Perspectives Series: Martin

"I'm not sure I have anything to tell her." She snapped back and turned on her heel toward the door.

"Teresa, stop." She turned and rolled her eyes at me with her hand on her hip.

"Shut the door and walk over here." It was difficult to keep my voice low; her attitude was making my blood boil.

"Look, I'm terribly sorry to burst your bubble. This is the real world, honey, not some fantasy kingdom you have in your head where you are the queen."

Teresa's eyes widened. "What?!"

"You heard me. You need to learn your place."

"That's bullshit, Martin. I contribute to every one of your deals. If what I do is so trivial, why don't you do it yourself?" She slammed the file on the desk.

"Settle down and lower your voice. I didn't say that your contribution wasn't needed. I merely stated that the business relationships that I have bring money into this company, and that is vital to the bottom line. I already close more business than all the other Business Managers combined. They would have a real hard time replacing me. Can you say the same for your job?"

Teresa pursed her lips and shifted her weight from one foot to the other. She couldn't argue the truth, no matter how unfair it might be. She finally managed a barely audible, "No".

"I know it isn't fair, honey. It's just the way it is."

Her eyes were glued to the floor while she nodded.

"Come here and sit down." I patted my lap. "The door is shut; no one will bother us."

She hesitated for a moment then she sat down, still looking at the floor.

"You do great work and I appreciate it, and I do need you, baby." I started stroking her hair.

She looked up at me, "I just want to make a difference."

I pulled her face to mine and kissed her. She was just so irresistible when she was like that. "You do, but I'll try to think of ways you can add more value. I promise."

She nodded.

"So, are you going to be OK?"

"Yes. I understand how it is. I'm fine."

"Good. I thought for a minute there I was going to have to take you over my knee for a good spanking." I half teased.

Teresa stood up quickly. I could tell the thought bothered her.

"Wait a minute. What?" I grabbed her wrist and turned her toward me as I stood up. Her pupils were dilated and her cheeks were flushed. She was definitely anxious but I couldn't tell if it was in a bad way or a good way.

"Did I say something wrong?" I asked in a low voice.

"No." She choked out.

I pressed my lips to hers. She responded by grabbing the back of my neck and closing her lips hard onto mine. She pressed her body against me as she thrust her tongue into my mouth. When she pulled away, she was panting. I could see her nipples protruding through her silk bra and knit sweater. It finally dawned on me what had happened; the thought of being spanked turned her on. I looked down at my own trousers. I definitely couldn't walk out of my office like that. I had a lunch meeting that I had organized between Bob and a Real Estate broker that could bring us a lot of business. I glanced at my watch. I had about 15 minutes to get my game face on.

"You have that lunch meeting today, don't you?" Teresa asked.

"Yeah. I need to..."

Teresa quickly unfastened my pants and dropped them to the floor. I sat down in my chair. She hiked up her skirt and knelt down in front of me, and without a moment of hesitation, she took me into her mouth. She worked quickly, bobbing and sucking and stroking. The sight of her doing that while sitting at my desk sent me into a quick orgasm. She swallowed every drop of cum and licked the head of my cock clean.

I looked back at my watch. It had only taken 6 minutes. I still had another 9 minutes to gain complete composure.

She hopped up quickly to her feet and wiped her mouth with a tissue from the desk. I leaned back and pulled up my trousers and underwear. I stood up to tuck in my shirt and buckle my belt, then I sat back down.

"I'll get these contracts copied for your afternoon meeting." She said in a completely professional tone as she picked up the file from my desk.

"Great. Thanks, Teresa."

She turned and opened the door. She glanced down the hall and around her desk. No one even noticed the door had been shut. She looked back at me and gave me a wicked smile then straightened up and took long strides to her desk. She may not be irreplaceable to this firm but she was pretty valuable to me. As it turned out, even more so than I had imagined.

Chapter 5

Another four and a half months passed. Summertime was in full swing. Business was booming as the Real Estate market was at an all time high. Teresa and I were working long hours to keep up with the workload. The firm didn't reward the Admin staff for extra effort, but I managed to keep her happy. She was the only Admin dedicated to a single Business Manager. The workload justified it, and so I insisted that she only handle my business.

