Linzer Ch. 02

"I'm glad that you're happy, too. You deserve it. But I'm surprised that you haven't gotten married, have kids. You'd be a great husband and I bet you'd be great with kids."

"I guess that it's hard for me to let people in. I don't trust people until I know them well. Are they interested in me or my bank account? Do they understand my introversion? Are they trying to steal my ideas? So, it's kind of a vicious cycle—I can't commit until I get to know someone, but I can't get to know someone without committing. But yeah, I'd love to find someone, and I would love to have a couple of kids."

It was quiet again, and I realized that I hadn't been so honest with a woman—with anyone, for that matter—for a long time.

"Tater, it's like high school again—you're overthinking things again. I wish I could help again, but I don't think I know anyone who is right for what you need, this time."

I laughed. "That's OK, Linzer. You did plenty for me the last time." She chuckled. "But maybe I need to be more open to people—women, I mean."

"Well. Until you find someone, I'm going to hold you to those regular meetings to discuss the charity. And to pretend to have a quieter life for a couple of days. I can handle it for a couple of days. As long as I can handle this," she grabbed my cock, which began to stiffen, "during those days."

"I'm OK with that."

Lindsay rolled over and straddled me. "Think you are up for more?" She wiggled her hips. "Oh, it seems that you are."

I was.

***

Early the next morning, I opened my eyes, and surprisingly, Lindsay was still asleep. She was an astonishingly sexy woman, and knowing that we would be parting for at least a while, if not actually forever, I watched her sleep for a few seconds before showering and dressing, as quietly as possible, so as not to wake her up. I suspected that she would appreciate the quiet time alone.

No one had arrived in the living room yet, so I ordered room service, made myself a cup of coffee and started sending out texts and emails. Engrossed in my plan to escape this velvet prison, I didn't realize right away that Lindsay was hovering behind me, looking over my shoulder. And when I did notice, and turned to look at her, I was pleasantly surprised to see that she was completely naked, with a bad case of bed head. I sort of felt honored that she was willing to let me see her this way.

"Genius plan, Tater. I like it."

There was a knock on the door. "Room service."

Lindsay retreated to the bedroom while I let the guy roll the cart in. She returned, when he was gone, in her robe, with her hair brushed out. We sat and ate quietly, knowing that this relative peace was not going to last long.

"You want to get this going soon, right?" she asked, before spearing a piece of green honeydew on her fork.

I took a swig of excellent coffee and had a bite of bagel. "I do. They're on their way here. But I need you to let security know to let them in."

Lindsay swallowed, and reached into her robe pocket for her phone, unlocked it, and sent a text.

We ate mostly in silence, remarking mostly about the food. I finished my coffee, packed up my new clothes and computer, and waited. Not long after that, there was a knock on the door. "Mr. Bynum, the exterminator is here."

I opened the door, and a tall, muscular black man, in white coveralls with the logo of Zapp's Exterminators entered the room. He was holding a small duffle bag, which he handed to me. "I'm Lucas," he said, in a deep voice, and reached out to shake my hand. I unzipped the bag, removed an identical set of coveralls, and put them on over my clothes. I pulled out a mask, and set it on my head and filled the duffel with my stuff.

The man watched me, but of course glanced over to the gorgeous blonde sitting at the table. "Is that--?"

"It is," I interrupted. He looked at me with, it appeared, increased respect, smiled, but said nothing.

I walked back to Lindsay, gave her a quick kiss, and said, "Good bye. Give my best to Lillian and Ted."

"We'll be in touch, Tater." She flashed me that smile that so often graced magazine covers, but maybe there was a bit of sadness in her eyes. Or maybe I just wanted to see some.

"Definitely, Linzer. Be good."

"You, too."

I grabbed my duffel and followed Lucas out of the suite into the hallway. As we walked, he turned to me, and said, quietly, "OK, Mr. Bynum, I have to ask..."

***

Twenty minutes later, a white van from Zapp's Exterminators pulled up in front of my building. Surprisingly, there were still a large number of reporters and what appeared to be regular people, actually hoping for a glimpse of me. All of us in the back of the van put on our masks, and exited, heading for the service entrance. No one paid us any attention.

Once we were inside the building's basement, I removed my mask, thanked Lucas and his crew, handed him most of the money in my wallet as a tip above the fee I had negotiated with Ernie Zapowski, the owner of the company, and took off my coverall. I offered it to Lucas, who laughed and said, "Keep it, Mr. Bynum. You certainly paid for it, and you never know if you'll need it again."

I smiled and tossed it over my shoulder before saying good bye. They were going to hang out in the basement for a reasonable amount of time, before leaving, and I turned toward the service elevator to head up to my apartment. It felt good being home again. Looking around, everything seemed to be the same as it was when I left for my lawyer's office. I went to my bedroom, dropped my bag on the bed and changed into some comfortable clothing before going to my home office and checking my email.

Later that evening, after a quiet dinner alone, I was online, and the Internet was exploding with reports that Lindsay Applewood scandalously allowed one of her ample, near perfect, breasts (the left one) to peek out of the dress that she was wearing at a benefit for a children's charity. That it was a children's charity seemed to make everyone even more exercised, despite the fact that there wasn't a child within a mile of the place and the youngest people actually there were the trophy wives and husbands of the wealthy donors. Also, everyone seemed all worked up about the fact that she was escorted to the event not by some former prom date Internet geek recluse, but by handsome, up and coming actor Brent Cannon, whose first major starring role, in a big budget adaptation of that famous dead author's posthumous best seller, was being released in a few months.

All of a sudden, it seemed really quiet and empty in my apartment. I buzzed down to the security desk, and Serena informed me that the crowd was gone. It seemed that I was free again to live my life under the radar, where I was most comfortable. I turned on the TV, to create some background noise, and returned to the Internet, looking to see if my name, or the "Mystery Man" was still trending. It wasn't, and it seemed that the Mystery Man was forgotten.

***

Downtown, in her bedroom at the 9, Lindsay Applewood lay under the impressively sculpted body of Brent Cannon, as he thrust into her ineffectually. "A pinky was a generous estimate," she thought to herself. He was, she thought, good looking, and definitely a nice guy, but in bed, he was a dud, and certainly was no Tater. She pretended to moan with pleasure as Brent thrust faster, but her mind wandered to the last few days, and prom night. And then, right before he grunted and finished, she thought about heading back home to Los Angeles, and the launch party for her new line of thongs.