Thursday, May 2, 2019

Larry the Billionaire Episode 8 Indecent proposals in desperate situations


                Christina was a nurse practitioner at Lennox Hill Hospital on the upper east side of Manhattan.   Christina was short at 5’5” and 98 pounds with olive skin and big eyes with wavy brown hair.  Her choice of profession seemed predetermined as she had spent most of her life taking care of her younger sister Maggie.  Maggie was 5’9” with curly red hair, pale skin and a curvaceous body that curved leading to her long fit legs and a wide mouth.  Maggie’s good looks, however, got her in some trouble in high school.  Her status and popularity were extremely important to her so she found herself turning to drugs such as cocaine and ecstasy to fit in. 

                Christina and Maggie’s mother died when they were in high school and their father was constantly absent. Christina being the elder sister tried to take the place of her mother for Maggie but Maggie resented her since she was only a couple years younger.  After they graduated, Christina studied hard but Maggie just downward spiraled.  She turned to pain medication and couldn’t keep a job as the urge to use trumped attendance at work.  Every few months, Maggie would hit rock bottom and go to Christina’s apartment to stay.  Christina would help her but it always resulted in putting her in rehab.  

                Christina was now 27 and Maggie 24.  Maggie tried an experimental treatment program to get her off drugs that had severe side effect.  Christina was able to help her by having her come to Lennox Hill to reverse what the doctor using her as a guinea pig did.  Maggie is now living with Christina trying to get her life in order by going to interviews.  It seems like she’s finally going to put her life of drugs behind her.

 

                Larry was a billionaire.  Although he grew up comfortably, it was nowhere near what he had now.  Unlike many wealthy people, however, Larry was not good with women.  He lost his virginity relatively late at 21-years-old and he was severely disappointed.  It led to an obliteration of his sex drive which allowed him to focus on work and doing boring things like data analytics, which he parlayed into his fortune now.  In addition to his disappointment with his first sexual experience, he had been falsely accused of sexual assault three times.  Although all three girls quickly admitted they were lying, it was enough for him to be turned off from the game of dating.  Only one of them did he ever do anything remotely sexual in nature with.  People defended the other two by saying he didn’t understand how self-conscious a woman is that throws herself at a guy and then gets turned down.  To Larry, though, nothing excused falsely accusing someone of rape or sexual assault.  With the current feminist movement and the Me Too movement, Larry was content at staying single for life.  This worked for a while but he found that the urge got to him about once a year.  He tried strip clubs but found himself bored and unsatisfied.  He always wondered who their clientele was if it wasn’t guys like him who couldn’t get it on their own.  He had been to Amsterdam three times but never partook in a prostitute despite his intentions of doing so.  He had some internal repulsion to it that he couldn’t explain.  He had trouble with trust to begin with but with his new found wealth, there was no way he’d ever think a girl wasn’t only interested for the money.  He had to figure out something though for his urges.

 

                Christina got home after a long day at the hospital and found Maggie sitting on the couch.  Christina asked, “Whacha watching?”

                “I taped the Bill Barr Senate Judiciary Hearing”

                Attorney General Bill Barr had just recently been appointed attorney general of the United States.  Within six weeks of his being confirmed, Bob Mueller had ended his over two year investigation into President Trump.  Barr summarized Mueller’s report saying that he found no collusion or obstruction, which is what it was investigating.  Mueller waited till the day before the hearings to leak a letter saying he was disappointed with Barr’s summary.  Barr asked him if he thought it was inaccurate and Mueller said that it wasn’t inaccurate, he just didn’t like that the media didn’t think it was as negative as he hoped.  Barr couldn’t be responsible for the media’s reaction to things but the media was now running with this and calling for Barr’s impeachment and for him to resign.  Given that the Mueller report was now public, though lightly redacted, people could read it for themselves and characterize it on their own.  It didn’t seem like there was any leg for Barr’s critics to stand on but they were trying.  Christina sat next to Maggie and said, “Why?”

                “I want to have as much knowledge as I can in case I get an interview in politics”

                Christina nodded her head and said, “I guess that makes sense but try to avoid politics in an interview.  You don’t know if it’s going to backfire especially because in New York almost everyone is far left.”

                “Well Barr seems to be holding his own.”

                “What do you mean?”

                “Senator Whinehouse from Rhode Island was trying to get him to take back using the term ‘spying.’  Barr fired right back that he doesn’t think the word is a pejorative.  He also said there’s no synonym so he has to use it.  Whinehouse tried to tell him that the FBI doesn’t use that term and Barr just looked him as if to say that he was in the FBI and used to be an Attorney General, he knows how they talk.  He just said, ‘well I do.’  I mean these Senators think they know everything but Whinehouse was never in the FBI.  He doesn’t know what he’s talking about.”

                “I mean arguing about words is a little weird.”

                “Yea, Whinehouse tried to deny that Trump was spied on and Barr basically said that of course he was the question is whether or not it was justified and that’s what he’s investigating.  With politicians, you can never answer the question they ask, you have to reframe it so you don’t fall for traps.  Brilliantly done by Barr.”

                “I’m glad you were entertained.” Christina said a little surprised.

                “Hey, can I borrow $20? I want to get lunch after my interview tomorrow.”

                “Yea, that’s fine” Christina says as she takes a 20 out of her purse and hands it to her.  Maggie gives her a wide smile and thanks her.”

 

                Larry is in New York and calls his friend Jamie who works as a doctor at Lennox Hill Hospital.  She lets him know when she has off to meet him for dinner.  Larry meets up with her and they make small talk for a while.  Jamie says, “Are you still a crazy right winger?”

                “Yup, do you still only think with your heart never with your head?”

                “Yup, and proud of it.”

                “Well, even your treason Times is beginning to realize the dossier is a Russian disinformation campaign.”

                “Well then they aren’t treasonous are they?  They were just tricked.”

                “They still didn’t do basic journalism to vet the information or try to verify it.”

                “Isn’t that the FBI”s job?”

                “And a reporter given that their reputation is at stake.  That’s what’s supposed to separate a credible paper or news source from the supermarket tabloids.  Now, there doesn’t seem to be a difference.”

                “Well your boy Barr should be looking into it.”

                “He already told a senator from Texas that he’s looking into it.  When the Texas Senator asked if the dossier was a disinformation campaign, Barr responded that he doesn’t think it’s speculation.”

                “Alright so the Russians used the media as useful idiots.”

                “This is eerily similar to the show Homeland isn’t it?”

                “Yea, with the fake news and useful idiots.  They, of course reversed it and made the useful idiots Republicans and the president a Democrat but who cares so long as justice is done?”

                “What?  Are you joking?  FISA warrants were issued, American citizens were spied on, we spent 35 million dollars on a special counsel and it’s handcuffed our political infrastructure for three years.  You mean to tell me it’s not a big deal if it was all based on a scam?  That really makes the DOJ, FBI and the media look incompetent that they fell for it.”

                “Fine, whatever, I know you hate the FBI and DOJ”

                “For being corrupt, yes”

                “Let’s talk about something else?”

                “How was your day?”

                Jamie smiled.  She knew that Larry believed that this question, though would elicit a one word answer from a guy, would get a long answer so he doesn’t have to talk.  Despite knowing this, she obliges, “Well, work is crazy.  I mean the patients are fine but there’s this nurse practitioner Christina.  She’s so sweet and kind and really cool but her sister is in town.  She’s a junkie and Christina spends so much of her time and energy trying to save her but I mean she keeps relapsing. Eventually, you just have to wash your hands of her.”

                “It’s hard when it’s your sister.”

                “Yea, well, she’s not helping by letting her live with her.  She’s just enabling”

                “Does she let her use?”

