Chapter 13

The following day came way too early for Josh or Becky, but they had work to do. Crawling out of bed, they showered together; neither felt like doing anything sexual, so they got ready fast. Walking out of their room, they saw Ben walking out of his. Ben was surprised because he had thought he would have to throw a bucket of ice water on them. Then he saw their faces. It was evident they had a rough night, and it wasn’t because of sex. Knowing better than to ask, Ben led them to find breakfast.

After breakfast, it was time to work, and they headed to the factory. Knowing the semi awaited them, they moved fast to get to work. Josh loved how Becky looked in her safety gear; she looked like a blue-collar girl, and even Ben had to admit that the look suited her well. Meanwhile, Becky worked even harder than when she was on the farm. Ben and Josh would run circles around her if she didn’t work that hard. All those years of hearing her mom say that men were lazy went right out the window. She had chalked Josh’s work ethic on the farm as showing off for her. Now she knew better. Even with his arm in a sling, it was all she could do to keep up.

After the first ten-hour day, most of the new robot was in place. It was modular by design, which sped up installation. This was something that Ben always insisted on, and Josh supported. When they got back to the hotel, all three were filthy, tired, and hungry. It was time for showers, room service, and bed. That was precisely what they did, too. Becky was exhausted, and Josh was hurting too bad to do much more than hold her. For Becky and Josh, though, it was enough. Just the feeling of having their loved one close helped them relax faster than anything else, and they passed out.

By midday Thursday, the robot was installed and ready to test. Josh fired it up and ensured all moving parts were in their home position. Ben then got the first brass strip started in the machine. Within half an hour of starting the machine, it was punching out cartridge casings almost twenty percent faster than the old method and with fifteen percent less waste. To say that the company executives were impressed was a severe understatement. This machine was faster, more accurate, and generated less waste than their old methods. If the brass strip could fit into the machine, it could run without retooling or even stopping.

By the end of the day Thursday, they had a contract drawn up and sent to Ashley for legal review before Ben and Josh signed it. They knew that Ashley was expecting the contract because she promised to review it Friday morning. They got out early that evening, and Josh and Ben were in the mood for BBQ. After polling some factory workers, they found a highly recommended hole-in-the-wall BBQ shack that was supposed to have the best ribs in the state. They went back to the hotel and cleaned up before going out.

Tonight, it was blue jeans and boots. Once again, Becky almost made Josh melt into his boots, and Ben had to wipe the drool off his chin. The most impressive thing for Becky was that she went from being a wallflower to being the center of attention when she started dating Josh. The guys escorted her to the car once their brains resumed functioning.

Going into the restaurant, Becky was the center of attention as everyone checked her out. They found a table and ordered. It wasn’t five minutes before Becky got free drinks from almost everyone in the place, which alerted Josh and Ben. Thankfully, Becky wasn’t a big drinker, so she only got buzzed. Mostly, she just sampled each one. Their eyes widened when they got their food because the portions were huge, and they would have leftovers for the next few days.

After eating, talking, drinking, and joking for almost an hour, it was time to go, but Ben had to stop by the little boy’s room first. Josh and Becky got up to leave but were intercepted before they got out the door. The group blocking them consisted of six big guys and four tough-looking women. The guys wanted to play with Becky, while the gals wanted Josh. Josh knew that he couldn’t draw his gun. They were too close, and he would be overwhelmed by their numbers before he could kill them. All he could do was stall until Ben could join them, plus he didn’t want to make the first move. Becky stayed behind Josh and to his right. One to allow him room to draw his gun and two to help protect his right side if all hell broke loose. The two groups had a stare-down for a minute before the group of ten started to move in on Josh and Becky.

When Ben came out of the bathroom, he saw that Josh and Becky were in trouble. Ben could see people creeping up behind Josh and Becky. Making sure that his guns were free, he walked over to the group blocking Josh.

“Excuse me, but those two are mine,” Ben growled.

