The Society

by Michelle Brown

  Josephine is calling. That’s her special ringtone.

  “I was just thinking about you, my sexy little bird.”

  She doesn’t speak, instead, I only hear weeping coming from the other end of the phone.

  “Jo? What’s the matter?”

  “Carver…” she can barely get my name out between sobs. “I-- I have to leave town.”

  “What? That’s ridiculous. Are you still at home? I’ll come to get you and we can talk.”

  “NO!” she screams, terrifying me.

  “What’s going on, Josephine? Is it Nathaniel? Did he hurt you?”

  “Seb--Sebastian saw us. He took a picture and threatened to tell Nathaniel unless I left right away.”

  “I’m coming over to get you! Do not leave! I can protect you from him. We can finally be together!”

  “I’m already on the road, my love. I d--don’t know what my future will hold, or if I’ll ever see you again, but I wa--wanted you to know that I’ll never stop loving you.”

  Her last word was more of a choked-up sob.

  “Jo, I’m begging you to please come to me. Or at least tell me where you’re headed? I can meet you there.”

  “Good-bye, my sweet Carver.”

  “Josephine!” I scream, but she’s already hung up the phone.

  The silence she left behind is as loud as a rocketship. My heart drops into my feet and I run to the entryway of my apartment, grab my keys and wallet and get to the garage as quickly as possible.

  I jump into my car and race over to her house faster than I’ve ever gone before. I don’t live very far from her and if she’s just left then I might still be able to track her down.

  When I get to her development, I ask the guard at the gate if he’s seen her leave in the past few minutes.

  “Mr. Brooks, you know that I am not at liberty to mention the comings and goings of the residents.”

  “She’s in danger! You know how Nathaniel Johnson can be. He’s threatened her life and I am trying to save her.”

  It wasn’t exactly a lie, and it was good enough for the guard to answer me. Nathaniel’s reputation precedes him. There isn’t one person in Silvercrest who doesn’t know what a vicious and evil man he is.

  “You just missed her. She took a left out of the neighborhood, sir.”

  “Thank you!”

  I do a u-turn around the gate shack and speed off in the direction that she went, determined to find her and bring her home with me, where she belongs.

  The highway is the other way, so she must be making another stop somewhere before she goes. Where? What is in this direction?

  The bank.

  Of course, she wouldn’t leave without any money.

  I downshift my car, propelling it faster and arrive at First National Bank and Trust in a matter of minutes.

  There! I see her car parked out front. I pull in behind it just in time to see the brake lights illuminate. Leaving my car running, I jump out and sprint to the driver’s side window of her car.

  “Josephine!”

  I shout her name through the glass window, scaring the shit out of the guy in the driver’s seat.

  It’s not her. This isn’t her car.

  “I’m--I’m sorry,” I say to the man who looks at me like I’m a psycho. “I thought you were someone else.”

  I stand back, trying to catch my breath as I watch the powder blue BMW drive away.

  After what seems like ages, I walk back to my car and pick up my cell phone. I dial Josephine’s number, ready to demand that she tell me where she is.

  I click send and pain cripples my heart as I feel it shatter into a thousand pieces.

  “The number you are trying to reach has been disconnected.”

  No.

  I dial again.

  “The number you are trying to reach has been disconnected.”

  The phone drops out of my hand and I sit in my car in silence for several hours. No matter what I try to do, I can’t get my body to move. It isn’t until much later, when the bank is getting ready to close, that the security guard tells me I have to leave or else he will call the cops.

  Fucking call them, what do I care anymore?

  Somehow, I managed to break through my paralysis and drive home.

  All the years that have passed since then, and I still can’t get her out of my head.

  She was the love of my life, but when you’re in The Society, that oftentimes doesn’t matter. If it's not good for business, it’s not good for anyone. That's all that Nathaniel and Josephine’s marriage was.

  A business deal.

  Chapter Two

  When I get back to my apartment, I head straight for the bathroom. I have to get the smell of that girl off of me. Once the soap washes away, I let the hot water of the shower beat on my body. I contemplate jerking off, but my spank bank is seriously lacking inspiration at the moment. I need some fucking relief soon, and I decide that porn is the only way to go.

  Turning off the water, I wrap a towel around my body and pad across the floor into my closet. I throw on a pair of sweatpants and hang the towel to dry. When I enter my study, I pour myself a drink and take a seat behind my desk.

  Pulling up my favorite porn site, I scroll through the latest and greatest videos on the home page. Nothing pops out at me. I type in “college girls” and have a look, but still nothing. After thirty more minutes of searching, I’m about to give up when I see a video about a girl who surprises her “Sugar Daddy” at work. She's young and gorgeous. The way the dude’s office is set up, it could easily be mine.

  Yeah, this could work. Beggars can’t be choosers anyway.

  I hit play on the video and take a sip of my scotch. As it loads, I pull several tissues from the holder on my desk before inching my sweats down my legs a bit. Finally, I fist my cock, the feeling causing an immediate reaction in me.

