Pinochle
by: E Walk

(© 2007 by the Author)
Editor: Will B
 

The author retains all rights. No reproductions are allowed without the author's consent. Comments are appreciated at...

Chapter 26 

To London With Love

Preface

I would like to thank two of my very good friends for helping me create this story.  First the story evolved from a dare to my editor, Will B., while he was writing another of his stories.  He permitted me to use some of his characters from his story the Wizards.  I also would like to recognize my good friend, Arli, for working with me to make sure that his companion story The Second Time Around and Pinochle stayed on the same page. 

This is Ben.

Grant and I were working with Mr. Lasher and Mr. Murphy.  It was about 11:00 o’clock when the phone rang.  Lash handed it to me.  “This is Ben. … Hi Mother, what’s the problem?  You’re saying that we need to leave for the Omaha airport by 1:30?  Does Brian know? … Oh, so he is waiting for us to pick him up. … Dad says we are to park in the long-term parking lot. … He’s pulled a coupon off the computer that will permit us to park at half the regular fare, and that they have a shuttle that will deliver us to the terminal and pick us up when we return.”

Everyone was watching me, “Oh, Ricky and J.T. and Andy will take our place.  T.J. will come by later to help them close.  Okay, Mother, it’s quiet, so Grant and I will leave now and go say goodbye to Mr. Garrison and Mr. Gordon.  Tell Brian we’ll be there in 45 minutes, and tell him to fix us a sandwich, since we haven’t eaten.”

We stopped by the Garrison’s house and explained what was happening.  We both hugged Mr. Garrison and Mr. Gordon.  Grant finally spoke. “Dads, we’ll see you in about three weeks.  Drive carefully, and don’t do anything Benji and I wouldn’t do."

Both Mr. Garrison and Mr. Gordon grabbed for Grant.  Mr. Garrison said, “I think it more appropriate if you would say, "Don’t do anything we wouldn’t or couldn’t do.”

We hugged them again as we left.  Brian came bounding out of the house, when we got there, “What took you so long?  We need to get going, or we’ll miss our flight.”

I looked at Brian.  “Do you suppose I might I get my luggage, before we  leave?  I will look rather ridiculous walking around London without any clothes.”

Brian was on a roll.  “That’s a good idea.  Just think of the money I could make from the freak show.  Maybe I could arrange for the airlines to lose Grant’s luggage, also.”

When we arrived at the parking area, I had no more than turned off the ignition, when a van was waiting to take us to the terminal.  The driver loaded the bags into the van, and the next thing we knew, we were at the check-in counter.  The security people went through our bags, and I guess we must not have had anything that wasn’t acceptable, because we were walking to the gate when the public address system announced, “Flight 92 to Newark is ready for immediate boarding.  Will all passengers please report to gate 22?”

When we arrived at the check-in counters, the flight attendant was very courteous, “Thanks for joining us this afternoon, gentlemen.  We had a change of aircraft because of mechanical problems, so you have the first row of seats.  Your tickets say that you paid for first class seats, but I’m sure the company will make restitution.  We have been assured that you will have first class seats on the next flight, from Newark to London.”

The plane was a long, sleek jet and only had three seats across but we had lots of leg space.  Brian pulled his head phones out of his backpack, so he would be ready when we were airborne.  Both Grant and I were content to  sit and relax.  I hadn’t even thought to bring a CD/DVD player.  I had brought some travel guides of England and particularly London, since I had no idea what would be happening while we were there.

This is Grant.

Honestly, Ben and Brian acted as if they had done this all of their lives.  Here I was, on my first commercial flight, not having the foggiest idea what was going to happen.  I thought that being seated in the front row was a normal occurrence.  How was I to know?

The steward approached us. “Gentlemen, what might I get you to drink?”

Brian, in his brashness, said, “I would like a double scotch on the rocks with a twist of lemon, please.”

The steward looked at him. “Does that mean that you would like a glass of lemonade with picture of a Scotsman in a kilt?”

Brian was enjoying this encounter.  “Yes, and make sure the Scotsman isn’t wearing anything under his kilt.  I want to make sure that the myth about Scottish men is true.”

The attendant turned to Ben and me.  “Gentlemen, what may I bring you?”

Ben spoke first, “I’d like just a bottle of water, for now.”

