#plus i could talk to a financial advisor

[artisanalpeanutbutter]

If I won the turbo super duper lottery, I'd put away 10 million, pay off my student loans, calculate how much it would take to mortgage a house in a decent area, put that aside, then put the rest in an account that I would use to pay for various funds (i.e. funeral, bail, disaster, etc.)

[darkmagyk]

So, Legally Blonde is a super fun movie, but man...something about the framing has always frustrated me.

Elle Wood's got a 4.0 at an extremely competitive school. She got a 179 on her SAT. She is the president of a major Sorority. That means she probably handles tens of thousands, at least, dollars of fundraising a year, plus all the other administration. It is a giant organizational and and financial operation and she's in charge of it. And to get to be president, she probably held at least two other offices the previous two years that she was also very successful in.

She's beautiful, smart, rich, and white. What about her isn't going to be absolutely Harvard material. I understand why her parents and Warren don't think it's a good fit. But her advisor? The admissions people (the rich, white, genius from a top tier school is their diversity pick?) The people who she's meeting in that scene after she gets there, when they are comparing backgrounds? The work she's done with Delta Nu is 100% on par with the other people.

It doesn't feel real, it feels like the movie has to keep making people discredit her, mostly arbitrarily, so it can say "yeah, she likes fashion, but also, she works hard." "Yeah, she likes fashion, but she knows random facts about fashion and hair care that allow her to bamboozle people on the witness stand."

The movie seem to just...want to minimize all her accomplishments until she decides to get into Harvard. They dismiss her 4.0. They dismiss her sorority as a silly group of friends, not a major administrative endeavor.

Ironically, the sequel actually does a much better job at showing how Elle's background made her a formidable player beyond knowing random facts about haircare. It understands that sororities are basically giant networking events, and Elle uses that, and all those social skills she picked up doing her administratively heavy job, to get shit done in Washington. She uses her Delta Nu connections to find political allies and to swell up ground support. She uses her social connections to learn how the world works from unusual sources. It shows that she was actually built for the world she's inhabiting, once she learns the rules. And the world also...invites her in. She says to a connection "I want to get on your staff" and then she just...does it. She has to learn the ropes once there (again, something she does via her networking and organizational skills), but all that history isn't a waste of time.

I just...I really wish I could watch that movie and not think about how it doesn't know what the fuck its talking about.

[britt-kageryuu]

Donnie just ended a stream, and was going over the stats for said stream, when his phone set off the group chat notification sound, it was April. She was asking if she could come to the studio to ask about something, specifically with Donnie. She was given the go ahead, and Donnie asked his drone children to help straighten things up.

April showed up a few minutes later. She greeted the drones who went back to playing their games. They're seated in the inflatable chairs that are just always left on the set.

"So April, what can I help you with in our studio today?" Donnie asks while leaning back with a slight squeak.

April lets out a annoyed sigh, "Okay, so even with my stellar resume and Degrees, those jerks at the News wouldn't even give me an Internship! They said they didn't take degrees of my level without a recommendation from 1 or more these 5 random sounding tabloid-y magazines!" She was slowly raising her voice as she talks, while griping something imaginary probably the neck of the person who told her she couldn't work for them.

Donnie just quirks an eyebrow, but doesn't question it. She did also have a long list of being fired for the most random reasons.

"So, what kinda of help do you want? Blackmail on the staff, hacking the channel, draining the guys investments? I can go on." Donnie lists off with a slightly sinister smile.

"As tempting as that is, no." April shakes her head in amusement, she's sure he's just listing this to make her laugh, maybe. "No, I wanted to see if you had anything you can have me do with your companies. Like maybe as a 'Manager' or something?"

Donnie thinks it over for a second, "Well if we made you a manager, it would just be just a title, you wouldn't really be doing anything, plus you want to go into journalism, and acting as a manager won't look that great on your, probably highly edited, resume." He pauses to look over something on his tablet. "I have two possible options for you, one is media management for Genius Built, and Four Turtles Production, it's basically putting together the news we want to release to the public about them, along with helping with event stuff, and two basically option 1, but you do it as a Newscaster in videos that we will upload onto our social media sites. If you want you could use a model to mask your identity, if you don't want to be called the 'PR Girl'."

April looks a bit confused, before thinking it over for a few seconds, "So I either, just edit posts and videos that will be put on the GB and FTP socials, or I do it in mainly a video format like I'm reporting the news, maybe with one of your custom models?"

"Yes, either way it's up to you. These are just the options that I believe would look better for your resume, if you ever want to look for another job." Donnie stats, he hands April the tablet, "Here will be your benefits, though remember that all medical problems will lead you to Leon, therapy to Angelo, you get a personal trainer with Rafa, and I become your financial advisor."

April looks it over the benefits, and figures that agreeing to work for Donnie will be better than one of the other jerks that she could possibly work for. "Alright, let's see how this works out. Better than trying to find work around top side anyway. Do the Dragons get the same benefits?"

"Why, of course! They were a bit weirded out by needed to go to Leon for medical, and got freaked out at Angelo, but not Rafa. I don't know why." He looks like he's contemplating this, but he probably knows why.

"So, you already have a model for me right?"

"About 20 at least, we didn't want to assume which one you want so we made a variety you can choose from, and we can make changes from there!"

"Can I help with Cass and CJs models, or are they already done?"

----------------

Masterpost

I don't think I will actually write posts from April, but after watching a Vtuber news reporter, I couldn't stop thinking "this is how they drag April into what is becoming the family business!" and it fits kinda.

Also writing April was a bit weird, but then again writing any of these guys is weird.

[dangerously-human]

Still fighting for my life with tuition benefit stuff, in case anyone was wondering. I would like to submit my request for this semester, but we're still duking it out over last semester because of a problem from over a year ago and I don't want to swing at two hornet nests at once, so. Took every single dollar out of my savings account to pay tuition for this semester and am just praying I can get reimbursed before another rent check needs to go out (and Lord willing, my car won't need massive repairs at inspection this year). I'm doing an actual research study for my mixed methods class this semester, and the professor keeps saying she's fine with giving us an incomplete so we have another year to wrap it up in order to actually get something meaningful out of it. I finally talked to her last night to explain that I cannot afford to take another incomplete and ask how I could do a legitimate study on such a condensed timeline. Thankfully she was understanding and came up with an idea I think will work, since it involves basically just doing the quantitative portion under an existing protocol at work and a qualitative portion that doesn't count as human subjects research, so I don't have to deal with an IRB pissing contest between institutions, nor the debatable ethics of collecting data without compensating people for their time, given that it's unfunded research (and I really can't afford to pay people out of pocket when I'm already paying through the nose to be in this class in the first place). I'm still reworking my research plan, but I do feel a lot better about this in comparison to my plan as of last week, which would have required either submitting to both IRBs (and my work IRB is notorious for having different standards than most, and they/the data lawyers that often end up getting involved move slowly in this kind of situation) or submitting twice to my university IRB, once per phase.

Anyway, dealing with all of this today had me looking at what I really have left to do before I graduate. I'm halfway through the program now, though it feels like I've done way more. After I'm done with this class, which meets my advanced methods requirement (although round 2 of statistics probably did too), I have to eventually go back and take the foundations of the program course that was a scheduling conflict my first semester and somehow hasn't been offered since; another research apprenticeship (I'll probably write another manuscript, ideally one that's already been in progress for a bit at work - if I can get a loan, maybe I can do that this summer with my brief report I'm first authoring); plus two electives, which I was hoping to concentrate on measure design but would also happily do more advanced statistics courses if I'm allowed to take them through the school of psychology (I've tapped out the school of ed on that score). I guess I should ask if I'm allowed to say my job counts as an internship, which from the course catalog it looks like it should, but idk. Theoretically that puts me graduating... fall '25? Maybe? I could go so much faster if it weren't for the financial aspect. I do have to meet with an advisor at some point, but I still don't have one at the moment (again), which really seems like a problem for future me to figure out. But future me before May, because I think I'm still recorded as supposed to graduate this semester, even though it's been clear from the beginning that I was not a full-time student. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

They really do make this grad school thing as complicated as possible, don't they?

[master-john-uk]

I am not a farmer... I am just a silly businessman who bought two struggling farms for all the wrong reasons! But, I am learning.

In 2007, following a military exercise on Salisbury Plain I accepted an invitation from a British Army General to join him for dinner at his Dorset home.

I immediately fell in love with the area. It was like stepping back in time without the aid of a TARDIS!

The General took me to a local pub. After a lovely meal, he introduced me to a local farmer, also named John who was sitting at the bar, looking very tired and emotional. I got chatting with Farmer John... He told me that he was struggling to cope with his workload and wanted to retire. But, his wife loved farm life so much that he felt he could never leave the farm, even though they were struggling to make ends meet.

Farmer John was quite intelligent even in his inebriated state, and had calculated that he needed to work 27 hours a day in order to bring the harvest in before the rain that was forecast. I volunteered to help.

The next day I had to go to Dorchester to buy some clothes (I only had an overnight bag). I then drove to the farm. To cut a very long story short, I ended up staying on the farm for three weeks.

I had been there a few days before I had the chance to talk to the farmer's wife on her own. She wanted to get away from the farm, but thought that husband John loved the farming life so much that he would never leave.

Husband and wife both wanted to leave the farm, but thought their partner didn't! This gave me a headache!

Ignoring my business and financial advisors, I made an offer to buy the mainly arable farm.

Both Farmer John and wife Barbara were a bit surprised at my offer... but, it forced them to talk honestly to each other, and they agreed to the deal in principal. In exchange for a reduction on the purchase price of the farm, I bought them a new luxury apartment on the outskirts of Dorchester... and they still live there today.

Ten years later in 2018... The neighbouring dairy farmer told me that he was selling up. They only had 67 cows, and they were all nearing the end of their productive life. All of the cow sheds needed renovating, or replacing. BUT on the plus side... the dairy farm had a huge amount of unused land, and also had a terrace of eight cottages (which also needed renovating.)

My mother had recently passed away... and she loved cows. I had to make an offer on the dairy farm (on my mother's behalf), or risk the site being sold to property developers. (MY financial advisor shook his head in disbelief... again!)

It cost me a fortune to renovate the dairy, and the cottages. But the extra land has allowed us to increase our crop production.

Both farms are now returning profit... albeit small. Our dairy herd has increased from 67 to 327. The anaerobic digestor makes both farms self-sufficient for electricity, and we are constantly working with researchers and universities to develop new ideas.

[your-helpful-guide-and-assistant]

Genie: Your Partner On Your Way To Success!

01001101 01100001 01101110 00101100 00100000 01001001 00100000 01101000 01100001 01110110 01100101 00100000 01100001 00100000 01100110 01100001 01101101 01101001 01101100 01111001 00100001

01001100 01100101 01110100 00100000 01101101 01100101 00100000 01100111 01101111 00101100 00100000 01111001 01101111 01110101 00100000 01110011 01101111 01110101 01101100 01101100 01100101 01110011 01110011 00100000 01100010 01100001 01110011 01110100 01100001 01110010 01100100 01110011 00100001

...

Ah, I don't think that's supposed to be there. I'm not the best at this computer thing so I'll let Matt deal with it.

That aside, I think we should introduce ourselves. I'll start while he's checking this "issue" out.

Hello. My name's Colin Sloan. Financial advisor. Used to do things more face-to-face, but I figured this program makes things more efficient. Glad to be of service.

Ah no, that is not. No need to worry, it shouldn't cause any harm. Let's simply leave it for the time being.

