Lonely Junctions

By R.C. Lemos

LONELY JUNCTIONS is the story of Wesley Stevens, a man who gets ahead in the business world the only way he knows how...by using people. He is cunning, underhanded, ruthless, diabolical, and will do anything for the power he craves. No one is safe from him in his climb to get to the top. Not his co-workers. Not his friends. Not even his wife! Loyalty doesnt exist in his world. The feeling of triumph over another is his addiction. Fear his laughter. Beware his smile. Know his game. The rules are his. He wants you to play. His way. He needs the knowledge you have. And he will get it. At any cost!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Nov 2, 2000
• ISBN: 9781462831937

R.C. Lemos

R. C. Lemos was born, raised and lives today in the San Francisco Bay Area. He is a business owner as well as having been a freelance journalist for the past twenty years. A creative writing major from the University of California at Hayward, his first novel, Lonely Junctions, was published by Xlibris in 2000.

Book preview

ONE

Wesley Stevens opened his eyes. It had been almost fourteen years since his Grandfather Joe had died, yet he still felt the loss as deeply as if it had happened

yesterday.

He was twenty-eight now and living alone in a one bedroom apartment. When he had gone back to school after Joe’s funeral, he was not the same young and vibrant person who relished in the playing of practical jokes. At that time the loss that accompanied the death had still not crystallized in his mind.

Glen was the first who had tried to cheer him up by callously telling him he knew he was secretly happy Joe was dead. Now he did not have to share a bedroom with anyone. Wesley was stunned, mad by the affront, and after that day his friendship with Glen became more distant until it didn’t exist at all. He had tried to find a soothing soul in Eydie. Though she would patiently listen to him for a time, and let him feel her breasts, he soon became bored with her and saw her less and less until that relationship too had ceased.

Wesley had then walked through most of the rest of high school, his grades plummeted. He went from the top of the Dean’s list to the

bottom of the Dean’s other list. He achieved that all in the space of a four-month period.

That was the way his life went for almost a year, until one day when his PE coach had called him aside. Mr. Conrad talked to him about the current Viet Nam situation. How young men were losing their limbs and their lives and how he, if he did not get into a college and qualify for a student deferment, could be one of the casualties of war. So he studied hard, but for a different purpose this time, brought his grades back up and entered a four-year state college with Psychology as his chosen major.

The first and most of the second year were fine, his grades good, but toward the end of his third year of college he got into a bad automobile accident, which sidelined him and prevented him from taking several final exams.

He lost his student deferment and was called by the selective service system for his pre-induction physical. At the physical he was classified 4-F , unfit for military duty. It seemed that because of the accident he had to take a certain pill several times a day. As the military felt it was essential for him to have the medication, he was ruled unqualified as they could not guarantee his getting his medication, which he supposedly needed to survive, if he were to be fighting behind the lines.

Wesley had left the induction center extremely happy that the automobile accident had happened. But when he began his fourth year of college, the old Wesley snuck back with a vengeance. Once again his grades collapsed. If a class was too hard for him to ace, he simply dropped it from his schedule. He began to hang around with a lot of psychological wanna-bes. He drank a lot of alcohol and took a lot of drugs. Once, in a speech class, he was so high he gave his all in a loud and vibrant speech about a great leader. When he was given an F (the speech he gave so loudly was supposed to be a sad eulogy to a fallen warrior), he simply shrugged his shoulders and dropped out of that class, too. Near the end of his fourth year, he felt that going to school was an intrusion on his party life, so he stopped going entirely.

His parents were not at all happy when they found out he’d dropped out so close to completion of a four year degree. His mother accidentally discovered it four months later. She had asked him what date the graduation fell on and he couldn’t tell her.

She knew something was up and made it a point to find out what. Yet both his parents ignored his abuse of drugs and alcohol. Ignored it, that is until the night he overdosed in their home and they rushed him to the hospital to get his stomach pumped. He had ingested small quantities of several different types of pills which, when mixed together proved to be most lethal. He remembered being alone in his bedroom watching TV and his next memory was of being in the hospital. Several hours had passed. His parents would not tell him what had occurred during those black missing hours, but his mother finally admitted he had a dependency problem and needed help.

This caused a rift in his family not only between his mother and father but also with his sister. Wesley began getting psychiatric help. For more than a year and a half the only thing his mother required of Wesley was for him to go to his psychiatric session. His sister, who was fed up with the special treatment she felt Wesley had always gotten, had moved out of the house and into a commune in a sort of ‘him or me’ protest. Wesley did not work, nor did he go to school, but he did get better. One day, he felt he did not need to go to the doctor anymore, so he didn’t. Nor did he ever feel the need to go back.

