39

It is still dark. The clock on the nightstand says 4:40. I have just come back from the CR. I needed to piss. The girls are sacked out. I get back into bed carefully. Not carefully enough. One is awake and reaching over to me. I pull her in and try to get back to sleep. She has different goals as a hand grabs my rod and starts to work it. Another hand grabs mine and brings it to her cunt. Oh! It's Mae. I know her cunt by feel. She is wet and pumping against my captive hand as she works my rod which is responding quickly.

Mae pulls, urging me to get on top of her. I do and push into her cunt. She swings her legs up around my back and we start fucking in earnest. Her cunt is on fire. Her hands are clawing my shoulders. There is an intensity to our actions. I can feel that as short as all this has been, I will cum soon. Mae is cumming now. She is clawing and biting my shoulder. I am pounding her cunt.

I feel a hand grip and hold my balls tight. It is not Mae. The hand is squeezing. Another hand is snaking between the cheeks on my ass. A finger is inserted. Goddamn! I shoot cum into Mae. I keep on shooting. My balls are aching but, in a good way. I am spent. The clock says 5:00.

§ § §

I am in my office and catching up on work by six this morning. Most of the house sleeps but, from out my window I can see there is activity in Cynthia's pavilion office. I walk over and see she and our newest recruit are having a Skype session with San Jose about the types of documents we need for the cargo ferry operations. Poking my head in, I get Cynthia's eye and silently mouth, All night? She nods. They must be exhausted, however Shann2x simply looks determined.

I decide to do no more with the ferry cargo, other than what Cynthia is doing, until I have a staff who knows how to roll this out. I am way out of my area of competence. All I know is that we need it.

Last night Jake said something to me that has me worried. He asked me if I am not worried about Muslims using my boats for smuggling, including guns. With the activities of the MILF, MNLF, BIFF, Abu Sayyaf, as well as the NPA, smuggling of armaments is a concern.

So OK, I'm stupid. But I think I have a technological fix. Jake and I talked about it last night. He has agreed to do the research and get back to me. I am reminded of the comment I got about him, 'if you can afford him, you can't afford to ignore him.' I am discovering how true that is.

GLS has a strong and positive relationship with both the PNP and AFP and so I use my contacts in those organizations, sending an email, asking for a consultation with them regarding the issue of a ferry fleet and controlling illegal activities. My belief is that the more I cooperate with these guys on the prevention side, better life will be. I will also send a text to some of the local leaders of Mosques asking for a meeting. Better to discuss things in the open with them. They are for peace here. I truly believe they are. But not all are.

OK so, I have done all I can on the ferry side of the GLS business. I shut things down and decide that it is time for breakfast.

Pia serves me a plate of ginisang ampalaya, rice and a cup of tea. The ampalaya dish is a favorite of mine. As I eat far more than I should, Pia sits with me. It was a good night, Gordon.

Yes, Pia. Pia, you know I do truly love you, correct?

Yes. I know. I am not worried. That is why I bring the others. I am not afraid. We know you. But, we do need a nursery. This is true.

Yes I know.

We also need more bedrooms. Even with the pavilions, there is not enough room. Gordon, is it OK if I complain and criticize you? You not be angry with me?

I smile. What would I do with females that could not think? Am I worried about the criticism from someone who loves me? No, I welcome it. I want to hear your thoughts. Please tell me.

Gordon, you see into the future about the business but not how it affects us here. It is OK that you add other girls but, there is no room for the ones you add now and there are not enough for the ones you must add later. And don't say they will not stay! Some always stay or come back! Plus their children stay. It does not matter that you don't take them to your bed. They are still here and they are here for years. I think this is your blind spot. I am not the only one who knows this. I am just the only one who tells you. OK, I'm done now. You angry?

I am not angry. I am sad that the others haven't also told me. You are right. I do have a blind spot. I don't think the blind spot will disappear just by knowing it is there.

So, what I say does not matter?