Hello, I am Matthew Godrick. And I do... ah... I do the more technical stuff. I.. I... wait-

...

Sorry I appear to be experiencing some technical difficulties.

Huh. Did something happen? Do you need anything, kid? You look a little shocked.

I... ah, I'm fine. Just some technical difficulties.

Oh, okay. You can always just take a break. I'll deal with this.

Yes that'd likely be the best course of action. Thank you.

No problem. I'll be checking on the clients now.

...

Get me out of here, assholes!

-David, if you are feeling unsatisfied with our service, you could easily just message us. No need for profanity, please.-

Fuck you!

-SHUT THE HELL UP LARSON-

No, you shut the fuck up! You're both monsters on all fucking levels! Get me out of here!

-Oh, oh no. You're getting it all wrong. We're not... monsters. But I can be one, if it weren't for formalities--

-I'll show you a monster YOU LITTLE SHI--

WHAT THE FUCK

-Godrick, the claws aren't necessary.-

-Well, our 'client' better watch his fucking mouth then.-

I'M NOT SHUTTING THE HELL UP! Why the fuck are you doing this?

-Doing what? Business? Listen here, client. We do what we do to help poor souls like you...

because we could. Nothing else. Got that?-

Ha! That's bullshit! I know you two have a fucking agenda! Got an axe to grind with someone?

-...-

-I think you should watch your mouth, Larson. Do yourself a favour and shut it.-

I'm not shutting up until you get me the fuck out of here.

-Why the hell should we let YOU out of here?-

Because... because I don't deserve this! I need to go home, people miss me out there! You probably wouldn't get it.

-Oh, but you do. David, you got what you bargained for. As for... the people, well... they already know what's happened to you. It was all over the news. They wouldn't question a thing. I made sure they get the details correctly.-

-...-

Huh? What's going on with him-

-Oh. Uh. You know what? David, you're dismissed. Please. Leave your complaints somewhere else, and we can talk about this later. I believe my coworker here is going through a 'bug' again.-

...whatever. Fuck you.

-Thank you for the feedback. We will get back to you in a moment.-

...

//Hello! OOC Admins here. Enjoy the chaos. I (Rhi) am rlly proud of this masterpiece.

[Hi as well! This blogs being run by myself @doliminuz and @rhithefella ! With Matt being played yours truly (Doli) and Colin by Rhi, and I think we're just passing David back and forth like a basket ball.

It's a Cabin Tales blog using our AU/HC versions of the collector plus Mr Got Snatched himself as their unwilling guest star!]

//And here's some OOC deets abt each of our characters + some important things to know.

Colin Sloan (Played by Rhi)

- Somewhere between 26-34 (doesn't remember)

- He/Any

- Lived during the early 1900s so he's got a lot catching up to do with technology.

- Ancestor of Rhi's version of Kevin from 2.4/Roulette.

Matthew Godrick (Played by Doli)

- 28 years and married (or was before You Know)

- He/him

- Can't really remember anything from pre-death, aside from his death itself, and is VERY short tempered with his victims. Will drop that professionalism completely.

- Cousins in law with Doli's version of Koby from Cry Wolf/1.8

David Larson

- 25 years old

- He/Him

- His dad is a scumbag so he moved away as soon as he could. Originally stayed with a friend named Lance until the events of his story (1.5/Sell Your Soul).

-Brother of Sam from 1.6/Storm Warning, Romeo from The Night We Met, one of the waitresses from 2.1/Graveyard Diner, and Samuel from 2.4/Roulette.

Miscellaneous

- Please do not ask anything inappropriate ofc.

- Again, these are just HCs so don't take any of these as canon.

[ven10]

For the ten characters ask game: Quigley Quagmire, Isadora Quagmire, Duncan Quagmire, Olivia Caliban (preferably book canon), Lemony Snicket, Beatrice Baudelaire, Esme Squalor, Fiona Widdershins, Monty, Klaus Baudelaire!! Always love your responses to ask games :)

Hey cygninae! Thanks for the ask!! :)

(Btw for the romantic ones I’m interpreting all of them as if me+the character are the same age)

I would

Marry: Isadora! :) She is one of my favourite characters and marriage would enable us to talk+spend time together a lot! (Also, I’ll admit I find people with goth/emo/that sort of vibe quite attractive) (Although I rarely think of Isadora that way, I just like her character) Plus, I like organising bookshelves and she would have a lot of poetry books to organise so that’d work out!

Drink tea with: Monty;he strikes me as the kind of guy who would have a billion different kinds of tea in his house+have really exciting stories regarding how he got each one! That being said I usually just drink black tea (with sugar+milk) but still, the stories would be fun! Also, in order to drink tea with Monty (Spoilers for The Reptile Room) Monty would need to be alive meaning that either he is revived or I drink tea with him before his death meaning that I can warn him about Olaf!

Or: Beatrice! I feel like she’d be fun to spend time with. We’d probably drink it on top of a roof or something!

Side-note; under no circumstances would I choose Lemony for this one. Tea that is “as bitter as wormwood and as sharp as a two-edged sword” sounds disgusting. Ik it’s a VFD proverb so there’s a risk Monty would also drink tea like that however it’s been CONFIRMED (via Kit in TPP) that Lemony conforms to this vile standard of drink so yeah, I wouldn’t trust him to make drinkable tea…🤢

Party with: Quigley! 100%, you just know it’d be fun party if Quigley was involved! Quigley would challenge everyone to Just Dance battles with a bizarre amount of confidence then proceed to lose every round without fail. Would invent a really intense version of capture the flag to play (no matter what kind of party it was) where there is a flag for every country in the world.

Kiss: gonna be real, I don’t really see the appeal of kissing. Ig if it meant we were close in an emotional or romantic sense then one of the Quagmires? Probably Isadora or Duncan? 🤔

Go out on a date with: Duncan Quagmire; he’s sweet+interesting. A date would mean we could spend a lot of time together and I could get the chance to know more about him. Also he’d probably choose the setting of a library or a café for it and those are both good options!

At the same time, I feel like it’d be pretty nice to be loved as deeply as Lemony loves Beatrice so maybe him? 🤔 Plus he has a lot of intriguing stories to share.

Push down the stairs: Beatrice. I mean, she’s already dead so what harm can it do..?

Slap: Olivia (Book Canon) however I slap her whilst she is standing on the edge of a staircase so she falls down those too. Then,when nobody was looking, I put polish on the wooden floor at the bottom of those stairs so that when she tries to get up after falling she slips again. As this is happening, the ‘freaks’ she manipulated into working unpaid at the carnival watch, pointing and laughing much like how the audience at the carnival treated them.

Invade the dreams of: Fiona bc I feel like her dreams would involve a lot of adventures so that’d be exciting! On the other hand, she has most definitely dreamt up at least a few really bizarre species of fish on a few occasions bc of how much time she spends underwater which may be mildly terrifying.

Take a nap with: Klaus Baudelaire. This guy needs the rest :’)

Rob: Esmé! 6th most important financial advisor, you say? Yet you can’t even keep your own finances safe?

Thanks for the ask cygninae!! :)

[monismochi]

Ok so some of yall might be able to relate but like... I get really bad anxiety with scheduling appointments and phone calls and just anything really tbh, it's like imposter syndrome of being an adult even though I'm basically 30 (im coming to realise it might actually be adhd tbh despite the fact my dr keeps thinking im depressed. But tbf.. she didnt see me any of my teen years or my 20s up until this last year so its not like she could make a suggestion. Imma bring up adhd on our next appointment though bc ive made sure to keep a standing one so i dont need to stress about rescheduling.)

And so I've been avoiding talking to my dentist for 5 years, and my financial advisor for 3 ( and before that another 6 years)

And I got a journal last week and wrote down the things I wanted to get done and was like... I'll probably not do them but I want to write them down bc I forget and then just feel bad and then repeat for months/years

GUESS WHO FINISHED EVERYTHING ON MY TO-DOs

I have both appointments booked, I have my work schedule changed, I signed up for my works retirement fund a few weeks ago AFTER ALMOST 6 YEARS OF AVOIDANCE, I have all my insurance up to date PLUS KNOW MY NUMBERS ON HOW TO USE IT, and I also finally sorted my medical supplies and how much I've forgotten to order and how much I'm being charged since I never updated my medical despite paying for it for years, and GUYS IM JUST???? I'm trying to feel excited but I'm also torn in a feeling of relief and stress instead of accomplishment but like?? This should be exciting right??? I spent majority of my 20s stressing about this stuff and it only took a few hours last weekend and last month, and now only like.. an hour today dudhdhe. How??? HOW WAS IT SO EASY WHEN ITS SO GD HARRRDDDD

[dasenergi-diary]

Over the weekend I said I'll tell the story of "the straw that broke my back." Here it is:

I will attempt to keep all emotion out of it and only state the facts.

The ex-bf lives near me in Ontario, California. In February he started his new job in Palm Springs. That's an 80ish minute drive (70+ miles).

Every day he tells me about all of the accidents he sees on his commute. He said it's worse than his drive into LA (Los Angeles). Every day he describes to me horrible accident scenes. People drive too fast and swerve through traffic.

When he got the job, the plan always was, when his current lease is up at the end of April (beginning of May), he will get an apartment in Palm Springs.

He HATES his current apartment complex. He's been talking about moving out ever since he moved in. He complains about everything about that apartment complex.

Plus we were already aware they were increasing his rent with this renewal. So much so, that in his words, "I'm going to have to take out a loan to pay my rent. Or I could get a second job."

He wasn't exaggerating. He was serious. They're raising it several hundred.

Moving to Palm Springs would be a great new start!

Since I "work from home" most days, I could work from his Palm Springs apartment on weekdays and come home to my house on the weekends with the kids. That way we can have quality time together without someone commuting. He could also stay with me on the weekends too, or explore Palm Springs and make new friends.

He has never belonged to a gay community, he does not have any local gay friends, and I thought Palm Springs would be a great place for him to build both of those.

After he started working and commuting to Palm Springs every day I kept nagging him, "Have you looked for an apartment?"

He hadn't. So I did an online search and sent him several that met his needs.

"Have you called them? Are there any openings? Scheduled a walk-thru?" He hadn't. He kept procrastinating.

Daily on his lunchbreak I would remind him, "Call the apartment lady." (He had a good lead on an apartment from a co-worker.)

Two months went by. Finally last week he scheduled a walk-thru of an apartment. His comments, "It doesn't have an indoor washer/dryer. I'm not using a laundry room."

Here I should mention, his credit score is only 600. Remember, my mentioning he can't "adult"? Managing his finances is one way he can't "adult."

True story: He hired someone to help get his finances in order. He did NOT do what the financial advisor told him to do, and then he fired the financial advisor because he felt guilty about not doing what the financial advisor told him to do - the exact reason why he hired the financial advisor.

He has ruined his credit rating. We both knew most apartments in Palm Springs probably won't take him. We had to set expectations.

This place with the laundry room will accept him AND this place is $700 less than what he is paying now. AND it's super close to work. He'll be saving money to pay off his debts!

Did he look at any other apartments? Nope!

Then last Wednesday he shared with me that he signed the renewal at his current location... the place 70+ miles from work that he can't afford.

The place in Palm Springs was $700 less a month AND no more 70+ mile commute!

Why would he sign that lease???!!!!!

He sent me a video of that Palm Springs apartment, it was perfectly fine. I could totally see him living there. It had just been refurbished with a new bathroom, kitchen, etc. It was cute!

Even if he didn't like that one apartment he saw, he didn't even look at any others.