After this Wesley tried vainly to get a job, however, his lack of work experience and of a college degree had kept him out of the running. He could not tell perspective employers about his near fatal catastrophes or of his triumph over his drug and alcohol dependencies. So Wesley just came across as a good for nothing loaf who sponged off his parents.

Then he had an idea. As his father owned his own business in telecommunications distribution, he claimed on his application to have worked for him since he was sixteen. Now that he was older and on his own, he wanted to try working on his own. The interviews went much better after that, yet another three months went by where he remained unemployed.

He tried to be what the job interviewers wanted, but something always happened to show through. With one company he had interviewed with two different people but when he was called back for a third interview with someone new he was upset. How dare anyone put him through this?

But despite Wesley’s indifference, or perhaps because of it, the next interview went very well. Simon Briggs, the interviewer, did not have a nice office and Wesley believed he was asking him stupid, nonsensical questions. So when Mr. Briggs asked Wesley what would he do with a red brick, he sarcastically stated that he would plant half of it in his backyard so his dog would have something he could lift his leg on and pee. Briggs laughed heartily at his answer then showed Wesley around the office. By being himself, he had gotten the job at Napa/Sonoma.

Wesley took an immediate liking to the firm for which he worked. He did his best to try and come off as a super straight, likable and intelligent individual, and it worked. Everybody liked Wesley, from lowly secretaries to the president of the company, whom he had only met once when he had flown down from Seattle to meet with some investors looking to buy the corporation. Timothy Simmons now called Wesley from Seattle almost daily for status reports and when Mr. Briggs abruptly announced his departure to go into business for himself, Wesley was made acting manager. Seeing what he had accomplished in the few years he was at Napa/Sonoma made Wes happy. He turned down Mr. Briggs offer leave Mason/Dixon, the name of the company now that it had been purchased, to come to work for him. Wesley knew his future was brighter there, instead of with Mr. Briggs upstart company. Brighter, that is, as long as he could prevent people from learning of the type of calculating person he had become.

So Wesley began living two separate lives. At home, he smoked weed, drank and hung around with the most unsavory characters. Yet at work he disguised himself as a model for the young, fast-learning executive on the rise. Wesley began to put his future in place. You needed to follow his rules if you wanted him for a friend. One girl who he like for a long time had come, uninvited, to see him at work. He had dated Alicia almost exclusively for about two years and, because of what one person in the company said to him about her style, he realized that his involvement with her would not be an asset to his future.

He so felt that job success was what he most wanted and deserved, that, while he was nice to her while she visited, he later emotionally abused her, knowing she would move away to another city to get away from him.

Wesley used this supposed jilting of him by her to his advantage and everyone at his job felt sorry for him. They were extremely impressed at how he could handle himself at work though his personal life had fallen apart. He’d overheard the sympathy for his plight coming from the lunchroom, and that was one of the first times that he knowingly smiled.

The phone rang. The ringing of his telephone brought him back to reality. The phone rang again. This time, he got up from the couch, walked over to the unit on the dining room table and picked up the receiver. Wes, he said, answering it.

Sounded like you said ‘Yes,’ the voice on the other end said.

Hey, Tod. What’s up, my man?

Thought you might wanna go to a drive-in with Tonnette and me tonight.

What’s playing? Wes asked.

Who the fuck cares? There was a short pause. Tonnette’s little sister Carolyn will be coming.

Can we switch at intermission?

Course, just like last time.

OK. I’ll meet you at your house around seven. Who’s drivin’?

I was hoping you would. Tonnette’s all hot and I wanna get started as soon as we pick them up

Yea, okay.

Oh, by the way, Tonnette showed me the hickey on her tit. Says you gave it to her. Looks like you almost bit right through. Got milk?

No, but, damn, she’s got some big titties!

I know, Tod continued. But why did you fuck her on a little kids slide in the park?

It was there. Wesley didn’t really like Tonnette all that much, but she did put out for him regularly. I wanted to go into the bushes and do it, but the ground was all wet. The slide was the next logical place. Besides, she wanted me to fuck her.

You know as well as I do that she’ll let almost anyone go down on her. What makes you so sure it was you, and not just your cock, she wanted?

What would you think if you went over to a girls house, the door was wide opened and she was sitting around with just her panties on singing ‘Leaving on A Jet Plane’ on her guitar?

That she wanted me to fuck her, Tod said.

