Bradley Bean walked into his house after taking a stroll around his subdivision community. He was amazed what he relearned since he decided to get out of his house. He vaguely remembered the real estate agent pointing out the amenities, when he was looking for houses. The community had a large aqua park and there were some very nice-looking young women lounging around the deck. Equally nice-looking shirtless young men were hovering around them like bees around flowers. The development had a walking trail that followed the stream that originated on the St. Jeremy property that Jane showed him a few weeks ago.
Jane Françoise St. Jeremy his lover, was again out of town on business. Which was good as Brad was dealing with the aftermath of Big Bear's CEO leaving suddenly. This came at a critical time as Big Bear was about to bring on several new lead developers. The Board decided months ago that they needed to broaden the products that they offered, and the E-Hume merger was one method to develop an expanded product line. The old CEO jumped the gun on the merger talks before board authorization. That turned into a shambles as egos got in the way.
Logisti-max was still doing well in the market, but the board knew that they needed more than that one-trick-pony to keep the profits up. Brad was semi-sad as Logisti-max was his baby and the basis for his dissertation. But he realized that it was niche software and couldn't expand much beyond the current market. The original group of friends that opened Big Bear gently told him that he needed to turn his talents to a new project and allow the new developers to take over supporting Logisti-max. The board would have a videoconference tomorrow to discuss new products. It looked like that meeting was going to be a long one.
Brad sat at his computer and checked his email, there was one from Jane. A second in a series of messages from her. "Currently in Chicago, will be home on Friday. You must meet me at the marina Friday at 6:30, no excuses. I have a fun weekend planned," the message read. He wondered what she had up her sleeve. A weekend boat trip might be nice.
He kept one ear toward the kitchen thinking that his mother would call him on the video calling device located there. Since she met Jane via that device, she called about once a week, inquiring about their relationship. She reminded him that he still needed to visit her, and she insisted that Jane accompany him.
"When are you going to bring that lovely woman to meet me Bradley," was her favorite phrase.
He opened a document on his computer and wrote down the steps to develop a new product. He wanted to have some points to discuss when the group met tomorrow. To develop something from scratch will take time. He wondered if the group remembered how much time bringing Logisti-max to market took. That was for a discussion tomorrow.
He felt like playing hooky and get out of the house again. Unfortunately, since Logisti-max's roll-out several flaws were discovered, and he and his team had to fix them and get updates out. Systems weren't breaking down, but some installs were going a little haywire, and updates were needed.
Brad dove into the trouble reports that pinpointed a flaw and sent a note to George Page, a member of his team, who wrote that module and suggested a fix. The new code would need to be written tested and after he approved, the update would be sent out. He moved to another flaw that was pointed out in user reports and again checked the code and noticed that it was his module that needed fixing.
He opened the code and scanned the lines. He finally found the flaw and fixed it. He wondered why testing didn't find the bug earlier. He would bring that up at the board meeting tomorrow. He continued noting issues and either fixing them himself or passing it on to other developers. He looked up the at the clock and saw that it was way beyond dinner time. He put the computer to sleep and contemplated what to do next. If this was prior to Jane entering his life he would jump on the couch and relieve his stress, but he didn't even think about masturbating now.
The next several days were a blur as he was on the videoconference for almost four hours on Tuesday. The board did come to a decision to perform a feasibility study on three new projects. He and his team continued to squash bugs and release updates the rest of the week. Every day between the day she emailed, and the end of the week Jane called reminding him of the event on Friday. Hearing her voice was nice and they had some phone sex, on those calls. Finally, Friday came around and he pulled some personal care items from the bathroom and two sets of clothes, bathing suit and several t-shirts. He waited for Mr. Burns as Jane said she would provide transportation.
The screen in the kitchen beeped and showed the blue BMW pulling into the driveway. Mr. Burns popped out of the car and took Brad's bag and put it in the boot. He held the rear door, but Brad deferred, preferring to ride up in the front seat.
"Madam will be mad at me sir, that you are riding up with me," said Mr. Burns.
"I will tell Jane that it was my decision Mr. Burns," said Brad.
Mr. Burns piloted the car to the marina and pulled up to the dock where Jane kept her boat The Queen's B. He popped the boot lid and pulled Brad's bag out of the boot and placed it on the sidewalk. Burns wished Brad a good weekend, got in the car and pulled away. Brad walked up to the dock and was accosted by a plain clothes security guard, holding a clipboard and asking for his name.
"I'm Bradley Bean a friend of Ms. St. Jeremy"
"I'm sorry sir I don't see you name on my list," the man responded after checking for Brad's name.
Brad was beginning a slow boil at the man, when his phone beeped.
"Darling where are you, it is almost 6:30 and I told you be here on time," said Jane in his ear after he answered the phone.
"Some officious twit out here on the dock is saying that my name is not on a list, darling, and is denying me entry," said Brad.
