Kate and Ted - Act 01

There is no rhyme or reason to this tale. So much about the story is wrong. I can honestly tell you I tried to resist, I really and truly did. In the end, despite all of my best efforts, it happened anyway.

But I am giving you the ending without the benefit of the background, the beginning and the middle. If this were a play, it would have a prologue and three acts. I leave it to you to decide for yourself whether it is a comedy, tragedy, farce or romance.

Prologue

I am a white collar worker. I wear a suit and tie most every day to work. When we have a special 'casual day' I still wear a button down shirt and pressed dress pants, just no tie and a more casual pair of loafers. I am just about as much a middle age white guy as you can get. I have a condo in a suburb of the city. I pay my taxes, obey the speed limit, root for the home teams and I even vote!

I was married once. I lost my wife far too soon. Medical science had yet to solve the riddle of her disease. 18 years later I remain a widower (such a strange term) and while interested in the opposite sex have had very little desire to pursue them. I went through a 'phase' about five years after my wife passed away. I was trying to fuck just about anything with a pussy. I struck out far more than I connected, no surprise since I was pretty much a boorish, selfish pig.

I did have my share of 'hook ups' during that phase. I checked off a lot of boxes on the list -- Flight attendant? Check; Waitress? Check; Librarian? Check; Bartender? Check; Neighbor? Check; Married Neighbor; Check; Older Woman; Check; Teenager? Check; Model? Check; and probably a few more stereotypes.

It took me about a year to realize that what I was doing was not going to fill the void. I also realized just what an asshole I had become. So I packed up and left. Well, not without a plan. I mean I was still an early middle age white guy at that time. Not for me to take a huge risk and jump into a shadowy pool with both feet.

I found a new job in a new city. Well, pretty much the same job but in a new city. And for the last 12 years I've worked for the same company. I've been promoted several times and at 52 I'm now a Senior Vice President with 32 people who report to me. I have three direct reports and one administrator and one analyst.

I'm in finance. When I started with this company I spent the majority of my time working with spreadsheets and meeting with clients. Now I spend the majority of my time in meetings, reviewing the people who work for me and meeting with clients when one of the folks on my team asks for my help.

My name's Ted by the way. It's short for Edward. No one but my mother ever called me Edward. People who try to call me Teddy either switch to calling me Ted or I don't deal with them anymore. That includes clients. We've lost one or two because I refuse to be called Teddy.

Act One

About two years ago my administrator, Pearl (think 1960's beehive hairdo, cat eye glasses, and voice raspy from her pack a day plus smoking), who had been with the company 25 years, retired. There were 3 people who worked in my group I had my eye on to replace Pearl.

Tina, a married mother of three was my top choice. In her early 40's with three kids heading to college I knew she would not be leaving soon. She was competent, sharp, and efficient. She would have been perfect. Unfortunately for me, she was spotted by someone higher up in the food chain than me and was working on the Executive floor before I could put in a bid.

Next in line was Kevin. Kevin is gay and I don't really give shit. He, too, is competent, sharp and pretty efficient. When his husband was transferred to another city Kevin left with him.

After Kevin I pinned my hopes on Angie, another mother in her early 40's. She hadn't been with the company long and I wasn't sure how competent or efficient she was but she seemed sharp. I had hoped she might grow into the role, which wasn't too much of challenge as Pearl mostly just answered my phone, opened my mail and reminded me when I was late for a meeting.

I was working with HR about moving Angie to be my administrator when she was involved in a serious car accident. Not her fault but her injuries meant she would be out of work for an unspecified period of time, perhaps a year or more. HR informed me that, if I wanted to wait, they could find someone on an interim basis.

The person I worked with in HR said that it would be made clear that this was a temporary position, temporary as in as short as a few weeks to a number of months. We never talked about what would happen if Angie never returned.

So one morning, oddly enough a Wednesday, after Pearl's departure and retirement party the previous Friday I returned to my office from a meeting to find a young woman sitting at Pearl's desk. She was young, I guessed 20 or 21 (I was wrong, she was 27), pretty and alert. As I approached my office she popped up from her chair, looked straight at me and spoke to me.

