Sisters, Friends, and Lovers Ch. 09

My boss at Franklin, Didwich, and Casso - FDC - Derek Rogers, looked concerned. "Steve, if we lose the TCI account the sky will fall on this company. As a client they represent about forty percent of our profit and easily about half the workforce - that's nearly five-hundred people."

My knees knocked together with the implications of what would happen if TCI defected to a competitor of our systems and consulting company. So much of FDC's business came from them we'd often joked about being a TCI subsidiary.

I said, "I'm speechless ... but I've never worked on that account, and I don't know any of the players in their company. Oh, I know many of our own people on the job, but I've never interacted with any of them because so many of them are working full time in the field."

"That's precisely why the Executive Committee picked you for the job."

"ME? But ... but, won't TCI want to see an officer of the company, someone like you."

"Thank you, but no, they want to see a young up-and-coming manager like yourself that does honest work on behalf of his clients - you know, eyeball to eyeball. They know the officers of our firm are wrapped up in running FDC and not in delivering the real work. That's where you come in, you and your knack for creativity, innovative solutions to client problems, and great interpersonal relationships with your clients."

"And, what do you want me to do?"

"We want you to go down to their head office in New Jersey and talk to the heads of the various projects we are working on. I'm embarrassed to say that we haven't done a quality check with them for over a year. We each thought someone else had a rein on it. That's something you may want to fix. Are we doing OK? Where could we improve? Are there some of our people that they want to see more or less or none of? Are they happy? What would make them ecstatic? You get the idea. We need to know the answers for every single project we have with them - about twenty five separate efforts of various sizes spread across the country - the world - in their various major offices."

"Travel is involved I assume." I guess I'd been lucky; my client work for FDC had been in Boston or within a short drive from there. I hadn't been on an airplane for any reason for over a year, and rarely before that. Now, I sensed, I was about to become a road warrior.

"Yes, a lot for a while. If you pull this off, you'll be promoted to run the overall client engagement - even become a partner in FDC, but one whose nose is in the field. I needn't tell you what a coup that would be in terms of salary, bonus, benefits, and perks, and heck, to tell the truth, you'll be running all the projects as it is, and the other stuff will come soon. We all see you as a rising star, so I'm sure it'll work out all right for you."

"I live with people who depend on me to be around to support them."

Derek said, "I've heard about your rather unique living arrangement. When the travel gets to be too much, we'll arrange for your partners to visit you and usually you can always be home on the weekends. That decision is always yours."

Derek added, "Your partners depend on you, but so will several hundred of your colleagues in this company, including me. I have great faith in you."

"When do you want me to go out there?"

"First thing tomorrow morning. Jesse will take over your workload effective immediately; I happened to see her earlier this morning so she's aware of what we're asking of you. She's probably waiting in your office right now to talk to you and catch whatever you've been doing."

I nodded reluctantly. I had a host of conflicting emotions sweep over me. I felt honored for what had obviously become the most important job in the company. The work would be high visibility, a chance to shine, and a chance to get a promotion and a large financial boost to my life style. On the other hand, the travel bothered me. I would end up in a dozen or two different cities where TCI had major sites, probably hopping between two or three of their offices each week for the indefinite future. I loved my girls - Fran, Sheila, and Ally - and I didn't want to be away from them.

This whole situation put me in crisis about my home life.

I trudged back to my office, talked to Jesse for two hours, dumping file after file into her capable hands and talking like a fire hose while she took notes on her iPad. About four o'clock I had my flights and hotel reservations for the rest of the week, plus an outrageous schedule of meetings until late Friday afternoon when I'd catch a flight from New Jersey back to Boston in time for a late dinner and the weekend.

At home, I borrowed one of Sheila's roll-on suitcases and figured out how to pack what I'd need the rest of the week into the small bag. Besides my business suit, I needed casual clothes - just in case, and I wanted my exercise attire so I could jog or use the hotel's gym in my overnights.

At home that evening, Ally found me trying to figure out how to pack smelly jogging shoes in my suitcase without everything else starting to smell like a men's locker room.

