This is the end… part 15
The flight to LA was long, tedious, and Walter's mind was unsettled. Reaching LAX, he got an Uber to the house, patted Rex on the head after giving him a cookie, dumped his bag in the bedroom, grabbed the Ferrari keys and drove to the garage. Again, walking into the garage, there was no jolt of memories- possibly Laura was correct that the hollowness and his constantly having to focus himself on other things would, in time, dissipate.
He cruised around the garage, deposited his laptop on his desk, powered up Proton Arnold then went to the loft to shower and change. In boxers and towel around his neck he went downstairs, set up the coffee for in the morning then started filling the whiteboard with new equations and problems for Ralph. When half the board was covered, an e-mail alert sounded so he went to his desk to check- Laura.
Walter- did a long calculation on flight time, drive to residence from LAX (with a fudge factor as I do not know where in LA you live), added time for a shower (nice mental picture, that), a few minutes to pat your crazy service dog, then to kick back and relax from your long day/flight, thought maybe you would be thinking of me….. but, being ever realistic, you are probably coding, checking your latest design modifications, or some other activity. I just wanted to make sure you made it home OK even though there is nothing on the news about a plane going down, an earthquake, tsunami, meteor, a-bomb or any other disaster in the LA vicinity, so just wrote to say: Good night, Walter. Laura.
He sat back for a moment, then hit reply:
Laura- Arrived per schedule, no disasters. Have showered and presently at computer in boxers. So short an acquaintance yet you know me so well. Good night. Walter
Walter rose and completed the whiteboard questions then went to bed.
Walter woke early, dressed and went to the downstairs kitchen to get the coffee started. Sitting at his desk with coffee in hand, at ten o'clock sharp he heard numerous cars pull in. Ralph banged the door open yelling "Walter!" as he came in followed by everyone of the former Scorpion team. He sat frozen at his desk, coffee cup raised. They all filed in, bags of Thai takeout and pizza in hand.
"Come on Walter," Toby said. "Early lunch on the roof and a lot of conversation to cover. We finally knew you would be here so we could all get together."
Walter put down his coffee and slowly rose looking at them all lined up on the stairs, "Wait." He said. They all halted and returned his gaze. "If this is about the money, like I told Ralph, it is nothing but a tool. I give it in appreciation for the years we….. worked together. There is no meaning behind the gifting as it is but a thank you for past endeavors where possibly full recognition of input was lacking as had often been said at the time. Nothing has changed, there are no obligations, no ulterior motive. I take it if not all, most are now employed with Richard….. as he had wanted for so long. Enjoy your lunch on the roof- lock up when you leave." He closed his laptop, took the car keys and left.
Walter took a long drive into the mountains around the city. At one point he pulled into a roadside vista point to sit on a bench until a family pulled in. Shortly after sunset he pulled in at the house to see a party was in progress. Adam and Jim came out of the house as he was pulling the car into the garage.
"Wow, Walter- a Ferrari!" Jim said admiring the car. "Pop the hood and let me check it out- probably as close to a Ferrari as I will ever get."
A few more of the guys came into the garage, beers in hand to join in. After the car was started a few times, engine performance discussed, handling described, horse power and torque noted, the subject finally wound down. Sue and two other women came into the garage to announce the chicken, burgers and salad were all ready with more beer in the coolers in the backyard. Peaches, Cream, Rex, a couple German Shepherds, and another Doberman were milling around getting pats where they could. Like being dragged along by a tide, Walter ended up in the back yard with the rest of the crowd. As names were shouted to assorted people who shouted back, it appeared most were military- some active like Jim some not by their amputations, eye patches, or obvious age. All the men were shirtless from being in the pool, most holding beers and a lot of raucous banter was yelled across the patio and pool eliciting a lot of laughter, shoving, pushing and people picked up and thrown into the pool. Walter was too close to one bunch and ended up in the pool as well when caught up in a tackle of three Marines by five sailors. In the melee his shirt got buttons scattered and was partially open as he swam to the edge to hoist himself out with Rex getting in his way. There were no remarks made about his partially visible scars- just about everyone had some; some even worse. When he got out one of the women handed him a towel and asked if he wanted a beer and something to eat- he passed up the beer, but had a burger.
By eleven-thirty things were quieted down. Adam and Sue were setting up their place to bed down everyone that was there- as those who had been drinking were expected to remain for the night. Walter offered to put some up as he had plenty of room. Sue and a couple of the women offered to set everything up. He told them all was available except the locked computer room.
By one in the morning, the partiers were laid out on lounges around the pool, on sofas, in spare bedrooms, and the floor. Walter, Adam, and Sue who did not drink as hosting the party and Jim who could nurse one beer all day were sitting around the patio talking quietly while the grill embers smoldered.
