The Promotion
Chapter 11
Sam Cullen stared out at the forest with little interest. His fingers rested around the base of his glass of long forgotten iced tea. Condensation had encased the glass, and the ice cubes had long since melted.
Shifting in his seat, he let his gaze wander to the gardens his wife Julia tended with such care. Tall, elegant Calla Lilies, Cannas of every color, along with a large assortment of Hostas. After a moment of examining the floral display, he watched a pair of black-capped chickadee's eating at the bird feeder near the pond. He let out an irritated sigh, then rose from his position, and paced restlessly.
He'd been sitting on the back porch for the last hour, under the pretense of relaxing. He didn't need to relax. He felt totally fine. The plain fact of the matter was that he was bored.
In the few months since his retirement, he and Julia had taken an Alaskan cruise, visited relatives out of state. He'd gone to movies on his own, read a few books, played a few games of golf. Currently, his wife was at a spa in Arizona. This left him here at home, alone to…well, to relax.
Unable to take any more relaxation, Sam entered the house through the patio door, and quickly ascended the stairs to his office. Sitting down behind his computer, he jiggled the mouse to wake up the computer, and thought he'd try a game of solitaire, that should keep his mind busy a while.
After an unstimulating session of beating the computer at the card game, Sam was back to square one. Bored.
Frowning a moment, he glanced at the phone. Maybe he could call Booth and see how things were going at the FBI. If there were any snags, maybe he could offer his advice. Truth be told, he was curious how Agent Sullivan was acclimating to working with Dr. Brennan.
Picking up the phone and quickly dialing the number, he leaned back in his chair and listened to the phone ring in his ear before he was directed to voicemail.
Hanging up without leaving a message, Sam sat in his office, irritated. If he were this bored now, after only a few months, what would the rest of his retirement bring?
End this chapter