2 comments/ 4550 views/ 2 favorites Showing That You Mean It By: TaLtos6 ********** This is a part of a longer thing that I've got going on in a different category. In this, a couple of people find that they're not as ... set into things as they'd thought that they were. A lot of them work for a company that flies transport and also does agricultural applications (cropdusting) in the American Southwest. There are a few relationships going on already by this point. Characters: Patterson is a VERY shy young man who has only had one relationship in is life and it wasn't with a girl. Max is a young woman who, until very recently was homeless and lived as a frightened mouse on the outskirts of society. Su-jin is a recent arrival from South Korea, now working as a bookkeeper. Jane is the sister of the prime owner of the company. Bobbi is that owner and she's not even in this. Tyler is a very small boy, just adopted by Su-jin. 0_o ************* Patterson Dillon had a couple of things to do before heading in to work and he was also trying to get the tape player to stop fighting him for long enough to get on-side just a little. For a change. He was unhappy. But then, he'd pretty much always been unhappy, so that was just the status quo anyway. He wasn't thinking about it but ... Back when he'd been about ten, he used to spend his summers on his grandparent's farm. Nice scenery, peaceful, boring most of the time. He used to just poke around and ride his bike a lot. He'd been looking at the dilapidated farmhouse on the next farm over and wanted to check it out and explore. He knew that he couldn't even ask to do that because it wouldn't be allowed. And anyway, the place was supposed to be haunted. But he kept looking over there anyway. He went over one morning when he knew that his grandparents would be busy. There was always a time like that about midmorning after breakfast. Nobody asked him where he was headed, so ... He'd just walked over there. He didn't take his bike because that would have caused the question of where he was going. It was a bit of a walk, but it was a sunny day so off he went. There wasn't much to see and the farmhouse was locked anyway. Patterson was just walking around the rear corner when he felt that someone was looking at him. He spun around and saw nobody. He felt a little funny and there was a touch of fear, but he told himself it was nothing. But the feeling came back almost instantly. He forced himself not to look and continued on, the feeling still there and unchanged. But as he was passing the spot at the end of the path to the barn where he could see inside the open doorway, he snapped his head around to look that way and ... He saw a boy, about his own age but a little larger, standing just inside and looking out at him. They looked at each other for a minute and then Patterson said hi. There was no response for a few seconds. Then the boy came running out toward him. Patterson took off running. He didn't know who and most especially why, but he was frightened, especially after the haunted part came back to him. Every time that he looked back the kid had closed the gap more. What made it all worse was that Patterson was running away from his grandparent's farm, headed in the wrong direction. It all ended in a small secluded hollow full of overgrown grass. Patterson was on his face and crying with the other boy kneeling over him. He kept crying when he felt a hand on his shoulder, trying to pull him over onto his back. That part ended several long minutes later when the boy leaned down and whispered into Patterson's ear, "Can't talk. I can't talk. I don't want to hurt you. I couldn't answer when you said hi. This is as loud as I can get." Patterson eventually got over his fright to some degree and he turned over. The boy was smiling, trying to look friendly. Patterson looked and he saw red hair, green eyes and freckles. Not what he'd have thought were ghostly features, exactly. The boy kept his smile on as they looked at each other for a moment and then he began to lean in, which raised some alarm in Patterson all over again. "P-please don't hurt me," he stammered. The boy shook his head and kept coming. Patterson never would have expected it but the boy only kissed him once. Patterson asked why and the other boy just shrugged and whispered, "I like you." It turned out that the boy, whose name was Pete, had been very ill two winters before and his throat had begun to close from the swelling. He's been rushed to the nearest hospital, but other than his heart almost exploding, the epinephrine that they'd given him hadn't opened the still-closing airway. They were going to open the airway by piercing his throat so that he could at least breathe, but at the instant that the incision had been begun, Pete had gone into severe convulsions. The airway was opened, but it had been too high, going in just under his larynx when he'd convulsed the first time at just the wrong instant and the scalpel cut a vocal chord. The incision had been closed afterward and there was a scar. But Pete could only whisper until he was finished growing and the final surgery could be done. So the conversation was quiet. Patterson learned that Pete had kissed him thinking that it might show that he wanted to be friendly and that Patterson's fear was over nothing. And also because he'd just wanted to. Pete lived on the next farm over and they became friends pretty much instantly after that. They'd both been lonely and wanted a friend and after that day, they spent every day together until Patterson had to go home at the end of the summer. They spent every summer together and in the winter, they wrote to each other. It had been Pete's mother's idea and it helped their penmanship. Everyone who saw them knew that there was an almost Huckleberry Finn sort of friendship between them. The summer that they'd turned eighteen was bittersweet for them, since Pete had an uncle who could help him find work on the oil platforms off the Alaskan coast. In the eight years that they'd known each other, Pete had grown into a tall and muscular young man and Patterson ... hadn't. Not so much, anyway. They still spent every minute that they could together and by then, their relationship had matured as well. Patterson was devastated by the time that September rolled around. He held it together outwardly, but he cried quietly in his room at home for months. He missed being in Pete's arms and he missed those kisses. He ached to feel Pete inside of him just once more, and to a small degree, he was never the same. They wrote to each other, but it faded out after a time and Patterson had no idea where in the world Pete was now. After a year of moping and working part time in pool maintenance, his mother suggested talking to someone who'd really never been in Patterson's life at all. But he made the call. He was gone the next day, driving for the horizon, headed west. He'd called his father and though he hadn't mentioned what had happened, he did say that he was done being a layabout and wanted to know about working with him at the aircraft engine facility. One thing led to the next and after a bit of college, he was the representative for that company in a small branch office at the Angel Fire airport. It was a position that could go nowhere, but then, with a little work and if he obtained and kept the interest of the two operators at that field, it might very well lead to something better. It didn't pay well to start and he'd had to live on the cheap for a time, so he rented the top floor of a used car dealership for a song and saved a ton