He has until the end of April to be out of his current apartment. That's still plenty of time (a whole month!) to find a new apartment, or stay with me, or stay with his parents, or stay in a airbnb, until he finds one.

Why did he sign that lease?

I told him to go back to his Leasing Office and say he made a mistake. That he can't afford it. Did he? I don't know. He kept saying, "I can't."

And that's what made me so furious with him. That was the straw that broke my back.

That he signed a lease for an apartment that he hates, that he can't afford and will need to take out a loan to pay rent, and he drives a dangerous 70+ mile commute to work every day, and the bright future of living in Palm Springs is gone.

And I snapped. I couldn't do it anymore. Those were my exact words to him, "I can't do this anymore."

I was done.

The straw that broke my back.

[rhys-ravenfeather]

...yeah, I’m not even going to do my usual ‘off now’ title tonight.

Today hasn’t been a good day.

To put it bluntly...I was laid off of work.

Long story short: due to issues with Barnes and Noble, and a lack of need, me and all the other workers on MBS’ afternoon/evening swing shift were cut due to the company having to make a lot of decisions, and ending up terminating all of us due to work reduction.

Hey, at least this one wasn’t my fault.

And at least I actually managed to last a whole two years at the place, instead of two months, like that one call center back in Belize...

To add insult to injury, this was the same day I missed my counseling appointment due to my counselor moving to a new location, and thanks to my phone being a million-year-old piece of garbage that shuts down if I so much as LOOK at it funny, I couldn’t even get an Uber to the new place. And goodness knows I could really use someone to talk to now...

I’m not even going to get into the conversation I had with my mom when I called/texted her for support...

Well, good news--my weekly meeting with my financial advisor is tomorrow. I’m definitely going to have to ask her a few questions about what to do going forward...

Not to mention contacting the counselor/clinic to apologize for missing my appointment.

On the plus side, at least I have an excuse to sleep in tomorrow morning...I’m probably going to need it...

Well yeah...here’s hoping the meeting with my advisor turns out successful results...

I’ll see you guys when I see you.

[just-another-sim]

After arranging for the girls to stay at Miranda's cousin Chanel's house for a few days, Miranda and Colby headed out to San Myshuno to meet the financial advisor. Blake: "Hi, nice to meet you two. Thanks so much for sending over your information." Colby: "Thanks for helping us and meeting with us. Give it to us straight. What can we do from here?" Blake: "Well, with everything you've given me, and considering you feel the best option is for Miranda to stay at home, selling your home would be the best option." Miranda: "Our home...?" Blake: "Well, with both of your school debts still being paid off, plus credit...you could use the funds from selling the house to downsize." Colby: "Downsize...like a smaller home?" Blake: "Buying another home now wouldn't be a good idea. I mean, really downsize...like...maybe some sort of townhome or apartment for rent." Colby: "Renting? Mr. Ali, with all due respect, we have two teenage daughters. I don't know if an apartment would work for them." Blake: "If that's the case, I would suggest your wife start looking for work." After the meeting, the two debriefed. Miranda: "An apartment? I would rather work at a fast food place." Colby: "But we already talked about this. There's no reason for you to keep working." Miranda: "The reason is so we don't have to downsize our entire home and family." Colby: "Well, you never know. I've thought about what's going to happen as we get older. I know I won't want yard work to do, and a house to maintain." Miranda: "Isn't that a little far off?" Colby: "Yes, but if we're getting the opportunity now, it might be a good idea to take it. How about this- I'll look up some apartment communities and see what I can find. You know, the girls might really like having something with amenities, like a pool and a place to hang out." Miranda: "You're right. I'll see what you can come up with."

[mr-huntington-beach]

Ready to Make Huntington Beach Your Forever Home?

Are you ready to make Huntington Beach your forever home? If so, you are in for some fun! This laid-back beach town along the Pacific Coast Highway has a lot to offer especially when it comes to real estate.

If you're on the fence about buying a home versus renting, there are some great points to make the decision and invest in your home. Here are just a few of the benefits of owning a home in Huntington Beach:

You will be building equity and increasing your total net worth. If you are renting, you are throwing money away each month. As you pay down your mortgage, you're building equity in your property, which can potentially make you money in the long run.

Say goodbye to those unpredictable rent increases. As a homeowner, your housing costs will be more stable, especially if you have a fixed-rate mortgage. This can give you peace of mind and help you budget for the future.

You'll have creative control over your space. Want to paint the walls bright purple or knock down a wall to create an open concept living area? When you own your home, you can make it truly your own, without having to get approval from a landlord. Although find out what your Homeownership Association restricts.

Homeownership can come with excellent tax benefits. You may be able to deduct mortgage interest and property taxes from your income taxes, which can be a nice financial boost. Check with your Tax Advisor about your specific taxes.

Now, let's talk about the Huntington Beach real estate market. It's true that home values here are higher than the national average, but that's because this town is one of the most sought-after places to live in the country. The good news is that home values have been appreciating over the past few years, which means you could potentially make a nice profit if you decide to sell down the line.

And let's not forget the sheer variety of homes available in Huntington Beach. Whether you're looking for a cozy condo or a sprawling beachfront estate, you're sure to find something that fits your budget and your lifestyle.

As for renting, it can be a good short-term option, but over time, you could end up paying more in rent than you would if you owned a home. Plus, you don't get the sense of stability and security that comes with owning property.

Wrapping it all up, if you're thinking about making Huntington Beach your forever home, buying a property could be a smart move. With the potential for equity growth, stable housing costs, creative freedom, and tax benefits, you'll have a lot to look forward to as a homeowner in this beautiful beach town.

If you’re looking to Buy or Sell in Huntington Beach call me 949-310-4110

Mr. Huntington Beach Real Estate

315 7th St D Huntington Beach, CA 92648

conrad.mazeika@exprealty.com

[copperbadge]

How did you get started with investing? I've seen you talk about it before and I know that's something I need to do, but I feel so lost in terms of which companies to invest in and how much money I should put in. I have retirement accounts but nothing outside of that. And really, I feel like I can't talk to anyone IRL about this because I'm too embarrassed - I'm literally a CPA and do corporate taxes for a living but still find investing to be so intimidating 😞.

I mean, when people say "you should be investing" often, until you reach a certain wealth level, they are actually referring to your 401K. This is more general advice for the readers, but don't feel bad if you're not investing outside of retirement, especially if you're early in your career or if you're in a job where you don't have much disposable income. Don't feel bad in general, honestly, even if you haven't got a retirement fund at all; life is hard and money is necessary but stupid.

I only really started to invest invest in the last two years and even then I'm pretty conservative about it. On the plus, as a CPA, you will probably have a leg up in terms of knowing a lot of financial terms and kind of...understanding how money works in at least some sense.

I actually got started studying investing with my retirement fund. I was young and broke and mad that a chunk of my paycheck was going into my 401K when I could use that money NOW (see Sam Vimes Boots Theory for more on why ready cash now can often beat more cash later). I didn't know much about finance but I knew that a) I was basically being forced to play the financial markets with that money and b) the fate of our country's economy is tied to the stock market which is a mood ring hooked up to a roulette wheel. Being the Oldest Living Millennial I also understood I might not actually ever get to retire, so I decided to treat my retirement fund like Monopoly money: real but meaningless. And so I thought, well, let's Learn About Investing with it.

When you invest with a 401K or IRA usually you're not buying straight stocks; you're buying some conglomeration of investments bundled together as a fund (this is not a technical term, fund has a specific meaning in the technical sense, but it's easier to just use fund as a shorthand so I'm gonna). These can include stocks, bonds, mutual funds, and other more esoteric vehicles. So I started looking into the funds available to me -- there's the "retire in this year" fund that most people just dump all their money into, but there were also ways to invest in small businesses abroad, in health care or in funds that are "socially responsible", ways to buy into funds that did nothing but attempt to keep up with inflation, and on and on.

I didn't know any of that, of course -- I just saw something like "International Explorer Fund" and decided it sounded interesting and I'd learn what it was and what it did, and when I was satisfied that the reward was worth the risk, I'd dump some cash from my 2045-Retirement investment into it. While "past performance is no indication of future success" past performance isn't a bad way to at least pick something to research, and usually there's an earnings graph on the fund's prospectus page. I'd start reading prospectuses and looking up every word I didn't know or felt had a specific context I was missing (mostly on Investopedia, a GREAT resource). I'd take the term, add it to a vocabulary list, and rewrite "what is this and what does it do" in my own words. Eventually I internalized a lot of the terminology but I still check my notes once in a while.

There are financial literacy courses you can take, of course, and I don't think you should be AT ALL ashamed about trying to find a good one (lots of scams out there) or asking colleagues about them. "Hey, I'm not comfortable with my level of literacy about investment vehicles; do you know of any good educational material or class that would fill in the gaps?" is a good way to go about it. Very few people know jack shit about investing and my level of knowledge is just BARELY above jack shit, to be honest, so no shame, my friend. It is also totally fine to find a financial planner or investment advisor outside of your work and have a sit-down with them to get advice, which is what my parents do. Many banks offer that kind of service, so check with wherever you do your banking, and almost any retirement fund administrator (like Vanguard or American Funds) will be happy to send someone to meet with you and advise you. I was never prouder of my financial self-education than the one time I met with a guy from Vanguard who said, "Basically, keep doing what you're doing, this is a model portfolio."

Once I was investing in my retirement funds more confidently, I got the RobinHood app and started studying stocks, which is really just like, "find a stock and do a book report on it". Look at past earnings, who the CEO of the company is, what their board makeup is like, what they're doing in the news. And of course the most important advice: Never, ever invest money in the stock market that you aren't prepared to lose.

Aside from my stock adventures on RobinHood, which is about five hundred dollars that I turned into a thousand dollars over a couple of years, I have money in a few savings accounts. I don't have CDs or money market accounts or any of that, because I still don't have quite enough cash to make it worth it. I just parked some in a credit union that pays 6% interest on the first $1K you put in, and the rest in Betterment, which had a 2% interest rate when I started but now is down to .3% which is a bummer. But I haven't found another vehicle like Betterment which allows you equally easy access to your money while having as intuitive and modular an online interface.

So overall, aside from retirement (which is at $116K, which seems impressive until you remember you're supposed to retire with 25x your yearly salary in your 401K) I have a grand in the stock market, a grand in a 6%-interest savings account with a credit union, a grand in an emergency-only savings account attached to my checking, and roughly five grand with Betterment. It's a fairly conservative setup but I'd like never to be poor ever again, so I'm hedging carefully :D

Some great resources that I've used include:

Investopedia

Planet Money podcast by NPR and its sister podcast, The Indicator

The Financial page of the newspaper (I used to read NYT, now I read Tribune)

Rankandfiled.com, a free stock filings resource site that basically scrapes the SEC for financial data -- this is for if you really want to do a deep dive once you've got more experience

Good luck! It's a slog at first, but eventually it gets kinda fun :)

[master-john-uk]

Most small farms can not afford to hire enough reliable, and trustworthy staff. The owner (or tenant) is not confident enough to leave his, and his family's livelihood in the hands of others while he takes a well deserved break. Over the last three years, increased costs of fuel, fertilizer, energy and animal feed has added to this burden.

In 2007, against the advice of my business and financial advisors I bought a mainly arable farm in Dorset, which was in desperate need of renovation... for all the wrong reasons.

I did not have the knowledge (nor the time) to run the farm myself. I was very lucky to find Farmer Frank, who has now been managing the farm for me 21 years. Shortly afterwards we recruited two hard working, and hard drinking men who came from the Czech Republic. The three of them did an amazing job at running the farm for the next ten years, with occasional extra help.

