Ann: The Married Years Ch. 27

Neil liked their spunkiness, not to mention their outlook on the job and the sales pitch they used to get it. Instantly he knew they were going to be his two crew leaders, and he'd go back and forth between them to coordinate his plan of attack.

He went over what their roles would be, each of them in charge to two other people as they sorted and then fixed the problem. They spent a few minutes going over the brief details. He told them he would go over more in the morning to make sure they were all on the same page. With them on board, and a good crew for them to work with, he felt confident he'd be able to set the right tone with the customer from the start of the project.

When Neil got to the job site the next morning he was introduced to Rusty, the head of the distribution center. He had arrived there an hour early, wanting to get things set up for the crews that would arrive at eight. As Rusty showed him the daunting task, skids upon skids of product that had to be inspected and returned to the racks in their proper storage location, Neil groaned.

"This is going to take longer than six weeks," he said out loud.

Rusty actually laughed. "Six weeks? Hell, Neil... I'm guessing two months at the earliest, but probably longer. That's why we didn't do it ourselves. I don't have the time or the resources for something this big."

"Hey Neil," Shirley, one of the two co-eds said as they walked up to him, being led by one of the shift supervisors of the facility.

"Wow, you're both here early," he smiled. "Rusty, this is Shirley and Fran. They're going to be helping me with the other temps we have coming in."

"It's nice to meet you ladies. Neil... I'll leave this to you. We'll let you know when the rest of your crew shows up."

"Thanks, Rusty," he nodded, before turning his attentions back to the girls. "So... why are you two here so early?"

"Well, we wanted to make that great second impression," Shirley laughed.

"You just did! I can't tell you how good you just made me look in front of Randy."

"Cool!"

"Well, I guess since you're here now, it would be a good idea to show you what we have to do."

He went over to one of the skids that he knew was defective, opening up a box. Explaining the manufacturing process, he showed them the cosmetic defect, and said, "We have to check every one of these, and make sure this is in place. If it's not, we have to fix it."

"How do we do that?" Fran asked.

Neil opened a box of dime-sized gold stickers that were on a big roll. There were dozens of boxes on a skid, each of them with ten rolls inside. Jeff had the skid shipped in over the weekend knowing Neil would need them. "We have to take one of these and put it in place, and then put it back in the box and seal it."

Shirley nodded and said, "So... all of those are bad?" She pointed at the hundred or so skids lined up in rows in the big warehouse.

"God, I hope not," he groaned. "Actually, we're pretty sure it all came off of one shift, so we'll start with the ones that are tagged with this." He pointed to the crew stamp on the carton, indicating it came from Conrad's shift. "But... we have to assume they're all bad, so we have to do a full sort."

"Oh... every one, huh?"

"Pretty much."

Fran looked the stickers, picking up a roll. "So, you think the ones that are missing this sticker are confined to just the skids marked with his shift emblem, right?"

"That's the general consensus. I know it didn't happen on my shift, and the other supervisor is convinced he didn't have the problem either. Plus, that's just about the amount of stickers that were left when the job was completed and shipped. Unfortunately, the supervisor in charge of that shift put them back in the inventory cage himself, so no one noticed we had so many left over."

"So, he didn't put the rolls on the machine, then. He ran without these," she stated, catching on quickly.

"That's what we're thinking."

Shirley spoke up and said, "So let me ask you this. Is it possible for there to be stickers missing on the top of a skid, but not on the bottom?"

"Uh... not unless it's a skid that one shift started and the other finished. But those skids have both shift stamps on them."

"Okay...can the machine miss one part and then put it on the next one? Like, a hit and miss kind of thing."

"No. If it misses or jams up, it stops the line."

"So why would he run without them?" she asked.

Fran answered quickly and said, "I bet it runs faster without them."

Neil chuckled and said, "That's right. Not every job we do takes a sticker like this. And he thought since no one would see it once it's used, it didn't matter."

"It didn't matter? How the hell does that make sense? They're paying for it. It's their logo, for goodness sake."

"Yeah, well... he's kind of fired now, so it doesn't matter. All that matters is that we have to inspect them all."

"Do we really?" Shirley asked.

"What?"

