A314 at the maternity ward and other tales

I’m the daddy - again!

This accursed A314! :roll_eyes: I swear, if I wear it in a paternity-testing laboratory, it’ll twist all the results to say, ‘Musk is the father!’ I pray to whatever deity controls this crazy universe that Child Support never discovers this stuff, or I’m buggered.

Zoe, Dave, little Louise and I were all dressed casually, celebrating a friend’s birthday at a pub that was also playing host to a christening celebration. I was wearing my black Chelsea boots as they take advantage of the female obsession with footwear. The boots pull the babes and get them talking more than any other item of clothing I own.

Happy days, it was a target-rich environment, with a lot of gorgeous women standing around in groups chattering animatedly while the men monopolised the bar and promptly proceeded to get rat-faced on liquor, with enough pints of Carling to float a battleship. Plenty of lonely girls for the A314 to work its magic on.

Dave took Mick, the birthday boy, to the bar while Zoe and I found a place to sit. Louise was staring wide-eyed at the celebration going on around us and starts squirming in my arms, wanting to be put down and waving her arms and legs. We keep a close eye on her as she scoots off over the tiled floor and then suddenly makes a beeline for the next room where the party is in full swing.

If there was an Olympics for babies, Louise would hold the world record for the 100m crawl. She gurgles happily and shifts into high gear. There were two boys in the room about 4 and 5 years old, running, play-fighting and laughing. They’re not paying any attention to where they’re going and were oblivious to the baby on a collision course with them.

With the overprotective paternal instinct of a doting uncle giving me a flash of precognition, I see them collide with Louise and quickly move to pull her out of danger. Zoe spots the danger at the same time, but I’m faster, snatching the startled baby up out of harm’s way and quickly shielding her in my arms as the boys trip and fall, just as I knew they would. I’d discovered earlier that A314 makes a fantastic baby soother, and it’s doing its job now, as Louise whimpers once and then buries herself in my neck and shoulder, the incident promptly forgotten. It works on mothers too, as Zoe quickly calms down and holds her arms out with a whispered, ‘My baby, my beautiful baby, come here, darling.’

I hand her over and field the apologies and questions of, ‘Is she alright?’ from the crowd that had gathered around us. I was suddenly the centre of attention, treated almost like a conquering hero, as men clapped me on the back, grasped my hand in power handshakes then thrust food and drink into my hands… it was a bit OTT. A314 had a hand in this adulation. It had to. Waaayyyy over the top.

I excuse myself, saying I had to check on Zoe and the baby. Dave and Mick flank me on either side and we turn to follow a now fiercely maternal Zoe back to her seat, myself slightly in the lead and the two men walking like trained dogs at my heels. Dave only surges forward to check on them both when I give him a hand gesture to move in front. The crowd starts to break up and go back to what they were doing, with murmured apologies. It was almost as if they were a bunch of raw recruits apologising for keeping a General and his troops occupied when they had more important stuff to do. Amazing.

I get the Dirty Dancing soundtrack in my head as all the women standing in their own little groups were looking at me with sparkly, gooey, hungry eyes. I catch more than a few slow winks and come-talk-to-me smiles. It was amusing to see them play with their hair, whisper to each other, tweak and smooth their clothing when our eyes met. Ohmigosh, he’s looking at me! He’s looking at me!

Mick bounds up and challenges me to a game of pool. Zoe was safely tucked away in a corner, breastfeeding Louise with Dave hovering like a hawk, so we walk over to the table and we run into a girl of about 4. She’d discovered that no matter which hole you put the white cue ball into, it always appears in the same dark hole at the front end. She was running around reaching up, dropping it into each hole, running back and laughing with delight every time it magically appeared.

When I showed up, she stopped and carried the ball over to me, looking shy and really cute in her purple dress with matching ribbons in her blonde hair. Not wanting to intimidate her, I smile and crouch down to her level. She gives me the ball and then runs up for a cuddle. I freeze in horror as she wraps her arms around my neck. Not good. Not good at all. If I’m seen cuddling a little girl, all I need is one mother going mad with paranoia and I’m a goner. Oh crap… oh crap… oh ruddy Hell, her mother’s walking over. Help!

‘She really likes you.’

