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Life's Illusions - Book Four - Chapter 16
In Madrid Ralph was nervous, he could never understand why he got like this.
The building owner was due to arrive in the next few minutes, ostensibly to look over the renovations Ralph's company had completed only one week earlier.
The penthouse apartment had been completely furnished by, he presumed, the building owner.
Ralph had overseen the fitting out, ensuring no damage resulted, it was ready for someone to move into.
The project had been a nightmare, aside from the worry surrounding almost losing his company when he'd started the project, the owner had altered the plans part way through, reducing the vast, open plan entrance lobby floor area by nearly two thirds, two apartments, each with three bedrooms had been created on the entrance floor level, intended for live in building managers, and their families.
The planned schedule had only been extended by four weeks, today was the day Ralph was looking to agree completion of his contract, his first big payday since Juan had solved his financial worries.
He was waiting in the newly renovated entrance lobby, feeling decidedly uncomfortable in a business suit, shirt and tie, including underpants, he hated dressing up, his preferred outfit was definitely commando, in shorts and a T.
Looking out of the newly completed, strengthened glass entrance door, he blinked, then stared, Juan was getting out of a limousine, heading for the portico and the entrance steps.
As Juan entered, his driver followed, carrying a large hamper which Juan directed him to set down on the concierge desk before he left.
He looked Ralph over before pulling him into the customary hug.
"Wow, you certainly scrub up okay don't you?".
Ralph pulled him in close, thinking he'd never grow tired of these greetings, and saying.
"Yeh, but I'd prefer to be out of these clothes sooner rather than later, the owner is due any minute, but this is a really pleasant surprise, when I get the work signed off, how about I treat you to lunch, as a celebration of bringing in the first contract under my newly financed company, all thanks to you?".
Looking at his watch, Ralph was conscious, his appointment was late, he'd said, rather absently.
"I wonder why he's late?".
But when he turned and saw Juan smiling, the penny dropped.
"He's not late is he, he's already here isn't he, I know I'll regret asking this, but, are you the owner of the penthouse apartment, by any chance?".
Juan was almost giggling as he answered.
"That would be a Yep".
Ralph should have been surprised, but he wasn't, he just raised his eyes, then something occurred to him.
"Okay, you can sign off completion of the apartment, but who signs off the rest of the work?".
Now Juan did actually laugh, saying.
"That would be the building owner".
Ralph looked at him.
"No, you didn't, you're shitting me, why?"
Juan scooped him back into a hug.
"Do you honestly think I'm going to let someone else live in the apartment where we first made love, oh no, not happening, in fact, right now I'm planning on helping you with a wish you expressed earlier".
Ralph looked puzzled, until Juan explained.
"You wanted out of those clothes, sooner rather than later".
As he was talking, Juan had been slowly walking Ralph backwards toward the elevators, undoing his shirt and pants as the went.
It took exactly ten minutes before Ralph was standing stark naked in the penthouse apartment.
An equally naked Juan was on his knees before him, devouring Ralph's rampant cock.
It was around an hour later when a still gasping Ralph asked.
"But why the whole building?".
Juan's reply, reasoning, actually made perfect business sense.
"I looked into a couple of recent renovations in this area and I was impressed, seriously impressed, but I felt they hadn't gone quite far enough, I'm going to install two managers in the new apartments you created, they'll work in rotation, twenty four seven, all of these apartments will be extreme full service apartments, nothing will be too much trouble, the residents most minor whims will be catered for, at a price, a yearly service charge that would make your eyes water, and I increase each apartment price by three million Euros, in effect I get this penthouse apartment for free".
Ralph was impressed, then shocked by what Juan said next.
"You'll be rather busy for quite a while, and you'll need to seriously increase your workforce, I've bought four similar buildings on this avenue alone, and I'm looking for more in the immediately surrounding area, hopefully they won't have been blown up before you get your hands on them, but you're the preferred contractor, this isn't me giving you bull shit, the standard of finish I see in this building far exceeds anything else I've seen, I want that exact standard in every one of the renovations, don't be afraid to rip something back out if it has a blemish, I want nothing less than what I see here".
Ralph was totally amazed, saying.
"I suppose it helps if you've got your own bank to fund you".
Juan's reply sent his mind spinning.
"I don't need finance, I'm using my own money".
Ralph was stuttering.
"But .............that, .............that's ........it's ...........it's ..........about two ........maybe three hundred million Euros .........".
Juan saw how the news had impacted Ralph.
