A Crazy Little Thing

Can you get a second chance at love-at-first-sight?

Author's Note:

Thank you to blackrandl1958 for the invitation to write this story for the 2025 Legends' Day, Once More event. It's a slow-burn romance with what I hope you'll agree is a hot climax. Thanks for reading it and for your feedback.

© SouthernCrossfire - 2025. All rights reserved,

________________

"Hi, Lydia, hey, it's Mitch. I hate to do this and I'm sorry but I'm going to have to cancel for tonight. I just received a call from my boss's wife; he had a heart attack last night and needs to see me. Can we reschedule for tom--"

There was audible huff on the line as she broke in. "Just go. Don't worry about me."

"I'm really sorry," I repeated, surprised at her lack of compassion for him. "I'll, ah, make it up to you."

"No you won't."

No compassion or understanding, I thought. "Yes, I will, I promise."

"No, Mitch, you don't get it. This is it. I'm done. We've been dating for six weeks and you've already had to reschedule things twice before this--"

I hadn't been keeping track but I realized she was right. Okay, maybe I understood the lack of understanding part.

"--and now you're doing it again? You're either married to your work or you're two-timing me with someone else, but you know what? I. Don't. Care. You do whatever you want, but first, lose my number, asshole, and don't call me again. Ever."

In our few dates, I'd only seen the sweet, soft-spoken Lydia, never this fire-breathing, angry one, so I was glad she'd revealed herself even though the revelation had been my fault. I was about to tell her goodbye and good luck when the line went dead, just like our relationship.

Slipping the phone in my pocket, I muttered instead, "Oh, well. Good riddance."

*****

Thanking my lucky stars that I'd dodged a much bigger bullet in the long run, I tapped on the door of room 624 at 6 p. m. as Mrs. Murphy had requested. She stepped out to join me just moments later.

"Mitchell, thanks for coming. Sonny started feeling bad late last night so I called 911 and they rushed him to the hospital. The doctor said he was lucky that this one didn't kill him, but if he goes back to work, the next one will, so we--the doctor and I--made it plain to him that he won't be doing that. Neill Barton is on his trip--"

Neill, our executive VP and Mr. Murphy's immediate backup, was somewhere in Alaska on a three-week hunting and fishing trip that he'd been talking about for over two years. I suspected that, if there was cell service wherever he was, it wouldn't matter since his cellphone would be off.

"--and I tried but couldn't reach him so Sonny said to call you."

I wasn't sure how lucid Mr. Murphy was, but that was correct according to the firm's emergency procedure. I'd been promoted from QC manager to VP of Operations just about three months earlier, which was why I hadn't gone out with anyone in the past three months until I started seeing Lydia and which now accounted for our breakup. I wasn't normally a workaholic but I had been putting in a lot more hours since the promotion as I learned the job and tried to live up to Mr. Murphy's expectations.

"He said everything's written down in the office but he wants to go over it with you so you'll be ready for the, ahem, quote 'shitstorm,' on Monday morning."

I would have normally laughed at that quote coming from Mrs. Murphy's rather than him, but it sounded like Mr. Murphy and I knew it would probably be close to the truth. I tried to force a smile for Mr. Murphy's sake as Mrs. Murphy ushered me into the room a moment later, but to my surprise, he seemed to already be in good spirits.

"Mitchell, come in," he rasped. "Thanks for coming."

I spent the next ten or so minutes speaking with Silas "Sonny" Murphy, Jr. With that raspy voice and through obvious pain, he did almost all of the talking before Mrs. Murphy finally said "Sonny, enough" and shut him up.

I held his hand and said a little prayer for him before I told him that I'd handle everything and for him not to worry. "Just concentrate on getting better."

He nodded and croaked, "Thank you, Mitchell," before Mrs. Murphy gave me a hug and repeated thanks on the way out.

As I walked down the hospital corridor, trying to remember everything he'd said and to keep from worrying, I realized I was lucky in one way.

At least I wouldn't have to worry about Lydia.

*****

After leaving the hospital, I drove to the office and went through the transition plan to make sure I understood everything correctly. I'd gone over it shortly after my promotion but hadn't been too concerned because the hardest parts would fall to Neill Barton.

Or rather, would have fallen to Neill Barton if the lucky bastard hadn't been one week into his self-described "three-week vacation of a lifetime." I chuckled at the thought and hoped he was having a nice time.

And hoped that I'd be able to fill in for Mr. Murphy and for Neill.

By the time I left the office, it was almost midnight, but I was back on Sunday morning at 9 a. m. When I left that evening, I had everything in order and sent out a series of emails explaining what had happened on Friday night and what would be occurring during the week to come. The most important things were that there was a plan, that everyone still had a job, and that it was of vital importance that everyone continue doing their job and doing it well.

Maybe it was a weekend without sex after enjoying it again starting just the weekend before, but as I drove home, my mind turned to Lydia. While I didn't want to get back together with her, I decided that I needed to remember the lesson learned and do better if I ever got another girlfriend.

*****

Murphy Filters and Auto Parts, often known as Murphy Parts, has been making air filters, oil filters, gaskets, wipers, automotive lights, and a number of other interchangeable, non-manufacturer-specific car parts for over 60 years. Other than vacations and an occasional sick day, Monday was the first time in all those years that a member of the Murphy family hadn't been in charge. As I walked up in front of our assembled workforce, I knew I had big shoes to fill.

I explained everything in my messages of the previous evening but now I gave everyone the latest update on Mr. Murphy's condition and then played a brief message from him that I'd recorded on my phone on Saturday evening in his hospital room. With his directive to stay on task to keep Murphy Parts running the way it was supposed to and a recorded endorsement of me that I hadn't asked for, I then went over how things would be operating in Mr. Murphy's and Neill Barton's absence. I fielded questions along the way but there was one big one I couldn't answer.

"For now, everyone will remain in their current position, with me temporarily filling the role of acting company manager and Shonda Roberts acting as temporary ops director. Ned, Byron, and Andrea from management will help out as needed." I looked at each in turn and was glad to see them nod. Continuing, I said, "Shonda and I will be working closely with our QC department to make sure it runs smoothly while she helps run things. Once Mr. Barton returns from his Alaskan safari--"

Everyone laughed, having heard Neill talk about his trip so much over the past year or so.

"--he'll take over as acting company manager and I'll step back more into my usual role but helping Neill as needed."

I paused, coming to the part that everyone, including me, was wondering about.

"However, with Mr. Murphy's health, we have a larger transition coming, but the details aren't finalized on that so I can't tell you more other than to say that none of us should worry. We'll let you know more about that transition as the details are nailed down and we'll get through this together. To do that, just like I put in the company-wide message last night, we need to do our jobs and do them well. We have products to produce, outsourced products to QC, and orders to fill. Now, let's get to work and do it."

*****

It was a crazy week for me, trying to hold down two new jobs and make sure that Shonda was doing well filling in on my regular job while her usual QC department also continued to function properly. I spoke with Mr. Murphy for a few minutes every day, with him asking good questions to keep me on track and offering good advice to keep Murphy Parts operational and profitable but I was mildly surprised when he left the decision making to me.

On Thursday afternoon, Mrs. Murphy called and asked me to come to their home that evening. She said Sonny had been sent home with home-health nurses coming by twice a day to make sure everything was going smoothly and that he was still on the road to recovery.

The evening nurse was just leaving as I arrived. She appeared to me to be the picture of nursing professionalism in her nurse's scrubs with her stethoscope around her neck, her long, blonde hair pulled back, and a smile that seemed to brighten the fading twilight.

"Hello," I said, pausing to the side of the walk as she approached.

"Hi," she replied. "Short discussion only, please; we don't want to overtax him. Goodnight."

She continued on past me without ever stopping and I barely stopped my eyes from following. Someday I'd meet someone like her, but not now. The experience with Lydia and what I was dealing with now was too much to try to add another complication into my life. Chuckling lightly, I pushed her and women in general out of my mind before ringing the Murphys' doorbell.

*****

The following Monday morning after another long weekend, I showed up at the office very early to prepare for the arrival of Bradley W. Kraus, Sonny Murphy's nephew and the proposed new President of Murphy Parts.

Brad had worked in the Murphy head office in high school and in the production plant during the summers while he was in college before heading off to grad school. This was followed by several years with a Wall Street investment firm, and, most recently, a high-ranking job with a Fortune 500 firm out west. I'd met him a few times over the years when he visited for company board meetings or was home to see his parents and his uncle and aunt, and I believed him to be knowledgeable and interested in doing a good job.

However, my concern was whether Brad would want to leave his current position, move to the other side of the country, and take over the day-to-day operation of our firm as Sonny Murphy was proposing. I checked Brad's professional page and did a search on his current company but found nothing about him leaving that firm.

Therefore, I wondered if he would be coming in to take over himself, to fill the position permanently, either from within or from outside, or if he was planning to put us on the market. I didn't think Mr. Murphy and his sister, June Murphy Kraus, would allow Brad to sell the family firm, but perhaps it would give them a lovely retirement and allow them to leave something nice to Brad and any siblings.

Or maybe he was investigating while trying to make up his mind.

Having received a brief email from Neill that he was having a great time in the Alaskan wilds while restocking supplies in a trading post that had WIFI, I realized that he wasn't reading any of the mountain of messages he'd been copied on over the past week, so on Sunday afternoon, I called Brad only to be diverted to his voicemail. He called me late Sunday evening to let me know that he'd been traveling and that he'd meet me on Monday morning at 7:30 a. m. to talk briefly before he addressed the whole firm.

"Mitch, thanks for all of your efforts over the past week and for keeping Uncle Sonny so well informed without overdoing it. Aunt Kathy has been keeping me up-to-date. We'll see you in the morning."

What followed was a very troubled night for me as I worried about where we might be going as a firm and whether I'd have to start looking for a new job after spending the last six years at Murphy.

