Just as our drinks arrived, I feel a pair of soft delicate hands covering my face.
“Guess who Daddy?”
I reach around behind me pulling Dakota around and kiss her. Now the guy next to Jennifer is really interested in me. Here I sit with a gorgeous woman (Jennifer), a beautiful slender young woman is kissing me (Dakota), another woman is standing next to my chair (Jill), John/Diane, Marcus/Darleen are all hanging around the chairs.
The vibrating coaster buzzes and lights up. I grab our drinks and tell everyone our table is ready. Just as I was standing up, I hear the TV announce that the longtime fugitive Petrovosky Brothers were apprehended by the FBI today with the assistance from David Green, the CEO of Jaxson’s Inc. They even have a picture of me on he TV. The guy in the next chair knocks his beer over seeing me next to him and me on the TV.
I ask him, if I may buy him another beer. He agrees. However, thinking about it, I offer for him to join us for dinner, him and his guest. He says he is there alone. He’s in town on business and would really appreciate joining us but he doesn’t want to intrude. I tell him not to be silly as I pay the bartender giving her a big tip.
We all head to the hostess stand. I tell the hostess that we have 9 not 8 for dinner, she tells me it doesn’t matter as the table seats 10.
The hostess leads us to the table. It’s a large round table. I hold out a chair for Jennifer and one for Jill. The new guy holds one out for Dakota and takes a seat next to her. I see John holding a chair out for Diane, which makes me proud of him. Marcus holds one out for Darleen. We all sit down. I have Jennifer on one side of me and Jill on the other.
The waitress comes around asking if we wanted to order drinks or appetizers. I order 3 orders of the coconut shrimp, knowing that John and Diane will feast on one by themselves and I was determined to get some this time. I also ordered two large orders of the cheesy fries with extra bacon and extra spicy tiger sauce for the table. I see the waitress smiling as I am ordering like a madman. She sees the guest check rapidly growing.
As she works her way around the table asking for drink orders, I introduce myself to the new dinner companion. I begin working my way around the table introducing everyone.
The guy is stunned.
His first question is about Dakota. “Is she your Daughter?” he asks a bit sheepishly.
“No, she’s not my daughter. You were wondering since she kissed me in the bar, didn’t you?” I say.
“Well, yes sir. It did seem a bit odd her calling you Daddy then kissing you like you two were dating.” He says.
“First of all, I’m NOT sir. David, Mr. Greene, hell even shithead, just not ‘sir’. That is my deceased father.” I say to him.
“Daddy, does that mean we can call you ‘shithead’?” Dakota asks with a devilish smile.
Everyone at the table erupts with laughter.
I feel two hands on my thighs. One from Jill, the other from Jennifer.
“David, I’m sorry. I should have introduced myself. I’m Mike Booker. I am a rep for a music label, I’m usually based out of Atlanta, but my label wants me to move to the west coast since the real music scene is here. However, I’m not sure. It’s so nice here, no humidity like in Atlanta, but the traffic here is unbelievable.” Mike says to me.
I think to myself, works for a record label and we have acquired a recording studio.
“Mike, do you like what you do?” I ask.
Jill sees the wheels turning in my head.
“Well, kind of. I miss being a record producer. I produced several artists, but when the new company took over, they moved me to being a rep and visiting radio stations getting them to play our records more…. oh wait, it’s no longer records…now it’s CDs and digital recording.” Mike explains
“Would I know any of the artist that you have produced?” I ask.
“Probably not, you don’t strike me as the alternative music nor the hip-hop type.”
“Well, I really enjoy Andy Black, Nelly, Bad Wolves, and Daughtry.” I answer.
“Really? I produced both Andy Black and Bad Wolves. I’m also supposed to work with Disturbed. They want to cover a song you’ve probably never heard of, The sounds of silence.” He says
“The old Simon and Garfunkel song from the 70’s” I say clearly surprising the hell out of him.
“Damn, maybe you need to get into the recording business. Not many people have this wide knowledge of music.” Mike says to me.
“Mike, how about I tell you that I have a recording studio already. I am looking for someone to run it, be a producer and make it successful. Do you know anyone that might fit that job?” I say already knowing the answer.
Looking across the table, I see John smiling from ear to ear. He’s seen my act before.
“David, I would like to say I would be happy to run your studio, but I’m already employed.” Mike says.
“If you answer some questions for me, I think you would like to at least listen to my offer.” I say.
The table is silent. Business is speaking, and no one even dares interrupt.
“Mike, first question: How much do you make? Second question: Are you under contract? Third question: How long have you been in this industry?”
“David, I make the most money I have ever made in this industry. $45.000 a year plus a bonus if I sign a new artist. To answer your second question, no I’m not under contract. Thirdly, I’ve been in the music business for over a decade.” Mike says to me.
“Wow. $45,000? That much?” I ask sarcastically.
“Yes, it’s pretty much the tops in the industry.”
“Hmm, let me think a bit.” I say as John is about to bust a gut. He knows what is coming next.
“Well, shit. How am I supposed to compete with that type of money? A guy with over a decade of experience, who has produced stuff for Andy Black, Bad Wolves, and is scheduled to work with Disturbed.” I say to him.
He looks down at this empty appetizer plate exhaling in defeat.
I see John whispering into Diane’s ear.