I finally decided.  “I’ll have what our little brother is having.”

“Very well, sir, two naked Scotsmen and a boring bottle of water.”

The three of us were laughing, as the steward left to get our drinks.

Ben and I heard the two older ladies who were seated behind us say, “We’ll have two of those naked Scotsmen drinks, also.”

Ben leaned over to me.  “Knock, I don’t like being in the first two seats; the steward can see everything we are doing.  I want to see if I can initiate you into the 'mile high club.'”

“What is the 'mile high club'?”  I had no idea what he was talking about.

Brian leaned across the aisle and whispered, “Ben was saying he wanted make you achieve sexual release once we got to altitude.  Why don’t you ask the steward for two blankets and pretend that you are asleep?  No one will be any the wiser, that Ben is playing with your not so little appendage.”

The steward must have been listening to what we were saying, because he brought Ben and me two blankets.  He turned to Brian. “Are you sure you wouldn’t like a blanket, also?”

Brian sighed.  “I’m fine Kent.  I’ll just wait until I have to go to the bathroom.   I don’t need any help.”

The steward started to laugh. “Very well sir.  Remember there is a time limit on how long someone can be in the bathroom.”

Brian was unfazed.  “Don’t worry, sir; I have a quick trigger.”

Before we realized what was happening, we landed at Newark International Airport.  We checked the flight departure monitor for our departure gate.  It was located two gates away from where we landed, and we saw that our flight would be leaving in an hour and a half.  We decided to go find something to eat, since all we had eaten was the sandwich Brian made for us and we had eaten on the way to Omaha, and some pretzels on the flight.

When we finished eating, we walked back to our boarding area.  Guess who was there!  Yep, Maria and Inga!  They were scheduled to go out on the same flight.  We introduced the two ladies to Brian, and all he could say was, “I guess you two ladies must be blind, to be consorting with these two ugly creatures.  Are you sure you wouldn’t rather partake of my company?”

Maria and Inga were laughing, and Maria said, “We’ll stick with the mature, older men, thank you.”

Brian needed to have to the last word.  “If I see any mature, older men, I’ll send them your way.”

The flight attendant came on and announced, “At this time, we would like to

board our first class passengers and platinum club members.  Please have your boarding passes and passports ready for the attendant at the door.”

Brian, Ben and I picked up our backpacks and so did Inga and Maria.  Brian couldn’t resist, “Well, so much for finding any more mature, older men.”

This is Brian speaking.

The head stewardess directed me to the second row of seats and a young lady about my age was sitting next to the window.  The seats were two abreast so I was on the aisle.  I looked to see who was on the other side of me.  Ben was seated closest to me, and then Grant.  I looked to see where Maria and Inga were seated; they were in the two seats against the other side of the aircraft.  We were sitting in the same row.

I finally got up enough nerve to speak the young woman. “Hi, I’m Brian Benson.  This is my first trip to London.”

The young lady smiled.  “I’m Vicky Mason, and this was my first trip to New York City.  I met some of my American friends here for a week of seeing the sights, and going to some of the plays and concerts.”

“Since you have never been to London, perhaps I could show you around, sometimes.  Are you traveling alone?”

I shook my head.  “I’m traveling with my brother, Ben, who is seated next to me, and his friend, Grant.  We just ran into two of their friends from college, who are seated on the other side of them.  How coincidental that they would not only be on the same flight, but have the two adjacent seats!”

Vicky looked at me as if I were weird. “You mean that they didn’t know that they were going to on the same flight?”

“They couldn’t have known, because our reservations were changed this morning.  We were scheduled to leave tomorrow morning.”

 

Vicky started to laugh, “I guess that fate has a weird way of making things happen.  Where are you staying in London?” 

“I don’t know the address, but we will staying with Mr. Peters and Mr. Cox. They work for the government.  They visited our house about four weeks ago.”

“Are you talking about Hank Peters and Rod Cox?” 

I guess I must have had a funny look on my face.  “Yes, how did you know?  Are you a wizard or something?”

Vicky started to giggle. “Don’t look so surprised.  Uncle Hank and Uncle Rod and are my parents' best friends.  My Dad works with them at the Ministry.”

I noticed that, shortly after the seat belt sign was turned off, Grant and Maria switched seats. 

