Chapter 4 Negotiating
Characters:
Victor Thomas: College student, age nineteen
Brian Thomas: College student, age eighteen
Tuck Tucker: Owns three restaurants, age fifty-five (Franco Touchily)
Elizabeth Tucker; The Witch, Tuck's second wife, age Thirty-two
Betty: Bookkeeper, petite, meek, age thirty-seven
Trudy: Office worker, age twenty. Large eyes are her distinguishing feature.
Vera Tucker: Tuck's first wife and mother of his daughters. Age forty-three
Eric: Restaurant Manager and fiancΓ©e of Caroline Tucker
Caroline Tucker: Tuck's older daughter, age twenty-three
Sarah Tucker; Tuck's younger daughter, age Twenty-one
Melinda: Housekeeper in Tucker home, Black, goes by Missy, age Twenty-eight
Salvatore: Tuck's cousin, manager of Tuck-South
Missy got on the bed with me and we had a long talk. I told her my name was Brian Thomas and I'd taken my brother's place because, at the last minute, he preferred to remain at home for the summer instead of taking the job his professor had arranged for him.
"It's our secret, okay?" I asked, and Missy nodded her head.
"How old are you, really?" she asked.
"Eighteen, but that's our secret, too, okay?"
Again, she nodded, and that prompted me to ask the big question.
"Elizabeth is very concerned you'll tell Tuck what you saw last night. What do you want from her to keep your mouth shut about it?"
"I don't know. What do you think I should ask for?"
I told her that I had no idea what she could get from Elizabeth, which was a lie. I knew damn well that Elizabeth would pay almost anything to avoid her husband finding out that she had cheated on him. I felt partially responsible for her getting into the situation she found herself in, and wanted to help her if I could. I had as much at stake as her. Being sent home in disgrace wouldn't set well with my parents. It would also put me at odds with my brother. I didn't give a shit if his professor retaliated against him, but I did care if Vic retaliated against me.
Missy had been watching me as I worked out a plan. I leaned over, and kissed her, making her smile, contentedly. She really wasn't a contentious person. I believed that she didn't know how much her silence was worth to Elizabeth.
"How many days do you have off?" I asked.
"I'm supposed to get Mondays off, but sometimes I have to work, like last Monday when you were coming. I had to work that day."
"How often does that happen?" I asked.
"Often," she said. "They owe me five days right now."
"Five days?" I asked, irate that the Tuckers would treat a worker that way. No wonder she had been anxious to have sex with me. The poor girl had no life for herself.
Tuck didn't work many hours at all, and Elizabeth was taking the weekend off. I was angry that they wanted me to work seven days a week, too.
"Perhaps there's a solution that will be suitable to all of us," I said, and watched Missy nod her head. I leaned over, and kissed her again before continuing. She prolonged the kiss, and I knew she would be agreeable to my suggestions.
"You've got the missus by the short hairs. No telling what Tuck would do if he found out what you saw," I said, and watched Missy nod.
"What do you think he would do to me?" I asked, and saw alarm cross her face, like she hadn't considered the consequences to me.
"I could say it was someone else that fucked the missus," she suggested.
"You'd make up a name, and he'd see right through your story. Then he would come to me, and ask who I'd seen his wife with. You don't want to put me on the spot, do you?"
Missy shook her head, and I decided she deserved another kiss.
"This is what I think you should ask for. Beginning now, you get every Monday off, regardless of what emergency arises, and...this is a big and..." I said, pausing for effect.
Missy frowned. So far, I had given her nothing that she wasn't already entitled to.
"You get unrestricted access to me on your day off, plus Wednesday and Friday nights."
This drew her interest, but I don't believe she grasped the full significance of what I'd said. I decided to kiss her again before clarifying the details of the offer. "That means you can spend all day on Monday, plus Wednesday and Friday nights here with me."
Missy proved that she was no dummy. "How long will you be here?" she asked.
"All summer," I said, as if it was an eternity.
"I don't know. I was expecting more," she said.
"Do you want to think about it or do you want to start tonight, this being Friday night?" I asked.
"I want to start tonight," she said.
"Good, let me go up to the house, and square it away with the missus. I'm going to tell her that you've already forgotten everything you saw in the past, and that you'll not watch if the missus happens to come to the cottage the other nights."
The terms, as I stated them, clearly upset Missy. "That means I only get you three nights and she gets four," she complained.
"On the contrary, Missy, remember, you get me all day on Monday, plus all three nights, unrestricted. Her time with me will be restricted to nights when Tuck is not home. She wouldn't dare come to the cottage when he's here."
"Oh, right," she said, satisfied, almost. "You told your brother that you fucked her at the office today. It's not fair to me if she uses you any time she wants."
"Today was an exception, Missy. There are usually other people in the office. I fucked her at the office so she wouldn't need to come here tonight. We only did it once. I was saving myself for you."
Missy looked thoughtful. "She's the boss's wife. She can arrange to be alone with you in the office anytime she wants."