by Mia Ford
That made me wonder why the hell he was wasting my time with this crap. I had no idea what this kid was pitching, but it wasn’t something I was the least bit interested in. Dennis knew it, so why was he wasting my time?
“I’m not really sure what Poindexter is pitching,” I said with a long sigh. “Hell, I’m not sure he knows what he’s talking about.”
Dennis shot me a glare, his signature “play nice” look that I was slowly getting tired of, especially when he set up useless meetings like these.
“I think Alan’s idea has tremendous potential,” Dennis said, waving a hand at the kid, who was fidgeting like he had to take a piss.
“Oh, man?” I said, lifting my hands up in apology. “I’m sorry, I thought this was a high school science fair. Were you pitching an idea for a real business? Alan?”
“Chance,” Dennis hissed.
The kid was fiddling with the pointer in his hand, his face bright red, visibly uncomfortable.
“Okay, I’m sorry, I’ll be serious,” I said, leaning in. “You’re asking me to invest millions of dollars into a software that directly competes with something my company already has on the market, based on research that directly contradicts what we know about customer satisfaction and future product development.”
“Erm, well, um…” the kid stuttered like a village idiot.
“Not only that, what you’re showing me here is a demo of what is only half-developed, based on a concept that is not fully thought out, with the promise that what I’ll be getting surpasses our own product tremendously.”
“What Alan is suggesting,” Dennis cut in, glaring at me, “is that what he’s offering can be developed into a newer version of our own software, with much better compatibility options, for a much lower cost. And is a lot more stable.”
“Alan, are you looking for a job in our research and development department?” I asked. “Because if that’s the case, then you’re in the wrong room, and I just wasted half an hour of my time I’ll never get back. If, however, you’re trying to sell us something that we can’t make ourselves, then you’ve gone about it all wrong, and I highly recommend you get your ass out of my conference room and back to high school before the bell rings.”
“Chance!” Dennis growled between gritted teeth. “Don’t be such an asshole.”
I got up, buttoned my jacket and gave Dennis my best smile. “Next time you set up a meeting with a monkey, make sure it can dance. At least then I’d be a little more entertained. And much less of an asshole.”
I stepped out of the conference room and made my way down the hall to my office. Behind me, I could hear Dennis apologizing to the kid, and I shook my head in disbelief. Of all the fucking demands I had to my schedule, this shouldn’t have been one of them.
Alice met me halfway down the hall and handed me a manila folder. “What the fuck is this?”
“The quarterly reports from last week,” she said. “I need your signature on all of them. Also, you’ve got three calls on waiting, two from board members, one from our client in Sweden.”
I frowned at her. “Jesus, Alice, couldn’t you just take a message? I don’t have the energy to deal with the fucking board right now.”
“I’ve taken messages,” she said defensively. “Twice in the past three days. You just never called them back.”
“Fine,” I replied.
“How did the meeting go?” she asked.
“Waste of time.”
“Did you make another one cry?”
“No, this one just shit himself.” I opened the door to my office, slumped down in my chair and threw the folder on my desk. I sighed, laid back and rubbed my eyes. I felt a heavy weight on my chest, as if someone were sitting on me. I undid my tie and took a few deep breaths. When I opened my eyes, Alice was still there.
“What?”
“Signatures,” she said, nodding at the folder on my desk.
I waved her away. “I’ll get it done, Alice. Please, just let me breathe for a few minutes.”
She looked at me for a beat, then clicked her tongue and walked out of my office just as Dennis brushed past her and stormed in.
“What the fuck was that, Chance?” he yelled.
I glanced past him and nodded at Alice to close the door. She rolled her eyes at me and left.
“I spent a week setting that up!”
“Really?” I asked, getting up and walking to the mini-bar. “A week? Damn, Dennis, you’re losing it.”
Dennis slammed his hand down on my desk. “I’m serious, Chance.”
“So am I,” I shot back, pouring two shots of bourbon and handing him one.
“It’s seven in the morning,” he said, looking into the glass like it held a turd.
I smiled and downed my bourbon. “Never too early to start drinking.”
Dennis glared at me for a moment, then pushed the drink back into my hand. I carried both drinks with me as I returned to my chair. He let out a frustrated growl, fell into the chair across from me and shook his head. After a few seconds, he finally scoffed and smiled.
“There he is,” I said, pushing his drink towards him.
“You’re a fucking asshole, you know that?”
“Yeah, but you love me for it,” I said. “Are you going to drink that or should I?”
He pushed it back to me. “Go ahead, kill yourself for all I care.”
“Oh, but you do care,” I chuckled, drinking only half the glass before my chest tightened and I had to set the drink aside.
Dennis undid his own tie, pulled it off and tossed it onto my desk. “You can’t keep doing this, Chance,” he said. “We can’t keep shooting down every good idea that comes walking through our doors. If we don’t get these guys, someone else will.”
