Mid Life Love (28 page)

“Maybe he has
low self-esteem...” Ashley shrugged.

WHAT?
“No, I just
prefer to keep a low profile.”

“Weird...” Ashley
tapped her phone’s screen and looked at me. “So...you’re a billionaire? You’re
like
filthy rich
?”

I smiled. “You
could say that.”

“You didn’t tell
us he was
rich
, mom! You should’ve said that first! In that
case...Caroline and I are trying to get my mom to make a certain decision for us
and we need your
rich
opinion.”

Oh god...

“What is it?” I
noticed Claire glaring at her from across the table.

“We think we
each deserve to have our own car. We do everything right in school, we work
part-time at the airport, and we hardly get in any trouble. If you had a twin
brother, would you want to share
everything
? We
just
got our own
rooms a few years ago, and we think it’s way past time for a car. What do you
think?”

I wasn’t exactly
sure how to handle this. I didn’t have any experience with teenage angst.

“Um...” I cleared
my throat. “Are either of you trying to buy
your own
car?”

“Is he
serious
?”
“Did he really just say that?” “Ask him again. Maybe we heard that wrong...”

“We didn’t.”
Ashley rolled her eyes. “If you’ll excuse us—mother,
Jonathan
...We have
some work to finish...”

They both stood
up and narrowed their eyes at me before disappearing into another room.

What did I say?

“Thank you for
telling them that.” Claire walked over and brushed her lips against mine. “We
didn’t bore you too much tonight, did we?”

“No, not at all.
It was just different.”

“What do you
mean,
different
?”

“Having a family
dinner. I’ve never had that before.”

“Your foster
fam—”

“They always
made me eat alone in my room.” I shook my head at the ugly memories. “The
dinner table was for their
real children
.”

“Your biological
parents never cooked dinner when you were little? Not once?”

“Not that I
recall...Although there was this onetime when my mom promised to cook a Christmas
dinner...She hyped it up all week, saying that we were finally going to have a
real holiday meal together. She even made me and Hayley write out a list of
everything we wanted her to make. She and my dad took the lists with them to
the grocery store on Christmas Eve...”

“What happened?”

“They didn’t
come back until New Year’s.”

“Oh,” she
murmured. “I’m so sorry...”

“Jonathan?”
Ashley—
I think,
peeked around the corner. “Do you have a steady hand?”

“I think so.
Why?”

“Me and Caroline
need someone to trace the blueprint of our model Boeing 707 while we go over
the coding. My mom’s hands aren’t steady at all.”

I kissed Claire
on her cheek. “Okay.”

I followed
Ashley into a large room that was painted light blue with fluffy white clouds.
There were model planes everywhere—hanging from the ceiling, sitting in glass
cases, and standing on the wall.

“So, putting
model planes together is your hobby?” I sat down and began tracing a blueprint
in white chalk. “Is this what you two—”

“Our
hobby
?”
Caroline scoffed. “You are sitting with two of our nation’s future top pilots.
This is our
career
we’re talking about.”

“Yeah.” Ashley
held up a chart of code. “There aren’t that many women in the skies, and me and
my sister are going to change that.”

I looked over
their charts, noticing that some of the equations were similar to the ones I’d
used to build former programs; a lot of this stuff wasn’t taught until college.

Claire had told
me that they were practically geniuses when it came to books, but I’d never met
any teenagers who were this well-versed in Physics.

“Do you have
your own plane, Jonathan?” Ashley etched a diagonal line alongside my paper.

“I do.”

“What model?”
“What type of engine?” “What’s the passenger capacity?” “Is the nonstop range
over two thousand miles?”

“I have no
idea...”

“What!” Ashley
traced around my wing. “How is that possible? You bought
a plane
and you
didn’t ask any of these questions?”

“I guess I have
people to do that for me...” I shrugged. “If your mom says it’s okay, I’ll take
you on a trip one day. I have an excellent pilot. I’m sure he’d love to give
you a tour and answer all your questions.”

They both
screamed and squealed, and then they went silent all of sudden, focusing on the
task at hand.

“Dessert?”
Claire poked her head through the door. “I made crushed Oreo and Butterfinger
sundaes.”

“Nobody move!”
Ashley yelled. “I need him to hold the wing steady for one more minute. You can’t
bring the sundaes in here, mom?”

“No, that’s
okay...I don’t want to mess up the new carpet.” Claire flinched. “They’ll be in
the kitchen whenever you’re ready. Okay?”

The twins
murmured, “Okay” and kept their eyes glued to the charts. Once they finished
checking my wing-tracing and writing down the measurements, they dismissed me
with an “Okay mom’s boyfriend, you can go now. We’ll be out for dessert
eventually.”