"Good morning, I'm Kate. May I help you?" She had a nice smile.

Based on this very first impression I added vivacious to her description.

"Well, good morning to you as well, Kate. I'm Ted and I'm heading into my office. So thank you but I think I'm good."

"Whoa, I'm sorry sir. They just sort of dropped me here when you weren't around. I'm your new, well temporary new, administrator."

The 'Whoa' caught me a little off guard. For some reason I felt it came out a bit like a stoner 'Whoa' but I think I was mistaken. This woman did not look like a stoner at all.

"That wasn't particularly nice of them. I'm sorry about that. Can I ask you to give me just a couple of minutes? I need to unload some crap, sorry, some information from my last meeting and make one phone call. Then let's see what we can do about getting you a bit better introduction to the job and the group. Will that work for you?"

I was met by a blank stare and a warning bell sounded somewhere in my head.

"Well, certainly sir. I work for you so whatever suits you is good with me." The smile reappeared as she sat down.

"Great, I'll be with you in a few." I went into my office and dumped both the new three ring binders I received from the meeting on my desk. I couldn't just shred them and put the binders in the supply room on the first day I received them. All the shit was on a server somewhere if I needed it anyway. After making my phone call I stood up and walked out. I stopped at Pearl's, well now Kate's I guess, desk. "I'm heading to grab a cup of coffee. Would you like something? Coffee, tea, water?"

Again the blank stare before her response. "No thank you, sir, I'm fine." She pointed to a refillable bottle on her desk.

"Kate, were you in the military by any chance?" I asked.

"Uh, no sir. Why do you ask?"

"You can drop the 'yes sir' 'no sir'. I'm Ted. Just Ted. We're on a first name basis around here."

She smiled, actually blushed a little and said, "Thank you, s--, Ted."

I returned with a cup of coffee in a mug with the company logo after having a quick pit stop in the men's room. "Come on in, shut the door behind you, have a seat and let's see what we need to figure out."

She popped up again, grabbed a pad of paper and a pen, shut the door softly and took a seat in one of the chairs in front of my desk. I took the other chair, turned it a bit so I was facing her and pulled it back a foot. I did not want to be crowding her or 'in her space'. What is it with the blank stare?

"Are you feeling okay?" I asked.

"Yes, I'm fine. I guess I'm just, well just, well you've surprised me three or four times already. So I'm a little bit thrown off."

"Sorry, I don't mean to be putting you off kilter. What have I done? I'll try not to do it again."

"Well, you see, that's just it right there. I've worked in a number of different places. I haven't met a person at your level who was so, considerate."

Now it was my turn for the blank stare. "Considerate? Me? What do you mean?"

She looked directly at me. Nothing blank about that look. "First, you introduce yourself and tell me your plan and then ask me if that will work for me. Then you say you're going to get coffee and ask me if I want something. Then the first name thing and now you're not sitting behind your desk, you're sitting in front, with me."

I smiled. I drank some coffee and smiled a little more. "Kate, that's not anything special, that's treating you as a human being. It's the way I'd want to be treated, it's the way I expect to be treated and it's the way you should be treated for however long you work here."

I paused for another sip of coffee being careful not to slurp it. I was stalling. For now that I was seated across from her and had focused on her I realized just how attractive she was. Her hair was red, all natural, dark red, not the 'ginger' or orange of some redheads. It was full, thick, shining, straight and fell past her shoulders. Not the frizzy, pin curled, kinky type of hair on many redheads.

Her eyes were the most amazing blue white I've ever seen. I suspected they might be colored contacts. They were amazing to look at. They also were bright, full of life and expressed the intelligence that lay behind them. The skin on her face was perfect, not a blemish, not a freckle, not a scar to be seen. It was smooth, tending toward pale but perhaps creamy might be a better description. And not a drop of make up on her, at least that I could tell.

Her lips were naturally pink and of a shape that just seemed to fit her face, and her, perfectly. When she smiled they drew back in near perfect symmetry. Her teeth were white, straight and neither too small or too large. When she smiled it was dazzling.

