Some Debts Are Better Paid Than Forgiven

I have a lot of "unfinished" work on this site, so I probably shouldn't be starting another one. Alas, I don't have much control on where my Muse takes me. I may continue this one some more, or go continue work on a few of the others. I do hope to be writing more in 2018 than I did in 2017.

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Chapter 1: The Debt Collector Calls

Natalie did not recognize the black car parked in front of her apartment. Long and sleek, tinted black windows, chrome glistening in the morning sun. Nor did she recognize the tall, bull-like black man who stood curbside, leaning against the rear passenger door. His clothing matched the coloring of the car: a sharp, well-tailored black suit with a with a contrasting white-collared shirt.

He pretended to be reading a newspaper. Even though he wore dark sunglasses, Natalie could tell his eyes watched her every move.

Natalie smiled. It was something she was accustomed to, for she was something to look at. Even today, when she was dressed casual - skinny jeans and her New England Patriots t-shirt - she was a head-turner. Mostly because her large, voluptuous breasts (thank you, Dr. Rothstein) were pushing against the fabric of her top, and her jeans hugged every delicious curve of her hips, ass, and legs perfectly.

Her long, brunette hair tumbled in loose waves around her shoulders as she grabbed two grocery bags from the backseat. As she kicked the passenger door shut with her sandaled feet, she gave the limo driver one last glance. She sensed he was still looking at her, so she flashed him a pearly white smile. No reaction.

'Maybe he's actually reading that newspaper afterall', Natalie thought. 'Or, maybe he's gay.'

She laughed to herself, then lithely danced up the front steps.

'What's a limo doing on this side of the city?' she pondered. 'This is the West side. Drug buy maybe?'

Natalie and her husband Joe didn't live in the wealthiest part of the city. In fact, it was rather run down. Natalie was a teacher, Joe was an EMT. This was the best they could afford on their meager salaries. Still, Natalie didn't think the neighborhood was so bad that her neighbors might be sellers...

Natalie unlocked the front door, then sprinted up three flights of stairs to her apartment. Natalie worked out daily, and was hardly winded at the top, yet her heart stopped for a few beats. A short distance down the hall, the front door to her apartment was open slightly. Natalie was certain she had closed and locked it when she left this morning. In this neighborhood, you really had to.

Natalie crept slowly down the hallway. There was yelling - or at least someone talking in a very loud voice - beyond her open doorway. And then she heard her husband's voice, but couldn't quite make out the words. At least not all of them. She did hear one part, spoken in a pleading voice, "I'll get you the money."

What was this all about? Natalie decided to charge in, fumbling noisily with her keys, slamming the door behind her, and crinkling the paper grocery bags loudly.

"Honey, I'm back," she called from the hallway. "Are you awake yet?"

In the kitchen, Natalie found her husband Joe and two other men. She put the grocery bags on the counter as both men seemed to size her up. One was short, curly-haired, and burly. He looked like a bouncer for a nightclub. He had eyed Natalie only briefly, then returned his attention to Joe.

The other man gazed upon Natalie quite a bit longer, taking her in slowly from head to toe. Not unaccustomed to being gawked in public, Natalie just stood there, turning slightly to give him a better view, hardly conscious of this familiar, but brazen act. His eyebrows rose slightly at this gesture.

He was tall, brown haired, green eyed, and rather good looking. As his eyes traveled back up her body, Natalie could see his eyes turn from passive interest to something a bit more. Of course his eyes lingered lengthily on her chest. Natalie suspected, without looking down, that her nipples were bulging visibly against the fabric of her shirt. She hadn't bothered to throw on a bra this morning.

When his gaze had finally wandered back to her face, Natalie smiled brilliantly. Without even thinking, she bit her lip and twisted her body back and forth flirtatiously.

"Natalie," her husband said, coming to put his arm around her. "These are some friends from college, Eric and ahhh, um, Burt."

"Bruno," the short, thicker one said in an unfriendly gruff. He didn't budge, and barely gave her a nod of acknowledgement. His eyes never left Joseph.

Eric stepped forward and took Natalie's left hand in his.

"Natalia," he whispered, calling her by her birth name. "Joe has told me so much about you. If I had known you were this attractive, however, I would have come to visit long before today. Charmed to finally make your acquaintance."

She watched as he slowly lifted her hand, his eyes never leaving hers, and kissed the back of her fingers. Natalie blushed slightly.

