Forever Yours
17
Disclosure
IT WAS THE FIRST time Henry had anyone visit his apartment outside of his parents and business partners. Chastity came in once a week just to use the office as an official place of business, though there was very little paper mail. She did handle all the non-disclosures and business records, though. And she’d begun looking at resumes for part-time user interface developers. Very few wanted a job of only ten hours a week with possible weeks off, and of those, most wanted $50 an hour or more.
When Henry’s cohort and classmates finally found parking spaces, he led them into the main floor of the apartment. It was still so sparsely furnished that the living room echoed with their voices.
“This place is huge!” Josh said, coming out of the kitchen. “But there’s no bedroom.”
Henry pointed to the stairs and led them to the second floor suite. They explored the front bedroom, back bedroom, and sitting room.
“Don’t you use one of the bedrooms?” Dan asked.
“No. I’ve got an identical suite on the third floor. This whole floor is to be rented by my subletter.”
“I’d pay two grand for this,” Leonard said. “Can I have the second floor?”
“No!” Lisa said. “Is this an auction, Henry?”
“Not at all, Lisa. I offered the suite to you for $1,500 plus your utilities. If you want it at that, it’s yours.”
“Sold!” she shouted. “When can I move in?”
“Henry? Is that you? I thought I heard voices,” Chastity said as she came down the stairs.
“Hi, Chastity. I’m just showing the second floor suite. I think I have a renter,” he said as she appeared on the stairs.
“Holy sh…! I mean… Is this your girlfriend, Henry?” Josh asked.
Chastity was dressed in her usual ‘office attire,’ with a mini skirt and a crop top. At the moment, she happened to be barefoot, having jumped up from her desk and rushed downstairs when she heard voices. She stopped short when she saw the group.
“No. Chastity is one of my business partners. We have a small office on the fourth floor. Lisa, I should have mentioned that there would be others coming in to work on occasion, though none of us are around full time. Chastity likes to come in on Fridays so it feels like we’ve got a real office.”
“I’ll always knock first,” Chastity said. “I won’t come in without letting you know.”
“I guess that’s okay. Are there a lot of you?” Lisa asked.
“Only the four partners at the moment,” Henry said. “I’m looking for another part timer, but he or she might not even work out of the office. And the other two partners are students at Villanova, so they really only show up with one of us.”
“Wait! Wait!” Simon said. “Chastity? As in… Like, are you the person I sent my non-disclosure to at PRPP for testing?”
“Oh, you’re kidding!” Josh said.
“You guys are PRPP?” Leonard asked.
“You guys are all testing for PRPP?” Henry asked, holding his breath. They all raised their hands and nodded.
“Jacoby said it was a good opportunity and we should all take a look at some practical AI development,” Josh said.
“Okay, then you know that your non-disclosure includes not revealing who you are testing for,” Henry said, scowling at them.
“Was that a violation?” Lisa asked.
“Technically, yes. But I’ll let it pass. I just want to remind you that your discovery of our actual business and ownership is not permission to disclose it to anyone else. Let’s go downstairs and have a pop. I’ll answer your questions.”
“Can we see the office first?” Leonard asked, apparently not quite believing the story.
“Sure,” Henry said, turning to the staircase.
All of his classmates were watching the retreating figure of Chastity in her short skirt going up the stairs. They followed Henry.
“It’s not really much to look at,” Henry said, pointing at the four stations where computers could be set up.
Chastity’s laptop was on her desk and she quickly sat behind it. She’d done some minimal decorating over the summer with plants and some artwork. A photo of the four founders the night they signed the incorporation papers hung on one wall.
“We have a company server,” Henry continued. “We self-host our online work and our website where you’ve downloaded the app you’re testing. Because it’s just Chastity and me at the moment, there really isn’t much else here.”
“Nice patio, though,” Dan said, looking out the French doors.
“I figure it will be unusable after the first snowfall,” Henry laughed. “Let’s head downstairs now and let Chastity finish her work.”
They all left, several of the guys giving a backward glance at the sexy Chastity behind her desk.
The discussion continued in the living room after they had chosen soft drinks and Henry found a bag of chips.
“So, you’re really the inventor of the stuff we’ve been testing for the past six months?” Josh asked.
“Yes,” Henry sighed. “I hope you can understand why we want to keep that quiet. I don’t have a lot of jobs to offer and everything is really experimental at the moment. I’ve filed the necessary patents and five of the six have been issued. But the app is still under development. If I was fielding questions at school all the time, I’d never get any studying done.”
