Message-ID: <21994asstr$946275000@assm.asstr-mirror.org> X-Original-Message-ID: From: artie Subject: {ASSM} TGM - Miss Yellow by artie (MF ROM) 4/4 Date: Mon, 27 Dec 1999 01:10:00 -0500 Path: assm.asstr-mirror.org!not-for-mail Approved: Newsgroups: alt.sex.stories.moderated,alt.sex.stories Followup-To: alt.sex.stories.d X-Archived-At: X-Moderator-Contact: ASSTR ASSM moderation X-Story-Submission: X-Moderator-ID: dennyw, gill-bates, apuleius <1st attachment, "TGM08.txt" begin> Tales of the Golden Mule (c) Copyright 1999 by artie@netgate.net This work may not be reposted or redistributed without the prior express written permission of the author. A work of fiction, meant for adults. Read something else if you are not an adult, or are offended by stories with sexual content. Then again, if all you're looking for is in-out, in-out, in-out, you should probably read something else. I welcome constructive comments. Enjoy. Tales of the Golden Mule - Miss Yellow Part 4 I woke first and pulled her to me, pulling her head to my chest. I put an arm around her and held her gently. She murmured and snuggled up, pulling her top leg over mine, then went back to sleep. I saw the morning light tinged with lavender from the roses. I saw the fur coat hanging over a chair. I closed my eyes and let myself drift. I felt so good, so relaxed, so comfortable. And what was wrong with that? What if she is just after my money? Jill says I'm protected. And I don't believe she's here just for that. So what's the long term plan? Hey, as Galbraith said, in the long term we're all dead. Soon I'll have a lot of money in the bank, taxes paid. It should be enough money to support me for the rest of my life, even if the trust were to vanish, which I didn't expect would happen. It still hadn't sunk in, really sunk in yet that I had all this money, but I think I could get used to it. So what am I going to do? Sooner or later we're going to run out of John's puzzles. We've met Miss Yellow, Christine, and taken care of the Sunnyvale passion pit. We've got the Tahoe address. It's a matter of time before we find out who Gail is. I don't want to go back to work, I know that, at least not doing what I'd been doing. We have a vacation trip to Europe coming up. That would be fun. Then what? We'll see. She moved a little, then I felt her kissing my chest, snuggling closer. Then she rolled to her back. "Good morning beautiful," I said, "sleep well?" She smiled. "How about you?" I sighed and pushed myself up on an elbow. She tilted her head a little. "So what's your favorite breakfast?" I slid down and grabbed her, taking the nearest nipple into my mouth and sucking hungrily. She laughed and wrapped her hands around my head, squeezing me until I was dizzy. "No, silly, I meant something you cook." I was so dizzy that it was easy for her to roll me to my back. She touched her breast gingerly and gave me a mock pout. "You need to be gentle." "Let me kiss it and make it better," I sighed. "I don't think so," she laughed as she started sliding away from me. I reached for her but she slid out of bed too quick. I sighed and got up. I sat on the toilet as she started the shower. "Bacon sandwich on lightly toasted sourdough bread and a big glass of orange juice. Butter, not margarine; I hate margarine," I said. "What's that?" she asked. "My favorite breakfast," I replied, standing up and flushing. She nodded. "We'll have to get some bacon and sourdough today then. I can do eggs for us this morning. Is that okay or do you want to go out?" I moved into the water spray with her and wrapped my arms around her. "Staying here is fine." We kissed in the shower, eventually washing and getting out. "So dear John didn't go in for that," I said as I toweled my hair dry. She laughed a little. "Not at all, not like last night." I shook my head. How could you not enjoy an experience like that? She stepped over to me and put an arm around my waist. "What did you think of that?" I felt myself growing erect. "I couldn't think; it was fantastic. What can I do for you?" She gave me a smile I was starting to recognize. "Oh, I'll think of something." I dried off her back. She leaned forward, putting her arms on the counter and pushing her bottom out. I dried her back and her bottom, then slid up behind her, letting my cock slip up between her legs. She wiggled appreciatively. "Yesterday afternoon was very nice, the way you rolled me to my tummy." That was all the encouragement I needed. I took her into the bedroom and put a pillow on the edge of the bed. Then I grabbed the fur coat and put it down on top of the pillow, hanging over the side. I eased her face down on top of it. She sighed and moaned, wiggling against the fur. "This feels so good," she sighed, burying her face in the soft fur. I was hot for her. I bent over and slid into her. She was hot as well; we slid together, tight but easily. As we slid back and forth I could feel the fur brushing me every once in a while. I moved a little, pushing up on my arms some, putting more into her bottom. She moaned appreciatively. "Oh God, that will do it, don't