I look up to see a tall willowy slender blonde in a yellow summer dress smiling at me. No wedding band – I’ve got into the habit of checking. The girl wraps her arms tighter around my neck and murmurs, ‘Daddy… Daddy… Daddy…’. Her mother makes a little choked sound and covers her mouth with her hand.

I feel relief flood through my body that she’s not shrieking like a paranoid banshee, but I’m a little uncomfortable. ‘I’m not…’

Mick hits the release and her reply is lost in the rattle and thunder of the balls as he sets up the game, but she nods and smiles, a bit weepy. Her daughter was now holding onto my jeans and would run back to me whenever I finished my turn at the table and latch on like a limpet to a rock. She loved it when I stroked her hair.

We talked for an hour. She’s disappointed when we had to leave, Louise was tired and ready for bed, but she nods her assent and pulls her daughter into a close hug. I promised that I would see them around from time to time and left with Mick, who seemed a little in awe of me.

I still lost 2 games to 1 though.

An eventful day, but a good one.

Musk

Wow, I am truly enjoying your writing style and your descriptive stories. When I get my A314 perhaps I will be able to write like yourself :stuck_out_tongue:

I’m fairly certain that the writing style is singular to the person, not an eruption from a bottle of A314. :slight_smile:

This is an interesting journal, and fun to read. Thanks, Musk.

I experienced sort of a ‘pied piper’ effect with children when I was wearing MX335. Your report made me think of that.

Thanks. :slight_smile: It feels good to know that. I seem to be picking up quite a few ‘fans’. :roll_eyes: I’m still waiting for my PM box to fill up with saucy lingerie, offers of marriage, raunchy photos etc but that’s unlikely to happen. The one thing I’m not is a rock star. :smiley:

I’ve just come back from a night out. I ran into a hen party - a very frisky hen party. I stink of Akuto A314 and Johnson’s baby oil. I’ve got the scent of a woman all over me and I got some weird looks on the bus ride back home. It turns out my face is covered in lip prints from 3 different colours of lipstick. I didn’t realise until I saw my reflection in the window.

‘I prefer “Kitten”, but you can call me whatever you want.’

What a night. We need some more expressive smileys on this board. How about a horny devil and a wolf? A full report is being typed up now and it’s gonna be long. Put your coffee machines on standby and pull up a chair. I’ll get it up tomorrow probably.

Musk

Well, it certainly sounds like you had fun!
Looking forward to the full report.

I refuse to stop reading your adventures.

It will be an extremely cold day in hell before you get lingerie from me.

But I do have a small collection of erotic art that I might be willing to share.

OoohYahhh

A314 and the hen party

Guys, want to be the one who infiltrates and lights a bomb under a hen party with some very frisky ladies? Here’s how.

I apply the usual dose in the usual places. I meditate on it, getting myself into the hunting mood and waiting for it to settle on my neck.

It’s getting much easier slipping into a man’s natural hunting instinct, but shaking off the old beta attitudes that had me almost permanently in the friend zone through my teens and 20s will take some doing. It keeps sticking a spanner in the works.

It feels instinctively familiar, the brain following neural pathways etched into it by millions of years of evolution. If I get in touch with my inner animal, obeying that instinctive voice, the A314 turns animal as well. It’s a chameleon.

It’s a perfectly tuned instrument now. I know how to work it and it works me. But I’ve nearly always worn it in the past when I’m suited and booted. Now, I’ve just given my casual wardrobe an overhaul and I’ve just been approached about a possible short-term contract I can do. So I’m running at the head of the wolf pack in my head again and feeling near invincible.

I put on a relaxed just-got-laid swagger, a small smile on my face and make eye contact with everyone who looks at me, male and female alike, on the way to the bar. Men nod in greeting and I return it. Some lift their glass in salute and one guy raises his fist, makes a ‘pound it’ gesture and winks. The women I approach en-route to the bar just watch with no obvious IOIs other than holding eye contact for as long as I’m in their line of sight.

At a level below conscious thought and wordy internal dialogue, instinct compels me to stop and maintain eye contact with these women, but I’m going places and continue past, locking onto another pair of female eyes that cross my path. Rinse and repeat. The reptilian brain snarls, thwarted and it lets me know that. I feel it stick a scaly claw in my male pride.

