Engineering a Perfect Solution

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A long and complex marriage grows to new dimensions.
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TexasFarmBoy
TexasFarmBoy
1,183 Followers

My name is Allen Culbertson and my wife is named Crys. We have been married for twelve years that I can honestly say we have been very happy. I work at a major manufacturing company as the department manager in their mechanical engineering department and Chris is a demographic analyst for an advertising agency. We have no children yet. But today, I have a problem; no, I have a major problem. Through a series of errors in judgment, I have put my marriage and my career on the line and the piper is about to demand his due.

It would be very easy to blame the whole thing on fate or someone like my long time friend, Jerry Altiori; but like most things in this life, that would be a failure to admit my own responsibility. I guess I need to tell you about Jerry and I and it will take awhile.

He and I met in college. I was in the mechanical engineering program and he was in the electrical engineering. We met in our freshman year as roommates and then became friends. He was typically Italian and outgoing even to the point of being a little brash. On the other hand, I was more soft spoken and reserved. Our friendship allowed me to open up a little and I could also say that I could temper his ultra-enthusiasm on a number of occasions. At least three of those occasions occurred when he was certain that he was deeply and madly in love with a girl who I knew was at best a serial flirt and at worst, a slut.

To my benefit, his personality forced me out of my shell frequently and as a result, I had a social life during college. He would easily pick up a girl in a club or even in the student center. She usually had a girl friend nearby and I was the designated cover man to insure him time to work on his primary target. As a consequence, I met a number of very attractive and nice girls and we often found enough similarities to enjoy each other's company for a month or two. My sex life was probably double or perhaps triple what it would have been had I not been Jerry's cover man.

This more or less came to an end in our senior year. He set his sights on a beautiful advertising major named Melissa. Truthfully, I almost wished that she would be turned off by his enthusiastic rush and that I would have gladly made an effort for her attention too. Unfortunately, that did not happen; she ate his charm, wit, and banter up like a platter of hot wings. In the background was a quiet blonde named Crystal who preferred to be called Crys. She was majoring in Statistics with a minor in Marketing. She already knew that she wanted to get into demographic analysis. She and Melissa were also roommates.

The upshot was that the four of us spent about 90% of our time together outside of class. We went through graduation together and then went on a weeklong celebration to Aruba together. When we came back, Jerry and I started working at the company where we are still employed today. A month later, Melissa was hired by an advertising agency in town and Crys found an entry level position with a television station in their programming department. We continued to get together as Jerry and I shared an apartment and Crys and Melissa did likewise. The difference was that more often than not, Crys came to our apartment while Jerry went to their apartment. This gave Crys and I enough alone time to finally get to know each other better on a personal rather than just a social level. We discovered that we liked each other a lot and that turned into love. We got married the following spring with you know who as best man and maid of honor.

Jerry and Melissa waited another six month before they tied the knot at a big, splashy Italian wedding. Crys and I served as their primary attendants also. With that, our lives lost some of its spontaneity and exuberance. All of us were very involved with our jobs and careers and had begun to assume more and more responsibility as well. We still got together almost every weekend though. Jerry and I continued to see each other daily at work and Crys and Melissa got together for lunch a couple of times each week since the station and Melissa's agency were only a few blocks apart.

In our third year of marriage, I got my first big promotion and a raise that allowed us to buy our first house. Jerry was also promoted and they decided to move to a high rise condo in the upscale part of downtown. This highlighted the difference between us. Crys and I preferred the slower and less hectic life in a suburb rather than the flashing lights of downtown. Our drives to work were farther, but we felt better with a yard and garden and our own solid ground.

During our fifth year together, Crys was approached by a major advertising support company to join their expanding demographic department as the manager of their growing internet business. She was basically at the top of her potential at the station until her boss retired which was at least ten years in the future. She took the job offer and took over a department of young hot shots eager to conquer the internet. At 28, she was the old woman of the department. Somehow, she was able to get and hold their attention well enough to turn her babies into a very effective group. Two years later, her company merged with Melissa's growing agency and once again the two roommates were together on a daily basis.

