Chapter 44

It was early in the new Wednesday morning when Selena woke to the sound of Joe snoring loudly. He was on his back, exhausted. She rolled off the bed to satisfy the urge to pee. Once on her feet she knew she needed to freshen her mouth from its acrid taste, and her vagina, the lips stuck uncomfortably with her dried juices. The discomfort in her rear was slight, but it did make her aware that she had been thoroughly sodomized a few hours earlier. After using the sink, the pot and finally the bidet she turned to see she hadn't closed the door and Joe had awakened.

"Oh, sorry lover. Your snoring was bad anyway. I guess our little marathon wore us both out. It's no wonder why I love you so." She said as she finished her duties and walked to Joe in silhouette, the bathroom light behind her.

She slid in beside him and kissed him.

"Thank you for the most wonderful night of love, passion and devotion. Ooooo, and you were so nasty doing it. Now, go pee and get back here so we can sleep. We should have both gotten up and pee'd right away afterwards to make sure we didn't get bladder infections. Remember what Dr. Nikko said to protect your reversal surgery." Selena said to the half asleep Joe.

"Huh? Oh yeah, I know. I just died after that last bout. Oh, God, do I love you like crazy." Joe said as he stumbled to the bathroom.

Selena knew that a bladder infection might be just enough to complicate his reversal surgery. It was imperative that he avoid them at all costs and getting up to clear his urethra, bladder and penis after sex was a key to that.

Once Joe got back to the bed he was dead to the world and missed Selena leaving for work altogether. She had never seen him sleep so deeply and just couldn't disturb him. He slept through her alarm and her getting ready. She left him a note on the bathroom mirror to call her when he got up and left out the DO NOT DISTURB sign.

Despite the cold December air, the sun shone so bright between the buildings Selena decided to walk to work. Though not even officially winter yet, the look and feel gave a portend of Spring. She felt free of all stress and only the bumper of a speeding bus could wipe the smile from her face. Each step she took tweaked the sore muscles at the center of her being that were stretched, titillated, and plugged into her orgasm generator, so each step was a new memory of a night she may never forget. While certain love making days and nights stood out, last nights was one of those where they went to another plane. They left reality almost as if they were seated and watching two super imposed beings act out their wildest fantasies while they had no control. Joe was in some state of erection until he fell asleep and she sought to satisfy a wanton tingle that ran though every inch of her loins, not to mention wanting to taste his seed, which she did twice in the course of the night.

Running up the steps of the Brownstone as the first time she felt a need to hurry to get out of the cold as the wind whipped suddenly up the street.

"Good morning Selena! You win the prize, first one here today!" Deneigh said as she greeted her with a smile. "Coffee's on and will down in a moment."

Selena looked back and waved and smiled as she checked her inbox.

"Good morning Deneigh, I walked and the cold got me to step a bit faster than normal. Thanks for making coffee as usual." She said as she went to open the door to the back offices.

"Uhhh, Selena, you're radiant this morning. If you don't mind me saying, you must have had a wonderful evening." Deneigh said, a little out of character.

Selena blushed deeply.

"I didn't know it showed but... Joe got to town yesterday. Oh, I guess you know that he was here." Selena said hesitating, not knowing what else to say, just wondering if making love half the evening really showed on her face.

She quickly disappeared inside the office door. It was then she realized just WHY Deneigh wanted to be friends with her at the office. Emotions. In a male dominated office she had no outlet for her emotions and her girl-to-girl feelings. Deneigh looked in Selena's face and knew she was still high on love, and Selena could probably sense her moods as well. It wasn't that men did, or likely understood. She would have to deal with her relationship with her underling. Underling was a term she hated to use, but rank inside the office meant everything as to how you were perceived and treated. She dropped her case on the sofa and fell into her leather chair. She stared off into the corner and thought about the situation.

Being all alone in the office made for a very quiet environment and her thoughts turned deep introspection of the male-female situation at the office. She was sure that each of her co-members of the group thought of her as an equal financial mind, rather than a female. This had been proven to her over and over again and she had no doubts about that. But, if she were to have an office friendship with Deneigh, staying behind and eating lunch with her while the others did their business lunches, would diminish that equal status. It was unfair, but it was the way it was. She pondered other thoughts and ideas looking beyond the corner she was staring at.

"Selena, here's your coffee." Deneigh said with a knock. "Sorry to interrupt your thoughts."

