Be Reasonable. Do It My Way Ch. 10-11

If you're just looking for sex scenes skip to Chapter 11. Chapter 10 is all about plot and character development. I like to think that the scene in Chapter 11 more than makes up for that.

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Chapter 10: Who Is Olivia Freemont?

The following day Harry arrived at his office at his usual time. Gloria was already at her desk working away.

"Good morning, Gloria," said Harry with a smile.

"Good morning, Harry," said Gloria also smiling, "There's nothing earth shattering on the agenda today except for one thing."

"What's that," said Harry as he walked toward the coffee maker to pour himself a cup.

He turned to face Gloria, held up the pot and asked, "Coffee?"

"No. I'm good. Thanks," said Gloria as she looked down into her still half full cup, "I'm not like you I can't have a running cup of coffee going all day."

"Hey," said Harry defensively but still smiling, "it's early in the day and I still have blood in my caffeine stream." He put the pot down and asked, "So, what's the one big thing?"

"Ed Slate," said Gloria.

"Right," said Harry, "Very important."

"He sent you an e-mail with some photos attached," said Gloria, "He wants you to call him as soon as you've opened them."

"Will do," said Harry and started to head to his office.

"The only other thing that might be important is that Wanda asked to see you," said Gloria.

Harry paused in the doorway to his office and asked, "What does she want?"

"She wasn't really clear about it," said Gloria, "It seems to be something about the audit and the office staff."

"All right," said Harry, "I'll see her after we're done with Ed."

"Personally," Gloria said with an arch to her eyebrow, "I think that she just wants to get into your pants."

"Yeah, well," said Harry, "I'm already in my pants. There's not room for both of us."

Gloria rolled her eyes. Then with a flirtatious smile she said, "Is there room for me in there?"

"Only if I wear a pair of Bill's pants," said Harry with a grin, "Then there would be room for all three of us."

Gloria wadded up a piece of paper and chucked it at him.

"Smartass!" she said.

"It's a dirty job," said Harry still grinning, "but, somebody has to do it."

"I'll get you for that," Gloria smirked.

"I'll look forward to it," Harry answered.

"Do you want me to sit in the call to Ed?" Gloria asked, pulling them back to business.

"Definitely," said Harry as he turned to enter his office.

The picture that Ed had sent Harry was what appeared to be a highschool or college yearbook picture of a young lady that Harry would judge to have been in her late teens or early twenties when it was taken. She was horrifyingly ugly. She had a round, little face, big eyes, a long, thin, lipless mouth. It looked like someone had taken a knife and made a jagged gash where a mouth should have gone. The most prominent feature, though, was her nose. It was a huge, bulbous thing that occupied two thirds of her face. It was her eyes that caught him, though. Even the horrid quality of a yearbook photo couldn't hide the almost unbearable sadness behind them. He'd seen them before. He was sure of it.

Harry had never been good with mornings. So, this early in the day his brain was not yet fully functional. There was something about that face which was tickling at the edge of his memory. He was certain that he hadn't ever seen the young lady before. But, he dimly recalled having such a face described to him recently. He just couldn't remember exactly when or where.

There were a few other picture attached to the e-mail, also presumably from the same yearbook, of the same young lady engaged in various school clubs and activities. Her body stood in sharp contrast to her face. Her body was a wet dream come true. She had huge, round tits, a waspish waist, flaring hips and a bubble butt. The phrase, "body of a goddess and face that could gag a goat" suddenly popped into his mind. He was certain that he had heard that exact phrase very recently, but he just couldn't place it.

He minimized the pictures to the tray, picked up the phone and started dialing Ed Slate's number just as Gloria walked in.

He motioned her to pull up a chair next to him as Ed's phone rang.

After six or seven rings Ed finally answered it, "Slate Investigations. Ed Slate here."

"What took you so long, Ed? Don't you like answering the phone?" Harry asked. Then he clicked the button to put the conversation on speaker so that Gloria could hear it.

"I was performing a necessary biological function if you don't mind," Ed said defensively.

"Why can't you just say, 'I had to take a leak' like everyone else?" asked Harry.

"You've got Gloria listening in again. Don't you?" Ed said impatiently.

"Yeah. So?" said Harry.

"So, there's a lady present!" Ed yelled, "I'm trying to be a gentleman here!"

Harry rolled his eyes and said, "Ed, you trying to be a gentleman is like giraffe trying to be a ballerina. You're no good at it. Knock it off!"

