Long Blonde Hair, Sky Blue Eyes Pt. 06

"As to your concern about incorporation and assessment of gigabits of data, without AI it could never work; with AI, it can. I think."

The personnel director was thunderstruck; the CISO was analytical; Carl was troubled; Thomas was ecstatic; the bride-to-be was smiling. She got up from her chair, walked to the end of the table where he was sitting, leaned over, kissed him on top of his head, and said, "I have my own mind-boggling problems to address, and I need Annie with me. You aren't ready to personnel anyway, and I am.

"And don't forget your promise to work with my team on incorporation of CGG and AI in our new studio, Mister Smarty Pants."

When Annika returned at 1, they had old-fashioned legal tablets and pencils in front of them and highlighted charts taped all over the windows of the room, and Carl was acting as facilitator.

She clapped her hands to get their attention, insisting, "It's lunch time! You can get back to this after we eat."

****

By Saturday afternoon Carl had sufficiently recovered from Friday, so his daughter sprung the Bastrop County news to the whole Olsson Clan. Erik wisely kept his mouth shut and left it to his fiancée to explain her rationale. His silence didn't fool anyone, of course, because they knew he was involved or it wouldn't be happening, but she was persuasive enough to carry the hour.

Oliver helped. "I've been thinking about buying a place in a warm climate to escape these Minnesota winters. Do you think we could find a place nearby?"

Annika assured him they could, and gave him one of her Realtor's cards. Carl and Mary looked deflated; Elle and Axel excitedly asked how close Bastrop was to Hondo, where their friends lived. Erik spoke up to reassure them that they would remain in Minneapolis for quite some time, as all that was well into the future. They had a lot to work on here next week, the week after that they would be in the Virgin Islands at a photo shoot, and then would return to work here.

Carl shot a look at his eldest, who corrected Erik's timetable. "I haven't had a chance to tell you yet, but I've just been offered a brief speaking part in an Amazon series. I fly to LA Monday evening, film Tuesday and Wednesday, and return Thursday. My new team thinks it's a great opportunity to present myself as a businesswoman of some means, which is the part I would be playing. It's brief - my role is limited to attending a gala sponsored by a children's charity and buying a donated work of art as a contribution to the charity. I only appear in three scenes, so I'll be home early Thursday."

"I stand corrected. I'll be here working next week; she'll be hobnobbing with actors and celebrities in LA. But the rest is correct... isn't it?"

"Absolutely! I return to work here Thursday, we fly to St. John's next Sunday and return the Sunday after! Then we resume our normal lives."

Erik wanted to ask her to define 'normal lives' more clearly, given her norms, but let it slide in front of her family.

Her apology for not promptly informing him of what she had known for three days was so effusive they barely slept Saturday night, and Sunday was a very nice day to take a ride in the country. They packed a tarp, two blankets, a cooler, and a picnic basket with everything but the fried chicken they would pick up on the way out. An hour later they were at the lake where Erik had pouted and pondered Annika's indiscretions in NYC. She loved the trails, the picnic area, and the fire Erik built in the designated pit. Since it was in the 50s the fire was more about aesthetics need, but it was pretty and the warmth was welcome.

The fast-food chicken and their home-cooked sides looked delicious spread across their picnic table, and tasted even better in the crisp autumn air with smoke from the firepit drifting across them.

Cuddling by the fire led to fondling, which led to a walk in the woods carrying the ground tarp and blanket. They had covered a mile before they found a private nook, lying across an inlet. They worked their way around the inlet, made their way through the dense undergrowth, spread the tarp and blankets in an open area with undergrowth on three sides, and sat down. The lake was glassy in the still chill of autumn, but dragonflies were darting about, occasionally disturbing the surface. It was a tranquil sight that soothed anxiety while raising awareness of the environment in which they sat.

Annika rearranged herself, sitting between his legs and leaning back against him. He used the opportunity to kiss her neck, whisper sweet words of adoration in her ear, and unzip her jacket. Roaming hands and hot breath raised goose-bumps on her neck, and soon she was twisting around to kiss her lover. He continued undressing her, she began undressing him, and when the jobs were done they slipped under the top blanket and resumed kissing.

Erik's finger found that little bundle of nerves under her pubic bone, his mouth found her near breast, and her strong slender body soon began writhing in pleasure. The questing mouth changed breasts, but his free hand kept the nipple he had left warm and taut. Her orgasm was too potent for the light stimulation, but Erik used her throes to roll between her legs and replace his hand with his cock.

She wrapped her legs around him, pulled his mouth up to hers, and began a twerking motion he'd never before experienced. They climbed the mountain together, spiraling upward until they reached the thin air that panting couldn't draw enough of, and then fell off the pinnacle together.

The sheen of sweat protected them from the chill for a few minutes, but the chill soon won out and they recovered the cast-off blanket. Words of love and adoration were again exchanged, promises were made, and then they surrendered to the increasing cold and hurriedly dressed. The waters of the lake were no longer still; waves were being pushed from the north to the south by a wind that felt fresh from the arctic.

They hurried back, gathered their belongings, and jumped into the pickup for the two-hour drive home. As they drove away, Erik smiled that new memories superseded the old, and knew this lake would always be a favorite.

Annika's script, such as it was, sat in her inbox. Hers was a celebrity cameo more than a part, but she did engage in a conversation with the main character - after having made a red-carpet entrance. She appeared in two more scenes, speaking in one more. Little 'acting' was involved, given that she had played these scenes many times, but it was an opportunity, and the series was one of Amazon's most popular.

He helped her rehearse, and then they acted out a fantasy ending of their own making.

****

Andi and Annika left for the airport from the private garage at the law offices in one of the disguised security company vans; another would pick them up in LA, and a team would accompany them wherever they went. Negotiations and lawsuits continued regarding Koslov, and, although he and the kidnappers remained in the St. Paul jail, no chances were being taken. Koslov had scores if not hundreds of criminals in his employ, and could rent an even larger number for the right money.

Alone for the first time in a while, Erik went into worker drone mode, zoning out in his office and again at his apartment. He responded to her sweet messages and abandoned work when she called, he ate takeout, and the rest of the time he disappeared into a world only he could traverse.

He was deep inside that world when the call came from Security First. Thirty minutes later he was climbing on a corporate jet with Carl, and a couple of hours after that they were on on the ground in LA, headed to Cedars Sinai Hospital at Marina del Rey. Information was sketchy at best, but they had been told that Andi, Annika, and their security team had been involved in a shoot-out on Hollywood Boulevard, and there were injuries. Neither the police nor hospital authorities would provide more information to the agents dispatched to the scene, but the recording of the frantic call for help from the security team included numerous gunshots and the sound of screaming.

****