The Future is in the Air Ch. 04

"Whatcha getting?" Peggy asked.

"The Pit Master's Sampler sounds incredible," she said, referring to the popular specialty which consisted of portions of their most popular meats. "But I don't think I can eat that much plus all those sides."

It was colloquially known by its acronym.

"The PMS, huh? Yeah, I hear you. The platter is great for sharing."

Leah laughed easily. "It might also explain my appetite. Want to share with me?"

"Absolutely. Lance, move your butt," Peggy requested so she could sit next to her.

It warmed me to my roots to see the love of my life and my closest friends getting on so well with each other.

When our dinners arrived, the conversation continued as we dined.

"You want something stronger?" Eric asked me, swirling the last of his beer in his glass after we'd finished our meals. He also subtly showed me a couple of Padron Churchill cigars held in the inside pocket of his sport jacket.

"Yeah. I think I might," I answered.

"Ladies, Lance and I are going out to the deck if you need us."

"Sure, love," Peggy replied with a smile.

Leah nodded to me with another.

We went to the bar on the way and ordered double Johnny Walker Blues.

"Well? What do you think?" Eric asked after we stepped outside. "Success?"

"I think she's having a good time. Seems like Leah has a new sister."

"Yeah. I think so, too. Leah and Peggy have a lot in common."

"I can't thank you two enough. I really can't."

"No need. You asked me to watch my radar screen. She's not even close to a blip. Peggy even told me this morning she thinks Leah's like the most incredibly wholesome person she's met in a long time."

I chuckled. "Dude, wholesome describes oatmeal, not people."

"Well, I think she's right. So, if you and Leah find your middle ground … well, do you think she could be the one?"

I puffed at my cigar, watching people on the other side of the massive outdoor venue dancing to some live music. I looked through a window and saw Leah leaning in close to Peggy who was showing her some photos on her iPhone.

"You know? I think she very well may be."

"I swear, man, I sincerely hope she is, because I like her."

"You're already married, dude." I puffed humorously.

He chuckled. "You know what I mean."

"Yeah. I do."

It was about a half hour later when our ladies stepped out and dragged us to the dance floor. Leah and I scooted on the peanut-shell-littered deck to some up-tempo country-rock music, giving her plenty of opportunities to laugh at my less-than-stellar abilities.

During a slow, soft ballad, Leah wrapped her arms around my waist and settled her head on my shoulder.

"Lance," she whispered into my ear, "this has been an incredible evening. Thank you."

"You're welcome, sweetheart. I'm glad you're having a good time."

She looked at me with happy eyes and gave me a publicly inappropriate kiss as we swayed.

"That's what the song's 'bout, y'all," said the vocalist as the band played the outro.

We both realized she was pointing us out. A number of people were watching us as we broke the kiss to a few hoots and catcalls.

"How embarrassing," Leah muttered under her breath as we walked back to our table.

"No one here knows us or will likely ever see us again."

"True," she said and gave me another delicious smooch halfway to our seats.

Eric and Peggy were already there.

"I think it's time we head back. I told Monica to expect a midnight departure to McKinney," Peggy said.

"Leah?" I asked.

She smiled. "That's fine with me."

Leah's eyes looked tired as the plane departed for Texas.

"Let's sit here," I suggested, sitting on one end of the couch when the plane had settled into cruise.

Leah reclined next to me, resting her head on my thigh. Danny offered a blanket, and she covered herself comfortably. The drone of the engines conked us both right out. I was glad Eric and Peggy agreed they'd ferry my plane back a few days later.

Leah needed about twenty-five more hours after her solo to meet the minimum time required.

Our flight from OKC to Dallas months earlier was, thus far, the only cross-country time she'd logged.

I'll admit I had pangs of nerves every time Leah flew solos to practice touch-and-goes, especially when the crosswinds were higher, but I worked through it.

To practice for her cross-country flights, we flew together to Wylie Post, the place where she began her career.

The flight served three purposes, one being practical training on dead reckoning and pilotage using printed charts instead of the electronic aids we had at our disposal.

The second goal was to introduce her to the dreaded "View Limiting Device," which student and instrument pilots wear to simulate instrument conditions. The contraption prevents the pilot from seeing anything outside the windows, forcing him or her to only rely on the instruments as they might need to do if inadvertently straying into clouds.

