I thought that after Christmas and New Years, my workload would lessen. Boy, was I wrong. Workload has increased, and gotten even worse now that a few colleagues have been out sick for some time, forcing the rest of us to work even harder.
Guest: Unless I die, I will mark stories as finished or abandoned, depending on what happens. Updates may take a while though, real life has a tendency to ruin best laid plans
Still, enjoy :)
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters and I write for my own pleasure and that of the readers.
"Keep doing it slowly." Mike told her.
"Why not wide circles?" El wanted to know.
"Because in this case, slower prevents spilling." he explained as she dragged the wooden spoon through the pan. "If you go too fast, the liquid will land on the stove."
"Doesn't it burn then?" she wondered.
"Only if you keep the stove on full." he shrugged. "If you really want to stir fast, you need to do small circles but you have to make these circles at several points in the pan."
"Like this?" she asked, stirring quickly in the middle before moving the center of the whisk around the pan.
"Exactly." he nodded and gave her a kiss on the cheek.
"Ugh." she huffed. "Why did I ask you to teach me to cook."
"Because you want to do it sometimes too?" he grinned and dropped another kiss, this time on her neck.
"You know what makes this a little harder than I thought it would?" she sighed in content.
"What?"
"You're fingers dipping below the waistband of my shorts and underwear."
"Want me to stop?"
"No." she giggled. "I want you to go further."
"As you wish." he chuckled and dipped his fingers lower but just as she wanted to moan, the kitchen door swung open, causing Mike to quickly remove his hand out of her pants but not stepping away from her.
"Hey Max." El greeted the newcomer.
"Blech." Max huffed and flopped down on a stool at the kitchen island.
"You look frustrated." El tried to suppress a grin.
"Shut up!" Max grumbled. "First I had my damn period and this week, they make Lucas work double shifts at afternoon and night, so we can't spend any time together at all."
"It can't be that bad." El said.
"Easy for you to say, you're getting some." Max retorted. "And going by the looks and sounds of it, you're getting some real good."
"Well, Mike and I... wait a second!" El gasped after her brain had processed what Max had said. "What do you mean by the looks and sounds of it? Especially the looks!"
"Mike has his window open at night and when mine is open too, I can hear you." Max shrugged. "And I may have stood outside his door to listen more closely once or twice."
"Jesus Christ, Max." El blushed.
"And the looks part?" Mike asked.
"Come on, I walked in on you having sex on the couch." Max stated. "And when Mike forgets to close his closet, the mirror on its door gives me a good view at him slamming his cock into your pussy from behind."
"Oh my god!" El blushed even harder.
"Note to self, always close closet door." Mike blushed as well.
"Frankly El, I'm surprised you're still alive." Max chuckled. "The way Mike's fat cock seems to split you open every time he plunges it into you."
"Max, please stop talking about my boyfriend's penis." El groaned.
"El, we're best friends, right?" Max looked at her.
"Right now, I'm seriously reconsidering it." El grumbled.
"Best friends share, right?"
"Max, no!" El stated resolutely.
"Oh, come on, just once." Max pleaded.
"What does she want to borrow?" Mike wanted to know, looking at El.
"What do you think?" El rolled her eyes.
"I really don't know." Mike shrugged.
"You." El pointed him.
"Me?" he looked at her confused. "Wait, she wants you to share me?"
"Would that be so bad?" Max shrugged. "Mike, I could really rock your world."
"Be that as it may, my world is rocked more than enough by the woman I love." he laughed and dropped another kiss on El's cheek. "Also, even if I were single, there's no way I'd do it with one of my best friend's girlfriends."
"What's for lunch?" a cheery Jennifer asked when entering the kitchen with Stacy in tow.
"You've got to be kidding me." Max groaned and let her head fall into her arms on the table.
"What now?" Mike wondered.
"Look at her." Max pointed at the blond. "She got some last night. So did Stacy."
"How do you know that?" Stacy asked.
"You didn't come home last night." Max shrugged. "Though based on your body language, the guy you picked up last night wasn't that good."
"I think Eduardo spoiled me." Stacy mused. "Man, I miss his cock."
"Is it bigger than Mike's?" Max asked, causing the man to blush once more as he poured the spaghetti into a strainer.
"How would I know?" Stacy looked at her friend. "I don't know Mike's cock."
"Well, Mike's is like this." Max said and held her hands a certain distance apart before using her thumb and index finger to show the girth."
"Jesus!" Stacy gasped. "Alright, bigger than Eduardo's."
