Heather's 'One Percenter' Goal Pt. 01

His wife held his gaze and thought, "What in the world can I do to regain my husband's affection? I would give up my high flying lifestyle gladly if he just once touched me as if I no longer had leprosy. I wonder if he is suspicious that I sometimes 'entertain' a principal when Tyler insists that I do it, rather than ask a paid escort to do it? I know John is distant from me and I wonder if he thinks I am distant from him? Probably, but he can replace his mid six digit salary with any number of competitors if he would relocate. I am stuck where I am. Why have we been 'untouchables' to each other, though, for the past five years," being very careful to not allow herself to think about her question seriously?

John finally spoke with his eyes red from forcing back tears and said," Heather, would you be interested in joining me in the master bedroom to just hold each other? I am afraid this week has been too much for me to offer anything else."

Heather replied, "In the past we screwed all night when I was getting ready to fly. But, I realize you are stressed. It must have been tough for you at first being under suspicion that you were the one who allowed such a breach to happen. But your presentation certainly exonerated you. You are my champion, Mr. Mason! I will gladly hold you and even massage your back and legs if you would like. I, too, just want us to hold each other. I am 40 years old and all I get for my soul out of every day is just a day older. Between the two of us we might think up a way to restore the passion in our marriage, just maybe?"

Her husband cast a lost cause smile at her and said, "Anything is possible."

Saturday just after noon a car horn alerted John and Heather, and they were relieved that the airport Shuttle had arrived. John picked up her suitcase and bag and they walked to the 9 passenger vehicle, that already had 4 passengers aboard. He gave the bags to the driver and kissed Heather a perfunctory goodbye. Heather and another passenger recognized each other and she boarded the van talking rapidly as if John Mason no longer existed.

He watched the van disappear and stood in his tracks remembering the many partings they had had where the foremost thought for each was to get back home as quickly as humanly possible. John meandered to the reverse side of his house feeling completely alone and fighting depression that seemed to attack the back of his eyes.

The lake was beautiful this chilly day as he walked out on his private pier to examine his Chris Craft boat that he once used to pull his son on a pair of skis. Of course, then Heather anxiously awaited their return to the pier for fear of their son's safety. The craft had now had been hoisted out of the water for the coming winter season though some boats were still out on the lake this late in the year.

The noise of a distant but powerful speed boat got John's attention because it obviously was traveling at a very high speed and was headed directly for his private pier. When the craft got within a hundred yards of the pier, Mason recognized it as that belonging to Traci Tyler. She had visited John and Heather a few times from her spacious retreat home 5 miles down the shoreline of the lake.

John returned to his pier to catch the mooring rope that she would be tossing to him. For the first time today he noticed that he had a smile on his face, glad for the company perhaps. He also noticed that she, too, was smiling broadly.

Later they were in his sun room looking out over the lake enjoying a cup of tea. After Traci had removed her wet suit and fluffed out her long blond hair, they both smiled at each other broadly this time. Her very stylish, form fitting blouse and pants emphasized every single attractive feature of Traci - especially her enhanced breasts where the clear outline of her nipples invited touching.

John Mason had an erection that was visible to her in his pants, yet he made no attempt to hide the bulge. This provoked Traci to slowly walk over to John and press her lips and body to his.

The thoughts in John's mind were conflicting and overpowering. He knew that Traci's true love was the firm's Counsel, but he also knew that it was wasted - her attorney, who had specialized in international law originally, had a media presence history and the favorite woman in his life was worth Billion$ rather than Million$. Heather and John both knew that Traci didn't stand a chance with her coveted Counsel, and so she took love wherever she could find it. In fact John surmised that the lady Guru recently fired from ABX was Traci's occasional sex partner when she was in the mood - and this was the real reason she had hired such a creature to begin with.

Traci backed away from John and said, "Let's talk about ABX before we either play or say goodbye. You ready for such a talk?"

John flattered her by saying, "You demonstrate again, Traci, that you are uncommonly intelligent. Good idea."