"No, that's OK, and thanks. Please sit down for a minute; I need to talk to you."

"You, ah... know I am fond of you and we've been fast friends here, but there's something I need to tell you, and please do not take it the wrong way. You know I have been accepted as a partner here, a principle, as Ross says. I don't think that you would feel right if all the others went out, and Ross stayed back and had lunch with you at your desk, right? If all the others came back and saw you with Ross talking and chit-chatting up a storm it would look funny and if you were to do it a couple days a week he would lose some stature among the rest as the partner who hangs back with the receptionist,... and you know I ALWAYS call you my administrative assistant. Do you get my point?" Selena asked imploring Deneigh's eyes to understand.

"If you're asking me if I know my place here, I do. If you're telling me that we can't be buddy-buddy girlfriends at the office, I understand. It goes with the territory. Do I think it's fair? No I don't, but I realize about projected images and I accept that." Deneigh said with a somewhat huffy tone.

"Now you realize, Deneigh that I wouldn't have bothered to have these words with you if I didn't want to have a good solid friendship outside the office. I could have easily just turned down your offers of lunch or breaks together until you got the hint. I WANT for us to get together with our boyfriends and share the nightlife the City has to offer and just be friends. Maybe take a trip upstate to show you our place. You know, regular friends." Selena said.

"I understand, and I welcome your friendship and I hope the 4 of us can go out and have some fun. Thanks for bringing it up so it didn't get uncomfortable later. I know you've only been back a few days and you'll be gone until July in a week or so, but I feel like you've been here forever." Deneigh said as she got up hearing the others having to let themselves in with pass keys. "Damn, I'm tardy for the door. We can talk later after work." She said as she ran to the desk.

Ten minutes later the 4 men and young woman were in their lairs using their own sources and instincts to wring out the blips that might cause investment jitters. They were all beginning to look at oil and the middle east wishing they had answers to that problem.

At 11:30 everyone's phone chimed, signaling the open intercom, "In five minutes in the Great Room."

Selena chuckled. Ross's midweek call to review was due and with the change from WSG to WSGG he wanted new verbiage and he tried something new each time he mentioned the inn boardroom. She knew he liked "Great Room" and he was going to try and make it stick.

For December, it had been a busy week already and they all reiterated and patted them selves on the back for the statement and calls of the previous 2 days. Each of them had a comment of that days market and trend, but nothing earth shattering. Unless something earth shattering happened with gold, and that was unlikely now that the only glitch in its current pricing structure had been quelled, things remained normal for December. Oil was a worry, but at the time there was little they could do.

Deneigh noted the phone in the middle of the table at the start of the meeting.

"Mr. Ford will be listening from his hospital bed to your meeting by speakerphone. His voice is too weak to talk, but his wife said he was anxious to hear the goings on. I spoke to his surgeon this morning and he told me Mr. Ford was doing better than expected and might be home be Friday."

There was a round of "Hello Charlie's" and other well wishes before Ross brought the group to order.

Ross Curran stood up and noted that December 21st was the first day of winter and the day WSG officially became WSGG. They would close for the only time all year beyond a weekend. He talked of new attitudes and wanting the change to be obvious to each customer, and to each financial reporter that came into the "Great Room". Then he excused Deneigh, who was taking the minutes, and asked for off the record comments for each of them to mull.

J. Trace Fountain stood immediately.

"After we make a statement to the financial press, why don't we take questions? They have the statement ahead of time and they could have the questions ready to we could review and choose the ones we answer. I think we look too stiff for some "average" investors and if we seemed more accessible we might open a new vein of clients."

"We would have to choose answers very carefully so as not to make addendums or exception to policy. But if they gave us a list beforehand we could be sure our answers jibed. But as to open press conference type questions, I don't see how." Willis Menard said looking to his other partners.

"I don't know. I'll bet that legal would fuss about it. In some cases there wouldn't be a problem, but a misplaced "is" or "can" could serve as a wrong signal." John Branniff piped in.

"Anyone else?" Ross said looking at the group.

"Well," Selena said, "it sure would personalize us, take away some of the stiffness, but let's not get away from how serious our mission is here. Plus, I think we need to remember that general policy statements are made to be sure that investors outside our realm of clients don't falsely color their portfolios. But, too much "free" information could make our clients wary."

Ross smiled big at Selena.

"Are you suggesting that we might have a "stiff" image?"

