Forever Yours
33
Last Chance
HENRY SPENT much of his time on Tuesday preparing for his interview with Darrel Jones. This involved purchasing some pieces of equipment that he didn’t necessarily need right now, but they would need when setting up the new office. Isobel gritted her teeth and accepted Henry’s explanation of the expense.
She is really a money miser, he thought. If we were to give Pythia a human image, it would be Isobel, the dragon queen.
Wednesday morning, he set up the office for his interview with Darrel Jones.
“Henry, Darrel Jones is here for his interview with you,” Chastity called into the office. Lisa was at her desk and Josh was at the desk Isobel usually occupied. She and Luke were out shopping for an apartment.
“Oh, good,” Henry called from behind the array of servers he’d moved out from the wall. “Send him back.”
Darrel approached the voice of the hidden man.
“Uh… Hi. I’m Darrel,” the much older man said when he reached Henry’s desk.
“Hey, Darrel. I’m Henry. Ah! Found it,” he said from behind the server array. “I was rushing and didn’t check all the pieces before I got the server connected. I’ve got a bad NIC card. There’s a box of them on my desk there. Open and hand me a new one, would you? I’ll get this one out.”
“Sure,” Darrel said. “Is this clipboard your serial number inventory?”
“Yeah. Chastity checks it each day and enters them in both physical and electronic inventory.”
“Okay. Here you go,” Darrel said, handing the new card between two of the servers. Henry handed him the faulty NIC. “I’ll mark the old card with blue tape so you can check it out later. Could just be a loose connection.”
“Thanks. Yes. That’s good. I’ll manually boot the new drive. You may have to switch the display to see it. You’ve got the keyboard next to the monitor.”
“Got it. It’s running diagnostics. Everything looks okay. Booting now.”
Henry stepped from behind the shelves and Darrel helped him move them back against the wall.
“It’s so dang much easier with two people than crawling in and out of that tight space,” Henry said.
“Might have been easier to install all the hardware and test it before it went on the shelf,” Darrel said.
Henry grinned at him and Darrel nodded.
“Of course. Then you wouldn’t have had a hands-on interview,” Darrel laughed. “Nicely done.”
“Let’s grab a cup of coffee downstairs and talk about what it will take to move our network to a new office in a month,” Henry said. “I appreciate your willingness to play along. You hit every one of the steps, so now it just remains to determine if you’re a good fit for our company.”
The two walked downstairs and Henry poured them both coffee.
“Cream and sugar?” Henry asked.
“Just black, thanks.” They sat at the table.
“Here you go. Why are you looking for work?” Henry asked as he sat with Darrel.
Darrel was easily older than Henry’s father, with black hair liberally sprinkled with gray to match his beard. He had sharp eyes and a pleasant demeanor.
“Boredom. I got tired of my job at Broomley because it was the same thing day after day. I told my boss a college kid with a liberal arts degree could do everything I was doing, so he replaced me.”
“How long ago was that?”
“Eighteen months. Decided to take a break before I went back into the office. Took my wife for six months in Italy. Great time.”
“Sounds like it. You know Open Cloak is a young company, both in terms of how long we’ve been in business and the age of the four of us founders. We’re all twenty years old. Why would you want to join a company like this?”
“Young. Energetic. Startup. Future. Variety. I had to assume some of those things until I found the CTO behind the shelves connecting a network server.”
They talked for over an hour and Henry showed Darrel the plans for their office that would be opening in a month. He emphasized that they needed to get the network up as quickly as possible, but they also had to get cables run for the full office in order to have stations ready for new employees.
Darrel understood the needs quickly and made a couple of notes on Henry’s flowchart.
“The thing is, we are subject to hack attacks on a regular basis,” Henry said. “We’ve repelled and countered each one, but I can’t spend all my time monitoring the system. I need someone who can not only manage the system, but take over security for our network. I think you’ll find our defense system is unique, but I don’t profess that it’s perfect. Yet.”
“Hmm. One of the things I missed in my former employment was the chance to actually do something productive as well as provide maintenance,” Darrel said. “At Broomley, they considered network security to be separate from IT management.”
“I can see a possibility in the distant future that we’d grow to a size that requires that,” Henry said. “But as a startup, consolidating things in the IT department makes more sense to me. As long as I have a person savvy enough to monitor the code as well as the usage, I’m content with that.”
“What’s the big dream?” Darrel asked. “You have some nice apps that will sell, but you don’t need much more than you and your partners to keep them going and sell them. You could probably even sell them off to a big company and retire before you hit twenty-one.”