I went back into
the kitchen but I didn’t see Claire. The sundaes she’d made were sitting on a
small tray, slowly melting onto the table, so I placed them in the freezer.

I circled around
the living room and her newly finished hallways, looking to see where she’d run
off to. I started to walk upstairs, but I heard the creaking of a rocking bench
coming from her porch.

“You okay,
Claire?” I stepped outside.

“Yeah...I forgot
tonight was going to be a starry night.” She pointed up at the twinkling sky.
“I wanted to look at it before I cleaned.”

I sat down and
pulled her close. “Thank you for dinner tonight. I loved it.”

“You’re welcome.
Maybe next time you can come over earlier and cook for all of us instead.”

“You’re
referring to
our future
now? You sure you’re okay?”

She laughed and
snuggled against my chest. “Could you please tell me what you want for your
birthday? It’s this weekend.”

“Nothing. I
never celebrate it.”

“Why not?”

“I just don’t.”
I needed to stay off that subject. Forever. “Is there a reason why your
daughters have
iPhones
and not
s
Phones?”

“Of course there
is.” She smirked. “It’s because everyone knows that iPhones are
better
.”

“Are they
really?”

“Yeah. iPhones
are
so
sleek and modern. They do everything the
s
Phone does and
more. As a matter of fact, the only reason I have a
s
Phone is because
the CEO
insists
on making every employee have one. If it wasn’t for
that, I would definitely have an iPhone. It even
sounds
better than
s
Phone.”

“Take it back
right now or I’ll fire you.”

“I even think
the
commercials
for the iPhones are better. I bet their marketing team
would be a joy to work for. They make me want to trade in my phone every time I
see them on TV.”

I pulled her
into my lap and narrowed my eyes at her. “Take. It. Back.”

“Make. Me.”

I laughed and
sealed my lips over hers. “
I will
.”

J
onathan

I hit the lights
in my office and froze: There were hundreds of bright silver streamers hanging
from the ceiling. Blue and white balloons covered every inch of the floor, and
there was glittery confetti all over my furniture. There was even a huge banner
strung across the windows that read, “Happy Birthday, Jonathan!”

“
Angela
!”

She rushed into
the room. “Yes, Mr. Statham?”

“Who did you let
into my office? I thought we thoroughly discussed the rules.
No one
is
allowed in my office when I’m not here.”

“She wouldn’t
take no for answer,” she whispered. “She was very firm...”

“Who is this
she
?”

“Miss Gracen...”

“Hmmm.” I held
back a laugh. “Okay. Thank you for telling me.”

“You’re not
going to write me up for this are you? She threatened me...”

“Have I ever
written you up?”

“No...” She
grinned. “Your eight o’ clock appointment just arrived. Do you want me to have
maintenance pick up all the balloons first?”

“No, they can
stay. Send the guys inside in five minutes.”

“Yes sir.”

I walked over to
my desk and spotted a small white cake in the shape of the letter J and a
silver envelope. I picked it up and sliced it open:

Dear Jonathan,

I know you said
that you don’t normally do anything for your birthday, but I want to celebrate
it with you anyway. I made us a nine o’ clock reservation at Sierra Mar, and I
look forward to seeing you tonight.

We can do
anything you want :-)

Yours,

Claire

I set the card
down and smiled. Whenever I’d told the other women I dated that I didn’t celebrate
my birthday, they simply said “Okay” and left it alone. There were no surprise
balloons and cake, no surprise dinner dates. There weren’t even simple cards.

Then again, I’d
always made sure I was out of the country to prevent that from happening.

“I’m sending
them in now, Mr. Statham.” Angela’s voice bounced off my walls.

A young man in a
black suit walked through my door, trying his hardest to step around all the
balloons. “Good morning, Mr. Statham.”

“Good morning,
Mr. Harris. Where’s Mr. Fletcher?”

“Right here,
sir.” Another young man walked in right behind him. “It’s a pleasure to see you
again. We’re happy you agreed to do this short follow up.”

“It’s an honor
to be featured.” I shook their hands and motioned for them to take a seat.

I walked around
my desk and sat down, leaning back as they pulled out their digital recorders.

“As you know,
Mr. Statham,” Mr. Harris said, “we’re both writers for
Tech-Next Magazine
.
We’re here to get a few personal quotes for our issue that will debut the same
day your company goes public. We just had a few that weren’t answered the last
time.”

“Ask away.”

“First question:
When you started this company, what was your original vision?”