Hardly! What you say means we need to make a change.

How?

You know who else knows this and is afraid to tell me?

Yes, but, I not want to name them.

You don't have to. Go back to them and tell them that they, along with Dian are formed as a committee. They are to meet with Architect Reyes. The committee is to find an answer to these problems and the ones Dian and I have identified.

You know about this? I am wrong?

Only partially. Yes I know about this but, you are correct. I do have a blind spot. It was only yesterday that Dian pretty much told me the same thing. The problem is we don't have enough land to expand on, even if we want to make a plan. She is working on that problem now.

Oh!

So do not wait. The committee needs to meet today. Now, Pia, knowing how this worked out, are you willing to criticize me again when needed?

Her eyebrows go up, she kisses me and scampers off. It's hard to think that this big house could have gotten so cramped. My breakfast finished, I check in with Janella. I get a hug and a kiss. All is OK. Up in my office there are responses from both the AFP and PNP emails I sent. They want to meet today. They both ask, am I free this morning? I am and after a couple of additional volleys of emails, they say they will be here at 9AM. I text downstairs to not freak-out and send the guys up to me.

I share what's up with Dian. She will be here for the meeting but has a couple of meetings about the land. She is ready to tell me what's up.

Gordon, if FUC will purchase land in Brgy. San Isidro of 1.2 hectares, subdivide it into six 2000 SqM lots and build modest homes on them, the three home owners on either side of you are willing to do a direct trade for their 1,500 SqM lots. We can take down the buildings on the land and do whatever we need. There will be just enough room for a nursery, a school, and housing.

Where are we going to find this land?

The property was foreclosed on. Here is the bank officer who has it. And she hands me his card.

The title will be clear?

Yes.

You have seen the property?

Yes.

Have the six homeowners seen the property?

Yes.

They all agree?

Yes. Gordon, I have done the work on this! I cover these issues!

Have they agreed on a floor plan for the house we'll build?

Dian laughs. Yes!

I text the FUC board in one multiparty text.

Request your vote, Yes or No, for a purchase of 1.2 hectares in Brgy. San Isidro for a swap to get 4500 SqM on the South and 4500 SqM on the north of our property.

I get four Yes votes back via text. Dian asks, do you really need me to text, yes?

OK contact our attorney and have him work up agreements with the six first and get notarized documents. At the same time, tell the banker we will take it and set up a meeting after the other documents are signed. Are there actual plans that can be city approved?

Uh-huh, I took the basic two story plans that Camillia is using. All accepted this.

And you think there will be time for this meeting?

Yes. I will email Atty. Cruz all the details. I will email the banker the intent to purchase. I will text the landowners that we have a deal and the paperwork is being prepared. Then I am done with this for a few hours.

Get it done.

Yes, Sir! And she laughs.

§ § §

There are six uniformed folks sitting in my office. Four from the AFP and two PNP. Four of them are women. I guess that is a surprise to me but, I am not sure why. I know women are part of both groups. Dian and Eve have brought in extra chairs. Along with these six, Dian and me, I have Janella and Shann2x join us. Officer Bale mentions that it is a little bit intimidating being surrounded by so many lovely ladies.

Officer, what should intimidate you even more is that they are even brighter than they are lovely. These are very smart women.

Indeed? May I ask what their duties and skills are?

Shall we start with Eve? And then I think we will move to Dian, Janella and Shann2x. OK? Go ahead Eve. I think by the time Shann2x is about to speak, the Officer has about had enough. Shann2x is a little shy and says so. I explain that she just joined us yesterday. Shann2x, please just tell me, what you were doing with Cynthia until seven this morning.

By the time Shann2x finished talking about the app structures, forms, tracking, containerized and non-containerized shipping document processes, all Officer Bale could do is ask, lamely, And you just got hired yesterday?

Yes, Ma'am.

Sir, none of these women are your wife?

No, she is downstairs.

