Miles couldn't remember his mother. She had died in a aeroplane hijacking when he was young. They were going to visit his Dad, who had been living overseas while his business interests demanded it.
His father had remarried, and more than once. A procession of step-mothers came and went, some dancing around him, some trying to befriend him, but mostly they singled him out as their main rival. Not for his father's affections, but for his money. Money grabbing sluts.
He was left to his own devices more often than not. But if 'step-mommy' was at home, she'd probably try to stake a claim. Some of them would find any excuse to punish him, stopping his allowance, grounding him, some even hit him.
It drove him crazy sometimes, especially when his Dad took their side. Asshole.
Luckily, his Uncle Max was there to take him in, whenever it got too much, when the bitches pushed him too far. Miles learned to hold his temper from him, something that had probably saved him a lot of trouble. He also learned a lot about real world values, like the value of a sense of humour.
Uncle Max was at home most of the time. He was a writer. His place was small, but well looked after. He scraped a living out by doing odd jobs, occasionally flipping burgers. He wasn't doing so well until the movie folks came calling.
The first book they made a movie of was "Trail of Thorns". It was a box office hit. Broke some crazy record, highest gross on a budget, something like that. On the back of its success, they made two more. Suddenly Uncle Max was in demand, his books were flying off the shelves, and the money was piling in. Pretty soon, he had made enough money for whole family, and then some.
He didn't need much money, though. He was happy to share. He'd already given Miles more dough than he could ever need. Miles could happily to live on the interest.
Uncle Max never really cared about getting rich, he was more interested in writing. His money set him free from working for cash, but it didn't mean he was going to join the country club. He was his own man.
That was how Miles wanted to be.
His Dad had other plans.
Miles was next in line to take over the company. It seemed as though he was obsessed with making Miles work. He had to learn how to run a business, how to make money, how to earn his lot. But why would Miles need to earn his lot when, thanks to Uncle Max, he already had his fucking lot!
Today his asshole father had him looking at shares or some crap.
"See if you can figure out what's going to go up in price over the next 28 days." Seriously, why would Miles need to know that? If he needed to, he'd just hire a guy with qualifications and shit. Dumb fuck.
It wasn't like his Dad was ever around to find out if he had done a decent job or whatever. His work came first.
Before Uncle Max had struck lucky, Miles' Dad had been the rich one. And he had worked hard to get where he was. His businesses made a lot of money, his clients paid premium rates for his work. His reputation preceeded him. He was committed, dedicated. Which meant absent, as far as Miles was concerned.
Pissed off, Miles went for a shower, hoping that the latest in the step-mom parade had at least had the decency to clean up after herself. Some of these bitches would leave used razors, sanitary towels and other shit lying around.
Fortunately, the bathroom was clean. It was like she hadn't been here. Thanks, Mom, he though, sarcastically. He stripped and stepped into the glass walled shower cubicle, turning it on so that the cold blast soaked him, cooling his anger. He let the warming water cascade over his thin frame.
Flo met Terry at a company dinner. He was confident, witty, and good looking. She thought that he was a real gentleman. They talked about the company, what was wrong with the way they operated. He made her feel like her thoughts counted, and as the night went on she felt more and more confident.
By the end of the night he had persuaded her that if she could talk like that to the company's CEO, he would listen. He assured her that the guy was approachable, saying that he 'would know'. She had a great time at the dinner, and he called a cab home for her.
She took his advice, and the next day she went to talk to the CEO. She was amazed to find that it was Terry, the man who had made her feel so good at the dinner, who was sitting at the CEO's desk!
He'd given her an on the spot promotion. She was his new head of domestic operations. She had joked that it sounded like a fancy way of saying wife. Two months later she was that too. Wife number eight, she had soon found out. She didn't mind, though. He was a good man.
Not long after their wedding, he had call to go overseas. Since she was head of domestic operations, she stayed in the country. She moved, at least temporarily, in to his house. Here, there was a conference room with video conferencing, so they could discuss business nightly.
She had never been in such a big old house! She wondered if it had any secret passages, any spy holes, any history! Her curiosity got the better of her, and she decided to explore. The threw on her Chinese silk dressing gown, a wedding gift from Terry's brother, and went for it.
For starters, a huge staircase stood at the front door, splitting into two directions. She had also found two studies joined together a library, and even a ballroom with balconies on the upper floor. There was so much to explore! She just kept on opening doors.
Miles stepped out of the shower, towel drying his dark hair. He looked at the steamed reflection of his wiry frame in the mirrors that covered one wall. He was pleased with what he saw.
Without warning, the bathroom door burst open. Miles spun around to the noise. A lady was walking into the bathroom where he stood. She hadn't noticed him yet. She was smallish, wrapped in a silk dressing gown. Her silhouette was disguised by its loose fit, but he could see that her plump breasts were pushing it out from her body. She looked good and he wondered if she was naked underneath.
Then she spotted him.
She raised a hand to her face, a frightened squeal escaping her full, red lips. Her eyes bulged when she saw that he was naked. She backed away, apologizing.
"Sorry, I, umm, sorry, umm you,"
"Don't sweat it, lady. Just let me get dressed, I'll be right out." He wasn't at all phased. She was either the new cleaner or the new step-mom. Either way, it didn't matter.
"Umm, ok, sorry" said Flo, eyes drifting to the huge thing dangling between the young man's legs. No way was her new husband that big. She turned and quickly strode out, before he noticed her staring.
The shock had quelled her lust for exploration, at least for now. She decided that she could explore more later and went to the conference room to call her new husband.
Dressed, Miles stepped out of the bathroom expecting to meet the woman who had strode in on him. She was nowhere to be seen.
Whatever, he thought. He headed to the kitchen for breakfast.
It wasn't long before he was sitting at the kitchen table, a bowl of cereal and his laptop in front of him. He was diligently looking at the share price for his Dads company. It had gone up due to certain overseas acquisitions. He wasn't all that interested, but he supposed if he was going to learn anything, best to start from what he already knew.