                “No”

                “What’s her sister doing now?”

                “She’s looking for a job.”

                “Sounds like it’s working.”

                “They always relapse”

                “And if she does, condemn her then but right now she’s trying to get her life in order.”

                “I guess but the fear of her relapsing is depressing Christina.  I mean, the hospital works us long enough and stresses us out.  We want to go home and decompress, not have to deal with what are drug addicted sibling is doing.”

                “Yea, a lot of people have their crosses to bare.”

                “Yea, you’d like her sister too.  She’s a tall skinny redhead.”                                                                       

                Larry chuckled, “You know I got a thing for redheads”

                “Yea, I know” Jamie said with a smile.

                The dinner ended and Jamie and Larry said bye to each other and went their separate ways. 

               

                Christina returned home and Maggie seemed to be startled.  Christina looked at her questioningly and noticed that Maggie had turned her back to her and her arms were in front of her.  Christina said, “What do you have there?”

                “God, leave me alone.  You know If you keep breathing down my neck, it’s going to stress me out and it may make me relapse.  Can you just be my sister and not try to act like you’re my mom just once?!”

                Christina walked around and saw Maggie’s hands cupped over something.  Christina grabbed Maggie’s hands and pulled her fingers apart.  Maggie struggled and Christina got a hold of the bottle of painkillers.  Christina through struggling said, “I can’t deal with this anymore!”

                “It’s my life!” screamed Maggie. 

                Just then the bottle exploded and pills sprayed all over the floor.  Maggie had a horrified look on her face and started crying.  She dropped to her knees and crawled scooping up the pills and putting them back in the bottle, which Christina had let go of after the pills fell on the floor.  As Christina watched her sister cry over spilled pills and pathetically crawling on the floor making sure to get every pill, she knew that there was no hope.  She said, “Maggie, I can’t do this anymore.  Take your pills and get out.  You can’t stay here anymore.”

                Maggie just nodded her head.  She got all the pills back into the bottle and packed her things and walked out the door.  Christina wished she would have put up some kind of fight.  Maybe Maggie realized what she did that it’s really sad when you’re crawling and crying over spilled pills.  Maggie, unfortunately, didn’t.  She seemed to want the pills over her sister. 

                It didn’t take long for Maggie to realize she had nowhere to go and no money or job to rent a place.  She decided to go to rehab again as the episode with Christina depressed her which only made her want more pills. 

 

                It had been a few months since Christina kicked Maggie out.  Larry was back in New York and meeting up with Jamie again.  Jamie looked stressed and Larry asked, “Are you okay?”

                “Yea, just work sucks?”

                “Do you want to talk about it?  Did you lose a patient?”

                “No, remember when I told you about the nurse practitioner with the druggie sister?”

                “Yea”

                “Well, her kidneys are failing and she’s going to have to be on dialysis for the rest of her life.”

                “Unless she gets a transplant”

                “No, the organ clinics don’t give transplants to people that are in the hospital from rehab.”

                Larry contemplates this and nods his head, “This is going to sound cold but that actually makes sense.”

                “Yea, I agree”

                “Does her sister not want to donate for the same reason?”

                “Actually she tried.  Against our better judgment but she has an additional artery so she’s not a match.  Christina is devastated and I don’t know what to tell her to cheer her up.  She doesn’t know what to tell her sister who’s severely depressed.  I mean, when things weren’t so bad for her she was using. Now she’s really not going to be able to stay off drugs.  Part of me wants to believe this is what she gets but I just feel bad for Christina.  She’s such a sweet person and this is going to destroy her.  She already broke up with her boyfriend.  I mean once Maggie’s gone then it’s only a matter of time before Christina moves on.  During that time, however, I hope Christina doesn’t do something stupid.  Also, people can live a long time on dialysis. 

                Larry’s eyes darted up as an idea hit him.  He stayed his expression and said, “Does Maggie look strung out?”

                Jamie smiled and said exasperated, “No, she’s pretty cute”

                “Can you get me the specs on what kind of kidney she needs?”

                Jamie narrowed her eyes and said with suspicion in her voice, “What are you going to do?”

                “I don’t want to tell you because you’ll judge me.  Can you just get it?”

                “I’m not letting you give this bitch your kidney just because you like redheads!”

                “I’m not giving her a kidney.  But I might be able to find one.”

                “No, don’t bribe the transplant office.  You can’t take a kidney from a more qualified person.  You say I need to stop thinking with my heart, you need to stop thinking with your dick.”

                “I don’t doubt this thought came from my other head but it’s not what you’re thinking.”

                “What are you thinking then?”

                “Can you do it?”

                “Yes”

                “I don’t want to tell you.  Just please get me the specs.  If I save this girl, then your friend will feel better and you won’t have to feel as stressed at work and you can go back to doing what you do best and that’s take care of patients.”

                “You promise you won’t give your kidney or steal it from someone else?”

                “I won’t take it from the transplant office.”

                Jamie turned her head and glared at him.  She said, “Okay, I’ll get it for you but don’t make me regret this.”

                “You won’t”

                It didn’t take long for Jamie to send Larry the qualifications the kidney needed to have to be a match.  Larry was already prepared when he received the e-mail.  He was sitting in a Bogota hotel.  He printed out the specs and had already went to the cops to get in touch with the head of a drug cartel.  It took a little bit of money as law enforcement is an entrepreneurial activity in Columbia.  Larry had his own security force with highly trained paramilitary personnel.  He also had a private plane that was equipped to transport an organ.  Finally, Larry was at a villa meeting with a cartel boss.  The drug lord said, “I don’t know what you want from me gringo, I’m just a farmer.”

                Larry looked around at the large property and house that he was on and wondered why the drug lord would even bother to lie so obviously.   Larry was fluent in Spanish so he said in Spanish, “My name is Larry, what’s yours?”

                The drug lord didn’t show he was surprised with the switch in language and responded, “Julio”

                “I have an offer for you.”

                “You want product?”

                “No”

                “What then?”

                “I need a kidney.”

                Julio switched to English and said, “You know you just asked me for a Kidney right?”

                Larry kept with the Spanish and said, “Si, your work requires you to come across a lot of dead bodies.  If you happen to find one that has a kidney matching these qualifications, I’ll be very grateful.”

                Julio looked at the paper and went back to Spanish, “You’re Spanish is pretty good for a gringo.  This isn’t really my business but I know a couple of people who are pretty sick.  How much would you give me?”

                “Name your price.”

                Julio did and Larry quickly said, “Done.”

                “How soon do you need it?”

                “As soon as possible.”

                “You’re going to have to give me your number to call you.”

                Larry pulled out a business card and handed it to him.  He got up and said, “Gracias Julio.”

                Julio said, “Do you want to stay and sample our Columbian women?  They’re the most beautiful in the world.”

                Larry smiled, “No gracias”

                It was less than a week when Julio called him back saying that they had the kidney.  Larry thanked him and immediately called Jamie and told her the good news and his plan.  Jamie agreed to come to Columbia with him to make sure the kidney was a match.  She walked into the lab and everything checked out.  They transported the kidney to Larry’s plane and headed back to New York.  Jamie said, “You’re a good man for doing this.”

                “You don’t know what I’m doing yet.”

                “You’re giving Maggie a kidney.”

                “Not necessarily.  I need to talk to her first.  I just needed to ensure I had the leverage to negotiate.”

                “What are you going to negotiate?”

                “Can you introduce me to Maggie?”

                “Yea, come during visiting hours like everyone else.”

                “Okay, but her family will be kind of pissed when they hear what I have to say.”

                “She’s only got her sister.  And you’re saving her sister’s life so I’m sure she’ll be fine.”

                “We’ll see.”