"Ed, thank you for the thought," said Gloria, "but, I'm not all that sensitive to language."

"I'm glad that somebody appreciates my efforts," said Ed, "You could learn a lot from her, Harry."

"Just this once," Gloria said evenly but firmly, "could we avoid spending the first ten minutes of this call with you two sniping at each other?"

Harry looked at her slack-jawed, as though she had just said the preposterous and impossible thing in the world. Ed was probably looking at his phone the same way.

"We're always like this," said Harry.

"I know," said Gloria, rolling her eyes.

"You don't understand," said Ed, "We've always been like this. We've been doing it since highschool."

"Yes," said Harry, "in highschool Bill, Ed, and I were the Three Musketeers!"

"Or the Three Stooges, depending on who you asked," Ed chimed in.

"Good point," Harry chuckled.

Gloria arched one eyebrow and said, "I hope you'll forgive me if I don't take the sucker bet on which one of you was Moe."

"Obviously," Ed said, "she's never seen Bill's Curley impression."

"He can still do that, you know," said Harry.

"You're kidding," laughed Ed.

"No. I'm serious," said Harry, "It's still dead on perfect, too"

"Boys," Gloria said sternly, "Can we get to business now? Olivia Freemont? Remember?"

"Right," said harry with mock contrition.

"Hey!" said Ed, "Who's working for who over there?"

"Good question," Harry and Gloria said at the same time.

When they all finally stopped laughing Harry said, "So, what have you got for us, Ed?"

"Well," Ed began, "I did some digging and traced Ms. Freemont back to college. She doesn't look the same now as she did then. She's had some very extensive plastic surgery done."

"I knew those boobs were fake," Gloria muttered.

"She's right," said Ed, "She's not sensitive to language."

"Will you get on with it, Ed?" said Harry impatiently.

"Right," Ed continued, "Anyway, it wasn't her boobs she had worked on. It was her face."

"Her face?" Gloria asked.

"Haven't you shown her the picture yet, Harry?" Ed admonished.

"I hadn't quite got that far yet," Harry said apologetically.

He clicked on the icon for the yearbook portrait on his tray. When the photo came up Gloria's jaw dropped in horror.

After gazing at the photo for what seemed an eternity she finally said in a way that made each word sound like a separate sentence, "Oh...my...fucking...god!" Then she added, "That poor girl."

"No kidding," said Harry.

"May I remind you," Ed said angrily, "That the 'poor girl' as you call her is responsible for millions of dollar in false sexual harassment claims and is now after the assets of your company."

"That doesn't mean that we can't have some sympathy for the way that she must have grown up," Harry shot back firmly.

"The ridicule," said Gloria.

"The loneliness," said Harry.

"Aw, crap!" Ed groaned in frustration, "You two aren't going to go all drippy on me. Are you?"

"Hold up a minute, Ed," said Harry, "It never hurts to understand what's motivating your adversary. Isn't that part of the law enforcement bag of tricks anyway? Understanding how the bad guys think? Isn't that what criminal profiling is all about?"

"Allright," said Ed, " you've got a point. Now that you bring it up, there's probably no small amount of bitterness in that lady. She probably thinks that the world owes her something. It's most likely one of the reasons that she's doing what she's doing."

"There you go," said Harry, "now you going in the right direction."

"Just do me one favor, Harry," Ed said, "Don't get so wet with compassion that you forget that this woman is dangerous. Fair enough?"

"Fair enough," said Harry, "Is there anything else we need to know?"

"Oh, yeah,' said Ed, "I haven't told you the kicker yet."

"What's that?" Harry inquired.

"That yearbook picture is from the same college during the same period of time that Bill was a student there," Ed announced, "Her real name is Grizelda Krepplemaier."

Something suddenly clicked inside Harry's head. He remembered where he'd heard the description of the girl in the photo.

"Her friends called her 'Zel' for short," said Harry.

"You met her back then?" asked Ed incredulously.

"No," said Harry, "but, Bill did."

"What?" said a very shocked Ed, "Don't yank my chain like that!" he shouted, "This ain't the time for it!"

"I'm not yanking your chain, Ed," said Harry evenly, "Grizelda Krepplremaier's best friend, at the time, was a young lady named Agnes Ziller."

"Who the hell told you that?" Ed shouted.

"Bill," said Harry.

"Who's Agnes Ziller?" asked Gloria.

"Ziller," said Harry, "is Aggie Walker's maiden name."