The A314 remoulds me into Morpheus, striding effortlessly through a crowd that parts in front of him. I notice a hen party sat around a corner table. 5 girls: the bride-to-be in a saucy tight little black dress and white suspenders, a bridal veil covering her hair. Nice legs. A stunning blonde dressed in white and gold, a pair of angel wings on her back; a pair of blonde twins and a black-haired girl who clearly organised this hen night. She’s orchestrating it with the help of a lurid pink vibrator and she’s waving it around with lascivious relish, much to the embarrassment of one of the twins. The second just roared with lusty laughter. It was obvious which one of the twins had drunk the most, but for now, the only effect alcohol had on the girls was smashing the volume control in their heads.

I made eye contact with the first and held it from 5 metres away. The bride-to-be and the angel in white didn’t notice - locked in girlie conversation, laughing and touching each other’s hands in a shared moment. But with the telepathic awareness that twins have, her sister becomes aware of me and looks in my direction. Hmm… I wasn’t counting on meeting twins or contending with their well-documented telepathic capability. This could complicate or it could work in my favour. Heads or tails, crazy universe. Which is it going to be?

Their friend wasn’t going to be outdone. She might not be a telepath but she still has that spooky social sixth sense that all women are equipped with and it’s working just fine. She turns and meets my gaze for a good few seconds with eyes the colour of a stormy sea framed by smoky eye-shadow.

I use the slow blink and smile on her that I use on my cat. Cats blink at you to show affection and they love it when you do it back to them. It supposedly works on humans too. She blinks back but doesn’t smile, the gesture looking more like a curious question, ‘Who are you?’

She turns back and joins her friend in teasing her twin with a sing-song, ‘Who’s your boyfriend? You’re gonna be next!’

‘No-one,’ she squeaks, the blood boiling into her face.

‘Leave her alone,’ I thought and winked at the twin who was now scarlet and pleading with her eyes to be rescued. This only makes the other one tease her harder and she swipes her across the head, an annoyed kittenish swipe. Her sister gives up, laughing. The black-haired girl is suddenly quiet, her back to me and she’s in conversation with the bride and the angel who finally noticed what was going on. They look at me and then back to her.

I moved through the crowd and sat at the bar. I ordered a drink, lapsing into what I hoped would be a congruent pose – a silent presence at the bar, lost in thought. I allowed the A314 to get to work, radiating a quietly understated sexuality.

A chair screeches across the stone floor and the dark-haired beauty walks over to the bar. The animal in me takes note of her female curves, hips swaying as she moves. She has a purpose, pushing in to my left and fixing me with a stare that she doesn’t break, emboldened by alcohol.

‘Hi,’ she says. ‘Buy us a drink, please? We’re having a party. You’ve been invited, babe. What do you say?’ She leans in closer, but doesn’t drop the volume. ‘Someone wants to see what you’re made of,’ she giggles.

‘I didn’t catch your name, honey,’ I say, turning to face a woman in her late 20s possessing a voluptuous figure that reminded me of the Hollywood screen sirens of the past. Before diets and plastic surgery were de rigueur, when men were Men and women were Women, there were figures like this. Full breasts, a waist, wide hips and a peachy backside that my lap begged to be introduced to. Your classic hourglass figure, standing at shoulder-height on me, clad in knee-length black PVC boots; opaque black tights; cut-off pale blue denim shorts and a tight black top held in place by spaghetti straps. The name ‘MISS DOMINATRIX’ was written across it in bright pink. All she needed was a whip.

She flicks her carefully mussed-up dark hair back over her shoulders with a ‘What? Are you blind?’ look and points at her bust with both hands, tracing the letters with her fingers.

‘No, I’m definitely not blind,’ I think as I mime putting on glasses and lean in for a closer look, her milky-white skin a stark contrast to her top. ‘But if I stare at these much longer, I will be.’

She subtly thrusts her chest out close enough for me to catch her scent, slightly masked by a hint of Johnson’s baby oil. Mmmm… alone with her in a hotel room somewhere, an economy-size bottle of baby oil in hand. Oops, I’m a fire hazard - fire in the blood. I’m feeling horny; I’m horny, horny, horny.

‘Miss… Double… D… I’m guessing?’

