Laura's Big Win

by Michelle Tschantre'

Chapter Twenty-Two - Sleepyhead

  Laura had asked about the plans for the honeymoon, but got no farther than: 'Sorry, but we agreed that was my job; trust me with this, okay?' and she did trust him, without reservation, in this and everything else that would come along in their lives. She knew in her heart he would always put her and the children above himself; it was a feeling she had not experienced before, but was savoring the meaning of the feeling now in this new life. If she had a doubt at all, it was not about Ryan but about herself and her ability and desire to please this man in every way. She knew that what she had experienced in marriage before wasn't love; it was a business deal, and while she was so very sure she was deeply in love with this man, there remained doubts in her mind about her own abilities. In her memory she heard the caveat that had served her so well in all of this wild, improbable ride, from her arrival at Windmere to this moment: 'Give it time.' 'Well,' she thought to herself, 'I'm in it for the long haul now; we'll see what happens.'

  The Duesey rolled easily through a side gate held open by a guard at the airport, coming to a stop beside a small twin engine corporate jet. One engine was already idling in readiness. The second pilot ushered them aboard, then retracted the ladder into the fuselage as he welcomed them to the passenger cabin. He informed them they would be off as soon as the ground crew had loaded the minimal luggage, which put them on the runway in less than five minutes, engines blasting and reaching for the sky.

  "Ryan, this is too much, our own private plane? I know, I know; if I trust you, you'll take care of it, but this, well, I love it and I know the company books hours, and I know we've made trips before, but a whole plane for two people? Did Roger approve it?"

  "Yep, he did, but there isn't a cabin attendant to disturb us, so we'll have to rather fend for ourselves. Still, I don't want you to get dishpan hands or anything like that; at least not today. The drudgery of husband and family will be back soon enough, okay? Besides, this is all part of the package I booked for the three days before the kids join us. Come, sit by me, my wife, and we'll see if there are any libations in the cooler."

  The two of them had settled into separate seats for the take-off, but now reseated themselves toward the back of the cabin on a plush sofa. Ryan popped open what appeared to be a footstool fastened to the floor for security, but in reality was an ice cooler, from which came a bottle of her favorite wine and two chilled glasses. Pleased as she was, she had come to expect things like this from this man, who seemed to take so much pleasure in surprising and pleasing her. While they sipped, cuddled, and chatted about the events of the day, their future and what it might hold for them, the sleek jet made short work of the run to the Caribbean resort he had selected. It was not the largest resort, and probably not the fanciest, but it was the warmest in personality and rife with amenities large and small that put a polish on the experience many other resorts could only envy. The beauty of the plane was that nowhere was very far away at those speeds, and in not much more than an hour or so, they were descending out of the night sky, braking hard on the somewhat short runway, then rolling to a stop a brief distance from the terminal itself. The flight time had been well spent as they engaged in some talking, but mostly just enjoying the closeness of the other, kissing, holding, touching, gentle and caring in how each approached the other. Few words were needed to explain what activity lie ahead during the night; both knew, both anticipated, and much for the same reason.

  At the airport, they thanked the aircrew for a great flight, and were ushered into a waiting limousine. Laura thought it quaint, almost condescending, that they were addressed by the driver, as well as the bell crew, as "Boss Man" and "Boss Lady". She noted in her mind to ask Ryan if that was an island custom or just at this resort. The facility itself was beautiful, small enough for personalized service and large enough to have everything available, and then some. Their minimal luggage was portered to the top floor, the penthouse, converted for the moment into the bridal suite by changing to mostly white d?cor, with plenty of flowers. Again Laura was both bemused and flattered by the "Boss Lady" title with which she was addressed. Ryan seemed to take it all in stride, paying off the bell crew as they backed out, carefully placed the "DO NOT DISTURB" sign on the doorknob. and closed the entrance door.