“Got it,” Dan said expansively. “We’ve all become close over the past year. I think we can keep this among ourselves. Right, guys?”
“No question,” Leonard said. “I’d still want to know what I needed to do to work here. The app is rad. My machine runs faster than it ever has.”
“I noticed a new feature that lists ‘Degrees of Separation.’ But it’s locked at zero. What is it?” Josh asked.
“You should read the release notes,” Henry laughed. “We’ll test that feature sometime soon, but it has to be in a controlled environment. Locking it at zero means it can only run or affect the machine it’s installed on. But in a small business or corporate environment, you might want to have it running on the network. I have it installed on our server upstairs, but that means it only runs on my machines and those of my partners, who attach via VPN.”
“Our computers?” Leonard asked.
“No. You only access the website. You never actually get on the network.”
“Are you going to launch it as part of PRPP? It’s not a very sophisticated name. I thought it was a law firm,” Dan said.
Henry paused to think about the answer. These were the people he was closest to other than his partners and it would be helpful to bounce some ideas off them occasionally. He figured he could afford some transparency.
“PRPP is, like, a holding company. The four of us are partners in it. But as soon as the patents issue, they are assigned to Open Cloak Design, which is our development corporation. If you decide you want to continue testing after this release, your next non-disclosure will come from OCD. Eventually, when we’ve got everything running correctly, no one will ever see PRPP. It will just be a stock holder.”
“Any way to buy in?” Josh asked.
“Not at the moment,” Henry said.
“Not to make this all about me, but when can I move in?” Lisa asked. “The sooner I’m out of the sorority house the better.”
“I can help with that,” Chastity said, entering the room. “If you’d like to come over here to the dining table while Henry entertains the guys, I’ll go over the lease with you.”
Lisa went with Chastity and the guys continued talking for half an hour before they finally took off.
“As much as I’d like to move in tomorrow, I need to set some things up first. I’ll move next weekend,” Lisa said as Henry drove her home.
“Anything I can help with?” Henry asked. “I could get a couple of guys to help with the move.”
“It’s not that, exactly,” Lisa said. “I just rented an unfurnished apartment and I don’t have any furniture. I have some things at home my parents will haul up for me. I’ll have to stop at some used furniture place, too. I don’t even have a bed.”
“I hear you. I spent a week shopping for used furniture before I moved in. Mom and Dad and my partners all helped get the apartment set up.”
“Are your… other partners… as slick as Chastity?”
“Chas is in a class by herself. Isobel is more glam. Luke is conservative, but good looking, I guess. Why do you think Chastity is so hot? Keep in mind, I’ve seen you in a dress and makeup.”
“Yes, but that was, like, a character I put on in order to survive the night. I bet you’ve never seen Chastity when she didn’t look like she was ready to go out on a date.”
Henry wasn’t sure he wanted to continue that conversation.
“Probably.”
“There are girls in the sorority who would literally kill to look like her. But they aren’t willing to put in the work,” Lisa said. “I really like Chastity.”
“I’m glad,” Henry said. “I do, too.”
Lisa didn’t pursue the conversation as Henry pulled up to the sorority to let her off.
“By the way, there’s a bus line a block from the house that comes straight to the student union. If I’m driving and we’re going in at the same time, you’re welcome to ride along. It’s twenty minutes by bus and usually takes me that long to find a parking space. Most of the time, I ride the bus.”
“Good to know,” Lisa said. “Thanks for everything, Henry. I’ll see you in class next week.”
“Please don’t cancel our rental agreement when you meet my parents,” Lisa said when she met Henry after class on Monday.
“Did they not think moving was a good idea?”
“Mother. She’s so tied to the sorority that she thinks I’m throwing my life away by leaving it. She wants to be sure ‘my boyfriend’ is upstanding and will be able to support me.”
“Wait! We’re not involved like that,” Henry said.
“My dad understands that, but Mom is still convinced that a girl should go to college to find a husband, and should have as much fun as possible during the hunt. She can be a little overbearing at times. Please, don’t even mention that we’ve been on a date. That was a nice thing to do for a friend, but Mom would immediately jump to wedding invitations.”
“Do you want me to just not be around?”
“Henry, it’s your house. I’m just a renter. And I really will appreciate the help when it comes to moving furniture up those stairs. Dad isn’t exactly a super fit jock.”
“I’ll get Josh to come over and help. He said he was willing.”
“I like Josh. He seems like a guy with a conscience. Besides, that will keep my mother guessing,” Lisa laughed. “See you later.”
