Catalyst

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krr1957
krr1957
1,561 Followers

The following morning I bit the bullet and asked Andrea to come in and see me. She still looked stiff, as if she was recovering from a particularly strenuous workout, and she took her seat very gingerly.

I was tempted to quiz her on her infirmity, just to see how she would reply, but I spared her the embarrassment.

"Levensons have placed an order with us."

She looked as surprised as I was on hearing the news.

"But that's good isn't it...?"

It took a few seconds for her thought process to lead her.

"...You don't think it was anything to do with me."

"I don't think you would be as crass as to pursue it after I made myself clear but have you mentioned it to anyone else?"

She looked genuinely affronted.

"Of course not. You ask us to speak our minds during the brain storming sessions. I got the message loud and clear."

"You're sure about this? You haven't let it slip in conversation with anyone?

"No. Of course I haven't"

If she was lying she was making a damn fine job of it. I tried another tack.

"You've looked after Jade for a couple of the induction sessions. Is there a chance she picked up on it."

The mention of Jade's name jolted her but she quickly regained her composure.

"Absolutely not. I was showing her the mechanics. There was no mention of particular clients."

I somehow believed her and let her take her leave. When I saw a copy of the Levinsons order later in the day there were no contact details but I noted that they had not even signed up on introductory terms. They had been quoted, and accepted, the less generous standard terms.

I put a call through to my IT systems geek and asked him to check out the e-mail to Ben Kaye. He came back minutes later to tell me that it had gone out from one of the hot desks using our generic e-mail address.

When I read the text I became even angrier. It could easily have been interpreted as having originated with me but it was very cleverly constructed to suggest that we knew what he was already paying and that we could "audit his costs".

I saw Jade's hand at work and there was an element of grudging admiration. She was even sharper than she appeared.

The problem was that I still had no definitive proof and, worse still, I did not know where she was sourcing her leads. I rang through and asked Melanie to step in.

"Has anyone outside the marketing team asked to see the minutes of the meetings recently?"

At that fateful moment I saw her normally happy countenance slip and I realized, with a sense of dread, that Jade was invading the company like a virus. As she stood there in guilty silence a single tear broke from her eye and I stood up and offered her a tissue.

"I am so sorry."

I could not be angry with her knowing that, to some extent, I too had been infected. She began to sob and, without thought, I put an arm around her shoulder.

"I didn't mean to let you down."

She held on tightly to me with her head against my chest and I felt the wetness of her tears as her body shook pitifully. I gently stroked her hair and shushed her as she raised her face to mine.

She looked frightened as her eyes flitted across mine seeking reassurance. I could not say what made me do it but I kissed her gently on the forehead. She nestled her head again but she was now visibly calmer.

We remained like that for a few seconds but I was conscious of the need to find out from her exactly what had transpired. I gently eased her away but her eyes locked with mine once more. Her expression was unreadable but there was something deeply searching.

I was unsure what to say but I was forestalled as she brought her lips to mine. It was the merest touch but it conveyed so much more than words. Now it was my turn to evince anxiety but she was emboldened.

I felt the tip of her tongue moistening my lips and then our mouths were joined. I could taste the slight sweetness of her lipstick and there was a hint of coffee on her breath but my overall impression was one of infinite softness.

She kissed more gently than any man, sealing our mouths as one whilst her tongue traced the shape of my lips.

My mind was in turmoil but it was counterpointed, and soothed, by her languid touch. I surrendered to her as she slowly opened her mouth, enticing me to mirror her, and then her tongue touched mine.

It was not an invasion but a courtship; her tongue fluttered as she awaited my invitation. In the past few days I had done things which had terrified me, as much as they had excited, but nothing more so than this.

There was a tenderness here reserved for lovers and I was completely taken off guard; my mind seemed to float free as I yielded to her allowing her to caress my tongue with hers.

Until that moment in time I had never understood the attraction of a prolonged kiss but this was something beyond my experience. We were engaged in a beautiful oral dance with Melanie effortlessly taking the lead and, like the movements of a dance, it hinted at something more.