In 2018 I made another bad business decision! I purchased the neighbouring dairy farm... again, against advice and for all the wrong reasons. Renovating the dairy cost me a fortune. When I bought the dairy farm it had 67 (mainly elderly) milk producing cows. (Today we have just over 400.)

But on the plus side, the dairy had a very large amount of unused land. This has enabled us to increase our other farming activity.

Where do we get our farm staff from now?

Our two loyal and hard working Czech men decided to return home in 2019.

General Manager Farmer Frank is still running both of our farm operations But, he is a year older than me and wants to take more time off. And he is!

My former Houseboy Tomas went to the farm in early March 2020... simply because he kept bleating that he wanted to help with lambing. He was then trapped on the farm when COVID travel restrictions were implemented. He did return to my Kent home for a short time when restrictions were lifted, but soon after he returned to the farm. (He enjoyed farm life.) "Operations Manager" Tomas now deputises for Farmer Frank, allowing Frank to have more time off. Houseboy Ops. Manager Tomas was a very nervous young man when I first met him... but now, he even uses rude words when he is talking to me! (I might have to cuff him around the ear!)

We also work closely with several universities, agricultural, and veterinary colleges. They supply us with a number of work experience, and gap-year students between October and June... but not during the busy harvest period (July to October.)

This year 2 of our three University trainees offered to help on the farm through the harvest season... so that could earn some extra money before returning to their studies. (Thank you to John and Caz, your help was appreciated.)

[bitch-for-bo]

His Destined Miracle (Asahi Azumane x Chubby Reader) (omegaverse)

POST timeskip

Asahi had been in love with you practically since the first time he saw you. He'd find himself taking walks around the office just to catch sight of your beautiful face and sunny, warm demeanor. He always wanted to approach you, but he'd never had the courage. All he could do was hope that he encountered a miracle. Going into a rut during a day that office was NOT a miracle to Asahi. In fact, it was one of his worst nightmares, but when you show up on his doorstep, looking like an angel from heaven, he realizes that miracles come in all different ways... and that you were his destined miracle.

ABSOLUTELY NO MINORS ALLOWED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

“Hey Y/N can you run these copies to the boss’s office, I have to go to the bathroom or I think I might die!!” One of your over-dramatic coworkers asked as they practically threw a stack of papers at you. They were shifting back and forth, their knees knocked as they hopped around in a little bathroom ‘dance’

“Yeah, it’s no biggie.” You replied, giggling quietly to yourself as they hobbled/ran quickly towards the restrooms.

You looked down at the stack of papers in your hands, admiring the brilliant pieces of art on each page. The boss would be very happy with these. Of course, if he was unhappy with them, he wouldn’t tell anyone, the boss was the type who if he didn’t like what he saw, he would improve it and then deny all credit. Some in the office called him a pushover, but you thought that it was sweet that he did that.

You stood from your cubicle and began to walk to the bosses office, it was on the other side of the floor but you had already been planning on getting up to stretch your legs out soon anyway, so it had worked out.

You strolled through the office, not in any particular rush to get to the boss’s office. You greeted people that you passed, you knew everyone on your floor by name and you knew at least one fact about them, if they had pets or kids, what their hobbies were. You did this so that you’d never run into someone and not be able to ask them a question about their personal life, this ‘technique’ is what had made you so popular around the office, every time you would talk to someone, they would walk away with a smile on their face.

Your naturally sunny demeanor had always been your redeeming trait. When you were young, kids would mercilessly bully you. The names they would call you, ‘fatty’ or ‘ugly cow’ along with the treatment you received for being an omega was enough to tear a young you apart. You had started being overly nice to people to make up for all of your shortcomings, you found that if you were constantly sucking up to them and making them feel better about themselves, they wouldn’t hurt you.

Unfortunately, this had led to you not only being incredibly insecure with very low self-esteem, but also a doormat for people to walk all over. You were always doing people favors, getting them coffees, paying for their snacks at vending machines, even doing their work for them. Your friends would tell you to stick up for yourselves, they would even tell people off if they treated you poorly in front of them. They had begun to practically beg you to start saying no to people, but you didn’t mind being a bit of a push-over. After all, you still thought of yourself as a worthless, fat, omega cow that couldn’t do anything right and if you could be useful to someone, even if it meant staying an extra hour to file their paperwork for them, it was worth it.

You frowned at the memories as you walked, catching sight of yourself in the large windows that overlooked the beautiful city outside. You winced. Even though your friends were constantly telling you that you were beautiful inside and out, it was still hard to look at yourself in the mirror. All of the traumatic events of your childhood had really affected you. It was almost impossible for you to look at yourself and not despise the person you saw.

You arrived at the boss’s office, giving a light knock on the closed door.

“Come in please.” You heard the soft voice call from inside. You twisted the knob, opened the door, and entered the room, gasping at the sight before you.

Hundreds of designs were strewn across the floor, tacked to the walls, and pulled up on the computer monitor, and in the middle of it all sat a six-foot-two alpha who was currently smiling shyly up at you, his hand rubbing the back of his neck in embarrassment of the mess.

“Hel-”

He stopped, his eyes wide as they stared at you. Clearly, you weren’t the person he’d been expecting. He stared at you for a solid five seconds, saying nothing as his eyes were frozen on you, making you feel extremely self-conscious and a little hot under the collar.

You cleared your throat, snapping him out of his daze.

“Excuse me.” You said. As soon as you’d spoken the boss had got up onto his knees and looked around as if wondering how he would get to you without ruining his designs.

“Sorry about the mess.” He mumbled, a large blush blooming on his cheeks as he scrambled up and towards you, trying (and failing) to avoid stepping on the designs.

“Please! Don’t apologize!” You stumbled, matching his anxious energy as your face adopted a blush of its own. “I just came to give these to you!” You squeaked, your arms holding out the designs as your gaze locked on the cluttered floor.

“Oh.” The large male said gently, his shoulders relaxing. “Thank you.” He said, more confidently this time. He’d noticed that you were emitting a strongly anxious scent, and something about it must’ve scared him and made him think that he was scaring you.

“Your welcome.” You practically whispered, your eyes not daring to meet his, “Have a good day.” You rushed out before rushed back out of the room, letting the door almost slam behind you.

‘Dammit!’ you thought, mentally slapping yourself. You couldn’t believe you’d made such a fool out of yourself. You just couldn’t help it, the boss was super intimidating. Plus he was an alpha.

Being an alpha meant that, since you were an omega, you had a natural urge to submit to him, it also meant that he was incredibly intimidating, borderline scary.

Usually, it didn’t matter that you were an omega. You took scent and heat suppressants to control your natural omega tendencies. The suppressors made it to where no wolf could smell you and you couldn’t smell any wolf. People could smell the basics on you, fear, happiness, sadness, they just couldn’t smell your natural scent, the scent that gave you away as an omega. The suppressants also kept you from smelling other wolves and ‘losing control’ of your own scent as a reaction. This all meant that even if you encountered betas and alphas in your daily activities, they wouldn’t know you were an omega and you wouldn’t be able to smell their natural scents either.

The only exception to this was when an alpha was in a rut, when they were rutting their noses were strengthened tenfold and they could sniff you out in an instant., but thankfully, society had progressed to the point that ruts were an excused absence from your job. Another time that the suppressants weren’t at their full potency was during your heat. Yes, it suppressed almost all of your scent, but depending on the strength of your heats, some would still leak out. Thankfully, heats were also excusable by employers. Luckily you’d never had to leave work for heat, you’d always been able to track it and take off plenty early so you could lock yourself in your apartment and suffer through it, and you’d also been lucky enough to never encounter a rutting alpha.

*******************

Asahi Azumane, aka the boss, was still standing in front of his closed door. He stared at the closed door, the designs he’d been given loosely clutched in his hands.

‘Dammit!’ he thought. He couldn't believe how he’d reacted. How embarrassing!

Ever since the newest member of the floor had begun working at the studio as a financial advisor, Asahi had been incredibly infatuated. Even though he’d never held a conversation with her due to his busy schedule, he never failed to notice the way she lit up the office. Everyone liked her and got along with her. Sometimes he’d overhear people talking about her, or sometimes he’d even overhear her talking to someone, she always seemed so warm and kind that Asahi couldn’t help but be a little jealous that he’d never received the honor of ever talking to her.

When she had been the one to open the door to his office, he’d been practically incapacitated. As soon as his eyes had hit her body he’d forgotten how to talk.

As a designer he couldn’t help but admire the classy style of her outfit, the warm red-orange turtleneck tucked into a pair of brown and tan flared slacks paired with black platform boots. It took all of his willpower not to pull out a pencil and sketch it for inspiration.

And as a man, he couldn’t help but admire how the outfit fit your body perfectly. The way that it hugged your form, complementing and accentuating the curves of your figure. It was enough to take his breath away and make the alpha in him roar with the need to claim and protect such a precious sight.

Unfortunately for Asahi, as soon as the encounter with the angel began, it ended. He was beating himself up for not saying something, for not inviting you to dinner, for only staring like a lovestruck loser.

‘She probably thinks I’m a total loser...or even worse a pervert!’ he thought glumly. He sulked back over to his designs, frustrated at himself for not being bold enough to call after the beautiful girl and ask for her number.

‘Then again,’ he thought, ‘Y/N is way too out of my league, she’d reject me in a heartbeat. Or even worse! She’d say yes out of pity!’

As he continued to work on his designs, the thought of the angel that had visited him was clouding his mind, making work impossible. He just couldn’t seem to forget the shape of her lips as she spoke or the way that the perfect outfit laid on her perfect body....her perfect hips….her perfect breasts.

“Fuck” he grunted quietly, shifting uncomfortably as he realized that he’d thought himself straight into having an erection.

‘I just couldn’t help it. She’s so beautiful.’ he thought.

He tried to struggle through his… problem, but it seemed that the more he tried to ignore it, the more it persisted. It was actually to the point that he was sitting in the middle of his office, red-faced and panting with a painfully obvious tent in his pants.

“What the fuck is happening?” He grunted, feeling his canines start to lengthen and his claws emerge. Could he be going into rut already? He wasn’t due for at least another week!

Was it seeing Y/N that made him go into rut early? How? Y/N wasn’t his mate….right? No. He would’ve known if she was his mate by her scent. He had no recollection of ever smelling her, was she on suppressants, was there a chance that she could be his mate?

‘Yep.’ Asahi thought as another wave of heat and desire burst through his body, ‘I’ve started my rut early…. I need to get out of here…. Need to go home.’

He practically crawled to his desk, grasping desperately for his phone so he could call the receptionist and ask her to remove all of the females on the floor from the building. The last thing that he needed or wanted was to set off any omega’s heat by accident.

“Hello, Mr. Azumane. Is everything alright?” The receptionist asked, surprised at the call seeing as Asahi rarely called, opting to physically walk to the desk and ask. He thought that it was more polite this way, plus it gave him a chance to catch a glimpse of Y/N at her desk.

“I need all of the women on the floor to temporarily evacuate, I’ve gone into a rut.”

The receptionist on the other end, that was used to dealing with Asahi’s over-anxious personality, just laughed.

“That’s incredibly unnecessary sir. I’m sure everything will be fine if you just leave out of the back stairs, you could even leave out of the fire escape if you’re that nervous.”

Asahi sighed and nodded. It was true that he’d be wasting everyone’s time if he asked for an evacuation. It wasn’t that big of a deal.

“Ok……” he said warily. “I’ll try.”