stop." I grabber her waist and thrust into her. I put my hands under the fur coat so I was caressing her with the fur. That seemed to do it for her, and as she moaned and shook under me, I felt the pressure build, and came into her, collapsing on her back as I did, my hips moving on their own to finish up. We separated with a slurp. I grabbed one of the towels we'd used and we cleaned up, sliding to the floor together. We hung on to each other and laughed. "Was that good enough so I can be on top?" I asked. She laughed and kissed my neck, running her hands over me. "I'm not sure. You may have to do that a few more times for me to decide." We kissed some more and eventually helped each other to standing. We straightened up the bedroom and the bathroom, got dressed, and headed downstairs, closing the doors behind us. It looked as if the flowers had a few more days left in them. It was a little after nine in the morning. Nancy started in the kitchen. "Do we get a daily paper?" I hollered from near the front door. "The Wall Street Journal, and the Sunday Mercury News," she yelled back. "When's the mail usually delivered?" "Around three in the afternoon." I walked back to the kitchen. I could spot the two dozen roses I'd gotten on my own; they weren't going to last more than another day or so. I guess we could keep the petals in a bag in the refrigerator. I went into the garage and started unloading the Jeep. Not too many tools in the garage, but a big freezer and a big refrigerator. I still needed to get the tools and all the garage stuff from the townhouse; a good project for this weekend. I returned to the kitchen after unloading the last of the boxes from the Jeep. Nancy was cooking up some eggs for us as she talked to someone on the portable phone. She was laughing and happy. "Yes, every Thursday. They'll change the sheets on the bed, and the towels in the bathroom as well. They're very good. Yes, of course, if you ask them to. ... That's no problem; call me any time if you have questions. Enjoy it! Bye." She put the phone down on the counter and continued stirring the eggs. I put my hands on her hips and kissed her shoulder. "Linda?" Nancy laughed. "Yes, she had some questions. I think they had a very nice first night; evidently Josh is still asleep." I laughed with her. "I'm glad that has worked out so well. They're a nice couple and can use the help." She put down her wooden spoon and turned around, my hands still on her waist. She gave me a kiss and a hug. "What was that for?" I asked, holding her head to my shoulder. "That was for helping others. I can't imagine John ever doing anything like that." I kissed her on the top of the head. "Want me to set the table outside?" She sighed and straightened up, turning back to our breakfast. "Yes, please. That would be nice." I set the table for the two of us. It looked as if it was going to be a pleasant day. We sat down for breakfast; I went to the garage and got my sunglasses out of the Jeep. "What would you like to do today?" she asked between bites of egg. I looked out over the valley. "Oh, figure out what I'm going to do with the rest of my life." "Hmmm... Sure you can do that in a day?" I laughed a bit. "Nope. Actually, I figured we'd finish up the old townhouse, if you wouldn't mind helping." "That sounds great. We can drop off some more of John's stuff, and I'll unpack the boxes. Are they in from the Jeep yet?" "Yup, and I think we have a problem." "What's that?" "I've got a lot of books -- three bookcases full in the old place, and probably a dozen or so boxes more of books in the garage. We don't have enough bookcases here. I don't know whether to buy something cheap, or have some built in. I'd rather have good stuff." Nancy nodded. "John wasn't much of a reader. I've got a few boxes of books in the garage as well, with no place to put them. I've often thought of turning the office into more of an office/library; there's so much empty space. Would you like to see the sketches I did?" "I'd love to! That sounds great! You want to do the formal thing? Oak and good trim?" She nodded. "Yes, and some cases in the living room, and our bedroom." "That may be dangerous, though, I've got to warn you." "Why?" "Book shelves are meant to be filled." She laughed and held my hand across the small patio table. We cleaned up the breakfast stuff. I puttered in the garage while she unloaded some boxes and filled them with John's old stuff, mostly shoes. She had me haul some boxes back to the garage. We had a three car garage with two cars in it. One side of the garage looked ideal for a workbench and tools. The third car stall looked like it would hold boxes for a while. I went upstairs to our bedroom. The scent was still heavenly. I went to pick up a box when Nancy said, "Here, try this on first." She held out a leather jacket for me. I tried it on; it was a little large, but felt pretty good. "I like this," I told her. She smiled and ran her hands over the front of it. "I thought you would. I got it for him, and he never wore it." I sighed and held her to me. We loaded up the Jeep and headed