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From: Shakes Peer2B <shakespeer2B@yahoo.com>
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Subject: {ASSM} (New) (Shakes Peer2B) Surviving the Divorce - Chapter 14 (MH)
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Date: Wed, 26 Jan 2005 03:10:04 -0500
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________________________________
This is a story about a sexual FANTASY written for consenting adults. If 
you're not both of those, don't read it.  Characters in a FANTASY don't 
get sick or die unless I want them to. In real life, people who don't 
use condoms and other safe-sex techniques do get sick and die. You don't 
live in a FANTASY so be safe.  The fictional characters in my stories 
are trained and experienced in acts of FANTASY - don't try to do what 
they do - someone could get hurt.

If you think you know somebody who resembles any of the characters here, 
congratulations, but you're wrong - any similarity between the 
characters in this story and any real person is purely coincidental, 
since all of these characters are figments of my dirty little imagination.

This is my story, not yours. Don't sell it or put it on a pay site. You 
can keep it and/or give it away with all of this information intact, but 
if you make money off of it without my permission, you're breaking the 
law and pissing me off.
_________________________________
Surviving the Divorce - Chapter 14 (MH)
(C)Copyright 2005 - Shakes Peer2B
shakes_peer2b@NONOsbcglobal.net
(remove 'NONO' from the above address to contact me)

http://www.asstr-mirror.org/files/Authors/Shakes_Peer2B/
http://storiesonline.net/library/author.php?name=Shakes_Peer2B
________

"What the hell does your board want with me?" I asked.  I had requested 
that Patricia not intervene on my behalf in matters regarding SyncComp, 
but if I had done something wrong, I figured it would be SyncComp's 
board that took me to task for it, not Collins Industries.

"You'll just have to attend the meeting and see." she said evasively. 
For once she gave no hint as to whether this was to be good or bad.

"Have I screwed up or something?" I probed.

"This is a matter in which I need to stay entirely hands off, Gary." 
Patricia said, "so please don't ask me any more questions.  I simply 
cannot answer them."

I was worried. I had never seen her so serious.  Had I screwed up 
something so badly that she had to let her board handle it because she 
couldn't face me?

"You'll at least be there..." I began, but the expression on her face 
answered my question before I could finish it.

"I told you," she said, "I need to stay hands-off on this matter. 
Besides, I have something else that I need to do."

Great! She was probably going to be in her lawyer's office drawing up 
the divorce papers while her board raked me over the coals for screwing 
up her company! Crap! Had I somehow screwed up the best thing I'd ever 
had for a relationship, in addition to letting her down in running the 
company?  That would be a messy divorce for sure!  Sure, there was the 
pre-nup, but it didn't spell out things like who would keep my FIRST 
wife, who was now our family slave!

Sleep was long in coming that night, and Patricia, tired of my tossing 
and turning, moved away and slept with her back to me.  Finally, about 
two o'clock in the morning, I ran out of things to worry about, or at 
least ran out of energy to worry about them, and fell into a fitful sleep.

To my surprise, it was almost nine when I woke up, and Patricia was 
already gone. Neither Edgar nor Walter were forthcoming about her 
whereabouts, so, in a foul mood, I drove my old Buick to work.  I dumped 
on poor Gloria over a cup of coffee, while she tried to put a positive 
spin on things, but I wasn't to be cheered up.

Finally, I could procrastinate no longer.  I drove the old Buick down to 
the financial district and parked in the garage under the accountant's 
building.  The fifty-ish receptionist flashed a genuine smile as she 
directed me to a seat in the hallway outside the conference room.

To my relief, I didn't have long to wait.  An attractive, grey-haired 
lady ushered me in with a pleasant smile.

"You're just in time, Mr. Travis!" she said, not acting at all like an 
executioner, "We've just finished with the other items on the agenda, 
and can now devote our full attention to you!"

I wasn't absolutely certain that having their full attention was a good 
thing, but I smiled mechanically and took the seat that she offered me 
at the foot of the table.  As I looked around, I noticed that, rather 
than a stuffy, wood-paneled boardroom, this was just another 
multi-purpose conference room, and its ordinariness somehow put me more 
at ease.

"Welcome, Mr. Travis!" the gentleman at the head of the table said, "I'm 
Henry Bullock.  I'll be filling in for our chairperson today."

He went around the table and introduced me to each of the others in 
turn.  I found that, not only did I know most of them by reputation, I 
had borrowed from those reputations in my decision-making at SynComp.

"We were quite impressed by your handling of the P2P product strategy 
rollout," Bullock said, "not only at SyncComp, but through all of our 
companies.  I'll never understand how you were able to get buy-in from 
all of the other CEO's without escalating the issue to us even once, but 
not only did they come on board, they did so enthusiastically."

"I did my homework, verified my assumptions," I replied, "checked my 
math, then showed each of them, in detail, how it was going to make them 
successful beyond anything they could produce on their own. After that, 
good old capitalist greed took over and they jumped on board.  It helped 
that I had detailed answers to their questions at my fingertips."

"It was an excellent job," Bullock continued, "but well beyond the scope 
of your position."

Ah, here it comes, I thought, here's where I get my wrist slapped.  To 
hell with it.  I had been trying to do the best job for Patricia that I 
could.  If they had a problem with that, then I definitely WAS in the 
wrong position!

