My Only Talent Ch. 36

Kevin walked back down the stairs and got in my car and then we dropped him at the ZZZ house. I grabbed his shoulder before he stepped out, and he looked at me. "Mums the word, Kevin, okay?"

He snorted. "Yeah, I know. Nothing about tonight. I can't tell the best fucking brag story of my life to anyone, but I knew that going in. Mei Ling is a wonderful young lady, blah, blah, blah."

We all nodded in agreement. When we got back to the UDP port, there were only a few guys on hand, as most members had already departed for the summer. With no classes in session, there was lots of Netflix and a few card games going on.

Cisco was nowhere to be seen, but Oiler was there. "So, what was happening tonight guys?"

I took the lead. "Just went for a drive out to Horseshoe Bay and back to see Kevin' dad's condo." I thought that was innocuous enough.

Oiler looked interested. "Oh, did you see Big Bones Jones? I saw some tweets about him signing autographs at the pool somewhere near Horseshoe Bay."

Husky remained admirably silent, and I spoke. "I think we might have seen some commotion around the pool, so maybe that's what it was. Well I am tired. I am going to catch up on my sleep."

Oiler looked disappointed. "So early? Man, you guys just have no energy. These should be your wild college days! Where's your sense of adventure?"

We all shared a look, but kept our mouths shut.

+++++++++++++++++++

Back at the Bi Phi house, and unbeknownst to all of us at the time, my roommate Kevin K. Kretzman was on his way to becoming a Greek society legend. When he brought Mei Ling back to the house, every girl in the sorority could tell at a glance that she had that unmistakable glow that meant she had just had her brains fucked out. It was a state they all aspired too. As Kevin had gently escorted her to the door, and treated her so sweetly, his stock soared with all observers. The Bi Phi's knew that Mei Ling dated Cisco, and Kevin was with Lou Baby, but they didn't suspect Kevin and Mei Ling were a thing at all. Mei Ling, when questioned, was coy, but her understated smile spoke volumes.

The next day a few calls to boyfriends who belonged to ZZZ or girls known to party at ZZZ produced the remarkable result that the normally braggadocios Kevin had said nothing about Mei Ling to anyone, and when questioned about her specifically, would only say that she was a wonderful young lady and a good friend, but with no gossip or other information at all.

Kevin thus became a shining example of the kind of boyfriend that all the girls desperately desired: ready willing and able to fuck their brains out, and unwilling to gossip about it. His fame soon spread to other sororities and dorms, and literally hundreds of girls were hoping that Kevin might call. His reputation was now every bit the equal of what his roommate, the Master, had gained from the Halloween and Addicted to Austin parties.

+++++++++++++++++++

I was just about to drift off to sleep at the UDP house in the bed that Ralph's frat brother roommate had recently vacated because he was spending the summer in Fort Worth rather than Austin, when my phone rang.

It was Suzanne. My heart stopped beating for a second. "Robbie, are you there?"

"Yes."

"I'm still in San Antonio. Mike is still awake. It' a miracle. They said there was less than a 1% chance he would ever wake up. His parents were just about to let them turn off the machines."

I knew I should say something encouraging, but I just couldn't do it.

"They are running some tests on him now. They say he will be in rehab for months before he can walk again. But it's a miracle that he even has a chance!"

I gulped. "So, what happens now?"

"They do 30 days of rehab here in the hospital, do an evaluation, and then send him to Warm Springs or someplace like that for long term rehab." She missed my meaning, I guess.

I tried again. "So, what are you going to do?"

"I am going to stay here today and tomorrow. Mike's parents went home to pack up some clothes and stuff for him. I'll stay with him tonight while they are gone, and then tomorrow until they get back."

All her focus was on Mike. Her relationship with me was not mentioned. I guess that told me something. I guess Lara was right about things were going to work.

Show her you are thinking about her, Robbie. "So, what about your dissertation?"

She sighed. "Luckily I can do some work on things here. Mike mostly sleeps right now. I will have to hustle when I get back to Austin."

Well, at least she was coming back. What would happen when she did?

+++++++++++++++++++

Dwight was finished packing up his apartment and office in San Mateo. It seemed like he had just moved in, and he was already moving out. Things felt very different, though. His marketing director lunch buddy MJ had submitted her letter of resignation, and was looking for another job.