After two more promotions, I was the head of the mechanical department and Jerry was at a similar level in electrical. In our new capacities, we spent more time reviewing projects than doing hard engineering. We also had to travel frequently to the home office to present status reports and the like to our ultimate bosses. Our joint get-togethers became more like monthly get-togethers because of our travel schedules. When we were in town, Jerry and I usually had a boy's night out while our wives had a girl's night out. I couldn't speak for our wives, but Jerry and I usually used our time out together to blow off some of our stress at ball games, golf, and things like that. We would revert to our college personas and bullshit each other and look at all of the available girls and offer our commentary on their potential. Neither one of us acted on anything, but reliving those days of freedom was therapeutic for both of us.

Personally, Crys and I were happy in our house, but during one of the frequent housing upheavals and recessions, we found a bigger house that was on the verge of foreclosure and we were able to arrange a deal to buy it at a greatly reduced price and were able to move while having a mortgage that was virtually the same as our previous one. Our smaller house sold quickly as many people were urgently trying to downsize. Now we had a larger house, a larger yard, and a swimming pool with hot tub to relax in. We also lived less than a mile from the lake and that allowed us to pursue a dream that both of us shared. We took sailing lessons and loved it. The next spring, we bought a 25 ft sailboat and kept it at the local marina.

Melissa and Jerry had also moved, but into a larger condo in downtown and they were frequent hosts of dinner parties for Melissa's clients. We were often invited, but only accepted about half of those offered.

That pretty well describes how our two families were locked and interlocked on the fateful day that all of this started. It was in early spring when the trees were just beginning to bloom and thankfully, the weather was finally into the 70's consistently. I had returned from a trip on a Friday afternoon. That night, Jerry and I went to one of the first baseball games at the stadium. We fought the Friday traffic and were seated behind the dugout when the game started. As most early season games were, there were a lot of mistakes and a few good plays. Ultimately, we lost in the ninth inning when our reliever gave up three straight gopher balls that disappeared into the night.

As we started the drive back to town, Jerry asked, "Have you seen the gift from heaven that dropped into our laps this week?"

I looked and sounded confused. "What are you talking about? I didn't get back until noon and didn't even go into the office."

"My friend, we now have a drop dead gorgeous blonde working in the engineering department as of Wednesday. Rumor has it that she spent a month at corporate and then was sent here. I just caught a glimpse of her this afternoon and she will definitely get your motor running."

"Crys gets my motor running and you know it."

"I know; I know, but this is the stuff that fantasies are made of, especially for guys who have been married for more than ten years."

"Keep it in your pants, Jerry. This is beginning to sound the Jerry who chased anything in a skirt in college. I will tell you right now, don't; I repeat, do not fall in love with this fantasy. Melissa will cut your balls off, Crys will cut you into little pieces, and I will be required to bury you in five or six different places."

"I know, but wait until you see her first. I'll tell you what; she was looking for you today about an old project. You will probably see her first thing Monday morning. Meet me for lunch and tell me that I am wrong. If you can that, I will let it go."

"Fine, I will be happy to meet her and tell you that you are wrong."

"We'll see." He grinned that grin that I knew all too well. He had a target in his cross hairs. We changed the subject until he dropped me off at 11:30. Crys was still up after having spent the evening with Melissa and one of their sorority sisters.

"Hi. How was your evening?" I asked.

"Actually, it was better than usual. We had drinks and dinner with Penelope. She is still a hoot. She is getting ready to go on the road for two months. They are going to shoot about half her shows on the road and then she is going to be making visits to a list of garden centers to promote her program."

"From what I have heard, "In the House and Garden with Penelope" is doing very well."

"It is; but the numbers show that she still isn't hitting the Midwest like she should. So she is going to make a swing up there. She is also excited; she hasn't been on the road for some time. I think she likes to meet new guys. She is wearing the local guys out."

