Constance’s Day: 17-18th of March, 2024

March 17th, 2024 – Sunday 7 PM

Constance did not like feeling nervous and the house cleaning had just left with a big tip. Her Amazon Music playlist had been cycling through Call of the Deep songs. From when Glen Lee Danzeg and later his son Andy Lee took over the band. She had begun mixing in German Folk Metal bands in and classical pieces. Two years back the security had been upgraded by Brandon to record sound. Sam Strom had not realized Constance did not know when she asked him how he knew what ‘Gary’s’ music preferences were. She told Sam she’d never bring it up if he could feed her little tidbits of his music preferences. That was 6 months ago.

Constance found out something very quickly about Garrick and how he listened to music. When he had a task he would pick a song he felt inspired his work and then looped it for hours on end! She was certain this was how he pulled off 16-18 hour days in California. She’d also been making sure to Skype Ameera and Katherine so they heard about this. Katherine thought it was a weird quirk, but Ameera mentioned it was a modernized form of mantra meditation. Garrick likely did not know he’d found a way to meditate while working.

Katherine thanked Constance and Ameera for explaining what she had seen as odd or weird. That however reinforced Ameera’s thought that Garrick relaxes while he does activities. As long as he finds a song to meditate with. Constance instantly understood why he loved Call of the Deep! There were underlying beats that must resonate with him on an unconscious level. When she told Ameera she could kiss her for that insight. Ameera mentioned that they could do way more because they had all agreed to be in a relationship, approval was only required when adding someone new. Katherine nodded and said she surprised Garrick with a wild orgy night after the Papa Zombie take down. Constance had not really considered dating Ameera or Katherine, but thanked them for the clarification. Katherine mentioned she would obviously be welcomed when the next one happened. Currently, though, they were impromptu affairs and not scheduled. Constance made a crack about him not fatiguing anymore, and got a wink from the other two.

It was at this point Constance asked how old Katherine was because her friends for that kind of party were likely barely legal. Kat said, “Yeah, okay there were experiments that gave me powers and made me younger physically. The reality is that I could be all of your mothers. I am not telling you my exact age though, even Garrick doesn’t know. Well, if he does know he’s never brought it up. The single time it got brought up in mix company by someone else he said it was impolite to ask a lady her age.”

“The friends she brought over were all in their 20’s. I should know, I drove the car we all took. Good old Cuthbert Faulkner though – ‘My Dad always said it is impolite to ask a woman’s age’ am I right,” Ameera said. Everyone laughed at the dad reference and her imitation of Garrick’s voice.

All the ladies started to realize Garrick ALMOST NEVER discussed them to each other. The only other thing they all realized is Cuthbert Faulkner was a charmer whom knew what he was doing but Garrick always quoted, “This is how a gentleman should comport themselves. All you’re bringing to my attention is that my parents raised me right.” They all laughed because it was last shred of the Victoria Beach kid they could see in him. Ameera mentioned seeing a girl in the sword class getting smitten at the mere sight of him. Constance then told about them about a smattering of women and men that tried to date Garrick in California before he had super powers. It was that call they had last Friday morning (15th of March) that made her realize how much more about him she knew. She began pouring through old photos of the movie teams to see what he was wearing. Sam kept his word up about feeding her what he listened to and how long at a stretch.

During the company’s inter-departmental meeting on that same Friday. Garrick mentioned he had switched the focus of the A.I. composition from application building blocks to distributive hive mind. Hana Akaikawa’s self-assembling bot project began to soar in applications. One of the members on Constance’s team mentioned finally getting an elbow joint to direct the servo assembly arm holding it to the forearm piece on its own! Some sort of feedback in the connections caused it to fall apart shortly thereafter but it was quite a breakthrough! If it had mini thrusters that could be done in the field for real plug an play! Pedro Escobar and his sensor suite began to make use of miniature Raspberry Pi to perform distributed computing tasks in conjunction with the distributed A.I. H.P.U. (Hive Processing Units). Mia Schmidt asked him openly at the meeting in front of everyone, “Boss, why are doing super hero stuff? What you did here with networking and multi-processing theory is so far beyond what we know and are used to, it would take the industry decades to replicate and understand!”

Constance leaned forward along with many others, “Look, it’s no secret I did some really dumb stuff years ago when Daedalus went belly up. I don’t feel anyone would trust me to re-write the book on how A.I.’s think, or how to leverage CPU’s of differing physical and manufacturing architectures to perform the same way a RAID hard drive setup might function. However, Mia, once you have a firm grasp on Hive A.I. computing revisit your application building blocks as Hive enhancements. You see, everyone, I don’t just plan any of my projects with my goals in mind. I also plan them based on how my father would do it. He always said you can achieve every dream if you help everyone around you achieve their dreams. So I tried to find a way for you to study compositional networking not as blocks but as facets of a hived personality. Then add the applications as personality enhancements. When the baseline personality algorithms are gathered you will even be able to detect software flaws because the algorithms will detect enhancements that make an aberrant personality.”