“Well, how about this then: I offer you a contract for a five-year deal. You will run the recording studio. You will use all your contacts to get the studio to become one of the best and easiest studios for artists to work with. I’ll pay you $100,000 a year, you’ll get medical/dental/vision/hearing benefits as well as my company will pay to move you out here and we will provide you with a low interest loan on your home here.” I say to Mike.
The whole table is silent. John is smiling. Diane is smiling. I feel both Jennifer and Jill squeezing my thighs. I sit silently waiting for Mike’s answer.
“David, that’s really nice of you to offer. But, really, how can you afford to do all that?” Mike asks.
“Mike, I’m CEO of a very large corporation. My job is to source out the best people to join our company and make it great again. I know from experience that if you want great people, you must pay top quality wages to entice them. People just want to know that what they do for a company is valued. They don’t want to be nickeled and dimed to death while the corporation makes millions off their hard work.” I explain.
“May I have some time to think about it?” He asks.
“Sure, take all the time you need. I’ll expect your answer by dessert.” I say to him smiling.
I know in my heart, that I have him. I’m offering more than double his current salary, full benefit package, plus a low interest loan to move out here.
“David, IF you are serious, I’m willing to take a chance and come work for you.” Mike says smiling.
John begins clapping as does the rest of the table.
The waitress comes back over and asks about dinner. She goes around the table getting orders.
“Um, David, do you always ambush people with overly generous job offers?” Mike says smiling.
“Well no Mike, usually I take them to a Lady Gaga concert, have her stop by an say hi to everyone and watch an incredible show from the suite.” I say seeing John, Diane and Marcus’ eyes get big. I guess that everyone forgot how we all met that evening and what a great time we had. The beginning of our journey that has ended up with us here having dinner together.
“You know Stefani Germanotta?”
“I don’t know her, I just called in a favor from a friend at the Staples Center. She agreed, and it happened. She only visited about 10 minutes with the group.”
John couldn’t hold back any longer, “It was the start of one fucking incredible weekend. None of us could have imagined what Jill, Dakota and David had up their sleeves for us.”
Jennifer leaned in and whispered in my ear, “Hey, I didn’t get any Lady Gaga time?” She says squeezing my cock.
“Maybe next time, but you have to be a good girl my dear.”
She is smiling from ear to ear. Her smile really lights up her face.
I look at Marcus. He doesn’t seem to be with us, his eyes are glazed over. However, I do see Darleen’s arm gently moving back and forth under the table.
Jennifer leans in again, “Is Marcus getting a hand job at the table?”
“Probably. Darleen is quite the sexual deviant.” I say quietly to her.
“That’s hot, but pretty ballsy considering she’s in the middle of the dining room.” Jen says to me.
I know she is right on both accounts, but that is Darleen.
Our dinners arrive. Everyone digs right in. Dinner is delicious.
As the dinner is winding down, I pass my business card over to Mike. I write my personal cell phone number on the back.
“I would like you to start for me in two weeks. We’ll be out of town for most of next week on the east coast plus this gives you some time to resign from your current job leaving them on good terms.” I say to Mike.
I look at Jill. She doesn’t seem to be feeling well.
“Jill honey, are you alright?”
“Not really. I have lots of stomach pain. Can we get me out of here soon?” Jill says.
Dakota is the first to get up going right into the kitchen where she is met at the kitchen entrance by a manager. She explains that we have a sick pregnant woman and we need to pay our bill and leave quickly. He prints the bill out, she hands him her corporate AMEX, signs the bill and we all leave.
Fred is close by as well as the other limo.
I put Jill, Dakota, and Jennifer in my car directing the others to head back to the house in the other limo.
I tell Fred that we need to go to the nearest hospital as quickly as possible. He hits the gas and we are off, speeding through Friday night traffic heading towards the closest hospital.
Dakota is calling Dr. Ronda who agrees to get to the hospital as soon as she can.
Fred did an excellent job. He got us to the hospital in 7 minutes, pushing several yellow lights.
When we get to the hospital, Fred stops us in front of the ER doors. Dakota jumps out grabbing a wheelchair for Jill.
Fred holds his hand out to help Jill out of the limo. Dakota pushes her into the ER announcing to the security guard that we have a pregnant woman with severe stomach pains. He directs her to room 3.
Once in the exam room, Jill gets on the exam table very gingerly. She is wincing from the pain. Her breathing is short almost gasping. A nurse named Becky comes in. She is surprised to see me.
“Hey, don’t I know you?” She says.
“Yes, but we’re here because my wife is 14 weeks pregnant, she’s having incredible stomach pain. We phoned her doctor, Dr. Ronda who is on the way.” I say with a touch of desperation in my voice.
“Don’t worry sir. We’ll take good care of your wife.” Becky says to me.
She begins to draw vital signs. Blood pressure, pulse ox, temperature, listening to her breathing and heart rhythms.
She heads out of the exam room calling for someone. She returns momentarily with someone who appears to be a doctor. He introduces himself as Dr. Patel. His accent is very thick Indian or Pakistani. He goes through the same steps that I just saw Becky accomplish.
Just as I was about to complain, Jill let out a scream.
Both Jennifer and Dakota are startled.
Dr. Ronda comes into the room. The three medical people quickly discuss what’s going on.
Dr. Ronda give instructions to prep Jill for emergency surgery. She grabs me by the sleeve of my shirt and pulls me into the hall.
