Theirs

Chapter 4

I played games on my phone while Jiselle got fucked above me, moaning like she was having the time of her life. The sounds slipping out of her were enough to make my dick hard and I couldn’t wait until I was the one making her sound that way.

I figured my chances would significantly decrease if she found me beneath her bed though. So as soon as she got in the shower, I headed out, pulling her door shut and locking it behind me.

I drove back to my house on the other side of town, collapsed onto my couch with a short glass of scotch, and checked to see if the camera I’d saved was still working properly.

It was. Jiselle and the guy she was with weren’t in the living room but I heard parts of their conversation. I didn’t focus on it too hard though.

Instead I rewound to when she’d stumbled into her high rise and got a good look at the man she’d called Stone.

I took a screenshot of his face and hopped up to head to my office.

I finished my drink then plugged my phone into my computer and pulled his photo from it.

I did a quick reverse search, and when nothing came up, I went a little deeper.

I had access to the same database the government used to search pictures against mugshots.

Stone’s came up in minutes. Stone Douglas was a twenty-seven-year-old security guard at the same bar where Jiselle worked.

He was one of six boys, the second oldest. His father was in jail for murder.

His older brother was in jail for aggravated assault.

All of their addresses were listed as the same and Stone apparently had temporary legal custody of his two youngest siblings thanks to his father signing his rights over and their mothers not being around.

He’d petitioned for legal custody with intention to adopt but because he had a rap sheet, it hadn’t gotten granted.

He’d been an amateur boxer until he’d gotten caught up with drug charges and illegal gun possession.

I read his file, then downloaded it and closed my computer.

I took a quick, hot shower then collapsed in bed to get a quick nap. When my alarm went off, I snoozed it and got one more hour in. The boss got to take liberties like that.

The second time my alarm went off, I dragged myself up and got ready for the day. I called my assistant and told her to have my breakfast and coffee in my office when I got there. I checked the camera at Jiselle’s and saw she was finally getting sleep.

She looked fucking beautiful laid out on her stomach with both of her hands folded beneath her face and I couldn’t wait to wake up to that sight every morning. I found myself glancing from the road to my phone back and forth as I drove to the building.

The entire workday I periodically checked on Jiselle. Setting that camera up had been the best and worst thing I’d ever done. When she set her camera up to go live on her webcamming account, I left my private camera and logged into the site immediately.

“Kiano,” my father said stiffly.

“Yeah?” I locked my phone and looked at him.

“Are you listening?”

“I’m always listening.” I grinned at him. “The rapper Drix wants us to upgrade his computer security. I’ll do it myself.”

“He’s got a mouth on him but he’s a priority client and we want to make him happy.

Word on the street is he’s thinking about opening his own record label.

That means he’d need someone to keep all of that multimillion dollar music of his locked up nice and safe for him and his artists and we want to be in the running for the job. ”

“I’ve got it,” I said simply.

“You sure about that?”

“Positive.”

“Running an IT company is…”

I cut him off. “Forty percent doing the work and making sure our product works properly, thirty percent playing people politics, and thirty percent customer service.” I recited the same shit he’d told me frequently.

He nodded. “That’s right.”

“And I’m on it. You don’t have to worry about it.”

“I know. I know.” He exhaled and shook his head.

“I trust you. I wouldn’t be signing this company over to you next year if I wasn’t confident you could run it effectively.

But if you’re going to lead, you have to be willing to follow,” he reminded me.

“I don’t hire people I have to instruct or micromanage.

I hire people who know shit I don’t know.

If they can’t teach me shit, I don’t need to be paying them. That’s how I’ve always felt.”

“Nah. I get you. There’s no reason to have a team around who can’t contribute to the betterment of the organization.”

“That’s right.”

“This company is your baby but you don’t have to worry about how I’ll take care of it. And if you ever want to pop in, you can do that. I don’t need you reiterating the lessons you’ve instilled in me my entire life. You don’t hire people you can’t learn from, remember?”

