Author Topic: Pharma (Chapter 84 Posted)  (Read 42743 times)

Offline LtBroccoli

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Re: Pharma (Chapter 5 Posted)
« Reply #15 on: September 28, 2021, 06:22:44 PM »
Love this chapter, felt like I was sitting behind Tommy. This seemed so real that one wonders if the writer had to sit through just such a meeting like this before. Merit for the realism evoked!

Um, uh, I decline to answer this question under the grounds that it might incriminate me.

Chapter 6 is incoming shortly.
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Offline LtBroccoli

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Re: Pharma (Chapter 6 Posted)
« Reply #16 on: September 28, 2021, 06:43:06 PM »
Chapter 6



“These things are quick, we’ll be back in a few minutes.”

“Really, another fire drill?”

“Which dumbass burned popcorn again this time?”

“Did Puja set the lab on fire again?”

“At least I can skip my meeting.”

“I grabbed my shit when the alarm went off.  This lasts past 3, fuck it, I’ll log in from home.  Maybe.”

Tommy stood in the middle of the parking lot, not sure where to go or what to do.  People all around him were lost in their own worries and conversations.  Most people milled about in small groups. 

Since Tommy and James technically didn’t work at Pharma but H2C, they had to hang out near the front of the building with the other guests and security. They were far enough from the building in the parking lot that they could see their tower.  Everything looked fine.  He couldn’t see any obvious fire, but who knows the scope of the damage, or if there was even a real fire.

James introduced Tommy to Chuck Hartman, the owner of the excavation company.  Chuck was a friend of a friend of James’s.  Apparently, their friend in common, a guy named Bob, owned a cabin or two up by Lake Hiawatha.  It was a nice little resort area 3 hours north that was still mostly undeveloped but had a few houses and cabins nearby for people to vacation at.  Lake Hiawatha is about halfway to Humdinger City.  James told Tommy that if he ever wanted to get away and relax up by the camp to give Bob a call.  While they were talking, Steve Wilcox from Red Briar Security came over and the group talked about spending time up at the lake.  Tommy felt out of place.  After a couple moments, he took his clue to walk and let the other men shoot the shit.

Tommy tried networking with the other guests, but all of them acted like they were busy, except Mark Matthews, who was busy.  In the span of a few minutes he must’ve taken ten calls, gave short instructions on all of them, then busted out a few text messages.  Once that flurry of activity was done, Mark peppered Tommy with so many questions the younger man felt like he would need an attorney.  Tommy made sure to jot a note to send him what he needed.

He heard people talk about how fire drills usually don’t happen after lunch, or take this long.  He was curious, but the security guards assigned to watch them weren’t forthcoming with info.  Their walkie talkies on the other hand, were full of good info.  If Tommy stayed quiet in just the right location, he could listen in to everything that was happening.

Turns out that someone in the cafeteria started a grease fire in the main kitchen.  Not a terrible thing, but then some dumbass on their first and last day threw water on it to put it out.  Anyone that’s worked in a restaurant for more than 5 minutes would know that this the ABSOLUTE WORST THING TO DO.  The entire kitchen was engulfed in flames and it almost took out half of the basement of the South Wing.  The fire was contained, but it would still be a while before anyone could go back in.

Tommy did what any normal person in their mid-20’s would do with this information; he texted his buddy Mitch.  They went back and forth for a bit, with Mitch eventually asking Tommy where he was.  Tommy told him by the front gate.  Mitch said he was in the East Lot, Section 7G.  Tommy asked Mitch where that was.  Mitch responded ‘By the Atrium.’  Tommy then asked ‘What Atrium?’  Mitch then decided to send Tommy a couple pics.  ‘I’m Here.’  The first pic was a selfie of Mitch with the parking lot behind him.  The second was a pic of the Atrium from his vantage point.  The third was the new tower.  The fourth was a selfie of Mitch and some of his co-workers standing nearby. 

Tommy’s jaw hit the floor when he saw the fourth picture.  He couldn’t believe it.  After all this time, all these months of searching, all of the work he’s put in trying to find her, and here his buddy Mitch accidentally solves everything for him.

Mitch works with the brunette MILF.  And probably Mrs. Tommy!

Tommy had to know for certain.  “Who’s that with you?  Those your co-workers?”  Tommy texted Mitch.  The dancing bubbles popped up on Tommy’s phone.  It felt like an eternity for them to clear.  Then nothing.  Then typing.  Then nothing.  Finally, the reply came.

“Yeah, from the Auditing Department.  That brunette with the big bazingas is Bianca Jones.  She’s my new boss so I’m under her, but I’d really like to be under her. (Devil Horns Emoji)”

Bianca Jones.  Tommy had a manager’s name to work with.  If only he hadn’t forgotten his laptop in the conference room, he could look her up right now.  He typed up a response and sent it.  “I hear that.  If Bruce the Butcher didn’t fire me for this shitshow of a meeting, I’ll see about transferring over.  (Winking eye emoji)”

The two friends texted back and forth for a few minutes.  All the while, Tommy played through what he knew in his head.  The brunette MILF was likely a low-level manager which is why she didn’t have an ID picture tagged in the system.  They could be lateral employees, but they’d still be in the same org.  Tommy got the feeling that Bianca was Mrs. Tommy’s boss from the way the two acted towards each other.  Friendly, but not too friendly.  Also, there was a bit of an age difference.  Mrs. Tommy looked like she was in her mid-20’s at the latest.  Bianca was easily in her 40’s.  Very good shape for that age, but definitely older.

Tommy thought about heading over, but two things stopped him.  First, what would he say to her if she was actually over there.  “Hi, I’m Tommy, I saw you a while back and I’ve been stalking you for the last couple months, can I sniff your hair?  After that let’s go make babies.”  Second, he needed to get his stuff, and staying here was the closest route to his stuff.  Especially his laptop with his stalking spreadsheet on it.

It was after 5 o’clock when the fire department let everyone back in the building.  Many of the staff had left early for the day, but Tommy had two important things to do.  Get his laptop, and track down Mrs. Tommy.
« Last Edit: September 28, 2022, 07:33:51 AM by LtBroccoli »
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Offline To-Get-Her

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Re: Pharma (Chapter 6 Posted)
« Reply #17 on: September 28, 2021, 07:56:38 PM »
Love how a fluke of timing brought Tommy his vision of loveliness to him.  Now that he knows who she is how is he going to attract her! merit for using a fluke to move the story on!
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Offline LtBroccoli

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Re: Pharma (Chapter 6 Posted)
« Reply #18 on: September 29, 2021, 03:35:51 PM »
I love to incorporate crazy flukes and stuff into the stories.  Real life is like that, crazy shit happens all the time.

Chapter 7 is coming soon.  Chapter 6 was pretty short, so I'll go with a shorter turnaround for 7.  It's a longer chapter anyway.
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Offline LtBroccoli

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Re: Pharma (Chapter 7 Posted)
« Reply #19 on: September 29, 2021, 03:40:37 PM »
Chapter 7



Once Tommy passed through the security checkpoint, he made a beeline to the conference hall.  As soon as he arrived, he checked to see that his laptop and bag were right where he left them.  Excellent, everything was in place.  He unplugged from the projectors, grabbed his gear, and left for a spot to work.  Now it was time to do what he needed to do to find Mrs. Tommy.

First, Tommy hopped over to a shared workroom just down the hall from the conference room.  It wasn’t uncommon to see people working here late at night, so no one would ask any questions why he was sitting here so late in the day.  Once in the room, he opened his laptop and launched the Employee Directory website and the Outlook Address Book.  Tommy knew Mitch Henderson’s name and general location, but sort of tuned him out when Mitch described where he sat.  “Stupid Tommy.”  He chastised himself as he pulled up Mitch’s ID number.  The Employee Directory worked faster with ID numbers than a name search.  Tommy plugged in Mitch’s number and looked at the org chart.  He reported directly to Bianca Jones.  She had 8 people reporting to her, two men including Mitch, five women, and name that he couldn’t tell one way or another.  There was a Wendy, Sharee, Morgana, Sydney, and Teresa.  The sixth name wasn’t a name, just an initial W.