  The suite, beautiful in its own right, was made more so by the flowers and other amenities. The luggage had carefully been placed on stands in the master bedroom. Ryan had been adamant about the amount of luggage they brought along. His reasoning was not at all illogical; he said that unless they lived on an island all the time, most of their clothes would not be appropriate for resort wear and therefore she should not pack much. They would acquire what they needed as they went along. Any unpacking could wait until morning since it was getting a little late and there was still one thing Laura wanted to do, in bed, with this man, on their wedding night. Later she would recall thinking to herself what an incongruous situation she had managed to place herself in: here she was with two children, about to go to bed with a man she loved very much, and her actual bedtime experience was so limited she didn't really know what to do to please him, or really how to start down that road. Maybe a quick shower would help, and on the reasoning she needed to "freshen up" a bit, she retrieved a small package from Wendy's Works and retreated momentarily to the "her" shower room. Shower over quickly and now clad in what amounted to not much more than a postage stamp sized area of actual material, she looked at herself in the mirror, blushed at what she saw, strengthened her desire to gratify her husband, and donning one of the luxurious robes while waiting for the right moment to show off her wares, she went back to the bedroom.

  Anticipating with much desire about what was to come, Ryan said he also would jog through the shower, then they could begin the rest of their live together. Robe wrapped around her, Laura lay down on the big bed, trying to decide how to go about this. It wasn't a seduction by any means; both of them wanted this moment, and had patiently waited until the time was right in every respect. Both were mature adults, both had agreed that birth control was something they would talk about later; for now, they agreed to not concern themselves about that issue. She also considered the smell of fresh coffee that permeated the room, and the brightness of the light that shown through her eyelids. That didn't seem to make any sense at all, and she was not quite ready to make love in the light since to date all of her experience had been in the dark of night. Trying to understand what was going on, Laura opened one eye slowly, not realizing how long she had been soundly asleep, and saw?..

  Ryan Williams had indeed jogged through the shower, with visions of this beautiful, physically very attractive, and probably scantily clad woman of his dreams waiting in bed for him. Roger had been right about one thing for sure: there was a testosterone rush in Ryan Williams he had not felt in a long time, and he would have to pace himself through stern self control for fear he would rush things when he wanted so much to be gentle and caring, making love not just having sex. Having quickly considered all that, minimally clad himself, he returned to the bedroom with growing anticipation, to find this beautiful wife of his?..sound asleep in the middle of the bed. Ryan Williams was a wise, thoughtful man, and one of his dreams was that when they made love, they would not be two people, but one person in two bodies, each acting for the benefit of the other, and he also knew this first time would have to wait a few more hours. Carefully lying down beside her for the first time as her husband, he gently covered her, and was rewarded when she rolled to her side, pressing against him, and in her dreams wrapped an arm around him. The passion would be delayed a few hours.

  Laura's slowly opened one eye and saw a man in a white robe sitting in the other room, sipping coffee and watching her. She was apparently still attired as when she climbed into the bed, robe and all, and now had a warming cover over her. It was bright because the sun was streaming in through the shaded windows. The dawn had arrived full throttle into a bright, crystal clear tropical day. Worn down by the events of
her wedding day, the new Mrs. Williams had fallen fast asleep on her wedding night. As the realization crystallized in her mind, Laura felt a deep feeling of failure within her, a hollowness, and the tears started down her cheeks. The man at the table, seeing her stirring herself awake, rose, came into the bedroom, and sat on the bed beside her.

  "Good morning; I love you." Ryan said as he began gently kissing away her tears.

  "Oh, Ryan, how can you love me? I fell asleep on our wedding night when I wanted so very much to be so good for you and everything and?..you should just beat me. Now our wedding night is over and I messed it all up and?.."

  "Hush; you aren't a failure. Everything is fine, trust me; I still love you very much, and beating you is not what I have in mind. You just needed a little nap, and it didn't hurt me to catch some zzz's either. But, look at it like this: we've been married less than 24 hours. So, technically, it's still our wedding day, right?"

  "Yes, it is, if you say so. I just feel so bad about this."

  "That's okay, no harm done. So, we agree it's technically still our wedding day. Now, if it's light here, it has to be dark somewhere else; right? See? It's still our wedding day, and somewhere it's night, so what's the problem, Mrs. Williams?"

  "How do you always make things somehow go right for us? I really screwed up this time and I still feel pretty bad about it, and I know you're going to make me feel better; maybe just a small beating?"

  "Nope, no beatings, but I'll tell you what I'd like to do about this. Better yet, I'll show you. Move over and make room for me. Wanna make a tricycle motor?"

  "A what?.a tricycle something?"

