The Proposal Ch. 03

"This makes no sense."

"I know."

"None whatsoever."

"But it should."

"It really should."

"Then why doesn't it?"

"No clue."

The three girls looked at each other one more time, then down at the notes and books spread between them, back at each other, back down, then sighed, almost perfectly in unison. They were trapped on the third floor of the university library, surrounded by a vast amount of knowledge on the topic of accounting, and yet they could not get it together. The series of problems that constituted their take home test was the Gordian Knot, and they lacked the sword to cut it.

Frustrated, Amber flipped open her computer pulled up the Internet, and googled the question at hand. A series of results popped up, and she clicked on the first one. A lengthy essay, posted by a professor from Cornell popped up. She groaned in frustration, and closed it again. Not what she was looking for.

"Any luck?" Melanie was trying the same thing, with equal results.

"None whatsoever."

"Great." Amy was the youngest amongst them, having come into college an accounting major, and having stayed that way. She was also set on graduating in four years, and anything that might in the slightest jeopardize that goal made her nervous. "What are we going to do?"

"Relax, and try to think of something." That was Ambers standard response, and when she noticed the flashing icon on the bottom right of the screen that told her she had a message, she double clicked it. Checking email is always a good way to relax.

It was a message from her bank, and she realized that it was Wednesday. Deposit day. Her brow creased and furrowed, and she slapped the computer shut.

"I have to go." The other girls just stared at her as she packed up her bags, and stormed off.

The guard just waved by now, and the movement up the elevator, through the lobby, up the elevator, through the lobby, by the receptionist, up the stairs, down the hall, was mechanical by now. She always stopped to talk to Madeleine, mostly to prevent herself from bursting in on anything important, but also because the woman was a treasure trove of information about Jonathan, and always seemed happy to see her.

This time was no different, if anything, she was even more ecstatic then usual. She came out from behind her desk, and hugged the younger woman in a tight bear wrap that squeezed the air out of Amber's lungs, holding her close.

"I can't believe you pulled that off. Mr. Games was in such a great mood today. He told me he got to see Sam, that you convinced him to go see her."

"It was his idea…"

"Don't be modest now. I remember when she was born! What a little angel. I hope her bitch mother didn't corrupt her too much. She was so sweet, even at a young age. He would bring her by the office so that we could meet her, and she was always very well behaved. What a lovely child. Thank you so much."

"You…you're welcome." She smiled, and pointed towards the door, getting a nod in response. Letting herself in, she saw him seated at his desk, face buried in one of the hundreds of reports and papers that always cluttered his desk. How he found anything was a mystery to her.

She approached him silently, knowing fully well by now which way to move across the carpet to get close before he raised his head to look at her.

"Hello there."

"Hi." She stopped where she was, adopting a posse that she knew he liked, cocking her hip out to the side, turning her shoulders just so that her tits were outlined in her blouse, skirt sliding up her leg. The smile she gave him was pure sex, and she knew that he was reacting just by the look in his eyes.

"What do I owe this rare pleasure to?"

"Got a minute for me?"

"Always."

He stood, and they dropped onto the couches that crowed the corner of his office. She kissed him first, almost climbing into his lap, her lips ravaging his, her hands tracing his chest, feeling his shirt, and tasting him. She left him breathless, and herself flooded between her legs.

"The money." The emotion in her voice was very clear and apparent.

"Yeah?"

"You can stop."

"I don't want to."

"I don't want it."

"It's yours."

"No."

"Yes."

"Don't do this!" That came out louder then she had wanted it to.

She stood up, stalking across the room, turning, then coming back. "Why do you want to do this?"

"Amber…you quit your job for me. I am basically paying for you to go to college. The money pays for your apartment, your food, your car insurance, whatever other bills you have. Face it, you have no other income. This morning I closed a deal that paid me well over ten times in one hit what I pay you if this goes on all year long. You are halfway into a semester. Why create hardship now?"

"I'll get a job!"

He stood, sighed, and took his little lioness into his arms, kissing her long and hard. "My little tiger. Why? What has changed? I love you, and it has nothing to do with money. Let me give you the money."

