35- Starting over… chapter thirty-five A

Thanksgiving came and went- Walter once again had a jewelry store to up-grade security for. The old couple from the initial jewelry store he installed programming for last Thanksgiving had referred four independently owned jewelry stores of friends. The four were also older citizens, less than computer literate but fortunately they had young family members working with them who were able to monitor their systems- the younger generation of the family carrying on the tradition of jewelry making, but computer savvy. Every one Walter went to for the initial scan and subsequent download always had coffee, cookies, and conversation waiting for him.

As per last year, the day after, Cabe and Allie brought over containers of Thanksgiving meal for him including apple and pumpkin pies. No matter how often he told them he was eating regularly, had not gone down a rabbit hole in a long, long time, they insisted on delivering food at least twice a month.

The next ordeal to contend with was the Elias Enterprises end of year gala, two weeks before Christmas. With another three patents in his name he was sure Gina was going to make him get the monkey suit dry cleaned from being in the closet all year so he could once again dress up to attend. He was right…

"WALTER," Gina yelled from the open office kitchen door. "Can I talk with you a bit?"

Coming down the stairs, coffee cup in hand, "Why do you yell? The laptop is open on my desk, just message what you want. I check as soon as it alerts to new mail."

"Yes, I know, but there are times I want to talk to YOU, not your computer," Gina said turning to return to the office to sit at her desk. Walter followed refilling his cup to go through the swinging saloon doors to plop onto an easy chair in front of her desk. "I have a 97% surety of what you are going to talk to me face to face about."

"Yeah? So what am I going to talk about?"

"Richard's gala."

"OK, make it 100% sure. You know that suit has been hanging in the closet all year, will have to go to the dry cleaner to freshen it up, shine up your dress shoes- do not cut your hair, and get yourself prepared to attend," Gina said sitting back with a smile. "I thought you would be looking forward to it this year. Was not so bad last year, was it?"

"No, not really," Walter said sipping his coffee. "At least I don't have to get another suit- that was the biggest pain of the entire ordeal last year."

"Well, Richard sent me the head's up to get you ready as once again you will be called up- how many patents this year?"

"I don't know. I send the design to Richard or his engineers and they run with it. I don't care about patents, just that the design works and is used. That is what counts."

"One or a dozen, Richard expects you there. YOU may not enjoy it, but RICHARD sure does. And you can rub it in that I have been here much longer than the six months he said I would be asking for a transfer. Contrary to what YOU say, YOU are not difficult to work around or with at all."

"So, you will be with me for the hoop-la like last year?"

"Absolutely, would not miss it….. or the dancing with Jake."

Walter looked at her, "You two ever going to make it official, as they say?"

Gina raised her eyebrows, looked right back at Walter, "make what official, Walter?" she asked innocently.

He stared at her a moment, took a sip of coffee, rose and said, "I'll take the suit to the cleaner now if you don't need me for anything else."

Gina smiled as she watched him leave. The holiday season was in full force. Some sunny days trying to dry things out between the El Nino deluges. Walter gave up on the roses- they just didn't get enough time to drain before getting drowned again. Business was slow as well, so plenty of time to do some research, work some designs. Been spending a lot of time at the whiteboard at night…. sleeping through the night was getting to be a rarity. Walter thought with the rain sleep would come easier but such has not been the case lately.

Walter had taken the monkey suit to the dry cleaner and it hung in the closet, he shined the dress shoes and the day of the gala he arose to go to the kitchen to get the coffee started, then took a long, hot shower. Drying off and slipping on clean boxers, he got a cup of coffee to go back into the bathroom to comb the getting rather long curls out and shave. He put on a t-shirt, refilled his coffee and went to the den to power up the desktop and open the laptop to check mail. Messages from Richard and Gina.

Walter- Looking forward to seeing you this evening- you will again be called first to get the ordeal done and over so you can relax the rest of the time. Richard

Walter- Will meet you at the door- I am assuming your tie will need to be done again. See you at eight. Gina

While the sun was out, everything was still damp and chilly so he did not go sit on the roof to check out the roses. They were quite sad looking the last he checked, so no point. Kicking back, he swiveled his chair to look at Megan's picture. "Think Paige will be there? Ask me to dance again?" He dank some coffee, put his feet up on the desk. "I miss her, Megan. Think she is well recovered by now? Think she ever thinks of me? Going to be a long night."

Six-thirty rolled around so he shut the desktop down, closed the laptop and headed in to the bedroom to don the monkey suit and head to the gala. The Ferrari will stay in the barn as the mist is swirling, but at least is isn't raining. He decided to leave a bit early as there are sure to be accidents along the way. Amazing what rain does to LA drivers. Some putted along twenty miles an hour below the posted speed while others continued twenty miles an hour over the posted speed- when they met it caused a big mess for everyone else. Thank the gods it didn't snow, but what was surprising is that so many in LA were from elsewhere- where it did rain and snow….. they just seemed to have left some of their brain cells behind when the headed west.