“David, her body is rejecting the baby. It needs to come out of her immediately. We’re going to have to perform an emergency C-section to remove the baby. She’ll be alright, I promise you. However, this will take at least two hours. You should probably go home. I’ll call you when it is over.” Ronda says to me.
“I’m not going anywhere. I’m staying right here. I’ll be in the cafeteria or the surgical waiting room.” I tell her.
“Ok, that’s fine. I’ll take good care of her David.” She says to me, giving me a kiss on the cheek.
I see the orderly pushing Jill out of the exam room. I stop them for a moment, Jill is in obvious pain. I lean down and kiss her telling her how much I love her. The orderly pushes her away down the hall.
I walk back into the exam room. Both Jennifer and Dakota put their arms around me hugging me and telling me Jill will be alright.
I’m stunned. My mind is a complete blank. I have no idea what to do.
Dakota takes my hand and leads me somewhere. I really don’t know where I’m going, I’m just holding on to her hand in a complete daze.
Although the walk was probably only a couple of minutes, it seemed to be an hour long in a maze with no end in sight.
Finally, I see a sign that says ‘Cafeteria’. I follow Dakota in, still holding her hand, still my mind completely blank.
She sits me down. Jennifer sits with me. Dakota goes to get coffee for Jennifer and herself and pineapple juice for me.
She comes back to our table setting a cup of juice in front of me. She takes her own coffee the condiment table to get cream and sugar. When she returns, Jennifer does the same thing with her coffee.
I just sit there, not saying a word. Neither Dakota nor Jennifer tries to engage in conversation. We all just sit there in silence.
CHAPTER 5
For some reason, in a hospital time seems to move slower than anywhere else. I just stared at the same spot on the wall in front of me. Occasionally, either Jennifer or Dakota would squeeze my hand to silently reassure me.
I felt like crying, but I held it together.
I looked at the clock on the wall. In my head, I did the math. It had been more than three hours. Now I really began to worry.
I heard Dakota’s phone buzz.
She took the call. It was Dr. Ronda. She wanted us to meet her in the surgical consult area. She gave Dakota a room number to be able to find the room.
Dakota got me up, took my hand and led me out of the cafeteria.
Again, I walked where ever she led me. I was still in a daze.
We arrived at the designated room. I see Dr. Ronda with a pensive look on her face.
“David, come in here and sit down. We need to talk.” She says in a monotone.
My eyes are filling up. I’m worried. My mind is still blank. I feel numb. Dakota is still holding my hand. Jennifer puts her arm around me.
“David. Jill lost the baby. Her body rejected it and it tried to expel it all by itself. We were able to remove the baby from her. The baby had already died inside her and the body just wanted it to get out. However, she lost a lot of blood. It took us nearly an hour to get the bleeding under control. We ended up giving her several units of blood just to stabilize her. She’s OK right now. We’ve induced a coma to allow her body to begin healing itself. I expect we’ll take her out of the coma on Sunday. She’ll be in the hospital for at least a week. So maybe, just maybe by next Sunday she will be able to go home.” Dr. Ronda explains.
I’m still numb. I feel a single tear roll down my cheek. I don’t know what to do. Dakota reaches up to me and wipes the single tear away.
Dr. Ronda says that we can see Jill Sunday. Not tonight, not tomorrow. She gets up and leans in and kisses me on the cheek.
Dakota takes my hand and leads me out of the room and to the ER entrance. Jennifer follows along with us. I feel like this is happening to someone else. This is so surreal.
I get outside. Fred is waiting there for us with the door open. He says something, but I have no idea what it is.
Fred gets back in the limo and heads out.
I don’t really remember the drive home. When we pull into the driveway Fred opens the door for us to exit the vehicle.
I’m still in a daze. I feel Dakota reach into my pants pocket, I’m not sure why. She pulls out the money I have and hands the entire amount to Fred who begins to say that it’s too much. She dismisses him and takes me inside.
Jennifer follows, putting her hand on my back caressing me.
We enter the house. I can’t even face anyone. I just head down the hallway. I shed my clothes and climb into bed. Once there my eyes erupt with the tears. I don’t know what to do. I turn my back to the door, as I don’t want anyone to see me like this. I pull the covers up to my neck hoping sleep will come soon.
My eyes open during the night. I feel someone in bed with me. I turn over to find Dakota snuggling to me. She is sleeping. I’m so very happy she is there. I put my arms around her and pull her to me. She smiles without opening an eye.
I don’t see or feel anyone else in the bed. Just her and I.
I drift back off to sleep.
It wasn’t until mid-morning that my eyes opened. Dakota was still snuggled into me. I laid there trying to recount what had happened last night.
I leaned into Dakota and kissed her lightly and proceeded to get out of bed.
“Daddy, where are you going?”
“I gotta pee.”
I head into the bathroom to do my morning rituals.
I put a pair of basketball shorts on and a white tee shirt. I head out of the bedroom and down the hall.
I get to the kitchen, pour myself a glass of juice and sit at the kitchen table just staring at the clock on the microwave.
It reads: 10:11 am.
I think about the calls that I need to make.
I look for my phone but don’t see it. I get up and head back down the hall to the bedroom. I push the door open on Tina’s room and see Darleen and Marcus entangled in Tina’s bed.
I push Dakota’s door open and see John and Diane.
I think to myself, where is Jennifer? I spin around and head out to the living room, no Jennifer. I go to the TV room. Still no Jennifer. I’m thinking ‘what the fuck’?
