Denise's Descent

Stumbling into the house she went directly to her bedroom and threw herself onto the bed, letting herself weep. She felt dirty, but she didn't blame Ray. She'd been the one sending the wrong signals all night. Soaking up his complements; touching his hand and arm; smiling at him. Hell, she'd practically thrown herself at him all night. She didn't blame Ray, she blamed herself. She'd been masturbating while fantasizing about him for God's sake.

The door to her room opened and her sister quietly sat on the edge of the bed. Carla didn't say anything, she just sat there. Denise rolled to her side and looked up at her sister.

"I fucked up, Carla."

Carla nodded but didn't say anything.

"I let him kiss me and I kissed him back. I thought I was so strong."

"Is that all?"

"I let him touch my tit." Denise looked at her sister. "Isn't that enough?"

"But you stopped it." Carla didn't smile, but her eyes were tender.

"Yeah. Still."

"Still nothing. You didn't cheat on Chad. You may have been tempted, you may have come close, but you didn't. You are still the pure little snowflake you've always been. Don't go and fuck up what you have with Chad by confessing to him something that never happened. Do you hear me?"

"I know. I didn't cheat, but..."

"but nothing. Did you tell Ray you were engaged?"

"Yes. He's married, but he and his wife have an open marriage."

Carla pursed her lips. "So he just assumed you and Chad do too?"

"Well, I was flirting with him." Denise shook her head.

"Men!" Carla spat out.

Denise smiled at her sister. Carla was younger than her by two years, but, in many ways, she was much more experienced than Denise. She nodded and reached for a tissue to wipe her tears.

"God, I must look like a mess."

"Guys'll do that to you."

"It wasn't Ray's fault. I teased him and flirted with him all night. No wonder he thought it was okay to kiss me. Hell, I wanted him to kiss me. God, Carla, do you know what it's like to want something forbidden so bad."

"Yes, I do, big sis. But unlike you, I wouldn't have stopped until I had his cock in my pussy."

"Geez, Carla, you are so bad." Denise immediately regretted her words. "I'm sorry, that just sounded so dirty."

"That's cause I am dirty." Carla grinned.

"Is it bad that I'm also worried that he will be mad about me rejecting him?" Denise asked softly. "I need the Fort Worth Beef account and I may have screwed it up by flirting with Ray and then rejecting him."

Carla shrugged. "If he is, he'll get over it. You didn't lie to him. He knew you were engaged." She leaned over and gave Denise a hug. "Now, you get into some comfortable clothes. We are going to watch cheesy chick flicks all night and sleep late tomorrow. It's the best way I know to forget about doing something we regret."

Sunday afternoon Chad called Denise. His voice sounded strained.

"I'm on my way back. Mom's coming with me to take care of Becky. I'm really sorry, Denise, but I'm going to be working a lot of overtime over the next couple of weeks."

"Is everything okay, Chad?" Denise asked, concerned. She'd never heard Chad sound so stressed.

"Do you remember the accident with the bleacher at work a while back? Well during the night shift on Saturday we had a grinder seize up. A bearing went out. It caused a huge problem and we lost nearly a thousand pounds of beef. I've got to figure out what is going on and get it fixed."

"It's okay, Chad. Do you need me to do anything?"

"Nah, mom's got it covered with Becky. We did get the big feeder at the ranch fixed so that'll help dad out and I got the well engine on the north section up and running. Turned out I just had to run the injectors so it only took a couple of hours."

"That's good."

"Yeah, I wish I could have got the small tractor running. I was going to work on that today before coming home."

"It's okay. Love you, Chad." And she did. She really did love him. He was everything she wanted in a man: loyal, kind, and loving. And he was a wonderful lover. Every time she was with him, it was magical. The way he was so focused on her, so giving, so gentle.

After they hung up, Denise sat and stared at her phone. She had stopped it with Ray. She'd passed the test. Now she could move forward, knowing that she could be faithful to Chad for the rest of her life. She took a deep breath and forced a smile onto her face. Nodding to herself, she curled up on the couch. She could be faithful to Chad. She would be faithful to Chad.

Monday morning she got to work early and by eight she had emailed Ray all the information he'd asked for. The morning was filled with meetings and phone calls to customers and handling a couple of minor emergencies that always seemed to plague Monday mornings. At just after two, she got a call from Terra, the company receptionist, asking her to come to the front lobby.