                The next day Larry went to Lennox Hill and sat at Maggie’s bedside as she just had dialysis.  Despite looking miserable and depressed, Larry agreed she was extremely attractive.  He said, “HI Maggie, I’m Larry”

                Maggie looked at him suspiciously and said, “Ummm hi, what are you doing in my room?”

                “I wanted to ask you some personal questions.”

                “Do you work at the hospital?”

                “No, I do not”

                “So why should I answer your questions?”

                “Because I’m the only one in a position to save your life.”

                Maggie sat up a little bit and bent her knees to her chest and hugged them.  This act of flexibility turned Larry on and Maggie said, “I’m listening, shoot.”

                “You need a kidney right?”

                “Yes, but I can’t get a transplant.”

                “I found you one.”

                “How did you manage that?  They don’t give kidneys to drug addicts.”

                “Exactly, so I had to go through improper means.  That’s a good thing because the kidney can’t be used for anyone on the donor list.”

                “Okay, so this is good news right?” she said a little confused.  She continued, “So why do you sound so serious?”

                “Have you ever sucked dick for coke?”

                Maggie’s eyes opened wide and she snapped back in shock, “Wow, that is none of your fucking business.”

                “Actually it is.”

                “How so?”

                “For what I’m going to offer.”

                “Let’s say the answer was yes”

                “Then you already have used your hot body as currency before.  That’s what I’m charging you for the kidney.  One night alone with you.  I am not gentle.  I’m making no euphemisms so you can’t accuse me of misleading you.  If you agree, I will fuck you hard.  Your body will belong to me and I can do with it as I deem fit.  When the night is over, I will transfer the kidney to the hospital and they can begin the transplant operation but you don’t have much time as kidneys don’t do well on ice.”

                Maggie had a stern expression on her face but her eyes oscillated back and forth as she was contemplating it “Well, what are you going to do to me?  Like you said, I’m going to need surgery quickly so if you hurt me to a point that I need medical attention then I may run out of time dealing with those injuries to get the kidney before it goes bad”

                “I would no sooner throw a rock through a stained glass window then blemish that smooth skin of yours.  I will be rough but nothing that’s going to require a doctor’s help.  I won’t even use foreign objects.”

                “Why me?”

                “I can’t get it on my own and I don’t like prostitutes or strippers because anyone with the money can have them.  You are relatively more innocent than them.”

                “Not exactly a compliment but yes.  So you want to corrupt me?”

                “Yes”

                “Well, I’ve had sex for worse reasons so yes but, honestly, this seems too good to be true. I’m going to have to make sure you have it,”

                “Do you know Dr. Jamie?”

                “Yes”

                “She can vouch for it.  She’s a friend of mine and is the one that told me about your case.”

                “Okay, I’ll talk to her.”

                Larry called Jamie and she came in.  Maggie said, “Doctor, he says he has a kidney for me”

                Jamie sighed and said, “He does, I’ve seen it myself, it’s a match.”

                Maggie smiled wide and said, “That’s great news.”

                “Are you going to tell Christina” Jamie asked

                “After I pay for the kidney.  She’ll kill me if she finds out what I have to do for it.”  Maggie turned toward Larry and said, “She’ll kill you too.”

                “Odd that she doesn’t just realize I’m saving your life.”

                “Yea well she’s really protective over me.  Anyway, I accept. But I do have one condition”

                “Okay”

                “We need to have dinner first.  Can we just make it seem like I’m not a prostitute?”

                Jamie turned towards Larry and shook her head as Larry smiled guiltily.  Jamie had put it together.  Larry said, “That’s fine.”

                “Okay, so when do we do this?”

                “You’re going to get discharge papers and then you’re going to sign a contract that states you are doing this consensually so that you don’t accuse me of sexual assault later.”

                “Have you done this before?”

                “Irrelevant.”

                “Alright fine, I’ll sign it, what the hell.”

                Larry pulled out the contract and handed it to Maggie and said, “I suggest you read it.”

                Maggie read it and it was everything Larry said it was.  One night of sexual activity with her in exchange for a kidney.  Maggie signed the contract and handed it back.  “Where do you want to eat?”

                Larry knew that the contract wasn’t enforceable because you can’t sign a contract to do an illegal activity and have a court uphold it.  He was hoping Maggie didn’t know this.  He answered her question by saying, “You pick the place.”

                “No, man up, you decide”

                “Steak?”

                “Sure” Maggie said with a smile

                Maggie and Larry went to Smith & Wollensky’s on 51st street and had steaks.  Maggie said, “So, do you know anything about the Barr hearing?”

                “I’m actually really into Spygate.  Bill Barr is the man.  Although I want him to take down a lot of people, the newest person is Nellie Ohr.”

                “I actually don’t know who that is.”

                “She works for a firm called Fusion GPS that Hillary Clinton paid to draw up a phony dossier on Donald Trump.  Her husband was the 4th highest member in the DOJ.  Nellie gave the information to her husband to give to the FBI.  This way it didn’t go through official channels, therefore it was never verified and was used to take down a duly elected president and it was all fake.”

                “If she was just an employee, how is she in trouble?”

                Nellie Ohr swore under oath to congress that she didn’t talk to anyone about her research outside of her husband.”

                “What research?”

                “She’s a Russian expert.  She had looked into organized crime in Russia and speaks Russian fluently.  She specifically said only her husband because you can claim confidentiality with what you say to your husband.”

                “So she was smart to only tell him.”

                “She lied about that though.  They got a hold of her e-mails through the freedom of information act.  She also e-mailed the information to three DOJ prosecutors.”

                “What kind of content?”

                “Tracking the corruption between the Ukraine, Russia and the United States.”

                “So she was hired because of her Russian expertise.”

                “No, she was hired because her husband worked for the DOJ and they could launder the information through her.  They needed the information to go through non-official channels because the official channels would have exposed it for the lie it was”

                “What specifically did she say that exposes her?”

                “Well she e-mailed her husband about Rinat Akmetshin”

                “Why does that sound familiar?”

                “He was one of the Russians in the Trump Tower meeting.  The other one actually works for Fusion  GPS, the same firm as Nellie so both of them have heavy ties to Fusion.”

                “So she knew the guy. You need a little more than that”

                “Nellie and Steele, the guy credited with writing the Dossier, constantly contacted Oleg Deripaska to get dirt on Trump’s campaign manager, Paul Manafort.”

                “I know Manafort not the other guy.”

                “Oleg Deripaska is a Russian billionaire that’s close with Putin and tied to organized crime.  The US has sanctions against him and he’s not allowed to come to the United States.  That is what the Trump Tower meeting was really about; lifting those sanctions and the Magnitsky act which sanctioned Russia for killing a journalist.  This forced Russia to disallow letting Americans adopt Russian babies, which apparently is a problem with Russians.”

                “This is actually interesting”

                “I’m not done.  On April 26, the Russian ambassador to the United States Kislyak went to a foreign policy speech by Donald Trump.  Jeff Sessions was at that speech as well and ran into, but didn’t meet with, Kislyak.  The Democrats used this to get Sessions to recuse himself because Kislyak talked to Michael Flynn, who was one of Mueller’s first indictments. So they claimed Sessions knew Kislyak so it was a conflict of interest”

                “And the first time they met was running into each other at a speech?”

                “Yup”

                “That’s a little thin.  Sessions should have grown a pair and face the fire.”

                “Like Barr”

                “Exactly like Barr.” Maggie said with a smile. 

                Maggie smiled widely and leaned forward with her head on her hands and looked up into Larry’s eyes and said, “Tell me more.”