“This is promising,” Tommy said to himself as he typed away.  He went back to Outlook and found each of their locations.  They all looked similar, like they were right next to each other.  A quick search through the building maintenance tool proved that they all sat in the same area in the Third Floor, East Wing.  They occupied a shared section of the cube farm with Bianca’s office looking out on them.

Tommy noted the location of the cubes and the names he was looking for, and where he was.  The conference room was on the second floor with the first floor mostly housing the cafeteria and kitchen along with some IT support areas.  Most of the people in the building worked on floors 2 and 3.

He didn’t dare write any of this down or take a pic.  He really didn’t want to have to explain any of this if he got caught.  He memorized the location and names, grabbed his stuff, and exited this shared workspace.  He bounded down the hallway in a hurry, completely oblivious to anything but his mission.

Tommy didn’t see anyone else walking through the halls.  Especially James.


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James took his sweet time going back into the building.  As he was waiting to get back in, he noticed that young lawyer from the meeting talking to someone he hadn’t seen before.  She was absolutely amazing.  Long blonde hair worn down loose, overtop of a black blazer covering a black blouse. Her white skirt came down to about 5cm above her knee.  Her features were like that of a goddess, and her figure looked like it popped out of a swimsuit calendar.  She was absolutely stunning.  James had to find out who she was.

His search would be pretty easy.  The young lawyer, Drew Williams, gave the woman a quick kiss before he walked off to another part of the parking lot.  James looked and saw a ring on her finger that looked like it was likely a wedding band or engagement ring.  Probably both.  James knew the lawyer’s last name was Williams, and he assumed this was his wife.  He’s sure that little twatface from legal mentioned her name before, but James tuned him out all those times.

“Fuck.”  James said to himself under his breath.  Paying attention would’ve been the easy part.  Now he had to do something else.  It didn’t take him long to figure out what that other thing would be.

James noticed that this pretty little blonde wasn’t carrying anything with her but her phone and ID.  No laptop bag, no purse, no jacket, nothing.  She left them inside.  Which means he’d be able to follow her, safely at a distance, to find out who she was.  Aside from twatface’s wife, that is.

As they got through the security gate, James knew that he’d have to keep up with her walking quickly.  For some reason, the better looking a woman was, the faster she walked, so she must be Usain Bolt.  It was okay if he got closer to her at first.  He’d have to stop and grab his stuff anyway.  Those few seconds would be enough to let her gain enough distance to not walking up her arse in the hallway.

James’s plan worked.  He had enough distance between him and the pretty little lady he wouldn’t accidentally bump into her if she stopped on a dime.  As James rounded the corner, he saw her walking down the hallway, completely unaware of him.  He just watched her pert little arse swing back and forth in that skirt.

When James took his eyes off of the blonde’s ass for a minute, that’s when he saw Tommy, making a beeline through the atrium and through another series of cubes.

“What the fook is he doin’?”  James asked himself upon seeing Tommy.  He turned back and saw the blonde walk through the same section of cubes Tommy was now walking through, but on the opposite side.  The next section was an atrium with a stairwell in the middle.

James saw as Tommy exited the cubes for the next atrium before the blonde did.  Tommy bounded up the stairs two at a time, like he was late for a meeting.  The blonde approached the stairs slowly.  Walking on heels might make her legs look great, but suck for traction.  At the last moment, she sighed and went to the elevator.

The older man slowed down to see if he saw what he thought he saw.  His protégé Tommy ran up the steps to the same part of the building that the sexy blonde was going to.  James had a bad feeling he’d have to step in and save Tommy’s ass.  In a hurry, James made his way up the steps before the elevator doors opened.  He made it to the next flight before the elevator doors opened on the next floor, Floor 3. 

James thought fast.  He pulled out his phone and stared at it like he was lost reading an email.  He purposely didn’t make eye contact with her as she exited the elevator and walked to the right.  The same direction Tommy went.


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Tommy made his way to Mitch’s area in a hurry.  He got there so fast, he overshot it completely.  He went right past Mitch’s row and stopped about 6 rows away.  It was only when he overshot his destination that he realized how stupid he might be.  No excuse, no plan, no explanation for why he’s here.  He just ran in cock first.  Like Robin Williams once said “Men have two heads and only enough blood to run one at a time.”  As he realized his blunders, he looked around.  The area was mostly empty.  There were a few people in their cubes gathering their belongings, but no one he recognized and no one paid him any attention. 

He decided to take a different approach.  He’d walk to the end of this row of cubes, turn, then circle back at the end of the rows by the manager’s offices.  That way, instead of looking for one of 8 names he sort of remembered, he only needed to find 1.  Bianca Jones.


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James hung back in the atrium overlook as the blonde went to her cube.  He looked like he was using his phone but instead kept an eye on her travels.  He didn’t hear any weird noises or screams, so he can assume one of two things happened.  Tommy got lost, or she’s used to strangers hanging out near her cube.  Considering that Tommy has almost certainly never been to this part of the building before, James bet that his protégé was lost.

The blonde wasn’t gone for long.  She went to her cube for a brief moment, then returned with her purse.  No laptop bag.  James figured she was most likely heading to the bathroom, and this was confirmed when just seconds later she walked down the hall to the women’s room on the side of the elevator shaft.

James thought about texting Tommy, but that might scare him.  “No.”  James said to himself.  He’ll hang back and wait.  He might be needed to help, but he’d rather not.  Besides, if he had to, James was a world class bullshitter when called upon.


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Tommy finally found Bianca’s office.  Fortunately for him, it was locked and the lights were off.  From what he could see into it, her laptop wasn’t plugged in and there was no purse or phone or keys.  Lights out, locked, no keys and no laptop means she’s gone for the day.  Good, that was one less conversation he didn’t want to have.  But it also meant that everyone else would be gone or leaving, too.  He knew enough about business that when the boss leaves, everyone else leaves.  Unless there’s a good reason to stay behind, people stick around just long enough to make it look like they’re working hard.

Tommy turned down the row.  He could’ve sworn he saw something move at the end of the lane, but he wasn’t sure.  He saw the nameplates on the cube walls.  This was the row.  He had his phone ready to take pictures if needed.

First off in the row was Wendy Lake and Sydney Shurmur.  According to the pictures in their cubes, Wendy was an older woman with black hair and grown kids.  Sydney was a dirty blonde with an orange cat.  Cute, but not Mrs. Tommy.

The next two cubes were Mitch Henderson and Sharee Kendall.  Tommy already knew Mitch, but he was pleasantly surprised to see that Sharee was a relatively good looking brunette with an olive complexion.  Hot, but not Mrs. Tommy.

The next two cubes were Ronald McAffee and Teresa Alvarez.  Ron was rather rotund with a couple small kids, and Teresa was a short Hispanic woman.  Very good looking, but not Mrs. Tommy.

The last two cubes in the row belonged to W. V. Pruisenweg and Morgana Williams.  Tommy took a closer look.  The W. V. stood for Wilhelmina Van Pruisenweg.  There were no personal photos on her desk, just a couple of certificates of achievement and a stack of papers.  She was probably not Mrs. Tommy.

He turned around and looked at the last cube.  Morgana Williams.  It was better decorated than Wilhelmina’s with several pictures in nice frames and two calendars.  One calendar was a wall calendar of famous American landmarks, and the other was a daily calendar with unique American phrases and what they mean.  There was a picture of a skinny brunette with a deep tan and a pale blonde in one frame, a picture of another brunette with the same pale blonde in another, and a picture of a bride and groom kissing.  All three pictures had the same pale blonde.  The same beautiful, gorgeous blonde.

Mrs. Tommy was Morgana Williams.