out. We made our morning delivery at Good Will; we were becoming known. We stopped for more empty boxes, then went to the townhouse. When we drove up, Karen's jeep was in front. I pulled around to the garage in back while Nancy went in the front. She went through and opened the garage door. She was standing with Karen and another gal, a real estate agent. We talked about the place; she was enthusiastic about being able to sell it quickly. The local schools had been rated highly in the last state tests, which was always good for property values. That brought a twinge to me; how did I really feel about kids? I told her I'd prefer to sell it furnished. I was going to empty the garage, bookcases, and stuff like that, but as far as I was concerned the furniture, stereo, and the rest could stay. She wanted to know when she could start showing it privately. Nancy told her she'd scheduled the cleaning crew to go through it on Monday afternoon; any time after that. I was a little surprised and raised an eyebrow at that; Nancy put her arm around my waist and gave me a hug. The real estate gal thought it was clean enough to show now, and she might have some prospects. I didn't mind if she brought them through. We were going to be making a few trips moving things. Karen and the real estate gal went back upstairs while Nancy and I loaded the Jeep. "We can get someone do to this," Nancy told me, after sliding a heavy box of books into the Jeep. "Why?" I asked. "We can do it, there's not that much. Besides, it's probably good therapy." "As long as you're careful -- you aren't supposed to be lifting heavy things, remember?" I smirked and said, "Or am I supposed to be saving my energy for you?" That got me another hug and kiss; guess I said the right thing. We made one trip with nothing but boxes of books, then another. We had lunch after unloading that batch, then started packing stuff. We did two more trips and had to get more boxes. I was willing to leave everything in the kitchen; Nancy objected and started packing it up. I grabbed her cell phone and went downstairs. I called my favorite massage place in Palo Alto to see if they had two openings for an hour or an hour and a half that evening. They didn't, but they did tomorrow afternoon at four. Done, we'd be there. After one run back to the house we returned to find Karen in the kitchen, busily packing things. "Hey, you don't have to do that," I told her. She turned and smiled to us. "Don't worry -- I'm not billing you. This is helping friends." As we carried more boxes out to the Jeep I exclaimed "Shit! How am I going to move the bikes?" My old car had the carrier on top, and I didn't have one for the Jeep -- yet. Karen came to our rescue again. "I can take 'em, no problem." When I realized it was almost seven in the evening, I called the pizza place around the corner and ordered us dinner. Nancy picked it up, and we sat down at the table, amidst boxes and packing stuff. It wasn't until after we finished and were headed to the house with yet another load that I realized it had been a good dinner sitting there; no apprehension or gloomy feelings at all. Karen brought the bikes and a few more boxes. We unloaded quickly. I was willing to call it a night, but Karen and Nancy decided if we made one more run, we could clean out the kitchen and that whole floor, including the contents of the refrigerator. I sighed and we did it. We got back to the house a little after nine, and were unloaded by nine twenty. Karen finally stuck her head in the house; we'd been in the garage up to then. "Wow, is that from the roses?" Karen said. Nancy told her it was, and told her with the biggest smile I've seen on her yet. "Who's for a dip in the pool?" I asked. I knew I was ready. It was cool out, but not that cool. Karen said, "Uh, I don't have a swimsuit with me." "What's a swimsuit?" I asked, some laughter in my voice. Karen chuckled. "That's what I thought. I'll see you guys later." Nancy offered to loan her a suit. They were still talking as I hit the button for the pool cover and went outside. I quickly stripped and was in the pool before the cover had retracted all the way. It felt great. Once the cover was off, I swam around a bit to loosen up my shoulders. Nancy joined me and swam over. "You scared her off," she told me as we embraced. "Sorry about that. Thanks for all your help today. We should easily finish tomorrow." "You're welcome, I enjoyed it. Oh, we forgot your bacon and bread!" I kissed her on the forehead. "Don't worry. We've got plenty of time." We swam for a bit, then moved to the spa. "This seems cooler. Did you do that?" Nancy asked. "Yup, a couple days ago. It was too hot for me. Is it okay with you?" She reached behind herself and hit the plunger which started the jets. "This is much nicer." The jets felt good. We ended up in each other's arms, kissing and floating in the water. She wrapped her legs around me, with the expected result. After a bit more rocking together, I started entering her. She moaned appreciatively, then said, "Can we get out?" I moved us to the side. "I want you on your