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Authors: J. D. Freed

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BOOK: Truth Meets Love
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I wanted to earn and save enough money to get myself through college, but I had my standards. There were limits drawn very early on what values I might want to remain virtuous and in my control that I could build on. I knew I was strong-willed and I could dance. It was a start.

I had to stay true to myself or it wasn't worth the risk… I saw where she went wrong
.

These values and self respect I had coarsely instilled in myself over the years were reinforced during a meeting I led earlier this afternoon. Once the Mathis Presentation and the meeting with Mr. Greyson and Mr. Harrison were over, Larry, the head of the data management and business intelligence group, decided to challenge my decision to call a conference call. We needed his department to ensure we cleaned up the inaccurate and key business indicators in our data so we are accurately reporting and making decisions on the most timely information. As I started to give the group an outline of where the issues are presented in the data models I extracted and explained that I would like to leverage each of their skills and assistance to correct the problem, Larry pipes up with, "So you think that new big title gives you the right to come in and tell me how to do my job? I have been managing this department for longer than you've been wearing a bra, young lady."

UH-OH, he said "young lady" and referenced my
girls
? My inner trucker comes to my defense as I hold back my insults.
Classy Larry, I'd grab your nuts now. Those little gems are about to be shoved up your new asshole
.

My blood ran cool and I had to work to suppress my irritation with this lazy-ass. I was about to channel an angry truck driver to hurl a redneck insult Larry's way. However, I was a bigger person than that and I wasn't going to play his game or let him shake me. He doesn't do his job worth a shit and I was about to inform him of such. Marcus had shared with me that Larry seems to spend more time online gambling than doing his job and Mr. Greyson has already put him on warning about his antics. I heard snickers from a few other men surrounding the table and on the conference line.

"Larry, can you count to 10? I only ask because it is an important number. It represents the age I started wearing my Scooby Doo training bra. We also have 10 people between the phone and this table that are being called together to correct the error of your ways. I am completely aware that you had been assigned the ownership of managing the data migration and scalability efforts for this company and have for many years, and look what we have to show for it! I was asked to coordinate the effort to align resources and do whatever is necessary to restore the integrity of our data prior to this merger. Which tells me that I am not really telling you how to do your job, Larry; I am basically doing it for you."

I heard a howl of laughter on the phone before it abruptly cut off… they must have hit mute after the initial outburst. Larry's face was red as he got up from the table with such force the chair went flying before he exited the room and slammed the door. I continued the meeting without incident and a surprisingly helpful and quiet group of well-mannered gentleman assisted me in a defining a strategy to resolve the issues plaguing our reporting and data integration standards. All accomplished in less than 30 minutes. No thanks to Larry. Imagine that.

Coming through the door at home, I am hoping to finish out my emotionally-charged day by just focusing on winding down. I drop my stuff in the doorway and nudge the door shut with my hip. After consuming about two pots of coffee today, I walk feverishly to the bathroom off the hall by the back door. After emptying my bladder and grabbing a cold bottle of water from the fridge, I strip off my skirt and dress wear and throw them in the dry cleaning bag and head up to loft, rolling my neck in long circles as I round the stairs. I am just stretching in the loft, wearing only the black lace undergarments, stockings and, of course, the suede shoes as I tune up the music lineup. I need to find control. I need to release the pressure of the day… the closing preparations, the meeting, the new role.

I need an outlet, an escape for the next two hours, and then it's a hot shower, then strawberry cheesecake and Ryan Gosling in that one movie whose name is really pointless once they show him in the preview shirtless. Let me think… ummm… I'll take my chances even if the critics don't feel it is Oscar worthy! It's Had-Worthy!

I start to move around the room in slow circles as the haunting lyrics of Shinedown's "Diamond Eyes" take over my body.

Chapter FIVE

My Landlord: The Stripper

Tralen -

I was leaving work to go get something to eat and pick Loosey up from my sisters before reviewing our potential new home later this evening.

