Chapter 38: Reflections on a Disaster

After the chaos of the last days, losing my job and all that, champagne in the first-class lounge was welcome and when I entered the plane, I took another glass and decided to relax. Lunch was great with a very good red wine - it had to be to survive the low pressure in the plane. I reflected on my past, present and future life after this disaster in Hawaii. My dream of a career was destroyed because of that stupid Texan? I had done well, was selected as the Keynote Speaker, was applauded by everybody and then this idiot happened. Why did he do this? Jealousy? Excess of pride? Need to show off as an alpha male? Well, it had happened and now I had to look at my future - what to do? It looked more uncertain than before, and I remembering what a French wise man had once said (and paraphrasing Paul Valery), I decided that my current problem was that my future was not anymore the same as before. But that was a problem I could not resolve at this moment - it had to wait.

I closed my eyes and to my surprise had to be woken by the stewardess. The exit was painless, and Maureen was waiting at the gate. She was bliss for my eyes; dressed in a green blouse with a white frock, her hair in a ponytail, and a big but worried smile on her face. She jumped forward when she saw me and hugged me.

“Darling, what happened? Allan called, but we didn’t understand the problem. Let’s go to Ellen’s place; she is waiting for some answers, too.”

The Porsche was waiting on the curb with some young kids admiring it. When Maureen stepped in, they were all over her.

“How fast does it go, Miss? How big is the engine? What is the acceleration time? Have you ever driven it over 120 kilometers?” and it went on and on. She looked at me from her side when she mumbled something on the over the 120 kilometers/hour speed. I promised myself that I would inquire more in a quiet moment, since at that speed any accident was scary.

Ellen received us at the door. She was a lady and dressed accordingly - white blouse, long black skirt, decently closed shoes, and as with Maureen, a big but worried smile.

“Give me a kiss, James. You must have gone through hell, dear!” She embraced me and kissed me sweetly. “Come in and have some tea. In an English home tea is always available and welcome.”

She told me that Allan had already called her and the situation in Hawaii was disastrous. Mr. Bush was shunned by everyone and even his NY colleagues were furious. It had been decided that he would go back to HQ to wait what would happen. Allan thought that even the Chairman could not help him anymore and that he would have to retire. It also seemed that the Chairman was rather furious with me.

Tea was served, and when the conversation came back for the fifteenth time on the same subject, I asked to be excused. I wanted to go home, have a shower, a glass of wine, and go to sleep. Ellen just looked at me.

“James, you´ll have your shower, your glass of wine and go to sleep, but you´ll do this here. Don’t you remember that you are family? Do you want Maureen to decide which one she has to leave alone - me or you?”

I knew better than to dispute this with Lady Ellen and did what I was told. A shower, a light dinner with a glass or two of a good red wine, and then to bed. I was already gone when Maureen joined me, she took me in her arms and whispered, “Go to sleep, darling. I’m here and protect you, and when you wake up, the first thing you’ll see is my face. I love you so much!”

The first thing I saw in the morning was her face smiling at me. “You forgot local rules last night, but I forgive you. You better not forget it this morning, though!” and she slowly drew the blanket down offering her beautiful breasts for my pleasure. I feasted on them, but when I started to become adventurous, she stopped me.

“James, Ellen is waiting for us with breakfast. We´ll be at home tonight and you can take whatever you want and soon whoever you want, since Jenny will be back also tomorrow.”

I got up, showered and ready to have breakfast and go to the office. The ladies looked at me.

“James, have you forgotten that you have resigned? By the way, this is Sunday! You don’t have to rush anymore; relax and let’s discuss what we’ll do today.”

I agreed that it would be better to go to the office on Monday afternoon, when Allan was back, as it would be less weird for everyone. I reminded them about the dresses and the coronet, and both agreed immediately to go and check on the progress of these projects. I also realized that we had forgotten to get Eileen into the picture. Maureen reminded me to call her.

She was at home and when I told her what had happened, she was irate. “I’ll cancel the contract with that stupid company! How could they do this to you? What are you going to do now?” I heard a smile coming into her voice. “Call me tonight, dear. There are options we should discuss with more tranquility.”

We had lunch at the Quay and then we went first to the dressmaker. He had opened his atelier for us, and Maureen’s gown was coming along beautifully. It tightly followed the curves of her body, showing off her firm breasts and her tight waist and hips, and temptingly offering a look at her long legs through a slit at the side. There was a long slit in the front offering room for her pendant and a taste of what was hidden beneath the fabric, with the glittering green and blue threads intertwined to form an image where your eyes could get lost. Jenny had followed a similar style only a bit more courageous - a daring décolleté, an almost non-existing back and a frame for a very beautiful woman.