back," I told her. We grabbed a cushion from a nearby lounge and put it on the deck. She lay on her back and I was immediately on top of her. Something about the firmness underneath her helped. We kissed and ground together, her legs wrapped around mine. I sat up some and grabbed a towel, folding it and putting it under her bottom, raising her a few inches. That gave me the room to sit up more. I moistened a finger with saliva and slipped it down between us, caressing her magic button. I knew when I found it, both by feel and by her reaction. "Oh!" she gasped, and her hips started moving. I matched my rhythm to hers, and we were soon both on the edge. I picked up her feet and put them over my shoulders, pulling her bottom closer to me. As my head went back, I opened my eyes briefly to see stars above us, and the moving lights of an aircraft high in the sky. Nancy let out a shriek, and a shiver went through me as I came with her. I put her legs down and lay on top of her, kissing. After a while though, I started to cool down. "Let's go in, I don't want you to catch cold," I whispered to her. "You have to let me up first," she chided. We got up and wrapped towels around us. I started in to the house, but she walked over to the spa, dropped her towel, and hopped in. I followed suit. It was now warm and nice. She hit the plunger to turn on the jets again, and moved over to one. I could tell she was directing it between her legs. I went up behind her and reached around, palming her breasts, kneading them gently, massaging her nipples. She moved her hips closer to the jet and let her head and upper body rest back against me. Her breathing picked up, and after a bit I felt her tense. I rolled her nipples in my fingers and she moaned slightly and quivered against me, then went limp. I wrapped my arms around her and moved her away from the jet to where I could hold her better. I turned her around to hold her, rocking her in the water. "Oh God," she said after a minute, "I just wanted to get rinsed off, but when you grabbed me from behind, I just lost it." I kissed her head. "Good, I'm glad you enjoyed that. Can we go in now?" She laughed and raised her head. "Yes. Let's shower." We got out and dried a little, enough to not spot the floors or carpets. We went in and she hit the pool cover button. Upstairs we were met again by the fragrance of the roses as we entered the bedroom. When we were in bed after showering, drying off, and getting ready for bed, she told me, "Thanks so much for getting out of the spa." I sensed something going on. "No problem, why? Tell me?" She sighed. "John liked to take me in the spa. It's nice, but getting that chlorinated water inside causes problems." I snuggled up closer, feeling the mattress adjust to our weight, feeling the weight of the spread on top of us. "Anything for you." "Mmmm," she said, and pulled me to her. She gave me my favorite nightcap and we went to sleep in each other's arms. We got up the next morning and got out of the house reasonably early. I was sore from all the moving, but tried not to show it. I'm sure she was sore as well. The time in the spa had helped. After our second trip to the house with stuff, Nancy asked me, "What's your hurry? Slow down." I laughed and hugged her. She was sweaty, we both were. "We need to be back here and done by two thirty at the latest." She pulled back with her shoulders, leaning into me more with her hips and said, "Why?" I smiled. "We have an appointment at four down in the flatlands. It's a surprise." She smiled. "Will I like it?" "I certainly think so." "How do I need to dress?" I chuckled. "Irrelevant." At least for the first part, dress didn't matter. She raised an eyebrow. "Oh?" I laughed. "Let's get going, we have more stuff to take care of." She ground her hips into me and said in her low sexy voice, "I know how to make you talk..." I hugged her to me. "You certainly do, but let's talk later." She laughed and we got on the road again. We made it, with everything I wanted out of the place and in the garage by two forty five. "What's next?" she asked. I was stripping off my sweat-soaked T-shirt and said, "Cool off in the pool, leave here by three thirty." We took a very nice dip in the pool and showered briefly afterwards. "How should I dress?" she asked. "Casual, comfortable. We're going to dinner afterwards. Do you like Japanese?" She smiled. "I haven't had Japanese food in quite a while." As we started into the valley, she asked, "Where are we going?" I answered "To our surprise." She laughed and dug her fingers into my thigh. "Save that thought for later," I told her. I parked on the block over from the massage place, where I usually did. As we got out, she looked around puzzled. I took her hand, gave her a quick kiss, and started to our destination. I cut through the art supply store, as usual, and turned left out the main entrance. As soon as we did that, she threw her arms around me. "Think you know where we're going, do you?" I asked. She laughed. "Oh, I hope so. How long did you sign us up for?" I hugged her to me. "Hour and a half each, with