  "Shut up and kiss me. I'll explain later"

  In the course of the next hour, Ryan and Laura Williams would learn much about themselves, and about each other. Moreover, Laura Williams finally came to understand what many other women her age already knew quite well: in broad daylight, aided and abetted by a loving man who was wise in many ways, and who understood that she had never before experienced true love at this level. It was not all one sided. Laura had always seemed a little reluctant in physical love, even after she had offered herself to him in the boat the night he had proposed. He understood she did that as an act of love. What he didn't understand was that this woman had a decade of frustration bottled up inside her, a decade of always wanting more and never receiving more, and eventually a developing belief that there was something very wrong with her psychologically or physically, or something as yet undefined. There was always that feeling of climbing the mountain, but never reaching the top and always sliding back in frustration without seeing the other side. Today, however, she met a mountain man named Ryan; he would climb with her, helping her when the way was unclear. To his credit, and pleasure, when the mist was cleared from blocking her way to the top, he could see not a mountain to be scaled, but a volcano of frustrated passion. It was not to be feared for its explosive power, but guided, it's beauty understood for what was happening to Laura for the first time.

  In the afterglow, lying pressed full length against full length, arms and legs intertwined, neither could find words, or even needed words, to explain what had happened. When breathing and heart rates were somewhere back toward normal, in a very small, almost little girl voice, Laura finally broke the silence, if only barely above a whisper.

  "Ryan, was I?.was it?.you know?.okay?"

  "No, you were?.. I can't describe how great you were for me, and I think maybe things went pretty good for you; at least I tried to make things go good for you, but then everything just sort of took off, and there wasn't much I could do but hang on."

  "That's just it. I don't know what happened to me. All of a sudden every nerve in my body just exploded and all I cared about was that you didn't stop making love to me. I think I just went totally crazy for a while. Do you think?..is there something wrong with me? Do you think that will ever happen again? I just don't understand what happened."

  "Whoa; so many questions. Look, I'm no expert here but I know a few things. I know that what happened for us never happens at all for some people. I know that I don't make love to you; I make love with you, and always will. I'm pretty sure this will happen again, if you want it to; we can make it happen, and next time you'll understand and it will be even better. I know as my lover, you are a partner most men only get to dream about. In fact, I can't wait to tell the guys around the shop how great you are in bed!"

  "You?..you wouldn't really do that?..would you?" Laura's voice actually sounded a bit fearful as she asked.

  "No, of course not. What happens between us in our bedroom is between us, only us, but I do have to tell you that you are really, really strong when you get.....well, you know what I mean."

  " I didn't hurt you or anything like that did I? I didn't mean to; it's just that it was so overpowering and I knew I didn't want to stop.....couldn't stop. I've just never, ever?..I can't explain what happened. Do you really think it might, we might, make it happen again?"

  "I think so, but I think I need to run through the shower again; that was quite a workout, and I think maybe we should order in some breakfast, and maybe some mega-vitamins; I have a feeling I'll need to keep up my strength for the next few days, now that you know how things are supposed to work. Okay?"

  "Do you have any idea how much I love you, just for being you. And if it never happens again, you took me to places I've never been, and I thank you for that. I am willing to slave over a hot telephone all day to order you some breakfast, and then I probably need a shower myself. Your breakfast preference, master?"

  "Tell you what: we'll order, but it's already a little after nine. Call for delivery at say 9:30, okay?"

  "Yes, master."

  Placing their orders and specifying delivery time, Laura replaced the handset and asked "Me next?"

  "Nope; you now, with me, in the shower. I'm only at 237 and have a lot of intensive studying to do. Okay?"

  "I've never?..I guess?..I love you; teach me. But what in the world are you counting? I don't understand."

  "Do you remember that soap commercial about people having 3000 body parts? I've been checking yours pretty closely. I have a long way to go, but everything I've seen so far has been great, and I want to count some more; okay?"

  And extending a hand to his wife, Ryan and Laura headed for the first of many joint experiences they would enjoy over the years. Initially, Laura had some serious misgivings, but she realized quickly that not only did it work both ways, she discovered she was not embarrassed or shy or anything else with this man, so strong was the bond. She reveled in his attentions, and came to learn that the term "body wash" could have a whole new meaning.

  Dried off and clad now in their robes, Ryan and Laura strolled hand in hand to the dining area to await the delivery of breakfast, and seated themselves so they were within touching distance.