"Hey, we aren't exactly ready to make a remake of The Breakfast Club. I might pass for a Brat Packer, but... " Selena said to a round of self deprecating chuckles.

As the laughs died down Ross Curran made a note.

"I'll check with the legal team and see how they feel. Trace, I think you've hit on something with the question follow-up. We just have to figure how to properly handle it."

"Once Charlie is out of the woods, I think he might have a few suggestions too." John Branniff chimed in. "He always thought we looked like stone behind the policy reader. Now that Ms. Hanson has won that position as our spokesperson," he teased her with a wink, "we should try to drop some of the stoicism."

"I've never ruffled at being asked to front WSG for that reason." Selena said with a little grin to her partners. "We do project a stiff image, which when you consider our mission, is not totally bad. We just need to lighten up a bit, and my reading statements are a start. I have one other thought on this as well. We will call ourselves Wall Street Global Group. Deneigh Myersen composes our statements, and proofreads ones she doesn't. She composes the letters to clients and is a large part of the operation here, as far as keeping it all together. Where we all refer to each other formally as Mister or Ms, she is always Deneigh and I'm sure thought of by any outsider as "our secretary". I think she exemplifies the term "administrative assistant" to this group. I would like to afford her the formality of Ms. Myerson in the same situations where I am Ms. Hanson, and when we line up in front of the blue backdrop, she should be a part of our "group". We all have to admit that we might be a bit lost without her."

There was a silence for a moment before Ross Curran clapped his hands, with the other 3 men joining in, all agreeing with her point. There were informal comments thrown about how she was taken for granted and such. When the clamor died down a woman's voice, assumed to be Charles Ford's wife was heard on the speaker.

"Charlie wrote down a comment for all of you. May I read it?"

"Please Do!" Ross bellowed.

"Charlie wrote,"... "Who let the girl in?"

The room burst into laughter at the well timed jibe at Selena, and also in a mini celebration that Charley was doing so well. The remark was taken in the fun way it was intended and Selena felt more and more apart of the group. It was then she realized that the 6 month wait to start full time, every day, would seem tediously long. She wanted so much to start right now in a work world she considered so exciting.

The laughter died down and Ross said he had one more order of business. He then pressed the intercom.

"Ms Myersen, cloud you please come and join the group for my last announcement?"

Deneigh was stunned at being called Ms. Myersen but came right into the room.

"Thank you for joining the group Ms. Myersen. I wanted you to hear when I told the group that when Ms. Hanson joins us in July she will be 100 percent bought in, a full partner. This has been made possible by PolyTech, each of the other partners and by Mr. Joseph Johnson." Ross said to a stunned Selena.

Selena was aware that PolyTech would foot some 40 percent of her partnership, and she also knew each of The Five would each put up 5 percent, but she had no idea that Joe would make up the difference to make her a full paid partner. While she would have had full partner status, she expected the last 35 percent to come out of payroll deduction investments over 5 years. She knew a partnership would cost in excess of a million dollars and knew more than half would be taken care of. She fully expected to triple the investment of the partnership over the 5 years she knew she would be there. She had planned to endow part to PolyTech, and enough to cover at least 2 partners' shares for future new members. She had hammered out this with Ross Curran, Charles Ford and Martin Fullmer, Dean at PolyTech. Even in a poorly performing market, tripling the million dollars seemed likely in 5 years with good choices by Wall Streets best investors. Certainly that was no guarantee, but past performance of the other partners' lay-outs proved right.

Selena could barely contain herself emotionally and began to cry happy tears. John Branniff stood and hugged her and offered her a tissue.

"There, there Selena no need to cry at such a happy occasion. I wish you could have been here to see how happy Mr. Johnson was when he presented us with the check. The two of you are very lucky people and I wish you could have seen how tickled each one of us was when he was here last month to arrange this surprise for you. We wanted him to be here when we announced it, but he wanted you to bask in the moment." John finished by kissing her on the cheek.

Then each of the other partners hugged and kissed her as well. Finally Deneigh did the same and wiped both of their tears with her tissue.

From the speakerphone Charley Ford's wife called out, "Charley writes he owes you a hug and a kiss for luck. He'll see you in July."

"No Charley, I'll be over right after we finish up tonight. Thank you so much, thanks ALL of you so much for the confidence you've shown in me. I already wish these two weeks would never end. Joe's gift was a surprise, but just everything here is WONDERFUL. I never expected to be named a partner until after I started in July. I am so... so... OVERWHELMED!" Selena bubbled.