And she was still in the building.  Tommy saw that her laptop was still plugged in and was recently used, a very expensive looking jacket hung up on the wall behind her chair, and that a key ring with a Mercedes key fob sat on the desk next to the desk phone.  Not only was she nearby, but she’d be back very soon.  That was probably who he saw out of the corner of his eye.  Tommy took his phone and snapped several photos rapid sequence, then turned to leave.  However, he heard a door open close by followed by high heels.  That’s when Tommy remembered Mitch talking about how his cube had a great view of the women’s restroom door.  Instead of going straight ahead to the hallway right in front of him, Tommy returned back to Bianca’s office and walked back down the way he came earlier.

Tommy moved over to the adjacent row and waited.  He didn’t have a clue why, but this row didn’t have any names he recognized nor was anyone around.  He just hung out there for a moment, afraid to walk past because he’d be caught, and unsure how to escape.  He figured at this point, he’d just wait for Morgana to leave, verify she really is Mrs. Tommy, and follow her from a distance as he tried to figure out a plan.  And, if he was lucky, maybe get a little more footage of her.

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James saw the blonde woman leave the bathroom and return to her cube.  James knew she had to come downstairs to get to the parking lot.  He also knew that she was probably parked in the East Lot.  Lucky for him, so was he.  By the time he came back from lunch, the only spaces left were in that dreaded lot.  James walked down the steps, then made his way to the door for the East Lot.


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Tommy felt like he was waiting for an hour when it was just a few minutes.  He could’ve easily left, but he might not get the confirmation he so desperately needed.  There was some rustling coming from Morgana’s cube, followed by the sound of a laptop being undocked and stowed in a bag.  A moment later, he heard footsteps walk down the hallway away from him.  But something was off with the sound.  They weren’t high heels, they sounded like sneakers.  Once the hallway was clear, Tommy grabbed his stuff and headed out.  As he reached the stairway, he saw her.  Morgana, wearing a black blazer and a white skirt, walking in tennis shoes.  Walking quickly in tennis shoes.  Tommy descended the stairs and followed, at what he thought was a safe distance.


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When James returned from Lunch today, he couldn’t find any decent parking spaces near the front of the building.  The only ones left were in the East Lot, which fills up last because most people in the East Lot don’t show up until a little later in the day.  That also means they take lunch a little later, too.  When James came back, he had a pretty decent space in the third row facing the door.  In most situations, this wouldn’t be an advantage.  But today, of all days, it was perfect.  He was far enough back from the door to stay hidden, but close enough to see anyone walk out the door, and which way they went.  He sat in the driver’s seat of his company vehicle, an F-150 Lariat Quad Cab with the H2C logo adhered to the side.

It didn’t take long for James’s forethought to pay off.  He saw her, the blonde with the white skirt.  She walked with a purpose and with more speed.  That’s when James noticed that she’d changed her shoes.  This was common in offices for women to wear athletic shoes to work than change into heels once they arrived.  James watched her head down the sidewalk to his right, down the parking and over the crest of the hill to the rest of the lot.

It also didn’t take long for Tommy to come stumbling out of the building.  He lost track of his quarry, and looked like a confused suburbanite on a weekend hunting trip.  James flashed his brights a couple times and called Tommy’s phone.


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“Damn, she’s fast.”  Tommy tried to keep up with Morgana, but it was no use.  She was on a mission to get out and get home.  As much as Tommy wanted to keep pace, he’d have to break into a jog to do so.  “How is it that the hotter they are, the faster they walk?”

She slowed down for just a moment when she arrived at the gate and had to activate the sentry gate, but that was a quick hurdle.  A moment later, she was through the door and out of sight.

Tommy looked left and right, then headed forward.  There were four options on where she went to.  One sidewalk jutted off to the left at a 45-degree angle then joined up with the main sidewalk along the parking lot.  This one went over a small hill.  One sidewalk went straight ahead to the small section directly in front of the door.  No sight of her there.  One sidewalk split off to the right to another smaller sidewalk.  Again, no sight.  The fourth went downhill and connected to the North Lot. 

Just as Tommy was about to decide which way to go, his phone rang.  He didn’t need to know who it was, hearing the Jaws theme that he set at James’s ringtone was more than enough to tell him who it was calling him.  Tommy answered it.

“Get in the fookin’ truck.”  James commanded over the phone.  Tommy looked around, not sure what he meant.  “Straight ahead with the flashers.  Now get in the fookin’ truck.”  Tommy saw the truck.  He begrudgingly made his way to the truck.  It wasn’t until James hung up on him that Tommy realized how fucked he could be.  James just caught him chasing down a co-worker, a young woman, and a complete stranger to boot.  As Tommy opened the door to James’s truck, he had a sick feeling in his stomach.  It only got worse as he heard James’s choice of music, Justin Beiber.
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Offline LtBroccoli

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Re: Pharma (Chapter 8 Posted)
« Reply #20 on: October 01, 2021, 07:19:49 PM »
Chapter 8


James sat in the driver’s seat of his F-150 Lariat, refusing to make eye contact until Tommy was in the truck and the door was closed.  Tommy dragged himself into the seat, then closed the door.  That’s when James spoke.

“Y’know, I knew you weren’t the brightest fook, but what the fook were ya thinkin’?  What was your plan, or were you just gonna make one up on the fly?”  James looked forward the whole time.  Tommy’s voice shook as he tried to speak. 

“Look James, I-“  James snapped his head towards Tommy, and the young man nearly jumped out of his seat.

“Don’t fookin’ James me.  I saw you over there, running like a fookin’ madman over to that little cunt’s cube.  Then, a few minutes later you come chasing after Shelia like you’re gonna bum rush her.  And you’ve been trippin’ over your dick for months over that little cunt.  Huh, you think I didn’t hear the jokes about ‘Mrs. Tommy’s at yoga again’ or ‘Send Tommy that pic, he’ll add it to his collection.’  You’ve been acting like a goddamn schoolboy with a crush on a teacher when you should be a fookin’ man and go after her.  Did you even know that little twat’s name until today?  No, cause if ya did, you wouldn’t have pulled that fookin’ stunt.  You’d a done your fookin’ research.  Instead, you’re out here lookin’ like a fookin’ stalker.  Do you know how much shit you’d be in if I weren’t me?  Do ya?”

Tommy sank in his seat as James continued.

“You’d be lookin’ at a sexual harassment claim, possibly charges, and a little more.  But I’m me.  So you are gonna do what you do best and figure out a way for us to get close to her.”

Tommy turned his head, not sure if he heard that correct over the Justin Beiber song playing on the stereo.

“What?”

“You heard me Twinkletoes.  You’re gonna find a way to get into her life, get close to her, then get us in her.”  James lowered his voice and put some steel behind it.  “You, Tommy boy, are gonna make sure we get to fook her.  Understand?”  James held his gaze at the young man, not moving, not even blinking.

“No, not really.  What do you mean?  I’m not like that.”  Tommy shook his head as he spoke, but James wasn’t having any of it.

“Don’t give me that.  You’ve been wantin’ to fook that cunt ever since you saw her.  You’re think you’re being all nice and romantic, but you’re just like every other guy, you see a tight piece of arse and ya dream about making her squirm under ya.  I still have the same dreams, I’m just a little older.  I’m too old for the job.  Plus, you’re you.  You’re young, good lookin’, funny enough to be flirty but not an asshole.  You can play the sexy Joe Boggs or the friend to complain to.  But you can get close to her, I can’t.  Not without help.”

Tommy sat for a moment.  He never saw himself like that.  Sure, he didn’t have any problems picking up women when he wanted, he just didn’t take advantage of it all the time.  He never had a need or a want this bad.  Tommy wasn’t a bad guy.  This whole thing felt wrong.  Especially the ‘we’ part.

“What’s this we stuff?”  Tommy scrunched his eyebrows just a bit.  He was listening to what James had to say, but what he was saying, the content shook him to his core.

“You think I’m gonna sit around and jerk off to pics of her in yoga pants?  No, I wanna fuck’er, and you’re gonna make that happen.”  Tommy had a hard time believing what James was saying. 

“What if she doesn’t want to?”  Tommy asked sincerely.

“What’s that got to do with this?”  James was so matter of fact with his statement, Tommy didn’t know how to react.  “Sure, that’d be nice, but I’m not counting on that cunt agreeing to root either of us.”