"It was going to have to be done one way or another," I said, "and I 
figured they'd buy into it easier if it was sold to them by a peer than 
if it was shoved down their throats from above."

"Did your wife suggest that you do that?" one of the others asked.

"No." I answered, hoping to HELL I hadn't turned them against her, too, 
"I just saw the need, and figured she had enough on her plate.  She was 
the back-up plan in case my efforts were unsuccessful."

"Tell us, Mr. Travis," the elegant older lady, Rachel Hancock, asked, 
"Where do you see Collins industries in ten years?"

"I can sum it up in two words," I replied, thinking 'in for a penny, in 
for a pound', "'Seamless Enterprise'."

"That's a nice catch-phrase," she said, "but what does it mean?"

"We've got the P2P stuff nailed. Now we need to tie it back into the 
enterprise applications, and tie them all together so the whole thing 
works seamlessly." I stood and began pacing.  If they were going to ask, 
they were going to get the full answer. I hoped they'd ordered lunch.

"Take CollinsPM, for instance." I said, giving each of them a fraction 
of a second of individual eye-to-eye, "We've got the distributed project 
thing down pat with the ability to link schedules on different machines 
and even between different apps, so, if you're a project manager, you 
can create and manage your own schedule, and link it to other subproject 
schedules so you can see how changes to someone else's schedule impact 
yours.  The problem is that to get the bird's eye view of the whole 
project requires laborious export and import of CSV data into a central 
scheduling tool.  The tasks of normalizing the data and ensuring the 
uniqueness of names alone is so time consuming it's hardly worth the 
effort.  If, however, those individual schedules passed their data to a 
peer that acted as a client for the enterprise program management tool, 
you get the whole thing rolled up and summarized at the drop of a hat. 
Reporting, reviewing, resource management, all of that gets much easier. 
But that's just the tip of the iceberg."

I paused to pour a glass of water and drink deeply.

"Speaking of resource management - everyone in the enterprise is a 
potential resource, and there is a central repository of information in 
every company about each employee, yet Program and Project managers have 
to enter each person working on a project into the scheduling database. 
  Why isn't that information linked, with proper controls, from the HR 
database?  Not only would it save time in creating schedules, it would 
give us the opportunity to finally understand just how much work we can 
undertake with the staff we have, and project what our headcount needs 
to be with a much greater degree of accuracy. It would also tell us what 
skill sets we need, when, so we can plan and direct our recruiting 
efforts BEFORE we have reqs to fill. But that, too, only scratches the 
surface."

"Program and Project Management has, for a long time in this industry, 
gotten short shrift in terms of training and proper execution.  Properly 
done, our project schedules would drive our budget cycles, and our time 
accounting for project status purposes would also feed into our FASB 
accounting so that we could get accurate tax data for our research and 
development efforts.  Turn to sales, now tied in with pre-sales, 
manufacturing, and support via SyncComp's interfaces, but all of that 
needs to feed back in to CRM so that every service call is a potential 
sales opportunity.  CRM, in turn, needs to feed into marketing and 
product management, whose product feature requirements also need to feed 
into project planning.

"Now that's focussing on the operational aspects of the thing.  Consider 
for a moment the OLAP applications that could be built upon such an 
integrated system.  What would it be worth to be able to correlate sales 
data with development cost? What would it mean to finally, completely, 
fulfill the promise of ERP without having to have a single megalithic 
application that nobody understands or can maintain?"

"I'm seeing some glazed looks," I said, glancing around the room, "so 
maybe this would be a good time to pause for questions..."

"Have you discussed these ideas with Patricia?" Rachel asked.

"Not yet." I said, "I've just begun to realize their potential myself."

They exchanged looks among themselves and Bullock finally asked, "Do you 
know why you're here, Mr. Travis?"

I shook my head. "Not a clue."

"Patricia didn't tell you?" he asked, incredulous.

"She said she needed to stay 'hands-off' on this matter."  I replied, 
even more puzzled than ever.

"She could at least have told you why we wanted to speak with you!" he 
laughed, "I fear your wife is having a little joke at your expense, Mr. 
Travis!"

"I suppose it would be too much to ask for you to let me in on the 
joke...?" I said.

Bullock smiled and said, "Your wife apparently wants to take some time 
off from her position as CEO of Collins Industries, and has charged us 
with the task of finding a suitable replacement."

"Wait," I said, "let me guess. She suggested that I might be that 
candidate?"

"Actually, no." he replied, "She suggested we look within Collins 
Industries first, then, if we didn't find a suitable candidate, that we 
go outside.  We've already interviewed all the other potential 
candidates within Collins Industries. You're our last."

"I see..." I said.  I didn't know whether to hug Patricia for making 
this something that I had to get on my own merit, or to be mad at her 
for not giving me time to at least prepare.

"We're very close to a decision, I think." Bullock said, getting a 
chorus of nods as he looked around the table "Would you be so kind as to 
wait in the hall for a few moments while we discuss this?"

It wasn't until I was once again seated in the hallway that I had time 
to wonder why Patricia was looking for a replacement.  She had not 
discussed anything of the sort with me, and the fact that she had kept 
it a secret filled me with foreboding.  I had thought we shared 
everything, and to have this dropped on me by the people looking for her 
replacement was very disturbing. I was so wrapped up in worrying about 
her keeping secrets from me that it didn't occur to me to wonder why 
they wanted me to stick around.