"Nice to see you are capable of enjoying yourself, Walter," Jim said. "You always struck me as entirely too serious to have fun. Be careful, though. I saw a couple of the female Marines checking you out."
"I think Walter can handle them," Sue said.
With a laugh Adam added "as long as they are one at a time- Marines get very competitive in a group. By the way, how was the trip to New York with Richard? I saw he was back but not you."
"No," Walter said, "I spent a few days in Boston before coming back. Spent some time with the MIT crowd I met when I gave those lectures there."
"Wow, chumming around with MIT eggheads? And you gave a lecture there? Impressive. Knew you were a tech nerd, but not to that degree…. and to think we almost lost you," Jim remarked.
"Almost lost him?" Sue said. "That must be quite a story, Walter. You were the tech for a SEAL group?"
"I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time, then the SEAL's got me out before anything drastic happened." Walter said quietly. "That is how I met Jim and Simon. A very fortuitous meeting for me"
"So, what else you doing these days besides chumming with eggheads and cruising the East Coast cities?" Jim asked.
"Just the usual coding work for Richard. Nothing as exciting as SEAL exploits, I am sure. I may break a nail or at worse, get carpal tunnel." Walter said making it obvious the subject should be dropped. "So what you and Simon up to and how long you in the area for?"
"You know SEAL's, training, training, training- out on a job, then training, training, training." Jim chuckled. "Same crap day in and day out."
"Well, it has been a long day," Sue said getting up. "And I am sure I am going to be called to active duty in the kitchen pretty early. LOTS of bellies to fill and big hangovers to soothe. You guys don't keep it too late," she said going into the house.
The three men sat in companionable silence for a few minutes, then Adam said "My queen has spoken so I will say good night. Come join us for breakfast, Walter. See you in the morning, Jim. Night," and Adam left for bed as well.
"I spent Friday in Boston then a long flight back to LA and was up early this morning, so I will also call it a night. Nice seeing you, Jim. Sorry the Bosnia mess was brought up, I never spoke of it to anyone." Walter said.
"Don't worry about it, Walt. Anything happens in military, crap gets around- nature of the monster….. anything that's not 'made public' makes the rounds, especially when bullets are flying."
Walter went through the garages with Rex trailing him. Getting to the kitchen he checked mail….. one message- Laura.
Walter- was thinking of you- good night. Laura.
He hit reply: Laura- good night, sleep well. Walter
Stepping over a couple people stretched out on the living room floor under blankets and a chorus of snores he went to his bedroom, showered and, while Rex curled up on his chair snoozing, Walter laid awake staring at the ceiling in the darkened room.
Sunday, there was a lot of rustling as people gathered together from wherever they had crashed. Adam was doling out aspirin while Sue scrambled big skillets of eggs, another woman was tending the toaster, and a third a skillet of sausages. Guys sitting on lounges around the pool nursing their heads mumbling they were never drinking again, a couple were floating in the pool quietly talking about where they were going to be or doing come Monday.
Walter got the coffee going- poured some for those that wanted it, got a couple subdued 'morning', 'thank you' and 'have any aspirin' as people got up and headed to Adam's house for breakfast. He sat at the kitchen counter checking mail- he had two inquiries about giving a talk about the Reinler solution- one from USC and another from University of Florida, so it looked like William was right about people being interested. He waited until his house was cleared of everyone then opened the computer room- nothing had been disturbed. He decided as there were more invitations to lecture, he should make a program of the information, the math as well as his constant, that was more geared toward students than the pure scientific/mathematic information that was initially submitted to the Reinler Prize panel. After an hour, he closed and locked the room to see if there was any breakfast available. Most everyone was still there at Adam's and fortunately there was still some eggs and toast available.
"Seems like a whole different group of people from yesterday," Walter opined.
Sue laughed, "There is always a big difference between the getting loaded, and the day after recovery, especially with this bunch. Bet none of them ask you to start the car today. Hope you didn't mind getting dumped in the pool yesterday. They are pretty rowdy crowd, especially when drinking."
"No, no big deal, just another case of being in the wrong place, again. I had a bit of an unwelcome surprise earlier in the day. Your party got my mind off it pretty quick, so thanks for that," Walter said pensively.
"Yeah, that's right, you are usually gone the whole weekend. Was nothing bad I hope?" Sue asked while stirring the last skillet of eggs for the late risers.
"No, just unexpected, and I probably did not handle it well- or in an adult fashion." Walter said. "I dare say there will be ramifications, just have to wait and see."
"Nothing serious?" Sue asked. "Anything we can help with?"
"No, just another situation of one thing ending and another begins.
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