"It's a lot of money!"

"It's a matter of scale. If Bill Gates gives some guy on the street a million bucks, it's a lot to that guy. But to Bill, it's pocket change. It's pocket change."

"You're not Bill Gates."

"I like to think I'm better looking then him, yes."

She sighed, sinking against his chest, and kissing him. "Listen to me. I know this is not what you dreamed of. Few women of your intellect and ability do. You want to be all big and bad, do your own thing, blaze your own trail. And you will. But you meet a man, and he loves you. And he hopes that you love him just a sliver of what he feels for you. I'm a old man, and I was brought up to take care of my girl."

She smiled at him, softly kissing his face, taking it into her hands. "You won't take no for an answer, will you?"

"What a silly question. You can not even imagine how happy you have made me."

"So why even bother fighting it?"

"Now you are getting smart."

"I want diamond earrings."

"What karat?"

"You are unbelievable." But she laughed, they kissed, and then they did what comes natural on leather couches. But if you asked, he would say that she did it to him.

"So what does he call you now?"

"I don't know. I've gotten used to being his little call girl. And if he calls, I'll still come running." She grinned at Jessica across the dinner table, slowly rolling another serving of spaghetti around her fork. "Nothing really changes. I mean, it just changes how we feel about what we do. All along he wanted somebody that he could do the things he enjoys with. Now he still has that, but the person he enjoys them with shares an emotional connection with him. And I think I have the advantage of already knowing things he does not like. He does not like to deal with emotional baggage, for example. He does not like to talk about work."

"So you just aren't going to show him negative emotions?" Tammy seemed unconvinced.

"No, I'll just have to package it differently." Amber shrugged. "I didn't say that I had all the answers. I just said that I feel in love with a boy, and that he was kind enough to fall back."

"Not really a boy."

"Rain on my parade, why don't ya?"

Putting her plate in the dishwasher, she walked into her bedroom, and dropped onto the massive bed. It was better this way, she figured, since he had managed to worm himself deeply into her life anyway. He had bought the bed, the nightstand, the couch, and the closet. All the clothes inside the closet had either been paid for by him, or the money from him. School, books, just about everything had been touched by Jonathan, so why not love him? And he was a hurricane in bed. What more could one ask for in a man?

"You going to run off again?" Amy was really nervous now. They had still not completed the take home test, and it had been a whole week since their last study session. So they only had until Friday. Crunch time.

"Relax, I'm at my best under pressure." Amber smiled at the younger girl, and opened her book. That, and she had cheated.

"Look here. I did some research on my own," which was a lie, but no need to inform Amy that she had clearly broken the rule about outside help. She could tell Melanie that later. She would understand. "This is what I found. We were looking at all backwards the entire time. You have to put the standardized income first, and then add the tax rates, see, like this." She slid the printed piece of paper across the table.

"Wow. Where did you find this?"

"Where do you think?" To which the standard response was Internet, and she left it at that. No need to mention that her boyfriend was an accounting genius, and had felt the need to point out the simple mistake that the three students had been making all along.

"This is awesome. We can solve the rest of the equations now!" Which meant she would, as Melanie and Amber watched the girl go to work. At times like this, the two had learned, it was best to stay out of her way. Melanie shot Amber a knowing look, and the girl smiled back. Why spoil it?

They were done a good hour later, after they had completely written out the entire test, and put their names on it. Amy was entrusted with carrying it to class the next day, because she was the most committed to this idea, and the one least likely to forget. That, and she was headed straight home.

Melanie and Amber turned right outside the library, heading towards the Student Union. Both of them had dates that night, but both not until later. So they ambled about a bit, laughing at how the test had been resolved, and watching the first of the spring flowers come out.

"So this boyfriend of yours…is he an accountant?"

"Kinda. He works in banking."

"Cool. I need to get myself one of those. The one I have works in nothing, but aspires to greatness in the rock music field." They laughed at that one together.

"If I come across another single one, I'll let you know."

"I bet you will." The sharp voice caused them to pause and turn around. Neither of them recognized the woman at first, but then she came forward, and when the light hit her face just right, Amber gasped. It was Angelina.

