Mia Mine Ch. 06

Cecilia giggled and said, "You are most welcome. Would you mind walking around close to the windows? I want any and all passersby to see how beautiful they could be if they wore our clothes. You are such a perfect model!"

Mia laughed and took a spin around the store, trying to stay close to the windows. David could see she was a bit uncomfortable doing this, but appreciated her style and grace, even when she really didn't like being on display. Luckily, there weren't that many people outside and Mia strolled back to the changing area. She went in and tried on all the rest of the clothes they had picked out, and showed David each and every one of them. He was an enthusiastic supporter, loudly complimenting each of her choices. He loved that she used some of her accessories with some of the outfits. She wore her reading glasses when she came out in a very businesslike suit, and looked like the stern boss. David shouted out a "Yes Ma'am" when she came out causing them all to laugh.

She next came out in a beautifully, almost tailored grey pinstripe skirt and jacket suit, with a deep pink blouse. As she turned the corner David said, "The deal is done before you even open your mouth, where do I sign?" They all had another laugh.

After she had tried on everything, she told Cecilia, "I will take them all!"

Cecilia squealed with delight and wheeled the rack over to the cash register. David reached for his wallet to pull out his credit card. Mia said firmly, "Oh no you don't! These are my clothes and I will buy them."

"Wow! OK, but at least let me buy you the one I had wanted for you, Cecilia, you don't mind ringing that first outfit up separately do you?" replied David.

Cecilia looked at Mia, who gave her smiling nod of approval, "Of course not, I will ring them both up with a 5% volume discount!"

"Please Cecilia, ring them up at the listed price and send the 5% to the women's empowerment charity on your sign," said Mia.

"That is very kind of you Mia, and thank you so much!"

The process of ringing up, and packaging all Mia's new clothes took several minutes. David made a couple trips out to the car to load everything in while Mia paid for her portion of the purchases.

"Well, thank you so much Cecilia, you have made this a very pleasurable experience. I just love your boutique and the wonderful work you are doing for women. You have certainly made us into repeat customers, you can rest assured on that!"

"Oh thank you Mia, you and David are always welcome here! It is such a pleasure to help such a lovely couple," said Cecilia smiling broadly.

As Mia and David walked out of the store, Mia leaned over to give David a kiss on the cheek. "Thank you so much for my outfit, and for bringing me to this store! You never cease to amaze me."

"Well, you are welcome, and I hope I can continue to amaze," said David, returning her kiss.

"So, where do we go to look for furniture?" Mia asked as David started up the car.

"You know, I don't really have any suggestions for that, I suppose we should try heading up to the mall."

Mia took out her smart phone and said, "Let me see if I can find anything on the internet."

After a bit she said, "Well your plan to go to the mall area sounds like the best idea. There are several big name stores as well as quite a few smaller ones, so we should have a good chance of finding some things."

Just as she was about to put her phone away, it buzzed. Mia saw she had a text from Jennifer.

"Mia, please come down to the office immediately, there is something going on and you need to see for yourself, and we really need to talk NOW!"

"Uh Oh," said Mia, "looks like our plans, at least mine, have changed. I have to go to the office immediately according to Jennifer. I can't imagine what is going on."

"No problem," said David as he started turning the car around so they could head back to her office.

"Do you mind if I come in with you?" he asked.

"I insist on it, please David, I want you with me to help deal with whatever this situation is."

They drove the short distance to her new offices, parked in the front, and got out. Before Mia could even get her keys out, Jennifer came flying out of the door.

"My God Mia! Something is up down there at headquarters. My friend Jessie called me and said there were some very strange, closed door meetings going on with a few of the management people."

"Woah, there Jennifer, hold on one second please, we will get to the bottom of this right away," said Mia as she walked inside to her office, tossing her jacket aside.

"First I would like to introduce you to David, David, this is my wonderful assistant Jennifer, Jenn, this is my love, David."

David reached his hand out to the lovely Jennifer, which she took and shook but held it for just a second longer than usual. She had a wonderful, and so beautiful smile, and seemed to calm down a bit from her earlier exhibition of panic.

