A special thanks to Barney R for his wonderful editing.
*****
The following days found people around Brad being lavished with praises even for their most minimum of achievements. The sight and memories of the expression on Harold's face as he watched him taking his wife and then sucking him on her knees while he watched them made his adrenalin rush.
'Money had made his revenge possible,' he thought gleefully. Maybe some people say that money cannot buy everything but it sure could buy him a nice piece of revenge.
Happy, he should have been feeling happy by now. But when he stood in the room he had decorated for his daughter that feeling of euphoria somehow did not carry.
When he shuffled around in his expensively decorated house, its sheer emptiness and deafening silence seem to make him their captive, sucking him into a deep dark void, bereft of any meaningful existence.
He had a house but he did not have a home, he had a life, but it was without purpose. The bottles that had remained untouched for the past some days were soon back to being emptied at a regular rate.
The call from Alice came as a welcome change. She was always there in his thoughts somewhere. Just thinking about her somehow made breathing easier.
"Brad, I think I've covered all the points raised by you guys. When can we sit and go thru the corrections?"
"As I recollect, our next meeting was supposed to be over dinner. So, would you be interested in a dinner meet at the Marriott this evening?"
The soft laugh wafting thru the communication lines to his ears was like soothing music. He sat listening, enthralled by her sweet melodious voice, the room becoming suddenly brighter as though sunshine was flowing thru the steel and glass construction.
He could not remember what all they further talked about, all he was sure was that he had a date tonight.
He was there well before the appointed hour. He called for some wine as he waited for Alice to turn up. He was really looking forward to meeting her. He was half way thru his glass when he saw her coming in.
She was wearing a fashionably cut blouse and a skirt that showed off her figure to its full advantage. She sported a small jacket over her blouse which seems to blend very well with the rest of the ensemble. Her blond hair was done up in waves and they bounced around her shoulders as she confidently walked towards him. The pearl necklace and golden bracelet added to her allure.
"Hi, I hope I'm not late," she said with a flash of smile. Brad stood up and drew back her chair for her to sit. She thanked him graciously. Funny things seemed to be happening of late.
"Wow, that blouse looks great on you," said Brad appreciatively in an attempt to start up a conversation.
"Why, thank you kind sir."
"The whole outfit looks great," he added affirmatively, speaking the truth and the absolute truth for a change.
She smiled back and took a sip of her daiquiri. That seemed to have opened the floodgates and they spent the next half an hour or so talking about their respective professional lives. He told her how his onetime hobby eventually turned into a full time profession. She in turn told him about her life as a teacher, having to deal with the mood and tantrums of her class.
He felt himself opening up to her more and more as time passed. A shadow crossed her face when she spoke about the passing away of her husband. She had loved him a lot and he could see she still carried a torch for him. He felt a pang of envy. Her husband had been a lucky guy to have found true love in Alice.
She then asked him about his personal life and Brad surprisingly found himself telling her all about the deceit and humiliation he had gone thru. Her eyes went round with sympathy and she clasped his hands in hers as a show of solidarity.
He refrained from telling her about his recent round of retribution. Her hands felt soft and warm and he was afraid that his boasting about the humiliation meted out to the Witherspoon's by him would end up in her withdrawing her hands from his. By now they had downed more drinks than they could remember and the mutual tipsy camaraderie was great. So he changed topics and began regaling her with some of his stories.
"...and so we decided to just go with the flow and stripped right there." Brad was relating how he and his ex-wife had ended up on a nude beach on the Caribbean.
"How did the girls look?" Alice asked with a twinkle in her eyes.
"With your wife right there, you can't do a lot of staring, but they were all shapes and sizes. The damnedest thing though. There were two empty towels next to us when we sat down. In about ten minutes, two girls came up the beach holding hands. They plopped down and began to make out. They kissed and then one sucked a nipple on the other one. Then they kissed some more. A few minutes later, they gathered everything up and took off. I guess they had something else to do. I couldn't move for fifteen minutes waiting for the effects to go away."
Alice threw back her head and gave a throaty laugh. Just hearing her laugh seemed to invigorate him, as though a cleansing disinfectant had coursed thru his veins, leaving him feeling sparkling fresh.
Soon the sound of music being played by the band began wafting thru. Alice recognised the beat and began tapping her fingers to the tune.
"Would you like to dance?" Brad's voice cut through the music.
"Oh no, I shouldn't."
"Sure you should. I can tell you enjoy the music and I promise not to step on your feet." Just holding a beautiful woman was a pleasure he could appreciate now.
"Well, maybe just one."
They assumed the classic foxtrot position with a foot's distance between bodies. After that, they stayed for two fast numbers. Then a slow one started and Brad pulled her into his arms again, except this time he pulled her snug against his chest. He felt every square inch as it flattened against his chest. As they moved around the floor, he let his hand at her waist slip lower, not to her butt, but he knew she could feel it just above there. She didn't say anything.
Another fast dance separated them, but when the next slow dance started, she laid her cheek on his chest and his hand rested on her bottom. As she pressed into him, she felt his bulge against her tummy and a blast of heat spread out from her pussy.
When they separated for the next fast dance, she took some initiative. She spun around and backed against him. She could feel his hardness as her cheeks swayed back and forth. Then she broke away. When she repeated the move, he put his hands on her waist and held her there. She straightened up and he kissed the side of her neck lightly. She spun away as the song ended.
"It's not every day a guy gets to meet a beautiful gal with intelligence to match," said Brad as they finally made their way to their table.
Thanks' Brad, but I think it's too early to talk about my intelligence. Let's see what your people have to say tomorrow about the changes I have done to the story."
Brad picked up the manuscript she had brought along for him and began to quickly run thru the pages. She had talent; there was no doubt about it. She had quickly latched on to the intricacies of story writing. Now all that was left was to add a few paragraphs here and there from the manuscript he had personally prepared and her story would be ready for sending across to the production houses.
"You're good, very good," he finally said in a totally sincere tone.
Alice beamed in happiness.
She gave Brad one of her favourite smiles. "I then suppose we could expect the feedback from the production houses in a couple of days' time.
The happy expectant look on her face once again confirmed to him that Alice needed money, that too fast. He once again wished he could speed up the things. He would try no doubt.
"Well, give and take a few days," he replied reassuringly. Yes, he would speed up the process.
By now they were standing in front of the hotel, waiting for her car to be brought up.
She looked up at him with her clear blue eyes before speaking. "Well, thanks for the lovely evening and for all that you've done on my behalf. Without your support I was like a kid lost in the woods."
"No thanks are called for Alice; it's always nice to have a writer who is aware of all the nitty gritties of story writing for the TV audience."
Brad leaned closer and pressed his lips upon hers his hand slipping up her side until the heel rested on the edge of her breast. She twisted slightly and her breast slid under his hand. They remained locked together as his tongue invaded her mouth. Then he broke the kiss and pulled back.
"Goodnight Alice," said Brad. He then turned around and walked off.
Later in the night Alice smiled to herself as she undressed in the privacy of her room. Thank God she had managed to maintain an appropriate distance and etiquettes. He was a nice handsome guy, and the lure of a job done well had allowed her to let Brad take certain liberties.
But she was a mother too and had responsibilities. She wasn't going to take chances, but would patiently wait and see if he meets her set standards, the standards that had been drawn up with her late darling husband's attributes in mind.
