The Hunter Ch. 01

She pats my hand and says, "I will not knowingly make you jealous and I hope that if you ever feel insecure about our love or commitment to each other that you will feel secure enough to talk to me about it. I also understand that things get boring after a while, but I would never look outside of our commitment to each other for help. Our sexual appetites seem to be in agreement currently. If things get boring I hope we could talk about it and spice things up between us and not seek excitement outside of our relationship. If/ when we have doubts, I agree with your comments on communications. I understand about needing to get away to think things through. If you ever ghost me, then you better tell me that you need to think things through, and I will respect your space."

"I need to get. I love you." I said, "I hate good byes so I say WaDo. That is Cherokee for until we meet again." I pull her in for a kiss, get out of the car to grab my gear. I come around to her side of the car, kiss her again. And tell her, "I love you. WaDo"

She replies, "I love you too. WaDo."

I go through check in and the TSA checks. I make my way to the correct terminal and gate. I am thinking about my recent history, 'I can hardly believe a week ago I was occasionally bar hopping for companionship and now I am discussing life plans with a beautiful, smart, successful woman. We have so many similar stances on beliefs and our thinking is very compatible. Our sexual appetites are very similar. I am one lucky SOB!'. They call for passenger board after and I am on my way back to the Ozarks. After an uneventful flight, I get my gear, find my car and arrive home about 2:00. Travel seems to take it out of me. I sent Ashley a text telling her good night that I had made it home safe. Sleep came quick. Thank you lord.

I get up, not as early as I normally do, put on some running gear. I put my earbuds in, select some music from my library and do some stretches. Once I feel stretched, I head off and jog/ run to a park about a mile and a half from my house. This park has workout stations all around for push-ups, sit ups, chin ups, a manual elliptical, and a set of parallel bars. There is no one using the equipment, so I don't have to wait. I get in three set in no time and the jog run home. I shower and fix breakfast. While I am eating, I check emails and clean them up. I message Ashley and let her know that I miss her and am thinking about her and set up a facetime session for 8:00 (CST). After I clean up my breakfast mess and load the dishwasher. I search for financial advisors in or near the town that I live. I Decided on the local AG Edwards branch and set up an appointment for tomorrow at 10:00. I had the rest of the day free, so I grabbed my Ruger 9mm, AR-15, AR-10, 300 blackout, and my Browning.45 and head out to a local shooting range. This place is out in the middle of nowhere and is set up like a giant X. The office is near the center of the X so the parking lot makes up one leg of the X. There is a long-distance range for shooting up to 800 meters another leg of the X is set up for shooting of up to 200 meters. And the last part of the X is for handguns typically under 50 meters. I go sign in at the office and buy some paper to punch. The guy is friendly enough and asks me what I am shooting. I tell him and he lets me know that I can take my truck to the various parts of the facility, so I don't have to lug my gear around. I thank him, shake hands and head out. It was good to smell burnt gunpowder again. I wasn't going to challenge for an Olympic shooting team spot any time soon. My groupings were tight either center mass or head shot.

On the drive back Ashley drifted into my thoughts, I smiled thinking about her and my feelings toward her and our potential to become us. I stopped by my favorite chicken place and got a fried chicken cobb salad with honey mustard dressing and a crispy deluxe chicken sandwich. I got home, ate, and cleaned my weapons. I had my Ruger disassembled when I got a facetime request from Ashley. Which I accepted and her beautiful face appeared on my monitor. She really is a vision of loveliness. We exchange pleasantries and tell each other about our day. I explain to her I am cleaning and reassembling my Ruger P95. She tells me there is a contract about to be let for witness protection up in Chicago and to keep an eye on the VC website if I was interested. I tell her I had an appointment with a local AG Edwards branch tomorrow to get set up for contractor work. I had reassembled the Ruger and tested the hammer release. Ashley heard the audible click and asked, "Hammer release work OK?"

I smiled, and said, "Hammer release sat." I asked about Chicago, but she wouldn't or couldn't give any more details as the contracts were not finalized, but the lawyers were in the final negotiations and should be completed in the next couple of days. We decided it was time to end our facetime session and call it a night. We blew each other kisses and said our goodnights and closed the session. I texted her later 'Good night Lover with a heat emoji'. She replied with a red lip emoji.

