Note: This story was dynamically reformatted for online reading convenience. The Storm By Ptarmigan (Mf, slow, romantic, oral, first, pett) (C) Copyright 2014 by Ptarmigan, all rights reserved, except those described below. Permission is granted to download, archive, and repost provided that the contents are not altered, including the disclaimers, copyrights and limitations on use and provided that no fee is charged for access. This story is erotic fiction intended for adult entertainment. The author does not necessarily condone or endorse any of the behavior described in this story. All persons and events in this story are fictitious and any similarity to persons living or dead or to actual events is purely coincidental. Prologue The bulk of this story is set in a group of islands off the northwest coast of British Columbia - just west of where the southern end of the Alaska Panhandle meets British Columbia. The group of islands was named the Queen Charlotte Islands by the early explorers but a few years ago the name reverted to the original aboriginal name of Haida Gwaii. If you're interested in learning more about Haida Gwaii, here's a couple of sites to visit: http://travel.nationalgeographic.com/travel/canada/haida-gwaii-british-colu mbia/ and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haida_Gwaii Now on with the story. Chapter 1 As I looked up at the darkening sky, I was glad that my supply boat had been here yesterday and left me what I needed for the next few months. With winter coming on, it often might be a problem for anyone to reach me except by helicopter and even that might be pretty dicey. Oh hi. I guess I should introduce myself. I'm Wallace Brinkley - Wally to my friends, what few that I've still got and `here' is a remote island in the Haida Gwaii group of islands off the north-west coast of British Columbia. I guess you're wondering how a guy like myself wound up way out here - well that's a long story. I guess it really starts almost 30 years ago when I started building my dream business. What the business was doesn't really matter but what I did or didn't do does - I became so focused in building up the business that I lost sight of everything else and eventually lost everything that mattered - my wife and kids, my friends and eventually myself. I'd graduated from college with a business degree and saw a business opportunity that wasn't being met. I felt I had just the idea that would fill that need. As I started building my business, things were slow at first but the word started getting around and I soon had almost more customers than I could handle. As this was going on, I started being noticed by the local business association and found I was being viewed as an upand-coming young business leader. One day at an association meeting, I met a young woman who seemed to be as attracted to me as I was to her. It wasn't long before Sheila and I were dating, then marrying and eventually starting a family. I had everything I wanted - I'd become successful, had a beautiful, caring wife and two bright young sons. It seems we all have 20-20 hindsight and as has so often happened with others, I didn't see what was happening around me. I was working long hours building up my already successful business into an even larger and more successful business, often ignoring my family. I didn't notice what was happening when my wife told me she was leaving, was going to take the boys with her and would be asking for a divorce. In fact at one point I vaguely remember thinking `that's one less thing I have to worry about'. I didn't notice when fewer and fewer friends called and asked to get together. I didn't even notice when I stopped getting calls from my friends all together. It wasn't until I overheard part of a conversation between two other businessmen that things finally sunk it. One of the men commented that it was too bad that, while I had a good business, I seemed to have lost everything else that mattered. When I heard it, I was resentful and almost said something to them but just as I was about to open my mouth something made me stop and take stock of myself and my situation. `Is this true?' I asked myself and then realized that it just might be. That night, after eating supper by myself (again) in a local restaurant and going back to my fancy apartment which was empty except for the furniture, I came to the realization that the comments I'd overheard were correct. I realized that I hadn't responded to a bunch of letters from my ex-wife. In fact I hadn't even opened many of them. I gathered them up and getting them in date order, I started to reread the ones I'd previously opened then opened and read the rest. I was horrified to see that I'd missed both of my sons' high school graduation ceremonies and unless I flew out tonight, I'd miss my oldest son's graduation from university. How could I have let this happen I asked myself? Suddenly the light started to come on and I realized I'd spent so much time on my business that I'd been ignoring everything else. I needed to change that and called the number I had for my ex-wife. The person that answered told me he had no idea who I was talking about and that he'd had that number for over five years. After apologizing for bothering him, I went back to my ex-wife's letters and realized from the return addresses that she'd moved several times and was now living over on the other side of the country. I could also see by looking at the return addresses on many of the letters that she'd apparently remarried. I sat there stunned, finally realizing that the comments I'd overheard were absolutely correct. I'd lost everything that was important and while I had a very sizable bank account and on paper, was worth a great deal of money, I'd lost everything that really mattered. I finally went to bed but found I couldn't get to sleep. After tossing and turning for a long time, I eventually managed to get some sleep but not until I vowed to myself that I would make some changes starting tomorrow. The next morning I phoned my assistant and told her I was taking several days off as something serious had come up. She assured me that there was nothing pressing on my agenda and asked if she could help. I thanked her for her offer but told her that I had to deal with things myself. My next phone call was to my lawyer asking for an appointment with him to discuss a very important matter. He was busy all morning but gave me an appointment for early in the afternoon. I started making notes of what I planned to do. I decided I would give the company to my employees keeping only the money I had in my own name. Many of the employees had been with me almost from the start and one of those was the first person I ever hired. When I met with my lawyer, I left the ideas with him and told him to set it up and I would contact him again in a few days to see where things could go. Over the next few weeks I tried to make amends for my past behavior and started to get ready for a new life. What that new life meant, I didn't know but whatever it was to be, I would accept it. I eventually managed to get in contact with my ex-wife and visited her and my sons where I told them my story and, after apologizing for my behaviour, asked for their forgiveness. Returning home I worked with my lawyer to set up a privately owned company where the shares in the company would be held by the employees. After a few days while he completed the paperwork, I was ready to go. With the legal work done, I met with my employees and told them what was happening and as they watched I completed the transfer of my business to my now ex-employees and with my last remaining friend Ray at the helm of the company, bid these hard working folks goodbye and left. For the next year I dedicated myself to helping the less fortunate in our area and spent a lot of time working at a local soup kitchen. I also sold my large house and fancy car opting for a much simpler apartment and a smaller car. Even though I found great satisfaction in this work, I was still troubled and often had difficulty sleeping at night. I decided that I needed to try to find something that would give me peace.