She was dressed for business. A blouse, only one button unbuttoned, no cleavage exposed. AI light cardigan sweater lay over the blouse. Neither garment was 'form fitting' but they weren't too large or loose, either. A skirt, form fitting but not too tight that came to a few inches above her knees. No slit up the side or anything that could be considered risqué. No stockings, just that same flawless, creamy skin on her shapely legs. She wore a pair of high heel pumps, probably a 4 inch or a little more, thinner heel and a half inch or maybe ¾ inch platform.

To call her beautiful didn't fit. She was fresh, clean, pretty, and radiant all mixed into one. I could envision the things a photographer might do with her face using lighting that may change her appearance without ever changing her.

After swallowing my coffee I looked at her and said, "For some reason no one told me you were starting today. I apologize that I wasn't here when you came in, and I'm sorry but I know nothing about you. I should be better prepared for you."

"Actually, HR did send you an email but only just this morning. They copied me but it didn't say much. I forwarded it you with my resume attached."

"Oh, great. Let me just print it out." As I started to stand she popped up again and was halfway to my door.

"I printed it. Let me get it. We can save some paper." I liked her. We use way too much paper here. It's been one of my crusades over the past decade. I haven't gotten very far.

She was back in no time and I watched her as she walked back to her chair. She moved swiftly, the high, thin heels posing no problem at all for her. I estimated her height at about 5' 4" or 5' 5" without the heels. She was shapely. She wasn't thin, she was trim with curves in the right places but nothing that you would call overtly sexy. I did suspect her breasts might larger than they appeared.

She handed me her resume. It was pretty impressive. She graduated from a private school in Connecticut and then Cum Laude from Dartmouth. Her first two jobs were substantial, with well known companies and appeared to set her on a very strong career path. She was way overqualified for being my administrator.

The only thing that was a question mark was a gap in time. For about a year and a half there was nothing. Then the temp agency appeared.

"I will confess to you upfront that I have never been the greatest interviewer. I usually find out what I need to know but it isn't one of my best skills." I could have sworn I saw an impish flicker in her eyes, like she was biting her tongue on some sharp comment. "With that said, why don't you tell me what you think I should know."

"For what it's worth I think that's a great interview question. But you didn't ask my opinion. I was born in Norway to Norwegian parents. (That explained the name -- Katrina Karlsson, and possibly the red hair and blue eyes, too.) My dad worked for IBM and he was transferred to New York when I was very young. I grew up in Connecticut. Once I was 10 or 11 years old I spent every summer with my grandparents in Norway. My parents wanted me to know them and my homeland."

"Played soccer, ice hockey and lacrosse through high school. I played JV Soccer for my freshman year in college and then sat on the bench for the next three years on the Varsity Soccer team. I thought I knew just what I wanted to do after graduation. I was excited with my first job. I thought I was excited with my second job. My grandmother became very ill and I realized I wasn't really that excited about my job so I gave my notice, packed my things and moved to Norway to take care of my grandmother. She passed away after about a year. I stayed there for another five months."

There were some tears welling in her eyes but she maintained her composure.

"I've been a temp only for the last three months. I just moved here when I came back to the States and I'm trying to figure out a) if I want to stay and b) if I do want to stay what do I want to do."

She paused and gave me what I interpreted as a hopeful look.

I complimented her. "Nice job. You addressed the time gap in your resume without waiting to be asked. I perceive that you don't do things for other people's approval but I think you used that time wisely. All in all an impressive background. So, this isn't really an interview since you're here as a temporary and I know you said you're trying to figure out some things, but if you'll indulge me, why are you temping? You are way overqualified for this position."

Kate smiled and I couldn't decipher whether she was embarrassed or just tolerating me and the need to answer a dumb question.

"I get two things from being a temp. First, I get to experience a lot of different industries, work environments and people. Second, it doesn't require much effort and so I have time to think. I really am trying to get a better idea of who I am and what I really want."