The handsome silver-haired Rachel Hancock was once again all smiles as 
she ushered me back in.

"...T-r-a-v-i-s, yes, just like hers.  Just bring it in when you've 
finished, thanks Trudy!" Bullock was saying into the phone as I 
reclaimed my seat at the foot of the table.

"I think you're in the wrong seat, Mr. Travis." He said, rising, 
"Traditionally, the Chairman and CEO sits at this end of the table..."

"Chairman AND CEO?" I asked, "How could you decide so quickly, and why 
both?"

"Patricia, as CEO of Collins Industries," he said, gesturing for me to 
take his place, "Has always held the Chairmanship of the board, as well. 
  Since we have decided that you should be the new CEO, it stands to 
reason that you should take the Chair, as well."

"Actually, Mr. Bullock," I said, staying where I was, "it does nothing 
of the sort.  It's my understanding that my wife wanted you to find a 
replacement for her as CEO, and while I'm still mystified as to why you 
should choose me for that position, I don't believe the assumption that 
it includes the Chairmanship is warranted. I believe a seat on the board 
is appropriate, but board membership is a new duty for me. If Patricia 
no longer wants the chair, then you should elect a new Chairman, one 
with at least SOME idea of what this board does."

"I'll keep the Chairpersonship, for now, if you don't mind!" Patricia 
said, sweeping in through the conference room door, "Thank you, dear, 
for clarifying that for them.  Will that be a problem for anyone?"

No objections were raised, and Patricia, seating herself in Bullock's 
former position, said, "Very well, is there any other business before 
the board today?"

"Just the signing of the contract, dear," Rachel said, "but that really 
requires only the two of you."

"In that case, I would like to thank the members of the board for their 
diligence in this matter, and ask if there is a motion to adjourn." This 
was the Patricia I knew!

"I so move," Ms. Hancock answered.

"Second!" said Bullock.

"All in favor?" Patricia looked around the table and all the hands raised.

She looked at me with a smile, "Are you opposed to adjournment, Gary?"

"Oh!" I said, startled, and raised my hand.

"The motion to adjourn passes unanimously!" my wife said.

"You'll get the minutes recorded and reviewed as usual, Rachel?" 
Patricia asked the silver-haired woman.

"Of course, dear!" Rachel replied.

Each board member stopped to say a few words to us as they filed out, 
then, suddenly, Patricia and I were alone, except for the receptionist 
who had the contract for us to sign.  With that done, my wife turned to me.

"Are you very angry at me darling?" she asked, caressing my face.

"Confused, I guess." I said, "Why didn't you tell me you were 
considering stepping down?"

"Because then," she said, "I would have had to tell you why.  I wanted 
to be sure the company was in good hands before I discussed that with 
you. You're not angry that I didn't recommend you?"

"I'm pleased that you didn't, dear!" I said, "While these people could, 
I suppose, have done this to suck up to you, I dont think any of them 
need to, so while I still don't understand their reasoning, I feel 
better about the fact that they didn't do it because you asked them to. 
Now that I know, by the way, I'd really like to know why you're stepping 
down."

"Drive me home." she said, taking my arm, "I'll tell you in the car."

We took the elevator down to the level where I had parked the Buick.  I 
guided Patricia to the spot where I had left it, only to find that it 
wasn't there anymore.

"Crap!" I said, "Why the hell would someone want to steal that old 
bucket of bolts?  I guess we'll have to call Walt to bring the limo. 
I'll call the cops and report it stolen!"

"Why don't we just take this one?" Patricia asked, waving at the brand 
new Mercedes Benz S600 sedan that occupied the spot where my Buick had been.

"Well, among other things," I said, exasperated, "It wouldn't look too 
good for the new CEO of Collins Industries to get arrested for stealing 
someone else's car!"

She took my hand and pressed a set of keys, with a fob for remote entry 
into my hand.  Attached to the key ring was a small card.

"Why would he get arrested for driving his own car?" she said, smiling.

I stared at her, wondering what the hell she was talking about, then my 
brain kicked into gear and I glanced at the card.

'Congratulations, Gary!' it read, 'Thanks for everything!'

In a daze, I experimentally pressed the 'Unlock' button, and lo and 
behold, the Mercedes' doors unlocked!

I turned, open mouthed, to stare at my smiling wife. She tiptoed and 
kissed me tenderly.

"I got tired of hinting!" she laughed, "I decided if you weren't going 
to get a new car, I'd get one for you!  Walt will clean all your junk 
out of the Buick before dropping it off at the charity of your choice. 
You'll get a nice little tax deduction out of it."

"So THIS is that 'something else' you had to do!" I exclaimed, wrapping 
her in a vigorous embrace, "You might at least have given me a hint 
about what was going on!"

"In all the time I've known you," Patricia said warmly, "the only time I 
ever surprised you was the first time I undressed for you.  I thought it 
was about time for another!  Now come on! Drive me home! We have a lot 
to talk about!"

I held the passenger door as my lovely wife slid into the leather seat, 
deliberately giving me a long look up her skirt as she did.  I kissed 
her passionately as I leaned across to fasten the seat belt for her.