                “Well Carter Page gave a speech in Moscow in July 2016. Remember that’s right around the time the investigation was opened.  She bolded a passage in an article about Page’s company being involved with Russia.  Carter Page information only exists in the Dossier so why was Nellie Ohr monitoring Page if not for the dossier?  Why highlight it and give it to Steele?  This suggests that it wasn’t just her husband and three DOJ officials but Christopher Steele too.”

                “And who’s Steele?”

                “Former British MI6 agent.  He helped write the dossier and is credited with writing it.  He was an FBI informant until they fired him for leaking to the press in order to make it look like the information was coming from multiple sources when he was the source for everyone.  Some say he was never fired and the FBI forged the document and backdated it to avoid suspicion but I don’t know about all that.”

                “Yea but you had CIA director Brennan, FBI director Comey and DOJ head McCabe talking about ‘mosaic of information,” articulable facts and ‘corpus of intelligence’ so it wasn’t just the dossier.”

                “It’s a word game.  They are talking about the actual document.  All that plurality is that people like Nellie Ohr, Christopher Steele, and Bruce Ohr told them the information.  Then they read it in the news articles that Steele leaked it to.  Real question they should be asking is when they knew about the information contained in the dossier not the dossier itself.”

                “So why hide all of this?  Just come clean?  Just blame the British dude for misleading them”

                “They can’t because they violated standard operating procedure.  They got FISA warrants and counsels and three years of police state tactics because they were too lazy to vet the information.  It was information being filtered through the Russians on purpose to America to create the exact chaos we have,”

                “That was in Homeland.”

                “Yes it was, it’s almost like they had sources that knew about this corruption in the DOJ and FBI”

                They had finished their dinner and Maggie sighed.  Larry said, “So do you want to come back to my place?”

                “I appreciate your pretending that this is a real date but yes I do.”

                Maggie and Larry went to Larry’s apartment and Larry immediately sat on the bed and motioned for Maggie to come to him.  Maggie walked over and straddled Larry as Larry kissed her on the mouth.  They made out for a little while and Larry pulled off Maggie’s shirt revealing her large breasts.  Maggie followed suit and took Larry’s shirt off.  Larry reached around and unclipped Maggie’s bra and she slipped the straps over her arms and let the bra fall.  Larry leaned back and Maggie lied on top of him brushing her breasts against his face.  Larry turned Maggie around so that he was on top and kissed her passionately on the lips.  He moved his mouth to her neck and down her chest sucking on her breasts.  He moved himself further down and undid her pants and pulled them off her.  Maggie had kicked her shoes off when she got into the apartment following Larry’s lead.  He said, “Roll over.”

                Maggie rolled onto her stomach and Larry pulled on her underwear lodging the fabric in her anus.  He opened a drawer and took out a shot glass, a bottle of tequila and salt packets.  He licked Maggie’s right butt cheek, ripped the salt packet and poured the salt over it.  He then opened the bottle of tequila and poured it into a shot glass and placed the shot glass in Maggie’s anus.  He removed the shot glass with his mouth and leaned his head back downing the contents.  He slapped both hands against Maggie’s butt cheeks before repeating it with her left butt cheek.  He grabbed her panties and pulled them off her body taking her socks with him when he got to her feet.  Maggie was now completely nude.  She rolled over and sat on the bed.  She grabbed Larry’s pants and unbuttoned them and yanked the seams apart snapping the zipper down.  She pulled down his pants with his boxers and stroked his penis.  She felt his penis enlarge in her hands and she opened her mouth and bobbed her head back and forth sending his member to the back of her mouth while she reached around and grabbed his butt cheeks.  Larry put his right hand behind her head and gripped her hair guiding her head back and forth.  Maggie pulled it out and rubbed his genitalia in between her breasts squeezing them around it before reinserting.  She oscillated between stroking sucking and rubbing him with her breasts until Larry said, “Stop.”

                Maggie did and Larry sat next to her on the bed.  He grabbed her by the arm and draped her over his lap face down.  He wrapped his right leg on top of hers and interlocked his ankles locking Maggie’s legs in place.  He grabbed a fistful of hair in his left arm and raised his right hand.  He said, “Apologize for not making me cum from the blowjob”

                “I’m sorry I didn’t make you finish.”

                Larry slammed his hand against her butt and watched it turn red.  He said, “Are you going to use again after you get your new kidney?”

                “No sir”

                Larry spanked her again.  He said, “That’s for putting yourself in this situation.”  He raised his hand and collided it against her butt again as he pulled her hair back and said, “This is for what you did to Christina and the rest of your family”

                “I’m sorry to Christina sir.”

                “Thank me for giving you the discipline you needed”

                “Thank You sir for helping me see the error of my ways.  Please may I have another so I can learn my lesson sir?”

                Larry was enjoying the ‘sirs’ he yanked her hair and slammed his hand against her butt again.  He said, “Now get off me and lie on your back.”

                Maggie obeyed and Larry mounted her as Maggie wrapped her long legs around him.  He rubbed her legs as he penetrated her and sucked on her breasts and kissed her neck and mouth.  He motioned her legs to his shoulder and pinned her legs behind her head oscillating his mouth from her legs , neck and mouth as he caressed her legs and humped her driving himself deep inside.  With every thrust Maggie moaned but said nothing.  Larry pulled back and said, “Give yourself braided pig tails.”

                Maggie said, “I need to shower first, it’s easier when your hair is wet.”

                Larry grabbed her by the arms and yanked her to her feet.  He wrapped his arms around her legs and lifted her over his shoulder.  He slapped his hand against her butt and walked to the shower turning it on.  He put her down and rubbed body soap all over her body.  Maggie did the same to him.  Larry brought his hands around Maggie’s waist and interlocked his hands lifting Maggie up.  Maggie enveloped her arms and legs around him and let him penetrate her.  He drove her to the wall and made out with her as he thrust his pelvis pinning her against the walls of the shower.  He turned so he was against the wall and Maggie let go with her arms and leaned back into the jet stream as the water careened off her breasts and upper body.  Larry caressed her breasts and Maggie sat back up pulling Larry’s face into her breasts and shaking them.  Larry motioned Maggie off him and she dropped down to her feet again.  He grabbed her left arm and spun her around.  He shoved her against the opposite wall and got more soap and rubbed it liberally against Maggie’s butt where the two cheeks met.  Larry then drove himself into her from behind to a shriek from Maggie.  He propelled himself into her slapping his hands against the side of her butt sporadically.  He stepped back guiding Maggie back with him.  He reached around and grabbed her breasts as Maggie reached her arms back around his head as she gyrated her hips.  It didn’t take long for Larry to say, “Okay, you’re hairs wet” as he pulled out.

                Maggie had a stunned look on her face and shut off the water.  They both dried themselves off and Maggie took a strand of the long red hair and braided it into a pig tail.  She did the other side as well and awaited her next order.  Larry grabbed each pig tail in his hands and smiled.  He hoisted her over his shoulder again and carried her into the bedroom.  He dropped her and spun her shoving her over the bed.  He pushed himself into her vaginally from behind and reached for her head grabbing hold of her newly braided pig deals.  He pulled on her braids as he impelled himself repeatedly into her.  He pulled out and re-inserted his penis into her anus driving himself into her rectum.  He said, “Tell me you’re my bitch.”

                “I’m your bitch.”

                He slapped her butt and said, “Who’s ass does this belong to?”

                “You sir.”

                “Push yourself up”

                Maggie put her hands down and pushed her upper body up.  Larry scooped up her legs and wrapped them around his waist.  He reached around and grabbed her breasts and said, “Who’s tits do these belong to?”

                “You, my body is all yours sir.”