When the blocking group turned to face him, they all paled because Ben had himself puffed up a bit and towered over them, his handguns visible. Everyone backed off, and Ben made a production of “shoving” Josh and Becky out the door. Once out, all three of them breathed a sigh of relief and walked quickly to the car.

After getting in the car, Becky leaned forward and kissed Ben right on the lips. Josh smiled and thanked Ben for getting them out of there but passed on kissing him. Josh doubted he would have been able to do much fighting with his shoulder. If he had been at 100%, he would have enjoyed a good bar fight. Thankfully, nothing happened, and they got out without hurting anyone. A bonus was that their leftovers weren’t wasted, but they wouldn’t return to that place.

Going back to their hotel, Becky wasn’t sure what would have hurt her worse. Her getting raped by those bastards or Josh getting raped. She wondered about this feeling and decided she loved Josh so much that she couldn’t stand to see him hurt. She also wondered if this was how Josh felt and resolved to ask him as soon as possible. It didn’t take long for the opportunity to come up, either.

When they returned to the hotel, Josh invited Ben to his room for a drink, and Ben accepted. Once Josh had made everyone a drink, Becky asked the guys about her feelings after the attack. They both confirmed how they felt when anyone threatened their loved ones. Ben told Becky how his blood felt like it was boiling for days after the attack on Cynthia in Detroit, and Josh told her how angry he was after last week’s episode.

“Becky,” Ben said, “When harm to your other half worries you more than harm to yourself, that’s true love.”

Becky looked at Josh and smiled as warmly as she could, knowing that short of some major upheaval, she would be with Josh for the rest of their lives. This belief brought her an incredible sense of calm because her life was now falling into place. Ben stayed for a couple of drinks before returning to his room. He wasn’t drunk, but he had one hell of a buzz. Josh wasn’t buzzed nearly as bad, mostly because he wasn’t in the mood to drink very much. After all, he was the one with the hot girlfriend in the room. As soon as the door shut, Becky attacked Josh with a flurry of kisses. Josh carefully walked them over to the bed, where they lay down next to each other, and the kissing continued with a side of groping. Becky started working on their clothes, and Josh helped where he could. This week had been hell on his shoulder, and when he got back, he was going to have to rest it for a while.

As Becky got Josh’s clothes off, she kissed each newly bare bit of skin. She exercised extreme caution around his right shoulder because the skin was dirty, and the muscles were very tender. Slowly, his clothes came off. Once his pants were off, she started sucking on Josh’s manhood. This time, she wasn’t just using all her new skills but tapped her solidified love for Josh.

Slowly, she worked him higher and higher. She was working in cycles, with the end of each cycle driving Josh higher into the stratosphere. She didn’t want him to cum too quickly; they did have all night, and Becky was determined to make this last as long as possible. Also, for each cycle, she would change her technique. In one cycle, she would deep-throat Josh; in the next, she might only work on the tip. She kept things as random as possible to keep him on his toes. After almost fifteen minutes, Josh was nothing more than a quivering mass, and he was so bad that Becky had to hold him down, making things worse for him. Becky finally got him to the point where he was delirious, precisely what she was going for, and changed one last time. This time she slowly sucked on his cock. Starting at the base, she slowly lifted her head until only the tip was still in her mouth, and then she would repeat.

As she lifted, she sucked as hard as she could. This was just too much for Josh, as every muscle contracted. He let out a feral-sounding growl and thrust his hips up. As he thrust up, Becky pulled down on his balls. Becky knew that Josh would have an intense orgasm, but she wasn’t planning on one this strong. Instead of individual jets of cum, Josh shot a large stream of cum into Becky’s mouth. It was so much that she couldn’t keep up, and some ran down her chin. Finally, Josh finished and collapsed into a semi-comatose pile that was panting and covered in sweat.