She is not jealous?

Why should she be jealous? I love my wife and will never leave her. Everyone here knows this.

I see. Sorry to take up so much time.

Major Labrilla laughs, tells Bale that he learned a great deal. It was OK. And then continues, now directing a comment and a question toward me.

OK, so you are clearly interested in starting a cargo ferry operation. Is that why you ask us to meet with you?

Yes. And I walk through the issues that I have been cautioned about from others. My question to them is, Are these concerns real? If they are, is there a way I can work to mitigate them and work with you?

Sir Gordon, I so wish all business owners have your beliefs. We will be happy to help but, often there is little we can do.

Sir, I believe I will know when cargo has been loaded secretly.

How? You will have spies?

No, Sir. It is a matter of displacement of the ship in the water. We can't catch small things but, if the shipment is large enough, our monitoring systems will tell us.

I do not believe you can install and use such things here!

The PNP folks know I have a system in the trucks. I gather these folks from the AFP do not. I suggest we walk down and across to the GLS data office where the girls have the tracking screens but, Dian interrupts. Sir, give me a second and I can set up a screen here. They won't see all the sites but, let's bring up the Davao Depot system fleet.

I agree and Dian starts moving a few wires around while the discussion continues. It seems like the largest issue may be ships that receive illegal cargo in open waters, not at the port of lading. Shann2x is nodding.

The big 55” screen comes alive and Janella takes them through a training course as if they are new hires, on what the screen is telling her and how to use it. We access cameras on rigs, we watch speed, we look at route progress, we note tire inflation, RPMs, engine and oil temperature, and the driver's ID. We can bring up driver background information. We can bring up what's in the back. The weights and sizes of all the freight. Where each item has come from, through which ports and everything that has happened to that item since we picked it up. We can bring up the destination and the time of expected delivery.

Now imagine if we fit the ships with this type of technology. We can check displacement of the hull in the water when unloaded, in short order we will know the displacement with the crew and we will know expected displacement with the freight we are carrying. If the displacement does not match, it will send off an alarm. We will be monitoring displacement throughout the journey. We will also use the same, GPS tracking technology as on the trucks, as well as engine status, camera, batch upload technology. Why will I not know when something is happening?

You won't have a clue in rough seas.

We are working on that using gimbals, lasers and a small embedded computer along with the displacement sensors fore, aft and amidships. I have a team working on this problem. (I do. It was one of the things Jake and I discussed last night.)

The Major grins as do the others. OK, I'm a believer. You will need to talk to the Navy once you get a prototype working. If they can see that, I suspect you will get lots of assistance. The AFP will do what we can and appreciate the demonstration. You will need a liaison and once you get going, I will make sure you have one with the AFP.

A PNP officer hands me her card and basically says the same thing about the PNP. They are all quickly gone as is Dian. Shann2x and Janella are still with me and we put chairs back where they belong. Janella, a chair in two arms, as she walks across the floor comments, I am going to know days before we truck things, exactly what is coming to a port. Intra-island shipping will still be based on averages and heuristics but, this freight, once we pick it up at the port of origin, for us, will have weights and sizes attached. I don't think the software allows me to plug those values in, in advance.

Talk to Cynthia about that.

Shann2x is distracted. I stop her and ask what is troubling her. She looks up a little sheepishly and says, They all do it!

Do what?

Smuggle. All of them. Janella just looks at me.

§ § §

I send Shann2x to bed after the meeting. She doesn't want to but, I demand that she go. I decide to hold off on contacting the Mosques until our technology is in place. I don't think I will see Dian much more today.

Arvyjoy will arrive in half an hour. The girls downstairs are aware and will send the woman up to me.

Have I bitten off more than we can chew?

§ § §

Good morning Arvyjoy, please come in and have a seat. Thank you for coming today.

You are welcome, Sir. I am surprised to get the offer of an interview. I am told it is a position regarding cargo shipping. Is that correct?

