Portrait


by Leslie Moore

Chapter Six

When Sidney dropped us off at the curb, I was mentally putting together what I’d need to do tonight for the business tomorrow. Since I couldn’t come up with any pressing work that couldn’t wait, I just followed Matt upstairs to change for a workout. I think he needed me more than my clients.

One of the perks of living in Brooklyn was I could change in the condo and run to the gym along an attractive jogging path through our park. We changed and skipped the elevator. We ran down the stairwell to the ground level.

As we burst out the side doors, I gave Matt a playful shove giving me a decent head start down the sidewalk. I got the crossing light and was in the park in ten steps. I was sprinting until I found my rhythm sliding into an easy cadence. I could keep this pace up for the two miles through the park to our gym. I could hear Matt struggling to keep up with me.

I gave a glance back and Matt was trying to force himself into catching up with me. I slowed briefly to let him come alongside. Matt had strength but I had him beat in cardio. I grinned. All those toned muscles were heady to drag along.

I smiled and gave him an encouraging moment. “C’mon, big boy. You’re not trying to find your center and you’re beating yourself up. Stop worrying about catching me and find your inner pace. Once you have that, then challenge me.” I knew what would happen next. He would try to reach out and grab me to throw me off stride. He did have the bulk to push me around.

As he reached out, I pushed off his hand and gained a step. I dug in and took a few strides to take a longer lead. I heard him grunt and breath harder.

I laughed and turned my head. “You can’t catch me ‘cause I’m the gingerbread man.”

As we drew up a slight rise, I could see the gym right across the street. I stopped at the light and heard Matt coming up behind me. He was breathing hard.

“You cheat.” He shot out the words between breaths.

I laughed. “I take any advantage. All’s fair in love.” I kissed his cheek as we stopped outside to collect our wits.

We walked into the gym together and an hour later, walked out together. We stopped to purchase healthy smoothies and strolled our way back home.”

As we window shopped, I turned and put my arm on his sweat-stained shirt and chest. “What investment?”

He looked me in the eyes and smiled. “Well, I have two investments perking out there.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Do tell.”

“You and the building next store to your shop.”

“Mrs. McCarthy’s flower shop? She’s finally retiring?”

Mathew nodded. “She’s retiring and moving to Florida. I’ve been chatting with her for six months. I’m going to buy the building and help establish an annuity for her.”

“What’s the other investment?”

“I was going to take you to Thailand to talk to a doctor.”

I stopped dead in my tracks.

“I’m your investment?”

“Only what you want.”

I thought about that. I’d put off thinking about that last surgery for a number of reasons. The first reason was money and the second reason was I was frightened. I’d never given it the thought it was due. I guess I really forgot about it.

That’s funny how you think you need something and then you sleep on it and don’t anymore. Well, I have never gone back to revisit the topic.

“I need to get my shit together. I’ll need to start going back to Crystal. I haven’t talked to her in a while and I want to have some sessions and work through some stuff before thinking about that kind of thing. Hell, I’ve just finally recovered from my face.” That was true. The swelling around my nose hadn’t disappeared until six months ago.

Matt shrugged. “The offer stands. The money’s there if and when you want to use it.”

Oh wow, I thought. I’m twenty-seven and my sugar daddy’s thirty-one. That sure doesn’t fit the norms. Maybe his need to take care of me included owning me, too.

Did I want to be owned? All I could think about was a book like Fifty Shades. I wasn’t needy enough to fit the profile. Of course, we’d never experimented with toys or bondage. I wondered if there was a dark side to us?

As we walked around, I tried hard to picture all of this. I knew I wasn’t ready for another vacation of recovery and wondered about all the mechanics of the surgical procedures. I’m sure I could Google it. I really needed to brush up on what’s out there. I hadn’t looked into SRS really carefully. And the bottom line, excuse the pun, was who was I doing this for?

So, I wasn’t about to get into the whole mind thing of relationships and him paying for me. I tried to understand what it meant to always have too much money. I guess I needed to go back and read the 50 Shade books again. Maybe I could give up my day job and just write novels. I laughed.

Matt looked at me. “Hey. Whatcha thinking?”

“What are you going to do with the flower shop? You’re planing to go into business?”

Matt shrugged. “I never thought of it. I was just looking at all the possibilities of what we might do. We could rent out the flower shop and redo the second floor and look at her backyard for expansion.”

“Her yard is bigger than mine. And her lot is bigger, too.”

Matt nodded. “I’m going to sell off the condo spaces or mortgage against them. I have to talk to someone first. The market is up and I’ll have no problem there.”

“If you’re selling your condo, why’d you visit the cash cow today?”

He shook his head. “Good question. Maybe to piss her off? Maybe to reshuffle the power structure? Maybe to remind her that I exist?”

I turned to him and shook my head. I put a hand on his chest and brought him to a halt. I stood next to him and whispered in his ear. “How much money is in that trust?”

He looked at me and laughed. “You want me for my money?”

I coughed and then covered my mouth. “Yeah. That’s it. I’ve been stringing you on just for your money.”

It was a joke because while Matt paid our way, I still went to work and paid all my business bills. He’s never tried to change my world to suit his terms. When I was with him, he picked up the tab. But, he’s never paid my way.

He thought for a minute. “The market’s good right now. I’ll bet its worth five hundred million or maybe more. It’s funny that you should ask. I haven’t checked into it for a few years.”

I froze. “Huh?”

Matt grinned. “My half. Right? Mother’s half is totally tied up in father’s business stock. Her’s is probably worth almost twice what mine is worth. My half is much more stable and less volatile. And you know she’ll pay off my debt to the bank and the cash I asked for from my side of the estate. She won’t touch hers for me.”

“Jezz, Matt. What are you planning on doing with that money?”

He hesitated. He sighed. He fidgeted. “I don’t have much choice. When I turn thirty-five, it’s all changed over into my name. I’m stuck with it.”

I didn’t know any of this until just this second. I knew he was a trust fund baby but never had any idea of the specifics. It gave me a giddy feeling to know someone that rich. Especially the guy who could provide me with such nice orgasms.

He looked out into space as he led me up our steps. “I’m going to put most of it into a large trust and use the interest to underwrite good causes. I want to develop a system where we can help non-profits with gifts and provide scholarships each year to individuals. I want to help underprivileged kids afford school and Vets get small business loans. You know, that kind of thing.”

“No yacht? No private plane?”

He laughed and smiled. “You want that kind of shit? Do you want to be Mrs. Gray?”

I laughed. “Do you want me to be your slave, Mr. Gray?”