"You must have to travel for business. Spray each shoe with Febreze, and then put each shoe in a separate Zip-Lock bag. You should take a couple of extra bags for sweaty running clothes, dirty underwear, shirts, socks and such. If you're lucky some hotels have overnight laundry service too, although it tends to be expensive."

I asked her, "How do you know so much about business travel?"

"When I interned for Saks as an assistant purchasing agent, I had to be away a couple of nights each week over that summer with the woman I reported to. The more experienced women taught me a lot about traveling, packing, and so on."

"I think I need an intensive course tonight. I just got a new assignment, and it looks like I'm going to be traveling every week from now until doomsday." I'm sure my voice betrayed my lack of enthusiasm for the situation.

"Wow. You mean ... you won't be in bed with us? Oh, Steve, I'm not happy about that."

"Neither am I. I mentioned it to my boss and he said they'd fly you out to me, or I'll be back here on the weekends."

"That sucks."

"There is an upside."

"What?"

"Promotion, salary increase, big bonus, high visibility, a whole set of perks - some of which I won't be around to enjoy, but they'll be there nonetheless."

"What's the new job?"

I described how I'd just become the linchpin in rescuing the jobs of about five hundred colleagues at FDC who worked on various TCI projects. When Ally understood the critical nature of the daunting task ahead of me, she looked duly impressed and her demeanor softened. She even knew some of the people in my company that worked on those projects.

Sheila and Fran had a similar response to my sudden job change that would take me away from them week after week for the indefinite future. The three of them got clingy during dinner, and later I had a command performance to make love to each of them. I had to 'fill their love bucket' so they could last without me until Friday night.

My alarm clock went off at five a.m., and I prepared to head off to Logan Airport for a seven a.m. flight to Newark. The girls lined up to kiss me goodbye at the front door, a little groggy from not completing their beauty sleep, and exceptionally naked to be sure I'd remember every little nuance of their subtle bodies. I had to finger each of them, consequently I had a hard-on by the time I left the condo.

I muddled through my first day of meetings with FDC's project leaders at TCI's head office in Parsippany, New Jersey. I also met about a dozen people who seemed genuinely glad that I'd gotten the assignment to ride herd on the various system and consulting projects my company worked on. Everyone from TCI and FDC was cordial and warm, and they seemed to crave more interaction of the type I seemed to offer.

Derek had commented about how I'd been recognized as good at relationship building. Although modest on that count, he was right. I could befriend anyone, always remembered names and details about people, and left a trail of lifelong friends wherever I went. My clients all loved me, so much so that I had started to find I could sell follow-on business at their offices without much of a problem - 'rainmaking' they called it at FDC.

The TCI manager of all the TCI-FDC projects was Jane Ellis; a woman about ten years my senior who I would have guessed graduated from Wellesley or Radcliffe. She had a precise accent to her voice and every syllable she spoke was terse and to the point. While that made her seem severe, she smiled a lot and often touched my arm to defuse the sting of a criticism or two of our company's work. She gave us an overall B+ rating overall, and knew I had the job of making everything we did A+. I assured her that I'd be trying to do just that. I also didn't consider a B+ very good.

In some respects, Jane was an elegant woman: natural hair that had a luster to it along with a few strands of gray, a complexion cover girls lust after, and a shape that belonged on the cover of the Sports Illustrated's bikini issue. She dressed sharp, and obviously spent a large amount of money on the outfit she wore. The business suit defined her power position in the company and also told everyone, me included, that she didn't suffer fools gladly.

Jane was a director for TCI, a position just below vice president, and one that made her a big deal in the company. She had dozens of people reporting to her, and by reputation knew her stuff and had a near photographic memory. She'd obviously been held back in her career, probably because of being a woman; if she were a man, she'd probably be not only a vice president, but also one of the senior VPs at TCI.

Some of the TCI and FDC review group had to leave at five o'clock. I felt I'd already put in a twelve-hour day, but we started to assess yet another project and that didn't end until six-thirty. I felt ready to crash for the night.

