You'll be working right here at the Plantation."
Danny grinned, "Way to go, guys. You didn't do any arm twisting on this assignment, did, you?" Pete chuckled, "I sure did, and the twins needed someone their own age to play with and who better than their uncle Dan."
"Isn't that great, Uncle Dan?," the twins said in unison. "Now when Uncle Sandy is away, you can come stay with us."
"Thanks, guys, that's very thoughtful of you to say that," Dan said.
"Thanks, Pete, for going to bat for me," Dan said. "This is going to be my first big project, and I'm excited about this opportunity. It should be quite a challenge."
"I have every confidence in your abilities," Pete said. "You know what I want, and I'll have no problem working with you on this. And if you run into trouble, my baby brother will help you out, won't you, Sandy?"
"You are something else, again," Sandy said. "You think I'm going to drop everything I'm doing to solve some computer glitch for your processing plant?"
"Now be nice, or there will be four of us on your hide," Pete said. "This is a family business and you will help my little buddy if he has a problem, now won't you, Sandy?"
Sandy chuckled, "Now, all of a sudden, he's your little buddy? I can see I'm not going to win this one with you two against me. Seriously, Danny, when you're ready with the program, I'll sit down with you and go over the entire system. Maybe I can offer some suggestions that could help. I have had some experience in these areas, you know. Again, don't be afraid to call me if you run into a problem. "
"Thanks, Sandy, that would be super," Danny said. "You guys are really the best, and I love you all a lot."
"Now don't go getting soft on us," Pete said, with a big grin on his face. "We love you, too, Danny boy."