Ellen was pleased. “Maureen, you’ll look stunning, and Jenny will give you a good race for the most beautiful woman of the evening. You’ll have fun!”

Maureen had called the private number of the goldsmith and as a favor, he had also agreed to show us the coronet on this Sunday. He had the coronet almost ready; the opals were of the same color and hue, and the main big opal in the middle was a beautiful stone. The setting was simple, but exquisite and the red gold circle was showing off the engraving of our family´s coat of arms. For Jenny´s tiara I had told the guy to use white gold for the circle and jade as an adornment. Jade is a translucent emerald-green jadeite, which is the most valuable variety of these crystals; the white gold and the greenish stone complemented each other very well.

I looked at Maureen to see her reaction, but she smiled satisfied and only said, “My coronet is wonderful, James, and I forgive you that it’s not a crown. But you really should have tried more, Count de Winter! The tiara is beautiful also, and I already see the joy in Jenny’s eyes. She never had anything beautiful, and you’ll certainly enjoy her fun and gratitude!”

It would look stunning on her, with her beautiful blue eyes and her long black hair complementing the gold and the jade.

We had tea close to the jeweler and then went to the airport to pick up the rest of the family Since Ellen accompanied us, I had called the driver who was normally serving us. Allan’s driver was already waiting at the curb; nobody would question the driver to stand in a no-parking area - the Bentley demanded attention and permission. We found a parking lot close by and waited for the passengers to disembark.

Allan was the first to come and immediately went to embrace Ellen. “Are you well? Did they treat you properly?”

She nodded and laid her head on his shoulder. “I was treated like royalty, darling, but I missed you very much!”

We stepped away to give them a moment of privacy and then I saw Jenny coming with a bunch of our guys. It was a pandemonium, and I was greeted with enthusiasm, and all tried to talk at the same time about how they had shown this idiot what they thought of him, how they regretted that I was not there to enjoy the weekend with them, and whether I really would leave. I tried to avoid any official statement about my intentions and promised to stay in touch.

Jenny was standing there, just smiling at me. She knew that her welcome would be much more intimate in our home when we were alone. We said goodbye to everyone, and I told Allan that I would be in the office on Monday after lunch. This would give him some time to look at the paperwork necessary to process my resignation, and then we could go out and discuss my future. He suggested to call him on Monday, and we might go for lunch in his club.

I got Jenny’s luggage, and we went home. She waited until we closed the door and then threw herself into my arms.

“James, I´m so furious about this idiot, but you know - nobody talked to him, he sat on his own at the table, and somehow he vanished to go back to New York without any goodbye. Serves him right! But I need a kiss now to know that I´m home!”

She put all her love into that kiss and Maureen had to cough several times for us to part.

“Jenny, you need a shower and a change; please try to be decent because we have to talk seriously about our future.”

Jenny nodded (a bit reluctantly I must say) and when she came back, she was in a white shirt knotted below her breasts and tennis shorts. Maureen had also changed into something similar, and I followed suit.

Another kiss and Maureen recalled a term we had introduced long ago - EOA, the Equal Opportunity Act that assured what one received, the other would get, too. So, there were several kisses, a little bit of groping, and finally, Maureen called the evening to order. They sat the table and Jenny gave us the details on the weekend. It must have been ghastly - animosity everywhere whenever somebody from HQ appeared, impolite comments about HQ and its people in a stage whisper that one could hear fiftys away and which they had to ignore, and at the end, everyone gave up and went out on his own.

Jenny had gone shopping. “Maureen, I found some nice things for us, and James, I bought you that colorful shirt you liked so much! “I wondered what shirt she was talking about, and she smirked. “Remember the shirt that Sam Durand wanted to buy? I found an even more colorful one in the city! I dare you to wear it in public! You’ll need courage to wear it in public, my dear, but there may be potential big rewards, too!”

I trusted Maureen to keep me safe, but she grinned also. “Let’s see what we’ll do, Jenny, but let’s clear the table now and discuss more serious matters.”

She told me to get a bottle of the semillon we had bought in the Hunter Valley, and we retired to the sitting room. I sat on a chair to avoid physical contact with my ladies because I could not guarantee that I could focus enough on any subject if my hands could wander up and down their bodies. I had problems with parallel processing of my own when the two were near and, therefore, now they had to sit opposite on the couch.

“James, we’ll have to discuss what we are going to do. Remember - whatever you decide, we’ll follow you, wherever you go, we’ll go, so we are part of the decision also. What are your options?”