"You had to find out at some point, I'm sorry if it came as a shock, but yes, I'm enormously wealthy, but as you know, apart from a few luxuries which aid my work as well as my social life, I don't waste money, I treat it very seriously, a lot of my income goes to charity, so it's important I make the core of my wealth work for me, all those charities rely on it, I refuse to let them down".
At that Juan pulled a still dazed Ralph in for a full smackeroo kiss, before saying.
"Now get in the shower, then put those fancy togs back on this beautiful body because I'm taking you out to dinner, you use one of the master showers, I have to run down stairs for something, I'll use the other shower, I'm not taking a chance on us being in the same shower right now, or we'll never get out to dinner".
When Ralph came out of the bathroom there were candles twinkling everywhere, and a bottle of champagne chilling, alongside two already poured flutes, and plates of nibbles".
Juan handed him a glass before saying.
"I love you Ralph Esse, I haven't felt this alive in so long, I want a relationship with you, I know it's too soon to think further than that, but I'll be content if you say it's what you want too".
Ralph was almost crying as he answered.
"At last, I can tell you I love you, I've known it since that first day here in this very apartment, so I guess that answers your question, but just in case you are in any doubt, I'm saying yes, I want a relationship with you".
Over dinner at Restaurante Zalacain, Juan waited until they'd finished their first course, before broaching a subject he was nervous about.
"Ralph, I want to make a suggestion, and I remember how you've reacted to at least one of my proposals in the past, so I'm begging, hear me out, please, can you do that?".
Ralph nodded, saying nothing.
"I want you to partner me in this venture, forget about the vast amount involved, they're only numbers, I want us to be a team in this, equals, not you working for me, your finance would come from Woodruff Banking, you'd have a guarantor who, if the worst happened, would cover all of your liabilities, the guarantor can't be me because of my involvement, but I have a guarantor, who actually came to me not the other way round, it's ready for you if you agree".
Juan stopped talking, he could feel his heart pounding, Ralph hadn't said anything, and his expression was giving nothing away.
Then Juan started to panic as Ralph pushed his chair back and stood, Juan blurted out.
"Don't leave please, I didn't mean to upset you, I'll drop the subject, please?".
But Juan was pleasantly shocked when a completely calm Ralph leaned in, kissed his cheek and whispered.
"Calm down Cowboy, I'm only going to point Percy at the porcelain, be back in about nine and a half inches".
Juan sighed loudly, then shivered, feeling his cock twitch, thinking of those nine and a half fat inches, he watched intently as those beautiful buns crossed the room, and glowed with pride when he noticed several other sets of eyes lock onto them, both male and female.
When he came back, Ralph sat just looking across the table for several minutes, it was easy to see his expression changes, he was thinking, so Juan kept quiet.
Their main course arrived and Ralph had still said nothing.
As they picked up cutlery to begin eating Ralph said.
"I have some questions, is that okay?".
Juan just nodded.
"Good, because first I have to say the figures do frighten me, but I have complete trust in you to not put me in any danger, so I agree, we can set that aside for the moment, I'm not saying yes, but I'm not saying no either, what I would like to do is shelve this discussion until later, there are a few things I want to know, a lot I want answered, and I don't think this is the time to do that, I'm enjoying my first ever meal as a boyfriend of the most handsome man on the planet, I don't want anything to detract from this moment, is that okay with you?".
Juan raised his glass and held it towards Ralph saying.
"Absolutely, except, I can't be the most handsome man on the planet, because you obviously haven't seen the man I'm looking at, he eclipses everything else".
Ralph touched glasses with his, saying only one word.
"Flatterer".
They enjoyed an absolutely stunning meal, then returned to the apartment.
Juan opened another bottle of champagne, poured two glasses and led Ralph out onto the massive terrace.
As they approached the seating area Juan stopped, studying the suite of furniture before him.
"That's not the suite I chose".
Ralph nodded, agreeing, and explaining.
The suite which was delivered didn't work, it was far too dark, against the dark granite it disappeared into the floor, plus both club chairs had minor damage, so I would have rejected it anyway for the damage, whilst they were taking it back I saw the opportunity to change the shade to something slightly lighter, hence, why it's not the suite you chose, sorry if you don't like it".
Juan grabbed him into a hug, almost spilling their drinks.
"See, you just validated my request for us to work together, I love this, but more importantly, you did exactly what I asked earlier, if it's not right, for whatever reason, do something about it, perfect is the only acceptable state, whether we go ahead with plans to work together or not, I want you to understand, there will never be questions asked about extra cost because something wasn't right, do you understand what I'm saying?".