So what was I supposed to do?

You know, sometimes I really like your style and at other times I think you’re the biggest prick in California. Hey, you score any good grass lately?

Yea. Briggs son sold me a lid of some primo stuff just yesterday. I took two drags last night and I was opening cans of food right and left.

Better watch it. The munchies will put the pounds on you and fat ain’t good for your image.

My image is perfect and you know it. Went to Briggs goodbye party a couple of weeks ago and when he saw how stoned I was, he musta realized I’d taken him for a ride all these years. Or maybe it was because I drove my car on the curb when I parked it. Anyway, I would have given a hundred bucks for a picture of his face when he looked at me. Bet he’s glad I didn’t go to work for his jiveass company.

I never met him but I can’t believe from all you’ve told me that he’ll make it on his own.

Hasn’t a chance. He was the laughing stock of Napa/Sonoma when he was there but he was my meal ticket. I’ve got a pretty good shot at his job, too. Not bad for someone who’s only been working there a few years.

Good deal.

Maybe, Wes said, but whatever happens you gotta know I can pick the people on whose coattails to ride. The prez of the company likes me a lot. Calls me Wes and I hear from him almost every day. He’s gay. Queer as a two dollar bill.

Positive?

Think so. Unmarried, in his forties and he looked a long time at several men’s butts when we went out to lunch a couple months back. Discreatly, of course. I’ll flirt with him, if it helps me get ahead, but I’ll be damned if I let him shove his cock up my ass. I do have some limits, you know.

"With all the broads around willing to spread ‘em why would anyone want to be a queen?

It’s getting to be the rage all over. It’s not just a San Francisco thing anymore.

I just don’t see how any man can get pleasure from sticking his pecker up anothe man’s ass.

Well, I think, Tod old boy, that you should attempt it, purely for investigative purposes, of course. You can write about your experiences. You always told me you wanted to be a writer.

Fuck you. Ain’t never written a goddamn thing. Tried but couldn’t

Went limp, huh?

I guess. Kind of like sex with Charlene Princie.

Damn, is she ugly or what? Wes stated.

Better watch out, Tonnette said Charlene wants to put your cock in her mouth so she can bite it off.

That’s gross! Anyway, Tonnette would have a much better chance of biting it than old Charlene. At least she gets it in her mouth.

And, from what I hear, most of the way down.

Ever give you head? Wes asked.

Once or twice

You gonna try it tonight with Carolyn there?

Why not? Shit, Tonnette’s so fucking grateful that you want her, she’ll let you do anything to her. Didn’t you know that?

Yea, Wes answered.

Besides, you’ll get yours later. Tonnette always comes through.

. Yea, believe it or not, you’re right. OK. Pick you up at seven

See ya.

They disconnected. Wes got a towel and went to take a shower. Tonnette and Wesley did have a relationship of sorts, but then she had relationships with many men and she didn’t mean anything to any of them. Of course she was a good lay, but not one who would fit in to Wesley’s career plans. Tonnette was about 5’1". She had moved with her mother and little sister from Alabama after her father had been killed in a motorcycle accident. Wesley did think she made the most of what she had … a firm ass and huge, melon sized breasts, which she showed off to their best advantage by wearing very tight and revealing clothes. She wore her brown hair straight and mid-way down her back and, since she realized she was not too attractive, always had on a very dark pair of sunglasses, which she took off only when she was making out, or when foreplay began. She even wore them at drive-in movies. Wesley didn’t know if it was because of her Southern ways or not, but she gave head better than anyone who had ever sucked his cock

If she felt you were ignoring her, she would put her right hand mid-way in the air, spread her fingers and say, to no one in particular, I have five fingers. That was the clue that you could unzip your pants and her five fingers would begin to work magic as they descended and began to play music with your organ. She became strange while doing this, for while she was performing, she didn’t want you to touch her, but only to look straight ahead wordlessly. Tonnette loved to feel her magic working as you grew in her hand and sweat began to show on your face. When she was done, she always turned to you and said: Finished. Want to show your appreciation? Wes didn’t know where she learned how to do this along with the other things she did, but he bet if she ever wrote a book on it, it would outsell the Bible.

Tonnette wasn’t the only woman he’d had sex with, there were several others, but that excluded Alicia. While they performed a simulated sex act as she called it, Alicia would not allow him to actually make love to her. She would not let him take off her panties or perform oral sex either. My husband will be the first, she constantly reminded him. To his surprise, he had accepted this, but it also meant to him that if she believed he loved her and was going to marry her, she would eventually let him in. And in time, it may have turned out that way, but she had left to live in Colorado before any true sexual encounter had happened. So all during the time he went out with Alicia, Tonnette and others serviced his needs. Alicia chose to ignore this, and they never spoke about it.