I got up the next morning at my normal time (0430). I took care of business (TCB), got dressed in my workout gear. I do some stretches and some jumping jacks and some deep knee bends for warm up, then ear buds - check, debit card - check, music selection - check. I have a pouch that I wear around my neck for my phone, debit card, cash, whatever; it works for me. I decide to run to the gym today, it's about two miles from my house. I get there and there is a small early morning crowd, mostly on treadmills and ellipticals. I scan my membership card and get me a bottle of water. Julie comes over smiling, and says, "I thought we might have lost you. Haven't seen you in a few days. You doing OK?" Julie is a part owner and aerobics instructor here at the gym. Her and her husband Tom both graduated from the local university. Tom is an engineer for a local aeronautics company. Julie got a degree in physical therapy and works part time with the local university's athletic department.

I smile and tell her, "No you're not about to lose me. Be I may be here less frequent. I still plan on coming in when I am in town. I went to Atlanta for a few days for a job interview. I will be doing contract work, and I be required to travel as part of my work."

She smiled and said, "Good luck."

I had a good work out and got home about 7:30. I texted Ashley 'Good morning lover'. I showered and fixed myself pancakes, eggs and sausage for breakfast. I checked emails - nothing of interest and deleted junk and responded to what I needed to. Got dressed and headed to the local AG Edwards office. I get there a few minutes early. I am greeted by an older good-looking woman. She stands, smiles, and says, "Mr. Jones?"

"That's me." I reply.

"Mr. Ross will we ready for you in a few minutes. Can I get you anything? Coffee, water?" she asks.

"Water sounds good. Thank you." I state.

"Excellent. If you will have a seat in here." leading me to another room, "I'll bring your water," she continues.

They had some of the financial trade rags on a table. I got one that looked interesting and started to read an article. About fifteen minute later a man came into the room and introduced himself as Mr. Ross. "Mr. Jones?" he asked.

"Yes." I answered.

"Why don't you come into my office and let me know how I can help you today." He led me into an office and closed the door. He turned and extended his hand and said, "Please call me Bill."

"Call be Jed"

"Well, Jed, what can I do for you today?" He asked

I explained, "Unless you can convince me otherwise, I believe I would like to set up an LLC. I and going to be an independent contractor and I'm looking to minimize my risk and hopefully minimize tax liabilities because of these activities. My travels will be both domestic and international. I hope to consult with you before I go on an international trip to see if we need to change anything that we set up today. I also want to set up an account with a larger bank, like US Bank or Bank of America so that if my situation does change and a relocation is required, then I would just change branches."

"Do you have a partner or partners in mind?" he asked.

"Yes, I am currently single. I was planning on having my mother as a partner in this LLC. I was thinking I would eliminate any inheritance taxes and she would take over the company should anything happen to me. Then if / when I get married the corporation would restructure to accommodate changing conditions." I explained.

"It sounds like you have thought this through." he nodded in agreement. I gave him my personal information. He made a copy of my driver's license and passport. He told me, "It will cost $600 to get everything set up. $500 for filing the corporation documentation and $100 for setting up the corporate bank account. We have a local branch of Bank of America. I'll have the documentation ready for signatures about 2:00. Then you will need to go to the bank and sign their forms. They like to put a face to the account."

"Sounds good. I'll see you at 2:00." I spoke. We stood up, shook hands and he showed me out. I wrote a check for $600 and left. I was starting to get hungry so there was a soul food joint nearby. I walked in and started salivating immediately. I heard, "Sit anywhere you want honey!" So, I did. I found a nice table in the corner so I could see both the entrance and the kitchen. An attractive woman with almond skin walked in my direction with a glass of water in one hand and a menu in the other. She set the water on the table smiled and handed me the menu. She said, "I haven't seen you in here before. Would you like something to drink besides water?

"Yes. Ice tea please with Splenda if you have it, or sweet N Low." I replied. "This is my first time, but this place smells wonderful."