Stunned along with everyone else, Constance had the epiphany that unless Garrick was following some hidden ‘play book’ he seemed to genuinely feel he didn’t deserve accolades. It wasn’t pity, he appears to have never forgiven himself. The room was silent in shock for several seconds by his explanation. Had he really been helping everyone achieve their goals because he had some kind of master plan that helped him achieve something he wanted? Brandon and Constance shared a look of ‘Yup’ when they realized everything he had agreed to help and work on, regardless of department, had been helping to further his back burning fusion project. All the while he tried to lift his co-workers up so they grew and felt appreciated!

Garrick pointed at Pavek, the young Romanian guy in marketing, “Pavek has caught on to what I am saying because he’s helped Blake with two projects that gave him the practice to skills to complete his own recent ad campaign pitch for Hana’s self-assembling bot. I for one love his teamwork ethic and see both Blake and Pavek as valuable resources for marketing. Bright futures ahead for both of them!” Pavek and Blake looked at each other in shock for different reasons! Pavek had thought Gary didn’t like him, but here he just praised him on multiple levels with examples. Blake had updated his resume this morning and here Gary, whom did superhero work as a ‘effing side job, was mentioning in a company meeting his worth and looking forward to seeing what he’d do next! How would he live up to this sort of pressure? Constance made sure she made eye contact with Blake as though to say without words, ‘Don’t waste the second chance.’

Garrick pulled out a tablet and proceeded to run down a short list of people who had been with the company since its earliest days. Then he turned it around and looked at Brandon, “However, if you had not seen something in each of these people and given them the chance to change and become part of something bigger none of us would be here.” Garrick’s name was on that list. He silently put it away and the meeting ended. After the meeting he asked Constance if she’d reach out to Horace and let him know he was sorry still, he’d stopped responding to his emails and nothing had come through saying he’d left the company.

Back in house she snapped out of her memories and saw the time was 8:05PM and he had said he could be early at 9PM today. Constance had gone shopping during the week after getting ingredients for dinner he’d asked her to get. She had new lingerie in his favorite shade of dark blue and gold lace. With a bonus set of dark purple with silver and black lace. She told him to dress casual as he might around his house because she’d not planned on dressing up tonight. She had wanted to see what he called comfortable. She’d found a black shirt with a silver fire stenciled design around the bottom with ripped, faded black jeans. She had a lot of questions she needed answered tonight for her own edification if she was going to see this going somewhere. When he texted her about how casual this night was to be she sent him a pic of her from the waist up, though only showing half of her.

She smiled at his reply, “OMG! My fingers are on fire from how hot you made my phone! But, where did you find a shirt with similar flame patterns as Optimus Prime’s paint job? Just wow! #NerdGoalsAchieved” Going through those old pictures was worth every minute she spent on them. It was the one thing she had on both Katherine and Ameera. Time. She was the one person that could prove Gryphon was as noble as he appeared because of Garrick and how he lived his life now. She spent the next 10 minutes debating the color of lipstick before laughing that Garrick would’ve commented about her working to hard at relaxing. She decided no makeup and sat and waited for the clock to tick down.

The last three times she had him over he went to work the following day each time as expected. She decided to fix that this time and had him listed as Paid Time Off. She also left word for her secretary to reschedule the two phone calls if Brandon couldn’t fit them in his day. When she had responded to her last email it was 8:45 PM. She checked herself over at least two more times to make sure the dark blue undergarments were hidden just enough to tease when she’d stretch. 8:53 PM her door bell rang and she felt her heart skip a beat!

She looked at the security monitor and wondered how he’d gotten more cut physically? He had a new messenger bag designed for maybe two 17″ screen laptops given its thick, metal plated nature. It was clearly custom made to remind someone that Optimus Prime might transform into a messenger bag. His sleeveless, racing, tank top had the words “Sleeves Are Bullshit” printed across the chest. He was holding a small wooden box though with Wax seals stamped on decorative red ribbons adorning it. That was curious and out of place. When she opened the door his jaw dropped and he almost looked like someone with nerve damage in his hands as they shook slightly holding the box. She could see some Japanese Kanji characters (先 居酒屋) on it but this was not a language she spoke or read without an app on her phone translating pictures of text via Google Translate. “Garrick are you okay? Dear why are you shaking?”

“Umm, I’ve never seen you dressed like that before, umm you look, wow! You’re hot! I almost dropped this and I was trying to catch it without crushing it.”

