Inconceivable

What would you do if you won the lottery?

Cruise the French Riviera on a yacht filled with nubile and eager models? Check.

Throw lavish parties and revel in the attention showered upon you? Check.

Perhaps even give lavishly to charities like you always? Check.

What if it wasn't enough?

Inconceivable is the steamy tale of a man who overnight is granted the ability to buy anything, except for the one thing he desires, and his exciting and dangerous adventures on his quest for the thing which all men seek, but few ever find.

Author's Note: This is a full novel which I've split into four easily consumable sections. All characters are over eighteen. Enjoy!

***

Chapter Eight

"Are you sure you really want to have a party and invite all your old co-workers?" Anissa asked for at least the tenth time. "Everyone in town will show up and they will all have their hands out."

I said, "I know. But we can put up with it for one night. I've known some of these people for a decade. I can't just ghost them because I won all this money. Besides, maybe some of the people asking for money will convince me they deserve it."

We were seated around the pool at the executive house we'd rented in Asheville. My plan was to only stay here through the party. By then, the house I had chosen to purchase would be ready for move in.

I continued, "We'll do it Godfather style. Let them make their pitches and I can throw them out or agree to give them what they seek, depending on what I think of their pitch."

Anissa said, "Ok, but I'm hiring security. Both obvious and incognito, and they'll have a hair trigger on throwing people out. We should notify the police in case..."

"No cops," I said flatly.

"What do you mean, no cops?" Anissa asked incredulously.

"They can't be trusted. We'll keep everything completely above board and make sure the surveillance system is working. But I don't want the cops anywhere near me. Why don't we set up some kind of shuttle and have people park somewhere nearby? Or, better yet, why not just tell everyone they have to do a ride-share and I'll pick up the bill? That'll keep us from having a traffic jam out front. It'll also eliminate the potential of liability from morons drunk driving and give your security an easy way to rid us of deplorables."

Anissa was taking notes furiously on her laptop. She said, "Ok. I will set it all up. I will need an invite list."

"Is my old laptop anywhere around here. And my old phone? I'll need them to put something together. And before you say it, I promise to neither read, nor respond, to any messages. I understand delegation."

"They are in my office," she said with a grin. "I will go grab them."

"I'll come with you. I might as well get some use out of this office."

It took me a little while to come up with a list of phone numbers and email addresses but at length I sent Anissa a list of about fifty names. While I was going through my old phone, I spotted Melody's contact in my text history. I eagerly clicked on it but was sad to see there had been no response to my texts from the day after our abbreviated rendezvous. I knew I wanted to invite her to the party, but I spent an absurdly long time composing a text to her. I wanted to come off as sincere and inviting without any recrimination for her lack of contact. I ultimately settled on, 'Hope all is well. I'm having a party on Saturday night. You'll get an email from my new assistant with the details. I really hope you can make it. It would be wonderful to see you. Also, I have a new phone. Only a few people have the number. I'll text you from it shortly.'

I cringed as I sent it, despite having gone over the text countless times. I quickly sent her a text from my new phone. I sighed deeply, feeling helpless to make amends for whatever I had done to upset Melody. I then headed back to Anissa's office.

I said, "I sent you a list that I hope will do a good enough job of spreading the word but if you've fielded any inquiries which you feel I should talk to, feel free to invite them as well. Also, I was thinking that maybe just for this party, you should get your own assistant. That way you don't have to simultaneously play Tom Hagan during these interviews I will be doing and orchestrate a party involving potentially hundreds of guests. I'm sure you could do it all, but that doesn't mean you should."

The suspicious look on Anissa's face faded into a smile. She said, "I accept. I will reach out to my network and find a party planner who can handle the details."

***

"How many was that?" I asked Anissa wearily. I was still reeling from a text I had received a few moments ago from Melody. She had said, 'I'm sorry Tim. I made a huge mistake the other night. Please don't contact me again'. It was gutting to receive such a terse reply after I felt we had made such a close connection when we were together.

Anissa said, "I would remind you that you wanted to do this. Last I checked there were about ten more groups waiting."