The final purpose was to welcome her to my estate in Edmond, Oklahoma. As Eric put it, Leah needed to see it all, to know me for who I was.

The flight was barely two hours long, and the ride to my estate added about thirty minutes.

"Good lord, Lance, why does anyone need a place this enormous?" she asked as I drove through the porte cochère , then into the six-car garage.

Her question was certainly reasonable.

"I don't," was my answer. "No one does."

"Then … why?"

"Business, and security."

"Financial security? I don't understand."

"Well, it is an asset which appreciates, but it's more about physical security."

"What? You mean⁠—whoa. Like guards and stuff?" She sounded stricken.

"Not usually. But, sometimes, yeah."

"Like … like when? Now?"

"No, baby. Not now."

"I don't get it," she said as we sat on a couch in the den.

"I'm willing to explain more, but I don't want to scare you, okay?"

"Okay," she said cautiously.

"Reiter-Marlin specialized in developing uses for and the manufacture of gallium arsenide semiconductors, the type of things that are a big deal in the defense electronics business. There are a lot of people out in the world who don't like anything having to do with, well … weaponry of such scale. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

"Yeah. I do," she said.

"So, there's that. Kind of a baseline thing, you know? It was always there, but after RM was bought out, Eric and I weren't in the spotlight anymore.

"Now, on the other hand … put yourself in another person's shoes for a minute.

"Imagine yourself as an employee of a successful corporation. You've been married for six years and have two children, the youngest of which has a genetic disorder. You come home, unplanned, to offer a surprise lunch to your spouse who's been begging you for attention because of your relentless focus on work.

"The surprise, however, is on you when you find your spouse intimately engaged with another person in the bed you shared.

"Your spouse then takes your children, and you're served with papers within a week that leave you in custody of one child, and your spouse in custody of the other.

"Why? Because you're the primary breadwinner, and, even though you're saddled with premarital debt, the court deems you to be in the better financial position to care for the one that's ailing."

"God. That would be horrible."

"It gets worse. Two weeks after your bitter divorce is settled, you drive to the office on a Monday morning for what should otherwise be an ordinary workday, wondering why the parking lot is almost empty, and you discover your ID badge won't open the door.

"That's when you notice the sign on the inside of the glass which says, 'Sparrow Technologies Corporation of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, has been acquired by Ardix Incorporated of Durham, North Carolina. All employees of STC will receive formal notice of severance via certified mail within ten days,' et cetera and et cetera.

"You return to your car. A coworker has parked next to you, and he's listening to the news. He rolls down his window so you can hear about the buyout on the radio."

"Buyout? Every single one of them was laid off? Without any warning at all? That's cold . I'd want heads to roll," Leah said.

"Toward the end of the segment, the reporter says, 'Neither Lance Marlin nor Eric Reiter could be reached for comment.'"

"What ?" she barked, brows deeply furrowed.

I didn't repeat myself.

"So … you⁠—you did that?"

"Yeah. Eric and me. We founded Sparrow and sold it to Ardix years later. Every single Sparrow employee was immediately dismissed by Ardix."

I knew she would be outraged. I couldn't help it, but I wasn't going to try to sugar-coat a certain reality of life.

"So, that … that person was real ?"

I nodded somberly.

"You … you …" she stammered.

"Say it."

"You and Eric were heartless pricks ."

"You're right, and we definitely felt like it at that point," I agreed, "and that guy tried to end my life."

"What ?!"

"He tried to run me down at a grocery store later that week. He stalked me, found out where I lived, which wasn't in this house at that point, and followed me there."

"Lance," Leah gasped, "please tell me you're lying."

"No, baby. I'm not, The guy was shit-faced drunk and missed me by twenty feet and hit one of those concrete pillars the parking lot lights mount on." I chuckled.

"That's not funny!"

"You're right, but I laugh about it now because it's the only way I can keep my sanity. If not for his decision to hit a bottle beforehand, I might not be able to tell the story. He told me about his circumstances after he sobered up.

"Eric and I had already been considering it, but that … wake-up call sealed our resolve.