Becky looked down on him and smiled warmly while she shucked off her clothes and curled up with her man. She laid her head on Josh’s chest to listen to his heartbeat and breathing while basking in the afterglow of his orgasm. She felt him start waking up, so she moved to where she would be the first thing he saw when he opened his eyes. Slowly, his eyes fluttered open, and he looked straight into her eyes. The feelings of love that were going through them were almost beyond description. Becky watched as a single tear left one of Josh’s eyes, and she was sure she was doing the same thing. Josh then gave Becky a warm smile, which was all it took.

She attacked him with kisses. This time, Josh got Becky on the bed and had fun with her body. He kissed her the best as possible but couldn’t get to the far side of her body because of his bad arm. Slowly Josh worked his way down her neck and to her tits; at least they were accessible. He worked her breasts like a fine musical instrument, and the tune he was playing caused Becky to have a pleasant orgasm, followed quickly by another larger one.

After the second one, Josh moved on. He worked his way down her body and her legs before settling with his head between her thighs. Slowly he worked his way along her slit with kisses and light nibbling, causing her flower to open wide, showing everything. Josh started at her pink anus and worked up to her vagina. There he paused to use his tongue to work her g-spot while he used his good arm to hold Becky down and tease her clit. He did this by wrapping his arm around her leg. Now, it was his turn to drive Becky into the stratosphere. He used random patterns on her to keep her on her toes.

Unlike Becky, Josh didn’t cycle; he kept his speed and applied pressure to Becky low enough to keep her suspended while slowly working her higher. By the time he got her as high as she had ever been, her thrashing was so bad that Josh was having problems holding on. Another part of Becky that was getting a workout was her vocal cords. As she got higher, her moaning and eventually screaming got louder and louder, but Josh wouldn’t let her go over the edge. Finally, he couldn’t hold her still, so he gave her a couple of fast licks. This was more than enough to fling her into the abyss. She sprayed cum all over Josh’s face as she fell, soaking him thoroughly. She kept falling until she finally passed out. Josh chuckled while moving to his usual spot and pulled Becky to him. She moved to her usual spot without waking up. Josh pulled the covers over them and joined Becky in the land of dreams.

Josh was sitting on a porch in a glider while watching four strawberry blonde kids playing in the yard. They were two sets of fraternal twins evenly split between boys and girls. They were always full of energy and constantly getting into trouble. Separately, they were a handful; together, they threatened the world order. His beautiful red-headed wife and a small black kid sat beside him while she taught the kid how to read. Gliding back and forth, Josh heard a car approach. Looking up, he saw a black couple pull into the drive, park their SUV in front of the garage, and all five kids ran to meet them. They were just coming home with the newest addition to their household, a little girl named Tanya. Suddenly, there was a bright light; everything began to fade, and Josh could hear a sweet female voice calling his name.

His eyes slowly opened to find Becky looking down at him, wearing nothing but a warm smile. Her hair was loose and framed her angelic face. With the sunlight streaming through the windows, her hair appeared to Josh to be on fire.

“Have I died and gone to heaven?”

“Not yet,” Becky answered sweetly. “Why were you smiling just now?”

Josh had to think for a second to remember:

“I had a dream. In it, we were sitting in a glider while you were helping one of Ben’s kids learn how to read. Our two pairs of twins were playing in the yard. Two boys and two girls had strawberry blond hair, were energetic, and always got into trouble. At the end of the dream, Ben and Cynthia came home with their newborn girl, Tanya.”

“That sounds like a worthy dream, darling, although I’m not sure if twins run in my family. Mom never really talks about any of them.”

“Would your grandma know?”

“Probably. We’ll have to ask. But in the meantime, maybe we should get some practice in.”

“I like the way you think, sweetheart!”

After finishing, they collapsed in a sweaty, tangled mess, with Becky leaking all over. Both were breathing hard, and their hearts were pounding. As they lay there still tangled up, they could feel the other one slowly calming down. Eventually, Becky moved to her regular post-coitus spot. This was Becky’s head on Josh’s shoulder and her front against his side. This way, Josh’s hand could rub her back while Becky rubbed his chest. This position also made talking and kissing easy.