Therefore, I was quite tired on Monday morning and started becoming apprehensive when Brad wasn't there by 7:35 and was even more so by 7:45. I tried his cell number but it went to voicemail.

Our staff started assembling about that time and my concern was growing by the minute. At 7:55 and again at 7:58, I tried Brad's cell only for it to roll over to voicemail both times.

At 8:00, practically every eye in the big room was looking my way while my eyes flicked between theirs and the clock on my phone. Mr. Murphy always said "We don't start meetings late at Murphy Parts" so I walked up to the podium.

"Good morning, everyone. Hope you had a nice weekend. It's a new work week and we have orders to fill. Neill Barton sends his best from the wilds of Alaska; though he claims to have seen a grizzly bear, none have thought his scrawny butt worth sampling, at least as of Saturday morning."

Neill was of moderate height but beanpole thin so this got a decent laugh. "Seriously, wishing Neill well on the rest of his excursion and I have good news on Mr. Murphy's recovery." I told them about that and continued on into the morning briefing. Five minutes later, I was about to dismiss everyone with the instructions to get to work when I saw Brad and a woman enter the room.

All eyes turned to him as he strode forward. Shaking my hand, he whispered, "Sorry for being late. Rental car problems this morning and I was on the phone with them trying to get help. Vic ended up picking me up."

I introduced him and he approached the mic and spoke for maybe two minutes, giving a pep talk similar to my own but also promising that we'd be seeing some changes over coming days and weeks that would answer everyone's questions. With that, he handed it back over to me to instruct everyone to get to work.

As everyone made their way out of the room, I went over to talk to Brad only to see his female companion approach from the back. She was in her late twenties or early thirties, was around 5-foot 9 or 10-inches tall and had a well-proportioned frame. With dark, honey-blonde hair and a sweet smile, she was quite appealing but it was her bright green eyes studying me that gave me pause.

I'd always loved that color.

I looked back to Bradley and said, "Nice job, Brad. Now, introduce me to your..."

I left it hanging like a question, and he nodded. "Mitchell, this is my sister, Victoria Kraus Landon. Vic, this is Mitchell Decker, our VP of Operations who's also filling in as acting company director in Uncle Sonny's and Barton's absence while we get things sorted out. Let's go somewhere so we can speak in private."

Victoria and I shook hands as Bradley headed out. I noticed that those eyes were still focused on me until I waved and said, "Ladies first."

Her brow knitted slightly and she nodded. "Thank you," she said before following her brother while I picked up my folder from the lectern and went after them.

For the next couple of hours, it was all business. We sat in the executive huddle room and discussed the firm in depth, with Bradley asking questions and me providing answers. Victoria chimed in from time to time, asking me to expand on some point, but both seemed to be very interested in seeing the family firm, founded by their grandfather and expanded by their uncle, continue to grow and prosper for the next generation of their family.

Bradley finally nodded. "Let's take a break for a bit. I took personal leave from my job to make this trip but it was practically last minute so I have a teleconference shortly--west coast time, you know? And I still have to deal with the damn rental car. I'll be next door in Uncle Sonny's office. Mitchell, please show Victoria around the office and give her a quick tour of the plant. She never had the pleasure of working here when she was a kid."

Victoria rolled her eyes and gave him a perturbed look, causing him to laugh. "And he got out of piano, violin, dance, voice, and practically every other torture our mom could come up with for me. She even made me do water ballet--you know, like synchronized swimming in the Olympics--one summer, though our team was nothing like the Olympics."

Bradley laughed. "But you're well-rounded, sis, unlike one of us."

*****

I started to show her around the office area, but Victoria put up a hand. "Mitchell, I never worked here, but I spent a lot of time roaming around the office area as a kid when Mom would come to meet with Uncle Sonny about the firm. I'm not as familiar with the factory and warehouse areas and I've never seen the new addition."

As we headed toward the back, I asked, "So your mom was very involved in the firm?" I'd met her a couple of times, but didn't know her well, knowing only that she was on the board of directors.

Victoria nodded. "She still is, really. She and Uncle Sonny are equal partners as far as ownership, but he's always held the final vote if they disagreed about something because he's the managing partner and chairman of the board."

"Have they ever disagreed?"

"Not that I know of. She's always trusted him and he's been very successful with the firm while my dad was making a killing in banking. That's where Brad got his calling after Uncle Sonny taught him a little and probably pounded some common sense in his head here in the factory while he was growing up. At least Brad realized he didn't want to work on a factory floor."

We walked for a while, wearing earplugs through the noisiest parts of the factory while I pointed out some of the operations and she nodded. On reaching the new addition, we were able to remove the earplugs where we could talk normally; Victoria had a few questions so I answered as we walked before she finally said, "Let's go outside to the picnic tables where we can talk in private."

I'd wanted to do that, to ask her about herself but she'd volunteered nothing to that point and had deftly avoided the few questions I asked. Based on her looks alone, she could be my dream woman but I knew nothing of her personally and there was a good chance she was married based on her last name, though she wore no wedding ring. That really didn't matter though because I'd learned enough from the recent breakup with Lydia that I was going to be careful not to try to make a connection with Victoria or anyone else in the near future that I wouldn't be able to keep.

On reaching the picnic tables, she stopped to look out across the Murphy Parts expansion area and into the complex beyond. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly before turning toward me with a curious look.

"Mitchell? Mitch? You don't remember me do you?"

Something in her voice and the way she said it struck me as much as the implication in the words themselves, but I knew I'd never met this woman in my life. "No, Victoria. If I'd met you, I'm sure I'd remember that."

"Sure you would," she said as she gathered her hair in her hand like it was in a high ponytail. "Just like you promised you'd call. But you never did."

The ponytail and what she said prompted something, a memory deep inside me, despite not recognizing her. Looking into her beautiful eyes, it clicked; my throat was suddenly dry and I struggled to gasp, "Tori?"

*****

About twelve years earlier

"Come on man, Cam Pooler's senior party is at Wyngren and 17th," said Scot, one of my suitemates. "You gotta come."

"Cam and I are acquaintances, not best friends, and I don't have a clue where Wyn-whatever is."

"Maybe not that well but you do know him--we've all hung out together at a few parties over the past four years--and you have a phone with GPS. Remember?" he said as he rolled his eyes.

The truth was, it wasn't Cam Pooler; I just didn't want to go. Knowing that graduation was in about three weeks and that we'd be going our separate ways, Patty and I had broken up the weekend before. We'd never been sure we were in it for the long haul, but our discussion about our upcoming plans had turned into a fight and I ended our relationship then and there.

The graduation counter was now down to thirteen days so I was looking forward to a good beer and seeing a Bogart double feature at the campus theater rather than trying to meet someone new. I'd be leaving them and campus behind following graduation.

Of course, I didn't want to tell Scot that, so I used my other excuse. "Ahem, the battery on my phone's at 2%."

The eye roll was much more exaggerated this time. "You still haven't picked up the new charging cord? Jeez, I told you that frayed piece of shit you've been using was going to let you down when you needed it."

"I haven't been anywhere to pick one up."

"They sell them at the bookstore, Mitch. Yeah, they're more than at Wally World, but at least you'll have a cord and a phone that works. Tell you what, if you come with me and promise to pick up a new cord tomorrow, I'll let you charge your phone on my charger while we're at the party. You don't have to stay long but I need you as my wingman for a little while."

The last thing Scot needed was a wingman. Being ruggedly handsome and extremely or even overly well-blessed in the confidence department, he'd picked up more girls at more parties in our three years as suitemates than I could count.

"Oh, I don't know," I said, thinking. My phone cord wasn't going to work again, no matter how hard I tried, and the battery really only had 2% left.

He played his last card. "I drank the last one of those fancy beers in the fridge."

"Bastard!" I laughed.

He joined me, laughed maniacally, knowing he'd won. A few minutes later, my phone was on his charging cord and we were on our way to the party.

*****

It was a real house and a nice, big one at that, with music coming from what appeared to be a walled backyard. Scot spoke with one of the guys, introduced us, and then led me inside.

There were a number of people in the house, including a couple of older folks who turned out to be Cameron Pooler's parents plus servers heading in and out of the kitchen.

Between the little trays of food they were carrying and the music in the backyard not being mind-blowingly, police-attractingly loud, I quickly realized this wasn't an average college house party.

What wasn't all that surprising was when Scot decided having a wingman was too constricting; he quickly abandoned me and disappeared out the back door into what looked like a good-size crowd. I stepped to the side, out of the way of one of the servers heading out and another coming back in, and looked around to get my bearings and make sure Patty wasn't around to slip up and surprise me.

Not seeing her, I wandered for a bit, saying hello to a couple of acquaintances but not seeing any close friends or any sign of Scot. Then I smiled on spotting a couple of keg stations advertising something better than the watered-down swill typically served at open fraternity parties; it wasn't quite as good as what I kept in the fridge but I decided to go get a cup, circulate a bit more, and then head out in time to make "High Sierra," the second film in the double feature.

Maybe the night wouldn't be a complete loss after all.

Minutes later with a Solo cup in hand, I saw Cameron Pooler across the crowd so I decided to stop by to thank him for the party before heading out. That's when I thought I heard someone call my name from somewhere to the side.

I wasn't looking for a girl at the party but as I turned to look for the caller, the girl of my dreams and I both stopped just short of colliding, just in time for me to move the cup to the side and avoid dumping it all over her. My eyes went wide as this happened and the beer in the cup sloshed sideways, reaching the top but settling down without spilling a drop.

Her bright green eyes widened too, knowing that she was about to get a beer bath, but her expression turned to a smile as I saved her and my beer.

Yes! Exactly as I'd imagined her to be despite always doubting that she might exist or that I'd ever have the great fortune to meet her. The name caller, if they'd been calling me, was forgotten.

