Saving Scotty (17 page)

George was looking at me expectantly. “Go on, Nick, with the rest of the story. There’s more, I know.”

I nodded. “Okay. Well, I am in a relationship with Scotty James. It’s very serious, and I, in all honestly, see her as being my wife sometime very soon.” I looked at both men, and
neither looked surprised. Neil, however, did have a gleam in his eye, as if he was thinking
you old dog.

George nodded his head. “Actually, Nick, almost everybody here knows about you and Scotty. Nobody
has said anything to you, but how you two feel about each other has been obvious for a while, to just about everybody here.”

I let out my breath. I didn’t know why I was surprised to know that my relationship with Scotty was an open secret at the firm, but, somehow, I was. I guess I thought that I was more discreet than that.

Neil chimed in. “Oh, come on, Nick, the way you look at that woman is like a man who’s head over heels in love. You’re not fooling nobody and you never did,” Neil said with a smile on his craggy face. “But good for you.”

“So,” George said. “You have a relationship with Scotty, and you turned down Portia. Now, what’s the rest of the story?”

“Well, you know the day that I allegedly got completely drunk and had to be carried home?”

“Yes, of course,” George said.

Neil also nodded his head. “Didn’t sound like something you would do at all. I was surprised about that, to say the least.”

“On that day,” I said, “Portia apparently drugged me. Because I had a swig of scotch, and immediately felt that I was going to pass out. Next thing I know, I’m waking up in my loft with a raging headache and no knowledge of how I got there.”

“Why would she do that?” George asked. “You better be careful. You’re making serious allegations. That would be considered to be an assault. She could go to prison for doing something like that.”

“Exactly,” I said. “Which is why I have decided that she has to get gone. I can’t work with a woman who is that psychotic. I fear for my safety, and, quite frankly, I fear, even more, for Scotty’s safe
ty. Portia has had it in for Scotty since day one, and now that Portia has shown that she’s capable of anything, who knows what her next move will be?”

George was staring at me, his hand on his chin. It was as if he was deciding
whether to believe this admittedly wild story. Neil, for his part, didn’t look skeptical at all.

“Sounds like something Portia would do,” Neil said. “Not surprised one bit. Over the years she has shown some pretty crazy behavior. None quite as crazy as that, but it’s not like that’s something that would be out of character for her.”

I looked again at George. He was nervously twiddling his fingers like they were butterfly wings, and made other motions that showed that he was nervous. He bit his lip and put his hand in his thinning hair. He wasn’t looking at me, but, rather, was staring at my Kandinsky with a look that was indiscernible.

His face was also beet red.

Finally, he spoke. “Uh, Nick, I wouldn’t pursue this particular action right now.”

I heart sunk. “Why, George? I just told you that I can’t work with her anymore. If she doesn’t go, I’m going to have to. So, tell me what’s on your mind.”

“Well, it won’t be as easy as you might think. Not saying that it’s going to be impossible, but to say that you’re going to have to thread the needle is an understatement. And, I’m so sorry. You know that I always have your back on everything. But I can’t go along with this. I’m going to have to vote ‘no’ on ousting her.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Why, George, would you have to vote against me?”

His face got even more beet red. “Well, since we’re telling secrets here, you might as well know mine. I think I can trust you two not to say anything.”

“Of course,” I said. “That goes without saying. Go ahead.” I looked over at Neil, and he was nodding his head in clear agreement.

“I’m not going to tell anybody nothing. Not my style to gossip, you know that,” Neil said.

George took a huge breath. “Well, I, uh, I belong to an exclusive club in the Village. It’s a, uh, fetish club.” He looked down at the floor. “I love my wife, but she, uh, doesn’t get into the, uh, same things that I do.”

I tried hard not to register surprise, but this particular revelation had me secretly floored. George? Mild-mannered milquetoast George? He was the most level-headed and sober man I knew.
It’s always the quiet ones.

I knew where this was going. “And Portia also belongs to this club. Am I right?”

George nodded. “This isn’t going to be surprising, but she’s a dominatrix there. She goes by the name Mistress Sadie. And she and I have, uh, role played some and well…”

“You’re afraid of her blackmailing you with this info. Am I correct?”