"She is a handful."

Crys grinned and innocently replied, "How would you know that? You didn't meet her until after we met."

"I have a vivid imagination."

She laughed loudly. "That's bullshit; you are an engineer. Drop those clothes and let's go skinny dipping before we go to bed."

I had forgotten Jerry and my conversation by Monday morning, but promptly at 9:00, there was a knock on my office door. "It's open; come on in." I responded.

When the door opened, I immediately stood up and remembered every word Jerry had said. She was every bit of a drop dead gorgeous woman. Tall, dark hair, dark eyes, slender figure with all of the right places in their right places. She also was dressed more for a sorority function than an engineering department but then, everyone has to have a flaw or two. Mine was that I was suddenly tongue tied. The fact that she was smiling a naturally warm smile didn't help at all.

"Come in and have a seat." I finally managed to sputter. "I am Allen...Allen Culbertson. What can I do for you?"

She grinned like she was familiar with the routine.

"Please relax. I don't bite. My name is Heather; Heather Harlowe." She thrust out her hand and I shook it eagerly."

"Welcome Heather Harlowe. I take it that you are new?" I couldn't for the life of me to think of anything suave or catchy to say."

"You were out of town all last week. I assume that you haven't checked your e-mail yet. I graduated in January from UT and have spent the last two months at the corporate office going through their engineering and management training programs. They transferred me here last week. I actually started Wednesday."

"Wonderful. I have a feeling that you will be a welcome addition to the engineering department."

"Thanks; everyone has been very nice especially the guys; but then their eyes have been very busy too. I have to apologize. I flew down and most of my things are being shipped here. I only brought a few dresses with me. My normal work clothes are supposed to arrive today. Tomorrow, I will be in more work appropriate attire."

"I have no problem with what you are wearing right now, but I do agree that you will probably be more comfortable in something more casual. The electrical guys can keep their hands clean; the mechanical guys get their hands dirtier."

"Tell me about it. In school, the electrical guys could wear a white shirt all day in the lab and go out at night without changing. The mechanical guys would have to shower with a Brillo pad and change before they could go out."

"Then you understand the difference perfectly. By the way, which department are you in?"

She smiled, "Neither and both." I raised my eyebrow. "That is one of the unresolved issues. My degree is in a new area called Engineering Integration. Basically, I took four different types of engineering courses. I can't sit down and design a mechanical device like you can, but when your design and the electrical or other designs come together, I look and make sure that they will fit and work together. By doing this, we should be able to reduce the amount of time spent by one department haggling with another department over what will work best. I will review both sides and if I see problems, I will bring it to everyone's attention and work out a good solution."

I looked surprised and then said, "You are going to be a very busy girl. Here, we have twenty projects going on and the electrical side has over thirty and it seems like every day, there are two or three integration meetings and they aren't short. It is only going to get worse because we are having more and more requirements to integrate the mechanical products with processors and computers coming up."

"I know. The current things are what they hope I can resolve. And the digital integration is what I specialized in. As a result, I really don't have a permanent department. On a daily basis, I am to split time working with you and Mr. Altiori but for now, I report directly to Mr. Reynolds. As we find out how things will work, he will decide where I fit best. So, you can tell me what to do, but you can't yell at me." She smiled that killer smile again and I felt a tingle in a place that engineers seldom feel a work.

"I can't imagine yelling at you for anything. So, what do we need to do first? I see that you have a set of drawings in your hand."

She was looking directly at me while I was trying to avoid staring at anything below her chin. She smiled and replied, "Yes. This was sent down from Corporate with me to take a look at first. This was a project you worked on eight years ago. It didn't work but for the life of me, I can't see why it won't. Everything looks right."