I go back down the hallway to get my phone. Dakota meets me at the door to the bedroom.
“Where’s my phone darling?” I ask
She pops her head back into the bedroom and grabs it handing it to me.
“Where’s Jennifer. She’s the only one I can’t seem to find.” I say
“I sent her home via Fred last night. She didn’t feel comfortable sleeping here when you were such a wreck last night.” Dakota explains.
“That’s really nice of her.”
“She really loves you, I hope you know that. Maybe not as much as Jill and I do, but she loves you none the less.” Dakota tells me in a heartfelt manner.
“I need to tell Bob and Melanie that I’m cancelling our east coast trip until Jill is better.” I say to Dakota.
“Daddy don’t do that. Call them. Tell them that Jill was rushed to the hospital last night and had emergency surgery. Tell them that she’s in a coma. However, let them suggest that you cancel the east coast trip until she is better. It will make them feel better that they are ‘helping’ you. If you tell them, then they will think you are just trying to get out of seeing Melanie. Trust me on this. I worked for them and I know how they think. Melanie will be the one to suggest that you reschedule the trip for another time.” Dakota explains to me.
I think about what she said to me. It makes perfect sense.
I head back out to the TV room and dial Bob Jaxson. I tell him about Jill being rushed to the hospital. Having emergency surgery. Losing lots of blood. Falling into a comma. Bob hands the phone to Melanie. I must tell her the whole story again. She says to stay home, take care of Jill and not to worry. We can do the east coast trip anytime. I thank her and end the call.
“You were right my darling.” I say to Dakota who joined me on the couch during the call.
Dakota puts her arms around my neck and places her head on my chest. We just sit there for a long while like that.
At some point, I had drifted off to sleep. I woke when I heard Dakota’s phone buzzing.
She was getting a text from Dr. Ronda: No change on Jill. Still in coma, vital signs good. More later.
Dakota shows me the text. I hug her.
John and Diane are up but trying not to make any sound. They are quietly putting shoes and socks on heading to leave. I stop them.
“Hey, where are you two going?” I say surprising them.
“Oh, sorry. We didn’t know you were awake. We were going to catch a cab home.” John says.
“I’ve got a better idea. Why don’t you join me and Dakota, Marcus and Darleen to go see the new house? I’m calling it ‘The Commune’.”
“Are you kidding us?” Diane asks.
“No, I’m really not kidding.”
Dakota gets up off the couch heading to her bedroom to change clothes.
“Can either of you go wake Darleen and Marcus asking them to get ready to join us?”
I shout down the hallway for Dakota to call us a car, a limo large enough for 6.”
I guess I was too loud as Darleen comes stumbling out of Tina’s room. “What the hell, don’t you guys ever sleep around here?” She asks.
“Darleen, its after 11. How long were you going to sleep?” I rhetorically ask her.
She just smiles at me and pours herself a cup of coffee. She heads back down the hallway to wake Marcus.
I head to the bedroom. I grab some clothes and get into the shower. It kind of felt odd being alone in the shower. That really hasn’t happened in quite a while.
With no one in the shower with me, the whole event took less than 10 minutes.
I get out of the shower, dress, grab the new house keys, my wallet, my cell phone, and of course $500 out of the firebox.
I’m sitting alone in the living room for a bit before Dakota joins me. John and Diane were sitting in the TV room watching SportsCenter.
“Daddy, I hope you know that we all love you and hope for the best for Jill.” Dakota says heartfully to me.
“I know Darling. I love all of you as well.”
CHAPTER 6
As Fred arrives with the limo, we all head out. As I’m waiting to get in the car, Fred pulls me aside trying to give back some of the money Dakota handed him last night telling me it was too much.
I declined. He as been professional, trustworthy, and able to handle everything that we have asked of him. I told him to keep it, he had earned it.
I got in the limo and asked Fred to take us to the new house.
John asked, “Are you really going to call this place ‘The Commune’?”
“Absolutely! Oh, and by the way, I have asked your Mom to move in with us.” I said as I watched John’s eyes grow large. He never saw that one coming, I thought to myself.
Diane was now smiling. I could see the wheels in her young brain begin to turn thinking about how maybe she might be able to move in with him.
“Marcus, we didn’t get a chance to talk yesterday. Diane came over asking if I could find you a job inside the organization, but I have no clue where to put you. What have you done as jobs before?” I ask.
“Sir, I’ve done lots of things. None of them well though. I’ve been a dishwasher, a line cook, a busboy, a warehouse forklift driver, a truck loader, a car mechanic, and my last job was working at the ticket office for the Staples center. However, that was too inconsistent. Some weeks there was an event every night, other weeks nothing. I couldn’t survive on basically one weeks pay for two weeks.” Marcus says to me.
“Out of curiosity, what does your Mom do for a living? I’ve never met her.” I say.
Diane enters the conversation, “Oh, you’d love Mom. She’s just your type. She’s a maverick. Speaks her mind. Often Marcus and I wonder if she has a filter between her brain and her mouth. She’s a hard-working woman, she’s a nurse at a surgical place that does plastic surgery. Mostly boob jobs for vain ‘wanna be’ actresses.”
I see both Darleen and Dakota smiling. I just knew what they were thinking.
“Marcus, what would you LIKE to do?” I ask him.
