TV Multiverse 26 (Patreon)

After that monumental Monday, Ethan felt his life fall into a new rhythm, mostly because he was actually busy, which hadn’t been his intention. But, by committing to help Haley and Penny at the same time, it meant he had to help Penny with acting lessons, took her pictures in various locations in clothes to create a backlog for Haley to operate, and handle the e-commerce infrastructure.

Even with his skills, it was time-consuming work. But, luckily, it was surprisingly fun, especially since both Haley and Penny found it fun to help him while he was coding … while they sneaked under the table and helped him … focus. Often while wearing various secretary outfits.

Haley wearing exaggerated secretary glasses was not something he expected to be that sexy, feeling extremely lucky, especially when it was like their current situation, where she was wearing nothing but the glasses.

It also helped him to accumulate some more Attractiveness through repetitive encounters, though the achievements were mostly in the range of easy-to-medium.

[Intelligence: 128] [Accelerated Learning]

[Attractiveness: 225] [Graceful Movement]

[Charisma: 70]

[Perception: 90]

[Endurance: 85]

[Agility: 65]

[Strength: 10]

Still, the e-commerce structure was almost complete, and Penny’s social media across multiple platforms was exploding, so he wasn’t complaining.

Another reason why he focused on the two was that the other things in his life were going rather unfortunately … at least to a degree. Alex had a fight with her manager in the coffee shop and decided to return to college, meaning she had been busy between home and college with little time for him.

Thankfully, it was little rather than none. They had a few trips with his new Mustang, enough to confirm Haley wasn’t the only Dunphy that was getting horny while driving. Bernadette was similarly absent, busy with her dissertation.

Mia and Judith were even worse. Judith had to fly away to visit her parents for the funeral of a distant relative. And, Mia was swamped completely because she decided to apply for a new opportunity in New York, something he encouraged.

“Done,” he declared as he typed one final line, and finished his work.

“Really?” Haley said as she slid out from under his desk, and sat on his lap, but instead of letting him slide inside, she trapped him between her legs. “I’m too sore, you bastard,” she said as she adjusted, teasing him with her thighs and her hands while he gave her a quick demo of the site.

“Wow,” she gasped. “This is … amazing. How did you do it? Even the professional sites don’t look this good.”

He chuckled. A part of it was his skills, though his exposure to the modern designs also helped, allowing him to merely copy some of the better sites from the future. “It helps that we’re targeting a smaller, more affluent group of clients,” he said. “Also, it’s nowhere near complete. I still need to integrate a lot of things, from analytics to integration to everything.”

“But, the basic functionalities are in place,” she said.

“Yes. All we need is to press a button, and we’ll start selling,” he said. “Quality guaranteed.”

He didn’t spend his upgrade card on Expert Programming for nothing.

“God, I’m too excited,” she said. “And afraid. What if we fail. What if I wasted all of our time—“

He flicked her nipple to silence her. “Haley. Even if the worst happens, and we fail, we can send the stock back, and only take a percentage penalty. Penny is already happy with her social media pages, as it actually allowed her to get two valuable auditions and an actual role. The worst thing would be me wasting three days coding, something I hate … and for that, I’ll just punish you appropriately.”

“You’re a bastard, you know that,” she repeated, but the way she leaned against his back didn’t show any anger. “Launch it,” she said.

He launched the website live, and at the same time, she posted several pre-planned pictures, links already in place.

“Well, since it’s finished, I have a surprise for you,” Haley whispered. “It was supposed to be together with Penny, but she has that last-minute call, replacing the actress who dropped out. She’ll be very busy for the rest of the week.”

“What’s that surprise—“ he started, only to pause when she rose, and then lowered herself, and he found himself pressed against a different entrance, one that had been carefully lubricated.

A beautiful gasp of pain escaped her mouth as she lowered herself an inch. “It hurts,” she whimpered, but pushed more.

“You don’t have to,” he whispered.

“I do. I want us to have a first,” she whispered, her voice emotionally charged. It was romantic, in the weird way they somehow adapted, especially since she still had her fake glasses on.

He kissed her neck while she whimpered … then paused as she noticed something on the screen. “Was that what I think it was?” she said.

“Yep, we just had our first sale,” he said, quickly typing to check the details. “Nice one, a cart size of two thousand dollars,” he said.

“W-we made two thousand dollars,” she gasped.

“Technically, it’s just a touch above a thousand dollars. Our markup is two hundred percent, but there are other costs as well. Adding in the direct taxes and other costs, we’re probably looking at a net margin around fifty percent. Based on ownership, you get six hundred, and I got four.”

Haley chuckled, sounding almost delirious. She pushed herself down even more, her tightness gripping him like a vice. “I can’t believe that I actually have my own successful business. It’s all thanks to you,” she whispered.

She twisted her head and kissed him. He responded, letting her set the pace, especially since it was a fun, rhythmic pace while she gripped his thighs for balance. He closed his eyes, enjoying the pressure.

Then, she stopped again. “No,” she said, disbelieving.

He opened his eyes. “What’s wrong?”

“Tell me this is not a practical joke. Because if it is, I might stab you. Please,” Haley muttered.

