Ann: A Love Story Ch. 73

"That's right. This one is a piece of shit. All these new fangled gizmos on it don't mean a damn thing if they screwed up the installation," Fred barked toward Jeff.

"I said it was different, Fred. I never said it was screwed up," I said as I hit the start button.

The motor kicked in, and the vacuum grabbed one of the production pieces, lifting it and placing it in perfect position, followed by the next one. I turned a knob on the control panel, making the speed increase. "It's a lot quieter than the P732, that's for sure. And it goes faster," I said as I watched it hum along.

Jeff and Fred just stared at the machine, watching it run. I hit the stop button and turned to Jeff, who was smiling from ear to ear. "Nice job, Neil. What do you think of that, Fred?" Fred just grumbled as he stared at the inside of the machine, trying to figure out what I'd done.

"Can you show me where the bathroom is, Jeff...I need to clean up," I said as I looked at my hands.

"Uh...sure. Come with me."

"Nice to meet you Fred. Hope you have a better day now," I said with a wave as I followed Jeff. I knew where the bathroom was, but I played along just for appearances.

"Okay...so, where the hell did you learn THAT?" Jeff asked.

"I told you...we had a P732," I replied as I glanced over my shoulder, looking at Fred peering into the machine to try and figure out what I'd done.

"That's not a P732, Neil. That's an S732. They're three model generations apart...and there's been at least 15 years of improvements in that time.

"Eighteen. But there was no real change between the P model, and the Q that came out a five years later...there was just a slight speed difference. When the R model came out in '83, it was a total redesign, and everyone I talked to hated it...even though they sold a ton of them at first. So, they went back to the original design, and retooled it to make the S model...that came out last year."

"How do you know all of this?"

"I read it in a trade magazine last summer just before the S came out. The biggest difference between the P and the S models, besides the speed, is that they changed the cam on the vacuum arm. They made the 'in' stroke more of a gradual slide, instead of the dramatic change in direction the P has...which has a tendency to break the cam arm when they get older."

"And you got all of that from a magazine?"

"No...I ordered one of those cams for the new machine, and had my maintenance department rebuild ours to match."

"What...why?"

"Well, they make the new cams so that you can't retrofit them to the older machines, because they want to sell new machines. So, I bought a new cam, and had our guys change the channel in our cam to match the new one. And by doing that, we changed the angle of the arm. I had them redesigned cam it back in the machine. Now, they won't be breaking the cam arm any more...which was getting costly because it's harder to get parts for the older machines."

"But...you bought a new cam for a machine you don't have, and you couldn't use it, right?"

"Yeah...but I didn't keep it. Look at it this way...I bought a thousand-dollar cam. We got the specs off of it, and our guys in maintenance were able to modify the cam in the machine to work the same way as the new one. Then we sent the new cam back and got our thousand bucks back...we just paid the hundred dollar re-stocking fee. So, for a hundred dollars, and another couple hundred in labor and materials to modify our cam, Beck now has a P732 that runs like the one here...just a little slower. And in doing that, I probably bought my department another ten years before they'll have to replace it."

"So...how come Fred couldn't get the damn thing to run? What was he doing wrong?"

"What are you asking me for...he works for you," I said with a laugh.

"Because...I want your opinion."

"Okay, well, my opinion is that he just told us why."

"What do you mean?"

"He said he's been in the business over twenty-five years. My guess is that majority of them were operating things. And guys like that are old school, Jeff. They think they know it all, because in their mind, they've seen it all."

"So what are you saying?"

"I'm saying that he thinks he can run that machine, because it looks similar and it's supposed to have the same results. But that cam is hidden...you can't see it. So if you don't read the manual, you don't know how to set it up. He's probably trying to set it up like a P752, and if you do...you set the timing all wrong."

"Okay, so you're saying it's a case of not being able to teach an old dog new tricks."

"No...age has nothing to do with it. My Dad has been in this business longer than Fred has. But he's always reading about the industry, making sure he keeps up to date with trends and new technology. The magazine I read that in was his...it comes to the house every month. So I read them too. I think Fred is more of a case of not being able to teach a stubborn dog new tricks. It's all about attitude. I think Fred's one of those guys that somehow got stuck in the 60's and he's not going to come out unless he's kicking and screaming."