Ralph looked a little confused, so Juan put it another way.
"Imagine there was a very slight defect in the marble floor of the entrance lobby, would it really matter?, whoever buys the place would probably put some expensive Persian Rug over it and never see it, or perhaps a mark on the counter top in the master bathroom, it will probably have bottles and potions galore covering it, will anyone ever notice it?, or, one final example, in the kitchen, one of the cabinet doors is a slightly different shade to the others, but it's positioned so it's not apparent straight away, what would you do in each case?".
Ralph understood now.
"I don't need to answer individually, I can answer collectively, and I only need one word, 'Reject', I don't accept 'Almost', it's why I've always won out over the competition, I'm not blowing my own trumpet, I know my standards are far above others, I believe in fair play, it's what I'm being paid to deliver, and it's what I will deliver".
Juan was beaming.
"Excellent, so now you need to understand, in the past, the cost of rectifying any blemish was on your head, as the contractor, going forward it's part of the construction cost, I'd rather spend an extra hundred thousand getting something right than produce a sub standard product, because that's our reputation we'd be toying with, I want you to take the final snag inspection to the ultimate level, if it doesn't pass, rip it out, start again, if you think a client has made a bad choice, bring them in, offer to amend, at our cost, we'll be making around three million Euros per unit, less construction and marketing, we should still pick up over two and a half million profit per unit.
Ralph was sitting staring, open mouthed as Juan continued.
"Now, about our earlier conversation, what is it you want to know about my proposal, ask anything, I'll answer everything".
Ralph started talking and Juan had a warm feeling straight away, he wasn't opposed, that was evident in his questions, his tone.
"I understand about the finance, well, to be truthful, I don't, but I'll rely on your word, that I'm protected however, I need to ask, who is providing this guarantee, and you gave me the impression it wasn't you who asked this mystery person, he, or she, offered them self to you, so more importantly, I need to know why?".
Juan expected this, and in truth, he'd still not worked out in his own mind how to explain it, so he went for pure facts.
"You're guarantors, two people, are Aly and Bo, Pierre and Piers Poppas, they spoke to me when I called Jo on their flight out to Sydney, told me they wanted to meet you, told me Piers was wrong, made me promise to grab this opportunity with you by the throat and embrace it, they said a lot more which I can't repeat now without dissolving into tears, in Sydney after I'd resolved the problem with Piers I told them what you'd said about walking away, they cried, I felt terrible, like I'd hurt them, but they said no, it was they who'd hurt you, they should have acted earlier to stop Piers".
Ralph could see this was difficult for Juan, so he stayed silent just holding his hand.
"When I bought this block, I chatted it through with Jo, he thought it was a no brainier, asked if I wanted a partner, I think it was what I said to him that set things in motion, I said no thanks, if I was going to choose a partner, it would be you, in business and bed, well you know us both well enough by now, that caused him to laugh, and me to blush bright red, but it was true, anyway, a few days later I received a call from Bo, he offered for them to be your guarantors if I could get you to agree, and he specifically added, with no comeback if it backfired, a complete and utter coverall, they would ensure you were left in the position you were when entering the arrangement".
He'd paused again, seeming on the verge of tears, so Ralph whispered.
"Take your time, we've got all night, have a drink, don't rush, I'm listening, and he kissed his cheek.
It invigorated Juan, he set off again.
"I'm not stupid, Jo says I'm a bit slow on somethings, but not when it comes to money, I knew, my nett worth was always going to be a problem, in the last twelve years there have been a handful of so called admirers, I hasten to add, none rated by me as worthy of even a fumble, let alone anything more, every time, I've always been conscious, it wasn't me that attracted them, it was my money, it haunted me like a curse, then I met you, and when I fucked up, you told me to shove my money up my ass, or words to that effect, can you imagine how refreshing, and devastating at the same time that was, when I told Jo, I still remember his words, he said, 'Oh no, this is a keeper, we need a plan', and you wrecked it, you got him drunk, anyway, I did basically what you did, I asked Bo why, and I don't want you to get a big head here, but he said, if this guy is even half as good as we're hearing, you need to rope him in, tie him down and fuck him into eternity, Pierre would tell you it's well past time for you to be loved, so make it happen son".
This time it was only a momentary pause.
"That's it, all I can tell you".
Ralph speaking made Juan jump.