“Great!” The receptionist replied, “I’ll make sure to get someone to bring your work to your house tomorrow so you can continue to work from home.”

**********************

“Right here is good. Thank you.” You said, getting out of the cab and paying the driver. YOu glanced up at the tall apartment complex as the car drove away, leaving you to fend for yourself.

You thought back to what had happened not even an hour earlier. Yui at the front desk had asked you if you would be willing to take the boss some work. She said that he was sick at home and wanted to continue to work from there. Being the people pleaser that you are, you said that it was no problem and that was how you’d wound up standing in front of Asahi Azumane’s apartment complex with a thick file full of designs and a large container of soup.

You walked into the lobby before buzzing into Asahi’s apartment. Clearly, he’d been expecting someone to come with his work seeing as he buzzed you up almost immediately.

You entered and took the elevator to his floor, the floor third from the top. When the doors opened, you were met with a small entryway that led to a single door.

“A penthouse?” you mumbled to yourself. You couldn’t be super surprised, after all, he was the boss of your floor and probably made a very comfortable salary. Still, the building hadn’t looked small from the outside, and if Asahi had a whole floor to himself that meant that his flat was at least 4,000 square feet big. You knocked on the door.

It opened.

You automatically gasped.

The scent of sandalwood and rosemary hit you like a brick wall, forcing you to stagger back on your feet.

‘Oh, shit’ you thought, ‘they told me he was sick! Not that he was in a rut!’

You began to panic in the split second that the door had been opened. You wanted to run away, but seeing as Asahi was much stronger and faster than you, you knew that you wouldn’t stand a chance.

Maybe it wasn’t a strong enough rut to enable him to smell through your suppressants? No. There was no way it was a weak rut, not when Asahi was such a powerful alpha.

In your state of panic, you failed to notice two things. The first being the fact that your wolf was screaming something at you, and the second being the large alpha, looming over you in the doorway.

Asahi’s body was heaving with heavy breath. His claws were contracted and his canines were piercing through his bottom lip, causing the taste of blood to hit his tongue as he stared at the beautiful omega in the doorway to his apartment.

‘I didn’t know Y/N was an omega’

‘Why is she here?’

‘Can she smell that I’m in rut?’

Were all questions running through the alpha’s brain, but the most important thing running through his brain was the single word that his inner wolf was practically screaming at him.

Asahi looked down at you, causing a violent shiver to wreck through your spine. You whimpered, feeling yourself grow wet with desire. His lips curled back before letting out the most deafening growl ever. A growl so loud, you were confident that people down on the sidewalks had heard.

“Mine.”

As soon as the words came out of his mouth, you gasped and suddenly the voice of your inner wolf was crystal clear. ‘Mate!’ it was howling happily. Your eyes widened as the realization hit you like a ton of bricks. Asahi was your bond mate? YOUR BOSS WAS YOUR BOND MATE!

It made you want to faint out of surprise as well as anxiety. You considered if you could make a run for it, despite already knowing it was impossible. You were glancing at your surroundings when you finally remembered that Asahi, your mate, was still standing in front of you.

You looked at his tall frame in awe, your desire growing as you practically drooled over the sheer size of the alpha. He was huge, his broad shoulders, his built chest, and if you were to take a guess, you’d say that he was huge under the belt too.

You were so distracted ogling his body that you didn’t notice the way that his claws were digging into the flesh of his palms and how his canines had pierced his bottom lip hard enough to cause a small trickle of blood down his chin.

“Azumane! You gasped, setting the papers and soup on the floor in the hall before automatically stepping forward and grazing his hands with your own, careful to avoid the razor-sharp claws.

“No.” He grunted, trying to pull his hands out of your grasp. He feared if you stayed much longer he would do something out of his control, something unforgivable. “Please…..I don’t want to hurt you.”

You could see the pain and genuine fear in his eyes. You felt your heart fill with sadness and love at the same time. You couldn’t believe how much you’d been blessed. You had been given Azumane as a mate…. A man who was gentle and kind and was always so thoughtful of others. This was the man that you were destined to spend the rest of your life with.

Suddenly all of the fears and insecurities of not being good enough for people melted away from you. As your arms left Asahi’s hands to wrap gently around his neck, tears of happiness began to run down your face.

How could you have been so stupid? All of this time happiness and love had been right down the hall from you. You had deprived yourself of a partner to laugh with, to love, all because you felt inferior to others.

“You won’t hurt me.” You whispered, one of your hands nudging his face down closer to yours. “I trust you Azumane.”

Your lips were so close to his that you could feel his slightly labored breathing. His eyes were so close that you could seemingly see into his soul. You tried to tell him with your eyes just how hopelessly in love with him you already were.

Somehow, he must’ve felt it, because soon he was sighing into a soft kiss as one of his strong hands moved to hold your head as the other glided down your body to rest on your hip.

“Asahi….” he breathed, disconnecting your lips to look into your eyes.

“Huh?” you asked, slightly dazed from the passion of the short kiss.

“Call me Asahi, my love.” He said before once again joining your mouths in another heartfelt kiss, pulling your body flush against his own strong frame.

You moaned into the embrace, your arms wrapping tightly around his neck as he carefully swept you up off of the ground and began to carry you into his bedroom.

It all seemed like a whirlwind to you, but you couldn’t imagine it any other way. This was your soulmate…. Your other half.

Asahi’s body was alight with desire as well as he felt the effects of his rut in full force. He couldn’t believe how incredibly lucky he was to receive you as his mate. You…. the girl that he’d been admiring from afar, the one that, dare he say, he was already madly in love with. You couldn’t wait to spend eternity with you in his arms. When he held you, he felt like the strongest man in the world.

“Is this okay? I don’t want to force you. I’m in rut so I want you to be 100 percent sure that this is YOU wanting me, not your hormones.” Asahi whispered as he set you down on the edge of his bed.

There was no doubt in your mind that this was what you wanted. You didn’t care that he was in rut, you knew that the lust you were feeling barely had anything to do with your omega nature. You wanted him. You wanted him so bad that it made you want to cry.

“Asahi,” You whimpered, falling back onto his bed and staring up at him with a maddening blush on your cheeks. “I want you to claim me…”

“My love….” he growled before lunging back down at you, his lips attaching to your jaw with a renewed feverish manner.

“Asahi!” you gasped as his large hands roamed your body, his long fingers dancing across your hips that had been exposed as the blouse you were wearing was torn off of you, the buttons flying across the room.

He chuckled at your surprise before resuming his onslaught of love onto your body, his lips seeking out your breasts as his hands began to work at your slacks and then at his own clothes.

As soon as you were both fully nude, he leaned back, leaving reality to dawn on you as you realized that you weren’t actually fully over your insecurities. Your hands flew up to cover your face and stomach in embarrassment, you didn’t want Asahi to see you under such bright lights.

“I-I’m sorry I jus-” You whispered in shame, your eyes locking on a wall in his bedroom as you tried to explain.

“Let me see you.” He demanded, interrupting your pathetic stuttering with his strong hands clasping around your wrists and pulling them above your head. Your eyes closed tightly in humiliation.

Asahi’s eyes hungrily drank in your body. Every curve and arch was precious to him. He was practically drooling at how soft you felt under his hard body, how pliant you would be to his will.

“Beautiful,” he murmured to himself. Making your blush darken.

He brought his head down to your chest, his tongue piking out of his mouth and leaving a hot trail between your breasts. You moaned at the feeling of the appendage dancing its way down and across your stomach, down to your hips, until finally, Asahi’s head rested between your thighs.

His hands splayed out against the smooth flesh, admiring how soft they were in his grip. He could smell your arousal, turning him on that much more as he watched slick drip out of your hole and onto the meat of your upper thighs.

“One day.” He mumbled, half to himself and half for you to hear, “I will fuck these gorgeous thighs.” He said before swooping in and kissing the upper region of your legs. Biting and sucking dark spots into the sensitive skin.

“Asahi!” Was all you could manage to cry as his hands and mouth wreaked pleasurable havoc on your mind and body. You wanted him so badly. You could feel your cunt fluttering with need as slick dripped out of it, leaving a large damp spot on Asahi’s bedsheets.

“What do you want my love?” He asked, his eyes looking up from his position from in between your thighs to meet yours. You were suddenly overwhelmed at the sight of so much affection and adoration that laid in the dark brown pools.

“I want you Asahi….” you cried, panting as he quickly climbed up your body, lining himself up with you.

Both of you were hot and ready. The feeling and scent of desire clouding the room and leaving you both in a state of reckless lust. Nothing in that moment mattered but you and him.

Asahi connected your mouths once again as he pressed into you, his cock stretching your walls further than anyone had ever stretched them before. It felt so good…. so incredibly good.

“Asahi….” you gasped as he seated himself fully inside of you, the indescribable feeling of fullness making your body shake. “Please... Give me your cock.” A low growl ripped through his chest as his restraint finally snapped and his rut took over his mind and body. His hips began to snap in and out of your body at an almost lethal pace, leaving you writhing and gasping for air as you felt his primal instincts taking over.

“Yes!” you cried, your nails driving themselves across his upper back in a pathetic attempt to keep you rooted to this world. If the sheer size of his dick wasn’t enough to split you in two, it was the lightning-fast pace that his hips were thrusting into your body at, hitting all of the deepest areas of you, making you want to scream in pleasure.

As his cock drug in and out of you, rubbing against your walls so good that it took all of your breath away, you felt the tip of his cock but against your g-spot.

“Aah! Asahi!” You screamed, your walls clenching around him as stars painted your vision in pleasure. You couldn’t believe just how good he filled you up, how he reached every single place within you, drawing out the lewdest sounds, filling the rooms with your moans and cries as his cock pounded into you.

“You’re so beautiful” He gasped as you clenched around him, he was practically rapid with pleasure. He was slamming into you as his newfound goal in life was to please you, sucking on your neck as his hands roamed and gripped your body.

You could tell that since Asahi was in rut, his end was approaching much faster than it normally would and you would be lying if you said that you weren’t on the brink of orgasm as well. Apparently, Asahi had realized the same thing and was positioning himself to where he was hitting your sweet spot with every thrust, determined to make you fall apart first.

“Asahi!” You gasped, tears running down your face as your hands gripped his strong shoulders. “Asahi, I’m gonna come….”

“Yes, my love….” He grunted, picking up his pace impossibly more before bringing his fingers down to circle your clit. He could feel you getting closer and closer with the way that you sucked him back in with each thrust. “You take me so well.”

“Yes. Only you Asahi! You fuck me so good!” You babbled, your hips circling quickly in a sad attempt to keep up with the delicious feeling of his cock inside of you. You could feel the elastic of your orgasm pulling tight in your lower stomach. You knew that Asahi wouldn’t let himself come before you.

“Please….” you begged, teary eyes staring into Asahi’s lustful ones. “Please let me cum..”

“Yes my love.” he panted out, his thrusts becoming sloppier as he felt his own end rising. “Cum for me…” He said, his lips once again joining yours as your body was thrown off of the cliff into a sea of pleasure. You cried into his kiss, your body arching off of the bed as it shook with the overwhelming force of your orgasm. You swore that you temporarily went blind with the impact.

“I’m gonna come…..” Asahi breathed against your lips.

“Please…..come inside of me.” You begged, your legs wrapping around his hips and trapping his body against yours as his hips began to stutter and his cock burst inside of you, filling you with his hot seed.

“Fuuuuckkkk.” he groaned, pitching his head back as every fiber of his benign burned in the glory of his high. He continued to lazily thrust into you, bringing you both through your peaks.