a shower afterwards. Is that okay?" She sighed. "I was worried you'd do half an hour or something." It was my turn to laugh. "No way -- that's too short." We walked in and the receptionist recognized both of us. I gave Nancy an inquiring eyebrow. She said, "I've been coming here for a while. So who do we have?" The gal behind the counter said, "Angie and Michelle. I'll let them know you're both here. How would you like to pay for this?" Nancy ran a hand over my shoulder and said, "Ooh, you do have good taste. Who would you like?" I fished my wallet out and told the receptionist, "Cash." Angie walked out from the back and greeted Nancy as if she were a sister she'd not seen for a while. Michelle appeared and the same thing happened again. Nancy decided to go with Angie, and as we were walking down the hall, she spoke to Michelle. "He still has some adhesions in his left shoulder, and spend at least ten minutes at the end on his head and neck; I want you to turn him into jelly for me. He's easier to manage that way." The gals all laughed. I had a very good massage. Michelle is an artist; a massage from her feels like one continuous relaxing motion. She worked deep in my shoulders and upper back, and did turn me to jelly at the end, focusing on my head and neck. But it was over, and I had to get up. I sighed and put on a robe, gathered my clothes, and headed back to the showers. The door for the one reserved for Nancy was still open. I went in the one with my name on it and took a long shower, still glowing from the massage, getting the excess oil off me. When I went back to the lobby, Nancy was sitting there waiting for me, a serene smile on her face. I reached for my wallet again to fish out cash for tips, but she stood up and said, "I've already taken care of that." We stepped outside, took about three steps, stopped, hugged, and kissed. After our kiss I held her, her head on my shoulder. "Oh I needed that," she said. "I love to kiss you," I told her. She chuckled and dug her fingers into my middle, making me tense up. "The massage, silly. Especially after all that moving work." She looked up at me. "Did you know I teach there occasionally?" I snorted. "I figured they knew you." "I teach anatomy and physiology every six months or so; it helps keep me sharp, and keeps my credentials current." "So would that be a good place for me to learn the art of massage?" I asked her. She raised her eyebrows. "You want to learn?" I shrugged my shoulders. "Why not? I enjoy it; you enjoy it. If I learn we can save money by just working on each other. It might be a good career." She gave me a low laugh. "If you're serious about that, there are some very interesting things we can do together." She was smiling up at me, so sweet, so focused. She'd worked so hard the last few days, helping me pack and move out. And as she said, we could have easily hired someone to do it. I wouldn't have missed the money. "Nancy, I'm very serious about you." If I was so serious, why were my feelings so jumbled, so unclear as I held her close, holding her head to my shoulder again? The feeling in the pit of my stomach was more than working all day with no lunch. Who did I have to turn to anymore? Who could I trust? Could I even trust my own feelings? Do I understand my own feelings? We sighed together, and laughed softly. I kissed her forehead. She started walking back the way we'd come, but I turned her around. "This way. Dinner is next." She spun around and hugged me again, and started down the street pulling me along, an incredible spring in her step. I had to laugh. We went to the Japanese place down in the middle of the next block. "Here?" she asked with little girl enthusiasm. "Got a better idea?" I asked her. We went in and soon were seated in a booth. I didn't think we'd need reservations this time on a Sunday night. First thing, we asked for lots of water. "When I teach, I always come here for lunch," she told me, grinning. "Someone not like Japanese food?" I suggested. She sighed, but the smile only diminished a little. "No, not a very adventurous eater." Our water arrived. I picked up a glass. "Well, I'll try anything that won't fight back as I chew it." She laughed and we drained the first glass quickly. We had a pleasant dinner and walked around downtown Palo Alto for a while afterwards. We stopped at a coffee place for her; I had another glass of water. We stood up. "It's getting late, and we have an early morning," I told her. She curled up to me; it was getting chilly out and we were both wearing short sleeves. "Take me home, please," she said, head on my shoulder again. I held her to me for a moment, then took her hand and started walking back to the jeep. I hoped she couldn't see the tears on my face. I managed to wipe my face before getting in. If she spotted anything, she didn't call me on it. After crawling into our soft warm bed a while later, she told me, "Thank you for a very nice weekend." "Nancy, thank you for all your help. You didn't have to do any of that, but you did." "And I'm not done yet. On your back," she said in that low growling voice