Sweet Wine and Apple Pie

I didn't think she thought I was serious. The efforts the company had been making to get expenses in line had been working. Projections looked like we might actually meet earnings for the quarter. Craig had been right. If I just held on, and could get to day ninety, my stock options would be worth a nice chunk of change.

The afternoon before their final review, I met with Rick and Gene, laying everything out. "Look, you guys are smart and talented. I know you know what's going on here, and in alignment with the company's openness policies, I wanted to let you know what my report to Mike was going to look like."

I showed them what I had documented; all three reviews showing they had met or exceeded the targets of their PIP. "You guys really stepped up and while the decision is not completely mine, I'm going to do what I can to make sure you're safe."

Fricking Rick hugged me before they left my office.

"Need your reviews." Mike pinged my messenger.

"Sending them now." I answered, switching over to Outlook and sending the email I had already prepared. Then I waited.

Mike didn't disappoint me. "I can't use these. I thought you were onboard. I thought you understood. You were supposed to help me let them go without paying severance. Dammit. Never mind. I'll fix it."

He made the mistake of putting it in an email.

The first thing the next morning, I made a call.

"John. I hate to bother you, but I think it's important." John was the CIO Mike and I both reported to. The next step was to print out Mike's email and Rick and Gene's reviews and take them to John.

"I'm sorry to bother you, but look at these." I handed him the reviews. "I understand the goal. It's in every policy and procedure in our handbook that we owe it to our employees to help them be as successful as we can. Rick and Gene did everything we asked. This is the response I got from Mike."

I dropped the email on his desk. "All I want is a few days to shop them to some of the other managers, see if there's an internal posting they can fill. I don't think Mike is going to go for that. Seriously, these two deserve a shot. Look at what they accomplished. At the least, get them a small package. But let go for cause, that's immoral if not fraud."

"You've got until Friday afternoon. I'll talk to Mike."

Mike had to walk past my office on his way to and from John's office. I wasn't expecting a Christmas card this year. I made a few calls to other managers, getting the responses I expected. The entire company was downsizing. There were no open postings, internal or external, and last, I talked to Rick and Gene, letting them know what had happened, and what I had found out.

"If you've got any sick time, use it between now and Friday. Just be here Friday for your reviews. I'll see you then, and if either of you needs a reference, let me know."

The meetings moved from this afternoon to Friday, followed by a one on one with Mike for me immediately after. I went to lunch and took the rest of the day off to check out a little restaurant I drove past every day that had a new For Sale or Lease sign in the parking lot. The realtor was ecstatic to get my call.

The rest of the week was busy-work. I made sure I had covered all my bases. With no team anymore, it was mostly taking care of my stuff, making sure I had all my exit details taken care of. I moved any funds I had in my 401k out of company stock and updated all my beneficiaries to Tony. When I checked the website Craig had pointed me to and saw that our CEO had put in a sale order for his stock options, I followed suit. Maybe the pundits were wrong about our earnings.

Friday, Rick and Gene showed up, and we spent all day talking about baseball and how we thought the Cowboys were going to do next fall.

I met with Mike and the HR rep thirty minutes before Rick showed up to go over what we were going to cover. My little ploy had gotten them both six weeks paid with benefits.

When Gene left, Mike turned to me. "Jeff, you know I can't keep you. You don't have a team anymore and with what you did, I don't think I can trust you. You understand." With my seniority and my new position, I got a very nice settlement, including a cash separation payment. It was like combat pay. I understood all the newly promoted managers they were laying off this week got them.

"That's ok, Mike. I don't think I can work for someone that would contemplate fraud, anyway. I wonder how much longer John is going to think he can trust you?"

The paperwork the HR rep handed me was what I expected, so I signed where she had noted.

"About your stock options." Mike leered at me. "You just surrendered them. You should read what you sign more carefully."

