John Locke: The Love You Crave

Tony says, “Fuck this. We paid ’em two hundred fifty grand. What’re you gonna do about it?”

I smile and say, “The payment of funds in excess of fifty thousand dollars to any outside legal counsel requires a majority vote of the stockholders.”

“Who says?”

I point to the stack of corporate documents by the house phone on the table hugging the far wall. “It’s all in there. You should read your own rules sometime, Spumoni. At any rate, since Gwen’s the majority stockholder of the company, your actions in hiring the outside firm constitute a breach of corporate policy. Mrs. Peters could fire you right now, if she cares to. Mrs. Peters?”

“Yes, Mr. Creed?”

“Do you approve spending two hundred fifty thousand dollars of corporate money to divest you of your shares?”

“What’s that mean?”

“Do you want to let them take your company away from you?”

“Hell, no!”

“There’s your mandate,” I say, pointing to the house phone. “Tony, call the attorneys and fire them. Tell them to return any unused portion of the retainer.”

“I’ll do no such thing.”

I start moving toward him.

“You can’t intimidate me,” he says, jumping to his feet. He takes up a boxing stance. I let him throw a punch at me. It’s a roundhouse right that takes so long to arrive I almost fall asleep waiting for it. At the last second I duck under his punch, reach up, and tear off one of his ears.

Mary Screams.

Mrs. Greene vomits. Tony shrieks and runs to the corner of the room, and cowers, clutching the side of his head. Gwen’s eyes roll up in her head. She gasps. Then swoons.

I look at the sixth man in the room. “Who’re you?”

“George Best.”

“VP, research and development?”

“Yes.”

“I’ll have some questions for you in a few minutes.”

I toss Tony his ear and say, “Stop being a baby. Jeff, will you escort Mr. Spumoni to Dr. P.’s office? He’ll have that ear back on by the time we adjourn.”

Jeff helps Tony to his feet.

“This isn’t over, Creed!” Tony shouts. “You’re a dead man! Do you hear me? A dead man!”

“Yeah, I hear you,” I say. “I’ve got two good ears.”

“Asshole!” he shouts. “I won’t rest till I kill you!”

“You can show me how tough you are when Gwen takes control of your company and sticks you in the mail room.”

Gwen gasps, “Oh! Oh! OH!”

Everyone’s looking at Gwen, including Jeff and Tony. Being a guy who knows an opportunity when he sees one, I spring into action. “Jeff, take Tony to Dr. P.’s office and guard him. Close the door behind you. Tell Joe to stay in his office. Mrs. Peters and I need to confer in the hallway.” To Gwen I say, “Mrs. Peters? Will you join me in the hallway to discuss this recent development?”

She jumps to her feet.

I could easily unplug the phone from the wall and take it with me, but where’s the style in that? I grab the phone, rip it out of the wall, and fling it across the room. Gwen gasps, “Oh, Oh, OH!”

To the board members I say, “Stay put.”

William says, “And if we don’t?”

“I’ll kill you.”

Gwen shouts, “Oh, Oh, OH, OH My God! OH, OH, OH MY GOD!”

She and I race out of the room. I slam the door behind us and pin her against it, rip her panties off and take her right there in the hallway. Gwen moans and yelps and gasps as I give her all I’ve got. She pulls me into her again and again, and each time she does, her back slams against the door, making a loud banging sound. But that’s nothing compared to the ear-splitting volume of her demonic shrieks and wolf-like howls.

The last time we power fucked was the best sex of my life, so I naturally assumed that had been her “A” game. But no. Today she’s elevated her sexual frenzy to a level that transcends space and time! The combination of Gwen realizing I’m rich, and my sudden display of violence, and her growing awareness of her power in the company, and the fact that a roomful of important people are being forced to wait while we have sex right outside the door-has driven her over the edge.

It doesn’t take me long to hit a nice stopping point, but Gwen’s insatiable. We drop to the floor and I quickly realize this party has barely started.

I won’t tell you what transpired next, or how long it lasted. As for the commotion we raised, let’s just say it was considerable. When Gwen and I re-enter the urine and vomit-infested room, her face is drained of all color and our knees are shaking. All eyes in the room turn to Gwen as she reclaims her place at the conference table while displaying not the least hint of embarrassment.

What a woman!

“Thanks for your patience,” I tell the board members. “Mrs. Peters and I were engaged in a rather heated debate, and had to get something straight between us. I’m happy to report we achieved that goal.”

“A debate?” Chairman Wadsworth says.

I give him a stern look and say, “Yes, of course. What did you think was going on?”

“Honestly? I thought a construction crew was demolishing the building.”

I look around the table. “Anyone else?”

Tootie Greene raises her hand.

“Yes?”

“I thought someone was kicking the door while playing a high volume recording of killer whales singing across the ocean.”

I look at Mary.

“Sir?”

“Anything to add?”

“To me it sounded like you were flogging an angry banshee. No offense, Mrs. Peters.”

“I’m aware the conditions aren’t ideal in here,” I say, “but believe me, I’ve seen worse.”

I call Joe Penny to fix the phone. While he does that, I coerce William into calling the attorneys. As he fires them, we learn they’ve already blown through half the contingency fee.

“You’ve wasted over a hundred grand,” I say. “Now stop this nonsense, and I’ll tell you why it wouldn’t have worked in the first place. Your medical director, Dr. Phyllis Willis, was murdered in this very building two weeks ago, along with several members of her staff. What you may not know is why. Shall I tell you?”

No one speaks, so I continue.

“Dr. Willis helped supervise the implanting of a chip into the brain of a government assassin named Connor Payne. The chip can be activated by remote control. When a four-digit code is entered, the chip heats up and Mr. Payne’s brains will liquefy. How many of you knew that, raise your hands.”

No one does.

“George?” I say.

George reluctantly raises his hand. The others appear shocked.

“Your company, Ropic Industries, manufactured the chip.”

“That’s ridiculous!” William Wadsworth says.

“Tell them, George.”

“You know it’s true, William,” George says. “You signed off on it.”

Mary’s jaw drops. She looks at William like he’s a child molester.

“There’s more. Phyllis was having an affair with Gwen’s husband. When she performed Gwen’s breast augmentation…” I pause so they can all take a moment to check out Gwen’s boobs. They do, and continue staring at them until she finally crosses her arms over her chest. Then I say, “Phyllis placed a small ceramic device behind one of Gwen’s implants. This device can kill Connor Payne, and he knows it. Which puts Gwen’s life in danger, which means if she files a lawsuit, you’re out of business.”

I press a button on my cell phone. When Jeff answers, I ask, “How’s the patient?”

“Sleeping.”

“Tie him down and bring me Gwen’s body scan.”

Moments later I hold up the body scan we took of Gwen when she entered the security cubicle. Sure enough, behind her right boob, the device is visible.