Crazy Seduction(erotica)

Sigrid’s face flushed with anger. She hated that he seemed to be so well connected but did nothing with the information unless it benefited him directly.

“What little crisis?” Camila asked cautiously.

“Someone of great import in the Fae Royal Court was discovered dead this morning in a magically shielded building near Newark Bay. The body was badly disfigured then crushed under cement blocks. It was reported that items of great value belonging to this court official were taken as well.” Walter said with an edge of excitement in his voice, no doubt he wanted these items.

“Are charges being filed?” Sigrid asked.

“Strangely they seem to be holding off on that for the time being. A request has been made to speak to ‘a person of interest’ said to have been at the location at the time to determine what may or may not have occurred,” Walter offered casually.

“The person of interest?” Camila asked cautiously.

“A new employee of VRL. One Stanley Garin,” Walter replied.

“I see,” Camila sighed. It was both better and worse than she hoped. The Fae weren’t filing charges with the Hidden Races Council so they wanted to keep this out of the court system. She wasn’t sure if that was safer for Stanley or not. His official standing amongst the Hidden Races had yet to be defined. The courts would make that determination… if he was introduced to them. His anonymity which they’d been protecting for, to be honest, less than selfless reasons may now have become a hindrance to keeping him safe.

“Are you going to introduce your new employee to me? Is he there?” Walter asked.

“Don’t you know the answer to that too?” Sigrid growled before Camila could stop her.

Walter chuckled. “Ah Ms. Gunderan, so protective. Such an exemplary Head of Human Resources though the title is… demeaning. I see many, many things but I value privacy too as you know.”

“I’m not convinced of that. How many fingers am I holding up?” Sigrid said as she flipped the bird towards the phone.

He chuckled again. “I assume one and a rude gesture at that.” Marisa’s eyes were wide with surprise.

Camila glared at her friend. “Sorry Walter. To get back to the matter at hand, we were just talking about making that introduction. We will speak with him about it when he returns… from his attempt to gather some crucial information. I should let you know now, this involves not only the Queen of the Fae but a certain master level witch.”

“My, you are moving in deep currents,” Walter said cautiously.

“By happenstance, not intent,” Camila assured him.

“Are you looking for an expedient exit?” Walter asked in a curious tone.

“No!” Sigrid blurted before Camila could block her.

“No, we’ve made a major, long term investment in this particular employee and intend to see that through,” Camila replied, staring Sigrid down.

“I see.” Walter’s interest in Stanley was evident. “Well then by all means bring him around at your earliest convenience so I might meet the young gentleman who inspires such fierce devotion in his fellow executives.”Published by Nôv'elD/rama.Org.

“Thank you, Walter. Goodbye.” Camila said and shut the connection before Sigrid could respond.

“Antagonizing Walter doesn’t make the task of protecting Stanley any easier!” she barked at Sigrid.

“I’m sorry but I don’t trust him!” Sigrid growled back.

“Neither do I but of all of us, he stands the best chance of mediating a cease fire amongst these bigger players.”

“I’ve never met him, have I?” Marisa asked her mother.

Camila smiled. “No, Walter rarely leaves his home. He’s a bit of a recluse. He finds using a disguise to be demeaning.”

“Do you really think he can help Stanley?” she asked her mother who nodded.

“The question is, will he. And at what cost,” Sigrid added. She shared a worried look with Camila.

Sandy was in the staff room sitting on the bench by her locker. She’d just finished a long overnight shift and was preparing to go home when Roger slammed through the door with his cell phone in his hand. She yelped in surprise.

“Sandy! Thank god you haven’t left yet!”

“Roger, please, I’m exhausted. I don’t want to see any titty pics or videos of animals eating people. I just want to go home,” she moaned. Even her flyaway hair was limp this morning.

He looked at her in confusion then shook his head. “No, no! It’s not that! I just came across a video someone shot of a sidewalk abduction in Manhattan last night. The footage is a little rough-”

“Did you not hear me? I’m tired! I want to go home! Show me tomorrow night at my place when we get together for Stanley’s movie night,” she growled and gave him a baleful look.

“That’s just it, see! I think the guy being abducted is Stanley! Look!” he said excitedly holding out the phone.