  "See, it is fun, and I made some real progress on my counting by the way. How about you?"

  "I don't think you made as much progress as you think. You examined a couple of things several times, and very closely, so that can't possibly count, not that I minded; in fact, any time you want to resume the count, I'm ready. The thing is, for me, I've never?..ah?..I don't know how to say this, I've never seen a man,?..in the light ?..without his clothes. And, I learned something I've always wondered about, a lot of women have wondered about. So there."

  "Really? Like what? Men are men, mostly, I think. I've never run around looking for myself."

  "I learned that the conventional wisdom about the size of a man's feet may well be true, at least in your case, and I can't wait to tell the girls in the shop about that either."

  "Sure, just like I'm going to tell the guys I got lucky. Anyway, sounds like breakfast just arrived. I'll get the door."

  Ryan took the few steps to the door of the suite, opening it wide for the cart to enter, but was surprised to see who was doing the delivery. "Jorge, what are you doing? You're supposed to be in the kitchen serving the paying gue
sts, not up here, with your helper alongside. Anyway, it's great to see you again. How are things with you?"

  "Buenos dias, Senor Boss Man y Senora Boss Lady. When the Boss Man is here, Jorge takes care of him; numero dos can serve the guests. Please, be seated and we will serve you properly. If there is anything, say it and it will be done."

  As requested, Ryan returned to his seat while the two men laid the table with fine china and the heavy silver, poured a light bodied wine, placed new flowers, fluffed the cloth napkins, and served the meal. Laura was amazed at the detail they went to, making sure everything was just right in every respect, garnish on the plate at exactly the right position, utensils placed at an exact distance. Jorge did talk with Ryan a bit, mostly in English, or his version of it; she realized she needed to dredge up her high school Spanish quickly to really make the most of this adventure. And she noticed that when things were all set to their satisfaction and they were preparing to leave the room, Ryan pressed a bill into Jorge's hand. But Jorge put the bill back into Ryan's hand, closing the fingers over it, glanced at her, and said something quickly in Spanish that she couldn't quite make out. Bidding them a good day, the two backed out of the room and left Ryan and Laura to their first real meal together as husband and wife. The food was very, very impressive, both in presentation and actual taste, and they both realized how hungry they were. Laura was coming to realize there was more to this high end living than she had known, and while it might pose a little challenge now and then for her lack of knowledge, she understood that she could easily get accustomed to it. She cautioned herself mentally to remember she was not royalty in her everyday life, however great things might be at the moment.

  Finishing up the remnants, the two finally had satiated themselves to the point where they could resume a more normal level of conversation rather than between bites. Laura had been thinking about the issue with the tip Ryan had offered and decided maybe there was something to be learned.

  "Can I ask you something?"

  "For you, always. What is it?"

  "I saw you try to tip Jorge, but he put it back in your hand and told you something in Spanish I didn't understand. This is all pretty new to me and I want to understand how things work. My Spanish is pretty rusty."

  "Oh, nothing really; he just didn't want to take it."

  "I get the feeling there was more to it than that. I know he told you something, and I saw him look at me just before he said it. Should I call the kitchen and ask him?"

  "Okay, okay, Ms Perception. When I tried to tip him, he said that a man who has just made love to such a beautiful woman first thing in the morning is a man among men and is to be revered and honored. He could not take money from such a man. Okay?"

  "Ryan, you didn't say something to him, did you? I would be so upset with you?.."

  "Nope, not a word. But look around; the bed looks like a hurricane went through, what passes for your nighty is on the floor, we're both in robes, barefooted, with damp hair, and your robe is revealing enough so it's a little obvious you have nothing on under it. And, truthfully, he really meant what he said to me as a very serious compliment."

  "Oh my gosh; I didn't realize my robe was open that far. I'm sorry."

  "I'm not. No more than a bikini, and I had a really good view."

  "Did he really say that to you?"

  "He did."

  "And he's right, you know; at least I think so. But can I ask one more thing? Why does everyone call you boss man and me boss lady? Is that something they just do here to make people feel good? I've heard the expression used before, but it was more in casual conversation, maybe from a porter or barkeep. This is consistent. I just want to know, so I don't screw up and look foolish."

