Chapter 43

The gentle ringing of the phone stirred Selena. She had set it on low ring, figuring she would rarely need the wake up call.

"Hello thank you!" She said to the waker and hung up, then quickly sat up on the side of the bed afraid to fall asleep again.

Once again the phone rang and she reached for it again.

"Please don't hang up in my ear this time." She heard Joe say.

"Oh my God, that was you! I'm so sorry my love." She said, embarrassed.

"I just called Joseph and told him I would handle your wake-up. I have to be at a job site in Tarrytown at 10 this morning and I should be in Manhattan by noon or one. I'll call Diane, or whatever her name is when I get to town if I can get you for lunch. She should know when you're all going today, and if you're even available." Joe prattled on.

"Yes, that's fine, and it's Deneigh, not Diane. We usually stay in for lunch on Tuesday, but one or more of them may go to see Charley Ford at the hospital if they'll let him have visitors. I'm going on Saturday and Sunday since I'm guaranteed to be in town. Sunday I'm going with Deneigh, and if all is well he goes home on Monday. So if some go, we'll probably all take an hour, but when is a good question." She replied, keeping it business-like.

"Uhh... I'm standing here wet from the shower with a towel around me. Any ideas?" Joe said with a wicked tone in his voice.

"I'm sitting here butt naked on the edge of the bed. You bet your ass I have ideas!" She giggled. "Get your ass down here so we can get the sheets sweaty."

"I'm thinking of sweet tender love making and you're thinking of sweating on the sheets?" He asked.

"I'm thinking of my sweaty palms full of the sheets hanging on for all I have while you fill my body with your body as I try to keep from slipping into orgasm overload and passing out." She growled.

"Oh God, I love you! What a picture THAT is Essy. It will be a fine night and I can't wait to see you to start our 2 week adventure. I promise, that even with you working, this will be a vacation, a hot sexy vacation." Joe said, obviously aroused.

"You have no less a promise from me, hot cakes. You'll be hiding that thing from me while some part of me that craves it. Hahahahahahaha. I love you Joseph Johnson. Be careful getting down here. There's no hurry to have lunch, we can eat LOTS later. Hee hee." She giggled once again.

"Okay, I've got to get going before I have to take care of a... problem." Joe said.

"Okay, honey, I love you and I'll see you later." Selena said as she hung up and headed off to the shower.

In the shower Selena would have been lying to herself if she didn't feel tempted to wash in between her legs extra good. She knew her clit had a little itch but she wanted to make the evening that much better and have Jose there to scratch her special itch. It didn't mean that she couldn't enjoy a few spontaneous rushes as she washed, though. When she turned to scrub her back and then put down her loofah stick she took the soap to wash between the round globes of her ass. As her finger washed over her little wrinkled notch she couldn't help but tingle in anticipation of the evening. She quickly squatted down in the shower and thrust a hand down past her smooth mound to touch and rub her asshole to work a fingertip in. She felt the familiar opening of her anus to the pressure of her finger and pushed just to the first knuckle.

"Oh God!" She thought, "When his fat cock stretches me open tonight and slides past where my finger is right now, it will be heaven to be so full of him."

She quickly caught herself in her fantasy diddling and regretfully popped her finger out and stood as little rushes poured over her.

"Business, Selena. BUSINESS!" She reminded herself as she finished washing her hand and rinsed.

Within a half hour she was on the elevator with freshly dried hair and a smart business suit, her coat over her arm and brief in the other hand... Even with her conservative dress mode, when the elevator opened she caught the eyes of any man with a beating heart. She had time in the Atrium Garden for a coffee and sweet roll to get her going for the day. Joseph who had noticed her come off the elevator was soon at the entrance motioning to her.

Her driver had arrived.

She smiled and hurried up to meet him as he helped her with her coat and took her brief and walked her to the car.

"I really should have walked to the office today if I had known it was this warm. It must be pushing 50, and for early December its pretty balmy." She said making small talk.

"While Mr. Johnson isn't here I would feel better if you took the car. These streets are pretty safe, but I think of myself as your guardian Miss Hanson. Mr. Johnson arrives today, correct?" Joseph confirmed as he opened the door to the Towne Car.