"Wow! Nice reflexes," she said with a voice that reminded me of Mariah Carey or some other smooth-talking pop diva. Along with the face of an angel, darkish honey-brown hair in a ponytail pulled high and streaming down her back, and a smile that warmed my heart, she was about as close to a picture of my idealized woman as I could imagine.

Yes, I'd imagined someone like her in my mind while not knowing she actually existed. Now, proof-positive that she did stood right in front of me and I was awestruck.

And dumbstruck.

"Ahem, yeah," I gulped. "Thanks," I added, still taking in her beauty while trying to sound at least somewhat coherent before she laughed at me and walked away to crush my suddenly not-so-silly dreams. "Ah, high school basketball."

In flip flops, she was about four inches or so shorter than my own 6-foot two and a dark-green cami and black shorts accentuated her athletic build and hugged nice but not-overly-large curves. While she checked every physical box in my imagination, it was her eyes and that radiant smile that really enthralled me as I hoped I didn't sound as much like an idiot as I feared.

An eyebrow arched up, just a little. "Really? What position?"

"Ahem, at my little high school out in the sticks, it was positions: a guard who couldn't hit the long shots quite well enough and a forward who was pretty good at boxing out but not quite tall enough to get most of the rebounds. More frequently, though, I was a really great benchwarmer."

It was the truth but it all tumbled out before I thought to tell just a little less to make myself sound better.

She studied my face for a second before nodding. "Mmm, maybe that's true, but I'd bet you're better than you let on. I was a second-team forward at a girls' school; maybe we can play sometime so we can see how good you are? Want to get me a beer and go somewhere we can talk about it?"

Did I ever! I knew it was crazy, stupid even, but I was suddenly head-over-heels in love and didn't want to let her get away.

Now, I knew I wasn't actually in love and that 'love at first sight' was more of a strong physical attraction than anything close to real love, but the possibility of establishing an emotional link between us to build on that initial attraction was critical. Having turned 22 years of age just a couple of months earlier, I'd been in a few relationships but had never actually been in love, even with Patty, so I knew what I was feeling wasn't something that happened every day.

I also knew I didn't want it to end. "If you promise to wait right here, I'll go get you one and be right back."

"I'll be right here. With bells on!"

Her radiant smile made me want to stay but common sense prevailed. My mind was racing with a jumble of happy thoughts and deep desires as I rushed to the keg station and got another beer. On campus, I'd have had to show my ID wristband but this was a private party for seniors so no one was checking. I got a cup for--

I suddenly realized that, in my fevered state, I didn't even know her name so I hoped this wasn't some grand joke where Morpheus, the Greek god of sleep and dreams, or perhaps Loki, the Norse prankster god, had looked into my thoughts and tempted me with my deepest desire only to pull the rug out from under my feet when I returned by having her disappear forever.

As I hurried back to where we'd been standing, I panicked for a moment when I didn't see her, but felt a rush of relief come over me when I saw her sitting on a low brick wall over to the side. She shot up when she saw me and practically danced forward to greet me before taking my arm and leading me back to her seat.

"I found us a place to sit," she said enthusiastically. "And you got the beer," she added, taking it and then taking a sip before setting both hers and mine on the low wall beside us. "This is turning out to be a much, much better evening than I'd imagined when Mary Beth called and--"

"Woah. Please, hold on a second. I don't think I know a Mary Beth but I definitely don't know your name. I'm Mitch."

Her hand extended and her smile beamed. "Hi, I'm Tori. It's so nice to meet you, Mitch."

The handshake was brief but the holding that followed wasn't, with neither of us letting go as we stood close together, almost touching, like long-time lovers. Her hand rotated in mine, mine slipped around in hers, and soon our fingers were interlocked as she put her other hand on my waist and I slid mine around her. It wasn't planned, at least on my part, but we were doing a slow, informal dance together to a fast song, but neither of us cared. My eyes widened in surprise as I realized what I'd done, but Tori smiled and placed her hand further behind me as we pulled each other close, our linked hands pulled tight against our chests.

Our cheeks touched and she gave a little moan that I heard as that song ended and something slower started and our dance continued, just the two of us despite all the other partiers just feet away from us in all directions.

I drew back a little so I could see her and found her looking back at me with the same goofy, lovesick smile that I believed I was also wearing.

"Tori, I'm not sure what it is but I've never felt this way, much less feeling like this with someone I've just--"

She started nodding as I said that and then her lips touched mine, shutting me up, but saying more about what I was feeling than my words might ever have conveyed. We moved, dancing slowly together, each feeling the other's heart beating as that first tentative kiss ended and another began.

This time, I was looking into her bright green pools when her eyelids fluttered and closed as her lips and then her tongue explored mine. Tentative was gone, replaced by certainty--at least on my part--that I loved her and by a burning hunger in both of us. My eyelids followed hers just a few moments, lost in the heaven of her embrace and the passion of her--

"Tori, there you are!" came a loud female voice over the music as I felt someone shake us. My eyes opened to see a blonde's hand on Tori's shoulder and Tori's eyes opening to look into mine as dreamily as my own had been peering into hers.

Yes, my attraction toward her was magnetic, overpowering, and I knew this was a young woman I wanted to know better. The way she was looking at me and the way she'd kissed me told me that, yes, she was feeling the same way.

"Come on, Tori. We've got to go!" said the blonde, pulling on her shoulder. "Jack's coming over after all so we've got to hurry."

"No, Mary Beth, I'm going to stay here with Mitch."

That was my cue. "I'll get her home--"

"Uh-uh. Not happening. We're off campus, sis; you know the rules." Mary Beth was frowning at me, clearly not approving of our activity, as relatively modest as it had been. "Let's go. Now!"

Tori was clearly frustrated, probably even more so than me as I wondered what the hell Mary Beth meant by the rules. Some sorority? Or maybe, since she'd said 'sis,' they really were sisters and it was something having to do with their parents?

Tori turned to her friend or maybe sister and practically shouted, "Hold on a second!" before looking back at me. "Mitch, will you call me? Do you promise?"

I was nodding as soon as she asked and added, "Definitely. I promise."

She started saying her phone number but I was so excited I couldn't remember it from one number to the next. "I don't have my phone with me," I explained. "Dead battery."

"Do you have a pen and paper?"

"Uh, yeah, sure. Here," I replied, handing her the pen I always carried in my pocket before fishing a paper receipt out of my wallet.

"Hurry up!" croaked Mary Beth, staring at the messages popping in on her phone.

"Turn around," said Tori. When I did, she put the paper against my back and started writing, causing me to almost laugh at the absurdity of the situation while wanting to cry that our time together was being ended so abruptly.

When she was done, Tori pulled me back around and pressed her sweet lips against mine once more but just for a couple of seconds this time. "Please call me. Monday. My old phone broke so my dad ordered me a new one; I'll have it by Monday night so call me then, okay?"

"I will," I promised again before the strangest feeling came over me and I blurted out, "and remember, I love you."

I hadn't meant to say that and I was so embarrassed that I would have crawled under a rock if one had been available, but to my surprise, Tori was nodding. "I love you, too, Mitch."

She leaned in and started kissing me again before Mary Beth cursed and pulled her away and they ran, leaving me feeling like the prince in the movie watching Cinderella flee as the clock tolled midnight.

In my confusion, I hesitated for a few moments before realizing that, like the prince, I should chase after them. I was just a few seconds behind but lost them in the crowd inside the house, so I was standing in the front yard searching the cross-streets less than a minute later when a car peeled out from the curb on what the street sign said was Wyngren. Sure enough, Tori was in the passenger seat waving and shouting "call me" out the window as they drove by.

My hand was outstretched toward them as that damn Mary Beth ran the stop sign and turned right on 17th Street toward campus. The hand fell as if lifeless beside me as I grimaced over losing Tori so soon after finding her and I stopped walking to lean against a light post, feeling defeated.

Then I felt the paper in my other hand so I opened and read it under the street light. On the back of the receipt, she'd written:

Mitch,

Call me.

I love you,

Tori

There was a little heart instead of a dot over the "i" and her number was written below. My heart soared then as I realized we'd had a little setback but it wasn't the end of the world and I'd be able to talk to her on Monday. I flattened the partially crumpled receipt, folded it nicely, and put it back in my wallet before heading home as the happiest guy around. As crazy as it had been and while disappointed that we hadn't had more time together that night, I knew we'd make time on Monday and, somehow, we'd find a way to be together.

If I could only survive without her until Monday.

*****

Once home, I made a beeline for my phone and Scot's charger. It was charged enough for my current purposes considering that Tori didn't have a phone at the moment, so I went in the little living room off and sat down on the sofa after pulling the receipt from my wallet. As short as it was, I reread it a couple of times, thinking about love and how strange it could strike at the oddest times, under the weirdest circumstances, and how much that little heart over the "i" meant to me.

Maybe she wrote it like that all the time, but this time she wrote it and "I love you" instead of just the regular letter-closing "love" for me even before I blurted out "I love you" to her. It was silly, I knew, but it was the closest I'd ever felt to being in love despite knowing her for only, what? Ten minutes? No matter what, I wanted to know her better and, I believed, to spend my life with her. It was nuts, completely crazy, but isn't that what they say love is? A crazy little thing?

Grinning at my good fortune and my desire to be with her, I started humming an old song that came to mind as I created a new contact and typed "Tori" on the name line and, in a moment of silly exuberance, added "My future wife!" on the company line when a loud, rapid knocking came at the door to our suite.

"Hold on!" I called, thinking that Scot or one of our other suitemates was coming home drunk and keyless. To my surprise, when I opened the door prepared to catch the nearly comatose falling body or dodge projectile vomiting, I found Patty, my recently dismissed girlfriend standing there instead.

"Patty, no! We've talked about--"

"Mitch! Stop! Do you still have my phone on your "Find my Phone" app? I lost it tonight and I need you to see if you can track it for me."

