Chapter 7

It was on a Friday evening at Ricky’s bar on the last Friday of May. The five McClain Construction men were all seated at their usual places at the bar talking about Ashley coming back to work during summer vacation from college. Looking forward to working with her for another summer Greg Sandler said, “Can you guys believe what a beautiful girl Ash has become?”

Darren Doyle, Skip Furman, Nick DiAngeli, and Sam Glickman all shook their heads in agreement. The night they spent with her after her high school prom was taking a slow run through each of their heads.

Darren Doyle said, “What I can’t believe is until this last Christmas I’d been fucking her for three years.”

“So, what happened,” Nick DiAngeli said.

“She came home for Christmas, and we got together. When I tried to get into her pants, she told me that was all over.”

“Really,” Nick said. He was one of the guys who set up the gangbang. To be fair he also tried to talk her out of it. He was still getting together a couple of times a month with Cindy McClain (Jim’s wife).

“Yeah,” Darren said, “I was pissed. Sex with Ash was just something I had come to expect.”

“What about us?” Skip said.

“She said that phase of her life is over.”

“Why do you think she said that?” said Sam Glickman.

“She told me she had gotten enough kicks out of it and it was time to for her get her act together ... that she was studying Business and needed to be concerned about her future. She said she didn’t need to trash her reputation any more than it already might have been and had to stop acting like that before other people found out.”

“Did she seem upset with us?” Greg asked.

“We talked about that, and she said she was the one who started it, found out how much she loved it, and NEVER wanted it to stop.”

“So,” Nick asked, “did she say what made her stop?”

“You’re such an asshole Nick,” Darren said. “You of all people should know the answer to that.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“For Christ’s sake,” Greg said, “You’re the one who gave her the sad tale about the woman you knew who loved gangbangs so much she could never stop.”

“No shit,” Nick said, “she said THAT?”

“Not in those exact words. What she said was that she was a horny kid who didn’t want to learn about sex from pimply high school kids when she started. She told me her mother had told her if she was going to fool around, she might as well find an older guy to show her the ropes. She laughed and said she found five and had a great time for three years. She made a point of saying that the gangbang appealed to her, and she wanted to experience it once in her life, even though Nick tried to talk her out of it. After that, she took Nick’s words to heart and since that time had only been having sex with me. Then at Christmas, she gave me the boot too. So, who knows?”

Greg said, “She got religion. There’s no other way the same girl who went down on me the first day she worked here and hustled me to have sex with her the weekend that Jim and Cindy went to the Springs is gonna stop playing around.”

“From your mouth to God’s ears Sandler,” Darren said, “but she certainly stopped with me.”

“By the way,” Greg said to Darren, “you’ve gotten to know Ash better than the rest of us, did she say who Cindy might have said the older guy should be like?”

“She did. She said her mom told her to find a guy like Nick.”

“Our own Nick DiAngeli,” Greg said with heavy sarcasm.

Nick said, “What the fuck is THAT supposed to mean Sandler?

Like the rest of the guys, Greg had always lusted after Cindy McClain. She was a knockout and a nice woman. The words were unspoken but everybody but Nick thought why NICK?

In the silence of all his McClain buddies staring gape-mouthed at him, Nick said, “I get so tired of assholes like you Darren bragging about women they’ve had sex with.” If he had kept his mouth shut, there might have been a chance that these guys would have just figured that Cindy thought Nick was the nicest guy there. He certainly had always convinced everybody that he was the kindest guy in their group. He was the one who thought enough of Ashley to try to talk her out of the gangbang.

“I’m not bragging about ANYTHING Nick,” Darren said, “I’m just saying that you talk about Ash being such a cute kid who’s becoming a beautiful woman. But none of us can deny the fact that she’s a fucking nympho. You want to think that she is such a good little girl. And here her mother is talking with her about getting it on with older guys.” He knew he should have said something about it to the other guys when Ashley first told him the first year she was there. But she was only fourteen. She was illegal. Saying anything to anybody at the time was out of the question. “And who is the oldest guy here?”

To a man came, “NICK.”

