Blonde Joke Chapter Seventeen by Jeffrey M. Mahr   What does a blonde owl say? What? What?

The ViTaGeSeM lawsuit was as good as won and his newly minted daughter was finally showing the spirit and ingenuity to be a viable successor. He especially enjoyed the blow-by-blow description of the meeting with Webster and the other major investors as she told them that Dr. Isseksen was a fraud and that ViTaGeSem didn’t work.

Franklin Brodsky was a happy man. He was so happy he took his first vacation in more than twenty years--no work for two weeks. It was his first vacation since he had gotten married and he reveled in it. But even if he was on vacation, Franklin Brodsky was a man of ingrained habits. He didn’t fly to the Rivera or let some exclusive spa pamper his palate with extravagant foods or his body with expensive “treatments.” He spent his vacation at home. The true measure of his happiness was that he had not instructed Renfrew--Brodsky briefly wondered what the man’s real name was; it had been so long that he had been calling him Renfrew--to get him any hookers. Of course, the presence of two very pretty women held captive in his home was certainly stimulating. Brodsky was taking great pleasure in slowly--ever so slowly--breaking them to his will.

Arriving at Dr. Isseksen’s room, Franklin acknowledged the guard, who quickly moved to unlock the door for him. Stepping inside, he waited to hear the door lock again before turning to his “guest.”

“Good evening, Doctor. How are you feeling today?”

Unsurprisingly, the woman’s face, already a study in frustration, subtly changed so that it also appeared that she was sucking on a lemon, a significant accomplishment considering the ball gag in her mouth. Having tried reason, pleas and threats when the gag had been removed in the past, this time she refused to even acknowledge his existence.

“Come, come my dear Doctor, surely we can retain some level of civility, even in this less than civil situation” Brodsky mockingly chided his captive. “After all, I have offered to release you if you give me your word that you will not attempt to escape.”

Lacking any other form of movement, Kat turned her head away.

“Very well, but as I’m sure you’re aware, you are a captive audience,” Brodsky chuckled a moment at that and then continued, “and I have no special need for a response from you.

“Allow me a moment to get comfortable,” Brodsky said as he moved to a delicate looking Queen Anne chair at the foot of the bed that gave him a particularly enjoyable view of his spread-eagled captive. With a self-satisfied sigh, he carefully slid his bulk into it and positioned himself for both comfort and view. Brodsky silently examined the naked woman before him for several moments before continuing.

“If this were some novel or movie, this would be the time when the villain, as I’m certain you must consider me, would reveal his diabolical plan. As a business man, I long ago learned the folly of giving even the most helpless appearing rival information that could compromise my goals, but luckily for you I’m feeling especially magnanimous tonight. Besides, it will add just a soupcon of zest to our later couplings, at least for me.

“You’ll be happy to hear that this morning you told your backers that ViTaGeSem is a fraud. They have decided to sue you for fraud. The paperwork should be filed in about two months. If any one else had said that ViTaGeSeM was a fraud, the investors would have had an impartial second party check it out, but not when the great Katrina Isseksen, creator of ViTaGeSeM, makes the allegation. They closed down your lab at BioTronics later the same day.

“I expect you to remain my guest at least until the case is resolved, which shouldn’t be long as you are not challenging any of their allegations or counter suing, rather obliging of you I must say. I’ll see if I can get someone to sneak a camera in on the day you throw yourself on the court’s mercy. It should be a rather poignant moment, well worth saving for posterity, don’t you think?”

A low growl escaped unbidden from the woman’s lips. Realizing that she had failed in her attempt to completely ignore her tormentor, she bit her lip in frustration. Brodsky, merely smiled, feeling assured that he would get everything he wanted through patient pressure, just like any other business deal. Comfortable with this first concession, it was time to rap up this meeting.

“Oh, my. What a poor host I’ve been. You must be tired. Rest now. We’ll talk more later,” Brodsky offered solicitously as he stood and walked out the door, but not before running his fingers gently up the uncovered, bound leg of the woman, stopping just short of her crotch.