“Well, for a moment you mentioned a call center where John works. I wouldn’t mind trying to do that, if you’re willing to take a chance on me.”
“Marcus, I’ll be happy to take a chance on you. You’ve done nothing that warrants me to suspect you would do anything shady or try to embarrass me. How about I put you with John at our Pasadena call center. John will be your mentor, teaching you how to do the job and how to be successful. He’s one of our top Customer Service people, so learning from him would be good for you.” I say.
Marcus is smiling. John is smiling. Diane is smiling.
The drive seems shorter, but it mostly was because we were engaged in the conversation.
When we pulled into the courtyard, everyone gasped.
Fred stopped, got out, and held the door open for everyone to pile out.
“Fuck me!” John said without thinking.
“Pretty nice eh?” I say really to no one in particular.
John asks, “Just how fucking big is this place? I never seen anything so huge?”
“Well, its 28,000 square feet. 20 bedrooms, 31 bathrooms. 3 Master suites. 3 kitchens, game room, movie room. 3 TV rooms, a wine cellar, tennis court, two pools, 20 car garages with an additional 30 places for vehicles in the courtyard. Two pool houses, each one being a two-bedroom house and the whole thing sits on 30 acres of land. And here’s the best part, it was on the market for $188million and we got it for FREE in the Happee, Happy Limo acquisition.
“No Fucking Way!” John said completely floored.
“Oh, and the FBI paid me for helping them arrest the Petrovosky Brothers whom they were after for more than 2 years. Here’s the check they gave me yesterday.” I say to John pulling out the check and handing it to him.
“Mr. Greene you are the luckiest son of a bitch I’ve ever met. They paid you this much? What the fuck?” John said to me.
Moments later, a small car pulled into the courtyard. It says Uber on it. Out steps Jennifer.
“I texted Dakota and she told me everyone was heading her. So I thought I would drop by.” Jennifer says smiling to me.
Jennifer begins by telling everyone our FBI adventure the previous day.
Jennifer begins, “John, you should have seen David. He pushed me into a corner and stood in front of me protecting me from the Russian Brothers. About 20 FBI agents crashed the conference room door and they took down the bastard brothers, but David here was my hero, keeping me safe.”
She kisses me on the cheek.
I walk over to the door, trying to find the right key to open the door. It takes me a couple of tries before I find the right one. I open the door and just step aside allowing everyone to go in and explore.
I hear both Marcus and John say almost simultaneously, “Fuck me”.
I pull Dakota aside and ask her, “Did you text Tina about Jill? She needs to know that the east coast trip for next week is on hold.”
“No, I’m sorry. I didn’t do that. I’ll take care of it right now.”
She pulls out her phone and begins texting Tina.
Jennifer steps back outside, “David, may I have the keys, there are lots of locked doors.” I hand her the key ring. She looks at it saying, “Wow, you need to really sort these out there are too many.” I think to myself, ‘thank you doctor obvious’.
I text Mark Newberg to let him know that Jill was rushed to the hospital last night and our east coast trip is on hold for now. He texts back that he hopes Jill gets better soon.
Roger calls me.
“Hey Roger, what’s up?”
“Did you have a security guy call me about a job? He says his name is Reginald Harrison.”
“Yeah. He is the lead security guy at the Kraft building. He’s a big guy and already carries a firearm. Since we are looking at acquiring the Kraft building it made sense to me that he might be a good fit for your team.” I tell him.
“Well, thank you. He’s exactly what I’m looking for. I hadn’t talked to him in several years. He used to work with me on the City PD. He got caught having an affair with our Captain’s wife after his divorce and he made Reggie’s life miserable, so much so that Reggie just quit rather than keep being the Captain’s butt-boy.” Roger tells me.
“Well, I can tell you that he is personable, knows the building very well AND he makes a paltry $14.45 an hour. Now I don’t know much about security job wages, but it seems to me that those wages really suck.”
“Unfortunately, those wages are for armed security. Without a carry permit it usually is in the 10-11-dollar range.” He explains.
“Are you kidding me? Eleven bucks to take abuse and put yourself on the line, what the hell has this world come to?” I ask rhetorically.
“Roger, do you think we should be looking at maybe acquiring a security company?”
“Hell NO. We would then end up with lots of Xmilitary, Dirty Harry types, heavy drinkers, hung over people, old men who can’t walk or talk. We don’t need those. We’re trying to build a team that can take care of people, keep them safe, and most of all act when necessary.” Roger says.
“Then how about this: We put an ad in Indeed.com looking for former Police or Law Enforcement officers, or current licensed security guards. We offer $20 per hour, to motivate the top people to apply. We ask for their background and list that we will be doing a deep background check, that way we also keep out the riff-raff. Does that seem more to what you have in mind?” I suggest.
“Yeah, that sounds like it could really help move things along. I’m worried that we are just tempting fate without a security detail to protect our assets.”
“I’ll call HR and have them put the ad in for you. Do you want to handle the interviews personally at first?” I ask
“Yeah, I know what I’m looking for so maybe put my email address and have them send me their resume and information to do the background checks. I’ll email them when I’m interested in setting up an interview. Hey, by the way, why didn’t you tell me Jill was rushed to the hospital last night? I had to hear it from Tina a few minutes ago. What the heck happened?” Roger asks.
“It’s a long story, but Jill lost the baby last night at dinner. They performed emergency surgery. She’s in a coma. We just have to wait and see how things go.” I say to him feeling my eyes begin to tear up.