I said, "Are there any non-groups waiting? I already gave a million dollars to three different groups supporting fighting bigotry and feeding the poor, but these last few groups have just been VC sharks wearing charity costumes."

She said, "Sort of, I have seen someone who I believe is one of your former employees lurking around the end of the line outside. Perhaps she is offended by their demeanor."

I said, "Go grab her. I need to talk to a real person, or I'll end up throwing a stapler at someone."

Shortly Anissa led in one of my former junior developers, a mid-thirties single mom named Patty.

I stood up and shook hands with her, hoping to put a dent in the embarrassment written all over her face.

"Please sit, Patty. How have you been?"

She said, "I've been ok, I guess. The Ice Queen chose Robert to fill your responsibilities, although he still has his old title."

I chuckled and said, "I didn't think anyone else called her that. Hopefully she makes Robert's promotion official because you'd be a natural to slide into his role."

She frowned and said, "I don't think that's going to happen. In fact, she's been talking about how she might need to reduce headcount due to departmental inefficiencies."

"I'm so sorry, Patty. If you decide to look elsewhere, I'll obviously provide a glowing recommendation. You're a great developer and a hard worker. Any company would be lucky to have you."

"Oh, I could never get another job. I don't have a degree. I started at our, I mean my, company as a help desk rep and worked my way up. But even an equivalent position elsewhere would require a degree."

"I know you were going to night classes. How close are you to your degree?"

She said, "Only six classes. But the company suspended the tuition reimbursement program, so I had to stop going."

I said, "That's terrible. What a bunch of assholes."

She said, "And now that they've cut bonuses, I think I'm going to end up losing my apartment."

She started crying as she was talking. I got up and stepped around the desk to sit next to her. I rubbed her shoulder awkwardly, wishing I knew what to do. I'd known Patty for several years and had always been impressed at how hard she worked for the benefit of her three children.

She said, "I feel terrible coming here like this, especially after seeing all those scumbags standing out there."

I said, "Think nothing of it. The opportunity to help people like you is why I'm putting up with those assholes. Let me ask you this, if you didn't have to worry about the rent on your apartment or tuition would you be able to handle the rest while you finished school?"

She said, "Oh, Tim. I couldn't ask that of you."

I said, "You don't understand, Patty. You're a blessing in disguise. I'm moving but I still have the house my ex and I used to live in. It's a three-bedroom house in a nice neighborhood a few miles from the office. It's in a good school zone. I just didn't know what to do with it. You've given me a solution: I'll rent it to you. Why don't we say a dollar a month?

"I'll also set up an endowment at your college for single mothers and you can be the first recipient."

Her crying turned into sobbing. At length she said, "Thank you so much, Mr. Hinhalten. This is a dream come true. But how could I ever repay you?"

I said, "You've called me Tim for years, don't stop now. And you can repay me by quitting that shitty company as soon as you get your degree and find a better job."

She said thank you several more times before leaving. I then looked at Anissa and said, "And you thought this was a bad idea. Why don't you get rid of the rest those assholes? It won't get any better than that."

I left through the office's side door while Anissa went to give the other beggars the bad news. But before I made it more than a few steps, I heard someone call my name. I turned to find a woman who was roughly my age in an impeccably tailored business suit approaching. She walked up to me and stuck out her hand.

I shook it while saying, "Store's closed lady. No more favors today."

"Oh, I don't care about that. I'm a lawyer here representing one of the firms who were hoping to petition you for investment. I just wanted to say I overheard your last meeting, and I think it's really great what you did."

"You're not just saying that to butter me up for your client?"

"I could honestly care less if you invest with my client. I get paid either way. But I've done several of these recently, including one with your co-winner. I've never heard something like that. You just changed the life of her whole family for absolutely nothing in return. That's rare, Mr. Hinhalten."

"Please call me Tim."

She smiled and said, "I'm Stacy."

I said, "I was just about to go out and enjoy the party for a bit. Care to join me?"

"That would be lovely."