There on the front desk was a beautiful bouquet of yellow tulips. The card read. "Thank you! The answers you gave me let me impress the board. Here is to the start of a beautiful business relationship. Ray West - Fort Worth Beef"

Terra grinned up at her. "Someone has an admirer." She hadn't read the card.

"It's from Forth Worth Beef. They are happy with our software."

"They must be very happy to send flowers." Terra gave her a wink.

Denise blushed but before she could respond her boss, Darren Davis, popped around the corner.

"Denise," he called, "can you come to my office." He turned and disappeared back down the hallway.

"Oh well, it felt nice for a few seconds." Denise gave an exaggerated sigh and Terra laughed.

As she closed the door to Darren's office behind her, Denise felt her stomach clench. Darren was a generally unpleasant man. He expected everyone under him to do whatever it took to make the customer happy and Denise wondered which of her accounts was upset enough to have called him.

He pointed to a chair. "Have a seat, Denise." He waited until she was seated and then a smile broke out on his face. "I just got a call from Mike Jibbs over at Fort Worth Beef." Mike Jibbs was the chairman of the board for the meat packing company. "He just wanted to commend us on our customer service. It seems their account rep has gone above and beyond in making sure that the software and hardware we sold them is working properly and they couldn't be happier. Mike even said he'd be recommending Symtech to other companies looking for what we offer." He leaned back, his smile never fading. "Good Job, Denise."

She was shocked. In the four years she'd worked for Darren, he'd never told her "Good Job" before. The praise caused Denise to blush and grin like a school girl.

"Thank you, Sir. I know this is an important account."

"No." Darren shook his head. "Thank you. You have a great track record of taking difficult customers and making them happy. That is why you were given the FWB account. You have made me proud. I also spoke with their Nutritional Research manager, Ray West."

Denise's stomach tightened. What had Ray told him? Surely he hadn't mentioned kissing her.

Darren paused and looked at her before continuing, "He couldn't say enough about how hard you worked to get him answers and that all of your answers were right. He even said you answered questions he didn't even have yet and that was a huge help. Overall they are very pleased, not only with our products but with, in their words, our exceptional support and customer service."

Denise felt the air escape her lungs and realized she'd been holding her breath. Ray, obviously, had not been upset by her rejection. That made her feel better.

"Oh, one more thing, Ray West and Bob Simms are coming here on Wednesday. They want a demo of our large protein analyzer line. I want you to do the demo. Get with Engineering and get everything set up."

Denise nodded. She'd only demoed the protein analyzer once before, but she knew she could handle it.

That night she called Chad before going to bed. He sounded winded when he answered his cell phone.

"Chad," he simply said.

"Hey, lover!" Denise breathed into the phone.

"Oh, Hi, Denise." He paused and she could hear him shifting the phone. "What's up sweetheart?"

"I just wanted to talk. Do you have a minute?" Denise was disappointed in his response. He seemed distracted.

"Well, I'm still at work, but sure, I always have time to talk to you."

"You're still at work? Baby, it's ten-thirty."

"Oh, crap, really?"

"Chad, what's going on? I know there was an accident and then you told me some piece of equipment broke down, but why are you still at work?"

Chad sighed heavily. "It's not good, Denise. You met Billy Lumbar before right?"

"The kid who got married last year?"

"Yeah, him. Six weeks ago he walked in on his wife with another man. It tore him up bad. I gave him a week off to deal with it and I thought he and his wife were working it out."

"What does that have to do with you working late?"

"Well, I guess he's been more distracted than I thought. He is the mechanic that was supposed to have replaced the seals on the bleacher. Turns out he screwed it up bad and the bleacher accident was his fault. He was also the guy who did the maintenance on the grinder. He missed the worn bearing and didn't lube everything right. The grinder was his fault too. There have been other things before this too. Jack wants me to fire him, but right now Billy doesn't need that. I'm up here re-inspecting all of his work for the last two months. I've already found another piece of equipment that could have failed because of him."

"I'm sorry, Chad." Denise didn't know what to say. She knew Chad well enough to know he would work himself to death if that would save the young man's job. "Good luck, tonight. Don't worry, it will all work out okay."

"Thanks, Denise. I love you. Sorry I couldn't see you today."

"It's okay, baby. Is Becky okay? Do you need anything from me?"