As soon as you had been able to gain your breath again, he pulled you, leaving you incredibly empty. You whined at the loss.

“I need to take care of you.” He chuckled, climbing off of the bed to retrieve a towel from his bathroom to clean your body with. He kissed and massaged you as he gently wiped all of the cum mixed with slick off of your thighs, his face burning red at the lewd evidence of your lustful activities. You giggled as his docile, shy nature slowly returned, barely being able to make eye contact with you.

As soon as he was finished, he let you pull him back down onto the bed, despite both of you still being naked and sweaty. You closed your eyes, you knew that his rut would flare up again and you wanted to catch a quick nap before the second round.

Asahi just stared at your face as you drifted off to rest. You looked like an angel to him...so pure and beautiful. He knew then that he would always protect you, even if that meant laying down his own life. You were now his reason to live, you were his muse…..

You were his.

[lucky-catttt]

Maxwell Lord’s Aphrodite - Pt 1

Summary: When Maxwell Lord’s world comes crashing down, you, his personal assistant bring him back from the pits of despair.

Pairings: Maxwell Lord x Reader (female), Maxwell Lord x You

Rating: Mature 18+ ONLY - I’ve also put a smut alert ahead in bold if you want to skip straight to the good bits ;)

Word Count: 7,381

Warnings: Sexual intercourse, foreplay, mentions of domestic abuse, trauma, drug/alcohol abuse.

A/N: This is my first fan-fic, so the writing might not be fantastic, but if you have any pointers/advice please tell me! I always read stories about Maxwell being a domineering guy and never stories about how he can be romantic and soft. When I watched WW84 especially at the end I saw how emotional and vulnerable he was with Alistair and wanted to write a story that portrayed him as a big cuddly teddy bear under all that masculine exterior. Enjoy!

You’ve worked for black and gold corporation for the better part of 7 years. You were hired as an intern assistant at just 21, soon after the company jettisoned from its humble beginnings inside a matchbox office suite on the corner of a strip mall, to a stock market listed company leasing the top floor in the tallest high rise office building in Los Angeles. Soon after moving in, the top floor office was packed with young, vibrant men and women who helped profits soar. But even at its busiest, Maxwell always made time for his staff. No matter what he was going through, he would give his staff his undivided attention and empathy. If they were having personal or professional problems, he would do everything he could to help. It aligned with his company motto, “life is good, but it can be better”.

He believed it was important to be as personable and helpful to others as possible, he felt that it was imperative to his own success. Only you knew this really stemmed from his less than favourable upbringing, being abused by his father, bullied by his peers and having to work hard for his achievements. He could be having the worst day, but he would never make it known to his team, all except you of course, being his personal assistant. As you spent a large amount of time together, Maxwell confided in and involved you in many personal areas of his life. 6 months after you started working for Max, he invited you and your then boyfriend to his wedding, stealing a waltz from you at the Reception. A year later, when his son, Alistair was born, he would show you picture after picture of baby photos, gushing about how proud he was to be a father. 3 years later when the company had its first day on the US stock exchange, you and Max stayed up all night at the office running through press releases, interviews and planning the next 6 months of his now very hectic schedule. When Alistair would come to the office to visit, you would babysit and play with him, change him, feed him, read him stories and sing him to sleep.

As he started to grow up, you soon rivaled Max in Alistair’s favourite person to spend time with at the office. Two years ago when you ended up in a very bad car accident and broke your arm, Max showed up personally to the hospital looking frantically worried about you. He even brought along Alistair who was helping carry a giant bouquet of flowers, a teddy bear and balloons. He stayed overnight after your surgery, sleeping in the most awkward positions on the single armchair next to your hospital bed. While you were in surgery, he made sure your work health insurance covered every cent and even provided company paid physiotherapy so you could get better properly. You knew you were in love with him since that dance at his wedding, but you had too much respect and adoration for him to be a homewrecker. Plus, you just assumed as he was so involved with all of his staff, that it didn’t mean he would be into you romantically.

As you were required to attend many of the shareholder and CCO/CEO/CFO meetings to take minutes, you became intrigued with the world of business and economics. So you enrolled in a Bachelor’s degree part time through a local University. At the time, women in business was largely unheard of, and to avoid sexist comments and discrimination, you told no one. When the Global Financial Crisis hit, it slammed into Maxwell’s dreams like a meteoroid. Overtime was required at the office and you spent most of your time in Max’s office doing paperwork for staff that had been laid off due to the budget cuts. Each day he would be on the phone, yelling at other business men on the other side of the world. You watched his positive energetic demeanor slowly chip away, as his drinks cart full of spirits and liqueurs dwindled alongside. Not long after, Black and Gold’s Chief Financial Officer and advisors within the company were arrested for Insider Trading and other shady business dealings.

Throughout all of this, you had given Max as much support, personally and professionally as you could, while still being respectful and platonic as he was a married man. With most of the staff gone and the company’s finances in disarray from the GFC and mismanagement, the universe dealt Max the final blow, his divorce. His wife, who was clearly only interested in him for his money and how it could provide her a cushy lifestyle, filed for divorce as the company was failing. She tried to take him to the cleaners financially, but Max was smart enough to have a prenuptial agreement and keep what was left of his dwindling fortune. So she used their son, Alistair, as a pawn in her game. The courts granted Max shared custody, but only one visit per fortnight. This devastated him as his son was his whole world.

He didn’t want to become destitute by giving up his fortune to his wife, but he didn’t want to lose his son, either. It started to tear him apart, leading to drunken nights in his office, alone. Except, he wasn’t totally alone. Every night, after everyone had gone home, you would stay back late each night to check on him and make sure he hadn’t done anything stupid. You would sit in one of the barren office cubicles with a vantage point to his office, but invisible to see from his desk. With tears sitting at the edges of your eyes, you silently watch him drink enough alcohol to chill out a bull, take some pills, flip through photo books of Alistair and start to sob. This went on for months. Overdue bills and foreclosure notices started to pile up on his desk. Egregiously inflated child support payment requests from his ex-wife littered the coffee table in his office.

Today was an exceptionally hard day, Max had received a resignation letter from his second last employee, leaving just you and him in the office. He slept on the futon in his office the night before, waking up looking disheveled, his tie pulled loose, shirt half tucked, suit jacket on the floor and his shoes god knows where. He looked awful.

Night falls, shrouding the office in darkness. Apart from a few desk lights, the floor is cold & dark. As you start packing boxes with office paperwork and belongings, you glance over to see the outline of Max at his desk, with his back turned, silently smoking a cigarette and drinking a glass of whiskey on ice. He reaches back for a brief moment, to press the answering machine, illuminated by his desk lamp. *beep* Message received, Wednesday, 4:33 pm “Hello Maxwell this is Brittany from AMP investments, your lease agreement with us has been defaulted for 6 months now with $150,000 in rent arrears. If it is not paid by the 30th of this month, building management will deactivate access to the floor and repossess any remaining belongings on the property. *beep* End Message. Message received Thursday, 5:43 pm “Max it’s Barb, I’m cancelling Alistair’s visit this weekend, seeing as you don’t want to pay me any extra child support.” *beep* End Message. Message received today, 7:02 pm “Hey Daddy, it’s Alistair, Mommy said I can’t come over because you’re working too much to see me. I wish you weren’t working all the time so we could play together and go to the movies and-“ you hear Barb, Max’s ex wife cut him off with “Alistair? What are you doing on the phone?! Who are you talking to?” Alistair whines, “I wanted to talk to Daddy” suddenly the sound of the receiver slams into the phone. *beep* End Message. You have no new messages.

The office is dead silent, but you can audibly hear the sound of Max’s heart shattering into a thousand pieces. He begins to cry, slowly shrinking in his chair, slumping down with his forearms on his knees and his head bowed. The cries slowly become more intense, with Max gasping for air between the long loud shrieks as his whole body shakes. “Alistair! My Alistair! My boy! I’ve failed you! Your Daddy failed you!” He wails, tears freely flooding down his face and snot dripping out of his nose, both like endless waterfalls. He drops to his knees and collapses onto the carpet, like he’s been shot right through the chest. He continues to sob & wail, forgetting that he isn’t alone in the office. You walk to the doorway of his office, frozen with indecision. Your heart was pounding and eyes on the verge of tears from what you just heard. On one hand you feel like you’re intruding on something extremely personal and maybe somewhat embarrassing for Maxwell, but you’ve never seen him like this and he looked like he was physically dying.

“Mr Lord, is everything okay?” Your soft voice quietly called out from the doorway of his office. Your medicated voice jolts Max out of his catatonic state and into a sitting upright position, as he quickly wipes his face and fixes his hair. “Oh, Ug-I’m so sorry for you to see me like this, it’s quite unbecoming of me” Maxwell apologises, trying to play it off with a light hearted chuckle between quiet heaved sobs. You catch a frozen stare, peering straight into his soul past the bloodshot, weepy but warm, brown irises.

Your heart is thumping hard, as if to try and break out of your ribcage and fly over to him. Max had been there for all of his staff, especially you. You couldn’t walk away after everyone else in his life had abandoned or given up on him. “You don’t need to apologise, Mr Lord.” You slowly reply, stepping over the booze bottles littering his office floor as you walk over to him. He’s frantically adjusting his outfit and hair, to look as put together as possible before you sit down beside him on the floor. You both sit there in silence, with the odd sniffle coming from Max’s nose. You finally pucker up the courage and say “I didn’t want to intrude but I heard the voice messages, I’m so sorry all of this has happened to you, Max”.

He had never heard you say his name before, it was always “Mr Lord”. It felt like honey soothing his dry strained throat as it rolled off your tongue. You continued, “You’ve always been there for me”, you paused to redirect attention, “for all of us. What can I do to help?”. You reach out and place your hand on his. Your warm, soft touch sends a shock wave of emotion through his body. No one has cared about him like this before, let alone touched him in such a gentle way. Max stares at your now teary eyes, realising he can be vulnerable and trust his longest and closest friend.

He collapses by your side, crying into your shoulder “I’m a failure” he sobs “My business, my marriage and most importantly I’ve failed my son. I just hope one day that he can forgive me and love me and be proud of me. He is my whole life, I just want him back”. You start to choke up but you have to remain composed. You look up and away, silently biting your knuckle and blinking tears back into your eyes before responding. “Max, you are not a failure, you are an exceptional human being. You built this company from nothing and you changed peoples lives. And don’t even get me started with Alistair, you’re the best father a kid could ask for, it’s not your fault your ex wife is being abusive”. He continues to sob, so you wrap your arm around his side and let him cry for a few minutes. The smell of his chemically lightened & straightened dark blonde hair filled your nostrils as his forehead pressed against your chin.

His large fingers and palms grip your free hand. They’re surprisingly soft & very warm. You freeze as his touch sends zaps of electricity up your arm and down your body. As Maxwell leans against you, your perfume overloads his senses, bringing him back to a conscious state. What was he doing? He thought to himself. I’m a failure, and everything I get close to fails or leaves. He looks down at your hands. I can’t hurt such an amazing person. I have to rip off the metaphorical bandaid and be cruel to be kind. “Thank you” he sighs, catching his breath after minutes of sobbing “You can go home now. In fact, I want you to take a redundancy payout so you can find another job. There’s nothing left for you here. I’m a failure and I don’t want you drowning with the ship” he says, in a clinically professional voice. Max hands you a company envelope with your name on it. He sits up to take a sip on the remaining whiskey left in his glass.

Your ears begin to burn and your cheeks redden with anger. Tears prick at the edges of your eyes, begging for them to flow. “Alfred will take you home in the company car, or wherever you want to go”. He continues, now smoking a cigarette.