I went through the possibilities I could see right now - the CEO position at our competitor, a consultant’s position working independently, and, last but not least, talking to Eileen about NT. The discussion lasted longer than the bottle of the semillon and I opened another one. There was no decision, but they agreed with me that I would feel very uncomfortable competing with my former colleagues. The money was very good, but we had enough to live well for the foreseeable future. Consulting sounded exciting but might not be very satisfying. I would study and analyze, come to a recommendation, and see the other part accept, ignore, or change it. Consulting was different from management; often the project owner contracted you to confirm his opinion and if you brought up something else, there were problems. Reorganization had always been a wonderful method for creating the illusion of progress while producing confusion, inefficiency, and demoralization, and I knew that I could not propose this in a sane mind set.

In my company (or better in my former company) I was responsible for whatever project we developed from its initiation to its final completion, and when I delivered a complex solution, I was very proud of my colleagues and myself. Consulting was show off, walk away and be well paid.

NT was completely different - I would be (probably) the CEO, but with Mrs. Monahan looking over my shoulder; after all, she had created it. It is difficult to hand your baby over to someone else and walk away - we knew her and whatever she promised, she would probably not keep.

It was late now, and we had talked the matter to death; there was at this moment no new argument to consider. Jenny was tired and Maureen mentally exhausted; what would happen in the future? I remembered that I had promised to call Eileen and when she attended immediately, I put her on the speaker.

“Darling, how are you? How was your day? You´ll be here for the board meeting on Monday, so why don’t you come some days earlier? You cannot be too busy at this moment! Come and stay with me and I´m certain that we’ll manage to suspend some of your problems for a while. I bought some excellent shiraz, you can grill steaks, and at night we might try the smoked salmon and the vodka that is in the fridge. What do you think?”

Maureen rolled her eyes. “Mom, he needs his strength for other things - you better behave, or I won’t let him come!”

I heard her sighing. “Maureen, you’re a spoilsport. You better think - what’ll he do? Sit in the living room and read the newspaper? Read a book every day? Run himself to death? I know him well and I care for him. Some fun going out and some fun in bed will lighten up his spirits, and when you come and join us, you will benefit from the results. Will Jenny come, too?”

“Eileen, no, but thank you. I´ll use the time to get my flat into order and prepare myself for anything James will decide. You know that I’ll follow him anywhere!”

“Yes, I know, darling, but you also know that you’re always welcome here, with or without the two. Actually, just imagine the two of us on our own...”

Jenny blushed and stuttered. “Yes, Eileen, I’ll think about it.”

I told her that I would advise if or when I would arrive, and she finished with an audible smile.

“Darling, do you hear your puppies? They were so sad, but now, knowing that you’ll be here soon and will take care of them, they wait for you with their noses pointing straight up! Woof, woof!”

We all laughed, and I hang up. Maureen looked at me.

“James, that’s actually not a bad idea. I cannot go earlier because I have an important meeting on Friday morning and Jenny will be busy in the office. I don’t see you sitting here on your own and staring at the wall. Consider it as a challenge - how will you survive in the den of the lioness?”

I agreed that I would consider it, but it would depend not only on me. We had our shower and went to bed. It had become natural that Jenny had her place at one side and Maureen on the other side; this night we just kissed each other (I demanded my contractual goodnight kisses which always gave me some excuse to fool around). Then they closed their eyes, and I did follow them.

The next morning, we woke up late and Jenny remembered that she had to be in the office. She jumped out of the bed and ran to the bathroom. Perhaps the word ‘ran’ was a bit exaggerated and the closer she came to the bathroom, the slower she walked. I waited until she was at the door, and then I whistled. She turned around with a huge smile. “I wanted to know whether I’m still yours, oh Lord and Master!” and coming back, offered her breasts for my adoration.

Maureen laughed “We’re a funny kind of people, but I love us!”

Jenny changed and rushed out (more kisses) and Maureen stretched her body in bed. This was an interesting exercise in anatomy - her long neck moving around, her shoulders lifting her breasts to a proud point, and her long legs slowly opening and closing.

She smiled at me. “My love, make love to me. I need it and I know that you need it also, especially at this moment. You’ve to know that I’ll always be at your side whatever happens, that you’ll always find me willing and eager to do whatever you want to do with me, and that my love is without limits. Take me, my love!”

She opened her legs wide and invited me in. I went down and kissed her, teasing her clitoris, but she did not want this. “Darling, I want you inside me, I want you to take me, and I want you to feel that I give myself to you, completely and with no restraints.”

I went back up again, she moved under my body and taking hold of my shaft, guided me into her hot and wet opening. She hugged me and put her feet on my back, pulling me deep into her. Closing her eyes, she started to move up and down, from side to side, and I accompanied her every movement. I smelled her arousal and as we were slowly coming to our peak, she whispered, “Now, my love. Take me with all your force!” and crying my name, she came to her release. When I felt her last push, I let go also and we came together, each supporting and feeding off the emotion of the other. I fell back on her and when I wanted to move, she protested.