9
"Good morning, sir,"
"Morning, Judy," I said with a smile. "What's on my plate this morning."
"Pretty much the usual. Just more of it," she said.
"That's what I get for taking some time off," I laughed and she looked at me in surprise.
I sat at my desk, scanning a few papers, while waiting for the computer to boot up. I started going through my e-mail. Had a lot more than usual.
"Jack Thompson on line one, sir."
"Jack! What's the word?" I said, picking up the line.
"Morning. Was wondering if you got my message?"
"Hmmm, let's see," I said, scanning through my e-mail. I found it toward the end of the list.
"Not yet," I said, clicking it open. "Sorry about that. Was out of the office part of last week."
The contents of the message made me sit back and think.
"Well, hope it helps. Have a good day."
I sat, swinging my chair back and forth idly. I felt bad about having a...mole in the company, but sometimes there were things I needed to know that I wouldn't find out about through the normal channels. Not that it was necessarily something my employees didn't want me to know. In this case, was something she might think I wasn't interested in knowing.
I leaned forward, tapping the page button.
"Judy, could you come in here for a moment."
"Of course, sir."
I waved her to the seat on the other side of my desk.
"So how are your night classes going," I said casually.
She was surprised, but hid it well.
"Very well, sir. I...wasn't aware you knew about that," she said hesitantly.
"Gotta keep on top of things, you know. I think it's great. Big believer in self improvement," I said with a wink. "Hope you don't mind me saying how proud I am of you."
She glared at me.
"What is this about?" she asked.
"Why does it have to be about anything? Can't I just be happy for a friend?" I said with a slight smile, turned to my computer, pulling up some pertinent files.
"Sir?"
"Yes, Judy?"
"Are you...all right?" she asked. I looked up and saw her bemused expression.
"Quite all right. Why?"
"Well, it's been a long time since I saw you in...such a good mood. You've been humming away since you came in."
I just laughed and she smiled at me.
"Well, I can scowl a bit if you like," I said.
"Oh, no, sir. It's nice to see," she said gently. "After all that's happened...it's good to see you smile again."
"It's good to feel like smiling," I said.
"Taking a few days off seems to have done you a world of good," she said, an amused twinkle in her eye.
She left, closing the door behind her. I turned back to my work until my cellphone rang.
I awoke with a furry arm wrapped around me. My nose twitched, making out the scent of bacon frying over the lingering smell of sex. Jim ran his nose behind my ear.
"Smells like the boys decided to start breakfast," he murmured in my ear. "Hungry?"
"Always."
We got a quick shower, not without a little playing around. We dried off and I slipped the jockstrap back on as I followed his bare ass toward the kitchen.
"You're funny, you know that?" Jim chuckled looking over his shoulder.
"Kinda funny when a jockstrap makes you overdressed," I laughed back.
We got to the kitchen, where Mikey was standing at the range, wearing an apron covering his front. The blond bear sitting at the table looked at me and grinned.
"Mike, you gonna say hello to your Uncle Paul," Jim said, walking up and slapping Mike's ass.
He looked back and whistled at me. I stepped up behind him and he leaned back for a kiss as I rubbed his hairy butt.
"Careful," he said. "Hot grease."
"Hot bear. Good seeing you again. Jim tells me you've been busy," I said, smiling at the blond bear.
He laughed.
"Guilty. This is my cub, Cliff."
The seated bear rose and extended his hand. I grabbed it and pulled him into an deep kiss.
"Woof," I growled, running my hands through his thick hair.
He laughed and snapped the ass straps of my jock.
"Right back at you," he chuckled.
We sat and as we ate, they filled me in on some of the 'family' gossip.
"Can't believe Gene's got another cub. Don't think I've heard from him since Rick died," I said.
"Just glad you still had my number," Jim said. "Shouldn't take too long to get you all set."
"I don't want you to just do it for me. I think I better have you show me how it's done. Never know when I might need to do it again. I'm afraid I always let Rick take care of all that."
"Well, that's what Papas do," Jim said, staring pointedly at Mike.
"Okay, okay," he said, holding his hands up. "I'll watch it, too."
Cliff laughed.
"Guess that means I get to do the dishes," he said.
"What time is it?" I said looking at the clock. "I'm going to give Brian a call."
I hit his number and it rang a couple of times.
"Hello?"
"Morning Sunshine!" I said.
"Somebody sounds cheerful this morning."
"Oh, I am. Should be able to get everything taken care of in a few days. Should be back for the weekend."
"All right!" he exclaimed, pleasure clear in his voice.
"So what you got planned for the week?" I asked.
"Not much. Just work. Hit the gym. Get something to eat. Go to bed."
"You could always go out and see if you could find a little hottie to bring home."
He just laughed.
"I keep forgetting you're not from around here. You were disillusioned by that Bears Night. Not what the usual crowd looks like. Mostly twinks and queens. Even if they were interested, I wouldn't be."
"Then I guess I really lucked out," I growled.