“Right. But the bigger dream. My degree is in artificial intelligence and I’ve filed two system and methods patents that will make a big impact on the AI community. I should say my future degree. I still have a few classes to complete. The first patent is a new, smaller-footprint AI that is specialized for single area efficiency. It could take years for that to displace the direction AI has been headed for the past five or so years. But it’s there. The second is more important because it can attach to current AI systems. It will cut power consumption of those systems by at least fifty percent.”
“Still leaves them power-hungry, but it’s an improvement,” Darrel said. “Good. I’m sold.”
“Let me call Chastity down here to explain salary and benefits,” Henry said. “If everything is good for you, I’d like you to start tomorrow if you can.”
Darrel and Conrad both showed up for work the next morning, June first. Luke called a company meeting in order to get everyone introduced to everyone else. Conrad already knew Lisa and Josh from college, and had met Chastity. Darrel knew only Chastity and Henry.
“Well, this is an auspicious occasion,” Luke said. “It marks the hire of our first full-time employees other than the partners. And we’re happy Josh and Lisa will be working full time for the summer. One of the biggest things we need to manage in the coming month is becoming a cohesive team and getting ready for our new office.”
With eight people in the company, they held the meeting in the living room on the first floor. Chastity had managed to squeeze two more work stations into the fourth-floor office, but Luke and Isobel agreed to work out of Henry’s study for the time being.
“I want to go over a couple of things just to keep everyone informed. The next thirty days will be a little chaotic as we get ready to move into an actual office instead of working from Henry’s house. It may be a challenge to keep everything organized when Henry, especially, is out of the office. Henry, will you explain what’s going on?”
“Luke said I’d be out of the office. Partially true. Darrel and I will be spending time over at our new office as the finishing stages are completed in the next month. Before everything is sealed up, we want to make sure the infrastructure we need is installed,” Henry said.
“With eight people in the company, we can’t need that much infrastructure, can we?” Josh asked.
“Imagine twenty people in the office and that half of them are developers working on new AI apps,” Henry laughed. “Got that in mind? Darrel?”
“Now double what you’ve imagined,” Darrel joined in.
“And then, because we know every estimate a tech company has made from the beginning of time has been short, double it again. That’s the infrastructure we’re building in the new office,” Henry said. “Most of you have heard Dr. Hendon’s favorite catchphrase. ‘Developers by nature either underestimate the task or overestimate the resources.’ You can see the evidence of that by looking at the floor in any men’s restroom on the campus,” Henry said.
The women looked a little non-plussed until Chastity rolled her eyes. The other two seemed psychically linked to her as they got the joke as well.
“I will not make any more crude references of that sort,” Henry said, a little embarrassed by his own male humor. “The point is that Darrel and I will be trying to overestimate every detail that goes into our company network.”
“Did you enhance Pythia?” Isobel asked. “She’s much faster now than she was running a few weeks ago.”
“I’m glad to hear that,” Henry said. “We actually moved Pythia Speaks off-site. She… It’s running on a server farm out in California. It’s a good thing we made the change. We’re getting over two thousand hits a day now. Lisa is in charge of specifying the next generation of features and building the interface for the Pythia AI. Much of that architecture will go into the Ask Dad app that we hope to have functioning by the end of the year. In the meantime, when Darrel and I are off-site, Conrad is the dev lead, so he is the person to ask or bounce ideas off of. That being said, his number one development job is getting the network version of the optimization app ready for release. The interface will fall to Lisa as well.”
Everyone was nodding.
“Josh, you’re in charge of bug fixes for the Search Engine. Sorry to say that we have discovered some. At the same time, I want you to work on specifying a network version of the Open Cloak Search. Don’t check in any code for it until we meet to approve the feature list. We’ve talked about most of it, but I want to be sure everyone gets to read the spec and comment on it before we start developing. And, I’m handing primary responsibility for the unreleased security counterattack software to Darrel. We are still repelling one or two attacks a week with the barrier and need to determine if we will release it to a wider audience. Any progress on that front will also need to be cleared with the Army under our agreement with the Department of Cyber Resilience.”
“And you’ll be focused entirely on the new office?” Luke asked.
“Uh… No. I have enough data for the Ask Dad app to begin training the AI. We’ve filed the patent app for that method, but there’s a lot of work to do to prove it works. Since it is closely related to the Pythia Speaks app, I’ll be working on the updated spec that Lisa generates for that site. It will include a ‘membership’ option that will allow a user to create a user ID and save their correspondence with the Pythia AI. And other stuff, to be determined.”