I took a few minutes to explore the features and controls of my new 
'toy', and to inhale the smell of fresh, new leather, before actually 
starting it and backing out of the parking spot.  I could not believe 
the smooth power of the V12 engine nor the luxurious feel of the controls.

Finally, out on the street, I said, "Okay, what gives?  Why are you 
giving up your position with Collins Industries?"

Patricia leaned over and put her head on my shoulder as she answered.

"I want a baby." she said simply.

"A baby?" I replied, "You already have... Ah! Of course! You want to 
give birth to your own baby!"

"OUR own baby, sweetheart." she said, "I know we never discussed this, 
and I hope you're not too angry with me, but I want to be the mother of 
your child."

I was silent for a long moment, piecing together in my head the little 
clues I'd gotten over the last couple of years. Suddenly, much of it 
came clear.

"And you needed someone you could trust to run Collins Industries while 
you take time off to be a mommy?" I said "You've been setting me up for 
this all along?"

"Actually, no." she said, "I never thought I'd be able to let go of my 
responsibilities to the company long enough to give birth, much less be 
a mother to our child, and that was making me sad."

"Yeah, I noticed that." I said, "I was getting ready to confront you 
with it and try to force you to tell me what was wrong, but then it 
stopped.  What happened?"

"You happened, dear!" she said, "Without even discussing it with me, you 
went out and took over driving the product strategies for the P2P stuff. 
  You felt even more strongly about the vision than I did, and you went 
and made it happen!  My board was impressed, even then, and I began to 
think I might have found someone who could take over for me."

"Ah. I remember now." I said, "That was about the time I stopped seeing 
the sadness and wistfulness in your eyes.  So is that when you started 
setting me up for this job?"

"You don't understand, dear." she said, "That was when I began to hope. 
YOU set yourself up for this job by taking ownership of my vision and 
making it your own!  When I told the board that I wanted them to find me 
a replacement, several of them came up with your name right away. 
Without saying whether I was in favor of their choice or not, I asked 
them to do a proper search, starting within Collins Industries, then 
outside, if necessary.  They looked thoroughly at everyone who might 
possibly fill the position.  They talked to the CEO's of each of my 
companies, and a couple of the other executives as well. I think they 
had pretty much decided on you before you came in, but for them to 
insist on having you sign the contract before you left, they must have 
been quite impressed! All I really did was to give you free rein to show 
what you could do."

"But, all those other guys have so much more experience than I!" I said.

"Certainly experience is important." she replied, "But I picked the 
members of that board because they have the reputation for depending on 
people who get results, among other things, and that's what you've done. 
  You did my job when you didn't have the power or the authority to do 
so.  They couldn't wait to see what you'd do if you had the position, too!"

"Wow!" I said, "Why didn't you just tell me what you had in mind? I 
don't know if I'd have done anything differently, but I'd certainly have 
tried to help you out!"

"I wanted to see, and I wanted the board to see, just what kind of 
executive you would be." she said, "If you had been trying to do it for 
me, we wouldn't have known if it was you, or you trying to please me. 
Anyway, it worked out well, don't you think?"

"Passably!" I said, turning my new car smoothly into the driveway of our 
home, "Now, about this baby thing..."

"What about it?" Patricia asked, with some trepidation.

"Want to start tonight?" I asked, grinning.

She threw her arms around my neck and whispered, "Oh yes! We should 
probably wait until after dinner, though."

"Because...?"

"Because I took the liberty of inviting Dolores and Felicia and a few 
others to dinner, to celebrate." She answered, "Hope you don't mind!"

"Pretty sure of yourself, weren't you?" I said.

Patricia smirked a little when she said, "Let's just say, I know you, 
and I know my Board, so I was fairly confident things would work out the 
way I wanted them to!"

'A few others' included Rachel from the CI Board, and Mr. Bullock, as 
well as a couple of the people who had seemed sincere in their 
congratulations when we got married.

Patricia seated me at the head of the table, since the dinner was in my 
honor. I wound up with Felicia on my right and Rachel on my left. 
Bullock, seated between Dolores and her daughter, seemed taken with both 
of them, and divided his time between them.  Felicia seemed flattered by 
the attention.  At nearly eighteen, she had developed into a beautiful 
young woman, with her mother's flashing eyes, a figure to die for, and 
the grace and poise of a princess.  That left me with Rachel, who turned 
out to be an engaging companion for the evening.

I had admired her career from afar through the business journals, and 
was delighted to find her as sharp in person as I had imagined her to 
be.  She was one of the rare CEO's who valued the investment the company 
made in its people, and had become quite creative in finding ways to 
deal with hard times that didn't involve laying people off.  About two 
thirds of Rachel's employees were cross-trained in at least one other 
area, so that they could be shifted as the changing business environment 
forced a de-emphasis in one area or another.  This allowed her to keep 
her headcount steady while her competitors were laying people off.  Not 
only that, she believed in investing heavily in new product development 
as the economy waned, so that she could hit the market with capabilities 
her competitors couldn't match as soon as the economy turned up.  As a 
result, her company had gone from near the bottom of its markets to a 
72% share in only a few years.

"I'm still mystified about what really happened this afternoon." I said, 
as way of starting the conversation.

