Against the Odds Ch. 05

THE FINAL: Successful small-city lawyer Ellis Jefferson (33), the illegitimate daughter of an Elliot, is unloved by many people in either family inherits a huge amount of property in the city with more to come from her great-uncle. She brings in man, Troy Gardiner, a graduate from her old university just back form seven years in South Africa, to consolidate her property interests and manage them. Ellis is kidnapped and Troy and two useful buddies set out to find Ellis and bring her and the two opportunists who have conspired to shed their niece of her property assets to face family justice. Troy has learned a great deal about women and how complex they are and he finds he is looking beyond easy women to Ellis and she is beginning to show signs of interest in him at last. A Settlers Memorial Day is planned to commemorate the role Ellis's great-grandmother accepted one hundred years ago to rid the local territory of evil. Ellis is the play the role of her great-grandmother at the ceremony and there's a role for Troy as the gunslinger in black.

*

On the eve of leaving for his two-day seminar plus two rest days Troy Gardiner was sexually knee-capped when his boss Ellis Jefferson phoned and said she'd been called upstate to defend a client facing a trumped-up serious charge. Troy had been sure Ellis was about to commence a relationship with him; this had been the opportunity but now the whole feeling of eclectic anticipation had been deflated. She had apologized but hadn't seemed too fussed and said she'd cancelled her room at the seminar venue.

Troy had gone two weeks without a woman and felt capable of blasting through a brick wall. But his mind was on Ellis so he didn't go off seeking an alternative.

Fort Duncan was a really lovely city and some of the wives of delegates looked rather noticeable but he decided to dedicate himself to learning something or reinforcing knowledge and values which, he grumpily supposed, was the point of a seminar.

At 5:10 he trudged back to his room to prepare for the cocktail party and to do a bit of shoulder-rubbing. As soon as he opened the door he smelled HER perfume. His heart leapt and he looked in the bathroom and under the bed but couldn't find her. He spied a note on the mirror: 'Gone walking as it's a beautiful little city. Court proceedings against my clients tossed out; ruled they had no case to answer. I'm all ready to walk over to the cocktail party with you. Are we going to be naughty in this room tonight? XXX'

Troy cut his face twice shaving and banged his forehead on the shower door when chasing the soap that went skidding across the bathroom floor – but he remained happy, elated in fact. He emptied out her bags and tidied everything away and placed the huge pack of condoms under her pillow and put her viabrator in the bathroom as he didn't fancy being kept awake with her noisily enjoying that; only later did it occur to him she might be planning to use it on him.

At 5:50 Troy stopped his pacing and faced the door as he heard the key turn in the lock. She stepped into the room with a devastatingly heart-jerking smile.

"Ellis," he chocked.

"Troy," she grinned, opening her lips. "Don't be shy – come and hug me and feel my heart beating."

They pressed against each other and kissed her lips soft and sweet and he hoped his felt similar. She pulled his hand over her right breast; he felt the heart-beat but his interest was split between that and the nipple – it was like a steel reinforcing rod.

"I have my admission ticket to the function," she said. "Do you have yours?"

"Oh yes," he said and she giggled asking him not to mess her up. "Well not yet," she added.

He was wearing his white suit and she was in something flimsy black that would get her arrested out on the street. He could see the nipples and couldn't see any panty line – what he had to escort to a cocktail party half-filled with randy males was a sex time-bomb. He resolved to behave in a soft and non-lethal manner at any guys who attempted a hit on her.

"Soft and non-lethal, soft and non-lethal," he chanted softly.

"Is that a new brand of condom?" she giggled and he loved her for her humor. They walked under an arcade of flowers he said "Pretty" and she sounded surprised and said, "You noticed?"

The were pulled into a group immediately, many people recognizing her and no-one recognizing him which was scarcely surprising but Ellis wasn't working in the property industry. Then he remembered - of course, her pretty face and body on the front page of 'Property Management for Professionals' magazine under the heading, 'Thanks Grandma'.

When Troy returned with a new beer he saw a fat slob had button-holed Ellis and was telling her how he could manage her properties like playing a violin. Troy said to a little woman and pointing to fat guts, "Excuse me, do you know him?"

