The Mistress Of Mississauga Pt 05

"Morning, Lloyd," said Cammy, as he walked past the reception desk to the badge reader, "The boss is waiting for you in his office."

"Thanks for the warning," he chuckled, doing his best to appear as if his world hadn't been turned upside down. He scanned his ID and entered his PIN, then pressed through the secure door and took the lift to the second floor - sparing his knees the stairs.

"Come on in and shut the door behind you," said the boss, his typically immaculate black hair with the distinct white stripes, now out of phase, the knot in his ToneDef signature tie, oddly askew.

"Well, good morning, Lloyd," said Chad, smirking over his right shoulder, "All rested up from your island exploits?"

Then, taking advantage of the few seconds available while the boss fiddled with his phone, Chad brought his fist to his mouth and bulged his tongue in and out of his cheek - the old BJ trope. Imagine his surprise when Lloyd winked at him, and with the most intense expression, like he was giving notice that Chad was about to get fucked in the ass - and hard!

Chad shuddered with the thought.

And then the meeting commenced as scripted: the boss agitated and animated, regurgitating almost to the word what Agent Meaney said he would tell him.

"Why are we doing a security audit?" asked Chad, squinting in confusion, "We do that every year, complete with penetration testing. There's no way our servers were hacked. If you ask me, a compromise with someONE not someTHING is what happened."

"I told them that, but they insisted we do it again, and so we will," said the boss, "I'm not going to say no to NDHQ and the CIA. But yes, social engineering is a distinct possibility and of course, money - it's a powerful motivator."

The boss shook his finger in the air, then stopped suddenly and put his hands on his hips.

"Have you seen Monroe's new car? How does a new-hire with a young family afford a Porsche?"

"I believe it's pronounced PorSCHA!" said Chad, with a snicker.

"My understanding," said Lloyd, calmly, "is that his mother just passed away. That PorSCHA as you call it, Chad, is his inheritance."

"Good to know, good to know," said the boss, nodding, "Nonetheless, that's the kind of thing that raises a red flag, and we need to be on the lookout for that sort of suspicious behavior. We all know there are people out there who'll do anything for money."

"Or for pussy," interjected Chad, raising and lowering his eyebrows.

It provoked a cringe-worthy expression from the boss.

"Sorry, Chief," said Chad, with a blush, "I just mean that men who aren't getting what they need at home MIGHT be susceptible to female persuasion. Don't you agree, Lloyd?"

"Can we talk about the radio?" asked Lloyd, doing his best to ignore the needling. He'd prepared well for this meeting and was anxious to get out in front of it.

"I think Chad should take the lead on the revised design. I'm too busy with the Eagle, and if this whole Hawker thing blows up, we'll need that new radio at the ready."

"Good thinking, Lloyd!" said the boss, pointing at him.

"Now, wait a minute," said Chad, shaking his head, "I know just enough about the Hawker II to be dangerous. The layer 1/layer 2 aspect of it - that's in my wheelhouse, but-"

"And don't you worry, Chad," said the boss, "You'll be compensated for the extra hours you'll be putting in. It'll just be Comp Time though - not enough money in the budget right now to pay O.T."

Chad's face fell, and Lloyd took some quiet satisfaction in it.

"And has someone informed the folks in Freedonia there's going to be a delay?" asked Lloyd, commanding the conversation once again.

"Yes, I called them this morning," said the boss, "Told them we're making an important change and we'd get the details to them soon. Obviously, they can't know the whole story."

"Well, if I may make a suggestion," said Lloyd, walking to the whiteboard with a purpose. He picked up the erasable marker and sketched an elementary schematic of the Hawker II.

"Replace the NOSEE4 encryption algorithm with AES 256. It'll require a hardware upgrade on a few components." He circled the components in question. "But it'll be worth it."

"But we're known for NOSEE!" objected Chad, "It's our trademark!"

"Look, we all know the move is away from proprietary cryptography," said the increasingly confident Lloyd Danvers. He weaved the marker through his fingers then tossed it in the air and casually caught it in his other hand. "AES is the Cadillac of symmetric encryption; I'm proposing it for the Eagle. Might as well get the team working on it now and use it for the Hawker II. Everyone knows what AES is, so it'll be easy to sell Freedonia on the change. Plus it'll speed up the development of the Eagle."

"That's an EXCELLENT idea, Lloyd!" exclaimed the boss. "My God, Chad, can you imagine where we'd be if I hadn't talked this old fella out of retirement 4 years ago?"

"No, I can't," said Chad, unenthusiastically, his undercurrent of envy unnoticed by the boss, but most definitely detected by Lloyd, who knew exactly where they'd be if he'd retired 4 years ago, and it wouldn't be in this helluva mess.

"And speaking of retirement," said Lloyd, inciting a gasp from the boss, and causing Chad to shift violently in his seat and grip the armrests.

"This is not the time, Danvers," said the boss, sternly wagging his finger at him. "We need you to help us navigate this security shitastrophe and to get the Eagle up and running."

Lloyd shook his head.

