You Don't Have To Be Coy, Roy

Anne was a stunningly attractive woman, far more attractive than I remembered. Then again, about all I saw of her was he body as she slammed into me. I still remembered what her fist felt like. As we talked, I found out she held three black belts in different styles and was proficient in two more. She held a degree in Criminal Justice and had worked as a cop until she got tired of the politics and harassment. Until now, she had freelanced as a bodyguard and was happy to work for Jim, telling me she wouldn't mind a permanent position.

It occurred to me as we talked that all my investments and the friends I had made over the years were unintentionally geared towards this situation. Not something I had in mind as I said "I do." I remembered Jodi's crack about my luck and grinned. Maybe she had something there.

Five minutes after the curtain opened, I handed Anne out of the van, getting a glimpse of her four inch heels. "How can you fight wearing those?"

She grinned. "I don't wear anything with a strap. These are slip on and I can be out of them in a second. Sometimes, if I'm not in a hurry, I leave them on. You'd be amazed how a four-inch heel buried in your crotch will take the fight out of someone."

Well then, good to know. Her heels meant she towered over me by a good three inches, but I didn't care. I doubted seriously anyone would notice me beside her and she laughed. "I'm usually dressed in business attire. It feels good to glam up now and then. You seem to thinks so, anyway."

I told her I heartily approved of her outfit, basically eye to eye with her cleavage. Her little black dress was what she called a 'high-low," high on the thigh and low on the cleavage. It got my vote.

It got the vote of everyone else who noticed us slip into our balcony seats. I looked around as the play carried on. It had been a decision of my friends to go all out, every guy in a tux, every woman 'dolled to the nines', as they put it. Jim was with his wife and at forty-five, she still had a killer body and her silver hair seemed to glow. Jason was with his new bride, his 'little nerdette', as he liked to call her. She had on a very nice dress. The purple dress matched her hair perfectly. Celeste and Jodie escorted each other. If Jodie had her way it would have been a full date. I think this was the first time I'd ever seen her in a dress. A dress designed to show off her hard body to its full potential. Celeste was as stunning as usual.

Jimi's bosses at the agency didn't attend at my request. They were pretty surprised when I asked them not to fire her. "She didn't steal from you. I'm pretty sure she does a good job, so I'd like it if you would keep her on at least until the divorce is over. It would be hard for her to ask for support when she has a good paying job."

They admitted she did a good job. One wanted to fire her on general principles but the other, cooler headed, partner talked her out of it. It all depended on how much publicity and fallout occurred.

The play was pretty good, a scaled down version of "My Fair Lady." I watched Jimi onstage and she seemed to glow. It hurt me to see how happy she looked. I wondered what her expression would be like in about ninety minutes. Jack and Philip were the male leads and they ate up the applause. The curtain calls lasted fifteen minutes. They disappeared backstage before going out to the lobby to receive the adulation of their fans. I had two off duty cops present to make sure nothing got out of hand and three of the bodyguards were acting as process servers. Each carried a dozen red roses. Jimi was thanking a fan when she saw me and she really seemed happy to see me. When I didn't approach, she frowned and tried to work her way to me.

One of the process servers stopped her, saying the roses were from an admirer. "Your name is Jimi McCoy, isn't it?"

"Yes, it is."

"Well then, this is also for you." She handed her aa big manila envelope and snapped a picture of Jimi holding it. "You've been served. Goodnight."

She stood for a minute trying to process what was happening, glancing over at me before opening the package. There were several pictures of the action from the night before, the top one of her between the legs of the DA's wife while Philip plowed her from the back. Jack was on his knees blowing the other guy, and the woman Janice was blowing him.

Jimi didn't say a thing. She looked at me for a second, then her eyes rolled up and she fainted. When she did some of the photos scattered and the friends trying to give her aid got an eye-full.

Jack looked like he wanted faint when he got his photo of him with the married Janice riding his face while the DA's wife was riding him reverse cowboy. Maybe the million I was asking for in the alienation suit helped his distress.

