Kisses and Teats

Chapter 2

My alarm interrupts my sleep.

“What are you still doing here?” I ask the naked woman who is currently lying comfortably naked at 6 am.

My head is banging from the hangover. She doesn’t answer

“this b***h better not be dead” I shook her still no response, I don’t have time for this I have to be in London by 11 am. I shake her again vigorously and she opens her eyes and smiles like she is in some fairytale.

I repeat myself “What are you still doing here?”

“Good morning to you too” she smiles wider, if someone walks in they’ll think we are in love and she is not some girl I came back home with from the club after the shareholders of my company decided to have an after party after yesterday's meeting.

“Get out! I told you I don’t want to see you when I wake up.”

“Come on, we could go for another round.” That’s it I’ve had enough I call security, thankfully for her she gets the memo, dresses up, and leaves. I get up and prepare for my trip.

I couldn’t fly out yesterday because a shareholder’s meeting was held and thanks to the mature and non-egotistical set of men. Yes, that was sarcasm. The meeting bleeds into the night and I just wanted to sleep on my bed after the hell show. One will think owning a company and being the best tech company in the whole of the United States and being a billionaire is the best experience in the world but it’s just checkups, headaches, and blood pressure.

I’m cut off from my thoughts when I hear a knock.

“Yes”

“Sir, your stylist is here with your suit,” she says from the other side of the door.

“Thank you” I hear her walking away.

I dress up in a tank top and shorts and meet up with Frank in the closet room. That is the room closest to my room. I love my personal space and as weird as it may sound I take dressing and clothes very seriously so I just thought why not make a whole room dedicated to my clothes, shoes, accessories, and perfumes? I open the door to see Frank sitting on the cushion.

“Hello, Frank”

Hello, Mr. Hot billionaire” he smiles. I can’t say Frank and I are not particularly friends but we get along easily and he is really good at his job which is admirable.

“Quit calling me that will you?” I laugh.

“My bad Mr. Hot billionaire,” he smirks.

“So what do you have for me today?”

And just like that he gets back into character and you see the glow in his eyes and you know he loves his job “Well this is a limited edition, Ralph Lauren just new out yesterday, and the suit is 30,000 U.S. dollars.”

“Okay, great work Frank, I'll send the invoice to you.”

“Always a pleasure doing business” We shake hands and he leaves.

I finish and meet my driver in the car. He drives till we get to the ramp. I see the pilot and air hostesses waiting outside the jet. I do the normal check-in and we prepare to take off.

I have to be in London by 11 in the morning. There’s an annual billionaire club where as a billionaire you meet other billionaires, and a trillion richer. It includes networking and bragging about your achievements and what more you could do. I dread it, I often wish I could skip the day but making an appearance is important. It is a great program for people to know about you and meet more investors or rich consumers for your product and services.

I eat breakfast and take a nap.

I’m currently at the venue and the organizers are all taking turns to give their speeches and I can’t wait for it to end. It seems my prayers have been answered because it ends shortly after. Before I make it to the bar I’m stopped in my tracks by Mr. Alonso Raymond, the biggest exporter and importer in London.

“Mr. Alexander” he stretches out his hand.

“Mr. Alonso” I shake him and smile.

“How is London treating you?”

“Not bad, the weather is nice.”

“Great to hear that, by the way, I intended to speak to you. We plan on building a tracking system that does not only track the exports and imports process but also detects funny business and sends signals directly and blows up the transportation used if no heed to the warning and you are the right man for the job”

“That is no problem when I land back in California I’ll make some inquiries and get back to you”

“It was nice seeing you” he walks off.

I make my way to the bar, I speak with other people for a while till people start dismissing me and I immediately get on the jet and make my way back before they have a lot of things I need to take care of. I need to go through the secretary applications.

I read the name on the application again for the third time blinking to make sure I read it correctly still, Ava Rodriguez. It can’t be a coincidence, can it? I mean they are a lot of Ava Rodriguez, right?

It might just be another Ava Rodriguez. It can’t be the same one that has haunted my brain for 11 years after speaking to her for 40 minutes. She can’t be the same one that I looked for in the halls of Bay View High School, relentlessly like that’s why I was sent to school but every time I asked about her it was like she didn’t exist and she was a fiction in my mind no one seemed to know who she was. My mind wanders back to the conversation we had that completely wrapped me around her like she was the flower and I was the bee.

Back to the present, there is a secretary position that is presently vacant and as far as my temporary personal assistant isn’t that bad, she can be a bit burdensome and too pleasing which is a bit irritating because why don’t you have a mind of your own and speak for yourself. This may be my fault as my best friend Ken will say I’m too what’s the word “uptight” and come off as condescending and rude. Which I think is interpreted as securing the boundaries I’ve made tightly. I know this sounds crazy, she’s meant to be at my beck and call since she is my personal assistant and is on my payroll but it feels like it’s all pretense and I had so much of that all my life and I don’t need more of that, especially in my office that has become my home.