"That's because you think it happened this afternoon!" she laughed. 
Despite the silver hair, the only lines I could detect in her face were 
smile lines around her eyes. "We've been watching you for almost two 
years, and when Patricia asked us to find a replacement for her, you 
were the yardstick by which we measured everyone else."

"How can that be?" I asked, "I've only been CEO of SyncComp for a little 
over two years. My experience has been somewhat limited, to put it mildly!"

"Your experience at doing what it takes to be successful, though," 
Rachel replied, "far outweighed that of any of the others!  Those glazed 
looks you saw after your soliloquy on the future of Collins Industries 
weren't from people who didn't understand what you were saying.  They 
were from people who hadn't dared to dream that CI could ever achieve 
anything so grand.  You laid it out like it was all but accomplished, 
and that really fired them up!"

"Oh, there's still plenty of work to be done," I said, "but the 
groundwork was laid with the P2P stuff.  This is the first time it's 
been practical to even dream of this level of integration with diverse 
applications, and we should jump on it while the rest of the industry's 
still catching up."

"It's good to know that you really believe in this, Gary." Rachel laid a 
hand on mine, "Tell me, have you thought about what you're going to do now?"

"Barely scratched the surface!" I said, "I'm still trying convince 
myself that this has all happened!  I guess the first thing I need to do 
is find a successor at SyncComp.  I've done some succession planning 
there, but we don't really have a good candidate in house.  I don't 
suppose you could be convinced to work for me...?"

I was joking, but the response I got from Rachel made me think.

"Oh, I don't know." she said, as if she was really considering it, "I 
might be persuaded!"

She leaned closer and I felt a warm hand on my thigh, working its way 
upward.

Rather than cause a scene, I said, "Rachel, in many other circumstances 
I would be happy pursue this, provided my wife approved, but I don't 
think bribery, sexual or otherwise, is the right way to start a business 
relationship.  I also have a policy of not getting sexually involved 
with people who work for me.  If you want the job, I'd be happy to 
consider you as a candidate, but you won't get there through my bedroom."

To my surprise, Rachel smiled and turned to look at my wife, shaking her 
head ironically.

"Okay, what was that all about?" I asked.

"Patricia told me you wouldn't go for anything like that, but I had to 
know for myself before I considered taking over your old job." she said, 
patting my hand on top of the table, "She's a very lucky woman!"

"No," I said, "I'm a very lucky man, and I know it.  I also know that my 
luck won't continue for very long if I let my dick do my thinking for me."

The rest of the dinner was relatively uneventful.  At the end of the 
evening, I was getting ready to drive Dolores and her daughter home, but 
Mr. Bullock insisted that it was on his way.  Felicia had been looking 
forward to taking a ride in my new car, but it didn't take much 
persuasion from Bullock to get her to change her mind.

Finally, the only one of the guests remaining was Rachel. As we walked 
her to the door, I tried to guess her age.  Despite the silver in her 
hair, her skin was smooth and unblemished, and she looked much younger 
than the color of her hair would seem to indicate.

"So he passed your little test?" Patricia asked, linking her arm with 
that of the other woman.

"With flying colors!" Rachel laughed, "I'm happy to see that he's got 
the integrity you said he had, but can't help feeling at least a little 
disappointed!"

"Well, dear," Patricia said, "You can't have everything!"

Then, linking her other arm with mine, she said, "I, on the other hand, 
seem to have found a way to do just that!"

"Thank you so much for a lovely dinner, Patricia!" Rachel said at the 
door, taking both of my wife's hand in hers. Then turning to me, she 
clasped my offered hand in both of hers and said, "Congratulations, 
Gary! On your new position, and on your wonderful wife! Please, when you 
start interviewing candidates for your replacement, give me a call!"

"I will, Rachel." I said, "If you promise to stop testing me! I get that 
all the time from my wife!"

"Perhaps I should back off a little," Patricia said, laughing, "but you 
delight me so when you continue to exceed my expectations!"

She hugged Rachel and said, "Thank you for coming to help us celebrate! 
  Now go home! We have a baby to make!"

The long, wet, mouth-to-mouth kiss they shared before parting filled in 
part of the picture for me. Their relationship had seemed to be more 
than just a business association, and I was beginning to understand why.

"Former lover?" I asked as the door closed behind our last guest.

Patricia nodded.  "Yes, I'm still very fond of her, but I couldn't very 
well continue a physical relationship while she was on my board of 
directors."

Mary was waiting in our room when we arrived.  The bedcovers were turned 
down, the lights were dim and soft music played on the stereo.

"May this worthless slave speak?" Mary asked.

"Yes, Mary," Patricia said, beginning to undress, "but please make it 
quick! I'm finally getting to do something I've dreamed about for a very 
long time, and don't want to wait a minute longer than I have to!"

"Yes, Mistress!" Mary said, helping her with her gown. "Edgar says you 
and Master want to have a baby?"

"That's what we intend, yes!" my wife shot me a burning gaze as I 
removed my tie.

"Oh, I am SO happy for you, Mistress!" my ex gushed, "And for you, 
Master! I had so hoped that one day the two of you would have children 
of your own!"

"Why is that, Mary?" I asked, puzzled.  She had never wanted children 
when we were married.

"Because you are so perfect together!" she replied, "Your babies can't 
help but be beautiful, and if they take after you, they'll be kind and 
intelligent as well!"

