Chapter 55

I stopped by the dorm where Darcy lived but realized that I had never been inside. I went in and just started to wander around. There was a lot of music under the doors so I figured a lot of band members lived here. I asked if people knew where Darcy lived. If they said no, I asked about Kari, from person to person, I narrowed the search. I finally reached the floor and then went to the end of the hallway and then to the door. I knocked and waited. I didn't hear anything. So I knocked again. Maybe they hadn't heard me the first time or were out. The door cracked open. I looked down and Darcy looked scared. I asked if I could come in.

She looked at the floor and said, "Yes, Master." I let myself in and saw Kari on the bed and a naked Sheryl on her knees. There was also a naked guy in the room on the chair behind Sheryl. I turned and walked out, pissed as hell. I knew I didn't have the right to feel pissed, since I had just double teamed Heather, and here I stood pissed about what they were doing. I was giving her space to study and practice her music, even to live with Sheryl, but not to fuck with Kari and a guy while I sat at home. I was about to cry. I felt like my heart was exploding. Kari had promised Sheryl to me when she hit the mark, and there she was with a guy (not me) naked.

I walked quickly out of the dorm and didn't even try to make it to my apartment. I hopped on the Harley and just opened it up. I was wearing sneakers, jeans, a t-shirt and a helmet. I made it out to University Avenue and went west. When I got to I-75, I went under it going west and opened it up. I was lucky that the roads were empty and no cops were out because I was barely under a 100 for a long time until I realized my nipples had ice on them, or at least it felt that way. I stopped by a field and just screamed at the top of my lungs. I was so upset I was shaking ... I had set up my life so I could be selfish and unattached. I wanted freedom and I had all the freedom in the world. I had given the freedom to Darcy and she took it. I felt like she'd stabbed me in the back, but I had given her the knife, so logically, it was mostly my fault.

Inside I was fifty years old, but I was acting like a kid and I needed to get my shit together. I had no clue where I was., so I turned around and looked for landmarks from my ride out, but going the other way at 120 miles per hour was not working too well. It was midnight and I realized that I was lost. I noticed that the town I was in looked empty. There were no lights on at the gas stations, or on any other store. I thought about going back up to 100 mph to see if I could get a cop interested enough to show me the way. The adrenalin rush that I had before was gone. I was over my rage, and I felt exhausted. I finally found the west coast of Florida and a gas station that was open twenty-four hours which saved me from sleeping on a park bench.

I turned around and made it home around 3 AM. I let myself in and Darcy was in the living room on the couch. She was asleep, but her face looked like she'd been crying. I put a pillow under her head and a blanket over her. I went in and climbed in bed. I was glad that I had Heather help me change the sheets when we finished. I felt like my head had just touched the pillow when I felt Darcy climb on top of me. I kissed her and pulled her in front of me and went back to sleep. I woke at 8:15 and my first class of the day was 8:30. I jumped up and took a piss. I jumped in the shower for less than a minute to wash my hair and pits. I ran a towel on my head and brushed my hair and ran out the front door with a toothbrush in my mouth. I tossed the toothbrush in a trashcan and spit on the grass on my way into my marketing class. I was only two minutes late.

The teacher called us up in groups to talk about what we had decided to work on. All of the ideas we had trashed as impossible to receive an A on, the other groups confidently proclaimed they would conquer. The professor asked the class to critique what each group presented and point out the obstacles they would have to overcome to show success.

The first group wanted to market a new soda. Scott took all the reasons why we passed on that product and tossed it in their faces. I was quiet and still had a lot on my mind. The next group went local with a haircutting place. Joyce took this one and even mentioned that she knew a guy that went where he did because the girl rubbed her tits on him while she worked. She asked how they were going to market against that.

I was quiet but as they came up one by one, people from my group would throw back at them the reasons that we didn't take those approaches. It was finally our turn. We were given a minute to prepare and I said, "Now that you have kicked in the teeth of every other group, let's go see if they have nice things to say to us." Heather smiled and said, "Fuck 'em."

Erica was our spokesperson. She laid out the store that we were going to market as a local frame shop. Our goal is to increase sales by 20%.

One girl said, "I know a girl who gets her framing done at a shop that has a cute guy. How are you going to market against that?" Everyone knew she was just trying to bust our balls. You have to love Heather. She said, "We are going to have Britt and Scott stand out front in their G-strings and hold a sign for the big sale. Next." The class laughed and the professor smiled.

He asked some questions about what we have done so far. Erica said, "We have decided on the type of company we want to market. We then broke up into groups. One group is collecting price and style data on their main competitors. The other group has already met with the frame shop's management team, and, in addition, interviewed two of the three main vertical markets they serve. We are also interviewing some potential markets that they're not attracting now, so in the future, we can add additional revenue. We are meeting tonight to merge the data and discuss and combine our ideas about the way to focus our efforts and the message we want to put forth to the different markets."

The professor said, "This is a good start, everyone. For those of you that received constructive criticisms please think about how you are going to address them and develop answers to those issues. I look forward to seeing what you have on Monday. Have a good weekend and stay safe." When we walked out Heather gave me a hug and a kiss on the cheek.

Erica asked, "What's up with all of the hugging and kissing?"

Heather said, "He's good at it." They were all going to meet at my place at six. We said good-byes and headed out.

I went to my finance class with Dr. Stahl and then back to the apartment. Darcy was there. I said, "Hey you, don't you have class?"

"I do, but I need to talk with you. You scared me last night."

"I promise not to surprise you in the future. If I want to see you, I'll call and see if you are free. I'm sorry, Darcy."