in rent. It got hot in the summer and he never got the whole thing warm in the winter, but it was home. That was how he'd gotten here. He was twenty-five now and he lived alone. That was why he'd lived like the only monk in the abbey ever since. If he asked himself out loud - in an almost-whisper in front of the mirror, Patterson would tell himself that he was gay and that he was fine with it. It felt right to him and he'd never even tried to get to know any girls. He'd always thought that to even get into a conversation with one back in school only showed him the disadvantage that he was under, not knowing what to do or say or ... think, other than feeling uncomfortable and wanting to get away. So yeah, if he asked himself in an almost-whisper he'd admit it. But it would have to be on a Sunday in the early morning when he knew that there was no one else in the freaking building but him. Under any other circumstances, he'd deny it. It was quietly killing him to be lonely and one thing that he hated doing - and often did anyway - was to think that in his whole life, he'd had only one relationship with another living person. And that person had gone away. Patterson was unhappy. ------------ Max was motoring on her Harley, running a quick errand into town and back for Bobbi. It was only her second day, but she SO loved her job. She wasn't thinking of it, but she was changing. Jane would have praised the hell out of her if it came up between them. She couldn't think of a time in the last year and some that she hadn't ridden these streets in at least a little fear, day or night. And there was something else. Max was feeling so much better now because of Jane and Bobbi. She felt like she belonged somewhere. Finally. Bobbi really was like what she imagined a much older sister to be like. She could look at you as an equal, but also, it seemed to be tinged with care. More often, she looked at you like you were her younger sibling and you could have her thoughts and guidance for nothing anytime that you asked. And if you really needed it and there wasn't anyone else around, you could have her hugs and a few soft kisses just about any time. Jane was someone that she needed a lot and she knew it. She always heard gentle encouragement from Jane and after a lifetime of being alone, it was so good to have that body against her even if they only slept. There comes a time as childhood begins to fade into adolescence when everybody suddenly sticks their head up to look around. Boys look for girls that they like and girls look for boys. Kids who are still confused or think they might prefer their own gender do that too, but with less chance and hope of success. But they do it anyway. Max had never done it, not in her life. The kids that she grew up with weren't exactly friendly to her and if they were or seemed to be, it often only meant there was some hook or trap waiting for her so that they could all laugh at her expense. Apparently, she was a lesbian now. She liked that, since it was softer to her most times - even with Jane. She didn't really take it as lightly as that, however. It was a kind of love that she could understand and take nourishment from inside of herself. She'd had experiences with men. Mostly bad ones where she'd been used because she'd drawn attention to herself out of the kind of pain that hunger really is - after you've eaten only air for about a week. She'd been gang-raped once and then thrown out with her clothes tossed out after her for asking for just a slice of bread on a cold night. She knew that she'd been lucky. There were two of them who'd told the others that they ought to kill her so nothing would come back to them. After some thought, it came to her that one of them was a little kinder. He was the one who reminded the others that it wasn't all that easy to make a body really disappear completely anymore. She'd grabbed her clothes and run off into the night, leaking semen out of everywhere and wanting a place where she could get dressed again and being thankful as she ran across the snow that she still had an extra pair of workboots in the trunk of her trike, since she was now barefoot. At least she wasn't hungry anymore that night. All seven of them had come into her mouth at least once. Considering the circumstances ... She'd have preferred the bread. Her jaw wouldn't have hurt so much. Then she only had to wait and worry about being pregnant for the next three weeks until her period told her that she'd dodged the bullet. The truth be told, she much preferred trying to buy something with the offer of a blowjob, since even if she was cheated and got nothing, she'd at least have a tablespoon of protein in her stomach. Love? What the fuck was that? Though she now knew a little better. It was what she got from Jane and Bobbi and it felt wonderful. Bobbi knew, but Jane absolutely understood Max, allowing her to lie wrapped around her at night in any way. Jane had even told her why she understood - because she'd been a little thing without much love once and the need had never truly left her. But with that said, it wasn't as though Max was completely blind to men or anything. She was idling up to a red light, checking her mirrors and also looking around, since it was cheap insurance. Her Harley Servi-car was wider than a bike and so she wasn't in as much danger of being squeezed out of her lane. Still, it was worth looking around all the same. She saw someone in the next vehicle and she did a quick double-take. There was a man in the car next to her. He was a little older than she was; middle twenties maybe and he had a nice face framed by long, dark brown hair. Jesus, he was wearing a tie. He was fiddling with something as he kept looking up at the light to be ready when it changed. Nobody knew it or cared, but his car was pretty old and still had a tape player in it that worked. Once in a while. Sometimes. If the stars were lined up in a certain way and ... If you jiggled the tape door just right. It only did that the first time that you tried to use it. After that, it worked fine as long as you didn't turn either the tape player or the ignition off. Max looked ahead, waiting for the light. She looked over again for a second and saw that he was still fiddling with whatever it was. She looked straight ahead, flicking her eyes to the opposite light and seeing it as it turned red. She was about to begin to count to three and then feed in some gas and let out the clutch when she heard a snippet of an old Led Zeppelin song at top volume - loud enough for her to hear over her trike's motor easily. "Till the juice runs down my leg." ------------- Patterson dove for the volume control and he whipped it counter-clockwise far too hard. It turned the tape player off, and he cursed. Now he'd have to go through all of that shit all over again. He looked around to see if any pedestrians had heard it. There was an old woman who stood glaring at him before she walked off in a huff. He remembered where he was and looked in his mirror, worried about annoying the drivers of the cars behind him. There were no cars there. Nobody. Then he became aware of the sound of a motorcycle, clattering beside him on the other side and thumping out a beat like it was trying to say the word 'potato' over and over. Potato-potato-potato-potato-potato-tato tato tato - Potato-potato-potato-potato-potato-tato tato tato ... The next thing that he heard was the sound speed up into a quick 'rrrUUUmm' before telling him about the potato again. He looked and saw ... a young guy there with a boyish face, dressed in coveralls and wearing