Her phone? What was it with phones tonight, I wondered, but in Patty's case, I understood. During our few months together, she'd been bad about misplacing her phone so I had added her to my app and used it to find her missing phone on several occasions. Now, despite us no longer being together, she needed that assistance once again.

I sighed, knowing that I wouldn't let her coax me into bed and thoughts of Tori would keep me out of any other trouble. Besides, if she'd really lost her phone, if the app found it, she'd hightail it out to go get it and she'd be out of my hair. Nodding, I said, "Yeah, it's still in there."

"Can I use it?"

"Yeah, it's on the coffee table."

"And your lock code is still the same?"

I rolled my eyes; I should have never let her see that. I'd change it and delete her as soon as she left. "Yeah," I said as I looked in the fridge for a celebratory beer that I suddenly remembered wasn't there.

I cursed under my breath. "Damn Scot's time."

"Got it! Thanks!" said Patty as she headed toward the door. "I'm going to run by and pick it up. Call me if you change your mind about getting together."

The door closed behind her and I gave a mock salute, waving goodbye for what I hoped would be the last time. After drawing a glass of water in lieu of my purloined beer, I returned to sit down in the living room and picked up my phone as I started humming that silly tune again.

Opening it, I found it on the home screen rather than the new contact I'd been entering for Tori. Of course, Patty had to leave the new contact screen to use the phone finder app, so I started over again, opening a new contact and entering Tori's name and what I hoped would be her place in my life. Then I reached for the paper with her note and her number.

"Damn. Where'd that go?" I muttered.

It wasn't on the coffee table, so I got down on my hands and knees to find it, but that simple task soon turned to fear as I made my way around the table and then to sheer panic as I searched fruitlessly under the table, the sofa, and beyond.

"No, no, no!" was followed by a string of expletives as I realized that Patty must have read the message and hidden or even taken it. The search intensified as I turned the table over, searched between and under the couch cushions, under the rug, and anywhere else I thought she might have hidden it. With those spots exhausted, I continued on, looking everywhere that was even a remote possibility where she might have hidden it--

Except in her hand, her pocket, or somewhere else on her body. I grabbed my phone and dialed only for it to ring the requisite number of times before rolling over to voicemail. I cut the call to compose myself and come up with a plan.

*****

It was well after midnight when Patty returned to her dorm room. I know because I'd been sitting in the hall with my back against her door for over an hour and a half. I rose and was a little unsteady for a moment, with both legs being half asleep.

"Mitch! What are you doing here? Did you come to make up?" she asked, all too sweetly with more than a little slur in her words.

"Patty, please. There was a piece of paper on the table by my phone. It's not there now. Do you know what happened to it?" I asked, calmly, hoping she'd do the nice thing and hand it over to me without me actually accusing her of taking it.

Patty must have still been hurting more than I knew, because she gave me a fake smile and replied, "Mitch, I didn't see a paper. I don't have a clue. Sor-ry." With her leaning in close to me, I could smell the alcohol on her breath; she must have really partied after finding her phone.

The drinks aside, I could tell from her look that she knew exactly what I was talking about and she knew what had happened to it, but repeated requests that soon turned to begging didn't help. My voice must have gotten louder because it wasn't long before the hall's resident advisor showed up asking what was happening.

I introduced myself and explained the problem. He seemed to believe me, but Patty continued to act innocent (and act poorly), denying knowing anything about the paper or the note written on it.

"Patty, please. This is really important."

"And how I felt wasn't? So, so sorry," she caterwauled. Then she turned toward the RA and said, "Zac, I'm going in my room now to go to sleep. If you don't make him leave, I'll call campus security." Holding up her phone, she added, all sweetness again, "Oh, and I found my phone. Thank you. Goodnight."

Zac looked after her as her door closed and then turned to me with a pained expression; she'd been right in his face for a few seconds. "She took your paper, didn't she?"

"Yeah," I agreed. "I finally meet someone who turns my world upside down and Patty tries to destroy it."

"Listen, I'm Zac, the R. A. I'll talk to her in the morning. Maybe after the alcohol's out of her system, she'll realize how cruel she's being and will give it to me. Let me have your number and I'll call if I have any news."

Zac lived up to his word the next afternoon but, unfortunately, the news was bad. Patty again denied knowing anything about the paper and threatened to call the director of housing if Zac bothered her about it again.

"I really don't think we'll get anything out of her, even if we call in the director. I'm sorry."

I tried calling Patty again that afternoon, but my calls kept going to voicemail. Since I couldn't remember the phone number despite repeated efforts, I started trying to locate Tori by other means but it was a lost cause. In our exuberance, we'd been happy with familiar first names and never swapped last names so my searches of the online student directory, the yearbook when it came out a few days later, and around campus turned up nothing.

Graduation came and I moved on while still regretting losing Tori, the chance to talk to her again, and that crazy thing I felt was love that we'd shared ever so briefly.

*****

Present Day

When she nodded at her name, my hand flew up and covered my mouth as a tear slipped down my cheek. After losing her so long before, I'd finally given up, never dreaming we'd meet again. "Oh, Tori! I'm so sorry--"

"That you didn't call me? Me too, Mitch," she said as tears streamed from her eyes, too. "I was married for three years and I'm not sure that I ever loved Daniel as much as I thought I loved you the night we met and then parted forever. I really thought you liked me--"

"I did, Tori. I really did. Maybe even really loved you. I've never been sure because we didn't have a chance to get to know each other better."

"Which we were supposed to do by you calling me! Remember?" There was anger--no, hurt--in her voice.

"I was going to! But..."

I gave her a really brief explanation of what had happened that night, of how I'd tried to find her afterward, and how I'd missed getting to know her.

She shook her head in response. "I wish I could believe that. Oh, I do believe you tried to find me, but not because of love. Or at least, not because of true love. No, I think you were just a horny senior who met the little sophomore and planned to take advantage of her until her sorority big sis had to rescue me to avoid getting caught in her own lie by her fiancé. And now you've been caught in a big one of your own."

"I didn't know you were a sophomore. We never got that far and I thought it was a party for seniors. Or what sorority you were in. Or your last name..." I trailed off, realizing how crazy it was that I'd been so infatuated with a girl I knew nothing about.

The anger in her expression faded a bit as her shoulders slumped and she sank down on the picnic table's bench. "I didn't know your last name until this morning. You're telling me the truth aren't you?"

"Every word, Tori," I said, sinking down on the bench beside her. "I really am sorry for what happened. And for whatever it was we missed out on."

She gave a slow nod and followed with a sigh. "Mitch, I was so excited for your call. You know, the one that never came? When it didn't, I thought the older, more-worldly guy had played a really mean prank on me. I spent some time sulking at first--Mary Beth, my sorority big sister and I were fighting over what she'd done to her boyfriend and to us at the time, too--and then I came up with some really mean retorts I planned to use the next time the two of us ran into each other."

"I'm sorry," I repeated in a whisper as she continued.

"When we didn't meet again, that changed and I dreamed up some mean things I'd do to punish you, to make you pay for hurting me so much. I finally realized that 'mean' plus 'mean' equaled me being as mean and cruel as you'd been--at least, as mean as I thought you'd been to me and that wasn't the person I was or wanted to be. So Mitch, I let it go. Until today, anyway. When I saw you this morning, it all came rushing back and I realized you didn't recognize me, or, if you did, you didn't care."

"Wait. I did care," I replied. "I searched and searched but with a sprawling campus with, what, 30-something thousand students? I just didn't have any luck. As for recognizing you, you have to admit you look a little different than you did, what, twelve years ago?" A thought struck me. "In fact, look at this."

Opening an app on my phone, I scrolled for a bit, looked at her and back at the phone, and then handed it to her.

"What's this?" she asked before a shocked look swept over her face. "You didn't!"

Nodding, I said, "I tried."

When I couldn't find her, I drew her face from memory, at least as well as an engineering management major could, put her name on it (complete with a heart over the "i"), and dated it. Seeing the drawing I'd kept in my "Contacts" on several phones over the years with no contact information but her name and Tori side by side, I had to admit it didn't look much like her, probably even back then.

Tori started laughing and threw her arms around me there on the bench. "Your art skills leave a little--no!--a lot to be desired but I believe you and I'm really sorry for all the bad things I thought about you."

I hugged her back, but things weren't like what I recalled all those years before and neither of us made a move to do more than the hug. We separated a moment later, realizing that time had passed, changes had occurred, and we were both mature enough to know that love-at-first-sight was a lot like Santa, a fun fantasy for the young.

"Tori, a lot of time has passed but may I call--"

Her finger touched my lips to shush me. "No, Mitch. This isn't twelve years ago and it's not a good time. But thanks for making a sweet memory sweet again after leaving a bitter taste in my mouth for so long. And speaking of now, it's Victoria now. Tori's past, history."

She pulled her phone from her purse and looked at the time. "Looks like we better get back inside now to get with Bradley so we can work on what we're going to do with this place."

She got up off the bench, straightened her business suit and skirt, and started walking toward the building.

*****

Bradley and Victoria spent most of the next three days reviewing the company's situation, going over the books and orders and asking me and some of our other upper-level management questions as needed. That left a void at the top so I did my best to fill it and keep things running smoothly until Neill returned the following Monday if Bradley didn't decide to take over running the operation before then.

On Friday, Bradley called another company meeting and I figured this would be it. He'd take Mr. Murphy's place, and Neill and I would return to our old duties on Monday, helping Bradley as needed. Then Bradley threw a monkey wrench into my expectations, announcing that he didn't want to uproot his wife and kids from the west coast so he'd decided to take a seat on the board of Murphy Parts instead of becoming the company president.

Therefore, I expected to hear him announce that Neill Barton would be promoted to fill the role of president but that was when the big monkey wrench came crashing in.