"What order did the job run. Who ran it first?"

"I did. Then Derrick's shift followed mine. Conrad's shift was last... and I wondered how he got them all done. I should have known something was up when I came in the next day. I should have had to finish the job, but he did. And he never ran that well on jobs with stickers."

"Okay, but that's a good thing now, other than there are probably more of his here than anyone else."

"There are. But I'm not sure I understand what you're getting at, Shirley."

"Follow me on this for a second. Let's assume that everything with his crew stamp, or whatever you call it, is bad. He ran it last, which means he took the roll of stickers off. Or he just didn't replace the roll when it ran out. Either way, it really seems like it would only be his that are affected. So, let me take three of the people and we'll open every one of his, fix them, and begin to put them back in line. And then Fran can start inspecting the rest."

Fran nodded. "Yeah... I'll take the other person, and we'll start checking skids with stamps from your shift and the other one you think are right... the ones Derrick's crew ran. We'll check the top corner carton of the top layer, and then we'll restack the entire skid to get to the bottom and we'll open up the carton on the opposite corner of that layer. If what you say is true, it should be good, and we'll know that everything in between is good to go. If it's not, we'll put that skid aside for a full inspection to find out where things went goofy."

"Huh, so it would be more like a spot inspection," he nodded.

"Right. The skids appear to be sequentially numbered, so if we go in order of what each shift ran, we should be able to easily figure out where the problem stops and starts. And if you're right about how everything played out, it should be confined to the skids that one shift ran."

Neil was a little disappointed in himself for not figuring that out on his own, but it was a brilliant idea. All he could do was pat himself on the back for having the good sense of hiring Fran and Shirley as his crew leaders. Then again, that's why he was there; to find good people that could get the job done.

It was still going to take forever, but at least now he had a chance to get the timeframe back to within a month. "Wow... great idea, girls. I'm going to call my boss. When the rest of the crew gets here, get them started with your plan and I'll be back as soon as I can."

Andy and Jeff were dumbfounded when he told them their original estimate of how long it would take wasn't even close.

"I'm telling you, if we have to do a full inspection, we're looking at least two and a half months before we're done," he said calmly, staring at the yellow legal pad on the table, the top sheet filled with scribbled calculations.

"Are you sure?" Andy asked; his voice shaking as the news settled in.

"Yeah... I've done the math three times. I'm ninety-nine percent certain. And frankly, the other one percent is leaning that way too."

"I cannot believe Conrad put us in this fucking mess!"

"I can," Jeff groaned.

"It doesn't matter now, guys. The only thing that matters is that we come up with a plan of attack. How we handle this is going to make all the difference with Rusty... and he's the key. If we can convince him we're taking the right steps, and we won't impact his ability to ship product to his customers with a lengthy inspection, we can salvage the account."

Andy chuckled defensively and said, "How about if I re-hire Conrad, and then fire him all over again? I know that would make ME feel better!"

"As great as that would be, I actually have an idea that might make this a lot more manageable. Actually, two of my new hires thought of it, and if you're open-minded to how we do the inspection, I really think it just might work."

Neil explained in detail what Shirley and Fran came up with. Jeff and Andy were totally on board with the spot inspection. In fact, like Neil, they were dumbfounded that they hadn't considered it earlier. Every skid would still be searched, and by doing it that way, the scope of the problem would be weeded out much more quickly.

"Do it, Neil! Do you need anything else from us?" Andy asked.

"For now, just two letters of recommendation for these girls," he replied with a laugh. "I'll let you know what I want them to say when the project is done."

"You got it buddy! Keep in touch."

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

Felicia sat down next to Ann on the deck, opening a beer. "So, how are you holding up?"

"Not good," she replied, drinking a large glass of lemonade.

"It's that bad?" she asked, wrinkling her nose.

Neil had been gone almost five weeks, but it seemed so much longer. She knew the end was coming. He'd been on the phone almost every night, giving her updates, letting her know where things stood. Sometimes it was intolerable, the news never seeming to change. But the last week they'd made some headway. They'd finished the inspection of all of the skids from the other crews. And true to the theory, they were all good. The only ones that were bad were the ones from Conrad's shift.

