Sealing the Deal (4 page)

For practical reasons, Dionne slept in the guest bed. She was not an early riser by nature, and if she could, she would keep an artist’s hours. Given she had a late night workout and only a few hours sleep, she barely lifted her eyelids when the rooster finally crowed. She pried herself off of the crazy comfortable mattress in search of caffeine.

Stan was already up, fresh and video chatting. Dionne spied and she almost had kittens. Was Stan video-chatting with Lionel? Dionne backed around the corner and steadied herself against a wall so Stan couldn’t see her. She tried to calm her breath, she was so distraught. They could certainly know each other, but the timing of all of this was too weird. Her walls went up and her trust went down. There was no way she could do business with him unless he had some really good answers. Involuntarily, tears fell.

She lost track of time and place, and suddenly he was in front of her, off of the computer and no longer talking to Lionel.

“Dionne?” he asked perplexed.

“What,” she replied like a sulking five year old.

He gave it right back to her like she was ridiculous. “What? What is wrong?”

“I am tired and I am upset that I won’t be in any shape to accompany you today,” she said, averting his eyes.

“Look at me please?” he asked suspiciously. She did. “What is going on?”

“I walked in on you chatting with someone,” she answered.

“Lionel Daniels?” he confirmed.

“Yes,” she replied.

Stan innocently replied, “Um we have a meeting with Category today, do we not?”

“Yes,” she answered stiffly.

“He works for Category.”

Dionne nearly popped. She was almost giddy that he had a perfectly good reason to be talking with Lionel but now she had a million questions. “Since when?”

“Ah, since like three weeks ago. He worked for Supra. Wait no. He quit a couple weeks ago and then just started,” said Stan.

“I’m going to kill him,” Dionne declared without concern for the impression she made.

“Excuse me?” Stan asked. For the first time ever that Dionne saw, his face had no speck of friendliness or amusement in it. His eyes were very sharp and he pinned her.

It was time for her to come totally clean with him. Whatever came of it, she wanted to be real with Stan.

“Please sit down,” she said. She walked them over to a sunroom across from his office rimmed with big windows that looked over a garden scape.

“What’s the problem with Lionel?” he got right to the point.

“I worked at Category, but I pitched to Supra. Lionel worked for Supra,” she said.

“And?” he asked in a dark tone.

Dionne was silent. “I can’t go in there with you today because I will ruin your presentation.”

His voice was like lead. “Why is that?”

She swallowed hard. “Because I met Lionel in a bar much the same way I met you. Only I was little chattier with him. I told him I had this great idea. He encouraged me to pitch it to Supra. At a time when he probably knew he was going to leave. He took my idea.”

“What’s the rest of it?” Stan inquired.

“I slept with him,” she said reluctantly. She felt like such a fool. For having slept with the creep Lionel Daniels and for having to tell Stan. She couldn’t read Stan but there was no amusement. No sign of affection for her at all.

“Okay,” he said matter-of-factly and very coldly added, “Thank you for telling me. How about I go handle this alone and you go on up to the spa in Santa Rosa? You’re packed. You need the rest and you’ve been an enormous help. I appreciate it.”

It sounded like he was politely telling her thanks for everything. Dionne’s behavior had come back to bite her. She had no choice but to be honest. There was no way to go back in time and change things. She might as well take him up on his offer and go to Santa Rosa. At that point she was numb, but the feelings were going to hit. They were knotting up in her gut at the moment getting ready to pack a wallop. They were going to come out with gusto. She was going to be miserable no matter where she was. She might as well be miserable in luxury.

She mutely collected her things and drove up the coast. The weather was perfect as it always was, though cooling as she headed north. The place was as described. Extraordinarily charming. It was as if the Grateful Dead ran a B&B. The slight scent of Patchouli mixed with baking bread. Dionne arrived just in time for a slice of right-out-of-the-oven black bread, home-churned butter and marmalade made with oranges from the backyard of the inn. She washed the delightful tastes down with green tea and honey and crawled into bed. Maybe when she woke up the facts of her life would be completely different. Despite the fact that she was certain her heart was broken and that she didn’t care about anything but Stan and spending more time with him. She slept, and slept hard.

It was 8pm when Dionne was awakened by her gentle, new age hosts. They informed her that she had a visitor. The only visitor she could imagine having was Stan. Dionne realized that every chance she got to see him, she was excited by it. The prospect of seeing him exhilarated her but she was also apprehensive. She didn’t really screw up, but it felt like she had. She wasn’t committed to him. She had sex with Lionel before she met him, and wasn’t it Stan who immediately after they hooked up was sitting with the next woman at the bar in The Mandarin?

And when he asked her about her relationship with Lionel she was honest. It had to count for something that she was transparent, putting the interest of his deal first, even if the papers she signed to be his partner were reversible. He was probably here to tell her face to face that the partnership thing wasn’t going to work.

“Hi,” Dionne said primly.

Stan thanked the hosts for fetching Dionne and then dismissed them. He had a way of doing that. Taking command, very definitely just on his say so. The hosts made themselves scarce. He hoisted Dionne at the waist and walked her back into her room. This was no easy task to do as gracefully as he did, because she was a pretty tall woman, but Stan was powerful and she was thinking he could do just about anything.

He laid her on the bed in almost a tackle move, landing over her. That was a good sign, mused Dionne.

“So I ask you again,” he said, “Did you read your contract with Category?”

She had to confess she never really had. She just knew the money was good. It was a place with a good reputation. It was too tempting to resist the job offer when they made it. No she had not signed the contract.

“Well first of all, we hit a home run today,” he said.

She was warmed. “Did we?” she smiled from ear to ear.