No one knew that her entire wardrobe was financed by me; some of it passed off as business expenses. Her Louis Vuitton handbag, Dolce and Gabbana sunglasses and Jimmy Choo shoes were all items well beyond her means, but no one seemed to notice. No one could possibly get as much joy out of shopping as she did, and I was reaping the benefits. I was discovering that there wasn't any problem that a simple gift couldn't fix.

I remember lying on my back in bed one Saturday morning after making love. Teresa's head was on my chest.

"I am terminating my lease at the end of the month." She announced matter-of-factly.

"OK. And where are you going to live?" I teased. She had been staying at the house full-time and had completely moved her clothing and personal effects into the second bedroom closet.

"Stop it, Martin. That isn't funny." I laughed, anyway.

"Don't you think you should ask Simon? After all, this is his house."

"He won't know the difference. I'm here all the time, anyway."

"I guess you have a point." I shut my eyes. I wanted to go back to sleep.

"Martin, when can we afford to have our own place?"

I shrugged. "I don't know. It's not a matter of affording it. I can afford one now. I just don't see the point."

"I want to have our own place. Where we have privacy."

Nothing could have been a bigger lie, but I didn't feel like arguing. She didn't want to do anything privately. She adored being watched.

"We'll see."

I kept her request in the back of my mind. Maybe it was time to officially move in together, in our own place, and publicly announce our relationship. No one in the office, other than Sarah, knew we were dating. We had managed to keep it secret by maintaining professionalism in the office most of the time.

There were a few late nights where I bent her over my desk and fucked her. And I made it a point to incorporate spanking into our routine. Her workmanship was nearly always perfect, so I had to overreact to the smallest errors in order to find a reason to lift her skirt and paddle her. It drove her wild, and some of the best sex we'd had was at the office. But that was always after everyone else had left.

I started thinking about asking her to marry me. I knew she wanted to settle down and start a family. She dropped hints like crazy. I decided to bring it up to Simon one night at Happy Hour.

"I'm thinking about asking Teresa to marry me."

Simon's eyebrows rose. "Really? I'm surprised."

"Why are you surprised? We've been together every day for the past 6 months."

"I know, but you guys never act real close, you know?"

"What do you mean? We have sex all the time."

"Yeah, I know...I live there, remember? It's not the sex, you're definitely sexually compatible, it's that you guys like never show signs of affection when you're not having sex. You know what I mean?"

"She doesn't really get into that sort of thing."

"OK, but what about you?"

"I don't mind. It's OK. I know she loves me."

"Does she say it?"

"She has said it a couple of times. She has a hard time expressing her feelings."

"So why the sudden urge to get married?"

"She keeps dropping hints here and there that she wants to start a family."

"Do you want kids?"

"Not now, but someday."

"You know, here's my opinion...you do whatever you want. If you're not ready to have kids then there isn't any real reason to rush into marriage. Continue to live with her and see what happens. And when you're ready to start a family, get the paperwork done. Because that's all it is, a contract between two parties. And don't forget, if you make it big, half of everything you own belongs to her."

"Yeah, I didn't think of that. I tell you what, I am thinking a lot more seriously about buying my own house."

"That's cool. I sort of saw it coming. I mean, it's a little crowded with all of us living in that house. Not that I've minded or anything."

Everything he said made perfect sense. If I started my own business after we got married, then half of that business belonged to her, by law. I didn't trust her enough to go into partnership with her.

The following Monday, the opportunity I had been waiting for landed right in my lap. The home was worth over 2 million dollars, being bought by a divorced man in his upper fifties. He was a self-made millionaire. He believed in only doing business with people he met personally, and so before we even drew up the paperwork, he scheduled an appointment to meet with me.

Teresa scheduled it for 7:00pm. That time worked best for him, and no one would be in the office to distract us. I planned, of course, to buy him dinner afterward.

William Stoward arrived within one minute of 7:00pm, precisely. His driver opened the car door for him, but waited outside in the Lincoln Continental. He walked in and paused in front of Teresa.