As we made our way outside, I saw that there were at least a hundred people spread across the rear of the property, most in or around the pool. I found a group of our former co-workers but, as often happens when coworkers assemble outside of work, the conversation was focused on complaining about work. We excused ourselves as quickly as was polite and wandered around the party. The party planner had done a stellar job planning the party. I could not spot a single thing which was left undone. I was looking forward to meeting her and thanking her in person. Things had been so busy with putting the party together last minute that we had not yet managed to run into each other. As we neared completion of our lap around the party, we heard a commotion coming from the front door.

I groaned, leading Stacy to ask, "What is it?"

"I fear for the future. I believe that commotion is my illustrious co-winner," I said without much hope. "I guess I should go find out. Why don't you stay out here by the pool?"

"I'd like to tag along, if you don't mind."

"Sure

When we reached the foyer, we unsurprisingly found Hugo arguing with a couple of the larger security people we had hired. What did surprise, and concern, me was the fact that he was accompanied by the young woman who had been filming a porn video in Hugo's house when I had visited. It looked like the lead member of the security team, who was wearing a nametag that read Sven, was in the middle of telling Hugo to leave for the last time.

"You're not listening, sir. I did not ask you to leave, I told you to leave. If you do not comply, I will remove you, with extreme prejudice."

Hugo said, "You and what army?"

Sven actually smiled before saying, "Oh, do please fail to comply. It's been too long since I put someone in the hospital."

I sized them both up and realized what Hugo apparently did not, namely that my former coworker was woefully outclassed despite being ten centimeters taller than his potential opponent. Sven, on the other hand, was built more like a jaguar: zero fat on his body and in possession of the kind of musculature typically found only in martial arts experts. I suspected he could easily incapacitate Hugo in seconds but that he was planning a longer engagement.

I stepped forward and said, "Hold up just a minute. Why don't we give Hugo here one more chance?" I held my arm out to Hugo's companion before continuing, "Why don't we adjourn to the study? Sven, perhaps you and your associate would accompany us?"

I led Hugo's guest and Stacy through the house to a room we called the study, although calling it a man cave would perhaps have been more appropriate. It had a preposterously sized TV hanging above a fireplace, a large desk and several comfortable couches. It also had a wet bar, which was my initial destination.

I said, "What can I get you to drink, young lady?"

She said, "Oh, I don't know. Whatever you're having."

I said, "And you?" to Stacy.

She said, "Some wine, please."

I said, "Sven...Ole...either of you want a drink?"

They declined so I took them each a bottle of water, stage whispering to Sven, "Don't kill anyone with it, at least not unless you wipe my fingerprints off."

This elicited a small chuckle from both of them. Finally, I turned to Hugo and said, "Beer?"

He said, "Yeah, man," as he sank into the couch looking distinctly unhappy.

I said, "What do you want, Hugo?" as I delivered his beer. "These spontaneous encounters are growing tiresome."

"I already told you," he said in a whining tone. "I just want someone to hang out with who understands that not everything is awesome when you win a lot of money. My business is crazy expensive, but if I try to talk to anyone about it they just end up asking me for money. Take this slut here, for example. She's just here tonight because I told her she could switch to doing only girl-girl if she acted like a good girlfriend." He turned to her and said, "That definitely includes putting out, sweet tits."

I said, "See? Insensitive comments like that are why we can't hang out. And if you use that kind of language in the presence of a lady again, I'll tell Sven he's allowed to show you the door."

He said, "You're not the boss of me, Tim! I'm my own boss now and no one gets to tell me what to do."

"Tread lightly, sir," I said evenly. "You're only a guest in this house until I say otherwise. Now...I'm sorry young lady but I don't know your name."

She said, "It's April."

"It's a pleasure to properly make your acquaintance, April. Now, Hugo, how's your new business going?"

"I already told you, man. It costs a fucking fortune. I set up my own company in Silicon Valley because there's no way I'm sharing my profits with those assholes that run the main porn sites. But this new company keeps hitting snags. I've already filmed over a hundred hours of content and I want to go live fucking yesterday. But these assholes in California just keep asking for more and more money. I've already sunk fifty million and the site isn't even live yet."

I tried to hold my surprise at how he was burning through his winnings, but he wasn't done.