"Yes, he's my husband Harold Lynch."

Troy ducked around the corner and announced in a deep voice, "Would Harold Lynch please contact management; his vehicle is being towed away."

Harold Lynch came running past protesting, "But I don't have a car here; my wife and I arrived by aircraft."

Troy found Ellis and Mrs Lynch chatting away happily so studied shoes; he felt it improper to stare at tits when here he was trying to make a big impression on Ellis.

"Hello, I'm Maud Nelson, national president. Are you are one of my smaller members?"

"I suppose so Maud. I'm Troy. You have great shoes – Chinese?"

"Yes, well how astonishing. I've never had a man comment on my shoes before. They usually...well it doesn't matter. You came in with the beautiful Ellis Jefferson I noticed."

"Yes."

"Well, that tells me a lot. I suppose you look after a few of her properties."

"Yes."

"Well that tells me a lot. How many of them?"

"All forty-three."

"Christ not only is she the largest property owner here but you manage the largest single property portfolio and probably the largest number of multi-portfolio managements."

"Do I?"

"Well that tells me a lot. What are your priorities?"

"My motto is a one-liner: 'Happy Tenants Pay Higher Rentals.'

"B-but Troy, you can't declare that: it's blatantly honest."

"Miss Jefferson came up with the one-liner, "Tenants are basically crooked but We Adjust Their Thinking as Perfect Landlords' but I canned that one because it seemed to send a confused message. Miss Jefferson wears black to project the image of the evil landlord and I wear white to indicate to tenants I'm on their side," invented Troy, greatly amusing himself."

The president said to him, "Please excuse me – I find this most novel and interesting."

Troy was reunited with Ellis, peering to see what the status of her nipples was when Mrs Maud Nelson came over and introduced herself to Ellis.

"My Dears, I have arranged for you two to sit on either side of me for dinner. Our guest speaker the eminent architect Zac B. Ford was to present the same after dinner address he presented the year before last; he has agreed to stand aside in return for a continuous supply of champagne to allow you two to combine to deliver the address. Come to the table when you're ready – we are due to start in ten minutes."

"But why is she doing this to us?" Ellis cried. "Neither of us is an after-dinner speaker of note."

"I reckon she must have mistaken us for an eminent couple," Troy said. "Still you talk about how your crapped yourself when landed with forty-three properties overnight and how you came to recruit me and I'll talk about my impressions and philosophies and how I operate."

"Well, perhaps we'll muddle through. Drink up darling; I'll think we'll need it."

Troy pulled the little wisp of black over Ellis's head and there is was, all waiting for him. She looked so lovely.

He began by hitting top in romantic voice: "You look so adorable; it seems a crime to touch any exquisite part I see paraded before me."

"If you don't touch something right now I chop something off with an axe – my body is screaming for it."

"Here take this," Troy said manfully, placing his pride and glory in her hand.

"Ohmigod, I'll have to grow some more before I can reasonably handle this," she cooed. "Please sir, may I sit on it?"

"Yes little darling – proceed quickly as I don't want you suffering speed burn which will start happening very soon unless you push biggie-dickey into your squishy-icky right now."

"There – how's that?"

"I've died and gone to heaven," Troy sighed, biting a ramrod nipple.

"Ouch!" she cried, delivering an excess of lube in three powerful shudders.

"I'm sure I've not had sex before," Ellis trilled. "It's never been like this."

Of course it wasn't dream sex – they'd had too much wine and were much too eager to play each other to slow, erotic and fluttering climaxes that true lovers enjoy as they melt into each other's sexual organs. That requires them to be encased in a romantic aura and they had yet to take themselves to that level but that ascent was only a few hours away. Ascent would come later for Troy because he had attuned himself to sex short on feeling and such insensitive inter-connection rather blunts the ability to have it all.

Almost seven hours later with sunlight filtering into their room Ellis opened her eyes slowly and feeling she was being watched.

Here eyes met Troy's,

"Hello," she murmured, stretching and feeling her heart soar. He was dressed in the conference T-shirt and grey shorts and sandals; it was a resort conference and no dress code applied except for the cocktail party and tonight's dinner.