“Yes. She almost did the last time when I voted against her in the Scotty situation. She didn’t because she didn’t want to blow her own cover. But in this case, she’ll have nothing to lose.”

I groaned inwardly. Just what I needed. George was afraid to cross her.

“George,” I said. “Do you not want to cross her because you’re afraid of her smearing your reputation, or because you don’t want to lose her as a playmate?”

His face got even redder. “Both. Although she does have pictures, so the reputation smearing will be easy for her.”

I looked at Neil. “What about you? Are you in?”

“Of course,” he said. “As I said, I’ve got no love for that woman. So, count me in on whatever you want to do.”

I looked back at George. “Okay. So, you’re a no vote. Is there anybody else who’s being blackmailed that you know about?”

“No,” he said. “None that I know about, anyhow. But she’s pretty well-known at that club. There might be other guys from the firm who, uh,
role-play with her.”

“Great,” I said. “That’s just great.”

I saw my future flashing before my eyes. I might soon be out of this firm. I would have to make my way on my reputation alone. I’d still be a premier architect, and hopefully an influential one. But it would take a little longer, and I’d have to work my way up on smaller projects again. I hoped that I didn’t get blackballed and I hoped that I could get the chance to work on the same level of high-profile projects as I got in this firm.

Things were looking bleak. If George, my closest friend at the firm, was going to be a no vote, what chance did I have with anybody else? God knew how many other men were being blackmailed. Not to mention how many other men were being bribed, and how many other men wanted her around for eye-candy. How I would muster up 42 votes in that kind of an atmosphere was beyond my comprehension right at that moment.

That said, my mind was made up. I wasn’t going to work with her.

So, if I was going to go down, I was going to go down with a fight.

There was no other way.

Chapter 31

I dismissed George and Neil from my office, because I had to retreat to consider my other options. I knew that this whole situation was going to be complicated, but I didn’t think that it would be impossible. I still thought that it was possible, but it was looking more and more improbable.

I called Callie.

“Yes, Mr. O’Hara?” she said when I called her.

“Callie, I need you to book the conference room for 4 PM and send out a memo to every partner to be there for an emergency meeting.”

“I will do that, Mr. O’Hara,” Callie said.

And, when I hung up, I realized that there was no turning back. My destiny, whatever it was, was set in stone. I could try to go around and schmooze every partner in the place, and offer them whatever bribe might keep them happy. Portia was no doubt doing that and more. But I didn’t want to make promises that I couldn’t keep, and, quite frankly, I didn’t want some of those guys to work with me on my projects. Not that they were incompetent, but just that many of them had different aesthetics than I did.

The only thing that I could do would be to take an informal head count and try to pick off the low-hanging fruit. The ones who leaned towards me, but were not solidly for me. And hope and pray that I had no defections other than George.

George stung me, though. That hurt. I mean, I knew why he had to vote no. I respected his reasoning. It was cowardly as shit, but I really didn’t blame him.

I was going to have to make my rounds, but I first wanted to hear the one voice that would calm me down at that time.

So I called Scotty.

She picked up on the second ring. “Hello,” she said, laughter in her voice. “Quiet, Jack, it’s Nick. Stop!” she said giggling. “Sorry, Nick, Jack’s tickling me. He’s like a child who doesn’t want his mother on the phone, so he acts obnoxious. Anyhow, what’s up?”

“Nothing. I just wanted to hear your voice.”

Scotty immediately got serious when she heard my tone. “Nick. What’s going on?”

“I just wanted to let you know that I’m going to go into my meeting at four. I have no idea, no clue, on what is going to happen there.” I didn’t want to admit to her that I was afraid. I was afraid for myself and afraid for her. If I left, then I didn’t see her continuing there, either. There would be nobody to stop Portia from destroying her, so she probably would end up leaving the firm as well. I felt sad that Scotty would be losing out on such an opportunity. This position was really something that she needed, both for her confidence and because it provided her with such excellent learning experiences.

The sad thing was that, if I lost the show-down with Portia, I could bounce back. Scotty might not be able to. I had my Pritzker and other awards. Any firm would want me, if I wasn’t blackballed by my angry clients. I wouldn’t necessarily be working on world-renowned projects, but I still would make an excellent living and I would still thrive. Maybe my star wouldn’t be quite as bright as it was before, but I still would be able to find tons of work.