Jane could see my fatigue. We'd established a good rapport by that time. She put her hand on my arm as I sat next to her, "What you need is a glass of fine wine." She turned to the other middle managers in the room, "Shall we take Steve to our favorite watering hole?"

Everyone broke into smiles and agreed with the idea. I got instructions as well as directions from there to my hotel. I called the hotel to explain I'd be there later, and then by arrangement followed one of the guys in the meeting to The Old Mill Inn, an old tavern from the 1700s that retained its rustic charm, continued to serve patrons pub grub and your drink of choice, and according to Andy, the guy I'd followed, catered mostly to TCI employees after work.

We got an old wooden table that looked like someone had attacked it with a chain in the 1800s it was so dented. Six of us sat down: Jane, Andy, Todd, Charlie, Pam, and me. A waitress wearing all black took our order and then the conversation started, and I realized I was now getting more of the straight 'poop' about FDC's relationship with TCI.

Unmentioned, but obvious to me, was that most of the project personnel had not forged a personal relationship with their TCI counterparts. I tucked that away as my big finding of the day. I knew from my own experience that if you had good relationships at all levels of a project, the results for the client improved materially and their costs were reduced.

After our first round of drinks, four of us ordered food while Charlie and Pam excused themselves to head home. I opted for a simple cheeseburger, following exactly what Jane ordered. I'd had that sales course where you were supposed to mimic the person you were selling to, but I still preferred the cheeseburger to the other selections on the limited menu.

We ate, our conversation wandered around to all sorts of subjects: cars, the philosophy of high tech companies, the TCI culture, and my company's culture, to mention only a few. I managed to contribute while keeping a low profile and not trying to impress or outshine the others at the table. Eventually, Andy and Todd decided they'd better head home too. Jane moved closer to me so we could talk more easily, but as we got into our more personal bios I felt her bare foot against my leg.

The way we were sitting I could only move my leg a little, and so I did. But Jane's foot followed, and now there was no doubt in my mind but that we were playing footsie - or rather she was. I looked down at where our legs met, and then smiled at Jane to indicate I was just fine with what was happening. With that, she latched ahold of my arm and politely squeezed it in a polite but intimate gesture that I read as 'I'd be doing more but we're in a public place.'

After another half hour of conversation with more subtle touching and some deep gazes into each other's eyes, I speculated that maybe we should wrap things up for the night. I didn't want to be the cause of her losing her beauty sleep. Besides, I'd gotten in a place where I'd started to worry about fraternizing with the client. Were there limits that I should honor in some way? How far was I expected to go to please the client? While I'd had good relationships with my previous clients, I'd never had one play footsie with me or give me the kinds of looks that Jane did.

Jane stood. We'd settled our tab, so we strolled out of the inn to the parking area. As we got to my car, Jane came around in front of me and without warning pushed her body against mine and kissed me. That kiss led to several more, and suddenly she was grinding her hips against mine, and I felt certain she could feel the erection she'd just caused.

All of this surprised me for a whole lot of reasons. First, I had a wave of guilt sweep over me about neglecting Fran, Sheila, and Ally. I also felt awed because Jane was so high up in TCI; her office looked as large as a baseball diamond plus she had a secretary and several staffers right outside her door doing her bidding everyday. I was a lowly consultant, just trying to make things better, and I wasn't sure that what we were doing personally would accomplish that. Nonetheless, I responded with some eagerness since Jane was most attractive, obviously smart, and I liked aggressive women.

Jane whispered, "You staying at the Hilton?"

I nodded.

"I'm going to follow you there. Let's have a nightcap together - in your room." The tone of Jane's voice had shifted yet again. It had started with all business when I'd met her hours earlier in the morning, become friendly and jovial over dinner and drinks, and now I heard a sultry and seductive edge to what she said.

Now, if that didn't sound like a definitive come on for sex, I don't know what did. I just nodded dumbly, and said, "OK. Let's go." Jane and I got in our cars and I let her lead the way on the drive to the Hilton.

On the drive to the hotel, I called home. Sheila answered. I told her how my day went, and dropped the bomb - at least I thought that was what I was doing.