"I can see why you were so smitten Mia, he is absolutely gorgeous, and has such a wonderful, calm demeanor, I just love him already!" said Jennifer with another splendid smile.

David too, was taken by Jennifer, her beauty was obvious, but he sensed such a wonderful mixture of respect and love in her.

"So very nice to finally meet you Jennifer, Mia has told me wonderful things about you,"

"Ok, let's try to start from the beginning, Jenn, tell me what you have heard," said Mia as she sat down at her desk.

"Well, Jessie had to go in today at Mr. Franklin's insistence, and she was shocked at what she saw. She said just about the entire management staff was there, in meetings with the doors of the meeting room closed and locked! One would occasionally come out and order Jessie to get some backup paperwork for them, but they didn't say why they needed it. The information ordered was both financial and organizational. Jessie is very upset. She thinks they are trying some sort of coup to try to take over your company! She was in tears when I last talked to her, you know how much she loves you and would do anything for you."

Mia had found Jessie on a street corner a few years ago, begging for a job. She had been through some very rough times with both her family and her ex-boyfriend, and had ended up homeless, penniless, and without a hint of a job. Mia saw something in this damaged woman and being compassionate for those whose lives had taken a bad turn, took Jessie in, gave her an entry level job in the mail room, and let her get back on her feet. She was a very intelligent girl, and had a wonderful work ethic, and it didn't take long to realize she had so much more potential than being a mail room clerk. While she stayed with Mia, Mia helped her re hone her computer skills, and in no time she was ready to be given a promotion with a raise, to come up as one of Mia's personal assistants.

Mia also helped her get her own apartment, and the two of them had many heart to heart talks about their past, and how they had the want to be the best they could be. Mia even felt comfortable enough to share being transgendered. Jessie swore herself to secrecy and told Mia she would protect her secret with her whole being. So it was easy to see why Jessie was so upset with the strange goings on at the office.

Mia asked Jennifer to get Jessie back on the phone, while she started up her computer to check her email. She found one that was sent to the entire board from an email address she did not recognize.

It was short and to the point.

"I have some information about the owner of your company that could be very damaging to your company's image if it got out to the public. I have contacted your owner in a separate email to see if she is willing to take the steps necessary to prevent this information from being released to all the local news media."

Mia was not included in the blanket email, but it was forwarded to her with a little private message just to her.

"Well hello son, I guess you are probably quite surprised to hear from your dear old Dad. Yes, I found out about your name change and your rise to fame and fortune. I think it best for you to listen to my demand for 1 million dollars, to keep this knowledge quiet. Please let me know your decision right away, for I cannot keep the board guessing for too long. They have all responded and demanded to know what I am talking about."

Mia read both emails out loud so both David and Jennifer could hear. There was a heavy silence in Mia's office for a few seconds, then Mia broke the silence.

"How about the nerve of that old bastard?" she said.

"What is he talking about, Mia?" asked Jennifer.

"Well" sighed Mia looking into David's loving eyes for strength, "I am transgendered. I was born with a boy's body, but a woman in every other aspect."

"What difference would that make to the company?" asked Jennifer, genuinely confused.

"Well, there are probably a lot of our customers that are not quite ready to accept the owner of the software program that they use to run almost every facet of their business being transgendered," said Mia.

"You aren't going to pay the bastard are you?" asked David.

"I don't know what I am going to do right now," replied Mia.

"Well, I am pretty sure you wouldn't want to open that door, I don't know the man other than what you told me about him, and now this, and I can say I hate the guy. I wouldn't trust him to keep his mouth closed even if you paid him. And with all the activity down at your main office, who is to say he hasn't told them already?"

"I would have heard something," said Mia, "from what Jessie has told us, they seem to just be scurrying right now, trying to figure out what this all means. As for my father, no, I am not going to give him a dime."

"Should we call the police, or FBI or somebody?" asked Jennifer, wanting to try to help her boss and friend.

