The Sandstone Affair

His hand leaves my hip and travels between us, finding my clit and massaging it in rhythm with his thrusts. Suddenly every nerve ending in my body is unquenchable and overwhelmed at the same time. I move my hips with him, pulling and slamming my body down on him and the tension builds in my body. Soon I am ready and I dig my fingers into his back, letting go again.

This time it is pure pleasure instead of tears. I seem to be floating underneath him, awash in a sort of thick cloud of bliss when I feel his body tighten and his load fill me inside. I attempt to turn over, but as soon as the covers hit my bottom, I know it’s not the best idea.

“Lay on your tummy.” He gets some lotion and rubs it in, soothing and comforting me. He starts telling me about how I will feel better tomorrow and the sting won’t last and some other thing but I don’t really hear it. My muscles are loose, my body is well used and my soul feels clean and free. For the first time in years, I fall into a deep, satisfying sleep.

Chapter 15

“Dad, I’m here,” I say as soon as my father’s eyes open slightly. He smiles. It is like natural sunlight to my soul. I smile back with the widest grin imaginable. “I’m having a great day.”

I see his mouth move and think he is saying, “Good.” It’s hard to tell. They think the cancer may have spread to his brain or affected his language center. I’m not sure. What I am sure about is that since the night of my “release” session over Mark’s lap, I feel so much better and Dad has been more awake and happy as well.

I’ve kept busy the past few days. Janice got Kevin to agree to go to the office last night and work on setting up the reverse connection that will let us get the records from Blake, Mark has been working on the rejoinder and getting things in order, and I’ve been collecting a timeline and all the evidence I have about the scope of events and payments at Lynx. I can’t wait for Janice to call tonight and tell me what she discovered and what evidence she was able to get today.

“Mark’s doing great, Dad,” I tell him as his eyes begin to close again. I shift and feel just a slight twinge on my bottom, the memory of my safety and vulnerability over his lap filling me with peace once more. “I’m falling for him in a major way. It could be something serious someday. So don’t worry about me anymore. I’m going to be okay.”

“I love you,” he mouths to me. It’s the one phrase that’s easy to tell.

“I love you too, Daddy,” I say back loudly. When he falls asleep, I head home and start making myself a salad. I keep checking my phone to see if it’s on because Janice should have called by now. In fact, they were supposed to check out the system last night–so an update is really overdue. I haven’t heard much from Mark either. I begin to pace. I know my need to be in control has to change, but right now the silence is killing me.

I give up and call Janice. She answers on the first ring.

“I was just about to call you,” she says without bothering to say hello.

“I’m going crazy! What’s the hold-up?”

“I just needed to sit down for a minute and have a drink. Calling you was next on my list.”

“Drink? List? What’s going on? What did Kevin find out?”

“Well,” Janice begins. I feel the hesitation in her voice. Something’s wrong.

“If you tell me ‘there’s good news and bad news,’ I’m going to jump off a bridge!” I’m so tired of everyone tiptoeing around things.

“Okay, I won’t. There’s only bad news.”

“What?”

“Kevin spent hours on the system last night. He says there’s no way to set up a reverse. Apparently the network has a tripwire automatic responder code in the registry.”

“I don’t speak geek.”

“Me neither.” She laughs. “I’m reading this from a post-it note. He had to write it down. Anyway, what it means is that if we make any changes to the network, a signal goes straight to Blake. Kevin was able to print-screen the software and registry codes that prove Blake has our system feeding into his, but that was all Kevin could do.”

“So, we can’t get Blake’s transaction records? That is bad news.”

“It gets worse.”

“How could it possibly get worse?” I’m not sure I really want to know the answer, but I have to get a clear picture of what’s happening with Lynx.

“Today was our last day at Lynx.”

My heart sinks to my stomach which is turning into a huge knot. Did we mistake the deadline? Is it done? My life’s investment is gone? This can’t be happening. I’ve been through so much and worked so hard.

“What do you mean it’s your last day? I still have a week left to file a rejoinder. Mark is working his ass off to get the legal documents ready!”

“Blake called a meeting for ten minutes to five tonight. Valerie James was there as well. I gave her the T-list but I don’t think she bought it. She took one look at it, shrugged and put it in her folder.”

“Get back to the meeting, what happened?” Jeez, how I hate being so separated from the action.

“So Blake the Snake and Valerie James are standing there and they call us together and say they are proud to announce the future of Lynx. They say because of our lease on the building, the office is staying where it is, and there will be a new section editor moving into your office.”

“Section editor? Why would Lynx need a section editor unless…” I start to realize what’s going to happen to my baby. “Oh god, Janice.”

“Yep, starting in two weeks Lynx is going to be renamed ‘The Source’ and be the investigative section of Ladies World. She wants to print one big and several small articles a month with Lynx’s ‘signature style’. She gave everyone a big speech about welcoming us to the staff of Ladies World’s newest and most exciting venture.”

“The Source? Where did she get that? The back of a bar napkin? We’ve got to stop this.”

“Wait, it’s worse. Blake says they’re going to publicly reveal the change next week after Lynx is legally a part of Ladies World, but as a reward for our hard work and to help them make the transition, everyone at the magazine–the custodian, reporters, interns, and me–are being give two weeks off with pay. We were told that when we left tonight, doors will be closed, locks will be changed, and a whole new computer system, logo and everything will be put in.”