                He ran his hands along the side of her body and along her back.  He got to her lower back and he rubbed it saying, “Soon, you’re going to be cut open here and take out your shitty kidney and insert the one I found for you.  He brought his hands around and inserted two fingers behind her labia majora and minora.  He said “Who’s property is this pussy?”

                “Yours”

                Maggie felt Larry slowing and she leaned back reaching around the back of his head and intertwining her fingers.  She gyrated her hips and could feel Larry struggle.  Larry turned away from the bed and Maggie let her feet fall to the floor but didn’t let Larry exit her.  She put her arms down and bent over violently shaking her butt and twisting her hips.  Larry slapped weakly at the side of her butt but she didn’t stop.  Suddenly, Larry’s body went stiff as semen spewed out of him and into Maggie’s birth canal.  She crawled forward exiting Larry from her only to crawl back so the contents entered her rectum.  She shook her butt back and forth and then pulled out dropping to her knees and quickly grabbing Larry’s member and putting it in her mouth.  Larry was shaking but he didn’t want her to stop.  Finally, the ejaculate stopped exploding from him and Maggie’s eyes darted upward and pierced Larry’s eyes.  She leaned her head back so Larry’s now limp penis could fall from her mouth and she swallowed the white substance in her mouth theatrically.  They both let out a deep breath and Maggie lied on the bed.

                Larry lied next to her and Maggie faced him smiling.  She said, “So why is Deripaska not mentioned in the Dossier?”

                “How did you know he wasn’t?”

                “I looked into it too.  I know it was based on a 2007 article when Glenn Simpson wrote for the Wall Street Journal but that article mentions Deripaska a lot.  If the dossier was just a rewrite replacing Bob Dole’s name with Donald Trump’s, why wasn’t Deripaska in it?”

                “He was a source for Fusion GPS.”

                “Are you guessing?”

                “No, in September 2015, Bruce Ohr met Deripaska to help investigate organized crimes.  It was facilitated by Christopher Steele.”

                “That’s around the time Nellie Ohr was hired to Fusion GPS”

                “Yes it was” Larry said not able to hide the surprise in his voice.  He continued, “But Steele knew Deripaska before then.  In 2012, Steele’s private firm Orbis Business Intelligence was hired as a subcontractor by a law firm representing Deripaska.”

                “To do what?”

                “Research a defense for Deripaska against a lawsuit by a business rival, probably Manafort”

                “So, the Ohrs and Steele all knew Deripaska?”

                “It gets better”

                “How so?”

                “Deripaska helped the FBI get a hostage from Iran since he had a lot of Iranian contacts.  He probably helped with Uranium One.  Guess who was the FBI director during that time?”

                “Who?”

                “Bob Mueller.”

                “Holy shit, so Deripaska was the agent of disinformation into our DOJ, FBI and ultimately our election since it was used to take down a duly elected president.”

                “The only questions is did he do it willfully are unwittingly?”

                “You said he’s close to Putin so I think it was intentional”

                “I agree”

                There was a long pause and Maggie said, “So what now?  Do I have to leave?”

                “No, you can stay here if you want.”

                “Will you hold me?”

                “Sure”  Larry brought his arms around Maggie and she rested her head against his chest as she slid her leg in between his.  He squeezed his thighs around her leg and closed his eyes.  She did as well and said, “Thank you for doing this.”

                He opened his eyes and looked back and forth confused.  He said, “I should be thanking you for letting me have you.”

                “Oh, we both got what we want.”

                “You haven’t gotten what you want yet.  I still haven’t given you the kidney, I could have been lying”

                Maggie opened her eyes and stared at him incredulously as he felt her body tense.  Larry said, “I’m just joking, tomorrow the transfer will happen.”

                Maggie said very sternly, “Not funny!”

                “I’m sorry”

                “It’s fine, just as long as you’re lying about not holding up your end of the bargain.”

                “The kidney was transported to the hospital while you were here.  It’s waiting for you.”

                “Okay good.”

                With that they went to sleep.  The next day they got dressed and Larry took Maggie to the hospital.  She was put on a bed and taken to the OR to get a kidney transplant.  The next thing she knew she was lying on her side looking at Christina and Jamie.  She said in a daze, “How did it go?”

                Christina said, “Flawlessly, you got new kidneys and won’t need to be on dialysis”

                Maggie smiled and rolled onto her back but it hurt so she turned back to her side.  She looked around and said, “Where’s Larry?”

                Christina said, “Yea, I was a little annoyed about this arrangement but he didn’t seem to have hurt you as far as I can see.”

                Maggie gave her a dirty look and said, “No, with all that talk about how I’m his bitch and he’s going to have free reign to do whatever he wants to me, he didn’t really take advantage of that.”

                Jamie said, “Yea I know.  He thinks he’s so bad but he’s like the nicest person I know.  Trust me, he thinks he exploited you.”

                Maggie said, “He can think what he wants, as long as I don’t think it, I’m good.  I think I made a good deal”

                Jamie said, “As does he”

                “Where is he?”

                “Gone.  He lives in Florida, he went back home.”

                Maggie frowned, “He didn’t’ even say good bye.”

                Christina said, “Yea, some nice guy.”

                Jamie said, “Like I said, he thinks he exploited you so he didn’t think you wanted to see him.  I tried to talk him into staying but he refused saying I don’t know what he did to you.  I knew he was overreacting.”

                Maggie shrugged her shoulders, “I guess that was the agreement.  It was casual, no strings attached sex in exchange for a kidney.”

                Christina said, “I can’t believe you didn’t tell me”

                Maggie said, “You would have yelled at him.  You might have tried to talk me out of it.  I had to act fast one, so the kidney wouldn’t go bad and two before he realizes he’s getting the raw end of the deal.”

                Christina said, “How do you figure that?”

                “He saved my life Christina.  Have you ever slept with someone for a more worthy cause?”

                Christina sighed and said submissively, “No”

                “Yea, I won’t go into detail because I don’t think you want to know but trust me, he showed restraint.  I mean, I’d hope even if he asked for a three-some with you and me, you would have done it for me”

                “Just don’t get attached.”

                “I’m not.  I got a new lease on life.”

                Christina said, “Don’t ruin this kidney in the hopes he’ll come back.”

                Maggie rolled her eyes and said, “Christina, if having my kidneys fail at 24 forcing me to get a transplant isn’t enough of a wake up call to stop doing drugs than nothing is.”

                Christina said, “I would agree but I’ve been hopeful before.”

                Maggie said, “Only one way to find out.”

                Christina said, “Yes, there is.”

                Jamie said, “Get some rest”

                Maggie made a full recovery and Christina and her got on with the lives.  Maggie and Larry never spoke again. 

Wednesday, May 1, 2019

Fanis the Bodyguard Episode 1 Family trumps money


                Kera had risen through the ranks of art dealing.  Her focus was in Chinese art.  Given that she was of Greek descent, this was a little surprising but she loved one of the few cultures that were older than the Greeks.  She saw some parallels between Confucius and Plato that she found fascinating because it’s highly unlikely Plato had known anything of Confucius’ work as Confucius was a predecessor.  Kera lived in Beijing for a year in order to get a fluency in Mandarin so she could better do her job and then returned to her native New York.  It didn’t take long for her to continue to excel and now she found herself in London. 

The downside to success though is that you have to ostracize your friends as you constantly choose career over socializing.  You also develop a lot of enemies and without friends to back you up; it is very common to feel alone, which makes you feel vulnerable.  Already being hesitant to trust, she looked around at her co-workers in England and decided that she trusted none of them.  This caused her to reach out to a long lost cousin in New York. 