"Yeah, Becky is having a blast with Mom. I think we are all set. I'm just going to finish up here and head home. I promise I'll make it up to you once all this is worked out."

"Love you too, babe. Take care. Let me know if you need anything."

By Wednesday she was feeling frustrated. She'd masturbated that morning, just to take the edge off, but thoughts of Ray had kept intruding. She'd finally relented and came to the image of Ray fucking her deeply, his lips kissing her as her orgasm peaked.

At work, she was ready for the demo and when the two men arrived she greeted them and led them into the demo room. The demo went flawlessly and Darren and Ray both were grinning by the end. The demo, it turned out, was to sell Bob Simms on their analyzers. The ones Fort Worth Beef had in their lab were getting old and they were looking to upgrade. It would be an order worth around two million dollars to replace the thirty analyzers they currently had. Bob and Darren went to Darren's office to discuss the deal leaving Ray and Denise alone.

"You did a great job on the demo, Denise." Ray smiled at her. "I knew you would."

"Thanks, Ray, and thank you for the flowers too. They are beautiful."

"So are you." He touched her arm, looking deep into her eyes.

She didn't flinch at his touch, nor did she stop him although a small voice in the back of her head urged her too. He moved a little closer and she could smell his cologne.

"Denise, I don't want you to be uncomfortable around me," Ray said softly.

She smiled up at him. Without her meaning to, her other hand went to his chest, laying softly on him.

"I'm not, Ray." She could feel her chest pounding and his touch was electrifying. "I'm glad you're not upset with me."

He smiled down at her. "I could never be upset with you." He put a hand over hers on his chest, holding it gently. "Oh, I just remembered. Coke's friend won't be able to come to the concert on Saturday. That means we have an extra ticket. You're the only other Air Supply fan I know. Would you go with us?"

"Your wife will be there?"

"Yes, and our friend, Coke."

Denise hesitated. She should at least ask Chad first. But she'd really wanted to see Air Supply in concert and this might be her last chance. The band wasn't getting any younger and who knew when they would decide to retire. If Ray's wife and friend were there, it would be safe, wouldn't it? She finally smiled up at Ray.

"I'd love to go, Ray. When does it start?"

"The concert starts at eight, but we usually go have an appetizer before the concert. We'll pick you up around six?"

Denise felt excitement bloom in her stomach. She was going to see Air Supply in concert. She told herself the excitement had nothing to do with spending more time with Ray.

Nodding, she stepped a half-step closer to him, bringing herself right up to him. "That's perfect. I can't wait."

His hand slid from her arm around her shoulders and down to the small of her back as he leaned forward. His face was turned down toward her and she tilted her head back to keep eye contact with him. Slowly their lips met and she melted into his arms. Their kiss grew passionate, their tongues entwining. His hand slid down to cup her bottom and she followed suit, sliding her free hand down over his butt, fondling him firmly. His other hand slid down her arm and onto her breast and she moaned into his mouth. She wanted him. She needed him. No thought of her fiancé entered her mind as she lost herself in Ray's kiss and caress.

Finally, after long moments, the thought of what she was doing and where she was doing it crept into her consciousness. Pushing back she sighed.

"We can't, not here. Someone might see."

Ray stepped back and smiled at her as he nodded. "I'll see you Saturday." Turning he left the demo room.

Immediately guilt swept through her. What had she just done? Why was she so helpless around this man? She didn't love him. It was just a crush. So why couldn't she resist him? She fixed her makeup using the compact from her purse and rushed back to her office. Closing the door she called her mother. If anyone knew how to help her, it would be her mom. After talking to her mother about nothing much she finally summoned her courage.

"Mom, I need to talk to you about something serious. Can I come over tonight?"

"Sure dear. I'll send your father out for a while so we can be alone."

Obviously, her mother had heard the seriousness in her voice. She didn't pry further, though. Denise was almost in tears by the time she hung up. She spent the next thirty minutes getting herself under control and just when she felt she could function again, her phone rang.

"We got the sale!" Darren was nearly shouting. "You did it, Denise. We got the sale. All two point one million dollars of it! Great job! You may have just single-handedly saved this company. We still have some work to do with contracts, but Bob was very impressed with the equipment and with you."