He grinned. “Alright, Kiano.”

“Alright.” I echoed. “Anything else?”

“This year's budget is in your hands. Make sure you finalize it for accounting this week.”

“Got it.”

“Well, that’s it.”

“Alright.” I pushed away from the boardroom table and climbed up. “I’ll schedule something with Mr. King right now then get to work on that budget.”

“Thank you.”

“Welcome.” I slid a hand into my pocket and used the other to unlock my phone as I walked out of the room.

Jiselle was still online, talking about something I couldn’t hear due to not wanting to put the volume on but I was okay with that. I just watched her talk and laugh, wearing a slightly sheer black nightgown, showing off her matching bra and underwear set.

I headed straight to my office and called Drix to schedule a meeting. Then I put one earbud in, propped my phone up beside my computer screen, and got to work running through emails and adjusting the budget my father had made the previous year to reflect how I wanted it to look for the current one.

My parents had damn near built their IT company from scratch, and as their only child, it would one day be mine.

I’d followed in my mother’s footsteps, getting a double bachelor's in computer science and management information systems with a concentration in formation systems then went on to get a master’s in business administration.

I’d been working at the company long before I’d even graduated, learning whatever my parents wanted to teach and being somewhat of an intern.

I answered phones when I was younger, graduated to going out with our tech support team to troubleshoot in person, then started answering emails and working in customer service, and so forth and so on.

My parents did whatever the business needed and wanted to make sure I was equipped to do the same when the time came.

I was.

I wasn’t just falling in line because I loved my parents and it meant a lot to keep their business in the family.

I genuinely enjoyed my job. I liked the challenge that came with it and knowing I was capable of changing, fixing, and fucking with things a lot of people couldn’t.

It didn’t hurt that bouncing around the building from job to job meant there was no way to know for sure what I would get for the day.

I liked not being stuck in an office all day and knowing it wasn’t often that it would ever be a fully boring day.

I finished what I’d had slotted for the day with Jiselle talking directly into my ear. When she announced that she would be offline for a while, I reached for my phone almost automatically and purchased a one-on-one call for later.

I wouldn’t be able to handle going through the rest of the day without her voice. I listened to her read out that she’d seen my purchase and would private message me to schedule a time and finally closed her site for the first time all day.

Knowing I had our talk to look forward to kept me going through a business lunch, two interviews, and my meeting with Drix who happened to be one of my new favorite consumers. He was a straightforward man who knew what he wanted and what he was willing to pay.

We’d gotten something on paper and I agreed to set up everything he needed in real time.

I went down to his in-house studio and made sure all the equipment he used to make music couldn’t be fucked with from the outside.

Then, he and I backed up his laptop together and I refreshed his spyware and gave him my personal card to get in contact if he needed me.

Afterwards I had a slow cruise home where I ate a quick dinner by myself, took a shower, then climbed into bed and watched the video footage from Jiselle and Stone hanging out together after I’d already left. I waited patiently for my time slot with her to come.

The second she called, I had the phone in my hand but waited two more rings before I picked up, my camera already off.

Her phone was propped on something while she sat on the floor in her living room in front of the camera. She’d taken her hair down and brushed it and wore a soft, little, pink robe tied shut.

“Hey there, Ghost.” She referred to me by my online screenname, DataGhost.

“Hey there, Jezzy,” I said.

She leaned back on her hands and my eyes raked over her body.

“How are you today?”

“Better now that I’m talking to you.”

“You flatter me.” She smiled. “Was there something in particular you wanted to talk about?”

“Not really,” I confessed. “I just wanted to check on you.”

“That’s sweet, Ghost. I’m good honestly. I’ve just been working and doing my best to enjoy life.”

“I feel that. Hopefully we’ll be doing a lot of that in the near future.”

“Let’s hope so.” She reached over for her bong and lit up, taking a long drag. “So, how’s work going?”