I am still chuckling when I recall the events that transpired at the best meeting I have ever attended earlier this afternoon.

I arrived at a conference call taking place in Jimmy's office to discuss data integrity issues with the new head of Mergers and Acquisitions at Greyson Capital investment firm. I was late to the meeting but when I finally got there, I could hear a female voice echoing around the room when I came in his office. There was a confident and well-spoken women's voice explaining the suggestions she had for the data cleanup effort that had been sorely mismanaged according to Jimmy, our DBA at Mathis Engineering.

This prick named Larry who Jimmy thinks is worthless cuts her off while she was presenting solutions for the issues she just reviewed. Then he made some inappropriate comment regarding her age, sex and something to the effect of claiming that she is not capable of telling him how to do his job.

When only silence followed his rant, and a few snickers from others at his attempt to belittle her position and intelligence, I could tell within the three minutes that she was talking that she knew her shit and she was about to send that message to Larry loud and clear.

Jimmy put it on mute for a moment to speak to me without being heard and then said, "I bet she cries. What a fucking jerk. Such a dumbass, that guy."

I wanted to cheer her on and hoped that she defended herself, like my Mom would have.

Jenna, my mom, would have very eloquently set Larry straight and sent the message that he didn't intimidate her and she would not be undermined or judged by the asshat. She handled Bill with the same level hand and head. She was always setting the course and navigated the rough water to be on the lookout for incoming icebergs to steer us clear. She did this for both Cody and me, and even Bill, the sorry ass. When we lost her to the debilitating effects of ALS, or better known as "Lou Gehrig's Disease". Bill turned into a 24-hour drunken, mean shell of what he was with her. He was not real extraordinary before; add whiskey and that doesn't add any valuable points to upside of the character charts.

Cody got suspended for three days for beating up a jock for talking shit about me and my skills on the court. She found out the kid Cody punched out was drunk at school and threatened to kick Cody's ass before he defended himself and my honor. She unloaded on the principal about the need to reassess his priorities and focus on the eliminating the root of the problem and not treating the symptom. She told him she felt his inability to see the bigger picture was what would not change the behavior or prevent it from reoccurring and this placed her son at risk further in the future. She was very familiar with the outcome of mixing alcohol and testosterone. She was married to it.

My mom stood up for me, too, so many times. She always worked to ensure I got the resources and time on the court and went to camps and tournaments. She even petitioned the school board to let me try out for the high school Varsity basketball team as an eighth grader because she believed in me and the dreams I had been working hard for. She did everything within her grasp to ensure I got the chance to achieve them. She did the same for Cody and teaching him music. She knew we were different and driven by other kinds of engines, and she did her best to always encourage and support us both.

She always said that if we wanted something badly enough to work to get it, we most likely would if we didn't weaken and stuck the course. It seemed she was willing to work just as hard for our dreams as hers, because in reality they were the same in the end. She wanted to see us become men we could be proud of. It was a win-win for her. Just before she passed, she said, "Tralen, you and Cody made me shift the course of my dreams to even better ones. I can rest in peace knowing all my greatest dreams came true. You were my dream come true and gave me a life full of love. The two of you are by far my best accomplishment and source of PRIDE AND JOY… even considering my pre-maturely grey hair, of course!"

I channel Mom. "She's not going to cry. I bet she is going to take that shit he just tried to sling at her and shove it back up and through that new asshole she is about to give him."

Jimmy takes the mute button off just as she delivers the blow. She provided Larry a new asshole, all right, then sent him from the room with his little dick stuck down between his ass cheeks. I fell in love and then erupted in a loud laugh before Jimmy could scramble to hit the mute button again.