"Thank you, Mary!" Patricia said warmly, "It means a lot that you 
approve. Do you intend to help with this?"

"Oh NO, Mistress!" the slave replied, shocked, "If you will permit, I 
will help the two of you get ready, then I shall retire to my other 
duties." She giggled a bit, "I believe Edgar and Walt have plans for me!"

Mary started to go down on Patricia's cock, but my wife stopped her.

"I won't be needing that tonight, dear" she said, "go over there and get 
my husband ready, then we'll see you tomorrow!"

"Yes, Mistress!" Mary replied, kneeling in front of me.

It took only a few moments to have me hard as a rock, though I think it 
was more the vision of my lovely wife, laid out like a banquet before 
me, than Mary's expert ministrations.

As instructed, Mary took her leave and, finally, we were alone. An 
exploratory finger told me that Patricia was ready to accept me, and I 
crawled between her legs, positioning my cock at her opening.

I leaned forward, holding my weight on my hands, and gave my sexy blonde 
wife a long passionate kiss as I took the warm plunge into her welcoming 
folds. Those slender, elegant legs wrapped themselves around me as she 
returned my kiss and we made slow, luxurious love.

With long, slow strokes I endeavored to bury my cock deep within the 
wet, clinging confines of Patricia's welcoming womb, feeling no urgency, 
other than our need to be together. When my climax finally approached, I 
pushed those sleek, lovely legs back to her shoulders and drove deeply 
into her cavern, kissing her again as I shuddered through my orgasm.

When Patricia felt the warmth of my discharge within her, she too came. 
  This was not the wild, explosive climax of our other sexual adventures 
though, just a deep, slow wave that washed over her entire body, causing 
her to buck upward, once, twice, then a long third time as my final 
drops squeezed out inside her!

We lay entwined for long moments afterward, until the twitching and 
squeezing of that wonderful, wet constriction revitalized my erection.

"Ready for another dose, baby?" I asked.

She smiled and kissed me.  I rolled off and urged the lovely blonde to 
her knees. It took much longer this time, following so closely on the 
heels of my previous orgasm.  We shifted through a number of positions 
as weary muscles demanded. When I finally finished, Patricia was lying 
on her side, her top leg drawn back to her chest as I knelt astride her 
extended bottom leg, driving deeply into her from a new angle.

My sexy wife sighed through another almost relaxed climax as the last of 
my fluid drained into her womb.

"I don't know if we've succeeded, darling." I whispered as I collapsed 
onto the bed behind her, still coupled, "But just to be sure, I think we 
should keep trying!"

"Oh, I'm already thinking of how I might be able to ambush you..." 
Patricia said, "Do you suppose Gloria would let me kidnap you tomorrow?"

"You'll have to get on my schedule!" I laughed, "And we need to be 
careful about leaving, um, evidence, on my desk!  She scolded me about 
that when you came to visit me after your return from the Islands that 
time!"

I was feeling on top of the world when I arrived at the office. I had 
never been much of a car snob, but after that old Buick, I figured I 
could get used to driving a car that cost as much as my first house. 
The whole FEEL was different.  The doors closed with a solid 'THUNK' 
instead of a muffled clank, nothing rattled or squeaked, and the 
interior, even at freeway speeds was very quiet.  At least it was until 
I put a CD into the sound system and cranked it up!  My ears, no longer 
as accustomed to loud music as when I was young, couldn't stand it for 
long, but it was incredible to hear every nuance of the music from an 
AUTOMOTIVE sound system!

I got some admiring comments from arriving employees, and wound up 
giving Sanjay a tour of the engine compartment and interior after I 
parked in my reserved spot at SyncComp.  When I finally got to my 
office, Gloria greeted me with her usual smile and a cup of black coffee.

"Gloria, why don't you come on in!" I said, "We're going to have to make 
some changes to my schedule, and I need to talk to you about something 
else, as well!"

"Sure, Gary." she said, shooting me a dubious glance, "My! Aren't WE 
chipper this morning!"

"WE sure are, Gloria!" I said as she closed the door behind her, "And WE 
would like to spread it around a little!"

"O-o-kay." she said, "What's on your mind?"

I sipped from my coffee and leaned back in my chair, putting my feet on 
the desk for the first time since I came to SyncComp.

"Gloria," I said, smiling contentedly, "how would you like to work for 
the CEO of Collins Industries?"

"For Patricia?" she gasped, "Your wife! I'd love it! But I couldn't 
leave you!"

"Well," I said, so full of myself I should have been nauseous, "you 
won't have to!  You see, my wife has decided she wants to be a mommy, 
and the CI board has selected me as her replacement!"

"You're kidding!" Gloria gasped, "That's wonderful! I just KNEW you were 
going places!"

"Well," I said, "if I haven't been too terrible to work for, I'd like to 
take you with me...?"

"Are you kidding?" she exclaimed, "This is the best job I've ever had! 
Of course I'll go with you!"

"Great!" I replied, then took a moment to get a grip on my euphoria, 
"You don't know how much that means to me, Gloria.  I wouldn't have been 
able to accomplish even half of what I've done here without you, and I'd 
hate to have to try to find a replacement.  You've been more like a 
partner than an assistant, and I appreciate that very much!  Of course, 
with greater responsibility comes greater compensation."

