Just Imagine It

I looked at him blankly. How could this be? We were supposed to be experts in the field and couldn't possibly have missed that.

Greg explained briefly what the problem was. Of course each country had it's own regulations, some more strict than others and some just different to others.

I felt like breaking down as he showed me where we had missed the problem. Just a few millimeters, but on five hundred staircases.

Christ if this got out, it would send us bankrupt.

"Where do WE stand Greg?" I asked first of all, my heart in my mouth. If you've ever run your own business you would know that had to be the first reaction.

I hadn't actually loved many women, and certainly no men, but his answer tested that statement. He'd checked it out. Had all the facts, and had scrutinized the contracts before even approaching me.

Though we had suggested the change in design of the staircases, Hardings had accepted it. It was them that had put forward the redesign to the client, and it was them who had quite clearly given us the order to produce the goods to that design.

Morally maybe we were at fault, but contractually we were in the clear.

Normally I would have rang our client up and worked out a strategy. But on this occasion my client was Tod.

Fuck the bastard ____ my opportunity for revenge, and on my own terms.

I thought about it over night, and then discussed the situation with Greg, making him an offer that he could hardly refuse. He knew of Tod's involvement in my marriage breakup, and didn't like him either.

We continued to make the staircases to the same specification for another two weeks, till the end of the third phase when there would be a break in the supply. We then had the chance to make sure that we had most of our money in, for what we had supplied and fitted up till then.

Nobody ever worked out who actually made that call to building control. It wasn't me. It wasn't Greg, or anyone who worked for us, but Greg and I went out for a meal with his wife Sandy that night and didn't spare the expense.

About three days later, the shit hit the fan!

There were frantic calls from Hardings, which apparently got more desperate as the day went on, and by the end of the day everyone and their dog was trying to contact Greg or me. But they couldn't, as we'd gone off to play golf, and nobody knew where we were. We turned our mobile phones off, didn't ring in to the office, and didn't go back at the end of the day. In fact both of us stayed out for the evening and had yet another great meal and a few beers.

It was gone mid-night, and I'd been back home less than ten minutes when the phone rang. I looked at it for a few moments relishing the anguish of the caller, expecting it to be Tod.

"Where the bloody hell have you been all day?" Tod screamed at me when I eventually picked it up.

"Playing golf," I answered simply.

"Till this time of night?" he exploded.

"Well I haven't got a wife to come home to now Tod, thanks to you." I answered him calmly.

I guess he choked up, and remained silent for a moment. I've often wondered whether at that moment he first suspected I'd set him up.

"You've really fucked up this time you prat," Tod eventually spat at me. "Can't satisfy your women and can't do your job properly either."

"Is this a social call or is it business?" I enquired, my voice still calm, which must have infuriated him.

"It's business you idiot," he screamed down the phone at me.

"Then ring me at the office in the morning," I replied. "I'm sure it can't be that serious."

With that, I put the phone down and then left it off the hook, so he couldn't ring back.

I went and got myself a large glass of my very best Cognac, and sat down to enjoy the moment. It was, and still remains, the best glass of Cognac that I have ever drunk in my life.

The week that followed was hectic, or at least it was for some. Unknown to the others Greg and I had worked out our strategy, and as it slowly dawned on the Hardings crowd that they were in the shit, and we were in the clear, they started to get very upset.

But of course there was nothing they could do about it.

We gave them a quote for modifying the staircases, but we had to remove them in order to do it. Hardings were forced to pay us through the nose for our work, and had to pay hotel bills for the new tenants while we carried out the works on each house.

We made a fortune, and they lost one, and it wasn't long before Tod's company was in serious financial trouble. We were the first who refused to do work for them without payment up front, and when the other suppliers followed, they had little chance of survival.

Watching a respected old established company go bankrupt can be very sad, heartbreaking even.

It didn't break my heart as I saw Tod slowly lose everything that four generations of his family had built up.

He took it hard, very hard, and we all offered our sympathy. He took it so very hard that I came close to meaning it.

Then some six months later, they ran out of cash and credit, and were forced to call the receivers in, their company broke, and unable to pay it's debts.

That's when Greg and I made our move.