"This is an exquisite wedding ring, Joseph," Eric said, his attention now on the large diamond ring that adorned her finger. "And your wife is an exquisite woman. You've done quite well."

"Oh, thank you. You're too kind," Natalie asked, taking her hand back, as well as her senses. "Will you be staying long? Would you like me to put on some coffee?"

"No, no," Eric said, stepping back and clapping Bruno on the shoulder. "Burt and I were just leaving."

The short, stocky man bristled slightly, then headed for the hallway. Eric followed him.

"Two weeks, Joseph," Eric said, turning in the hallway and holding up two fingers. He didn't hold his raised fingers apart, like a peace sign. The fingers were closed. He pointed them both to his forehead and tapped it twice, repeating, "Two weeks."

When both men left, and the apartment door closed with an audible clunk, Joe sank back against the counter. He brought both hands to his face, and sobbed weakly.

"Joe?" Natalie turned to her husband, putting her arm around his shoulder. She felt his body trembling. "Joseph, honey ... what's wrong?"

"Oh, Nats ... I messed up big."

"What is it, honey? Tell me."

Joe still had both hands covering his face. He shook his head no.

"I can't."

"Joseph Michael Durant," Natalie took both of her husband's wrists and pulled them down from his face. "I am your wife. Every problem you have, I have. Now you tell me what problem WE have."

Joe hadn't been making eye contact with her, even after she pulled his hands down. His gaze was cast downward. When she said the word "WE", she spoke it loudly for emphasis and lifted his chin so that he was now looking into her eyes.

"Tell me, Joe," she whispered.

Joe sighed heavily.

"I owe that guy money."

"Who?" Natalie asked.

"Eric. The tall one. I owe him a lot of money."

"How much?"

"Three thousand dollars."

*What? How? I mean ... what did you borrow the money for?" Natalie hoped the question did not sound judgemental, but the truth was, she was suddenly pissed.

"You," Joe shuddered.

"Me?" Natalie asked, trying to think what Joe would spend on her that cost that amount of money.

"Your wedding ring, our honeymoon, your car ..."

Natalie started to understand. She knew Joe wasn't a rich man when she met him, but he had a heart of gold, was boyishly handsome, and he loved her so deeply. She hadn't asked how he afforded her engagement ring, but was amazed when it appraised at $6,300. She vaguely remembered him saying something about an inheritance when she asked where he got the money for their honeymoon. It seemed believable at the time, as his parents had recently passed in a car accident one year before they met.

"Honey, we got married almost four years ago. How long have you owed -"

"Exactly four years now. That's how long the loan was for. I owed more, I've been paying it down. But I've run out of time."

Natalie felt like the wind had been let out of her sails. She sank into the counter next to her husband.

"Honey, it'll be okay," she said, trying to not sound despondent. "We'll figure out something."

Chapter 2: Natalie's Proposition

Joe's mood deteriorated more and more as the week went on. He retreated from her emotionally and physically. Natalie hardly recognized him, and couldn't find a way to reach him. Each night, after dinner, Eric's cell phone would ring. He would look at the screen, his face would go pale, and he'd leave the apartment to take the call.

Natalie knew it was Eric; she checked the call logs on Joe's phone the second night of this pattern. She hated to snoop behind Joe's back, but he hadn't been entirely truthful with her the past four years, either.

Natalie tried to come up with options, but even she admitted that it wasn't going well. Neither of them had family to ask money from, and neither had many friends who weren't similarly strapped for cash.

Late Friday morning, five days after Eric had come to their house, Natalie decided to take matters into her own hands. While Joe was napping from his late night shift with the ambulance service, she took his phone and flipped through the recent calls. She punched redial on the most recent listing. It was Eric's name.

"Joseph, I'm very glad you are calling me. Do you have my money?" Eric's voice sounded snake-like through the earpiece.

"It's not Joe. This is Natalie."

There was a short pause, and Eric's voice changed from a hiss to a purr.

"Ahhh, Natalia. This is a lovely surprise ... but most unexpected."

Natalie sat with the phone cradled in her ear. She was twisting her wedding ring on her finger, sliding it off, sliding it back on. Eric had seemed interested in this ring when he was at the house.

She inhaled, held her breath for a moment, then just let go.

"I want to clear my husband's debt with you,Eric," she sighed, eyes closed.

"You have the money?" Eric asked. His voice sounded surprised.