"Hello Amber. Nice to meet you."

"Hello…" The younger woman stepped back a bit, leading Melanie to do the same.

"Good to finally meet the bitch putting the moves on my husband."

"Ex-husband."

"Don't get snotty with me, whore. Came all the way out to California, did ya? What for, to steal my daughter from me?" The last part was delivered in a shrill crescendo that caused heads to turn. Melanie took a step sideways, separating herself from Amber.

"We were in Vegas, and when he said that you guys were right there in L.A., I said why not…"

"Bitch, you ever come near my child again, I'll kill you with my bare hands." Angelina turned around, and stormed off.

"Who was that?"

"Look up crazy ex-wife in the dictionary, and you'll see her name there." She shook her head, pulling out her cell phone. He would probably want to hear about this.

He was wearing jeans, something she had never seen before, and she mentioned it. He shrugged, saying he had just come from the gym.

"You go to the gym?"

"Jesus woman, how do you think I build the stamina to keep up with you?" He held her door open for her, and she slipped inside, flashing him with her panties as she did so.

"Woman, thou art lose."

"I know, and you love it."

He pulled away from the curb, and they headed towards the interstate. "So what all did she say?" He was not looking at her, his eyes focused dead ahead as he listened to her recount the episode and what exactly had occurred.

"Get out my phone, call Samantha."

She dug through the center console, finally finding the small plastic device, and pulled up the number. "Hey, look at that, I'm on speed dial." Right next to his daughter.

"I need my call girl available."

"Always daddy." She listened to it ring, then the girls voice came across from a continent away.

"Hello?"

"Sam, it's Amber, your dads girlfriend?" He gave her a face, but she stuck her tongue out at him.

"Hey, what's up?"

"Ahem…do you know where your mom is?"

"Cancun with her boyfriend, why?"

"Oh…ahhh, hold on." She handed the phone to Jonathan, shrugging as she did so. He gave her a look, but took it. She could only hear one side of the conversation, and since she didn't want to turn the music up, she played with the seat warmer instead, until he dropped it back into her lap.

"She wants to come visit me."

"Cool."

"I'll send her a ticket once this thing with her mother is sorted out. She said there is something she wants to tell me."

"That she's missed you."

"She already told me that."

"Maybe she wants to say it again." They pulled up to the marquee that marked the entrance to The Club, and the valet pulled open her door. She slid out, waiting for him to come around. They were almost at the door when she caught the flash of motion out of the side of her eye, pushing him aside.

She was not entirely sure where Angelina had come from, but the woman was there, and she had fire in her eyes, and claws bared.

"I can't believe you would bring this BITCH HERE!" Again the crescendo. Without even thinking about it, Amber had put herself between Jonathan and the raging ex-wife, bell boys and attendants scattering, and two men in suits trying to push through the door to get outside.

"YOU DIRTY FUCKING WHORE!" Angelina was in a full rage now. Amber would never remember what happened, but time seemed to slow as Angelina lunged at her, and without even thinking about it the younger woman slid to the side, brought her hands up, and jabbed her assailant in the face twice, pivoted, and threw a haymaker that almost lifted her off her feet.

Angelina stumbled backwards, stunned but not stopped. The two security guards were outside now, and Jonathan was trying to say something, but she came again. Amber faked left, her whole body going right, and threw a round house punch that set the older woman up, followed by a straight driving jab that spun her on her heels, and slammed her into the side of the idling Beemer.

Time came back to its normal speed, and Amber realized that she had instinctively crouched down into a stance that had come back from way back when, throwing her body into gear when the moment had presented itself.

"You know…you're quite the bargain. Great sex, wonderful company, and a bodyguard." Jonathan took her arm, and ushered her inside. The look on his face was priceless.

"She beat her down?"

"Bitch slapped her. Well, more like bitch TKO'ed her. Right there, out on the street." Jonathan held up his hand as if he was swearing an oath.

"Did you talk to her afterwards?" Randy wanted all the details. He was a great fan of catfights.

