Battle-Hardened, War Weary Ch. 04

"I can improvise!" she stated.

Ryan chuckled. He walked over to his massive desk and powered on his computer. "I'm sure you can, Miss Himura." He pulled his brown leather, rolling chair out from underneath his desk. He settled into the Horizon High Back chair. "Okay, now, what else do I have planned?"

"At 3:00 PM, you have another meeting, but this one is with the marketing department. Don't expect for this meeting to be over before five, because they're idiots—

Ryan let out laughter that was loud and booming.

"I know that they are idiots because I used to work down there and trust me with my judgment..." Penny stared down at her clipboard. "After work, you have to meet up with your fiancée, over at Kleinfeld Bridal, on West 20th..."Penny noticed the facial expression of bewilderment on her boss' face, so she explained. " And I know this because your fiancée has called my phone six times already and it's..." She looked away from the clipboard to stare at her wrist watch. "7:34 AM right now," she groaned in irritation. "Please give that woman a call before you head off to your meeting."

"I know and I am sorry, Penny."

"No problem, boss."

****

The first meeting was about to start in fifteen minutes. Ryan had just finished eating his breakfast of wheat toast, a bowl of porridge, a glass of green tea and two slices of turkey bacon. During his breakfast, he managed to do some of his work as well as make a few phone calls. Now, he was inside of his private bathroom and was brushing his teeth. As he cleaned out his mouth, he thought about the upcoming meeting. He figured that he should give off the appearance of caring about his subordinates' work ethics, so he decided to ask questions at the meeting. The inquiries that he had come up with were questions that he already knew the answers to. He wanted to portray himself as a leader and an authority figure.

Ryan knew that the employees of Whittler, Falcon and Hancock Realty thought that he was here, due to nepotism. One day, he mistakenly walked into one of the men's bathrooms and discovered that a few of his colleagues were speaking ill about him. They didn't see Ryan as he entered the room, so they continued to speak. They were joking about Ryan's perceived sexual orientation, about his choices in clothes, his penchant for being featured in gossip magazines and in the newspapers. They commented about the case of nepotism that occurred. The men had come to the conclusion that Ryan's purpose of being an employee was to fill out a desk. They expected for Ryan to do absolutely nothing.

Usually, he didn't allow the insults from other individuals to bother him. But, this time, their remarks irritated him. So, he decided to prove them all wrong. Within a two-month span, he obtained eight properties and handled each account by his self. He managed each account until he sold each one for a price that passed the million-dollar mark. In the span of sixty days, he had accumulated a quarter of a billion dollars for his grandfather and for his associates. His colleagues now understood why Ryan was residing in a corner office in the executive suite.

Ryan entered his office to find that he wasn't alone anymore. He glared at the elderly man that sat in one of reception chairs that was positioned in front of Ryan's desk. The man's physical appearance seemed to have changed drastically since the last time Ryan had seen him, which was close to four months ago. In December of 2000, the older man had a head full of silver-gray hair. His complexion was ruddy with good health. His face was full and plump. His physique possessed a great amount of weight. He was able to fill out his designer, tailored suits.

Now, in April of 2001, this same man appeared as if his health had taken a nose dive. The silver-gray hair was gone and was replaced with a receding hairline and thin layer of white strands. Ryan could see the baldness that lied underneath. His complexion was now pale and ghastly looking. He was so light that Ryan could see the various veins that were underneath his skin. There were brown spots that covered his face and neck. His face lost the plumpness and was gaunt. His suit didn't cover his frame well. Ryan thought he lost a lot of weight. He looked sickly.

'It looks like karma has finally caught up with the bastard,' thought Ryan as he stared at the man. 'And from the look of things, she has served the bastard right.'

Ryan walked away from the bathroom's doorway and traveled over to his desk. He glanced at the old man. "Good morning, Grandfather," greeted Ryan as he settled back in his chair. "What are you doing in here? Our meeting is in fifteen minutes."

The older Whittler male settled his dark blue eyes on his grandson. Ryan noted that his grandfather's physique made appeared sickly and weak, but his eyes conveyed strength. "I know when the damn meeting starts!" The older man stated. His voice sounded thin and weak. "I had come in here to see what you were wearing today! This is your first meeting since your arrival to the company! I want to make sure that you are dress like a man and not like some fairy-faggot!"

