Helen Ch. 01

Here I was, all set to start my retirement with a blank slate when that damn phone call came. Hi all! My name is Cid and I just "retired" from 20 years as a regional manager for an electronics wholesaler. I had enjoyed a fairly successful career and was rewarded financially and otherwise. However the demands of the job cost me my marriage several years ago. Luckily there were no kids so no one else besides us were hurt by it. I was just too wrapped up in my job, trying to meet goals and deadlines, getting things done, and ignored her. Stupid reasons, really. She wasn't getting the attention she deserved from me, so she took her attentions elsewhere. Lucky for her, unfortunate for me, she found someone else who gave her the attention she needed.

Anyway, back to me. With competition from the big box retailers, my former company decided to slim down its middle management layer and consolidate regions including my Hawaii region. They wanted me to stay on and manage the larger consolidated region that my territory was being folded into however that meant moving to Los Angeles. Not that I don't like LA, but it meant moving away from Honolulu; my home for more than 40-years. And it meant more slaving away at a job that was going to be even more demanding, and that had already cost me dearly. It didn't compute in my mind. So with a reasonable enough grubstake in stock options and deferred compensation, I decided to retire. My life sucked; 45 years old, "retired" and divorced.

So here I was getting ready to start spending "quality time" on the golf course when that phone call came.

"RRRINNNGGGG!" (actually it was more of a warbling sound, just that I don't know how to spell it out in a manner that you'd understand!)

"Hello?"

"Hello, Cid? Hi, my name is Kathleen over at Executive Search. Would you be interested in an opportunity to call your own shots?" she said. "We have a client who's looking for someone with your background and experience. They are branching out from the US mainland and are looking for someone to handle their Pacific Region. Interested?"

"Well Kathleen, I need to tell you that I'm really not looking for anything at the moment. In fact, the only thing I'm interested in doing for the foreseeable future is to play some golf. So tell me why I should be interested in what you have to say" I asked?

"Well, our client is a major national wholesaler who is looking for someone to be their master strategist for their new market territory. They need someone of your caliber and experience and I know that they can compensate you well; ... very well; .... very, very well. Why don't we put you and their company rep together so you two can talk."

I figured if the compensation is right, perhaps I could swing it for a couple of years. I had nothing to loose. And so my life changed; again.

It turns out that the company sold electronic equipment and parts to all sorts of industrial segments. Anything from dedicated servers for network administrators to laptops and PDA's. And they sold to everyone. Fairly large operation and the market territory was the entire Pacific basin. I would get a decent base pay plus a percentage of net earnings for the territory. Was I interested? Maybe. Did I like the compensation package? Yep! Did I like the fact that I set my own agenda? You bet!

Day one unfolded with a simple starting point. Find office space and recruit staff. I found an entire floor at the Grosvenor Center in downtown Honolulu. Not cheap, but not expensive. The downtown location gave the operation credibility and provided us convenient access to our customer base. Many of them maintained their head offices, if not regional, in the downtown area. Plus it was not far away from the airport and had all the telecommunications linkages that we would be needing.

I was allotted a fairly generous budget to get up and running so getting staffed was not going to be a monetary challenge. We would be able to afford to pay market wages. I called a local employment agency and got a line on an upper level administrative assistant type person that they could send me. Seems that she just signed up and was looking for full time employment. Her background sounded good on paper so I figured nothing to loose. Single, graduated with a BA in Business Admin with a computer background, 5-years work experience. If she didn't work out, send her back and try again. "Send her over!" I informed them.

Helen arrived the next day and knocked on the door, "Hello...?" she called out to the large vacant office.

"Hi, you must be Helen." I yelled out from a side office that I had taken as my own. "I'm in the first office on the right." I yelled out while trying to continue with a conversation I was having on my cell phone with our Chicago headquarters.

Helen walked into my office and it was a good thing that I was turned around facing the windows looking out, as I would have probably have dropped my phone! As it happened, I finished my conversation and folded up my phone, then turned around, caught sight of Helen, then dropped my phone!

