Stock Ch. 01-18

"I must say though," Sean whispered in her ear, "This has got to be the most exciting first date I have ever been on."

"I'm so sorry you had to see all that." She didn't want to say it but she had to. "If…" damn this shouldn't be so hard. "If you don't want to talk to me anymore I understand and…" A finger on her lips cut her off.

"No apologies." He cupped her face and stared intently at her with those beautiful brown eyes of his. "I'll have none of that. I have to admit, you definitely screwed up what I had planned for the evening but that's okay, hardly your fault. But the night's still young," he grinned at her, "and so am I. So how about we pick something up at the video store and order us a pizza and call it even. I'll even be gallant enough to order for you." That got a laugh out of her and she hugged him again. "I'll take that as a yes."

* * *

"Hey, I think she likes it!"

Elizabeth could only nod as she took another bite out of the pizza with chicken and pesto. "I didn't know they made pizza with pesto. How'd you find out about it?"

"You kidding me? I'm a college student. To me pizza is cuisine." She smiled around her slice while they watched Magnolia. She had never seen it before and he said it was one of his favorites.

"Tom Cruise at his finest," he said at the video store.

"Really?" she couldn't help saying, "I thought he was very fine in Top Gun. Fine bod, fine butt, fine…"

"I get the point," he muttered, and then chuckled. "Plus there's Julianne Moore. Talk about fine."

"Touché."

"Speaking of fine," he bent over and nuzzled her neck.

"Oh my God," she gasped in surprise. "You keep this up and I'll take you right here in the store. What will the people think?"

"Nothing as bad as what's running through my mind," and he gave her warm body another squeeze as he briefly nuzzled her again.

Jesus Buddha did I just say and do that? Man, Sean, what's gotten into you? "Sorry, couldn't help myself."

"No apologies," she fired back without missing a beat.

They got back without any further incidences and Sean wrapped his arm around Elizabeth's shoulder and she wrapped hers around his waist like it was the most natural thing in the world. Sean held her close all night. She was a tough cookie but from what happened earlier in the evening she didn't have much choice in the matter. He gave her a gentle squeeze and she snuggled a little closer. He wasn't sure what it was about her but she definitely seemed to light his fire, and stoke it. She was beautiful for starters but it was more than that. There was that light of intelligence in her eyes hiding behind a playful glint. But sometimes when she thought he wasn't looking there was a pained expression on her face. Whatever it was he was willing to wait for her to tell him. No use rushing skeletons out of the closet. There was a good chance it had something to do about the age difference. She didn't say how old she was but they both knew that she was a good deal older than he was. In the end he hoped that they could put that behind them. He too had his own reservations about seeing a much older woman so he shouldn't be one to complain but he really liked her. Maybe, just maybe they could have something lasting. His best friend, Cheryl, said ‘Guys like you aren't the dating type. You're the marrying type.' And he had to agree. He only had one other girlfriend before that lasted for a year, and in terms of high school time anything longer than three months was considered serious, a year was almost unheard of. The movie ended and Sean let it sink in.

"So, how'd you like it?"

"Well, I must say the ending was very interesting. I'll never look at frogs the same way again. And Tom Cruise had an interesting role. There wasn't so much a plot so much as a group of stories but it all tied together in an interesting fashion. All in all it was a great movie."

"I'm glad you enjoyed it."

The two fell quiet, listening to the tape rewind, not saying anything. It was a comfortable silence and they just sat there and cuddled for a bit. Silence may be golden but all things come to an end. "Sean?"

"What?"

"I really like you, you know."

"I figured as much."

"I'm really glad you decided to stay."

"I am too."

"Sean?"

He chuckled. "Yes, dear?"

"I was wondering if you would stay the night."

Sean had to take a moment to think about that one.

"That depends ‘Liz."

"On what?"

"On what ‘staying the night' entails."

"Oh! Um, no sex for you?"

She said it so coquettishly that Sean couldn't help laughing out loud. He turned her around to face him, tilted down, and rubbed his nose on hers, causing her to giggle. "I wouldn't want to rush anything worth having. And anything with you is worth all the time in the world."

"I like that answer. One point for you."