"Hand your phone to the man I will get this cleared up," replied Jane.
"Ms. St. Jeremy would like to speak to you sir," said Brad as he handed his phone to the security guard.
The color drained from the man's face as Jane spoke to him. Brad only heard snatches of what Jane was saying but besides calling in to question the man's parentage and his intelligence, she clarified that Brad was welcome aboard. The security guard gave Brad his phone back without saying anything. Brad was about to pick up his bag when a woman in a white uniform took the bag from him and asked Brad to follow her.
They crossed the gangway and landed on the main deck. There were several couples standing around sipping cocktails. Brad didn't recognize any of the people, friends of Jane he guessed. The woman disappeared with Brad's bag, he assumed that it was put in Jane's cabin. Brad was approached by a uniformed waiter and asked for a cocktail order. He dismissed the waiter knowing that Jane would like to see him ASAP. He inquired where he might find Ms. St. Jeremy and was directed up to the main saloon.
There were about six couples in the main saloon and Jane was holding court in a form fitting pants suit. Drink in hand she was regaling someone about some company matter. She walked over to Brad and planted a kiss on his lips.
"You were very naughty being late sir," said Jane.
Bradley barely able to keep a straight face, "Madam, as I have said before I was not late, in fact I checked my watch when I got out of Mr. Burn's car, and it was six fifteen. Then I was held on the dock by some stupid security officer. Why are we here Jane and what is going on?"
"Get this man a martini," said Jane as she tried to kiss Brad again.
"Answers first Jane, what is going on?" asked Brad.
Guests were all over the Jane's yacht. The people gathered in the saloon were fixated on Brad and Jane. They had never heard anyone speak to her that way accept her brother. Even then she was able to shout him down with withering logic.
"Darling, the Yacht Club is holding a sailing regatta tomorrow and I invited a few friends to view the races with us. We are having a pre-race get together tonight. I wanted to let you meet some of my friends this evening, but if you are going to act like a bastard..."
"Jane I'm sorry it has been a long week of crushing bugs and dealing with the fallout at Big Bear. I wasn't expecting a party. My apologies," said Brad.
A waiter came up with a tray holding two cocktail glasses and Brad took one and handed the other to Jane. He bent down and kissed her. Jane announced that dinner was ready, and everyone make their way to the main deck. Jane took Brad's arm and directed him to the dining table.
"Mr. Bean have you calmed down enough to be in polite society?" asked Jane as they were walking down the stairs.
"Yes, Jane once you told me what was going on and I had the martini I have changed my attitude. But we may talk about this later," said Brad.
"Ok, but it is very good to see you darling, even if you are a sour puss," said Jane.
There were lots of things that Brad wanted to say to her but now was not the right time. She directed her sixteen guests to a long table on the main deck. People were searching for their name cards and getting settled. Brad was seated next to Jane. Already on the table was a bowl of New England style clam chowder. Everyone at the table waited until Jane lifted her spoon before starting to eat. It was a long time since Brad ate and he eagerly started eating the soup. A beautiful flinty chardonnay accompanied the dish. That slowed Brad from inhaling the soup. This was going to be one of Jane's big productions as there were six wine glasses in front of each guest. The meal consisted of six courses beginning with the soup followed by an appetizer. A small fish course was next, and that was followed by a salad. The entre was next consisting of two stuffed pork chops. The last course was dessert, consisting of a chocolate éclair. Each course was accompanied by an appropriate wine.
Jane held court during the meal explaining the dishes and the wines selected. Brad was introduced to several of Jane's fellow boat owners. The races tomorrow were a topic of conversation, there was lots of speculation on who would win. One woman Charlotte Jacobs loudly proclaimed that one boat would win over the field. A man who was sitting to the right of Brad struck up a conversation and asked for Brad's business card. Jane's hand surreptitiously invaded Brad's crotch and massaged his tool while he was eating. He leaned over and kissed Jane. Then removed her hand from his privates.
"Darling I believe that we both can wait until we are in your cabin," said Brad, quietly.
At the end of dinner, some men and a few ladies moved up to the bow seating area and were smoking cigars and sipping brandy. Some of the group moved off the boat to their own boats but said that they would be back in the morning before Jane set sail.
Brad rose and pulled his wallet out of his back pocket looked through it and pulled ten twenty-dollar bills and stuck it under his dessert plate as a tip for the great service.
"Have you fully calmed down Mr. Bean," said Jane after she saw the gesture.
"No Jane not fully but if I can get you in a cabin I might. I didn't realize that you were having an elaborate dinner party. By the way dinner was great," said Brad.
Jane put her arm around his and brought the two together and they kissed. She moved them around the boat introducing Brad to her friends. People either dispersed to staterooms on Jane's boat or moved to their own boats. Finally the only people still up were Brad, Jane and the serving staff cleaning up from the party.
"Ok Brad tell me what I did that made you upset," said Jane.
