Chapter 112

I was in Nell’s big bed at her beach house and she was asleep in my arms. The last few days had been really unusual and I was going over things in my mind. I told a girl that I loved her. She said that she loved me too, then she said that she was leaving for six months and I could date whomever I wanted while she was gone.

And then there’s Nell. She also said that she loved me, but I could date anyone I wanted. She even asked me to take her best friend out and make love to her.

I was reminded that I had no idea how a woman’s mind works once more.

Cindy was next. I’d had dinner with her, then I’d spent part of the day and most of that night having sex with her. She thanked me the next morning and said that she was now ready to go out on her own. I know that it shouldn’t have, but that also bothered me and I’m not sure why.

And finally there’s Amy. My best friend. The person who I can talk to about anything, but I can’t do it tonight because she’s three thousand miles away and she’s on a date with someone I don’t know, doing God knows what. That bothered me a LOT. I wasn’t happy and it took me a while to fall asleep.

It was after eight and Nell was still sleeping when I got up the next morning. I went to the bathroom to pee and I started to take a shower, but I was thirsty so I went to the kitchen, still naked, and I was looking in the fridge for some juice, when a voice behind me said, “Good morning.”

Startled, I turned and immediately recognized the girl from school, the one with the pretty green eyes. I turned away, covered myself with my hands, and stammered, “Uhh, hi, Megan, I didn’t realize that you were here.”

I looked over my shoulder and she was standing there smiling, so I said, “Are you enjoying this?”

“I actually am, you have a great body.”

“Thank you. How long are you going to stand there looking at me?”

“Are you embarrassed?”

“Yes.”

“Why, I’ve already seen you naked?”

“So I heard. You even did a painting of me.”

“Yes I did, and I sold it for a lot of money. Would you like me to share some of it with you?”

“No, Nell and I talked about it and I don’t need it.”

“That’s what she told me. Did she also tell you other things about me?”

“Only that you were the artist.”

“That’s not what I mean. Did she tell you why I live here?”

“No, she said that you’d tell me if you wanted me to know about it.”

She paused a second, then she asked, “I bet that she told you to take it easy with me, didn’t she?”

“She said that you might be in a bad mood this morning. Are you?”

She looked me up and down, then she smiled and said, “Not any more.”

“Naked guys put you in a good mood, eh?”

“They do when their ass is as cute as yours. How about turning around so that I can see the rest of you?”

“You’ve already seen the rest of me. Why don’t you get naked so that I can look at you?”

Nell came into the room just then. She was wearing a robe and rubbing her eyes as she said, “Okay, you guys, knock it off. We have to get to the office, Pete, so go get ready and put the Burgers pullover and the regular white pants on.”

She then looked at Megan and said, “Good morning, Dear, could you whip us up a couple of your famous omelets?”

I was sidestepping out of the room in order to keep my back to Megan when she said to Nell, “Is that a new kind of dance that he’s doing?”

They were both laughing as I headed for the bathroom.

Nell joined me a minute later and as I was waiting for the shower to get warm I said, “I thought you said that she was fragile?”

“She actually is. She’s also a bright, tremendously accomplished artist, and a very sweet girl who’s going through a tough time. She’ll tell you what it’s all about f she learns to trust you.”

“And you make her cook for you?”

“Not at all, she insists on doing it. She loves to cook and I guess that it’s her way of thanking me for letting her stay here.”

The water was warm now and Nell got in with me when I stepped into the shower. We washed each other and fooled around a little, but she kept reminding me that we had to be at Burgers. We dried off and she was standing before the mirror putting cream on her face when I went to her, reached around, and put my hands on her breasts. She closed her eyes and leaned her head back against me, so I began rolling her nipples between my fingers, but she turned around, planted a huge kiss on me when my hardening cock began poking her in the butt, and said, “Tonight, now go get dressed, I’m hungry.”