The DA's wife, to this day I can't remember her name, just rocked back and forth going "No, no, no" over and over. Janice screamed and ran from the building.

Philip's reaction was the most interesting. Besides the papers for the lawsuit there was a note telling him the DA, the one with the wife he was banging, was due a package detailing all his illegal activities. He dropped the envelope and looked around wildly before settling on me.

"I'M GONNA FUCKING' KILL YOU!"

He charged full speed, only to be met by Anne's heel to his groin. Damn, that looked every bit as painful as she said. He was on the ground whimpering and holding his groin when she reached down, grabbed a handful of hair, and dragged him half upright. She grinned in his face. "Hi, honey. Miss me?"" Then she gave him an elbow strike to the face. It was a little overboard but our lawyer made a case it was just the adrenalin of the moment and she thought he made a threatening move towards her client.

The cops came. The EMT's showed up. It was Deja-vu all over again. The exception being this was the last time. Upon the advice of my lawyer I made myself unavailable for a few days, long enough for the real papers to be served. I never returned to the house, I'd bought it for Jimi and I didn't want it anymore.

In the end I gave her fifty grand, the exact amount I'd added to the infidelity fund while we were married. I also gave her the house, but she also got the last ten years of payments. I did give her the car because I'd bought it for her birthday the year before. All told, she netted about 175,000 in assets. A good number, but it compared poorly with what she had lost. I found it hard to understand why she tried to rob the bank when she already had the combination to the safe. All she had to do was remain faithful.

Of course, she tried to spin it. I wasn't buying anything she had to sell. In one of our few conversations I asked why she had swallowed every lie, why she never once checked to see if any of it was true. She had the money to hire a private investigator, or, God forbid, talk to me. She had no definitive answer. A week before the divorce she gave up and signed the papers.

They did keep her on at the agency, but the warm working relationship was gone and it was pretty evident she would never rise higher than she was at the time it all went down. It was no surprise when she resigned and took a position out of town.

All right, this is where I talk about all about the hot sex with multiple partners who were all just aching to console me. It was a year or more before I even looked at other women. It took me that long to get my head back together.

*****

All my friends and business associates stayed close, especially Celeste and Jodie. After six months they decided I was going to be all right and left me to my own devices. I still woke up reaching across the bed for Jimi. It takes a long time for years of love to fade away.

The whole episode made me a little nervous, so I eased off on investing for a while, consolidating cash inflow. It would put me in a better position should something lucrative came along.

I did make one more investment before I scaled back. The guy that had reached out about the doughnut franchise called to see if any progress was being made. He seemed destroyed when I gave him an abridged version of what had happened. His response was to express ship eight different flavors of his doughnuts, three dozen of each, to my office. They were piled in front of the door when I arrived.

I got as many people as I could together for a taste test and they all agreed. They were the best they'd ever tasted. Even Jodie, health Nazi that she was, tried to sneak a dozen out as she left. My favorite was a molasses doughnut. It had to have instant artery hardening capabilities and contain at least two million calories, but I couldn't stop eating them.

The guy was from Louisiana, so I flew down to look over his operation. He had one shop in a small town and it took me forty minutes to get in the door because of the customers. I got a doughnut and a surprisingly good cup of coffee, another Louisianan product heavily blended with chicory. When things eased up I introduced myself. The counter manager turned out to be his daughter and she yelled into the back.

"Pops! The Money Man is here!"

The guy bustled from the back, soaked in sweat with a collapsed paper hat on his head. He was about five-three in any direction you wanted to measure. A Cajun from a small parish no one had ever heard of, his speech was hard to follow but he beamed with enthusiasm and was impossible not to like.

I tried to talk business but he stopped me. "I make the doughnuts. My daughter handles the business end. She thinks we could go statewide, maybe four or five more shops. You should talk to her. If she says okay we do business. Gotta go back to work!"

I set up an appointment for six o'clock that night, snagged another molasses doughnut and left.

The appointment turned out to be at her home. She fed me an authentic Cajun dinner, most of the dishes really good if exceptionally spicy. Her husband was there, home from a job on an oil rig. She had three children from the age of three to thirteen, all girls.

