HALF A LOAF Chapter 12 MY NEW STANDING

My New Standing

 

What I call my new standing was based on a flimsy concept that could change with a word.

If L.D. (Sally’s dad) fired me then I would be back to square one, but my association with him comes with at least some of his prestige.

 

My relationship with Laney remained as it was before, and as the days came and went, L.D. and I became closer.

 

I didn’t really know exactly what my job was but when someone wanted something done that wasn’t regular business they would call on me.

 

I must admit I had to do some strange things and met some odd people while doing “my job.”

 

One thing I noticed was, I always was treated with respect when dealing with these people.  There was never anything illegal as far as I could tell but some of it seemed to be a bit close.

 

At times I just delivered a message and returned with an answer, always this was done in a closed briefcase which was locked.

 

Some times one of the monster men would go with me and I wondered why he didn’t deliver the message himself.

 

When I asked L.D. about that he said he knew I would do it right and he trusted me.  It seems he and I became closer as time went by.

 

One day he called me into his large office, a place I didn’t get to visit very often.

 

He said, “Sit.”

 

So I sat.  Then he asked me just where I was heading for in the future.

 

I was surprised by that because I wasn’t sure.  I hoped to go to law school but the cost and the fact I couldn’t get into one of the prestigious schools made me be uncertain.  I figured I would get a business degree and settle for whatever job I could get.  Whatever it was it would be a big step above what my dad had to settle for.

 

I told him I had wanted to go to law school but that seemed beyond my means.  

 

He said aren’t you smart enough?  I said no my grades were sufficiently high enough and I believe I could pass the LSAT tests, but I might fall short other ways.

 

He asked, “What ways?”

 

I answered, “To get into the better universities beyond the outrageous costs, it’s who you know because of the high number of applicants.”

 

He said, “Do you like Stanford?”

 

I said, “Sure, it’s one of the best.”

 

He said, “Then you’re gong to Stanford.  You make sure you take care of your grades and I will do the rest.”

 

I sat there with my mouth open and he said, ‘You can go.”

 

I knew this was too hard to believe.

 

Then he said, “Come back here for a minute.  You were friends with Sally in the past?”

 

I said, “I guess we are still kinda friends.”

 

He said, “What happened?  I thought you were pretty close, and again he said what happened?

 

I wasn’t sure how to answer that so I just said, “Princeton.  After she got involved, she began to lose interest in me and let it be known she wanted to go with out with other guys, - -that’s all.”

 

“You got a girl friend now? he asked.

 

I said, “Not really.  I hang out with a friend all the time, but there isn’t what you might call romance, we are just buddies.”

 

He said, “Okay; don’t give up on Sally just yet.”

 

I was weak in the knees as I left his office.  I didn’t want to think about all that had transpired in the last few minutes so I asked if anyone had anything they needed me to do.  All at once they dumped on me a whole lot of things that needed to be done.

 

It kept me busy until almost midnight.  Around eight Laney tracked me down and said she was back from her vacation and wanted to see me tomorrow.

 

I told her, I would like to have lunch with her and catch up with what was going on.

 

The next day I took a long lunch with Laney.

 

She had to tell me all about her vacation.  She had met this guy who she liked in a flirty kind of way.  Seems he stimulated something in her that had been dormant or that is one way to put it.  

 

During lunch she had a different look and it was almost amusing to me.  Finally she was coming out of her shell.

 

She said her eyes were improving and she no longer needed her glasses. That alone changed her appearance.  She had bought some new clothes, had styled her hair, and was looking very chic.

 

I said, “You didn’t?” and before I could finish she said, “No it didn’t happen.”

 

I just said, “Oh.”  Then I brought her up to date on what was happening with me and she was knocked for a loop so to speak.  

 

Afterward she said, “I have my work cut out for me.  I have to make sure you get the top grades around here.”

 

Then it was time to get back in school and the weeks seem to drag by.

 

I seldom saw L.D. and he didn’t talk to me except to say Sally was going to spend the summer at home and she no longer was at the sorority house.

 

That was it; there was no reason for saying anything else in his mind at least.

 

When talking to me it seemed his mind was somewhere else thinking about business or something.

 

Laney and I spent the school year doing most everything together.  She began to date more often and almost forced me at times to double date with her.  She would pick out a date for me and I was stuck with her but it was a fun thing to do anyhow.

 

Once she wanted to attend a social event and she told me I was going to be her date for that night.  It felt strange to have to get her a corsage and pick her up just like a real date.

 

The whole affair was… just like we were dating and after it was over and I walked her to her door she puckered up and said I’m waiting.

 

I decided okay and gave her my best effort at a goodnight kiss.  In fact I gave her a second one before saying, “I had fun, thank you and good night.   

 

As I left without looking back, I thought, “That is the first time I had kissed Laney and it wasn’t that bad, in fact it was good.

 

I wondered who she had been practicing with… oh well "C'est la vie".

 

To be Continued