  "There is something I need to tell you, and I want you to know up front that if you had asked me, I would have been truthful; the subject just never came up, and now is a good time to take care of that."

  "Should I be nervous about this?"

  "No, I don't think so; it's just something I need to explain to you so we'll have, what's the expression, 'A level playing field'. Let's take our coffee and go sit?..Better? Okay. Here's the deal. Remember hearing that Windmere is a limited, private corporation, with the stock closely held? People who are employed by the company can buy in, but under the rules of the corporation, only those people can hold stock. So, it's not like a GE or GM or someone like that with stockholders all over the place. Anyway, the majority of stockholders are pretty small in shares owned. When we started out, I sold shares to generate enough capital flow to get things going, but I also bought back when I could and retired the shares. Because more of the investment was mine to begin with, I'm pretty much the majority stockholder now, which sort of makes me the boss. And, that's why I get called Boss Man, I guess, and since you now are my partner, in many things, that makes you the Boss Lady."

  "Okay, I understand all that; it makes sense now; actually, I sort of like it, having a title. On an ego trip I guess, but I don't want to get carried away with this thing. Is that why you were sort of evasive when we were doing the wedding planning, and you wanted to handle the money? And what about Roger; I thought he was the CEO."

  "So he is. But CEO is a title; Roger is actually an employee hired because I needed someone with gray hair to offset my rather youthful appearance when all this started out. Besides, he was bored being retired. Yes, I did ask his opinion about using the corporate jet for our trip here; I didn't want to overwhelm you. He said you deserved the whole damned airplane if you wanted it."

  "So, we could afford a bigger place to live, for the kids, you know, and just in case. I think caution went out the window about an hour ago."

  "I think so. Just so you know, since we're partners, our approximate net worth is around $64 million right now, but I expect to break 100 within two years as the loans are paid down; more after that. I think we can live in a bigger place, but remember, that was one of my tasks, and I'm working on it as we speak."

  "How much did you say?"

  "About $64 million, give or take a few million at the moment."

  Laura's voice was clearly shaking as the numbers soaked in; "Oh my God; I thought that's what you said. Ryan, with your looks and that kind of cash, you could have had any woman anywhere anytime, even out in public, with a crowd. Now I understand what you were going through, what with me and two kids showing up on your doorstep out of the blue; no wonder you were concerned about what was going on. But surely there were women after you. Why me?"

  "Exactly why, honestly, I'm not sure, but I love you, and I am so thankful I had Dennis and Alice come retrieve you and the kids from the shelter that first night, even if it was sort of accidental. I saw you on the local news station and the need to keep you safe simply overcame any other thought I might have had. Truthfully, I didn't know what to do next, once you and the kids were at Windmere; Alice saved the day for me there."

  "And all this time I thought Roger was just doing a good deed, but since we're telling the truth, I'll admit the first time I saw you and you were a little standoffish, I decided you were the man for me, no matter what it took. The crazy thing is, we were still pretty bad off at that moment, but I didn't think of you as a safe haven; I just sensed you were the man for me, in spite of all that had happened. I should have been a man hater about that point, after all Richard did to us. Anyway, I think I started loving you right there and then, and I too am so very grateful you came to our rescue, even if I didn't know it at the time. I love you so much for all that, and so much more."

  "As I love you for being who you are, and so much more, and speaking of that, I think maybe my strength is returning, along with some other attributes that seem to fascinate you. Still interested in making tricycle motors?"

  "So that's what you said. I didn't understand before, but I'm ready for another test run, Big Guy. By the way, I decided to do some body part counting myself?..I only got to one, and I'm thinking of starting over."

  And that was pretty muc
h the end of the money conversation. Thinking about it later, Ryan found himself very pleased that Laura cared much more about pleasing him, and maybe herself in the mix, than sitting around being impressed with how much money they had. In the span of their life together, it was always that way; each being first in the other's eyes. When she did, in an idle moment, ask about the reasoning behind the original "hiring bonus", Ryan admitted he had come up with the idea solely because he has an unexplainable urge to protect and provide for her and her family.

  Lunch was served at 3:30 PM, after which they went outside for the first time since arriving. The kids would show up two days later, and while that did alter some things a bit for Laura and Ryan, it was the start of a long, delightful, and respectful relationship between Ryan Williams, Laura Williams, Jackson Williams and Amanda Williams.