But it didn't matter whether he was dressed or not – what captured her like an opossum in the headlights of an on-rushing car were his eyes. They were wide-open and soft and staring; Ellis had the feeling she was looking right into him and an incredible feeling filtered through her chest. As peculiar as it might sound she didn't know what that sensation was and yet sensed what it was: it was her soul coming to rest for the first time in her troubled life.

No-one but no-one had ever looked at her like that before – not even within her earliest memory had her mother had that look of such intensity. She didn't hear celestial angels singing but could now understand how people were able to claim such a thing. The feeling was but a moment in time; it couldn't last, she knew that and with deep regret had to tail it off because she was bursting to pee.

"Hullo darling," she said dreamily, trailing a soft hand over his hair – "No don't grab me; if you do I'll pee over you."

"I won't mind providing it's only you who does it."

"Oh yuk," she yelped in laughter, dashing for the bowl and feeling the happiest she'd been since that day a little over seven years ago when she walked into those recently vacated office that she knew would become home to her own law firm. Sitting there feeling warm and very secure Ellis knew she was a whole person at last, lacking for nothing and loved. It had taken thirty-three years to achieve but what more could a girl want? Oh yeah, to ensure this feeling he had for her turned into real and enduring lover for her: this was a man who lived the life of a tom cat.

Returning to the bedroom Ellis straddled Troy and began kissing him softly and unhurriedly and he seemed to sense on this occasion he was to remain relatively passive. The kisses and mutual chest caressing continued for quite sometime until she unzipped him and dug under her pillow for a condom. She placed it on him, requiring no assistance – she was a self-contained woman from years of thinking in solo mode – and then she straddled him again, remaining still.

They kissed and caressed all over again until her breath was almost at a canter and Troy was clearly having difficulty holding back. Ellis then began moving up and down on him to soon remove the anxiety from his face. She reached her climax, squeezed her thighs and brought him to a very red-faced finish and panting her name, "Ellis, oh Ellis, Ellis oh Ellis."{

"Ohmigod," he sighed and she kissed his cheeks.

"You'll have to change," she giggled as they both looked as the huge patch of moisture across the front of Troy's light gray shorts.

"No, I'm wearing them to breakfast to show everyone what you've been doing to me."

"No," she shrieked, chasing him around the room. He was across the bed in one hop, step and jump while she fell across it consumed in happy hysterics. He came back behind her, lifted her hips up high without a word and involved her in a Doggie that she'd remember for a very long time.

The breakfast room was almost deserted by the time Ellis and Troy arrived. An older couple waved them over to join them. After the introductions the other woman said to Ellis, "Have you too been out for a run – you both look very flushed." The husband looked at Troy over the rim of his coffee cup and raised a knowing eyebrow.

On the flight home Ellis clung to Troy and he liked the close attention. "That was a lovely four nights away," she said. "Are we a number or is that it?"

"We are a number. Let's do something about our living arrangements after the unveiling on Friday."

"Oh God yes, I allowed my commitment over that to that drift to the back of my mind; I wonder why?" she said, squeezing his hand. "Have you learned to ride that horse yet – I hope Mitch found you a suitable one although I guess that would be difficult on a working ranch."

"Don't forget the have children's ponies on the ranches," Troy grinned. "Can you ride?"

"Like the wind – remember I partly grew up on the ranches of my grandmother and grand uncle. When we go riding up into the foothills you'll have no chance of catching me and nailing me under a pine or spruce like all the romantics in this region does – even when their hair is graying."

"Rural people do enjoy their simple pleasures – don't they," he said, squeezing her hand. Then he asked, "By the way are you a member of the Mile High Club?"

"Mile High Club – what's that?" Ellis had turned to look through the far side window so Troy was unable to detect was that reply as innocent as it sounded.

"I couldn't believe the number of delegates who congratulated us on our joint presentation as after-dinner speakers," Ellis smiled. "I went in trying to be funny and a real novice, because that's what I am."

"Yeah, you were great. You had them rolling with laughter but they could see you were no fool."