"We, out of our own suddenly very full pockets, kept the employees' paychecks coming for half a year to try to give them time to find employment somewhere else. We were young, stupid, naive, and impulsive. When we saw the aftermath, we realized how poorly we'd managed the buyout of Sparrow.

"We wanted to do right by our former employees, including that very person. I didn't press any charges myself, but he did get saddled with a DUI."

"But you sold Reiter-Marlin?"

"Yes. We did, but the doors are still open. The entire board of directors, which Eric sat on, wouldn't agree to their terms until they added a multi-year non-severance clause to protect ninety percent of our employees' jobs unless terminated for cause. We really fought for it, but one hundred percent was a nonstarter for the buyers. We were thrilled to score ninety."

"I didn't know that."

"What I want you to understand is, even though layoffs or closures are the absolute worst thing anyone at any level of management has to do, it's sometimes necessary if it means protecting the greater good. Otherwise, a business might fold, and everyone goes home with nothing.

"So, when things get … dicey? A place like this is easier to, well … I'll just say it. This is a place to hide away from people who might have malice on their minds. A main gate with manned security and full perimeter fencing with telemetry and all that. Everyone who lives in this development is some high-level or very visible person of some sort."

"Oh," she said.

"I've got one more thing I need to say."

"Oh, boy!" she barked sarcastically.

"I'm done."

"Sorry, baby, I didn't mean to be snarky. Go on."

"I think I'm done with my career."

Her face showed immediate shock. "Lance, what's going on with you?"

"I've been thinking about this for a while now, and I've been wanting to talk to you about it, because it sort of affects you. It's a decision I wouldn't make without discussing it with you first."

"Okay," she elongated the word, sounding like she was expecting a revelation.

"Honey, all this crap, all the stuff I just told you about, I'm sort of done with it. I'm tired.

"Yeah. I'm tired , you know? Eric was a hell of a lot smarter than me, but I thought he'd gone bat-crap crazy when he walked away from Reiter-Marlin before the IPO. But he was smart, too, investing in his land in Nocona, and look at him now. He and Peggy still commute back and forth from here to there because she's still practicing medicine and doing all kinds of incredible research at Children's Hospital. They're living their best lives, you know?"

"What are you going to do?"

"Who knows? Maybe I'll go work for him."

"Yeah, I can't see you as a cowboy."

"True. I really don't know. What I do know is my position at the bigger company is unfulfilling, especially in these last few months. I don't look forward to going into the office there anymore. I like coming back to my office here, but it's only because I get to see and talk to the people who made our company what it became. I respect the crap out of them, and I know each and every one of their names, and many of their spouses' and kids' names, too."

"Didn't you say your CEO said you could be some sort of absentee executive?"

"Not in such clear words, but … basically, yeah.

"The problem is, though, it makes me feel like I'm setting a horrible example. I mean, what kind of leader earns the kind of paycheck I do without doing anything productive, let alone not even showing up for work.

"So … no. I don't like it. The sabbatical I took is not out of the ordinary for executives, but just … being gone ? No."

"I'll ask you again. If you drop all of that, what are you going to do?"

"I don't know. I want to find a project or something. Kind of like Eric did when he worked out the endowment for Children's Hospital a few years ago that Peggy told you about."

"Something similarly charitable?"

"Yeah. Maybe."

"So, what does any of that have to do with me?"

"I only wanted you to know my thoughts to see if you have any objections."

"Would it matter if I do?"

"Of course it would. I value your opinion and your advice. You and I think the same way on many things, and very differently on others. You … you kind of balance me."

"Dagnabbit, Lance." Leah sighed.

"Sorry. Didn't mean to dump on you."

"Don't be, Lance! It's just that you make me feel like I'm the most important person on Earth," she said, wrapping her arms around me. "How do you do that?"

"Because you kinda are?"

She smiled sweetly. "Jeez, you big jerk, you're pretty awesome, too, you know that? Thank you for asking my opinion. But I'm kind of scared to give it."

"Why?"

"Because of all this!" she said, waving her arms, gesturing around the space. "I don't know how I can possibly counsel you. Your lifestyle is so much different than mine, so I don't have a point of reference to see it like you do. But … if I were you? I'd do whatever the hell I want to. I mean, holy crap! Do you even need a paycheck anymore?"