She gave him another skeptical look, fully expecting to see a clip of someone flashing their tits. It wouldn’t be the first time he’d done it. The video clip started with a pretty woman walking along the sidewalk towards the camera. She was smiling and Sandy was about to growl at Roger when the woman’s expression went from smile to worry. The camera spun to see what she was looking at. It showed the front of a wine shop and someone walking out the door with a computer bag like Stanley’s over his shoulder and carrying a bag of wine bottles in one hand. In profile the man certainly looked like Stanley. Then someone standing by the shop’s front window leapt forward to shove him hard. He dropped the wine and fell forward towards the open side door of the white van. Hands from inside grabbed him and yanked him inside as the one who shoved him followed him, slamming the door closed. The van peeled away from the curb and the video ended.

Sandy shook her head. That couldn’t have been Stanley. She hit the replay button and watched the movie a second time, then a third to pause it when the man could be seen in profile. The video wasn’t terribly sharp but the more she watched it the more convinced she was that it was Stanley. She pushed an errant strand of her hair from the screen.

She looked at Roger who was squirming with tension. “I think that’s Stanley-”

“GOD! Yes! I knew it!” Roger exploded in relief.

The door pushed open to admit Dayshia and Tish who was holding her own cell phone horizontally, playing the video. They both had worried expressions.

“Did you see-” Tish began then saw Roger bouncing on his toes and Sandy sharing their worry.

“Could it be a prank? A hazing ritual?” Dayshia asked.

“COME ON! Did you see how hard that guy hit Stanley from behind?!?” Roger gasped incredulously.

“The video is making the rounds and the police are asking for assistance in identifying the guy ‘potentially’ being abducted,” Tish said as she read the details under the video. “No one has been reported as missing.”

Roger grabbed his phone back but Sandy grabbed his hand before he could start typing a response to the post.

“Hold on! Before we embarrass Stanley let me see if I can reach him. He just went through an ordeal of some kind in Japan. If this isn’t him it might cause him a lot of additional grief,” she said sternly.

“But they’re asking a question I know the answer to!” Roger whined, desperate to add his voice to the online community’s request.

“Roger! Grow a pair!” Tish barked.

He stuck his tongue out at the tall brunette but pocketed his phone begrudgingly.

“Do you know his phone number?” Dayshia asked.

Sandy frowned. “No, but he works at VRL Investments. This time of day he’s probably on his way to work. I’ll call his office when I get home.” She was quiet for a moment. “It makes no sense. How could it be Stanley? Who could possibly want to abduct him?” she muttered. She played with her hair as that seemed to make her feel a little better these days.

Roger’s eyes were wide. “He works in an investment house and he’s in charge of their technology? Haven’t you seen any movies from this decade? Cyber-crime is the new frontier for the criminal element. Stanley could give them back door access to their accounting system and siphon off millions!”

“Maybe you’ve seen too many movies from this decade,” Tish told Roger with a frown but she was worried just the same.

“It could be organized crime from Russia or any of the European countries!” Roger enthused.

“You’re not making me feel any better about this,” Sandy growled. She huffed and looked into the anxious eyes of her friends. They hadn’t known Stanley for long and really didn’t know him at all but they had a really good feeling about him. She could see they were concerned about him and that made her like them even more. They were good people. Just like Stanley was.

“Maybe I’ll head over to VRL before heading home,” she said and they all smiled.

“We’ll come with you,” Dayshia said.

Sandy felt better about that too.

Stanley stood in front of his old bus stop in human form, dressed in the loose track pants, sweat shirt and running shoes Mr. Duncan picked up for him in a 24-hour big box store. He was looking down at the new section of concrete sidewalk that stretched out ahead of him where the old lane way used to be. In the light of a new dawn there was no sign of the old gravel side road that led down into the swamp. He turned to look to where the road used to go and there was no sign of the swamp. Instead a huge billboard showed an image of a new industrial park to be built on the freshly bulldozed mound of dirt that buried the wetland… and his childhood.

Mr. Duncan set the blinkers on the truck and joined Stanley on the sidewalk. “Fuck, it’s all gone.” He glanced at Stanley’s stricken expression and immediately felt bad for his callous words. “I’m really sorry Stanley.”

“Can- can you give me a minute?” Stanley mumbled as he stared out over the expanse of flattened dirt.

“Sure,” Roy said quietly and went back into the truck.

Stanley walked behind the glass booth of the bus shelter and touched the graffiti doodles he’d added to the back of the metal corner posts when he was much younger. He felt a wave of relief wash through him. It was proof that his childhood existed. He rested his forehead against the cool metal and closed his eyes.

“Baba, why?” he said in anguish.

“Everyone wants to know why.”

His eyes snapped opened and the old woman was sitting on the bench inside the shelter. Glancing at Mr. Duncan, he saw the man seemed oblivious to her presence.

Stanley rushed around to the opening, keeping his eyes on her. She was looking back at him with an unhappy frown.