"What about you – giving them the impression your only previous knowledge about building management was as a boy having the job of ensuring the door to the outside toilet was always closed and the most difficult aspect of that was shoving the feet of your older sister's boyfriend in so you could close the door. You had some of the women bawling their eyes out in laughter. You certainly had them going with toilet humor by saying you judge the high standard of building cleanliness by checking behind the open toilet door and in the lunchroom estimating the population density of cockroaches and if the population is nil you evacuate the building as imminent collapse is likely or it's being used to dump nuclear waste."

"But I also gave some tips that seemed to appeal."

"Oh yes Troy, you had some managers agreeing that always use a busty, nicely dressed young woman to lead the rent review team if the tenant is male or handsome male leader if the tenant is female, suggest to tenants they charged employees for secure parking space while offering huge discounts to employees with mini cars who agree to double up in a standard parking space and, what was that other thing? Oh yes, changing building access locks once a year is a subtle way of reminding tenants they don't own the building. Everyone loved that one, including me; after dinner speeches are not meant to be lectures."

* * *

Troy and Fleur spent most of Monday with Molly going over the Property Management Department's strategic plan and business plan plus budgets and spent Tuesday filling the holes identified by Molly and changing assumptions to conform to overall company policy. They had a two-hour session with Ellis on Wednesday morning and she then went over the budgets carefully with Molly, taking until late afternoon when Molly called Troy in to ask did they really required a inspection engineer of Hazel King's caliber,

"That's a pretty high salary to absorb," Molly said, steely-eyed.

"She'll be worth every cent; further, unless she becomes overloaded we won't have to hire outside consultants to advice on keeping our properties up to required standards."

"An excellent point," said Ellis, rubbing the side of her ear with her reading glasses. "Answer me this Troy: Do we really need her."

"Yes. I admit we are taking her on early but this is necessary because her current contract ends in three weeks; she'll take two weeks off and then will be ready to start with us. She's agreed to work from home until we have her office ready here which means she earning her money from day one."

"That's good enough for me," Ellis said and asked, "Molly?"

"Aye, please settle terms of contract with her Troy and then bring me into final negotiations. I've notice during my prowling upstairs the workmen seem to respect her and some of those characters are pretty tough."

"Is there anything else?" Troy asked.

"No," said Ellis, "but I'm still finding it hard to get my head around these budget figures – the outgoings are huge."

"But they are as accurate as we can estimate and you can see the cash flow produces very appealing profits," Troy smiled. "Just image each of those buildings you own as a farm – the buildings have to be fed and cared for and at the end of each half-year, all going well, there is a check waiting for you."

"Well that may be of assistance," Ellis smiled. "Off you go and allow Molly and me to do the real work."

An hour later Molly phoned Troy: "Everything is approved but you'll note some minor changes. You now are truly boss of a big subsidiary; congratulations. I want you to come with me to the building next door tomorrow at 10:00 to meet the company's executive committee – you'll recall I mentioned this last week."

"Good – I'll see if Hazel King can join us."

"That's a great suggestion. Ellis wants you and me in her office at 4:00 on Friday to discuss the partnership proposal. I don't know why she wants to involve me but she does."

"To ensure she doesn't become emotional soft."

"So you two actually have something underway; I haven't noticed."

"Watch this space. We'll be talking to each other when this memorial is out of the way."

"Good one; you two are made for each other – two lost souls uniting is how I'd put it."

"You read too many sloppy romances but your thought is appreciated."

The meeting with the executive in the neighboring building was slow going until Troy suggested that twenty accountants owning their own building and being their only building was not a particularly good investment, given the specialist skills required in building management and continuous upgrading demands. They should look at the capital freed up to find whether it would produce a better return from land development for new housing and there was immediate interest in that. "Look at entering that field in partnership with a developer with a great track record," he suggested.

Troy, Molly and Hazel then inspected the building with the partner in charge of property. She and Molly discussed the big chunk that building maintenance sucked out of cash flow in respect of only having one building to spread the costs and efficiencies and the accountant-partner agreed. "It won't surprise me to see a deal with you folk go through," she said.

In turn, Molly said she believed the deal would go through provided they could pitch a realistic price and keep other parties out of the frame.