That meant Neil could put everyone on fixing the bad ones, and the two extra bodies made it go much smoother, but it was still a tedious task. The stickers had to be placed precisely in the right position, and that precision took time.

But things had sped up, because Fran was taking charge just like Shirley, and having two of them pushing the rest of the temporary staff was getting the job done. It wasn't going to be the two plus months he feared when he first saw the daunting task ahead of him, but it was certainly going to be every bit of the six weeks he was originally told it would be.

Sitting up, Ann sighed. "You know, I didn't think it would be this hard."

"I know what you mean, Ann. You just miss things being normal."

"Normal would be nice. I can't sleep," she whined, a tear appearing in her eye. "I wish he was here."

"He will be soon enough, sweetheart. Can I make you anything to eat?"

"No... my schedule is all screwed up right now. It's like when he started shift work... that first time he went to third shift. I sleep when I should eat. I eat when I should sleep. At least it seems that way."

"I don't know what the shift work is like. But I do know how you're feeling. Insomnia is hard. Like I said though, he'll be coming home soon."

"I know Felicia. And everyone's been so incredible. Carol has been here. Sam's come up. Heather stopped by a couple of times. And then there's you... I really don't know what I'd do without you."

"We love you Ann. We just want to make sure you're okay."

"I'll be fine. I just need some sleep. It would be nice if I could get more than a few hours at a time. I keep waking up. I miss him next to me. He calms me."

"Do you want me to get you a vibrator?" she laughed. "A good orgasm always makes me want to sleep."

"Hell, if that's the case, you should be in a coma by now," she teased.

Her grin was instantaneous, Ann's sharp wit finding the mark once again. "Funny. I was being serious."

"I know you were. And if I thought that would really help, I'd tell you to get me one. But I already feel guilty enough as it is about being with all the women I've been with while he's has been gone," she smiled. "Carol has really outdone herself tying to keep me occupied. But you know why I had to stop. No matter how I feel, he's the one that's really suffering."

"I thought you said he got together with Tina."

"Tina... and Matt," she replied with a cocked eyebrow. "They all went to the Indy Speedway to watch some practice runs over the weekend. But that's all they did. It wasn't like Tina went down there by herself just to fuck him. They went to the racetrack, and then they went out to dinner. He's also gone up two of the weekends to see his folks... and mine. He said he felt like he was in college again, going home to do his laundry."

"That's hilarious."

"I suppose. But if he's had an orgasm while he's been away, it's from jacking off."

"Ouch."

"I know. That's kind of why I felt so much guilt. Normally when we've been apart the scales are still balanced. I wish I would have found a way to take care of him. I feel like I've let him down."

"I think you know better than that. Plus, you're not sleeping. You really should let me make you cum. Or at least let me get that vibrator so you can do it yourself."

"I'm okay, Felicia. Honestly. I'm just exhausted right now, that's all."

"I think it's a bit more than that, but I'll stop pestering. So, tell me about your latest blowjob class."

"HA! It's not a blowjob class. It's a class on the art of fellatio."

"Semantics. How did it go?"

"We'll see later this week when I start getting the response cards back. But they were enthusiastic. It helps that several of them were friends," she said, thinking of how three more of her Super Bowl party girls showed up for the latest tutorial. "That seemed to make everyone relax a bit."

"And how did you do?"

"I did fine. That was two weeks ago. I wasn't nearly as big a mess then as I am now," she said with a hearty laugh.

"Hey girls," Samantha called out as she walked onto the deck. "How are you Ann?"

"I'm fine. Will everyone stop worrying about me... please?"

"I'm not worried. I'm just curious, and nosy. You know that. I really just came over to see if you wanted to play around," she winked.

"Not right now, Sam. Thanks for asking."

"I DO," Felicia giggled, raising her hand.

Ann got up, smiling as she walked toward the house to answer the phone. "Don't let me stop you. I'll be back in a minute. Make yourselves at home."

"Okay."

When she returned a few minutes later, she stood at her French door, staring at her two neighbors. They were on a cushion on the floor of the deck, their clothes scattered about. Samantha was on her back, Felicia's face between her legs, worming her tongue inside the warm, wet pussy in front of her.

