Chapter 1 - A Proposition
My older brother Scott called me on a Thursday night just after Easter. It had been a long day at work and I was washed out, lying on the sofa with a glass of wine and feeling sorry for myself.
"Hi Karen, how's it going?" he said.
I tried to think of something cheery to say. Scott and I were the only kids in our family and had always been close. But our father's sudden death last fall from heart disease, and the collapse of my marriage three months ago, had put a strain on our lives.
"I'm sitting here sipping an after work glass of wine and really glad to hear from you," I responded. "What are you up to?"
Scott, at the young age of 28, had already been in three successful Internet startups. Based in Silicon Valley, he had leveraged an engineering degree from Stanford into entry level positions on successful teams. His first payoff had been a million, the second ten million, and I wondered how much he had gotten in the IPO of his third effort just two months ago.
"I have a confession to make." he said. "Four years of 80 hour weeks have gotten a lot of cash in the bank for me, but I have nothing else to show for it. My body is a wreck, my love life sucks, and I'm trying to figure out how to get myself into a better groove. By the way, what's the latest on you and Sean splitting?"
"The lawyers have submitted all the papers to the judge and tell me a final decree will be issued in less than thirty days. With no kids and no real assets, it'll be more like shaking hands and saying goodbye than anything else. I thought we loved each other, but it didn't turn out that way, and I've decided it's time to move on."
"Karen, I have an idea about a new project that you might be interested in, but I can't talk about it over the phone. Is there any chance you could get a few days off and fly to Phoenix to meet me for a long weekend of conversation and relaxation? I'll arrange for your ticket, of course."
"Is this all work and no play?" I said, knowing his reputation for diving into "interesting" ideas.
"I promise, Sis, no more than five or six hours on business. The rest of the time we have swimming, hiking, golf, and great cafes with live music. And there's a reception at the Arizona Biltmore on Saturday I would like to take you to."
"All right," I said, "I can't leave until early Saturday because we have an executive marketing team meeting tomorrow until late afternoon. Forget buying me a ticket, I'll make the arrangements from this end and you can reward me with a nice dinner somewhere."
Flying from the Midwest, your plane starts down over Flagstaff, glides around Camelback Mountain, and plops onto the runway at Sky Harbor airport. Clambering down the rollaway stairs into heat and glare, I said to myself, "where are your floppy hat and dark shades, honey?" Neither of which I had remembered to bring.
Scott was waiting at the security exit, looking as tall and handsome as ever. I ran to him and he swung me into the air and we twirled around. It felt nice to be in a man's arms again. He kissed my cheek, but I grabbed his head and moved to smash his lips properly.
He finally put me down. "Hmmm, from the feel of that kiss, someone needs some loving."
I leaned over and nibbled his ear, whispering, "Yes, but not right here."
"My, you are as frisky as ever. Is that all you brought?" he said, looking at my overnight bag.
"Yes, I don't have any desert clothes anyway, and I figured since the weekend is on you, we could find me something here." He was leading across the street into the parking garage and we stopped at a shiny motorcycle. He opened the rear saddlebag, extracted two helmets, and squeezed my bag inside.
"Karen, ever wanted to be a biker girl?"
"You're not making me ride on that, are you?" I looked at him with mock outrage. "How can I be decent in a dress sitting behind you on that?"
Scott looked around, then reached between my legs and pulled my dress up into my crotch. Then he just lifted me up and put me down on the bike seat, handed me my helmet and climbed in front. The bike roared on the first turn of the ignition and we were off. I clutched him for dear life.
He grabbed a dangling wire, and suddenly was talking to me through the helmet earphones. "This is a short ride and I'll explain about the motorcycle when we get there. Just relax and enjoy yourself."
The bike was throbbing between my legs and the dress was flying around. A lot of thigh was showing, but fortunately, not all the way up to my girly secrets. I thought to myself, "Lady, you need a leather outfit, a couple of tattoos, short hair, and some boots..."
I said into the mike in front of my face, "This isn't exactly the right image, boss man, with my dress flying in my face."
He swatted my bare leg. "Looks good to me, boss lady."
In ten minutes, we were in Tempe and turning into an RV park. Another hundred yards and we were parking next to a large, black and very new vehicle. He shut down the bike and stepped to the side. "Want a lift off?"
I nodded and got another twirling swing through the air. He led me to the front and pressed a code into the side of the RV. The door opened silently and we climbed in. The door closed automatically. The interior was elegant and then some. Teak paneling, full kitchen, bathroom beyond with a shower. Two double beds.
I said, "What's with this, your early midlife crisis?"
Taking the gambit, he said, "Oh honey, I'm sorry I spent so much money on this big thing. It took all of our retirement accounts, but I promise I'll make it up to you somehow." And burst out laughing.
Playing into the role myself, I said, "Scott Thomas, if you don't tell me what is going on this instant, I'm walking out and never coming back." I turned toward the door, but he dove after me, and pulled me down to the floor.
"Now Marie," he said, "don't be like that, or I'll be forced to tie you up and do you know what." He rolled me on top, hiked my dress, and dug his fingers in my ass.
In my sweetest teenage voice, I said, "Daddy, are you going to spank me for arguing with you?"
