5. Korben
The rest of the day whizzed by after Michael left the workshop. Korben couldn’t recall the last time he felt full of so much hope and optimism for the future – and that was saying something given how naturally optimistic Korben was.
Korben had been a bit worried that Michael might withdraw his offer or try to change the terms at the last moment – a tactic that Korben had learned about during his legal training. But thankfully, Michael certainly appeared to be a man of honor and decency.
Even when Michael appeared to get a bit grumpy as he waited for Korben to confirm his decision, Korben could tell that he was a kind soul underneath his gruff exterior. There was something about Michael’s demeanor that Korben found utterly compelling – and he couldn’t wait to tell Louie exactly what that was either…
‘You should have seen the look he gave me,’ Korben giggled, lying on the floor in his apartment with his duvet underneath his body and surrounded by pillows.
‘Was it the look?’ Louie asked, his eyes widening. ‘Do you think he wanted to pull your briefs down and spank your butt?’
‘I think… he probably did,’ Korben said, his cheeks flushing red and his mind instantaneously imagining exactly what that scenario would look and feel like. ‘And for a second, I thought he might actually grab me and bend me over the work desk.’
‘OMG!’ Louie squealed, rolling over and getting closer to Korben as the pair of them lay there in their pajamas. ‘I’ve met Michael a few times, and I can imagine he gives the hardest spankings.’
‘Do you think?’ Korben wondered, unable to stop smiling. ‘It’s a shame we’re just business partners.’
‘For now you are,’ Louie chuckled. ‘I don’t think it’s going to be too long before that changes.’
Korben giggled excitedly. But the reality of the situation was that Korben knew he would need to keep things professional. There was surely no way that he could stand up to Michael and insist on making the key business decisions if he could simply put his across his lap and paddle his butt until he relented and let him decide everything.
No, Korben knew that he had no choice but to keep all naughty thoughts of Michael as his Daddy as nothing more than fun fantasies.
It would only lead to trouble if the terms of their relationship changed, and Korben wasn’t going to let anything spoil his chances of success with Korben’s Kandies. He had worked far too hard and given up way too much to do anything to jeopardize his success.
‘Come on, let’s do some coloring,’ Korben said, sitting up and reaching over to a pile of Disney themed coloring books. ‘I think I’m going to do some Mickey and Minnie mouse. How about you?’
‘Hmmmm. Tough choice!’ Louie said, his voice soft and the innocence in his eyes giving away the fact he was entering into Little Space. ‘I want… Donald Duck. Quack! Quack! Quaaaack!’
The two friends began to color together.
With a huge box of coloring pencils, Korben and Louie had a rainbow of options as they carefully colored and doodled over the pages of the Disney books.
Korben loved hanging out with Louie in moments like this. Danny would have been there too, but he was otherwise occupied.
‘You think Danny might have a secret Daddy?’ Korben wondered out loud.
‘I think… maybe,’ Louie said. ‘I don’t know for sure, but I think he might be on a date with him now. I tried to find out where he was going, but he kinda wouldn’t say. We can ask his later. But now… color!’
‘Yay!’ Korben squealed, holding up his multi-colored Mickey Mouse Astronaut page. ‘I want to go to space like Mickey.’
‘Oooh, it would be so much fun,’ Louie said, his eyes wide and full of wonder. ‘But it might be scary without our stuffies.’
‘They’d be with us, silly!’ Korben giggled. ‘And I think Jazz and Huggle would be the best co-pilots a Little could ask for.’
‘Me too,’ Louie said, giving his stuffie Huggle a kiss on his squidgy tummy. ‘Shall we have some juice?’
‘Yes, but let’s travel there in our spaceships,’ Korben said, lying down and pulling the bottom of the duvet up to his face. ‘Takeoff in three… two… one… WHOOSH!’
The two Little friends laughed raucously together as they imagined travelling through space toward a new solar system that housed a planet with the nicest known juice boxes in the whole universe.
‘Not bad,’ Korben said, pretending to slurp on an exotic, inter-planetary juice. ‘But I think we’ve got some even nicer ones in my refrigerator. Come on, let’s go. Travelling across the universe is thirsty work.’
With that, the two friends got up from the den and toddled over to get some much needed refreshments.
Korben knew that he had a busy time ahead of his after his playdate with Louie ended, but so far it had been a great day – and with a juice and a nap to come, it was only going to get better!
The playdate with Louie was a whole heap of fun. But more than that, it was inspirational too…
‘Okay, so I’m thinking more glitter effects on the wrapper,’ Korben said, staring at his iMac screen and fiddling with the mouse to change the shading on his new candy design.
Korben was at his workshop and feeling positively inspired. This would often happen after a playdate or being in Little Space, and he was had learned to make the most of it.
Having always been creative, Korben was the kind of person who had to act whenever he felt a new idea or concept pop into his head. It didn’t matter if it was in the middle of the night or halfway through eating a lunchtime sandwich – when inspiration called, Korben simply had to reply!
‘Now what kind of center will this space themed candy have?’ Korben mused, thinking back to how fun it was to play pretend astronauts with Louie. ‘Space is cold, vast, and kind of spooky. But it’s also full of hot stars and colorful planets too. Hmmm… what do you think, Jazz?’
Korben looked across to Jazz for help, but by the looks of things his cherished stuffie was still fast asleep after Korben and Louie’s nap time.
‘Some help you are!’ Korben giggled. ‘I guess it’s all on me this time.’
The reality was that Korben absolutely adored having the sole responsibility for designing and bringing his candies to life. Ever since he could remember, Korben had loved the feeling of taking an idea and running with it.