I went overboard with preparations. I researched every business deal this man had ever made and dug around until I knew every minute detail of his relationships and personal tastes. I selected an alluring Chanel suit for Teresa to wear, having seen his most recent child bride wearing one in their engagement announcement two years earlier. That divorce ended bitterly last year, but I was betting that his taste hadn't changed. Teresa didn't understand the connection so I explained it to her.

"I don't see what difference it makes what I'm wearing."

She was trying to convince me to let her wear the suit the day after I gave it to her, instead of waiting until Thursday, when the meeting was scheduled.

"Well, you see, if he finds you attractive then he will be easier to do business with."

"How so? I don't understand."

"OK, let me be more blunt. Men are more willing to spend money when their dick is hard."

Her eyes widened, "Oh."

Teresa stood and walked around the desk when he entered. His eyes followed her so he didn't notice when I appeared in the doorway of my office. I watched how he looked at her and I knew exactly how I was going to close that deal.

"Mr. Stoward, it's nice to meet you. My name is Teresa." I coached her on everything, including using her first name to encourage familiarity. I told her not to rush into introducing me immediately, to act warm and friendly, and if possible, give him the impression that she didn't want to share him with anyone else.

She shook his hand and held onto it for a few seconds longer than ordinary. Good girl.

"Can I get you something to drink?" She asked, sweetly.

He was enthralled. "No, thank you. And please, call me William."

"OK, William." Good, use his name whenever you can. People love to hear their name.

"I, uh, don't want to keep you waiting. Let me introduce you to Martin Sullivan." She touched his back to direct his attention to where I was standing behind him.

"Mr. Stoward, nice to meet you. Please come in.

"Thank you, Teresa."

She nodded and returned to her desk. He turned and watched her as she walked away. I was certain his eyes were on her ass.

I had to admire his concentration. Unless I was way off, he was quite taken with Teresa but he managed to plunge right into business with the sort of focus an eagle would envy. Since that particular meeting was really about sizing me up, it was appropriate for me to ask him to dinner. We talked for only ten minutes in the office before I made the offer. I still had one strategy I hadn't decided, yet. Would it better my position if he knew Teresa was with me or not? In the final seconds before my dinner invitation, I made the call.

"Mr. Stoward?"

"Please, call me William."

"William, would you be free for dinner tonight? I thought we could ask Miss Lieber to join us since she has stayed so late."

He glanced toward the door and licked his lips. "That would be splendid. I have no previous engagements."

I called into the other room, "Miss Lieber?"

That was Teresa's cue that our relationship was to remain a secret.

"Yes, Mr. Sullivan." That was almost too much. She appeared at the doorway.

"Would you like to join us for dinner at...do you have a preference?" I asked William.

"How about my club? We won't have to worry about reservations."

"Terrific." I turned back to Teresa for a reply.

"I would love to." She smiled while looking into William's eyes. This is going better than I thought.

Teresa and I rode together in my car and followed the Lincoln. It gave me one more chance to prep her for what might transpire.

"You're doing great so far, T. I think he really likes you."

"When are you going to pitch your idea to him?"

"At dinner, if all goes well."

"What do you mean; I thought it was going well?"

"It is so far. He's not quite ready to bite, yet. And judging by the way he acted earlier, he may be a little tougher than I thought. Be ready for anything."

"What does that mean?"

I took a deep breath. "You know how you said you wanted to make a bigger contribution to my deals?"

"Yeah."

"Well, this is your chance. I think you are going to close this deal for us."

"I am? How?"

"I'm not exactly sure, yet. I'd like for you to come onto Mr. Stoward. You know, flirt a lot."

"OK. That's no big deal."

"It may take a lot of flirting."

"How much is a lot?"

"I don't know, yet. I want you to take it as far as he wants."

She sat silent for a few moments. "What if that means going to bed with him?"

I shrugged. "I wouldn't ask, except that this is probably the most important deal we'll ever make. It's our whole future."

She didn't say anything for the remainder of the trip, and I wasn't sure what she was going to do.