"Oh, come on." Mike groaned. "Can you please stop talking about my penis?"
"Alright, how's Dustin's penis?" Max turned to the blond who had stayed quiet so far.
"What's for lunch?" Jennifer asked, ignoring Max.
"Thank you, Jennifer." Mike sighed in relief. "Spaghetti carbonara."
"Oh, I know that." Jennifer's face lit up. "Ate it in school a few times. And given your cooking skills, it should be good."
"El made the sauce." Mike told them as he brought the bowl with the spaghetti to the kitchen island.
"Uuuh, maybe we should order in?" Stacy gave a scared smile.
"Hey!" El waved the wooden spoon. "A little trust please. I'm not Jennifer."
"Are you saying I cook worse than you?" Jennifer feigned insult.
"I never burned water." El pointed out.
"Aw, come on, that happened once." Jennifer whined.
"Don't worry, I made sure she did it properly." Mike chuckled.
"I feel calmer already." Jennifer poked out her tongue.
El brought the sauce over, handing it to Mike who then put it over everyone's spaghetti after the girls had taken their fill. He sat down as well and they began eating, talking about this and that while Mike stayed quite, content to listen to them but hoping that the conversation wouldn't go to the topic of his manhood again.
This lunch was another proof that women and men seemed to speak different languages. Mike had never heard a quartet of people talk about more topics in such a short time span, ranging from men to celebrities to plans for the future and to complaints about partners, though the last mainly came from Max and her need to be with her boyfriend again before she truly jumped out of her skin or worse, as El noted during the talks, before she jumped Mike.
"Anyone wants seconds?" Mike asked, standing up.
"Nah, you're the only one with the bottomless stomach around here." Stacy waved him off. "The rest of us have a figure to maintain."
"Just more of you to love." Mike chuckled.
"But not thirty pounds." Stacy retorted with a grin and got up. "So, any plans for today? Aside from having to listen to Max whine about not seeing Lucas and preventing her from tying up El, so she can jump Mike's huge cock."
"Not a bad idea." Max gave an evil leer at El and Mike.
"Not again." Mike groaned. "I cooked, you do the dishes. I'm going to write."
To Stacy's and Jennifer's laughter, Mike retreated to his room, closing the door and leaning against it, taking a deep breath. While the banter was fun, sometimes it was hard to sit there as the only man in the house, no matter that his roommates were all beautiful women and the, to his eyes, prettiest one of them his girlfriend.
He sat down at his desk and leaned back in his office chair, booting up his laptop and opening his writing program, the application dutifully showing him the last page he had written. He scrolled back up to the beginning of the chapter, reading it again to get back in the groove and then opening up his notes to look at the plot points he had thought out before even starting to write a single word of the book itself.
Looking at the page count, he calculated it into the book sized edit and gave himself a pat on the back. Just over a month since he handed in the final manuscript of his current book and he was a quarter through writing the next one, giving him a lot of time to develop his fantasy series before having to hand it in, even making it possible for him to maybe develop a fourth part up to a second trilogy for this book series if his publisher asked for it. As he was thinking it, his cell phone rang with a familiar number on the display.
"Speak of the devil." he chuckled to himself and accepted the call. "Hello, Diana."
"Mike, you got a minute?" Diana asked. "I got Lisa for you."
"Sure." Mike agreed, his nod unseen by the woman on the other end of the line.
"Mike?" a second voice came from the speaker. "It's Lisa."
"I kinda inferred that when Diana said that she has Lisa for me." Mike joked.
"Smart ass." Lisa chuckled. "So listen, I wanted to ask if you were open for a book launch party. We'd do it... in ten days, on Saturday."
"I don't know." Mike sighed. "I use a pseudonym for a reason, I don't want people to know who I am."
"I still don't understand why that is." Lisa said. "Why wouldn't you?"
"Because I'm a college student and I know from overhearing girls that several dozen of them have read my book." Mike shrugged, a gesture Lisa couldn't see. "The last thing I want is them coming on to me because they think I'm a celebrity. Not to mention that I have a girlfriend now that I love very much and I don't want to lose her because of the stress this would cause."
"Alright." Lisa agreed. "But I'd like you to reconsider. The book party is a closed event with handpicked guests and my bosses, none of whom is younger than thirty. It's mostly company bigwigs and partners who want to meet our newest hot iron in the furnace."
"I always hated that expression." Mike made a face.
"Why?" Lisa asked.