"You? Take a look in the mirror and tell me who the lucky one is."
I chuckled and noticed they were trying not to laugh.
"Well, when I get back, maybe we'll both get lucky," I replied. "Oh, and Jim and the boys say hello. He says I'll have to drag you along next time I visit. Not sure he believes in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde."
"You didn't!" he exclaimed.
"Think he's hoping to meet them himself," I said evilly while Jim chuckled.
"He wants to...? Wait. What?"
"Don't worry. I'm betting you'll like him, too. Big old red daddy bear."
"Who you calling old!" Jim roared.
"Oops," I said innocently. "Sounds like he's up."
"Yeah, I'm up and ready to beat your ass."
He stood up, slapping his dick against the table.
"Well, maybe we'll have to take a trip out there sometime," Brian said.
"Not too soon," I said softly. "I want you all to myself for a while first."
"That can be arranged."
"I will say this. This little trip has showed me how much I miss you. I'll be back before you know it. See you soon."
The ribbing they gave me was merciless.
"You calling me old?" Jim chuckled. "That's the pot calling the kettle black. You're the one who helped raise me, old man."
We laughed.
"So, how old are you?" Cliff asked.
"I've been a bear a few years longer than Jimmy, here," I said.
"Wow!" Mike said. "And I thought he was older than dirt."
He ducked as Jim swatted at him.
"So you were with Rick all that time?" Cliff asked.
"Pretty much. He had other cubs, but, well...I never met anyone I wanted like Rick. Don't get me wrong. I like fooling around, but always played it safe with regular guys. Guess I didn't want the responsibility."
"Sometimes, responsibility just happens," Jim said, glaring pointedly at Mike.
"Guilty," he said sheepishly.
"What about Brian?" Cliff asked.
"I'm not sure. I...I'm going to try to talk to him when I get back. Then," I let out a long, slow breath, "I'll see where we go from there."
"Guess sometimes that's the best you can do."
"Well, we better get started," Jim said.
"And hopefully later, I can see the best you can do," I said with a wink at Cliff, then turned to follow Jim out of the kitchen.
10
"Hey!" I said to Tom, dropping my gym bag on the bench next to him. "Ready to hit the weights?"
He was already dressed and waiting.
"Sure," he said, an uncomfortable look on his face.
"What's wrong?" I asked as I undid my tie and started unbuttoning my shirt.
"I need to tell you something. Just worried how you'll take it," he said.
My fingers froze at my belt buckle.
"What?" I asked.
"I...I've been transferred to Pennsylvania. I'm supposed to leave in a couple of weeks," he said watching my face.
My pants hit the floor. Another loss. But oddly, I was okay with it.
"Well, you always wanted to move back there," I said giving him a slight smile.
He relaxed and smiled with relief.
"I was worried about how you'd take it," he said.
"I'll miss you of course. You've been a big part of my life for a long time. But I'm happy for you."
"Was going to tell you Friday night, but then you met Paul...," he said with a suggestive grin.
"Yeah. Did kind of leave you suddenly," I said sheepishly, pulling on my jockstrap and shorts. "What does Larry think about it?"
"Well, he's coming with me," he said, grinning at my surprise. "Don't think he's too happy about moving, but I think he'll like it when we get there. Was more worried about leaving you alone. Don't think that's really an issue any more."
I pulled my tank on, thinking.
"Tom? Am I moving too fast?" I asked.
"Hard to say with you," he chuckled as I snapped the lock onto my locker. "You usually know what you want. Just nice to see you going for it for a change."
"What do you mean by that?" I asked.
"Well," he sighed, "You tend to worry about what everyone else wants before you even consider what you want. Nice to see you being a little...selfish for a change."
We head out into the weight room and began sliding plates onto the flat bench bar. I was feeling good, so decided to see how much I could press. I started with two plates on each side and jumped up another after each set. By the time I got to five to a side, Tom just shook his head.
"Don't know how much help I can be," he said, placing his hands between mine on the bar. "That's almost three times what I weigh."
I just grunted and lifted the bar off the rack. I let it drop toward my chest, then pushed it back up.
"That's it, Brian," he urged, as he straddled my head, rising and falling with the bar, ready to help if I needed it. At the count of eight, he grabbed the bar and guided it back to the rack.
"Never understood why you don't compete," he said as I sat up, panting.
"Would make it too much like work," I replied, moping my face with a towel.
I glanced over where a couple of wannabes were grunting and shouting as they lifted. I just shook my head as Tom chuckled.
"Wonder if they know how much they sound like a gay porn soundtrack," I snickered. "'Come on! Give it to me! Push it! Harder!'"
"Don't forget the grunting and groaning," Tom added.
"Never understood the need to make all that noise," I said, as the guys in question slapped each other on the back.
"Dunno. I'm guessing you made plenty of those noises this weekend," he said slyly.
"Boy, did I," I grinned.
"And I'm betting you'll be doing it a lot more," he winked.