Tommy had enough.  He raised his voice, partly out of anger, partly out of frustration, and partly because he didn’t want to hear Justin Beiber sing anymore.

“ENOUGH!  Stop calling her a cunt, you Aussie fuck!”  Tommy expected James to yell and scream even more, maybe even hit him.  Instead, James smiled.

“Sorry, I forgot how you Yankee cunts get all bent out shape at the word cunt.”  James turned the volume down, then put the truck into reverse gear.  “Buckle up.”  James said as he pulled out.  Tommy put his seatbelt on.

“Where are we going?” 

“Back to your car, but you’re gonna tell me what you learned.  I’ll tell ya what I know, and we’ll work out a plan.  Now, tell me what you know about that Sheila.”  James put the truck into drive and pulled forward.  Tommy looked at James as James drove.

“First off, her name’s not Sheila, it’s Morgana.  Morgana Williams.  She’s married, young, and rich.”

“Yeah, she’s married to that young lawyer from the meeting, Drew.”

“How do you know?”

“During the fire alarm, our young in-house legal representative was talking and making googly eyes with Morgana.  They had a nice, deep kiss before he went to the parking lot and she went into the building.  Considerin’ she has a rock on her finger big enough to see from space, I’m guessing that he’s the husband.  Why rich?  What tells ya that?”  James asked as they drove slowly through the parking lot around the building towards the tower.

“Her jacket was designer, all of her picture frames were fancy, and she drives a Mercedes.  Everything I saw in her cube shouted expensive and fancy.  Her wedding dress looked designer, all of her clothes in her pics were fancy except one where she’s in a hoodie, and even that looked good.”

“What’s her job?  How’d you find that out?”

“My friend Mitch works with her.  During the fire alarm, he sent some pics trying to show me where he was.  One of them had Morgana’s manager.  She works out with Morgana, and I’ve seen them together getting coffee.  The manager is Bianca Jones, runs one of the auditing departments.  Morgana looks like she’s Bianca’s right hand in the division.  I’ve heard Mitch talk about them before, but never put two and two together.”

“Wait, you have a friend?”  James said, trying to lighten the mood.

“Fuck you.”  Tommy said sharply.  James laughed.  Tommy pulled out his phone and looked at the pics he took.  “If she’s married to Drew, and he’s one you guys, she might be too.  What’s A new?”  Tommy asked, still looking at his phone.

“A new what?”  James responded, waiting for Tommy to finish his question.

“Yeah.  A new.  A N U.  It’s on her hoodie in this one pic with a brunette.” 

James nodded as he realized what Tommy was saying.  “Australian National University.  It’s one of our best schools, located in the capital of Australia.”

“Sydney?”  Tommy asked.  James slammed on the brakes. Even though the truck was going slow, Tommy was still thrown forward.  James turned to Tommy with evil in his eyes.

“What did you say?”  James glared at Tommy.  The younger man realized he might have made a mistake.

“Uh, Melbourne?”  Tommy responded.

“You are a stupid bogan Yankee cunt.  Two guesses, both wrong.  Care to try again?”

“Perth?” 

James shook his head at Tommy’s response, then started driving again.

“You fookin’ retard, it’s Canberra.  It’s about 300 kilometers from Sydney and 600 from Melbourne, between the two of them.  How can you work for an Australian company and not know the basic fookin’ geography of the country?  Did your mother drink a lot when she was pregnant with you, maybe smoke some of that meth you Americans love to do?”  James drove a little further

“Okay, Okay, I need to learn about Australia.  I’ll watch Crocodile Dundee and listen to your national anthem, Land Down Under by Men at Work.  I’m sure they talk about how great Australia is in the Lord of the Rings special features.” 

James hit the brakes again, tires squealed as the vehicle stopped.

“Get out.”

“What?”

“Get the fook out.  Fook New Zealand.  You can fookin’ walk to your car.  Think about how you’re gonna get to know Morgana, come up with a plan, and stop bein’ such a wanker.  Call me from your personal phone tonight with your ideas.  Now get out.  Go.”

James cranked the music until Justin Beiber screamed through the cabin.  Tommy gathered his stuff and left the van.  As soon as he closed the doors, James left, driving right past Tommy’s company truck.

As Tommy climbed in, he had a lot to think about.  He had to try to flirt with, seduce, or convince a newlywed that he wasn’t a threat, but needed it to look like an accidental meeting.  Just waiting for her in the parking lot wouldn’t work.  He’d have to do his homework on Morgana.
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Offline To-Get-Her

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Re: Pharma (Chapter 8 Posted)
« Reply #21 on: October 01, 2021, 08:18:14 PM »
Okay caught up once more. So now we know that Tommy can only thing with the little head. Love the chase through the building, reminded me of a cartoon classic chase scene!. So expected to see James slap some sense in Tommy! And really Justin Beiber, has senility set in a bit early? Still this continues to be a merit worthy story!
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Offline LtBroccoli

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Re: Pharma (Chapter 9 Posted)
« Reply #22 on: October 04, 2021, 09:24:45 PM »
Okay caught up once more. So now we know that Tommy can only thing with the little head. Love the chase through the building, reminded me of a cartoon classic chase scene!. So expected to see James slap some sense in Tommy! And really Justin Beiber, has senility set in a bit early? Still this continues to be a merit worthy story!

James loves The Beebs.  He started listening to him to piss off the people he worked with, now he listens because it reminds him of better times pissing people off.

Chapter 9 will be up in a few minutes.
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Offline LtBroccoli

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Re: Pharma (Chapter 9 Posted)
« Reply #23 on: October 04, 2021, 09:32:58 PM »
Part 3:  Infiltration



Chapter 9


Tommy spent most of the night on the Internet. Hell, he spent way too much time on the Internet that night. He toiled for a couple hours researching everything he could about Morgana. And a little bit about Australian geography. Australia is fucking big.

He searched as much as he could about Morgana. He hoped that he would find something, anything that would make her less attractive to him. He was hoping that maybe he might find some pictures of her kicking a puppy or screaming at people in a restaurant. Anything that could help end this obsession he was having with her. Instead everything he saw made her even better looking to him. He saw pictures of her at charity events for disadvantaged children. He found reports of her donating time and money to animal shelters. He found her wedding website.  He found her modeling page. After spending more than a few minutes downloading some photos and jerking off to them, he had to come up with some ideas on how to meet her.

He had a few ideas that he ran past James. He could bump into her in the cafeteria.  He could schedule a meeting with her department under a ‘touching base’ reason.  He could go hang out with Mitch and get introduced to her that way.  The older Australian man called each and every one of them a crock of shit. “Why don’t you just go up to her and say hi? You’re not that fookin’ ugly.”

Tommy thought about it for a few minutes. He knew that he had to meet her somehow, he just needed a context. His problem was with coming up with said context. He didn’t work in the same department as her, he didn’t even work in the same building as her so a random bump in a hallway might not work.

He needed to run into her outside or in the office on one of his Wednesday meetings. He would prefer outside, because that would keep things a little more even. If he ended up going inside, there was a higher chance of someone seeing him do something stupid.  Tommy thought about asking his friend Mitch whether or not he could help him meet Morgana, but he quickly blew off that idea. He was already worried about what James wanted to do to her, and didn’t want to include Mitch as well. Mitch was a good guy, but he could get a little weird at times.  Tommy needed a plan and an excuse.

The plan was simple. Bump into her outside of work in the parking lot. He would start up a small conversation with her in and hope that he would be charming enough to get her to open up to him. Tommy knows that he’s a good-looking guy and he can be charming when he needs to be. He just needs to not act like a complete and total creep for a few minutes in front of her.

