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Chapter 88
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No Strings Attached Chapter 89
"Well, call and tell her now. Tell if she's interested, I'll call next Thursday." "I will, I will. I wasn't thinking." I thought later many times about my next statement, and how true it turned out to be. "Relax, Cindy. She's your friend. Of course you want to protect her, help her be happy. I understand. Gotta go." She was still talking when I hung up. I did call Thursday, and she chattered happily. We made a date. She wanted to go to a movie and then back to what she called 'our' club. I threw in dinner. We had a really great time. The movie sucked, one of those vapid tearjerkers some asshole was making a fortune writing, but the dinner and the dancing was great. By the time we left the bar she was firmly under my arm. I surprised her by not coming in when I dropped her off. She looked disappointed until I explained why. "I'd love to, honey, but Allan and I are working tomorrow. We're almost over the hump. This account and another we're courting will make us pretty secure, s
No Strings Attached Chapter 90
I can't deny it hurt. It did, a lot. I wrote it off as a life lesson and started to leave, before I remembered the remark about being out with the girls. I got the waitress, had her take them a round of drinks in exactly five minutes, giving her a twenty dollar tip. She had the radar of a good cocktail waitress or bartender. "There's not going to be any trouble, is there?" I assured her, saying I was leaving, they were friends of mine, and I felt foolish not noticing before. The drink was an apology because I had to leave and hadn't talked to them. She bought it, kind of. I waited a minute and dialed her number. The band was on break, and I heard it ring from where she was sitting. She looked at it, said something to her companion, and took it. "Hi, honey. Change your mind?" She sounded so sincere. "NO, I'm beat. It's bed for me. Say hi to the girls for me. Where are you? It sounds awfully quiet." The band's on break, and the girls had to go potty. I'm guarding the drinks." T
No Strings Attached Chapter 91
She kept up her patter as she showed her the house, three bedrooms, nice big lot, small patio. "Excuse me for just a moment while we confer, will you?" she said to the realtor, before grabbing me into the living room. "Look honey, a fireplace." She wasn't going to be distracted. She backed me against the mantle. "What the fuck is going on here?" "Really, Beck, isn't it obvious? We're house hunting. I don't want to start married life in an apartment. Besides, when we have kids we're gonna need the space." I don't think she heard much past married life, before she launched into my arms. I scraped the back of my head on the stone mantle, and didn't care at all. Then she cried. Then she giggled. Then she got serious. "Where's my ring?" "I haven't got it yet. I thought we'd pick it out together." The realtor came looking for us, and heard the last. She laughed. "What did I tell you, dear. Clueless. I swear, if we didn't guide them, the species would disappear. Are you up to lookin
No Strings Attached Chapter 92
His name was Johnny Walker, and he hated scotch. "I should have been named Jim or Jack, I'm a bourbon man through and through." He came highly recommended to me as one of the best in his business, so I hired him. It only took two weeks to get me everything I wanted. He met at a bar owned by one of his friends. There were rooms for private parties, and we used one of those. I didn't want to be seen going into his office, or him coming into mine. He agreed totally. I'd even bought a burner phone I kept locked in my desk to use to communicate with him. I know, it sounds paranoid. After all, if it was nothing, I didn't want Becky getting wind of the fact that I had her investigated. It would not lead to good things. "It's all here," he said, giving me a small briefcase, "pictures, video, interviews with friends and coworkers. Some of them didn't even know she was married. Apparently she doesn't wear her rings at work. They weren't particularly careful. I'm sorry." I handed him a chec
No Strings Attached Chapter 93
"Please, girls, I'm begging here. This is his place of business as well as mine, and he has the right to conduct it as he sees fit. If you push it, he'll have grounds for a restraining order, and that would be bad. He's so upset he told me he's going to sell his half of the business, if I don't buy it he'll go to someone else." "We can't afford that, Cindy. Not now. We've just gotten to the edge of being really successful. He's the idea man, the brains behind the business. I just sell whatever he comes up with. It would ruin us, Cindy. Think about the kids." I heard more mumbling, then silence. He called. "They've left. You can come out of the office now." "I don't think so. As long as I'm in here I'm in an asshole free zone. Go back to work, try to figure out what you're going to do. And ask Aida to come in, please." He was starting to beg again when I hung up. ... "It been an interesting few days. Care to hear about it?" she said, as she sat. Curiosity got the better of me,
No Strings Attached Chapter 94
The punch scared me. Mom was right, I did need to see someone.Kathy Grimes was one of the best in her field, according to what information I could gather. It was two weeks before she could see me.My age, roughly. Pretty, ultimately professional, with a warm manner and disarming style. Judging by the pictures on the wall, she was happily married with two preteen children."Nice looking kids," I said, looking at the pictures. She smiled."Thanks. Do you have any?""No," I sighed, "don't think it'll ever happen for me.""Oh, in this business, I've learned to never say never. You're fairly young, there's plenty of time. Sit. Chair of table?"Her office looked like a living room. In one corner was a table, plain wood, like you'd see in millions of kitchens in the country. The seats all had cushions for comfort."Table.""Good choice," she smiled, "I find it's more relaxing in the long run."She put a pitcher of water
No Strings Attached Chapter 95
I let them sweat before I gave them my proposal. "I'll forgo legal recourse for certain considerations. First, my wife is never to know of this meeting. Second, reprimand her, demote her, do whatever you want except fire her. I need her to have a job during the divorce. Do what you want with the asshole, but in my opinion, this doesn't seem like the first time to me. What if it had been a major donor or the wife or daughter of one? In my opinion, he's a disaster waiting to happen. There again, an opinion, do what you want. Agreed? Good. Of course, we can't write this up, but I've taped this conversation. Here." I pulled out the recorder and gave them the tape. I neglected to mention the other recorder still going. "Now, if I make trouble for you, you can play the tape. And one more thing. You have a volunteer, Cindy Waller. She helped my wife conduct her affair and covered for her. It might be good if she wasn't associated with you any longer." They looked like bobble heads, shaki
No Strings Attached Chapter 96
Kathy was right. She had one last hurrah before she gave up. I loved all of her family except her oldest brother. He was a cop, a shift commander. He was also arrogant and a bully. We tolerated each other, just. He'd taken to pulling me over regularly, just to mess with me and demand I forgive his sister. I talked to Paul, he had me log the next four stops, and the good commander found himself explaining his interest in me to the assistant chief. The stops halted, and it didn't make him like me more. It was two weeks before the final hearing. The sun was shining, spring was in the air, and I was feeling happy for the first time in a long while. The Yamaha was humming right along that Saturday morning when the lights came on behind me. I pulled over. I was getting my license out, not looking at him, when he tasered me, put me in cuffs and threw me in the back of his car. I had just come around when he stopped at a nearby park, hauled me out while I ranted, and handcuffed me to a be
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