Chapter 6

Upon arrival, we were escorted to a semi-circle booth with high-backed, cushioned leather seats. Between the booths were curtains, so we had complete privacy. A bottle of red wine was opened, and glasses were poured before anyone even took our drink order. I imagine it was part of William Stoward's routine.

Everyone addressed him by name as he walked by, always as Mr. Stoward. Teresa was duly impressed, I could tell, and I was starting to have second thoughts about our plan. I hadn't really viewed him as a threat. I mean, he was more than twice her age, with a full head of white hair and a protruding belly. As I looked in Teresa's eyes though, I could see that his money made him plenty attractive enough for her. I stood a real chance of losing her to him if things went too far.

She slid into the middle of the booth, with William and me on the ends, sitting directly across from one another. Teresa turned her body toward him, and hardly made eye contact with me at all. She giggled at his remarks, and nodded attentively when he spoke. She began inching closer to him, and even occasionally would touch his arm. William's eyes surveyed Teresa's upper torso and legs. He was practically drooling; he wanted her badly.

If I stuck to plan, this was the moment in time that I would excuse myself to take a business call, allowing Teresa to go in for the kill. A second thought occurred to me, what if she tells him what I've put her up to, in order to gain his favor for herself. Would she do that?

I decided it was too risky to leave her alone with him. Eventually, William excused himself to use the facilities. Teresa was about to excuse herself at the same time when I kicked her under the table. She stayed behind.

I waited until he was out of hearing range to speak.

"I want you to find some excuse to catch a cab back to the office."

"WHAT? Why?"

"Just do it. I'll pitch my idea after you're gone."

"But I thought you said..."

"I know what I said. I'll close this without you."

"But we haven't even ordered our food, yet."

"So, what?! Go hit a drive thru on the way. Here's fifty bucks."

She looked dejected. I also saw disappointment. I made the right decision.

"Oh, and T...the sooner, the better."

She started to form another protest but my expression stopped her. I was getting pissed off at her insistence to stay. It just proved how little I could trust her.

She did as I requested and as soon as William returned from the restroom, she announced that she had just received a panicked phone call from her sister. She politely thanked us for the hospitality and excused herself. Her final glance at me was filled with contempt.

After dinner, we enjoyed cigars and port and I started my pitch. He listened intently but I could tell he was still sizing me up, not sure what to think. He told me he would think about it, which usually isn't a good sign.

I cursed myself for not sticking to the plan. If she decided to go with him, it wouldn't be that great of a loss, after all. Now I will never know if that's what she had planned or not.

Two weeks later, William Stoward was ready to close on his $2 million home. Teresa prepared the paperwork as usual, but I made sure to call Mr. Stoward myself to set the appointment, and then sent Teresa away on an errand.

He could hardly hide his disappointment in her absence. I almost felt sorry for the guy. Just before he was about to leave, he asked me if I had prepared a business plan for my company. I just so happened to have one in my desk drawer and produced it for him.

"If this checks out, I'll be calling you for a follow-up meeting" he said, as he stood to shake my hand.

I nodded, "Fair enough."

As it turned out, we had three more follow-up meetings before we came to a final agreement. He was going to be a silent investor in MD Sullivan and Associates.

Over the next several months I managed to find an office space, buy a house in Overland Park, and quit my job. I also convinced Teresa to quit her job to help me get started. I never officially put her on the payroll. Since she lived with me rent free, there wasn't any reason for me to pay her. Eventually, this just morphed into her staying at home and taking care of the house and cooking. I hired another full-time assistant to do the office work.

Chapter 7

Starting your own business takes hard work over long hours. I had an extreme advantage in that I maintained all my business relationships after leaving. That is one thing no one can deny you. However, I still had to find new business. Most of the startup capital went toward Marketing, Advertising and Sales. That's pretty typical for a new business. What I didn't fully realize was that I'd be spending nearly all of my time working toward getting the business going.

It wasn't unusual for me to stay at the office until 9:00pm or so, only to be back in the office at 7:30am the following morning. There were times when I would bring Teresa along to a business dinner. I hardly saw her otherwise, and anyway, it usually impressed the associate. Only a successful man could be with such a young, beautiful woman.