I had just turned thirty when this happened, before my liaison with my brother, and I'm not proud of it. I was the only "girl" in a software group and got my share of attention because of that. It wasn't always welcome, but this was before #MeToo. My coping method was to play along, and I admit to a fair amount of flirting. The Christmas party took place on a Wednesday night in mid-December. Most everybody was there with...

Chapter Forty-Five While Mac and Grace thoroughly enjoyed playing tourists in their city with the Becker Family, it was time for everyone to get back to work. After bidding their friends goodbye, Mac checked in with his lawyer, Michael Stone, to see if he had any news about Bakary Konen, the man from Grace’s past who was trying to blackmail her. While Mac’s inner rage wanted to go after Bakary personally and castrate the...

It was a late Saturday night, and I was down at my friend’s house for some drinks and a good time - your typical Saturday night shenanigans. It was me, my mate Mason, and a few other friends there along with his little sister. His parents had gone interstate for the weekend and had left the house to them. I usually enjoyed these nights and Uni had also finished for the year, so it should've made it that much better. For s...

Relieving the tension Approaching the house, I see it’s dark. Why isn’t Laurie home? She’s always home by this time. I open the door and reach for the light switch. A hand grabs my wrist, and a woman’s voice says, “Not so fast, buddy.” I almost swing at the source of the voice, but I’m glad I don’t — it’s Laurie! “What the hell, babe? I thought you were a robber.” “I might as well be. Because you’re had. Up against the wa...

The radio said it was 110 degrees, a record-breaking heat, as Dane sat on the highway in his rebuilt 1968 Chevelle, wondering if he would ever get home. Traffic was crawling along at a snail’s pace. Did you ever wonder if you can actually call it driving if you are not pushing the gas pedal but, rather, just taking your foot off the brake and rolling? This is what he was pondering when the worst happened – smoke started t...

I was leaving for a year’s leave to study and teach at two German universities. Unlike business travellers, I was not pressed for time. The travel agent had secured for me not only a cheaper but a, possibly, more interesting flight. Its first leg was Melbourne to Manila, a two-day stop-over, and then an Air Pakistan flight to Frankfurt. At Melbourne Airport, next to me in the luggage queue were two young women. We started...

I’ve been divorced for over a decade.  Left my annoying as fuck wife, moved to southern Oregon, and immersed myself into the local culture; a little redneck, a little hippie, a little woo-woo, a little folks-with-money-who-don’t-flaunt-it.  Most of my friends fell into the first three categories, and many of those ladies satisfied my sexual urges without any hope of anything beyond that.  I also made a few friends, all ha...

My cell phone rang.  Along with the number was a name, indicating the caller was in my contacts list.  Judy.  I’d forgotten I had added her back when we were working out schedules so I could look at a car she had for sale.  That was a few months ago.  She was around forty-six according to things she’d said.  She wasn’t super sexy physically, although for having three kids she looked pretty good, but she just had an air ab...