Summer on the PCT

"Where are you?"

"I'm at the motel next to the storage unit. What about you? Where are you?"

"I'm actually in town staying at my sister's place. They're gone for two weeks and I agreed to dog sit for them. I haven't any place permanent yet."

It was obvious we were dancing around the issue of our personal situation so I decided to ask, "Vik, can I come by?"

"Sure, sure. Why don't you come right now?"

I went out, fired up my car and drove to her sister's house. After I went up the stairs, the door opened and there was Vickie. She looked great. A smile graced her face and she held her arms out to me. We came together with a warm hug before we relaxed our arms and looked at each other smiling. We gave each other a warm, quick kiss on the lips.

"Come in, come in," she said. "By the way, I like your beard."

"Yeah, I trimmed it a few hours ago. It was quite long like a wild mountain man's beard."

"So, we've got a lot of catching up, don't we?"

"Yeah," I answered. "You know what I've been doing all summer. What about you?"

She responded with a brief description of her summer. It seems she spent quite a bit of time in Italy and France before going to England. She told me briefly about her visits, making professional contacts with the museums and how she was going to be able to use those contacts to help her professional career. As she went on, she mentioned England several times and I got the idea she truly liked it there.

"Well I'm glad it turned out so well for you."

"Yeah, it did. And I have you to thank for triggering all this to happen. If it hadn't been for you and your crazy hike, I might never have done this myself."

After a pause, I felt we needed to talk about the elephant in the room. "Uh, so, where does this leave us, anyway?"

"Ryan, Dear, I need to tell you something. I've, uh, I've met someone. Charles. He's a professor at Cambridge in their art history school."

"And...?"

"Well, we, uh, we're thinking we want to be together long term. In fact, he's looking at positions at universities in the States. If he can find something in a larger city and I can find work in a museum there, I suspect we'll make a long-term commitment here. Otherwise I'll move over there."

"Wow. That's, uh, that's pretty amazing. You excited?"

"Yes, Ryan, I, uh, I really am. You know, I've dreaded this conversation, but I think it's time I move on."

"Hey, Vickie, we agreed to use this time to reassess our relationship, to see what would happen. It looks like you've found someone who will be a great fit for you."

"So, you're not mad?"

"Hey! How could I be mad when a great companion of mine has found someone who will make her life so much better? Vickie, I could never in a thousand years want to hold you down just because of our previous situation. It sounds like you've found a great guy and all the happiness that goes along with him. You deserve it."

"You're serious? You're not mad?"

"No. Not at all."

Suddenly she began to cry and came over to me and wrapped her arms around me. "Ryan, you don't know how happy this makes me. I do love you, but it's been eye-opening how much more of a soulmate he is to me. We are meant for each other. You and I, well, I don't regret our time together at all and I'll look back at it with the fondest of memories. But I do need to move on. Thank you, thank you so much for understanding."

"Sure, but I have one request."

She looked at me with a hint of concern in her eyes. "What?"

"I insist on an invite to the wedding," I laughed as I reached down and gave her an extra squeeze and a kiss on her head.

She laughed, promised to include me in the invite list and dabbed her tears dry.

"You know, it's kinda ironic. I met someone, also."

"You did? Really?"

"Yeah, but we made no promises, no definite plans. She knew about you and me and insisted that we needed to sort things out. Since things between us are apparently 'sorted out,' I'll get in touch with her. You know, see what happens."

"Well, that's neat. Clearly she likes the outdoors more than I do. What's her name?"

"Julie."

"Please tell Julie I hope it works out for you two."

"Sure, thanks. We'll just have to wait and see.

"I should be heading out, Vickie," I went on, "I've got a lot to do yet. I'll probably be pulling my things out of storage soon so it will all be yours to do with how you want. I'll pay for it through December. OK?"

"Sure. I'm kinda in limbo until Charles' situation gets clarified. I'll hang around here until at least Christmas, then we'll see what his search turns up."

"OK. Well, I guess this is 'good-bye' then. Vik, I wish you all the best. You're a great lady and Charles is one hell of a lucky man."

"I think we've all been kinda lucky, eh?"

