Song of Euphoria

"Ouch! What the hell do you think you're doing?" she screeched.

"You made a date with me, and you're going to keep it, like it or not. I don't take too kindly to people going back on their word, so get inside and behave yourself, or I'll give you more of the same," he responded, in a tone of voice unexpectedly stern and authoritative.

Megan was aghast, she had never in her young life experienced that sort of treatment, not even from Sam. She was stunned to the point where she entered the truck and sat obediently while Greg closed the door and made his way around to the driver's side and hopped in.

He quickly started it up and began pulling out of the driveway. By that time the shock had worn off and Megan decided that she had better issue another protest quickly or it would be too late. "Let me out of here! You, you, kidnapper!" Megan protested, half-heartedly.

Greg stopped the truck at the end of the driveway, glared into Megan's eyes, and calmly, but sternly, stated, "You either behave or I'm going to take you over my knee and spank your cute little ass like I would any spoiled little brat, understand?"

Megan saw the stern, serious look in his eyes, and heard the decisiveness in his voice. She wanted to jump out of the truck, but was a little frightened. She was totally unsure of what to expect from him, and decided that she had better play along for the time being. "OK, I'll shut up, but you've got to let me change clothes, I can't go out anywhere in these rags," she stated rather meekly.

"You look just fine, we're going as we are," he stated firmly, as he pulled out onto the street.

Megan crossed her arms across her chest, moved as far from Greg as she could and pouted silently all the way to the theater.

Greg smiled and thought to himself, 'This is going to be worth it, she likes her man to be assertive and in control, and I fully intend to be her man.'

Megan couldn't believe her own behavior, 'What the hell am I doing? Why am I letting this clod push me around? Why am I letting him get away with this? I don't believe this is really happening to me, it must be a bad dream.'

The brevity of her situation hit her as she realized that they were in Greg's territory, away from the mansion and in the middle of town. Given the fact that she was in foreign territory, she decided that she had no choice but to continue to play along. Besides, much to her surprise, she didn't feel at all uncomfortable or threatened with him in his beat-up old truck. As pissed as she was at his brazenness, she felt safe with him; Greg seemed to have a very calming effect on her.

She also felt something that she had never felt before, something that she couldn't explain. Whatever it was, it was getting her excited and aroused, she felt tingly all over and could feel that her nipples had hardened, and the increasing dampness in her crotch area was most noticeable. 'My God! I've never felt this before,' she thought, as she tried to understand how and why she was feeling so good, considering the circumstances, there was no logical reason for it.

The movie experience was uneventful, as they sat side by side, with Greg taking Megan's hand in his and holding it throughout the entire movie. She didn't object, and found that she enjoyed the feel of his strong, callused hand. However, she sat there, pretending to pout with her nose stuck up in the air, while secretly enjoying his company.

After the movie, they proceeded to the Burger Palace, as Megan griped and let him know that she wanted to go home. Greg let her know that this was part of the date, and that she was going to go along with it, or else suffer the spanking that he had threatened earlier. Megan succumbed to his not-so-gentle persuasion again, but not without a few snotty huffs.

As they sat across from one another in a booth, several of Greg's friends came over to say hello, hoping to meet the unfamiliar beauty. Greg introduced each of them, and Megan, continuing her snotty behavior, turned her nose up and barely acknowledged them.

With what could have been a twinge of jealousy, one of Greg's female friends, Sandy, responded to Megan's snub. She glared at Megan and said, "Well, looks like you have a real winner tonight, Greg. Surely you can do better than snotty miss priss, here."

Megan glared right back, unafraid of the confrontation, "Look, bitch, keep your uncouth opinions to yourself, or I'll scratch your eyes out!"

Sandy was shocked and stunned, she turned and walked off in a huff without saying another word.

Greg smiled, and thought to himself, 'I like her feistiness, she's very capable of handling her own problems. She merely needs to channel her energies and feistiness in the right direction.'