"Yes, early afternoon." She confirmed.

"Shanna will call you later to make plans for some night this week." Joseph whispered as he reached in to hand her the seatbelt.

She winked back and was on her way.

The formal atmosphere of The Four Season was very nice, but not being able to acknowledge Joseph as their friend was off-putting. Joseph kept the code of the establishment to the letter and wanted it no other way.

Selena was the first to arrive at the brownstone fronted office of WSG. She heard the latch click as she hit the top step knowing that Deneigh had seen her.

"Good Morning, I hope those wines last night didn't slow your morning." Selena said with a wry smile.

Nothing could slow my morning today. EVERYTHING is perfect. Wait until you hear what I have to tell you. I hope I can finish before any of the others get here. Robben saw Paul at work last night and before Ben could say anything to him Paul said that he wanted to get together about a football weekend he was able to score tickets for. If Ben had the miles on his CitiBank, Paul had the tickets. So Ben said "Great, come over tonight and Deneigh will be there too and we can finally rehash this thing like 3 adults." Ben said Paul turned very nervous, but said OK. Then at about 4 this morning Paul comes in and tells Ben that he just quit and was going back to WSJ as a floor reporter. Ben was confused and Paul said he had to "claim mea culpa on the whole situation and will take my licks on my betrayal of you." In plain words, he admitted what he did!" Deneigh said while positively glowing.

"Whoa, he QUIT his job? He felt THAT guilty?"

"Well he quit at Barrons Weekly. Wall Street Journal publishes Barrons and they cull the Barrons staff from WSJ reporters, so this is like a HUGE step backwards, but he was that wrought with guilt."

"Did he confess to Ben?"

"Ben tried to run him down and ask more questions but Paul just said to take his word that he used both of us and was "ashamed and disgusted" with himself. All Ben really got was the "I claim mea culpa on the whole situation and will take my licks on my betrayal of you." If I hadn't taken your words, Selena, none of this may have ever come out. My guilt caused me the shame that Paul has now."

Selena reached over the reception counter and took both of her hands and squeezed them.

"I didn't do it, you did. I'm so happy for you. Maybe we all get together sometime, the four of us." Selena said as she picked up her brief and headed through the big door into the offices.

She got one step into the main room and stopped and looked back at Deneigh, who was still glowing.

"How was it? Surprised you weren't late this morning." She said with a sly grin as Deneigh flushed crimson, rolled her eyes and blew out a silent "Whew" with her mouth.

Selena winked back and was off to her office.

By the middle of the morning Selena was on top of the world. She was going to read a policy statement for the press at 11 o'clock, her policy statement, and her hunch on commodities fraud in the Ghana markets proved true and the readjustment of the African Gold price was cancelled, saving the higher end investors with Gold as their primary from holding a possible panic sell-off.

Ross Curran had patted her on the back in front of the others saying that what she uncovered was distinctly "the reason why we are here, why people pay us to look out for things others can't see, why WE are the standard" She knew everyday at WSG would not be like this, but for now she knew she fit and felt every little bit the part of a whole team.

At 10:55 there was a soft beep from the phone and Deneigh announced to all that they should meet in the Board Room. When she came out the financial press had already assembled and bright lights blared over the far end on the room where a podium with microphone was again set up. The dark blue WSGG backdrop hung on either side of the Regulator. Ross crooked a finger to her to take her aside.

"Instead of stepping back with us to finish the statement, step to the side and I'll step down. I'll say a few words about Charley and then introduce you formally as a member. Then we both step back and look like a pretty woman with a bunch of old farts again, alright?" He said with a smile, totally breaking the staid tenor they usually adhered to.

Although she felt uneasy at being introduced, she knew there would be no questions afterwards, so there was nothing else to be wary off.

She read her statement flawlessly and fluently explaining how panic over market adjustment could cause more undue sell-off and that staying the course was the best move for most investors. It was an almost 2 minute read leaving lots of quotes for financial news organizations to cull for their broadcasts, which was their intention. When Ross Curran stepped down and updated everyone on Charles Ford she nervously kept her eyes on him, but when he turned to introduce her by name she felt a proud smile crawl over her lips. Upon conclusion of her introduction Ross turned to her and said "Congratulations!" and shook her hand, and then applauded. The other 3 did the same as others in the room joined in.