"O.K. After discussing the matter with Counsel, I want to make you an offer. Just leave things as is concerning your wife and my 'Toad,' Jerry Tyler. Also whatever else he has her doing with whomever else, I suggest, you not concern yourself with that either. In the mean time, I will contract with a head-hunter to replace Tyler and, by the way, your wife is also a possible choice to replace Tyler. If you elect to divorce her, your future with ABX is still secure."

John asked, "My Wife? She has no sales experience so how and why would you include her for consideration?"

"My dear man, Tyler has gotten where he is because someone else was always present to do his thinking for him. That is the role that Heather plays. His only claim to fame has been his uncanny ability to buy and sell properties individually over decades using his gut feelings. But a government sanctioned real estate investment trust needs a detail oriented number cruncher with sufficient savvy to grasp which properties will actually provide a return on the purchase prices in our real world. However, he or she also needs to have invested private funds to some extent in ABX because Tyler's shares will probably be going on the market. This is especially true in this business where everybody pulls their own weight while squirming under the thumb of the compliance officer, and the front end investment insures that the welfare of the company is the first thought every morning on awakening."

"But neither Heather nor I have a private fortune with which to buy a sizable number of Tyler's shares."

"Yes, John, and that is the only reason she is not already CEO. We will talk further on this after the head hunter has some candidates for us, O.K.? Now lets have a glass of wine and adjourn to your bedroom to discuss that other thing we started to discuss when I first arrived."

John replied, after they had finished their wine and had started becoming passionate with each other, "Right this way, dear lady."

"But John, tell me do you have a condom? I didn't bring one."

"Really? In fact I don't have one since Heather and I never use them. For reasons you know by now, we almost never have sex. The reason I never have sex outside of our marriage is there is just not enough hours in the day." They both chuckled at that.

Traci replied, "I know that heretofore you have had only one sex partner. But that video clip you showed me changes everything because neither of us know who all she beds - current and past tense. My sources tell me that she partners with whomever Tyler tells her to for important bid openings so..."

With this caveat John's erection evaporated and his mind was now a random assortment of thoughts and he began to feel dizzy. He asked, "Traci, we should pass on an afternoon of hot sex this time, and I promise that next time I will be prepared?"

"Sure, John, but you should know that I have always looked at Heather with a jealous eye because she enjoys your company - at least you live together. So hurry! One other thing for your consideration, is that it's generally known that I go after what I want. That includes men and occasionally a woman, sexually. But, I would give up that lifestyle entirely for someone like you who I could love and who loved me. One question I will ask myself tonight is, 'Is there any chance that John Mason could fall in love with me and vice versa?'"

Mason smiled and said softly, "I think that that can not happen until one finds someone whose view of the universe is compatible with the seekers."

"What does your ideal universe look like, John?"

"Its very simple, Traci. You know that ABX can not have an effective CEO unless the candidate buys into the operation - and the same applies to an ongoing relationship where each must fully buy into it."

"Technically, I know you are right, John! Now all I have to do is to figure out how to get myself into the arms of that kind of candidate!"

Down at the pier once again with Traci dressed in her wet suit, they politely kissed goodbye on the lips. John said, "You know you're always welcome here, Traci."

"Thanks, John, I am glad to have closely befriended someone as strong as you. All the men I know would have gone bonkers after viewing the the video clip you showed me - especially, her passionately pleasuring a Toad!"

"But, Traci, that is her problem..., not mine. Our future effectively ended five years ago when she accepted the opportunity to make really big money knowing that she threw away our future together. She has known for years what kind of person Tyler is and what he demands from those around him. Thanks for your concern that I might be drowning in my own tears and caring enough to visit me, however, " he said as he threw the mooring rope onto her craft.

"As her engine roared to life the last thing John Mason heard her say was, "My visit was for much more than that..."

——

Heather Mason had unpacked her bags in her suite in the plushest hotel high-rise in Houston. She grimaced because she was having dinner and a night on the town with the seller Principal for Monday's bid opening and Tyler. She had learned that the Houston Grand Opera had a performance that night of her and her husband's all time favorite Italian masterpiece and would really like to attend the opera instead. But, she sighed and cursed and began to lay out her clothes to dress for the evening.