“Well, it looks like we all have our marching orders,” Luke said. “Chastity is also in and out of the office as she’s coordinating the finish work and move-in to the new office. Izzy and I will be here most of the time, though we’re getting married the 24th and will be gone for a week after that. That will get us back in time to move to the new office. Let’s get to work.”
The month of June was the busiest any of them had experienced. Henry and Darrel were often at the new office, but Darrel carried the bulk of the load, first wiring the office and then ordering the major pieces of equipment that would be needed. Chastity was there almost as much, especially as offices were completed and furniture was delivered.
But what interrupted Henry’s routine most was Luke’s upcoming wedding. Luke and Isobel’s—Henry felt a little insulated from Izzy’s plans and constant demands for attention. She was the very definition of ‘bridezilla,’ and even her mother was losing patience. When they took possession of their apartment at mid-month, she moved into it, though Luke was not allowed there until after the wedding.
Izzy had decided on five bridesmaids. In typical Isobel fashion, however, she had excluded the two women she had almost daily contact with: Lisa and Chastity. Having seen the slighting of one of their friends, Luke invited Chastity to be one of his groomsmen. She agreed, but refused to wear a shirt under the tux jacket. Isobel was not amused.
The week of the wedding, there was a bachelor party at a local hotel. Henry made most of the arrangements as the best man. Two of Luke’s groomsmen from Villanova were over twenty-one and felt it was their duty to provide enough liquor to be sure Luke was drunk when they brought a stripper to the party.
The stripper looked familiar to Henry, but he wasn’t sure who she was. She spent half an hour torturing Luke with naked lap dances that made Luke groan. Henry was pretty sure that meant he’d come. From that point, however, the stripper ignored the other men in the room and focused on Chastity. In keeping with her resolution not to wear a shirt with her tux, Chas had also decided not to wear a shirt under the low-cut vest she wore to the party. The guys focused their attention on the two-girl show that was then presented, while drinking enough to pass out before the girls had finished with each other.
“Well, they’re not worth much for the rest of the night,” the stripper said. “How about you two?”
“I think we’ll head home now and let these guys tend to their own headaches in the morning,” Henry said.
“This place will stink to high heaven by morning,” Chastity said, buttoning her vest.
“Could you drop me off at Izzy’s apartment?” the stripper asked.
That was when Henry remembered being briefly introduced to the woman the previous week. She was Isobel’s maid of honor, Brittany! He supposed that was one way to keep control of the bachelor party, but wasn’t sure if what she’d done was really within the realm of what Isobel would have approved. He and Chastity dropped Brittany off at three in the morning and then headed for the row house.
They went in and knocked on Lisa’s door.
“’Lo,” Lisa said when she got to the door. “Are you wasted?”
“No, honey,” Henry said. “We left the party and came home. The rest might not get up until noon or later tomorrow.”
“Well, come in and go to sleep if that’s what you want,” she yawned.
“I’m leaving Henry with you,” Chastity said. “I’ll go upstairs and use his bedroom.”
“Oh, yeah. Of course, sweetheart. I’ll see you in the morning,” Lisa said, giving Chastity a kiss. She took Henry’s hand and led him inside as he gave Chastity his keys and followed. “You don’t want to, like, do anything now, do you?”
“Lise, I always want to do something with you. Right now, that something is sleep.”
“Yeah. Okay. Come to bed.”
The rehearsal was Friday evening and dinner for the wedding party and spouses followed. Lisa gave Henry a kiss before he left.
“Have fun,” she said.
“Aren’t you joining me?” he asked. “I’m supposed to stay at the hotel tonight to calm Luke’s nerves.”
“No. I’m not part of the wedding party. I’ll see you at the wedding tomorrow morning.”
“I’ll come home tonight, then.”
“Honey, don’t. I’m not mad or anything. This is a special time between you and your partners. Cut loose a little. Don’t worry about a thing. Just have fun,” Lisa said.
She kissed him deeply.
“I love you, Lisa,” he breathed.
“See? I knew you’d say it at just the right time,” she answered, kissing him again. “Now, go, before you’re late.”
The rehearsal was at five, just before the Friday evening mass in the massive church. Cathedral, Henry reminded himself. Whatever. They left immediately after the rehearsal and went to the dinner in a private room of the hotel across the street, where they’d later be staying. The reception would be at the same hotel the next afternoon.