"Sorry boss," he said, sincerely, "I'll finish the preliminary proposal on the Eagle - one month, two max, then you'll have to turn the project over to someone else; I recommend Kanji. As for the Hawker II and the Freedonia contract, Chad is the one for the job."

Lloyd smiled at the threat who he had just defanged, and registered the complicated mix of emotions manifested on his face.

"I don't like this," said the boss, "not one bit, but I accept it." He walked to his Number 1 and shook his hand. "You've been an invaluable asset to ToneDef for so long, Lloyd, and we'll never be able to repay you for what you've done, but rest assured, when this Hawker horror show is over, we'll celebrate your retirement properly."

Then he turned to his Number 2.

"Looks like you just got an unofficial promotion," he said, slapping Chad's back on his way to his desk.

Holy fuck, thought The Chadster, I just got what I wanted, and now I'm not so sure I want it!

"I don't... don't... know exactly what to... to say," he stammered, "except congratulations, Lloyd."

He rose unsteady and extended his hand to the man who was once his mentor, then his obstacle, and now his benefactor?

"All right then," said the boss, clapping his hands together, "This meeting is adjourned. And it goes without saying, the security breach revelation doesn't leave this room. As far as everyone else is concerned, we are simply upgrading the Hawker II to make it a more effective and salable product."

"Understood, Chief," said Chad, with a weak Canadian salute.

"Understood," said Lloyd Danvers, relishing his little win, but aware the battle colossus would be with his lover, and if he won that one, he would likely lose her forever.

********

"RUFF! RUFF! RUFF! RUFF! RUFF! RUFF!" came the hearty rhythmic welcome of the white Westie, as he pawed at Lloyd's legs.

"NO BARK!" yelled Kerry, appearing in the hall in Lloyd's lavender oxford button-down, her woolly cleft at the apex of her long legs winking at him as the shirt wafted open, "NO JUMP!"

"Are you talking to me or the dog?" quipped Lloyd, with a weary smile. He stooped to scratch Waygu's muzzle.

Kerry laughed and threw her arms around her long-time lover.

"He's been waiting at the door for an hour," she said, "He thinks you're HIS boyfriend."

"Well, I better disabuse him of that notion," said Lloyd, wrapping Kerry in his arms and invading her mouth with his hungry tongue. He closed his eyes and fell into it, forgetting what he was there to do, until she abruptly broke the kiss and reminded him.

"So, how did it go this week," she asked.

But Lloyd wasn't ready to start rolling the snowball that would crush and numb his desire. He reached around to cup Kerry's bottom barely covered by the shirt tail, and bent to vampire her long, lithe neck.

"Settle down, Sparky," she said, arching away, "We'll get to the good stuff, but first I want to hear about work. Did you put in your notice?"

Kerry turned and began to wiggle her way down the hall towards the kitchen. Lloyd lunged and caught her wrist, then wrangled her face-first against the wall.

"Later, you nut," she giggled, wagging her tail against his groin.

"I need you now, Kerry," he murmured urgently in her ear, lifting the shirt over her hips, and flexing into her bare backside. "Lay down with me. Please."

His sudden desperation moved her, and when she twisted to face him, she was met with what could only be described as a foreign expression. This was not the spirited fellow she'd become accustomed to greeting; this was a man whose spirit had been broken.

She placed her palm softly on his cheek.

"OK honey," she said, taking his hand.

It was conspicuously quiet as the two prepared for a departure from their usual light-hearted lovemaking - the eerie stillness broken only by the CLICK of his thumb against the single button below her breastbone, a SWISH as his hands swept her shoulders and the shirt cascaded down over the curvature in her spine, a SNAP as she liberated his leather belt, and the MOAN of metal teeth as she slowly lowered the zipper on his goose gray trousers.

She fell to her knees, peering up at him with concern, then surprise as a tear drop fell from his eye and splashed down into hers. When she moved her mouth to his groin, he shook his head no, lifted her to her feet, and guided her to her Wyoming king; a full 7-by-7-foot monster of a bed that occupied the majority of the room. Lloyd had once referred to it as an unnecessary obstacle, but he was a big guy, and Kerry, a very adventurous lover, and having utilized almost every square inch of it almost every Wednesday for the last 3 years, the mammoth mattress had begun to feel like home, and it was exactly where he needed to be.

And so he joined her, and joined with her, not just physically, but emotionally and spiritually - that elusive coupling that most couples rarely experience: love and respect, fueled by intense attraction, and heightened by a high-level eroticism that many are too timid to consider.

The minutes flew by far too fast for Lloyd, who would have been content to kiss the hours away, then fall asleep and dream they would continue forever, but long before he was ready for it to be over, Kerry signaled her readiness to wrap it up.

"It's time," she whispered, tickling his ear with the timbre of her sultry voice. It's what she always said when she wanted him under her, so she could command her climax more precisely. And her beauty, her abandon, as she soared over him like a bird of prey, her long hair lifting like wings, her talons buried deep into the flesh below his collarbone - it took Lloyd's breath away as it always did. This time, however, it wasn't just the wonder of her, but the wondering of when she would be taken from him.