Helen stood framed in the doorway. Perhaps 5' 4", maybe 100 pounds, pleasingly slender with curves in all the right places, strawberry blond, and drop dead gorgeous! She giggled as I bent to retrieve my phone, "I didn't mean to surprise you...." she said knowing all the while that she had that sort of impact on all the men that she came into contact with! Whew!

If we were going to get our work done, I would need to maintain a strictly professional relationship with her. This was going to be a challenge! It was going to tax all of my abilities to keep my male libido under control! But hey, someone's gotta make some sacrifices!

Over the course of the next couple of days, I was pleased to find Helen to be a consummate professional. She handled things efficiently and with little instruction. As questions came up, she would inquire with me to clarify or get answers, then proceed to get things done. As the weeks rolled by, we got our office equipped, staffed, trained, and off and running. It was quite an accomplishment if you ask me, and I couldn't have done it without Helen. She was my right hand, my left hand and my alter ego all wrapped into one.

Our sectional VP came down from Chicago after 6-months for a "meet and greet" and was impressed with how things were running. We were out in the market territory and generating sales. In fact, we had turned a profit after 5 months, something that they felt would take more than a year to do.

In return for our spectacular start, Chicago asked if I would consider taking on a new challenge of opening new territories for them. With it came perks and a major increase in compensation. I told them that it was a team effort and that I would not have been able to do it without a dedicated group of people assisting in the effort. In return, they said to name my team. I decided not to rush into selecting who would be on the team so it was decided that I would get back to them with an answer as well as who would be on the team. Until then, we would not make any sort of announcement.

After our VP left, I spent an hour putting a short list of people who I thought should be on the team. The first name was Helen's.

I called Helen into my office and closed the door behind her as she settled into one of the chairs in front of my desk. Rather than return to my chair behind my desk and be the "boss", I decided that the nature of our conversation required that I be more open to her so I took the other chair in front of my desk, right next to her. Theoretically the strategy is to help the meeting be less "boss to subordinate" type of atmosphere however whoever wrote the organizational behavior textbook didn't take into consideration the possibility that the other party might have a dynamite pair of legs, a sheer blouse and a short skirt on! It was an effort to stay focused on her eyes!

"Helen, there's going to be a change in plans for our operation and it's important to me that you be involved in it. This conversation needs to confidential for now however I'd like to ask you to consider joining me on a new assignment." Her eyes light up.

As we discussed the plan to form a team to establish new territories, I could see the wheels turning in her mind as she mentally started to plan out who, what, where, and all the other details needed. Over the course of the next couple of days, we decided that we wouldn't need a very large team at all. In fact, she felt that the two of us could do it and just hire local talent wherever we went. So it was decided. We promoted the strongest lead person to take over my responsibilities and Helen found us office space on the next floor up in the same building.

It wasn't very large, but we didn't need it to be large. She made sure that it would accommodate our needs however, and had a small kitchen and shower installed. I had a habit of working till late at night and sometimes needed to take a quick shower before a dinner meeting. The kitchen would serve as our lunchroom and provide us the ability to do some limited entertaining on an as needed basis. Smart gal this Helen!

The first order of business was to figure out where the opportunities were; at least where executive management thinks they are. So Helen made arrangements to meet with the brass back in Chicago in about a week. As she laid out the itinerary I noted that she had only made arrangements for me. I told her that we were a team and that meant that she needed to be involved with all conversations and have a thorough knowledge of what's going on. So she'd better double up on the flight and hotel reservations.

We left that Saturday afternoon figuring on getting into Chicago Sunday morning then taking that day to recuperate prior to our meeting on Monday. The flight was most enjoyable. With the elevation in job came a number of perks, including flying first class! I could learn to like this!

Helen and I had adjourning seats. We used the time to talk about things other than work. I found out a lot of things about Helen that I never knew even after all of these months of working so closely with her. Things like her favorite perfume was Passion, or that her favorite color was Coral, or that her favorite store was Victoria's Secret, or that she loved a good heady beer now and then! She had just started golf lessons and found the game enjoyable.