of hers. I rolled to my back and she slid down my body, sliding up slowly to tantalize me, and eventually sliding up to take me deep inside her. She rocked us both slowly and deliberately to delirium, then held me to her perfumed breast, and I went to sleep to the soothing music of her beating heart. The alarm went off and she scampered out of bed before I could catch her. "We have to get going; we have a busy day, and traffic is bad this time of the morning. Get up, lazy bones!" she chided. "Yes dear," I sighed. She laughed and came around my side of the bed to help me up. We took a quick shower, dressed, and headed to the garage. She went over to her car. "Meet you at the doctor's office." She blew me a kiss. I tried to keep up with her, but she zipped around pretty quickly in her little car. She was also quite an attractive sight in it. When I went into the doctor's office, she was already sitting down. She just grinned at me; I sat down and started looking at the Wall Street Journal which had been delivered to our door. We got in quick. The doctor asked if we'd brought in a sample to check. Nancy hung her head and said she'd forgotten, we'd been busy. The doctor remarked we'd probably have a clean sample then. We all laughed. As he was checking me out, Nancy told him of one suture unraveling and her removing the lot. He said she'd done a good job, and I was pretty much healed. Drop off a sample and they'd check it for us. Nancy took off as I was getting my pants on; she was going to pack for us. I was actually glad she did. I gave the doctor the eye and he asked if I had any questions. I asked him about reversals. He smiled and sighed. He told me the procedure he performs is highly reversible; he goes to extra trouble to do it that way. Reversal involves microsurgery, general anesthesia, at least one night in the hospital, significant postop recovery pain, and isn't covered by insurance. I needed to wait at least 6 months before contemplating it, and the results wouldn't vary much over a three or four year period. I thanked him and headed off. Driving over to the old salt mines contemplating that, it was actually good news; I had time. And meanwhile, I could have fun! With whom? Karen? Debbie from the florists? I remembered the look on her face when she touched that bedspread; she was definitely aroused. No, I couldn't do that to Nancy. I'd left the doctors office pretty upbeat, manic even, and now I was quite somber when I got to the office. I flashed my badge and went in, heading back to my old cube. I stuck my head in Josh's on the way. He was sitting at his confuser, headphones on. He spotted me and turned around, taking off the headphones. At first all he could do was give me a very silly grin. I started laughing. "Have a nice time at the new place?" I asked somewhat suggestively. His color deepened a little, but he chuckled with me. "Yes, very nice all weekend. How can we ever thank you?" I shook his hand. "Call me Uncle Bill," is what popped out of my mouth. Where had that come from? He turned another couple shades deeper red and I left to look for Dale. I stuck my head in Dale's cube. He was bent over a stack of paper. He looked up, saw me, and sighed. "Let's talk," I said. He nodded his head. He's a bright guy -- I think he'd figured it out. We went to a little conference room nearby. He started out. "Josh told me about his new place this morning, what you'd done. He said you're filthy rich now." I shrugged my shoulders. "I don't know about filthy, but a little dirty perhaps. Dale, I'm sorry to do this to you, but it doesn't make sense for me any more. Maybe it will in six or eight months, but I don't think so." He smiled. He'd been good to work for; supportive, didn't get in our way, tried to insulate us from the idiots on high. "I figured as much. I'd do the same thing. So what should we do? Close you out now, or put you on leave for six months?" I sighed. "Whatever gives you the most flexibility. I know I'm leaving you in the lurch; you need to replace me." He nodded, but smiled. "There's never a good time to lose someone like you. I'd like to put you on leave and check in again in six months; I can always hope you'll get bored." I stood up and shook his hand. I'd written down the new address and phone number, as well as Jill's for when we were out of the country. I handed that to him, then started to give him my badge. "Keep it for now," he told me. "Come in later this week or next to clean up your office. We'll want to have a lunch for you anyway." I shook his hand again and left. He was a good guy. Next stop was the attorney's office. I parked in their visitor section and walked into the lobby. They had to fleece a lot of folks to put up a lobby like this. I announced myself and stood around; I was a little early. Marshall came out fairly quickly, a smile on his face. He shook my hand -- good to see you, all that rot. As we walked back he said, "I hope you don't mind someone sitting in with us." I stopped in the hall. "Your silver haired senior partner?" Marshall nodded a little sheepishly. "He invited himself