Once dressed, with tie hanging he put his wallet in his hip packet, his phone, the small case of business cards Gina had given him and a small comb in the inside jacket pocket and headed for the garage to pull the Malibu out.

Only needed to take two detours- one a multi vehicle accident and the other due to a flooded intersection. Pulling up to the gate, "Good evening, Mr. O'Brien, you know to park around the side of the building. Enjoy yourself," John the guard at the gate said, pushing the button to open the gate.

"Thank you Mr. O'Conner," Walter smiled. "Thought we agreed, John and Walter was OK."

"Yeah, we did but you are a distinguished guest this evening, have a good time," John said and waved him through. Walter parked, pulled his phone out to check time, but it was close enough to eight it was worth his while to get to the door to await Gina to get his tie done. The swirling mist just would not go away so he got out and walked to the door to wait inside for Gina. Waiting by the door he watched people coming in to continue to the large room. He could already hear the dance music and the growing drone of voices.

"Walter, on time as expected. Too wet to have you stand on a step outside, so hunch down so I can get your tie fixed. As always look very nice."

Walter bent his knees so Gina could reach around to fix his tie. "You also look very nice this evening, Gina. Hello, Jake, nice seeing you again."

"'Evening Walter. You getting more awards this evening? I get moved up from intern to actual engineer position- yahoo. Looking forward to the bump in income as you can imagine."

"Congratulations, Jake. I am sure it is just the first of many upward steps for you here. Richard rewards good work, innovative ideas, and improvements."

"There you are, Walter," Gina said. "All done and lookin' good. How about I make all the women jealous entering with the two of you? Your arms, please, gentlemen, and let's make a grand entrance."

Entering the three made their way to the bar. Walter and Gina requesting flutes of ginger ale and Jake a flute of champagne.

"Shall we stake out a table, where Jake and I can put our drinks and take the first turn on the dance floor for the evening?" Gina asked. "Walter, lead the way to the open table of your choice as you will probably stay planted there… make the women come to you, right?"

"Jake, did she start drinking at home and already inebriated?" Walter asked as he made his way to a table far on the outskirts of the throng, close to the wall. "Sure you want her driving?"

"Sorry, Walter, she has not been drinking, she just knows you well enough to know how you will behave. Obviously she was right- distant table on the fringe where you will more than likely stay for the duration."

"Maybe by next year I will have managed to learn to tie my tie myself and come without you two- you obviously know me too well," Walter said sitting at a distant table on the fringe close to the wall. "I shall keep an eye on your drinks, enjoy yourselves."

Walter sat sipping his ginger ale watching Jake, with arm around Gina go to the dance floor. Scanning the already large crowd, he spotted Richard and Zoe cruising around socializing with everyone thinking it is amazing Richard could keep so many people's information so readily on hand to make them all feel special and noticed. Looking around he spotted a couple engineers and designers he had worked with over the year. Kicking back while scanning, he was brought up short seeing Happy and Toby….. then remembered Richard had said she had improved a process shortly after getting hired. Knowing Happy that was probably just the first of her innovations. She looked quite nice in her floor length dark blue dress- still had the unruly mass of black hair. Looking a bit to their right, he spotted Paige in a floor length black dress with Ralph at her side. Ralph was certainly getting tall. He wondered if Richard was aware of Ralph's abilities and was wanting to get him 'on board' as Richard puts it. He got to musing- wonder if Sylvester is going to show up, almost the whole gang is present. He then noticed a tall, dark haired man approach Paige and hand her a flute of champagne. They, as a group, went to a table where Ralph sat as the others put their drinks down and went to the dance floor. Ralph sat watching the others dance when sure enough, Sylvester, also decked out in a monkey suit joined him. Gods, Walter thought, he should call Cabe and see if he has a monkey suit and tell him to come on down.

Watching Paige dance with the tall, dark haired man then Happy and Toby, all seemed one big family getting along together. He turned to put his now empty glass on the table.

"Good evening, Walter. Mind if I join you?" Fran asked. "I see you are here alone, too."

"Fran," Walter said rising. "Nice to see you, please, as always your company is welcome. Would you like a drink? Can I get you something?"

"I drove so not drinking tonight. You going to be the star of the show again this year?"

"I don't drink," Walter said raising his empty flute. "Ginger ale. Soda water also available, or coffee and bottles of water, so take your pick."

Jake and Gina returned to the table to sit. "Hey, Fran, how is James?"

"We had hopes he could make it," Fran said. "But, maybe next year- pretty sure, next year, really."