I had so many questions that I wanted to ask but in the turmoil of intimacy I could not frame a coherent thought. I finally willed myself to break our embrace and I looked at her anew.

She was a beautiful young woman and, in a distant echo of my mother, I knew that she had done some catalogue modelling to help fund her way through university. Her dark hair was lightened by the sun and contrasted with the intense brown of her eyes. Her cute nose and upper cheeks were dusted with freckles and her sensuous mouth had taken on a new significance.

Her toned physique put me in mind of a tennis player but she preserved her lovely feminine curves. She had often spoken of getting her breasts enhanced but I had told that she had no need; she was modestly endowed but she was beautifully shaped.

The silence between us was awkward but there was a determination about her now as if a decision had been reached and she was happy to damn the consequences.

As her hand reached for the buttons of my blouse I brought up my own to hold her in check only for her to brush it away. She held my eyes as she worked each button in turn and then she slid the blouse from my shoulders.

My unease must have conveyed itself for, in an effort to restore the equilibrium, she took off her jumper and then slowly removed her bra.

Her breasts fulfilled their promise as her dark nipples responded to the change in temperature. I could see that she was happy with my approval and she stepped forward to kiss me lightly as her nimble fingers dispensed with my bra.

She had to move to let fall away to the floor but as she melded with me once more I could feel my own nipples responding as they brushed against hers.

I put my arms around her but I knew that, in part, I was trying to slow things down and make sense of it all. Unheedful of my concern she released the fastenings of my skirt and I pressed myself more closely to her to keep it in place.

Our movements became almost playful as she moved her hips and I tried to stay with her but slowly, inexorably, my skirt dropped to the floor.

It pooled inelegantly at my feet and I slipped off my shoes and stepped out of it. This left Melanie standing a little taller than me in her high heels and she immediately removed them to re-establish the slight difference in our height.

She held me close again as if to convince herself that it was real and then I felt her hands travelling slowly down my back. Her fingers slipped into the waistband of my panties and at the same time she began to kneel so that they were gradually pulled down my legs.

In some odd way I felt more comfortable completely naked than I had half undressed but I shivered as Melanie kissed my stomach almost reverentially. A second kiss, slightly lower, made me gasp as she reached up to test the weight of my breasts and then she whispered.

"You are so beautiful..."

There was something in the way she said it, a heartfelt sincerity that heated my blood and made me feel light headed.

She began to kiss my thighs with the slow deliberation of someone assured of the prize and I could feel my sex beginning to swell. It seemed an age before she reached my mons and the tender caress of her hands made me feel like a goddess.

The touch of her tongue against my pouting labia was so delicate that, at first, I barely felt it but with awareness came a sense of excitement heightened beyond measure. She paused for a moment and brushed the very fringes of my lips with the back of my finger.

"Exquisite...."

When I was younger I sometimes worried that men might find my sex off-putting but as I matured I laughed off my childish misgivings . I was what nature had made me and, to my mind, I represented the epitome of femininity.

Melanie trailed butterfly kisses from the base to the apex I could feel my sex weeping in welcome. She used the tip of her tongue to take up this offering and, as she caught my eye, her expression was one of unalloyed bliss.

That look triggered something deep inside, something much more than mere gratification. I had grown close to this young woman over the relatively short period of our acquaintance but it was now as if I were seeing her with my eyes fully open.

I held her shoulders and urged her to her feet seeing a flash of fear in her eyes. I embraced her reassuringly and, as we kissed again, I helped to remove the remainder of her clothes.

When she was naked I returned the compliment and knelt before her and I understood something of what she had felt. Her mound was almost arrogantly pronounced and split by a long well defined crease. The beautifully pink tips of her labia were revealed with a suggestive swelling at the crown.

I lingered for a moment and breathed the scent of her. Underlying the muskiness of her familiar perfume she exuded the tiniest hint of nervousness but most potent of all was the heady evidence of arousal.