 

                Fanis was a data analytics guy living in New York City.  Growing up he was extremely close with his cousin Kera.  Fanis grew up in the Midwest so when he came to New York City as an 18-year-old, he was overwhelmed.  He’s not sure if he would have made it if Kera didn’t constantly come down to the city from Brooklyn to show him around campus and tell him how to use the subway system.  Her help didn’t end there as after Fanis graduated, he had trouble finding a job.  Kera got him a job and Fanis thrived in it and had now been there for 11 years.  The last 11 years however, Kera and Fanis barely spoke.  Their childhood closeness oddly grew apart when they lived in the same city.  Fanis, being three years older, was overprotective of her and wary of boyfriends, which bothered Kera.  That wasn’t the reason for their growing apart.  It was just a natural course of life but Fanis always felt that he did something wrong.  Normally others opinions didn’t bother him but the two times in his life that he hit rock bottom, Kera was there for him and it was something he never forgot so didn’t want to seem ungrateful.  Given the way the last decade and a half had gone, Fanis was shocked when his phone rang and it was Kera.  Fanis honestly couldn’t remember the last time Kera had ever called him and now that she lives in London, this made even less sense.  He picked up the phone hesitantly saying, “Hello”

                “Hey Fanis, what’s up?”

                “HI Kera, are you okay?”

                “For the most part yea”

                “Okay” Fanis said unconvinced

                “I need a favor”

                “Sure, what’s up?”

                “I need you to quit your job and come work for me.”

                “That’s a pretty big favor.”

                “It is, but I will pay you twice what you make now.”

                “You don’t know what I make now”

                “Name your price.”

                “What am I going to be doing?”

                “Travelling the world with me as my bodyguard.”

                Fanis loved travelling and had seen at least one new country every year for the last ten years.  Kera knew this so the first part excited him, the second part he was hesitant.  “Kera, you know I love you but I’m not exactly martial arts trained and can’t really shoot the wings off a fly.”

                “Which is why I’m going to get you trained.”

                “Can I ask why?”

                “I don’t want to discuss that over the phone.”

                “I can come to London.”

                “Please do so as quickly as you can.”

                Fanis was in London two weeks later as anything sooner was astronomically priced.   Kera picked him up at the airport and Fanis got in.  He said, “So, what couldn’t you tell me on the phone?”

                “I’ve become very well known in the art dealership world.”

                “Congratulations.  It’s nice that all that hard work is paying off.”

                Kera was speaking matter-of-factly and didn’t seem like she was fishing for a complement.  She said noncommittally, “Thank You, but not the point”

                “So what is the point?”

                “Do you know anything about the artifacts world?”

                “People pay a shitload of money for it.  Especially the rarer it is and, based on the book The Goldfinch, it can get pretty sketchy.”

                “Yes, that’s right, which is why I need you.  When large sums of money are at stake, people get greedy and shit happens”

                “Okay, I just said your field is sketchy and you didn’t even bother to deny it.”

                “I just called you to fly to London about a job offer that I couldn’t discuss over the phone.  To insinuate that nothing is sketchy about this would be an insult to your intelligence.”

                “I agree, so you need me to be your bodyguard.”

                “Yes, you are going to be the only person with direct access to me.  You will be my liaison with my staff.  You deliver messages to me.  You come to meetings with me all over the world as I try to deal in Chinese art.  As far as you’re concerned, that’s what I do.  Do not ask about suspicious things you may encounter.”

                Fanis smiled, “You never answered why me”

                “You’re my cousin.  You love me.  You were a rich kid so can’t be bought.  You believe that you owe me because I helped you out in your late teens”

                “You were in your mid-teens”

                “What does that have to do with anything?”

                “Nothing, but we’re in our 30s now.”

                “But I know you well enough to know that doesn’t matter to you”

                “You’re right, it doesn’t.  I’ve always looked at you as someone I wanted to protect.  I did it for free when you were in high school so why not get paid for it now?  Especially since I get to travel the world, which I love.  So, yea, I accept.”

                Kera smiled, “Awesome, thank you.”

                “Thank you”

                Kera smiled.  The next few months were a whirlwind.  Fanis quit his job and then private former military trainers worked him to the bone turning him into a killing machine.  It was grueling work but Fanis was done with it and reunited with Kera.  Kera said, “Congratulations on finishing your training”

                “Thanks, glad you stayed alive during it.”

                Kera gave him a condescending look and said, “Yea I got this far without you, a few months wasn’t too difficult.”

                “I should’ve asked you this a while ago but I can leave you right?  Like I can go off and do my own travelling.”

                “Are you asking if you get vacation days?”

                “Yes, I am”

                “If there’s nothing going on, sure.  Let me know in advance and I’ll try not to plan any meetings during those times.”

                Kera introduced Fanis to others on her staff.  Right away he could tell the animosity towards him for being the only one that Kera trusted.  Fanis reveled in it but was professional and gracious with them. Kera went to her office and Fanis sat down at a computer.  Since he worked in accounting in his previous line of work, he was going to help with the accounting in this one as well.  He was shown the system and he picked it up quickly.  One staffer said, “You follow the Mueller probe at all?”

                “That complete farce that only existed to cover up for the atrocities of the DOJ, FBI and Obama?  Yea I’ve heard of it.”

                “Better not let your cousin hear you.”

                “She knows my political affiliations.  Don’t worry, there’s no secrets between us” he said with a large smile afterwards.

                The guy seemed disappointed that this jab didn’t make him uncomfortable.  He said, “It is your attorney general that is a disgrace.”

                “How’s that?”

                “Mueller wrote him a letter saying he misrepresented his report.”

                “Mueller’s report is public.  Not much is redacted.  You can read it yourself and decide.  I thought you Englishmen were more precise with the language than us Americans.  Mueller wasn’t saying that Barr’s report was bad but he wanted the media to react to it more negatively than they did.  That’s not Barr’s fault.  That’s not even a legitimate criticism.  That’s like a little kid throwing a hissy fit.”

                “What do you mean?” as he e-mailed Fanis a Washington Post article, “Read this and learn something.”

                Fanis looked at the e-mail and read the guy’s name as Nigel.  Fanis was horrible with names so  even though he was introduced, he forgot his name.  He said, “Nigel, apparently you didn’t read the end of the article.”

                “What do you mean?”

                “Come to my computer, I’ll show you”

                Fanis pointed to a sentence that said, “When Barr pressed him whether he thought Barr’s letter was inaccurate,  Mueller said he did not, but felt that the media coverage of the letter was misinterpreting the letter”  Fanis glared at him as he read.  He watched as Nigel’s jaw dropped and he shook his head.  Nigel said, “Not inaccurate, that’s a double negative.  Why can’t you Americans just speak English?  That way you wouldn’t mislead people.”

                “Or you could learn how to read.”

                “Bottom line is Mueller was upset.”

                “I don’t care.  I’m upset with Mueller.  I don’t care about his hurt feelings.  He was given a chance to read the synopsis and comment on it and he refused.  It’s not Barr’s fault he didn’t take him up on the offer.”

                “Well, at least justice was served.”

                “No it wasn’t. Mueller knew it was a hoax from the beginning.  His chief investigator Andy Weissman and Ahmed were briefed months before the counsel from Bruce Ohr, who was the 4th highest member of the DOJ that the dossier, which the collusion hoax was based on, was biased and written by Trump haters.  He would know too because Ohr’s wife worked for the firm that wrote the dossier.”

                “So why do you think it was open for two years then?”

                “I told you. To cover up for the atrocities of the DOJ, the FBI and Obama by keeping the heat on Trump.  They were playing a game of chicken with Trump.  They were waiting for him to do something so they could get him for obstruction even though it wouldn’t be.  Me, I would have fired him anyway.  Yea, they pretend firing Comey was obstruction but it’s not and neither would it be if he fired Mueller.  Problem is, Trump knew what he was doing so didn’t act.  Now, Mueller is trying to claim that Trump thought about firing him.  Like thoughts can obstruct an investigation.  It’s amazing how stupid the anti-Trump people are.”