"Yeah, I guess so. You take care Vik," I said as I hugged her one last time and gave her a soft, sweet good-bye kiss on her lips. At the car I turned and looked back at her and she waved and smiled at me as I got in the car.

-----

Three weeks later I walked into the Central Valley Environmental Law Group's office unannounced. There were no others in the tiny waiting room so I went right up to the receptionist desk.

"May I help you, Sir?"

"Uh, yes, I would like to see Ms. Bingham, please."

"Do you have an appointment, Mr....uh..."

"Erdoc. E-R-D-O-C. My name's Erdoc and no, I'm afraid I don't."

"I see. Now what would you be needing to see her for?"

"I wanted to discuss a merger."

"Well, Sir, this is a an ecologically oriented firm. We don't do corporate or business law. We work on bringing polluters to justice, saving green spaces, things like that."

"Yes, I understand. But in this case, I think she would be interested in a merger discussion."

"OK, please have a seat and I'll see if she is available."

I sat down while she dialed back into the office. I could hear a few words of her whispers. "...merger..." and "...uh, a Mr. Erdoc, I think he said..." She put the phone down and turned to me.

"Well, she'll be out in a few minutes, but I need to warn you: She doesn't do corporate law," she sniffed at me.

"Oh, I think she'll want to discuss this with me. I hope so, at least."

We waited a few minutes until the receptionist spoke up, "What kind of name is Erdoc, anyway?"

"Oh, it's German," I lied, thinking about Eins and Zwei.

Then there she was. Her face was still bronzed from the five months in the outdoors and her smile was as big as ever. Her hair was tied up off her neck in some kind of an attractive twist. Her dress was professional and, quite frankly, sexy as hell as it showed her lean, tanned, muscular and shaved(!) calves. She crossed her arms over her chest and leaned on the door jamb as she addressed me.

"Mr. Erdoc, I'm Julie Bingham. How can I be of assistance?"

"I would like to discuss a merger, if I might," I said as I stood up.

"Well, as Suzanne no doubt told you, we are an environmentally oriented firm and don't do corporate law," she grinned.

"But I wanted to discuss how two entities could join forces, pool their assets, cut common expenses and potentially produce some products in the corporate name," I smiled back at her.

"I see. Uh..." she stumbled for words.

"Julie," Suzanne spit out, "You know we don't do that kind of law!"

"Yeah, I know, but Mr. Erdoc seems to have piqued my interest." She turned to me. "Is your party thinking of a loose association or a more formal one?"

"Definitely a formally licensed and witnessed association fully sanctioned by the state. You know, the whole thing."

"And where would the headquarters be?"

"Oh, right here. My party is more than willing to relocate and indeed has already moved all equipment and supplies here. My party also has arranged for an independent source of income, once paperwork clears the appropriate state licensing department."

"Really?"

"Really."

"I'll have to think about it," she grinned even more.

"My party is also ready to produce an earnest money payment or rather a symbol thereof."

"Hmm..."

"Julie, what's going on with you? What are you two talking about?" cried out an exasperated Suzanne.

"Oh, I think what Mr. Erdoc is proposing," she paused after emphasizing the last word, "Could be quite interesting." She turned to me. "So, this symbol, is it very big?"

"No, but it's quite pretty and costly and worth every damn penny."

"Then the answer is 'yes, I will'," she said as she ran to me and our arms wrapped around each other.

I leaned back, looked her in the eyes and said, "I haven't even asked you yet."

"Well, then, you need to get busy, Mr. Erdoc."

"Ms. Bingham, would you do me the honor of being my wife?" I asked as I pulled out the ring and slipped it on her finger.

She kissed me and then answered, "Like I said before, Mr. Erdoc, yes, I will," to Suzanne's squeals of surprise behind us.

-----

Unfortunately, it is very difficult to do the entire PCT in one summer any more. Drought and severe wildfires over the past several years have resulted in multiple parts of the trail being closed, forcing hikers to abandon the trail and obtain transportation around those areas. On other stretches of the trail, smoke has been so thick that visibility is severely limited, the views are lost and breathing the foul air can be quite hazardous.

Trionyx54 - Summer 2021