Here, she had been a little worried that her that they might think she was making a women's lib play by wanting Deneigh to be recognized more, when actually it was just supposed to be a little wake-up call that they had been treating her like a "little sister". As an administrative assistant composing and editing policy statements she was as good as there was using her legal background to be sure of wording tense and intent. Although the real secretarial work was handled by the pool uptown, she did make coffee and order lunches in addition to her "receptionist" work and she never minded and never realized how much she was taken for granted. Now Selena had changed that. She wasn't a women libber by any stretch, nor a revolutionary. In fact she expected the male-female dividing line to be bigger than the old proven idea vs. young fresh idea dividing line. Yet at WSGG, there were neither. Selena might as well have been 50, overweight and homely as they truly were interested in ideas and quality of thought from the prospective new partner.

She knew Joe would pick her up tonight, with him knowing the official announcement was made. He not being there was to be sure that she took in ALL of the accolades she deserved. They would have plenty of time to celebrate themselves. He anticipated a trip to Mount Sinai Hospital for Selena to see Charley Ford and chose to drive it, rather than hire the limo, so they could go to a special restaurant afterwards if Selena chose to. It was still the middle of the week and she still had to work Thursday and Friday. After Tuesday night's passionate workout he didn't anticipate another night of locking themselves in the bedroom before the weekend. He hoped they could do some Christmas shopping on Friday night and Saturday during the day. Saturday evening was left open to share with Joseph and Shanna, as long as they found a sitter. They made no other plans for the following week.

Joe looked forward to when they set up housekeeping at their New York apartment. Living at The Four Seasons was certainly nice, but opulence and being treated like royalty was spoiling them. Having to make their own beds and do their own laundry and cleaning would shock them back to reality. Joe had always been a do it yourself type, but he did enjoy the occasional fling with decadence. He worked hard and deserved it from time to time. With Selena he had the perfect person to share that with and she was all in for his plans.

It was 3:50 when Joe began to back his little roadster out of Joe and Shanna's garage into the alley. He just had to zip up the long cobbled back street and ease himself in the Manhattan traffic for a block or two in front of The Four Seasons and then cruise 6 blocks down Madison to cross to Park and back up the one way to the brownstone front. Joseph had written down directions to Mount Sinai Hospital, knowing she would need to see her co-mentor Charley Ford.

He pulled up to the front of WSGG and the front door of the brownstone opened and Selena flew out. Joe jumped out of the car and met her to open her door.

"You wonderful, wonderful man! Can you ever stop surprising me and making me the happiest woman in the world? How could you be so sweet? It's the little things you do that make me love you, but it's the big things that show me how committed and happy we'll always be!" Selena said for the whole world to hear as she got to Joe and took his hands in hers and dropped her brief.

She kissed him heartily on the lips then threw her arms around his head and pasted her lips to his again like a suction cup to a clean window.

When Joe finally got up for air he hugged her tightly, so glad he had made her so happy.

"It was the best thing for us, to get that out of the way, and I knew it would make you happy. These 5 guys are so convinced about you. I talk to them a lot when they call to check on you." He said in her ear as she still gripped him returning his hug.

"They call most every Friday before lunch to ask how you are doing. They're just having a weekly wrap-up and they always call. You weren't supposed to know because they didn't want you to think they had second thoughts. They called because they were excited to get on with the "new group" phase. Now, you don't know about that, OK?" Joe said taking her into his confidence.

Selena released Joe and looked at him eye to eye.

"You wouldn't have eased any of my tension or worry if you had told me, so it's just as well as you didn't. I KNOW how much they respect me, especially now. This is all a dream." She said as she picked her brief from the pavement and slid into the seat of Joe's car and he closed the door.

"Can we go to... " She began to say when Joe pulled the directions down from the visor.

"Ohhhh, you're so sweet! I'm exhausted from the day, but I HAVE to get to see Charley." She said finally relaxing back into the leather bucket.

"Are you too tired to go out for steak afterwards? I got reservations at Peter Lugers." He asked.

"You mean that place on the steak sauce bottles home?"

"That's it! It's on Broadway in Brooklyn; it'll show you a whole new side of the city." He said trying to convince her.

"OK, it sounds like fun, but we have to get home at a decent hour. One of us has to work." She kidded him.