Ryan grew angry. He glared at his grandfather. His jade eyes narrowed and the rows of his teeth ground against each other, an act of dealing with his anger.

"You, Boy, will not make my company look foolish because you want to fulfill your need to wear women's clothes!" his grandfather demanded.

"Duly noted," Ryan growled from his clenched jaw.

A tension filled, silence entered the large office. The elder Whittler and the younger Whittler stared at each other. Each man tried to intimidate the other. Eventually, it was the older man who glance away first. He observed Ryan's desk top.

"You need some pictures of your fiancée on your desk," his grandfather stated.

'What the fuck is this old geezer talking about?' Ryan said to himself.

"The employees are more comfortable talking to a man, when they have some semblance of a family. It makes the man more relatable and down to earth. The potential clients will respect you more. You need to come to my office and look at my desk. I have pictures of my wife and our kids—

"Speaking of your wife: how is my mother?" Ryan asked.

He didn't care about his mother's current status. All Ryan wanted to do is get inside of his grandfather's craw. When Ryan saw the old man's jaw tighten and his eyes grow hot with irritation, he knew that he succeeded.

"She's fine. She's probably somewhere in the city, spending up my money and buying shit that she doesn't need" was the elder Whittler's answer.

Before his grandfather/step-father could delve any further with his information, Ryan asked, "What is this meeting about?" He didn't want his grandfather to think that Ryan was interested in listening about the family's comings and goings. He wanted to keep this relationship with his grandfather strictly professional.

During his grandfather's explanation about the meeting's objective, Ryan's mind wandered. His eyes turned away from his grandfather and traveled to the ceiling-to-floor windows that were behind his desk. He stared out of the window and stared at the other buildings that surrounded the area.

Ryan thought about his reasons for accepting his grandfather's offer of having a job in the family business. When the offer was given, it wasn't even done by the Whittler patriarch. The old man had sent one of his business partners to Ryan's mansion and offered the job position while they dined on tea and crumpets. For most people, if they were in Ryan's position, they would've told the business associate to 'fuck off'. Ryan thought about saying the same thing, for a second, instead he accepted the job.

Over time and after playing an armchair therapist for an afternoon, Ryan came up with an explanation as to why he accepted the job, even though he didn't need the position. He thought of a couple of reasons. The first reason, which happens to be the one that he hates to admit to himself, he wants the old man's approval. It had taken a consumption of half of a bottle of Johnny Walker Black and the case of intoxication that followed, for Ryan to admit that one. Then he decided that he was a real, fucked-up person for wanting the approval. His grandfather was the catalyst to the dissolution of his parents' marriage and for his father abandoning him. This was also the same man who constantly abused Ryan throughout his boyhood and early teenaged years.

Ryan's second reason was the assumption that he could be suffering from a weird case of Stockholm's Syndrome.

His third reason for accepting the job was that he wanted to overshadow his father's accomplishments while completing a task that his father was never able to do. He wanted to work for his grandfather, just like his dad, but he wasn't going to allow his grandfather to destroy his spirit. Ryan had a hunch that part of the reason why his dad left him, after uncovering his wife's infidelity, was because his spirit had finally broken. He remembered that his father heavily loved his mother. He remembered watching his father make several attempts of giving his mother hugs and kisses. She would rebuff him. He recalled the expressions of hurt on his father's face.

Thinking of the image of his father's hurt face caused a stinging sensation in his eyes. 'Shit, what the fuck is wrong with me?' he pondered. The sounds of his office phone ringing has stolen him away from his thoughts. Ryan glanced at the electric clock that was on his desk. The time was 10:37 AM. He had eight minutes before the meeting.

"You better make that phone call quick, Boy. We have to go to that meeting" his grandfather warned.

His green eyes glared at the man.

'As if I didn't fucking know that,' he thought.

Ryan watched the old man rise from the reception chair and walked out of his office. Ryan snatched the phone off of the hook. He pressed the phone to his ear. "What's up Penny? You have to make this quick. I have the meeting to go to."

"I know, Boss, but you have a phone call from Mister Valentine. He said that he is calling you with a progress report" informed Penny. "I figure that this was too important for you to go to your voice mail."

'Mister Valentine, you definitely need to get a bonus after this thing is done.'

"You are absolutely right, Pen. Patch his call through" instructed Ryan. The call was disconnected and there was a clicking noise.

