A ROAD WELL-TRAVELED
A Novel
by
THOMAS WALSH
A Road Well-Traveled
by Thomas Walsh
Copyright 2014 Thomas Walsh
All rights reserved
Published in eBook format by eBookIt.com
ISBN-13: 978-1-4566-2189-6
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the author. The only exception is by a reviewer, who may quote short excerpts in a review.
ALSO BY THOMAS WALSH
NONFICTION
RAFTING THE RIVER OF NO RETURN WILDERNESS – THE MIDDLE FORK OF THE SALMON RIVER
FICTION
CHICAGO STORIES – GROWING UP IN THE WINDY CITY
This book is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents, and dialogue are a product of the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
This book is dedicated to my wife who was very supportive of my career.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I want to thank my wife Lee for her insights, suggestions and encouragement in writing this book, and my friends Steve, Russ and Sybil for their sharp eyes and excellent ideas.
PROLOGUE
The smell of jet fuel conjured up mixed emotions in Tim’s mind. It brought back memories of fun and exciting vacations. But, it also evoked the dread of another grueling business trip. Long weeks of being away from family; the constant need to be at his best with customers, employees and suppliers ate at him as he boarded the Boeing 747 and turned left toward First Class.
“Suck it up,” Tim thought to himself. “There’s only a few more years left until I retire - until I can do what I want to do. Besides, who the hell is going to understand why I am in a funk about a three week trip to Sydney, Hong Kong, Shanghai and Tokyo. They’d all think the old guy is losing it.”
Tim snapped out of his inner struggle, when a very attractive flight attendant walked up and spoke to him with a warm smile. “Good evening sir,” she said. “May I hang up your coat?”
Returning the smile Tim said, “Well yes thanks that would be nice.” He slipped off his suit coat and handed it to her.
“Would you like something to drink before take-off? A glass of wine or cocktail?”
He ordered a glass of Sauvignon Blanc.
The flight attendant turned and walked away. His eyes followed her down the aisle to the galley.
Tim settled into his seat. He always enjoyed the simple pleasure he got from the ritual of opening the comfort articles supplied by the airlines. When he flew on KLM he savored opening the box with the small china replica of a Dutch house filled with whiskey. Tim never opened them to drink the whiskey. He saved them as mementos of his trips.
***
After takeoff, Tim enjoyed a second glass of wine and warm assorted nuts. He lapsed back into self-introspection. Nearing the end of his career, Tim found himself questioning and second guessing his career and life more often.
“Was all the hard work and time away from my family worth it?” he questioned.
He was financially successful. Tim was wealthier than he had ever expected to be for a kid born to Irish immigrants; raised in the inner city of Chicago with no influential sponsors to smooth the path for him.
He had worked his way up the corporate ladder to achieve high-level positions and responsibilities that were only wishful thinking early in his career.
He had power, status and ego gratification; enough to satisfy most self-driven business executives.
“But did I have fun? What made me laugh?” Tim asked himself.
He took great pleasure in tackling difficult and thorny challenges – technical and otherwise. Tim considered himself a great strategist and problem solver; able to quickly grasp a business problem and come up with solutions. He was a change agent; a doer. While he savored his successes; in the back of his mind he was always planning for the next challenge.
“But these were short fixes; temporary bursts of psychic income and gratification,” thought Tim.
“What were the good memories, the things that make me smile when I think about my past experiences?”
Tim believed strongly in the power of subliminal thinking. He decided to mull these thoughts in the back of his mind until after he had dinner and a nap.
***
Dinner was a four course meal served on fine china with heavy silverware. The appetizer and salad were better than the reheated rubbery lobster tail entre. Tim finished with a slice of carrot cake (one of his favorite desserts). The flight attendant offered an after dinner drink and coffee. He passed on the coffee, which would have kept him awake, and had a snifter of cognac.
Tim reclined his chair and nursed the cognac; swishing it around his mouth to enjoy the full flavor and warmth of the liquor. The cabin was cleared of the dinner service and the lights were dimmed for the night flight across the Pacific. He drank the last of the cognac, tipping his glass a second time to get the last drop. Tim felt content. The warmth of the meal and liquor enveloped him. Sleep came easily.
***
A strong thud shook the 747 as it sliced through a pocket of clear air turbulence. Tim startled awake. He opened one eye to see if the cabin was stirring. He pondered if he should bother rousing himself to do some work before breakfast. The cabin was still dark and quiet except for a few night owls watching movies and the quiet murmur of the flight attendants chatting in the galley. Tim decided the work could wait a bit. He closed his eye and revisited his career introspection.
Something, an idea, a thought, kept flitting from the back of his mind. It had no shape. There was no visible structure in his mind’s eye to grasp, hold, dissect, to understand. But he knew it was there.
Thoughts of people kept rising to the surface in his mind. He was annoyed by these distracting thoughts. They were keeping him from thinking clearly; from seeing the real answer to the question that had been nagging him. “What lasting pleasure have I enjoyed from my career?”
Even though his eyes were closed, Tim gradually awakened completely. His mind cleared and he saw that the answer really was: people! He enjoyed the people. Of course! It was always the people!