After the dishes were cleared and we all had cups of the coffee that I was getting addicted to, we hashed things out. The first thing I wanted to know was how he came up with the recipes and what made them taste so much better.

"Pops makes his own flavorings, from vanilla on up. He makes most of it in fifty-gallon food grade drums and they have to sit at least a year. If we go into business together, we'll have to find somewhere to produce in volume."

"That could be a problem with the startup."

"We have enough to run three stores for a year, besides ours, right now. How many did you have in mind?"

She nearly fainted when I told her. "Three will do for a test market, but you have no idea how original your doughnuts taste. My vision is to have one in every city in the state with a population of over 20,000. I thought we'd branch out to Texas, Alabama, Georgia, until we cover the South. I figure in ten years we can be nationwide, maybe even international in select markets. How does that sound?"

"It sounds like too much. I don't know if my Dad will go for that. We can talk to him and see."

It took about a month to convince him to go with my proposal. Since I was shouldering the burden financially, I got the lion's share of the profits. He finally agreed when I told him I'd put a buyout clause in the contract, five per cent a year until he owned it totally. The startup deal was 70/30, and I exempted his original shop. He retained sole ownership of that one.

Then it was a struggle to get him to focus on making enough flavorings to support the stores. I had to bring in experts to explain how it worked, and that we had to legally protect the recipes to thwart imitators. I put a clause in the contract that stated at some time in the future we consider bottling and selling the flavors as a secondary business.

Eight months after we signed the contract, we opened a shop in New Orleans. When the locals discovered how good they were they tried to keep it a secret, but the ad agency killed that. Soon they were so swamped we had to add a second location just to make doughnuts. Then we opened in Shreveport and Baton Rouge. Word had gotten out, especially when a Food Network star did a show on them. Celeste did a disclaimer at the start of the show, saying she was a personal friend and though I owned the majority of the stock I had little to do with the making of the doughnuts. Gaston was a big fan and could not believe she was doing a show on his little enterprise.

We had the flavor factory running three shifts and they barely kept up. Gaston insisted that they age at least six months and if they didn't pass his personal test they had to remain in barrels.

After we got established, I hired a well-respected CEO and made Gaston's daughter his second in command. He had come out of retirement to train her and just as soon as he felt comfortable with her progress, he'd go back into retirement with a significantly larger retirement fund.

Then I kind of just vegged out. Oh, I kept up my exercise regimen or Jodie would have killed me. I took a lot of trips to remote places, sleeping under the stars and enjoying nature. One trip impressed me so much I had an agent looking for some land in the area, thinking I may eventually build a vacation home that could become a retirement one, later on.

I still checked on everything I invested in, took meetings, but everything was running smoothly so I didn't worry. I was checking on the bar. The Terrible Three: Amy, Desiree, and Tina wanted a meeting. Amy laid it out for me. "This place is a gold mine for you. We think it's time for you to branch out. Other towns could benefit from what we've achieved here. Our community is crying out for places like this, places where we can feel safe. We've done a little research and found a good spot. The location is great, it's in a low crime progressive area, so we think we'll be accepted with a minimum of protest. Would you consider it?"

We did. Jodie decided she didn't want to participate except as a limited investor. I wasn't really interested either so I laid it out for them. "I'll invest 30%, Jodie is good for another 20. The rest you have to raise on your own."

"We can't raise that kind of money."

"No, but you can borrow it."

"We don't have credit for that."

I grinned. "Yes, you do. I'll loan it to you. I'll keep the payments low and the interest rate will be prime plus one per cent. You can call on me if you need help, but this will be your business."

When the crying and hugging stopped, I pulled the papers out of my case and gave them to Amy. "Look them over, then get a lawyer to do a follow-up. Sign them and you're in business."

The buyout clause was in: five per cent a year until they owned it all.

*****

I was getting ready to leave and it was just Tina and I in the office.

"Roy, can I ask a favor?"

"Depends. How big is the strap-on?"