Friday, Henry spent some extra time cleaning the downstairs so it would all look good when Lisa and her parents arrived. Her mother sounded like a real piece of work. Well, he could put up with her for an afternoon, and Lisa made it sound like her father was a really nice guy. What a combination of people!
Chastity came downstairs and found him moving the furniture around to vacuum under it. She bent to the task of helping him, which made her mini-skirt ride up all the way to her butt-ledge.
“Mmm. Now that’s appetizing,” he said.
“I already told Lisa that you and I wouldn’t mess around here. If you want to have a little fun, you’ll have to come to my apartment,” Chastity laughed, pushing Henry down on the couch. She plopped in his lap. “Of course, she isn’t moving in until tomorrow.”
“How did us having sex come up in a conversation with Lisa?” Henry asked.
“Oh, she’s very perceptive and direct. She asked me straight out if I was your girlfriend or just a friend with benefits.”
“Well, that’s pretty forward.”
“She just wanted to know what to expect when she moved in. I told her I’m not your girlfriend and I wouldn’t compete with another woman for your affection. But I am always available to you—for anything you need.”
“Did she ask you to hang out tomorrow while her parents are here?” Henry asked.
“Nope. And I don’t intend to be here.”
Henry stroked up and down her bare thigh and planted a tongueless kiss on her lips. He considered whether this was one of those times when he needed her and decided it would be if he kept this up.
“Oh, I came downstairs to show you a résumé I received. I think this could be the answer to your need for a UI developer,” Chastity said, handing him her phone with the resume displayed on it.
“There’s no name,” Henry said as he scanned down the resume. “Ah! Student. Someone I already know perhaps?” He continued reading. “Experience as a game UI developer for EZ Daze Corp? They’re the hottest RPG game developer around. This guy is rad.”
“What makes you think it’s a guy?” Chastity teased.
She was still holding the phone for him while Henry’s hand slid up under her crop top to play with her nipple rings. Occasionally, Chastity caught her breath or leaned in to nibble his ear.
“Guy. Gal. Makes no difference to me. Student who wants part time work. If he or she is legit and we can work together, I’m sold. It’s a lot better than the guys who have no experience and want $75 an hour with paid vacation and insurance. I say arrange an interview and let’s get some pretty pictures put around the code,” Henry said.
Chastity dropped her phone on the sofa and turned in Henry’s arms to straddle him. Her skirt slid up to reveal she had no underwear covering her bare pussy. She worked on Henry’s belt and zipper as he pushed her top above her breasts and leaned in to suck on her. A condom fell out of the bunched-up material.
“I thought I might get you hot with this news,” Chastity said as she nibbled on his ear.
Henry pushed his trousers down so his erection stood between them. Chasitity rolled the condom on him and lifted enough to slot his cock into her willing pussy.
“Oh, yeah,” Henry said. “I really needed this.”
“Frankly, so did I,” Chas said. “I do prefer to enjoy sex. Yes. Right there. It’s been four weeks since we last did this. Too long.”
“I agree. And the last time was in the office upstairs. Sometime, we need to actually make it to a bed.”
“Mine will be available. Just don’t turn down any good chances for romance should they come along.”
“I doubt there will be much in the near future. I’m not seeing many women around. The only place I meet them is in class. There just aren’t a lot.”
“Just be aware. In the meantime, thrust up into me. More!”
Henry tried to be sure Chastity ‘enjoyed’ their coupling before he let go and filled the condom. She collapsed against him, both breathing hard.
“I should get back to work,” Chastity said. “I’ll arrange an interview next week. I’m pretty sure you’ll like this one.”
They moved apart, Chastity slow to pull either her skirt or top down to cover her. Henry stripped off the condom and gave her one more kiss before he pulled up his own jeans. Chastity headed toward the stairs, strutting with her bare bottom showing as she disappeared out of sight.
Josh arrived at Henry’s row house about the same time Lisa texted that she and her parents were ten minutes away. When Henry saw the U-Haul truck turn onto his block, he pulled out of his parking spot to make room for Josh to direct the truck backing up to the sidewalk. The street wasn’t wide, but there was room for traffic to pass. Henry had to park a block away and then jogged back to where Lisa was introducing her parents to Josh.
As soon as he arrived, Henry was also introduced.
“This is my landlord, Henry Pascal,” Lisa said. “My parents, Bill and Jaqueline Hartwell.”
“Happy to meet you. Can we just start moving things or did you want to show them the place first?” Henry asked Lisa.
“Tour!” her mother said.