"I have always wanted you to just show up and when you did, it was the worst timing in the world. Where did you go?"

"I took my Harley and I tried to break the speed of sound barrier. I was running down several country roads in the pitch dark, at 120 miles per hour. I finally calmed down enough to scream at the moon and cry over the loss of the closest lover that I ever had. I was mad at myself for not committing to you and getting the same in return. I was mad at my selfishness in keeping my freedom and not giving you yours. You had on a shirt but I'm assuming either you took off your necklace or had it clasped. I'm sorry if I scared you but you're free to live your life. I'm not willing to make a lifetime commitment and never demanded one from you. I'm fine now, I'm over my rage and I'll be able to move on. I'll always love you and care for you, and as long as you're happy, then I'm happy for you."

She stood there with her mouth wide open. "I was ready for you to beat me but not dump me. I have never taken off my leash and I have never clasped my leash. I want you. I don't ever want to become liberated from you."

"Then maybe you should explain what was going on in your room when I saw my slaves' slave naked with another guy after you promised her to me when she reached the point where she would earn her prize. I saw that boy naked with her." I said.

"Kari was bitching that her new boyfriend was lousy at eating pussy. He came by and I said something to him. Well to make a long story short, Sheryl was going to teach him how to eat pussy and Kari was the pussy she was going to eat. I didn't think it was fair that Kari was the only one naked, so I made Sheryl get naked in my room and made James get naked for his lesson. She was, well, in the lesson when you knocked. We waited for whoever knocked to leave but then you knocked again. Since I was the only person dressed, I checked the door. I was not going to deny you anything Master, so when you asked to come in I said, "Yes". You saw the results of what I described."

"OK."

"OK what?" she asked.

"OK, I misread what was happening and I overreacted. I'm sorry."

"Will you still love me, Master? I was so scared. I almost called the police. Kari and Sheryl have both called here a bunch of times but I wouldn't let them come over. If you were so mad my only wish was that you would want to beat me but not hurt them."

"I would kill myself first if I couldn't take the pain. I guess I almost did last night. I had a threesome yesterday with John upstairs and a girl from my marketing class. I missed you and even if it were only long enough for a kiss from you, I was going to interrupt your studying. When I saw that you weren't studying or practicing your music, or training your slave, but instead you had time to have an orgy without me, it crushed me. I was in such a rage I was out of control. I drove so hard and so fast that I got totally lost. I found the Gulf of Mexico before I knew which way to get back here. I miss you all the time but I leave you alone to live your life. Sometimes I walk around my apartment and just look at your pictures and wish you were here, but I know you have other obligations."

"Britt, if you want, I'll be here more. I can live in your guest room if you want. I do have things to do but you're ahead of all of my friends, including Sheryl. I need to do my music and classes, but everything else is expendable."

"Come here, my pet. I've missed you. If we work together, we will work this whole thing out."

She came and jumped into my arms and we kissed. We made out like school kids and by the time we made it to the bed, we were both naked. I lay down and she rode my cock cowgirl style. She pinched her nipples, rode me, and called for me to cum in her. She said, "I ran over here last night and haven't been home. I didn't take my pill today. Plant your seed in me. I want your seed in me. Mark me as yours."

I shot off in her and she fell forward on my chest. She told me that she should get back to her dorm to get ready for practice. She said, "Tomorrow is Thursday. I'll spend the night and we will talk this through. I expect you to spank me for scaring you, Master. I'm sorry that I have neglected you and not paid as much attention as I should have. I had no right to leave you alone so Kari can get better head. She will never train him to become as good as you are and that's what she really wants.

Later, after I completed my schoolwork, the marketing gang got together and each had a peanut butter and banana sandwich except Erica who wanted jelly with her peanut butter for some reason. We discussed and compiled the data, and it seemed that all the stores except for some import type stores at the mall had the same plain boring frames with no matting. Although they had lower prices than those at the frame store, their products looked cheaper as well.

We decided to work on three fronts. The first was selling great memories to families. We could show the same photo in a cheap frame and then a professionally produced frame. The second would be to decorators. After completing the framing process, they would have a higher-end look. They could pass the price through to the customer at retail and get a rebate from the store. They would need to deal with them as direct marketing to avoid conflict with the public. There were several private photographers for portraits, weddings and other events. They could sell the framed prints in their premium packages and be as competitive as if they went to the frame shop after the fact. They would make twenty percent on the services where others did the work. This would be another direct marketing piece.

To get this done, we would need to make a flier for the interior designers and photographers, and include the stores that sell art supplies and photography equipment.

The theme to the public campaign would be selling memorable moments. We brainstormed ideas. We decided on the slogan "Making Special Moments More Special." We went with the before and after photos concept. Instead of using a wedding picture, we would use a family in front of the Grand Canyon. We considered using a Christmas tree but we wanted non-Christians to buy frames too. We wanted to show that special moments were also everyday moments. After we went back and forth, we changed our mind to include different photos in the same ad. If it ran four weeks in the paper, we would change the photo from a vacation to a birthday to a family portrait and then the Christmas tree made a recovery. We would use kids blowing out the candle of the first birthday and granny would be with the family at Christmas. We wanted everyone to think, "That could be someone from my family."

For the direct mail piece, we would focus on the higher quality of the products and the ability to make their great work look even better. For using this approach, our customer would receive a payment for giving us the privilege of helping them. Heather was a graphics genius and took on the flier and the ad layout. The group gave me the task of getting pricing for different types of ads. Erica was going to get photos we could use and Scott and Joyce were going to make calls out to different areas to see if they would consider shipping to our store if the price was right and turnaround time and quality guaranteed.