Tommy put his plan into action the next day. He knew that Morgana parked in East parking lot and that she drove a Mercedes. He couldn’t find out which model, but he had a general clue of when she came to the office and when she left. Tommy’s plan for the first few days would be simple. He would drive through the parking lot the first day looking for how many people parked in the East lot that drove a Mercedes. He would mark down the license plates and cars then come back throughout the day to see who was entering into them. Throughout the day he would text Mitch ask how he was doing and how things were going with his coworkers. He would try to use Mitch as a spy to find out when Morgana would enter and exit the building. Tommy hoped that by doing this he would narrow the list down quickly. He figured that within a week, he would know which car was hers. After that, it was a matter of finding her car and park it next to it.

When Tommy started this endeavor, he didn’t know exactly how popular these Mercedes vehicles were with the staff at Pharma. He figured that he would have, at most, five or 10 cars to deal with. It was about 50. When Tommy asked why they were so popular, James told him that there was a corporate discount for the leases because the bloke who owned the joint was good friends with the HR management. This meant “every prick who came to the office on a visa would almost certainly be pushed to get one.”

Tommy quickly made quick work on his list. In the first two days, he eliminated more than half of the vehicles. He would spend time during the day walking through the parking lot pretending to be on phone calls or doing work. He would watch the cars and see who would get into which ones. Each time he saw someone get into a Mercedes that wasn’t Morgana or her husband Drew, he eliminated it from his list.  He cut this down from 50 to 20 in two days. But that’s still left 20 cars that he had to verify. He thought about asking Mitch for help, but once again ruled it out. Instead, he figured patience would help.

He decided one day to stake out the lot. He would park his work truck towards the edge of the lot and just pay attention to the cars as they drove in. He would make it look like he was sitting there doing work and if security asked any questions, he would just blame poor signal at the construction site. In the span of another two days he was able to eliminate 15 more cars from his list.  But still, finding Morgana was proving elusive.

Tommy knew that he couldn’t sit in his truck every day without a rousing suspicion, so he decided to do the next best thing and put a dash cam on his work truck. This way, he could park the truck within view of the remaining Mercedes is and then check the footage to see which one belong to Morgana. He kicked himself for not thinking of this earlier.

His idea worked. One Friday morning, he parked his vehicle in view of two Mercedes SUVs, one black GLE and a white GLB. When he came back to his truck in the afternoon he saw that the white GLB was missing. Most likely, it went to lunch. Tommy checked the footage from the dash cam and there she was. Morgana Williams getting into the white Mercedes GLB. He now knew what she drove.

The easy part was done. Now, all Tommy had to do was park near her, wait for her to come to her car, and bump into her. And hopefully not make a complete and total ass of himself.  At least, that was the plan.
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Offline To-Get-Her

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Re: Pharma (Chapter 9 Posted)
« Reply #24 on: October 05, 2021, 12:44:46 PM »
Absolutely loving the logical progression this story takes with each chapter. Finding someone in a large project when your new is really a time consuming task. Really making me think that this is more than just a story, except that I don't think that the author every had such a job! Merit given in an apology for my thinking!
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Offline LtBroccoli

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Re: Pharma (Chapter 10 Posted)
« Reply #25 on: October 08, 2021, 09:19:19 PM »
Chapter 10


It took until the following Tuesday until Tommy’s plan paid off.  He parked by her car on Monday, but when he showed up at the end of the day, she was already gone.  After checking the dash cam, he saw that she left for lunch, and drove her boss Bianca.  Both of them were fine as fuck. 

Tuesday is when Tommy’s luck and work paid off.  Both Morgana and Bianca stayed in the office for lunch and went to their yoga session.  The crew had one hell of a view of them as they worked out.  Tommy texted Mitch during lunch with the idea of going out for a couple drinks after work.  When Mitch pointed out that it was Tuesday, Tommy proclaimed that it was “Terrible Idea Tuesday!”  Mitch said “Hell Yeah, I’m up for a TIT!”  Tommy asked for Mitch to text him when he’s off, and Mitch told him it would be around 5, after his boss and her ‘right hand’ left for the day.  Mitch told Tommy earlier that Morgana was the right hand, that Bianca was grooming Morgana to take over for her when she was due to get promoted to Senior Manager within the coming year.  Tommy spent the rest of the day making sure things worked out well.  He spent most of the day working here and there, and making sure that he was in good overall condition.  It’s one thing to look like a construction worker, it’s another to be as dirty as one.

Tommy got the text he waited for the whole afternoon.  “Boss be leaving soon, c u n 10.”  Tommy rolled his eyes a little at the stupid joke, but gathered his stuff and made his way to his work truck.  He checked his watch, 4:58.  It took him a few minutes to get to his truck from the new HQ if he booked it, but he needed to not be out of breath when he arrived.  He left the site in a hurry, but slowed down as he rounded the last corner and saw his truck.  He stopped for a moment to get his breathing under control.  Then, when he saw Morgana in the distance, he went to work.

A quick check made sure that he wasn’t covered in mud from working, and his steel-toed boots were clean.  His jeans had a little dirt on them, but not too much.  He wore a white button-up shirt under a green hi-viz vest, and carried his hard hat and lunchbox attached to his bookbag.  His hair was neatly combed, and his face was clean with just a hint of five o’clock shadow. 

He pulled his work phone out of his pocket and lost himself in it.  He had long since mastered the art of walking and texting, but for this to work, he needed to be a dumbass.  He purposefully walked past his truck by a few spaces and was oblivious to the world.  Fortunately for him, so was the blonde beauty walking towards him.

They plowed into each other with thump.  He staggered backward a step before falling back on his ass.  The blonde bounced back a foot, but kept her stance.  He normally wouldn’t have felt this, but years of playing basketball taught him the fine art of the flop.  Tommy let out a pained ‘uff’ as he landed.

“Oh my god, are you okay?  I’m so, so sorry, I didn’t see you there.”  The blonde woman spoke with a concerned voice.  Tommy took his first look at her as he gathered his thoughts.  She wore her blonde hair down, a black and pink blouse, and black slacks.  Her makeup was subdued yet accentuated her beauty.  She wore the same sneakers Tommy saw her in a couple weeks back. 

She dropped her laptop bag on the grass next to the sidewalk as she tried to help Tommy up, extending a hand.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t see you.”  She continued apologizing as Tommy grabbed her hand and pulled himself up, careful not to yank her down to the ground.

“Thanks, I think my butt broke the fall.  You okay?”  Tommy smiled, and she laughed a little at his awkward joke.  He let go of her hand and dusted himself off.  “Sorry, I didn’t see where I was going.”

“No, no, that’s my fault, I should’ve seen where I was.”  She apologized again.  It was just then that Tommy picked up a hint of her Aussie accent. 

She looked up at Tommy as he rose to his full height of 1.9 meters.  He was cute.  Really cute.  She smiled at him, then mindlessly pushed some of her blonde hair behind her ear.  “Hi, I’m Morgana.  Williams.”  She extended her hand again, this time to shake his.  Tommy grabbed it and shook.  He made sure to put just enough strength behind it to show interest, but not so much to crush her hand.

“Tommy Gearhardt.  Nice to meet you.  Though probably could’ve gone without the shoulder tackle.”  He smiled, and she chortled a bit at the joke.  He saw that she dropped some stuff along with her bag.  He bent over, grabbing coat that she dropped.  “I’m guessing this is yours.”

“Thanks.”  She took the jacket from Tommy, noticing how he was dressed.  “So, Tommy, you work here?”

“Yeah.  Sort of.  I’m a PM over at the new HQ.”

“That explains why you’re dressed like Bob the Builder.”  Tommy chuckled at her joke.  “Why park all the way here?  That’s quite a walk.” 

“Internet sucks over there.  Half the times I’m lucky to get a signal.”  Tommy thought fast but he had an excuse ready cause really, the signal sucked in that skeleton of a building.  Morgana nodded.  “So I park over here, hop on the WiFi, and get some peace and quiet.  What about you?  What do you do?”

“Me?  I’m in the Auditing department.  We’re the pain in the bums that make everyone else do their job again.  What about you, what does a PM on a new building do?”  Morgana asked, smiling a bit.  If Tommy didn’t know any better, he’d think she was flirting.  Then again, she’s seems very friendly.