“Josh, how are we going to handle going back to school? This week has been so nice being able to wake up next to you every morning; I’m not sure if I’ll be able to handle going back to sleeping alone.”

“I know how you feel, sweetheart. The plus side is that we are only a couple of hours apart at worst, and Thanksgiving is coming up, so there are four days that we’ll be able to spend together. But yeah, this is going to suck.”

“I’m going to miss you so much, but I’m spending Thanksgiving with my grandma. I made that commitment before we got together, and I don’t want to break it.”

“Oh, that’s okay, Becky. I’m going to be going home. Hey, here’s a thought for you. Ben and I graduate this spring. How about we get a house down by IU, and then you and Cynthia would have a nice place to live.”

“I like it but wonder if Ben would go for it.”

“We already talked about it, although it wasn’t serious then. Now, we both have a good reason to move down there. Another bonus is that the travel time to our factory would be roughly the same. Well, that depends on where we find a house.”

“I hope it all works out, Josh. I would love to wake up next to you every morning. Well, when you’re not traveling, that is.”

“Speaking of traveling, what are we going to do about your mom?”

“I don’t know yet. I do know that when Mom finds out I have a boyfriend, she’ll cut off all my funds. As far as school goes, the spring semester is already paid for, but I won’t be able to eat out or even leave campus without the money she sends me every week. I’d be stuck eating the crappy food on campus.”

“Well, I’m sure that we’ll figure something out together.”

“I hope so because I will give up school before breaking up with you to suit her ideals.”

“I’m so proud of you for standing up for yourself. Just remember that you’re not alone in this, and I’ll be at your side the whole way.”

“Oh, honey.”

Becky almost melted into Josh until there was a knock at the door.

“What?” asked Josh.

“You guys busy?” it was Ben.

Josh and Becky looked at one another and shrugged.

“Come on in, Ben,” Becky yelled out.

Ben had a key to Josh’s room, just like Josh had one for his. As Ben came in, Becky flipped over so her back was against Josh’s side, and she pulled the blanket up to her chin. When Ben came in, Josh could tell that something was eating him.

“What’s up, Ben?”

“I don’t know. I guess I’m just feeling lonely right now.”

“Ben,” Becky started, “pull up a chair and tell us about it.”

This at least got a smile out of him while he pulled up a seat and sat down.

“I got a text from Cynthia saying she has to work this weekend. That’s two weekends in a row now. She’s never done that before.”

“Okay, Ben, what the hell happened to you? I’ve never seen you this insecure before. Everyone knows how devoted Cynthia is to you and how devoted you are to her. She probably figured she would pick up some hours to make extra money with you out of town this week. You know that her favorite time of year is fast approaching.”

“I know all that, but I’m still worried. What if she found someone who can scratch her itch anytime she wants?”

“Seriously, Ben? You know damn well that there’s no need to go there. Becky and I were just discussing something that might help. We discussed your idea of getting a house close to IU so we can live together. Would that be something that Cynthia would like to get in on?”

“I will have to ask Cynthia, but I think she would like that.”

Just then, Ben’s phone rang. It was Ashley telling him that the contract was good to go. Now, all Ben and Josh had to do was sign on the dotted with the company reps, and they would land a multi-year, multi-million-dollar contract. Not only that, but when other companies heard what their punch press could do, they would have to upgrade or be unable to compete. This time, Becky asked about the contract:

“Well, sweetheart, this contract will hopefully make the company a couple million a year for years. Not only that, but we hope for a “keep up with the Joneses” effect that could be up to a billion dollars more.”

“Wow. So does that mean your workers will all get raises?”