“Let’s just grab a load and start carting. We’ll have plenty of time for the grand tour. We shouldn’t keep the street blocked any longer than absolutely necessary,” Lisa’s father said, cutting off her mother’s intention.
Bill unlocked the back of the truck and they immediately started carrying furniture.
“I’m going to use the back bedroom for sleep and the front for my study,” Lisa said as Henry and Josh pulled a mattress off the top.
“Makes sense,” Henry said. “It’s a long way from the front bedroom to the bathroom, but I spend more time in my study than in my bedroom.”
“Oh, my! Bill, you let the boys carry the furniture upstairs,” Jaqueline said. “You and I can carry the clothes.”
“I’m not frail,” Bill groused. Still, he did what his wife said and carried a box up the stairs. “I’m really not that old,” he said to Henry as they met in the bedroom. “I just can’t depend on my back all the time.”
“Any time you need to, flop down and rest. There isn’t really that much in the truck. Josh and I can handle it,” Henry said.
“Lisa has told me a lot about you. I’m glad she found a good place to live. Don’t pay any attention to Jackie’s’s commentary. In one breath, she’ll be treating Lisa like a five-year-old and in the next she’s impatient for grandchildren. But as much as they bicker, they are both very supportive of each other.”
The bickering started in when the guys passed through the lower level on their way upstairs with another load.
“Mom! You can’t just start rearranging Henry’s things in the kitchen to make way for what you bought,” Lisa said.
“But this cookware is so much nicer than these old pots and pans,” Jackie shot back. “You need to take control of this relationship and not let him walk all over you.”
“Henry and I don’t have a relationship, Mother! He’s a classmate and my landlord. That’s all. He owns the space. I’m just a renter.”
“Hey, anything you need to rearrange in the kitchen, have at it,” Henry said, stopping by. “Just leave me a map of where my things end up, okay?”
“Such a nice boy!” Jackie said.
Henry, Josh, and Bill all laughed as they headed back to the truck.
As soon as the truck was unloaded, Bill pulled the truck out of the space. Henry pulled his car back in. Bill parked in a bank parking lot a couple of blocks away and strolled back to the apartment looking around the neighborhood. He arrived back at the apartment at the same time a delivery driver was handing off Thai food for the group’s late lunch.
“I don’t like you living in sin, Lisa. It would have been much better for you to live at the sorority house,” Jacqueline said.
“You can’t mean that, Mother. If you want to tote up sins, the sorority house is ten times worse than living here. How many times do I have to tell you Henry and I are not romantically involved? This is my suite and it locks.”
“And where does Henry sleep?”
“He has an identical suite on the third floor. I’ve never been up there to see it. He has an office on the fourth floor.”
“I’m so sorry! He must be blind not to see what a treasure he has living under the same roof.”
“Mother, I’m focusing on school. Nothing else.”
“I was so afraid you’d fail your classes because you’d fallen in love like I did. I barely managed to graduate.”
“You send a lot of mixed messages, Mom,” Lisa said exasperatedly.
They joined the others in the dining room. Henry only had four dining chairs, but he had a couple of folding chairs so they could all sit.
“Is this food from Thai Palace?” Jackie asked.
“Yes,” Henry said. “It’s convenient and they deliver.”
“I always loved the food from Thai Palace. And it’s so affordable, too.”
“That helps,” Henry chuckled.
“What’s your religion, Henry?” Jackie asked brightly. Lisa and her father both groaned.
“Religion? I don’t spend much time thinking about religion. How about you, Josh?” Henry deflected the question.
“I’m Jewish,” Josh answered. “But that’s a culture, not a religion.”
“We’re Methodists,” Jackie continued with a note of pride in her voice. “The liberal branch. We accept all races, societal levels, and sexual persuasions.”
“I’m not a Methodist, Mother! I’m an atheist. There is no god.”
“That exhausts the subject of religion,” Bill chimed in. “Henry, Lisa tells me you have started a company, but said she wasn’t allowed to say anything else about it. What are you working on?”
“Lisa and Josh are both under non-disclosure,” Henry said. “I didn’t even know who was on our tester list until last week. They kind of discovered us by accident when one of my partners came downstairs while I was giving a tour. Without going into detail, we are a small software development company working on new systems and processes utilizing AI for computer optimization and power conservation. We wrote that up this week after the guys found out who we were.”
“Sounds interesting,” Bill said. “I started a company just out of school. If you need to bounce any questions or ideas off someone, give me a call. I’ll even sign a non-disclosure.”
“Thank you, sir.”
Please feel free to send comments to the author at devon@devonlayne.com.