Jeff laughed as I went in and washed my hands. When I came back out, he was leaning against a safety railing, drinking a coke from the vending area. "Come on, Neil...one more person for you to meet," he said as he motioned me to follow him.

Jeff walked around a corner, and opened the door to the production office. The same production office where I'd eaten Carol, and she'd sucked me off. As I glanced at that desk in the back left corner where we'd been together, I know I had a naughty grin on my face.

But Jeff took me to the back right corner, and introduced me to Thelma, who was sitting at her desk, pouring though operator's manuals, much like I'd done the night before. Well, I'd been naked when I read them, and I was torturing Carol in the most wonderful ways at the same time. Thelma still had her clothes on, and she didn't have anyone in the room tied up...so she obviously was taking a different approach than I had.

"Thelma, this is your new partner...Neil," he said as he motioned towards me. "Neil, this is Thelma. She's been a Supervisor for 6 years, and she has a lot of experience in our industry."

Thelma started to get up, and I motioned that she didn't have to. "Don't get up on my account," I said as I reached out my hand. "It looks like we caught you at a bad time. I can see that you're busy."

She stood up anyway, a broad smile crossing her face. "I'm not to busy to meet you," she said with a pleasant laugh. "After all, we're going to be working together."

Thelma was a big woman...as in tall. She was at least my height at 6 feet, and with her big pile of curly blond hair on top of her head, she looked even taller. She was also big framed...but she carried it well. Thelma was wearing a flowing blue floral dress that matched her shoes, which were sneakers.

While she wasn't the most attractive person I'd ever met, my first impression wasn't 'bitch' like Carol had said. My guess was that Thelma was a woman working in what had by tradition been a man's industry, and as she'd worked her way up, things were always a lot harder for her, fair or unfair. I likened it to what I'd gone through with being the son of a Vice President...and so I felt I could relate in a way.

I smiled politely and said, "I'm really looking forward to it, Thelma. I know I'm going to learn a lot from you...I'm kind of new to this part of the business. I know I'm not as experienced as Conrad or Fred out there."

Thelma waved her hand and said, "Puuulease! Husky and Starch don't know the first thing about our job, Neil."

"Husky and Starch," I laughed. "You mean Starsky and Hutch?"

"No...Conrad is Husky, and Fred is Starch. Spend ten minutes with them alone, and you'll know exactly what I mean. I've been telling Jeff..."

"He knows, Thelma. If you would have seen what Neil just did in the last fifteen minutes...well, you got exactly what you were hoping for in a partner."

"That sounds ominous," I said with a nervous laugh.

"It's not anything bad, Neil. I may look like an ogre...but I'm not one," Thelma said, her self-deprecating humor catching me off guard.

"What did you say?" I said as I snapped my head toward her.

"I know I'm not beautiful or anything. I look like a cross between Big Bird and some dame out of a Far Side Cartoon. But I know my job...and I'm damn good at it. I just asked Jeff to make sure I got a partner that could appreciate me for who I am, and what I can do."

"You seem pretty beautiful to me," I said with a wink, making her blush. "As far as I'm concerned, beauty starts with a sense of humor."

Thelma smiled, and Jeff went into a little spiel, telling her about my first encounters with Conrad and Fred. Thelma was laughing so hard I thought she might fall over. I shrugged it off, not wanting to make too big a deal out of it. After all, it was just my first day. I knew I'd need to learn to work with Conrad and Fred. Still, I was happy that Thelma liked me, and we seemed to be hitting it off.

"So...what's this room for," I said, acting like I was tired of hearing Jeff go on and on about how I'd put Conrad in his place, and made Fred look a little foolish.

"It's the production office. This is where you're desk is going to be," Jeff said.

"Oh yeah...which one?"

Thelma pointed at the front desk and said, "Husky's got the one up there on the right, and Starch is on the left...they wanted window seats."

"Where's your desk?" I asked her, playing dumb.

"Duh...it's this one. I wanted to be as far away from them as possible. So, you can have any of the other ones except the clerks."

I pointed to the one that Carol and I had had sex on, and said, "So this one's free?" Jeff nodded, and I looked back at Thelma. "If you don't mind, I'll sit back here with you. That way, when we're all in the plant at the same time, you and I can sit and make fun of them behind their backs."

