Aces and Knaves

Chapter 20 SCOTLAND

"There aren't any houses down there. Nobody lives here!"

Arrow looked out the window of the 777 and marveled at the emptiness of northern Canada.

"Who said the earth was overpopulated?" I stood up and leaned over Arrow to look at the barren countryside below, softly lit by the setting sun and punctuated with lots of small bodies of water, but no people. I bemoaned the fact that she had tricked me into giving her the business-class window seat and vowed that I would get it on the return flight.

"If you think this is destitute, wait until we fly over Greenland," I said with the superior knowledge of someone who has done it before. Arrow had never been to Europe.

"Explain to me again why the shortest route from Los Angeles to London goes so far north," Arrow said, looking at the route map in the airline magazine.

"If you form a plane-a geometric plane, not an airplane -using three points: the center of the earth, Los Angeles and London, the arc created where the plane intersects the surface of the earth is the shortest distance between LA and London, and it goes through Greenland. It has something to do with both cities being in the northern hemisphere."

"It has something to do with bullshit. And what time will it be when we arrive in London?"

"There's an eight-hour time difference so it will be tomorrow morning about 10 a.m."

"So it's well after midnight there now."

"Right," I said, consulting my watch.

"In that case, maybe we should get some sleep."

It wasn't a bad idea. We had both done a lot of running around since the lunch yesterday, making reservations, packing and doing all the things one has to do before one leaves town. Except that one usually has more than 24 hours in which to do them.

We turned out our reading lights and Arrow lifted the armrest between us, saying, "I have trouble sleeping on airplanes. May I use your shoulder for a pillow?"

That sounded like a reasonable request so we arranged a blanket to cover both of us. In order to get comfortable and balanced I had to put my arms around her. Her curls tickled my cheek. She placed her hands on mine and arranged them against her sweater.

My fingers enjoyed the smooth feel of the wool until they came to a couple of hills that a quick mental review of female anatomy told me were her breasts. I verified that fact by locating a nipple before I realized that this wasn't a good idea. I quickly readjusted my hands to a position lower down.

Arrow stirred and said, grumpily, "What's the matter? You are certainly more squeamish than Richard."

I jerked my hands away from her and sat up straight. I stared at her. "Arrow, did you sleep with my father?"

She kept her face averted so I couldn't see it and muttered, "What if I did?"

I couldn't speak. I just stared at her. She finally turned her head and looked at me. She said, "If it will make you feel any better it happened before he met Jacie. Even before I was his assistant. I was new in the company but I went on a business trip with him to handle some grunt work he needed done."

She paused, but when I still didn't speak she continued. "It was all very glamorous for me then-and your father was a god. Karl, you may not believe this but your father is a very sexy man. We only used one hotel room that trip, although of course we charged the company for two."

I was still tongue-tied. Arrow said, belligerently, "Don't get on your high horse with me. It's not the first time a woman slept with her boss and it won't be the last. All the laws in the world won't stop that. And so what if he is your father? He was a very lonely man until he met Jacie."

Arrow jerked my part of the blanket over to her seat and slammed down the armrest. We didn't touch each other for the rest of the flight.

"Watch out!" Arrow screamed, and I slammed on the brakes of our red Nissan Primera rental car to avoid hitting the truck that was sweeping through the roundabout from the right. That was how I learned the rule of roundabouts: traffic on the circle has the right-of-way.

The Airport Posthouse Hotel, where we were going to spend our first night in the UK, was right across the street from the Glasgow Airport, but in order to drive there we had to follow the circular road and negotiate three roundabouts.

"I think it's the next exit," Arrow said, intently watching the signs.

Now that I was on the roundabout I needed something more definite than "I think" but I attempted to activate my turn signal. I turned on the windshield wipers instead. There was a learning curve here. I had never driven on the left side of the road before nor shifted with my left hand.

After more roundabouts and only a couple of wrong turns we finally made it to the parking lot of the hotel, which we could have walked to in two minutes, and I thankfully pulled into the only empty spot I saw.

"Tomorrow maybe you can get out of second gear," Arrow said, smugly, and I would have hit her if I hadn't still had a hands-off policy.

"Tomorrow you can drive," I said.

We checked in and went to our adjoining rooms. We took showers and changed clothes; Arrow didn't call me to zip her up. A half-hour later we met in the hotel lobby.

"We need to get our bodies on local time as soon as possible," I said, "so we shouldn't eat dinner until at least five."

"What time is it now?"

I glanced at my watch. "About 3:30."

"I'm all mixed up," Arrow said. "I'm tired but I don't know if I can sleep. I'm hungry but I don't know if I can eat. What time is it in my head?"

"Don't try to figure it out. Let's take a walk."

We went outside and walked to the street. Arrow started to cross while a car was coming and I had to grab her arm.

"You have to look to the right here," I said as she shook me off.

A cold wind penetrated our sweaters so we re-entered the airport terminal building. We strolled past some shops and up a flight of stairs. On the second floor there were a bunch of fast-food restaurants.

"We can eat breakfast here," I said. "These places are a lot cheaper than breakfast at the hotel." I had temporarily forgotten that we were on an expense account.

"Everybody talks funny," Arrow said, listening intently to scattered bits of conversation. "And some of the words on the signs are different. I haven't seen the word 'biscuit' used in years."

"I think that's their word for 'cookie.'"

"So the Cookie Monster from Sesame Street would be the Biscuit Monster here."

"I guess so. And they say 'knickers' instead of 'panties.'"

Arrow gave me a sarcastic smile and said, "Thanks. I'll remember that when I go shopping."

When we crossed the street to return to the hotel she took my arm. Even if it was for safety reasons I understood it as a peace offering and decided to return to my usual congenial self.

We finished dinner by six. By that time Arrow was completely beat and I wasn't far away. We retired to our hotel rooms. I watched television for a while and then tried to go to sleep. Thinking about Arrow and my father together made sleep difficult. Was that because I wanted her for myself?