an ancient-looking leather jacket with a filthy sheepskin collar. He was wearing a helmet and Patterson could just see a little light brown hair sticking out of the helmet here and there. What he could see was thinness and grace as well as beauty. He'd never known that such a thing was possible. He looked really good to Patterson, seeming to be the paradigm of what Patterson wanted in a mate -without ever having known it before in his life. Actually, he looked to be pretty much what Patterson would have wanted in a friend - to be much more pragmatic about it. The eyes were a sparkling shade of darker green and those lips... There was a boner coming to Patterson in this, he just knew it already. He'd never seen anyone that beautiful. That person was the most lovely androgynous being that Paterson had ever seen. Clean and ... dirty at the same time. Slightly bored-looking and also Interesting and inviting. He looked at those eyes again, sparkling with good humor and those lips. He stared as he watched those lips repeat the line slowly and then those lips ... They were blowing him a kiss. While he tried to process it all, he ran out of the ability to do that and think and most of all, wonder who this was. He absolutely knew that the words had been heard. Holy Hannah, he'd almost felt that kiss. The person laughed a little and they were gone. His erection was total now, straining against the fabric of his pants and feeling ... deliciously uncomfortable. He smiled, his day feeling much improved now - until the driver of the truck which had rolled up behind him, wanting to make a right turn shouted to indicate what he ought to do. It was something that Patterson had wished that he had the ability to do to himself for years. Patterson drove, looking everywhere for a silver gray Harley three-wheeler. He turned on the cassette player again at the next light and jiggled it and after a second he heard the potato thing again and looked to his right just as the next line blared. That lovely face was grinning and lip-syncing the words. "I'm gonna fall right out of bed." Patterson laughed and nodded, completely thrilled and fascinated now. The amazing creature on the old Harley winked at him. Nobody had ever winked at him - in his whole life. Unfortunately, he was in the through lane and this sweet being was making the right turn... Max laughed to herself. That had been two minutes of fun. It didn't mean much more than that to her - although she did admit to herself that she'd never seen a man like that before. He was good-looking and even a bit handsome in his way. It was hard to tell, but he didn't look to be that big - which she liked. He had a thin, but really nice face and he looked a little ... Lost-looking. She gave her head a shake, not believing herself. She'd heard that same thing said about her forever and she STILL didn't know what the fuck they were talking about. It didn't matter. She'd never see him again and he was a guy. She asked herself when the last time was that a man had even been anything more than disinterested and harsh to her when she'd asked anybody anything. She couldn't understand it really and she didn't have the time to try to figure it out. She reminded herself that for sure, Bobbi hadn't sent her out here to blow kisses at anybody, so she'd better just get back with the program. She grinned again anyway. She'd never see him again but he was pretty cute. ----------------------- Patterson wanted to just turn right across the other lane, but he saw the cruiser parked a little farther up the block. He would have liked to try to follow, but that would just make him seem like someone that he wasn't and never had been. So he just let it go with a smile and thought about work. ---------------------- Jane called Su-jin a bit before 6:00 AM and after the good morning pleasantries, she asked for Max. "Hey, I'm so glad that you didn't end up going back to the loft," Jane said, "Thank you for ..." "'Sokay," Max said, "No worries, I stayed with Su-jin. I just wanted so much to give you guys the best shot. Everything ok? Did the love potion work?" "Yes!" Jane said with a chuckle, "What love potion? Where did you get a lov-" She heard Jane blow air past her lips for a second, "A figure of speech. Listen Boss, don't you think that if I HAD a love lotion at all, that I might have used it once or twice on the way down from the frozen wastes of Pennsylvania to improve my lot in life?" Showing That You Mean It "Does Pennsylvania have frozen wastes?" Jane asked. "They fucking do in winter if you're on a trike with only a cop winter windshield and leg guards to hide behind," Max grumbled, "What's up?" "Bobbi's not gonna be in and she usually gives Su-jin a ride. I was wondering if -" "Got it covered, Boss," Max smiled as a naked Su-jin walked past her and stopped on the way from her shower to blow Max a kiss before she got to work tying her hair into a long pony tail - and it was going to require the use of about six ties at least. "Can I ask you guys for a huge favor?" Jane smiled, "I need to exploit you for your Servi-car today. Could you stop and -" "A coffee run, right?" Max sighed, "Donuts too?" Jane's voice turned a little plaintive, "Yeah. Pleeeease?" Max was shaking her head, though only Su-jin could see it, "Don't you think it's a little cheap to try to buy everybody's good will in the morning with coffee and donuts? You have absolutely no shame at all, do you?" Jane chuckled, "Not if it gets me what I want and it's always worked so far. So willya do it?" Su-jin stood bent over, looking in her wallet while Max sat happily stunned, "Uhhhhhhhhhhhhh." The spell was broken when Su-jin stood up and held out a pair of twenties. "Max?" Jane called, "You ok?" Max took the bills with a sigh, "Never better, Chief. Consider it done." "So did you end up on her couch?" Jane probed. "A gentleman never speaks of things such as this," Max said dryly, "It is not correct." Jane groaned, "Last time I looked, Max Honey, you weren't exactly -" Su-jin was smiling into her mirror back at Max, easily close enough to hear both sides of the conversation in the quiet room. She nodded. "I stayed with Su-jin," Max repeated, "We don't know much about what's gonna happen, but she's asked me to stay with her and it saved me from begging her shamelessly, for which I am very grateful," She winked at Su-jin. "I remain at your service." She chuckled as Su-jin began to laugh softly, "Once in a while, she's willing to allow it if you have need of me or if I need your help - which is much more likely." Jane was silent for a moment, "Please tell Su-jin that I owe her. Please tell her that she's wonderful." Su-jin finished up her pony tail and looked back, "Jane, you owe me nothing, just be my friend." She laughed a little, "Forget about Max. She tell me I am wonderful all the time." --------------- Max took the last tray of take-out coffees very carefully from Su-jin and set it down inside the Harley's trunk with the others. She was wearing her coveralls, standing on the back bumper and the motion caused her to be bent nearly double as she moved a small tarpaulin to act as a cushion so that the cups all remained upright in a turn. Back in the shop and in cars and pickup trucks lined up in the drive-through lane, men sat a little spellbound with their jaws in their laps, some with their tongues there as well. "If I have to be here to get looked at," Su-jin grumbled quietly, "it is another thing that I can love about these suits." Max straightened up and got down to close the lid, "It doesn't really matter. Some guys have imaginations