It seemed almost like an intimate gathering, even though there were eighteen people around the table. Both Isobel’s and Luke’s fathers offered toasts that competed regarding who could best embarrass their progeny. Henry sat next to Luke and Brittany next to Isobel. Chastity managed to get the seat next to Henry, but Felipe practically arm-wrestled one of the groomsmen for the next place so he could be next to Chas.
The toasts went around the table, Henry offering his congratulations to two of his best friends. He almost said condolences, but decided to keep the toast upbeat, especially in light of the fathers’ toasts. With the number of toasts that were offered, Henry’s glass of champagne kept getting refilled and he lost track of the count.
The priest even got up to give a toast. Or a prayer. Henry wasn’t sure which it was because he kept raising his glass and taking a drink during it. Eventually, the party broke up and everyone went to their rooms in the hotel. Henry and the groomsmen kept Luke company watching a baseball game and drinking until eleven and then all split to go to their own rooms. Henry was definitely under the influence like he’d never been before.
Chastity had maintained her strict exclusion of alcohol and carried her own bottle of sparkling juice with her, guarding it protectively so no one could possibly slip anything into it. After the party broke up, she went home to be with Lisa.
Henry barely got his teeth brushed before he collapsed naked in bed.
Sometime during the night, his lover slipped into bed next to him. He cuddled to her and they kissed as he felt her large breasts beneath his hands. She moaned and Henry’s eyes snapped open for the first time.
“Isobel? What are you doing here?”
“I have to have you again.”
He’d been hard when he woke up and Izzy was just settling down on his cock.
“This is our last chance. I’d never cheat on my husband!” Isobel said, kissing him again.
“I don’t even know how you dare to cheat on him before you’re married. And with all your religious stuff. How do you justify it?”
“I’ll go to confession in the morning and then I’ll be pure for him. Jesus will forgive me. If not, surely Mary will.”
“Hmm. By that logic you could justify almost anything. Murder? Surely, that’s not too much for Jesus to forgive.”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” she snapped. Isobel was active bouncing on Henry’s cock and he wasn’t making clear sense of the situation before she started coming.
“Uh… What about Luke?” Henry had half expected Chastity would have gone to Luke if Isobel was in his room.
“He’s being well attended by Brittany. God! That slut hasn’t stopped talking about Luke’s glorious cock since we shared him one night at Villanova. I’m not going to even tell her about this one,” Izzy said, working herself up to a second orgasm as Henry responded.
She shoved one of her nipples between his lips. He began lashing it with his tongue as Isobel grabbed his head and held him to her breast.
“No one makes me sin like you do!” she gasped. “Oh, yes, Henry. Make me scream! Take me however you want me!”
They rolled over on the bed and Henry drove his cock deeper into her. He moved his hand between them and touched her clit. It was a tipping point for Isobel he didn’t know she had.
As soon as he touched her clit, she started spewing the most salacious batch of vulgarity he could imagine. If she told the priest about everything in confession, the poor man might not make it to the ceremony. Isobel was primed for their encounter long before he touched her.
“Henry! Henry, fuck me. I’m ready for you. Take me and let me enjoy this one more time before I’m married. Yes. Yes. It’s as big as I remember. I’ll never have anything like this in me again. I want you. I need you.” She rolled him over onto his back again and slammed herself down onto his erection while whining loudly. “Yes! In me! Fuck! Fuck me! Don’t stop! I’m coming! Harder, you fucking bastard. Cram your cock into my little pussy.”
Henry did his best to keep up with her demands. Isobel stiffened and then relaxed completely as she passed out on top of him, giving him an opportunity to just stroke slowly in and out a couple of times. She was only out momentarily, though, before she was reflexively thrusting her hips toward him. It was all Henry could do to keep up with her.
“Behind! Get behind me, Satan!” she called, rolling off him and presenting her pussy and ass. “Take the devil’s hole.”
That was too much of an invitation for Henry to resist. Not that he’d resisted anything so far. He pressed his cock against her anus and shoved. Isobel gasped and her moans increased in volume the deeper he sank into her.
“Fuck me! Fuck me! Take my dirty ass! You nasty bastard. Fuck your other business partner like you fuck Chastity. Take me in ways my husband never will. I’m coming again!”
It didn’t take long in the tight channel before Henry was pumping into Izzy. This time, after they’d come, they both collapsed on the bed and rolled apart.
“Go shower,” Isobel said, pushing him away. “I need to go to my room.”
Please feel free to send comments to the author at devon@devonlayne.com.