  I’m so fucking hard up, it’s embarrassing.

  I stroke my dick a few times as the video loads. Once it starts, I hear a knock on his office door. He opens it and is surprised to see the girl standing on the other side.

  “I was headed out to do some shopping, but I wanted to stop by and give you a present first,” the words escaped her perfectly pouty lips.

  “You did, huh? What did you come here to give Daddy?”

  He grasps her tits in his hands as he speaks, making her eyes roll back in her head overdramatically.

  This is why I can’t watch porn very often. I can’t get over the theatrics of it.

  “Well, I know you’ve been under a lot of stress, so I wanted to do something for you to help you relieve some… pressure.”

  Again with the cringe-worthy dialogue. It has the opposite effect on me.

  Tonight just may not be my night.

  I fast forward a little bit to try and get past the beginning and into the action. When I see the guy sit in his chair and watch the girl dance her way out of the dress that she has on, I let it play. As she continues swaying side-to-side for the guy, his phone rings. He looks at who is calling and tells her that this is the important call he’s been waiting for and for her to keep quiet.

  He answers the phone and the girl crawls underneath his desk. She pulls out his cock and starts sucking on it like a popsicle in the middle of a hot, sticky summer.

  The camera zooms in on her lips wrapped around the guy’s cock. Luckily, his voice fades out so the sole focus is on the blowjob. I rub my dick at the same speed as she’s bobbing her head.

  There is something about the sound of a girl giving head that drives me crazy. When I hear the slurping noise she’s making, it sends me speeding toward the edge after only a few minutes of jerking off. My breathing increases as I can feel myself inching closer to the release that I so desperately need.

  The final push I need comes when she pulls those sweet lips off of his cock and looks up at him through her full, fake lashes as if he is the air she needs to breathe.

  I take a deep breath just before blowi
ng my load into the wad of tissues I collected.

  Fuck.

  Did I just come because I watched a hot chick give an exquisite blowjob? Or was it because I need someone to look at me the way she looked at him, more than I need my next breath?

  I’m going with the former. It might be the only thing that keeps me from drinking myself stupid tonight.

  I head back to the bathroom and get myself cleaned up. When I catch my reflection in the mirror, I linger on my gaze. My gray eyes look foreign to me. I don’t know who I am any longer. Something is definitely missing in my life and I’m not too sure what to do about it.

  Turning away from myself, I shut the light off and exit the bathroom. When I get back to my study, I pour myself another hefty amount of scotch.

  Maybe I will drink myself silly tonight.

  I sit in my chair and the phrase “Sugar Daddy” from the video catches my eye just before the window closes. The words bounce around in my head for a few minutes before curiosity has me opening up a new window.

  Hmm…

  I type “Sugar Daddy” into the search engine and all sorts of results come back.

  From sites asking if I’m looking for singles in my area to articles written by some of the largest magazines in the world, there are thousands upon thousands of results to sift through.

  My eyes scan the page trying to find the good links amidst all of the crap. They catch on one result in particular for a site called SugarCoatedConnections.com. I click on it, opening it up in a new window.

  I scroll past the banal looking couple on the home screen and read more about the company. They promise four Sugar Babies per every one Sugar Daddy on the site. It also lists the major publications that the site has been featured in, such as Forbes and Wall Street Journal.

  Hmm, I never would have thought… Okay, I’ll bite.

  I scroll back to the top of the page and set up my free account. I upload a picture and answer all of their silly questions. When I’m finished, I begin scrolling through the options of Sugar Babies.

  A whole lot of nothing.

  I get to page five and hit the end of the list of available Babies.

  What the fuck? That’s it?

  My eyes scan the page for something that I may have missed and they find a link at the top telling me to upgrade my account. I click on it and a new page opens, letting me know that for $1000 per year I can get full access to their site. Rolling my eyes, I put in my credit card information.

  Once I am finished upgrading, I see hundreds of pages of Sugar Babies appear before my eyes. Some of these girls are ridiculous and over the top with mountains of demands that I could easily meet, but would never want to. If I wanted to be with someone like that, then I would only need to look so far as the inner circle of Silvercrest.

  Been there, done that. Thankfully, I didn’t get the clap that most of them were spreading around. I’m good.

  On the other end of things, there are girls who say that they will be whoever I want them to be. They seem perfect, but I like a girl with a fire inside of her. Not some fucking wet noodle who will easily bend to my every whim. I enjoy watching a girl reluctantly fold, knowing she’s lost the battle between her will and the pleasure she seeks.

  I spend the greater part of the evening searching and reaching out to the few Sugar Babies who I deemed worthy of my time, before crawling into bed around dusk.

  Chapter Three

  “Good morning, Karen,” I say to my assistant as I pass her desk on the way into my office.

  “Morning, Carv. Thanks, handsome,” she responds, accepting the coffee that I purchased for her on the way into work this morning.