Gloria slumped into her chair and said quietly, "This is getting too weird."

"Are you sure about this?" Ed asked skeptically.

"Bill described this very face to me," said Harry.

"Then it's gospel," said Ed, "That's the same woman."

"You're that certain just on Bill's description?" asked Gloria.

"Absolutely," said Ed.

"Bill's mind works differently from most of the rest of us. He thinks visually. That's why his picture frame design are so wonderful," Harry explained, "Think about what happens when he's describing a new project. He tells you about it in such detail that by the time you actually see the sketches it already looks familiar."

Gloria knew that was true. She'd been in more than her share of those meeting and had seen Bill Walker do that.

"So, he's the same way with faces?" Gloria said.

"Exactly," said Harry, "It's part of his visual sensibility. He thinks in pictures."

Then a new thought hit Gloria. Her eyes went wide and she sat bolt upright.

"Guy," she said, "this is going to sound a little crazy, but..."

"Go ahead," said Harry, "I don't think that this can get any crazier."

"...is it possible that the "A.W." in A.W. Acoounting and Consulting stands for..."

All three of them said in unison, "...Agnes Walker."

"Holy Shit!" Ed exclaimed.

"Okay," said Harry, "I take it back. It can get crazier."

"This is all starting to make a twisted, nasty sort of sense, now," Ed said more to himself than anyone else.

"I have a question," said Gloria.

"Which is?" Ed asked.

"When exactly did Zel, or Olivia, or whoever she is have the cosmetic surgery and how long did it take?" Gloria asked, "Do you know?"

"Not exactly," Ed answered, "The only thing I know for sure is that she dropped out of sight for a year and a half after she graduated. That's when she resurfaced as Zelina Mayer. It's probable that she had the work done during that time."

"I might be able to narrow that down a bit," said Harry, "She probably started it one side or another of when Bill and Aggie got married."

"What makes you think that?" Ed inquired.

"According to Bill, Zel Krepplemaier was supposed to have been Aggie's Maid of Honor. Aggie replaced her at the last minute and has never been willing to discuss why."

Gloria stared at the yearbook picture for a long time then said, "The year and a half can probably be explained by the surgery itself, now that I'm thinking about it."

"What do you mean?" Ed asked.

"To achieve that kind of dramatic transformation she had to have undergone multiple procedures," said Gloria, "probably with multiple surgeons."

"Do you really think that's likely?" Harry asked.

"Yes," Gloria answered adamantly, "unless she somehow managed to find one guy whose skills came up somewhere between a master sculptor and a magician."

"The lady has a point," Ed confirmed.

"That makes sense," said Harry, "And all of those surgeons had to have top flight talent, too. There's no other way that she could have come out of it looking like she does."

"I wonder where she got the money to pay that level of talent?" Gloria thought aloud.

"That's a good question," said Ed, "I'll look into her family and finances from that period of time."

"You do that," said Harry, "Is there anything else that we need to know?"

"That's all I've got this time around," Ed said, "This is a lot to work on, Harry. Just so you know..."

"I know," said Harry impatiently, "I know. It's going to cost me. Just get it done. Will you?"

"Right," said Ed, "Goodbye," and he hung up.

Harry leaned forward and put his elbows on the desk. He rested his forehead in the palm of his hand, closed his eyes and said, "Gloria, I don't want to talk to anyone else today."

"Do you want me to cancel Wanda?" she asked.

"Oh, geez," he said, "I forgot all about Wanda." He thought for a moment and said, "No. Don't cancel her. Let's see what she wants. But, after that I just want to sit in my office and shuffle my papers for the rest of the day."

"I thought you hated paperwork," said Gloria.

"I do," said Harry, "But, after the way these last couple of days have gone it will be a welcome relief."

"I understand," said Gloria with concern. Then she turned and left the office.

Chapter 11: Diversion

Harry was still trying to figure out where to begin. In the half hour or so since the phone call with Ed Slate he was still sorting papers and trying to get the workload organized.

"How in hell did I let myself get this far behind?" he thought.

But, it wasn't just the volume of work that had him troubled. It was those eyes from the yearbook photo. He knew where he'd seen them before. He had stared into them up close and personal the day before in not three feet away from where he was sitting. They were they eyes of Olivia Freemont. Even if they hadn't had Bill's description of the face in the yearbook picture, Harry was convinced that Grizelda Krepplremaier and Olivia Freemont were one and the same. Those were the same eyes with the same almost unbearable sadness behind them.