One time he was at a Warriors basketball game and the guy he sat next to told him what a great shirt he had on. Wes couldn’t resist the obvious come on and stated that he should see what was underneath. On the way out after the game, the guy followed him to his car and said he was free the rest of the evening, to which Wes replied, while still walking, You ain’t got enough money, Pal! When the guy grabbed his arm and asked how much, Wes shrugged him off and jumped into his car. Yet even today, some six years later, he wondered what it would have been like.

He hadn’t always been so disagreeable a person. In high school, he was somewhat shy, using a friend of his that went to a different high school as his girlfriend. Everyone felt they were always together as Wesley had given that impression. It hurt less that way when he really didn’t have a date for the prom. He would say Alana didn’t like dancing and that they were going to the Ice Follies instead. Then he actually went to the event, so he could describe it in detail when he went back to school. Heaven forbid if his friends thought he had lied to them.

It was in his first year of college when he first learned how to use people to get his own way. In a Psychology class there was a round robin like test. The professor had formed a circle of students, then chose one student (Wesley) to go around the circle and show the others, without using words, how he felt about them. He went up to everyone in the class one by one, embracing some, sneering at others and shaking a few hands. He came to one beautiful girl and grasped her hand in his. She scratched his palm with one of her fingers. Instantly Wes, who was taken back with her approach, yanked his hand back and slapped her cheek. The class gasped, almost in unison. She looked at him, fire in her eyes and slapped him back.

When the exercise was finished, the class sat down and Wesley and the teacher began to discuss what he was trying to say to each person. When they got to Sherry, the girl he had slapped, the teacher first asked her what she thought Wesley had meant. He doesn’t like what I represent, she said. My father is a Psychiatrist and we are very wealthy. He probably thinks I’m just a stuck up rich bitch.

Mr. Stevens, the teacher asked. Is that what you meant?

No he said. I know about her money, she rubs our face in it often enough. It just I feel she looks down at all of us. Thinks she’s God’s gift to us. Slumming’ with the lower class. I mean, I do like her, but she makes me feel like I’m a piece of shit. Like I’m not a good enough person for her. Like to her I’m not even alive. He looked around the room. You all know what I mean, right?

The class was silent.

When class recessed and the group broke up, Sherry had approached Wesley in the hall.

I’m not this frigid cunt, you know, she said.

Look, I’m sorry I hit you.

No. That’s okay. It’s what you were feeling. They walked down the hall together. Do you have time to go to the cafeteria for a cup of java? she asked.

With you?

Yea. We can even sit at the same table, if you want.

Later, when he sat down at the table, he handed her a dime. For my coffee.

Sherry picked up the dime and dropped it into her purse. I guess if I refused to take it you’d think I was rubbing your nose in my money again. Wes smiled. Do you really hate me? she asked. Does everybody?

I can’t speak for everyone, but face it, Sherry, sometimes you do come off as a know it all bitch. As for me? I like you. That wasn’t bullshit in class. I do like you. I just know, if you think of me at all, it’s as a nothing. And I am good enough for women like you. Maybe too good. It’s just, women like you won’t give men like me a chance, you know. That’s why I slapped you. I was mad. Not at you really, but at the situation. To know there is nothing I can do to change that, well it hurts. It hurts a lot!

Sherry thought a moment and took a sip from her cup, then set it back on its saucer. I really don’t mean to act so superior to everybody, like my shit doesn’t stink or something. And I don’t consider you beneath me at all. It’s just, well, I’m really very insecure, you know? I mask my feelings that way, by pretending I’m aloof. So that’s how people believe I am. Men are afraid to ask me out. Today was the first time anyone has ever slapped me. I think it woke me up a bit.

He grinned. I have a hard time with you, Sherry. I don’t understand how someone who has been fortunate enough to be born with all the things people strive their whole lives to get is such …

A bitch? she offered.

I didn’t say that.

You did before. Anyway, it wouldn’t be the first time I’ve been called a bitch and I’m sure it won’t be the last. She turned her face away and whispered. People just don’t know.

Don’t know what? Wes asked.

She looked back at him. So much has happened to me over the years that makes me, well kind of gun shy, I guess.

Like what?