She motioned for him to come in and asked what was in the box? His reply made her jaw drop! Because it was 4 weeks or roughly a month he wanted to celebrate their month anniversary. It was also March and he reminded her they’d passed the ‘Ides of March’ which was the day they met for the first time in 2020. So he had called the Saki Bar where they shared their first dance together. The bottle of saki in the box was the last bottle of the private reserve Brandon had paid for from that night. He had them pack it in a special material and ship it here.

None of them, not a single boyfriend she ever had was this thoughtful with such a gift! She took the box out of his hands and set it on the counter only to turn back and kiss him and they embraced for some time. When she let go there were a few small tears. Garrick apologized he made her cry and she playfully smacked his chest calling him a big dummy. When she open the lid she saw the special packing material was a multi-colored assortment of Chrysanthemum petals! Her favorite flower! Then it clicked why he had her get the ingredients! He was about to recreate the dinner they had at the Saki Bar!

It took him a bit of time to get that done but by the time he was done it was roughly the same number of hours before they began dancing! Everything had been done to try and honor and remember their first dance! His phone began to play the same music that played that night over her bluetooth speakers. She would never let go of Garrick before, but now she almost didn’t care about the answers to her questions. Till the end of time she would be his no matter how that had to happen! As much as anyone could claim another person’s heart.

“Garrick, I think I love you and in the morning I will have to ask you some questions about us.”

Garrick nodded back, “Constance, now that I understand it better, I’ve only ever felt being “in love” or “heavy infatuation” for three people in my whole life. You would be the first chronologically of those three.”

“The other two aren’t hard to guess.”

Garrick tilted his head, “Until your statement I only had confirmation of one of them loving me back, the other one left and asked me not to pry. So I haven’t. I send a text once each holiday but never any replies. It is what it is.”

When they were alone he almost never uses another lady’s name. Constance was indeed surprised that Ameera didn’t appear on that list because she seemed very happy with Garrick. Sam mentioned an Arabic girl awhile back and has not brought her up again. Perhaps this is the mystery woman? She decided to focus on something else he said, “So you’re either “in love” or “heavily infatuated” with me but you can only legally marry one of us. Which one is it?”

“The one willing to sign the prenuptial agreement allowing both parties to pursue extra marital relationships as long as they are discussed and agreed upon by all involved parties. However, while I have my hopes, I am keeping an open mind and will wait at least until March of 2025 before entertaining any offers of marriage.”

“So no matter what you’ve no plans to cast any of us away should you find a partner for legal status?”

“Correct, my love for each of you is different but special to me, and I will forgo marriage to anyone if it jeopardizes any of you still with me at that time.”

“Garrick, I love you, my questions are actually answered.”

“I love you to Constance, thank you for accepting me as I am.”

The night ended in the perfect blend of metal, rock n’ roll, and love. Nerds basking in the soft red LED lights she’d programmed to come on with a remote to help set the mood that night. Call of the Deep playing in the background covering the sounds of bliss as the rest of the night fades to black.

March 18th, 2024 – Monday 6:30 AM

“Sweetheart, am I going to have to get you a leash? Just once I’d like to wake up with you.”

“Sorry,” Garrick replied in the middle of handstand pushups. There were two broken exercise bands next to his Optimus Prime messenger bag. He went back to counting repetitions, Constance grabbed his phone noticing it was unlocked at the moment. He looked up when the music stopped and Constance hit her remote starting the playlist she’d been working on.

“Hey!”

“Nope, you finish your workout before you get your phone back. By the way I had you listed as a vacation day at work. You can thank me later, for the paid time off. You still have nine and a half weeks banked up after today!”

She bounded out of the room as Garrick went down the checklist of bodyweight exercises in cardio and isometric conditioning. It was 7:55 AM as Constance came back and set his phone down. With a sense of complete accomplishment she mentioned, “I have just completed my one month anniversary gift to you. Feel free to look at it when you have time, I also made sure it was uploaded to one of your secure storage locations.” She crawled up over the couch side to him in the purple lingerie with black and silver lace. “How do you feel about your vacation day? What do you want to do?” She sat in his lap and caress the side of his face.

It was 10:10 AM when the Garrick finish his second “cardio endurance” routine with Constance. “So, you wanna workout some more? ::cough:: Whew, that was fun,” she asked panting and giggling.

“If you want a trophy you’re the only woman that consistently out thinks me and I did not realize how much of a turn on that is for me. However, if I have the day off. I would hazard you took the day off as well?”

“I have, you ARE planning something in there, I’m excited.”

“Well, its been nearly 20 years for me but I’d love to see Disney World again. Their Animal Kingdom theme park in Kissimmee is only 130-140 miles away, so either a 2 hour car trip or 30 minutes on the Gryphon Express!”

“I LOVE IT! But car, definitely! I might want souvenirs that would get wrecked at over 150 mph and me trying to hold on to them. Let’s shower and go!”