powerful enough to come very close to being X-Ray vision. They're just built that way and they can't help it. Doesn't mean anything bad, it's more like a curse they can't help. It gets in the way. She smiled, "You want to see widespread carnage? You just kiss me right here in front of them - and I am kidding." Su-jin chuckled from the image in her head, and then she smiled widely. "Here comes Kwang-jo! He is a new friend of mine. I thought of mentioning him to you last night, but I forgot completely. Please forgive me, but I want to use him for a moment. Maybe break some hearts." Su-jin stepped forward a little to meet Kwang-jo as he came up to them and she took his hands in hers, "Please, would it be improper to hug you, Kwang-jo?" He smiled, "Not if it is not excessi-" Su-jin threw her arms around his neck and got to her toes to hug him. "Thank you for our talk last night," she whispered, "You really helped me. You are helping me feel better right now. I felt like I am standing on a stage in front of so many men. The women who come here drive through for what they want. My friend Max has her machine here, but ... too much work to put everything inside the back." She let go and stepped back a little, "Kwang-jo Kim, this is Maxine Klein. She works with me and she will room with me too. Max, this is Kwang-jo, he is -" Max chuckled as she held out her hand, "Yeah, he is. Good to meet you, Kwang-jo," she grinned. As they drove off five minutes later, they had to wait for a light. Max turned her head back a little, "Well Holy Mother of Toilet Seat, Su-jin. Where did you find him? You're amazing. For a girl who doesn't often think of them, you sure have great taste in men." She held out her left hand and shook it a little, as though she'd burned her fingers. Su-jin shrugged, but she was smiling, "I met him on Wednesday, over at Jodi's. We talked and he likes Tyler. He just offered his friendship to me because he was happy to meet someone that he could speak Korean with. He lets me talk to him when I worry about adopting Tyler. I think he is a good man. He knows about me and it is alright. I thought, why can I not have a friend like him?" Max laughed a little, "Please have a friend like him. Shit, I'd give a lot to see you two next to each other in clothes and not overalls. Do you know what he is? Like his job?" "He said he is tactical response," Su-jin said, "Sounds mysterious to me. I know that he was in the Special Forces in Korea. His brigade deals with reconnaissance a lot of the time, I think. Lots of quiet sneaking around, but I am not sure of these things." "He's a SWAT cop, here" Max said, "He probably won't ever get fat in his job, and I doubt that he spends much time handing out traffic tickets. I think I can see why you like him. He's just ... I think he's a great guy. I only met him and it was two minutes, but that's what I got from him." Su-jin had a thought, "You may see him a lot, I think. I feel the same things from him as I do from you. I feel good to be near friends like you and him. It is something that I like very much. I have not had close friends in a long time. Here, I find so many good people. Before I forget again, ask me tonight for a story. I have a good one for you." Max nodded as the light turned green and they moved on. --------------- Max and Su-jin were just getting their helmets off in the parking lot when they heard Jane coming from a long way off and they just waited for her. As she got closer they looked and saw that Jane had a passenger. Max opened the trunk of her Servi-Car and carefully began to lift out trays of coffee. Susan climbed off as soon as Jane stopped and nodded back that it was safe. "I'm gonna do the morning meeting thing and Su-jin, if it's possible - since I don't know your agenda, could we all meet in your office right afterward? Us four here? And by the way, this is Susan Horseman, Su-jin. She's my oldest and dearest friend in the world. She's visiting here today, but she'll be starting with us next Monday. Suzi, please meet Su-jin Kim, our lady of the financial crystal ball." Su-jin thought for a moment and then she nodded, "Sure Jane." She stepped over and held out her hand, "My name is Su-jin, but if it gives you trouble, please call me Amy instead. I'm happy to meet you, Susan." Susan smiled, "Thank you, Su-jin. Good to meet you too." "Actually," Su-jin grinned, "If you don't have to be in the meeting, why not stay with me? I have lots of chairs upstairs. People think that bookkeepers always need to be sitting, so I have big chair budget." She held up a finger, "More importantly, I have a coffee machine that Bobbi and I share. So when these are finished," she indicated the ones in the trays that they both now held," we can stay awake by having another one." ------------------ Jane looked out at everybody in the shop. They looked back at her. She grinned a little helplessly and they laughed. She waited for a moment and then she smiled and lifted her hand, "Hey, it's Friday. I'm busting to say - what could go wrong now? But I won't because I've just gotten over having my butt burned off from the last time that I said it. Let's just be pleased that we got here. Our fearless leader Bobbi won't be in today, since she had to leave for LAX to deliver a shipment there and I know that she probably won't get back here until the wee hours tomorrow due to other pickups and deliveries. I've handed out your assignments for today as I know them. Note the last four words there." She smiled, "But - I'm Jane, so that means that some of them might be wrong. So if you disagree because you were already on something else and I missed it, please let me know, ok? I don't want to dump a lot of confusion on people who already know what they're doing but I do want to know if there's a problem beforehand. Anybody see a problem on their sheet?" Nobody said anything and Jane let her hand with her list drop down as she grinned, "C'mon, I got it right? That's never happened before." "Whoa," one man said as he looked at his sheet. He stepped over to another man and after looking at the second man's sheet together; they exchanged sheets and looked at Jane with nods. She laughed, "You guys are awesome!" Jimmy Weisskopf put up his hand, "Janey? Hey, who do I get on the line today? I heard that I'm gonna lose Max there for a while." Jane nodded, "Bobbi told me that she's pretty sure that she's got the funds in the bag for the new project, but as far as I'm aware, that hasn't happened yet officially. So today, it's still gonna be Mighty Max. Could be that way on Monday too, I dunno yet." One of the men laughed quietly, "Mighty Max?" The guy next to him nudged a little, "Who do you think brought all of those donuts and coffees over there on the bench?" The first one grinned, "Right. Mighty Max." He sighed loudly, "My hero." "Oh!" Jane exclaimed quietly. She half-turned to Max so that Jimmy could listen in, "I almost forgot. Sometime, midmorning or so as far as I know, Patterson will come to check out the Norseman's engine. He's our engine guy and he works for Tempest Av Engines. We don't know at all, but we think that after all this time, the one up there is more than likely pooched. He'll just be here to look under the cowling and take down some data, maybe give us an idea about if he's got an engine like that or if we'll have to rebuild the one in it. So you'll need to be available if and when he does show to take him up to the shed and show him to the old bird. I'll call down to Jimmy if I know he's here. In the meantime," she smiled to everyone, "Mighty Ms. Maxine was kind enough to agree