Even though the product turned out to cost much more than forecast, 3 to 10 times the CEO's original estimates, he insisted that was good enough to win in the market. The CEO directed the celebrity Marketing VP to do his job and sell the product and make the sales and profits happen. Since shit flows downhill, the VP had ordered MJ to change her market requirements pitch to assure everyone that the costly product would still sell, and still generate big margins. She told him it just wasn't true, and she wouldn't put her name on a ridiculous forecast like that. He knew he would have to find some other marketing sucker to write that document if he was going to continue to collect his inflated salary, so he fired her on the spot.

The CEO was overheard yelling at the VP that "his job was to sell, so bribe people or sleep with them or whatever you idiots are supposed to do to sell my product! My design is perfect, so fucking sell it!"

MJ said the whole thing would soon collapse. The next financing, which was needed in six months or less, would be a massive down round, or they would have to find a rich but clueless Asian conglomerate to invest at an inflated valuation. But unless a way was found to reduce costs, the end was inevitable.

Dwight was glad he was leaving. This afternoon in fact. He went to SFO early, went through security, and settled into the Admiral's Club.

A red text popped in, from HQ, from woman who was Roger Sherman's boss's boss. Someone Dwight had never talked to. He had seen her in the hall once. She was a very high-ranking field ops manager, and everything she did was compartmented and very hush hush, even within the agency. He was directed to call her immediately.

She answered her own phone. "Your sequence is 'sierra', 'alpha', 'zulu', and wave-off 'echo'. Where are you?"

Dwight looked at the front of his phone, noting the GMT date and time. He decoded her phonetics in his head. It authenticated. "SFO. Admiral's club."

"Turn in your ticket. Go over to Signature Flight Support on the North access road. Ask for Ken. Tell him you need to meet with Smith and Jones. Smith is the pilot. Jones will brief you en route."

Dwight's heart rate doubled. She had invoked his primary activation sequence, and she now owned him and every minute of his time until she released him. He couldn't even contact Carmencita to update her.

Something big was up.

+++++++++++++++++++

I lay in bed and stared at the frat house ceiling, dinged and scarred with all sorts of marks from who knows what bouncing off it. I felt cold, despite all the recent heat generated by Mei Ling.

I was scared, and scarred too, I guess, from Suzanne bouncing off me and back to Mike. Should I just pile in the car and retreat to Prosperous tomorrow morning? I could avoid Suzanne entirely.

But that meant I would also avoid Nora and Lara. No way. I had to get on top of Lara right away and ride her hard. That would make me feel better. I also needed to plug back into Nora and feel that bond. It would make me feel much better.

I'm not sure how long I lay there, but Ralph woke me up. "I'm making a run to Torchy's for breakfast tacos" The UDP kitchen staff had a few days off until summer session classes started. "What can I get you?"

I needed some heat. "A Crossroads with extra jalapeno, and a Trailer Park, trashy, with four containers of the hottest salsa they have today!"

I had slept in the clothes I put on at the condo last night. No worries. A quick brush through my hair and I was ready to rock. Life is currently simple, and simple is good.

I went down to the dining hall. Most folks were sleeping in, or not there at all. Ralph was up early to report to his summer job as an RA in a supercomputer lab, working on something called the "P versus NP problem", and I had no clue what that was, other than Ralph's blah blah about 'soluble' versus insoluble' (I thought that was chemistry) and something about deterministic versus non-deterministic polynomials. At least I knew what a polynomial was.

The tacos hit the spot, and they had that super-hot red green mixed salsa with the seeds in it, too. I finished off with a Snickers bar from the frat freezer to make sure my Suzie talents would be tuned up enough to top Lara in style. I was feeling pretty good.

Then Suzanne called.

"Hi, Robbie. Mike just went to sleep and his parents won't get back for a few hours, so I thought we could talk."

I wasn't sure I could.

"I guess we have a situation here, don't we?" she began. I never knew how much I hated that phrase until now.

She gulped. "You know I love you, but..."

I knew it. I just fucking knew it.

"... but I can't leave Mike now. The first thing he did when he woke up was ask for me."

Shut up, Robbie. She just needs to talk about it, even though the last thing you need is to hear it.

