Ann: The Married Years Ch. 27

"That's a bit of a stretch, don't you think?" Jeff scoffed.

"Jeff, I walked in this office, and Andy mentioned right away how great of a night I had. We literally just finished our shift, and he already knew. Why? Because what I do... what my crew does, is tangible. Everyone can see the results I entered on their computer. The numbers speak for themselves. Do you have any idea what Carol had to do for Andy this morning?"

"Well, no."

Andy flinched, and I gave him a reassuring nod. Somehow, I think he knew I knew, but I didn't let on. Instead, I said, "Of course you don't. I don't either. And we don't need to know. What we need to do is acknowledge that whatever Carol gives Andy, in terms of time, energy, devotion, support... whatever she does at any given moment, is critical. She's the vital heartbeat that makes our company successful. Without all of her unseen sacrifices, Andy fails. And If that ever happens, it means we've all failed. To use her analogy, if anyone should have to get on their knees and beg, it sounds like it should be Andy... and it should be for forgiveness. Grovelling should be involved."

"I can honestly say I could have never said that better myself," Andy agreed. "Everything you said is one-hundred percent true. Do you understand now, Jeff?"

"Yeah. I really never thought of it that way before. Her job is so behind the scenes, I'm sure she feels ignored."

"Only when I literally ignore her. I can't believe I was so self-absorbed this morning."

Neil couldn't either. He'd been on the receiving end of countess blowjobs from Carol over the years. It wasn't something one could overlook... or forget. She made them personal and memorable.

The revelation also confirmed Neil's suspicions. Carol had always sworn that she'd only sucked off Andy twice. Once to get Martina hired, and again for Neil. But he always suspected it actually happened a lot more than that. In fact, he was certain it happened quite regularly. Not that he cared. Whatever the dynamic was between them, it worked, and he knew better than to question it.

If she had actually only blown him twice as she originally proclaimed, it proved to be worth it for all parties involved. Both of those hires had been wildly successful. It was no secret that Andy viewed Neil as a shining star of the direct supervisory staff. And Martina had proven to be invaluable. Her efforts in wellness and promoting the use of proper work techniques had their plant at the top of the corporate list regarding work related injuries and absenteeism. And it was by a wide margin.

Because of that, Carol had gained Andy's ear. She was a trusted confidant to him; a conduit to what was happening in the plant. She also had earned the right to do her job as she saw fit, with little to no outside interference. More than once she stood her ground, arguing that she knew better than him, or that a woman's point of view was better under certain circumstances. She was famous for telling him to go back into his office and relax, so she could do his job properly. He'd come to actually find that kind of talk endearing, knowing she always had his back. They were truly a great partnership; so much like a successful marriage that Neil's analogy was perfect.

That didn't mean she wasn't quick to keep Andy in check. Carol privately reminded Andy often that she'd had to convince him with sexual favors to hire two of the brightest employees on his management team. Over time it had to the point that she had him wrapped around her perfectly manicured little finger. While she didn't abuse that gained power, she did like to tease him with those playful reminders. Apparently she'd just expanded them to situations where he couldn't respond. Neil recognized it was because of her being hurt by his neglect. He seriously doubted that would become a recurring thing.

Blushing, Andy tried his best to recover. He stood quickly, sticking out his hand. "I really don't know what we'd do without you either, Neil. I can't thank you enough for doing this. I know it's a huge sacrifice, now more than ever. You have my word we'll try to make it right for you and Ann. Carol will get you whatever you need. I mean anything. If you need it, just let her know. Call me on Monday when you arrive at their warehouse so we can go over how we need to proceed. I know you've got a lot of work ahead of you, but we couldn't have a better person on the job."

"Okay... I guess I'll see you guys when I get back."

"Thanks again, Neil," Jeff nodded. "Thel and I will cover you while you're gone."

"You're welcome, Jeff. I'll call you both Monday."

Neil stepped out of the office, closing the door behind him. Carol was at her desk, beaming like a Cheshire cat.

Handing him a packet, she said, "Here's your itinerary, love. Your flight schedule is on top. Since we're not sure when you're going to fly back, you'll need to call me to make those arrangements... as of now it's a one-way ticket."

