Revenge and Promise

I was the same muffled voice. “Well, that’s all-fucking right with me, ‘cause I hate that chicano cocksucker anyway. By the way, your roommate has great tits. Not as big as those jugs you haul around, but still really fucking nice. Maybe I’ll screw her after I get done with you. I’ll letcha watch if you want.” Veronica slammed the phone down in the middle of his laughter, and ran to the bathroom to get Jennifer.

The police combed the area, and found nothing. One of Jennifer’s neighbors told them about seeing a white Toyota in the neighborhood earlier that day, but as the cop said, there were about ten thousand white Toyotas in the city, and without a license plate number, they couldn’t do much. They promised to have a car drive by the house.

Now, she hoped Tomas would call again. She fell asleep on the couch at three, and Jennifer woke her at six. Neither had slept well, but they dragged themselves into work. Her voice mail light was blinking and she dialed the access and password numbers.

“Veronica, this is Tomas. I know you won’t believe this, but what I told you is the truth. I didn’t get the chance to tell you before you hung up, but the meeting will end tomorrow morning and I’ll be home in the afternoon. I’d like to pick you up at Jennifer’s about seven, if you’ll grant me one last meeting. We have a lot to discuss. I hope I’ll see you then.”

The day passed slowly. In between trying to do her work and trying to keep her eyelids from falling shut, she thought about Tomas’ message. Should she believe him? Maybe he was telling the truth. She’d never thought she was glamorous enough for Tomas, and maybe he did have another woman with him, a woman fit to be in his company at such an important meeting. She knew from Peters that a gorgeous wife could be a career boost for a rising executive. If his wife was an example of what was required, Veronica knew she didn’t have a chance. Maybe it was his secretary, and Tomas just took the opportunity for a little fun. By the end of the day, she had dissected everything fourteen times and was still without a believable conclusion. Her instincts even confused her. Veronica knew she loved Tomas, but her practical side said she hadn’t known him long enough to really know him. Maybe he was just playing her along with a couple of other women to satisfy his sexual urges. All she knew for certain was that she had to talk with him. When she and Jennifer got home, Veronica dressed casually in low-cut jeans and a T-shirt and waited for Tomas. At five to seven, he drove in the driveway. He made a little small-talk with her and Jennifer and then they drove to his house. Tomas noticed the little white car behind him, but since Veronica hadn’t told him about any car, and wasn’t talking now, he thought it was just someone going the same way.

Veronica expected to see Rocky’s toothy laugh when Tomas opened the door, but instead was greeted by a plump, smiling faced woman of about sixty. The woman’s expression was so stiff as to almost be a frown.

“Veronica, meet Judy. Judy, Veronica.”

“Miss Renas, I owe you a rather large apology, I’m afraid. Tomas and I were alone in that room together, but it was just as he told you. I’ve worked with him for ten years, and we joke around a lot. I knew he was calling you, and I thought I’d mess with him a little. I didn’t hear everything else he said. I guess the doctor is right and I do need a hearing aid. Anyway, I didn’t mean any harm, honestly. I know you can’t ever forgive me, but I didn’t want you to think Tomas was doing something behind your back. He seems rather taken with you, and I couldn’t live with myself if I thought I’d messed that up.”

“But you sounded so..., sexy.”

“It’s all right, you can say it. I know I sounded like I was just panting to get in his pants. It’s just a thing I can do. It drives my husband nuts when I do it to him. ‘Course, we don’t get it on as much as we used to, but it’s still fun to turn his crank once in a while.” Judy blushed. “That didn’t come out right, but you know what I mean. Well, I need to get out of here. Tomas says you have a lot to talk about.

He took her hand, and led her through the door into the salt breeze that washed over the patio and pool. He noticed that she selected one of the chairs by the table instead of their usual seat on the long, padded bench. He eased down into the opposite chair and stared off into the starlit, inky blackness over the Pacific. After a few moments, the crickets and other night creatures resumed their concerto for the evening. Both of them sat listening to their own thoughts until Tomas cleared his throat.

“Veronica, I know you’ll need a little time to sort all this out, but I need to tell you everything now. The meeting was to decide some things that affect you, so I couldn’t say this before. I -”

He had caught the twin flashes of reflection of the patio lights that he was certain were not some animal’s eyes. The crickets had stopped again as if holding their breath for something to happen.

“Veronica, keep looking at me. Someone is on the beach stairs with binoculars. Just sit here as I leave, and then start taking off your clothes, but very slowly, and whatever you do, don’t look out toward the stairs. If nothing happens in five minutes, call the police.” He stood, touched her cheek, and then walked back to the house.