"Oh?" I said, standing to start stripping the weights off the bar.
"I've known you long enough to know the look you were giving him."
"And what look is that?" I asked.
"The same one you used to give Joe," he said softly.
I tensed slightly, then relaxed.
"And if I'm any judge," he continued, "He feels the same way about you."
"You think so?" I said, turning to look at him hopefully.
"I know so," he grinned. "I'm betting he'll be making you happy for a long, long time."
11
The week passed with little fanfare. The information I had received from Jack gave me a lot to consider. I wasn't sure what my future with Paul held, but there were things I could put in place in case I needed them.
Now don't get me wrong. I'm not a complete idiot. In the evenings, I tried to do some investigations of my own. It's not like I'm some sort of PI, but I can usually find what I'm looking for, but this time I was frustrated.
Turned out, I wasn't the only person on earth without a Facebook account after all. I couldn't find him on any of the other social sites I could think of either. Finally, I tried a search on firemen killed when the towers fell. There were several victims named Richard, and more than one with a Scottish sounding surname. Some had pictures, but none matched Paul's description.
I found one that at first I thought might be him. In the short blurb on him, it mentioned his son, Paul. Maybe that was how they covered their relationship.
But when I did a search on his son, I found little more than a fairly recent obituary. It said he had fallen overboard on a boat trip not long ago. I didn't know what to think.
I waited impatiently for that nightly call, then I'd crawl into my lonely bed.
Okay. I admit I still hadn't changed the sheets. His lingering scent comforted me, though I seemed to awaken painfully hard every morning from strangely erotic dreams. A long, cold shower usually took care of that. Stupid, I know, but I wanted to save it for him.
Then, Friday morning, I finally decided to change the bedding. The seasons were changing, so decided to take the flannel sheets off. I bundled the dirty bedding down to the laundry room and I put a summer set on the bed. I smiled as I flicked the sheet across the bed, imagining they wouldn't stay pristine for long. I figured he'd be back late that afternoon. If he got back before I left work, I'd tell him where I keep the spare key. Then in the morning, I'd take him out to the cabin.
Of course, as they say, plans are subject to change.
It was a nice visit, but I was anxious to get back to him. I had my new ID done, and now I knew how to do it myself. Guess you can teach an old bear new tricks.
I left early Thursday morning after a hot night of bear sex. The four of us had tried just about every position, in a variety of states. It was great, but I was anxious to get back. I so wanted to see him, I ended up driving through the night. About ten o'clock Friday morning I decided to see if he could talk.
"U free," I texted.
My phone rang almost immediately.
"What's up?" I said.
"Just wanted to let you know I'll be there in a couple of hours," Paul said.
"Already?" I asked in surprise.
"Yeah. I drove all night through. Why? Is something wrong?" he said as I rapidly worked things around in my head.
"No, I was going to surprise you with something, but well...."
"Well what?" he said.
"Where are you at now?"
"Let's see, looks like I'm coming on the exit for Baraboo."
"Okay, here's what I'm gonna do. I've got a cabin for us this weekend," I said, sending him the address. "It's not too far out of your way. I'll just head up there after I get off of work. Is that okay?"
"Sounds like a plan," he said. "Looks like I can be there in about half-an-hour to forty-five minutes."
"Just call when you get there and I'll let you know where the key's at. Anything you need from the house?"
"Don't think so. See you when I see you."
I sat back in my chair, frustrated. Still, almost seven hours to go.
I grabbed my desk phone.
"Judy? What's on my calender for this afternoon?" I asked.
"Looks like just the meeting with Mr. Maybach at 1."
I swore under my breath, then inspiration struck.
"Could you come in here?" I asked.
"Sure," she replied and came into my office.
"Sit, please," I said, sitting forward. "How familiar are you with the Maybach deal?"
"About as familiar as you are. Why?"
"I have a...request. Would you be willing to handle this meeting for me?"
"Me?" she said, completely taken aback. "Sir, I'm just your secretary...."
"No," I said, standing and leaning on my hands. "You are my assistant. Hell, I doubt I could have kept this company going after my father died if not for you. We both know my father chose his... personal assistants more for their looks than their ability. So you ended up doing most of the work. And what did I know about running a business? Nothing. You taught me what I needed to know, who to schmooze, who to stand up to. I think it's time to rethink your position in this company. Especially considering you getting your MBA. We can discuss your pay increase later," I said with a wink.
"I...well...but...," she said, flustered, then sat up straighter. "I'll do it."
"You don't know what this means to me," I said in relief.
"Well, look what you've done for the company. Heck, what you did when the board was talking about layoffs last year...."
I shrugged.
"I'd like to say it was something anyone in my position would do, but...."
She stood and I came around the desk and shook her hand.
"I suppose this means you're taking the rest of the day off," she said, trying to give me a stern look, but the grin on her face ruined the effect.
"I was considering it," I said with a laugh.
"Well, you go and enjoy yourself and we'll talk on Monday."