March 18th, 2024 – Monday 8:30 PM

Garrick marveled at how wonderful the day had been with Constance. It was the only time she let him take selfie pictures with her. She surprised him when they got there with a multi-park VIP tour! He thought she was checking things or work on her phone, but she had been chatting with their sales team and paid for them to see the Magic Kingdom Park, EPCOT, Blizzard Beach, and the Animal Kingdom. He chuckled to himself that he never made it to the Animal Kingdom once again. Garrick had a small victory at Blizzard Beach when he was able to get them bathing suits before it had hit Constance that they would need them. They were Micky and Minnie faces embroidered on them and they were both yellow, but hey totally worth it. Constance was so warm and affectionate as the day wore on and he stunned her twice that day.

First, when they made it to EPCOT and park worlds of tomorrow he was able to communicate with EVERYONE in their native language! He took so many pictures for families. Even their tour guide was astounded with him commenting to Constance more than once how incredible his language skills were. Second, was the reason they never made it to the Animal Kingdom. Garrick had actually noticed two security personnel speaking with a Puerto Rican family outside the water park. Constance and the tour guide noticed he had stopped and was listening. When he began to walk over he started speaking in Spanish with the correct accent and subtle dialect changes to almost appear native.

Garrick in Spanish: “I’m sorry to hear about someone stealing your purse I am sure security will catch him.”

Crying mother: “My kids and I lost our tickets and we were headed to the Animal Kingdom. Their parking was full and the attendant said EPCOT had parking. So I thought we could take a shuttle back then this happened. All of my stuff, phone, wallet, its all gone!”

Garrick in Spanish: “I can help if you’d like?”

Crying mother: “How? Are you some kind of superhero? You going to fly and catch the guy?”

Constance, whom knows Spanish like her brother, looked worried he may reveal his hero identity at this point and their guide had walked over to speak with the security.

Garrick in Spanish: “Well, you don’t have to be super powered to be kind.” Walking over taking off his lanyard with the gold access pass badge on it. He kissed Constance and removed hers and said, “this is why you love me.” Going back over he got the two security and his tour guide’s attention.

Garrick in English: “We still have up to 90 minutes on our tour correct?”

Tour Guide: “Yes. Indeed you do.”

Garrick in English: “If I give these passes to those two kids, do you think the park would be willing to let their mom come along for the ride and they can have the last leg of our tour as VIPs?”

Tour Guide: “One sec.,” he taps an earbud in his ear and then waits about 15 seconds, “Yes, absolutely, we would love to see the magic of your generosity and I’ve been granted extra permission to be their guide for the remainder of the day. The park would like to offer you…”

Garrick in English: “No, whatever you’re going to offer to me just give to them.” He gestures to the family, “My girlfriend and I did it to be nice to folks in need, not for a reward. If someone can just take us to our truck? We can leave knowing how magical Mickey’s Kingdom really is.”

The tour guide and security were taken back as he knelt down and put the gold badged lanyards around the kids necks. Constance walked up to Garrick and was blindsided by a huge hug from their mother thanking them both. The kids began jumping up and down thanking Garrick. The tour guide had them group together and took a picture of everyone with all the phones provided. He got them to sign releases for it to go up on the a community article for Disney World’s public relations page. One of the security got them to their truck and as they were getting he stopped them to say they caught the purse snatcher. Garrick smiled and told him good job to everyone involved. Everyone waved as he drove off and Constance got to be a part of the making someone’s day special she’d never met before and likely would never meet again.

As they were driving back she hit the dash button to lower the center console making the front seats into a bench seat. She laid down and put her head on his leg and stroked his knee. Her bag of souvenirs resting on the passenger floor. ‘Oh,’ she thought enjoying this blissful car ride. When they got back it would be about 9:40 PM. Knowing the day was almost over was the worst feeling! All of the girls had talked about how they felt knowing their time with him had finite endings. At least she knew she’d see Garrick in passing and during lunch at work tomorrow. Brandon had asked her to try and keep their romance on the down low.

“Well,” she said said softly, “you were right about why I love you, honey. Check your phone out before you leave and let me know if my gift works for you?”

“Sure thing Constance, umm, is honey okay to use for you as well?”

“Sure, why not, honey can be our word. Oh when you have about three seconds to spare look down,” she’d moved to be completely on her back so she was looking up at his chin.

When Garrick finally looked all around on road he said he was going to look down. What he heard made him blush as heavily as when he realized the gift of her recreated Playboy shoot on his phone. That barely started to fade when he met Miss Amazing for patrol. Laying in her bed, Constance, would not forget the starstruck look in his eyes when she told him, “I’d sign the pre-nup right now.”

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Art by: AZ_Artisan