She knew it was an exaggeration to say she'd saved the company, but Denise still felt pride that she'd done a good job and they'd made the sale. The satisfaction from her job warred with the guilt she felt for having kissed Ray again. She felt even guiltier that when she broke the kiss she'd indicated that she would have kept kissing him in different circumstances. And she knew she would have.

That night she sat on her mom's couch, holding her hands in her lap. Her mom brought her a cup of coffee and then sat down beside her.

"Okay, Snow White, what is upsetting my beautiful princess's fairy tale? Did Chad do something?"

Snow White was an old nickname her parents used for her. Her father had once commented on how she was as pure as Snow White and it had stuck. It didn't help that she did bear a resemblance to the fairy tale princess.

"No mother, not Chad. Me." Denise was near tears again. "Oh, mom, I kissed another man last week and then today I saw him again and we kissed again."

Her mom nodded slowly. "So my little Snow White isn't so pure after all. Oh baby, everyone goes through this. I remember the first time I cheated on your father. I felt terrible for weeks."

"You cheated on dad?" Denise's eyes went wide.

"A few times. Well, more than a few, I guess. He's had his affairs too. We are human, Denise. It happens. Tell me, do you love Chad?"

Denise stared at her mother. She'd always believed her mom and dad had the perfect relationship. Her mother couldn't have shocked her more if she slapped her.

"Well, dear, do you?"

"Do I what, mother?"

"Do you love Chad?"

"Yes! I love him so much. If he found out about Ray, I'd die"

"Ray is your kisser?"

"Yes." Denise dropped her eyes.

"Do you love Ray?"

Denise shook her head. "No, that's what is so crazy. I just have this crazy crush on him, but he is married."

Grace, Denise's mother, looked at her, her face not showing any emotion. "Does his wife know about you?"

Denise shrugged. "I don't know. He says they are polyamorous. He invited me to go to a concert on Saturday with him. His wife and another friend will be going with us."

Grace nodded. "You have kissed him twice and then agreed to go to a concert with him. Doesn't seem like you are fighting this crush very hard."

"I am, mom. I really am. I'm just losing the fight."

"How many times have you jilled yourself while thinking of him?"

Denise was shocked by the question. "Mom?"

"Oh come on. How many times?"

"I don't know, several. How did you know I masturbate?"

Grace rolled her eyes. "Everyone does. It's not a big secret. So you have gotten off on the thought of this man, you've kissed him and you've agreed to go on a date with him. Are you going to fuck him?"

Denise's world was in shambles. Everything she thought she knew was crashing down around her. Her mother and father's perfect relationship was not perfect. She wasn't able to resist being seduced by Ray and her mother, rather than condemning her and setting her straight was acting almost like it was okay. She was being so matter of fact about everything Denise was telling her. Tears streamed down her face and she sobbed.

Her mother grabbed a tissue and leaned forward. "I'm sorry, princess. Come here." Her mom took her in her arms and held her close. "It's okay. Let me tell you a story."

Grace dabbed Denise's tears with the tissue and then pulled Denise closer to rest her daughter's head on her bosom.

"You're father asked me to marry him when I was twenty-two. I was young and had only had a dozen or so lovers before him. Six months after we married I met an older gentleman. He was so charming and I seduced him."

"Did father know?"

"Yes, I told him after six months of continuing my affair with Gerald. Like I said, I felt guilty. At first your father wasn't happy about it, but we talked it through. I loved Frank and didn't want to lose him, but I loved Gerald to and didn't want to lose what I had with him either. After a while Frank and Gerald became friends."

Denise pulled away from her mother. "I never knew."

"Gerald died when you were just three. A heart attack at the age of fifty-two." Grace's eyes showed the pain she felt at the memory.

"And dad was okay with you having an affair?"

"He understood. Besides, he has had his affairs as well. Do you remember Nancy Yates?"

"Yeah," Denise drew the word out.

"She and your father were intimate for several years. When she became pregnant she decided to 'settle down' and ended the affair. Frank was always honest with me about it. There have been others for both of us throughout the years. In fact, when I told Frank you needed to talk to me alone, he called his latest mistress, Rachael Wimsley, and they are on a date tonight. I'm sure he'll fuck her before he comes home."

"And you're okay with that?"

"It doesn't mean he doesn't love me. After all these years I know he does. You kissing Ray doesn't mean you don't love Chad. Listen to your heart. You still love him. I see it in your eyes when you talk about him and when I see you guys together. But you need to be honest with him."