Caroline and Her Lovers Ch. 12

I kissed her and walked with her to the shower. When we finished, we dressed in camisoles, matching like young girls. We walked hand in hand down the steps. Our coffee was ready as the others had already enjoyed an amazing breakfast cooked by Chloe and Lillian.

I took a sip of coffee then smiled. "El, it seems we need a new house for us to make it a home. Maybe five or six bedrooms with a rather larger garage."

We all laughed when Chloe giggled saying "A bigger kitchen and dining room might help Miss."

I sat back sipping My coffee, absolutely thrilled and happy at the harem and family I was surrounded by.

***

Epilogue

Veronica did come and play with Me learning to be a more loving and kind Miss. I felt best to share with her how to love firmly with respect and love versus disrespect and forceful actions.

***

I heard through the grapevine, well from a very reliable connection of mine, that Jason was involved and got caught in a phishing scam. It seems he was attempting to steal network schematics for a project he was working on. He was no longer in the IT industry. My friend heard he moved south, far south and was at one of the theme parks working in the Food Service Industry.

***

Stacie and her husband, Allan, have four children now. It seems twins ran in Stacie's family and she carried that torch extremely well. She begged her husband to have a procedure so there was no chance of more than four children. I laughed and agreed two sets of twins would be enough.

***

I cried the day that Annalise walked into my office with a single sheet on paper in hand. The tears that were in her eyes spoke volumes of the love she had for me, her team and the company. I was unaware but her husband was an eye surgeon. He was highly regarded and was recruited to the Boca area. A large group practice there was opening a new surgery center in the town of Pembroke Pines. They had also hired her as their Network Administrator.

I cried hard that evening. She would be a tremendous loss, professionally and personally, Nicole stepped into her shoes rather well. I do miss Annalise for her wit and her humor. She was the only one I would drink hot tea with.

***

It was maybe ten years later I bumped into Veronica at the CES Convention in Las Vegas. She had two younger looking playmates with her. Each had very pretty collars on. The one seemed to have a vast amount of IT Infrastructure knowledge. The other stood there looking pretty. She offered to meet for dinner and drinks, the bank she worked for in Atlanta had given her a decent sized expense account.

I smiled but declined. I told her My heart was solidified in My family and that I had brought Chloe and Lillian, My pet and still my EA with Me on this trip as a reward. They were both to be poolside working on their tans for Me.

Sixteen years later

My entire family, Angela, Bev, El, Chloe, Harley Elizabeth, Hannah, Pet, and I, thanked Ken, Jordan, and Katy for their hospitality as we walked to our cars and left Ken's home. We had a wonderful cookout and visit with his family. His daughters, Riley and Anna, had grown over these last years. They were so amazing and open as they befriended Hanna and Harley Elizabeth.

I was so impressed that they were both heading to college. It was no secret that Riley would attend the University of Maryland, just like her father. Anna was set on going to medical school.

Riley had confided in me that she and her father spoke and she wanted to continue shadowing and working with me at J&T Consulting, after her college graduation as her mother and father both had worked their careers. I readily agreed and told her I would take care of my 'favorite niece'.

***

I was absolutely floored the following Monday. That day so far in my professional life is the day I know I cried the hardest.

Ken called and asked to see me in his office. Jordan, in her typical fashion knocked twice, opened his door and walked in with me closing the door behind us. She walked to his side and put her hand on his shoulder.

I started to cry immediately, shaking my head. Sadly, I had a feeling what was coming. Ken stood and shared it was time to focus on being a father to his daughters and a good man to both Jordan and Katy. He promised our friendship would continue, in fact he demanded it.

I asked Jordan's permission to hug him, which she gave with tears flowing down her cheeks. I cried on his shirt thanking him. It was because of him that I became the professional and woman of business smarts that I become. I broke the hug and told him that without him I wouldn't have the wondrous life I have.

I felt Jordan hug me as well. I burst into tears again. She promised she wasn't leaving yet. I had her for a few more years.

An hour later Margaret sent a company-wide memo announcing that effective the first of July, John's children will become the Co-Presidents of the company. As John slows down and will be stepping into retirement. He will however be mentoring the children who have both been an intricate part of the organization for the last few years.

There was a second paragraph which also announced my immediate promotion. I was moved into the position vacated with Ken's retirement, Vice President of J&T Consulting.

The third and final paragraph was the announcement of her retirement. Jordan would be moving forward to take on her role as the EA for John's son and daughter.

She and her husband were tired of the big city life and were moving to the beach community of Sandbridge. When I hugged her for the last time, tears flowed and I thanked her for the world of amazing good she did for me.

***The End***

The journey of Caroline and Her Lovers has come to a loving and heartfelt conclusion. However please know we will see Victoria in a future series.

Thank you for joining me in the journey.

All my love,

Aoife