Totally embarrassed, she and Ross stepped back in line until the lights went off and someone shouted "out" in the back on the room.

"Whew, was the applause necessary?" She whispered low to no-one.

J Trace Fountain who flanked her other side touched her shoulder and leaned towards her ear.

"Yes. Yes it was. You are a remarkable young woman and an example to all of today's youth to what hard work can bring. I say Bravo!"

She felt a tear form and she turned and squeezed his hand and quickly headed to her office as did the others. On her desk was a copy of today's press release along with another release stating that WSG was now officially WSGG, The Wall Street Global Group, with 6 working members and only the markets strength or volatility could limit the number of members working towards their subscribers goals.

As she finished reading she heard a knock on her door and she looked up to see Ross Curran waiting for the OK to come in.

"Please, come in."

"Just so you won't worry, our charter has been rewritten that until midnight June 30th any one of us that you choose will proxy your vote on anything. We don't want to bother or upset your last few months of a great college career. You take your time to study and enjoy the end of your time at PolyTech. Having to make you official as well as the name change was something our lawyers felt was timely with Charley's surgery. We would like you to meet with our lawyer team before you leave to sign the proxy, as well as to meet them. They are a big part of this organization as you will see. Obviously legal determination of everything that goes public from this office is paramount. Little that passes over Deneigh's desk, to or from any of us, hasn't passed the sniff test on their side. They'll be in touch with you." Ross explained in a fatherly tone.

"Who? Who should I pick?"

"That is up to you Selena. If you think any one of us has more of a bend in your leanings than another, choose him. You won't hurt anyone's feelings. Politics, religion and money are things that should never be argued or discussed among friends or family. We HAVE to discuss money, but as to the other two subjects, we consider each other both family and friend." Ross said with a little smile as he excused himself.

She sat at her desk and reflected for a moment and then looked up at the screens on the wall as well as the monitor on her desk. She picked up a pencil and put it to her legal pad making notes in new thought. A few minutes passed when she looked at her watch and as she did she heard the billboard to an interoffice message from Deneigh that would pop-up on her screen.

"Due to planned mid-day absences our lunch break will be 12:15 until 1:30 at your choosing."

"In plain words, there is no group lunch today, we are on our own." Selena thought, wondering when Joe would call.

As that thought passed through her mind the intercom rang, and she hoped it was Joe.

"Hi Selena, I'm having a sandwich sent in, I can order for you and we can eat together while they're all out." Deneigh said.

Selena was disappointed that it wasn't Joe and also down that she had to turn Deneigh down. Her position as an equal of the other 5 made it very difficult to socialize in the office with her. She had decided that in the office she should keep the same protocol as the others. She wanted to make sure she wasn't "one of the girls" or "one of the guys". She wanted to be one of The Six and command the respect they all had from them AND Deneigh. She wasn't sure if she might have to have a heart to heart with her and hurt her feelings as well as make her look like a shrew.

She thought she better keep the cold distance like the others inside the walls, but might certainly get together with her and Robben socially with Joe. It might not take her long to figure that out.

"No, I think I have other plans to go out as well. Joe should call soon. I have a couple things I'm working on and will go out after he calls." She said curtly without being rude or brusque.

She had already taken "the wall" down for her personal problems and knew she should keep it up inside the office.

Selena continued updating URL's from the others and added her own to the bank they shared. Every few moments she was switching the satellite channels to different news organizations overseas. She truly had her hands and feet, fingers and toes into her job.

At precisely 12:30 her phone rang again.

"Hey, I'm running a bit late, I missed your lunch, huh?" Joe said on hearing her voice.

"Depends. If you're right here on the block, I have another hour. They all went out today and I was just about to." Selena answered.

"I am waving to Deena, Diane or whatever her name is, right now through the window." Joe said smartly.

"I'll put on my coat and be right out!" She said as she hung up and dashed for the coat rack and headed for the door.