“Calling that kid’s idea a good one is a bit of an overstatement,” I said, leaning back in my chair and fishing for my cigarettes. I lit one, took a log drag, and let the smoke out in rings. I waited for Dennis to give me shit about smoking—everybody gave me shit about smoking—but he was still harping on about the kid.
“R&D is coming up with nothing we can use,” Dennis said. “We either innovate or we die, you know how this business works.”
“Then fire the whole fucking R&D team,” I replied. “Ask Alan if his high school buddies want a job. Hire the whole fucking twelfth grade if it gets you off my ass.”
“Funny.”
“I’m serious,” I laughed. “The guy’s right for the job. He definitely can’t head a project, but we can find some desk for him in a corner where he doesn’t bother anyone. Maybe get him laid as well.”
Dennis clenched his jaw and shook his head. “We’ll leave the women to you,” he said. “They’re already throwing themselves at your feet, Austin’s Most Eligible Bachelor.”
“Guilty as charged.”
“Speaking of which, how are Barbie numbers one and two?”
“Left them at home,” I smiled, lifting my drink in toast.
“A little present for Pauline?” Dennis laughed.
“Yup.”
A knock at my door and Alice walked in. “Three calls, Chance. Three.”
Dennis blew out a long sigh and stood up, adjusting his tie as he went. “Don’t forget. My place tonight, don’t be late.”
“I never miss a party, man,” I said with a smile.
Dennis shook his head as he walked out, leaving me with a very angry assistant.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
“The phone, Chance!”
“Fine!” I replied. I put out my cigarette, picked up the phone, and began a long day of setting and putting out fires.
* * *
By the time I was done and stepped out of my office, most of my employees had already gone for the day, and the only lights visible were the ones coming from the conference room where I knew a team was working out a few bugs in one of our most recent software releases. Alice was at her desk, blonde hair tied back in a high ponytail, fingers tapping away a
t the keyboard like lightning.
There was a bittersweet feeling about the office when it was this empty. My mind went back to when Ridder Technology had been nothing more than a few cubicles in a run-down building just outside Austin, the only space I could afford at the time. We practically lived there, worked day and night, toiled like our lives depended on it and success was just out of reach.
That was six years ago. Now Ridder Technology had its own high-rise building in downtown Austin, and I had enough money to feed a small nation. It felt good being on top of the world, and looking out at my kingdom, I knew there was only more to come.
I dropped the manila folder on Alice’s desk, and she gave me a quick glance, her fingers never leaving the keyboard.
“Signed and ready,” I said.
“I needed those three hours ago,” she said.
“I’ve only got two hands,” I replied. “I’m heading out. Call Miles and have him wait for me downstairs.”
“Try not to stay up too late,” Alice called after me. “We have a long day tomorrow.”
“Sure thing, mom,” I called back and made my way towards the elevators.
Chapter 2: Chance
I took my time getting ready.
If there was one thing I had learned over the years, it was that people expected me to show up late. Being to any event on time made me look a little too desperate, like I was seeking approval or something. Of course, Dennis thought that was a load of crap, but I knew what I was talking about.
I took the Porsche Carrera, let the top down, and enjoyed the night air as I drove through the streets of Austin to Dennis’s building. I made sure I took the longer route, one with enough room to let me go a little wild, and arrived at the party two hours after it had started.
Dennis greeted me at the door, already tipsy, dragging me inside with an arm thrown over my shoulder. The party was loud, full of women dressed in as little as possible, and enough drinks to make the Mardi Gras seem lame. Within seconds, I was surrounded by chatting women, high profile celebrities, and business investors who just “had to get in on whatever I was cooking up in my oven”. Fucking parasites.
“Chance, darling!”
I turned just in time to catch Wendy O’Connor as she threw herself in my arms and planted a very wet and drunk kiss on my lips. The Austin Times journalist was one of my biggest fans. I had been interviewed by her at least three times in the past two years alone. She had a taste for the rich and famous, and shared my love for the spotlight. As well as my thirst for sex. I could fill a drawer with the panties she’d left behind.
“Big entrance, of course!” she shouted over the sound of the pounding music. Her breath reeked of vodka and cigarettes, and I knew that if I wasn’t careful, we’d probably end up in the bathroom upstairs bumping uglies until she puked all over the sink while I hammered her from behind. An intoxicated Wendy O’Connor was not a woman I wanted to spend the night with.
“Wendy, beautiful as always,” I said, holding her at arm’s length.
“When am I going to bring you in for another interview?” she asked, giggling as she fished for the straw of her drink with her tongue.
“Whenever you need me, I’ll be there,” I said, looking for a way out. “You know I can never say no to you.”
She rested a hand on my chest and leaned in, her lips close to my ear. “I’m not wearing any panties,” she whispered. “And I shaved my pussy just for you.”