I arrive at the address and I see the slate blue Toyota Tundra in the driveway, as was mentioned in the text. It is 7:45PM and I am a little early. This location would be a short commute to my new office at Greyson Capital, and it is also close to my gym. If the inside of the unit is as appealing as the outside, then I won't hesitate to snatch it up. There are four units lined up in a row with garages, small fenced front yards and porches off the front. Fuck! I need to remind myself to look at the backyard for a larger fenced area for Loosey. Hence the reason I am house hunting right now. My lil' bro's big joke--leaving me a four month old puppy named Loosey for my birthday gift that isn't actually until next weekend.

He came to town to play a gig at our old watering hole after touring the West Coast with his band, BlackWater. He spent the remainder of the last week trying to set me up with every woman under sun, until I took him to the airport about five days ago. I thought he was exaggerating his disapproval of my standards and methods for the selection process and frequency of occurrence as it related to women. I couldn't have been more wrong. He could always play my strings too fucking well, too!

While he was visiting I made him go with me to a wedding reception for a guy from work. Marcus manages the IT department for Greyson Capital Inc., the company that is acquiring the one I currently am employed with. I didn't know him well but he seemed to be a cool dude and he said it would be a good party. He wasn't lying. Cody got smashed and was a handful. I had made him take his earrings out of eyes and lips to try to look presentable and non-celebrity status, so his growing fame did not distract from Marcus's big day. However, I had to beat Cody senseless the next day when he finally sobered up. I wanted to make sure he felt it.

He had slipped a Viagra in my beer before we left the house that night. He thought I needed to get laid more so that was his fucked-up solution to my "problem." I couldn't stay too pissed because that was the most incredible sexual experience I could recall ever having that night… I just didn't get a chance to get her full name. I definitely did not share that news with Cody, for fear it would encourage him to encore his pill dropping stunt.

It happened when I started sweating halfway in to my third beer and my heart started to pick up pace. Cody could see the growing tension and discomfort as I almost involuntarily eyed every girl that passed by. He burst out laughing and whispered in my ear that I should probably lay off drinking too much, "since it was my first time using Viagra." If we hadn't been surrounded by guys from the company that is acquiring us, I would have taken out my mounting frustration by pummeling his scrawny ass right then and there. However, I had a more immediate problem. I needed to unload now. My dick almost hurt, so I headed to the only place I could get quick resolution to that problem: the bathroom… to get my hand reacquainted with my dick and give myself some fucking peace!

On the way to the bathroom there was a beautiful olive-skinned woman dancing alone in the hallway. I had seen her dancing all night and laughing out loud while I was bullshitting with Cody and introducing him to some guys at our table from work. She didn't appear to be with any "one" person and I couldn't waste this song. I watched her body sway to the pulse of the music playing from the reception hall and streaming down the hallway in front. I assumed she was waiting for someone to come out of the bathroom and just passing the time.

My dick basically made me do it. I slid my hands down her arms and clasped my hands to hers and pulled her back against me as I started to move with her. I can't dance and I didn't want to interrupt or keep her from enjoying this song. I just wanted to escape to that utopia that she seemed to be caught in when I came up.

The back of her body pressed to my chest, and my aching dick got some needed stimulation by the pressure of her ass against it. The smell of her hair, the taste of her skin, that sweet full mouth--she was about to break my hand with the intensity of her squeeze. I had to laugh as I was kissing up her neck and to her ear, because she was killing me all over. She must have been a little worked up by the whole situation too. Once my numb fingers regained circulation, I about exploded when she reached between us during the best part of the song and started to stroke my cock outside my pants. Then she pulled my hand under the front of her skirt.

She had her other hand in my hair, and I was trying to restrain myself as I rubbed her soft hot spot from the outside of her panties. I nearly lost my load when I felt the piercing above her clit.

My lower brain took over, fully operating with sex drug-induced fuel, along with my army of soldiers trying to break the front line. They had been on about a year long hiatus from this particular battleground. However, they were like 'minutemen'. They came to full attention without question. My guys might have been a little more aggressive than normal given the v-juice assface slipped in my drink. However I had faith in their ability to their job when they were eventually called up from the reserves to active duty.

BOOK: Truth Meets Love
7.62Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
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