I am Laverne, I will be looking after you today. I will get you some tea and sweetener. Look over the menu and see if you find anything you like." She winked and turned around to get the drink. WOW, she had a beautiful figure and a nice sway to her hips when she walked. 'Easy JJ easy.' I thought. The menu was straight forward smothered pork chops, fried chicken, or meatloaf. They had mac and cheese, brown beans, okra, or fried potatoes for sides. Bread choices were a roll or cornbread. For dessert, your choice of banana pudding or possum pie. Just as I finished reading the menu, Miss Laverne appeared with my drink and asked, "What looks good to ya honey?"

I smiled and said, "Well your today's special board is wrong."

"Oh yea? Honey why is it wrong?" she asked.

"I don't see Miss Laverne on the special board, and you look awful special to me." I smiled, winked, and continued. "I'll have the pork chops with okra and brown beans, cornbread and I'll have the possum pie to go."

"You got it sugar." The words dripping from her mouth. I got here a little before noon and glad I did. This place was getting full fast. Good sign, maybe the food is good. Miss Laverne brought my food and asked, "You need anything else, now?"

I just smiled shook my head and said, "Not right now. The food looks delicious." She left and I dug in. I didn't realize I was that hungry until I started to eat. The food was served on a platter and the generous portions filled it. I cleaned my plate except for the pork bones. No sooner had my fork hit the platter then Miss Laverne arrived with the check and my possum pie in a to-go container. She winked and left. I gave her a nice tip and got up from the table. I went to the cashier, paid my bill, and left.

I had some time to kill so I decided to walk a little. On the next block there was a jewelry store. I did a little window shopping and decided to go in. I was thinking of Ashley and thought I would get her something. I didn't know what her favorite stones were, but I heard somewhere that you can't go wrong with diamonds. I told the saleswoman, "I am in a new relationship and just want to get her something, not too outrageous, that says I love you and I'm thinking of you. I am looking to spend $200 to $300 tops."

She smiled and said, "Well you have arrived at the right place for that." She showed me several rings, necklaces, and earrings. There was one nice necklace with matching earrings nest to where we were standing. I pointed to them and asked if I could see them. The set was $650. Both the earrings and necklace were heart shaped, and the settings were excellent at helping the diamonds catch the light. She said, "The gentleman has very nice taste in jewelry."

I thought about them for a minute admiring the sparkle and imagining Ashley modeling them. I asked, "If you please, wrap them separately."

"Excellent. Not a problem." She spoke. She wrapped them and we headed to the cash register where I paid for them and thanked her and left.

Walking back to the Ag Edwards office I called my mom and told her what I was doing with the corporation, and she would be my business partner, for the LLC. She understood and we caught up a little. Nothing earth shattering, she told me it was nice to hear my voice and to take time out and call more often. I told her I loved her and said "WaDo."

I got back to the AG Edwards branch a few minutes early. The receptionist remembered me and pulled out a folder with several documents in it. There were several post-it tabs on various documents indicating places for me to sign. It only took a few minutes then she gave me one document and said, "Don't sign this one until you get to the bank. Their notary needs to witness the signature." I nodded in understanding. She said, "As soon as I notarize these documents you can act as a corporation. It will take 2-3 day for the final approvals to take place, but in the meantime use your social security number as your corporate ID until I contact you with your corporate ID. I will call and email it to you when I hear something. Don't feel like you are in this alone, If you have questions, then call us, and yes we do taxes as well, if you want or need our help."

I smiled and thanked her. I left to head over to the bank. When I got to the bank, I went in and spoke to a teller. She pointed me to a woman in a blue flower print dress. She was in charge of new accounts. I went to her and introduced myself and told her I was referred here by AG Edwards. She was the one that had talked to Bill and understood what was going on. She looked at the document that I was holding and asked for my driver's license. Everything looked in order and she asked me to sign the document. I did and she gave me a passbook that had my account information including balance. I stood, shook her hand, thanked her for her time, and left. In and out in less than 15 minutes. I thought 'JJ Consulting LLC is now open for business.' I smiled all the way home.