Thelma laughed and stuck out her hand. "It's a deal...partner!"

We talked a little more, mostly about what Thelma was doing. She was writing all of the job procedures for the various positions in the department, including the responsibilities of the Supervisors. Jeff had a great deal of faith in her, and based on the way she was describing what she was doing, I could understand why. Thelma was sharp, and she was dedicated...she was also probably misunderstood by most people she interacted with daily, Carol included. But Jeff got her, and so did I...and that seemed to make her day.

"We'll let you get back to work, Thelma," Jeff said.

"Yeah...I'll see you when I see you," I said with a grin.

"It's going to be a while...you have a lot of work to do," she said with a little wave. "Good luck."

~*~*~*~*~*~

Angela popped her head into the room and said, "You won't believe it, Neil. Three more JUST walked in the door. Do you want me to tell them to come back tomorrow?"

Looking at my watch, I shook my head. "No, Angela. It's still two minutes before seven. We said we're taking interviews until seven o'clock."

"But...the party," she said disappointedly. "We're already going to be the last ones there."

"I'M going to be the last one there. Get them set up, and then you can go ahead and go. Just lock the door when you leave so no one else can come in. I'll meet you there when I'm done, okay?"

"Are you sure?" she asked, a little pout on her face.

"Yeah...I'm sure. What if one of these people turns out to be the shining star we're looking for? I won't be that far behind you," I said with a smile.

"Yeah...right," she scoffed. "We haven't gotten out of here before 8 in the week and half we've been doing this."

"That's all the more reason for you to go...now! Maybe you'll meet some cute guy you can hang out with."

"You're already spoken for," Angela winked, flirting with me again.

"Yes, I am. Now get going...okay? I said, shooing her towards the door.

"Okay, okay. I'll have them fill out the applications, and whoever gets done first will be the first one in. You better show up at the party though, or I'm going to be pissed at you!"

"I'll be there. I promise. Now go!" I laughed.

~*~*~*~*~*~

After Jeff had given me the tour, we headed back to the temporary offices so we could continue our meeting, grabbing lunch on the way. We sat down and ate at his desk so we could go over the specifications and qualifications he was looking for in the production employees. He had each position in the department broken out, and he and Thelma had created a bullet point overview of what each job would require from a skill set standpoint. They'd both ignored Conrad and Fred's input, going with substance over style.

Conrad and Fred had wanted seasoned operators, saying that was the fastest way to get the plant up and going successfully. And while that was probably true, Jeff said that he disagreed with that approach. He wanted people that were trainable. Experience mattered, but not at the expense of honesty and character. He was willing to take some short term lumps, looking at the bigger picture down the line. So, Jeff gave me the parameters of what he wanted me to look for in the interviews.

The company had rented space at the Vocational Center, and had been advertising for weeks about the upcoming positions. So on Tuesday, I spent the entire day with Angela, moving things to the Center and setting up a system. I let her set up the pre-staging however she wanted to, telling her what I needed from my standpoint. I wanted her to have the freedom do the job her way. As long as Angela had them ready to go...how she did it was going to be more important to her than to me.

The downside me and Angela being off site was the hours. Jeff wanted a wide window, to try and accommodate potential employee's personal hours. And with it being just the two of us, there wouldn't be a lot of breaks. The interviewing process was going to start on Wednesday morning at seven, and it would run to seven each evening. Because of that, I only had Monday and Tuesday nights to start setting up the personal part of my life. Not only was I supposed to open a 'sex account' with Heather, I also had to open an actual bank account...and a post office box, and...well, set up several other things.

Starting on that Wednesday morning, I got to the Vocational Center at 6:30 to get ready, and there were already people outside waiting. And that was the first of what became ten straight 13 hour days of interviewing...except for Sunday, which was only a 5 hour day.

And here I was, hoping against hope that this was only going to be a 12 hour day. But when those three people showed up at the last moment, I knew I'd be another half hour at least...and likely a little longer. I waited as patiently as I could, wondering when the first person would walk through the door. While I waited, I looked through the pile of what I called 'approved' applications...people that I liked that I thought would be good hires.