to my request, so she and Amy brought in coffee and donuts for you all via Harley-Davidson Servi-car express hot delivery. No spilling on the shop drawings and no fights over the donuts. Enjoy, ok? Just make them disappear and try to slurp cautiously since this is a work environment and there's no checkbox that I'm aware of on the accident report form for that kind of injury. The liquid burns one is too vague. Have a great day and I'll be wandering around anyway if anybody needs me." ---------------- Tyler loved being in his playpen in Su-jin's office too. She shrugged when Max stopped by, "He acts like it is HIS office," Su-jin chuckled, "When anybody comes, he stands up and wants to see them. So good boy." Suzi was smitten at her first look at Tyler back at the house. Now, he had a lock on her heart too, "Awww, he's adorable!" For his part, Tyler stood in his playpen, sucking on his bottle like it was a ten dollar cigar. He considered Suzi in a managerial way it seemed, and then he reached for her. Suzi picked him up and hugged him, so he began to talk to her, but none of the phrases that he knew really covered "I like you" really properly, but he didn't much care. Jane was passing through the office at the time and she just chuckled, "Another conquest. That kid can snag a woman's heart from forty feet. I can't wait for him to hit his teenage years. Better get ready, Su-jin, it's probably gonna be a little ugly, all the girls trying to get his attention at school." Max had a different game plan, however. She took Tyler out of his playpen and sat him down on the carpet with her. While he looked at her, she found a couple of his toy trucks and set them down between them. She lay down completely, right at his level and then she started pushing one truck around, doing the sound effects as she went. Tyler was delighted! He was right with her and they had a blast together while Su-jin gave up all hope of getting anything done anymore and watched them with tears of laughter in her eyes. "How did you know that he would want to play like that?" She asked Max, who was trying her hand at changing him afterward. Max shrugged, "We've got some things in common, that's all." Suzi was fascinated as she watched Tyler go when he was set down again. He walked over to his toys and began to zoom them around. She looked at Max and asked, "Such as?" Max shrugged, "I don't know what I want to be when I grow up either." Jane's phone went off and she keyed the mike button, "Yeah Jimmy." "Patterson's here. Can you get Max to come down or what should I do?" Max was already walking toward the glass door then, but she recoiled and came back. Jane saw the look and keyed her mike, "Wait one." Jimmy double-clicked to acknowledge and he waited. "What's the matter?" Max groaned, "Bobbi sent me into town on an errand on Tuesday. I was stopped at a light and that guy there was beside me. He was screwing with his tape player or something and out of nowhere this Led Zeppelin song started blasting out at top volume about juice running down somebody's leg. I heard it and I thought it was funny. There was nobody around, so when he looked at me, I just smiled and blew him a kiss after mouthing the words to him. Then I left. The next light, he got the tape thing working again but it was still the same song, so I sang along about falling out of bed while he was staring at me and we laughed about it. Then I buggered off and forgot about the whole thing. I didn't know who he was, but now he's here!" She looked down, "But this is for Bobbi, so I gotta go, I guess." Su-jin was up and walking over, "I have to see this man who makes you do these things. Might be fun or something." Max pointed and Su-jin nodded, "He's cute! Ok, you do your thing. I'm good." She said as she walked back to her desk. Jane and Suzi began to laugh and even Max smiled over it. Max was still smiling, "Do my thing?" Su-jin hadn't gotten around her desk by then but she just threw up her arms and danced a little because she felt a lot better now over getting Tyler, "Do what ya wanna do." "I'd rather stay and watch more of that," Max chuckled. "Ok," she sighed, thinking about having to meet Patterson, "the Ice Princess Cometh," and she walked to the door thinking of maintaining her distance. Jane keyed her mike," Max is gonna meet Patterson at the farm, Jimmy. Tell him that I'm coming down and I'll lead him there before I head out to grab a few things for Su-jin." "'Kay.'" Jimmy replied. Jane looked over at Max, "I can stick around a little if you want once we all get there. Bobbi and I always try to spend a little time with Patterson whenever he comes. He always looks so lonely, and we just like him. Once you get past his shyness and draw him out a little, he's a nice guy. We don't know it of course, but we always get the thought that being with us always makes his day. I've seen him when he gets here and he's all looking down and even sad. But when he leaves if we fuss over him a little bit, he's almost springing with every step. I've never figured out why he's like that, but if it is because he's lonely, it's just wrong to me. And you'd better believe that he knows his business. If he was any better at his job, you wouldn't even have to help him get the cowling off. He could just tell you everything from about ten feet away." Max looked at Suzi, "Can I borrow Jane for about twenty minutes?" Suzi was sitting with Tyler and she nodded, "Sure, Max." Jane keyed her phone and told Jimmy that she'd be down to lead him to where the old plane was. -------------------- Patterson was standing near the open door to wait for Jane when he thought that he heard the Harley start and looking back though the doorway, he saw the mystery man as he backed it out of the parking spot. Without a look back, the trike rolled off. Patterson sighed just before Jane walked up with the smile that he always got from her and he felt a little better then. At least he knew that his guesses over the past few days had been correct. He wanted to shake his head. Fat lot of good his guesses would do. He was stuck very firmly in his closet and he knew it. --------------------- "It's right up there in that big shed, Patterson," Jane pointed, "I'll meet you up there in a minute. I live just over there and I'm just gonna check my messages to see if there's anything from Bobbi." He nodded and turned toward the old rutted path. He saw the old trike there as he'd pulled in and he wondered now, but he was here to do something, so he thought that he could wonder later on his own time. -------------- Jane met Max as she came out of the door to Su-jin's place, "Where did you disappear to?" Max shrugged, "Had to pee when I got here. All that coffee, y'know?" Jane nodded, but she also knew that Max was usually nervous about being near men that she didn't know at all - which probably covered most of the male surface population, anyway. She understood. "You ok now?" "Yeah," Max sighed, "I just want to get the feeling stupid part over with." ------------------ Patterson was walking up the hill toward the shed and Max and Jane were behind him. He hadn't noticed them yet. Jane called out, "Hey Patterson, wait up!" He stopped and turned around. Max looked down at her feet as she walked. Since Tuesday, Paterson had three days to wonder every so often who that person on the Harley was. He wasn't one of those fools who obsessed over a lot of things, but with a social schedule as ... absolutely empty as his was, he had time to think. Even if he didn't want to. He recalled seeing the coveralls and by Thursday morning, he'd gotten past the leather jacket and wondered if there was a large logo across the back of those coveralls. It had come to him when he was at the bank behind a Quicksilver's employee who wore his coverall into town. As he'd pulled into the lot today, he'd looked around and - there it was - the silver-gray Harley trike. Now he was looking at Jane walking toward him and he liked that. But now he was looking at the figure walking next to Jane. He saw the coveralls, but then everybody wore them back at the hangar. He noticed the brown hair too and the overall build. With all of the cold, calculating thought processes that the human penis can bring to bear on anything, Patterson felt the twitch and sighed inwardly. Not now. Please not ... not now. But as they approached, he got the message over the internal intercom. 