Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction - it presumes a lack of STD's, so please don't try this yourself. Everyone in the story is at least 25 years old, and all actions are voluntary. There is some M/M action in this, plus some other kinks that even freaked me out a little bit), so if that is not your cup of tea, please stop reading now.
Getting Rich Ch. 4 Time changes things
They say time wounds all heels. I don't know about
all
, but it wounds just about anyone open to being wounded. But you can't avoid time, and if you close yourself from getting hurt, you miss so many other opportunities that it's all but impossible to have any real fun, and trust me - the fake fun costs more than you are willing to pay.
I had been Rich for five years, and had seen my life change in ways I could not have anticipated before.
My apartment buildings were doing well enough that I had been able to buy one more in the same neighborhood, and to put solar water heating on top of all three, and was putting in EV chargers in the parking spots for all of them, though the regulations behind that (and keeping non-tenants away) was a gigantic challenge. We worked out a pass-card system for the latter part, giving each tenant a card, but there were always people who thought they were for just anyone, regardless of signage, then tried to cause trouble when they couldn't charge their cars for free. I am not unsympathetic, but I so don't like moochers: There is a difference between need and greed, which had been emphasized by organized resistance from the big corporate landlords, but I'd been very careful not to give them any grounds to sue me.
My 3D program had been finished to my satisfaction, and after it finished Bill had moved on, a different person than when he'd been hired four years before. Last I heard he was married, and had put in applications at Sony and EdgeWorks as a computer artist.
My other invention was now on the market, and while not making oodles of cash, was filling a need with musicians around the world, with several imitations already on the market. My lawyers were keeping busy with that.
Melanie had quit as my very personal trainer after the first year of covid, and I'd spent most of the next year alone. I was still in decent shape for a many my age, but missed our regular workouts. I made sure she got a good severance package, and I heard recently she had finished college and was studying to be a Physical Therapist.
I just didn't have it in me to stage another tryout for trainers. The last one had enough ripples that caused trouble that I didn't want to risk that happening again. (The one guy who had walked out in the middle of the 'tryouts' had tried to sue me and sic the cops on me, not knowing about the security cameras I had. He ended up losing his job over it, and still had to pay the legal fees).
Her friend Big Ben had not lasted long at all. After about six months he started coming over on his own, without calling first, just wanting sex with me, and sometimes with Bill. When I mentioned that to Mel, she'd confronted him (while he had my cock in his mouth) he tried denying it, and then trying to bargain his way out of it, but she dumped him, and I arranged for a restraining order the next time he showed up alone. I lost track of him after that, which was sad, as he had a lot of potential.
That, and the loss of Melanie, changed the rhythm of things. My house had become a sort of party central for us and some of our friends. Not the kind of Orgy House you read about on Literotica or anything, but there were occasional parties where a lot happened. When covid became a real thing, I ended that, and when Mel left even the much smaller gatherings with closer friends ended. It was probably a good thing, as some of those who had attended the bigger parties had heard about them through the grapevine, and I didn't need that kind of rep.
On the other hand, my social life began to open up again as the covid crisis opened up, I'd put my band back together, and we were rehearsing weekly at my house, playing gigs all over town (well, playing in the few venues that will take a 17 piece big band), and some of the guys had friends who were composers, so we were readying a CD of original music. And that was all leading to a more varied and better social life.
Best of all, an old friend from my working days had gotten in touch after about ten years, and did now know about the money, so we started going out occasionally, and I eventually invited her back to my place.
Penny was petite - about 5 foot four, with a pleasant if not spectacular figure, a dazzling smile, and now a bit of grey in her auburn hair. The smile had taken a few dates to return, and I could tell that the last decade had not been as kind to her as she deserved. She'd been married when we had worked together, but had apparently divorced not long after and had moved out of the state for a few years to raise her son, who had been a fun kid, very into everything he encountered, mixing his mother's Chicana passion with his dad's German intensity. She'd only moved back a few months before when a good job opportunity came her way, and her son was accepted at State.
When she finally came to my house after the first half dozen dates, she was astonished at how I was living.
"How did this happen? I know you couldn't afford this on a county salary!"
"I came into some money."
"A lot of money, from the looks of it."
"Enough that I could finally retire in comfort. Not like some of the absurd amounts like you see on TV, but enough to get by."
She laughed. "You call this 'getting by'? You're living off the fat of the land! And not as fat as you were when we were working."
"I can afford a good gym."
"You probably
own
a good gym!"
I shrugged. "You know that's not something I'd really invest in. I had a trainer for a while, and then covid got in the way, but I still remember the lessons, and work out every day. That's not as easy as they used to be, though. Want to see the home gym?"
"You have one? Sure"
I gave her the grand tour, and in the music room she tinkled at the piano keys. In the game room she threw a dart at the dartboard (and hit a 16). In the office, she went to the shelves of comic books and browsed, and in the gym (a small room that opened onto the pool deck) she looked at the equipment and frowned.
"I thought it would be more... more up to date."
"The expensive machines are too big, and mostly just duplicate the free weights and such. And it's... quieter."
"My son would like this." she admitted.
"Oh my god. Your son! I'd almost forgotten about him. He was in junior high when we met, so now he's what? In college?"
"Junior year, yes."
"What's he studying? Where is he at?"
"He's at State, studying Political Science and Art. Yes, it's a strange combination, but he has to be himself. He was on the football team in high school, but wrecked his rotator cuff, so he had to stop that, but he loves to be in good shape. He'd know how to use all of this stuff."
"What about your ex?"
"Happily re-married."
"Should I be happy or sad about that? How do you feel about it?"
"It's been nearly ten years. I'm used to it."
"Ah. And you are still single? How in the world did that happen?"
"There were a few tries, but nobody wants a single mom. Especially one my age."
"What age? You're still younger than me. Fools, all of them. I think you look great."
She twinkled at that, and I could see that she hadn't been treated well. I knew she deserved better, or had when we'd been friends. Her smile was still as brilliant as it always had been, and she was in remarkably good shape for a woman her age. Still striking, with an hourglass shape that was far better than checking my watch for the time.
"Thanks. It's been too long since anyone said that, and I believed it."
"Wow. I guess I should have gotten in touch earlier."
"I don't think I would have been ready then. The last eleven years have not been something I would have wanted to share with anyone."