"Man, that sounds awful... handing me a one-way ticket out of town. Never thought I'd hear that said about me!"

She laughed and said, "Try to think of it more as a really long round trip."

"Sorry... not much better."

"I know, sweetie, but I'm doing the best I can for you. Speaking of which, the car rental is all set. I got you a Camaro convertible."

"You're kidding."

"Well, since you're going to be there until May, I figured it makes sense. The Indy 500 is in May, isn't it? I thought I'd get you something more in the spirit of the area."

"The race is at the end of May, Carol. Christ, I hope to hell I'm not there that long!"

"Me too. But since we don't know how long it will be, I thought I might as well make it as comfortable as I can for you, and give you a little fun along the way."

"Thanks."

"You're welcome. The hotel reservations are in the packet as well. You're staying at a Marriott Residence Inn close to the warehouse."

"So, it's like an apartment?"

"Yes. It has a full kitchen, living room... master bedroom. The works."

"I thought so. Ann and I stayed in one on our wedding night."

"Well again, you're staying for a while. It's the least we could do. There's also a company credit card in there with your name on it. Anything you need just put it on the card."

"Anything?" he laughed.

"Within reason," she winked. "But I pay the invoices, so I'm the only one that will see the receipts. Don't be stupid, but feel free to have a good time."

"It's hardly going to be a good time. I'm not even sure how I'm going to broach this with Ann yet."

"You don't have to. I got off the phone with her ten minutes ago."

"What?"

"I didn't think it was fair that you had to go home and break her heart because of a company problem. So, I did it for you."

"Carol... I --"

"You don't have to thank me, Neil. That's what friends are for. Besides, you heard Andy. I've just been officially charged with finding ways to keep her happy while you're away!"

"Why do I feel like I don't want to know what that means?"

"Probably because I'm going to take a page out of the Neil Thomas playbook. I'm going to make a lot of it up as I go. Just know that she's in good hands. I'll take care of her."

"As often as you take care of Andy?" he smirked.

"Yeah... about that," she replied sheepishly.

Neil waved her off. "Hey, you don't have to explain yourself to me."

"Actually, I think I do. Especially after what you just said."

"What are you talking about? Taking care of Ann?"

"No. You took care of me, just a minute ago."

"I don't understand what you mean."

"Andy has a button under his desk. It opens a microphone. The speaker is under mine."

"Why in the world does... what's it for?"

"Security. If he's behind closed doors, and something comes up where I might have to call the authorities, he turns it on. Kind of like a silent alarm for a bank teller. I was listening when they canned Conrad. Had the phone in my hand the whole time in case I needed to dial 9-1-1. Not exactly a stable guy."

"So why'd he turn it on today?"

"My guess is he wanted me to hear what you were saying... comparing my relationship with him to a marriage. I heard everything. Thank you for knowing that what I do is important."

"You're welcome, sunshine," he shrugged, making her grin.

"So yes, I've been less than honest about what I do for Andy. It's been more than just two those two blowjobs I confessed about to you. A lot more."

"I kind of figured, to be honest. I don't need any more information than that, Carol."

"I know. But I don't l like that I've been lying to you. I'd rather you know."

"Okay. If you think you need to."

"I do. I really only did it three times to start. Once for Martina, and twice for you. All of them were before we moved into the plant. They were at the temporary offices where you interviewed. After we moved here and started production, it didn't happen for about three months."

"Why'd you do it? What did you gain?"

"Truthfully, a boss with his head on straight. He was so stressed those first few months, I thought he was going to have a nervous breakdown. He was working long hours, and things didn't start out very smoothly."

"Yeah. I remember."

"Andy was making a bunch of silly errors. All kinds of clerical and mathematical mistakes that were not only costly, they were embarrassing. He was afraid he was going to lose his job. The corporate bozos gave him six months to get things up and operating per standard once we began live production. The mistakes he was making on his reports made them start to question his competency. One day, I walked into his office at he was practically catatonic. I thought he was having a stroke. He confessed to all I just told you... the pressure he was under from corporate. On his computer, I saw he had composed a resignation letter. He'd printed it out and was ready to send to headquarters on his fax machine. I stopped him. It's a good thing to. There were so many typos it would have confirmed their thoughts about him being the wrong man for the job."