Curious, he checked the screen, and he looked surprised as well. Because, he was busy enjoying Haley’s anal virginity, they managed to complete twenty more orders, randing from eight hundred dollars to four thousand.

It was just below fifty thousand in revenue, leaving twenty-five back. His eyes widened. He knew that high fashion could be lucrative, but this much…

“I have to call the supplier, make new orders, arrange deliveries —“ she started, but she gasped when he pulled her down, sheathing himself halfway, and she moaned.

“Calm down. First, I’ll handle our biggest issue. You just keep rewarding me,” he said, and slid closer to the laptop, and started typing seriously, rapidly adding a new functionality to the website.

“What are you doing?” she asked, moving up and down, moaning.

“I’m adding a preorder function with full payment. If they want more, they will wait in line, but only if they pay in full. We’re even adding a counter.”

Haley’s eyes widened. “Hunger marketing. Genius,” she whispered. “And, it’ll work because Penny’s like comes from a new design house, and they already signed a contract to make us the exclusive digital seller as long as we order a minimum of twenty thousand every month.” She turned and kissed him again. “How did I never realize smart could be so sexy?”

“Because you’re too vain to consider it,” he teased her.

“I’m not vain!” she giggled, then paused. “Fine, I might be a little vain. But you shouldn’t tell me that! Not when you’re doing what you’re doing!”

He chuckled, and once he finished the setup, he grabbed her ass, and started invading her tightness. “Now, we have the second thing,” he said. “We need to talk about expanding the operations, and expending them very rapidly.”

“Do we?” she moaned.

“Yes,” he said, even as he tightened his grip, and she started jumping up and down on his lap. “My recommendation, talk with your mother.”

She paused. “Isn’t the whole point to prove that I can do it without my family’s assistance,” she said.

“And, you did. You now have a business that had just made enough profit to —“ he started, then paused, actually surprised. “Already a hundred thousand dollars in real revenue, and twenty in preorders. This is not a college dropout fumbling. This is a real, profitable business. And, I mean, absurdly profitable. Expanding the logistics will be a challenge.”

Haley bit her lip. “What if my mom tries to take over?”

“Because she’s a greedy capitalist who wants all the money and will get jealous of her children’s success? Or because she wants to help you?”

“The second, obviously.”

He chuckled. “Then, you stand your ground, defend your decision-making, and highlight that you only want her help in the operations and logistics side, and nothing else. She’ll accept.”

Haley continued to jump up and down on his lap. “Will you help?”

“I will, if you want, but it’ll be better if you take the first talk on your own. It’ll further highlight that it’s your business, and I’m just the junior partner responsible for tech and marketing collaterals.”

She moaned. “You’re responsible for much more.”

He chuckled. “They don’t have to know that, right?”

Haley pushed herself down, her ass clamping around him as she climaxed. “You are the best. I … You’re the best,” she repeated, correcting her perspective in a last panicked moment.

He acted as if he hadn’t noticed it, because it was not a good time for that particular talk. Instead, they both lost herself in pleasure, climaxing faster than usual. A part of it was the amazing sensation of her tight grip, but another part of it was watching their preorder numbers climb. As Haley climaxed, they had already surpassed a hundred thousand.

Officially, they were rich.

Apparently, they had underestimated Penny’s charm, especially when it was framed by his Master Photography skill and his future information about social media expectations.

“Yes, yes, yes!” Haley moaned as she trembled.

[Achievement complete. Pay Haley a visit from the back entrance.

Challenge: Hard]

[+10 Attractiveness

1 Random Gold Skill

1 Random Gold Reward]

He selected the stat, mostly because Attractiveness was getting closer to two hundred and fifty, and he wanted to see if there would be a second perk. Also, at this point, he wasn’t exactly in need of any new skill or reward, not directly.

“I hate that I have to leave instead of celebrating it properly,” Haley whispered.

He kissed her. “You have to. I have a feeling that we wouldn’t be seeing each other for a while. You’ll be busy. Really busy. Traveling, visiting suppliers, arranging deliveries. The real part is just beginning.”

“And, you’ll sit here and code, right? I think I have been duped,” she said, her smile big.

“You have been duped very badly,” he said with a smile, then grabbed her hips, pulled her to one last, aggressive kiss. “It’s too late to escape. You’re mine.”

“I’m yours,” she whispered in a dreamy tone. “Do I really have to go and meet my mother?”

“Unfortunately, yes,” he said. He kissed her again. “Now, go.”

As much as he was sad about interrupting their fun, he knew that letting Haley talk with Claire was the best idea. He expected success, but with the speed it was going, revenue in millions of dollars was not out of the question.

It was not showing any signs of slowing down.

Magnificent. It looked like his money troubles had been resolved already.

He mixed himself a whiskey sour, and returned to coding. Since the site had been more successful than he expected, he decided to focus adding some new functionalities, even more glad that he decided to upgrade Programming rather than anything else.

It was midnight when he received a surprise call from Mia. “Hey, Prima Donna,” he teased.

“Don’t mock my singing,” she replied, and he smiled. Knowing her future delusions from the show, he asked her to sing once, then ruthlessly mocked her for her inability to sing, to make sure she never believed that was a viable path.