“Yes. As you know, I pitched two items, one you saw and a blind item that you didn’t see. So it turns out Category counted on your not reading your contract and when they told you they owned your idea, they were fibbing. They allowed you, as a sort of benefit, to own anything you created while you were under their roof. Everything you did was with their blessing.”

Dionne reached between them and stroked him through his suit. “Wait,” Dionne said in a rush. She took hold of his mouth and plunged her tongue inside, ravishing him. Passion possessed her as she mated her tongue with his, twisting, sucking and turning.

“Stop that,” he said pretending to scold her. “I have news to deliver.”

Dionne ignored him and wiggled her legs to either side of him, drawing back her knees to her chest so that they fitted perfectly. Grinding.

He pinned her playfully to interrupt her. He looked at her with a mix of amusement and agony. “I am going to finish this if it’s the last thing I do. Understood?”

“Okay,” she said, her entire being consumed with warmth and arousal for him.

He continued. “So the second item was your project. The one they tried to take. I just incorporated the slides that Lionel forwarded to me, trying to sell-out Category he way he had to you. He about wet his pants when I ousted him.”

“What do you mean?” she perked up.

“So I had my lawyers review your contract. I figured one of us should read the thing,” he took a moment to scold her with a look. Dionne wanted to roll him over on his back and straddle him. “I schmoozed Lionel," he tisked. "Such a whore. He spilled everything and my lawyers confirmed it. They lied to you and were able to only because you didn’t do all your homework.”

He glared at her again with mock reproach. He explained, “Your idea is your idea. I had appointments with various companies but when Category accepted my request, I jumped. I went behind their backs with Lionel, who as part of screwing you, was promised a job with your old company. The moment you approached Supra, he ratted you out. He double dealt to both Supra and Category. Whoever gave him the largest bonus for your idea won. Category was it. They've already announced your idea as their next big innovation. After I did my homework, I went into them, presented idea numero uno, and then presented idea numero duo," he said.

“The blind item" said Dionne.

“Yes. Your idea. I had slides with clauses from your contract. Slides with charts depicting what would happen if they used your idea without compensation. You are now a very rich woman.”

Dionne was overwhelmed with warmth. “We are,” she corrected. “I signed your contract. The money is ours.”

He touched his head to hers. “Think about that,” he said. “This is a not a lump sum. This is just a first installment, contingent upon your reading and signing their settlement.”

“Oh I'm signing if that's a first installment.”

He loomed his head in, “you’ll read that word for word, if I have to tie you up and read it to you.”

His words were like dope. “Yes sir,” she smirked.

She flexed her leg muscles and spread beneath him, ensconcing him. The heat of their chemistry was like another presence in the room with them, and it completely concluded all talk of business. Now it was just about them. His eyes smoldered as they bore into her.

“You excite me so,” he confessed. “From the moment you breezed into the bar. I want to conquer the world with you.”

She slow craned up to touch his lips with hers. She drew the tip of her tongue around the soft curved planes of his mouth. His scent sparked an animal response from her. Exactly like stoking a fire that burned in her belly for him. It drove all her systems and she flowed with wetness for him. She needed him inside of her.

The power of their attraction was like iron. Heavy and undeniable. It had to be answered. They were two of kind, Stan and Dionne, and could communicate without words. She kissed him deeply and rolled over on her abdomen, offering up herself to him. He skimmed off her robe and underwear and kissed her back down the length of her spine. Each kiss was like the flipping of a switch that exhilarated her more and more. His lips flooded her with waves of arousal that surged energy to every erogenous point in her body.

Dionne arched her full buttocks against him. She was a tall and lanky woman, blessed with generous curves where they did her best. She loved her fullness. She loved what it did to him. He backed away from her and encouraged her onto all fours, stroking the voluptuous cheeks of her bottom before landing on the hot, wet, spongy flesh of her sex with his mouth.

Stan lapped her wetness, driving the aroused petals into a passionate frenzy. Just when she thought she could take no more, and she said so, he made her endure more.

“You can take it baby,” he encouraged.

He drew her to the edge of the bed, guiding her feet to the floor. He splayed her upper body securely across the mattress and drove into her. She was relaxed and lazy as he fucked her thoroughly. She could not imagine a more satisfying moment. Stan pumped into her like a machine, slamming into her like he was chasing something for dear life. She tipped up on her toes to lever up and down while flexing her buttocks wantonly to create added sexual friction.

Dionne reached down between her legs and pleasured herself. The combination was delicious. Her channel flared with erotic current. It was the sign for her that she was going to come so hard around his incredible cock. She was consumed with pleasure. It took every bit of focus to keep moving through the impending passion storm and continue making the little circles on the slippery nub until her orgasm hit. A few more ups and downs on her toes and Dionne found success.

In powerful bursts, she seized in ultimate bliss, climaxing while Stan continued in and out. Dionne hummed helplessly as she was bathed in deliciousness. He gave her buttocks playful spanks that punctuated the pulses of pleasure. Each slap sent a jolt that made each orgasmic clench that much more intense.

Wildness overtook her. She flipped around and knocked him on his back. With one leg on the floor and one knee on the bed, she straddled him. She rode him to his own heights. In her fury, breasts and hips jiggling with powerful moves, she brought her own pleasure back to a peak and both of them came together. The second orgasm for Dionne was more intense, overtaking her entire abdomen. She would never forget that moment.

They crashed. They bathed. They fed each other delicious bites of organic food the hippy B&B served them. Dionne ate dark chocolate dipped strawberries while Stan read to her every last word of the settlement agreement before she signed it. And after being holed up for a week working out their new partnership, Stan and Dionne went home, very rich indeed.