Best Laid Plans

Chapter 7: Reality Check

Helen's answering machine had over a dozen messages on it when she got back to her apartment. Helen hit the play button and began stripping off her clothes. Ryan smiled at her and said, "I don't think I can do it again."

"I'm just going to take a shower and change for work," Helen answered as she pulled a long pink terry cloth robe out of her closet. The first two messages were from people trying to sell her something she didn't want or need. The third message caused her to stop and listen.

"Hello, Helen, it's me, Jason. I just wanted to tell you first that I am leaving Holiday Toys. I got an offer to work for Joy Box Toys and they are willing to pay me twice what Holiday paid me. I'll be in town for a couple of days next week to close my apartment. I'm moving to the West Coast. Guess we won't be seeing each other anymore. Bye."

"Another rat deserting a sinking ship!" Ryan commented.

"One less problem for me. I wasn't looking forward to telling him that it was over, now he just saved me the trouble." Helen sat down next to Ryan on the couch and leaned into him as the next message started.

"Helen, are you okay? Your dad and I are worried sick about you after you missed dinner last night. Please call and tell us that you are feeling better. By the way, that nice neighbor of yours who was taking care of you is he married? If he isn't, you should get to know him better. Miss you."

"Thanks, Mom, already taken care of,” she answered. Turning to Ryan, she asked, "Would you like to meet my parents? I've never invited anyone to meet either of them before, and the truth is that I don't want to face my father alone."

"Does this mean that you are serious about me?" Ryan smiled at the thought that she was.

"Serious enough to forgive you as much as you have forgiven me," she answered as she started to kiss him through three more messages for "incredible offers". As the next message played out, Helen ran to the machine to play it again.

"Helen, this is Joshua. Forget about the designs, the company has been sold. The way things look; you might not have a job. Jason Williams has already quit and taken a job at Joy Box Toys. I thought that you might want to come in today and clean out your desk. You had better shut down things at the mall too, and return anything that is company property because we are about to be audited. I'm really sorry about all of this, but you are smart and young, I'm sure that you will get a job somewhere."

Helen smiled, "Yeah, maybe." She got up off the couch and headed into the bathroom to take her shower. When she returned with her hair draped in a towel, only one message was left on her machine.

"I deleted all the special offers and the three messages that you have already heard. I think that you should listen to this last one before you go to work." Ryan hit the play button while Helen started to dress.

"Hello. Helen Parker? My name is Scott Lang; I work for Dalton Images. I received a request from our company chairman to interview you for a job as a security consultant. I was wondering if you could come in sometime this afternoon? Please call me at 555-8697. Thank you."

Ryan stood smiling at her as the message played out. She had been pulling on a shoe when the job offer was made and had stopped with only one shoe on and the other in her hand. Helen threw the shoe at Ryan and marched over to him to reclaim it, demanding, "YOU bought out Holiday Toys, didn't you? How else would you know that I'd be looking for a job?"

"I just thought that you'd want to quit once you married me, and it didn't make any sense to wait that long."

"Did you say 'married'?" she nearly laughed. "We barely know each other."

"And you are crazy about me! I am also very much in love with you and when people are that seriously in love, marriage soon follows."

"Damn, I hate it when you are logical." She pulled on her retrieved shoe and headed back to her closet to finish dressing.

"I'll call my parents when I get back from work and the mall. Tell your flunky, Scott, that I'll see him tomorrow morning after you come here for breakfast."

"I expect to be here for breakfast," Ryan grinned at her.

"I'd better get going, I have a big desk to clean out." Helen said as she grabbed her coat and hurried out the door.

Helen pulled her pale blue Metro into the visitor parking space at Holiday Toys Corporate Office Building. She took the elevator up to the sixth floor and walked down the carpeted hallway to Joshua Radford's office. She waved at his secretary and nodded towards the door. The secretary nodded back and Helen opened the door and entered. "Clean out my desk?" she asked. "I don't have a desk!"

Joshua walked over to Helen and planted a long passionate kiss on her still open mouth. "How close are we?" he whispered into her ear.

"He offered me a job as a security consultant," Helen smiled at Joshua, "Should I take it?"

"Is the Pope Catholic?" Joshua smacked her hard on her ass.

"Did Jason really leave?" she queried, "Or is he just after Joy Box designs?"

"Jason has left us," Joshua sat down on the edge of his desk, "He has been dating this woman for a while and decided that he would rather live with her than see you."

Helen glared at Joshua, "Good riddance, he wasn't all that good in bed anyway."

Joshua smiled at her remark, knowing full well that Helen was hurt to hear that Jason preferred another woman to her. Joshua was glad that Helen would no longer "belong" to Jason, giving her to him had been a mistake that he regretted. He had trained her well; she had mastered her sex and all the doors that it could open. But she seemed different somehow, standing there unafraid, still fully clothed. He was tempted to whip her for it, but he let it pass.

Helen started to turn to leave and then stopped. She began to strip off clothes and dance in full view of the window. Joshua smiled at her and started to approach her when she suddenly stopped and picked up the few articles that she had shed. "I can't," she whimpered, "It just doesn't feel right anymore. I'm sorry." She pulled her shirt and skirt back on and hurried out the office door.

Helen took the stairs down to the parking garage and ran to her car. She sat down in the driver's seat, gripped the steering wheel and started to weep. She could not be Joshua's slave any more; she did not want to become Michael's slave. She realized that she wanted more than either man had ever offered her.

Helen drove to the mall and parked near the office complex as always. She met Michael standing outside her office. "We have to talk," he stated bluntly.

"I know," Helen answered as she unlocked the door. "Come inside," she said as turned on the light switch. "I've been thinking..."

"This isn't going to work!" Michael finished her sentence. "My brother has never understood the lifestyle, he's so... Vanilla."

"There is nothing 'wrong' with Vanilla, it happens to be one of my favorite flavors." She stood in front of him and looked him in the eyes. "We won't work, you and I. I don't want to be your slave or anyone else's"

"You've fallen for him, haven't you? You're in love with Ryan!" He smiled almost impishly at his revelation.

"What if I am?" she asked defiantly. "What if I am?" she repeated with some resignation. "I can't betray him."

"Then don't," Michael took hold of her shoulders and looked into her eyes. "Ryan needs a woman who can look after him, keep him out of trouble, I think that you are her."

"What about your deal with Joshua?"

"My problem. I'll handle Holiday Toys; you take care of my brother. Deal?" Michael held out his hand for Helen to shake. She took it and smiled. He squeezed it hard and she winced. She resisted the urge to slap him for it when he let go.

When he left her office, she began to disconnect equipment and pack things up. She didn't want the job at Ryan's company and she didn't want to work at Holiday Toys any more. She would type up her resignation when she got home. Before leaving her office, she called Holiday to come and pick up her office supplies.