She whispers, ‘I’m an E.’ She puts her hands in my hair and ruffles it, rolling her hips seductively. ‘That’s the closest you’re going to get.’

She’s throwing down the gauntlet. The alpha in my head growls – he loves a challenge. ‘I’ll come with you. Mint?’

‘Thanks!’ A pink tongue dances in her mouth, drawing the mint in through soft, glistening cherry-red lips and playing with it, her eyes never leaving mine. I take one too. Two can play at that game.

I break eyes. ‘Please, get the lady whatever she wants.’ I drop £30 on the bar and the barman nods. Domi bounces happily and she orders. We re-establish eye contact when she finishes and moisten lips with tongues. No more words.

A minute later, he puts a tray full of drinks on the bar with a knowing smile. I pick up my drink and we walk over to the hen party. I have an arm around Domi and I notice she’s got the vibrator shoved into her back pocket.

The rest of the group greets me with smiles, eager to see who bought the drinks and got my twin’s attention. All of them wanted to know the guy who had their alpha woman on his arm. Take out the Queen Bee and the rest fall. Easy peasy, lemon squeezy.

I sit in Domi’s old place and pat my lap. She takes the vibrator out and plants her peachy behind, holding it up on end next to the tray. My twin squeaks, swipes it out of her hand and engages in a tug-of-war with her sister who’s laying claim to it. The bride takes it off them; both twins look relieved and the imitation phallus disappears under the table.

She introduces me to her hens in between sips of champagne.

‘The Twins - Massage and Mistress.’ 19-year-old blondes in white off-the-shoulder tops and jeans with huge camp cowboy belts, their alter egos painted above their cleavage in red lipstick and sealed with a kiss on their left shoulders. They each lift a hand in greeting, faces burning red from across the table. We weren’t meant to see that tug-of-war.

‘The Virgin.’ The heavenly vision on my left puts a cool, slim, manicured hand out with her nails painted a delicate glossy pink. I shake it. She smiles hello, cool and polite.

She’s an absolutely stunning girl in her early or mid-20s, long blonde hair cascading down her back in a loosely plaited pony tail running between her wings and reaching almost to her waist. Wide doe-like grey eyes, full lips and the figure of a dancer, all sensual curves and smooth silken skin. A white lace blouse, a wide gold sash accentuating her waist and close-fitting white trousers. Black boots with stiletto heels completed this heavenly vision and was the only hint of a potentially devilish nature showing through the embodiment of virginal beauty that she presented.

I lean to the side for a better look. ‘Are you all wearing those boots?’

Shapely legs aplenty as the bride giggles and swings a leg out from under the table. She lifts it, waggling her foot and forgetting her skirt’s a bit tight and very short. She flashes a pair of skimpy panties. The twins each lift a leg, grinning. Virgin smiles coyly, but doesn’t display. Domi lifts a leg.

‘Miss Dominatrix. She asked me if she could invite you.’ Domi bounces and grinds in my lap as she’s introduced. My blood sings in response. I brush her hair back and kiss her neck as a thankyou.

‘We did too.’ The twins squirm and giggle girlishly with delight, watching us. ‘She likes yoo-hoo.’

‘I like her too.’ Domi squeezes and strokes my hand.

‘She’s my right hand who is supposed to be looking after me tonight and she’s not doing a very good job of it.’ She’s smiling. Another romance is developing. She’ll talk about this for the next few weeks at least.

Domi fixes her with an innocent butter-won’t-melt-in-this-mouth look and leans back to give me a kiss on the cheek. I wrap my arms securely around her waist, stroking with my thumb.

‘I’m doing my job, I’m keeping him away from you,’ is her excuse. No-one believes her and I trail kisses along her shoulder and the curve of her neck, losing myself in her scent. She shivers.

‘I’m Sophie,’ our betrothed lady says, removing the bridal veil and shaking her chestnut hair out. It falls to shoulder length, sleek and shining in the light with not a hair out of place.

‘A pleasure to meet you, beautiful. Thanks for inviting me. It’s appreciated.’ She bats her chocolate-brown eyes at me and smiles warmly but her eyes were too dark for me to make out any involuntary pupil dilation. ‘That’s a nice diamond.’

‘You’re very welcome and it is,’ Sophie agrees, regally holding her hand out so I could take a closer look. ‘Thanks for the drinks. It’s appreciated.’