A single kiss was enough to bring the taste of her to my lips, a definite tang which slowly mellowed enticing my tongue into play. I tried to lick her with the same skill that she had demonstrated but it took all of my self-control to stop from eating her whole.

Within moments she was leaking copiously and I broke away from time to time to lick up the glistening tracks of moisture from inside her thighs. I was lost in a closed world of sexual abandon and was only slowly aware that she was shaking.

When I looked up at her she had tears of unadulterated joy on her face and some instinct brought me to my feet to hold her close.

We remained that way for some time rocking together almost imperceptibly and then I took her hand and lead her to the sofa.

Still holding her I depressed the pedal which dropped the arms of the sofa converting it into a day bed and then I laid her down.

We spent a long time just kissing one another and becoming more familiar with one another's bodies but then she slid from beneath me and turned herself around. Her hot breath reignited me and I almost swooned at the feel of her tongue but she slowly relaxed, letting me bear her weight, as she presented her sex to my mouth.

I felt as if my life had been leading me towards this moment. There was a beauty to the collocation of our bodies and the simultaneous taking and receiving of pleasure. It was a perfect circuit with our tongues the switches and rheostats controlling the flow of mutual gratification.

We took our time with Melanie telling me with her tongue what she enjoyed most and I did my best to emulate her. Sometimes she eased her sex away from me to concentrate fully on my pleasure and then she would settle more heavily on my face to allow me to return the compliment.

I loved the things she could do to me but perhaps even more I revelled in what I could do for her. Her thighs were slick with perspiration and arousal but with my hands on her perfect derrière I held her tight closing myself off from the world and drowning in the heat and scent of her.

With her guidance we were able to come together and it was if my orgasm was multiplied by being shared with hers. We both lay exhausted, our breathing harmonized, and it was long minutes before we stirred to life.

There were many implications, and ramifications, arising from what had just taken place but I felt totally at peace. The thrill of it brought another smile to my face and now it was my turn to adjust our positions. We remained in a comfortable soixante-neuf, but now with me on top, and then I settled my mouth to her sex determined to draw out our second orgasm for as long as I possibly could.

Chapter 7

The next morning I called Jade to the conference room.

"I think you know why I've asked for this meeting. I hoped that the parameters of your job were clear to you but you have overstepped the mark to a degree that is not in the best interests of the company.

She seemed completely unfazed.

"You don't welcome the new business I brought in?"

"It is not just a matter of volumes there are other factors to consider. I genuinely admire your spirit but your methods leave a lot to be desired. I believe that it will be best for both of us if we part company.

There is a cheque in this envelope for severance pay, I think you'll find I've been generous, and I will be happy to give you a reference."

She took the envelope without opening it and smiled at me.

"Even more expensive for you after you've paid out on your bet."

I looked at her dumbfounded but she simply turned on her heel and left the room.

Her comment preyed on my mind and I was anxious to get in touch with Geraldine to smooth out any misunderstandings but she was on her fortnight's holiday and completely out of contact save for emergencies.

Notwithstanding, I sent her a text saying that I would catch up with her as soon as she got back.

With Jade now dealt with I turned my mind to Melanie. I had told her to take the day off but arranged to meet up with her for a drink after work with a view to sorting things out.

She was on my mind for most of the day and I was the first to arrive at the bar. When she walked in a few minutes later she looked perfectly relaxed and her simple white summer dress, with its scooped neck and high hem line caused a few heads to turn.

She caught me off guard by kissing me familiarly on the cheek and then took a seat opposite. I had already ordered a chilled Zinfandel blush and she poured herself a glass before reaching into her handbag.

She handed me an envelope which I looked at with evident confusion. She smiled as she started to explain.

"It's my letter of resignation."

Her words struck me much more deeply than I would have expected and I struggled to find my voice.

"You don't have to do that. We can work something out."

She touched my hand across the table as she continued.