“I’ll be praying for her. Please keep Tina and I updated. She’s family and family are THE most important.” He says to me.
“I’m glad you said that. Please take care of my ebony daughter, Tina.”
“Of course, David.”
We end the call.
Dakota comes bouncing out and grabs my arm saying, “C’mon Daddy, I’ve chosen a room! I want your OK. C’mon, c’mon hurry up before it’s gone.” She says to me giddy as a child at Christmas.
I hurry inside with her. We weave our way through the house to one of the large Master suites. The room is enormous. I see a private bathroom that has a large shower stall AND a jacuzzi tub. A triple vanity sink equipped with a large mirror with light bulbs around it. The room itself is without furniture but it is painted a light shade of pink (I’m not surprised that Dakota wants this one at all). She shows me the three walk-in closets. She opens the drapes, the blinds, the shutters for one heck of a view. I notice that the outside windows have an electric rollup security feature to secure the room from storms, weather, and light. There is both an electric component as well as a manual crank in times of no power. I grab her by the waist and tell her that the room is hers, that it is beautiful just like she is beautiful.
She smiles and kisses me. She takes my hand and leads me next door.
“Daddy, I want this one to be your room. Right next to mine. It is the largest of the master suites. It’s nearly double the size of my room, plus it also has an even better view than my room has. Your room has nearly an entire view of the outside as well as the surrounding areas. Did you know we were on a hill, we overlook everything? Oh Daddy, please tell me that you’ll take this room, please, please, please.”
“You know, Jill gets final say on what room we choose.”
‘Yeah, I know, but Daddy, this will be great. You’ll be right close when I have our baby.”
I kiss her and watch her cute ass swing as she bounces out of ‘my master bedroom’.
I hear Jennifer calling for me. I shout out where I am. It takes her a couple of moments to locate me by voice.
“Hey there lover. Is this your fucking room? It’s bigger than most of my house.” She says in astonishment.
“I think there maybe some sweet playtime in here, if I’m invited.” She says with a devilish smile plastered on her face. I know she knows how I feel about her.
“Did you pick out a room for yourself yet?”
“Yep, right down the hall from a kitchen. It has a private bathroom and a view of the pool area. Will you come see it and give me your OK that I can have it?”
“Darling, you may have it before I even see it. But, lets go look at it. I can see you’re pretty wired up about it already.” I say smiling.
Jennifer saunters over to me and says, “Master, you know I’m yours whenever you want me.” Kissing me on the lips with her arms tightly around my waist.
She takes me by the hand walking me through the maze of this home to find her room. As we enter, I see what she is talking about. The view is stunning. The shimmer of the light off the pool is amazing. In my head, I already see her sunbathing nude making my cock hard just thinking about that view. She shows me around the room. Showing me something that I think ALL women want, a huge walk-in closet equipped with a tall stack of deep drawers for private items like bras, panties, sexy lingerie and the such. She also shows me a door that opens inside of her closet to hold a further closet for just her shoes. I’m a bit worried now. A closet, inside a closet for just shoes, What the hell? I think to myself.
“Master, will you please be the first to take me in my room?” Sindee asks of me.
“Darling, I would be honored to do so. Just not now. I’m still much too worried about Jill to do any sort of playing. I hope you understand. But I do promise that when it happens, I will take you right here before anyone else.” I say kissing her gently on the lips.
“Thank you Master. You are so good to me.” She says looking directly into my eyes.
I think to myself, ‘Yes, “The Commune” is the perfect name for this place. I chuckle to myself.
John comes into this room.
“Um, David, have you seen all of this property?” He asks.
“Well, no. Not actually. Why do you ask?”
“I think you need to come see this.” He says as he leaves the room in a hurried pace
I follow him. We again, weave our way through the maze of this home. He takes me outside around one of the pools over to a pool house. He knocks and then just walks inside.
“David, let me introduce Desiree and her TWIN sister Domonique. They are ladies going to UCLA. They are studying acting. They work for Tulip Productions, he says to me with the biggest smile that I’ve ever seen John have on his face. I also see his shorts sporting a huge tent.
I just shake my head thinking: ‘yeah, this is not going to be good for Diane at all’ two aspiring porn actresses living in the pool house. Fuck, we’ll never get rid of John. I think to myself.
I decide to introduce myself, “Hello Ladies. I’m David Greene. The new owner of this property.”
“Are you telling us that we have to move?” One of them says.
“No, I’m just saying that the Russian Brothers no longer own this property. I do. We’ll work things out later. Right now, I must ask, do you have keys or any alarm codes as I’m going to be changing things really soon.”
One of them, I’m not sure which one, gets up off the couch and walks over to the counter where both of their purses are laying. She reaches inside each purse and removes two sets of keys.
“Here you go Mr. Greene. I’m sorry. We didn’t know that the house was changing hands. Currently, we have no where else to go. We were invited here by some woman named Sancho, no wait. Shasta, no that’s not right either.” She says.
“Maybe Sasha?” I ask.
“YES! That’s it. She got us the jobs a tulip productions. She said she was helping us pay for college. It’s great money. A thousand bucks for an afternoon of blowing lots of men. Some on film, some just part of the crew, some just whom she brought over.”
The other one chimed in now, “Would you like a demonstration? We’re not shy.”