Megan had made some beautiful omelets complete with home fried potatoes, and she joined us while we ate. Nell and I wolfed ours down, but Megan took her time and I noticed that she kept watching us. Nell got up and thanked her when we finished, then she hugged her and kissed her cheek again. Megan looked happy when she did, so I made a show of raving about how good it tasted and I got a smile that lit up the room from her.

We walked outside after breakfast. Parked behind my car was a new-looking, bright red Mustang convertible. It was beautiful and the license plate it was ‘Burg124’ so I asked, “Is this your car?”

“It’s a company car. I take one when I want to do some running around or when I have to leave a car at the airport. Why, do you like it?”

“Yes, it’s great.”

She said, “Good, it’s yours,” without hesitating.

“W-What do you mean?”

“It’s your new driver. Make sure that you charge any maintenance, repairs, or gasoline on your company credit card.”

“You can’t do that, Nell.”

She was smiling when she said, “Of course, I can. You’re with Burgers now. I can do anything that I damn please, but the financial office at work actually suggested it. It’ll make a better impression than that old Mustang of yours if you have to go somewhere or pick someone up for company business. Besides, it’s American and it’s a convertible, so we can show you in it in some in some of our ads. C’mon, let’s ride to the office together, and you can drive it home later. I’ll have someone pick your car up and drop it at your house.”

It really was a sweet ride and I drove in a kind of trance as she gave me directions to a high-rise office building in LA. Los Angeles is not known for tall buildings, but there are some in the downtown area and her office was in the tallest one of all. She talked about it as we drove into the parking garage.

“This building is over seventy stories high. It’s the tallest building west of the Mississippi. It’s known by several names, but the most popular one is ‘The Library Tower building’.

“Why?”

She shrugged and answered, “I hear that it’s because it’s across the street from the Los Angeles public library. No one I talked to seems to know.”

She handed me a parking card when I drove into the parking garage. It raised a gate and she directed me to the valet section. They obviously recognized the car because one of them rushed to it and opened her door. He greeted Nell when she got out, but I noticed that he didn’t seem to want to look at her. She took me to the parking office and I noticed the same kind of coolness from the guy in charge as she was arranging for me to have a card of my own.

I asked her why when we got into the elevator, and she said, “They all think that I’m a bitch. I tend to get testy when they screw around and don’t bring my car right away.”

“Why, what did you do to make them think that way?”

“They didn’t know who I was when we first rented space here, and I showed up one day and had to stand around while they talked to each other about a soccer game or something, so I broke their meeting up.”

“What did you do?”

“I went into the parking manager’s office and threatened to kick his ass.”

“You didn’t get into trouble?”

“Burgers’ offices take up two entire floors in this building. The whole parking crew was replaced by the end of the day. The new crew doesn’t like me because they heard what happened, but I always get my car on time. That’s one of the reasons for you to be driving this car. We have a blanket parking agreement, and you’re going to be coming here a lot, so it’ll save time and paperwork.”

“Would you really have kicked his ass?”

She raised an eyebrow and said, “What do you think?”

I was pretty sure that she would have.

It took a couple of elevators to get to the Burgers offices and we stepped into a large area that was obviously a waiting room when we got off the last one. There were four comfortable looking leather couches, a few small tables, and several chairs on the left side of the room. Floor to ceiling windows were on the right side. They let enough light in that you felt like you were outside and the view was amazing. The back wall was oak and ‘Burgers Electronics’ in large, individual, gold-colored letters were mounted just below the ceiling.

Directly across from the elevator was a wide oak desk and a short wall was just behind it. It had a rippled surface and there was water running down it. It looked like a waterfall, but it surprisingly was whisper quiet. There was a tall oak door on each side of it and a pretty blonde girl was sitting behind the desk.

She said “Hello, Mrs. Burger,” when we walked up to it.

Nell answered, “This is Pete Baker, Melody. He’s to have unlimited access and he won’t be wearing a badge.”