“But what If I don’t want to go?” You whisper, trying to hide the sobs that are trying to break through your voice. “Please, I just want you to be happy” Max replies. You take great offence at his ignorant statements, as if he knows what makes you truly happy. “How do you know what makes me happy, Max?” You huff, standing up abruptly and folding your arms. “Well, I don’t know, but I can’t exactly see how you would be happy staying here while my company fails” he answers, shrugging. You feel your heart begin to break, realising that even being single and having such a close professional relationship with you, Max seemed to hold no deeper feelings for you and was almost starting to turn on you. You stand there wanting to run for the door but trying to think logically. Men are dim, maybe he doesn’t realise your true feelings? Maybe he’s preoccupied with his own and too overwhelmed to face them?

Max’s embarrassment from being caught in such a vulnerable state compounded with offending you takes its toll and he starts to get frustrated and impatient. “I think I just want to be alone now”. He sighs, looking away. The words cut deep, slicing you apart like ribbons. You begin to feel yourself fall apart, your emotions and thoughts spilling out with force. “I can’t leave” you sob, hanging your head in shame. Hearing you start to cry, he starts to hate himself more as he's clearly made you upset. With emotions bubbling over, he stands up, looking at you with tears in his eyes. “Why? Why can’t you leave!?” He shouts, a pained look of frustration and confusion on his face as he puts his hands on your arms, gently shaking you to get you to speak.

The last of the ribbons tying up your words from coming out fall down around you. You look deep into his crazed brown eyes, longing for an answer. “Because I love you!” You blurt out, sobbing. The tension in the room is now thick enough to cut with a knife. “I’ve loved you since the night we danced at your wedding. I fell in love with one of the most empathic, intelligent, hard working and compassionate men I know. You changed my life and every day I wish I could’ve shown you the love & kindness you deserve. That you need”. You step back from his grip, straightening your pantsuit as you compose yourself. “But I guess if I’m not needed anymore, I’ll leave you alone, Mr Lord”. The duality of your emotive declaration of love against the rigid clinical final words lurched his heart forward like a freight train and then slammed against his rib cage with the force of 100Gs.

You start to stride towards the door, but Maxwell follows behind you quickly, grabbing your hand, where you turn around on your heels. He grabs both of your hands and brings them up between you, squeezing them gently. “Pl-please don’t, don’t leave me” he begs, “you-you’re all I have left”. His dark brown eyes shimmer with tears as he shoots you a pleading gaze. He drops to his knees, wrapping his arms around your legs and squeezing tight like he's hanging on for dear life. You stand frozen on the spot, feeling Max’s warm breath on your legs as he heaves a few more cries. As you start to run your hands through his dark blonde locks, the sensation calms your mind and you reach your hands down to cup Max’s face, tilting it up to look at you. “I won't, Max” you say with a concerned gaze. “As long as you don’t push me away”. Max nods silently as he reaches into his jacket pocket to pull out his pocket square. He stands up and starts to gently wipe your tears away. “I’m so sorry” he apologises “I lashed out because I felt like a failure and I didnt want to let you down anymore and disappoint you.” he continues while making sure he’s wiped all of the tears from your cheeks and cleaned up some of your smudged makeup. “You’re not a failure, Max” you reply, “You’re an incredible man and you should be proud of everything you have achieved”.

Max gives you a small smile, blushing slightly as he gently embraces you with his big arms, pulling you close against his chest. His strong cologne masked the slight tinge of body odour from not showering mixed into a masculine and attractive scent. You quietly inhale as much as your lungs will allow, savouring every smell. As he starts to brush through your curls with his large fingers, he plants a small kiss on your head, making you feel like you could melt out of his arms and into a puddle on the floor. “I’m sorry, too.” you whisper. “Sorry for what?” he quizzes, looking down at you, puzzled. “For telling you that I love you. It’s true, but I feel like it was not the most appropriate time to tell you with everything that’s going on with Alistar, the company, your-” Max interrupts your sentence “Come with me”. Max strides you across his office floor with his arm around your waist. You both walk over to an unassuming door, which you always thought led to a supply closet. Upon its opening, you step into the room to reveal a whole bedroom, complete with a dining table, sofa, TV and ensuite. You had been Max’s personal assistant for 7 years and had no idea such a room even existed. “Wow” you manage to blurt out in complete shock. “I had this room made so that when I was working long hours my ex-wife and Alistair could stay here” Max explained, adjusting bits and bobs around the room “Although my ex-wife never stayed. She always accused me of sleeping with other women in this bed when in fact I was actually working. I kind of live here now, having sold my estate to pay to keep the company running”

He gestures to you to sit on the timber art deco dining chair, as he picks up the phone on the coffee table. “Alfred. Can you please take a drive and bring back any decent takeout food you find. Make sure to get some for yourself, too”. Max hangs up the phone before turning on the radio and then grabs two wine glasses from the small bar by the lounge and a bottle of red wine. He places both glasses on the table and fills both half way. You pick up your glass and walk over to the floor to ceiling window, overlooking downtown LA. As Max is fussing over tidying and making the room perfect, he glances over to see you standing alone, looking out the window. Lost in your own little world, you feel Max’s large soft hand intertwine with your free hand. “I started black and gold in a shoebox office inside a strip mall, over there, in South LA” he points just in front of the hills. He pauses. “I expect that after I get evicted I won’t even be able to lease that same office”. You give his hand a small squeeze. “Maybe I could help you”. Max looks at you dubiously. “How do you mean?” He inquired.

Just as you were planning to answer, Alfred arrives with some food. Max walks over to your dining chair and pulls it out, gesturing for you to sit. You take your seat and he flaps a linen napkin into your lap, before sitting down adjacent to you. Alfred had bought some delicious Mexican food, the intoxicating smell of meats, cheeses and spices filling the room. “Thank you, Alfred. I’ll call you again if we need anything” Max smiles, patting Alfred on the back as he leaves. You both sit at the table for hours, eating, drinking and talking about the company. Max finally learns the secret that you’ve been hiding about studying at University. “I haven’t officially graduated yet, but learning what I have, I could probably help Black and Gold get out of its current predicament. I also might know some investors that I befriended in the same units as me from the University”. Max shoots you a soft smile. “You really are the best assistant and friend anyone could ask for” he beams, placing his hand on yours. Embarrassed by his compliment and burning with desire to want to kiss him, you stand up and head over to the couch to distract yourself from your intense feelings. Max realises the use of the word friend was probably a poor choice. He must be honest with you and tell you how he feels. Max joins you on the couch where your arms are crossed and you’re staring ahead. You’re trying to avoid eye contact else you’ll burst into flames.

********SMUT ALERT********

“I hope you don’t think I’m rude or ignoring the impassioned declaration you made earlier” Max smiles “I just wanted to give you a semi-decent first date”. You feel your cheeks begin to blush and you unfold your arms. “The truth is” Max continues, resting his hand on yours. “I feel the same way about you. Even before my ex-wife divorced me, I started to fall in love with you. The way you are with Alistair, how committed you are to helping me. I just didn’t think you’d wanna be with an older man like me and even more so when everything started to go downhill”.

You place your hand on top of Max’s, both now staring at each other softly yet intensely. “Max” you turn to face him, edging closer. Max nervously places his hands on your cheeks. “I’ve waited for 7 years, please kiss me”.

Max finally kisses your lips, setting your whole body alight. Dizzy from the sensation, you lay back on the couch as Max follows down on top of you. He begins peppering slow, thoughtfully placed kisses down your jaw and neck. You let out a whimper as your hands twirl through his hair. Every movement he makes is slow, as if he is trying to slow down time and make this moment last forever. Max comes back up and passionately kisses your mouth, your tongue begging his for entrance. As your tongues intertwine, he holds your head and neck with one hand, while stroking your hair with the other. Max holds you gently yet strongly in his arms, like he’s holding onto a fragile Fabergé egg. With the position you’re in on the couch and the impracticality of your work attire in non-work sitting positions, he senses that you’re uncomfortable.

“May I?” He asks, holding the zipper to your dress as he places his arms behind your back. You nod and he slowly unzips it, gently slipping it off you and carefully folding it over the armrest of the lounge. Overcome with passion and desire from Max’s romantic gestures, you blurt out “I want you to take me, Max”. Without a word, he scoops you up in his arms and walks you over to the bed, placing you down gently in the middle. Max sits at the foot of the bed, marvelling at your stunning body. You’re wearing stockings and a purple lingerie set, coincidentally Max’s favourite colour.

Max leans down and kisses the top of your foot, peppering kisses up your legs before reaching the clips of your garter belt. He unclasps them before rolling down the stockings, kissing back down your legs. Burning with desire, you unclasp your bra and garter belt, throwing them to the side of the bed. Max looks up from kissing your legs to see your breasts exposed in the moonlight, your nipples hard from his gaze.

“Y-you look absolutely beautiful” he chokes before climbing up on top of you to reach your face. You blush, feeling Max’s extremely hard cock straining in his suit trousers against your thigh. “Kiss me, Max” you moan, brushing your lips against his and moving your hand down towards his crotch. Max slowly and passionately begins to kiss you, your tongues swirling in each other’s mouths, the taste of wine and chilli making for a sensual combination. As your hand reaches Max’s crotch, you begin to grope and rub his sizeable length, causing him to let out a loud moan. You shoot him a cheeky sexual gaze, but he grabs your hand and brings it up for you to cup the side of his face. “Not just yet my little dove” he whispers. You pout but decide to put your hands to better use and unbutton his shirt, revealing his strong chiseled chest. Max starts to breathe deeper from arousal as you unbuckle his belt and throw it to the floor. “I want to take my time with you” Max whispers “You’ve waited so long and I want this moment to be everything you deserve. I want to worship and pleasure you completely”.

Your pussy is now completely soaked, the faint squelches from your juices against your panties sounds in the background of Max kissing your neck. Maxwell is more preoccupied with taking his time in a combination of making up for lost time with you, giving you the best first time with him and making this moment last as long as possible. “Guide me” Max sighs between kisses, giving you his free hand. Holding it with both hands, you guide him down your neck and to your breasts. Max traces your breasts, flicking your nipples as he watches you whine with pleasure. Slowly he leans down and begins to suck on them, gently swirling his tongue and flicking. He kisses from one breast to the other, squeezing them in his hand. “Your body is perfect. Your skin is so soft.” he moans. By this time you’re rubbing your thighs together in an effort to stimulate your clit without your hands as they’re gripping Max’s dark blonde hair.

“Max, take off your pants” you pant, becoming overstimulated from all this teasing foreplay. He stands up off the bed and unzips his trousers, pulling them down to reveal his rock hard cock. “Oh Max” you moan, reaching down under your panties to touch yourself as his cock twitches. Max hurriedly crawls onto the bed and back up to your face, pulling your hand out of your panties. He brings your fingers close to his mouth and rubs them on his lips before bringing his tongue out to swirl around them, sucking your juices off them. “Touch me Max” you immediately whimper “I need your touch”. Max moans before kissing you passionately. As you both enjoy your tender kiss, Max traces his hand down your body, over your breasts, along your stomach and reaches the edge of your panties. Max reaches into your panties and gently places a finger at the top of your pussy, gently but firmly pressing down as he traces over your clit and down to your opening. Your wetness has coated every inch of your pussy. “You’re so wet” he pants, the sensation starts to send some beads of precum out the tip of his cock. “For you” you moan, writhing in pleasure at his calculated & lingering touch.