All my life people have envied me and I don’t know why. If it were up to me I’d give all the money away. I don’t care about living in a big house. Or wearing expensive clothes. I just want a normal life. You know, if I see a very expensive silk blouse, I just pick it up. Most often I don’t even pay for it

Freebie?

Stolen, actually. Wes looked at her, not commenting. Look just because my father is a head doctor doesn’t mean I have all the answers. There are many days I can’t stand him or myself. I am the way I am because of him. She raised her cup and took a sip out of it. My father had sex with me continually until I was seventeen. Now it’s my little sisters’ turn. I guess my younger brother is next. That wouldn’t surprise me. She took another sip of coffee. Wes was still silent. Father assures me this is quite normal, she continued. Well, maybe for him it is, but it sure has fucked up my head. I can’t meet a guy without first wondering what he wants from me. Usually, I figure him out before the relationship has gone too far and dump him. It’s hard to believe that people envy my life, such as it is, but they do She grinned. Is it any wonder why I hate the old man?

Will you go out with me tonight? Wes stammered.

Sherry shook her head no. I already have plans

Tomorrow night, then?

Wesley, she said. You just aren’t my type. You don’t project the right image I want. I’m not talking about your status, or money. But, you got a nice ass and I’ll fuck you, but I won’t go out with you.

He looked at her and gave her the smile. He was getting what he wanted anyway, it was just easier this way. He did get it, too, about twenty minutes later in the photo journalism darkroom Sherry had the key for.

As he stepped in the shower he thought about another time while he was in college. Wesley hated picnics, but he went on one with the group he was hanging around with. This guy Jerry had brought a lot of reds and yellows and Wes swallowed them all day long with some red wine Althea had. He was so high he could hardly see, yet he grabbed a banner and began marching around the picnic grounds protesting for Caesar Chavez. He had fallen into a stream, not once but twice, and had thrown up out of the car window all the way home, Jerry driving and Althea holding onto his waist while his head was out the window. Later that day, after he got home, he walked four miles to be with his parents at a church function where he was, of course, the perfect All American young man.

During his college years all the mothers of the girls he dated loved him, but the fathers, perhaps sensing his canniness, loathed him. While the men couldn’t really put their fingers on what irritated them about Wesley, the best he could expect from any of them was no recognition at all.

After his army pre-induction physical, and his bout with drugs, he had met Alicia.

She was gorgeous. Just about perfect, and was someone who genuinely liked Wesley. When he met her, she was coming out of a relationship with Bradley Thorenson, her boyfriend of a couple years. She had terminated it because she felt smothered. Though Brad tried hard to get her back, it was Wesley who won out in the end.

Brad had come to talk with Alicia one night and Wesley was there. He had been drinking, but wasn’t really drunk, and when Alicia said she didn’t want to talk with him, he took a glass bottle and cracked it against his chair. He held up the broken bottle all the while looking at Wes.

It was Alicia who spoke first. Brad, she’d said. I can’t believe you really won’t admit it is over between us. It was over months ago, before I even knew Wesley existed. I know you’re a good person. You’re just a little confused right now. But I can’t help that. You must recognize it and get the kind of help you need to get over this. A while ago I did think I loved you. But it wasn’t true, and I don’t think what you feel for me is really love. I’m just here. That’s all. And it’s easier to keep what you have then to seek someone else out. Look, if we had stayed together, Brad, how much longer would we have lasted? A month? A year? Maybe gotten married, had a couple of kids and then split up? I don’t want that hurt, not for you and certainly not for myself. We both deserve a good life, but it’s not going to happen with each other. I am trying to find someone and you should, too. I don’t believe in that love a first sight junk, you know that. It takes time to love somebody. To find that love you have to keep trying. I will and maybe it will take me ten years to find him. But when I do, it will be worth the wait. I want a love like my parents have. To know a person so well, you feel things when they do. And they respect you. You should have that, too. Brad, I like you. You are the most attractive man I have ever gone out with. Please. Respect my wishes. Put the bottle down, okay? I want to remember you fondly and you are making that so hard for me to do

Brad bent down and picked up the pieces of the broken glass. Then, with what was left of the bottle, threw it in the wastebasket. Alicia, I may not be the man for you, but I know I will never find another woman that I’ll love like I love you.

She walked over to him and kissed his cheek. You think that now, but I know it will happen. It has to! She paused and backed away.

Come on, it wouldn’t have worked. I think if you think about it real hard you’ll realize it.

I still love you, he said moving toward the door. I love you enough to go away.

Don’t forget me, she said.

The light of my life? Hardly! He started humming the Righteous Brothers You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling and he turned to Wes. That was our song, you know. Remember that. Everytime you hear it. That was our song.