"Deneigh, I'll be back on time. You have my cell if you need me." Selena said as she walked clicking her heels out the door and down the steps.

Deneigh just smiled and waved as she watched her go through.

Joe was out in a flash to open her door, but not before planting a kiss on her. He jumped back in the roadster and sped off as fast as you can on a Manhattan side street.

"If you have just an hour, let's just go to the buffet at The Seasons, then I can walk you back." Joe suggested.

"Sounds great!" She said as she leaned over and touched his leg, mid-thigh.

"I missed you so. Too bad I can't take the afternoon."

"You'd be alone. I have an appointment with a lawyer this afternoon to settle a contract from almost 5 years ago. It's holding up the final papers for the transfer of the company stock. Long story, but only a few thousand dollars. We should just pay him, but when you're right you're right. I have the supporting paperwork. But no more business talk for now. There's Joseph, I hope he can park this close or leave it on the promenade." Joe said in one rambling spiel.

"Good after noon Miss Hanson, Mr. Johnson. May I park it for you?" Joseph said shaking Joe's hand, glad to see his friend.

"Can you keep it close? I have to go 10 blocks uptown for 2:15."

"Let me park it and I'll have a cab for you. 10 blocks at that hour could be a long, long story."

"You know best my friend. After lunch I'm walking her back and I'll be here for 1:45, OK?" Joe said as he handed him the keys.

Joe looked him hard in the eye to whisper. "What time you off?"

"3:30 today." He answered under his breath.

"Dutch's around the corner for beers?" Joe said.

"Deal, Mr. Johnson." Joseph said, glad to have a chance to socialize with his friend.

"That's nice for you. Getting a head start on the evening? Why don't I meet you there when I'm through." Selena said, jealous of Joe's plans.

"Mmmmm, you wouldn't like Dutch's. It's for manly men and I can guarantee you would be the only woman in there. I'll show you sometime. It's where brokers meet to make UTC (under the counter) deals. No one says hello to anyone, so you never have to admit you saw anyone there." Joe said with a grin.

"I wouldn't pass for a manly man." She said as they rushed into the buffet room and Joe showed a 2 with his fingers to the hostess.

Joe sat Selena at a table and told her to wait as he went up and got two plates.

He put small scoops of Beef Stroganoff over freshly steamed green beans for each of them along with a scoop of cottage cheese with fruit over it, one peaches, one strawberry. He took 2 fresh croissants and he was on his way back to their table.

"Noodles on any buffet are usually too hard or too soft and rice is gross. Try this Stroganoff over beans, you'll like it. You pick your fruit." Joe said smartly as he sat down.

"You'll be eating the peach later, so I'll take that now." She said with a smirk on her face as she tasted the beef concoction.

"Oh, so she wants to play?" He said with a wide grin.

"No, I just wanted you to know what I've been thinking about." She said with a grin.

"Me too! Is there wine in the room?" He asked in a low voice.

"Mmmm Hmmm, and 2 flavors of lube too, one red and one white." She said with some sass.

"Ohhhhh Kay! Still playing, huh?"

"No, I'm done. I haven't teased you for a while and I wanted you to know that I'm IN."

They made sexy eyes at each other as they ate and made small talk.

"Enough to eat? There's LOTS up there." Joe said.

"No this was perfect. You always know what I like. I'll have to remember to come here sometimes for lunch."

"It's pricey if you're not staying here. I'll make sure Juliette knows who you are."

"Juliette, huh? Another conquest?"

"I'll have to check my black book, I forget... Come on Essy, don't put me on the spot all the time. I didn't know you then. She's married now."

Selena knew to keep her mouth closed now. She didn't want to make Joe mad and she really wasn't concerned over Juliette, who was good looking enough, but no longer in Joe's class, probably 50 or more. The classy lady, Juliette, must have known they were talking about her as she came over to the table.

"Hello Joe and you must be Selena, the girl that finally stole Joe's heart. You should know that many of us tried, but he was far too elusive for a long time. I've seen you here at the hotel before and should have introduced myself. I'm Juliette." She said holding out her hand.

"Selena, pleased to meet you. Joe told me you were nice and I should meet you." Selena said politely.

