A fantasy by Julie Van and Curt B. with later chapters to come from Wunderboi.
The small town of Hawksville on the Eastern Seaboard is the new home to Rhino Industries, owned and operated by black African Americans who become indispensable to the local white wives. A trend you can see developing all over the news and even in advertising. Enjoy
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Chapter 4
Another Monday and another week beckoned the good citizens of Hawksville. Everyone had objectives and their concerns in mind as the day began and for the whites, there was a mixed bag of tasks ahead.
Simone knew that the focus of her week would be preparing for the arrival of Rhino's CEO who was coming on a 'State Visit' later in the week and the full schedule of meetings and demonstrations that needed to be arranged.
For Ian, it was to be dealing with his regular, boring (but lucrative) job of acting as financial advisor to the local business community. He had reached a point in his career where he felt he could do the job standing on his head with his eyes shut but the salary and commissions he was paid was incentive enough to stay put and, anyway, why should he look to do something more challenging and stressful when he had other things to worry about.
Increasingly he was consumed with his mental struggle of accepting his perceived diminished status in the household hierarchy. So many things seemed to have turned around in his life lately and he recognized that the major factor was Simone's increased dominance in almost every aspect.
It seemed to him that ever since she began that job with Rhino that they had become more detached and not only did she increasingly defer to the wishes of her bosses when it came to choices to be made but, worryingly, he both accepted the change in the dynamic and indeed had begun to assume the role of being her willing supplicant. "It was a worry but, then again, I do have a new phone, don't I?" he concluded as he gathered his things together.
Chloe's worries were much less complex but her concerns made her equally nervous. She had the prospect of the first thing to be tackled once school started was the dreaded Sociology Test; another examination to be taken on the long road of getting her High School diploma. She had spent a good deal of the weekend revising but for her, the subject was mind-numbingly dull and, anyway, her new phone had been a constant distraction. She wouldn't have admitted it to anyone but she knew she had spent far too much time playing with it than was considered healthy.
One thing she did discover was her phone came pre-programmed with an App. The App invited the user to sign-up to an inclusive Rhino messaging service that allowed participants within the community to converse with like-minded people without fear of being compromised.
It also promised that it would assist in identifying those like-minded people and indicated that, as such, it might be considered as a pseudo-dating service. Chloe was intrigued and although she appreciated that what was being offered was nothing more than was already provided by other well-established social media services the clincher was that there was a promise of discounts on the purchase of other Rhino products. The fact that these products had yet to be announced did not occur to her.
She put her Sociology textbook to one side and once again picked up her phone. She just loved the feel of it; the warmth; the pretty glowing screen that pulsed in time with the low hum. As always she was overcome with a sense of contentment when she touched the screen and felt blessed to possess such a wonderful thing. She tapped the icon for the App and felt a twitch as the screen burst into life to display a welcome message. As she read it a sense of calm washed over her and she felt even more relaxed. She smiled when a quiet voice addressed her by name, 'Hello Chloe, how are you today?'
"How does it know?' she mused.
"I'm fine," she answered not feeling even a little bit foolish as she responded to the disembowelled voice.
"Good. Chloe, I think we know quite a lot about you already but we are going to complete your record before you are ready to go with the App."
Chloe nodded her head in response.
"We need to have a picture to add to your profile. Please pull out the phone support stand; you'll find it at the bottom edge."
She turned the phone over and unclipped a hinged bracket which was an integral part of the base. She hadn't noticed it before.
"Good, now stand the phone on a surface so that you can see the screen and you can be 'hands-free."
Chloe dreamily did as she was told.
"That's fine. Now I can see you properly and, by the way, you look very nice today," the voice said soothingly.
"Thank you," she whispered.
"Now smile for the camera ... Good ... and .." 'Click'. The phone gave a flash and then displayed the perfect portrait it had just recorded.
Chloe looked through her sleepy eyes and thought, "Wow, I'm looking hot."
"Now Chloe I want you to stand up, look at me and then take off all your clothes."