"Well, what do you do with a hot iron from a furnace?" Mike asked rhetorically. "You beat and beat it until it looks the way you want."
"Jesus, I hate talking to people who know words." Lisa laughed. "Fine, our newest strawberry pop-tart."
"What?" Mike couldn't help but laugh as well.
"Because nobody hates pop-tarts?" Lisa giggled. "Saturday, five pm. I'll send you the address later. Bring your girlfriend."
"Okay." Mike accepted. "See you then, Lisa."
"Bye Mike." Lisa said and hung up.
Mike sighed, not really looking forward to that but pushed it aside, taking his laptop and beginning to type the next chapter.
"OH YES, FUCK ME HARD! REALLY PUNISH THAT PUSSY!"
"What the actual fuck?" Mike gasped when he entered the living room, seeing Stacy and Jennifer sitting on the sofa, watching TV, wearing headphones.
"What?" Jennifer asked, taking off hers.
"What is going on?" he pointed to Max's room where those loud exclamations were still coming from.
"It's been three weeks since they had sex last, five days before Max's period begins again and Lucas has the day off." Jennifer shrugged, really looking at Mike wearing an elegant suit. "Wow, you clean up nice."
"Thanks." Mike blushed, straightening his bow tie.
"Where are you off to dressed like that?" Stacy wanted to know.
"My publisher is hosting a private event to usher in the release of my new book." Mike shrugged. "Didn't really wanna go but it may be a good thing to meet the people who made my success possible."
"Aren't we the people who made that possible since we bought your book?" Jennifer grinned.
"You guys got my second for free." Mike winked at them. "But yes, that's why authors appear at things for fans. But not those using a pseudonym to hide their identities."
"Why would you hide it?" Stacy shook her head. "If you hadn't, you would have gotten so much pussy even before moving in here."
"Because I want a real relationship without having to fear that the woman who proclaims her undying love for me is only in it for the money and slash or the fame it brings to be with a successful author." Mike told them.
"If what Max was saying is true, they'd probably also stay with you for your cock." Stacy giggled, causing Mike to groan again while El came out of her room. "In the name of all that's holy!"
"Jesus, where did you get that dress and why haven't I borrowed it since you got it?" Jennifer gasped when she saw El.
"Mike bought it for me when we went to San Francisco and this is the first opportunity for me to wear it." El smiled happily and did a little twirl for the girls.
"This dress looks like it was made for you." Stacy gushed.
"I know!" El almost squealed.
"I need to wear this too." Jennifer almost drooled.
"No way!" El shook her head vigorously. "The only skin this dress will cover is mine."
"Come on, we always borrowed each others clothes." Stacy whined.
"Yeah, because I usually wear clothes that are a bit bigger than I need for comfort but this dress is so snug that I can't have it let out by you guys wearing it." El shrugged.
"Are you saying that we're fat?" Jennifer gasped.
"No, just that you're bigger than me." El poked out her tongue.
"Honey, we should..." Mike began but was interrupted by a loud crash, followed by more screaming and exclamations.
"What the hell are these two doing in there?" El looked into the direction of Max's room.
"They're apparently doing the Moonlighting thing now." Mike chuckled.
"The what thing?" Stacy looked confused.
"Don't you know the show Moonlighting with Bruce Willis and Cybill Sheppard?" Mike asked, Stacy shaking her head. "Well, they had this will they/won't they thing going and then the show put them together and they destroyed the apartment during the lovemaking that followed."
"Why is it called the Moonlighting curse then?" Stacy wanted to know.
"Because the show became boring and soon ended." Mike shrugged. "So by putting them together, they doomed the show."
"I think it's different today." Stacy said.
"It is." Mike agreed. "Though, I think the problem with Moonlighting was also that Cybill Sheppard was pregnant with twins and she couldn't be there for a while afterwards. And Bruce Willis went on to make Die Hard, one of the greatest non-science fiction movies EVER."
"You never watched it here." Jennifer pointed to the TV.
"I do have my own TV in my room." Mike laughed. "But if you have made two people a couple and then you can't have them in scenes together for half a season afterwards because one of the actors is on maternity leave, even the greatest writers can't make that work."
"I think some shows go too far in the other direction." Stacy mused.
"What?" Mike looked at her. "You mean the characters hating each other?"
"No, dragging this will they/won't they out way too long." Stacy elaborated. "Like the Josh and Donna thing on The West Wing."
"Fully agree." Mike nodded. "Or Fox Mulder and Dana Scully on the X-Files. Drag it out too long and people stop caring."