"Actually Mike, no." I leered back. "Sold them a couple of days ago when I noticed Granger selling his. No options left to surrender." The look on his face when I got up and walked out was priceless. Cleaning out my office, cathartic. All that was eft was to go home to make love to my fiancé. I hadn't felt this good since Tony let me put that ring on her finger.

"I never asked you what kind of wedding you wanted." Tony nestled as close as she could get as we basked in the fading glow of our afternoon tryst.

"Well, my husband-to-be is unemployed, and I certainly don't have any money. I was thinking something small."

"Maybe your dad could rent out a room at his country club right after you graduate. Kind of a dual celebration. Just our families and a few close friends. We can pay for Ms. Agatha's ticket."

With a little help from Amanda and my mom, our small ceremony ended up being us, our immediate families and two hundred of our closest friends. Craig was my best man. Ms. Agatha was Tony's Matron of Honor. Tony baked her own cake, which I thought was priceless.

She was so beautiful walking down the aisle. Her dress was all satin and lace, pearls embroidered all over the bodice with a traditional veil she had borrowed from Ms. Agatha covering her face. I thought about that lattice hanging on my deck, the lattice that had pretended to keep me from spying on Tony when we first met. This was sexier.

It had taken everybody to pull it off as quickly as we had, less than a month. When the preacher told me I could kiss my bride and I pulled the veil away from Tony's face, I couldn't wait to start the rest of my life with her. Our first kiss had been magic, our first kiss as husband and wife put it to shame.

My dad had bought us a Caribbean cruise out of Ft. Lauderdale to St. Kitts and the Bahamas. We had a few weeks before it sailed. Just enough time to get all the details of our new life ironed out. I just hoped my new wife didn't kill me for what I'd done.

We had a hotel for our wedding night. Anthony had made the reservation, and I had quickly switched it to another hotel, not letting anyone know where we were going to be. The last thing I wanted was an interruption during what I had envisioned happening.

We did the traditional processional as we left the reception, running under a shower of flower petals and bird seed, toward the limo waiting for us. At the last moment, I dragged Tony to Craig's running rental car. We got in and sped away before anyone could stop us. All our bags were already in the car with us. The rest of the wedding party rode in the limo to their hotel. I knew I could trust Craig to watch out for me.

I did the whole carry-her-across-the-threshold thing. It took all I had to pry my lips from hers so I could set her down. She let me unzip her dress and then pushed me back onto the bed so I could watch her reveal what was underneath. White on white, lace on satin. Corset, garter and stockings, and underneath, the sexiest panties I had ever seen. When she finished undressing, she stood before me in nothing but her garter and stockings and a pair of heels. I couldn't stop staring.

"Your turn." She licked her lips and winked at me. I thought about doing something sexy, but nope, I had more important things to do. The way I almost ripped it off may have ruined my tux, but I'd worry about that in the morning. I was naked and picking up Tony again before she could start laughing. This time, I tossed her onto the bed and leapt in on top of her, covering her neck and shoulder with kisses. Sex with her had always been amazing, but this was special. This was our first time as husband and wife. I wanted it to be something she would never forget, so I took my time exploring every inch of her delicious form. I even made her cum in my mouth twice during my adventures.

Her nylon covered legs draped over my shoulders, caressing my neck and upper arms while I buried my tongue in her rose. Her voice moaning louder and louder as I probed and played.

"Jeff, please." She was begging now, and I relented, covering her hole with slick liquid before I did the same to my leaking erection. She bit her lip, the anticipation in her eyes driving me on. I kissed her hard, slowly letting her lipstick try to keep my lips where they were. I could feel them separate. Everything was so sensitive.

"Please." She looked into my eyes one more time and I took her.

Slow and passionate at first, then harder and more feverish, until my thrusts joined her screams, becoming feral, animalistic.

"Yes!" Tony screamed so loud the desk clerk probably heard it. "Fuck me, fuck me harder."