"I have got to be more careful with what I say," she smiled, shaking her head. "I'm beginning to wonder if introducing the two of you was a good idea" she laughed, walking back toward her lounger.

"Sure you don't want to join us?" Samantha grinned, holding Felicia's head to her pussy."

Sitting next to them, she picked up her lemonade and had a sip. "Yeah, I'm sure."

"Never thought I'd see the day you'd turn down an orgasm," she teased.

Ann sighed, staring off into the distance, "It doesn't feel right. None of this feels right. Fuck, I don't feel right."

"Aw shit... I'm sorry, Ann. I totally forgot."

"It's okay, Sam... I know it's weird. Neil keeps telling me not to worry about it, and that I should just have fun. But it seems wrong to. Maybe I'd feel differently if I was getting any sleep. The bed feels so empty. I can't smell him on the sheets anymore. I finally caved and changed them yesterday."

"I'd tell you how disturbing it is that you didn't change your sheets for five weeks, but I think I'd have done the same," Felicia confessed. "And you know most of this is brought on by choosing to deal with everything yourself while Neil's gone. You could have called him."

"Yeah. I guess. It's been so long since I lived on my own, I actually thought it would be good for me to handle everything myself. He's already got so much going on. I figured if I shouldered the load, he'd be able to concentrate on what he's doing and he'd get to come home sooner. But like I said... there's guilt. It's one of the reasons I'm not sleeping. I keep second-guessing myself."

"Well, that ship has already sailed, Ann. You can't undo that decision now. Even if you could, at this point it would end up worse."

"You're probably right."

"There's no 'probably' about it. I'm right and you know it. The part I don't get is why you're punishing yourself. Let us help you cum, sweetie."

"As nice as that sounds, I've already gotten myself in that frame of mind. Besides, if there's one thing I've learned, it's patience. Becoming Annabelle for over a week saw to that. I'll cum when Neil gets home. I'm sure you'll both hear me screaming that night."

"You said it should be soon, right?" Samantha asked.

"Another week, I hope. I really miss that fat cock of his. Until then, I think I'll just kick back and enjoy watching the two of you."

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

Neil took Fran and Shirley into a conference room at the distribution center. Rusty had set him up in there, making it into a makeshift office for him to use while he was on site. He had them sit down at the table across from him, a broad smile on his face.

"So... how did you like the assignment?" he asked.

"It was great," Shirley said quickly.

"I'm a little sad it's almost done," Fran responded, her honesty written on her face. "I've had a really great time working for you, Neil."

He sat back, clasping his hands behind his head as he relaxed for the first time in what seemed like weeks. "I think it would be more accurate to say you worked with me, Fran. Both of you... I can't tell you how much easier this has been because of you."

Shirley remained chipper, her boundless energy and enthusiasm spilling out like it always did. Her intellect, work ethic and infectious optimism reminded him of Ann in a lot of ways. "We were happy to help."

Fran was a lot like Carol; organized, extremely resourceful, and loyal to a fault.

It didn't hurt that they were both cute, and like Neil, they had business degrees from his alma mater. Fran nodded in agreement. "Yeah... just sorry it has to end."

"So, what are your plans after this?" he wondered.

Fran spoke for both of them when she said, "We don't know. We've been looking for a way to get into something like this. It's been an incredible experience... just what we were hoping to add to our resume. Is that still alright?"

"Oh, absolutely," he said with a grin. "I gave you my word." Pulling several pieces of paper, he slid three of them across the table to each of the girls. "Here are your letters of recommendation."

"Letters?" Shirley said, picking up one of them.

"Yep. There's one from me, one from Rusty here at the distribution center, and one from the VP of my company."

"Andy," Fran nodded as she read hers.

"That's terrific," Shirley said, bouncing in her chair.

"Yeah, well, we're still going to have to move. We've been looking for months without a bite. I need more than a temp job, Shirley. We both do... we have student loans to pay."

"So there's nothing around here?" Neil asked.

"Not that we've found. That's why we've been talking about moving. But just starting out, we were hoping to remain roommates so we could cut down on some of the expenses. You know... share the rent and utilities?"

"I've been there," he nodded. "So, where would you move to?"