in." I frowned, then smiled, then frowned again. "Mister Marshall, I don't want to cause you any problems. I really don't. Would it cause you grief if I were to throw him out?" He smiled from ear to ear. "Not at all." I looked at him. "I may get nasty..." He looked around a bit, then said, "Sounds like fun." I laughed and clapped him on the shoulder. "I'm going to like working with you." I stopped before the conference room door to take a deep breath, and put on what I hoped was my best poker face. We opened the door and walked part way in. Old silver hair immediately stood and approached me, his hand outstretched. "Who invited you to this?" I asked coldly. I wasn't acting; I didn't like the guy. He started in and I cut him short. "I made this appointment with Mister Marshall, and Mister Marshall alone. I am interested in his opinions, not yours." He launched into his "how long I worked with John on these matters" speech and I cut him off again. I was getting pissed. "You keep associating yourself with John, who I remember as a married man fooling around with my wife. I made a very simple request to meet with Mister Marshall to address some concerns I had. If your firm is incapable of dealing with such simple requests, I can probably find a firm that can. Do I make myself clear?" He had a wonderful slapped-in-the-face-with-a-cold-fish expression; it only lasted a moment, but it was enough. He regained his composure quickly and said, "Yes, very clear." I took a breath and smiled. I stepped forward and extended my hand. I think through reflex action he took it. I told him, "Thank you for making yourself available; I appreciate the gesture. When I need your expertise, please rest assured I'll call on you." Out of the corner of my eye I saw about half a dozen people outside the doorway, most seemed quite amused. Silver hair puffed up his chest again and smiled. "I look forward to working with you, Mister Wilson," he said. He turned and picked up a notepad and a coffee cup from the table and headed to the door. I could almost hear the scurrying of feet outside it as he approached. Marshall closed the conference room door behind him. There were two other people in the conference room, a gal and a guy. The gal's head was now on the table, and she was pounding the table softly with her fist. The guy got up and walked in front of me, then got down on his hands and knees and kissed my shoes. I looked at Marshall; he had tears on his face. He finally gasped, shook his head, and sat down. The shoe-polisher stood up. "I'm Gary, from the tax group. You've made a lot of people very happy." I shook his hand. The gal raised her head and stood up. "I'm Nelly from trusts. Thank you so much." I looked at her. "Your lip is bleeding," I said. She touched her mouth and laughed. "It was either that or fall out of my chair laughing." Marshall had pretty much recovered by now. "Mister Wilson, you've done the firm an incredible favor. It may cost me my job, but it was worth it. He's been riding on that man's coat tails for too long." I looked at the young attorney. "Mister Marshall, if it does cost you your job, rest assured all my business will vanish from this firm. That's a promise." I turned to the rest of the group. "That's a promise to all of you." That sobered everyone up a bit. Marshall recovered first. "Mister Wilson, I asked Nelly and Gary to be here because they have specific expertise I don't have. If you'd like, just the two of us can go over things, but I feel it's best to have them available if questions come up; it saves time and lessens the chances of things getting lost in the retelling." I smiled. "That's quite all right. I agree with your analysis. Have you met with Duncan and Mindy yet?" Gary answered, still wiping his eyes. "Yes, on Friday. They're both very good, and very thorough." Marshall nodded. I sighed. Time to drop the kimono. "I'll level with you. You all know how I came into this, don't you?" They nodded. "Well, I expect that to be kept quiet, as quiet as anything ever is in this valley. In the space of a few days I went from being a happily married geek, or so I thought, to a very rich widower whose wife gave old John one thrill too many for his old ticker. I don't know who to trust. Are the people representing me taking me to the cleaners? Are you guys? What can I be sure of, and what do I have to worry about? Can I get some 7-Up?" They sat somewhat stunned for a moment. Then Marshall picked up the phone and asked someone to bring in a 7-Up. He hung up. "Mister Wilson," he started out. "Call me Bill, please. I insist," I interrupted. He smiled a bit and seemed to relax. "Okay, Bill. First off, the people representing you. They have a very good reputation in the valley; they're fair, hard working, they don't play games. Duncan especially -- he's one of the best." Gary was nodding his head, as was Nelly. "As to what's gone on here, at our firm... John has gotten good representation, but I think it could have been better. None of the work has been sloppy, but what we've reviewed could have been done better. Of course you can say