                “So he was setting your President up?”

                “Of course he was, but he didn’t take the bait.”

                “If he hates him so much, why didn’t Mueller charge him?”

                “Because there’s no evidence and he couldn’t fabricate evidence because even he’s not stupid.  He would have been laughed out of court if he tried going to trial with it.”

                “Why didn’t Mueller review Barr’s synopsis?”

                “Because Barr already wrote an op-ed piece saying Trump didn’t collude or obstruct.  That gives Democrats and the media ammunition to use against Trump to call him to resign because he’s biased.  Barr tried to mitigate this by quoting Mueller’s report to substantiate what he was saying in his synopsis.”

                “The report is a little suspicious”

                “Mueller only included the bad information not the exculpatory evidence”

                “Like what?”

                “Like Papadopoulos e-mailed the higher ups in the campaign telling them that Russians wanted a meeting in Moscow.  Mueller stops there but doesn’t include the higher up members’ responded, “No you may not.  Nobody is to accept any meetings from Russians or in Russia.’  Kind of important.  Odd Mueller just leaves it out.”

                “You know in England words mean things.  You do realize that you’re accusing Mueller of the worst thing you can ever accuse a prosecutor of; using your personal hatred for someone to cloud your judgment and violate their professionalism to try the case?”

                “That is exactly how I meant my words.”

                “Just checking”

                Nigel turned back to his computer and Fanis took it as a signal their conversation was over.  It wasn’t long till Kera was calling Fanis to go to Leeds with her.  Leeds is also in England so it wasn’t a far trip.  Fanis sat in on the meeting staring at security details of a tall skinny man.  Kera had her own security with her but Fanis is always the one closest to her.  Another member had a briefcase handcuffed to his wrist.  They sit at a table and Fanis sits next to Kera while the other two member of her detail stand on the side of the table eyeing the door.  The man takes out a carefully wrapped item and hands it to Kera.  Kera puts on gloves and carefully unwraps the artifact and Fanis looks at a golden statuette.   Kera looks at it and says, “A guard from the forbidden kingdom” along with a bunch of other facts.  Kera carefully lifted it in her hands and turned it.  She said, “It’s a fake.”

                “That is an outrageous accusation!”

                “But it’s true.  This is a fake, no deal.”

                “You will regret this.  I got this from my connections at the Royal Museum of Art.”

                “If that were true, they’d have it in their museum” Kera said with a smile. 

                “That’s the second time you attacked my integrity”

                “For good reason”

                Fanis could see the art dealer’s security detail getting restless.  To Fanis’ delight, the man seemed to calm down and said, “You will regret all the money you lost turning me away.  I’m giving you a chance to change your mind.”

                “I appreciate it but the answer is still no.  You are a scam artist.”

                “You insolent American bitch!” the Englishman said as he slammed his left arm against the table while his right hand grabbed a gun. 

                Fanis’ hand was on his switch blade and as soon as he saw the gun he acted and switched the blade out and stabbed the Englishmen in the reaching hand pinning it to the table.  The man screamed and two guns were focused on Fanis’ head but Kera’s security guards had their guns focused on them.  Fanis got up and puffed his chest out and straightened his posture.  He was at least six inches taller than Kera but his training told him to get big.  Kera stood behind Fanis and grabbed the back of his shirt and motioned herself back to the door.  Fanis walked backwards shielding her from the two men with guns pointed at them.  He eyed Kera’s men too.  After all, if Kera didn’t trust them, why should he?  Fanis pulled out his own gun but he and Kera had reached the door and went through with guns still pointed at them.  They moved to the side and Kera started panting.  Up until now, she was just acting brave.  Fanis put his knife away and hugged Kera who hugged back.  It was interrupted when her security guards came through the door.  They went back to the car and Fanis drove as Kera stared out the windshield still shaken up.  The other guards were in a trailing car.  Fanis said, “Well, I’m glad you are affected by this.  Makes me think that this was rare.”

                “It is but I just started being the one to go to these meeting unaccompanied by an expert.”

                “So usually someone else takes the risk by calling their client a liar?”

                “I didn’t say he was a liar.”

                “Yes you did.  In so many words.  How did you know it was a fake?”

                “I can’t pinpoint it.  You can just tell when you’ve been in this industry as long as I have.”

                “Okay, so you’re not sure you were right?”

                “I’m sure.  He wouldn’t have been giving me that sales pitch about how others wanted it if it was real.  He would have just gone with someone else.”

                “That makes sense.”

                “But if you’re regretting taking the job.  Don’t worry, Trump’s economy is slowing down.  Better to take this offer while you can.”

                “What are you talking about?  The private sector added $ 270,000 jobs in April.  That’s 50% more than what the so called ‘experts’ were predicting.”

                Well, it doesn’t matter, next year a Democratic Socialist will win.”

                “You want America to be like Venezuela?  Where Maduro is running over crowds of people in armored cars.”

                “No, that’s socialism, we will vote for a leader who won’t do that.”

                “I’m sure that’s not what Maduro ran on but there’s no difference between political liberties and economic liberty.  Liberty doesn’t matter when either candidate can kill you without repercussions if you don’t agree with them.  People stop working if they’re not being paid.  Especially when they know they get free money anyway.  Almost feels pointless to work.  That’s why the economy collapses.  It’s only happened everywhere it’s neen tried all over the world.”

                “No, under Democratic socialism, you’d vote out the tyrant.”

                “Look what just happened in Venezuela!  They had an election.  Maduro lost and he refused to step down.  The military backed him and they’re running over protestors with armored cars.  When nobody is working, you have to force them to work with a gun to their heads since you can’t just pay them.  It’s mass poverty and destruction.  Like Stalin said, ‘It doesn’t matter who votes, it matters who counts the votes.”

                “I’m not talking about this with you.  Thank you for helping me out today.”

                “it’s my job but any time.”

                They arrived back to the hotel and Kera said, “I’m going to retire to my room.  I’m going to lock the door, I don’t want anyone to disturb me so you got the rest of the day off.”

                “You okay?”

                “A guy just pulled a gun on me so no I’m not.”  

                “Well, don’t keep accusing him of being a scam artist then.”

                “He was”

                “So? Be more tactful about it.  Or, you know, just get thicker skin.”

                “Whatever, have a good night.”

                “Good night”

                Fanis waited till Kera was locked in her room before he went out to a pub.  While there, the TV was on and they were commenting on a Hill meeting about Medicare of all.  Fanis said, “Man, there’s a lot of American news in England”

                The bartender said, “The whole world cares about America.  The world economy basically revolves around them so we have to be really in tuned to it.”

                “You’d be surprised how many Americans deny that the world runs on our engine.”

                “Well, that’s because they’re spoiled living in America”

                “Yes, it is helpful I must admit.”

                When the newscaster was done with his speech, Fanis reiterated, “What a crock of shit.”

                Someone at the bar said, “What do you mean?  They made some good points for universal healthcare.”

                “Like what?”

                “Your veterans have great healthcare and our doing well.”

                “Wrong, that’s a lie.  Most of the homeless are veterans and there was just a scandal with Obama that their care was being rationed.  Many veterans died because they were on waiting list.  Now, you can get emergency care.  Under this system, you have to wait months to see a specialist.”

                “Trust me, I know.  That’s what we have here and people die on waiting lists because they can’t see a doctor.  They have to bring in immigrants who don’t know that they’re being screwed with shitty pay.  What about the fact that there’s more efficiency because nobody wastes money on administrative costs?”