Sean couldn't help smiling. "I have to be honest with you though. The flirting at the video store was very uncharacteristic of me. You just seem to bring out the bolder side of me for some reason. I just want to let you know that considering the circumstances you were in with your ex-husband I understand if you want to go very slow. I really like you too and…" Come on Sean just say it, "and I'm hoping that something can really become of this." He stopped a moment to let his words sink in. "I have to warn you though I don't like being jerked around. But then again you don't seem like the kind of person to do that. The reason I say this is because I haven't had a girlfriend since my senior year in high school and it was something serious for a year before I broke it off." He took a breath. "What I'm trying to say is I'm a dedicated person who's looking for something long term. If you're just looking for some short fling with a younger guy then look elsewhere and tell me what you want right now because I need to know before I start investing myself in this."

"You are the sweetest thing, you know that?" she buried herself in his arms. "I'm so glad you said that. No, I don't believe in one-night stands either. Personally I think one nighters are pointless trysts that leave one emptier than fulfilled. They are a waste of time and effort…"

"And money…" he added; she laughed.

"And yes, that too. Really, I don't know what I want right now. But it definitely isn't short term. To tell you the truth I don't really trust my own judgment right now when it comes to men. After the last one, as you saw, it was more than a complete disaster. But you seem like a nice guy that I'm getting to like more and more the more we talk. One thing at a time though, one day at a time. It will take me a while to build up enough trust to give to anyone right now. Please be patient."

"That, my dear, is something I am," he enjoyed holding her. She felt marvelous cuddled up in his arms. "Now do you plan for us to just crash out here or do you have something more accommodating in mind?"

"Oh, you don't think having me curled up in your lap is accommodating?" He laughed.

"Well I most certainly do but we are going to wake up with some serious kinks in our muscles."

"That's okay, then we could just work on giving each other back rubs."

"Good point."

"You're impossible! I was being facetious." She stood up and grabbed his hand, leading him up the stairs. "Oh, shoes off please. No shoes on the second floor. I hate a dirty carpet. Besides it feels good on the toes."

"Okay." And he walked towards her and pinned her to the wall.

"What are you doing?"

Sean bent over and lifted her right foot and took off her shoe then proceeded to give a light foot rub. "Following orders and taking off shoes. You didn't say whose." He switched to the other foot and repeated the process. Sean slipped his own shoes off with ease and stood up again, staring into Elizabeth's eyes. He could lose himself in them for a very long time, which he did. He stroked her cheek with the back of his right hand and kissed her gently on the lips. Since this was only the second time he had ever had a girlfriend he didn't have any real ground rules so there were no habits to break, just went on instinct. He was rewarded when she returned the gesture and kissed him back. Elizabeth was delicious. Sean pulled out of the kiss and nibbled a bit on her lower lip, her eyes were still closed. When she opened them again he continued the eye contact then winked at her. Elizabeth grinned bashfully then screamed in surprise as he quickly dropped and picked her up, cradling her in his deceptively strong arms. She continued to scream and flail while he carried her in his arms, grinning like the cat that caught the canary.

"You crazy sonofabitch," she screamed. She was laughing now. "Put me down. I'll scream…err…again!" Her laughter was like sunshine rain. "God, you're impossible. Are you always going to be this difficult?"

"Only when I think you're really enjoying yourself."

"You're too much."

Sean climbed the stairs easily, navigated the hallway under her direction, and set her down gently on a four-posted queen bed with white comforters and large pillows. "Nah, I've just had a lot bottled up over the years. You have any idea how hard it is to find a woman as fun as you are? Let's put it this way, I am a twenty-two year old in the prime of his youth and have been looking for the past three years for the right girl to fill that emptiness inside of me when I ended my first and last relationship before, until you. You're beautiful, you're classy, smart, witty, and have a laugh that makes my heart melt. I haven't had this much fun in years. I enjoy your company Elizabeth…err…Just what is your last name?"

"Well, it was Talworth but as you probably have guessed I don't want to be associated with that sleaze ball anymore, so I guess its Richards."

"Richards, huh?" She nodded. "Then I take it that your mother was the one that gave you your Asian heritage? Chinese I suspect."

"Yes." It was her turn to ask the questions. "And you're full blooded Chinese?"