"You don't get it, do you Gary?" she replied with a twinkle in her eye, 
"I told you, I'm a power-phile.  I do it for the satisfaction I get from 
helping to make someone like you successful."

"I DO get it Gloria!" I replied, "I know you wouldn't do all that you do 
just for money! Nonetheless, in the new position, you're going to need 
an even more extensive wardrobe and a nicer car.  You're going to need a 
membership in a gym, since CI has no facilities of its own, and you're 
going to be asked to work certain evenings and weekends for social 
events and the like.  Therefore, you will need more money, okay?"

"Ah. Okay." she said thoughtfully, "Why a nicer car? My Toyota is less 
than a year old."

"You'll be driving a Lexus or BMW or something similar since you may be 
required to provide transportation for out of town guests." I replied.

"You're not going to expect me to, um, 'entertain' these guests, are 
you?" she frowned.

"Absolutely not!" I sat up straight and met her gaze levelly, "You will 
maintain a certain level of decorum and personal grooming at all times, 
and in social situations, be outgoing and pleasant.  If, however, ANYONE 
makes unwanted sexual advances, no matter who, you will kick that person 
as hard as you possibly can in the most sensitive portion of his or her 
anatomy you can reach, and report the incident to me immediately. Does 
that make my position on this matter clear?"

"Yes sir." Gloria replied with a sigh, "Thank you, Gary."

"Nothing to thank me for." I said, "I have my own sexual harrassment 
policy and it's even tougher than the one in the CI Policies and 
Procedures manual. I suppose, however, I should modify what I said 
before.  The kicking part is optional."

"In the meantime," I continued, "We need to find a replacement for me. 
See if you can get in touch with Rachel Hancock and get a copy of her 
resume.  She's expressed interest, and from what I know of her, she 
seems a good fit.  Then, I suppose, we should start a confidential 
search to see what other candidates pop up."

"Rachel Hancock!" Gloria said, surprise in her voice, "She's done so 
well at Bellamy I thought she'd stay on forever!"

"I don't know the reasons," I replied, "and certainly, in the interview 
and background check, we should try to determine why she wants to leave, 
but she told me herself that she'd be interested."

"She told you herself?" Gloria asked, incredulously, "How did you meet HER?"

I waggled a chiding finger at her.  "I see you haven't been keeping up 
with the CI news!  Didn't you know she was on the Collins Industries 
board of directors?  As such, she was invited to the dinner my wife gave 
last night in my honor."

"AH!" my assistant replied, "Of course!  She would have been part of the 
selection committee! Okay, boss, I'll get right on that! Anything else?"

"Yes," I said, "This may strain even your prodigious resources, but see 
if you can get someone to put together an arrangement of Orchids and Day 
Lilies, with a card written in Mandarin, that says "May all your wishes 
come true!".  If you can get that done, please have it sent to my wife 
at my home address, okay?"

"Orchids and Day Lilies?" she replied, "And the card in Chinese? Do you 
mind if I ask the significance?"

"I understand that the Orchid is a Chinese symbol for many children," I 
explained, "and Day Lilies signify Motherhood.  My wife happens to read 
Mandarin, and the card will give her a clue where to look for the flower 
meanings!  She's been testing me since she first met me, now I'm going 
to give HER a little puzzle to work on!"

"Ah!" Gloria said, "I know just the florist in Chinatown! She should 
have them before you get home!"

"Thanks Gloria!"  I said, opening the ubiquitous red folder.

The day was fairly routine, though it hardly seemed like it with all the 
changes pending in my life.  I wouldn't take over my new duties until I 
hired a replacement at SyncComp, but it was hard to concentrate on work 
when I had all those thoughts and plans running through my head.

The drive home was even more pleasant than the drive to work.  The quiet 
and the plush interior of the car seemed to melt away the stresses of 
the day.  As I turned out of the parking lot, my cell phone rang.

"Hello!" I answered when the hands-free set up connected the call.

"Uncle Gary?" I recognized Felicia's voice immediately.

"Hi sweetie!" I said, "What's up!"

"Can I stay with you and Aunt Patricia for a couple of days?" she asked, 
"Mom wants to go off with Hank somewhere, and even though I'm old enough 
to take care of myself, it's kind of boring around here!"

"Hank?" I asked, "Oh, you mean Henry? Henry Bullock?"

"Yeah, they hit it off pretty well last night, and he wants to take her 
on this cruise." she laughed, "He must like her a lot, cause he called 
the other person he was going to take and cancelled with her!"

"Well, if she likes him that well, good for her!" I said, "Look, I'm on 
my way home, if you want to pack real quick, I can just swing by and 
pick you up."

"I'll be ready in five minutes!" she replied, "See you in a few! Bye! 
Oh, and thanks, Uncle Gary!"

"Hang on a sec, Felicia!" I said, "There's something you should probably 
know before you come over.  Patricia and I are trying to have a baby, so 
we're kind of being exclusive with each other for a while, just so you 
know..."

"You ARE!" she screamed, almost busting my eardrum, "That's FANTASTIC! 
You're gonna have BABY! That is SO COOL!"

"So I take it that's not going to be a problem for you?"

"No way!" she cried, "Just wait 'til I tell Mom!"

"Okay, see you in a few minutes! Bye!"

I rang the doorbell at Dolores' place a few minutes later, and Felicia 
came to the door.

