Iarrived at the office a little earlier than usual so I’d have time to put the Michigan flag on Riley’s desk. Since both of us were Michigan graduates, I thought he’d enjoy the special touch of the flag. I had a flag on a carbon fiber pole made just for him. In all, it was about ten inches tall, and the top of the flagpole had a microscopic video camera in it. I was sure Riley would proudly keep it on display, thus keeping himself on display for me.
Before I stopped at his cubicle, I went to my office and set my briefcase down. I retrieved the flag from my credenza and pulled out the battery for it from my top desk drawer. I unscrewed the bottom portion of the flagpole and slipped the flat, round battery inside the open end. I screwed the bottom into place and opened the app for it on my phone. I could see everything within the reach of the tiny camera and smiled.
I took the elevator down to the second floor and made my way to the cubicle that would be his. When I glanced at his nameplate, a sense of excitement washed over me. He’d be here soon. I stepped inside his cubicle and strategically placed the flag inside the Evans Financial mug that sat on his desk to the right of his monitor. As long as he kept the flag here, I’d be able to see him arrive each day. Though, since I had his townhouse on surveillance, I’d be able to see him get dressed in the morning too. I stepped outside of his cubicle and into the main walkway. Turning around, I looked back at the flag and opened the app on my phone. Visible on the screen was me standing in the walkway.
I smirked as I headed back to the elevator. I couldn’t help but think back to the way my video surveillance hobby got started. I was thirty-four, and it was on the day of Riley’s high school graduation.
Riley hadto be at the school early for graduation, and I went to my uncle’s house so we could ride together to the ceremony. We had planned for me to arrive early enough so that if we wanted to, we would have time to entertain our dirty desires. And I had no problem admitting that our desires were dirty, which was putting it lightly. Our desires were downright fucked up and twisted, but did we care? Fuck no.
“The graduation ceremony starts at 3:00. We should leave by 2:00 to ensure we’re there in plenty of time,” Lars suggested when I walked into his study.
“That sounds fine,” I agreed as I crossed in front of the desk in his study on my way to the seating area.
I sat in the cigar-brown leather chair beside the window and picked up the glass of scotch that Lars had poured for me. It was clear he had business on his mind rather than us getting our rocks off.
“Is everything already arranged for Riley?” he asked before he took a sip from his glass.
“Yes,” I replied.
“It’s all set at the university?”
“Yes.”
“Do you care to elaborate, Griffin?” Lars sounded annoyed.
I set my glass on the antique oval table and met his gaze. He seemed on edge today, which I thought was odd. He wasn’t going to rattle my fucking cage. Casually, I leaned back in the chair and met his stare with a cool one of my own.
“What’s there to elaborate on?”
“Seriously, Griffin?”
“You told me to groom him. I have it handled.”
“Everything is ready at the university for him?” he annoyingly repeated.
“It is.”
“And the financials? His tuition is set?”
“Yes, Lars.”
My uncle turned his head to look outside the window toward the thick acres of woods that separated his property from mine. Lars looked distant and troubled, and I became a little concerned and thought I was going to have to pry it out of him.
“Things will be lonely here once he moves to Ann Arbor.” Lars paused and rubbed his chin. “You’ll have to drop by more often, Griffin.”
At first, I didn’t think too much of his comment, but as the conversation went on, I started to get a weird feeling.
“Well, I live just across the way, so I doubt stopping by will be a difficult task.” I took another sip from my glass. “Besides, now that Riley will be out of the house and off to college, we won’t have to be as careful,” I explained.
I had expected Lars to agree with me or at least say something to let me know that he was excited about that. But again, another odd comment came from him.
“It’ll be a shame that Riley won’t be here for me to discipline him.”
Riley was eighteen. Was he really in need of being disciplined? I couldn’t imagine that Riley gave my uncle too much of a rough time after his mom had died.
“Is Riley that poorly behaved?” Lars hadn’t said anything in response to my question, so I pressed some more. “Riley always seems really quiet and is a good kid.”
“His mother struggled with him. She couldn’t be firm enough with him. I often had to step in and discipline him.”