“NO. They’ll get nice bonuses, but they won’t get a raise from this contract,” Ben answered, then added. “The last thing we want to do is give them raises and not get the contracts we expect. Plus, we don’t know what the tax situation will be in a couple of years. With raises, you have to think a couple of years out. Bonuses are just extra profit, so they don’t impact flexibility.”

“But your workers make the machines you make your money on.”

“Yeah, so what? We designed those machines. We started the company and took the risk. We are the ones who work eighty to ninety hours a week to make sure that our workers still have a job.” Ben spat at her. “Did you know that my mother took out another mortgage on her house so that I could get my share of the needed money to start this business? Or that Josh and Gretchen mortgaged their farm for the rest of the needed money? My mother would have lost her house if the business had failed, and Josh and Gretchen would have lost their farm.”

“No, I didn’t know that.”

“I didn’t think so. Josh and I took a massive risk to get this company going, and for a while, it was a very close thing. Why should we give almost every penny we make to someone else?”

“But how much money do you need?”

“Becky, you are fortunate that you are Josh’s girlfriend, and he is head over heels in love with you because I would have thrown you out otherwise. It’s never about how much money is “too much” because there’s no such thing as “too much” money. While on the topic of money, who decides how much is “too much”? Do you even know or care how Josh or I use our money? Did you even think to ask?”

By now, Becky was also starting to get on Josh’s nerves. If she kept pushing, he would push back and not hold back. He wanted to avoid that as much as possible, but this needed to be addressed. Josh figured they might as well do this now and get it out of the way. He just hoped that it wouldn’t cost him Becky.

“Becky,” Josh added softly, “each machine cost us almost $400,000 in materials. Then you add in the labor cost, and the machine cost doubles; then, you have to add in the time that Ben and I spend on programming and designing the machine and the cost of shipping and installation. By the time you add everything up, the customer will be paying well over a million dollars for each press, like the one we installed this week. So, when you take that money out of the contract, the profit margin is maybe five percent.”

Becky was speechless because she didn’t think she would have stirred up such a hornet’s nest by suggesting that Ben and Josh give their employees a raise. She couldn’t understand why they didn’t want to provide the workers with a raise; they were the ones who did the work. Another thing she didn’t get was why Josh didn’t defend her. He was even going against her, although he was as gentle as possible. On the other hand, Ben was furious with her, and she could see that in his eyes.

“Becky, I have a question for you,” said Josh. Once Becky looked at him, he continued: “Do you know what economic system has lifted more people out of poverty than any other? Which system has created more wealth in the last couple of hundred years than in collective history?”

“No, I don’t.”

“Well, the answer will piss you off because it’s capitalism. Becky, please have an open mind here. Capitalism is very good as long as the playing board is kept as close to level as possible. It allows businesses and people to spend their money how they see fit. If a business doesn’t provide a superior good or service or charges too much, the customer goes elsewhere, and that business suffers. Nobody can list all the costs that go into making a product, but the free market can accurately price that good or service. When a business gets it right, they prosper and die when they get it wrong. Capitalism also takes full advantage of the natural human emotion of greed and harnesses it to help as many people as possible. If people can’t get rich or at least have a shot at it, then the innovation that has allowed people all over the globe to live better now than at any other time in history goes away. To have the needed innovation levels, you have incentives so people will look for solutions. Just look at history and look where the living standards started increasing. It was when ordinary people could get rich from capitalism. Socialism doesn’t provide those incentives because the government severely limits how much people can earn by telling them what they can sell their goods or services. Worse, they take money from those who work to earn it and give it to people who have done nothing for it after lining their own pockets. If that were the case in this country, why would Ben or I build these robots? Ben grew up with a single working mother and three siblings. Two of those are dead. One died in a gang shootout, and the other from Aids. Ben’s youngest sister is alive, but she might as well not be because she has stage four cancer. Don’t you see it, Becky? This business allowed Ben to pull himself up. He paid off his mother’s house and is paying for his sister’s cancer drugs. Those drugs are another result of capitalism and have allowed his sister to continue living.”