“Okay, good to know,” I said, turning her around so that she was facing a group of men and women laughing a little too loudly. “How about you tell these guys how horny you are while I get a drink?”
I disappeared before she could object, and made my way to the bar where Dennis was chatting up a trio of beautiful blondes.
“And here’s the big man himself,” Dennis said, pulling me close. “So, Chance, the girls here were wondering how I got so lucky to be Chance Ridder’s best friend.”
I knew what he was doing, and played along right away. “Met him in college, the brains behind everything I am, ladies. Without Dennis here, there would never have been a Ridder Technology. He’s just modest about it all, lets me take all the credit.”
“And there you have it!” Dennis cried out, pulling me in for a tight hug.
I leaned in and whispered, “You owe me.”
“You fucked up our meeting today,” he mumbled back. “You owed me.”
“Enjoy your evening, ladies,” I said, gesturing to the bartender and asking for a bourbon.
Dennis went on blabbering, and I quickly took my drink and disappeared into the crowd.
* * *
The thing that attracted me the most about her was her breasts.
I didn’t care if I was being shallow or not. The fact was, I had been to too many parties just like this, and hooked up with enough women to have completely forgotten what it was like to ask for a first name. Besides, everyone knew my first name, and as long as it was screamed out in the middle of “oh my God” and “fuck me faster”, I didn’t care if the girl was called Brenda, Sheila or the Whore of Babylon.
Which was why when she smiled at me and made her way towards where I was standing, my bourbon in one hand and cigarette in the other, I already knew I wouldn’t be going home alone tonight.
Not that I really expected to.
“Chance Ridder, right?”
Ladies and gentlemen, we have a winner!
I nodded, flashing my best smile and taking a long sip from the glass, my eyes scanning her tight body wrapped in a red silk dress that left very little to the imagination. The music wasn’t very loud on this side of the penthouse, and the lights were dimmed down enough to make sure everyone minded their own business.
“I’m Haley,” she said, sticking out her hand. I took it, felt the soft skin, the slender fingers, the nails that I knew were going to be scratching down my back before the night ended. “I really like your home.”
“Thanks,” I replied, “but it’s not mine.”
“Oh?”
“See that guy over there?” I said, pointing to Dennis, who was surrounded by groupies of his own. “He owns the place.”
Haley looked over her shoulder, then back at me. “Don’t know him,” she said with a smile.
“But you know me,” I said.
She nodded and bit her lower lip.
“How about a drink?” I asked.
* * *
She was all over me before I could even get the door open.
Over drinks, she had not been shy about how forward she could be, her hand finding comfortable places on my arms, thighs, and when she wanted to leave the party, on my crotch.
On the drive to my place, her hand had quickly found its way into my pants, squeezing and pumping me as I tried my best to keep my attention on the road and not kill anyone in the process. The doorman had flashed me a knowing smile as we passed and I tossed him the keys to my Porsche, and the elevator ride up to my penthouse had been a hot mix of her tongue down my throat and my hand in her panties.
I kicked the door closed and helped her pull my blazer off, throwing it to a side and quickly wrapping her arms around my neck as she kissed me. To call her wild was an understatement, and I could tell I was in for a hell of a ride. My hands squeezed her ass hard and I pulled her against me, feeling her warmth through her dress and my pants. My hand slipped into her panties and my fingers were drenched in her wetness, her moans making her lips quiver against mine.
I kissed her neck, made my way down to her tits, and pushed her up against the wall, slipping my fingers inside her pussy. I finger fucked her hard and fast, making her shake against me, her nails digging into my shoulders and her teeth biting at my ear. She began to grind against me, moaning for me to move faster, harder, until she exploded against my hand and pulled me tight against her.
“My turn,” she whispered when she had regained some composure. She turned me around and pushed me hard against the wall, her slender fingers expertly wor
king my belt and zipper. She had my pants down in seconds, and her fingers gently wrapped around my cock, stroking it lovingly while she gazed up into my eyes. The smile on her face was a promise that she had a lot planned for us tonight.
She took me like a pro, sliding her soft lips over my cock and sucking me inside her mouth. Her tongue ran circles around me as her head moved, and I grabbed her by the back of her head, urging her on. She had me pushing against her, fucking her mouth, while all the time her eyes locked on mine. I reached down and undid the knot of her dress, the straps falling down smoothly and revealing twin mounds of heaven in a black lace bra. I was torn between enjoying the feeling of being inside her mouth, and wanting to bury my face between her breasts. Either way, I was more than happy to let her control the moment, because soon enough she’d be screaming my name when I took over.
Her nails raked my thighs, and she let my cock slip out of her mouth before standing up and stepping out of her dress completely. She looked fucking incredible, hot as hell, and a part of me didn’t even want to wait to get her completely naked. Just rip off the panties and take her right there in the hallway.