They finished their snacks without further interruption, and proceeded back to the Carlson mansion. They walked up to the front door, hand in hand. When they arrived at the stoop, Greg turned her toward him, put his right arm around her back and his left had on the back of her head, pulled her to him and kissed her firmly on the lips. The kiss was a firm and loving one, and just as Megan began to succumb to the kiss and raise her arms to Greg's neck, he broke contact and moved slightly away from her.

"Tomorrow we're going on a picnic up to the lake with some of my friends. I'll pack the food, just be ready at 2:00. Dress appropriately for the outdoors, and, oh, yes, unless you want to go swimming in the nude, bring a swimsuit," he told, not asked, her.

"But, I..."

Before she had a chance to respond, he pulled her closer and kissed her once again. This time she put her arms around his neck and opened her mouth. They probed each other mouths with their tongues for several minutes.

Greg finally broke the passionate kiss, pulled away and said, "See you at 2:00." He turned and left Megan standing there a little weak-kneed.

Megan was in a major turmoil, 'Wow! He's something else! I've never, ever, been kissed like that. I've never felt like this, what's happening to me?' Deep down in her subconscious she knew the answer to her question, but continued to fight it, and remained in denial, but her resolve wasn't nearly as strong as it had been a few hours earlier.

Her conscious mind tried to fight her attraction to Greg, but her subconscious had already conceded to the fact that she cared for him, deeply. He had stirred feelings in her that she hadn't ever before experienced in her young life, very good feelings.

Come 2:00 Sunday, Megan was ready when Greg arrived. She had battled herself most of the night, and her attraction to Greg won out over the logic of the situation. 'I'll give it one more try,' she thought, 'then I'll be able to make up my mind about him.'

They drove out to the lake and joined Greg's friends; five other couples in all, the male half of which were in the process of setting up a volleyball net. After spreading his blanket, Greg went to join them. Megan sat on the blanket and watched as they completed the job in short order. Greg returned to Megan and asked if she'd like to play, as they were planning a mixed-couples game. She refused, as he expected, and he left her to herself.

As the game progressed, she noticed that the sides were unbalanced due to the fact that she was the only one not playing. She loved volleyball, as she had played on her prep school team, and was pretty good at it, if she had to say so herself. She was itching to play, but her stubbornness kept her from joining in. Soon it was obvious that the short-handed team was losing miserably because of their 'womanpower' disadvantage.

It wasn't long before Jerry, Greg's best friend and one of the guys she had met the night before, yelled over, "C'mon Megan, we need you, they're killing us."

That was all the coaxing she needed, she jumped up and joined in. The tide turned in a hurry, as her skills prevailed. She forgot all about the fact that she was mingling with common townspeople, and had herself a great time. She was not only civil to everybody, but after being heavily complimented on her volleyball skills, she began to feel like she fit in.

Even Sandy came up to her, and after telling Megan how she was the best female player there, apologized for what she had said the previous evening.

"It's I who should be apologizing to you for my snotty behavior. Can we start over and maybe even be friends?" Megan responded.

"Yes, Megan, I'd like to be your friend. Any friend of Greg's is a friend of mine." They hugged each other warmly and walked back to the group together.

The group sat around for awhile chatting and getting to know Megan, and Megan them, exchanging information and jokes. She took a bit of teasing for her behavior the previous evening, but took it in stride, and dished out a few teasing comments herself.

They ate, swam for awhile, and after dark built a large fire. They roasted marsh mellows and hot dogs and ate again. Soon Jerry pulled out his guitar and they all began singing a few well-known campfire songs, and Megan enthusiastically joined in.

One thing that Megan couldn't help but notice was that there was no alcohol. All of the liquid refreshments were soft drinks, and she liked that. She guessed that some of the people were of legal drinking age, and some were not. The lack of alcohol went a long way towards convincing her that Greg and his friends were good, sensible people.

Another thing that became very obvious to her was that Greg was the unassuming leader of the group. His friends liked and respected him, and they followed his lead. He didn't take control over them; they merely looked to him for guidance.

'This isn't a rowdy bunch of hicks, like I thought all townspeople were,' she thought to herself. 'They're just normal, good, people who enjoy having good, clean fun. There's no pretense here, they're comfortable with who they are. I should feel out of place, but I don't. I'm glad that I came, I'm having a great time.'