"And that's not all. I always told myself I'd buy an island if I won the lotto. But the best I could find is out in the middle of fucking nowhere in the Caribbean, and the only way I can get there is by helicopter. And, of course, the asshole that sold it to me didn't mention that the chopper didn't come with the island. You tell me Tim, shouldn't a twenty-million-dollar island come with a chopper? My brother-in-law, who's handling my money for me, says I should buy a yacht to commute instead. We'll see. I'm headed down there tomorrow so I can move my video production offshore. These bible thumpers here are trying to shut me down, so I'll pick up my pile of money and take it out of the country."

I said, "What about the performers? Are they really going to be ok with following you into the middle of nowhere?"

He said, "Are you kidding? I show them pictures of the clear blue water and the pretty pine trees and they're all in."

"I mean, what if they want to leave?"

"They understand how this works. As long as they do as they're told they have nothing to worry about."

Stacy spoke up for the first time in a while, "April, do you think you could help me out with something in the powder room?"

Hugo said, "What are you trying to do, missy? We're just a couple of friends hanging out and discussing our businesses."

She gave Hugo a withering look and said, "Well, since you ask, Hugo, my period just started, and I was hoping April could help me."

He said, "Why? She's not on her period. I can tell you that for sure."

Stacy kept her eyes on April and said, "I could really use your help if you could spare a few minutes."

April looked to Hugo, who said, "Whatever. Just be quick about it."

The two ladies left, and an awkward silence filled the room until Hugo finally said uncomfortably, "So, what have you been doing with all the money?"

I said, "Not much. My money guy is doing a lot of investing and I've given some to charity. But for the most part I'm just waiting."

"Sure," he said. "But what did you actually buy? A mansion? A sports car? Tell me!"

"Nothing too crazy, really. For the most part I've just been enjoying not going to work."

"Don't bullshit me, Tim. How much have you spent so far?"

I knew he wouldn't want me to say that I'd spent less than five percent of what he apparently had, so I said, "I don't know, really. A lot. Like I said, I've given a lot to charity. So, tell me more about this island."

He started prattling on about the island, which he had bought from Cuba. He was in the process of building a hacienda, as he called it, on the island in addition to a deep-water pier to accommodate his ten-million-dollar yacht.

My attention perked up again when I heard him say, 'forty miles an hour.' I said, "How fast?"

"Forty! Even though it's almost a hundred foot long. It's bad-ass. And I'm using it for production, too. I'll have a whole series of videos filmed on the boat. I renamed it The Gape. Get it? Because all my videos have anal in them."

I peaked at my phone to determine why it had buzzed at me. I then said, "Yeah, Hugo. I get it. Listen buddy, I've got to go check on my other guests. I'm glad we got to catch up, but I think you should be moving along."

Stacy came back into the room and took my arm.

Hugo said, "Where's April?"

She said, "She helped me with my concern but then headed toward the front door. I did not ask where she was going."

Hugo made a move toward us, but Sven laid a hand on his shoulder and brought him up short. Sven said, "You heard Mr. Hinhalten. Time to go."

Hugo said, "You better tell me where she is. Or else."

I said, "That's enough Hugo. I can't allow you to threaten anyone. Would you like to go on your own or should I make Sven's night?"

He said, "Oh...big man who needs a bodyguard to do his dirty work."

"Perhaps. What's it gonna be, Hugo?"

He looked around the room, and then lunged toward Stacy and I. Sven, who had closed within a few centimeters of Hugo as we'd been talking, shot an arm out to grab the back of Hugo's collar. He then did a palm strike on Hugo's left kidney which caused the larger man to drop to the ground and gasp for breath.

Sven knelt down next to him and said, "You are lucky I was behind you. If you had been facing me, you would likely have a broken kneecap right now. As it is, you will only have to deal with shitting blood for a few days. Now, are you ready to leave or would you like me to make you more uncomfortable first?"

Unsurprisingly, Hugo chose the former. Sven actually helped him out to the front entryway and helped him into a car. I followed Stacy into one of the unused bedrooms, where April and Anissa were waiting for us.