We both laugh. I touch Sophie’s fingers with mine, tilting her hand this way and that to catch the light in the diamond. Tiny rainbows sparkle on her finger. She’s pliant, supple and very warm. Domi reclaims my arm.

I asked how she met her fiancé. A long conversation ensued with Domi sat in my lap the whole time. Her presence somehow made it painless. Normally, I struggle to comprehend the ebb and flow and the endlessly shifting currents of female conversation, but this time it didn’t bother me. I allowed myself to be engulfed, putting up no resistance and listening with a keen psychological interest – my usual defence mechanism that stops me from being overwhelmed by the sheer volume of words.

The animal was quiet except for the occasional nudge, satisfied just to keep the song flowing in the knowledge that it won’t be long now. I trailed my fingers along Domi’s thigh, then got naughty, running them up along her inside leg like the pitter-patter of raindrops, stopping a few inches short and stroking her thigh with my fingertips in a small circular motion. Stroke down to her knee and up. Up and down… up and down…

The twins notice and stare wide-eyed. Virgin rolls her eyes and smiles. Sophie keeps on talking about her fiancé, lost in her own romantic world. The girls keep up a chorus of moans and squeals, drinking in her romance like cats to catnip. Only Domi and myself are quiet, content to listen. That was enough to keep Sophie aloft on wings of chiffon and lace in her dream, chattering away.

Both hands now, both thighs. Up and down… up and down… fingertips teasing, stroking, caressing. She shivers again, harder this time and chews her lip.

‘Cold, Kitten?’ I ask softly. ‘Since you don’t have a name, I thought I’d give you one.’

She shakes her head, no, she’s not cold. ‘Lucy.’

‘Nice to meet you, Lucy.’

‘I prefer “Kitten”, but you can call me whatever you want.’ She touches her lips with her tongue and leans back again, turning her head into my neck and licking my ear just above the application point, her breath hot. I move my arms back around her waist; she moves them slightly higher and holds them there, just below her breasts. They brush my arms slightly when she moves and her nipples make an impression, hardening under her top.

The twins try to look like they weren’t ogling.

But all good things come to an end and they had to leave to get Sophie ready for her big day. The taxi was waiting to take them to the station. We emerge into the cool breeze of the early evening air and the twins took turns hugging me tight, nibbling and breathing on my ear, which made me wonder how much we’ve corrupted them. A chaste just-friends hug and air-kiss from Virgin. A full body hug from Sophie, with Miss Soon-to-be-Wed planting a smacker on my cheek.

I wish her a long and happy life.

My Kitten was last. As one, the hens start calling, ‘Snog! Snog! Snog! Snog!’ Kitten blushes.

Both Massage and Mistress point, laugh and stare at her, calling, ‘Who’s the boyfriend? Who’s the boyfriend? You’re next!’ Payback’s a bitch. I lift her jaw so that she’s looking at me, take her face in my hands and go in for the kill. We embrace and hold tight as the hens whoop and cheer, pretending to use imaginary crowbars on us.

She joins the others and I’m sorry to see her go, feeling the animal boot me in the nuts - hard.

Musk

Tell me this was left to a once time meet… Tell me it isn’t so…

I noticed you had a few typo’s in your story… :wink:
I fixed them for you :smiley:

Great report Musky!
xxx

Musk, I like the way you write and the way you think.

Nothing is true, therefore all things are permitted, my friend!

Sigil, I understand your scepticism, but it is unwarranted.

Maybe if I give you a little more background on myself, you’ll understand. I’m an individual who has had a strong interest in psychology and the biological sciences since high school. Both subjects touched on pheromones. I still keep myself abreast of what happens in those fields. Of particular interest to me was and still is the study of body language. I’ve always been fascinated by the language that doesn’t need words and people-watching is a fun personal hobby of mine, hence the detailed description of body posture, blushing, touching lips with tongues etc.

I write the reports in this fashion for many reasons. One, because I like to think I’m doing our new members a favour by making it clear that pheromones do not act like a Lynx or Axe commercial. It would be too easy for me to write a one or two-line report that goes like this:

‘Phwoar! I applied two drops of A314, ran into a hen party when researching stag night venues for a friend’s upcoming nuptials and they were all over me! The research became a bit too personal! Wow! The end.’