"Wow," Neil mouthed, finding it hard to accept that Andy almost quit.

"Yeah. I thought the same thing. Anyway, I told him his problem was he wasn't doing anything to relieve his stress level, and because of that he couldn't focus. He stopped playing golf, which was always his go to. He never went home... so he wasn't getting any from his wife. He was sleeping on that couch in his office, if you could call it sleep. I told him he should go home and fuck Ruthanne, and he said she'd moved back to Pennsylvania to take care of her sick mother, since he wasn't ever home anyway. That's when I decided to clear his mind."

"By emptying his balls."

"I've never done it because he made me, Neil. It's always been out of compassion. In fact, he's never asked for one. Ever. And I've never fucked him, although I have made him eat me several times. He's actually very attentive and talented. Ruthanne is a lucky woman."

"Yeah... didn't need to hear that," he cringed.

She laughed. "Sorry. The bottom line is, if I feel he's beginning to lose focus, I take action. And occasionally I do it just to reward him. I probably only do it now once a month. Sometimes twice. That first month when things were rocky and his career was in danger, I was sucking him off two or three a day. Oh, and Ruthanne knows. I made Andy tell her. She actually thanked me for saving his career, so she doesn't mind me doing it now. She trusts that I'm only going to do it if I think it's absolutely necessary. The times I do it to reward him, I've asked her ahead of time if it's okay."

"Jeez, Carol. That's incredible."

"Just being a good work-wife."

"So what happened today?"

"I came in early. I knew he was stressed about having to talk to you this morning. So, I greeted him in his office. I was naked, waiting for him when he walked in. He grumbled good morning, but he barely looked at me. When I dropped to my knees and fished out his cock, he seemed disinterested. He still got hard, and I got him off easily, but it was different. I got up, expecting a hug and a thank you, and I got a half-hearted smile and a grunt of approval. For the first time, I felt used. I mean, fuck! I got here at six, and I got naked for him! I rarely get naked. Even when I make him eat me, I just make him stick his head under my skirt. I was pissed."

"I could tell. Are you going to stop?"

"Only if he treats me like that again. I accepted his apology. But he knows what's coming. You said it yourself. As soon as Jeff leaves, he'll be on his knees, eating my cunt... and he'll be doing it several times today. I'm not blowing him again until I'm satisfied he's learned his lesson."

Neil laughed. "You're strict."

"He's a great boss, Neil. But I'm damn loyal to him. I just expect the same in return."

"I don't blame you. I better get moving. I've got someone I'm loyal to that's going to want a lot of attention before I fly out Sunday morning."

"I promise I'll give her what she needs until you come back. I love you guys, Neil."

"We love you too, Carol."

"Be safe."

"I will. See you when I get back."

"I'll be talking to you before that. Now get out of here and go fuck that wife of yours!""

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The alarm clock didn't bother Ann like it usually did when it went off, other than it distracted her for the briefest of seconds from what she was doing. And that was pretty much lying there with her legs held wide while Neil slowly ground his rigid cock in and out of her wet pussy.

She didn't need an alarm clock, waking up on her own after only a couple hours of sleep. It wasn't like she was restless. Instead, she was just making the most of their last day together.

He loved waking up with his cock in her mouth. It was such an incredible feeling to open his eyes and see her there, making love to him in a way that was so intimate and personal. Almost always she'd be between his legs so she could peer at him with her sexy bedroom eyes.

"This must be what Kings feel like," he thought as his hand found her curly brown locks, brushing them aside so he could see more of her angelic face.

"Good morning, baby," she cooed as she stopped long enough to greet him in a more traditional way.

"I'm going to miss this," he sighed.

"We're not talking that way," she cautioned just before she swirled her tongue around the head a couple of times. "Let's make the most of the time we have."