Her little cock exploded all over her stomach as I pounded her furiously. I came once and kept going. Tony writhed in pleasure, her body shivering with each tremor that ran through her, spasming with each peak she reached, each climax that tore through her.

Doggy style, I came again. On one side than the other, then flat on her stomach, I came again. Finally slow and steady, my lips pressed to hers, I came a fourth time. Utterly exhausted, I collapsed on top of her. Her ruined stockings ran up and down my back as I sighed heavily and rolled off to one side.

"God, I love you." I smiled at her.

"Unh, hunh." Was all she could manage. The glazed look in her eyes and the smile on her face told me she meant, "I love you, too."

We laid there together, just smiling at each other until nature made its call. I got up and went to the bathroom, taking care of business and starting a bath for the two of us. The suite we were in had a huge jacuzzi tub, and I added a couple of scented bath bombs just for fun.

"My job." I stopped Tony from taking off her garter and stockings. Forcing her to lie back on the bed and then kissing my way down each leg as the destroyed nylon slowly exposed her delicate skin.

Picking her up, I carried her to the tub and gently set her in the scented froth, smiling as she melted into the bubbles.

"One more thing." I grinned, leaving her there for a few minutes, hoping Craig had done what I asked. When Tony saw the wine, the glasses and the two pieces of pie in my hands, she laughed and cried at the same time.

The king-sized bed was enormous enough that we could sleep on the side of the bed we hadn't ruined with our passion. The side we slept on was just as soiled as the other when we forced ourselves to get up, so we didn't miss our already late checkout.

Everybody was at my in-law's house when we got there. Tony and I ate leftovers from lunch and dealt with the fallout of my audible after the wedding. Anthony was only marginally upset the hotel had made him pay for the champagne anyway, since they had it open and ready for us. There was no way it was going to compare to sweet wine and apple pie, though.

One more night with Anthony and Amanda, and they took us all to the airport for the flight home.

"So, what are we going to do? You don't have a job. I don't have a job. Do you have any savings because I don't, so." Tony nestled next to me in our bed. I so liked that sound of that in my head. 'Our bed,' had taken on a completely different meaning.

"We can worry about that tomorrow. I think I have an idea that might keep us busy for a while, and we still have the cruise."

"You're not worried?"

"Not as long as I have you." I leaned over and kissed her. "Now go to sleep. We haven't done much of that since the wedding."

I took Tony to lunch when we finally got up, choosing a little place I liked in a strip mall I had passed on my way to work. Across the street was a guy painting something on the window of a small stand-alone restaurant that looked like it had recently sold. 'Rossi's Southwest. Coming soon.'

"That's a cute place. I wonder what they're going to serve."

"Maybe Italian with a southwestern flair. Who knows? I'll have to ask the chef the next time I see her." I slid the keys across the table. "It's all yours. I think you'll like the kitchen, too."

It took longer than I expected, but Tony was very specific about what she wanted in her restaurant. After the cruise, I got my dad and my brother to come help. We cleaned and redecorated according to Tony's every wish and whim. The kitchen was fine. The bar needed a little work, but it wasn't too bad. We added a huge wine rack, but mostly, we just cleaned.

Just before Thanksgiving, we opened to better-than-expected results.

I manage the front of the house and fill in as an extra bartender. Of course, Tony runs the kitchen. And there's no doubt whose restaurant it is, either.

It's not going to make us rich, but with what I have in savings, and what's left of my stock options, we're certainly not worrying about it.

Those two kids Tony talked about adopting, well, she was spot on. Sarah just graduated from The University of Texas. Against my recommendation, she has a promising career in computer engineering as a data security analyst. Little Tony works next to his mom in the kitchen and just might be a better chef than her one day.

Life is good, better than I deserve. The funny thing is, after all these years, my favorite thing to do is to sit on the upper deck of our house and spy on their mom as she sunbathes in the backyard. She knows I'm there and probably likes me watching her as much as I enjoy doing it. I guess some things just never get old.

***

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