Chapter 10
For a very short while Lazara ceased to have anything to do with Daryn Purcell, Mike Gersten, and Duane Forest. No one heard from her, and everyone, including Marilyn Clayborne, wondered what had become of her. She was no longer listed as a stewardess, though she was still with Trans-Universal Airlines.
It came as a surprise to all the employees of the airline though not to the board of directors when Ben Pollard died of a cancerous tumor. What sur- deeded to you." prised the board of directors was the fact that Ben Pollard had willed everything to a totally unknown colored woman who had been living with him for a short while. He had given her huge sums of cash before he died, and he had given her all his holdings in Trans-Universal, so that she was now the major stockholder, wielding enough power to put herself on the board of directors. Since most of the men on the board were bigoted, this came as a particularly nasty surprise to them. They had expected to divide up Pollard's share of Trans-Universal between them. Pollard had had the last laugh. She had used most of the cash to pay the enormous taxes, and held onto the shares of Trans-Universal. Overnight, or so it seemed, an unknown, a stewardess, and as some of the directors indelicately put it, a black tramp, had become the head of the company.
Ben Pollard had done his work well in the short time he had remained alive. To begin with, he had explained to her concerning the various members of the board of directors, which ones were to be trusted, and which ones ... and most of them fell into this category ... were backstabbers.
Lazara slowly but surely instituted changes, making the airline more efficient, increasing the profits, and increasing the value of the corporate stock. The money she eventually inherited from the Pollard Estate, after taxes, went to buying more Trans-Universal stock, much of which was sold off by disgruntled board members wanting nothing to do with her.
Ralph Plank became president of the company, and though the man had intended remaining a perennial bachelor, Lazara suggested it might be a nice idea if he made an honest woman out of Marilyn, assuming Marilyn was willing. Marilyn was willing, and after Lazara became the most prestigious woman at Trans-Universal.
Although Mike Gersten was an adjuster for his insurance company he was also licensed to sell, and when he tried convincing Lazara to switch Trans-Universal's group insurance plan to his company, she checked out the company and told him it wasn't in the best interest of Trans-Universal to do so. Being somewhat ungrateful, he refused to resume their affair when she told him she was ready to do so.
Duane Forest was still as bigoted as ever, but he had a fondness for Lazara as a person, and she was unable to keep herself from liking the blond man. Every now and again she sported with him and always had the satisfaction of making the man go down on her, first. Whenever he called her a nigger, she called him a Cracker with a mouthful of nigger cunt hair. After a while, he got the idea and stopped badmouthing her. That was when the two of them realized fucking just wasn't as much fun, anymore. It was their mutual hate of one another that had made it all so enjoyable.
Men were constantly trying to woo her, important men, men with money and men with influence, men who wouldn't have given a damn about her when she was just an airline stewardess. As a result she "allowed" every one of them to do what Duane had always done, and she had hidden cameras taking pictures of these big corporate executives kissing her vagina. She had these photos blown up to poster size and used them to line a special room in the cellar of the mansion she had inherited from Ben Pollard.
Daryn Purcell was promoted to vice president in charge of air personnel, a new title created especially for him. This didn't ground the man, though. Hying was his whole life, and he wasn't about to give that up for anyone. Now he had to find a new trysting mate on his layovers, especially when he was out of the country, but Daryn always managed. He also managed to come to Lazara's home at least two nights a week for dinner. Lazara had to be careful because he was ultra-sensitive, and didn't want her reminding him she was responsible for his new, far more lucrative position. On occasion, just for kicks, she would dress up as a stewardess and so some flight work, though she avoided entanglements with any of the passengers.
It was on her first night following the first anniversary of her taking over as chairman of the board of Trans-Universal that she told Daryn, "You've done a great service to the company and I think you ought to know about it."
"What've I done?" Daryn asked, sitting across from her at the dinner table in the dining room in her mansion.
"You've made certain that I'll have someone to leave all this to when the time comes for me to retire."
"What are you talking about?"
"I'm pregnant," she informed him.
"What? Hey, are you teliing me you're gonna have my kid, and you're gonna let the kid be a bastard?"
"That is precisely what I'm telling you. You know damn well marriage is out of the question, not only for me, but for you. We'd end up hating each other if we ever got married, even for a day."
"I know," he nodded.
"Besides," she said, smiling, "what are you worried about? How many other bastards have you sired throughout the world?"
"Hell! You know they don't count!"
"I know," she nodded. "I was just trying to find some way to celebrate."
"Well," Daryn said to her, "the only way I can think of is to try and turn the kid into twins. Wanna have a go at it?"
"We can always try" she assured him, smiling.