Dirty Professor

"I was also raised in a single parent household and my mom taught me everything she knew," he said.

"So, mom, are you spending the night?" I asked her. This was the first time I'd spoken since we sat down. She shook her head and finished chewing.

"No, I was. But now that I've met Marquise, I feel reassured that you are well taken care of," she said with a smile. I was so relieved that I started crying. The tone was much lighter after dinner. Our bellies were full and our spirits were high. I was feeling good about my mom’s visit when I walked her to her car.

"So, what do you think of Marquise?" I asked her once we were alone.

"I like him. He's a little old, but your father was fifteen years older than me when we got married," she said with a smile. I smiled back.

"I'm glad because he loves me mom and I love him," I told her.

"Well he better because I love you and if he hurts you, I'll kill him." We laughed, hugged and kissed goodbye and then my mom watched me go inside before driving off. When I got inside, Marquise was washing the dishes. I walked up behind him and wrapped my arms around his waist, resting my head against his back.

"Thank you," I murmured.

Graduation

I was finally graduating! It had been a long four years and a lot had happened but now I was at the conclusion and it felt so damn good! When I got my diploma, my mom and Marquise were there cheering me on and taking pictures. Afterward, Marquise treated us to dinner at an upscale restaurant on the pier. I was wearing a beautiful gold dress that hugged my curves and my hair was curled into spirals. As graduation presents, my mom had got me a new car and Marquise had got me a puppy named Delilah. I couldn't have been happier. After dinner, the four of us, Marquise, my mom, Delilah and I, went for a walk along the pier. The night sky was clear and the stars winked down at us. We walked along happily looking at the water. Marquise held my hand while my mom walked Delilah. We let them walk ahead of us a bit so that we could have a moment to ourselves.

"I am so proud of you Dahlia. You deserve all of this and then some," Marquise said, holding my hands in his. "A while ago, I made you a promise and I've been waiting for the right moment to fulfill that promise. So, I figured, what better time than the present? Your mom’s here, this band is here," he said and out of nowhere, a small band started making music behind us. It caught me off guard and made me laugh. My mom was standing near the band, holding Delilah and smiling at us. "I know that we haven't known each other that long and in the short time that we have been together, it's been a rollercoaster, but you make me feel alive! Your love sets me free and I want to grow older with you," we all laughed at that. "I want to be there when you accomplish all of your goals and when you become the woman that you envision yourself being. I want to make you my wife, build a home with you and fill it with kids that look like you. I want to be your last." Marquise dropped down on one knee and my jaw dropped. I had to remind myself to keep breathing. Marquise held my left hand as he reached inside his suit jacket with his other hand. Out came a little black ring box. Involuntarily, tears filled my eyes. I had to blink them back to keep them from ruining my makeup.

Marquise opened the box revealing a diamond ring that looked like a twinkling star in the moonlight. There were diamonds arranged like a rose with diamond petals. Around the platinum band were smaller diamonds. Marquise removed the ring from its box. He held my left hand as he slid the ring onto my ring finger. The diamonds sparkled in the light.

"Dahlia Winters," he began. "Will you do me the honor of being my wife?"

I nodded causing the tears to sprinkle out my eyes.

"Yes. Yes!" I said as cameras flashed. There was a photographer too! The band started playing another song as Marquise and I kissed and embraced. A part of our journey had recently ended but we were ready to embark on the next chapter together, for better or for worse. Till death do us part.

BOOK 5: MERMAID SIGHTED

It was supposed to be an innocuous evening but, just like life on the waves, presuming that calm and peaceful seas lay ahead was a mistake you might only be able to make the once.

Kurt was often looking to live by such seafaring philosophies. He was in love with the ocean and tried to interpret all of his life’s lessons in the way that he envisioned an experienced old sailor from voyages of yore might. Something that was true whether or not he happened to be at sea or, indeed, 50 kilometres inland as he then was.