We were by then relatively cash rich, and had long since talked with our bankers about what we hoped to do. We approached the receivers and made an offer to take over the shell of Tod's old company. We didn't pay much, and we avoided most of the old debts, but especially we were able to renegotiate to finish the contract at a very favorable rate.

And Greg?

He became part owner of Hardings, with 30% of the shares, while I kept the rest.

He became managing director of Hardings, and I no longer had to worry about him leaving us, as he had been set up for life.

See ____ Just believe in fate.

The great thing about it was that everyone at Hardings saw us as the white knights, coming in to save their company, and their jobs. We even kept Tod on, though in a much reduced position. I was surprised that he didn't leave us and look for another more senior post, or even try to start up again. But he didn't, he just kept working for us in charge of the estimating department, so I guess it had all been too much for him, and he was a broken man.

Tod aged quickly, stopped playing tennis, and put on weight. By his mid forties he started to go bald, and it was no surprise to anyone when it came out that Sheila his wife was having an affair with a younger man.

He didn't even seem to do much to try to stop it.

I'd broken him, had my revenge, but still there was more to come.

It was about then that to my surprise, I fell in love again.

Carol worked for Hardings, and I had known her for some time, and though I couldn't help notice how attractive she was, had never thought about her that way.

She had a senior position in the company, and deserved it despite still being in her mid twenties, more than ten years younger than me. She was slim, very pretty with blonde hair, and sparkly blue eyes that always seemed to be full of joy. She also had legs to die for, and I, along with half the staff, simply couldn't stop looking at them.

I eventually asked her out to dinner, terrified that she'd reject me as perhaps being too old.

"I thought you'd never ask," she replied smiling at me. "I thought I was going to have to ask you."

We dated several times, and before I knew it all my staff were giving me those silly looks, recognizing before I did that I was smitten with her, but wondering when our relationship would proceed to the next stage.

I needn't have worried, as she at last accepted my invitation to come back for a nightcap to my apartment. We soon ended up on the sofa kissing, and she didn't object as I unbuttoned her blouse and slid off her bra.

By God she was beautiful, her skin so soft and smooth, her breasts small but full and pert with small but rock hard nipples that were a delight to feel and play with.

I led her to my bedroom, where I watched as Carol slowly removed the rest of her clothes, my cock rock hard, but patient, not wishing to miss her seductive strip.

At last she stood there naked, so beautiful it took my breath away.

She took my hand and led me to the bed and looked up at me with a cheeky grin.

"If you're going to put me to bed Tim," she said seductively. "How about reading me a story first. Do you still remember the one about the little green turtle?"

Yes, Carol was Tod's daughter, the same one that I had baby-sat all those years ago, and played tennis against, but by then a beautiful grown up woman.

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At first Tod was furious when he discovered that I was making love to his daughter, but when we announced that we were to be married, he reluctantly accepted it.

At our wedding he shook my hand, but thankfully avoided calling me son.

"Look after her Tim," he asked. "She's about all I've got left in the world now."

"Well at least this is one of my women that you'll never get to fuck," I responded, but the look of defeat on his face made me regret saying it.

He just nodded his acceptance to me that I had beaten him.

"I guess I deserved that," he mumbled as he shambled away.

Revenge is sweet they say, but it's not always clear cut.

It was for me though _______ I loved it!

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Carol and I went on to have three kids, and a long gloriously happy marriage. I couldn't claim we never argued, but sometimes making up were our best moments. She never flirted with other men, and I did not miss that buzz at all.

Tod never fully recovered from his humiliation, and eventually Sheila divorced him and married another man, leaving to spend his final years on his own. He never lived to see his eldest grandson join Hardings International, nor to see the company grow to be one of the biggest in the country.

Janice?

Well Janice didn't do too badly really, and ended up married to a guy in insurance. She never again had the standard of life that she enjoyed with me, but the pair of them had an odd marriage that allowed her to play around as she wished, while he just seemed content to watch on.

I never wished her any ill, but I was glad to be out of it really.

Gwen?

Now there's the surprise. She fell in love with a vicar, and became a pillar of society. I always knew she had a heart of gold.

Oh yes, and Fiona?

As I've already said, I've no idea at all. She left the area, and simply disappeared.

Sorry it was so long. Hope you enjoyed it.