Jim McClain and Nick DeAngeli were the best employees at Eureka Construction, a company of over a thousand people. They were often lauded by the heads of the company but never compensated adequately. When Jim told Nick he wanted to start a company Nick said, “I’d go to work for you in a New York minute pal. As far as I’m concerned Eureka’s too high a profiled company for me to be in any way and I’d like to get out. There’s talk about them being involved with Jim Walters who is building in Las Vegas. Next thing you know they’ll be asking to us start building over there and I don’t want any part of Las Vegas.” Jim did his best to talk Nick into being his partner in the business he wanted to start but there was always something mysterious about Nick that he was reticent to share as if his past was shadowy. When Jim started his business though Nick came up with the seed money to get it started, he wouldn’t become a partner but became McClain Construction’s first employee.

“I don’t want you to work for, me Nick. I want to be your partner.”

No way,” Nick said, “Next thing you know my picture will be in the paper. That kind of publicity would be a pain in the ass as far as I’m concerned. I’d rather go to work for you. I can produce funds to get us started but I’d rather work for you and be a silent partner, which means SILENT.”

Both Nick and his wife Anne Marie were very private persons. Nick told Jim that he preferred to keep a low profile as far as the business was concerned. “I just don’t want any publicity,” he always said. He gave no other reason. But there was always an aura about him that suggested that he had something in his past he wanted to keep under wraps. Jim knew that Nick was worth quite a bit of money. He thought he might have inherited it. Nick and Anne Marie had a nice house in Reseda as well as a lake house overlooking the lake at Westlake Village, where he and Cindy had overnighted numerous times.

Initially, Jim borrowed a small sum from the bank, but DiAngeli floated the bulk of the money. Yet he continued insisting on working for a paycheck. Jim of course paid Nick far better than any other McClain employee and even cut him a generous percent of the profits when they were in the black. There was never a contract between the two men, everything was done on a handshake basis.

It was almost two years after Jim and Nick started the business when Anne Marie asked Cindy if she and Jim would like to spend the weekend at the Lake with them. They had been to the Westlake property numerous times but had never overnighted there. The stress of a two-year-old business trying to establish itself in the market made it difficult for the two couples to do much socializing.

While Jim and Cindy had developed a large circle of friends which included Nick and Anne Marie, the DiAngeli’s had few friends that the McClain’s were aware of. They were both nice enough but preferred keeping a low profile in the community. Anne Marie was a sweet, loving woman, someone Cindy loved being around. Each time they met, usually for dinner, or a small party at the McClain house Anne Marie always hugged Cindy and Jim. She had been the first to do it when they first met, something Cindy found unusual. Cindy’s family was one where members barely touched.

The last time they visited Nick and Anne Marie on a Sunday at Westlake Anne Marie while hugging Cindy goodbye, patted her on the ass. On the way home when she mentioned to Jim how much she loved Anne Marie’s hugs Jim said, “She’s quite an affectionate woman. She even patted me on the ass.”

“You too?”

The first time Cindy had met Anne Marie she thought she was impressed at how touchy-feely she was. To a person having grown up in a restrained family like hers, hugging was foreign. Cindy found the touching curiously exciting but defensively cringed to which Anne Marie said, “I’m sorry, I just grew up in an affectionate family.” But each time they met her new friend’s touches grew into a craving which made Cindy wonder, is it wrong to feel like this about a woman touching me? So, when Anne Marie patted her bottom that day, it was more of hidden anticipation than a threat. She wanted to return the gesture but was afraid it might encourage Anne Marie to touch something that might put Cindy over a line she could allow herself to accept.

When she realized Anne Marie had done the same to Jim, she was alarmed that her friend had overstepped her territory and invaded forbidden property. “Don’t you think that’s a little strange Jim?”

“Like I said Cindy she’s an affectionate woman.”

“I guess I was just brought up a little differently,” Cindy said.

“So,” Jim responded, “what harm is there in patting either of our asses? It’s only a gesture of her affection.”

I guess I shouldn’t let it bother me. Cindy thought. “I’m starting to feel like Anne Mary is like a sister I never had.”