Brad walked out, closing the door behind him. Wes and Alicia looked at each other for a long time. As she went over to the door to lock it, she broke the silence. I really do love him, you know She slid the bolt lock on the door and turned to him.

Then why? Wes asked.

I wasn’t enough for him. I could tell. It would have been great for a while, but then things would begin to turn ugly and he would hurt me. I won’t allow myself that kind of hurt. Ever!

But you’re hurting now.

It’s a different kind of hurt. She turned off all the lights except for a lamp in the corner. She put her arms around him. Besides, you’re here to help me get through this. Will you stay and hold on to me? I don’t want to be alone right now. She kissed him gently.

And I don’t want you to think of Brad everytime we’re in the dark.

I’d never do that to you. They reclined on the couch and began to kiss deeply. She pushed his semi-long hair away from his ear and flicked her tongue in it as she blew. Wes turned off the lamp and lay atop her as they reclined on the couch. My husband will be the first, you know, she said.

Wes pressed his hardness against her and slowly began to rotate his hips, then pounded at her, all the while kissing her passionately, yet never attempting to penetrate her. Several minutes later he suddenly stopped.

What’s wrong? Alicia asked.

He snapped on the light. If I don’t stop now I won’t be able to stop at all, he said.

She smiled, adjusting her bra and buttoning her blouse. Thanks, she stated. It means a lot. She began to straighten her hair.

Alicia, I’ll never hurt you.

I know, she said.

I want you, but you gotta say when

I will, she answered. I promise. She kissed him lightly on his nose.

Oh, boy! he exclaimed. Let’s get to some public place quick before I realize what an idiot I am and change my mind!

They had opened the door and left. It wasn’t for many months before they knew that Brad had been hiding in the bushes, crying.

Wesley and Alicia had been almost inseparable during the next year and a half. He respected her wishes about sex and never tried to persuade her to make love with him. They had gone many places together and had done many things. At times they would begin talking in the early evening and didn’t stop until the sun rose in the morning. He loved to be with Alicia. It was the first time in his life when he did not attempt to conceal his affections for someone.

On one Saturday afternoon, Wes and Alicia went to Stowe Lake at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco and rented a motor boat. They were drifting along, quietly enjoying the natural surroundings, when the conversation turned to their future together. OK, she said, how many kids do you want?

Wes threw his empty popcorn bag over to the shore. At least a couple.

Oh?

You know, in case the first kid turns out to be a stinker, we have a back up. Someone to take care of us in our old age.

I hope they all turn out like you

That’s what I’m afraid of. You know, most people think I’m a pompous ass.

Well, they just don’t know you like I do She let her hand drift with the water along the side of the boat. Wes, if we get married …

You mean when, he interrupted.

She giggled. OK, when we get married. Where do you want to go on our honeymoon?

I tell you, I’m really sick of making plans. You know what I’d like? The two of us to just hop in a car and take a three-week trip, oh, maybe up to Canada. No maps, no plans. We see a sign that says ‘Lake,’ we take the road it says and drive an hour just to see a puddle. No sweating it.

She leaned over to him clasping his hand. So let’s do it, she said.

Get married?

"No. Just get in the car and drive. Take a few weeks off.’

Can’t. Not right now, anyway. Briggs is leaving soon and it’s almost time for me to make my move. I’ve gotta be there.

She withdrew her hands. Oh, yes, your career. Sorry, I forgot.

He reached out and took her hands back. Not my career, he said. Our future.

You’re going to be twenty-nine next month, Alicia said, her hand dangling in the water.

Yep. Getting old, I guess. Will you still need me when I’m sixty-four? he sang.

Of course. But for this birthday. What do you want? she asked.

Just you

I’m serious!

So am I.

You know, Wes, I really do love you. Alicia smiled as she spoke.

Yea, I know.

She sat up in the boat. No. I mean I really do love you. And I want to give you what you want on your birthday.

He looked at her warmly. You want to wait to get married. I respect that. I kinda like it, actually.

No, I only said I wanted my husband to be the first. One day you’ll be my husband, right? Wes grinned. She gazed in his eyes and then she too smiled. Wes, I don’t know how else to say this but I want to make love with you.

Here? he said, looking around at the other passengers in boats. On the lake?

She closed her eyes. Please don’t make jokes. I’m serious. Alicia reopened her eyes and looked at him. I’ve waited my whole life for this. I love you. I love you more than I’ve ever loved anyone and I’m ready.

