Lavender Is a Harsh Mistress Read online

  By the time that she was knocking on Patrick’s door it was past seven thirty. She made a mental note to herself. “I only have to deal with this for two and one half hours before Manny calls.” As soon as she knocked on the door Patrick answered and was dressed in a Japanese Kimono. It was opened almost to the waist and he had combed out a few of his chest hairs. Amanda gritted her teeth and walked in. He gave her a hug while running his hands down her back and grabbing her backside. “Where have you been my baby girl? I have been waiting for you all my life.” He grabbed her backside a little harder and thrust his midsection into her pelvic area.

  “Girl I sure did miss this! Mandy, you have to stop being so stingy.

  Don’t you know what you do to me?” He attempted to kiss her but Amanda turned away causing his lips to brush against her cheek as she pushed away and walked past him. “Patrick we have time for that later. It’s been a long day and I am tired and hungry, and for the last time don’t call me Mandy!”

  “Alright, alright it’s Amanda I am sorry. Why are you always so tired when you come to see me? You need to start taking off half days so 32

  Lavender Is A Harsh Mistress that when we hook up you won’t be so tired. You’re the boss you can do it! That way we can have sex all night. Come into the kitchen I have already ordered us something to eat from that Chinese place around the corner.” Amanda knew what that meant. He had ordered something from a place that he liked. She had told him a thousand times that she didn’t like their food and only ate their egg rolls. But he kept ordering from there anyway. While she munched on her egg rolls she looked around his apartment and dreaded the conversation that always materialized. Within seconds Patrick was right on cue.

  “Tell me more about Carney, did she really have a Bentley?

  Is the dude a top member of the KGB? What hotel is she staying at? You know that they have some very top class hotels in Moscow, did she stay at one of those? Come on Amanda, she must have said something!”

  “She told me that the guy that she is with is worth millions and soon to be worth billions.” Patrick almost fell out of his kitchen chair.

  “Billions! Did you say billions? Man, I mean Amanda, you have just got to ask Carney if I can join up with her. I know that she would do it if you asked her. I could be like an advance man for her. Making sure that everything is already in place and that she will be safe.

  Imagine, I could be flying around the world on Lear Jets, eating at the best places, sleeping in world class hotels, all the best liquor and driving the best cars, and all of it on other peoples money. Girl you have to get me hooked up on that tip.”

  “I will bring it up to her when I think that the time is right.”

  “Yeah! You have been saying that since we started going together four years ago. In the mean time Carney has been flying all over the world getting the super rich sexed up and kinked out. While she lives off the fat of the land. Besides with the type of business that she is in she needs security, and I can do that.” Amanda knew that she had to change the subject or else he would go on forever.

  “Do you have any new movies?” Patrick dropped the subject of Carney instantly and his eyes lit up.

  “Do you mean any new adult movies?” Amanda answered as if she could not have cared less.

  “Yeah....I guess so?”

  “Sure, I will put one right on. Go take your shower and this time 33

  Lavender Is A Harsh Mistress don’t take all day like you usually do. I am ready to get it on right now!” As she began to get undressed in the bathroom, she looked around and saw that he left her a washcloth but no towel.

  “Patrick you didn’t leave a towel out for me to dry off.”

  “What the heck do you need a towel for? I am just going to rip it off!” Amanda leaned against the shower stall and bellowed.

  “If I don’t get a towel within a few seconds I am going home!!”

  She heard him leave the bedroom and stomp toward the laundry closet. He grabbed a towel, walked to the bathroom door and flung it to her.

  “Girl you could take a brother there in a hurry!” Amanda couldn’t hear him over the running shower water. She was also too preoccu-pied trying to figure out how much time had passed since she had arrived. She wondered how much time she could spend in the shower before he started pounding on the door.

  Amanda stepped out of the bathroom with the towel wrapped around her. As she walked to the bedroom she already knew what the routine would be. When she entered the bedroom Patrick would pat the bed, meaning for her to sit down. His eyes would be as big as saucers as he watched the adult movie on his television. After ten minutes he would turn off the movie and the room would get dark.