"I know from Joseph that you are a smart business woman, and for that you should be proud. When I was your age those doors weren't as open as they are now. You've fallen in love with a wonderful man, just don't believe the stories he tells you about me. That was a long time ago. My oldest son began high school this year which makes me ask, Joe, why don't YOU get any older?" Juliette asked straightforwardly.

Before he could answer, Selena couldn't resist.

"I keep him young just like he keeps me young. Ages are just numbers. We don't worry about them. We hope our love will keep the youth in our relationship." She said with a big smile.

"You two are perfect! So nice to have seen you Joe and a pleasure to meet you Selena. Joseph says you'll be living in town soon, be sure you come up for lunch every now and then and let me know how you two are doing. The buffet is always quick and hot." Juliette said excusing herself.

"You were screwing her before I was born, weren't you?"

"Not quite, but close. I met her on a trip with my Dad while I was in college. She worked in The Stadium Club then. He got passes with our tickets and while he talked business with a bunch of suits, I made a date with her at the bar. That night I went out with her and got back to the hotel at 6 in the morning. My Dad was furious." Joe chuckled.

"I don't need details."

"You weren't going to get them. YOU asked if I was screwing her before you were born. Now don't start getting silly again about this." Joe said, obviously bristled.

"I'm OK. I just see the way others look at you and I get jealous, and I KNOW I have nothing to be jealous about. They have memories, I HAVE YOU." Selena said as she gathered her things.

"Alright, so promise me you'll stop being silly about this. If you hear I cheated on you, you know it's a lie. If you meet an old girlfriend, remember it's an old girlfriend. Past tense, over, done. YOU are now and forever." Joe asked getting up to get right in her face.

"Promise, with a kiss." She said kissing him quickly.

They left arm in arm after putting on their coats. Joe walked her back to her office and he rushed back to get the cab Joseph would secure.

At 4:15 Selena walked to the corner across the street from The Four Seasons to wait for the WALK light. She looked to the south corner and saw the two Joes coming up the street.

"Finish that beer already?" She yelled across the din of traffic.

They crossed over quickly to her side and made small talk before Joseph had to get home. Joe took Selena's arm and crossed to the hotel and whisked her up the elevator to their room.

Joe walked her to the bar and held out a stool for her.

"Wine or a beer?"

"I'll drink whatever you are."

"I started with beer, I'll stick."

Joe brought 2 beers around, with a pilsner glass for her. He poured and stood next to her, hugging his face to her hair.

"God, you smell good. I think I know what I want for dinner." Joe groaned.

"Really?" She said as her hand on her knee snuck out to touch the front of Joe's pants. "I was kind of thinking along the same line myself. I want you bad enough; I could make this beer a chaser."

"Do you mean to say that the pretty lady who I saw on FNN a few minutes ago telling me to be prudent about my portfolio, is trying to get in my pants?" Joe whispered as he looked down at the hand brushing over his "interested" package.

"Not only that, she wants to get into your pants while wearing the same dress you saw her in on TV; kinky enough?" She said, her hand making Joe painfully aware that the touch was not accidental.

Selena made sure she had Joe more than interested before she pulled down his zipper and reached in to fish out his cock. She stroked it a few times looking at it intently and then looked up to Joes eyes.

"Sit on the stool." She ordered him as he quickly moved back and scooted his butt to the back of the stool.

She grinned and stood up from her stool and put her hands, mid-thigh, on each of his legs and leaned up to kiss him.

"Do you think the promise of sliding that cute little fella up my hiney later will be enough to excite him all over again?"

"Oh God, yes!" Joe said with a tremble in his voice.

Keeping her hands in place she bent over his cock and hollowed her mouth and took the head in her mouth, licking, sucking and slobbering over it as she realized how much she missed the taste and feel of it in her mouth. As her saliva began to run down the shaft she dipped her head lower to spread it around. As Joe began to squirm in his stool he put his hand on her head to guide her. She was intent on getting him fast, and he was intent on helping her. They settled on a rhythm of her bobbing up and down on him while she kept a fairly tight suction.