'Yup. Now. Deal with it, Jocko. We're going to action stations with or without you.' Patterson held his red metal toolbox in front of himself, like it was a lunchbox and he was waiting for the bus. Jane gave no sign that she'd seen anything, but as he watched, Patterson saw those sea-green eyes come up and look at him. Showing That You Mean It The act of tightening of his groin muscles once was something that was ... just, semi-preventable, but in an erect male, it always felt a little good to do it. He fought the small urge. And he lost. There was no outwardly visible sign that anything had happened because he was clothed after all and he had the toolbox in the way. But if it was any more ridiculous, there would have been an audible clang, since the tip of his dick was now ready to fight it's way through the underwear and the zipper and the red steel that was blocking it. He switched hands on the handle of the toolbox, trying to think ahead to the inevitable introduction followed by the handshake. "Hey Patterson," Jane smiled, "This is Maxine Klein. She's gonna be working on dealing with getting the Norseman out of the mess on the other side of this door here. After that, she'll be playing a large role in it's restoration. Max, this is Patterson Dillon of Tempest Av Engines, they're our prime supplier of rebuilt piston engines." Max stopped in front of Patterson and held out her hand as Jane stepped past to open the door. Patterson was wondering if he'd heard the name properly. This was a woman? A moment later, Patterson was intrigued - but without meaning to, Max brought the reality of this back. He greeted Jane in his usual heartfelt and slightly shy manner and then he held his hand out to Max. As she shook Patterson's hand, Max looked down and Patterson wanted to run away. "Nice tool ... box," Max said quietly. She stepped past him, wondering how she could save this. She hadn't meant to embarrass him, but ... it had been a bit of a surprise. Most men that she ever met weren't ready to wave the flag quite that quickly. As in - it hadn't ever happened before and the line was out of her mouth before she'd even known it. "I saw you in town the other day," she said, wanting to make conversation and then realizing that it was ... Oh fuck it, she told herself, Just try to get past this. "I was having a bit of trouble with the cassette player in my car - which is prehistoric," he said. "I didn't mind," she looked back a little, "I've always had a thing for that song." Right, she told herself. You try to sound cheery and you make it worse. Fucking awesome, Maxine. She led him to the old Norseman, but he tripped over two large blocks of cast iron, since he was looking at her coverall-covered ass, which was as lean as the rest of her so it was a stretch to do. Even bringing the overrated X-Ray vision into play didn't work, since there weren't enough visual cues to connect any dots. The second time, he dropped the toolbox and hearing the crash, Max turned back instantly and knelt on one knee to help, before the box opened and spilled tools everywhere. Her efforts caused her to reach for the handle and her hand grazed the lump in his pants. Patterson groaned. Max looked into his eyes and smiled because she couldn't help it. She doubted that he'd see it the way that she did, but she thought it was just funny, one of those little awkward comedies that happen sometimes. Doing that turned her eyes on without her meaning it and Patterson was almost lost. Max looked back at Jane and said there was nothing wrong, but Patterson had dropped his toolbox and she was giving him a little help picking it up. She was a little proud of herself at sidestepping the obvious little joke about her giving him a hand. "It's ok, Patterson," she smiled, "I'm sorry that I didn't warn you about all the old shit in here." She reached for the bulge and smiled, "You've gotta be more careful in here, ok?" He nodded and Max gave in to letting her little grin out as she squeezed it just a bit. Max was well aware of why Patterson had tripped. You can't navigate a junkyard while you're holding a toolbox over your junk. She wanted to give her head a shake. She was stuck wanting him to feel a little better because she didn't know him and he was obviously not the kind of jerk that she'd grown to hate with a passion. He was just an awkward and very shy man, trapped in a situation. She remembered what Jane had said about him and if he was that lonely, well it wasn't her problem, though she could understand. And he was cute. And he had a boner and it was only making all of this worse for him, though she didn't mind it. In spite of himself and his troubles, he was a little interesting to her. "Here it is," Jane said, indicating the old aircraft as they reached her, "Where is the manufacturer's plate that you need to see?" Patterson felt a little better, since his over-interested dick felt like it was calming down. He'd really liked Max - back when she was a man - as far as he'd been aware. He had this little wondering back-thought going on in his head, asking himself why he'd had the reaction and why it had continued after he'd learned of Max' gender. He didn't normally spring a cast-iron hard on just because he was near somebody - even if he had an interest, and for sure, it hadn't ever happened over a female. But he answered Jane's question, "There ought to be one in the cabin that I'll need some of the info from, but the main one will be under the cowling, so I'll need to get that off, or at least some of it. There ought to be the operator manuals in the cabin too." He looked around at the plane, "Bobbi told me that this one was originally a military one. The manuals for those ones usually weren't as good. We'll have to see." "Can I leave you with Max?" Jane asked, "I've got to check on the guys back in the shop. I'm filling in for Bobbi today and I don't have that knack that she's got. One of them runs into a problem and she seems to know it before it happens and she's right there or on her way and she tells him what she wants and that's it. Most of them don't need me at all, they can figure it out for themselves, but there are one or two ..." "We're good, Jane," Patterson said and so Jane nodded and walked away. As soon as the door to the outside closed, Max was in front of Patterson. "Listen Patterson," she said, "I'm very sorry if I caused you to feel uncomfortable or anything. The thing at the traffic lights in town was just me feeling good and suddenly finding out that the source came from your car and ..." She shrugged, "I just felt good and I think that we got to share a laugh between us." Patterson nodded, wondering why he didn't feel like distancing himself from this female - since it was always the way that he felt. He didn't usually feel the way