  He would then reach over and pull the towel away from her body.

  This was her cue to lay back on the bed as he rolled over on top of her. He would suck one breast and then the other. Every once in awhile he would desperately try and French Kiss her. But he had already been warned that was a no no. When it came to kissing he could go as far as her cheeks and that was it. He would then part her legs and insert his penis into her while saying. “Darling do you feel that? Just give me a minute and daddy is going to take you home.”

  It was always the same dull, passionless pillow talk every time. He might have gotten a better response from her if he had recorded the entire thing.

  It wasn’t that Patrick didn’t try when it came to sex, Amanda knew that he did. But he was just one of those men who could never light a passionate fire under any woman. On top of that he was short changed when it came to penis size. To him the Gods had not been kind to him in that department. But she didn’t hold that against him.

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  Lavender Is A Harsh Mistress But, when you put it next to all of his other faults like, vanity, lazi-ness, being a know it all, talking too much, refusing to listen, having to be the center of attention, drinking too much, always playing the clown. With all of these other issues added to his small penis, sex was a non-starter. But at least he was safe.

  Patrick continued his thrusting and pounding as she laid back and peered into the darkness. All the while Amanda was trying to figure out how much time she had until Manny called. It already seemed that Patrick had been on top of her for hours. She turned her head and saw that the clock on the dresser said nine fifteen. That meant that Manny would be calling in forty five minutes. She always just laid back until he had finished and prayed that he wouldn’t want to try again. With her body and mind not responding she would lay quiet and think about next year’s clothing line. But tonight she didn’t think about her clothing line. She was thinking about something totally different. She didn’t know where the idea had come from but suddenly it appeared like a candle in the dark. She began to roll it around in her head.”He does need an office until his is repaired. Why not use the office that is inside of mine?” Amanda was referring to a mix up in the original design of her building. The builders had intended to build one very large office. But had mis-read the blueprints and built another office inside of hers. The office was bigger than hers and even had it’s own bathroom. But it never appealed to her and so she decided to remain in the smaller office.

  Patrick continued pounding away on top of her as the idea began to take shape in her mind.

  “Of course he would have to walk thru my office every day on the way to his, but that won’t be a problem for me. That way if he wanted to ask me something he could just stick his head out of his office door. I am sure that he has a million questions about things.” A silly grin came over her face and an unintended giggle escaped from between her lips. Upon hearing her giggle Patrick started to move faster.

  “Hold on baby, I will get us both home. I knew that you missed this as much as I did. Just a little longer!”

  In her mind she patted herself on the back for having come up with such a great idea. Amanda looked up into the darkness of the room 35

  Lavender Is A Harsh Mistress and imagined seeing a clock. She began
to count off every second as Patrick went about his business. She could hear his heavy breathing as he placed his mouth next to her ear. With every tick of the imag-inary clock on the ceiling the smile on her face got wider and wider.

  It thrilled Patrick to know she was enjoying it as much as he was.

  The clock kept ticking away minute by minute. If she had calculated correctly. Manny should be calling in twenty three minutes.

  Amanda was very surprised by Marcus’ reaction about moving out of his damaged office. He tried to convince her that the plumber nor the noise would bother him. He finally relented when she promised him that he could move back in when the work was done. Amanda got started on his moving right away. She made sure that the new office would have the best of everything. She put in a cherry oak desk, plush maroon carpeting, new Victorian lighting fixtures, did the closet and the bathroom over, and paneled the wall also in cherry oak. She also ordered a new computer system as well as a two way television. That allowed him to speak to and see anyone in the world. The last thing that had to be done was to replace his office door. She allowed him to pick out what kind of door he wanted. She found it “Strange” that he would pick out a solid steel one without any windows. Within three days Marcus moved in.

  On his first day he knocked on her door and waited for her to answer before he entered.