I was as shocked as everyone else when Bradley said, "Therefore, effective immediately, my sister, Victoria Kraus Landon, the granddaughter of our company founder, Silas Murphy, Sr., daughter of June Murphy Kraus, and niece of current president Silas 'Sonny' Murphy, Jr., will take over as company president."

Surprised murmurs swept through the assembly but Bradley held up his hand. "While it's true that Victoria has never worked here at the plant and doesn't know much about the industry, she has extensive management experience and she's an even quicker learner than I am. With your help, she'll learn the ins and outs of our company in short order."

There were a lot of strange looks, some coughs, and a couple of outright guffaws that drew a stern look from Bradley and me before he continued.

"To assist with that, Neill Barton will continue as executive vice president and Victoria's right hand and Mitchell Decker will resume his role as Vice President of Operations and will assist both of them. Our Uncle Sonny, who remains as Chairman of the Board, will be available in an advisory capacity only and may be seen here in the office from time to time, but he won't be in charge or here on a daily basis. We've always had a member of the Murphy-Kraus family leading Murphy Parts and the family doesn't feel like now is the time to change that."

He invited Victoria up to the lectern and shook her hand. She spoke for just a couple of minutes, thanking everyone in advance for their hard work and their assistance, before dismissing them to get on with it.

Walking back to my office, I was happy for her but I was as surprised as everyone else, having thought all week that Bradley would be stepping in to take over. With Tori in charge instead, I knew the learning curve would be a lot harder as she learned about the plant, our operations, and even our industry from scratch.

I also knew, with Tori--no, make that Victoria, I had to keep telling myself--in charge and my superior, I would never be able to call her.

*****

Neill called me on Sunday evening after catching up on all of his messages, emails, and memos.

"What the hell, Mitch? I know she's a Murphy grandchild but that doesn't make her God. She doesn't know shit from Shinola about what we do or about our industry. Sonny and I have worked hard over the years to build this place up and now she's going to come in and tear it all down?"

Neill had been with the firm for about twenty-five years, had known Silas Murphy, Sr., and had helped Sonny with most of the expansion, both internally and through offshoring. I'd long suspected that Neill would take over when the time came, and it turned out that he'd been expecting that, too. While he raged that he didn't want to see the firm destroyed, I could tell that a significant part of his complaint was that the top leadership position had gone to someone else.

"Neill, we're going to have to do our part, to teach her and help her learn, so she and the firm gets through this. Who knows, in a few weeks or maybe a few months, she may be wildly successful or maybe not, and, in the second case, maybe she'll decide she wants out or Mr. Murphy might force her out. You may get your chance then. Let's be patient and do our best, okay?"

He cursed a few more times before agreeing that I was right, and then said he'd see me in the morning.

He was there bright and early the next morning as promised and he did as he'd said, doing his best to help Victoria, but the events during his absence and without his input left him in a troubled state then and in the days that followed. While publicly supporting her, his attitude seemed off and it was less than a month later that I heard his first audible grumble about something she'd done. Unfortunately, it was in a public setting and I had to quietly warn him, "Ne-ill."

He quickly covered his faux pas by chuckling and saying something nice about her efforts and that she was learning, but it was a warning sign and I saw more of those over the months that followed. One of his biggest complaints was just a few weeks later when she got the court system to legally restore her maiden name.

He came into my office late that afternoon looking pissed. "So the judge agreed today and our website was just updated. I swear, Mitch, she thinks that by going by Kraus instead of Landon gives her some kind of legitimacy."

"Neill," I whispered, "stop it. She is legitimate as part of the Murphy-Kraus family that owns this place and she's our boss. What's more, she's learning more each day, becoming more legitimate in her own right, so you don't need to be undermining her. Understood?"

While I visited with Sonny (as he now insisted that I call him) about once a week, both for friendship and some off-the-record advice, Neill was technically my direct supervisor but he couldn't argue with what I said or fire me over it so he growled, "Yeah, I understand," and practically stomped out of my office.

He whispered an apology to me the next morning as we got coffee in the executive break room. While he still grumbled from time to time even after that, he didn't sound quite so mutinous doing it.

*****

As hard as it was for Neill, I suspect it was equally hard in a completely different way for me.

The initial attraction that I'd mistaken for love-at-first-sight during our initial meeting in college was back and it became increasingly difficult for me to see her every day knowing that I couldn't act on my feelings or even express them without risking both those feelings and my job. Silas Murphy, Sr., had a strict no dating policy when he founded the company; while Sonny had relaxed it a little over the years, fraternization between a worker and a superior, at whatever level, was strictly prohibited and was grounds for dismissal for both.

I was also surprised to find that, after all the years and all the women I'd dated, Victoria still matched the "Mitch's ideal woman" image in my mind but, with the maturity gained over the years since we first met, I didn't really consider that anymore. Personality and character were key instead, so I found her looks, as pleasingly "ideal" as they were, to just be a nice bonus.

What made it much worse was that, while I'd never gotten to know Tori during our brief encounter in college, I was getting to know her better with each passing day as we worked so closely together and I was finding her personality, her character, and her inner beauty to be like a giant magnet drawing me to her. Unfortunately, her stated desire for me to leave her alone and the requirements of our work made me actively try to avoid that magnetism, making me feel like I was having to reverse the natural magnetic polarity in order to push us apart.

Equally unfortunate, that wasn't really working and I felt my feelings for her were becoming stronger with each passing day. While it shouldn't have considering our professional relationship, everything about her drove me crazy with a love that I couldn't express to her.

Working so closely, our personal lives sometimes came into the discussion, though most everything beyond the basics was discussed in rather couched terms. Neither of us had time for much more due to work. Victoria, Neill, Shonda, and I had a working lunch together at least once each week and some of us often had meetings, lunches, or even dinners quite often with our customers. Victoria had me go on a few out-of-town visits to customers with her when Neill wasn't available, and, through it all, I found her soaking up knowledge about our work, our firm, our customers, and about me like a sponge.

It was over dinner one night while we were on a three-day trip to visit a number of customers in several cities that she let slip that learning her job wasn't as easy for her as it seemed.

"I go home and my cat often plops himself down on my laptop or on whatever I'm studying just to get some attention. I enjoy cooking sometimes, but, other than an occasional Sunday night, I haven't cooked anything in several months."

"It sounds like you need to take some time off for yourself, Victoria. We don't want you burning yourself out."

"I don't want to either, Mitch, but you, Neill--as much of a pain in the backside as he can be sometimes--Shonda, and everyone else on our HQ team have been so helpful in pushing me forward, getting me to understand everything and helping me to get to where I need to be that slacking off wouldn't be fair to all of you. Uncle Sonny and my parents have been there, too, giving me some extra tutoring." She chuckled. "As much as I hate it sometimes, my work is all consuming at the moment."

"Maybe you need to find a boyfriend who can treat you right," I suggested, testing the waters.

"No," she said firmly. "As nice as it might be, that would be too limiting. I wouldn't get all of my work done and it wouldn't be fair to, ah, him."

"I had that problem with my last girlfriend. She wanted me all to herself and didn't want to lose me to my work."

"When was this?"

"The night after Sonny's heart attack. She said I was a workaholic and she dumped me."

"I'm sorry, but are you? A workaholic?"

"No, I don't think so. I do what I have to do to get the job done--yes, that's fifty hours a lot of weeks and more occasionally, but I try not to take work home with me. I enjoy my personal time as much as anyone."

"Hmm. That sounds familiar. But really, when was your last date?"

I looked in her eyes and dreamed of what could be. While this dinner (and even our trip) felt a lot like a date and I was getting to know Victoria better, I knew it wasn't and that none of the times we'd been together had been, as much as I wished. Not wanting to betray Victoria's stated denial of just a minute earlier or our employee policy rules, I replied, "The weekend before Sonny's heart attack, though I actually had one lined up with her the night of the breakup--before I was summoned to the hospital."

"I'm sorry," she said, reaching out to pat my hand on the table for a second before drawing her hand away. "Uncle Sonny has been known to mess up a good thing from time to time. Just look at me."

She didn't volunteer more so we headed up to our rooms. My heart wanted me to take her in my arms and kiss her goodnight like on a real date but it wasn't a real date and it wasn't what she wanted if it were. I paused by her door as she opened it and then turned to me to say, "Mitch, work's tough now, but it's going to get better soon and we'll both have time for fun and, hopefully, family then. "Goodnight."

I nodded, hoping, and said, "Goodnight," before walking next door to my own room to a night of troubled sleep, knowing she was so close and yet so very far away.

*****

We continued working closely but our limited personal discussions were mostly put on hold and she seemed to be spending more time with Neill, giving me time to get a better grasp on some issues and make some minor improvements. I was actually quite pleased with the way things were going but in early March, Victoria, looking upset, came into my office and closed the door.

She slapped a paper on my desk and demanded, "Did you know about this?"

I'd never seen her so mad.

I read the first few lines before palming my head in my hand and mumbling, "Shit."

With Victoria having been on board for over ten months, making regular improvements, and giving no sign of falling flat on her face, Neill was resigning, giving the firm-required minimum of a 90-day notice for top management.

Looking back up at her, there was fire in her eyes so I said, "Sorry, but no. I knew Neill wasn't happy, that he felt he'd been passed over, but I thought he was giving it time. Did he tell you anything more? And do you know where he's going?"

"No, nothing. As for where, Uncle Sonny suspects it's Kurtzman. He said they made an offer for us about eight or nine years ago and that their folks really liked Neill. Uncle Sonny and Mom turned them down at the time, but Neill met all their top brass and may have reached out to them."

"Well, I'll talk to him and find out. I'll also remind him that we'll be strictly enforcing our proprietary information clause and client limitation agreements. The big question, though, is what we're going to do about filling his role?"

Victoria gave a little humph and shook her head. "No it's not. The big question is what we're going to do about filling your position."