Helen revealed that she was a Navy brat and that her father had been stationed at Pearl Harbor when she was of elementary school age. They rotated back to southern California before she was of high school age and finished her schooling there. But she always wanted to return to Hawaii, which she did after she graduated with her BA.

She had her share of boyfriends and was even close to being engaged once however nothing came of it. And at the moment, she was too busy with work and hadn't been out in awhile.

"Now that I've told you my life story, what about you?" Helen asked?

"Well there's not much to tell," I said. "Born and raised in Hawaii, college on the mainland, married my college sweet heart right after we graduated and I started to work. At first things were great. We did everything together however as I started to take on more responsibilities at work, there was less time for us. Well, before I knew it, our relationship began to dissolve and my ex began to see other guys. So we ended up divorced. I retired last year when my former company re-engineered itself. I had planned to spend a couple of years playing golf when the company asked me to come on board. And here I am. Depressing life isn't it?" I asked.

"Well Cid, I'm sure you probably accomplished a lot at your former job otherwise the guys we work for now wouldn't have been out looking for you." Helen noted.

"Well I guess I did ok," was all that I was prepared to say.

As the flight droned on, fatigue started to show and I got some blankets down for us to use. It must have been close to midnight Hawaii time. Helen lifted the armrest between our seats mentioning in the process that it would give us a little more room. With that she reclined her seat, snuggled into her blanket and was out! I kicked off my shoes, leaned back and was out myself in no time. I guess I was also exhausted.

The stewardess came around to wake us about 30 minutes out of Chicago. We had been asleep for about 4 hours. As I opened my eyes, I saw that Helen had wrapped herself around my right arm in her sleep, hugging my arm to her cleavage. Not wanting to disturb her just yet, I couldn't help but to just lay there in my seat admiring what a fine looking woman she was. And, I couldn't help by enjoy the feeling of my arm nestled between her warm, soft breasts! The scent of her faint perfume filled my mind. Ah, but all good things must come to an end so I reached over with my free hand and gently rocked her shoulder to awaken her.

"Helen, we're going to be landing soon," I said to her softly as I continued to rock her shoulder. She lifted her head, then realized that she had cuddled up with my arm as she slept. "Sorry," Helen murmured.

"Nothing to be sorry about. Actually, I enjoyed it quite a bit. It's been awhile since a beautiful woman's held my arm." I told her. Helen blushed as she tried to straighten her clothing up and smiled timidly at me.

"I don't know why I did that. It was just so comforting to have your arm to hold on to." Helen said. "Thanks for letting me do that," she said, then gave me a quick peck on the cheek. That caught me by surprise! It must have also surprised Helen as she blushed again and busied herself by getting ready for our arrival at Chicago.

We landed at O'Hare, retrieved our bags then took the shuttle downtown to our hotel. We checked in at Registration where I was pleasantly surprised to learn that our rooms were side by side.

We got up to our rooms and I carried Helen's bags into her room for her. "We didn't get much sleep last night on the plane so how about we take it easy this morning and perhaps meet for lunch?" I suggested to her. That would give us a little time to shower, take care of our personal needs, and get more rest. As I turned to leave her room, I noticed that we had an adjoining door between our rooms. "When you're ready, why don't you just open your side and knock on my side of the door?" I told Helen.

With that, I retired to my room, threw the clothes that I had been in for more than a day in the suitcase, took a nice hot shower, jumped straight into bed, and slept for another couple of hours. I got up around 11am and felt refreshed. I don't know why but I always wake up with a stiffy. And since I always sleep in the nude, I was tenting the bedding seriously. Morning wood. Know what I mean?

As I was getting out of bed, I heard a knock on the adjoining door. I quickly pulled on a hotel robe and opened the adjoining door. Mistake! My woody was tenting my robe big time! "Oh, I hope I didn't knock too early" Helen said as she noticed that I had my robe on, then she noticed my stiffy, smiled and blushed. "Uh, sorry about that." I apologized. "Damn thing has a mind of its own!" I couldn't help but notice that she had continued to stare at the tent pole in my robe which only made my situation worse!