I had about twenty in front of me, which was a little higher than the norm from what I'd found...a direct relation to having a higher volume of interviews during our day. I was interviewing about 120 people a day for the total of 40 positions on the initial hiring phase. Taking the 200 or so applicants that passed the first round of interviews, I'd be making calls on Saturday and Sunday, setting up interviews for the next week for second, more in depth interviews.

"God...I hope one of these people is good enough to make the pile," I said as I put the handful of chosen applications into my briefcase with the rest of the ones making that initial cut.

~*~*~*~*~*~

"Where've you been?" came the sweet voice from behind me.

Recognizing the southern accent, I turned around in the lobby of the hotel. I was already smiling. "Working...you know that."

"It's almost 8:30, Neil," Heather said.

"I know...I'm later than I wanted to be. But I had three people show up at the last minute. One of them was pretty good too."

"But its Friday...aren't you supposed to be..."

"Yes, Heather. I'm supposed to be at the party. I'm just going to go upstairs to freshen up and change...so I need to get going."

"Would you like to pick a card first," she said, grinning.

"I've picked cards the last three nights, Heather. And all I've gotten out of it was eating a late night snack every time. Just like LAST week."

"Are you insinuating that I stacked the deck?" she giggled.

"No...I'm just saying that as much as I love eating your pussy...and Carol's, I really need to get to the party. I promised Angela I'd be there."

"Yes...but Angela isn't part of the game, no matter how cute she is. And maybe this is your lucky day. I've actually been hoping I'd get to give you one of my blowjobs. You haven't had one yet. And after tonight, I won't be 'open' again until Monday.

I was torn. As much as I wanted to finally get a blowjob, I really needed to get to the party. Since I'd opened the joint sex account the previous Monday, I hadn't had that much of an opportunity to actually play it. The account didn't go active until Tuesday, and I'd gotten home late. I'd pulled cards on Wednesday and two on Friday...and all I got to do was eat Carol twice, and Heather once.

Not that that was bad...in fact, it was great. But I had to cave and jack off over the phone with Ann on Sunday after I'd gotten home from work...twice. Fortunately, all the cunnilingus I'd done kept adding to our account, which was good thing, I suppose. Ann had added to it too, eating Penny once, and Tina twice...although she did get Penny to eat her on Saturday, which was a first for Penny. And from what Ann had told me, Penny was not only good at it...she loved it.

But it was more of the same thing this week. I never got the chance to play on Monday...and I'd pulled the wrong card three straight nights...including a card that made me spend more than I wanted...I had to eat both Carol AND Heather back to back. Again...it wasn't that I didn't enjoy it...but here it was Friday, and I'd gone almost two weeks into the game, with only a couple of self inflicted orgasms from my right hand to show for it. I was horny. And...I was late.

"I'm sorry Heather...I just don't have time."

"I understand. Do you want to pull one for tomorrow, so you can be Carol?" she said, trying not to be disappointed.

"Well...you have a point about that," I said, thinking it would be a stupid not to pull a card for Saturday.

I followed Heather to the front desk, and she pulled out the metal lock box she kept the playing decks in. Opening the top, I saw the telltale envelope that contained a surprise from Ann.

"Oh...fuck," I said under my breath.

"That's right...she called today. You have to open this first," Heather said, handing the envelope to me.

Ann had done this to me once before. It was another part of our game, where we tried to turn each other on. When Ann had set up the game to begin with, she'd sent two manila envelopes to Heather; one with the decks of cards for us to play the game. The other contained a secret weapon of sorts. To be fair, Ann had made arrangements to create the same...well, weapon, for me to use against her. I'd just not used it yet...mainly because I kept forgetting about it. I was working so many hours, I'd forget to have Heather call Tina to spring that trap the other direction.

I clutched the white letter sized envelope in my hand. "This one's thicker than the last one," I said to Heather.

"Yes it is, and you know what that means."

I let out a heavy sigh, knowing what I had to do. My fingers trembled as I started to open the flap of the envelope, which was tucked inside. Heather hadn't glued it shut when she'd put the contents inside for Ann...just like the previous time. It was supposed to be easy access, like an envelope you'd get from a bank teller with your money in it. But just as I was about to open it, Heather touched the back of my hand.