Unbeknownst to Cindy Jim and Nick had been talking about their wives whenever they needed to be on a job together. It was Jim who brought the subject up to Nick when he mentioned, “Maybe you’ll get pissed at me but I hope you take it as a compliment when I say that I think Anne Marie is one of the sexiest women I have ever met.”

“I take it as a compliment Jim, but Cindy isn’t exactly chopped liver herself.”

“I guess we’re two lucky guys to have bagged two hot sexy ladies. But I have to be honest with ya Nick and I hope you don’t go apeshit when I tell you, that the last couple of times Cindy and I have been with you at the lake, when I hugged Anne Marie hello and goodbye, she patted my ass each time.”

“Yeah, I know Jim. Anne Marie is one of those touchy feeling women who just can’t get enough of touching and feeling.”

“So, you’re not pissed?”

“Hell, no Jim, I get a kick out of it. Cindy loves hugging too doesn’t she.”

“Yeah, she’s a cuddly gal with me but hasn’t been with anybody else. But I’ve noticed that she hangs on to you pretty tight when you two greet each other and say goodbye.”

“Does that bother you, Jim?”

“Nah, I’ve always noticed it when I’m hugging Anne Marie. For some reason it makes me feel closer to you.”

“Funny you should say that. Anne Marie said last weekend after you left that watching Cindy and me hug made her think that we’re closer than most couples.”

“Hmm,” Jim grunted, “I thought you kept pushing your stomach into Cindy’s which I thought might be a bit too close.”

Think again pal, Nick thought, it was Cindy who was pushing herself into ME. “It appeared to me that Anne Marie was trying to push herself into YOU. She does that, ya know?”

Jim was quiet for a minute or so after Nick said it. He appeared stiff. And his eyes were glued to the road. He was thinking about what Cindy had said when they were in bed together Sunday night, after having spent the day at the lake with them.

“Are you pissed at me Jim for saying that?”

Still quiet he thought as he drove ... about having humped his wife until they needed to stop for a rest. He was balls deep inside her. She had her legs wrapped around him with her ankles locked when she said, “Have you ever thought of Anne Marie while making love to me like this?”

The question was shocking. Though it sent a different kind of electricity through him as he imagined that Cindy’s pussy was Anne Marie’s, he wondered what her legs would feel like around him. He had to ask the question but was both afraid of the answer and the response. “Have you and Nick been in bed together?”

There was something about Nick’s Italian swarthiness that had turned Cindy on from the beginning. Then from the time they started going to the lake and spending time with Nick and Anne Marie she had been fantasizing about them. One day when she and Anne Marie were walking around the lake together Anne Marie asked the question. “Do you ever fantasize about other men Cindy?”

Cindy felt weird about the question and wondered why Anne Marie would have asked. But she found no harm in being honest. She had heard that so other women fantasized about men who weren’t their husbands. “I am embarrassed to say that I have Anne Marie. Have you?”

“Of course. And I don’t know why you would feel embarrassed to admit it. Most women do. It’s the UNUSUAL woman who doesn’t. But I hesitate to tell you who I fantasize about. You know him.”

She thought about the other men at McClain construction, but Anne Marie didn’t know most of the people who worked there. Unless ... and I hope he isn’t the one. “Try me.”

“Promise you won’t get upset with me.”

“I’m a big girl Anne Marie.”

“Well, here goes. Lately, I have been fantasizing about Jim. It is because you’ve been coming out here so often. We’re getting quite close.”

Her heart dropped into her stomach. “But not THAT close Anne Marie ... COME ON NOW.” At the same time, she got goosebumps and suddenly felt squishy between her legs.

“At least you’re not clawing my eyes out.”

“I’ll admit that I’m a bit put off Anne Marie.”

Anne Marie boldly pressed on. “Have you ever thought of swinging?”