She said, “Yes, Ma’am,” and made some notes.

I was about to say hello to her, but Nell took my arm and led me through the large door on the left side.

We walked into a huge room. There were dozens of cubicles, and a person wearing a headset was in each one.

We stopped for a minute so that I could look around, then Nell explained, “A big part of our business is mail-order. This is where we take foreign orders. Everyone here speaks several languages. There’s a room on the floor below us that deals with domestic orders.”

We went back out and through the other door from there.

The room behind this door was conventional looking, with glass-enclosed offices on each side. The ones on the outside had big windows. The ones on the inside had no windows, but were brightly illuminated. All the rooms were clear glass except the one just to the right of the door. This one had etched glass and ‘Sarah Evens’ was in gold letters next to the door. Nell opened it and I followed her inside. There was a large semi-circular desk, and a breathtakingly beautiful girl who didn’t look much older than me was sitting behind it. She was talking on a headset but she smiled and waved when she saw us.

Her smile seemed to light up the whole room. Nell took me to the desk, and I tried not to stare at the girl while she was talking.

Nell said, this is Sarah Evans, Pete,” when she finished her conversation.

She looked me up and down before she said, “Good morning, Nell, I see that you brought the infamous Pete Baker with you. Hi, Pete, I’m Sarah,” and she reached across the counter to shake my hand. I found myself looking into the most beautiful brown eyes I ever saw. Her hand was small next to mine, but her grip was surprisingly strong and it seemed like she held onto me for an extra second or two when I tried to release her hand. This girl was truly spectacular, and it took me a while before I could give her my best smile and croak, “G-Good morning, Sarah, it’s nice to meet you.”

Nell leaned over and whispered something to her which got them both laughing when she finally let go of my hand. Nell then said to me. “Sarah runs this place. Just ask her for anything that you want.

I was actually wondering what it would be like to kiss her luscious-looking lips when Nell said, “I gave 124 to Pete, Sarah. Get me something else to drive. His car is at the beach house. He’ll give you the keys and his address. Have someone drop it off at his place.”

I wrote my address down, told her where to park the car, and what to do with the keys. Nell said to me, “Sarah’s speed dial is on your phone,” when I finished. “It’s her private number, don’t give it to anyone. Sarah knows what to do if I’m not around. Call her if something happens and you can’t reach me. Call her if you want to know about scheduling. Call her If you run out of gas on the freeway. Call Sarah no matter what you want or need, day or night, and she’ll be able to help you.”

Sarah was smiling as she was listening to us, so I decided to make a joke, and said, “Gee, Sarah, I don’t have a date for this weekend, can you do something about that?”

She said, “You’re going to be in Fresno this weekend,” without blinking. “I’ll send two girls to your hotel. Take your pick, or you can have your way with both of them if you’re man enough.”

I could see a twinkle in her eye, so I tried to look sad. I stuck my lower lip out and said, “Darn, I was hoping that it would be you.”

She immediately said, “Okay, but I’m a very expensive date, and whatever happens better not show up on your expense report or Nell will kill me.”

She said it with such a straight face that it surprised me, and I started to tell her that I was kidding, but both girls were laughing the next thing I knew. Still smiling, Nell finally said, “That’s enough, you two, we have work to do,” and she took my arm and said, “C’mon, I have to stop by my office.”

Nell said, “Sarah is really something, isn’t she?” as we walked away.

“Yes, she is. What were you two laughing about after you introduced me to her?”

“I told her that you were taken, and to knock off that hand trick of hers.”

“What hand trick?”

“It’s what she does to tease guys. Don’t tell me that you didn’t notice that she held on to your hand a little longer than was necessary when you shook hands with her.”

“I-I guess so.”

“Damn right, you noticed. She’s beautiful, she knows it, and she loves to tease. I’ve seen her do that to some powerful men and watched them go weak in the knees. Did you notice how strong her hand is?”