*****

By mutual agreement, Murphy Parts released Neill Barton from his position as Executive Vice President just two weeks later rather than the stipulated ninety days. He was heading to St. Louis to join Kurtzman Auto Parts as we suspected, so I think he appreciated the early release and wished me and the firm well when I did his exit interview.

"She's coming along well, Mitch, much better than I expected, and truthfully, a lot better than I feared. Unfortunately, she's young, even younger than you, I think, so there's no future for me here. I want to be able to grow and set my own course; I worked with Sonny for nearly twenty-five years before he retired, thinking for the last ten of those years that I'd be the logical successor, but blood was thicker than common sense, it seems.

"With Victoria being here, I'll never get another chance to move up and be in charge unless I go elsewhere, but I've got that opportunity now. I'll be taking over a division at Kurtzman and, if all goes well, I'll be competing for a chance at the top slot for the whole company when their current president retires in a few years."

Leaning across the table toward me, he whispered, "Mitch, you need to think seriously--very seriously--about what I just said. You're still young enough now that you have plenty of time, but time passes quicker than you realize. If you want your chance to move up and really be in charge, don't wait too long."

I went over everything including proprietary information restrictions with him, had him sign everything, and then escorted him out of the building where we shook hands. We'd already had a little going-away party, where everything was couched in terms of it being a great opportunity for him, so we shook hands and Neill left Murphy Parts for the last time.

Back inside the building, I stopped by Victoria's office and gave her an update on the exit interview, skipping the personal part he'd shared about me and my potential future. When I was done, Victoria congratulated me on my new position and asked if I wanted to move into the executive VP office.

"Nope. I'm already there," I replied with a laugh. "We just need to swap the nameplates this way."

*****

I'd worked closely with Victoria before but with Neill gone, it required us to be even closer, particularly since we promoted Shonda Roberts to my former job of VP of Operations. She'd filled the spot temporarily following Sonny's heart attack during Neill's absence, but I continued to monitor her closely and helped her become familiar with portions of the job with which she wasn't familiar. Her former assistant in the QC department wasn't ready to step up into her spot, so we had to hire someone from outside the firm for that, which required even more training.

It was late one Friday evening several months later when I heard a rap on my open door. Victoria was standing there shaking her head.

"You need to go home and get some rest. I got here at 6 a. m. this morning to get ready for the call with the Germans and you were already here and now it's, what? 9:53? Almost 10 p. m. Mitch, go home and get some rest. Take the weekend off and enjoy yourself."

"I will in a few, Tori," I said, feeling almost exhausted and not realizing my slip-up.

"Do," she replied, stepping up and taking my hand in hers. To my surprise, she pulled it up and touched the back of my hand to her cheek. "And thank you, Mitch. I don't think I or the firm could have gotten to this point without you."

Even more shocking, she kissed the back of my hand ever-so-lightly and then let go to head toward the door. Looking back over her shoulder, she added, "Remember, don't stay much longer."

I watched her go, admiring her form and longing for the opportunity to tell her how I felt. My frustration felt as if it was amped up to the proverbial eleven as I knew that couldn't happen.

*****

When I woke up the next morning, I knew I had to make a change. I'd been pining away for Victoria--no, for Tori--despite the impossibility of the situation so I needed to refocus my attention on something else.

Correction: on someone else.

Though I'd never been a big fan, I rejoined a dating app I'd used a few years before. After updating my profile, I was surprised to receive an early hit. We swapped messages and by 1 p. m., we'd arranged a date for that evening.

Misty Rose Crowder was a country girl with a good sense of humor and an exotic look that she attributed to her grandmother. "My grandfather met and married her in Vietnam and brought her home with him in his duffle bag," she said.

"Really?" I gawked in surprise, leading her to giggle.

"That's the story my grandparents always told, anyway! Grandpa was from a small town in Mississippi so Grandma said it was a huge adjustment as she learned English and tried to understand American ways. They made it work somehow, staying together through four kids and forty years until he passed away, and teaching my momma and her brothers the importance of honesty, faithfulness, and perseverance. Grandma died a couple of years ago, but the kids are all still married to their first and only spouse, though my momma has threatened to kick my daddy to the curb at times!"

She was cute, sweet, and funny. A real country girl. I could tell she'd be a great, forever partner for someone, but as the evening progressed and we got to know each other, I knew it wouldn't be me. It wasn't too long before she picked up on that too.

"You're a great looking, really smart guy, Mitch, and you seem to be really nice, but I'm guessing your heart's about a thousand miles away."

"I'm sorry, Misty. It's definitely not you--you're so nice and pretty and so much fun. No, it's all my fault."

"Want to talk about it?"

"Hey, you promised 'No analysis.'"

In addition to her day job with the state, Misty was a counselor for wayward kids in the youth program at a big church downtown. She shook her head and replied, "No analysis. Just a question in case you want to get it off your chest." She put her hand over mine on the table and gave it a comforting squeeze.

"I thought I was ready for this and that it was what I needed, but I'm feeling that it wasn't the best idea after all. I'm sorry."

"You have unresolved feelings for someone, don't you?"

"That's probably a good way of putting it, but they're pretty resolved on my part, just not on hers. I'm head-over-heels in love with her but she can't give me the time of day so I'm trying to move on."

"Wait. Can't, not 'won't'?"

"Not sure, probably both, but 'can't' for sure. She's my boss." I gave her a little info about the situation. "Therefore, I'm there every day, totally in love with her but unable to say a word because it could mean my job and would probably upset her since work is all-consuming to her. She's just not interested in pursuing a relationship. I had that chance back in college and blew it, but it seems there's no second chance with her."

"You said you've been working with her for about eighteen months. Are you sure things haven't changed in that time?"

"No, not sure, but even if they have, there's the job issue."

"I don't know, Mitch. If you think it might be true love, sometimes that has to come first. Get the girl and go get a different job. That may not be easy, but there are other jobs out there, even if they're significantly different than the one you have now. You might be surprised at how important 'happy' is and how it can change your outlook."

Misty and I parted that evening with a handshake and her giving me a little kiss on my cheek. "Good luck with your boss, but if it doesn't work out and if you finally get over her, you've got my number."

*****

By the following Wednesday, I'd done all of the thinking and contingency planning I could do. My resume was updated and I had a few possibilities in mind that I planned to explore. However, I didn't want to blindside Victoria like Neill had so I tapped on the doorframe of her office at around 7 p. m. As was usually the case, she was still there.

"Hi, Mitch. Come in."

"Do you have a few minutes to talk? It's, ah, personal."

"Sure. Close the door. Except for the second-shift folks, everyone is probably gone now but just in case. What's up?"

"Victoria, I have a problem and I'm not sure if I can solve it."

"Tell me about it. Maybe I can help."

"Maybe. I've developed a problem that calls into question my ability to continue working here."

"Mitch, no! You're not pulling a Neill on me, are you?" She looked really concerned. "I've learned a lot and have come a long way with your help. I think I would have gotten there eventually, but you've helped make my transition a lot smoother and better, a lot more profitable, and, well, a lot more fun. I do not want to lose you."

My heart felt constricted in my chest and I was slowly pacing back and forth. "You've done a great job with the company; we're hitting all our sales goals and growth is on target. I'm so happy I've been able to help you, but I'm sorry, Tori, I'm not sure I can keep doing it. Working so closely with you, I mean."

"Why?" she demanded. Her eyes, always so green, were shining at me like Kryptonite and my knees, if nothing else, felt weak.

Time for truth, I told myself and to her I said, "In the past eighteen months or so, I've, well, I've fallen completely and utterly in love with you, but you know I can't act on it, both because you don't want to see me and because of our work with the company. Now, I'm afraid I'm going to have to leave--to leave the firm--or I'm eventually going to do something that's going to damage or even ruin our working relationship if what I'm telling you right now hasn't already done that."

Her head was cocked a bit to the side and she was studying me, trying to see if it was really me or if some alien being had inhabited my body and started spouting nonsense. Her mouth opened, but no words came out, and she slumped back in her chair, elbows on the rests, as she brought her fingertips together making it almost look like she was praying.

I needed prayer because my heart felt as if it was being crushed and I couldn't look at her anymore, so I turned to stare out her 3rd floor office window toward the city. Bracing myself against the mullion, I continued, "I'm so sorry to spring this on you. I'll... I'll have my resignation to you in the morning and will stay until--"

The sound of a deadbolt latching broke my thought and I turned from the window to see Tori coming toward me from the door. She shook her head and said, "Mitch, shut up and come kiss me. I love you, too, you big dummy."

Confusion?

Disbelief.

Joy!

They filled my soul in quick succession, with the joyful part being like a dozen Tabernacle Choirs singing the Hallelujah chorus in unison.

We closed the gap in a heartbeat and she was in my arms, our kisses a flame that heated the room as they threatened to consume us. Her hands were roaming over me, undoing my shirt, pulling it and my undershirt out of my pants, and then struggling with my belt, as my own hands explored her.

"Tori, I didn't think--" I started only for her to interrupt me with another kiss.

"Mitch, you were so guarded with what you've told me over the past year that I thought you'd moved on and that we'd never be able to get together. I backed off like you had, not wanting to interfere with whatever you had going on in your life," she whispered when I moved down to kiss the top of her breasts.

"Thank God I wore my best underwear today!" she added.

It was such a non sequitur it lightened the moment and made me laugh and Tori, realizing it, laughed too. She was wearing a beautiful white camisole that hid what the sexy white lace bra didn't but, though I would have been more careful where I was planting kisses, I would have loved her just as much if she'd been dressed in the biblical sackcloth and covered with ashes.

With my hand on her breast, I said, "It's very sexy and looks amazing on you."

"I'm glad you like it. Now, take it all off and make love to me, Mitch. I've been waiting for this for practically forever."

"You said you didn't want me to call you," I gasped before slipping her erect nipple between my lips.