  Karen is one of the best people I’ve ever had the pleasure of meeting. That’s the only reason she gets away with giving me a nickname. She’s a sweet lady with a heart of gold. But don’t get it twisted, Karen is also a feisty, stronghearted, warrior. The poor woman has been to hell and back with her health over the past few years. She’s tough as nails though and has fought her way through it each time. Doesn’t surprise me, there’s no amount of money that I wouldn’t bet on her in a fight. Whether it be physical, mental, or otherwise, she will always come out on top.

  I’ve tried enticing her to retire many times. Even going so far as to offer to continue paying her full salary once she’s gone. But she wouldn’t have any of that. She told me that there is no reason for her not to be working. When the time came for her to leave, she would leave. I couldn’t argue with her, no matter how much I wanted to. But if being here makes her happy, I wouldn’t dream of taking that away.

  I place my coffee and my computer bag on my desk as I sit in the chair behind it. Getting myself set up for the day, I take my laptop out of my bag and place it into the dock on my desk. As it boots up, my mind wanders to the Sugar Babies that I messaged the other night.

  I found three of them that piqued my interest, who also live within an hour of Silvercrest. I might want someone outside of the city, but I don’t want to spend all of my time on the road.

  So far, two of them have responded. One wasn’t currently seeking and the other I have a date with this evening. The one that hasn’t responded is the one that I am most interested in, though.

  I input my password to log into my laptop and I open an internet browser once I’m in. Immediately, I pull up SugarCoatedConnections.com and open my inbox.

  I see the message that I sent to her, yet there is still no response.

  I click on her name and it takes me to her profile. I stare, fixated on the gorgeous face in her picture.

  There’s something about you, Ingrid Andrews from Red River.

  I can’t get past how I feel inside when I look into her eyes. Something about the way they bore into my soul, even without her standing in front of me.

  The blurb she wrote about herself drew me in nearly as much.

  I’m a twenty-three-year-old, college-educated woman with a passion for people, who wants to change the world. I am looking for a companion who can hold meaningful conversation and wants more than just a trophy on his arm. Serious inquiries only.

  But, if her lack of response is any indication of her personality, then a relationship between us will never work.

  I go back to my inbox and pull up the message I sent her the other night.

  Hello Ingrid -

  You are absolutely stunning and you seem to know what you want. I like that in a woman. Let me know when you’re available to meet.

  Carver

  I click reply and type a new message to her.

  Ingrid -

  How long does a man have to wait before you give them the time of day? I already have blue balls and we haven’t even met yet.

  Carver

  Just as I’m about to close out of the window and get on with my day, I see a message appear in my inbox.

  It’s from Ingrid.

  Opening it, a smile spreads across my face as I read her response.

  Carver -

  I had to make sure you were going to be worth my time. You kind of sounded like a pompous asshole in your initial message. You seem pretty eager to please, however. That’s definitely a quality that I look for in my Daddies. When and where would you like to meet?

  Ingrid

  Swiftly, I reply to her message.

  Ingrid,

  A pompous asshole, huh? And here I was trying to lay on the charm. Do you talk to all of your Daddies like that? Keep it up. I love a woman with a smart mouth. I’ll come to you. The 1929. Tomorrow. 9 PM.

  Carver

  Another immediate response.

  Carver -

  Only the ones who deserve it. See you then.

  Ingrid

  Tomorrow. Fuck, I’m excited. For the first time in a very long time.

  Ingrid seems like she’s on the same level as me. Forget the age difference, she knows what she wants and she isn’t afraid to go after it. Just like me. Usually, when someone knows what it is that they want at such a young age, it�
��s because they’ve been through enough shit to know what they don’t want. I’m curious to find out what it is.

  Later that day, as I drown in paperwork for my latest acquisition, I hear my desk phone beep.

  “Sorry to interrupt, sir, but I have Cornelius Baxter on the phone for you,” Karen says and I groan inwardly.

  Cornelius Baxter is the reason I’m sifting through the mountain of paperwork on my desk to begin with. He’s a complete imbecile who has no business trying to run a company. His father left it to him when he passed away two years ago, apparently unaware that his son is too incompetent to take care of it.

  Baxter Technologies is one of the most innovative companies in the country, but Cornelius Baxter, Sr. was very old school. He wanted sole ownership and didn’t believe in a board of trustees. No one was going to tell him how to run his business. Honestly, he didn’t need them either. He was smart, imaginative, and always took the necessary initiative. However, when Cornelius Jr. got a hold of it, he ran it into the ground in no time flat. That’s when he called me to bail him out.

  I consider asking Karen to take a message, but decide to take the call. I’ve been avoiding his calls for a few days now.

  “Put him through.”

  White noise comes through the speaker followed shortly by, “Carver? You there?”

  “Yes, Cornelius. What can I do for you?”

  “I’ve been trying to get ahold of you for a while, you’re not avoiding me are you?”

  “Of course not. I’ve just been buried under all of the severely unorganized paperwork you sent to my office the other day. I haven’t had very many opportunities to come up for air since then.”