“I’m honestly
not sure how to answer that. My former college professor—” I suddenly felt
familiar hands unbuttoning my pants beneath the desk.

“Mr. Statham?”

“I’m sorry.” I
smiled. “My former college professor didn’t make me outline a plan back then.
He only wanted me to develop better computers and come up with new software
ideas.”

“Are there any
ideas that were scrapped in the start-up years and are going to be developed in
the near future?”

I took a deep
breath as my pants were tugged down, as Claire placed soft kisses along the
inside of my thighs. “Um, no. Most of what I designed back then has already
been developed, but there are always newer ideas that come our way. And...” I
felt her kisses becoming more forceful, more passionate. “With technology
advancing as fast as it has over the past five years, we’re looking forward to
putting more products out for the public each year.”

He nodded and
looked at his paper. “When your first computer took off, breaking the record
for the fastest selling home computer, did you think you would stick to
computers forever?”

“No, I—” I
suppressed a groan. Claire was running her hands up and down my dick and I was
clenching every muscle in my body—trying my hardest to stay focused on this
interview and not pull her from under the desk. “I never wanted to stick to
computers. At the time, I did that because home computers were what everyone
seemed to want, but I was always looking ahead, wondering about the
possibilities of the days when computers would be outdated.”

“Are you shocked
at how well your company has done over the years?”

“
Yes
.” I
sucked in a breath as Claire’s tongue teased the tip of my dick, as she swirled
it around and around. “I’m
very shocked
...” I sighed as she started to
take me deeper and deeper into her mouth.

“Do you have any
words of inspiration for those who are trying to enter the software world? Any
advice for those who dream of taking your spot at the top of the technology
chain one day?”

God, I love this
woman...

“I would tell
them to work ten times harder than the hardest working person they know. And
that there’s a big difference between talent and persistence: It’s nice to have
both, but the latter always wins.”

“Thank you so
much, Mr. Statham! I think we got everything.” “Happy birthday by the way.”
They both reached over my desk and shook my hand.

“No,
thank you
.”
For cutting this interview short...

I stayed glued
to my seat and handed them my business card. “If you need anything else, feel
free to call me. Make sure my secretary gives both of you a
s
Phone blue
before you leave.”

Their eyes
widened and they practically screamed “Thank you” before rushing out of my
office.

I buzzed Angela.
“Please hold any other meetings until I say so.”

“Yes sir.”

I rolled my
chair back and pulled Claire from underneath the desk. I didn’t say anything; I
just laughed as she blushed bright red and smiled.

“I can’t believe
you did that...” I stood up and pulled her body close to mine. “That was very...
inappropriate
.”
I pressed my lips against hers and ran my fingers through her hair.

She let a moan
escape her mouth and I pulled her even closer, kissing her like it was the last
time we’d see each other.

“Cancel the rest
of your day,” I whispered.

“I can’t...”

“Why not?”

“I really need
the overtime...” She caught her breath. “Plus, it’s promo week. Everyone is
staying at least two hours over. That’s why our dinner reservation is so late.
I can try to come back up at six thirty or—”

“I don’t think
so.” I picked up my phone and called Angela. “Could you get me Harry in
Executive Affairs please? Thank you... Hello, Harry. How are you? I’m great,
thanks for asking. I’m calling because I need you to send out a mass memo from
my account. The key code signature is eight, one, zero, five, one, six. Make
sure you hit seven on the after screen so I can reset the code once the email
has been sent...Are you logged in and ready? Good. Type these exact words: Dear
Statham Industries employees, thank you for all your hard work over the years.
The company wouldn’t be where it is now without you. To show you how much I
mean that, today and Monday are surprise vacation days. You will still be paid
for your regular shift and you’ll be awarded an additional two hours of pay per
day. Thank you for all that you do. Sincerely, Jonathan Statham.” I hung up.

I didn’t give
Claire a chance to react. I pushed her against my desk and pulled her shirt
over her head.

“Why would you—”

“Shhh.” I
unbuttoned her pants. “I’ll do anything to spend more time with you.” I slid
her pants down to the floor and smiled at the new see-through black panties she
was wearing. “For my birthday?”

She nodded and I
laid her across the desk, determined to kiss every inch of her.

“
Mr. Statham
!”
Angela screamed over the intercom.

WHAT?!

“Yes, Angela?”

“Your lead trust
advisor is at my desk. He’s demanding to speak with you about that email you just
sent.”

I planted kisses
across Claire’s stomach, stifling her moans with my hands. “Tell him I’m busy.”

“He says he’ll
wait until you’re free...”

Why can’t people
just be fucking normal and accept a free off day?
“I’ll be out in
twenty minutes.”