So I need a new one fast, and soon enough. A lot of announcements and social media ads have been sent out and I have been reviewing a lot of applications since morning all saying the same thing. At this point I’ll just pick 10 random applications or 9 including Ava Rodriguez. I need to know if it’s her. And I need to find out if fate truly exists, and if it is truly her. I make a call to my personal assistant and before I can even drop the phone she is already at my door. Some people will call it efficiently but I have no idea why it irritates me so much.

I let her in. “You sent for me sir”

“Yes, I need you to send out calls or assign someone to make the calls…”

“No sir, it will be my pleasure to do it sir” she cuts me off.

I give her one of my very many fake smiles “Very well that being settled I’ll send a list of people to send out calls to and then emails too if they agree for an interview”

“Okay sir, I’ll do that right now sir,” she says enthusiastically and turns to leave. I mentally roll my eyes.

“Melissa”

“Yes sir?”

“If Ava Rodriguez accepts to do the interview, schedule her last and it should be a one-on-one interview in my office.”

“Excuse me, sir? That’s against the board rules…”

“Did you miss what I said, or do you want me to repeat myself to be sure I said it?” I look her dead in the eye. Making her know that is a rhetorical question. “And praise to God this company is mine and I can do as I please without anyone trying to question me”

“Sorry sir, I’ll also do that sir.” She walks out of the office.

I asked Melissa to clear up my schedule because all the application checking has tired me out and I am no longer in the working spirit. Or I’m just really too distracted to get any work done. My mind keeps drifting back to Ava and I can’t help myself to be honest I’ve never been able to, and I know why but I’ve never understood why.

I remind myself that this may just be a coincidence and that I shouldn’t set myself up for disappointment. I think to myself as I drive down to the golf resort to meet up with Ken after I realize I can’t be with my thoughts at home so I freshened up and called Ken.

I met up with Ken and we golfed for almost an hour and my hits were s**t.

“What’s up, my boy?”

“Why do you keep calling me a boy like I’m some broke 16 year old.”

“Yen Yen Yen I know you are a 27 years old multi tech millionaire with a big d**k that everyone wants to suck we see it on the daily stock market news, even the newscasters want some.”

“Ken! I think that is a bit too descriptive don’t you think I mean if you want to suck it I can politely decline since I’m in a good mood.” I smirk at him.

Ken and I have been best friends from the beginning of college we met during orientation week and even I am surprised whenever I say this

to anyone, but we hit off pretty well. Ken is like coffee with flavors while I’m just plain black coffee. He is the color blue and I’m just black. Our friendship has flourished more than I thought it would and we have grown and built our individual work life together. He is one of the best crypto and stock traders in California right now, and number 3 in the U.S. He is family.

“Are you really in a good mood? Your hits have been s**t and that’s what builds your s*x resume.”

“Are you saying I can’t get a girl if I don’t talk about golf?” I smirk

“If you haven’t noticed you don’t need to speak to get any girl, but that’s beside the point what’s up with your company problems?”

“Nah, the company is a good man.”

“Then what, do you finally like a girl? I was starting to think you lean the other way.”

“I do not “lean” the other way and I’m just in my head it’s complicated, promise when I sort it out I’ll let you know.”

“No problem man, stay good okay?”

“Thank you.” I shake him.

“Wanna eat all this golf and talking has made me hungry.”

“When are you not hungry?” I walk with him towards the café while laughing.

“Look man I’m not trying to build ten packs my woman loves me as I am plus. I’m fit and my woman isn’t complaining.”

“Yes sir must be nice.” We walked into the café and ordered some food and I already felt lighter. I couldn't wait for Thursday.

………………………………………………………………………………………

I sat in my office, bathed in the warm glow of the afternoon sun filtering through the blinds. The soft hum of the air conditioner filled the room, as my fingers rested lightly on my keyboard, though the words on the screen blurred into nothingness.

A soft knock on the door disrupted my focus. Before I could respond, the door creaked open, and a woman stepped inside. She moved with an effortless grace, her presence commanding the space in an instant. I froze.

She was beautiful like those ladies from the fashion magazine. There was something striking, almost ethereal, about her.

Her legs, slender and straight, carried her confidently across the room. Each step was measured, and deliberate, as if she was both aware of and indifferent to the effect she had on me. Her skin glowed, a deep, rich hue that caught the light like polished stone. But it was her hair that mesmerized him most. Thick, oily curls framed her face in perfect, wild symmetry, cascading down her shoulders like a crown of spirals.

She smiled at me saying my name like it was meant only for her lips, "Alexander," her voice like a whisper from my past, a name carried in the wind.

I was hypnotized by the woman before me.

I swallowed, unable to find his words. My throat felt dry, my mind swirling.

“Ava!”

I opened my eyes and frantically looked around me.

Humph! It’s a dream.