She snuggled close to Greg and he pulled her closer with his right arm as she put her head on his shoulder. 'Ummm, this feels so good,' she thought.

Greg had a difficult time suppressing a self-satisfied smirk. The real Megan, the one that he knew existed beneath her snobbish façade, had emerged, and he loved it, and her.

Megan's conscious and subconscious minds were finally in agreement. She knew, and accepted, why she felt the way she did, she was head-over-heels in love with Greg. She needn't try to deny it any longer.

The picnic broke up about midnight, and after the fire was completely extinguished, she and Greg headed back to the mansion. "Greg, I had a great time today, thanks for everything."

Greg smiled, glanced over at her and said, "I'm glad, Megan, I had a wonderful time, too, mostly because you were here with me."

It was Megan's turn to smile, as she said, "You were serious that night we first met, when you told me that we were meant for one another, weren't you?"

"Yes, you're a very beautiful and very special young woman."

"You also knew that I felt something that night, too, something that I didn't understand, and it scared me?"

"Yes, I could see it in your eyes, they're very expressive."

"You probably also know that I've been fighting my attraction to you."

"Yes, considering our differences in backgrounds, I expected you to fight it."

"Well, I want you to know that I'm not fighting it anymore, I've become convinced that you were right that night, I'm yours as long as you want me, Greg, and I'll never again try to deny it."

Greg smiled, glanced at her again, and offered, "Megan, I've loved you from that first moment that I saw the soft, loving look in your eyes, and I'm determined to dedicate myself to making you happy. I want you, and love you, now and forever."

"Oh Greg, I love you too."

Greg pulled over to the side of the road, took her into his arms and they kissed passionately for several minutes, then just held one another for what seemed like hours, but was only ten or fifteen more minutes.

Finally, the reality of the time and the expectation of some serious grief from her mother prompted Megan to say, "Greg, I love you and I love being in your arms, but I need to be getting home, my mom will be worried."

"I know, we're off, we're probably going to have a tough enough time with her as it is," he scooted back to the drivers side and they sped off toward the mansion.

They kissed again at the front door, until Megan broke away, "I'd ask you in, but it's much too late, please call me tomorrow."

"OK, tomorrow it is," Greg responded as he bounded down the steps and back to the truck. The bluebirds were whistling that tune again, and this time with even more gusto than before, and the words to that wonderful song were running through his mind, 'Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah, Zip-A-Dee-Ay, my, oh my, what a wonderful day...'

Maybe not so coincidentally, again, the same bluebirds and tune were running through Megan's head, 'Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah, Zip-A-Dee-Ay, my, oh my, what a wonderful day...' The bluebirds had apparently changed course and headed north again.

Were Greg and Megan on the same wavelength, or what?

Megan entered the front door only to find Amelia waiting for her in the study, and suddenly the bluebirds disappeared again. "Oh, oh, I'm in trouble now,' she thought.

"Megan, please come in here, we need to talk," Amelia said.

Expecting a major confrontation, Megan took a deep breath and proceeded into the study and took a seat across from her mother. She looked at Amelia and saw a serious, but not an angry look, which puzzled her somewhat.

"Megan, you probably think that I'm going to admonish you, but I'm not. I want to get something out in the open between us, so that you'll be able to understand me a little better. First off, let me ask you a question, you like Greg a lot, don't you?"

"Yes, mother, I know now that I love him very much."

Even more surprisingly, Amelia responded with, "I thought so, well, I'm not going to tell you that you're making a mistake, I'm not going to tell you that he's not good enough for you, and I'm not going to tell you that you can't see him again. Surprised?"

"Yes, very," Megan responded with a very wide-eyed look of disbelief on her face.

"Well, let me tell you the story of Sam and Amelia. I married your father because he was rich. My own inept father had squandered our family fortune, and I wanted to find a man with money so that I could maintain my family's social status."

"I liked him, and maybe even loved him, but didn't know it at the time. I felt that he was beneath me, socially, but he had the money that I needed. Even though I felt that he was inferior, I could tell that he was a good man, a fair man, and he seemed to adore me. Put those together, and I accepted his proposal, which came after a short courtship."

