I was pretty sure that my stepfather, Frank, was screwing me.
My mother had got us into a start-up venture together some years ago, before her death; a local Internet service provider for our town.
Frank put up most of the starting capital, and did the billing and bookkeeping while I housed the machinery at my home and did the technical work.
All of the income was reinvested in the business, and I had a "real" job to pay my bills. We had to borrow heavily at one stage to keep up with the demand for more capacity; but by the time of the story that I will now tell, there should have been profits. Lots of profits.
I did the engineering. I knew how many subscribers we had, and I knew what was being spent on equipment, more or less. But Frank wasn't giving me access to the books. As it had started as a family venture, and no one had really expected it to go anywhere serious, I didn't have a proper contract. Frank is a lawyer and accountant, and I was starting to feel,... screwed.
I wouldn't have felt so strongly about it, if it weren't for Naomi.
Naomi... the thought of her still thrilled me after five years of marriage.
We met in Greece; we were both on our vacations. It was Naomi's first time away from Japan, and mine from The States.
She was... she still is, very beautiful. Thick black hair to her hips, five foot three, slim. I don't know how I managed to win her, but she was the best thing to ever happen to me. The sex was electrical, amazing. She loved my "Big American cock", and it loved her right back!
How can I possibly describe the incredible sensation of this petite exotic beauty staring into my eyes with lust and then even love, as she cried with the power of the orgasm I provided her?
And there was more than that; I loved her spirit, her bright smile, her sharp wit.
I didn't have a lot of experience, but I knew that Naomi was the only woman for me, in bed and out. I had to have her; I asked her to marry me within two weeks of meeting her. I had no choice, I might never see her again otherwise.
Naomi was like a bright light, illuminating my previously dark life. Before I knew the euphoria of loving her, I hadn't even been aware of my depression.
She came from a rich patriarchal family, and her father kept good his promise to cut her off were she to marry me, a foreign wage earner. I wanted to be well off, more for her than for myself.
But Naomi wasn't concerned with her father's rejection; "He has never approved of me. He probably never will." She told me.
Naomi is a very un-Japanese Japanese person. I suppose it's part of her rejection of her father, to reject everything else about her country as well. While I would have liked to get a little bit into the Japanese spirit of things, Naomi wanted to be All-American.
She never liked Frank much, but when I told her of my suspicions, her lovely face contorted with hate.
"We should kill the motherfucker." was her comment when it was clear that there was no legal way to get what was ours. I don't like Frank much either, but I was still surprised at her vehemence.
"I don't think that would be useful, my love. What we need is the records, and the bank statements."
"Can't you just hack into his computer and get them out?"
"He's not that stupid; he knows my abilities. He keeps a separate machine for those things, with no outside line connected."
"There must be a way."
"I have to get to his machine. If I can connect to it, I can download everything."
Her narrow eyes narrowed. "How long would you need?"
"Well, I pretty much know where everything is in his place. I guess a half hour would be plenty of time."
"We could break in."
"There's a pretty good security system up there, with an automatic dialling system. I'd prefer not to muck with it."
"We could get in on some excuse... a pretext... then you could get at his computer."
"He'd never let me in there alone for long knowingly. If he knew I was even in the house, he'd keep track of what I was up to."
"Then we have to get you in without him knowing."
We kicked some ideas around for an hour or two, and here's what we came up with; Naomi would make an appointment to see Frank, to overtly ask him to release some company funds to us for our domestic needs. She would distract him, let me in, and I would copy Frank's hard drive and look through his papers while she kept him talking. It wasn't much of a plan, I admit, but it was flexible enough that it might work.
"How will I keep him talking for a half hour? He could send me home within minutes."
"Don't get to the point to fast... flirt a little. Then he'll be in no hurry to get rid of you."
"Flirt? I hate him! I can't I flirt with him."
One of the things I've always loved about Naomi is how she sees through people. Nearly everyone thinks that Frank is a wonderful, charming type of guy. I grew up around him, so of course I know him better.
"He's an American! He'll be no match for you and your inscrutable oriental ways." I said.
Naomi laughed; "I've been here too long already, I don't know if I remember how to be inscrutable!"
"Just work on it for a few days, and try to imagine that you think Frank is an O.K. guy... think of this as a role you should act. Try to think of him as attractive... then just keep smiling, laugh at his jokes. Get yourself dressed up for it, he won't be able to resist spending a little extra time with you."
"But I don't want to spend time with him, Dave. He makes my skin crawl." My love complained.
"I'm not too wild about this, either, but it's the only way, Naomi. Otherwise, we may never know how much Frank is taking us for."
Naomi looked amazing as usual as she rang Frank's bell. She wore a simple white cotton summer dress that showed her figure nicely. High heels gave her that bit of extra height, and her dazzling jet-black hair was down, gleaming in the fading evening sunlight. She wore just enough makeup to accentuate the striking lines of her face.
"Hi, Naomi" I heard Frank say as he opened the door. "I have to say, you're looking absolutely stunning. Come on in, would you like some coffee?" the door closed behind them.
I crept around to the balcony and waited nervously. After about five long minutes, Naomi opened the doors and stepped outside. Frank followed, holding a tray with the coffee.
"Let's sit inside," said Naomi, "it's a little chilly out here." She followed Frank back in, leaving the doors open for me.
I knew my way well; Frank had set up his office in my old bedroom. The sticky part would be getting to the office door through the living room, where Frank and Naomi would be seated. I'd been up to the old house from time to time, and had worked out how it would have to be done.
I went from the balcony into the little anteroom that opened into the living room. Naomi had sat on the end of the couch so as to block Frank's view of the connecting door.
"Frank, do you have some milk?" Naomi asked him sweetly, right on time.
"Sure, I'll get it."
I slipped into the room, past Naomi, and through the open office door, my heart pounding like firecrackers while he was in the kitchen.
"So, Naomi, What did you want to talk to me about?" I heard Frank asking, as he returned with the milk.
"It's Dave, Frank. He's so stressed all the time. The Internet business is taking so much of his time, and he still has to work a full time job to keep things going."
"Has he been neglecting you?"
"Well, he hardly has any time left for me after his two jobs."
"Life can be hard for a young couple, starting out." Said Frank.
"If we could get a little more money from the Internet business, Dave wouldn't have to work as much." Said Naomi, hopefully.
It was 1998, and the external hard drive was not yet invented as far as I know. But that was just what I'd made.
I put the device I'd built on the desk, and turned Frank's computer around to connect the cable.
"And what do you think I can do about it?" asked Frank, as my elbow pushed a stapler off of the desk. It landed with a small "thud". I saw Frank whip his head around towards the open doorway. There was still sunlight streaming through the living room windows, but the shade was drawn in the office, so he couldn't easily see in.
My Naomi was quick. Most people would have frozen, but not Naomi. She threw her arms around his neck, pulling her slim young body to him. "Oh Frank! Say that you'll help me!"
I crouched in silence, peeking from behind his desk, as he wrapped his heavy old arms around my woman's narrow hips, pulling her closer, the noise he'd heard from his office suddenly becoming unimportant as he gazed into her wonderful dark eyes.
All three of us were frozen for a moment, as if we each knew that something was about to happen; and something did.
Frank kissed Naomi's perfect mouth, his old face so in contrast with her smooth complexion. She ran her little fingers through his sparse grey hair.
"Why Naomi... I had no idea..." Said Frank.
Naomi kissed him again, and this time her mouth was open for his old tongue.