“It’s good. I’ve been a little busier than usual but I actually like that. It makes the time go by faster.”

“Don’t rush your life away,” she warned.

“I’m not. For real. I’m just counting down till this weekend.” I cleared my throat. “Can I ask you something personal?”

“Maybe.” She lifted an eyebrow, hit her bong again, then blinked at the screen. “Let’s hear it.”

“Are you dating anyone? In real life?”

I was asking more to see her reaction to the question than to hear her answer.

I also wanted to hear how she actually felt about dating when she was just answering a question to someone she didn’t care about or plan on ever seeing in real life.

She thought we didn’t know each other. That was usually when people were the most open, speaking to strangers they were confident they’d never interact with again.

“Nope.” She laughed. “That was the question?”

“That was the question,” I confirmed. “Can I ask why?”

“Well…” She took her hand and gestured down her body.

“What does that mean?”

“That a lot of men don’t want to date women who do cam work.”

“But if someone did, would you give them a chance?”

“I’m not against it but I’m not looking, settling, or changing.”

“I respect that.” I exhaled. “So, what’s your type?”

“Why? Are you offering to date me?”

“Maybe.”

She giggled and took another hit from her bong.

“Alright.” She set it on her coffee table.

“I like manly men; so someone who is handy and okay with getting dirty if necessary.” She thought about the rest of her answer.

“I want to date someone who respects me, even with the job I work. I couldn’t be with a man who isn’t a provider because I’ve never dreamed of working, and now that I work when I want to, I don’t think I’ll ever get a regular nine to five, so…

” She shrugged. “I like a little push and pull. I’m a bitch sometimes, so I’d love to be with someone who knows when to let me have it and when to put me in my place.

They have to be clean, have their own car and place, and have a sense of humor.

” She thought more. “I don’t know,” she finished.

“I want the same shit a lot of women want.”

“But if it actually came to you, do you think you’re ready for it?”

“What are you? A therapist?”

“Nah.” I chuckled. “Just making conversation.”

“Well, I don’t know,” she admitted. “I guess I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it.” She paused for a beat. “There is a man trying to apply for the position though.” She wagged her eyebrows.

She was talking about Stone and I felt a fire ignite within me. If I had to take Stone down to get her, I would. There was no way I would let him come between me and Jiselle.

I wouldn’t let anyone come between us and didn’t care if I had to set him up with drugs in his vehicle or have him knocked off the face of the earth. There wasn’t a limit to what I’d do for Jiselle.

I bit down my annoyance though.

“You feel good about it?”

“I don’t know. It’s new and we’re friends; so I’m not rushing to try it out.”

“Don’t limit your options until you know they check all your boxes,” I offered.

“Don’t worry, Ghost. I won’t. I’m not as easy as I act, I promise.”

“I never doubted you for a second.”

“Smart man.” She wagged her eyebrows and I smiled at her expression.

“You ever thought about being a sugar baby?” I asked.

“Like a paid girlfriend?” she asked.

“Yeah.”

“Not really,” she admitted. “I don’t think I can fake a relationship for money.

Stuff over cam is different. It’s a transaction and it gets shown that way.

When I think about being a sugar baby, I think about pretending to like someone for a lifestyle and I don’t think I can do that in my day to day life.

When I need a break, I can just log out for a while.

Checking out on someone in person when feelings get involved sounds…

cruel. I like being up front about what I want and what I’m willing to do for it. ”

“That’s real. I respect that.”

I heard the alarm letting us both know our talk was being cut short but I was okay with that.

“Thanks for hanging out with me for a little bit, Ghost,” Jiselle offered.

“Thanks for having me, Jezzy.”

“Goodnight.”

“Goodnight.”

It was both exciting and a little sad when the call actually ended. It would be our last anonymous one because I had every intention of seeing Jiselle in person and getting our relationship off the ground.

I would give it six days before I showed up at her job though. The last thing I wanted was to make her feel uncomfortable.