  “Good morning Mr. Peterson, I wanted to get here early so that I could welcome you.” She was quick to notice that he looked absolutely fabulous, as he stood in the doorway with the soft sunshine slowly rising over his shoulder. He was dressed in a brown suit that she could tell was handmade and fitted him to a tee. Behind the jacket was a bold pink shirt with a light brown and pink paisley print tie, along with a matching handkerchief in his breast pocket. His shoes were brown suede Bostonians, and in his hand he was holding a soft black leather carry all. He walked over to her desk.

  “I don’t know how many times that I can thank you Miss. Wilcox, but thank you again?”

  “No need for that Mr. Peterson, you have earned it?”

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  Lavender Is A Harsh Mistress

  “No I don’t think that I have but I hope to.” By now he was walking across the floor to his office and opening his door.

  “You don’t have to knock Mr. Peterson, just come in. Most of the time I am in another part of the company anyway.” Marcus turned around to face her and cut his eyes toward her door before looking back at her.

  “No I don’t think that I can do that Miss. Wilcox, you are due that respect. Besides barging in on a woman is not something that a gentlemen should do.” Marcus then opened the door and went into his office. Amanda’s mouth was still hanging open when Willis Paige came in.

  “Mandy I am more than grateful that you straightened out that thing with “The Killers.” But I am here about Paris today. It was always Barbara’s job to come with me to Paris, in order to meet with the international buyers. Now that she is gone I need to know who is going to take her place. So that I can make arrangements for things like hotels, cars, air travel.”

  “Willis is that something that we have to talk about now? That’s not until months away.”

  “Mandy you know me, if I don’t get it all taken care of now I won’t be able to sleep for months.” Amanda got up and circled her desk a few times trying to think

  “I guess that you are right, better now than later. We have to find somebody.”

  “But please Mandy this time no Raz. The last time that she filled in for Barbara, my room was next to hers and I couldn’t get a single nights sleep. I guess that the French Fleet must have been in town, and she tried to screw every one of them.”

  “You are right, we can’t have that. What about Mr. Peterson, after all he is taking Barbara’s place?”

  “That’s a good suggestion Mandy, and he sure knows the business.

  But Mandy, you know that I can’t go to Paris with a man. Especially since me and David have broken up.”

  “Oh I forgot about that, I am so sorry Willis, but I can’t think of anyone else right now. But like you said Mr. Peterson does know the business.”

  “Yeah but you know how some straight guys would be embarrassed 37

  Lavender Is A Harsh Mistress to travel with a gay guy. You know how people talk, especially in our business. But I guess that it won’t hurt to ask.”

  “I promise that I will ask him Willis, and get back to you. Is there any chance that you and David might get back together again?”

  Willis put his hand underneath his chin.

  “Well let’s see, he took all of his clothes, my big screen television, three quarters of our joint bank account, all of the crystal, the paintings off the walls, and the car. He’s moved in with another man on the other side of the country in Seattle. No Mandy I think that I can safely say that there is no chance that we might get back together again.”

  “You will find someone else, someone better.”

  “Mandy, take a good look at me. I am a fifty three year old, almost bald, over weight, unattractive man. My chances of finding Prince Charming are slim to none. Prowling the gay bars are a young mans game. At this point in my life it’s catch as catch can.”

  “Don’t put yourself down. You will find someone give it time.” Willis looked over at Marcus’ steel door.

  “What’s he trying to do? Lock himself in or keep the rest of the world out. Let me ask you Mandy, what do you really think about him? I mean after you get past how handsome he is, his impeccable way of dressing, his manners, that beautiful smile, that confident walk, his expensive colognes, that easy way of talking. Not to mention a hundred other things, what’s your take on him?”

  “Everyone agrees that he is a great manager!”