This gives a misleading picture, is confusing and disheartening to newbies when they don’t get these megahits by just spraying a magic potion and is of no use to Androtics, in my personal opinion. They are in the business of research and there is little for them to go on. They can’t tell what can be attributed to the pheros and what can.

Writing these long reports comes naturally to me. I am a qualified first aider and have attended a few workplace incidents onsite where there were casualties. The company demanded that I make a full, detailed report, putting down who, what, when, where and how in the Health and Safety logbook and in my own report for the company, leaving no stone unturned as the Health and Safety Executive will on our backs shortly and the Big Boss wanted his ass armour-plated as well as kicking the asses of those responsible - if they were our guys and not another contractor(s).

I was also witness to a theft once in my previous job and have a family history of being in law enforcement. I’ve seen police officers write out very detailed witness statements for the courts. The company wanted a detailed report from me going into many pages, so that they could press charges against the alleged criminal responsible and have a high chance of a successful prosecution.

Both my studies, the job, my family background and the first aid training demanded that I be very observant, taking on board every little clue and writing them down accurately. Now the pheromone community can take advantage of that.

A valid criticism would be, ‘You don’t need pheros.’ Fair enough, some members have said that I use pheros as a crutch - one that I no longer need. I’ve learned enough about flirting, seduction and interpersonal relationships from these boards to be able to go out there, seduce any woman I want and maybe keep her - I’m still working on that bit - without the help of A314 or any other pheromone. I will be forever grateful to the members of this community and the Androtics crew in particular for showing me the path that changed a meek romantically challenged Beta male into a confident Alpha. Becoming that what women believe to be the most mythical of creatures, a Gamma, is still underway. It’s a balancing act between Alpha and Beta traits.

I’d especially like to thank the women, who have given me valuable insights into how the other half loves. Particularly Bella, who manages to make me insanely jealous with her posts. I hope one day, Bella, that I will enjoy the same emotional intimacy with a woman that your Wolf obviously enjoys with you. The same goes to the other ladies who post about your other halves. As a cynical guy who has seen marriages disintegrate for the most trivial of reasons and the wreckage they leave behind, it’s very heartwarming.

But I digress. I continue to use them because I’ve noticed subtle differences in how people react to me when I wear them and when I don’t. Differences that are hard to explain otherwise and that little difference can be the make or break.

All the above results can be replicated by anyone given the right circumstances. With the hen party, liberal application of alcohol, a romantic atmosphere where girls are trying to create their own little piece of the magic and who are actively looking for a confident guy will give the same results. Especially one well-versed in seduction techniques.

Having said all that, there are many, many days where the pheros apparently do nothing. If I was any less observant, I would be tempted to say, ‘They don’t work!’ and vanish off the boards. Writing about nothing is hard.

I find the insinuation that I’m lying to be offensive. I do not waste my time on lies, Sigil. I have made many friends here and the last thing I want to do is lie to Androtics and to them.

I have said what I want to say regarding this. I won’t post any more on this subject, but in case anyone gets the wrong impression, I’m not leaving. I just feel a little wounded right now.

Musk

You sir, are a writer. And a damn fine one.

You have license. License to write anything that you like. In any way that you like.

All that we ask is that you tell us a good story. And you have never disappointed us.

Please don’t let a sour review or two deter you from the next installment of your adventures.

BTW: I heartily second your thanks to the women of this community. Bella and a long series of other women here have given me a faith in the possibilities of love, in spite of the scars that life inevitably leaves on us, a faith that I am sure will stay with me all of my days.

You on the other hand, are an example that I have used to a series of young men as the man they should aspire to become.

I seriously doubt however that any of them will become the writer that you are.

Hey Musk, I like the way you go into details about A314 and how body language plays a vital role in seeing those subtle hits. It makes me want to do some more research on A314 too.:wink:

Skepticism? Ah, friend, I think you misunderstand me.

“Nothing is true, therefore all things are permitted,” is a phrase that is meant to encourage.

It means “Don’t listen to your detractors, go for it, only you know the truth!”

Its a good thing. Not expressing skepticism, genuinely telling you that the only truth is results, and your results seem great!