But Scotty? That was going to be considerably trickier. She was at the top of her class and had talent that was out of this world. But I doubted that she could find something as prestigious as working for our firm.

I hated that I was putting both mine and Scotty’s futures on the line. A part of me just wanted to cry Uncle and tell all the partners that it was a false alarm.

But my rational brain said that, if I did that, and I let Portia get away with what she did, then I would give her ammunition to escalate. She would know, once and for all, that I had the weaker hand, and there would be no stopping her. She would get Scotty out, for sure. And as for me? She showed that she was capable of absolutely anything to get back at me.

I was between Scylla and Charybdis on this one.

“Nick, uh, is there anything that I can do? Anything at all?”

A part of me wanted to tell her that I wanted to go home to be with her, and make love to her before going into my meeting. That would be the best way that I knew how to feel calmer about what was going to happen.

But I knew that wasn’t practical. I needed to spend the next few hours trying to collect the reinforcements that I would need to get through the meeting. I had a lot of head-counting and ass-kissing to do.

So, I did the next best thing. “Yes, Scotty, there is. Come here. I’ll call Charlie to pick you up. I’ll be waiting for you at the front door.”

“I’ll be there,” she said.

I felt bad having her come here with her broken leg, but she was getting better at getting around on crutches.

I wouldn’t have asked her if I didn’t really need her at that moment.

But I did. I was actually scared, much more than I would ever let on.

And I really needed her at that moment.

Chapter 32

Scotty

I hung up the phone with Nick.

“Well, Scotch Marie. What did loverboy have to say?”
Jack asked me.

“He, uh, wants me to go to his office right now.”

“Now? What time is his meeting going to be?”

“At four. So in six hours.”

“Doesn’t he have things that he needs to do to prepare for that meeting?”

“I’m sure. But, if he says that he wants me there, then I’m going. But you have to help me out of bed.”

“Goes without saying,” he said, as he stooped down and brought me to my feet. He got me my crutches and I put my arms on them and hobbled a bit.

Going down the stairs was going to be tricky, to say the least. But, I was going to have to master them sooner or later.

“Help me into the shower,” I said.

Jack obliged, and I got naked and hobbled a bit into Nick’s enormous marble shower. He had such a gorgeous bathroom. All gold fixtures and black marble. The shower was big enough to fit about five people in there, and it was actually a place where Nick and I had lots of fun before all of this nonsense started happening.

Jack, for his part, helped me into the shower and turned on the water. “I’ll be right here when you get out.”

“Thanks,” I said. I shampooed my hair, which was growing out from the cute haircut that I had before, and soaped up my body. I didn’t take very long in doing all of that, though, and,
before I knew it, I was hobbling out and Jack had a large towel ready for me.

Jack wrapped the towel around me, and dried me off like my mother used to when she had her rare moments of sobriety. He rubbed the towel vigorously in my hair. “There you go. Gorgeous as ever. And here are some clothes for you to wear.”

“Thanks,” I said, picking up the skirt and sweater that he laid out. “Help me get dressed, please.”

Jack got down on his knees and put the skirt over my legs and I pulled it up the rest of the way. Then I put on my bra and sweater. “Please help me up,” I asked him, and he did. “Okay,
I have to go down and meet Charlie. He’ll be here any minute now.”

“Well, now, Missy, not so fast. I have to help you down those stairs. I might have to carry your skinny ass down them, so fair warning.”

“I hope you don’t have to, Jack, but I fear that you might be right. At any rate, let me try the stairs on my own, okay?”

Jack nodded, but got behind me when I got to the stairs, his hands on my hips. “Now, Scotty, I will be right here behind you to make sure that you don’t fall. So, take the stairs slowly and hold onto the rail. Ready?”

I nodded. I really wasn’t ready, but I had to try.

I took the first stair gingerly with my good leg, and then hopped down on my bad one.
Not so bad.
Then the next stair, even more gingerly and hopped again. I did that all the way down, and, to my profound relief, landed on the bottom floor without incident.

Jack clapped his hands. “I knew you could do it. I knew it. See what you can do when you put your mind to it?”

I nodded my head. “Thanks, Jack. What would I do without you?”