Jerry Tyler knocked on Heather's door right on time. She saw his mushroomed face through the the security port and was surprised once again to see him dressed in a tuxedo. After the door was opened he almost swooned when seeing his assistant in an evening gown that looked like a cloud wrapped around her body. On purpose her cleavage was barely displayed, but her bare shoulders invited being touched. After his description of her beauty, which sounded to Heather much like a talking chimpanzee's description of the Mona Lisa might sound, the two proceeded to the Lobby to await the Principal.

Awaiting the elevator, Tyler said, "Mark Ashcraft and I go back 30 years when I was active in the Houston real estate market. He was a mortgage banker then and, I guess I helped to make him rich." Tyler chuckled when remembering their old days and continued, "We were sweet on each other's wives in those days as well, and both us ultimately moved on from our respective marriages. Then I lost track of him until his name showed up in an trade journal, at which point I contacted him to say 'hello'. If we are successful bidder on this very large portfolio Monday, your husband will be in Houston and very busy for a few days setting up a sales/rental management contracts. Maybe you could plan to take a few days off to join him since so much culturally is going on here."

Heather gave him a say-cheese smile and said, "That would be very nice, Tyler, thank you." Unsaid but thought out in her mind, "you Toad."

Mr. Ashcraft walked briskly toward them in the lobby with an older lady on his arm. Heather noticed that she was not a coiffure-made beauty but displayed a stately, almost timeless beauty that radiated a lifetime of health and wealth and, yes, even self-confidence in our age when that is frowned upon. Using her well trained sense of reading people correctly, Heather breathed a sigh of relief concluding that Ashcraft would not be feeling her up tonight.

After the introductions were made, Marilyn Ashcraft said, "I came with Mark reluctantly because he said this was a command performance for the bank. We actually have orchestra seat tickets for the opera tonight and now my husband is celebrating because I won't drag him kicking and screaming to Jones Hall."

The robust laughter that followed broke the ice and the quartet immediately filed out the revolving doors and got into a stretch limousine. In the midst of constant chatter about the Houston real estate market, Mark said to the driver, "Fossil Fuels Club, Spencer," and continued chatting with his gentleman friend. The Limo passed a large building with a lighted marquee out front that described tonight's Opera performance of Aida and named the stars of the production.

Heather said to Marilyn as the men were lost in conversation about real estate, "Ahhh How nice it would be to see Aida again. For my vote a black tie dinner counts for little, as you had the right idea to go there," pointing to the marquee.

"You're shocking, Heather, an opera buff buying and selling previously foreclosed real estate!" Marilyn pumped Heathers hand and said out loud even momentarily interrupting the male chatter, " I have met an interesting person and made a new friend. You have made my day, Heather."

Within a block or so the Limo pulled into a curved driveway. The two men exited first and the ladies followed. Walking together into the skyscraper, Marilyn continued, "I have the tickets with me, lets drink and eat fast and walk over to the performance hall, two blocks away. That way the men can catch up on old times of their younger years and say everything there is to say about Houston real estate without boring me."

The four finished their Chateaubriand steaks that they cut with forks and Heather Mason marveled at just how fast their orders were delivered to their table - but then concluded that Marilyn's whispering something to the maitre d' obviously had something to do with their quick and excellent service.

During the course of eating their meal, Heather learned that Marilyn was the largest single stock holder in a well known oil company. As such she unexpectedly and unmistakably was in control of what was happening at their table this evening.

After the two ladies politely listened to the old chums recount their youthful experiences, she spoke up and said forcefully, "Gentlemen! Heather and I have decided to go next door to the opera and we will provide our own transportation while you guys can get plastered and relive the good old days. Do you mind?"

Mark Ashcraft spoke up first obviously happy that he would not be asked to join his wife and said, "If Jerry doesn't mind, I think that is an excellent idea," Heather's boss gestured reluctant approval and Mark continued, "You ladies enjoy the opera and catch a cab back afterwards?"