"Yea. Made in Taiwan to be precise." He loved the sound of her laugh.

"Born here?"

"Nope. Came here when I was three but as you've guessed I'm a veritable twinkie. You know, yellow on the outside, very white inside. I was raised on Sesame Street, Legos, and Shakespeare."

"White inside, hmm? I wonder how creamy."

"You're horrible," he laughed, "You are going to have to wait to find out. Uh-uh-uh! You're idea."

She pouted a bit then smiled and wrapped her arms around his neck. "Thank you."

"For what?"

"Just for being here. I get lonely sometimes around here. I don't get out much so I spend most of my time researching stocks. But that can get boring after a while. Speaking of stocks, you never did answer why you were at that dinner party. You a major shareholder?"

"Yea, I hold a good chunk of their shares. Bought them early in the game, too. Before their rhinovirus research was widely known. So I got a good price for it."

"How many shares we talking here? GenenCorp stock is pretty hard to come by. Rumor has it some stock tycoon nearly cornered the whole market on it and is holding a third of the public shares."

"Thirty-four percent actually," he turned away and looked out the window. "Two hundred seventy-eight thousand and forty-eight shares at the ongoing price of twenty-four and a sixteenth dollars per share. Bringing it to a total of roughly 6.67 million pre-tax dollars."

"Sean? How do you know those numbers?" He didn't say anything. Just held her closely. "You're the stock tycoon aren't you?" Again, he didn't say anything and continued to hold her. She shrugged out of his embrace and stood up. "I'm dating another fucking millionaire."

"Look, Elizabeth..."

"No, you look," she was breathing heavily now. "I have spent the past ten years of my life in a certifiable nightmare because I was stupid enough to think I was in love with an asshole who dazzled me with all his money. That money has a very short chain. And I am not going to wind up as another trophy wife. Get out."

"Elizabeth…"

"Get out of my FUCKING HOUSE!"

Sean stood up and made his way down the stairs, his head hanging heavily between his shoulders, feeling every icy prick of Elizabeth's eyes on the back of his head. He reached the front door, grabbed his coat, and pulled out a pen and a small notepad from the breast pocket. He quickly scribbled something down and left it on the shoe rack. She immediately snatched it off the rack and tore his heart to pieces.

Chapter 3

"…and I got my term paper back today. Guess what? I got an ‘A'!" Cheryl was bubblier than usual, euphoric from her grade but she knew when someone wasn't listening. "Sean, I said I got an ‘A'."

"Huh? Oh, yeah. Good for you Cheryl. I'm happy for you."

"Sean," this usually wasn't like him. He usually listened whenever they talk unless he was playing video games but this time he wasn't. "What's going on? All last week you seemed giddy and happy and this week you look like you just failed a final or something. Is something wrong?"

"No, well, yes. But I don't think you'll be able to help. It's just something I have to figure out on my own."

Cheryl was a little surprised by his reticent behavior; he usually could talk to her about anything. If he didn't want to talk to her about it then it was probably pretty serious. She checked her watch. Damnit, she had class to get to. "Look, Sean. I got class in ten minutes, I better get going. I'll be back at my place in an hour or two. If you want to talk about it then call me, okay?"

"It's pretty dark out, I'll walk you to your car."

When they got to the parking lot, Sean was glad he was walking his best friend to her car. He had an uneasy feeling as they walked through the poorly lit lot and it wasn't just from thinking about Elizabeth. If it were a mugger or a car jacker then maybe he had deterred him from harming Cheryl. He closed her door and watched her car leave. That uneasy feeling only grew stronger after her car had left. He was being watched. Three large shadows appeared from behind a car and headed for him. Sensing what was very likely to happen, Sean relaxed his mind and mentally loosened his muscles. The three walked up to him and soon had his exit blocked. No matter, he wasn't planning on running.

"We have a message for you from a mutual friend of ours."