“Oh, lord. I don’t want to think. Anyhow, let’s get you on that elevator and I’ll help you to make sure that you meet Charlie on time.”

The two of us made our way on the elevator and into the lobby. Me walking as slowly and gingerly as an old lady, and Jack right behind me, walking just as slowly. But I was proud of myself for getting around as well as I was.

Finally, after what seemed like hours, I made my way outside and into Charlie’s waiting limo. Jack kissed me on the cheek as I got in. “Toodles. I’ll miss you.”

I smiled. “Me too. But come on, Jack, I’ll be back later.”

“I know. I just loved having those few hours of bonding time. Like we used to. Just us girls.”

I laughed. “You’re staying with us, Jack. I’m quite sure there will be plenty of time for that in the future.”

“I know. I’m just messing with ya. I’ll see you when you get back.”

I nodded. “Bye.”

And Charlie drove off towards Nick’s office.

∞

We finally arrived at the firm and I hobbled out of the limo. But Nick was right there on the sidewalk, waiting for me. He put his arm around me and slowly walked with me into the building.

He nuzzled my ear. “I’m so glad that you’re here. I hate to bother you, but I really need to be with you for about an hour. Only an hour, though. I need all the time I can get with these partners to try to change a few hearts and minds to vote with me today.”

I looked into those eyes of his. And, perhaps for the first time, ev
er, I saw doubt. A bit of fear.

But I also saw determination.

“Are you okay?” I asked him. “What’s going on?”

“I’ll be honest,” Nick said, as we slowly walked to the ele
vator. “I have no clue on what’s going to happen today. None whatsoever. I thought this morning that I probably had the votes to oust Portia. Now, I’m not so sure.”

“Why?” I asked, alarmed. “What changed your mind?”

“Let’s just say that there is at least one person who I thought had my back, who is now going to defect. And I fear that might be the tip of the iceberg. But, for right now, and for the next hour, I don’t want to think about that. I just want to think about your soft skin being next to mine. Your velvety lips being on mine. That’s all that I want to think about.”

I felt the familiar stirring in my nether regions as he said that, and I realized that I wanted the exact same thing.
Needed
the exact same thing.

The two of us rode up the elevator with a crowd of people. We stood in the very back, and I felt Nick’s body heat radiating off of him. He seemed to glow with warmth.

The elevator took us to our floor, and we got off and went into the doors of the firm.

“Well, hello, Scotty,” Nikki, the receptionist, greeted me. “I didn’t know you would be back so soon. I heard you were going to be gone for a few weeks.”

“I’m, uh, not back yet. But I hope to be soon.”

And then she looked at Nick, whose eyes were trained on me, and seemed to understand. “Oh, okay, then. It was good to see you, though.”

I nodded. And then I looked at Nick. “This is strange. Won’t everybody find out about us now?” I admit that I wasn’t even thinking about that angle on my way over. Now, it was paramount on my mind. I didn’t want to get him into trouble.

“They already know about us,” Nick whispered. “So, not a problem.”

“Oh,” I said. “But, you know, today is D-Day. Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea after all.”

“It’s a fine idea,” he said. “Now, let’s get back to my office with a minimum number of people seeing us, so that we can be alone as soon as possible.”

I nodded my head. I wanted nothing more, to be absolutely honest.

We finally made it back to his office, and Nick closed the door.

He helped me to the couch, and I sat down. He sat next to me. “I’m so glad you’re here, Scotty. I needed you here to calm me down, to be honest. I don’t think that I have ever played this much of a high-stakes game of chicken, and I really hope that the course of both of our lives are not altered after today.”

“I hope so too. But they shouldn’t be. I know that you’re going to win.

“I hope you’re right. But, in the meantime, I just need you.” And then he put his hand in my hair, and stroked my cheek. His lips were soon on mine. I could feel his need in his kiss. His soft lips, and his breath that smelled like mint, were enveloping mine tenderly yet forcefully.

He put his hand on my bare leg while he kissed me. His hand made its way commandingly up my thigh. Every hair stood on end as he caressed my thigh and then put his hand on top of the elastic of my panties.

I unbuckled his trousers and brought them down. I brought his enormous manhood, and asked him to put it in my mouth.