that of almost all legal work; you can keep tweaking and polishing until hell freezes over. I think you're getting good representation. I think you'll get better representation, and lower bills, with someone taken off the matter." I nodded my head in agreement. We spent another forty minutes or so going over the issues I'd raised. When we wound up, I felt a lot better. Either everyone I'd met was telling me the same lie, which is difficult and improbable, or they're all telling me the truth. I'd rather believe that. Both sets of attorneys were in agreement that I was protected, wealthy, and could do pretty much anything as long as I checked on the tax consequences beforehand. We shook hands and Gary and Nelly thanked me again, not only for themselves, but for all the associates in the firm, for making their day. Marshall took me back out to the lobby. On our way out, we were intercepted by a very sharply dressed secretary, who politely asked if I had a moment to speak with one of the other attorneys. I may not know a lot about law firms, but I recognized his name as one of the ones on the door to the place. I looked at my watch and told her I'd be happy to spare a few minutes. Marshall looked as if he'd seen the gallows. I smiled and shook his hand, telling him I'd speak to him later. I was led up the stairs to a very nice corner office and ushered right in. The occupant, also named Bill, was dressed nicely but casually. You couldn't cut bread with the creases on my pants; you could with his. He shook my hand; I told him it was a pleasure to meet him. We sat down. He steepled his hands and gave me a wry smile. "I understand you had a brief discussion with one of our senior partners this morning." I smiled, then sighed. "Yes, I did." He just looked at me from across his desk. After a bit I continued. "He seems to think that constantly reminding me he'd worked for many years with the adulterer who took my wife away from me and caused her death is a good idea. That, and I did not request his presence." He nodded and told me he was sure that he'd meant well. I shook my head. "Clueless. I picked up Mister Marshall's card after our first meeting because I could tell he noticed I reacted -- he had a clue, and realized his senior was getting a client really pissed off." He just kept nodding. "What would you like to see changed?" he asked me. I smiled. "I'd like the matter put in the hands of Mister Marshall. I trust him." He nodded again. "Mister Marshall may not have all the relevant expertise to handle matters of this complexity." I smiled again, with an edge on it. "I appreciate that. And I appreciate Mister Marshall telling me that himself this morning, and asking two of his colleagues to join him for backup. He wasn't trying to bluff me. I'm sure that Mister Marshall will have the support he needs to handle my business, no matter what firm he's with." That brought a laugh, and the steepled hands descended to the desktop. "That won't be necessary, Mister Wilson. I agree with you; it will be good for Marshall. And, I think, good for the firm overall." I smiled and relaxed a bit. "Good. I'd appreciate it if you would inform Mister Marshall of this promptly. When I was invited to speak to you I think he saw his life flash before his eyes." That brought a little more laughter. "I can see that it would, yes. I'll let him know personally." He stood up, as did I. We shook hands again. "Thank you for your continued business, Mister Wilson," he told me. "Thank you, sir, for your concern, and for being direct with me." He even walked me out to the front door. I looked out at the traffic on Page Mill Road in Palo Alto. I felt good. I felt safer than I did before. Of course when I got to the Jeep I found two sale fliers on the windshield and a large bird turd on the hood. Oh well. I got in and headed for home. Time to go look for the elusive Miss Brown. END of Part 8 Tales of the Golden Mule - Miss Yellow Tales of the Golden Mule by artie@netgate.net http://www.asstr-mirror.org/files/Authors/artie/www If you want to read the whole thing, it's available in HTML format on my web site (http://www.asstr-mirror.org/files/Authors/artie/www/TGM.html). It's also available as a single LARGE (about 800kb!) text file on the asstr ftp site (http://www.asstr-mirror.org//pub/Authors/artie/text/tgm.txt). Like what you've read so far? Tell me about it! 233 people downloaded the entire text file from the asstr ftp site last week! ----- ASSM Moderation System Notice------ This post has been reformatted by ASSTR's Smart Text Enhancement Processor (STEP) system due to linelengths exceeding the 75 character limit. ----- ASSM Moderation System Notice------ <1st attachment end> ----- ASSM Moderation System Notice------ Notice: This post has been modified from its original format. The post was sent as an email attachment and has been converted by ASSTR ASSM moderation software. ----- ASSM Moderation System Notice------ -- If you enjoyed this work, take a moment to email the author. Your comments are their only payment. 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