"I can't tell you how long it took, but my feelings toward your father changed over time. I got to know him, and found out that he was an even better human being than I had originally thought. Admittedly, I was a snob, which he detested, but he put up with me anyway. He also hated the fact that I tried to make you into a snob, and we had many heated discussions over that. However, he didn't hold any of that against me, he still treated me like a queen."

"The bottom line here is that I learned to love your father, very deeply, and I'm so much happier with him than I ever would have been had I married someone whom I considered my equal, socially. Yes, I tried to get you to find a man in our social standing, but what's really important is to find someone that you love and who loves you."

"Your father has convinced me that Greg is a very special young man, someone who is destined to achieve big things, and that makes this conversation much easier for me, because I want you to have the best things in life."

"Oh, mother! I'm so happy that you feel that way, I do love him so much," Megan said, as she went to Amelia and hugged her for dear life, as the tears of happiness formed in her eyes.

Amelia hugged Megan as tightly as Megan hugged her, and she had trouble holding back the tears, as well. As they were in their tight embrace, Amelia said, "I want you to invite him over to the house for dinner again soon, I'm afraid I didn't behave very well at our first meeting and I'd like a chance to apologize and make up for it. I don't want to start off on the wrong foot with my future son-in-law."

They both smiled through the tears, and Megan responded, "Oh yes, mother, yes. I'm so very happy."

Sam was so pleased with the progress of the relationship between Megan and Greg, that he was practically giddy. He had assessed that Greg was a special young man that first day that they had met, and everything that Greg had done since then merely reaffirmed his original assessment. He had high hopes for Greg, not only in becoming his son-in-law, but in becoming involved in the business, also. He had been looking for someone like Greg for several years, and was extremely happy and pleased with himself to have finally found him.

Tuesday at 1:00 PM, Greg showed up at Sam's office, they greeted one another, shook hands warmly and sat down. Greg wondered why Sam wanted to see him, he had said it was business, and had nothing to do with Megan, so what could it be?

Sam knew that Greg had too much pride to accept charity, therefore, he had to be careful to phrase his offer in such a way as to assure Greg that charity was not involved, which was the truth.

"Greg, I've given this subject much thought and I want to prefix what I'm going to say with an emphasis on the fact that what I'm about to offer you is not charity, or nepotism, in any form, and it has nothing to do with your relationship with Megan."

Greg was a little astonished, he hadn't expected to be offered anything.

Sam went on, "Greg, I've known you a very short time, but I've come to believe that you're a very special person, a person that I'd love to have in my business. Would you be interested in working in my company?"

"You caught me by surprise, but yes, I'm interested in hearing more. I won't be able to answer that question until I've heard what you had in mind," Greg responded.

"Absolutely, here's my proposal, I want to offer you a series of positions which would enable you to learn every facet of the business, a specialized on-the-job training program, if you will. You would start at an entry-level position and work your way up the ladder. My thoughts are that it might take 1 to 2 years to complete, at the end of that time I would want, and expect, you to become my personal assistant for another, year or two. How does that sound?"

Greg was doubly astonished, and he replied, "I'm overwhelmed, why would you do this for me?"

"I'm not doing it for you Greg, I'm doing it for myself and the business. You see, I want to retire someday soon, and when I do, I want to leave the business in good hands. Until we met, I hadn't found anyone that I felt was able to run the business in the manner that I would like. You're the most capable person that I've met in years, I'd have no problem trusting you with the business, or anything else, including my daughter, for that matter."

Sam went on, "Capability has nothing to do with formal education, whatever education you'll need will come from learning the business, from the ground floor up. You have that special quality of understanding people, you're very intelligent, and you're confident in yourself, those are the qualities that will make you an exceptional businessman and leader. If you desire a college education, the company will pay all your expenses as long as you put in at least 30 hours a week at work."

Greg was overwhelmed, but quick to recognize a golden opportunity, "I'm overwhelmed, sir, er Sam, and I can recognize an exceptional opportunity when I see one, I accept your generous offer. When do I start?"