She sat for a few moments before the probable reason for his actions dawned on her. Tomas had seen somebody outside, and wanted her to keep him or her watching. She stood and stretched her arms over her head. She knew this would cause her breasts to rise. If the intruder was a man, she figured he would watch that. She hugged herself and then let her hands slip over her sides to the jutting mounds. She felt dirty, knowing that some pervert was staring at her magnified image, and was glad he couldn’t see the look of disgust that she wore. She whispered to herself, “Get a good look, you asshole. It’ll be the best you’ve seen for a while, and probably the last if I have anything to say about it.”

Veronica heard Tomas whisper, “Rocky, Alert”, and then the soft opening and closing of the gate to the kennel. It was all she could do to avoid looking toward the soft sound of the surf as she picked up the hem of the T-shirt and slowly pulled it up. She paused to caress the round of her exposed belly before lifting the shirt higher. She allowed it to catch under her breasts and pulled it tight. It formed tightly to her cups before snapping over them and revealing the white lace bra. It was a simple matter to stretch her arms up again and pull the shirt over her head.

She tossed to shirt casually on the chaise and reached behind her to undo the bra hooks. Veronica knew Tomas and Rocky must be getting close to the steps, and let the bra slip from her shoulders. She rubbed her sides where the bra had left wrinkles and then massaged her breasts. Under different circumstances, the rubbing would have felt good, but she was more disgusted now than before. She swore to herself that she hoped the asshole was getting his jollies, because if she could have reached him, she would have kicked him in the balls.

Veronica had unzipped the jeans and hooked her thumbs in the waistband when she heard Rocky’s savage growl and then a man’s scream. She could not avoid turning to look toward the beach, and saw Tomas running in the direction of the stairs. The stairs themselves were hidden in the pitch-black of the moonless night, and she could only hear Rocky’s continuous growling and something thrashing on the ground. The cordless phone was on the glass topped table, and she picked it up and dialed 911. After giving the reason for the call, the address, and promising to stay on the line, she turned back toward the stair.

She heard, “Rocky, Out!”, and strained to see what had happened. She soon saw a moving blob emerge from the night. Tomas was forcing a person toward the house, and Rocky was trailing beside them growling and barking menacingly. As they got closer, Veronica could see that Tomas had one hand on the man’s collar, and the other was between the man’s legs, and was pulling back on his arm. When the man stopped, Tomas raised his arm, and the man staggered forward to avoid being thrown on his face. She would have laughed had she not been so scared. When they reached the cement of the patio, Tomas pushed the man down on his face and sharply commanded, “Rocky, Guard!” The man raised himself to a sitting position and she immediately recognized Peters. Rocky sat down inches from Peter’s face and growled softly.

“I believe our old friend Peters is your stalker, Veronica. I’ll make sure he doesn’t bother you again.”

It was two more hours before the police finished their questions and drove away with Peters handcuffed in the back seat of the squad car. She had signed the complaint, and she and Tomas had both given statements. He walked the police to their cars and stayed outside for a few minutes. When he returned and closed the door, she rushed to his arms, and burst into tears.

“Hey, there’s no need to cry. He’s been babbling to one of the cops, and I gather that Peters is a pretty pathetic man. His wife left him the day after he was fired. He married her to get the trophy wife he considered so important to his success. He thought she was stupid, or so he told me at a meeting when he’d had a few too many manhattans. He bragged about how he made her give him blow jobs. I met her at the V.P’s party after the acquisition. She was beautiful, all right, but she talked a lot smarter than he gave her credit for being. As soon as his paycheck dried up, she went to see a lawyer. She wants the house, half the savings and checking accounts, and Peters’ prized Jag. Apparently, she also ran all his credit cards to the limit. He was broke, without a job, and was really pissed at you for flipping him off that day. Your address and phone number, as well as Jennifer’s, were in his PDA, and he decided to scare you a little to pay you back. He was watching you from the park every night, and saw us leave your apartment one evening. He figured you were the cause of all his troubles, and decided to scare the pants off you. I don’t think he was much more than a coward who liked to spy on you, and to scare you with notes and phone calls, and he’s basically confessed to everything. Peters is going to go to jail, and he won’t bother you again.”

Veronica wiped her eyes and sniffed. “I know. It’s just been...I was afraid and then I thought you were with another woman and -”

“That’s all over now, and though this isn’t the best time, we have to talk before you go to work in the morning.” For the second time they walked out onto the patio and this time, she sat down on the long, padded bench.

“Tomas, you told Rocky to attack Peters, didn’t you? And then you told Rocky to stop, and he did. The way you brought Peters to the house...where did you learn that? And Rocky. Did you train him?”