They'd already fucked seven times so far over the brief weekend, and she was determined they were going to do it once more before they left for the two-hour trip to the airport. He wasn't complaining, but he didn't want to fuck any more. He wanted their last tryst to be more romantic than that.

Knowing they'd be apart, they staved off their mission of trying to get pregnant, knowing the window was so narrow at that point it was basically another missed opportunity to hit her ovulation cycle perfectly. It actually came as a bit of a relief for both of them that they were taking a break of sorts.

The truth was, as much sex as they'd been having, and as great as it always was, both of them started to look at it as more of a job than the natural way of joining together as a loving couple. To be blunt, Neil felt the work of trying to make a baby was taking the fun out of sex. And Ann thought their sense of spontaneity and adventure had left them for the very same reason.

She blamed herself at first; overreacting about the length of time it was taking to conceive by doing what she always did... analyzing it to death. She'd gone to her doctor three times to make sure there wasn't something wrong with her. And then she set her mind on Neil, even wanting him to have his sperm tested at one point. When she finally accepted that what they were experiencing was normal, she went a different route, doing research by reading any book she could find on the subject and talking to friends to see if there were any tips they had for getting pregnant.

She heeded the doctor's words of encouragement, and she and Neil tried many of the old-wives-tale ideas her friends had come up with to help promote fertility. He groaned at a couple of them, finding them more of a chore than anything else. As their frustration grew, she lamented one night how she should just get drunk and take Neil into the back of their car... because that's how a lot of girls ended up pregnant when they didn't really want to be.

Neil blamed himself as well, saying it was a mistake to tell her he was only going to make love to her until she became pregnant. It was an unrealistic thing to say, since the number of days in a month they might actually conceive wasn't that many to begin with. By taking away all the other things they loved to do together sexually, it put added pressure on both of them. He felt the stress might be contributing to the problem.

So, when they learned they were going to be apart for what looked to be a month and a half, he became philosophical about it. He walked into the front door after his unpleasant meeting with an idea.

"Babe... I think we should take this weekend and just be ourselves again. Enough of this baby stuff. If it's supposed to happen, it's going to happen the same way we got together in the first place."

"Fate," she smiled.

"Absolutely. So I say, let's take the time we have before I leave and let's just have fun."

She practically tackled him in response, taking him to the floor and yanking out his cock so she could suck him hard. Then she jumped on his shaft, riding him so hard and so fast it almost made him dizzy. But the key was after she came. He was about to, and instead of letting him explode inside her pussy like they'd been doing for months, she jumped off, sucking his cock back into her mouth so she could swallow his load.

"God I've missed the taste of that," she admitted, a happy smile on her face, along with a trail of sperm that she'd let leak out the corner of her mouth.

He curled his hand around her neck, pulling her into a steamy kiss. Swiping the remains from the edge of her lips, he brought it to her so they could share it. "Actually... I've missed it too," he joked.

With that, they were off and running. Or fucking, as it were. She had to go to work, but as soon as Mary Ann learned Neil was leaving on an extended business trip, she made her go home, telling her she could make up the time while he was away.

That meant eight more hours they'd get to be together, and they certainly took advantage of them... except now they made it a point not to have conventional sex. He fucked her ass several times, both of them quickly realizing just how much they missed that as well. She gave him blowjobs. He fucked her tits. She gave him a foot job. He ate her out for almost two straight hours, making her cum so much she begged him to stop.

And any time he fucked her pussy, he'd pull out, shooting his load wherever she demanded. With each sexual adventure, they realized how unhappy they'd been before; going through the motions of sex on the pretense of getting pregnant. It was hard to believe they'd turned something they loved to share into such a mundane task, but it seemed they had.

Now they had their life back to normal, and he was suddenly in the mood for something different. So was she, but she needed him to make the move. Delight ran through her when he sat up, changing the dynamic for the rest of the morning.

He lifted her up by her armpits, making her squeal with joy. She loved when he showed off his strength. Whenever he manhandled her, it made her feel more feminine. It also gave her a thrill. There were times when she felt like a ragdoll, twisting and contorting at his every whim. But he had no intentions of any sexual gymnastics. They'd done that and then some all weekend long, as abbreviated as it was.