5. Brent
5
brENT
I’m still on cloud nine as I straighten out my clothes and march out front to meet the inspectors, all the while playing every mental game I can to try and get the last bit of my erection to go down.
I’m still mostly hard from that incredible blowjob I just got from Luna. It’s almost impossible to believe she’s as inexperienced as she claims.
I don’t know if I should trust her, but she sure did a great job draining my cream. And I’m just dying to give her more as soon as possible.
The five inspectors, Cliff, Tammy, Ramee, Nate, and Mark, are waiting by their cars per usual. But what’s unusual is that Jeff Fairley standing there beside them.
So Luna’s father has decided to buy his way onto my farm. Now why could that be?
He’s standing there in his blue pinstripe suit, looking like a mob boss as he chats with Mark. I put on my best smile as I approach them all and extend my hand to him first, just to let him know whatever game he’s trying to pull here today isn’t going to work.
“Jeff! How the hell are ya?” If only he knew what had just been going on five minutes ago in my back office.
“Living and thriving, Brent. Living and thriving. Yourself?”
“Oh, you know. Serving up the best cream in the nation! People keep loving it. More and more every day!”
With a wink, I turn and shake every one of the other inspectors’ hands and greet them. They all look hesitant; they know it’s illegal for Jeff to be here, but big money like mine and Jeff’s can get you pretty much whatever you want.
Jeff owns a supermarket chain that buys cream directly from me. I can’t see why he’d have any interest in messing with my business. All that would do is screw with his profits. He must have some other angle here.
“So you all want a tour of the facility?” I ask.
“You know the drill,” Tammy says with a smile. “I’m sure everything will be in order just as it always is.”
“But it’s always important to make sure,” Mark chimes in. “We must be diligent.”
So Mark’s the rat.
“Of course. Diligence is key,” I reply, forcing a smile. “Right this way.”
I take them out back to the paddocks first to give them a view of the cows. Many are roaming in the fields, but some are being milked by our team.
“As you can see, nothing much has changed since your last visit. Same safety and sterilization methods are being taken.”
The inspectors nod, marking things off on their checklists.
I take them into the shipping warehouse next, where some of our pallets are being loaded up onto the trucks.
“I don’t need to tell you what goes on here,” I say. The inspectors all smile and make notes on their checklists.
“Looks pretty standard,” Nate chimes in. “I imagine you’re down here most days helping out, Brent?”
“It’s my main job here at Luscious Acres,” I kid back. “You don’t get callused hands like this sitting in an office all day.”
I’m pretty sure I catch Jeff’s eyes narrowing at my little joke there, but the rest of the inspectors find it funny, and we continue on up to the processing room.
“A bit chilly in here. I’m sure you all remember that.”
“Should have packed a jacket,” Ramee chuckles, miming a shivering motion.
I take them through the process just like last time–how we process our cream by skimming the fattest layer from the organic whole milk we get from our incredible cows raised here at the farm. They’ve all seen this before, so it’s nothing new to them.
I then bring them over to the bottling section where our cream is bottled, sealed, labeled, and then stacked to be brought out to the paddock warehouse to be shipped out.
“Everything looks good, Brent.” Tammy smiles. “No surprises. Just like last time–”
“Are you sterilizing your labels, Brent?” Mark interrupts.
“Excuse me?” I turn and see Mark is either shivering from the cold or trembling from some other issue entirely.
“Your labels,” he repeats. “Are you sterilizing them?”
“You know I am.”
“I know you’re sterilizing them when they come in, but are you sterilizing them again after they’re placed on the bottles?”
“You want me to sterilize an already sterile product that hasn’t been exposed to the actual food product we’re shipping out?” I ask Mark.
“It’s a direction many farms are moving in,” he replies. “Smiling Green Dairy for example.”
And then it clicks. Jeff Fairley’s reason for being here today.
Smiling Green Dairy.
They’ve always been a competitor of mine. A friendly competitor, but a competitor nonetheless, and have been struggling to keep up with me, despite what I’d call unethical farming practices and cutting every corner they can to keep costs down and profits up with no concern for their consumer.
Jeff must have purchased a stake in them and wants to do whatever he can to sabotage me so he can bolster his profits and keep Smiling Green Dairy from going completely out of business.
“That is true,” Cliff says slowly. “I believe that’s going to be a necessity for all farms using glass bottles moving forward into the next year.”
“Wait a second here,” I reply. “You’re telling me that if I want to continue using glass bottles for my product, I have to buy new expensive equipment to sterilize them a second time after labeling them? Or I have to completely switch over to plastic, which is terrible for people and the environment?”
The inspectors shuffle around uncomfortably, each one of them fidgeting like they’ve got a different itch somewhere they have to scratch. Each of them except Mark.
“I know it sounds daunting, Brent. But it really is the safest route to go for your customers.”
I glare at him and take several steps closer. Like a little boy, he takes several steps back and looks at me like I’m going to hit him. Of course I don’t, but I would love to. Nothing grinds my gears more than corruption. Right then, Jeff steps in and pats me on the shoulder, letting out one of those fake, forced laughs that no one actually believes.
“Oh, I’m sure it will be no problem for Brenty here! He’s just raking in the dough with his farm!” He turns his eyes on mine, practically gloating his master plan right at me as he grins like the world’s biggest asshole. “Ain’t that right, Brenty?”
Yeah. I’d love to hit both of them now.