Elmo felt his eyes closing as Elwin finished up his tale. Of all of the ones told so far, his seemed to be the least eventful. Maybe that was part of why he was falling asleep listening to others regale everyone here with how what they had been doing before they got shanghaied here.
Another part Elmo was sure was because it was getting so late and he wasn't used to staying up late at night after being up all day. Not only that, but also moving around and engaging in some physical activity, even if he didn't do much fighting himself.
When Elwin finished, no one seemed eager to go next, so Own spoke up. "Come on now, everyone. We each get a turn telling our story. Besides, if you really don't feel like telling what actually happened, feel free to make something up. It's not like we can verify what any of us says happened," Owen said.
"Fine, I'll go next," Patricia said. "It's not like you'll let this go unless we give in."
"That's the spirit," Owen replied, apparently ignoring the snark in Patricia's statement.
Patricia sighed. Elmo wondered if she really cared about what Owen was pushing them into doing.
+++
Patricia's phone rang as she started getting dressed after letting her boyfriend have his way with her. He was just laying on the bed, watching Patricia as she put her clothing on.
"Are you going to answer that?" Derek asked.
"Maybe," Patricia said. I need to get to class, so if I take time to answer it, I won't be able to finish getting dressed."
"I wouldn't mind that," Derek said, reaching a hand out to stroke Patricia's leg.
"I'm sure you wouldn't. You gave up on a degree long ago."
"Why work hard for something that's rigged to keep you in the poor house longer? I'll get a construction job soon enough."
Patricia laughed as she slid her underwear up her legs. "You won't be able to get a construction job if you don't look for one."
"I'll have you know that I already applied for an apprenticeship program with the plumbers union," Derek replied smugly.
"Good, when do you start?" Patricia asked, looking around for her jeans, as her phone continued to ring.
"It doesn't work like that. I took the test, now I have to wait to see if I scored high enough. Then they'll let me know, I think in about a month."
"So, you're just going to live in your mom's basement while your girlfriend works at starting her career?"
"You don't have a career yet, Pat," Derek complained.
"Hey, I might not have a career yet, but getting an education is part of that career," Patricia retorted. "If you want me to come back tonight and let you fill me up again, you'll have to do more than just lay around here."
Derek didn't reply, he just stood up and walked over to Patricia and pulled her into a kiss, a hand sliding under her bra to grope her breasts.
"Does this count?" Derek asked during a break in the kiss.
Patricia smiled. "Nope," she replied before Derek kissed her again.
Patricia could feel Derek's meat press against her and she knew she shouldn't give in. No matter how much she wanted to. Even as his other hand slid into her panties and began rubbing her clit, she told herself she needed to get going.
When her phone rang again, she used that as an excuse to pull away from Derek, knowing if she let it go on much longer, she wasn't going to make it to her class.
Picking up her phone, she looked at it before answering. "Yes, this is Patricia," she said, not sure why she was getting a call from an unknown number.
"Thank you for answering," the male voice at the other end said. "We've been trying to get in contact with you. We have some matters we need to discuss. Are you free today?"
It was clear it wasn't from the school or any place she'd have expected to get a call from. It didn't even seem like a scam call. Most scam calls she'd ever received didn't try meeting with her in person like this person seemed to be trying to do.
"What matters are you wanting to talk about?" Patricia asked as she felt Derek come up behind her, grinding against her bottom, while his hands played with her hips, lightly touching her in the way he knew drove her wild.
"That's something best done in person," she was told.
Patricia sighed, trying to keep her mind focused on the call and not what Derek was doing that was eroding her will to head to her class. "When do you need to speak with me by?"
"We really would prefer to meet with you by three o'clock this afternoon. The matters are rather time sensitive."
"Where do you want to meet?" Patricia asked as she felt Derek move his hand back under her bra.
"Would the Waldendorf work for you?" the man asked.
Patricia barely kept herself from groaning at feeling Derek's meat pressing against her entrance while his hands continued to assail her senses.
When she was sure she wasn't going to make any sort of noise like that, she sighed. The Waldendorf was a high-end restaurant that was located too far away from her college for her to make the meeting before three after her class.
Patricia sighed. She was going to have to bail on the class. She hated doing that, but whatever this meeting was about, it sounded important.
"I'll be there in an hour and a half," Patricia said.
"Thank you. We look forward to meeting with you."
The call was ended before she could even think of what to respond with.
"Does that mean what I think it does?" Derek asked, sliding his hand into her panties to rub her entrance.
"Yeah, it means I'll stay for another round with you," Patricia said, letting Derek undress her. "However, after this round I do have to go."
"Alright, Pat," Derek said, his voice full of excitement and desire.
+++
Patricia sat in front of a man and woman. They were both in dress suits and either looked like they might be private investigators, FBI, lawyers, or even some other branch of the government that found some reason to bother her.
She didn't say anything when they directed her to the table to sit down. She figured if what they had really was time sensitive, they'd have to say something sooner or later and she didn't have a care as to if they wanted her to say something first.
Her hunch proved right when the man sighed. "Miss McIntyre, our firm received notice that you are listed as the 'next of kin' to one of our more important clients. We were sent to assess you out to see if you meet the standards our firm expects," the man informed Patricia.
What the hell? Patricia asked herself. At first it sounded like standard legal stuff, but what's with 'assess you out' and 'if you meet the standards?'
Out loud she merely sighed. "If that's all you had, why not pick another location. One that's closer to my college so I could have attended my class before coming to this meeting?" she asked bluntly. If they were going to waste her time, she saw no reason why she shouldn't waste theirs as well.
"It's not that sort of 'standards' that we have to look at," the woman replied. "The nature of our client is one that requires a certain caution and level of security that is paramount to us."
Patricia raised her eyebrow. "That really doesn't tell me anything useful," she informed the woman.
The man and woman leaned their heads together and began a whispered conversation. Patricia didn't mind. If nothing else, it let her know that she was hitting the right buttons with them.
Finally they parted after a few minutes and focused on her again.
"Miss McIntyre, our client is a wealthy real estate mogul, who tries very hard to keep his name out of the papers," the woman told Patricia. "In fact, he owns the building that the Waldendorf is located in."
Patricia nodded. "So, what does me being listed as his 'next of kin' have to do with this?"
"As his next of kin, we will notify you in the even that he has any medical issues and unless he decided to write out a will, you will be expected to be the sole inheritor of his entire estate," the man answered. "If he is hospitalized, you will also be able to visit him unhindered and will be expected to make any medical decisions if he isn't conscious enough to make them."
Patricia shook her head. This sounded like something she'd expect off of a cheesy TV show or book or web novel or something. How was she even to believe she really was related to her?
The last thought gave Patricia an idea of what else to ask. "So, if I am his next of kin, in what way is he related to me?" Patricia asked. She certainly hadn't heard about any of this previously, so what happened that caused this to occur?
"He actually is your uncle," the woman replied. "Your mother was his sister and they had become estranged years ago. He decided recently to try to reach out and repair their relationship only to find that she had died years ago from a heart attack. That's when he became aware of you."
"What would you have done if I was the… uh, how did you put it? If I didn't 'meet the standards' in regards to the media and papers and the whole nine yards?" Patricia asked.
"We would have spoken to him about it. He would have then had to make his own determination about that," the man replied.
Patricia sighed. She wasn't completely convinced that this was real. That it was more likely to be a dream than anything else. After all, didn't everyone get a dream like this at one point in their lives? Usually in childhood when they could afford to believe they could get a windfall like this.
Patricia then looked at the two in front of her. "When can I meet my uncle?"
What they were going to respond with, she didn't know. It was that moment that she got pulled into the competition and out of her own life.