And then the little death was upon her, and she convulsed with a rapturous wailing, so intense that it bust down the dam that had been holding Lloyd's flood of emotions at bay. He caught her in his arms as she collapsed onto his torso, and raced to roll her onto her back and fight his way inside of her.

"Kerry, Kerry, Kerry," he moaned, as he waltzed deliberately along the clutches of her muscular walls, dancing his way to delirium.

"Take me, my love," she purred, grasping her feet and pulling her athletic legs over her head until her toes were almost touching the headboard - her signature move. Besides being so incredibly provocative, the shift in position allowed Lloyd to brace himself against her hamstrings, locking her into position to meet his increasingly thunderous thrust. Huffing and puffing his way to the finish line, he looked down into the eyes of his mistress - the woman he loved, desperate for the connection he craved right before his release. She returned his tender expression, then coiled her legs and arms around him and felt his weight as he lowered.

He exploded into her - a full body and out-of-body crash - totaling his senses and rendering him paralyzed. But when the euphoria began to wane, it was replaced by the painful awareness that what he had experienced and what he knew to be true were in conflict. For although he would continue to make love to her, he was no longer just her lover; he was there to do a job, and despite any and all reservations, he had to do it.

********

Help me, Rhonda

Help help me, Rhonda.

Help me, Rhonda

Help help me, Rhonda.

Lloyd slowly opened his eyes as the music modulated into his ear-space, carrying Agent Meaney's weighty words:

"Your Kerry Coltrane is a liar and WORSE! She IS Rhonda Connemara!"

If this was a joke, it was a bad one.

Overcoming his inertia, Lloyd barrel-rolled three times to the precipice of the titanic mattress and tumbled off it. He groaned to his feet, redressed, and made his way to the kitchen, where Kerry was singing along with the Beach Boys and dancing the Pony.

Help me, Rhonda

Help help me, Rhonda.

"HELP. ME. RHON. DA. YEAH!" blared Kerry off-key, pointing at Lloyd with a wooden spoon. "Come on, Lloyd!" she said, spanking him with it, "That was your queue! Now let's try it again. When I sing, 'HELP. ME. RHON. DA. YEAH!' you come in with, 'Get her out of my heart.'"

But Lloyd, overwhelmed with the irony, was speechless, and understandably sing-less.

Kerry knitted her brow, put the spoon down, and took him by the arm.

"What's wrong, Lloyd?" she asked, leading him to a stool at the kitchen island, "You haven't been yourself since you got here."

She kissed his cheek.

"Is it work? Tell me what happened."

Lloyd took a deep breath and prepared to tell a lie - his first - to the woman he knew had been lying to him all along.

"Can I have a beer?" he asked, giving himself just one more minute before the masquerade.

"Of course," said Kerry, hop-skipping to the refrigerator. "I bought The Phoenix IV from Hell's Basement Brewery in Alberta; this year's gold medal IPA. I just know you're going to love it."

Lloyd smiled weakly at his artful deceptress, clinging to the belief that she went to these lengths to please him, not just out of duty, but out of real affection.

"OK," she said, placing the frothy brew in front of him, "Let's start with the obvious question; did you give your notice?"

"Not yet," he lied, peering down into his beer and twisting the base of the glass with his thumb and middle finger. "I was prepared to," he added, "but I didn't get the chance, because a serious issue has come to light."

Lloyd shrugged, then choked down the 12 ounces, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.

"What kind of serious issue?" asked Kerry, matter-of-fact, cracking open another can and passing it to him.

"Well, you know I can't go into details," he said, lazily filling his glass while he tried to remember Agent Meaney's exact instructions, "but suffice it to say, the device I'm the lead engineer on has a design flaw that makes it unworkable. It's embarrassing really."

Lloyd pinched his lips together and looked away, feigning disappointment in himself.

"And then the whole Chad thing on top of it," he added, shaking his head, "I just want to get out of there."

Lloyd sighed a sad sigh, then laid his arm on the island counter and rested his forehead on the back of his hand, waiting for Kerry's response, and wondering if his high school drama classes were about to pay off.

She walked to his side and rubbed his back.

"Oh honey," she said, with a sympathetic exhale. "You can't retire when your name is associated with a failure; if you do, you'll regret it."

Lloyd knew then, and without a doubt, that he and his lover had been involved in a high stakes game of chess - he just hadn't been aware of it. Now, with all his pawns long sacrificed, he had engaged, and the game was afoot.

"Stay and see the project through," she added, "I guarantee you'll feel better about yourself if you do."

Lloyd stood and put his hands on Kerry's slender hips.

"Do you ever get tired of being right?" he quipped, smiling.

"I'm not always right, Lloyd," she said, her eyes soft and wet, "and I don't always do the right thing." She put her arms around his neck and laid her head against his chest. "But I am right about you."

"I love you too, Kerry," he said, bending to brush her lips with his, the heaviness he had arrived with this afternoon lifting from him. After all, he had successfully completed the day's mission: to get the woman he loved into bed, and create a narrative that would keep her there. Fretting about the eventualities would not only be pointless, it would be stealing from the splendor that was their affair, now, in this moment, and for however long it would survive.

********