"No."

"Then I fail to see how you can-"

Natalie pulled the ring fully off her finger. She didn't like how her hand looked without it. She slid the wedding ring back on.

"I'm sure if I come over to your place," Natalie found herself saying, "We can work something out."

"Ahhh, I see."

There was silence on the phone. Natalie started to doubt Eric was going to accept her proposition. She was just about to blurt out, "I'll make it worth your while," when Eric finally spoke into the phone.

"One hour. My driver will be there to pick you up in one hour."

"Thank you, Eric," she whispered into the phone, then immediately regretted it. What was she thanking him for? Hell, what was she even propositioning him with? She didn't think for a second that she'd be able to simply talk him into forgiving Joe's three thousand dollar debt.

"And Natalia?" Despite the circumstance, Natalie found herself enamored by the way he said her name. His voice sounded full of promises when he spoke it. She hated the man, but liked his mannerisms, at least toward her.

"Yes?"

"Bring your wedding ring," he said.

"Y-Yes. Yes, of course. I will."

When she disconnected the call, she breathed a sigh of relief. Her hands were trembling. She lifted the hand that bore her wedding ring, and looked at it.

'Well, that was that,' she thought to herself. 'He plainly wants the ring. That's our ticket out of this. I'll give Eric the ring, that should clear Joe's debt.'

Natalie slipped the ring off her slender finger, and tried to imagine Joe's reaction when he found out she'd given it away. How would he feel? Would her students at school notice it missing? Her fellow teachers?

"It's just a thing," she said at last. "And things can be replaced."

Natalie looked longingly at the ring. She slipped it back on again.

"But I don't want to get rid of it," she sighed. "There must be another way. Something else Eric wants."

Natalie knew exactly what else Eric wanted, besides her ring. She recalled the way his eyes looked at her hungrily, little more than a week ago. But was she willing to give that to him?

Natalie spent the next hour getting ready. She took a nice, long, hot shower, scrubbing every crack and crevice. Her thoughts wandered occasionally to Eric, his tall physique, angular facial features, those deep, green eyes ...

Natalie could feel the minutes slipping away. She had to pick out clothes, and there was still hair and makeup to be done, all hopefully without waking Joe. She really hoped she could be there and back before he even noticed she was gone.

Natalie rinsed, turned down the water, stepped from the shower, and toweled herself off. She wrapped the towel around her body, then tiptoed past Joe in the bedroom. She quietly slid their double door closet open. She shifted various outfits aside, skipping past all her work clothes. The conservative 4th grade teacher look wouldn't do for this meeting. She was now flipping through her Friday night dating outfits.

One thing she and Joe did - at her insistence - was a 'date night' every Friday. Sometimes it was dinner, sometimes dancing, sometimes just a drive out to the beach. Natalie had wanted to keep their newlywed magic alive by getting each other out of the house at least one night a week for an honest-to-goodness date. So far, it had worked magically. She felt like they were still on their honeymoon.

Her hands wavered over one of her favorite outfits, a little black dress. It was dangerously skimpy, but something she loved to wear in public with Joseph draped on one arm.

"Ugh, what are you doing, Natalie?" She said aloud, hanging the dress back on the hook. "You're not going dancing. You're going to settle a business transaction."

"Still, depending on the transaction ..." her hand lingered on the dress. "No. We're not quite that desperate yet."

Her hands drifted back to the more sensible attire in her closet: the stuff she could wear to a parent-teacher conference at school.

She grabbed a beige, twin pencil skirt from one hanger, her red, short-sleeved, neck top shirt, and a pair of black, high-heeled pumps. The skirt hugged her hips tight, the shirt was a stretchy fabric, at least one size too small (which simply accentuated her curves more), and the shoes were vaguely slutty. The outfit was professional, but also something Cameron Diaz might have worn in "Bad Teacher".

Foundation, concealer, blush, eye shadow, eyeliner, mascara, powder - Natalie moved quickly through her makeup ritual. She was barely done when she heard a quiet buzzing sound from the kitchen. She looked at her watch. One hour. That would be Eric's driver at the foyer, buzzing her apartment to let her know he had arrived.

Natalie grabbed her purse, and ran to the kitchen. She clicked the intercom button and said, "Yes?"

"Your ride is here, miss." The voice was rich, deep and baritone, like a DJ on a late-night jazz radio station.