"I'm going now Mom!" she called.

"Do you have everything you need?" I could hear Dolores' voice from 
inside, coming closer.

"Yeah!" Felicia said, then gave me a wink and said, "If I forget 
something, Uncle Gary will buy it for me!"

Then, still standing on the stoop, she showed me her fingers as she 
counted off the seconds. She got to three before Dolores exploded!

"He will NOT, young lady!" she hollered, storming out the door to find 
us grinning at her, "I don't care HOW much money he... You set me up 
again, didn't you, you little imp! I ought to take you over my knee 
right here where everyone can watch!"

We all got a good laugh at Dolores' expense as she hugged her daughter 
and turned with her to walk to the car.

"You brought the new car!" Felicia exclaimed as she saw the Mercedes, 
"It's about time! I know you liked that old Buick, but DAMN it was 
getting RAGGED!"

"Oh this is nice!" Dolores cooed, peering into the interior as I opened 
the door for Felicia.

"It was a gift from my wife!" I said proudly, "I guess she got tired of 
that ragged old Buick, too!"

I offered Felicia my hand, saying, in my best Edgar imitation, "Your 
carriage awaits, my lady!"

Felicia giggled and tossed her head imperiously, saying, "Thank you, 
driver! Take me to the Travis residence immediately!"

Dolores stopped me as I started to round the car to the driver's side.

"I don't think I ever thanked you for all you've done for her, Gary." 
she said sincerely, "So, thank you! She's growing up to be a fine young 
woman, with far more confidence than I ever had at her age.  That's hard 
to achieve as a single mother and I couldn't have done it without you 
and Patricia."

I took her hand in both of mine and kissed the back of it.

"It's the least I could do after you two gave me safe haven and got me 
back on my feet." I replied, "Besides, Felicia is a delight to have 
around.  You've done a great job raising her.  Too many parents 
concentrate on raising good kids.  I think you've done an excellent job 
of raising a good adult!"

"Still a good friend, I see!" Dolores said, hugging me, "That means a 
lot to me!"

"Me too." I replied, "But what's this about you going off with Henry 
Bullock? I mean, he seems a nice enough guy, but I've known him for 
about a day, and you only met him last night!"

Dolores stood back and looked up at me, blushing.

"Silly, huh?" she said, "I've never been a believer in love at first 
sight, but here I am like a schoolgirl with a crush on this widower that 
I just met!  I just hope his sister will forgive me for bumping her from 
this cruise!"

"Oh, I suspect she will!" I said, "I imagine she's happy to see her 
brother interested in another woman.  Family members are like that, 
aren't they?"

"Well, it's been about three years since his wife died," she said, "so 
you're probably right. Anyway you two have fun! I've got to finish packing!"

"Have a good time, Dolores!" I said, "Felicia will take good care of us 
while you're gone!"

With a wave, she was gone, and I climbed into the driver's seat to have 
my ears explode to the heavy beat of the hip-hop music Felicia had 
brought up on the sound system.  I could see her mouth moving, but 
couldn't hear a word!

I turned the volume down and said, "Nice system, huh?"

"It's awesome Uncle Gary!" Felicia replied, "Better than the one in the 
limo, even!"

"So what did your Mom think when you told her about the baby?" I asked.

"Oh, she already knew." the pretty teen replied, making a face, "I guess 
Aunt Patricia told her when she invited us for the celebration, and Mom 
forgot to mention it."

"So what do you think about her going off with Henry?" I asked, changing 
the subject.

She thought for a while before answering, then said, "I like him Uncle 
Gary. I think it would be good if they got together."

"Well, make sure you tell your Mom, if you haven't already." I said, 
"I'd hate for her to blow off a good relationship because she thought 
you weren't on board."

"Oh, we talked for a long time after he dropped us off last night." she 
said, yawning dramatically. "She knows how I feel."

"Good!" I said, "So what are your plans for while your mom's gone?"

"Well, I was just going to hang around with you guys," she said, looking 
pointedly around the interior of the car, "but now... Can I borrow the 
car, 'Dad'?"

I laughed at the way she said it, and replied, "I think we'd better talk 
that over with my wife!  It IS a gift from her, you know, and I've only 
had it for a day and a half!  That does remind me, though.  You'll be 
graduating soon, won't you?"

"Yep! Valedictorian, if you can believe it!" She laughed, "I guess all 
of that help you gave me with my homework paid off!"

I tried to think of how I had helped, but for the life of me couldn't 
think of a single insight I had given her.

"Help?" I said "All I did was ask a bunch of questions about the 
assignments you were having problems with."

"But that was just the help I needed!" she said, "You got me to look at 
things in different ways, and when I did, I was able to figure them out 
for myself!  If you  had just given me the answers, I wouldn't have 
known any more than I did when I started!"

"Well, I'm glad I was able to help," I replied, "but be sure to reserve 
most of the credit for yourself. You've done a great job with your 
studies, honey, and should be very proud of yourself!"

"Oh I would be," she said, deadpan, "if it wasn't a sin."

She couldn't hold it when she saw my raised eyebrow, and cracked up, 
shaking with laughter!

"You know me too well, Uncle Gary!" she said, hugging my bicep.

-- 
Pursuant to the Berne Convention, this work is copyright with all rights
reserved by its author unless explicitly indicated.
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