"No."

"You should do whatever you want."

My heart damn-near exploded on the spot.

"But only if I get to watch," she added.

"Alrighty, then."

"So?"

"Dunno. I'll let you know."

She laughed hard, then gave me an incredibly comforting kiss.

"I love you, Lance."

"I most certainly love you, too, Leah."

"Now. Give me a tour of this incredible place."

I enveloped my love in my arms, welcoming the warmth of her form.

I walked her through the entirety of my house. She was surprised how a good chunk of it was unfurnished. Most of it sat empty as I'd moved those furnishings to Parker.

"I think I counted six bedrooms, each with full bathrooms, plus three half-baths. There's a study, the den, a full kitchen plus another kitchenette. A theater and a game room, each with their own wet bars."

"Sounds about right. That's in this house," I agreed.

"There's another one?"

"Yeah. There's a pool house in the back," I said, opening the French doors.

"You play?" she asked as we walked the wide flagstone path between the tennis court and the pool.

"Barely."

She removed her sandals then dipped her toes in the water. She walked around the perimeter of the area, carefully surveying the surrounding gardens and landscaping.

"What are you looking for?" I asked.

"Any signs of humanity."

"You won't find any. The grounds were designed for security and privacy."

"Excellent," she said, pulling off her shirt.

"Um, Leah? Are you sure you want to do that?" I asked after she shucked her shorts, standing in front of me wearing nothing but her bra and panties.

"Why not? You said no one could see us," she said, reaching for and releasing the clasp at her back.

I waited until she'd dropped her bra on a chaise lounge with her shirt and shorts. Her breasts were so gorgeous in the full sun.

"Out there, no one can, but the security and surveillance monitoring center can," I answered, pointing to one of the pole-mounted IP cameras.

She instinctively covered her bare chest with her arms.

"Lance! You  jackass !" she yelled.

I laughed hard as Leah struggled to turn her shirt right side out without exposing herself.

"Gotcha good!" I sang melodically, pulling my own tee off and losing my shoes and jeans. "They only monitor if they get an alarm or a call."

"Oh, crap on a cracker ! You are so going to pay for that!" she yelled, pulling her panties down her legs.

"Good. Make me  pay ," I responded lasciviously.

She wadded them and threw the white cotton at me which I easily caught.

I grinned wryly at her, unfolded them, and sniffed at the crotch to smell her scent. I rolled my eyes back and sighed dramatically with a deliberately lewd expression, then deposited them on the lounge next to her other garments and sandals.

"You're such a perv." She giggled then turned toward the pool and jumped in.

We swam and goofed off for about a half hour, then lounged on the zero-entry beach under a nipa umbrella, listening to music.

Leah rolled to her side in the shallow water.

"This is such a paradise."

"I've never thought of it like one," I said.

"Oh? Why not?"

"Designed and built to impress, sure. Part of business, you know? I can't tell you the number of events I've hosted out here, wooing, wining, and dining customers or suppliers for contracts. I've even hosted quite a few staff parties. I think most of our employees have been here at some point, though swimming was not on the activity list because of … well, you know."

"Yeah. Bikinis and Speedos aren't the best attire to wear in front of coworkers," she said.

"Exactly. But right now, with you here with me? Yeah. This does seem like a whole different place," I said.

She scooted a little closer in the water and kissed me softly.

"Like I said. Paradise," she whispered, stroking my man-bits with her hand.

I pointed toward her nether regions, then tapped my lips. I offered my mouth to her pussy, and it accepted the invitation.

She took my dick into her mouth as she parked herself atop my face. She got a bit carried away as one of her orgasms approached, and her pivoting hips slid forward. My extended tongue met an unexpected but still welcome place.

"Oops! Didn't mean to do that!" she grunted, repositioning her folds where she wanted them.

My mouth was fully occupied, so I couldn't speak. Instead, I moved one of the hands I was using to support her butt, and gently stroked that very spot, very softly, with the pad of my finger.

"Uhngg !" she grunted as another orgasm arrived. My finger felt her ring twitching. My nose felt her pussy's opening spasm in synchronous rhythm. I stroked her butthole and tongued inside her cunt for the duration of it.