The occasion was pretty casual in appearance, at the same time as being pretty essential for the future of their livelihoods in that it was a dinner invite from his father’s business partner. Clive Furse’s family home was in Portland and represented one of two households that benefitted from the profit margins of Aqua Yachts: a luxury yacht hire business co-owned by Furse and Kurt’s father Earl Wyden.

Some twenty years ago the two of them had collaborated, investing their fortunes into setting up the business which was still going strong. Since then they had both raised families that would one day inherit and, because of the love he developed for the sea, getting involved in the family business was not a difficult decision for Kurt to make. Sure, the profits and the lifestyle would have made that choice fairly easier anyway, compared to hunting around on the jobs market, but Kurt honestly felt that it was in his blood to live on the coast.

His father had been the more hands-on of the two as far as maintaining the fleet was concerned, meaning that Kurt had grown up being able to learn about how to prepare a vessel for seafaring. Furse, on the other hand, had focused on the financial side of the business, as well as the marketing, which he was able to keep afloat farther inland at his Portland offices.

Socialising between the two families had been fairly normal when growing up and they were all on a first name basis. This meet up was the first-time Kurt had seen any of the Furses for nine months, however, because he had been on an extended break with friends traveling around Europe. That was part of a pledge to see the world someday, which Kurt had enjoyed although what he learned most of all from the experience was that the best thing about travel was coming home. He was pleased to be back with his father’s yachts and, as far as he was concerned, there was enough to see upon Oregon’s coastline and its Pacific waters to last him the rest of his lifetime.

In truth, he would have rather been there than in the backseat of his dad’s 4 x 4 Honda heading to Portland, but the meetup was also important for another reason.

Last week had seen Clive’s daughter, Darlene, return from college. She had been over in Boston for her higher education but was now home for good. The two families had realized that it had been the first time any of the Wyden’s had seen Darlene for three years and what better reason for a big family meetup to mark the occasion?

It was this addition that would live up to Kurt’s philosophy about peaceful seas, in that an evening at the Furse household seemed the most unlikely candidate for a life-changing event. Other than staying at home in front of the television, he would not have imagined a better way of avoiding anything out of the ordinary.

The Furses were fairly orthodox people. Kurt couldn’t imagine them doing any bad deeds in the world whatsoever and, if any man served as an example that money does not always corrupt, it was surely Clive Furse. The business he co-owned had earned them big bucks, but Clive continued to live simply. Other than the benefit of having a fleet of luxury yachts for his holidays, he believed in good traditional living, shopping locally and attending church on a Sunday. Simple pleasures like walking and bird spotting were his personal hobbies; certainly no one would ever catch him squandering away hard earned money buying rounds of drinks in some fancy bar or behind the wheel of a flash motor. Money and success provided Clive’s family with a blanket of financial security and he had no hang ups about the type of person he was.

Kurt respected the Furses for sure; in fact, the two families would probab

ly always be friends even as the new generations grew up differently. If he was honest, however, he would have to admit that he expected the meet up to be a bit tedious. So, he was a full nautical voyage away from being able to predict that the evening would indeed result in a detour into stormy waters.

None of that was obvious as they arrived. Clive and his wife Beatrice greeted Kurt’s parents, Earl and Brenda, and the three of them were welcomed inside where they sat down at the dining table. A glass of wine each was poured as they awaited the roast and the Furse’s two young boys, Michael and Dennis (13 and 9 years old) joined them at the table also.

After a few remarks on how big the boys were getting (unfortunately in width as well as height, Kurt couldn’t help noticing), the two co-owners kicked off a typically safe and dry conversation about business. Clive was always obsessed with discussing how everything had changed now that the Internet was everybody’s port of call. That was hardly new at all, though Clive still talked as if the online world was wild and adventurous. Fortunately, he had an able team of skilled office staff who were able to ensure that business kept up with the ways of the world, otherwise he would have had trouble treading water.