"Okay, I'll say yes, subject to meeting Aly and Bo, until then, take it as an interim very possible, now, I would like to have another glass of champagne with my brand new obscenely wealthy boyfriend, who I will remind, could easily become a eunuch if he tried to use those funds on me, and then, whilst he is still not a eunuch, I would love him to take me to bed and fuck me into oblivion, a task he has already proved he excels at".
Three days later, a very nervous Ralph accompanied Juan to The Inn at Montclair.
The receptionist greeted them warmly.
"I don't think you need an escort Juan, they said to direct you to The Residence, it's good to see you sir".
Juan impressed Ralph and caused the girl to giggle.
"Silvie, I wasn't aware I'd received a knighthood, now get that gorgeous little frame round here for a hug".
And she'd almost run around the reception counter to hug him, a genuine happy to see you hug.
They'd walked through The Inn, with nearly everyone greeting Juan warmly, until they reached the residence, Aly and Bo's home.
Juan stopped.
"Are you okay, don't let it get out of proportion in your head, they're enormously wealthy in a way that makes me seem like a pauper, but don't think of that because they embrace the same set of financial principles that I do, money doesn't figure with them, they want to see you, nothing more".
The door was opened by Aly who immediately pulled Juan into a hug saying.
"You owe us boy, this is my first hug in more months than I'd care to remind you of, but I'm being rude, this I believe is Ralph".
Aly pulled Ralph into a now familiar hug, whispering.
"We don't bite, well not unless provoked, you don't need to worry, we hope you're the saviour of our son in law, if he's half as good to you as he was to our dear departed son, you'll probably want him canonised by the church, now come meet Bo".
Juan heard none of this exchange, he simply wondered at the expressions flitting across Ralph's face.
Bo ran through a similar format.
Ralph listened to Bo whispering.
"Whatever you do, protect him, to us he is a god, he didn't just love our son, he brought him back to us when everyone believed he was gone, Juan doesn't just love, he unconditionally devotes himself".
Ralph got his answers, spent the afternoon chatting with Aly and Bo.
When he asked the inevitable question, why?, it was Bo who answered.
"Because it's what Pierre would have wanted us to do, and because, even if it failed, we would have tried to do something that means a lot to Juan, and he has so much credit with us he could never use it up, and also because Juan told us you were prepared to walk away rather than hurt his relationship with Piers".
Before they left The Inn, Ralph agreed, he would be proud to accept their proposal.
When they actually left, he said.
"I'm not sure if I shouldn't be looking up a hundred metres or so to see you on your pedestal".
Juan looked disappointed saying.
"Don't say that please, I hate it, I know how they feel, if I were a parent who'd given up hope, and I were proven wrong, I'd probably feel the same, but that's where we differ, I had faith that Pierre would come back, after a couple of years they gave up, so when he came back, to relieve their guilt they virtually canonised me, they're wrong, I admit I would have worked until he or I died, just to bring him back, but to me that defines the commitment between two people, if you can't pledge everything, you're a fraud".
Ralph only said a few words but they brought him out of the depression he was facing, and made him giggle.
"Shit, I fell in love with the fuckin Pope, no, I'm not mocking you, I love you, let's see where we go with this, but remember, I'm only kneeling in front of you if your cock's out.".
That night after they arrived back in Madrid would rank as a try to achieve it again benchmark, flip flopping, taking, receiving, four orgasms, more spunk than either could ever remember, and a sleep bordering on coma for both.
When they awoke next morning they were agreed, no sex, they were sore, front and back both equally.
Ralph did agree to one other thing Juan asked, he would move into the penthouse apartment, as Juan put it.
"This will be our Madrid address".
As a name for the new company they tried several variations on their names, both agreed because of Juan's long surname, Alonso-Caswel-Thorn, it was impractical to use it in full however, Ralph's suggestion that they use either ACT-Esse, or ACT-E, brought an agreement from Juan, he liked ACT-Esse Development.
They'd spent several hours on Sunday, looking over another ten properties Juan had earmarked, four they rejected immediately as being in the wrong area, the other six Ralph made rough notes on, paying particular attention to the structural integrity of each building, again one was rejected as having been so badly altered in past renovations, Ralph expressed real surprise it hadn't collapsed before now.
Juan asked Ralph to work out rough figures for each building, based on the first completed building as a model, and to fax them through to him at Montclair.
He flew home to Montclair on Sunday evening, leaving Ralph to move his stuff from the little apartment to the penthouse, and to commence a hiring frenzy.
He already had fifteen full time employees, if Juan were intending them to continue at full speed on a minimum four buildings at any one time, he'd calculated they needed another fifteen, so he first tasked his employees, promising a bonus of one thousand Euros for any skilled tradesman brought on board, and who stayed for a minimum six months, a good move because within the week he'd taken on eight of the fifteen he needed.