My head is reeling now. Only John could source out two porn stars in my own home. I take the keys from them and head outside calling John to come along with me. He just stands there staring at the two gorgeous long-legged blond women.
“John!” I bark.
“Huh? Yes sir.” He says lowering his head and following me outside.
I glance back inside and notice that the home is clean, tidy, and organized. I take one key off the rings that they have given me try it in the door. It works. I see that there are car keys also on the rings.
“Ladies, do you have cars here?” I ask.
“Yes, they are in the garage. Sir.”
I take all the keys off the rings except for the ones that look like car keys. I leave them with just one door key between them, noting to myself that the door locks are being changed Monday.
In my head, I’m already making a list of things to get done before Jill comes to our new home from the hospital.
“Ladies, by the way, I also now own Tulip Productions.” I tell them.
“What happened to Sasha? Did you fire her?” One of them asks me.
“No, she passed away just recently. I assumed the company when I bought out Happee, Happy Limo.”
They both just stand there stunned.
“Ladies, right now, nothing will change. You keep doing what you do, you’re welcome to stay here until we figure things out. I ask that there are no drugs here and no adult video done here. Fair enough?” I ask.
“Yes, sir.” Both of then tell me.
I head out of the pool house, the one I’m going to call the porn house, not the pool house, in honor of our live-in guests.
I hear Diane and Dakota calling for me from different parts of the home.
“John, go find Diane and see what she needs. John, I hope I don’t need to tell you to keep your mouth shut about our pool house guests till I figure what to do with them.” I tell him worried about Diane.
“Yes, sir. I won’t say a thing.” He says as he heads inside the house to find Diane.
I follow the sounds of Dakota’s voice. She’s apparently moving around as now it sounds like she is downstairs somewhere. I’m searching for a way to get down to her. Finally, after several minutes of searching, I find a small staircase that leads downstairs to a dark, dimly lit room.
It’s the wine cellar. I am stunned. There must be thousands of bottles of wine, maybe even tens of thousands of bottles.
“Dakota, where the heck are you?” I shout.
“Over here Daddy. Wait until you see what I have found.”
I weave my way through the wine cellar to finally find her.
“Look Daddy. It’s me!”
Sure enough, there is a stunning likeness of Dakota on the label of a wine bottle called ‘The Cierra’.
I just smile.
“Daddy, there must be hundreds of these bottles. Can we take a few home? I’m curious as to how I taste.” She asks with her devilish smile, knowing that I’ll not tell her no.
“Darling, I can tell you from first-hand experience that you taste delicious. I’m sure the wine does as well.” I reply hugging her and kissing her delicate lips.
I pick up a whole case that is just sitting on a counter. I see that the box is open and check to ensure it is all ‘Cierra’ which it is. Grabbing the case to carry it back towards the stairs, I find that I’m a bit lost. Walking up a narrow staircase with a box of 12 bottles of wine is a bit more awkward than I remember, but I get it done none the less. Dakota is right behind me as we reach the main level to the house. We come up in one of the kitchens, not the same place that I started from heading down to the wine cellar.
I set the box down on the counter.
John is now calling for me. I head towards his voice, with Dakota holding my hand as we traverse the maze of house.
I find him and Diane standing in what obviously is a room set up for filming porn. Apparently, Tulip productions occurs right here in my home.
Diane doesn’t look mad, so I’m pretty sure she doesn’t know about our porn house guests just yet.
I’m thinking to myself, what the hell else is John going to find for me? Before I even finish that thought, Darleen pokes her head in the room and asks Dakota and I to follow her.
Taking my hand, Dakota and I follow Darleen through another series of hallways to a staircase that goes up. We climb the stairs. Darleen takes us to a red painted door. She turns the knob and swings it open for me to see.
“Un-fucking-believable” Is all I could manage to say.
Inside of this room, laid a full BDSM dungeon. Equipped with various sexual toys mounted on the walls, hooks mounted all around, three cages for people, two standing and one small box style on the floor. There’s a cross, a large wooden X, several shackles and cuffs laying on tables. There’s another table with straps laying loosely on the table. For some reason, I notice the ceiling. Large black sound-proofing ceiling tiles. I think to myself, I guess you don’t want anyone in the house hearing the screams of someone being tortured by a sadist. In my head, I feel that this room needs to be locked up until I figure out what to do with it.
I just shake my head, thinking ‘What next’?
I pull the door closed. I ask Darleen for the key to lock this room.
“Don’t you want to try it out darling?” Darleen mocks me. She knows that I’m not much into all that with my history on the subject from my youth.
She uses the ‘red’ key to lock the door, taking it off the keyring and handing it to me.
“This door will remain locked for now.” I say to everyone.
I turn and look around at various rooms. Game room with what appears to be an incredible electronic setup. On the wall a 95” flat screen tv hangs. I see a Bose sound system. I see several gaming chairs, clearly this has been a well-used room along with a wet-bar, a refrigerator, a sink, countertop, microwave and to my surprise a soda machine and chip vending machine. Again, I think to myself that we will never get John out of this house. Maybe I should just resign myself to adopting the boy and be done with it. I dismiss that thought as it sends shivers down my back.
CHAPTER 7
As Dakota and I head back down the stairs, Darleen follows close behind. Darleen is talking to me but I’m not listening. My head is miles away.
“Hey, shithead, aren’t you listening?” Darleen barks at me.