“I get yelled at a lot.  I get yelled at so that others get their work done.  Also, the occasional argument with a contractor, purchaser, designer, or random senior officer.  There’s never a dull day.”  Tommy decided to take a chance and ask a slightly loaded question.  “Couldn’t help but notice the accent.  Which part of Australia you from?  Canberra?”

Morgana stood silent for a moment, smiling.

“Canberra?  No one ever guesses Canberra, especially a yank.  What made you guess that one?”  Morgana tilted her head slightly, showing interest.  Tommy continued.

“It’s between Melbourne and Sydney, figure somewhere in the middle should be a good guess.  Plus, I got my butt chewed out a couple weeks back by my boss for not knowing Australian geography.  I guessed the capital wrong and he made me get out and walk.”

Morgana laughed.  “Oh my god, what a jerk.”

“That might be the nicest thing anyone’s ever said about James.”  As soon as he mentioned James’s name, her jaw fell open.

“You work for James?”  Tommy nodded.  “James St. Croix?”  Tommy nodded again.  “Oh my, how, what is that loike?”

“He’s…an acquired taste.  He knows how to ruffle some feathers but he gets the job done.”  Tommy stopped when he saw her eyes open wider as though she remembered something.  Those big, light blue eyes.

“You presented something about a helipad to Bob the Butcher, didn’t you?”  Tommy nodded.  “My husband was there.  He told me that James had a new pet, I mean person to help him.  Liked the idea, too.”  Morgana realized she goofed.  Tommy ran with it.

“Pet?  James makes sure my water dish is full and takes me for walks twice a day.”  The joke calmed Morgana’s nerves.  “Besides, James is okay once you get to know him.  Okay, he’s still a jerk, but the kind of jerk that gets things done.”

“You sure that’s not Stockholm syndrome talking?  Blink twice if you want me to call the police.”  Tommy laughed.  “Na, but my husband said he could be a pain to work with.”  Tommy kept it cool, and Morgana noticed.  Usually when she’d mention her husband, every guy would change their posture, like they were only talking to her to get to fuck her.  But Tommy kept it together.  Plus, he already knew but wouldn’t tell her that.  Morgana pulled her phone up and looked for an email.

“Tommy, what’s your company ID?”  Morgana pulled up her phone, scrolling for a specific mail.  Tommy looked down at his Pharma ID badge.

“7465578.”

“Good.  I’m sending you an invite to the monthly soiree.  Next one is on Saturday, in the courtyard.  They hold them outside every month for a lot of the major contributors to the new headquarters.  James has an open invite, but he never shows up.  I’m sending this to you.  Bring him along, I’d like to see you there.  You both there.”  Tommy smiled.

“I’d like that.  A chance to get to know everyone.” 

“Exactly.”  Morgana said as she finished typing it out.  “I’ve forwarded you the series.  I’m sure that some people would love to see James there too.  It’s a little fancy, so a suit is a good way to go.  They’ll have a tent up in case it rains.  Any questions, just email me back.  My numbers on my signature, send me your contact info when you get it.”  She smiled at him again.  He felt his work phone vibrate in his pocket.

“Cool.  See ya Saturday.”  They shook hands again, and she smiled at him as she let go and left, heading for his car.  Tommy finished picking up his stuff, taking a couple small looks at her ass as she left. 

All of this happened in view of the dash cam, so he could watch the whole thing unfold over and over.  Tommy loaded up his stuff in the truck and texted James on his personal phone.

“You are coming to the party on Saturday.  No excuses.  Many people want to meet you, including Morgana.”

After a moment, James responded with a simple K.  He’d tell him about this in person tomorrow.  In the meantime, he had another task for the night.  He texted Mitch to let him know which bar to meet him at for Terrible Idea Tuesday.

Always close the program you were running before exiting the holodeck

Offline To-Get-Her

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Re: Pharma (Chapter 10 Posted)
« Reply #26 on: October 09, 2021, 11:17:51 AM »
So finally Tommy has a face to face with his dream girl! Love how cool he played it. Would have preferred if he was the one sent sprawling when they collided, a bit more realistic that way! Cant wait to read of the company soriee, bet James makes an ass of himself that will be merit worthy!
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Offline LtBroccoli

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Re: Pharma (Chapter 10 Posted)
« Reply #27 on: October 11, 2021, 08:58:12 PM »
So finally Tommy has a face to face with his dream girl! Love how cool he played it. Would have preferred if he was the one sent sprawling when they collided, a bit more realistic that way! Cant wait to read of the company soriee, bet James makes an ass of himself that will be merit worthy!

"They plowed into each other with thump.  He staggered backward a step before falling back on his ass.  The blonde bounced back a foot, but kept her stance.  He normally wouldn’t have felt this, but years of playing basketball taught him the fine art of the flop.  Tommy let out a pained ‘uff’ as he landed."  I was hoping it would've been a little more obvious, but that's what Tommy planned.  They walk, they bump, he falls, draws the foul, he gets to ball her, I mean gets the ball back.   >:D

Chapter 11 is incoming.
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Offline LtBroccoli

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Re: Pharma (Chapter 11 Posted)
« Reply #28 on: October 11, 2021, 09:01:54 PM »
Chapter 11

AUTHOR'S NOTE:  I'm not Australian, but several characters in this story are.  I researched what I could for some Aussie slang.  If I used them incorrectly, let me know.



The weather had returned to its normal chilly self by Saturday for the garden party at Pharma.  There was a chance of rain in the forecast, but that was just normal Harbor City weather in late March.  But if it did rain, they had a tent set up where the food and drinks were served, and it was large enough for a couple hundred people to squeeze in to.  Large industrial heaters were used to keep everyone warm, curtesy of Harbor City Contracting.

This party was a chance for all of the movers and shakers in Pharma to see and be seen.  Many of the higher ups were here with their spouses, partners, significant others, or even a friend or two.  Many of the principles for the construction project were here as well, mingling with the management and patting themselves on the back for a job well done.  All of the men were dressed in suits and all of the women were in dresses, most of them appropriate for a cocktail party like this.  This was the kind of party where ice sculptures and fancy flower decorations weren’t just common, they were expected.

Tommy arrived at 7PM on the dot, just as the invite said.  From what he could see, some people had shown up a little early, but most would shuffle in throughout the next hour or two.  Tommy decided to bring his personal car instead of his work truck.  He had two reasons.  First, his truck was still dirty from work this past week, and he didn’t want to get his suit messy.  Second, in case he did try to drive home after a couple too many, he knew this car much better than that truck.  This wouldn’t be the first time he drove a Civic home a little tipsy.

He checked how he looked before he entered by using his selfie camera.  Hair was combed just right, face clean shaven.  His suit, a mini-check charcoal gray custom suit from Indochino, fit him like a glove.  He wore a light pink shirt along with a purple paisley/floral tie.  His pocket square matched his tie.  His black oxford shoes and matching belt made him look sharp.  To top it off, he decided to wear his ‘fake glasses’ today over his contacts.  For all intents and purposes, he looked like Clark Kent got a pay raise.  When he would tire of the glasses, he’d take them off to become the Man of Steal Your Girlfriend and Wife.

After making sure that he looked good, he approached the entry point by the courtyard.  This is where Tommy and his friends would gawk every day during lunch.  A quick flash of his invite from his phone and he was in.  He was nervous that something would go wrong, but Morgana assured him that everything would work.  It turns out that he was already on the invite list following the last Quarterly meeting.  Management was impressed with how he handled himself with Bob the Butcher breathing down his neck, but they figured if he can handle James right next to him, he can handle Bob from across the world.

Tommy entered the courtyard through a makeshift security checkpoint surrounded by hedges outlining the walkway.  After a short distance, it opened up into an impressive sight.  The floor, normally a concrete tennis court, was covered with a makeshift dance floor.  Several bar-height tables were scattered throughout the area and covered with tablecloths, each with an elaborate centerpiece on them.  A small stage was set up where a string quartet played.  Serving staff dressed to impressed wandered through the still-gathering crowd with hor d’oevres and drinks.  Heaters were strategically placed throughout the courtyard.  A small bar at one end of the dance floor served a few drinks.  A couple ice sculptures and small trees filled the area to give ambience.

