Page 26 of A Dom Vs. Domme Story
Chapter 11
IAN
“Wow,” I say, fingers drumming on the first real cup of coffee I’ve had in days. “Congratulations.”
Valerie smiles in relief. She’s told me her big news. Mama #2. Or is it second time over? Pretty soon I won’t be able to cart her around the world with me again. You know what Kathryn loves? Becoming my assistant on business trips. Really makes her feel like an important member of my family’s business. (Cough.)
Of course, she’s waited until I’m out of the hospital. With a few extra days tacked on. Both my doctor here in Japan and my one back home – what a FaceTiming experience that was – didn’t want me traveling for a full five days after being released. Extended vacation in Tokyo? I wish I could say it’s been a vacation. Most of these days have been filled with getting caught up with business meetings I was supposed to have back home. A couple of my associates flew out here to see me, that’s how important the damn meetings were. (The fact they could swing by Hong Kong and Thailand afterward helped.) It also meant I couldn’t send Valerie home until I was released as well. Today is our last day in Tokyo, and the only day off we’ve had since I got out of the hospital with a stomachache and still no appetite.
That’s changed now. Three days in a row of big meals, coffee, and even some alcohol. Yours truly is all better now! What cracks me up, though, is that Kathryn is the one who has had the most time off since I got out of the hospital. She has nothing to do with my business dealings, so she’s been spending her days working in the hotel room (or a café) or going shopping… only to return an hour later, saying she’d rather eat dirt than deal with the Tokyo crowds. Still didn’t stop her from taking a personal shopping assistant with her to surrounding Shibuya and then Ginza and Akihabara. I told her to go home and deal with her own schedule, but she wouldn’t have it. This is her way of taking care of me, I guess. That and she’s too paranoid to let me out of her sight. Again, it’s how she fawns over me when I’m sick.
Now that I finally have some time to myself again, I take Valerie out for lunch since she’s been a total trooper about everything going on. She decided this was the best time to tell me she’s pregnant with baby #2. I could have sworn she had the first one a year ago. Was it really before Kathryn and I got together? I mean, I know her son is talking and walking now, but… Jesus, I’m old.
“I don’t know much beyond the supposed due date,” she says with a grin on her glowing face, “so at some point we need to talk about my upcoming leave.”
“Hopefully it won’t be too soon. A man needs to adjust to these changes.”
“I already told Kathryn I expect you two to get married before I go on maternity leave. I fully expect to be involved with that, you know.”
She’s fishing for a reaction, and she nearly gets one. Anytime someone brings up marriage with Kathryn, you bet your ass I react. Luckily, I’ve gotten better about reining these pesky reactions in so I don’t give them the giddy freakout I really want to espouse.
Probably because I’m worn tired thinking about marriage. In an ironic twist of the gender wars, I’m the one sitting around wanting to get married while my intended cups my balls in distraction.
What’s happened recently is a big example of why we should get married sooner rather than later. I don’t want to be caught in that shit situation again, going in either direction. Kathryn and I should always have easy access to each other, wherever we are. In truth, neither of us have much family. Many would argue that we’re the biggest family the other person has. They’d be right. I’ve got my mother and father, both of whom I love and get along with, but I want a family of my own. Even if that definition of family means Kathryn, me, and our cats. Oh, and our personal assistants coming and going with their copies of our keys. Oh, and my mother barging in whenever she feels like it, thanks to the key she stole from one of our assistants.
It sounds lovely. We’ve toyed with the idea of moving in together when Katie’s lease is up on her apartment next year.
Except things are slow with the love of my life. It took a long time to get her to admit her love for me. It took her longer to feel comfortable being my public girlfriend. She’s got her issues like anyone else. I try to be patient and understanding, but sometimes a man wants to get fucking married!
Anyway, where was I? Ah, yes. My assistant has told me she wants me married as soon as possible.
“Consider it a done deal if you manage to convince her to go through with it.” I finish my coffee with a smack of my lips. “I’ll give you a bonus, too.”
“No offense, Mr. Mathers,” sure, she says my name all formal-like, but her tone is so casual I could cry, “but if you and your money aren’t enough to get a woman to marry you on their own, then I don’t think there’s much I can do.”
She’s joking, but she still has a point. Damn her.
“Consider it a standing offer. If you convince Kathryn to marry me, then I’ll give you the sweetest bonus you’ve ever dreamed of.”
“Why, a million dollars? You’re too kind!”
I would, too. What the hell is a million dollars to me if it means Kathryn’s my legally wedded wife?
Well, if it could buy her happiness too, that would be nice.
Valerie looks over her shoulder. There, in the far corner of the crowded café overlooking Tokyo’s busiest crosswalk scramble, is Kathryn, typing away on her laptop. Think she’s writing her fifth grant of the year. Don’t ask me which charity. I can’t keep up.
“She’ll be on to me, you know.” Valerie stirs a pinch more sugar into her tea. “The more I bring it up, the more she’ll know I’m a plant sent by you.”
“Good. Keep her on her toes that way.” I lean across the table and lower my voice. “Hey, if this kid’s a boy, you should name him after me. Scare the pants off your husband.”
My joke does not faze her. “He’s already told me he doesn’t care if it’s actually your kid, because then that means a big fat payday for all of us.” Don’t worry, folks. I’ve met Valerie’s husband countless times. The work-at-home dad is big enough to kick my ass from here until next year if he felt up to it. Either that or suffocate me with his giant lumberjack beard. He also cracks a mean joke, like Valerie takes every joke hurled in her direction with a smile. It’s like Jack Capetti to joke about his wife having an affair with her billionaire boss. Last I heard, he reads those books likeFifty Shades.Probably drooling at the thought of a money-infused cuckold. Damnit, now I’m turning into them. “We’ve got two tuitions to save up for now. Also, I’m expecting an internship for one of them.”
“Excellent. You can show him how everything works, and then you can take a nice, long vacation while I run him ragged with boring real estate bullshit.”
Valerie receives a text message from her husband, as if the man knows we’re talking about him. She decides to make a call, and I get up to give her some privacy.
Besides, there’s a gorgeous woman on the other side of the room who needs my attention.
