As the trio uncoupled, Tina spun around and kissed Roger passionately. She was caressing his chest. Dakota got up and headed to a bathroom to clean up.
When Dakota returned, Donna claimed the bathroom. Jill asked why she didn’t say something as there are two bathrooms. Donna shrugged her shoulders and headed off to the bathroom. Jill said she would be in the other one cleaning up.
I saw Roger and Tina smiling and chatting. It was so very nice to see Tina smiling again. Dakota came over to me and sat next to me, however, now she had clothes on.
“How was your night out?” I asked Dakota.
“Not as fun as when we came home. You are right David, Tina is certainly an ebony version of me. We both just love sex so much!” Dakota replied.
“OK, but how was the place you went. Did either of you try the mechanical bull?” I asked hoping they hadn’t tried it.
“It was…. OK, I guess. There were lots of college guys but not one of them…not one single guy knew how to properly ask a gal to dance. There was a long, long line for the bull. It was fun to watch but we didn’t want to wait that long to try it out. We had about 3 drinks each then decided to come back home. We arrived about 10pm. We were both horny and played until you guys came home.” Dakota explained.
Tina entered the conversation as Roger got up when Jill returned from her clean-up. “Yeah, one guy grabbed Dakota’s wrist and put her hand on his crotch. She just stood up and slapped him. The people around us laughed and cheered for Dakota. The guy slinked away. After that no one really approached us. We got bored and decided to head home. Our driver was very nice and chatted with us the whole way home. When we got here, Dakota tipped him $200 and thanked him for a job well done.”
Jill asked, smiling, “How did he ‘thank him’?”
“Verbally.” She said smiling back.
Dakota returned, and I headed into the bathroom. Once I finished cleaning up, I put on a pair of dress shorts and a golf shirt.
“Donna/Roger, do either of you have plans for the weekend?” I asked.
Donna replied, “I’m supposed to work Friday, but this is my weekend off so Saturday and Sunday and even Monday are off days for me.”
Roger sat pensive for a moment. “I’m supposed to work but, they have been after me to take some time off as I have nearly 125 hours of vacation time not used yet.”
“Then, both of you, please be Jill and my guest this weekend. We’ll pick each of you up Saturday about 3. Pack at least two days’ worth of clothes. Bring only one piece of dress clothing, like a suit or a fancy dress. I’ll get you home at some point on Monday.” I said to them.
“Are you sure?” Donna asked.
Jill replied, “Absolutely!”
“Roger, are you in?” Jill asked.
Donna gave him a little nudge in the ribs. He smiled and agreed to join all of us.
CHAPTER 5
Tina borrowed Jill’s car to drive Donna and Roger home.
That left Dakota, Jill and I alone in the house. Dakota began asking, “David/Jill are you mad at me?”
“Of course not! Why would you ask that? Did we do something that we shouldn’t have done?” I asked, being a bit paranoid.
“Well…….no, not really……I was just worried that you sent Tina and I off to somewhere other than where you and Jill were.” Dakota explained.
Jill interjected, “Dakota! We love you darling. We wanted you and Tina to have a night off, to be young, to do things that you weren’t allowed to do with the Jaxsons’. We are completely happy, thrilled even with all that you’ve done for us.”
Dakota sat pensive. I was unable to read her face looking for some sort of sign as to how she was feeling.
“I guess I understand. I mean, the way Tina talks about you…. the both of you and more specifically you David. I think that she’s in love with you.”
I hung my head, “I know. I’m not sure what to do about that. I don’t want to hurt her anymore than I already have.”
“We’re trying to make sure she feels the love we both have for her, but…. she lost David. I’m not sure how much the legendary IHOP incident factored into his decision.” Jill said.
“It really didn’t. Where I fell in love with Jill was when she was at the hospital ER. She was really drugged up. She professed her love for me. When she passed out leaning against my chest and I spent the next hour plus holding her and stroking her hair, THAT’S when I fell in love with Jill.” I said to Dakota.
“I still can’t believe that you two got married just a short bit ago. I hope that I meet that someone that will sweep me off my feet like you did with Jill.” Dakota went on to say.
“Um, David, do you want to tell her or should I?” Jill asked me.
“You tell her. I’m fine with it.”
“Well, Dakota, David pulled a fast one on me. Tina broke up with him on the phone because our boss at the limo company said she had to. She was forbidden to have any type of contact with him. David was taking me home when he pulled into a jewelry store. I thought he was going to buy Tina a fancy piece of jewelry to try and get Tina back. He took me over to the wedding sets. I argued with him. I was furious with him. I kept telling him that he’s being a fool. He needs to just let it go, quit trying to get her back. She’s gone. He persisted telling me to pick out a wedding set that I thought she might like. I told him that what I pick out doesn’t mean she will like it. He had me try on four different sets. I chose one. David asked the salesman to separate the engagement ring from the rest of the set and to put it into one of those velvet black boxes. The salesman handed it to David. David fumbled the handoff and it dropped to the floor. David knelt to pick it up. He just stayed down on one knee with the ring box opened. He didn’t say a word. I yelled at him. I told him that he was not going to make a mistake by moving on to me after Tina just broke up with him. He just stayed there, on one knee, with the ring box open. I asked him if he was serious, he said yes. So, I said yes! Our salesman performed the ceremony. Unknown to me at the time, David had called the jewelry company and set this all up ahead of time. That’s how David proposed to me.” Jill said with a smile on her face the entire time.
“WOW! He completely sandbagged you, didn’t he?” Dakota said giggling.
“Yes, he did, and I love him for that.”
“David. May I ask you something truthful? When you said that you wanted to hear my ideas, were you serious or were you just trying to be nice t me?” Dakota asked.
“Of course, I want to hear your ideas!”
“Well, OK then, here goes. I think the hotel chain needs a new name. The Pinetree is…. well…. boring. I think we need to define ourselves. I bet if you were to ask anyone, they would compare The Pinetree with that of Holiday Inn or Motel 6. Yet, we charge much higher prices for just basic amenities. Sometimes a pool. Almost never a workout place. Room service shuts down at 8pm. The restaurants inside of the hotel are basically a Denny’s or Village Inn. They’re ok, but it’s just diner food at best. Even in high-end cities like New York, LA, Atlanta, Las Vegas they are all the same. BORING. But I have an idea how to fix it. Step one, reconfigure the top three floors to be more like suites. Step two, upgrade the restaurants to something that will keep the people in the building and not have them leave to go somewhere else to eat. Step three, keep room service open 24 hours a day. We already charge obscene amounts for room service, but it is not convenient to the guests. Step four, the final one, hold a national competition to rename the brand. The Pinetree sounds…. well it sucks. There, that is my idea.”