that he had in school before anymore. Now he just felt... nothing. It had never occurred to him that it was alright to feel nothing, depending, of course, but talking to Max was sure a lot easier than having his teeth drilled. "I don't know what that was about back there outside, but I did figure out why a man might want to carry his toolbox the way that you were. It's alright." He looked down, "It just happened. It's a guy thing, but there's no off switch for it. Once it happens, I'm stuck until it gives up." "Holding your toolbox," Max said with a little smile. Patterson nodded, "Yeah. And sometimes wishing that I had a toolbox to be holding there. Having to wear summerweight slacks makes it worse, but I'm not supposed to wear jeans." "Jeans would help?" Max asked. Patteron nodded, "Not completely, but some, yes." Max laughed a little, "You've gotta try to see it from a girl's side. We don't get that ... I dunno, runaway anything, so it's a little ... kind of disconcerting to hear a guy say that there's no control for it that you can just shut down." He nodded, "I'm not sure that it would do me any good anyway. I wasn't exactly able to get my stereo to shut up as quick as I wanted." Max stood with her head down, her hand over her mouth chuckling. "What did I say?" He asked. Max began to laugh, while trying not to and she turned to grin at him, "I've always had trouble with visuals. I just had one where a man stands there and - " She stood with her back bent backwards a little with her arms in a position of some sort of alarm. "Oh no!" She walked stiffly like a man with no knees, "Gangway! Rampant dick syndrome! Ah! NOOOO! A revolving door! What'll I do? Help!" Patterson laughed and nodded and Max was almost doubled over, laughing. She straightened up and grinned at Patterson a little bit. She looked at him just as he was nodding, "Something like ... that. Christ, I've never even thought of a revolving door." "Well it's a hazard then I guess," Max smiled, "you wander into one of those at a time like that and BAM! You're one of us - but without the opposite replacement parts." She looked at him and saw the way that he was looking back and she just knew something about him without knowing how she knew it. It came as a surprise to her to find that she liked him more for it. She had a sudden thought come to her that he was somehow the kind of man that she didn't feel like stepping away from out of feeling uncomfortable and nervous. It was a shock for her to notice that for once, that feeling was absent completely and she felt relaxed and even pleased to be near him. That was a huge first to her. She wanted to explore it. Noticing that she had his gaze locked, she turned her eyes on and smiled. "Put the toolbox down." He looked at her like she was speaking Polish or something. "Put it down." He began to bend his knees, looking at her like she had a gun on him. He set it down and let go of the handle to stand straight again. "Step back, away from the toolbox," Max said quietly, "I need a little room." He took two steps back, looking over his shoulder as he did. When he looked ahead again, Max was right there. She put her arms around his neck and leaned in. Their kiss was shocking and really exhilarating to Patterson - an almost palpable and independent thing, like it existed in spite of him. He'd been totally unprepared and it took him a second to respond, wondering why he did. But he did, and Max was thrilled. She kissed him hard and needfully, needing to hear his quiet moan as her kiss took him away. She pulled back for a moment and waited for his eyes to open. When they did, she drew her right hand back and watched as he gasped because his flagging dick had all but finally gotten the message that there was nothing coming to it. But it surged in Max' hand, happy beyond belief for the attention now, not sharing it's owner's concern over what was happening to him. Max was just thankful that his pants left her the space for this. She lunged for him again and laid another kiss on him that took away the breath which was just returning to him. He wondered if he was going to pass out. But there was enough air still in his lungs for him to groan loudly and Max drew back with a smile that made him feel like he was superman or something - a completely new feeling. "I hope that it goes without saying that I like you a lot," she smiled as her hand caressed him. Patterson nodded, "But ... why?" Max leaned in and began to groan softly into his neck as she kissed him there, "Because I've never met anyone like you before. I've never liked most of the men I've ever had any dealings with. I just lose every time, no matter what. But you're different." She pulled back, "I like that. I'd bet that this isn't even anything that you ever knew that you wanted - but it wants you, believe me. Look," she said, "We're obviously not supposed to be doing this. It probably contravenes codes of conduct to our employers big time. But we're alone here Patterson. Nobody can see us here. So we can do what you came here to do in a little while. I've just gotta make a bit of a statement to you here, that's all - and we can talk about it later." Max tried to sink to her knees, but ended up sitting on the toolbox - which was handy as hell - and it took her seconds to get Patterson's dick out and into her willing hands as he stared in disbelief. She liked this a lot and she checked, but her memory told her that she had permission for this. Out of likely anyone in the room, she knew what Su-jin was telling her when she'd said it. Max kissed Patterson's rock hard dick and licked the end. There was seminal fluid there and when she tasted it, she moaned softly and began. Patterson groaned, but it came out like much more of a tortured, whimpering thing and Max was absolutely thrilled, knowing now beyond any doubt that she was a truly strange animal to him and that he'd never gotten much from anyone before in his sweet life. She didn't know how exactly, but she intended to fix that for him. She went at this like a pro - since she had more than the background for it. This wasn't sucking a little half-heartedly on a man who didn't know any better because you needed to keep him locked up until you had his ring on your finger before it became only an annual birthday gift to him - if that. This also wasn't some hooker doing what she was being paid to do. Max didn't know shit about those things. She'd learned this from needing food or gas money or just a quiet place to sleep out of the cold wind, from being desperate to stay alive. From managing to keep her wits about her and doing this well and not letting her fear rise up very much so that it was obvious. She'd learned this - getting her technique down really well - because more than once ... She'd had to do this in an alleyway on her knees with a pistol pointed at her head. She pushed those thoughts back and sucked him in deeply and getting up on her knees a little higher, she overrode her gag reflex and sucked him in deeply enough so that her lips and nose were buried in Patterson's soft pubic hair and she moaned to let him know that she loved it. She smelled the scent of his soap from his morning shower When she drew back, she looked up and saw that his eyes were wide in shock and she had to fight down her want to laugh. So she did it again, going in all the way so that his cock was in as far as it would go - where the act of her swallowing nothing around the head almost drove him to his knees. Then she pulled back and let him watch her worship him a little. To her surprise, it really wasn't a show for