At the end of the courtyard next to the office building a large white tent was set up.  Tommy made his way into the tent.  This is where almost everyone was until they warmed themselves up with some liquid courage.  Tommy thought he was overdressed for a moment, until he saw that every other man was wearing at least a suit.  Some of the older men wore black suits and ties, tuxedos.  All of the women were dressed to the nines.  He felt both overwhelmed and welcomed at once.  This was his element.

Tommy made his way to the bar and got himself a drink, a scotch on the rocks.  As he was ordering, he felt a large, painful slap on his shoulder.  Tommy turned.  It was James.  He wore a dark grey suit, blue tie, and white shirt.  He had let his hair grow a bit over the last couple months, getting a little wild, almost looking like he was some crazy type of Scottish doctor from TV.  Tommy was about to say something when James plopped a $50 on the bar as the bartender was getting Tommy’s drink.

“That’s for me and the boy ‘ere.  Two each of what he was havin’, keep the rest and remember us.”  The bartender poured 4 glasses, and gave two each to Tommy and James.  The men grabbed their drinks.  Tommy thanked James for the drinks.

“Thanks.”

“You’ll get a round later tonoight.  Always tip heavy on the first drink.  That way the bartender gives you preference over everyone else.  To gettin’ my arse here tonoight.”  The two men tipped glasses and drank.  James finished half of his first drink in a couple gulps, paused, then finished it.  Tommy tried to keep up, but James stopped him right then and there.

“Don’t try to outdrink an Aussie.  We’ll be fishin’ your arse outta the river in the mornin’.  Go fast on the first drink to break the ice, then enjoy them the rest of the night.  The difference between drinkin’ with your friends at the bar and at a party like this.  Got that?”

Tommy nodded, then drank the rest of his first drink. 

“Finish that up, you look like a drunk holding two scotch’s.”  Tommy tried to hurry up seeing that James was less than patient, but eventually he finished.  As soon as he put the first empty glass, James pulled him from the bar by his arm.

“Good, let’s go do that networkin’ bullshit.”


---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------



They spent the next hour and a half walking through the party mingling, talking, and drinking.  Tommy could tell that this wasn’t James’s element, but made sure that the older man didn’t run off or make an ass of them.  Tommy met several members of the management team that said they were impressed with his work so far, a couple vendors that used this party to pitch new products to him, and met some old and new friends.  They ran into Chuck Hartman and his wife Angie.  Chuck cleaned up nice in a suit but Tommy could easily tell that he’d rather wear anything else.  They talked about suits for a couple minutes and Tommy gave him a link to the Indochino store.  Angie, on the other hand, loved coming to these parties as she could still turn heads in her early 40’s.  She wore a little black dress that was just long enough to not be out of place but short enough to make a couple older men check to see if they took their heart medication for the night.

James and Tommy ran into Steve, whose plus one was his 14-year-old daughter.  She had long black hair and dark eyes like Steve.  She was about 5 and a half feet tall and wore dark two-inch heels that matched her dress.  Tommy thought she was cute and would probably grow up to be a real head-turner.  As they were talking, Steve kept an eye on her like a hawk, intercepting at least two attempts at sneaking some booze.  Steve made some jokes about how if they kept these parties going for a couple years, she could be his DD.

The pair also ran into a few other people that James knew, but for the most part is was just one face after another for Tommy.  That was until they saw the Williams newlyweds, Andrew and Morgana.


---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


When Tommy saw Morgana arrive, it was like time stood still for a brief moment.  The music slowed, the bubbles from the bubble machine crawled to a halt, and everyone seemed to just freeze.  He was enamored. 

Morgana wore a periwinkle cocktail dress that exposed her arms and shoulders and looked like the front of her dress hung off of a strap from the back.  It extended down past her knees by a couple inches.  She wore a pair of pink closed-toe heels to finish it off.  She didn’t wear a coat or shawl.  If she got too cold, she’d take her husband’s coat.  Her hair was neat, yet messy, like it was designed to have that ‘just-got-out-of-bed-and-look-amazing’ style to it.  She didn’t overdue the jewelry, either, opting only for a pair of diamond studded earrings and her wedding jewelry.  Tommy could tell from this distance that Morgana decided on a very natural shade of pantyhose.

The man on her arm was her husband Andrew Williams.  He was no slouch in the looks department, either.  Drew stood a few inches taller than Morgana, close to Tommy’s height at 6’3”.  He wore a Calvary Blue suit with brown oxfords and a brown belt.  His pink tie matched Morgana’s shoes and his periwinkle shirt matched her dress.  His face was clean shaven, and his brown hair was a medium long length.  Though, the widow’s peak was starting to form.  His brown eyes matched his hair, and his face and body were both thin.  He looked like he was in his late 20’s to possibly early 30’s.  Tommy bumped his estimate up when he saw Drew turn and noticed that his hair was starting to thin on top.  Tommy then subconsciously ran his hand through his own hair, enjoying how lush it was.

The young couple were chatting with another young couple walking past when Morgana saw Tommy.

“Oi!”  Morgana waved at Tommy, then motioned for him to come over.  Tommy walked over, moving his drink from his right hand to his left.  As he got in close for a handshake, she instead gave him a quick hug.  Tommy almost fainted on the inside.  “Glad to see ya.  I’m happy you made it.”

“Thanks for telling me about this.  This is a great party, I wouldn’t have known about it if not for you.  Thanks.”  Tommy turned to face Andrew.  “Hi, I’m Tommy.  Tommy Gearheardt.”  Tommy extended his hand to Andrew, who took it and shook it.

“Andrew Williams, but most people call me Drew.”  Drew smiled back at Tommy, keeping the grip firm just long enough to try to assert dominance.  “Morgana tells me you work with James on the new HQ right?  Didn’t you present at the last meeting”

“Yeah, you asked about the increased liabilities of the helipad, right?”  Tommy said, still shaking Drew’s hand, waiting to see who would break it first.

“Yes, I did.  It’s good to get to know ya, mate.”  Still, they hadn’t broken their shake, and both men were getting the feeling that this was getting awkward. 

“Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, if you’re gonna hold hands, at least let the lady go get a drink, will ya.”  Tommy just shook his head as James strolled over, carrying a few flutes of champagne.  Drew and Tommy let go of each other’s hands.

“James St. Croix, this is Drew and Morgana Williams.”  Tommy introduced the two men.  James handed the drinks he held to Tommy so that the older man could shake Drew’s hand.  Their handshake was much quicker than Tommy’s.  “Mrs. Williams, it’s great to meet ya.  Your husband talks about how amazing you are all the time.”

“Thank you, Mr. Croix.”  Morgana shook James’s hand, then let go.  Tommy, looking awkward holding four champagne flutes, offered one to Morgana.  She accepted.  Then Drew took one, and James took one.
“Please, call me James.”

“So Tommy, you’ve worked with James for a couple months.  What’s his nickname for ya?”  Drew asked.  Tommy swallowed a sip of champagne before answering.

“Twinkletoes.  You?”

“Twatface.”  Morgana nearly spit out her drink.

“To be fair, I would never call you that in front of your wife.”  James said.  Drew responded, his brow furrowing just a bit more.

“No, you called me that in front of the Senior Management.”  Tommy’s eyes went wide with disbelief.  James stood and nodded.

“That I did, but in my defense, you had it comin’ that day.  Lemme make it up to ya.”  James walked around Drew and wrapped his arm around the lawyer’s shoulder.  “This first round’s on me.  Next one probably, too.”  With that, James led Drew to the bar.  Tommy and Morgana followed.


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Forty-five minutes and a few drinks later, the four party goers sat around a round table outside.  Morgana had switched to a red wine after the champagne while the men each worked on their second Port City Pilsners.  A waiter came by with a new round of drinks, giving each of them another beer.  Morgana finished her wine and switched over to the beer with the blokes.  They chatted for a while, getting to know each other.