Walter and Fran walked to the bar to request two ginger ales. "James is in the VA hospital in San Diego. Long sad story for the two of us, but it is finally coming together." Fran explained as they walked back to their table. "Have Cabe and Allie settled in their place in the hinterlands as you call it?"

"Yes, they are out there, having a good time with all this rain. Cabe's retirement gathering at Homeland is next week. At least I don't have to wear this suit for that."

"You look very nice, Walter. When James gets out of hospital, I hope I can get him to let his hair grow like yours. May be hard him being a buzzed Marine."

"I worked with a number of wounded military going through rehab, got in trouble reprogramming a Marine's prosthetic hand. We all got tired of his playing chopsticks on the piano so I entered a bit of Mozart. Everyone but the doctors and therapists appreciated the change."

"Fortunately they were able to retain James' leg and arm, but nerves were damaged and muscle loss. He is getting there, but it is slow going. I see him every Tuesday, Thursday and the weekends. The doctors say it makes a difference in recovery time. I feel kinda' responsible, and really do want him to fully recover as much as possible. Once he is out of hospital I am going to ask him to marry me."

"Thought the man was to ask the woman. These are special circumstances?"

"Yes, James had asked me to marry him shortly before I graduated from MIT. Gods, my parents were furious- James had quit high school and by then had gotten a GED, but they were adamantly against it. So, he joined the Marines to as he said make a clean break," Fran said. "Two years later, I'm alone, missing him when his sister comes over and lays into me- my fault he is so injured and on the other side of the country. So I put an application in with Elias Enterprises and got hired, so I could at least be close. Turning him down was the biggest mistake I ever made, and I hope he will accept my proposal."

"I bet since he had already asked you he will certainly accept. When he does, remember Cabe and Allie. Cabe was a Marine, proudly so, and probably would appreciate another Marine visiting. They can tell tales of boot camp to each other while you and Allie tend the roses. Cabe told me for years that I should have gone through a boot camp- would have knocked that mathematician obnoxiousness right out of me."

"Again, I see no obnoxiousness in you, Walter."

"And as I said, I did eventually learn- after many thumps and black eyes."

"Good evening, everyone," Richard said as he and Zoe sat down. "Good to see you all. Once again, Walter, I will be calling you first to get your torture over for the night. You know how many this time?"

"As I have said countless times, Richard, I don't keep track. Patents are of much less importance than seeing the design functional and in use."

"Well, you keep that attitude so you keep sending the designs in. You out did yourself- three last year, four this year….. yes, I included the rocket component used in Arizona. At the rate you are going, I should just give you a project and stand back."

"The ceremonies will be starting soon," Zoe said. "We wanted to give you a heads up, you be prepared too, Jake."

"If you saw, Walter, Quinn and Dodd will also be getting awards. You were right, they are exceptional, especially Quinn. In another year, the Dineen son will possibly settle in an intern position with the college classes he will have completed by then- and at his age, he is quite exceptional. He told me you had mentored him in math for years…. it certainly shows."

Zoe looked at Walter, "Dad, time we get it started. See you in a bit Walter, Jake," she said rising as did Richard to walk to the dais and into the spotlight. Within a short time the crowd quieted and Richard began. "Once again, the time for awards, promotions and recognition has arrived. Throughout the enterprise, big as it is, there are those who standout as exceptional. As with last year, first to be called is Walter O'Brien. Come on up here Walter."

Walter grabbed Gina's hand and had her join him on the dais.

"Walter O'Brien who was called first last year for three patent awards, is called first this year due to attaining four patents- all for the space division, three for designs used in the personnel capsule and one used in Arizona for the rocketry end of the project." Zoe handed the framed awards to Richard, who, while shaking Walter's hand handed two to Walter and two to Gina. "Next year, Walter, we will have a wheel barrow for you to haul everything in. Thank you for your exceptional endeavors for the enterprise."

"Thank you, Richard." Walter said and he and Gina returned to their table amidst the applause. Once quieted down, Richard continued calling those being commended.

Sitting down, Walter finished his ginger ale, then gathering the four framed awards, "I'm going to go dump these in the car," he said and walked to the door and out to the parking lot to get in the Malibu and leave for the garage.

Watching Walter go out, Gina said to Jake and Fran, "I bet he does not return, think Zoe caught it, too."

"Caught what?" Jake asked.

"All those people now working for Richard that he mentioned- Quinn, Dodd and Dineen- they were the team Walter put together- the geniuses that did all that incredible stuff in the news years ago, the Scorpion Team….. they all walked out on him, but he can't get away from them… they are why he works alone, says he will never hire employees again- never works out well, as he puts it. Sad to see him alone and them all together, and after being around him all this time, I just don't understand why as he is a wonderful person."