This conversation has to STOP Cindy thought as she walked faster and put a few paces between her and Anne Marie. But for some reason, she turned her head and said over her shoulder, “Swinging? Does that mean having sex with another couple?” She picked up the pace feeling uneasy that she couldn’t understand why the image of Nick DiAngeli appeared in her mind. He was wearing the same blue swim trunks he had worn earlier in the day. He was looking at her over his shoulder and grinning at her. In her imagination, she walked closer and saw that someone was in front of him. She had pulled his trunks down and was giving him a blow job. IT’S ME FOR CHRIST’S SAKE.

“Are you OK?” Anne Marie said catching up to her on the path. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

“No, I’m ok.” She tried to cover her tracks. “And to answer your question. No, I have never thought about swinging.”

“Oh.” Anne Marie laughed in relief. “But you have been fantasizing about sex with someone I might know?”

When Cindy opened her mouth, she lost control of what came out. “Of course, you know him hee-hee, it’s Nick Anne Marie. It’s NICK.

Well, I’ll be damned Anne Marie thought.

“Oh my god,” Cindy said putting her hands over her face. What have I said?”

Taking Cindy’s hands, she pulled them away from her face and said, “You’ve said what I hoped you would say silly.”

Cindy didn’t feel silly. She was aghast. She thought Anne Marie might start pummeling her. “I ... I’m sorry. I’m SORRY.”

“You’re sorry? You’re fantasizing about my Nick. And you’re SORRY? I feel complimented that you would like to swing with us.”

“Swing?” No way. I just can’t do something like that Anne Marie.”

One evening when the McClain family was having dinner Ashley’s father asked her what she thought she wanted to do after college. He was stunned when she said, “I want to work for McClain Construction Daddy. I want to take over the business when you decide to retire.”

She was on a full athletic scholarship to Stanford University and had great hopes she would be a star in the Pac-12 soccer league. In addition to that, she was an honor student who was active in the Stanford Business Club. Jim loved the fact that she had been working for his company. He was proud that she did an outstanding job and was sought after by every one of his top men to work on their team. But he argued that he thought she had a much brighter future in big business than with his small company. Her response was, “I have ideas Daddy that I can help grow this small company into something really big.”

With a voice full of doubt and sarcasm he said, “Like what?”

Like so many independent businessmen Jim McClain had numerous reasons for wanting his children to go into a more “impactful” career. And like so many other sole owners he wanted no interference in his business from anybody, including his wife or his daughter. Besides, he didn’t think the construction industry was the proper environment for the kind of woman he considered his daughter to be. A summer job was one thing, a career in a business that he would offer to his employees when he decided to retire was something entirely different. Stanford graduates were not supposed to be taking over two-bit family businesses.

“I know you don’t think I should be in the business Daddy,” she said. “I also know I can come up with something that will take McClain Construction from being a small builder to something more worthwhile in the business.”

Jim sighed, rolled his eyes, and emitted a derisive laugh.

She repeated his question, “Like what? I have things working in my mind Daddy that can come together as a kind of ‘WHAT’ that will blow people away. I am just waiting for a couple of things to fall into place. When he choked out a cynical laugh she said, “I’m SERIOUS Daddy; I’m going to make McClain FAMOUS someday.”

He admired that his daughter was always thinking of ways to make the company more efficient. But, in concert with his wife’s urging, he had made clear that he was opposed to his daughter spending her life in a company that he planned to sell and would provide with a comfortable retirement. With an irreverent smirk, he said, “In other words, you haven’t got the slightest idea?” Hoping to wash the wild notion out of her mind he had the answer that would make her summer the most boring she had yet spent with McClain Construction and bring that phase of her life to an end.

New construction in town was at its lowest ebb in years. To keep two of his top hands and oldest employees working he took a job at the Airport Marriott Hotel installing ADA (American Disability Act) fixtures in all 400 bathrooms. The job would take most of the summer. It was boring, repetitive work but it would assure two loyal, hardworking men regular paychecks. Putting his daughter Ashley with these two unexciting workhorses for a summer on a dead-end job like this should erase her visions of grandeur for his unexciting company. Chuckling inwardly, he looked across the table at Ashley and thought this should end her dreams of rocketing McClain Construction into the stratosphere and open larger doors for what she can do with her Stanford education.