"Good morning, Mr. Whittler" said the caller.

"Good morning, Mr. Valentine! What do you have for me?"

****

Christie was pretending to be a princess, who was from a planet called Purple Ice. Her name was Princess Ice. She was a kind princess, who allowed her people to eat ice cream and chocolate brownies all day. She had two cats named Mario and Luigi. At night, she liked to escape from her ice castle and go flying around space.

Princess Ice was now flying through space and tonight she brought along company. She had met a little girl named Kali and she liked the girl so much that she invited the child. Kali and Princess Ice were flying around space. They were flying around planets and floating in between stars.

Kali squealed and laughed in delight as she jumped on her queen-sized mattress. She waved her doll in the air as she bounced. She loved her new toy.

Kali loved Christie, her new doll, very much. She was the first and only toy that she owned. She received the doll, a few days ago, from her mommy's new friend. His name was Jackson. She had met him, a few days ago. He was nice. Mommy told her that Jackson was her new daddy. Mommy said that he was going to give her pretty babies because he had lighter skin than hers. Kali didn't understand what her Mommy meant. All she knew is that Jackson, her new daddy, was a very nice man.

On the day that she met him, he had shown up to their apartment in a nice-looking car. He had taken Kali and Mommy out to Jamaica Avenue, where she and her mommy had gone shopping. She didn't have as much fun as her mommy, who bought a lot of clothes. After the trip on Jamaica Avenue, they had gone back to their apartment. It was there, when Jackson had given her the Christie Doll. Kali thanked Jackson profusely.

"Hey, Kali!" she heard as she bounced on her mattress.

Kali and Christie stopped jumping on the bed and their game of "Pretending" ended. She glanced over at her bedroom's door and saw Jackson standing there.

"Hi, Daddy," Kali greeted cheerfully. She leapt off of the bed and then traveled over to the doorway. She stood in front of Jackson. "What's up?"

Jackson laughed and then ran his fingers through her afro. He squatted down to his haunches, so he was staring directly at Kali's face. His hazel pair of eyes stared into her purple eyes. "I need your help," he said to her. "Can you help me? You see..." he grabbed a hold of her arms. He held her arms in a gentle grasp. "Your mama would help me, but she's sick right now and she can't do anything. Can you help me?"

The idea of helping her new daddy thrilled Kali. She loved her new daddy. She noticed that since he arrived, her mommy was happy again. He bought Mommy gifts and she would smile and be happy. She loved when her mommy was happy. So, as a way of saying 'Thank you' to Jackson, she decided to help him. Kali nodded her head. "Yes, Daddy, I can help you!"

Her new daddy, Jackson, smiled. Seeing him happy made Kali's tummy tickle and she laughed.

"Good, good, good, I need you to help me by being nice to my friend, Kali. You see, he is very sad right now and he needs something to make him happy. I think you can make him happy. Do you think that you can help him?"

Kali nodded her head. She held up Christie. "He can play with my doll."

"Well, that's nice" her new daddy stated as he glanced at the plastic toy. "But, I think my friend wants to play a different game. Are you willing to play a different game?"

Kali was a little disappointed. She stared down at the floor. Her bottom lip poked out as she pouted.

"Kali, it's not nice to be selfish," warned Jackson. "Whenever we have a friend over, you have to do what he says. We're going to have a lot of friends over and we have to make them happy. Do you understand?" Kali didn't answer him. "Would you like for me to take Christie away from you and give her to another little girl?" Kali looked up him with an expression of alarmed. She shook her head. Jackson nodded his head. "I thought so. So, why don't you go and sit up on the bed while I go and get my friend?"

"Okay, Daddy," she whimpered.

"Good, now get," he said to her with a sudden case of harshness.

Kali walked over to her bed and climbed up onto the mattress. She sat at the edge of the mattress. She was started to play with Christie, her catfish. She was playing with her toy, when she heard her bedroom door open. She placed her fish onto the bed and then turned her attention to the doorway.

Standing in the threshold while leaning against the doorframe, was a white man. He wore a light-colored linen suit, a Fedora hat on his head and a pair of brown sandals on his feet. He was staring at the floor at first.