"Yeah. Apparently she has a black belt in Tae Kwon Do, or something like that. Did it for like twelve years or something ridiculous, and then gave it up when she came to college. You should have seen it." He brought his arms up in a boxing pose, shadow boxing invisible ex-wives. "It was amazing."

"Why did Angelina come out here now?" Markus could care less who beat whom down. His legal mind had been consulted last night, and the request for a restraining order had been hand walked to a judge that they were all friends with this morning by an eager younger lawyer of his firm. A call to a fellow member of his parish had quashed the police report that Angelina had filed. Knowing the Chief of Police had its benefits.

"She probably found out that I came to see Sam. Sam turned eighteen a couple months ago, killed the child support. I still send some money out there, but she knows that when Sam goes to college, it's over. So she probably was trying for a cash grab." The fact that Jonathan even said those words stunned everybody at the table. A couple of months ago, the topic of his ex wife would have had him reaching for the tall glass of vodka, no ice, and no mixer. Amber's hold over him had to be truly powerful.

"What did your girl say?"

"Nothing. Just that if I had any other ex girls that wanted some, they could bring it on."

She danced back and forth, side to side, eyes closed, hands and feet whirling around her in motions that wanted to do things, wanted to move a certain way, but could not quite get it together. She had competed at the national level three times in Tae Kwon Do, making it as far as third place the last time she fought, harboring serious Olympic ambitions. But getting a date in small town Lincolnton was no easy task if you were known for your ability to break boards with your bare hands, so she buried that part of herself when she had come to college, deciding that it was time to become the girl that her mother had always wanted, the one that her oldest sister said she would need to be if she ever wanted to get a good man. As if Erica would know. At the tender age of 26, she had been married twice already.

And so she was a bit rusty, her mind still sharp in the kata's and forms, but her muscles and reflexes not quite able to keep up. But the thin layer that she had built over that part of herself had shattered when she had sensed the attack coming. Angelina was no brawler, no matter how much Latin fury she had. Her every move had been telegraphed, her movement slowed by the selection of shoes and fashionable clothing. Amber had been at some disadvantages herself, the skirt not exactly great fight-wear, but her flats giving her a mobility advantage. That and when she balled her fist she knew where to throw it.

She spun backwards, her feet leaving the ground and whirling through the air. She landed, punching in two directions at once, her kiap shattering the tentative silence of the empty gym. It was seven in the morning, too early for anybody but the most dedicated student.

"Bravo. Bravo. But I don't want a rematch." The voice intruded into her personal space, and her eyes flew open, watching the woman come towards her across the half court that she had been working out on. The left side of her face was still swollen, and the eye would probably be black for a while. Apparently a dentist had fixed the two teeth already, though.

"What do you want?" The younger girl straightened herself, rolling her head from side to side, two nasty pops echoing of the wood floor.

"I want to apologize. I was kinda out of control the other day."

"You know you are not supposed to come within one hundred and fifty feet of either myself or Jonathan."

"Jonathan is my ex husband, and since we have a child together, I'll go to talk to him if I choose to."

"You do that. After all, why not try to include him now that Samantha is all grown up, and he does not have to send you any more money. Is that why you came out here?"

"No. I came out here because Sam told me that her dad had found himself another toy, another young girl that he cast his spell over."

"Is that right?"

"Honey, you have no idea what you are dealing with. How old are you, nineteen?"

"None of your business." Her eyes searched the woman's blue depths, but there was nothing there. Was she on some kind of drug?

"Well, I know how he is with women. I fell for it, too, once. He is a charming man, a man who knows words. And he will hurt you, the way he hurt me."

"Really?"

"You are playing with fire, kiddo. And you will get burned. Look at yourself. Red hair the flavor of the week? Right now you have hormones and age on your side. But you do realize that he is an older man, with almost unlimited resources, and broad access to girls of your age group. He'll have a new slut next year."

"That right?"

"Deny it all you want. I just wanted to see for myself. I see it has been a steep decline since I developed the power to leave him." Angelina smiled, then turned and headed for the door.

"I guess you didn't let him see his daughter all those years so that he could not corrupt her?"