                “Yes you do, but it’s through your taxes.  They just hide the administrative costs whereas the private plan, it’s in the open.  It’s worse though.  In a price system, you can charge higher prices if there’s too much demand.  The customer wants good quality because he’s paying for it out of his own pocket.  The doctor wants to provide good quality for personal pride and so there’s repeat patients and maybe their patient will refer others to him or her.  When the government is in charge, price goes up because the patient is paying someone else’s money.  The doctor has no incentive to do the best job he can because he’s getting his money anyway.  There’s no reward for doing a better job so why be motivated?”

                “You should be self-motivated.”

                “Should yea but most are not.”

                “That is true. 

                “Right now, America has a 120,000 shortage of doctors.  Now your socialists want to give them a 40% pay cut.  So, now you have less and less doctors, which means you have to ration since you can’t use prices.  Prices are conservative.  A doctor’s time is a scarce resource.  Like all scarce resources, it need to be distributed.  We can only deal with the huge demand by charging people or you can force them to wait on a list.  There’s no third option.  Rationing is inevitable and I’d like to nip it in the bud.“

                Fanis continued to drink but his companion left.  After a couple pints, he paid his tab and got up.  While walking out, a guy who made no effort to hide being suspicious with a black suit and black tie with sunglasses approached him.  Fanis almost laughed and he said, “Aren’t you a walking sterotype?”

                “I have a proposition for you.”

                “I’m sure you do”

                “Stay away from Kera.  She’s a cold woman.”

                “Yes, I know.  She’s my cousin; I’ve known her pretty much her life.”

                “That may make what I’m about to tell you difficult.”

                “So just save your breath and don’t tell me.  I would never turn against her anyway.”

                The man in the suit handed Fanis an I-pad.  Fanis scrolled through various news articles with suspicious activity of Kera.  Fanis said, “If you had anything, you’d charge her.  You got nothing”

                “That’s where you can help”

                “Absolutely not”

                “You know this is the most surveilled city in the world.  Someone will show her a picture of you meeting with me”

                “Yea, which you set up by trying to get me to come out in public instead of offering me a quiet place to speak.  There were plenty in the bar.”

                “If Kera sees a picture of you meeting with me, she may overreact.”

                “That’s my problem isn’t it?”

                “Not if we’re on the same side.  I can protect you.”

                “Yea well I don’t want your protection.”

                “If you’re going to suffer the punishment for a crime anyway, what’s the harm in doing it?”

                “My own moral code for one.  The second, there hasn’t even been a hint of her believing it.  You haven’t ever shown her the picture.  I mean, there’s no proof at all that she’d react that way.  Even if she did, I still wouldn’t help you.  I’m loyal to her no matter how cold she is to me.  This is hypothetical so what makes you think you’re making any point at all?”

                “What do you say to the media reports?”

                “Fake news”

                “Oh so you’re a Trump supporter”

                “Yup”

                “There’s no evidence that the media was biased.”

                Fanis laughed.  “I’m sure they told you that.  You’re just dumb enough to believe it.  I mean with the mainstream media, pretty much every story that used ‘anonymous sources’ was found to be completely fabricated.”

                “How do you figure?”

                Both McClatchy and Buzzfeed retracted their articles based on “anonymous sources” that the President directed Michael Cohen to lie to investigators.  Mueller’s report says, “President did not direct him to provide false testimony.”

                “Well Cohen lied a lot.”

                “And yet, he’s all over the papers that you just defended as if he’s a reliable source.  June 2018, Buzzfeed talked about Cohen meeting with Russian weightlifter Dmitry Klokov who is friends with Putin.”

                “And….

                “Turns out they don’t know each other.  Cohen confused the weight lifter with an official of the same name.”

                “So maybe he colluded with that guy”

                “Meeting with Russians isn’t illegal by the way.”

                “Well, I don’t know about you’re American news but here in England, our news outlets have impeccable credibility.”

                “Really? Because the Guardian, which is an English paper, had to retract a story about Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort visiting Julian Assange in the Ecuadorian consulate three times.  They were later informed they were victims of a disinformation campaign.”

                “Okay, so they were tricked”

                “I don’t believe that.  But even if they did, it shows how gullible they are and how disinterested they are in vetting any negative information about Trump

“Any others?” the man said sarcastically

“Yes, McClatchy and Buzzfeed had to take back all the articles they had about Cohen going to Prague.  Despite the Washington Post sending people there to check all the hotels and comb the city, nobody recognized the picture of Michael Cohen.  They are still standing by their statement because the CIA claimed they had his phone ping in Czech Republic but nobody has confirmed that.  They’re just liars.

                “So you don’t trust the media?”

                “Nope, one more for you.  CNN said Cohen said that Trump knew about the Trump Tower meeting.  Mueller said Cohen “Recalled being in Trump’s office on June 6 or 7th when Trump Jr. told his father that meeting to obtain adverse information about Clinton was going forward.  Cohen did not recall Trump Jr. stating that the meeting was connected to Russia.  Keep in mind, Cohen betrayed Trump and worked closely with Mueller and all these stories still had to be retracted.  They are hacks and not interested in real journalism anymore.”

“Well, speaking about turning your back, would you turn your back on your cousin?”

“No”

“What about for 10,000 pounds?”

“No, but thanks for asking.”

“$50,000 pounds”

                “Damn, you keep rising fast but it’s always going to be ‘no’”

                “Why?”

                “She’s my cousin.  Family is more important than money.”

                “Here’s my card if you change your mind”  he said as he handed Fanis a card.  Fanis ripped it up and threw the card in a street trash bin and walked away.  He went back to the hotel and went to his room to sleep it off. 

                Fanis woke up before Kera but when she did she met him in the continental breakfast in the lobby of the hotel where she made herself coffee.  Kera said, “Good morning”

                “Good morning”

                “How was your night last night?”

                “Very intriguing”

                “Oh yea, how’s that?”

                “Someone offered me 50,000 pounds to betray you.  I assume he meant to kill you.” Kera’s body tensed and she stared at the wall..  Fanis continued, “I know it’s not my business but are you really worth that much dead?”

                “I guess so.” She said ominously then continued after a short pause, “Now you know I didn’t hire you from paranoia”

                “Yea, if it was legit, you have a point,”

                Kera turned toward Fanis and said, “What do you mean if it’s legit?”

                “Well, he comes after I have a couple pints.  You sent me off.  It’s possible you sent that guy to see what I would say.  I mean you didn’t even ask me what I answered him.”

                “If you said yes, I’d be dead”

                “I’ll give you that.”

                “Isn’t it weird that you’re the only one I trust with my life but you don’t trust me?”

                “No, it’s not weird.  I trust nobody, you know that.”

                “Well, I didn’t send him.  For whatever that’s worth”

                “In the end, it doesn’t matter if it’s a test or not.  I’ll pass every time.  Your instinct is right but if it wasn’t a test, you’re in trouble because I’m really going to be overprotective now.  Just like when you were in high school.”

                “People are actually trying to hurt me this time.  Besides, you weren’t even that overprotective.  You just told me you didn’t approve of my smoking or guys, you never threatened anyone.”

                Fanis’ eyes darted around and then conceded the point.  Kera said, “You always wanted us to be close again.  Now you got your wish.  I admit the circumstances suck but be careful what you wish for I guess.”

                “Yea, I still don’t have any regrets so I’m good with my wish being granted.  Just be careful.  I’ll look out for you but if you’re not vigilant, it just makes it that much harder.”

                “I will.  Thank you for saying no”

                “Any time”

                Kera and Fanis had breakfast together and talked about menial things.  They went back to London later that day.  This was probably going to be the start of a very interesting adventure.