Turning to the guard, he brusquely admonished, “Remember, no contact with anyone beyond food and closely supervised bathroom access, and absolutely no news whatsoever of anything going on outside of this house. Are we clear?”

The guard nodded, avoiding eye contact rather than allow his boss to see just how unhappy with the current turn of events. It was one thing to threaten a nosey PI or strong arm a prostitute or two, but this was kidnap, enforced imprisonment, and given the boss’ behavior with the whores, rape. The courts would not look favorably on anyone in the house if something went wrong. The guard decided then and there that it was time for Talker and him to reassess their future career plans. Watching Brodsky walk the short distance to the next bedroom door and the next guard and enter that room, presumably to repeat whatever he had done in the first room, did nothing to assuage the guard’s concerns.

The RV was hot and uncomfortable, but this was nothing compared to the tempers of the two men inside.

“Damn it, Harry! The bastard did it to us again. He manipulated us into helping him and then dropped us like hot steaming cow turds as soon as we had done what he wanted.”

“You’re absolutely right,” Harry responded with equal parts anger and frustration. “And the son of a bitch did it without even breaking a sweat. In fact, he didn’t even lie to us. I mean, think about it. He offered not to blacklist us if we helped get Dr. Isseksen into that building, which was more than those ladies were offering, although I can’t imagine it’s not as if he cares enough about either of us to go through the effort of blacklisting us.”

“Yeah, he even said as much as he kicked us out after his people had the women,” Dick stormed. “He left us with nothing and made us feel like fools to boot; although, to be fair, I guess we really have been fools, haven’t we?”

“Shut up, Dick. Don’t interfere with my pity party–not unless you’ve got a sure fire way to get us great paying new jobs and screw Brodsky to boot.”

“Well, actually, I think I might.”

“This better be really, really, really good, Dick. Anything less than fantastic and I’m going to beat the hell out of you for interrupting my mad.”

“Oh, I think you might like it. Listen up…”

“Gentlemen, we have a serious problem.” Dr. Isseksen’s shocked investors had retired to a private room at the Caveat in order to lick their wounds and plan for the future, such as it was.

“Jack, you do have a wonderful way of understating things, “Billy responded sarcastically.

“So what are our options?” Chang asked.

“I’m not sure we have any. We’ve got no product. We’ve got no product developer. We’ve agreed to sue the pants off Isseksen, but she has nowhere near the resources to recoup our losses, even if we bankrupt her, as is likely. On top of that, we still have Brodsky’s suit to contend with. All in all, I’d say we’re well screwed.”

“There Jack, you see, you can be blunt and to the point when you wish to be,” Billy mocked.

“Stop it, Billy. While I’m certain that recriminations make you feel better, as they do me, they don’t help at the moment,” was Chang’s comment. “Once again, what are our options?”

“I’m afraid we don’t have a lot,” Jack noted. “We could bluff our way through. We still have a decent chance of winning in court since Dr. Isseksen has already been questioned and cross examined. As long as no one decides to go for a redirect, there’s no additional harm that can arise from that end. The problem is, even if we do win, without a potential product it will be a hollow victory at best.”

“Does anyone have any idea of why Brodsky’s executive secretary and his chief of security want to talk to us?”

“Sorry Chang, all I know is what I passed on. His secretary called my secretary and asked for a meeting. They’re supposed to be here in about an hour. At the time I was anticipating a bit of gloating, but now I’m not even sure what advantage there would be to seeing them.”

“Does anyone see any other options?”

Billy and Archie shook their heads.

“Then, we’re agreed to cut our losses and shut this fiasco down as quickly as possible?”

There were grudging murmurs of agreement.

“Then, so…” Chang was interrupted by a knock on the door.

“Yes, what is it?”