As he was mulling over whether or not he should have told Ed about it Gloria entered his office.

"I have that file you requested, Harry, and..." she stopped in mid-sentence as she saw the insane, seemingly random heaps and piles of papers that covered Harry's desk. She couldn't see the blotter the phone, the in-box, the computer keyboard, or even any part of the top of the desk for all of it.

"What the hell happened here?" she asked incredulously.

"I'm trying to organize the workload," said Harry.

"I had it organized!" she exclaimed with some irritation. "I had it all laid out by date and priority!"

"Oops," said Harry sheepishly.

"Sometimes, Harry Brinkton, you are the most exasperating man I have ever met!" Gloria said angrily.

Harry knew better than to argue with her in that moment. When an angry woman uses your first and last name in a sentence just sit quietly and let her finish. Apologize when she's done. He was grateful that Gloria had, at least, not used his middle name. When a woman uses your middle name as well you're screwed. Just dig a hole and pull the dirt in after you.

"Here's you file!" she said as she threw it down on the desk in front of him.

Gloria took a deep breath in an attempt to compose herself and said, "Wanda's here."

He had forgotten about Wanda. With a heavy sigh he said, "Okay, send her in."

"I think you're going to be a while working with her," said Gloria.

"What makes you say that?" asked Harry.

"She's carrying a folder full of documents that's about an inch thick," said Gloria.

"Shit," said harry.

"I can reschedule if you want to," Gloria offered.

"No," said Harry, like a condemned man resigned to his fate, "Let's get this over with."

"When she comes in," Gloria continued, "I'm going to go down to Bill's office. Dee Dee called and said that she wanted one of us to take a look at some of Bill's new design sketches."

"Thank you for doing that. I trust your judgment, " said Harry.

"Thank you," said Gloria, "I'm going to put the phone on voice-mail for the duration because after that I'm going to take along lunch."

Harry knew that he was just going to dig himself in deeper with Gloria by asking the next question, but there was no choice but for him to inquire, "Why?"

"Because," said Gloria sternly, pointing to the ludicrous jumble Harry had made of his desk "I know that I'm going to have to work late tonight cleaning up this mess."

"Oh," Harry said contritely, "Sorry."

Gloria turned abruptly and started walking toward the door so that Harry wouldn't see her smirk.

Harry Brinkton was one of the finest men she had ever met. "But, sometimes," she thought, "He's such a little boy."

As she sat down at her own desk she said to Wanda, "He's ready now."

As Wanda passed the desk Gloria added, pointing to the inch thick folder, "Try not to take too long with that stuff. All right? He had rotten day yesterday and today hasn't been much of an improvement, so far. Go easy on him."

"I understand," said Wanda though she was certain that what she had in mind might brighten Harry's day considerably. She knew that it would do wonders for hers.

"Hi, Harry," Wanda said as she entered the office and closed the door.

"Hello, Wanda," said Harry flatly, "What can I do for you?"

"I have a couple more things that you need to look at," said Wanda as she handed him the folder.

"A couple more things?" he said looking at the thickness of the folder, "Okay, have seat and we'll get started," he added with a sigh of resignation.

He started rifling through the folder, occasional lifting out a document for closer examination.

When he got about halfway through the papers he said with some puzzlement, "I think I've seen all of these already."

"Yes," said Wanda in a throaty stage whisper, "But you haven't seen these in a while."

When Harry looked up from the documents he realized that Wanda had stripped to the waist and was holding up her round, 36D tits in offering.

Harry smiled and said, "No. I haven't seen them in a while. To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"You promised me yesterday that we'd do this soon," said Wanda as she jiggled her tits and licked her lips, "I'm just making sure that 'soon' arrives sooner rather than later."

"That sounds reasonable," Harry said as he stood up and took off his suit jacket. He started loosening his tie as he walked around his desk to where Wanda stood waiting. By the time he got to her he had also stripped to the waist.

"Do you really think that I should, though?" he asked as he replaced her hands with his own.

"You promised," she pouted.

"Well," Harry said while he kneaded her fleshy globes, "I always try to keep my promises."

He bent down to give each of Wand's hardening nipples a quick lick. Wanda grabbed the back of his head to keep him in place.

"Especially when it involves a pair of big tits," she giggled.

"Especially then," he agreed.

He shook free of her grasp, reached behind her to squeeze the firm contours of her curvaceous ass and said, "But, my concern here is that, under most circumstances this might be considered to be sexual harassment."