*I'll be right down."

Natalie gave herself one last look in the full-wall mirror of their apartment living room. 'Attractive and professional,' she thought to herself. Her whole body tingled with an anticipation. Anticipation of what, she was not quite sure.

"And perfectly fuckable," Natalie said out loud with a laugh. "Just in case it cums to that."

In the next room, she heard Joseph stir.Natalie quickly fled the apartment.

Down three flights of stairs, she saw Eric's driver waiting patiently for her in the foyer. It was the same tall, black man she had seen leaning against the limo outside her apartment last week.

She opened the door, smiled sweetly, and said, "Hi there, I'm Natalie."

He lowered his sunglasses on the ridge of his nose, and looked Natalie up and down. She had the distinct impression he liked what he saw, and she took some pride in the outfit she had put together. This would work.

'I mean, if it works for my gay limo driver,' Natalie thought to herself with an amused smile on her lips, 'it will work for Eric.'

"I'm Bull," he said, sliding his sunglasses back into place. "Are you sure you want to do this, miss?"

"Do what?" Natalie asked. She honestly wasn't entirely sure herself what she was going to do.

Bull made a short grunting noise. Natalie thought he was going to leave the conversation there.

"Mr. Schmidt. The man I am taking you to today. He has a way of changing the people who come into his circle," he said at last. "Sometimes, as in my case, for the better. But not always so."

"Oh, I see. Well, I'm not coming into Eric's circle. I'm just closing an arrangement my husband made with him."

Natalie held up her left hand, and fluttered her fingers so Bull could notice the sparkle of her wedding ring - as if that would explain everything. It seemed to, as Bull simply nodded.

"The car is out front, miss."

Natalie followed Bull out of the apartment, and down the front walkway. She allowed him to get several paces ahead so she could look at all of him. He was tall and athletic looking. She could see him doing well as a gym teacher, even though she couldn't see what his body looked like beneath that suit. He was sharply dressed and polite, and Natalie found herself immediately comfortable in his company. She felt like she had her own personal bodyguard.

Bull opened the rear passenger door of the limo, and took Natalie's hand, supporting her as she settled inside. Natalie slid over to the middle area of the seat, but then noticed she couldn't see forward. A partition behind the driver's seat blocked her view. Natalie guessed that one of the buttons in front of her would lower the dividing panel. She pressed one, and sure enough, the panel that blocked her view of the front seat started to slide down with a motorized hum. Bull was getting into the driver's seat, and made brief eye contact with her through the rear view mirror.

"I like to see where I'm being driven," she laughed nervously, by way of explanation. Bull nodded, and started the engine.

Natalie opened her purse, and took out her compact to check her make-up. She hadn't yet applied lipstick this morning. She fiddled in her purse for her favorite selection. It was called Allure. It was a little darker than her classic red, which gave her lips a chic, not too vampy vibe.

Natalie caught Bull's eyes looking at her in the rear view mirror a couple times. Maybe he wasn't gay afterall. She licked her licks and smiled. Bull shook his head and returned to his driving. Natalie giggled softly.

Applying makeup and teasing the driver meant Natalie had lost track of where they had driven. They were out of the central city, and Bull had just buzzed open a private driveway gate. She looked out the side windows as the car drove down a very long entryway. A well-manicured lawn was on either side, beyond the yard were thick woods. Eric liked his privacy.

The car pulled up before an immense mansion, and stopped. Bull got out of the car, and Natalie craned her neck around to get her bearings ... but it was impossible. She had no idea where she was. Bull opened her door, and again offered his hand to help her out.

"I'll be taking the car around back," Bull told her. He pointed to the front door. "Just ring the doorbell, Mr. Schmidt is expecting you."

As she walked up the flagstone path, Natalie stared at the house in wide-eyed wonder. She guessed there were easily 30 or more rooms in this house. It was more wealth than she could possibly imagine.

"This is Bruce Wayne rich," she joked to herself, pressing the button at the front door. The door opened, but there was no Alfred to greet her. Indeed, there was no one at all. Natalie watched as both doors closed on their own behind her.

It would be spooky if the mansion was dark or foreboding, but it wasn't. The entryway was massive and brightly lit, sun pouring in through floor to ceiling windows at the far end of the hall. The ceiling was 30' above her, and large, curved staircases went up either side to an upper balcony area. Ahead, hallways branched left and right, with more rooms on this level, as well.