"I didn't at the time; I needed some time to sort things out, particularly with the new job and--mmm--things always being so tense with Neill. Things improved sometime after--Mmm!--he left but then you backed off and I thought you'd moved on. And besides, I didn't dream you'd take that as forever."

"Mmm," I groaned as she massaged me and pulled me back toward her desk. "It wasn't forever. Just eighteen months."

"It sure seemed like forever," she laughed, before beginning to nibble on my neck.

She'd already dropped her suit skirt and stepped out of it, so I got a glimpse of her white lace thong before I eased it down her long, shapely legs. It fell away to her feet so I ran my hands over her hips, across a perfect mound where I felt a little strip of hair, and then down between soft thighs that briefly clinched me with more muscle than I expected. Her face relaxed a moment later, as did her thighs, and her eyes drifted closed as I eased up and caressed her puffy lips and delicate folds. There, I shivered on feeling her warm softness and my finger swept through, collecting a bit of her wetness that I swirled around her dot.

Tori, looking happy and so relaxed, moaned again and moved her leg--getting her thong off her foot, I suspected--and then pulled me forward again until she stopped with her ass leaning against the front of her desk. She spread her legs to let my fingers explore further and slip inside her.

She continued moaning quietly as my fingers did their loving; her knees came up and, perched on the front of that desk, she spread herself as wide as she could. Since it was a cool, late October day outside, she'd worn stay-up thigh-high tights and her usual short heels; now, that was all she was wearing and I drank in her beauty that I'd only imagined before.

Her feet were soon spinning in little circles as I rubbed her clit and her G-spot together while cupping her breast with my other hand and nursing at her nipple. Tori's moans, still quiet, became fast and frantic and I couldn't help smiling inside that I was finally getting to show her some small portion of how much I'd loved her for so very long.

When I looked, I found Tori's sweet eyes locked onto mine, her cheeks plumped from smiling brightly despite the fact that she was biting her lip as her orgasm neared. I looked into them, lost in their depth and in her love and beauty as I tried to show her my love and give her some small part of it.

She gasped as she came, closing her legs on my hand and pulling me close where she threw her arms around me and placed her head on my shoulder.

"Oh, Mitch, thank you. That was wonderful; I love you and I've been dreaming of this for months."

"I love you, too, Tori, and I'm so sorry it took--"

"Hush. Don't be sorry about anything. We've gotten to this point now and I don't think it could have been better if it had taken days or even years. PLease, make love to me now."

As much fun as it might have been to make love right there on my boss's desk, I'm not sure how comfortable it would have been for Tori, so we moved to her couch. She pushed me down on it first and then settled between my legs for a bit, causing me to clench and moan and whisper my love over and over to her as she performed her oral magic to make sure I was as ready as she was. She needn't have worried about that, so I stopped her before she went too far and pulled her atop me, sliding into her hot, wet depths.

She rode atop me for a bit, let me kiss her soft tits as I cupped her ass and thrust in time with her movements. Then we were kissing as she pressed and ground against me.

"Let's switch," I whispered before my growing buildup became too much; laying her down on the seat, I entered her again and grinned in pleasure as I slid all the way in.

Tori hooked her legs around behind my butt and moved with my thrusts, clenching me, slow and steady at first as we kissed, and faster in time as we felt our love reach a crescendo. As we neared that end, I was pounding against her and I was in heaven, both from the feeling and seeing Tori completely lose herself in a series of orgasms.

Or maybe it was just a big long one?

I reached that point a few moments later and I said, "I'm gonna pull out."

"No! I've got an implant; come in me! I want to feel you do it! Mmmm!" she breathed just as I buried myself in her and felt myself begin to explode with burst after burst. I was pulsing probably harder than ever as she clutched me against herself, and I hoped she could feel it like she wanted.

"I love you, Mitchell Decker. Now, let's get dressed and head to my house. You're spending the night, right?"

*****

We made love twice more that evening and again early the next morning before I left for home to change clothes for work. Unfortunately, traffic was bad since I was going in later than usual, so I arrived about ten minutes late for the first time ever, and that drew some attention from some of our office staff.

"Something came up this morning," I said, not specifying exactly how literal I was being, but it concerned me that our secret could be exposed and lead to big trouble if we weren't really careful.

We had a conference call with one of our suppliers later that morning so we took the opportunity to talk before I headed back to my office.

Tori said, "Mitch, I want you to know, I meant every word I said last night. I love you and I really want you to stay."

"What about the company policy?" I asked, still concerned about the example it would be setting to our employees, even if it wouldn't mean my job.

"We'll deal with that this weekend if you'll come to dinner with me on Sunday."

"Sure, I'll be glad to."

"Mitch, one other thing. I have to be Victoria here at the office, but," she added, leaning in close and whispering in my ear, "I love hearing you call me Tori again when we're alone together. I want to be 'Tori' for you, my love."

Nodding, I whispered back, "Oh, I called you Victoria, but in my heart you were always 'Tori' to me."

I think she wanted to kiss me then as much as I wanted to kiss her, but being at work, we parted and acted like nothing questionable was happening between us.

We worked as usual on Thursday and Friday but both nights I was back at her house for more time together, and then on Saturday night, she visited my house for the first time after making sure her cat was okay for the night. It was as we lay in bed on Saturday evening recovering from another wonderful session that Tori dropped a little bomb about dinner the next night.

"Mitch, I'm cooking, but just part of dinner. It's actually a pot-luck dinner at my parents' house with my family."

I'd met June Murphy Kraus on a couple of occasions when she came to the office for meetings with her brother but I didn't know her well and had never met Tori's dad. Now, after the long lead-up, I'd suddenly become their daughter's new boyfriend and lover without us ever going on an actual date. I looked forward to meeting and getting to know them and hoped they wouldn't be an impediment to our relationship.

I also wondered what dish I could bring.

*****

On Sunday evening, Tori and I arrived together with each of us carrying a dish that we'd planned and cooked together. I was also carrying a bottle of wine. Mr. and Mrs. Kraus introduced themselves and welcomed us, smiling at me the whole time and making me promise to call them Bill and June as they ushered us into the kitchen to put down our contributions.

Inside, I was pleased to find Sonny and Kathy Murphy there, too; I still visited them regularly but more for friendship and the occasional assistance with Sonny's retirement projects than company advice like before. In addition to Silas Jr. insisting that I call him Sonny, they both tended to call me "son," making me wonder if their own lack of children and my parents' passing a few years before had something to do with that.

We talked over an excellent meal and it wasn't long before I got the distinct impression that our elders had been expecting Tori's and my relationship to blossom for quite some time.

"Mom and I talk. A lot," whispered Tori at one point. I think I turned red but she punched my leg and added, still at a whisper, "But not about that!"

"Whew!" I breathed.

"Though I'm sure she's guessed," she whispered again, but her giggle drew looks and smiles from those around the table. They seemed very happy for us.

After dinner and dessert, we retired to the living room and talked for a little while before Tori said, "Uncle Sonny, it's getting close to 8:30."

I didn't know what she meant, but her father turned on the television and went to an app. A moment later, it said, "Connecting..."

A few seconds later, Bradley, wearing a headset, appeared on the screen. Everyone said hello and talked for a few moments before Sonny rapped his knuckle against the table next to him. "It's 8:30 p. m., folks. This meeting of the board of directors of Murphy Filters and Auto Parts, Inc., will come to order."

*****

On Monday morning, Tori had her assistant send out the usual weekly email with company news and upcoming events. Near the end was a short, seemingly innocuous blurb that covered two very minor changes the board of directors had made to the company's policies and procedures. The little article included the text of both changes and a link in the manual itself, with the second change consisting of just six words: "without the written approval of Management."

I doubt that anyone gave it a second thought, and no one knew of the Board's final action the previous evening. They'd given Tori and me approval to continue seeing each other without having to fire one of us. I finally understood why Tori hadn't been very worried. Being the board members' favorite niece, daughter, or sister, she had all of the votes in hand before the meeting started.

With all of the impediments out of our way, we continued seeing each other and our relationship grew, though we were careful to avoid any public announcements about it or any public displays of affection that might start rumors. Somehow though, we must have slipped up at some point because Shonda Roberts confronted me about it after a meeting one day and I had to tell her the truth.

"Thank God! And that's the reason for that little change in the P&P manual," she said. "Mitch, I'd been worried that the two of you would wait too long to get together and one or even both of you would implode and I'd be the one that Sonny Murphy would make pick up the pieces."

"So you suspected?"

"Suspected? I've got three grown kids of my own so I knew! And, I think most everyone else did, too," she laughed. "You can only make cow eyes at each other for so long before someone else sees and starts suspecting something, even if you two lovebirds were too blinded by love to see it."

She was still laughing at my expression as she left my office.

*****

It was the following spring, almost two years after Tori and I had started working together and about six months after we officially became a couple. Since we'd started being seen in public and were planning on taking a romantic trip together during the Christmas shutdown that would have been impossible to adequately explain, we made an announcement about our relationship at the company Christmas party.

Shonda Roberts was nodding and laughing when no one seemed particularly surprised.

In April, we went on another such trip, this time leaving Shonda in charge as we visited Barbados. After spending the week exploring the island by day and making love by night, we got on our rented motorbike on our last evening there and rode up to a spot I'd scoped out earlier. We hiked up a short trail to a scenic spot overlooking the Caribbean in order to watch the sunset.

Standing behind with my arms around her and holding her against me as we watched the beautiful painting in the sky, I said, "Tori, it was crazy but I loved you the first time we met so long ago. I hated for the longest time that we didn't get to pursue it then, but I'm so happy that I finally got a second chance--that you gave me that chance--and that I can love you so much more now than I knew how to love you back then."

Pausing for a few moments as the last of the disk sank below the horizon, I eased her around toward me and went down on one knee before her. There, I asked her to marry me.