Yes. From the international ports to and between the other major Philippine ports. I gather from your résumé and from an acquaintance of yours, that you have such experience.

Yes, this is true.

The initial work here will be to assist others in creating the shipping company, the offices and how it will work. We can discuss the actual salary in a bit but, I believe you will be happy with what we are offering. Would you be so kind as to tell me as best you can what types of duties you have in your years of employment in the industry?

For the next half hour I pretty much get her life story from when she got her first job to when she was let go. I am not hearing any problems and am comfortable with her.

She doesn't know a damned thing about us and I am not needing to fuck another woman. She is not jumping up and down, saying where's the bed? Maybe now is the time to just hire an employee. I think we have one room in the dorm that will work for her and her daughter. I talk about wages, the school for her daughter and the off work hours, which is why she needs to be living in the compound for now.

She says she wants the position and she seems OK. I ask her to wait in the office. I walk downstairs, tell Anja and Maria what I want to do. They tell me that the daughter is with Raya and Glanna at the moment. I ask them to ask my girls to not talk to the new one about having sex with me if they have not done so yet. I then return to my office. I ask Arvyjoy if she would like an advance to go back to where she lives and collect her things. She does and I provide her five hundred pesos before she leaves the office. She says that they will return by nightfall, and then she is gone.

§ § §

Breaking for lunch is no big deal today. I can't move forward with the ferries, the rest of GLS is no longer my responsibility. FUCME is up and running. We do need to expand but, I have that in motion and there is nothing that requires my attention today. I have just finished eating some fried rice. A second cup of tea is in my hand. Jana walks in and sits down.

I want to hear you say it.

Say what.

Ha, stud, you know what. Say it.

Uncle?

Yes! That! Say it again.

Uncle!

Good. Good. By the way, we are working with the architect. And she gets up and walks off.

§ § §

I am back in my office for all the afternoon. We are still consulting with other companies, if a bit more slowly because my 'consultant assistants' have been retasked. Still there are things that must be done and I work through them. I finish for the day and walk down to the first floor and into a screaming match between, Shann2x, Anja, Maria, and Arvyjoy. Jana is there but not saying a word. The others have not seen me. I signal to Jana to meet me up on the second floor and I retreat.

What is going on?

Evidently this is what happens if you don't fuck your employees!

Gee, thanks. No, Jana, really, what is happening?

I told you. Gordon, this girl learned from her daughter, who learned from Raya and Glanna, how real members of this organization are treated. She also learned where those who don't get bedded by you go.

Where?

To work as regular employees at one of the stores. They are sent off and not really part of us. Your new girl came back demanding to know why you didn't bed her and her daughter. Anja told her you have stopped. But Shann2x said you bedded her only yesterday and bedded her daughter both yesterday and today. And that is sort of where you came in.

Suggestions?

None.

Uh-huh. Yeh. OK.

I walk downstairs, loudly. All heads really do turn, there is a moment of silence and then screaming. I put my hand up, palm out. I am hoping they interpret that as a sign to stop and not that I need to go to the CR.

Quiet returns. No one, and I do mean, no one, is to speak unless I ask that person for a comment. Now Arvyjoy. I offered you a position here, not somewhere else, here, without conditions, today. I want a yes or no answer. Did you hear me do that?

But..

STOP! I said 'yes or no.'

Yes.

Anja, have I ever lied to anyone as far as you know?

No.

Maria, do I lie?

No.

I will not ask Shann2x as she has only been here for thirty-six hours.

Anja, did I come downstairs this morning and tell you I was changing the policy about bedding the women here starting with Arvyjoy?

Yes.

Maria, did you hear that too?

Yes.

Arvyjoy, if no one had told you about what I used to do, would you have been happy with the job as offered?

Bu... Yes. Yes, I would have.

Shann2x, were you sleeping today because you worked all night last night?

Yes, bu...

NO! I said only yes or no answers!