"I don't really want to do that," said Mia, "I am trying to figure out the best way to keep this as low key as possible. I know that sounds hard at this point. But something like this, especially if we bring in the authorities, can get blown way out of proportion in the media."

David put his arm around Mia, "in my credit manager role, a few times I have had to use a private detective to run down low lifes, I can give him a call and see if he has any connections in San Francisco, or if he would be willing to go down there himself and find your father."

"That is sweet, David, thank you, but for now, I think I have an idea as to how I want to play this out. I am pretty sure I am going to have to go back down to my main office. The board deserves to hear whatever transpires directly from me. I can just see them running around like frightened mice right now, bumping into each other and trying to look like they know what they are doing. I only trust a couple of them, for most were brought in after the company got so large I had to have help in some of the larger aspects of running an international company. I never really wanted it to get so big, for I feared something like this could crop up eventually. It sucks that once the label of 'transgendered person' gets out, the label takes on its own life, and transcends the person being labeled. My work, my ideas, and now my company will all fall under the label, and not their own merit."

David and Jenifer listened intently, and admired how Mia was able to keep her calm, even at the prospect of losing everything.

"Jennifer, I think I want you to try to get Marsha on the phone for me. You have her personal cell number in your file for her. I want her help with my decision. She always seems to have a wonderful grounded opinion on a lot of things, hopefully she will come through for me again."

Jennifer left Mia's office to go to her desk to try to get Marsha on the phone. Marsha Stowe was Mia's lawyer from almost the very beginning of her company. Over the years she had become a very trusted, close, and dear friend. She did a lot of work in the GLT scene and knew of Mia's complete background. She was almost like a cross between a protective mother and a very best friend all rolled into one rotund, greying, loud and always cheerful package. Mia couldn't wait to talk to her, first she wanted to tell her about David, and then seek her advice about this situation with her father.

As they waited, David still had his arm around Mia, and she appreciated this very much. The only other person she had felt this close, and let them get this close to her was her mother. She made a mental note to call her mother later too. She had already emailed her with the wonderful news about her new and beautiful man, but she also wanted her mother's take on the current situation.

Jennifer turned and said, "Marsha is on line 1 Mia."

"Hello Marsha, how are you?"

"Well, Mia, I don't think the question is how I am, how are you doing? Jennifer gave me a short recap of what you are dealing with. Have you done or said anything to anyone yet?"

"No, Marsha, we have just been made aware of it, and have kicked around a few ideas, but we have taken no action yet."

"That's good honey, this could be a very ticklish situation that could turn into a maelstrom if we are not careful. I want to check with my favorite media advisor and sort of run a short description of the situation by her. She handles a couple of production companies, and also advises a few prominent people, and has a real way of handling how information gets "leaked" to the media."

"Ok, Marsha that sounds great. I am going to try to get back to San Francisco on Monday, it probably wont be until late afternoon or early evening now. Do you think you could go to my office first thing on Monday morning and see if you can calm the board down a bit?"

"No problem hon, I can go there and talk all day and say nothing to those bozos. I know I helped you hire them, and they are all good at what they do, but they don't seem to have a backbone for anything 'real'. I should be able to handle them at least until you get there."

Mia frowned, "It looks like I have to go back after all."

David kissed her knitted brow, "Don't worry Mia, you are not going alone. I have a lot of vacation time unused, I will call and let them know I will be gone for a while. I would not send you down to the sharks all by yourself. Not to say you couldn't handle it, but I want to be there for you in any way I can."

Mia started to cry, "Thank you David, I will really need you there, by my side. I love you!"

"I love you Mia."

Jennifer now had a little tear welling up, "Do you want me to come down and help too?"

"Thanks Jennifer, but I am going to need to have you run this office for me while I am figuring all this mess out down there."

"Well, it looks like we've done as much as we can do here, why don't I take you two lovely ladies out for lunch and perhaps a cocktail or two. I, for one could use a stiff one right about now," said David with as much cheer in his voice as he could muster.