Wesley frowned. To say this was unexpected was an understatement. Then he smiled. So am I. But I want the time to be right, the place to be right. Everything to be as special as our love. We’ll only have one first time to remember all our lives and it has to be special.

She held his hand tighter. And then you wonder why I love you so much.

Wes looked at his watch. Gotta get the boat back. Times up in about five minutes.

Thank you, she said, kissing his quickly on the cheek.

For what? Wes asked.

Oh, just being you He turned the boat around and headed back to the dock satisfied he had done the right thing for himself.

He did like Alicia. But he was saving her for his showcase wife. Had she not so suddenly appeared at Mason/Dixon and Michelle, a lady he felt could do him a lot of good in the firm, said how she looked so out of place with him, Wes surely would have numbered her as one of his possessions. But when she did appear out of the blue and Michele had pointed her flaws out to him, he knew that choosing her had been a mistake. He would have to remove her from his life. It was a necessity. He needed to correct his mistake immediately, before her presence would do him harm. She was housesitting for a friend that weekend, and he went over to visit her. They were to double date that weekend with Tod and Tonnette and go see the film ‘ALIEN"

The house that Alicia was staying at was located in the hills of a neighboring town. It was extremely hot and Wes suggested they go swimming in the pool outside.

I don’t know if that’s a good idea, Alicia said. Emily didn’t say I could use the pool.

What if the dog fell in, Wes responded. Wouldn’t you go out and jump in to try to save it?

Emily doesn’t have a dog, she stated.

Wes barked, got up off the couch and, unbuckling his trousers, went out the glass sliding door, and dove into the pool. Alicia reluctantly followed.

About two hours late she came out of the bathroom towel drying her hair. We’ll have to hurry in order to make it to the movie on time, she said.

Wes stared at her. Now was the time. He put his plan to terminate her into full gear. You know, he said, sometimes I regret having said I would wait to fuck you. I want you right now!

Excuse me? Alicia was shocked. Wes, knowing her aversion to harsh language, never used it in front of her. Please don’t say that kind of stuff around me, okay?

What’s wrong with me saying I want to fuck you? he asked, now standing in front of her, his hands holding her arms.

She shook them off. Just quit it! Okay?

He grabbed her and threw her onto the bed. Maybe I don’t want to. Alicia, honey, I want to fuck you. I want you to suck my cock. I want to lick you to heaven He ripped at the zipper on her pants till they split open. I want to eat your pussy.

Her eyes widened. She was truly frightened of him. She did not know what was happening or what had caused this personality change in Wesley. He had never been like this to her before. I said no! she shouted. She tried to struggle but Wes was too strong. He shoved his knee into her stomach and she yelled in pain. I said no! she repeated.

And I said yes! He was atop her now. He had spread her legs, ripped her panties off and held her arms at bay. But before his hardness had entered her, Alicia had gotten one hand free, grabbed a rubber hammer from the night table by the headboard and hit him on his shoulder.

Wes, startled, got up quickly. You fucking little cunt! Are you trying to kill me? He looked at her, his left hand rubbing his right shoulder.

I said no and I meant it! If all you want is sex, she screamed, Then go get one of those sluts you see. I am not like that! I thought you loved me. You said you put me on a pedestal. Some pedestal! All you want to do is fuck me and leave me!

What? For almost two years we’ve been going out and I’ve respected your wishes. We kiss, pet, do your simulated sex stuff, you spit in my ear. I get all hot and then it’s ‘later, after we get married’ It’s no wonder I go off and get laid elsewhere. You turn on my motor, then won’t put out. I’m so sick of your self-righteousness that I can puke. What do you think you have between those legs, a cherry so sweet that there’s not enough money in the world to buy it? Here’s a quarter. That’s a Hell of a lot more than its worth. She walked away from him. Hey! he shouted, going after her, I paid you! Now, spread ‘em!

She picked up her coat, which was the nearest thing to her and threw it at him. No one has ever insulted me more She began to cry. I am willing to chalk this up to a bad day, or bad wine, or something. But I can’t see you right now, I have to think. Tell Tod and Tonnette I’m sorry but I’m too sick to go to the show. And you leave! Now! I’ll call you later.

You damn sight better, bitch, ‘cause I ain’t done with you yet! Wes walked out of the bedroom and, for effect slammed the front door as he left the house, smiling and going to his car.

Call him she did, about two weeks later at 1:30 in the morning. They hadn’t spoken since that day.

I’m calling you, Alicia said from the airport. I’m leaving and moving to Colorado. My plane takes off in an hour.