“Um...Am I allowed
to go home sir?”

“Yes.” I
laughed. “See you Tuesday, Angela.” I pulled Claire up and tossed her over my
shoulder, laughing at her pitiful attempt to act like she wasn’t enjoying this.

I carried her
into my adjoining suite and hit the bathroom lights. “I guess we’ll just relax
until everyone leaves.” I set her down in front of the Jacuzzi and ran my hands
across her legs. “You’re amazing...Do you know that?”

“So are you...”
She kissed me and I turned on the water, pressing the “heated spa” setting.

I unclipped her
bra and let it fall to the floor. Then I reached around her neck to unclasp her
white and red flag charmed necklace, but she gasped and defensively held her
hand over it.

She stepped away
from me and took several deep breaths, as if she’d nearly drowned and come up
for air. She leaned back against the counter and squeezed her eyes shut.

I watched as she
tried to compose herself, realizing that I’d never seen her without those two
flag charms. Even when she wore a more elegant necklace, those charms were
always attached—like they were a part of her.

I tilted her
head up and looked into her eyes. “You don’t really have a fascination with red
and white flags do you?”

“No...”

I ran my fingers
across the necklace and tugged at the white charm. “They mean something to you
don’t they?”

She nodded.

“Are you going
to tell me what that something is?”

She didn’t say
anything, but I could see a hint of pain in her eyes, a small lump rising up
her throat. The look on her face was something I’d never seen from her; it was
a look of complete vulnerability.

“I’m sorry. I
won’t try to take it off again...I promise.” I brought her head close to mine.
“Is the heated spa setting good enough for you?”

She nodded and
smiled, and it looked like she’d completely forgotten about my attempt to take
off that necklace. She slid her panties down to the floor and I immediately
picked her up and placed her into the tub.

“I’ll be right
back.” I adjusted my pants and headed back to my office.

I walked over to
the door and let my lead advisor inside. “Are you coming to tell me Happy
Birthday, Milton? Someone already beat you to it.”

“
No
.” He
picked up one of the balloons and popped it. “Is that why you gave
every
employee the day off? Because it’s your
birthday
?”

“Would it be a
problem if I did?”

“Need I remind
you that every move we make between now and—”

“The day we go
public will be crucial. There’s no need to remind me. I’m aware.”

“Are you?
Because halting production for two workdays doesn’t sound like something a
well-informed CEO would do.”

“You think I’m
well-informed? It’s not too often that I get compliments from you.”

“I think you’re
delusional
,
and if you think that I’m going to sit around and let you drag this company
down to the ground because you want to eat cake and play with balloons all day,
then you are sadly mistaken.” He shook his head.

“Milton...”

“Your ass isn’t
the only ass on the line, Jonathan. There’s too much work at stake and a random
vacation isn’t going to get it all done. You need to send a follow up email
right now and get your employees back to their desks before they—”

“
Milton—
”
I cut him off. “Go home and enjoy the damn vacation days. You worry too
much. Everyone has been stressing out over the smallest things and worrying
about stuff that doesn’t even matter. We could all use a break. By the time
everyone gets back from vacation on Tuesday, the workplace will be much happier
and we’ll be re-focused on the IPO. Trust me.”

“Fine...” He
sighed and opened my door. “Enjoy your birthday.”

“Thank you. I will.”

I shut down my
computer and turned off all the lights. I locked the door that connected my
office to my living suite and went back into the bathroom.

Claire was busy
toying with the remote, turning up the volume on a slow instrumental song.

I quickly
undressed and slid into the warm tub, reaching for her. “Come here.”

“I prefer this
corner.”

I rolled my eyes
and moved over to her side, wrapping my arms around her. “I almost thought my
lead trust advisor was more difficult than you are. How wrong that was...”

“Whatever.” She
laughed. “Guess who I ran into yesterday?”

“Who?”

“Mr.
Henderson...He got
another
promotion. Apparently he’s going to be working
at the high affairs office at our other campus across town. Do you know
anything about that?”

Yes...
“No, but that’s
quite interesting.”

“Is it?”

“
It is
.”

She sighed.
“Admit it. Right now.”

“Admit what?”

“That you’re
ridiculously jealous—”

“You already
know that.”

“And that you
gave him a
second
promotion because you don’t want him anywhere near
me.”

I rolled my
eyes. “I gave him a second promotion because I looked through his file and saw
that he’d actually applied for the same senior position five years in a row and
had been turned down. I gave him a promotion because he has a stellar review
record and deserved to be recognized. His coming on to you
again
was
just the catalyst that made me promote him faster.”