I laid back as Nick made his way over to my mouth, so that his hard-on was positioned directly above it. And then I opened my lips, and received it. He gently rocked himself forward and backward while I sucked him greedily. My tongue was massaging his shaft, and he started groaning a little.

He pulled out of my mouth suddenly. I was still laying on my back, so he put my good leg up on the side of the couch, so that my lips were spread open wide. He crouched down and gently put his tongue on my genitals and clit. He was soooo good at this. He was commanding, yet gentle, and had a way of finding just the right spot to make me come like I never thought that I would be able to. I had to stop myself from moaning too loud. I was afraid that somebody might hear. There might be somebody who saw us go into his office and they might be right outside the door, snickering with laughter.

But Nick was in no hurry to stop. He continued to tongue me lightly, his tongue darting in and out of my vagina and then he also started to lick the other hole. I loved it when he did this. It felt so intimate and so right. Nothing ever felt as right as when Nick and I were together, making love to one another.

I could feel my breathing coming faster and faster, as Nick stopped giving me oral orgasms and came back up to lay right on top of me. He was very respectful and mindful of my bad leg, of course, but I was able to let him lay on top of me because my good leg was still on the back of the couch.

He put his hands on my breasts gently, and licked them slowly as he entered me. I could feel his fullness inside of me, as he gently pushed himself inside. Inch by inch he thrusted, and, with every thrust, I felt myself burst from the inside. My body was electrified by what he was doing. He was mesmerizing to me in the most magnetic way possible.

He was still kissing me, and I felt him so warm on top of me. I put my hand on his back, and stroked it longingly as he thrust in and out of me rhythmically. He was calm and controlled, and his strong hands were commanding on me. He ran his hands all over my body, as his manhood went deep inside of me, deeper than perhaps it had ever been before.

I cried out. I couldn’t help it. What he was doing felt so amazing, so right and so perfect. I could feel his enormous penis deep inside of me, and I felt like nothing had ever been so very right. My legs, underneath him, started shaking and trembling, and I felt the same thing in my arms.
I bit his earlobe a little, and then bit his neck a little more. But I was careful not to leave any marks behind.

Finally, I could feel him shaking, his entire body trembling on top of me. He laid down on top of me more, his heart pounding as much as mine. And then, while he was still inside of me, he kissed me again. Long, slow and deep.

He finally pulled out. We laid, side by side, our naked bodies warming one another on his couch. He got up and pulled a blanket down and put it over us. Then he wrapped his arm around me from behind. I could feel his breathing on my neck, and his heart beating on my back.

I took his hand, which was wrapped around my waist, and kissed it. “You’re shaking,” I said. I felt concerned. If there was one thing that I always sensed from Nick was that he was always in control. And he was
always confident, which came from the fact that he was in control. But I got the sense from him that he felt that there were elements that were beyond his control at that point in time, and it unnerved me to say the least.

I guess I never thought that Nick might experience fear, doubt and vulnerability. That he was human after all. But, as I
laid there, with Nick right behind me, and I could feel him shaking just a little tiny bit, I knew. Nick was feeling the pressure, and I had the feeling that he was thinking that the odds were long.

I wanted to find out just how long the odds were.

I turned around to face him. He kissed me lightly, his hand on my face. He gently pushed a tendril of my hair aside on my face and kissed my forehead. Then he put his hand on my breast, and he leaned down to put his mouth on my nipple.

I wanted to talk to him and try to give him words of encouragement, but that wasn’t what he wanted at that time. Wasn’t what he needed. He just needed me.

So that was what I gave him again, as I felt his hardness begin again.

He was inside of me again, thrusting more urgently this time than before. I felt his need
for me, and I could sense that I was feeling the same way about him. We needed each other, and that was something that I had never before sensed. That I was as necessary for him as he was for me. I remember thinking before that Nick was as vital to me as breathing. I felt, perhaps for the first time in that office, that Nick felt that way about me as well. That I was as life-giving to him as he was for me.

And that made me love him more in that moment than I ever thought that I could love anybody.

I wanted to talk to him, but he told me that he only wanted to spend an hour with me. That was all the time that he could spare, because the rest of the day would be spent in private meetings that his secretary was setting up for him with various partners in the firm. And, we spent that entire hour making love, so I didn’t get a chance to talk to him about what I wanted to know.

That said, it was worth it. Totally worth it.