I think she'd been suspecting for some time that this was coming sooner rather than later so she beamed and nodded and said "Yes!" before kissing me and hugging me tight. I held the ring and helped slide it onto her finger and then we were kissing and hugging again.

I hadn't planned it and there was no music but the sound of the ocean breeze in the palm trees and the celebration in our hearts, but we stood there doing what was essentially a very slow dance, swaying together until we finally stopped, looking in each other's eyes. Maybe I hadn't played things smart when we met so long before or maybe we just hadn't been ready, but we were now, ready for each other and ready for love.

One last kiss followed and we were off, hand-in-hand, heading back down the little trail to our motorbike as the twilight slowly faded.

*****

Tori, sitting on the back of our scooter, hugged me tight on the way back to our resort. I loved feeling her arms around me and her breasts pressed against my back. Between that, the excitement of our engagement, and the rumble of the two-stroke engine that I suspected could have used a fresh Murphy gasket, a clean Murphy Supreme oil filter, and a couple of new Murphy Platinum spark plugs (if we actually made them for that particular model), we were both horny as hell and our clothes were strewn from the front door of our private bungalow to our bedroom in short order.

"God, I want you so much," breathed Tori as she pressed those sweet, firm tits into my chest and started pumping me.

I wanted her just as much so I cupped her ass and started to physically lift her to set her down on my dick, but she shook her head.

"Not just yet, my love."

Pushing me back on the edge of the bed, she dropped on her knees between my legs and started kissing and licking my little head as I moaned and tried to keep from losing it. I watched her work, admiring everything about her, thanking my lucky stars and the good Lord above that I'd met her in the first place, that we'd gotten a second chance, and that after everything that had happened we were finally going to have a future together.

Her eyes looked up into mine as she pleasured me and, though her mouth was full, I could see her smiling in response to my own. My hands ran over her shoulders and then up, three fingers tracing along her jaw as she bobbed. I grinned even wider when I saw her hand circle the base and begin a slow jack in time, her new diamond sparkling even in the limited light of our bedroom.

I loved the feel of what she was doing but this was about us, so I said, "Time for you to take a turn, okay?"

Giving a barely perceptible nod, she drew out her final bob, hollowing her cheeks and savoring every last bit of my length until she pulled off at the end with a nice little 'pop' that made her giggle and me smile. I helped her up off the floor and we hugged and kissed for a moment with my cock trapped between us before I laid her down on the bed, eased her legs open, and moved in to pleasure her.

With all that we'd experienced that evening and with the priming she'd done on me, Tori was practically sopping and I was grinning as her juices covered me. She was soon moaning as I worked her clit, knitting her fingers in my hair and pulling me in close, and whispering her love for me when she came.

"Get in me, Mitch. Make love to your wife-to-be."

"Tori, I love you so much," I said as I moved up and pushed my head against her. Sliding inside, I added, "and I so look forward to being your husband and partner for the rest of our lives."

Her arms and legs encircled me, holding me tight against her sweet tits as I moved, driving in and out of her slowly as she kissed me--lips, face, neck, earlobe, and whatever else she could reach--and ground her sex against my own.

As our pace increased, I lifted up off her, driving harder and faster, and watched her boobs begin their dance. Tori's hands and fingernails raked back and forth across my back, finally sliding down to cup my ass cheeks as our pleasure built, my movements becoming like a pile driver into her pussy. Her moans came faster and louder, pushing me on, urging me to resist the temptation to let go, to give her every bit of myself and my love that I could, even as I saw her face, a mix of love and intense concentration, trying to last until I was as ready as she was.

That point came when I felt her tense, her eyes squeezing shut and her nails digging into my buttocks; I bottomed out against her and exploded, sending pulse after pulse into her depths before dropping down atop her to hold her tight as I whispered my love and she gave me hers.

*****

As we lay snuggling in bed sometime afterward, I asked, "When do you want to get married? You know that's going to be one of the first questions your parents are going to ask when we tell them after we get home."

Tori stretched and planted a little kiss on my chest. "Hmm. I'd like time to be able to put together a nice wedding but I'd prefer to not have a really long engagement. You're 36-years old now and I'm 34, so I'd rather do it sooner to give us some time to settle in and give us plenty of time to, ahem, have our babies."

We both smiled at that thought, having previously agreed, at least hypothetically if we were to get married, that we wanted children.

"We're still talking at least two, right? With lots and lots of practice?"

"Oh, definitely," she giggled. "Or maybe three? You know, unless we have twins or triplets, it takes time to rack up two or three so I'd just prefer not to be fighting my biological clock since I don't know how long it will be before it winds down."

I understood that; we'd also discussed the possible risks to the children of waiting too long as we grew closer and started discussing marriage more seriously.

"I'm glad your mom lives nearby. Since she's retired from her job and the way she's talked about wanting grandkids nearby in the past--"

"Hinting," snickered Tori.

"--I imagine that she may want to take care of our kids sometimes to cut down on the amount of time they're going to be in daycare."

Tori raised her head up a bit to look at me and gave me a little frown.

"What?" I asked, not sure what was going through her head. "You know it would be really difficult for you to run the company if you're trying to take care of our kids. Unless you want me to stay home, of course--you are the boss, after all, so I guess I could be a stay-at-home dad for a few years. Then again, we could build an onsite daycare center, but even then, it's still daycare."

Tori's frown deepened a bit and she leaned over, placing her chin on my chest. "Mitch?"

"What's wrong?

"Mom, and Dad, will be glad to take care of our kids sometimes, even sometimes when we need a romantic getaway sort of like this, but Mom in particular wants grandkids that live nearby to dote on, to play with, and to send home, not to have to take care of as a job every day."

"Yeah, that makes sense and I wouldn't want us to impose. I just thought based on what she'd said and since you'll be running the firm--"

"Hmm. Let's talk about that. Sometime after we get married and I get pregnant, well, I'm thinking of stepping down as president."

"What?" This was unexpected. She'd worked so hard and was doing so well running the firm.

She had a wide smile as she ran a finger in a figure 8--or maybe an infinity, like our love?--over my chest. "Figuring that we might be getting married one of these days, Mom, Uncle Sonny, Brad, and I had another board meeting shortly before we left for our trip. We all think you're ready to take over as company president on Day One after I resign without all of the coddling and prodding and on-the-job training that I needed." She grinned. "I know, it took you guys probably as much effort as it took me, but you won't have to go through that. You'll be able to get everything done and still be home early enough to play."

She kissed me.

"With the kids."

She kissed me again as her hand drifted down under the sheet.

"And play with me."

With her hand caressing me, I felt the urge to play with her returning quicker than I'd expected but I was really surprised at part of what she'd said. I kissed her back and kept my hand cupped against her cheek. "That's wonderful news and I really appreciate the trust, but what about a Murphy or a Kraus running the firm? You all seemed to think that was really important when Sonny stepped down."

She laughed and placed her other hand over mine, her thumb caressing me.

"Mitch, it's a family owned and family operated firm so we'd like for a member of the family to run it, if possible, but it's not a strict requirement. Uncle Sonny considered naming Neill Barton to take over when he had to retire from day-to-day operations, but he was worried, based on the outsourcing work Neill did, that he'd take chances and might hurt the firm's reputation and the firm itself in the long run. When Neill couldn't even accept me in the position and started grumbling, Uncle Sonny's doubts grew so we were actually glad when Neill left on his own, despite the fact that I never planned to run the firm forever."

"I didn't know that," I said in surprise and with some hesitation.

In hindsight, I understood what she meant about Neill. I hadn't been with the firm when the move toward outsourcing of new products was made, but I'd heard tales from Sonny about some of the quality control issues that had to be overcome before it became successful, and I'd dealt with numerous additional issues during my time as head of the QC department to make sure we delivered a quality product every time.

"You didn't plan to stay as president?" I added.

"Yeah, as long as I was needed, but I never saw myself still there running things at Uncle Sonny's age. As much as I find filters, gaskets, lights, and all of the other parts we produce fascinating--"

I chuckled.

"--I was always more into service and helping clients rather than making things for them. I'd have stepped down eventually, handing the reins over to Neill or someone we could trust."

"So if Neill had continued to work hard and been more patient and accepting of you, he might have gotten his chance after all?"

"That was the thought, but we wanted to make sure he was all-in for the company and not just all-in for Neill."

My head flopped back on the pillow as I thought about all of my conversations with Neill, about all of the times I'd told him to have patience. I chuckled again, knowing that Neill would never hear the secret Tori told me.

"Mitch? That doesn't quite cover everything, though." She lightly drummed those nails on my chest and then circled a fingertip around my nipple as I turned to look at her again. "When we marry, you'll be part of our family, so if you think about it, nothing will have really changed and the company will still be run by?"

She stretched the last word out as an obvious prompt and I took the hint, saying, "A member of the family! The Murphy-Kraus-Decker family!"

Tori was nodding and smiling as if it had been obvious all along, and maybe it was to everyone but me. That was soon forgotten though as she puckered her lips and I leaned up to connect with her. Between the kisses that followed and our roaming hands, passions soared once more and it wasn't long before she threw her leg over me and eased back on my renewed hardness.

My heart was smiling, too, as we started rocking together while looking into each other's eyes. It had been a wild ride getting from our crazy little 'love-at-first-sight' to true, forever love, but we were both very happy about the way everything turned out in the end. While this was the end to that journey, I smiled even wider as we made love, knowing that we were now blessed with a brand-new beginning together.

The End

_______________

Endnotes:

Thanks again for reading. Your ratings, favorites, comments, and follows are greatly appreciated. I hope you'll also take the opportunity to sample many of the other Legends Day, Once More stories and let those writers know your thoughts as well.

Randi often uses a musical theme for her events but this time the theme was left open. In case it wasn't obvious, I chose Queen's 1979 hit, "A Crazy Little Thing Called Love" for a bit of inspiration.