him. She really was enjoying him. She reached for his hand with hers and after holding his fingers in hers as she brushed the tops of his knuckles with her thumb for a minute, she took his hand and placed it on the back of her head, just before she licked the underside of the tip slowly with a groan - which he thrilled her with by joining in. She'd been careful, guessing about him and she didn't want him to blow off in thirty-two seconds. She'd made him last for over five minutes, but she knew that he couldn't take much more - not in a first go. So Max pulled back and gave him another little show of the way that she made love to him so that he could see it, savoring him and running her lips and tongue over him as she looked into his eyes. She pulled back, licked her lips and smiled , "Hang on to your socks, cutie. I'm gonna take all that you can give me right now - and before you ask me why, it's because I really, really want it from you." Patterson didn't know what sort of response that she wanted from him in this - or if any was required from him. He thought that he must look like an idiot - but he nodded to her. Max couldn't keep the smile from her face, "God, you're fantastic just to watch right now." She opened her mouth and held onto his ass as she dove deep. Her swallowing around his dick took him to Paradise within a minute and he cried out several times as he spurted. Max thought that she just might cry over it. He was amazing to her. Since he was already blasting, she drew back so that she could get some and she savored it, knowing that he was watching her. When she'd gotten it all, he watched as she got back up, smiled that soft little smile to him one time and then took him into her arms and kissed the life right out of him - or tried to, anyway. She jammed her tongue into his mouth, going after his in a big way and once she had him still and groaning, she pushed as much of his come back into his mouth as she could, adding most of the spit that was in her mouth to it, and she held him that way, one of her hands drifting down to hold onto his ass tightly until it was done. Even before she left him go - even before he'd finished swallowing his own seed, Max knew beyond any doubt that he was hers, just from the way that he melted into her once he knew what she was giving him. She allowed him the dazed way that he looked at her. She guessed that he wouldn't know what to say once he had any control back. Max leaned in and rubbed her wet cheek over his and sighed, "I really loved doing that for you, Patterson. I think that I can guess that you've swallowed your own come before and to me, that's a really nice thought. We're gonna be spending a bit of time in here, you and me over the next while, I'd guess. But I want you to know that I'd do that for you almost any time. That wasn't just a one-off thing." She pulled back and he looked dazed, but he nodded, "Thank you, Max." Max smiled, "No, thank you, Patterson. I mean that. C'mon, before we lose too much more time. Let's get what you came for. If there's anything that you need from me, just let me know." She giggled a little, "And if there isn't, I'm just gonna stand here and admire you all afternoon." He stared at her and finally, he laughed a little and nodded as he picked up the toolbox and pulled out a notepad and a pen. --------------------- As they got close to the door, Max stopped Patterson. "Please, can I have your phone number?" He nodded and wrote it down on a page of his notepad, tearing it off to give to her. "I ... I don't know what to say, Max. I've never... had anything happen to me like that before." Max nodded, "It's ok. I'm sure that most people haven't either. I just saw somebody again that I really liked the first time that I saw him and I knew that I had a chance to make you mine." He looked at her a little curiously and she grinned with her hand on her hip in an exaggerated way, "Are you gonna tell me that you're not mine now?" Max looked like she knew that it was a foregone conclusion and she was a little certain that it was. She'd heard what Jane had said of Patterson and she thought that she had a pretty good clue as to why he always looked unhappy. There was just this little bit of uncertainty right here, so that's why she'd laid it out in front of him this way. It was unusual for her in the extreme, but then so was giving a man that she'd only just met a blowjob like she meant it. Which, surprisingly enough, she really had. He stood there and she counted silently. She didn't even get to six before he nodded. "Well that's the way that I saw it, "she smiled. "Now I just want to see if we can get it someplace into being a real thing, because we don't know each other. I hope that you're not ... attached to anyone. I can guess that you aren't but I don't know it so I'm hoping. I am attached - to another girl - but that doesn't mean much for this. She gave me her permission for this. So I'm gonna do what I can to keep both of you happy and, once I get you calm enough to even think about it, it's my hope that you can meet her and she can meet you. But this - what we did today - Patterson, it's my real hope that you can accept it. I won't ever mistreat you and all I want is the same thing back, ok?" She gave him a count of three and then she grinned with a slightly shy and very hopeful expression, "Please?" He chuckled and she knew that she had him then, so she grabbed him and laid a good one on him, really meaning it. He still looked dazed when she pulled away and she smiled at him a little proudly. Showing That You Mean It "That's to let you know how I feel about you." Patterson smiled and Max felt happy. They opened the door and walked down the path together. "Does this make you my girl, Max?" he asked quietly, "I'm just asking, but I've never had one before." Max nodded, "Yes. As much as I can be, I guess." She sighed, "I've never had a boyfriend either, not a real one, anyway." "Well..." he began as he thought about it, "what kind have you had before?" She groaned and looked down, "The truth is ugly Patterson. The only ones that I've had - and I mean the ones who've meant anything to me at all - they were the quiet kind that just hum when I shove them into me. Those relationships are the easiest ones to manage, since there IS a switch on those ones. You must know the kind that I'm talking about, right? I think it's the same kind that you've probably had: quiet ones who hum while you shove them -" He nodded, "Yeah. But I prefer to sit on them then, most times." Max groaned, "Oh God, I hope that you'll let me see that one day. I'd love to watch that." He looked over and she nodded, "I really mean that." Patterson found himself smiling, "I know. I'm just wondering at myself that I admitted that to you." She leaned against him, but carefully so that it looked accidental, "I like that about you, Patterson. When I go to sleep tonight, I'm gonna remember it as a very nice thought to me. Max took a deep breath for courage and then she asked quietly as they neared the place where they'd parked their vehicles, "Can I please call you tonight?" He nodded as he put his toolbox on the floor of his car on the passenger side and Max almost danced over to her Harley. She had a ton of questions for Su-jin now, as well as a few that she needed to ask herself, but overall. This sure was getting to be a red letter day in her book. As they drove back to the airport, Patterson wondered over the way that he felt. Holy crap. A girl. A beautiful girl who obviously liked him. He could barely process it all. He only knew that it was a fantastic feeling.