Braxton

Although I did manage to get some sleep that night, I practically had to drown my eyes in Visine, the next morning before I could get my pupils to look white again. Jasmine was waiting for me as promised when I left Professor Silverton's office, and she did end up inviting Veronica to join us. We were much more uninhibited that night, as we did not have the time restraints of being in class, or the extra twenty pairs of eyes glued to our every move. I am not going to tell you what all went on that evening, but I will say that it remains to this day one of the wildest nights I have ever had. I can only hope that no one had that room wired for video as it would certainly kill my chances to ever run for public office, should I ever decided to.

Aside from being a bit tired from the previous night's extracurricular activities, graduation went off without a hitch. Mom and Dad were ecstatic to learn that I got accepted to Harvard on a full ride scholarship. I had whatever I couldn't carry back with me on the plane shipped to my parents' place, because it was cheaper than paying for extra bags of checked luggage. Being at home wasn't nearly as sexually restrictive as Dr. Silverton had predicted. It seemed that every parent within the area wanted to see if they could hitch their little girl onto the Harvard gravy train. I had more dates setup through friends of my parents then I could ever have imagined. I was honest with all the ladies telling them that I was not looking for a long term relationship, but if they wanted to have a bit of fun I would be willing to show them a good time. Of course there were some turned off by my admission, then there were others that thought all they had to do was plant a few kisses on me and bat their eyes seductively to make me fall head over heels in love with them. The really sick thing is that before I went to Braxton it probably would have worked.

Now a days, if the girl doesn't put out, or at the very least let me feel her up she doesn't get a second date. Most of the time if a gal is playing this kind of game she will usually wait until the date is just about over, to give me a slight kiss on the lips, or sometimes even on the cheek, leaving me with the request to call her. After a few days of not hearing from me they would often call me back themselves wanting to go out again. I would in turn put off getting together with them, until they would either get the message, and leave me alone, or find the nerve to ask why I didn't want to see them again. When I'd tell them the truth they would either get pissed off, or the really persistent ones would promise to be more open in their affections.

You could say I had gotten a bit lucky at times, as some of the women I bedded ended up telling their friends how good I was. There were a few girls that like me, just wanted us to use each other for sex. These were the ones I tried to hang out with the most, as they not only served a purpose, but I didn't have to worry about burning any bridges that my parent's would have to deal with after I left for school again. Several of the girls wanted me to go bareback, but they taught us at Braxton that an unexpected pregnancy is the quickest way for a woman to either trap a guy into marriage, or hook them for 18 plus years of child support. Disease can also put a big damper on your sex life, or sometimes even your life in general for that point. My motto is if I couldn't use a condom then I didn't fuck, period. Some girls weren't too happy about this, but fortunately there were enough of them who were willing to put up with it that I never seem to get too lonely for female companionship.

Sumer vacation flew by and in what seemed like a blink of an eye I was starting my first semester at Harvard. I had been warned that Braxton men were a rare commodity as the limited number of guys who actually made it all the way to graduation, usually divided their enrollment between the 5 major Ivy League colleges. I could count on one hand the number of boys I recognized from Braxton, who attended the orientation class at Harvard, and including myself, I would still have a couple of fingers left over.

Our first semester at Harvard seemed like it was a meat market, and we were all USDA prime rib. As Braxton graduates, the three of us normally stuck together, and as a group we drew more than our fair share of attention from our female counterparts. I spent so much of my time socializing that first semester, that I almost let my grades slip, and I had to pull a few all night study sessions in order to catch myself back up. After barely scraping by that hurdle, I started limiting my partying to mainly weekends.

Harvard was definitely not an easy school to attend, but the lessons I learned at Braxton really did make my time there go pretty smoothly. As the years passed by, I attended one graduation after another, until I had gone as far as I was able to in the field for which I had chosen. Though I had dated often, I was still a confirmed bachelor when I finally earned my doctorate in business and set out on the world to make my mark. Having both Harvard and Braxton firmly behind me, good paying jobs were never a problem to obtain. I started out working for a business liquidation company and I must admit that I was pretty high up on the food chain. The next few years I spent working for Hillcrest Industries, until my idiot boss chose, for the umpteenth time not to listen to my advice regarding a corporate takeover. The bastard actually had the gull to try and blame me when the deal went south.

I finally decide that I had enough of working like a dog for someone else, only to be debased and unappreciated at every turn. With the help of a few ghost backers friends of mine, God it's great to have powerful friends in high places, I was able to form Canton International about five years after graduating from Harvard. I am sure you can imagine that Hillcrest was not too happy with me when I began directly competing with them for business, and they were even less enthused when they ended up losing some of their key people to my firm. My intellectually challenged ex-boss tried to engage us in a corporate takeover, without properly researching who our backers were, or how strong of a company we had quickly become. In the end, the merger went through alright, but unfortunately for him, we ended up the victors. When everything was all said and done, my ex-boss suddenly found himself on the unemployment line.

I met the woman who eventually became my wife when I was eating supper at a restaurant in down town Kansas after just completing the paperwork on my thirteenth business acquisition. She strolled up to my table and asked if I was John Canton. When I responded affirmatively, she introduced herself as Karen Tate and mentioned that the business that I just took possession of earlier that day had previously belonged to her stepfather. As I braced myself for a tongue lashing, or possibly even a physical altercation, I was pleasantly surprised when she extended her hand and thanked me for taking the son of a bitch down a peg or two. Curious about her response, I naturally asked her to join me, but she politely declined saying that she was sorry for interrupting my meal, but she just had to meet the man that finally put the screws to her asshole of a stepfather.