"Oh Essy, you sweet little love maker. You suck my cock so good and make me feel so happy. I know if I start thinking about screwing you in that cute little ass of yours, your hiney, as you always say, I'm gonna shoot right in your mouth. You WANT that cock in your ass don't you? You'll get it there, just not until I eat that ass and your pussy. Then I'll fuck you until you scream for more.

I'm gonna cum, CUM, CUMMMMMMM, OHHHHHHHHHHH AHHHHH!"

Selena never wavered in her mouth motion over him, even after he began to shoot into her mouth. She swallowed hard around him twice and let the rest collect as he began to remove his hand from her head. She lifted her head and swallowed, and then squat in front of him to lick and tease at the head, cleaning any last drops he made. He began to cry out as he couldn't take any more and she let him go and looked up at him.

"I TOLD you I missed you, right?" She said with a wide grin before standing up and kissing him. Then she took her beer glass and downed the contents, then reached over to Joe and tucked his cock back into his pants, smiled and kissed him quickly.

"Now, my turn." She said as she began to hike up her skirt and sit back in her stool.

Joe smiled as he dropped off the stool to his feet and then squat down right in front of her.

"Oooo, pretty panties! I think I'll leave them on." He said as he pulled them aside to expose her smooth mound.

The sweet and sour aroma of her slit drew his tongue right in as he tasted her sex, parting her lips with his tongue. He ran his tongue up and down her slit tasting the juices she made while she did him, but he wanted to do what she did. That was to make her cum as soon as possible.

After cleaning up her copious juices his lips found her prominent clit and began to suck at it while his tongue played over its swollen bud. Like he, she put her hand on the top of his head to be sure he didn't stray. He was doing double time on her most sensitive spot and she was already trembling.

"AYA AYA, OHHHHHHH. JOEY! SO GOOD! LICK IT, LICKIT!" She wailed as he began to get to her sexual core.

"ERRRRRRRG GOD!" She whined. "SHOW ME WHERE YOU'RE GOING TO FUCK ME, SHOW ME!!"

With one hand holding the gusset of her panty aside the other was free and he ran his middle finger right up into her pussy, but that wasn't the target she was thinking of. He slid the finger out and ran in just between the leather of the seat and the little hole that hid underneath her. He circled it once and drove his long middle finger home into her little hiney.

"SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS OH YOU BAD MAN. YOUR FINGER'S UP MY ASS AND I'M GOING TO CUM!!!! HO HO HO HAAAAAAAAAA ZZZT!" She growled as she pressed Joe's face into her pussy.

All too soon the pressure of holding Joe to her sex changed to her pushing him away.

"OHHH JOEY, LET IT REST... REST!" she exclaimed ass he came down from her sexual high.

Her hand reached down and put it around his wrist and pushed the finger up her ass away.

"Oh God, how does that big cock ever fit up there, your finger feels like a watermelon." She said as Joe stood and kissed her as she had him, and then downed his beer.

Selena stood and leaned on the bar for a moment while her skirt fell back over her legs.

Joe took her in his arms and hugged her tightly.

"Why don't we go and get undressed, take nice long shower together and take it from there?" He said still anxious to show his love and how he missed her.

They went into the bedroom arm in arm slowly and then turned to each other holding both hands.

"We sure have fun, huh?" She said laughing heartily.

"We do, and I would never change any of it. The first day I look at you and don't get excited, I'll worry. Until then let the fun continue." He answered her, laughing himself.

They undressed each other and held hands into the shower where they washed and caressed each other to prepare for a night of love-making.

After they dried and stood in front of the large bathroom mirror they brushed their teeth, Joe shaved, and Selena primped a bit before combing her hair out. She was looking intently at herself as she combed when she felt a kiss at her right rear cheek.

"Joey! Kissing my bottom, you bad boy! Wait until we get in the bedroom!"

But Joe kept kissing her round bottom all over one side and then the other until he came to the top of her crease.

"Come on Joe, Let's take it out there." She whined as she finished her hair.

Before she could move Joe's hands went to her hips and pressed her up against the bath counter as his tongue went into her crease and swathed it deeply.

Selena bent over instinctively at the intrusion.