"That sounds lovely to me, Jennifer, can you please come as well, we have a few things we need to talk about," said Mia, trying to sound positive.

"Ok, I don't want to be in the way of you two love birds though," said Jennifer smiling.

"I know a little place right on the water, why don't you follow us there Jennifer?"

"Ok, let's blow this joint and get a little loose!"

They left the office, Jennifer locking the door behind them after setting the alarm. They got into their cars, David careful to check the rear view mirror to make sure they didn't get away from Jennifer.

"Jennifer seems like a wonderful girl, and great employee," remarked David.

"Oh yes," said Mia, "she is smart as a whip and very loyal. I just love having her here, she runs a tight ship but has that remarkable quality to make it seem like fun. I also trust her implicitly."

"So, are you formulating a plan to get back to your dad's request?" asked David.

"Well, I think I am going to respond to his email tonight, being a little vague, telling him I am out of town and wont be back to San Francisco until Tuesday. Hopefully I can word it so softly that I can string him along thinking I am actually considering paying him."

David silently nodded his head at her plan, "I am glad you aren't considering giving that bastard a nickel. God I hope I can get my hands on him."

"Settle down there tiger, we don't want you getting in trouble for pounding on a low life," Mia laughed. It felt good to laugh, and once again she was thankful for David's easy going ways, and how he could make even the heaviest situations a little bit lighter. She reached her hand over to David's thigh as he drove. She lightly massaged his thigh muscle, and then let her fingers roam slowly up towards his now tenting crotch.

"Careful there honey, I am trying to drive you know."

"I'll be careful, but I want to feel you, I want you so badly, I can't wait to get home. This day has really affected me, and I need you inside me, I need you to not be gentle, I need you to take me, and take me hard." She lost track of what her hand was doing as she whispered the last sentence and had grabbed David's now rock hard cock and squeezed it with each mention of 'take'.

For safety, Mia moved her hand back to David's knee, and rested her head on his shoulder. David pulled into the restaurant's parking lot and saw Jennifer right behind them. They parked and met at the front door. As it was only mid-afternoon by that time, the place was quiet and they seated themselves as per the instructions on the little sign at the front desk. They sat at a table that looked over the water and enjoyed the soon to be setting winter sun on the water.

The waiter arrived and took their drink orders, and David ordered a calamari plate for them to nibble on.

The drinks came and Mia raised her glass, "To my two favorite people, their support and love is so very much appreciated!"

They all raised the glasses, and let them clink together above the middle of the table, with David adding, "To love, support, and favorite people!" and they clinked again. Not to be left out, Jennifer added, "To getting to know you both better, and for a quick and hopefully painless end to the situation at hand."

That got a rousing "Here! Here!" from everyone along with a burst of laughter. They finally got to sip their drinks after the toasts were finished.

"Jennifer, I wanted also to thank you for taking my transgender revelation so totally in stride. I am sorry you had to hear it in such a way, I would have much preferred to make you aware of it in a quieter, more private conversation. I was quite amazed at how you just took it in stride and kept up with all the heavy business," said Mia, with a bit of a tear in her eye.

"Oh Mia, my grandparents are hippies, my parents sort of hippies, and I grew up in a situation of trying to learn and respect people for who they are, not their labels. You have been an inspiration to me from the moment I met you. Your elegant grace mixed with your super high intelligence and business savvy has helped me in my goal setting. I want to be just like you, you are my hero!"

"Well, I don't quite know what to say to that, but I will say thank you. I also want to say you are your own unique and beautiful being, Jennifer, your talent list seems to be endless. I see wonderful things in store for your future, should you decided business is what you wish to do. Remember, you have a very willing mentor and supporter at you beckoning.

"Thank you Mia, I really appreciate that, and I would be honored to consider you my mentor! And I do want you to know that you can count on me to do anything and everything I can to help get us through this little storm."

"Hi, my name is David, and I am pretty sure I am sitting at this same table."

Both Mia and Jennifer laughed, and clinked their glasses together again in David's honor.