Whether it was his Barbie dolls or his own dress-up costumes, Korben would imagine the most creative scenarios and fully commit to them for hours on end. Not much had changed, even now he was in his early twenties.
The only real blip occurred when Korben went to law school.
Having always done well at school, it kind of felt like law school was the natural next move. Korben’s father was a lawyer, and so was his father before him. His mom had also worked as a lawyer for some very high profile charities, and his reputation was known the world over.
You could say that the law ran in Korben’s family.
But Korben knew from his very first day at law school that he simply wasn’t cut out for that life. Of course, he didn’t want to disappoint his parents and drop out before graduating. Korben could see that it was probably sensible to finish, graduate, and then see how he felt.
However graduating and then facing up to the possibility of a life spent in an office or courtroom was too much to take. Korben knew that both his parents were good people who had helped a great many others over the years. But it just wasn’t his, and there was no escaping that.
When Korben finally told his parents that he wasn’t going to pursue a law career, he could tell that they were both very disappointed. In fact, Korben’s father hadn’t reacted well at all.
Even now, Korben felt like his relationship with his mom and pop hadn’t quite fully recovered. There was always an unspoken awkwardness between them whenever the topic invariably cropped up.
Added onto this, Korben could see that neither of his parents thought his candy company aspirations were serious. In fact, it was this that probably hurt Korben the most. For his, making candy was a passion – something that he could truly throw himself into. But as far as his parents were concerned, making candy just seemed far too trivial compared to the kinds of things they did in their careers.
In truth, Korben tried not to think about his situation with his parents too often.
Korben hoped that one day his parents would see just how happy and successful he was with Korben’s Kandies. But until that day came, he was determined to carry on regardless and simply make sure that even if his parents weren’t happy with his choice, he was.
And if there was one thing in the world that made Korben happy, it was working on a new idea. With that, Korben took a step back from his computer screen and closed his eyes and imagined his perfect space themed candy…
After spending the next couple of hours sketching out a whole mood board of ideas for his new candy project, Korben realized that he was running late for his first business meeting with Michael.
After a rushed Uber journey, Korben arrived at Michael’s office building and made his way past the snooty front of house staff and up to the thirteenth floor.
Korben couldn’t help but notice just how expensive everything looked.
From the gold plated elevator down to the polished granite floor, this was a very different style to his homemade workshop stylings. Korben knew that Michael had been to the famously upper crust Princeford University and was probably used to all of the finer things in life from a young age.
Still, Korben wasn’t about to let that worry his too much – after all, he was the creative force behind Korben’s Kandies, and Michael was merely an investor…
‘Hey, sorry I’m late,’ Korben said, breezily walking into Michael’s private office. ‘I was designing.’
Korben looked at Michael as he sat behind his desk.
To say that Michael didn’t look overly impressed would be an understatement. Korben quickly checked his watch and saw that he was twenty-five minutes late. But rather than apologize, Korben decided to double-down on his status as the creatively driven candy queen…
‘Time doesn’t matter when I’m in the zone,’ Korben said, a sing-song tone in his voice as he walked toward one of the office walls decorated with photos of Michael alongside other businesspeople, politicians, and celebrities. ‘You’ve met some pretty famous people.’
‘I have indeed,’ Michael said, remaining seated. ‘And one thing connected them all. Are you interested in knowing what that might be?’
Korben could sense from Michael’s voice that he was irritated with him.
But rather than back down now in an attempt to keep the peace, Korben decided to continue along the path he was walking.
‘They’re all super-chill about timekeeping?’ Korben giggled. ‘You know, like I am?’
Korben gasped as Michael stood up from his chair quicker than he could have anticipated him doing. Before Korben knew what was going on, Michael was standing right next to his, his powerful frame casting a shadow over his from head to toe.
‘I, um, I was kidding,’ Korben said, his voice trembling but his spunky spirit telling his to hang on in there. ‘Chill out, Michael. I’m the talent. You’re the money. It’s no big deal if I’m a few minutes late.’
At this point, Korben wanted to stop talking.
But Korben’s defiant, sassy side was preventing his from taking a single backward step. And judging by the look on Michael’s face, this might just prove to be a giant mistake.
‘I’m going to give you one more chance, boy,’ Michael growled, his deep voice filling the large office. ‘Apologize for being late. Show me the respect I warrant. Or there will be consequences.’
Korben held his breath and felt his mind and body whirring and tingling with possibilities…
Is Michael going to… punish me?
Maybe I should apologize?
Or… maybe I should… push him even harder?
‘Okay, okay,’ Korben said, his heart thumping inside his chest and his briefs getting more stretched out at the front by the second as Michael’s huge body loomed large. ‘I’d like to apologize… to absolutely no one!’
‘Right, that’s it!’ Michael roared, taking Korben by the hand and marching his over to his desk. ‘Give me your safeword, boy. You’re getting six spanks on each cheek and before you ask – yes, your briefs will be coming down around your ankles too.’
With that, Korben gave Michael his safeword - apples.
‘Good,’ Michael growled. ‘Now bend over and unbutton those trousers for me. I’ll handle the briefs. Make no mistake, this is going to be a real spanking, boy. And hopefully once I’m done we’ll have a much better understanding as to the standards that I expect in this partnership.’
‘Y-y-yes, sir,’ Korben spluttered, his entire body reacting to Michael’s stern, utterly dominant demeanor.
For all his protestations to Louie, Korben had been dreaming of this moment since the very moment he first saw Michael. And now it was about to happen. The only question as far as Korben was concerned was whether or not he would be able to contain his excitement…