“Yes, I did.”

“Everyone says that. She’s an athlete, but some of it comes from her pushing her wheelchair around.”

“Her wheelchair,” I barked, “What happened?”

“She used to be an Olympic class gymnast. She retired a while back, but she broke her back doing a demonstration five years ago, and she’s paralyzed from the waist down.”

“Oh my God, that’s terrible.”

“Yes, it is, but she still competes in things like wheelchair races and other handicap sports, and she’s married before you get any ideas. She’s crazy about her husband and the guy is a saint.”

“What does that mean?”

“They’ve been married for ten years and he waits on her hand and foot since the accident. I’ve never seen two people who are more in love. They held off having a family while she was competing, but that’s all changed now and she recently told me that they’re trying to get pregnant.”

“Ten years! How old is she?”

“She just turned thirty.”

“Wow, I thought that she was my age. I didn’t know women with injuries like hers could have babies.”

“She says that she can, but I can’t help being selfish and hope that she doesn’t.”

“Why?”

“She’s too valuable. Burgers would be lost without her.”

“So she’s more than a receptionist?”

“She isn’t a receptionist at all. We have over two hundred employees in this building alone. The main receptionist is on the floor below us. She handles general business calls. Melody, the girl outside, handles the people who come here to meet with John, me, or the Board. Sarah handles the worldwide flow of business. She has an MBA from Stanford, and she knows more about Burgers than almost anyone. John and I rely on her a lot.”

She stopped, then she smiled and added, “Everyone in this office knows who I am, but she and John are the only people here that call me by my first name, and that includes the Board members. She started working for Burgers when she was sixteen. We’ve been friends for a long time. She’s my closest friend next to Brandy.”

“You told her to pick my car up at the beach house. Does she know about us?”

“Everyone here suspects that something is going on between us, Pete. As big as Burgers is, it’s still like a small community when it comes to gossip, but the only ones who know for sure are John and Sarah, and she knows things that John doesn’t.”

“Like what?”

“Well, she knows how close we really are, and she knows the size of your dick.”

“H-How does she know about that?”

“I told her!”

“You told her how big my dick is?”

“Well, I didn’t tell her exactly how big. I may have exaggerated a bit as a matter of fact, but don’t be surprised if she teases you about it, because I’m sure that she will.”

“She’ll tease me about the size of my dick?”

“Damn right, she will. I told her you could take it, so you’d better be ready because she loves to tease.”

“Can I tease her back?”

“Sure you can. Be as raunchy as you like when you and she are alone, but be sure to keep it clean when others are around.”

“I will.”

“Just be on your toes. Remember when you told her that you wanted her to be the one to show up at your hotel in Fresno? Well, she knows that I’ll be there with you, but did you see how quickly she had a comeback ready?”

“Hmm, this sounds like fun.”

“It will be. She doesn’t get teased a lot. She’s so beautiful that most guys are tongue-tied around her, but that doesn’t seem to bother you.”

I may not be the smartest guy in the world, but I could tell that Nell was ‘fishing’, so I said, “Yeah, that must bother girls like you a lot.” She didn’t answer, but she was smiling as we walked toward the back of the room.

There was a wall with two doors in it at the far end of the corridor. The one on the right had ‘John Burger, on it and the one on the left read ‘Nell Burger’. We went into that one.

It was a large office, beautifully appointed with windows along the back wall. There was a large oak desk and papers were neatly stacked on one side and what appeared to be a bowl of fresh flowers on the other.

We had just sat down when there was a light tap on the door.

The door opened when Nell said “Come.” A slender little guy came in holding some papers, and said, “Hello, Mrs. Burger, here are your messages. Mr. Burger would like to have a word with you and your guest as soon as it’s convenient.”

Nell answered, “Thank you, Stephen,” and she added, “This is Mister Baker,” when he glanced at me.

He didn’t offer his hand; he just nodded and left.