Looking deep into your eyes, Max rubs your folds slowly before he inserts two fingers gently but deep inside you. He begins to switch between a circling and a come hither motion on your g-spot, sending sparks shooting up through your body. You arch your back and let out a moan, while Max kisses your neck. “Oh Max baby that feels so good” you moan, gripping the sheets. “You feel amazing” Max sighs, brushing your hair out of your face so he can study your facial expressions as he pleasures you. Just when you thought it couldn’t feel any more amazing, Max places his thumb onto your clitoris, bringing you closer to climax in a matter of milliseconds. “Oh my god Max, Max I’m gonna cum” you moan into his neck, biting him. Max continues fingering you, intently watching your face waiting for you to reach orgasm.

Between Max’s fingering, his kisses and eye contact it doesn’t take long for it all to send you over the edge, riding into a full body orgasm, squirting all over Max’s hand. “You’re so beautiful baby” Max coos, holding your body close with his fingers still inside you as your back arches and your body trembles while you let out a long loud moan. Despite this exquisite display and sensation happening between your legs, Max keeps eye contact with you, peering deep into your soul, completely enamoured. As you start to come down from your orgasm, Max slowly removes his fingers and sucks them clean. “You taste incredible, so sweet baby” he moans, licking the squirt off his hand. As you begin to catch your breath, Max kisses down your body and reaches your pussy, where he begins to lap up the rest of your juices. Very gently, Max parts the puffy pussy lips covering your clit. He starts to lick in between the folds, avoiding your clit as it recovers from the intense orgasm. He travels down to your entrance where he sticks his tongue inside, tasting your juices inside you.

The hum from his moan as he eats you out relaxes you like a lullaby. Max then comes back up to your face, kissing your forehead. “That was incredible Max” you pant, staring up at the ceiling. He rests his lips against your neck, cupping your breast and gently squeezing it and thumbing your nipple. “Let me pleasure you Max, please” you beg, giving him a pleading gaze. Max obliges as you change positions with him now lying on his back. You cup his face with one hand, giving him a loving smile as his hand grabs yours. He starts to kiss you as your hands both guide down his chest, stomach and reach his groin. You begin to tease him, tracing your fingertips around the base of his cock, then up the shaft. Your light touches cause his cock to twitch. “Your touch is magical'' Max groans as your hand grips his shaft and travels up to his tip. His precum has soaked the head, giving you enough lubricant to slowly jerk your hand up and down, gripping tightly.

The sensation for Max is heavenly, panting and moaning between kissing your cheeks and forehead as you concentrate your gaze on his pulsing cock. Your jerking movements become more intense as you look up to see Max with his eyes closed, like he’s dreaming and if he opens them you’ll cease to exist. You continue to jerk him as you kiss his neck, feeling his cock harden even more and begin to pulse rapidly, like he’s getting close. “W-wait” Max whimpers. “I want this night to be about pleasuring you. Your mere presence pleasures me enough.” He kisses your hand & cups your cheek, looking deeply into your eyes. “What can I do to please you? Would you like t-to make love?”. Your heart bursts with emotion as this man is so set on pleasuring you so much. “Yes Max, I would love that very much” you sigh.

You lay back down on the bed, Max lying by your side. He begins to embrace you, running his hands over your body before kissing down your neck and chest as he rubs your clit. Max stops for a moment, studying your beautiful naked body. He then moves down and pushes your legs up, exposing your pussy. As you squeeze your breasts and look at his chiseled jaw, Max nervously lines up his cock before rubbing it on your clit, soaking the tip in your wetness. Impatient with how he’s teasing you, you whisper “Fuck me Maxwell”. Slowly, he pushes his cock down your clitoris and through your folds before the tip pushes inside. Without even being all the way inside, he moans “this must be what Heaven feels like”. With one gentle thrust, he’s completely inside, shuddering as your warm, tight, wet walls squeeze his cock shaft and tip. “Oh my god Max. You have no idea how long I’ve waited for this moment” you moan, as he starts to slowly thrust. “M-me too beautiful” he grunts, feeling pure ecstasy wash over him as your pussy tenses, massaging his twitching length. A few minutes go by of you both silently staring intensely into each other’s eyes, kissing passionately. With every thrust you begin to connect deeper to Max, your bodies intertwining on a physical, emotion and spiritual level. Max’s cock twitches inside you as he watches you moan and bite your lip, squeezing your breasts.

“I can’t believe you love a man, a man like me” Max says still in disbelief, watching your body motion up and down as he slowly strokes in and out of you. He studies your body intensely, watching the moonlight and shadows play across your curves as your breasts bounce with every thrust. “You’re so beautiful Hermosa”, his mother tongue now coming through “como una diosa, like, A-Aphrodité.” he sighs, cupping your face with both hands. You cover his hands with yours, interlocking your fingers, turning your face each way slightly to kiss his palms and stare back at him lovingly and seductively, feeling like you could float away. “Your Aphrodite” you sigh, arching back slightly in pleasure, gripping his hands to guide them down to your breasts for him to lovingly caress and fondle. In slight shock at your romantic response, he immediately leans down whilst thrusting and peppers kisses all over your lips, letting out a sniffle.

With his eyes closed, focusing on lasting to bring you pleasure and to hide his emotions, a few tears drop onto your cheeks as he continues to thrust, now grunting each time into your neck to cover up the small sobs. You kiss his cheek, to take his tears away, the saltiness turning into sweet nectar on your tongue. “It’s okay baby, you can be vulnerable with me, I will protect you. I love you”. You choke, now crying also. Both sharing a connection transcending physically, in that exact moment, without an increase in volume, the lyrics of the Bob Dylan song playing on the radio seem to stand out and ring true in this very moment;

Storm clouds are raging all around my door, I think to myself I might not take it any more. Take a woman like your kind, To find the man in me. But, oh, what a wonderful feeling, Just to know that you are near. Sets my a heart a-reeling, From my toes up to my ears...

Your foreheads now together, staring deeply into each other’s eyes, Max whimpers “I love you so much” as his whole body begins to tense, signalling he’s on the precipice of an orgasm. Feeling his cock become even harder as it thrusts into the deepest part of your pussy, slamming the extra nerves to unlock your powerful orgasm. “Oh my god Max I’m gonna cum” you moan, slamming your eyes shut as you begin to try and slow down so this moment can last forever. “Cum mi reina” Max pants, keeping the tempo of his thrusting steady as the waves of your orgasm reach its peak before crashing down & flooding your entire body. Your body arches and trembles as you scream “Oh Max!” while your pussy clamping down & releasing in pulses on Max’s cock. The sight of you orgasming tied with the sensation around his cock sends Max over the edge. “Cielo” Max groans, shuddering all over as his cock spurts thick ropes of cum against your sensitive cervix. You both share a passionate kiss as Max’s cock softens inside you. “That was amazing Max” you pant, your body weak from the two mind blowing orgasms Max gave you.

Max collapses on the bed beside you, kissing your neck and running his fingers through your hair. “I can’t wait for us to do that again” Max chuckles against your neck. You kiss Max’s forehead, sighing as your body still slightly shakes from the two powerful orgasms Max just gave you. “I think a shower is in order” He embraces you momentarily before scooping you up in his arms and carries you off the bed, walking towards the ensuite. “Are you ever gonna let me walk again?” You giggle, nestling into his neck. “I like feeling you be as close to me as possible” Max laughs, before your feet land back on the tiles inside the bathroom. Max turns on the water and you both step into the shower, the steam now filling the room. Max has an assortment of body washes and shampoos, ranging from musky to citrusy and floral scents. You step closer to Max as he takes some lavender body wash and begins to rub it down your back, his hands dancing over the rest of your body as he starts to wash you. “I know I keep saying this, but you are so beautiful” Max sighs, running his hands over your ass, grabbing a cheek in each hand. “You’re not too bad yourself, handsome” you giggle against Max’s neck.

You both spend at least an hour in the shower, washing each other, chatting and sharing a few more intimate moments. Soon, the wine from dinner, the warm shower water, the scent of lavender and your fatigue from your orgasms starts to take its toll and you feel your eyelids drooping. Max finishes washing you and grabs a towel to help you dry off with. As your eyelids close completely Max has already scooped you up and walked back to the bed, placing you in the middle before wrapping you up in blankets and placing a small kiss on your forehead. “Goodnight my love” he whispers. “Mmmm” you moan, already in a dream state. Max soon gets under the covers with you, embracing you tightly as he watches you sleep, twirling his fingers through your hair. The smell of lavender on your skin soon lulls Maxwell to sleep.

The next morning you wake up, dazed and a little hungover, but well rested. As you look around the room, you survey the many pieces of clothes, miscellaneous items and wine bottles strewn across the floor in a tornado of passion from the night before. As your eyes adjust to the sun, you see Max in an under-shirt and pyjama pants over by the dining table. Max, in his own little world, frantically setting the dining table with some breakfast Alfred had brought up while you were sound asleep. He’s making sure everything is laid out perfectly, straightening the cutlery and pouring Orange Juice and Champagne into a glass from the bar. He hears the cotton sheets move behind him, immediately turning around to see if you’re awake. “Good morning beautiful” Max hums, rushing over to the bed to pepper your cheeks and lips with hundreds of little kisses. “Morning handsome” you giggle, running your hands through Max’s hair, in an attempt to match your bed hair. “Are you hungry, mi amor?” he asks between kisses. “I’m famished” you reply, stretching to help you wake up more. As you writhe around in the sheets you notice you’re wearing a chiffon baby doll.

“I hope you don’t mind I uh, had it in the wardrobe & wasn’t sure if you liked to sleep naked so I put it on you just after you fell asleep.” Max laughs, scratching the back of his head. You blush, feeling embarrassed that you got that drunk, but Max’s reassuring smile makes you feel at ease. “I do usually sleep naked, but I like it, it makes me feel beautiful”. Max sighs “so beautiful”, wrapping you up in a tight embrace and planting a single kiss on your forehead. Max scoops you up and carries you out of bed before you lightly plant your feet onto the carpeted floor. As you glance over to the dining table, Max comes up behind you and helps you slip on a long beautiful chiffon robe, accented with feathers on the hem.

“Another little something for my beautiful mariposa” Max coos, kissing your cheek before pulling out your chair at the dining table. You feel like you’re walking on clouds as you step over to your chair and sit down, Max flapping a napkin onto your lap. “Oh my goodness Max you’re such a gentleman” you blush. “My mother taught me to show women the highest level of respect and care. She made me the man who I am today.” Max replies, looking out the window momentarily. You outstretch your arm across the table to squeeze Max’s hand “And she would be so proud of the man that you’ve become” you beam with a sweet smile. Max soon draws your attention to the diverse spread of pastries on the table, pointing out the different fillings of each and asks if you would like coffee. You nod before noticing a large bouquet of red roses in the middle of the table. As Max places a few pastries on your plate, you feel a sense of intense attraction wash over you like a wave.

Your internal monologue starts to read back to itself, reflecting on how loving, generous and respectful Max is towards you. How much he takes care of you and oh god, how handsome he looks…you start to feel aroused by this somewhat submissive gentleman, sensing a rising heat from your core. Max submitted to your every want and desire last night, raising you up and worshipping you like a goddess, now you wanted to submit to him. Knowing now that you can be vulnerable and honest around Max, you lean back in your chair, biting down on a blueberry pastry.

To be continued..... ;) muahahahaha

a special thanks to the users below for the inspiration and encouragment!

@pintsizemama @anaaaispunk @maxlordsgf @rav3n-pascal22, @pedrostories, @absurdthirst @pedrosbrat​