The Krakow Klub (9 page)

The press room at the White House came into
view, and after a brief introduction, the president walked in. As
he neared the podium, he reached out and touched the American flag
standing beside the podium. He seemed rather distracted, a rarity
for a professional politician. He glanced at the White House emblem
mounted behind him before speaking.

“My fellow Americans, I regret to inform you
that I must resign as president of the United States, effective
immediately. I must deal with serious personal issues that require
my immediate and full attention. I will not go into the details at
this time.

“The vice president will assume my duties and
the transition will be smooth and without any adverse
effects
on the nation. The Cabinet and other members of
the executive branch have
already been
informed
of my decision and are currently awaiting orders
from the vice president, who will soon be sworn in as the new
president.

“I thank you all for your loyal support and
trust that you will accept my difficult, and irrevocable, decision.
I will not address any questions or comments from the press.”

Members of the press were caught completely
off
guard,
and pandemonium
ensued
.

Immediately, the audience in the press room
and the television audience began to speculate wildly on the
possible reasons for the president’s abrupt resignation.

Had he
been caught
in a
sex scandal?
Was he caught
in a tax evasion
scam?
On
and on the rumor mill
churned
. But, the odds were on “for a health reason.”
Probably something that would prove fatal rather quickly.
Cancer?
AIDS? Alzheimer’s? Many different
diagnoses
were thrown out
for
consideration.

John just smiled to himself.
He
knew the real reason for the president’s
resignation.

The vice president was attempting to make a
few
comments,
but he
was
ignored
by the members of the press who were talking
excitedly among themselves.

The bartender finally reached up and turned
up the sound so that
everyone in the restaurant could
hear the remainder of the press conference
.

At last, the vice president gained some
control and made a few hastily prepared remarks about continuity,
loyalty, and the need for cooperation between the political parties
at this important time.

All around the dining room, patrons began to
whisper nervously and speculate on what might happen with a new
president in office. The consensus was that things probably would
not change much. Most seemed to think that they couldn’t get much
worse.

The man at a nearby table raised his glass in
a toast. “Here’s to our future. I thought that crook would never
leave the White House voluntarily. God bless America!”

Several other patrons joined
in;
others just sat in stunned silence.

Julia looked over at John and gave him a
smile
that
he interpreted to mean that she was
in complete agreement that the current, well, now
ex-president
was indeed a scoundrel at best.

“What a momentous day! The president
resigned,
and I met you. What a stroke of luck
that we happened to be at the museum at the same time. I wanted to
speak to you on the plane but just couldn’t think of anything
profound to say.”

“Well, John, I must admit that I was rather
preoccupied
during
that flight, so I might
have just brushed you off. I don’t like idle chat with other
passengers, so, maybe, we were just lucky that you didn’t say
anything.”

“Let’s get out of here! I want to get out
into that beautiful Key West sunshine.” John called for the bill,
paid, and they left the restaurant quickly as the overly excited
news analysts were now theorizing as to what had happened, why it
had happened, and what would happen next. They rambled on about
precedents, the qualifications of the vice president, and so
on.

John and Julia exited the restaurant and
walked slowly back toward the museum. The day was now indeed
perfect as he had become acquainted with Julia and that pompous
cretin in the White House had done his duty by resigning.

They continued to chat and talk about their
lives and careers, although John had to be quite careful to omit
his more colorful and exotic personal history. She seemed to be
quite interested and paid close attention to his every word.

“Julia, I hope that you won’t think that
I'm
forward, but I’ve enjoyed
today so very much.
I’d like to see you again. How about
we exchange phone numbers? I swear that I’ll be a perfect
gentleman,
and I can even provide you with
some personal references.” He laughed, “However, the ex-president
will not be one of them. I’ve met him
personally,
and he’s rather forgettable at best. Perhaps
you’d like to contact my
first-grade
teacher?
Oops! Too late, she went to her well-deserved heavenly reward many
years ago.
Same for my boy scout leader.
Maybe
you’ll just have to trust me after all.”

She laughed aloud. “You are quite the
character! I have little time in my life for casual
friendships,
but I’ll make an exception just this once on
this very auspicious day. Get out your cell phone and enter my
number in your contact list. Then, you can give me yours. I may
just check you out with the FBI and Homeland Security to be on the
safe side.”

Fortunately
,
John
thought to himself,
she was smiling as she said that
.

They stopped briefly in
a
shaded spot
to exchange numbers.

All too soon, they were back at the entrance
of the museum. John thanked her again for a very pleasant afternoon
and opened the door to the employee entrance for her. She went
inside, but turned to smile and wave just before the door shut with
a gentle whoosh.

Just then, John’s mind
cleared,
and he remembered that he needed to stop back at
the Bureau of Land Management. He had totally forgotten something
important.

He rushed back to the land management office
and arranged for a telephone conference with some very specific
upper managers. The local office manager very graciously agreed to
accommodate his request. She was a widow who found him to be most
attractive and would have probably done almost anything to prolong
his visit to her office. Available men in her age group were a
scarce commodity in Key
West,
and she was only
one of many who would attempt to make his acquaintance.

Soon, all the required individuals were on
the line for John. He introduced himself and then gave a detailed
description of what he needed for his newly purchased island.