I got home about 4:30 and had about three hours to kill until I got to see Ashley on facetime. I needed to eat light tonight due the monster soul food lunch. Damn that was good food. I decided on a sandwich for dinner. I looked in the fridge and all the makings were there. I lightly toasted three pieces of bread to make a club sandwich. I constructed the perfect club sandwich along with a glass of iced water and some puffy Cheetos my feast for one was complete. I looked in the freezer and set out some fish to thaw for tomorrow. I ate and cleaned up my mess. I turned on the tube to see if anything exciting was going on in the world. That didn't last long. I switched to a music channel and listened to the classic rock and roll channel. I locked up the front of the house and went to my office. All this business stuff got me to thinking about the future. I was searching online for estate planning. I decided to look into a trust or living will. I search around and found a printable trust packet. I printed it out and stated filling it out. Man, there's a lot of ideas that I really had not thought about. Much of it did not apply to me. Right now, everything would go to mom. Or if she was gone, sell everything and give the proceeds to the wounded warrior project. I did want an envelope with bank account info, safe codes, and life insurance account info to go to mom so she could settle my affairs. Hopefully one of my brothers or sisters would help her out. I would talk to Bill about this tomorrow.

I got a facetime request notification on my computer which I eagerly accepted. There on the screen was the face and upper body of my lover. First words out of her mouth, "I miss you; I have been thinking about you all day. I miss waking up with you and I miss going to bed with you at night." I could see the emotions in her face. She continued, "Tell me about your day, then I will tell you about mine."

I told her, "I got back into my routine today, ran to the gym and had a good workout and ran home. I showered and fixed pancakes and eggs and sausage for breakfast. I went to the local branch of AG Edwards and got JJ Consulting LLC set up." I saw her bounce a little and she clapped her hands together excitedly. I continued, "I went and had lunch at a soul food place. I had not been there before I got there a little before noon and I was glad I did because the place filled up quickly right after 12:00. The food was good, and the service was too. I walked off lunch a little by strolling around doing some window shipping. Then I went to the bank and set up a corporate bank account. I set it up at Bank of America so that if I needed to relocate in the future then I could change branches and not have to change banks."

"Sounds like you had a very productive day. I am so glad that you got the corporations set up." she said. "Like I said, I have been thinking about you a lot. That old wife's tale about absence makes the heart grow fonder. Seems to be true on this side of the house. Sophie mentioned something to me today. She asked if everything was OK, and I told her I just missed my new friend. What are we? Are we a couple? Are we boyfriend and girlfriend?" She noticed my smile and continued, "Look mister don't just sit there grinning. Tell me something."

Well, I am glad that it isn't just me. I have been having difficulties concentrating today. I miss you. I miss being able to look in your eyes and holding you when I want. I miss sleeping with you and waking with you. I love you and I want to develop a long-term relationship with you. I consider us to be boyfriend and girlfriend." She bounced up and down again and was clapping her hands excitedly. "We just need to figure out this distance thing between us. I currently don't have a steady job here. I don't have any real commitments here."

She was smiling and said, "I could talk to Roberto about reducing my hours and just becoming a contractor. I don't have any family close. Other than my job I don't really have and commitments here. The cost of living is probably lower where you are than here in Atlanta. My house is not paid for, and I only have a couple of years of equity built up into it. I think we could make either location work for us. We just need to decide."

"I agree, I think we could make either location work. We just maybe need to put pen to paper and see which side makes better sense.", I said, "My mortgage is paid, I just have utilities and any other bill I create. I am sure that if / when we move in together, we would need to remodel to make this bachelor's house more Ashleyfied, or sell and get something that might better fill our needs. I am open. I don't feel strongly about either staying here or moving there. If anything, I can use the gym at the VC faculty and save on a gym membership. I am starting the corporation with my mother as my business partner. When I get married, the corporation can restructure to reflect changes in life conditions. This corporation is making me think about the future. I am going to set up a trust/ living will. I looked it up online and printed out a living will packet. I am looking it over and I am going to talk to Bill, my financial advisor about it tomorrow."