  “Mandy I mean as a woman not as a employer.” “I am only concerned about being his boss, and so far so good.” “Well there is one thing that is perfectly clear around the office these days, Raz ain’t his boss!” Amanda looked toward Marcus’ door then back at Willis.“Oh! I didn’t know that he and Raz were seeing each other.” “I didn’t say that they were. But to hear Raz tell it she already has him tied to her four posted bed.” “Do you think that that is true Willis?”

  Willis opened her door and stepped into the hallway. “From what I have seen with my own two eyes he has paid her no attention at all.”

  As soon as Willis left her office Amanda shook to attention.

  She jerked her head around and looked at his door again. “ It never even crossed my mind. Maybe he’s gay too.” She took a deep breath 38

  Lavender Is A Harsh Mistress and swallowed hard. “After all he wouldn’t be the first man in the world that had everything that a woman wanted but just happened to be gay. I have known plenty of them. In today’s time it isn’t unusual for a woman to have her suspicions about a man who worked in woman’s fashions. As a matter of fact I have never seen Mr. Peterson give even so much as an interested glance to any woman in his presence, he’s a total gentlemen. His mother raised him very well.”

  About an hour later Marcus opened his door and asked.

  “Miss Wilcox, will you come into my office for a minute?” As soon as she entered he pointed for her to look at the two way television screen. On the screen was Mrs. Vivian Silvers. She lived in Aspen Colorado, and was one of Amanda’s richest and biggest customers.

  The look on her face showed that she was not happy.

  “Now Mandy, I was just telling this handsome young man that I just must have that ski outfit that you paraded at your show. He has told me that he will try and get it for me but that is not good enough.

  I simply must have it by the time that skiing season starts. I don’t want anyone beating me to the punch. I have to be the first! I have been a valued customer of Amanda Fashions for over five years now.

  I would like to think that stands for something!!”

  “Mrs. Silver that does stand for a great deal. But what I think that Mr. Peterson was trying to tell you was that we hav
en’t put that piece into actual production yet.” Mrs. Silver stepped closer to the camera to where her entire face covered the entire television screen.

  “If you don’t have it in production yet, put it into production and pass the extra charges onto me. I will be in New York in three weeks for a meeting with the Harrison Club. I expect to pick it up then.”

  She abruptly turned her back and walked out of camera view. Marcus let out a long sigh.

  “Is she worth it?”

  “She’s a widow whose husband owned the biggest quartz mine in the west. He left her well over a half billion dollars. Yeah I would say that she is worth it. Not to mention that she does at least over a hundred thousand dollar business with us every year.” Marcus reached for the phone.

  “I will put in a special order for her right now. Do you happen to know how her husband died?”

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  Lavender Is A Harsh Mistress

  “No Mr. Peterson, I don’t?”

  “She ordered him to and he did.” Amanda walked back to her desk thinking that his question and answer was quite odd. It wasn’t until she sat down that she realized that Marcus had told a joke.

  “Oh my God, what a fool I am. He must think that I am a total jerk!

  It was funny and I should have laughed. If Willis, or Hilton, or even Patrick, had told me that joke I would have laughed. Oh well I am the boss! That means that I am allowed to be stupid!!”

  In the five weeks since Marcus had moved into his new office anyone would have thought that the circus was in town. The unending parade of models that paraded into his office was astounding.

  But this was to be expected when a company had received the kind of rave reviews that Amanda’s had. Sometimes the line of models were lined up from the first floor right up to Amanda’s office door.

  The ones that were too young Marcus would talk to for a few minutes, then escort them to the elevator. It wasn’t that they were not pretty enough to work for Amanda’s company. It was just that they were far too young. Amanda Fashions mainly made clothes for older women. Women who were professional, middle and upper class, mostly middle age, married, divorced, who had children or grandchildren. Finding themselves later in life, or returning back into the workforce. But still liked to look good in clothing that suited their current life. In the past the models that were rejected by Barbara would leave her office distraught. But the ones that Marcus turned away took their rejection very well. Some of them would even have a smile on their face as he walked them back to the elevator. Amanda watched them all in disbelief as they strolled back thru her office.