Dakota pokes me in the ribs saying, “You said last night to call you shithead.” She says giggling.
“Um, no. I’m not listening. What do you want?” I say a bit annoyed.
“I was asking what you’re plans to do with this house are? Haven’t you even gotten that far in your head yet?” She asks.
“No, not really. This whole place is just one surprise after another. I have a list in my head on things that need to happen right away, like door locks and security passwords being changed. Blue prints acquired, so we don’t miss anything. Furniture moved over from Jill’s home to here and lots and lots of shopping to decorate this home as beautiful as Jill and Dakota are.” I say to her.
As we reach the main floor, Diane is waiting for me and asks to speak with me privately.
I follow her into a nearby room and shut the door.
“What’s the problem?” I ask.
“Daddy, I think that I may be pregnant. I really don’t know if it is yours or John’s as I’ve taken both of your cum inside of me.” Diane says to me.
I’m stunned.
I hold my arms out to her. She presses herself against me hugging me. “Please don’t be mad at me. I’ve been trying to say something to you all morning. I just didn’t know how to do it.” She says with tears in her eyes.
“No matter whose baby it is, you’ll be a wonderful Mother. If its mine, I’ll still love you no matter what. If it’s John’s, then I’ll still love you and the baby and encourage John to be a good daddy.” I tell her.
“See, that’s what I love about you. You take such good care of me. I should introduce you to my Mother. You and her would have a good time.” She says making me think, oh yeah, I need more to join the commune.
I kiss her on the lips and hug her a bit harder, hoping that she doesn’t feel my nearly erect cock pressing between us.
“Daddy, is that for me?”
“Well, yes, but no. I don’t think it’s right for me to play when my wife is in a coma at the hospital. Don’t you agree?” I say trying to get her to back down a bit.
She agrees…. reluctantly.
I open the door and head out.
I find Dakota in the kitchen marveling at the box of Cierra. I notice the marketing on the side of the box. It reads: A blonde taste to bring out your inner slut. I think to myself, how could they possibly know her this well as I chuckle to myself.
I ask her to summon everyone as I’ve had enough of the Commune for today.
I carry the wine case towards what I believe to be the front door. I’m still turned around in this mansion.
Out of the corner of my eye, I see out porn actresses laying nude by the pool. I just keep walking summoning John to help me. He hurries over to me. I hand him the case of wine asking him to take it to the car. He notices immediately Dakota’s likeness on the box. He begins to say, “Hey”. I cut him off explaining that I already know. He just smiles.
We get out to the car.
Most of the group is shortly behind. Dakota takes the key ring from Darleen and locks up the front door, both locks.
Everyone piles into the limo and Fred heads for home. I call Mark Newberg.
“Hey David, what can I do for our TV hero?” He asks.
“Do you have a locksmith that you trust implicitly? I have found things about this house that I need to change right away. Also, is ADT still the best alarm company in the LA area?” I ask.
“Jay’s locksmith. He’s been in the business 50+ years. He’s second generation and does work that keeps people out of where you don’t want them to be when you’re entertaining. Yes, ADT is probably the current best, but like cell phone carriers they change all the time. It’s the service that they try to sell you on, the monitoring and camera work. Knowing your lifestyle, you may want to be selective on your camera placement and sound mikes.” He suggests to me.
“Please call Jay’s for me. I would like him to change every lock in the whole house. I’ve already seen some opportunities that need to be addressed.” I tell Mark.
“Do you need him there today?” He asks.
“No, but Monday morning, early, maybe 9-ish.”
He thanks me, and we end the call.
Dakota asks what did I find? I tell her that I’ll explain later.
Dakota’s phone buzzes. It’s Dr. Ronda. The text reads: Jill responding well. Vital signs are much better. Should bring her out of the coma sometime tomorrow. Talk later.
She shows me the text which makes me smile and much more relieved.
I look at Diane. She sees me looking at her and smiles as she continues chatting away with Jennifer about how to make the bid on the Kraft building.
In my mind, I see her as a beautiful little bird fluttering from one branch to another. Then it hits me: As we acquire these huge office buildings, we rename them to unique birds of North America. My mind begins to list: Flamingo (Florida)/Pelican (New Orleans)/ Owl (Wisconsin)/ Cardinal (Phoenix)/ Blue Jay (Toronto)/Eagle (Washington DC)/ Crow (St. Louis)/ The Hawk (LA)/ Falcon (Atlanta)…I was smiling now.
The good news from Dr. Ronda along with an idea on how to rename the buildings that would make it easy to identify any building.
I interject, “Jennifer, Diane lets put a bid in on the Kraft building Monday morning. Offer them 65% of what you thought that they would take and let’s see if they bite. Jill told me we certainly have enough liquid to pay up to 40 million, but we certainly can finance on a short term deal up to 20 million. Let’s get this ball rolling. Also, start looking around for other buildings to consider.”
Both Jennifer and Diane are smiling. Work is now going to get crazy, but it’s fun crazy!
I look at Dakota’s watch. It’s after 4pm. How the hell did the day get away from us?
“Hey, is anyone other than me and John hungry? I think I could go for Fred’s Italian place again if anyone is interested.”
I get a unanimous agreement. John asks Fred to take us to his Italian restaurant. Fred makes a U-turn taking us to dinner.
I think to myself how nice life has become since I became a Chauffeur. Who knew what a fortunate choice that really was.