"So, now you look prescient. You told me from the start that if Mike woke up you would understand, and I love you for it, even more now."

Great. Just fucking great.

"Let's talk more when I get back to Austin. I texted Lara and Nora, so they know the situation. Have to go now."

A deal is a fucking deal, right? Only this is no joke, and this time I am the fuckee, not the fuckor. I realize my leg is shaking, and I am fidgeting with my hands the way Ralph used to do in middle school. I guess I am regressing.

I finished packing up all my stuff, and put everything in the trunk of my car except my overnight bag and two changes of clothes, which I put it the little well behind the Recaros in front.

I got the email from Abelard Peters' office with my e-ticket and employment agreement, and instructions on where to report for work and to the company provided quarters 10 days hence.

I had completed a negotiation with my mother and had agreed to spend at least 5 of those days at home in Prosperous as a dutiful son, now with one year of college under my belt. I didn't realize until now that my getting into ESU, and the engineering school to boot, was a status symbol for my junior college professor mother. So, I had to go around with her for a day or two so she could proudly introduce me as such to her circle of friends and acquaintances. At least I wasn't spending the summer working for Warren Buffet (at Dairy Queen) like one of my high school buddies, now an ESU dropout, was.

I was scheduled to have dinner tonight with Nora and Lara, at Lara's apartment, where the two of them were currently having their own cooking party, and I suspected a little pussy party, too, while their culinary creations rose, marinated, stewed, and/or baked. I was ready to taste anything and everything they had to offer.

Nora was leaving Austin on the same day I was. She was going to Bermuda for a week with her folks, then back to Boston to find a place to live, then London until mid-August when she would return to the Boston area and remain in Cambridge for two years of student life at HBS.

Lara would go into intense summer school mode, taking three regular classes to finish her revised degree plan and three online courses to satisfy pre-requisites for her Wharton/Penn gig.

I would have to display supreme confidence to them both, in order to stay on top of Lara, and stay connected to Nora. Suzanne may have told them more about her situation and plans than she told me, so I would have to keep my ear to the ground for the next few days.

+++++++++++++++++++

Lara put down her cell phone, and looked at Nora. "Mei Ling says it was a magic carpet ride!"

Nora smiled. "That's all? No details?"

Lara continued. "Robbie was the perfect Not a Gentleman, and so were the other guys." She smiled. Robbie was still a top. Her top. Nora smiled too. If Robbie could weather the Suzanne storm, she could, too.

Suzanne and Mei Ling had talked at length (nudge, nudge, wink, wink) about getting four men all to themselves. They were convinced that if they didn't try it they would regret it forever. Suzanne got all economist on it, talking about opportunity cost and probability distributions. Mei Ling said that was bullshit - sometimes the pussy just wants what the pussy wants. Mei Ling lamented that she would never get the chance that Suzanne had, with guys she knew were good guys she could trust.

No one expected Suzanne to get that call from Mike, but Mei Ling reacted instantly, with one perfunctory "oh that's great news" that transitioned immediately into "since you won't be going to the condo..." Suzanne told her to go for it. Cisco did too.

Nora and Lara had talked about it. Nora said it was exciting to think about, but she could never actually do it. She thought the other guys were nice, but she didn't trust them yet, and she had such a connection with Robbie that she just couldn't do it. Lara said it was exciting to think about. Too exciting. She was afraid she would crave the thrill too much. Like heroin. You knew it was terrible for you, but it was too hard to stop doing it just one more time. Asa had advised her to keep it a fantasy. Lara and Nora sometimes talked about it to get each other hot, but that was about as far as it was going to go.

Nevertheless, Nora was getting a lot of new sexual experiences in a short time in her last few weeks in Austin, and nowhere was the training more accelerated than when she was on the trapeze in Lara's apartment. Lara had assured her that the bolts that held the chains that held the trapeze were installed with a prodigious safety factor, so she didn't worry about it crashing to the floor, even when there were three people hanging on it and gyrating about.

She did worry about being driven insane by the intensity of the feelings that were often produced on that gilded trapeze. During one of her first times alone with Lara she had been tied, spanked, tickled, teased and tantalized for what seemed like days, until she screamed and cried in frustration. Lara had just smiled coldly and said, "You may be ready now."

