Page 3 of My Thursday Throwback

Chapter 2- Totally...

Michael: Corpus Christie, Texas

Breakfast with the new crew had been about as fun as having a root canal performed by a dentist with bad breath that permeated through his facial mask. Throughout the meal, the business owner of the new project he was overseeing, eyed every detail of Michael Fitzsimmons, commenting on each observation from his watch down to his shoes as the large, wide-set, blue eyes raked over his body. Ramona Delaney wore an old-fashioned bra which made her breast sit up like torpedoes along with far too much caked on make-up to hide her sun-dried skin. The watch, he carefully explained, was a gift from his sister. She then asked about his other watches, the ones she instinctively surmised that she knew he owned based on her professed powers of observation on the nature of men, which he too cautiously explained that one belonged to his father, the other was for working out. The mother of pearl, not actual pearl, cufflinks he shared with her curious stares, too belonged to his father, and the shoes were several years old.

The idea of working closely with her made his ass itch. As much as he hated eating out, he found himself hungry an hour after the meal because he hadn’t eaten much under her scrutiny-filled stare down. He happily dropped Ramona off at the pretty little cottage which was surrounded by vibrantly colored flowers, a quaint front porch and the bright red door of her spa. The contract which brought him to Corpus Christie was to expand the property without interfering or impeding her business. A business which he could easily see being a front to a brothel and she was the madam. It reminded him of a little house in the fairy tales where Prince Charming rode up on a white horse to fetch his bride-to-be. Only in his head, this version of the story, the Prince would ride up to the whorehouse to fetch ‘Pretty Woman’.

“Aren’t you coming in, Michael?” Ramona asked, touching his arm.

“No. I am sorry, but I am on a tight schedule, plus the rest of the team is waiting for me back at our Corpus Christie offices,” he lied to get away from her. He knew her next suggestion would be to give him a free massage. One with a not so happy ending as far as he was concerned.

“I was hoping to get you on the massage table and treat you to our services so you would understand why I have chosen to proceed the way I have with this project?” Ramona said, eyeing his crotch.

“We will get around to it before I leave,” he said softly. “I will come back later with the team as we do our walkthrough, take a look at some of the drawings, sketches and marry those up with your ideas.”

“Will you at least come inside to see the place, you know, allow me to give you an up close and personal tour?” She licked her lips, leaning into the driver side of the car and he thought he would throw up. Women often came on to him, but until he’d spent some time with Pip, he didn’t know how much he enjoyed being able to ignore it since he was no longer on the market.

“I appreciate the offer for the personal touch, but again, my schedule today is tight and I have some phone calls to make,” he said with a smile. With two toots of the horn, he drove off, arriving at the local offices of his engineering firm, seeking a private space to call his Persephone. He hadn’t had a chance to speak with her for several days and he was missing her terribly.

The moment he called her, three people stepped into the office to ask him about lunch. It was barely 11 am and they were placing lunch orders. The audible sigh into the line gave Pip the wrong impression about his call.

“You are dumping me, aren’t you?” She said with wide eyes.

Michael wanted to touch her. Everything in his being wanted to pull his little red-headed love-muffin into his arms and hold her close, but she was almost halfway across the country and he was stuck in an office with cowboy hat wearing men who wanted to take him out for bar-b-que. The movement of the big hats outside the large glass window indicated that eyes were upon him, urging him to make a decision.

“Of course not, a dude in a ten gallon Stetson is licking his fingers urging me to come on,” he said. “Good Lord I hope he is saying the bar-b-que is finger licking yummy and not something else. That would be weird.”

“You’re changing the subject. I thought you were coming here to meet my Mom,” Pip said.

“I did too, but a few things changed at work. My new promotion came with new responsibilities and now I have to travel a bit more for work than I had anticipated, but I will make it to Vegas,” Michael said softly turning his back to the men, trying to get some privacy.

“It’s okay if you are not ready to take that step,” she said. “We went pretty fast with that three weeks.”

“No, I am looking forward to meeting her and seeing your home. When I come I will find a hotel close by to stay in with loads of amenities like a hot tub that we can slip into late at night,” he said.

“You don’t plan to stay in my house, Michael?” Pip asked with some concern.

He sighed into the phone, wanting to end the call which was going awry really fast. His co-workers were getting antsy and his temper was starting to flare a bit. “Pip, I don’t think it’s proper to stay in the house with you and your Mom. I wouldn’t feel comfortable...you know. I wasn’t really comfortable with how we started out, but I wouldn’t change that time with you for anything. It changed my life. You changed my life,” he said softly.

One of the men in a black Stetson started making kissy faces at the window, mocking Michael on the call. This office was a great deal more laid back than the Houston office with locker room type tactics and loads of fraternity boy antics. He didn’t approve of the behavior.

Pip, brought him back into the conversation, “This is my home. My mother is allowed to live in it, and she is not going to dictate my life, and sure as hell, not my love-life. I’ve given enough of my freedom to her!”

He moved the phone closer to his mouth, turning his back completely to the bullpen of bullheaded men. “Persephone, we have time. I also need a moment to think. I need a minute to figure out the best way to proceed on both of our behalves so you can be free to move to Texas without feeling guilty,” he said.

“Okay, where is this magical ball of insight that you are hiding? I don’t know whether to be impressed or creeped out by such a direct observation.”

“The fear in your voice says everything, but in a nutshell, quickly fill me in on how you purchased your house so I will know the best team to call to help you sell it,” he said.

“Scott helped me buy it after me and Mama got kicked out of the Sunny Winds Trailer Park,” she said, leaning back in the office chair.

“Stop right there. Are you telling me that Scott, as in Zelda’s Scott, helped you buy the house you currently live in?” He said with tension in his voice. His hackles were up. “Was there something between you and Scott?”

“Michael, your ability to go from zero to hell no in a matter of seconds is a concern for me, but to answer your question, no there wasn’t and has never been anything between me and Scott. I have worked for the Bergers at the museum for about four years and help out with the annual convention each year,” she said, omitting the part about how she wanted there to be something between her and Scott.

It wasn’t good enough for him. He raised an eyebrow, then folded his arms across his chest, also leaning back against the chair. The men in the bullpen were getting more restless. Their behavior was unacceptable and getting on his last nerve.

“Guys, I need to finish this call, please go on without me,” he said to the ten-gallon hat wearing ringleader. Besides, he hated eating out, especially bar-b-que. One could never tell how many times the pork had been reheated and re-sauced in those places. He preferred not to take any chances.

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