It is a battle cry of sorts, among those in occult circles. :slight_smile: You must have alot of people telling you that you are lying for you to misunderstand so…

I appreciate you sharing your results. So, hit the rewind button and say the glorious battle cry with me!

NOTHING IS TRUE! Therefore ALL THINGS ARE PERMITTED!

Ah, and I find the insinuation that I am insuiating that you are lying to be offensive. :wink:

I take you at your word, friend. Perhaps the phrase itself is the culprit.

Primus inter pares (First among equals)

Every dog has his day and yesterday, I was the Alpha Wolf of alpha wolves. Lobo, the King of Currumpaw himself. I’m still looking for my own Blanca, but amused myself with intimidating a hulking bull of a man who stood 2 or 3 inches taller than me and was almost twice my girth. He was the largest son-of-another-bull that I’ve ever met.

Suited and booted. I was wearing my overcoat as the weather was unstable. 2 drops of A314. You know the drill.

Charity fundraising events are a lot of fun, but they’re even better when you effortlessly rise to the top of the ranks in an informal gathering of corporate sponsors, standing shoulder-to-shoulder and holding court with company directors.

With A314’s help, I owned the floor. I’m still a little stunned!

As one of the volunteer fundraisers for the charity, I was looking after my own collection tub, persuading people I met to lighten their wallets a little. It was soon starting to fill with fives, tens and the odd twenty. More than a few one and two-pound coins too. I was having a good run, better than I’ve had for a while.

I’m threading my way through the groups of people in the room who give way readily, often with nods of respect and approval. The ratio of the sexes was 1:1. Husbands and wives, mostly. A few well-dressed single young fillies in their late teens or early twenties caught my eye.

I come up to my ex-boss, Robert, standing in a small group of 3 men including himself who obviously held power and status, authority emanating from every pore. The Bull was clearly the Primus inter pares (first among equals), dominating the conversation with a bass voice rumbling out of his chest and expansive hand gestures, clearing a wide space in front of him. The second was a quiet, lean, balding man in a charcoal grey and well-cut suit. Sharp, discerning eyes behind wire-framed glasses betrayed a ferocious intelligence as sharp as a scalpel. Something about him screamed, ‘Lawyer!’ The type that munches on entire companies for breakfast. Robert notices me and places a hand on my arm, ushering me into his clique in his grandfatherly way. He does a double take.

‘You look good. Like one of us.’ The men nod and murmur agreement. ‘You’ve got the girls swooning over you in that, eh?’ He nods over my shoulder. I follow his look and notice some young women surreptitiously eyeing me. They put their heads together and giggle.

I chuckle. Rob, you have no idea. ‘Yep, they’re draped all over me.’ :roll_eyes:

The men laugh. Robert points at me and says, ‘I have to keep an eye on this gentleman. The men tell me he has an eye for the blondes. Chased them all over the place when he worked for me.’

The guys I worked with were a bunch of jokers, pulling practical jokes on each other all the time, but come on. Blondes? Only blondes? I’m not fussy. Blonde, brunette or redhead and every shade in-between, I don’t play favourites and I eye them all up. Especially the pole-dancing strippers at our favourite club we visited when working on-site.

But where did ‘gentleman’ come from? While I was at the company, I was the baby of them all. With an average age on the grey side of 50, this is a company with a huge percentage of its key personnel only 3 or 4 years away from retirement. Robert frequently referred to me as ‘son’, ‘young man’, or ‘kid’, but never ‘gentleman’ in all the time I worked for him. Only in your 40s and above are you considered to be, ‘A man, my son.’

He gives a summary of my career history with the company to his fellow CEOs. He’s renowned for being tough but fair and has never been known to knock a person down in a reference, even when they probably deserved it, but this is effusive praise even for him. His audience nods in approval.

‘You’re a good man,’ Bull says. We extend our hands at the same time for a handshake with unflinching eye contact, one alpha to another. He pumps my hand with the strength of a bear; it takes everything I’ve got to maintain my alpha-of-the-pack composure and not grimace with the bone-crushing force. He could crush the hull of a submarine with one hand.

I apply power of my own and return the pressure, never breaking eye contact. Just before it develops into a contest of strength with us both needing medical attention for fractured metacarpals, we release each other.

