Chapter 10

A lot has happened in the seven years since Bret won the lotto. Most of what has happened has been for the good. There had been some bad with Kim's passing being the prominent event. Bret still misses seeing her and being with her. He fondly remembers the time he spent with her and the excitement he saw in her when she discovered there was more to making love than what she had experienced with her husband.

In looking back at his life and what has happen, he acknowledges there have been changes in his life. He doesn't think that he really has changed his lifestyle too much because of winning the lotto, but with these funds he has been able to do things that he couldn't otherwise have done. He gets a pleasant surprise every year when he sees the lotto money magically deposited into his account. A few people know about him being the winner of a lotto, but he generally has been able to remain an unidentified winner.

Maria graduated from the university with honors and a degree with a major in communications. She was able to secure a job as a news reader on a small television station. She sometime later sent him an e-mail saying that she has been offered a position as the weekend news anchor on a major network news station in Chicago. The local papers covering her debut were complimentary about her ability. The television critics have speculated that with her looks and personality she possibly is being groomed to be a host of a television talk show.

When Bret heard his door bell chime on Tuesday, he opened the door as he was expecting Connie to do the weekly cleaning. He was surprised when he saw that it was Maria. She was wearing a tight blouse with a few buttons open, giving him a tantalizing display of her fine breasts and she had on designer jeans. Her hair was down and she had her makeup on. She was carrying a bucket with cleaning supplies in one hand and a mop and broom in her other hand.

She walked in, placed the items on the floor and said to Bret, "I asked mother if I could come over to see you today. I want to thank you for all you have done for me being able to have a college degree. It didn't take me long to figure out that this rich friend you said you had who was paying my college bills was you. It was a very nice thing for you to do and I really do appreciate you doing it."

"Now to show my appreciation, I can pick these items up and do your housecleaning or I can show my appreciation in another way."

Bret understood what she had just said and was taken back by it and didn't immediately respond.

Maria said, "I thought so," and took his hand to lead him to his bedroom.

Watching her wiggle out of those tight designer jeans was very erotic. She made it a point to show him that she was wearing panties. Maria had blossomed into a very beautiful lady and was very good in expressing her thanks. She spent the whole afternoon, and some of the evening with Bret before she thought it was time to leave.

It wasn't that they were constantly making love all that time while she was there, although Bret would consider himself to be quite the stud if that would have been the case. There was some love making to be sure as no man would pass up such an opportunity to be with Maria but most of the time was spent reminiscing of what had had happen and what was going on in their lives. Maria told him of what she had observed about some of the personalities Bret sees on television. He enjoyed hearing her observations and cuddling with her as she related them. She said she was dating and getting serious with a successful investment fund manager.

At his front door, she again expressed her thanks and laughingly said, "I think you should know that I do now wear panties, well... , most of the time, anyway."

For the rest of the evening Bret just relived in his mind what had happened with him and Maria. It was like a dream, a very nice dream.

In talking to Claudia over dinner one evening, she mentioned some of the things that were going on at school. She said that one of the mothers who was a co-chair of this year's fashion show had told Claudia ticket sales were slow and asked Claudia if she had any suggestions on how to improve them. Claudia said she drew a blank on how to help.

Bret pondered her comment a while and said, "Would it help if Maria Gonzales, who now is with Channel 8 news and whom you have met after that play we went to see downstate, if she was the Master of Ceremonies?"

"I am sure it would, why do you ask?"

"Let me see what I can do."

Bret phone Connie who gave him Maria's phone number. He phoned Maria, explained the situation and asked her if she would do it.

"Mr. Frazier, for what you did for me I will do anything for you and I do mean anything. Please tell the school I will be there."

Claudia was excited when Bret told her about Maria's acceptance. She later told Bret that there was an immediate bump up in ticket sales when Maria's appearance was announced. After the show was held, Claudia told him it was the largest attendance ever and was a big success. She said Maria charmed everyone with her presence and wit. When the show was over Maria mingled with the audience and gave some autographs and posed for pictures when requested. Maria said she would do this again next year and maybe she could also bring some other television personalities to this fashion show.

"What was unusual was the number of fathers that attended the show as men normally don't attend an event such as this. I guess they just want to see and meet Maria."

Bret could understand the men wanting to do that.

Bob from down the street told Bret that Sally was engaged to a nice man. Bret was later told that Sally and her fiancée had flown to Las Vegas where they were married. Bret thought that she probably used one of her travel perks for the trip and the hotel. He wished her luck, since she was a good person and had given him many enjoyable moments. He wondered if she was still into what he thought was some rather erotic foreplay.

Bret still sees Katie. She either comes in to visit him or he flies out to visit her. It still is somewhat of a ritual with her that each time they get together she will at some time wear that bikini he purchased for her. True to his word, when she does wear it, she doesn't wear it for long. They both seemed satisfied with their relationship with neither hinting that they should make it more permanent.

It took almost one year to complete the repairs to Brenda's house. Brenda and her daughter, Diane, moved out of the townhome and back to their house, but Abby decided to leave the nest. She asked Bret if she could rent the townhome on a year to year basis. He agreed to rent it to her and they agreed to a reasonable rent. She also said she would discount her fees on the legal work she does for Bret, so it was a win/win situation for both of them.

He was correct about the fire he saw in Abby's eyes, because after a few dinner dates, he was able to get her out of her leather skirt and into his bed. She was a handful and an interesting love partner. There was no bashfulness in her approach to sex. The tenaciousness she had in the courtroom, she brought with her to the bedroom. She was the one to suggest different positions when they made love. Cowgirl was Bret's favorite position with her as he could play with her breasts and she could really move her hips. She told him she enjoyed giving head. To say she was very good in doing it Bret thought would be an understatement.

Their relationship is such that he is aware that she does date other men. Those relationships have not lasted for some reason and she comes back to Bret. It only gets better every time she comes back to him. While the relationship they have with each other is a little unusual, they both admit it's very sexually satisfying.

Bret's venture into the real estate rental business has been successful. He stayed with the three townhomes, but increased his apartment building ownership to nine, to include one building with thirty-two units. None of these properties are fully paid for and do have mortgages. Jeanie has explained to Bret the tax and leverage advantages involved in having these rental buildings with fixed low interest rate mortgages and a positive cash flow. He is looking to purchase more properties, and Nancy wants to show him another thirty-two unit building.

At Jeanie's suggestion and with Abby's help, one of his buildings was converted from apartments to condos. Bret more than tripled his investment by doing this. That newly formed condo association hired Jeanie to handle the financials such as processing the monthly assessments and paying the common area bills. Jeanie started to expand her business dealings in this area of association management. Bret suggested to his townhome association that they switch over to Jeanie for financial management and they did. They are pleased with her handling and the cost savings they made over their prior service. Jeanie has hired a college student who is an accounting major to help with her expanding business.