After several minutes of questions and
answers, he reached an agreement that was quite satisfactory to
everyone. He, again, thanked them profusely for their time and
their acceptance of his proposal. The final approval was
made
by the director of land management; the
others just gave their verbal stamps of approval.

No one questioned his request to build a
“small” golf course on his little island. He had complied with the
letter of the law as he would swear to any bureaucrat that ever
questioned him about it in the future.

After concluding the call, John left the
office in
an elated
state of mind, leaving the
attractive widow standing in her office doorway alone.

He was quite surprised and gratified that he
had achieved his goal with only a single phone call. Bureaucracies
seldom excel in the
quality of their customer
service
or the promptness of their decisions.
He
felt lucky;
it had been a great
day,
and it felt good.

Right then and there, he decided to have
Mister T contact a local florist and send flowers to show his
appreciation to the office manager. She had been most helpful
when
she could have just told him that his
request was not within their standard procedures and could not be
addressed. It was a thoughtful gesture, but one that would most
likely be misinterpreted by the lady in question. Hope springs
eternal.

Before taking a cab back to the warehouse, he
dropped into one of the more colorful local bars for a final
celebratory drink. He sat alone at a table near the entrance and
marveled at the quaint technology that
he had just
used
for that very important conference call. If only he
hadn’t needed the help of the office manager, he could have had
Maxxine handle the situation in a much more modern fashion. He
smiled and said quietly, “Oh, well, one must
slum
it once in a while!”

A sudden squall brought refreshing rain that
cooled the hot pavement outside and caused tourists to scurry like
rats toward the nearest shelter. He waited for a few minutes until
the rain ended and walked out into the air that was now
oppressively humid and steamy.

At the warehouse, Mister T was busily
unloading the van full of supplies. Even though his new bar was
well stocked, John had made a few special requests to complete the
inventory, specifically, a case of his favorite scotch, Macallan,
and a few excellent wines.

He made a mental note to send Mister T on a
special trip to France soon for his favorite brandy that wasn’t
available in the States. It was from a tiny village that only
produced a very limited quantity every year. He had visited the
place and been given a tour by the owner. John Scott admired little
people who stood toe-to-toe with
giant
businesses
and produced a product that was equal to or
better than the competition.

Speaking to Mister T, John said, “Mister T, I
am going to stay in Key West tonight. I may have the good fortune
to have a date with
a fascinating
woman.”

Mister T paused and then replied,
“Outstanding news. I can do a little research on her if you’d like.
I’ve become quite knowledgeable about you humans and can use one of
my applications to do a thorough background check.”

“No thanks, my friend,
not
necessary. You know very well that I could do that
myself with Maxxine’s help. I met the lady on my flight from Grand
Cayman to Miami, and I could have just had Maxxine access the
passenger manifest and get me all the information that I might
need. This time, I wanted things to play out naturally. Some things
just shouldn’t have any meddling! I’m following my human instincts
this time, and so far I am very pleased with the result.”

“Yes, Boss. I hope you enjoy your night in
Key West. I think that I’ll just pop back over to the island and do
a few things before you get back. I certainly don’t require any
sleep, so working late is never a problem. I’ll be back to pick you
up, right here, tomorrow. Just give me a specific time and your
carriage, ha ha, will be awaiting you.”

“I will let
you
know
tomorrow morning.”

John took a cab to the inn. He loved the
place because of its tropical décor and air of quiet
sophistication. His suite was on the second floor with a relatively
large outdoor balcony. He opened the French doors and sat down in a
comfortable lounge chair. The sunset would be
incredible,
and he had a full bottle of a good French
wine to accompany it.

The salty ocean breeze washed over him
gently,
and he felt relaxed for the first time
in days. The air
was delicately scented
from
the masses of tropical flowers blooming below him. In the distance,
out in the water, small fishing and pleasure boats dotted the
horizon. It was an incredibly peaceful scene except for the raucous
seabirds
that wheeled overhead looking for a
handout.

Washington, DC, might be in an
uproar,
but that was far, far away. Here in Key West,
life was good. Life was
unhurried,
and he
would savor every minute.

Before he could take his first sip of wine,
there was a soft rap
on
the door announcing
that his room service meal was being delivered. A young man,
dressed impeccably in his hotel uniform, carried a tray laden with
delicacies. He noticed that John had been sitting on the balcony
and placed the tray on a small table beside his lounge chair.

John gave him a generous tip, and then
returned to enjoy the sunset. However, his appetite seemed to have
abandoned him
completely,
and he only picked
at the food. What a shame. He always felt rather guilty about
wasting anything, especially food. But, the wine was
excellent,
and he savored it as he watched the day begin
to change slowly
into early evening. He would
never tire of the endless brilliant colors of the sunset and their
reflections in the water. Each sunset was unique and different in
its
own
way. It was
as if
the gods were reminding humans of their extraordinary powers.

At last, it was time to make the call. Julia
would surely be home by now even if she had been late leaving the
museum. He
cheerfully
hummed as he selected
her number. For just the tiniest second, he experienced the
terror
that she might not answer.

He wondered,
Did I enter her number into
my cell phone incorrectly?

Then, an even more horrible thought.
What
if she gave me the wrong number?