“As you once told me, it’s not polite to ask that question. Let’s just say that I haven’t always been a corporate vice president, and that Rocky’s a very special dog, OK? Now, let’s get back to what I need to say.”

“We had the meeting to decide the fate of your office. You aren’t supposed to know anything about this, of course, but I had to tell you. During the due-deliberance process, we looked at every office of Osborne Products. Most of the company was doing very well. Your office wasn’t doing enough business to support its overhead, but it was the only one in such a state. We decided to go ahead with the acquisition and then figure out what to do with our little problem. You probably noticed that Peters was submitting all sorts of reports. We compared them with the financial records and sales numbers. When they didn’t match, we knew Peters was lying, and we decided to send him on his way. After he was gone, we got the correct numbers and the real picture came to life. Your office is probably never going to do better, and we can easily merge its operations with the office downtown. That’s what the meeting was about, and the decision was to cease operations here. That means that all the employees will be let go.”

“Even Harry? He’s only been there a few weeks.”

“Harry is the chief financial officer of the corporation. Norm put him there to get the books straightened out, and to see if anything could be done to save it. I’m afraid it’s beyond help. Peters really messed things up with the vendors and customers alike, and we bought Osborne too late to do much that wouldn’t require lots of time and more money than we’re willing to invest. The announcement will be made tomorrow, and the office will close in two weeks.”

“So, you’re telling me that I have to look for another job.”

“That’s what we need to talk about. The answer is yes and no. Your current job is over in two weeks, but Harry is very impressed with your performance and wants to offer you the position of manager of the downtown office staff. The money will be a lot better, but it means an hour’s drive each way if you stay here.” He paused, and then took a deep breath. “I want to offer you another alternative. I’ve thought about this a lot, and I wanted to tell you sooner, but I had to wait until we decided what to do. Veronica, I love you. I’ve loved you since I saw you that day on the beach. At first, I thought it was just the way we made love, but I like just being with you and I like talking with you. I love everything about you from the confident woman you show the world to the little girl that comes out when you play with Rocky. I can’t imagine ever being without you, and I’d like to marry you if you’ll have me. You won’t need to work anymore, so you wont have to worry about relocating.”

“I see. I’m a charity case.”

“No, dammit. I don’t care if you work or not. I just thought -”

“Tomas, I’ve been married before. I never told you because some men think divorced women are...well, they think it’s easy to get them into bed. I left him because I was becoming something he owned and cared for instead of his partner. I couldn’t stand being the woman people only knew as his wife. I needed to be known as me. It’s taken me years to find Veronica again, and I’m not going to go back.”

“I know about your marriage, at least that there was one. I read your personnel folder when Harry said he wanted you downtown. You took two months leave of absence and gave the reason as getting the divorce cleared up. That doesn’t matter to me, Veronica, and I won’t ever make you take the back seat.”

“It still hurts, Tomas. I don’t think I’m ready to risk that pain again, not yet.”

“So your answer is no?”

Veronica felt so cruel when she saw the look on his face. She put her arms around his waist, and looked into his eyes. “The answer is maybe, if I can take the job downtown. I love you too, more than I can ever tell you, and I don’t think I would be the same without you. I just need a little more time to prove that I can make it on my own if I have to. The drive won’t be all that bad. You make it every day, don’t you?”

“Do you think I could convince you to move here, with me, while you’re proving that? It’s hell when we’re not together, and Rocky keeps going to the door to see if you’re there. I think he likes you more than he does me.”

Veronica grinned in the devilish little way he’d loved since he’d first seen it. “I think you might have a chance, if you play your cards right. I warn you, though, I’m not that easy to live with. I get these cravings...”

“From the looks of the front of your T-shirt, you’re having one of them now.”

She looked down at the rigid nipples that stuck out through the soft cloth, grinned again, and her voice became low and sensuous. “Well, are you going to do anything about it? If you aren’t, I suppose I could go find Rocky. You know, he has the lon-n-n-n-gest tongue.”

“We have to get one thing straight. I’m perfectly capable of taking care of most things, and I don’t need Rocky to help.”

“From what I feel through your pants, I think things are getting straighter all the time. Now, stop talking and make love to me. It’ll getcha big brownie points with the new woman of the house.”

Tomas scooped her into his arms and started for the bedroom. He didn’t know how long it would take, but somehow, he would convince this wonderful woman that she should be his wife. In the meantime, they would live here by the ocean and he would show her that she would be an equal partner in their lives. That’s what she wanted, and he understood. Big decisions took time, and he had all the time in the world as long as she was with him.

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Thanks again,
Ronde.