"Mike, shouldn't we leave?" El asked.
"Right." Mike nodded and led her outside.
"I hope the dress is okay for the event." El worried.
"You look amazing." Mike smiled at her as he opened the passenger door for her.
"The last time I wore so much makeup was for my prom." she chuckled. "Too bad my date turned out to be a moron."
"How so?" Mike wanted to know as he got into the driver's seat.
"When he picked me up and I came down the stairs, he actually said, with my dad, who's the chief of police, standing next to him, that he couldn't wait to have sex with me tonight." El rolled her eyes at the memory.
"Oh my god!" Mike guffawed, glad that he wasn't driving yet. "Of all the things to say."
"He seemed to be under the impression that prom couples always have sex, like it's a rule."
"What did your dad say?"
"He grabbed him by the neck, pushed him against the wall and growled, and I quote, 'If you touch her, I'll hang you with your own colon while you choke on your own dick!'." El laughed. "Needless to say, he didn't get lucky that night, at least not with me. The date also kinda went downhill from that point on, he didn't even dare dance with me unless it was a quick one without touching."
"Oh lord." Mike laughed and started the car.
"So, why didn't you get lucky on your prom night?" El wondered.
"Me and the guys all went stag." Mike shrugged. "I was a scrawny nerd with a bowl-shaped haircut, not many girls find that hot. The others weren't that different."
"Well, can't say I'm unhappy about it." she giggled.
"What, why?" he gasped.
"Because if you had gotten lucky, you may not have come here, may have a family already and we wouldn't have met." she told him, putting her hand on his leg.
"True." he nodded. "May sound corny but after meeting you, every push down by a bully, every rejection by a girl was worth it."
"Aw, love you." she gushed. "You and your words."
"Well, I am a writer." he laughed and concentrated on the road.
While they came closer to San Francisco, El hoped that her dress would fit the occasion. Mike certainly didn't mind, his hand moving over her bare knee and gently moving across the fabric covering her thigh. His car's AC was blowing cool air into the cabin, preventing her from sweating and she hoped that they wouldn't have to be outside for too long, not wanting to have any stains on her dress before the evening even got started. She had no idea how Mike would cope in his suit and tie.
After about ninety minutes of him moving through the evening rush hour traffic of San Francisco, they finally arrived at the event location, several high end cars outside showing that people with means were present. Mike snaked his car onto the small parking lot next to the building, parking it in the shade and getting out so he could open the passenger door for her again.
Smiling, she took his hand and after he had locked the car, she hooked her arm under his elbow and let him lead her to the entrance where he showed a card to an usher who then let them inside. After stepping through the second door into the main room, she was hit by a blast of cool air, the air condition in the building keeping the heat of the day outside. She noticed several people, male and female, though the majority of the women present were looking half the age of the men. To El's chagrin, almost to a person, the women filled out their dresses and then some, making her a bit self-conscious about her physical appearance.
"What's wrong?" Mike asked, noticing her stance.
"I feel a bit... under-endowed." she pointed to her chest.
"But yours are real." he chuckled and pressed a light kiss on her cheek as to not smudge her makeup. "And in my eyes, they're perfect."
"Come to think of it, it would be quite the coincidence if all of these young women had naturally big breasts like that." she agreed. "Why did these men bring their daughters here? Do they want to set them up with you?"
"Actually, those aren't their daughters." an approaching Lisa preempted Mike's reply. "Hello, Mike."
"Lisa." Mike shook her hand. "You remember my girlfriend El?"
"Nice to see you again." Lisa smiled at her.
"What did you mean, not their daughters?" El asked.
"They brought their wives." Lisa chuckled.
"Uh... they have wives half their age?" El wondered.
"Old men, midlife crisis?" Lisa looked at her. "Or, in Warren's case, endlife crisis."
"Who's Warren?" Mike asked and Lisa pointed to a very old looking man, who had his hand around the waist of a girl who looked like his granddaughter. "Seriously?"
"Wow, I knew that some women would do anything for a big payday but come on." El giggled. "Do these guys even care that the women actually don't like them?"
"What makes you say that?" Lisa asked, looking at the other guests.
"Every time their... husbands put their hands on them, they slightly flinch." Mike explained. "Not really a sign of a loving relationship when you have to essentially force yourself to relax when your spouse is close."
"I forgot that you study psychology." Lisa shook her head, chuckling. "And you too, I presume?"
"Yep." El nodded. "So, who has Mike to sweet talk?"