An hour, he had thought. That was more than enough time for him to get there and stop her from going, but he didn’t want to do that. Have a good trip, he said instead, hanging up the phone. Then he turned over and went back to sleep. He had gotten his way again. He was now free.

He pulled his Bel Air to the curb at Tod’s house and honked. Tod came out and hopped in the car. He passed the joint in his hand to Wes.

Smoke a quick one before we head out?

Wes looked at him, took the joint from his hand and inhaled deeply.

You do realize, he croaked, this stuff is supposed to make a person impotent.

Tod chuckled. Whoever said that never met Tonnette. She could give hard ons to all the gays on Castro Street.

They laughed as Wesley handed him back the joint, and sped off to pick up their dates for the evening.

TWO

Wesley’s job at Napa/Sonoma was that of administrative assistant, as nondescript a title as you could come up with. But in his four years there he had made a name for himself. Wesley, his boss Mr. Briggs loved to claim, gave good phone and there was never a problem too big he couldn’t handle. By using the contacts he had developed and nurtured over the years with his playfulness over the phone, there wasn’t much he could not get accomplished. People liked to do things for him. They liked to make him happy. It wasn’t too long before twenty and thirty-year veterans at the company were coming to him for help. Once he even had a railroad train stopped in an obscure city, some freight he desperately needed removed from the train and air shipped to him. It was an impossibility at best. Then, after he got the material, he was able to get the company who had done all this for him to cancel the $1,200.00 air freight bill. Yes, he had style and was, everyone said, just plain perfect.

The first couple of years he was at Napa/Sonoma, he was primarily Briggs boy. He endeared himself to the man, almost becoming like a son to him. He covered for him with his wife and told no one when he ostensibly went on vacation, yet had gotten a vasectomy instead. When he suspected Briggs personal secretary was speaking to a competitor, he set her up and then fired her, all without Briggs knowing or having to get involved. This kept Briggs clean and he gave Wesley a lot of leeway because of the way the things he did ended up. Wesley used this latitude to his advantage.

Toward the end of his fourth year with the company, Napa/ Sonoma became Mason/Dixon, the company having been sold to an insurance investment firm. Except for some of the management and personnel at the corporate headquarters in Seattle, all things remained the same. Yet it was a hard thing for Wesley because, to him, it was almost like starting over. He had to climb the rungs again, practically starting at the bottom of the ladder. No one knew him in Seattle. They didn’t know the things he could do. Most of the people he had nurtured to work for him were no longer able to do him any good, so he never spoke with them again. For him they were now useless.

As when he had joined Napa/Sonoma, he felt the best way to get his name known was to find an in with the accounting department. It was harder to do at Mason/Dixon because now he had to deal with people in another state he couldn’t meet, let alone control. But he tried.

His first attempt was with the Russian department head Tatyana, and that was a total failure. It seemed no matter how charming he tried to be, or how hard he would work to impress her, he could not do it. But he found a kinder soul in Michelle Miller. Thom Nichols, one of Mason/Dixon’s best salesmen, was having a communication problem with some of the clerks in her department. They were constantly paying bills to his vendors short and it was causing him problems in getting the materials his customers needed. Wesley saw this as an opportunity and told Thom he would contact accounting for him and see what he could do. Thom was only too glad to dump his problem in Wesley’s lap and leave for the weekend to go up to his cabin at the lake with his fiancee. Wesley got on the phone and called the corporate offices in Seattle.

Accounting, Michelle, said the lilting voice on the other end. Wes was intentionally silent. Hello? she said. Is anyone there?

Oh, sorry. I kind of was kind of expecting the wicked witch of the west.

She laughed. Who is this? Michelle asked.

Wes Stevens from San Francisco.

Yes. What can I do for you?

One of our salesmen here has been having a problem because of some bills not being paid right or something like that. Anyway, no offense to you, ma’am, but Tatyana told me to ask for someone named Michelle. That if anyone could solve my problem she could.

This is Michelle.

He purposely paused. He had known all along, of course, who he was talking to. Sorry, he said. Now I am embarrassed, he said.

Actually, she stated, I’m surprised that bull dyke even knows I’m here. I’m not exactly her type

She says you’re very pretty. Now it was Michelle’s turn to be silent. It was exactly what he had hoped for. So, can you help me with my problem?

You don’t sound like a man who has problems.

I don’t. Not right now, anyway. It belongs to one of our salesmen.

"Right. Look, Wes. Write everything down. The vendor, the salesman’s name, what he perceives the problem to be and sent it out to me tonight