What could I say without making the situation any worse than it appeared to be? I grabbed an aloha shirt, my blue jeans and moccasins and took them into the bathroom where I changed. Helen was all set to go in a semi-sheer blouse, blue jeans and comfortable walking shoes. Her hair was pulled back into a pony tail and she had expertly applied just a modicum of make up. She looked good!

We made our way downstairs to one of the hotel's restaurants where we had a nice Sunday brunch. With the afternoon before us, I suggested that we take a cab over to downtown Chicago's fun spot, Old Navy Pier on the lake. The pier had been renovated and turned into a combination of an amusement park, terminal for sight seeing water taxis and tour boats, convention center, and restaurants.

While walking the boardwalk, we decided to take one of the tour boats and check out the skyline from the water. After we boarded, we took up a position on the top viewing deck next to the front railing. That seemed to be one of the better viewing positions on the boat. We decided to stand next to the railing as the boat left the pier. It idled through the boat harbor area before heading out to deeper water. As it crossed into the channel, the boat was buffeted by some of the currents in the area. That threw Helen into my arms.

As I caught her, I couldn't help but reach around her just below her breasts to hold her up until she got her legs under her again. I reveled in the warmth and weight of her lovely mounds as her scent filled my mind.

"Sorry, I guess I lost my footing," Helen said as she hugged my arms around her and smiled up to me. I guess she was enjoying the closeness as much as I was. I was pressed up against her back as she held on to the railing. Releasing my hold on her, I reached around her on both sides to grab the railing to steady myself as well.

As the boat continued on its way, the rocking movement of the boat caused me to rub up repeatedly against Helen's back side. I was trying my best not to, however I couldn't help but get physically excited with our constant bumping. My pelvis kept pushing into her firm ass! I was erect in no time.

I was hoping that Helen didn't notice my rigidity as I backed up half a step to put some room between us. She must have also been enjoying herself as she backed up from the railing and until she again was pressed into my woody and gave it a slow sensuous rub with her ass. Gawd! I almost came!

"Helen, I'm sorry that I got excited, however I couldn't help it being next to one hell of a gorgeous woman!" I apologized.

"Don't apologize Cid," she smiled, "I enjoyed it as well." She turned around this time and put her arms around me and kissed me lightly on my lips. "I've been wanting to do this for some time now," she said as she ground her pelvis into my hard cock!

I kissed her back. Our lips met softly; once, twice. I parted my lips to lick her lips with my tongue as she then opened her lips to make love to my tongue with hers. "I could really get to like doing this a lot," I told her. Helen looked into my eyes with unspoken questions before turning around to look out over the front of the boat and the Chicago skyline. It was plain to me that our relationship had turned a corner however neither of us knew where it was headed, nor how it would change our working relationship.

After the boat ride, we returned to our hotel and I asked her if she would like to go to dinner. She declined my offer citing tiredness, and that she would meet me for breakfast at 6:30 tomorrow morning. I was getting worried that Helen was having second thoughts of our hugging and kissing that afternoon. The emotional change that had come over her hung heavily over me.

I had dinner in a coffee shop next to the hotel by myself that night, thinking of our great afternoon together. Perhaps Helen was thinking of our afternoon also. I had to talk to her and come to some sort of understanding that both of us felt good about before we met with the brass tomorrow morning. They weren't dummies so it wouldn't take long for them to figure out that something was happening between us, unless Helen and I were mentally and emotionally ready to deal with the questions if they ever came up.

When I got back to the hotel after dinner, I gave Helen a call in her room from the lobby, "Hello Helen,..... this is Cid. I'd like to talk with you about what happened between us this afternoon. Can you meet me downstairs in the bar?"

"You were reading my mind, yes, see you in 10 minutes." Helen replied. I listened to the tone of her voice to see if I could make out her frame of mind however her reply was too short for me to get anything out of it.