Tina giggled. "Don't say that too loud! My boyfriend can be one jealous bitch and he loves my strap-on. Ten inches."

"Too much information. What's the favor?"

"We're have a Prom next month. It's for all our people who for obvious reasons never got to attend one in high school. It's turned into a big deal. We had to rent the local college's gym and we've reached capacity. Well, almost. There is one set of tickets left."

"And?"

"And we want you to take Amy. She's crushed on you since the first time she saw you. Her boyfriend just dumped her for a real girl. he said some pretty hurtful things to her as he left. She was really looking forward to the Prom, and now she won't go."

"Tina, I..."

"Stop right there. We know you're not attracted to girls like us. If you ever were, we'd smother you. But you like Amy as a friend, and lots of friends go to events together. Give her a nice memory."

I thought about it that night before I turned in. The next morning, I surprised Amy by showing up at her business. She'd gone out on her own and since she was sole owner, she dressed full time. Most of her customers never knew. She rose from her desk. "Roy? Is something wrong at the club?"

I took her hand. "Nothing wrong. Miss Amy, would you consider allowing me to be your escort to the Prom? I happen to think I look pretty good in a tux and I'm sure you'll be beautiful. Well?"

She went pale and I thought she might faint but she recovered nicely. She had her door open and all six of her employees could hear us. "My, this is so sudden. Let me think. Yes!"

She threw her arms around my neck and I felt the tears on her cheek. I let her hold me for a long time before she turned me loose. "I expect fine dining and a really nice corsage."

"Noted. Until then." I think her whole group charged into her office as I left. I had a feeling it was going to be an unproductive day.

I showed up in a limo at the appointed time, corsage in hand. She was absolutely beautiful. Shining blonde hair in an elaborate braid, strapless black evening gown that she seemed poured into with a high slit on her right thigh. I got a glimpse of black garters when I handed her into the limo.

We turned heads at the most expensive restaurant in town when we entered. The guys stared in undisguised lust and the women stared in admiration. After an excellent but light meal, we arrived at the venue. The decorations were perfect, the refreshments top drawer. We had a table with Desiree and her new husband, Tina and her boyfriend, and in a surprise, with Celeste and Aaron, one of the first people we'd met at the first time we visited the bar.

We had our pictures taken, first as couples, second as a group, and finally with each other individually. The highlight was Amy and I getting voted King and Queen of the prom. We shared the spotlight dance and she cried the whole song. When it was over, she pulled back and looked me in the eye. "I love you."

She saw the concern on my face. "Not like that. Well, maybe like that. if you liked girls like me, I'd have your ring on my finger before you knew what was going on. No, I love you for being the friend I needed when I needed one most, the friend who believes in me enough to loan me money for a business, and for making me believe it was all right to be who I am."

I kissed her. Bet she didn't see that coming. When we broke I grinned. "If I did like girls like you, you'd be my choice."

I saw a guy watching us like a hawk, a hungry look in his eyes. Painfully shy, he worked up enough nerve to come over and ask if he could have a dance with Amy. I told him to ask the lady and she surprised him by agreeing. We watched them on the floor. "That's Robbie. He's still finding his way, trying to come to grips with being attracted to girls like us. He's got a major crush on Amy but is scared to death to do anything about it. Looks like he finally found some backbone."

They danced two more dances and I saw them get their phones out. The night ended with a buzz. Many would remember this as the best night of their lives. Robbie came over and stumbled through an invitation to an after party. The whole crowd was going but I bowed out. "I'm leaving pretty early tomorrow. I wouldn't mind Amy going if she had someone to look over her. Could you do that for her, Robbie? Understand that if she gets hurt you'll be the one I come looking for."

He stuttered through his assurances as I looked at Amy.

"You sure?"

"Remember, we came as friends. You go have fun. I expect to hear good things about the rest of the night."

She jumped into my arms for a bone-crushing hug before locking down on Robbie's hand. Celeste surprised me by asking if I'd drop her off. Her date had found another after-party and an escort to go with.

We got into the limo. If the driver noticed I left with someone different than who I came with he didn't express it. "Where are you staying?"