“Excuse me,” the pretty redhead who stuck her head in the door said. “Security asked me to let you know that there are two men who want to speak to you. They said to say they were Dr. Isseksen’s lab assistants and that they might be able to help. Shall I have security chase them away?”

“Weren’t the girls talking about those two?” Archie asked.

“Yeah,” Jack answered. “I don’t remember them feeling too trusting of them. Anyone want to bother meeting with them?”

“Are you going to stick around and meet with Brodsky’s folks, Jack?”

“It would be easier than canceling at this late hour. Yeah, I guess so, although I’m planning on making it very brief.”

“Then let’s hear them out. We’ve got nothing to lose and no where to rush off to,” Archie suggested.

“Bring them in please,” Jack instructed the hostess. As she quickly disappeared, he turned to the others. “Do you folks want to stick around for this?”

“Sure, why not. Let’s get our drinks refreshed first, though,” was Archie’s answer. The other’s just nodded and held up their glasses.

“Look, Talker, I just want a few minutes with Dr. Isseksen. Is that going to kill you?”

“Sorry, Ms. Brodsky. Your father’s orders were very explicit.”

“Let’s consider this rationally, Talker,” the pretty blonde suggested. “If you’re calling me Ms. Brodsky, you know who I am. You also know that I am heir to this estate and have my father’s ear. Further, I’m sure you know that I’m a fairly savvy businessperson in my own right. That said, you know I’m not going to accept being refused. Either we’re going to find a way to let me in there or in the not to distant future you’re going to be dealing with my anger and disappointment. Now, let’s negotiate. Is there anything I can offer you to help you change your mind?” Tommi asked pointedly. At the same time, she pouted prettily and moved to within inches of the large security guard, letting her breasts gently touch his lower chest while she slowly rubbed a finger against his cheek.

Talker was remarkably uncomfortable with the situation already and this was not helping. If he let her in and old Brodsky found out, he was gone. If he didn’t let her in, Talker had no doubt that the beautiful young woman in front of him could make his life a living hell. His search for a solution was interrupted by a call from within.

“Guard! Guard! I need to go to the bathroom. Guard? Please…?”

“Uh, one moment miss. Let me get someone to help you,” Talker yelled back at the closed door.

“Don’t bother,” Tommi interrupted with a bright and eager smile. “I’ll do it.” Before he could react, she was sliding around him and opening the door. Tommi was inside before he could decide if this was good or bad and so he acquiesced to the situation and let things be. With a fatalistic shrug, Talker squared his shoulders and resumed his guard duties while hoping that no one would ever find out what had just happened.

His peace of mind was not eased when, about an hour later, Tommi exited the room. Over the years, Talker made it a habit to not stare at his bosses. It tended to make them uncomfortable, even when he was just trying to assure their safety, but this time he couldn’t help himself. It wasn’t just that Ms. Brodsky was a beautiful woman. Somehow, she seemed slimmer than when she had gone into the room. Talker watched her walk down the hallway to her room. Definitely, thinner. And did she stagger a bit, just before entering her bedroom? Talker couldn’t help but wonder what the hell she had been doing inside the room he was assigned to guard, but if it might help avoid jail time he was going to make certain that the woman in the room behind him was going to get the best care he could provide her.

Neil sat across the table from her in the small coffee shop they stopped at to review their understanding of what had happened at the meeting they had just left. Each stared down at his or her coffee cup without drinking. Finally, Sandra looked up dejectedly and asked, “Now what?”

“You didn’t think that went very well either, huh?”

“They basically said, ‘Thank you, but no thank you.’”

“Yeah, that’s how I took it too. Well, I can’t just do nothing. I guess I’ve got to move on to a more risky option.”

“You mean?”

“Yeah, I’ve got a friend–I was in the army with him–who works for the FBI. I guess I’ve got to go have lunch with him.”

“I’ll come with you,” Sandra said and sighed deeply.

“That’s not necessary. You’ve already done more than most would.

“Maybe not, but I want to,” Sandra insisted.

Neil smiled and reached his hand out to hold hers.