The little girl with the bright, purple eyes wondered about the man who stood in her doorway. She continued to stare at him. The man suddenly lifted his head and revealed his face for little Kali to see. Her doe-shaped eyes widened in shock. A gasp escaped her mouth. She watched a smile slowly spread across the lower part of his face as he stared at the young girl.

"Ryan, what are you doing here?" a now adult Kali inquired as she glared at him and continued to sit at the edge of the mattress.

Ryan pushed his body off of the doorframe and then strolled into the bedroom. He shut the door behind him. "I am here because I own you and despite what your godfather says, I will have you" he growled with a voice that surely wasn't human.

Kali let out a gasp and then scrambled away from the edge of the bed. Her nude form crawled across his large, circular bed, in his bedroom. She managed to crawl about a foot away, when her journey had come to an end. She felt Ryan grab onto her right ankle and then yank. She lost her balance and fell onto her belly. He pulled her body down the mattress. She was dragged to the center of the mattress. She was grabbed around her torso and was flipped onto her back. Once she was settled on the mattress, she was greeted by a horrifying sight.

Kali let out a blood-curdling scream into the room. She continued to scream as she stared at the scary entity. Kneeling before her was a large, nude demon. His body was of a human male, but his head was something else. His face resembled a bull. There was a snout, menacing-looking teeth, a pair of frightful eyes and a pair of large, long horns growing out of his head. His unnatural eyes watched her as she lied there.

She needed to get away from this creature. She grabbed a hold of the black, soft bed sheet that was underneath her body. She pulled on the fabric and used her arms' strength to pull herself away from him. She managed to gather some space between the two of them.

"You're mine!" the Demon roared at her. He grabbed onto her legs and violently pulled her back towards him.

Kali covered her eyes, so she couldn't see him. She heard the monster growl in anger. "Open your eyes," she heard the creature command. She shook her head. "Kali, open your eyes!" The voice didn't sound demonic and unnatural anymore. The voice belonged to Ryan. She slowly opened her eyes.

The Demon still kneeled in front of her. He was still naked. But this time, he possessed a hard on that was eye-catching. She gulped loudly as she gawked at it. She closed her legs and held them tight.

The monster grabbed her right knee. "Keep your eyes on me," the being instructed. He pried her legs apart as if he was simply prying apart a book. He pressed her knees into the mattress, so her sex was exposed. The demon gazed at her hairless intimate parts. "You look good enough to eat," he growled. Before she could respond to his comment, his head was in between her thighs. His mouth was licking at her pussy with the same vigor that a kitten has with a bowl of cream.

She was shocked and mortified, Kali was unable to move. Her face held the same shock expression as if she was frozen by Medusa herself. Her violet eyes were wide; her jaw was slack and caused her lips to form a perfect 'o'. Her body's position was stiff. Her head, neck and shoulders were lifted off of the mattress. Her arms lied at her sides.

"I..." she whimpered.

The Demon-Ryan-Monster continued to lather her brown, hairless lips with his tongue. His thick and long fingers spread her puffy labia apart to adore the jewel that lied underneath. Her body jerked as a source of reluctant pleasure struck her core.

"Aaaah," she loudly gasped. "Aaah, oh God, please stop," she begged. She didn't want to feel this type of pleasure from this creature. Her hands touched at his red mane. She tried to push the massive head away, but it wouldn't budge. His mouth continued to work over her pussy. The lure of her impending orgasm was an offer that she couldn't turn down. Soon, her hands encouraged his actions. "Oh God," she moaned. Her upper body fell onto the mattress.

During a shudder cry, her eyes closed...

Kali's eyes opened to the sounds of her alarm clock's blaring, incessant and annoying ringing. Barely conscious, she rolled onto her left side and stared at her clock. She reached over and shut the alarm off. She lied on her side for a few minutes. She needed some time to shake off the fog that comes from being waken up after a long amount of sleep. Once she was fully conscious, she used her feet to pull the blankets off of her legs.

"Oh God," she groaned into her right hand while rolling onto her back. She was conscious of the moisture that was soiling her inner thighs. "I can't believe I had a sex dream about fucking a demon," she muttered to herself. She thought back to the unusual dream that she had just created in her mind. So far, this dream was her eighth dream this month. The first five dreams were about Ryan creeping into her bedroom while she was asleep, as a horny cat burglar. The sixth and seventh dreams were something out of a romance novel. They were whimsical and fantastical. "What the hell is wrong with me?"