Shann2x you did not know that Arvyjoy had no prior word about how things worked here and I decided to remove the option of sex with me. You did not know because I made that decision when you were sleeping and after I had been with your daughter this morning.

Does everyone here understand what happened this morning? Anja?

Yes.

Maria?

Yes.

Shann2x?

Yes.

Arvyjoy?

YES! BUT I NOT TAKE THE JOB NOW!

Why?

I am too ugly for you.

JANA!

You don't have to yell, Gordon. I am right behind you.

OK, Jana, is this female ugly?

No.

Please tell her how you are related to me.

Arvyjoy, I am Gordon's wife.

That gets Arvyjoy freaking out but good. I go! I go!

But Jana looks at the girl and tells her to stop being a fool. Shut up and be good.

Arvyjoy freezes.

I take a breath. This is just way out of acceptable behavior. She may just have to go unless I get her to start acting rationally. Arvyjoy is too long a name. What is your nickname?

Vy.

OK Vy, if you can't listen and respond correctly, I will agree that you have to go. I am going to give you another chance to listen to what I said, not what you think it means. I then want to hear you explain to me the difference between what I said and what you answered. Do you understand what you are being asked to do?

Yes, I think yes.

OK, here is what I said. “Does everyone here understand what happened this morning?”

Vy's eyes get large. You only ask us if we understand what happened and maybe then why we had the fight because Shanna2x not know and my daughter not know either. You not say what you will do. You not make demand. You only ask if we see what happen. Sir, am I correct?

Yes. Vy, I have so many women I love, and who love me, that when you come and want the job without wanting to be in my bed, I think OK. This is a good thing. There is one thing that Dian would tell you if she were here, it is...

I am here!

Well, then you can verify you said this, I need more women here than I can love?

Yes, that is really true.

And, Vy, what no one here says, but I think they all know, is that I seem to be unable to make love to a woman, who is here and in my bed more than once or twice, without falling in love with her? I fall in love with the women who come to my bed. Is there anyone here who wants to argue with me about that? … No?... Jana, any comment?

No. It is a bad thing and a good thing. You will never leave me because you really love me. But we now have a compound filled with women who love you and who you love.

So, Vy, my offer of a real, meaningful position with a long term potential, one that will last long after I die, has been placed before you. You will have a good income. You can find a man who meets your needs. Your daughter can get the education she needs and find a boy who loves her, all while working here. Or you can take your clothing off here in this room, in front of my other loves, be brought up to my bedroom by Maria, and get ready to have my baby. The job will be the same but, you will be in my bed and in the beds of my mistresses, I will bed with your daughter, and so will my mistresses, and the two of you are mine for life. I will give you an hour to talk with your daughter and anyone else you wish to discuss this with of the people in this room. However, this cannot be discussed outside with anyone else. Do you understand what you have been offered?

Yes. The job is the same, either way I choose. I choose you or not you. If I choose you, I am also choosing for Juvyline.

Yes. OK, the hour starts now.

Vy looks at her daughter. Juvyline's eyebrows flash up. Vy undresses, completely. Maria, take me to Gordon's bedroom.

Maria takes Vy's hand and they walk up the stairs. I look around and ask the assemble girls. Can anyone explain to me why she did that?

Jana, walking away only says, Buang ka¹.

Juvyline, you told your mother to do this. Your mother had the job anyway. Why did you tell her to do it?

You love Raya?

Yes.

You love Glanna?

Yes.

They ever leave, even if they are buang some day?

Ah... No.

I will love you, if you let me. I will be good to you if you let me. I will also some day be buang, like Nanay is today. I never want to think you will send me away. I want your love, Sir.

At which point, Dian says, What part of Jana calling you a fool, did you not understand?

Yeh, got it. Thanks for that, Dian.

Any time, Sir. It is what I do.

I climb the stairs with all looking at my receding back. It does not feel particularly good.

§ § §

§ § §

Chapter 40