The ladies were ushered into their center row seats of the performance hall and Heather felt clean and light and new. Hearing the warmup musical noise in the pit with music strains of the opera often sounding, she called her husband, John Mason, after turning on the speaker phone. Her husband answered it on the first ring.

"Hello Heather,"

"You can not believe where I am sitting, John. Guess."

John Mason recognized the strains of music being played in the warm-up and immediately felt very good about his wife.

He answered, "I had no idea that Jerry Tyler was an opera buff."

She chuckled and replied, "Of course he is not, but say hello to Marilyn, the wife of Tyler's friend of 30 years ago - and she is a major donor of the Houston Opera.

Marilyn smiled and said, "Hello to you, husband of my new friend. You two please plan to visit us in Houston soon."

Heather said, "I just wanted to share this with you, John, the overture is about to begin and I must turn off my phone. Good night."

John Mason relaxed in his easy chair and found it difficult to get interested again in his book. He replayed in his mind Traci's admonition after watching the video clip that, "...this does not mean that Heather is a slut..." and John started to agree that she is only a lackey of a thundering boss. He finally dozed off to sleep.

The next morning Tyler was late for breakfast. Heather concluded that the two old coots got roaring drunk after the ladies left them and is sleeping it off. She was eating when the calm in the Hotel Mezzanine Restaurant was broken by the shrill sound of a siren outside. She saw two paramedics hurriedly rolling a gurney through the lobby below but paid no particular attention. In about five minutes they returned with a body strapped down but walking slowly toward the front door. Heather lost interest and continued to read the Houston Chronicle Sunday paper, real estate section.

Back in her room later she was beginning to wonder, "Whateverr happened to that Toad? I damn sure am not going to awaken him. I am sure he will sober up before the six o'clock cocktail party in the bank building."

As she was about to leave her room to visit an art museum nearby her phone rang, displaying a hometown caller she didn't recognize. "ABX, you have reached Heather Mason."

"It's Traci Tyler, Heather. The Harris County Coroner office just called stating that my husband, Jerry, is dead and lies in the morgue at Baptist Hospital. I am asking that you take a taxi over there and ask for a Doctor Gibbons to make a positive identification of the body. I told Doctor Gibbons that I am bedridden with illness and can not make the trip, but that you have known him for 10 years. He will give you his personal effects for you to give to me when you get back, please."

Heather was speechless and Traci asked, "Any questions so far?"

"Nnnno."

Traci continued, "Heather, I am also asking you to become acting CEO to replace my deceased husband and we will talk about compensation later. Will you do that, and conduct the affairs of ABX in its best interest?"

Unable to believe what she just heard, she stammered, "Yyyes, Traci. Thank you for the confidence you have shown in me."

"I will relay the news to your husband since its important that you get to the hospital morgue right away. The staff and share holders are counting on you, Heather."

The circuit was broken and Heather sat down stunned. She made her way to a waiting taxi at the front door. Dr. Gibbon's was paged at Baptist General's main entrance receptionist and five minutes later, he walked up and said, "I am Dr. Gibbons, and your name please?"

After being told, Gibbons asked, "May I see some identification?"

Satisfied with what she showed him, he said, "Right this way, Ms Mason."

As they walked, the physician talked non-stop. He said, "I understand you were his personal assistant and he was the CEO of ABX, whatever that is. Well, Mr. Tyler was dead on arrival here, and the paramedics say he was dead when they arrived in his room. Was Tyler a heavy drinker?"

"Yes, doctor, I suspect that he and his close friend of 30 years ago must have closed the Fossil Fuels Club last night after the deceased's wife and I left them to go to the opera nearby."

Gibbons asked, "The scars on his chest made him look like an unsuccessful sword fighter. Do you know anything of his medical history?"

Heather answered, "Only that he has a drawer full of prescription medicines and has had a couple of surgeries since I have known him. In fact he reportedly had a quad-bypass heart operation just over a year ago."

The old doctor shook his head and clucked his tongue and said, "Mindless suicide. "