The young couple had been married about 10 months but were together for a couple years.  They met in college at ANU, Australian National University.  They met while Drew was a senior and Morgana, at least that’s how Tommy understood it.  He couldn’t make sense of Aussie university.  Tommy was starting to like the taste of this new beer.  A lot.  Back to the couple.  The two met in University when they shared a class together.  She has her Bachelor’s in International Business and the equivalent of an MBA while he is a licensed Attorney at Law.  They both moved to Melbourne and worked at Pharma there until they were able to get their work visas and travel to the U.S.  They’ve only been in the states about 6 months at this point, and have tried to go on a couple mini-vacations to see the country.  So far, they’ve seen a few of the common tourist places.  New York, L.A., Vegas, Miami, etc.  They’re looking forward to the summer when they go on more hikes and trips.

Since they moved to Harbor City, they’ve been living in Hilltop Acres, a nearby plan of fancy condos that is owned by Pharma’s real estate division.  It’s the default for executives and management moving to the country, but it’s available for anyone in the company to rent.  If no one from the company is interested, they’ll go on the open market.  Pharma pays their employees a stipend for rent each month, and the two lovebirds put their stipends together to get a free condo out of the deal.  Close to free, anyway.  They still have to pay for utilities and such, but rent is covered.  They’re saving their money to buy a house later in the year.  In the meantime, as they told James there were a few things they wanted to do with the condo but Drew is “not mechanically inclined.”

James took a sip of his beer and rolled this around in his mind for a moment.  Even after a few drinks, he was able to formulate a pretty decent plan.

“What kinda work were ya thinkin’?”  James asked Drew and Morgana.

“Nothing that’s too complicated.  Maybe replace a couple light fixtures, maybe the backsplash in the kitchen.  Current ones just…” Drew trailed off as Morgana picked up.

“They look like they were picked by a gray haired Shelia who collected little heads.  It’s kinda scary.  I could try some of this, but some bloke from management said that all changes to the condos have to go through building management.  Fookin’ wankers.”  Morgana finished off her wine and grabbed her beer.

“So building management over at Hilltop has to approve any changes?”  James asked.  The two nodded.  “Lucky for you, I know the bogan that runs it.”

“Really, who?”  Drew’s eyes went wide with surprise.

James threw his hands back in a flourish.  “Ta fookin’ da.  You’re lookin’ at him.”

“You?”  Morgana was shocked.  James nodded then continued.

“H2C does the maintenance for Pharma’s real estate.  Different divisions, but their managers report to me.  Send me whatever you need and I’ll send someone over.” 

“Strewth?”  Drew asked the older man.  James took a sip of his beer.

“Strewth.  Now, you’ll need the fixtures if you want your own stuff, and pick out the tile, too.  You have that ready or need to get it?”

“We need to pick things out, first.  Pick out some stuff we like.”  Morgana added, before taking a drink.

“How about Saturday Arvo?  I can send that fuckwit over there.”  James pointed to Tommy.  The young American was having a hard time following what was going on, but he’s been called fuckwit enough times to know that James was talking to him.

“Me?”  Tommy asked, not sure what’s going on.

“Yes you.  How many you had tonight?”  James asked as Tommy started counting and easily filled up a hand.  “Stick to beer for the rest of the night, you’re gettin’ pissed.”

“I’m not pissed.  I’m calm, man.”  Tommy said, trying to stay calm.  The Aussies laughed.

“No, you’re pissed.  Getting drunk.”  Morgana replied, putting her hand on Tommy’s arm.

“Oh.  Okay.”  Tommy nodded.

“Yeah, just don’t get parro.”  Drew said.  Tommy looked at him quizzically.  “Shitfaced.”  Tommy nodded in understanding.

“Ok, so what am I doing?  What’s an arvo, and why is it Saturday?”  Tommy asked, trying to get the conversation back on track.  James took another drink.

“Next Saturday arvo, afternoon, you’re headed to their place to install some light fixtures because the last tenant was a crazy cat lady who collected tiny heads and decorated her house to match her tiny head collection.  You’ll also start on helping them install a backsplash in the kitchen.  Again, crazy cat lady.”

“Ohh.”  Tommy couldn’t believe what he was hearing.  The perfect opportunity to get even closer to Morgana, and he was being invited right into their home. 

“Now, Tommy’s not my best, but he’s my cheapest and he’s bright.  He’ll figure it out.”

“This cost anything?”  Drew asked.

“Dinner and drinks, I guess.  He loikes, well, anything alcoholic but he’s taken a shine to that Port City Pilsner.” 

“We’ll get something good.  Do some work, have dinner and drinks.  Speaking of drinks…”  Drew flagged down the waiter and ordered another round for the table.


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It was getting late by the time the four split up and went their separate ways.  None of them were in any shape to drive. 

Morgana and Drew caught an Uber back to their condo.  They couldn’t keep their hands off of each other once in the car and barely contained themselves until they got home.  A quick strip and the two newlyweds made love on their couch before going for round two in the bedroom. 

Tommy was getting ready to take a nap in his car when he ran into the red head from the yoga class.  Her name was Tammy.  She wasn’t bad looking up close, but he wasn’t sure if that was the beer thinking for him or not.  They got to talking and hitting it off, and when he told her about working at the construction site, she said she’d love to see it sometime.  “Why not make now sometime?”  He was flirting, but didn’t think it would work.  To his surprise, it did.  Tommy and Tammy went for a walk, ending in the tower after climbing a couple flights of stairs.  They could see the party from their spot, but no one could see them.  Tammy made the first move, but Tommy was more than receptive.  They hooked up in one of the conference rooms that Tommy watched her stretching sessions.  Boy, those stretching sessions paid off.  But even while being balls deep in Tammy, he couldn’t help but think of Morgana.

James walked around to clear his head.  He made small talk with most of the management and some of the staff.  They were amazed that he showed up, and even more amazed at how pleasant he could be while drinking.  One of the managers made a joke about requiring him to drink on the job.  James laughed at that stupid joke.  He sobered up enough to not draw any attention from the police.  He lived maybe 5 kilometers from the office, and it was all backroads.  As he was about to grab his keys, he struck up a conversation with a slightly older brunette.  He wasn’t sure what her name was, it started with a B.  Billie, Bailey, Bianca, something like that.  When they started talking about who lived closer, they both agreed that it was James but his place wasn’t nearly as close as the hotel down the hill.  She grabbed one more drink for the road and led him to his truck.  But there was something he needed to do before they left.

He activated his phone’s VPN and set out searching for some small, concealable cameras.  He had a plan.  He ordered the 5 of the first cameras that looked like they would do the job from Amazon.  If he wasn’t thinking of this brunette in her 40’s with the great tits, amazing legs, and nice ass, he might spend more time on it.  For now, he had a mission, and that mission involved B-whatever-her-name-is and Little Jimmy getting wet.
Always close the program you were running before exiting the holodeck

Offline To-Get-Her

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Re: Pharma (Chapter 10 Posted)
« Reply #29 on: October 12, 2021, 11:36:45 AM »
So finally Tommy has a face to face with his dream girl! Love how cool he played it. Would have preferred if he was the one sent sprawling when they collided, a bit more realistic that way! Cant wait to read of the company soriee, bet James makes an ass of himself that will be merit worthy!

"They plowed into each other with thump.  He staggered backward a step before falling back on his ass.  The blonde bounced back a foot, but kept her stance.  He normally wouldn’t have felt this, but years of playing basketball taught him the fine art of the flop.  Tommy let out a pained ‘uff’ as he landed."  I was hoping it would've been a little more obvious, but that's what Tommy planned.  They walk, they bump, he falls, draws the foul, he gets to ball her, I mean gets the ball back.   >:D

Chapter 11 is incoming.

It was obvious but I'm the type who would hope to knock the young lady down then fumble and apologize while helping them up, hoping to ingratiate myself to her for honesty and lulling her into a sense of security-"Please excuse me, I wouldn't ever do that if I had been watching where I was going! Are you injured in any way?"

At times that works! ;)
When I get around to it, I'll write