She was beautiful enough that people would lie about that, and the last thing he wanted was for her to have delusions about it.

She took it in good humor because, unlike the show where her dancing career had been winding down and she was looking for an exit, she was at the peak of her dancing career, making it easy to accept.

“Tell me. It’s not like you to call at this hour, not usually.”

“Well, I have some news, and I want to give it personally,” she said, her tone making clear what this news was. She got the New York job.

“Sure, do you want me to come, or would you prefer to visit?”

“I want to meet with you at the studio,” she said. “I know it’s late, but—“

“I’ll be there, Mia. Don’t worry,” he said. “Just give me ten minutes.”

“Actually, be here in an hour. I didn’t expect you to be available. I need to do some preparations.”

“As you wish, Prima Donna.”

She chuckled and ended the call.

He spent a minute making sure he implemented the changes, and the site was working perfectly. “Two hundred thousand, really?” he muttered as he checked the increasing preorders.

He didn’t even deploy the bot traffic he had been planning.

Once everything was done, he jumped into his Mustang, and drove. Since he had an hour, he decided to kill by swinging by the highway, which, at this hour, was empty enough that he could push the engine.

He wanted to test the changes he had made.

His initial plan was to replace his second-hand car the moment he got some money, but he was warming up to it. He would probably order a new paint job, but otherwise, it was fun.

It had character.

As he drove, he noticed headlights approaching from behind. They arrived behind him, giving a patterned signal … one that he understood because it included street racing. He was about to ignore it, as street racing was not exactly his thing … when he caught a glimpse of the driver. It wasn’t very clear … but he could see that it was a woman driving a Porsche 911, red. A car that was easy to dismiss, but the driver was good.

He also caught a beautiful, strawberry blonde hair, and he decided to respond in kind.

He pulled over to the side. She did as well.

He glanced over.

She was beautiful. Sexy, strawberry blonde, just a touch dangerous. Unfortunately, before he could catch her face, she shouted an address, then raised her fingers, showing three. He played along and pushed his car.

He drove well. She was better. Not just that her car was better. She was the better driver. Significantly so. He did his best to keep up, but his car was nowhere near good enough to actually win … and even if the cars had been equal, he would have lost.

When he reached the destination, she was already waiting next to her car.

She was beautiful, he decided. Then, he recognized her.

Carina.

From the show Chuck.

"Nice car," she said. Her voice carried an accent. She was fluent, but her accent was just there. “Horrible paint job, but otherwise solid car.”

“Not as nice as yours,” he said. “She’s a masterpiece,” he said.

"Don’t tell me you’re going to blame the car for losing?" she said, teasing him.

The question was a test. He recognized it immediately. He shrugged. “I wish I could. I have no doubt that you would have demolished me even if we were driving identical cars.”

“Even if … that sounds like admitting failure,” she said. “Don’t tell me you just lost to a girl.”

“I didn’t lose to a girl,” he said, and her smirk tightened just a touch. “I lost to a very beautiful, and possibly very dangerous woman,” he said.

“Oh, really, how so?” she teased.

He tapped his side, the same place she had a gun. It was well hidden, but to his gaze, it was obvious.

She tensed. “Sharp eye, how did you notice?”

He smirked. “Professional eye.”

She frowned. “Don’t tell me that you’re a cop. You don’t look like one.”

“Nope. I’m a fashion photographer. It’s not that hard for me to catch the unnatural curve in your otherwise incredibly stylish blazer,” he said.

“Really?” she said, then started to laugh. “I didn’t know men in fashion drove beat-up Mustangs or participated in street racing.”

“I pride myself on being exceptional,” he replied with a shrug. “I can even play the piano, if you want to hear,” he teased.

“Interesting, how about a gun?”

He thanked Gloria for the skills. “Well, I’m not terrible at it, but I’m always ready to learn more, especially from a magnificent woman like you,” he said, glad that his looks improved even further.

“Carina,” she introduced herself.

“Ethan,” he introduced.

She was quiet for a moment, the city lights reflecting in her dark eyes. Then she pulled a card from her pocket, the way she bent her body while doing so certainly not accidental.

"There's a shooting range in Burbank. I’m here for a few weeks, for work," she said. "Private. Well-maintained. Some days, I go there, usually after six."

"Is that an invitation or a challenge?"

"It's both. I find a man who can put up a fight yet admit when he’s beaten surprisingly refreshing. Show me it’s not a fluke."

“See you there, then,” he said with a teasing smile, and watched her disappear.

[Achievement complete. Impress Carina, both as a driver, and as a romantic prospect.

Challenge: Daring]

[+25 Agility

1 Random Platinum Skill

1 Random Platinum Reward]

Agility again, but he suspected it didn’t come from dancing expertise. Curious, he picked the skill option even though he was tempted to increase Agility because he needed it.

[Expert Martial Arts]

[Elite Skill: You are an expert martial artist, with proficiency in multiple fighting styles. You know how to assess your opponents, how to take down enemies non-lethally, and inflict maximum damage if needed.]

He would still go to Burbank.