By Friday of the following week Ralph had fourteen of the extra workers he needed, and was ready to start work on the first four buildings.
Both Chicago and Montclair received identical messages from Sydney.
'Milo and Piers are pleased to accept your kind invitation and will be attending the wedding celebrations of ................'.
The joy experienced by receiving that communication was unbelievable, it meant a fractured family was repaired again, something they valued above all else.
In Montclair Jacqueline was stressing, not only did she have arrangements under way for Junior and Daniels wedding, she was also arranging a Ball at the London house in honour of HRH Prince Harry's engagement to Ms Megan Markle.
The Ball in London could only be the first week of March, because the Chicago wedding was the third weekend of March.
The guest list for the Ball had been agreed with The Palace, the list had gone back and forth several times, with a number of high profile names being struck out without explanation.
There had been a problem when the first list came back with both Danny's and Petre's names struck out, Jacqueline had simply added them back in when returning the list for final approval, but it had come back without approval, again showing Danny's and Petre's names struck out.
Finally, Jacqueline had come to the end of her patience, Woody walked into their joint office to hear.
"I'm calling to inform you that the Ball at Thorn House Kensington, in honour of His Royal Highness Prince Harry's, and Ms Megan Markle's engagement is about to be cancelled, I am awaiting a call back from His Royal Highness to inform him, .................I think you know why, ........you have repeatedly deleted my sons name, and that of his partner, from the proposed guest list, ...............I have absolutely no interest in what you believe is proper, you might have missed the name of the house hosting the Ball, it's Thorn House, my son is Daniel Montclair-Thorn, no one, especially not a jumped up, egotistical Private Secretary, bans my son from entering his own house, so good luck with explaining that to Red, I'm sure he'll be quite understanding, oh, you should also know, Thorn House will also be withdrawing from offering sanctuary, ................really, then perhaps you'd like to send me the revised list, and I'd urge you to expedite that with great haste, because if it's not here when Red calls, the Ball is off".
Woody was creased up laughing.
"Jacqueline Montclair-Thorn, did I just catch you telling a fib, you wouldn't call Red over something where you know you can bully your way to victory, and we both know, we would never withdraw sanctuary".
Jacqueline looked at him over the top of her spectacles, saying only the one word.
"Whatever".
Woody replied.
"I take it Danny and Petre are back on the guest list?".
Her reply, in mater of fact tone, again caused him to laugh.
"Of course they are, you surely didn't doubt they would be".
Jacqueline had been waiting for a call from Jerry, Manager of 'None Missing', when the call came she was pleasantly surprised to hear, not Jerry but Ary.
"Hi Aunt, I high jacked Jerry's call, I wanted to tell you in person, it's a yes, we can make it, and we'd love to do a number, in fact we're planning several songs, one will be a serenade with Van, the second will be a fast paced number, during which Bobby and I will pull Kate and Megan centre floor for a fast paced waltz, Trev will stand between the Princes doing a solo until we return the ladies to their partners, the others will be one of ours and one of Van's, how does that stack up against what you wanted?".
Jacqueline was thrilled.
"It goes way beyond what I asked for, but then, when have you ever let me down, you always excell, thank you Ary, give my love to the family, see you soon".
In Madrid Ralph was working flat out, his crews had completely gutted two buildings, taking them back to skeletal status, they were now moving on to the third, when a simple accident turned a relatively ordinary day into a nightmare.
A twenty metre square pane of glass, which should have fallen away from the building into a controlled area for debris, snagged on a ledge as it was lifted, broke free of it's tethers and fell back into the building instead, directly onto Ralph, cutting him badly, but the weight, and force of the glass also knocked him out.
For his men it was a terrifying sight, he was buried under the smashed glass and they could clearly see blood spreading.
Guardian's monitoring centre for verbal traffic picked up three Critical Pointers, the building address, an emergency services call from the number listed as Ralph's site office, and finally Ralph's name, which triggered a red alert to Juan's, Josef's, and Rick's cells.
They were in Josef's office in Torremolinas when all three cells issued an emergency signal, the text read.
'Code red, serious incident, Ralph Esse down, emergency services notified, believed injured, believed unconscious', Non Terrorist.
Juan looked at Josef, his eyes rolled, he groaned, and passed out.
TBC Allan
Comments are welcome to cfgw2000@aol.com.
Thank you for giving me your time, enjoy.