I ran into Karen once again strictly by chance, a few weeks later, when I was in town to oversee a business deal to sell off a portion of her stepfather's former company to one of his competitors. I had accidentally spilled coffee on my shirt earlier that day, and stopped into one of the high end male clothing stores in the area to pick up a new one. It turns out she was working there, and as we got to talking, I realized that I actually liked this woman. I took a chance and asked her out later that evening. At first she said no, so after thinking quickly I mentioned to her that it would really piss off her stepfather if he found out she was dating the man that took over his business. As a sly smile crept across her face, I could tell I struck a nerve. It didn't take much probing after that to convince Karen to have dinner with me.

I am not sure why, but for some reason I felt a connection to Karen that I never experienced with any of the other women I had been with. I started to volunteer to travel to Kansas every time we had some type of dealings there, when in the past I would usually let one of my minions handle it. As we grew closer I had discussed with her the possibility of her moving to Boston with me, but she understandably did not want to uproot her life to that extent, without a solid commitment from me. I think she still believes to this day that her refusal to move in together is what prompted me to ask for her hand in marriage. The truth of the matter is that a rather large business deal of mine almost fell through, because one of my investors started to get cold feet regarding my stability, as a single man. I had to convince him that I was on the verge of proposing to my girlfriend, before he would agree to sign on to the project.

As you have probably already figured out, Karen did agree to marry me and she seemed to understand when I explained that I needed her to sign a prenuptial agreement in order to protect my business interest. In all fairness, since she had brought so little into the relationship financially, I felt she got a good deal in the end. The terms were pretty simple. If Karen and I ever split up for any amicable reason, then she would receive one million dollars, along with her car, clothing, jewelry, and any other gifts which I might have purchased for her. If she was caught cheating then the deal would go down to half a million, if I was the one cheating she would get two million. If the marriage produced any children, then we would each receive joint custody, with me still paying child support, unless unforeseen circumstances later caused us to renegotiate that part.

Another thing I insisted on adding to the agreement was that withholding sex from the other party for more than a month at a time without a doctor's excuse could be reason to terminate the marriage. A colleague of mine had told me that is what his wife did to him, and it took three years for their divorce to go through the courts. She kept watch over him the entire time hoping to be able to add infidelity to her petition for divorce.

Life with Karen has had its ups and downs throughout the years, but I would still classify it as a successful relationship. If I were honest, I would have to admit that she wasn't the best sex partner I ever slept with, but I did share a connection with her that I never felt with any of my previous lovers. Since we spent so much time apart, with her doing charitable work, and me flying all over the country on business deals, Karen and I would occasionally have suspicions about one of us cheating on the other. I have a friend who owns a business that specializes in discovering that sort of thing, and every once in a while I used them to have my wife tailed. I have long suspected that from time to time she has done the same thing to me using another firm. So far, neither one of us has done anything even remotely questionable. I am actually honored when she has me shadowed, as not only is she reassured of my faithfulness, but when I finally do return home we usually have a marathon sex session.

Tragedy struck a few years back when we unexpectedly lost my father to a heart attack. My mother was devastated for quite a while, and we began taking time out of our busy schedules to comfort her. There was a political dinner held on the Braxton campus that both my wife and I wanted to attend. We insisted on my mother joining us, as we felt she needed to get out of the house and meet some new people. My mother, who had always been a bit of a harmless flirt, ended up catching the attention of one of the alumni of Braxton that night, and they began seeing each other shortly afterword's. Although their relationship didn't last long, my Mom suddenly developed a new appreciation for Braxton, and subsequently became a volunteer representative for them. Although she did not accept a regular paycheck, seeing as I gave her all the money she would ever need, Mom did allow them fly her around the country on their tab, so that she could talk to applicants about the advantages of attending Braxton.

I tried in vain many times to get Mom to reveal what brought about this change in her attitude, as Braxton had always been a rather sore subject between us. Finally one night while talking with my wife, she confessed that my father had never been a very accomplished lover. She admitted to having a short fling with Mr. Drake and said that he was unbelievable in the bedroom. When she inquired as to where he picked up his skills, he said that Braxton taught him everything he needed to know. Unfortunately for my mother, the pair didn't really have much in common, and amicably agreed to break things off, before one or both of them developed too strong of feeling for the other. She said that after their split, she began to reevaluate her feelings for Braxton, and came to the conclusion that it was better for everyone involved if young men learn the methods of satisfying a woman by trained professionals, rather than spending a lifetime of being unable to please their chosen partner. She said she started to recall how differently I acted upon my return home after graduating from Braxton and remembered overhearing some of the rumors that were floating around at the time about my new found ability to please the ladies. Mom said she came to realize the extent of the opportunity that she almost made me to pass up in her foolish attempt to try and keep me from becoming a man. Her decision to become a representative of Braxton was based on the fact that she wanted to prevent other overprotective mothers from making the same mistake that she almost did.

That whole situation occurred just over a year ago, and as I sit here waiting for my wife to get ready to accompany me to a Braxton alumni banquet I can't help but ponder just how differently my life would have turned out if I had listened to my mother all those years ago and never went to Braxton. I guess, that is a question I will never truly have an answer to. Do I have any regrets about choosing to attend Braxton over a public high school? You must be joking? Even given the immense work load, endless frustrations, and embarrassing situations I suffered through at Braxton; I still feel that no other institution would have provided such extensive preparation for dealing with future situations or instilled within me the level of confidence I needed to obtain the degree of success I have currently aspired to. Would I ever consider sending my own son to Braxton? Of course I would. How else is he going to learn to manage our vast family fortune? My daydream was abruptly interrupted by my wife complaining yet again about how the French never design stylish maternity wear, and that she has now been reduced to driving our Lexus, as her extended belly no longer fits comfortably in her Ferrari. It's hard not to love Braxton!