"He doesn't really, his sales numbers have done that." Lisa shrugged.
"What do you mean?" Mike wanted to know.
"Haven't you checked your email?" Lisa looked at him.
"Not since this morning." Mike shook his head.
"The pre-orders for your second book have cracked the three million mark today." Lisa smiled.
"What?" Mike gasped.
"That's great, isn't it?" El asked.
"Of course it is." Lisa winked at her. "It made these guys so happy that they want him to write even more books, make it a series."
"Well, I'm already writing the third one." Mike said.
"I'm talking about more than that."
"I don't know." Mike hesitated. "I wouldn't want to drag it out too much."
"He's writing a fantasy novel, though." El revealed.
"You are?" Lisa looked at Mike.
"Not writing writing." Mike stammered. "More like setting outlines and possible plot points."
"Well, if you have something concrete for me to read, give it to me and I can give it to the brass." Lisa shrugged. "We may publish it too."
"Thanks, I will." Mike nodded.
"So, ready to meet the old geezers who're making all the money you bring in?" Lisa grinned.
"Lets get this over with." Mike nodded and looked to the right, seeing long table filled with food. "At least there's a buffet."
"And an open bar." Lisa laughed.
"Well, I'm driving, so not for me." Mike sighed.
"Warren, this is Mike Wheeler, also known as Marl Young." Lisa introduced Mike to the oldest man in the room. "And his girlfriend Jane Hopper."
"Very nice to meet you." Warren held out his somewhat bony hand before pointing to the young woman next to him. "This is my wife Tina."
"Hi!" Tina greeted him, El almost flinching back at her shrill voice. "It's so great to meet you!"
"Likewise." Mike smiled, managing to keep a straight face.
"How does the old guy still hear with that voice of hers?" El whispered to Lisa once they were away.
"He had a hearing problem before meeting her, so I doubt it matters to him." Lisa chuckled and approached the next people. "Bill, Carlos, Ted, this is Mike Wheeler aka Marl Young."
"Very nice to finally meet you." the one named Carlos replied for the group, shaking Mike's hand before his eyes fell on El. "And who is this stunning beauty?"
"I'm Jane." El smiled at the man. "I'm his girlfriend."
"Congratulations." Carlos grinned at Mike. "You're one lucky man."
"Don't I know it." Mike also smiled.
El and Mike were dragged by Lisa to two more people, being introduced to men who were all glad to meet him, which wasn't surprising given how Lisa had told them how Mike made them some good money, since the publisher took almost ninety percent of the book sale money.
"Lisa, does your publishing house not have other authors?" El asked her when they had some time alone.
"Of course, why?"
"The way these guys are gushing over Mike, I wasn't sure since none of those seem to be here." El shrugged.
"Well, it's an event for the release of his book, we rarely invite other writers we publish for those." Lisa told her. "And to be fair, Mike did make us a lot of money."
"But is is that much?"
"Did he ever tell you how many copies of his first book was sold?" Lisa smiled.
"No, I never asked." El shrugged.
"It sold almost seven million copies since its release and when we started the ad campaign for the next one, almost half a million more copies were sold."
"So, a buck twenty-five times seven million..." El did the math in her head. "But wait, Mike said he negotiated with you for more money."
"Yes, but that's only for his second and third book." Lisa explained. "Every copy of his first book is still under the first contract."
"So, seven and a half million copies times a buck twenty-five..." El did another round of math. "Jesus Christ!"
"Oh yeah." Lisa smiled. "And remember, the publisher gets the rest of a twenty dollar sale. So you see, it's no wonder we agreed to his terms given how much money he made us with just one book."
"Oh man." El's head was still spinning after realizing just how wealthy Mike actually was and she quickly downed her champagne flute, grabbing another from the buffet table.
"Hey girls." a cheery Mike approached them with an empty plate. "Getting along?"
"Of course." Lisa grinned. "The last thing I wanna do is piss you off by not liking your girlfriend."
"Well, you don't have to like her but you will have to bear her presence." Mike winked and took some of the offered food. "You want some too?"
"Not right now, thanks." El shook her head, still unsure how she should approach the money topic or if she should approach it at all.
"Everything okay?" Mike saw her being distracted.
"Yes." she smiled to calm him, aware that he could read her body language the same way she could read his.
Taking another long swig of champagne, El began to worry if Mike would think that she was only with him for his money.
Stopping point here. Otherwise, I may not release this for another week, since I will have very inconvenient shifts this week
I'll really try to write some more, I promise.
Review please :)