She stood and rolled out the drawings on my desk. She had to bend forward as she did this and the top of her dress fell away and I was looking directly at her bra encased breasts. If I had to engineer a perfect pair of breasts, all I would have to do would be to take a mold of hers. She broke that moment by coming around and standing next to me so she could point things out. Now I could smell the fresh aroma of her body and I was just as mesmerized by that.

I put my eyeballs back where they belonged and focused on the prints. The project immediately came back to me. "Ah yes, this is one that I try to forget, but can't."

She had her work face on now. "What is the story on it?"

"We had a customer who needed this on really short notice; like eight weeks from 'go' to handing them a working prototype. I busted my ass on it and got the mechanical part done. The problem came up when we tried to put the controller in the box. It wouldn't fit. We were only talking about less than half an inch, but the cable connectors available at the time were just too long. We couldn't change the size of the box and the electrical guys couldn't find a way to make the board or connectors smaller. We gave them the prototype on time, but we had to mount a separate box on the outside to fit the connectors on it. The customer said that it worked fine, but that they couldn't use it with the extra box. I think that it was a military thing; they never said. So we rolled up the drawings and went on to the next project. Our prototype is still around here somewhere."

"Great! Can we find it today or tomorrow?" There was excitement in her voice.

"Sure. I can look around after I check my e-mail. Why is this important?"

"From what I was told, someone else picked it up and delivered a working prototype that didn't have the electrical problems, but their mechanical part hasn't been very reliable. We have been given the opportunity to take another look at it and provide another prototype. If the customer likes it, we might be in line for a production run."

"Ok, the e-mails can wait. Do you want to look with me?"

"I really would like to see what is still hanging around, but I need to meet Mr. Altiori. Can you introduce me to him first?"

I couldn't help but grin before I replied, "If I didn't like you, I would tell you to go out anywhere and ask where the Italian Stallion sits. But I like you, so I will take you there and save you the giggles. By the way, his wife calls him her Italian goofball."

She grinned her fatal grin again and replied, "I get the picture; I knew a lot of guys like that at the University. They thought that they were God's gift to women and most of the women thought that they were God's way of keeping us humble."

I grinned and replied, "No comment."

"Uh huh. I thought so. You must be his best friend and your job is to keep him out of trouble."

"I try." I replied with a sigh. That earned me a laugh and if her smile didn't charm me, her laugh definitely did.

We walked the fifty feet to Jerry's office. It wasn't that hard to find, but it was tucked away behind a long row of drawing cabinets. As usual, I didn't knock but just walked in. Jerry looked up and asked, "Have you met that hot new chick..." I guess that Heather had just entered behind me and Jerry caught himself as his eyes went into overdrive, just like mine had.

"Yes Jerry, I have met the hot new chick and her name is Heather Harlowe. Heather, this is the infamous Jerry Altiori. You will have to forgive him; he doesn't usually have egg on his face."

She laughed again and said, "I will forgive him this time. Hello, Jerry; I am Heather."

Jerry recovered, "Yes, you are. And why were you hanging around in the ME department? They can't answer the phone without getting dirty. Dressed as well as you are, you should always spend time in the Double E area where it is clean."

She turned to me and said, "We were right." Then she turned back to Jerry and said, "I already told Allen that I am only dressed this way because the rest of my clothes are still en route. Tomorrow, I will be in normal work wear."

Jerry replied while still scanning her body closely, "You can wear things like that any time you want, my dear."

I felt the need to pour a little cold water on Jerry and bring this back to earth. "Um Jerry, I am sure that Heather will tell you but for the moment, she will be working with both of us. However, she reports directly to Reynolds. From what I can tell so far, we will both be reporting to her in two years or less. Heather, I will go find that prototype. I trust that you can handle anything that Mr. Altiori throws at you. If not, just call."

She laughed again and replied, "I will tell you both right now that at the University I got hit on by half of the football and basketball teams. My sorority sisters say that I am the record holder in handing out blue balls to athletes."

TexasFarmBoy
TexasFarmBoy
1,183 Followers
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