"I would probably have resigned anyway. I want to do an MBA and I've had the offer of an induction course in Brussels with the European parliament. It's four weeks and if I impress them I might be in line for a bursary to study at the LSE."

As I digested this there was a hollow feeling in the pit of my stomach and I spoke quickly.

"If it's a question of money I can provide sponsorship through the company."

"That's a kind offer but I can't work with you anymore."

For a stupid instant I felt a tear forming in my eye. I picked up my glass and took a generous swig to cover my embarrassment.

She leaned closer her hand now covering mine.

"What happened between us, last night, it's something I've dreamed of for a long time. I've had a crush on you almost from the day I started and my feelings have only grown deeper.

I wasn't sure if you could ever reciprocate but now that it's out in the open I want to give you some time and space to think about it."

There was no doubting the import of what she was saying but my mind could not focus and my heart was beating wildly. My words when they came out were just half formed thoughts.

"But I thought you were..."

She filled in the blanks.

"Straight? I have a lot of male friends and it suited me to let you draw your own conclusions. I wasn't sure about you, not until recently. I suspected that you didn't know yourself and I didn't want to encourage you in any way."

"So what changed?"

"It was Jade. God knows how she figured it out but she threatened to reveal that I was in love with you. I didn't want you to hear it like that. That's why I agreed to leave her alone in the office with the latest minutes. I know, now, that it was a stupid thing to do."

It was relief to hear that her dealings with Jade were not as sordid as I feared but I was shaken by her candid declaration. Neither of us said anything for a moment but then she drained her glass.

I could see that she was preparing to leave and I spoke quickly.

"What happens next?"

She smiled as she picked up her bag.

"You'll promote Maggie to fill my job and then, hopefully, you'll ask me out on a date."

With that she left and then, for the first time in years, the company ceased to be the most important thing on my mind. For two or three days I struggled to concentrate as I tried to come to terms with the situation.

I had never seen myself as the marrying type and, as far as children went, they were fine as long as they were someone else's. I enjoyed sex but there had never been an emotional commitment and I realized that it was only in the past few weeks that I was truly alive.

I felt like a hormonal teenager as I booked a restaurant and theatre tickets before picking up the phone to Melanie who simply said.

"What took you so long?"

We went out three times in quick succession whilst we spent long hours truly getting to know one another. Strangely, we did no more than hold hands and kiss but I found in this a contentment that I had not known for years. When she left for Brussels it was if we were being tested but, for my part, as I saw her off at the train station I felt a void inside that was almost physically painful.

I resigned myself to the four week separation and focused on the business once more.

Things were going well until a few days before Melanie's scheduled return.

Andrea broke the news that we were losing Kappel, one of our biggest German accounts. She found out, on the grapevine, that Geraldine was getting the business and my immediate thought was that this was tit for tat for Levinson's.

I had not wanted to explain the misunderstanding over the phone and so I left messages for Geraldine to get back to me when she had an evening free. That she had not called was not unusual, she consistently worked even longer days than I did, but now I feared that she had seen Levinsons as a declaration of war.

This was a situation that I was desperate to avoid and so, taking a chance, I left the office late and called at her apartment. She was a long time answering the doorbell and I was about to give it up when the door opened.

I had clearly caught her in the shower as she stood in a short flannel gown whilst still towelling her hair. She looked set to give her caller a piece of her mind but when she saw it was me her expression softened.

"Come on in."

We made small talk, which consisted mainly of me listening to her holiday anecdotes, whilst she brewed coffee. When it was poured we sat together in the spacious living area and I broached the subject uppermost on my mind.

"The girl I took on was...over enthusiastic. She made some calls that I did not authorise and I think some damage was done."

"You did better than me. Mine turned out to be a total dunce. I had to let her go which means that you win the bet but I get the prize."

I looked at her uncomprehendingly and then something clicked.

"She came to you for a job didn't she?"

"She certainly has chutzpah and she seems to have Levensons round her finger. They gave her an informal reference."

krr1957
krr1957
1,561 Followers