Sean crouched a little and balanced on the balls of his feet. "It seems that you've been messing with our friend's girl. He says to leave her alone or expect another visit from us." As the large figure said this the three goons closed in. The two that didn't talk moved in first, going for his arms. Sean charged one, feinted a punch but instead kicked the knee while the attacker's guard was up. A sickening crunch was followed by a scream, which Sean silenced with an elbow to the throat. Putting his weight into it, Sean, grabbed the first one by his sweater and swung him around, easily done since he only had one good leg to balance on, into the second guy. Sean bolted for the third one, surprising him, and landed a solid kick to the chest, knocking him back several feet. He spun around quickly and raced back to the second who was still trying to untangle himself from his buddy. Number two never saw Sean coming until it was too late and was sprawled on the floor in half a second. The third guy stood his ground and warily looked at his comrades sprawled on the asphalt.

"Now, you have a choice," Sean said. "You can tell our mutual friend to go leave me and Elizabeth alone and leave here uninjured. Or, you can still try to deliver your message and still deliver my message with my particular handwriting sported in black and blue on your body. Balls in your court, bub. What's it gonna be?"

The large man stepped to the side and Sean calmly walked around him. He stopped and turned around. The large man stiffened and stared at Sean. Slowly, Sean reached into his breast pocket and the large man's eyes widened in fear. Sean pulled out his wallet and dropped four one hundred dollar bills on the floor. "For your friends."

When Sean left the parking lot he ran back up to his apartment and opened the door opposite his bedroom. He stood there for a moment deciding whether or not to bring what was in it. No, not yet. Hopefully not ever. He closed the door and locked it.

By the time Sean got back to the parking lot the three ruffians were gone, a small trail of blood the only token of them having been there. He hopped into his black '98 Corolla and sped off. Many things ran through his head while he drove and he wiped them from his mind, trying to focus on what lay ahead. He hoped he didn't arrive too late like last time. Sean first took a tour around Elizabeth's block, thankfully not finding the black Mercedes parked nearby. He quickly pulled into Elizabeth's driveway and ran up to her door. He rang the chime and waited. Out of the corner of his eye he saw the flutter of a curtain. Good, she was being cautious now. Hopefully she had cooled down enough from three nights ago to talk to him.

The door opened a crack, a chain hanging between door and jamb. "I thought I made it clear I didn't want to see you again."

"I can't altogether agree with that but right now that isn't an option, yours or mine. Charles is very likely on his way here as we speak. It's your choice whether you want to deal with a perceived threat or a real one. I came here as soon as I could after three of his goons tried roughing me up a bit. They didn't do a very good job of it. Can I please come in?"

The door closed on him, he heard the chain sliding from the latch, and the door opened again. She left it open and walked to the living room. Sean closed it behind him and slid the chain in place and locked the new deadbolt. "You want to talk? Talk," she said icily.

The cold tone in her voice had finally gotten on his nerves. Something about the way she stood and the way she looked had gotten to him. Damn stubborn women. "That's it. I've just about had it. I've been kicking myself around for the past three nights, trying to see where I screwed up. But now I just realized it's not me. You had no right to yell at me Saturday night and you know it. I understand that you must have been through hell with that asshole ex of yours so I'm willing to cut you some slack for it. But the last three nights have pretty much worn out my tolerance and my patience. You are not being very fair to me. Yes, I have a lot of money. So what? I thought you liked me for who I was, not what I am. I thought you were a person of values and would have learned from your past that money doesn't count towards character. Matter of fact, it was that that brought me to ask you out in the first place. I thought your view of me would not be tainted by the money. I find I direly miscalculated. I don't really care about my money; I hardly ever spend it. Nor do I think money makes me more privileged than others. Nor grants me any rights above others. I am not Charles, I am not a tyrant." Sean sighed and sat down on the white leather couch, his mind spinning. "I really like you ‘Liz. From the moment you plopped down on the seat next to me you took my breath away, and not only from your looks. I looked in your eyes and what I saw was what I've been looking for, although I didn't know it at the time. You really hurt me last Saturday. I…I just needed to say that. If you don't want to be with me romantically then fine, that's your choice. Right now though I'm just concerned about a lovely woman who I've gotten to know over the past week who's in trouble." Sean got up from the couch. "If you need me my car's parked in your driveway where I'll be standing watch."

The whole time he didn't look at her, just stared into the empty bleached marble fireplace. He looked down now when he felt her hand clutch his, raising it to her tear streaked face. "Please, don't go," she managed to say between sobs. Sean sat back down and wrapped his arms around her. "I know…I know I…"