Lara had then pulled out a small modern Bluetooth remote-control vibrator and a big old vintage Panasonic "Reach Easy" model and proceeded to make Nora come at least twenty-five times. It bordered on torture. It also bordered on ecstasy. She didn't know she could come so many times and so many ways. She had been so exhausted that she could barely breathe, and Lara later told her that her synapses were probably too worn out to fire anymore. She was blubbering and bewildered by her own body and feelings.

Then Lara had taken her down from the trapeze and carried her like a baby to the bed. She cradled her and cuddled her, and told her she loved her. She cleaned her gently with a wash cloth, kissed her cheeks, stroked her hair, and told her how beautiful and wonderful she was. Nora felt an acceptance and a bond she still didn't fully understand, but she knew she could trust Lara with her life.

She had also learned how to treat Lara roughly, the way she needed it. Nora had to create and grow her own artificial reservoir of cruelty to love Lara properly. Lara could come from the pain, something Nora could not do. Nora wanted to make Lara beg for that ecstasy and then give it to her, but she could not bear damaging Lara's beautiful skin any more than necessary to get her off. She had studied Lara's considerable collection of BDSM books, and found on the web many of the references that Robbie had accidently shown her in the dining hall at Jester months ago. She was getting pretty good at it.

But this afternoon, while waiting for Robbie to arrive for dinner, Nora was the sub and Lara was the top. Lara had received a package from Japan with what she called "some new and very edgy stuff."

Lara didn't open the box until Nora was completely trussed up and helpless on the trapeze, then she slowly and theatrically conducted an unveiling of her new toys. Nora was afraid it was a collection of acupuncture needles, or flaying tools, or worse. She supposed that was the plan, to let her speculate and get all worried about it. It was working.

When Lara finally cut the plain brown wrapping paper and took the lid off the box, Nora couldn't tell what it was. There were some little silk straps in several colors, and what looked almost like a collection of guitar picks. Robbie had taken Nora dancing at the Broken Spoke once, and the steel guitar player in the band used an assortment of plastic and metal picks that attached to his fingers in several ways rather than just being held like regular guitar picks. The ones Lara had seemed longer and more ornate, some metal, some plastic, some wood. Some had straight tips, some blunt ends, and some had fanciful curved tips. Lara began to put them all into slots in a green lacquered holder with strange characters on it, seeming to put them in a definite sequence based on the characters.

Lara laughed evilly. "Now I'm ready for you, my pretty!" Nora felt a chill pass through her.

+++++++++++++++++++

Dwight took a taxi from Terminal 2 to the FBO. He waited for a moment in very plain lobby, and was then led back through a door marked 'employees only', down a level, and out to a hangar. A guy in his 50's with a decidedly military bearing looked at his phone for an instant and then motioned for him to follow.

"I'm Smith. Let's walk across to the ER."

Dwight wondered if he would need a hospital. Then he saw the sleek looking and almost unmarked Gulfstream sitting off by itself in the corner of the hanger. There were three guys in suits and dark glasses stationed around it and looking about watchfully. Smith led him up the little air stairs and beckoned for him to go aft into the cabin, while Smith went forward and joined another very military looking guy in the cockpit. One of the guys in suits came into the cabin and pulled in the stairs, and a little tug towed the aircraft outside.

It was cold inside the aircraft. The cabin had a conference table arrangement on one side. A woman in her 50's with almost black eyes and a steely look beckoned for Dwight to join her at the table. She looked even more intimidating than she had when Dwight had passed her in the hallway almost a year ago. She had on a grey suit with a green blouse and some pearls. Dwight could just make out the outline of a pistol under her suit coat. The guy in the suit slid down the plastic covers on all the windows, and then took the seat farthest forward. "I'm Jones." She said.

Dwight waited her out. He knew that wasn't her real name, but maybe the other guys didn't. Actually, the one he heard before may not have been her real name either.

"We had to divert you from your administrative tour for a special situation."

Dwight knew that was a euphemism for an assignment that was risky as hell, but important enough that someone had to try it. It also meant he was the best choice the agency could find, or he wouldn't be here. By this time, they had already taxied to the runway and begun their takeoff roll.