‘You must work out. That’s one hell of a grip,’ he says, clapping his beefy hand on my arm.

I shift my feet further apart for stability, steel myself and absorb the friendly blow without staggering. The man seriously doesn’t know his own strength. He squeezes my shoulder this time.

‘Bob,’ Bull says, pointing at him. ‘Where did you find this guy? I could have had him working for me.’ He moves to clap Rob on the back with surprising speed and grace for a man his size.

Rob stops him, laughing and wagging a finger in his face. ‘He’ll have you, you know. No-one touches me with my bodyguard around. You’ve seen the muscle on Musk.’

I blink. I’ve been recruited as an impromptu bodyguard? Huh? I’m working on the muscle with Hazard’s help, but I’m still a fair way off of where I want to be.

Bull chuckles and aims a friendly punch at Rob’s shoulder. Without really thinking about it, my hand whips up and intercepts his fist mid-flight. It might be friendly, but it still rams into my palm with some considerable power and an audible smack. It stops dead. I grip his fist with my fingers, fix him with an amicable but serious raptor stare and gave him a barely perceptible shake of my head, my face neutral. Not allowed. His eyes widen slightly.

‘See?’ Rob pats my arm. ‘I’m invulnerable when this gentleman is with me.’

I’m getting tired of being manhandled and release Bull’s fist. It drops to his side and he retreats to his former position, not meeting my eyes and apologising. I flex my fingers and roll my shoulders. My hand throbbed and the fingers clenched into a fist with some pain, but there was no injury and my fingers quickly recovered. I relax and flex them several times to be sure.

I greet the lawyer next, shaking his hand in a firm hold. He didn’t try to crush it and I found that I underestimated his stature - he only looked small next to Bull.

‘It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance. I’m Edward,’ he said, smiling. His dialect couldn’t be placed - probably received pronunciation. He spoke with the deep and smooth honeyed tones of someone used to public speaking or handing down judgement in court in a wig and robes. Used to speaking and being listened to.

‘Drink?’ Bull asks, facing me but I got the impression it was a question for all of us.

‘Please.’ I open my wallet. Rob puts his hand over it, no. Edward shakes his head. Both of them look to Bull.

‘Please, allow me.’ He doesn’t move. After an uncomfortable second, I realise that he’s waiting for me. I extend an arm in the direction of the bar and step backward for him to get past easily. He walks past with an apologetic look and we follow behind him, discussing my career and plans for self-employment in the near future.

I put the tub on the bar and I’m gratified to hear the clink of coins going in. Bull hands over our drinks and I’m interrupted by a fresh-faced blonde who walks up between us to put her used glasses on the bar. She looks at me and smiles. I smile back. She turns to leave and I wink at her. She glances away, her cheeks flushing pink and goes back to her friends, her dress swishing around her calves and her shoes click-clicking on the floor. My eyes follow her.

Rob nudges the others. ‘See what I mean?’ They nod and roll their eyes, grinning.

The rest of our conversation was a brain dump from them to me. Advice on self-employment, taxes, paperwork, the day-to-day duties involved in running a company, employees etc. It was filed away for future reference.

I realised during the conversation that Bull had surrendered his Primus inter pares status to me. I had adopted his mannerisms: the slow voice, the expansive hand gestures, everything. He had lost them, his voice at normal timbre and volume. I was facing the group and the 3 of them were standing side by side facing me. I led the conversation, they jumped in with advice.

The Alpha howled in my head. I’ve never felt so psyched up.

Musk

Ho hum. Just another day in the life.

Must be terribly boring. You’re going to have to find a hobby so you have some excitement in your life.

Maybe you should start working out. btw; where is Hazard? and Robbie? and Tater? and… They must have found their way to where all the old elephants go. May have to find that trail myself if I don’t control my pen a little more.

Outstanding adventure.

Great report.

As usual.

OoohYahhh

Yippee Skippy, what a day!

It is incredibly fun to feel the first position dissolve around someone and transfer to you. Kind of a heady gratification feeling.

Absorbing read.

What? :frowning: You’re not fuzzy? :open_mouth:
And here I thought you had a thing for “cute” blondes :wink:

Cheer up, Xiph. It’s just that I haven’t met one as charming as you yet. :smiley::wink:

Musky