I asked Vicky to join me.   I introduced her to Ben and Maria.  “Guess what, Benji.  Vicky knows Uncle Rod and Uncle Hank very well.  She has volunteered to show us around if we need a tour guide.  Let’s go talk to Knock and Inga, and I’ll introduce them.”

After the introductions, we returned to our seats, since they were taking orders for the evening meal.

I was really looking forward to our week in London now, especially since Maria and Inga would also be there.  I wouldn’t be the fifth wheel I thought I might be, after we met up with Maria and Inga.

This is Ben.

I am going to pound Brian into the ground for calling us Benji and Knock in public.  Maria leaned over to me.  “I think it is neat that Brian called you Benji and Grant, Knock, in public.  He must really be fond of you.”

She looked at me, “Since I know nothing very much about London, and England for that matter, maybe the six of us can enjoy the sights together.”

I shrugged.  “That would be great.  We need to see what Uncle Rod and Uncle Hank have planned for us.” 

After the meal, the lights were turned down, and I watched as Vicky laid her head on Brian’s shoulder.  Maria kissed me, and she exchanged seats with Grant again.  There were blankets under the seats, and we all covered up, since the plane was cold.  I reached under Grant’s blanket and started to manipulate his penis through his slacks.  He pushed my hand away and whispered, “Stop it Ben, or I will cream my pants and everyone will know what you are doing.”

I pulled my hand away and mouthed, “I love you.”

Grant winked at me. “Back at you double.”

I must have fallen asleep, because the next thing I remember were the lights coming on and people moving about the cabin; the smell of food started to filter through the airways.  I touched Grant.  “I’m going to the bathroom and freshen up, before everyone starts to wake up.”  He got his backpack and followed me.  I was wishing he would join me, but he went into a separate restroom.

As I was coming out, Brian and Vicky were waiting their turns.  Vicky went in the bathroom I had used, and Brian waited for Grant to emerge from the other bathroom.  As we returned to our seats, I touched Maria on the shoulder and motioned for her to wake Inga.  Fortunately the six of us beat the mad morning rush.

After we had eaten our breakfasts, the Captain announced, “We will be landing at Heathrow in 30 minutes.  Flight Crew, please see that cabins are secure.”

Fortunately, we had taken care of all the necessary paper work the night before.   The plane pulled to a gate, and the door was opened.  There was an older couple in front of us with their four grandchildren.  They were trying to make sure they had everything, so the six of us were the first to deplane.  Vicky and Maria knew the drill and directed us where to go to clear customs and immigration.   We had to go to three different sections, because the three of us were United States citizens.  Inga and Maria were citizens of EU countries,  and Vicky was a British citizen.

Brian, Grant and I were the first to clear the hurdles, and we waited for the three ladies.  We walked to the luggage area and got our bags; we loaded them onto three carts, which we three guys pushed to the area where people were waiting for the arriving passengers.

We immediately spotted Uncle Rod and Uncle Hank.  They were standing next to a lady who turned out to be Mrs. Mason.  They were standing right next to another lady accompanied by a chauffeur.  Vicky spoke.  “Come on, guys.  Mother is standing with Uncle Hank and Uncle Rod.”

Maria pointed, “My mother is standing there with Rafael, next to those two handsome gentlemen.”

Brian couldn’t handle much more. "So the magic is still working, huh, guys?"

We walked up to the waiting people, and Brian started.  “Mrs. Mason, I’m Brian Benson.  I’m the good looking one in the crowd.”  He shook her hand.  He went to Maria’s Mother. “Buenos dias, Senora Montoya.  I can see where Maria gets her beautiful looks.”

I introduced everyone, so everybody knew the players.  Rafael took Maria's and Inga’s bags.  As they were leaving, Maria looked at me.  “Call us, once you figure out what your plans are.”

Mrs. Mason and Vicky left, and we followed Uncle Rod and Uncle Hank to their car.

We were about to start on the week of a lifetime.

To be continued...

 Feedback always welcome:     

Editor’s Comments:  Looks like our friends are going to have an interesting week in London.  I’m glad our E. A. (Esteemed Author) has introduced Vicky, to keep Brian company, and I’m glad to see my old friends Hank and Rod again.  Will B.

Posted: 02/29/08