"Sheila, and everyone, I'm in a potentially awkward situation. A woman who's the senior manager of most of TCI's work is following me back to my hotel. I'm certain she wants sex and who knows what else? What do you think I should do?"

Sheila immediately said, "Hold on - group consult on this end." I could hear her talking to Fran and Ally, and some garbled words from them.

Sheila came back on the phone, "We are unanimous," her voice sounded somber; "We think you should fuck the living daylights out of her." She then giggled and passed along a few of the comments the others were throwing at her as we talked. "Make the client happy." "Consultants are supposed to be able to doanything." "Give her 'The Big Steve Experience.'"

Eventually, I got near the hotel and said I had to end the call. I told them I loved them and would report the next day in some way.

Jane parked next to me at the hotel. She walked into the lobby ahead of me, I assume to see if anyone she knew was around the place. The lobby was devoid of people except for the desk clerk who checked me in and gave me two room keys, no doubt assuming that Jane was with me. I headed towards my room and Jane caught up with me. As the door swung open, I allowed her to enter first, and then shut the door firmly behind me.

I stood my suitcase beside a table, turned, and Jane was in my arms with some very intense kisses that involved a lot of tongue. Moreover, her arms indicated that I should lose my suit jacket and tie immediately. I did. She whispered to me, "From now on, it's business casual at the office ... and no clothes when we're like this."

We stood and made out for at least ten minutes. I made a gesture to sit in a small loveseat in the room, but Jane shook her head. "No," she said. "Bed. We'll be more comfortable for what I have in mind ... and I hope you're of the same mind."

I gave my smile and nod again. Anything the client wanted to make them happy was my new goal.

Before we moved, I toyed with the top button on Jane's blouse, allowing my fingers to dip slightly into her cleavage. The more I toyed, the more uncomfortable she seemed to get, until I worried I'd overstepped some boundary. Finally, she said, "Will you please just start undressing me ... and get out of that monkey suit you're wearing." I popped the button, and that led to all the others being undone, and that led to the removal of her blouse, bra, skirt, pantyhose, and panties. Of course, by then I didn't have anything on either.

THEN, we made it to the bed. There was a lot more kissing, and then oral sex seemed to be the order of the day. We got into a sixty-nine position and I got to savor Jane's tantalizing flavor of womanhood. Delicious. Meanwhile, she'd created an erection in my midsection that rivaled the Eiffel Tower.

Jane pronounced, "Time to fuck." She spun around, assumed the woman-on-top position, grabbed ahold of my cock, and slowly sank her dripping pussy down my shaft. The moan she emitted suggested that this was an activity she'd been contemplating for some time.

"Feel good?"

"God, since you walked into my office this morning I've wanted to do this with you. I damn near cancelled the afternoon meetings so I could rape you in my office." She paused and added, "I don't know what you've got, but ... well, I've never done anything like this before. I've never felt like I wanted to do this so suddenly with anyone else."

"You're hot."

"So are you. Now, shut up, kiss me, and fuck my brains out." I proceeded to do just that, feeling particularly empowered since I had exactly those instructions from my three girls back in Cambridge.

I went into my 'Automatic Tantric Sex' mode, where I knew I should extend this lovemaking session for as long as I could, or at least until Jane begged me to stop. I did just that. I got her to change positions several times, taking advantage of each position to excite the particular erogenous zones made available. I teased, tortured, and intrigued Jane the longer we were together, especially when she started to enjoy a string of orgasms resulting from my cock, fingers, and tongue depending on the mode we were in.

After half an hour, Jane made a comment about my staying power. At forty-five minutes I think she was awed. As the hour mark passed, she pleaded with me to finish her off so we could snuggle together. I followed her instructions, but only after I was sure that the orgasm she'd have with me would be truly exceptional. Based on how her body reacted beneath me at the time, I felt that I'd achieved that goal, and so I filled her pussy with my cum just as she crested in her highest peak. She pulled me into her arms, and I rolled us to our sides while we were still connected. I didn't want to crush my new friend ... and client.