"See, IBM's slogan is Think, right?"

"Right"

"So what's the difference between Apple people and IBM people?"

"Apple people think…different."

"Exactly, so we run an ad campaign with these iconoclastic figures, you know, Frank Lloyd Wright, John Lennon, Richard Branson…"

A receptionist cut in. "Excuse me, there's a Mr. Hunter here to see Mr. Hunter."

"Uh…that must be a family issue, I'll be right back."

Shawn followed the receptionist out to the hallway. His heart rose in his chest when he saw his father, and then sank back to Earth when he got close enough to smell the whiskey.

"Slim Jim!" Chet crushed his son in a bear hug.

"What a surprise!" Shawn tried not to let his voice betray his embarrassment.

"Well, looks like you got yerself a nice fancy office job. Hey, why don't we go out to lunch to celebrate."

"Well, I'm kind of in a meeting right now. But we can get dinner sometime if you're going to be in town for a while."

"Well, uh, between you and me, I was hoping you'd spot me some cash for the tolls. I've got a job offer in Poughkeepsie."

"Sure, how much do you need."

"30 ought to cover it."

Shawn knew very well that 30 was plenty to cover the tolls and one for the road, but he also knew he needed to get his father out of the building, fast.

"Let's see, all I've got's 20s."

"Well, I'll take 40 if it's not too much trouble."

"Not at all." Actually, it meant that Shawn would have to skip lunch. "See you around, Dad."

"See you around, Slim Jim."

When he was sure that his father had made it to the elevator, Shawn sighed and went back into the meeting. It actually went well; Mr. Jobs seemed to like his idea for the ad campaign, and no one mentioned him being called out.

After the meeting, Shawn went home, put on a Counting Crows CD, and started working on his next story for Turner's class. It was about a guy who realized he'd fallen in love with an unknown girl whose purse he found in the subway. Shawn kept picturing himself as the guy and Angela Moore as the girl.

He'd just finished up when Jack walked in.

"How'd the presentation go?"

"Good, so, um…I ran into Dad today."

"Where?"

"At work," Shawn saw Jack's face darken, "Relax, he just needed forty bucks for tolls."

"Forty bucks! Where's he going?"

"When Dad says he needs money for tolls, he really means he needs money for booze on the way."

"Father of the frickin' year."

"Hey, he's your dad too."

"Don't remind me. Speaking of which, I don't act like him, do I?"

"What do you mean?"

"You know, mannerisms, figures of speech, that sort of thing."

"No." Shawn supposed this would make an interesting case study of nature versus nurture, but wasn't interested in pressing the issue any further with Jack.

"Hey, Eric's having a party Saturday."

"Is this for the frat he's rushing?"

"No, he stopped rushing, but now he's somehow managed to convince his dean that he started his own frat. I'm supposed to wrangle the cast of the Love Boat."

"Huh, good luck with that."

"Yeah, anyway, you should bring someone."