"Well, welcome. I feel fortunate to have you. The woman you are replacing was with the company for 25 years. I think she stopped growing in the sense of work capabilities about 20 years ago. It won't be difficult to fill her shoes. A couple of things about me. One, I can be moody. I know it. I try to catch myself, or at the very least warn people around me when I'm not in the greatest of moods. It's not often but it might happen. Ask around, I'm sure people on my team can tell you the warning signs." I chuckled a little trying to indicate this wasn't a huge issue.

"Two, like many people I sometimes like to think I'm the smartest person in the room. I'm not slow but I'm honest enough to admit it's either a really small room or freak occurrence if I'm the smartest in the room. I like to think that I'm open to learn from anyone so don't be afraid to bring up ideas or suggestions about a better way to do things."

"Three, I have no idea how you get paid or how much. I assume it's an hourly thing. As long as you've got it worked out with HR, I'm good. I would appreciate you just letting me know if you're going to vary from the usual schedule. You've got a doctor's appointment some morning, no worries. Just give me a heads up a day or two before. A quick email is probably best."

"Now, anything you'd like to ask me? Or is there anything you need to help you get started?"

The whole time I spoke she looked right at me. No blank stare at all. She nodded her head from time to time indicating she was engaged and understood. She took a couple of quick notes. So far, I liked her.

"Not right now. I'm sure I'll have questions as we go along."

"Have you met the other members on the team?"

"Yes, Judy from HR introduced me to your three managers and each of them brought me around to their groups. I certainly don't remember all their names but I feel comfortable enough that I can ask some of them to clue me in as to the signs that indicate your mood."

I couldn't help it. I had to smile again. She was sharp, had some spunk and wit.

By her second Monday, the start of her second full week after her shortened three day first week, she had everything figured out and had already made a few small adjustments that improved things. By the end of her third full week I realized that things were going much more smoothly for me. She had picked up all the items that a real administrator would handle.

I noticed I was getting fewer interruptions from the three managers asking me questions. Kate had a knack for getting me out of meetings, either by scheduling a more valuable use of my time to create a conflict or by stepping into a meeting to call me to deal with something 'more important'. I was getting a lot more of the work I needed to do finished. I was even finding time to get a few of the things I wanted to do accomplished.

The Monday of Kate's fourth full week my analyst gave his notice. He'd been with me for a couple of years. I wasn't surprised. He was stuck where he was, the usual career path clogged with several others just ahead of him. He had received a very good offer from a very good company. All I could do was wish him well and thank him for what he had done.

After accepting his resignation letter and chatting with him I called Kate into my office. I sat across from her and per usual moved the chair back about a foot. She had her pad of paper and pen ready as always.

"Kate, have you figured out anything in the past month about what you would like to do? The reason I'm asking is that Tyrell just resigned and so the analyst position is open. If you're interested I'd like you to have it. Obviously, it's a full time, salaried, not hourly, position. I'd appreciate it if you only took the job if you felt you give a couple of years to it."

Before answering she put the pen on her pad and flipped all of her hair over her far shoulder. I figured it might be a stalling tactic. In the process her pen fell on the floor. She bent over to retrieve it and, I wasn't looking for it, I swear, but her blouse gapped open and I got a good view of the flesh of her breast and the lacy, white bra that supported it. When she straightened up I noticed that at least the top three, maybe four, buttons of her blouse were unbuttoned.

'Hunh,' I thought, 'maybe I haven't been paying attention but I don't recall noticing her with more than one button unbuttoned before.'

"Really? Wow, I didn't expect this." She sounded excited to me. If I had to describe her smiling face I'd say she was beaming.

"You can take some time to think about it if you'd like. I'll let you know when we start to look for a replacement if I haven't heard from you."

"Thank you. I promise I won't take long to get back to you. Thank you so much for thinking of me." I stood and she, as was her custom, popped up from her chair. I did my best to maintain eye contact though I swear I saw her boobs bounce a little.

As she walked out and back to her desk it seemed to me there was a touch more sway in her hips. About 5:30 there was a knock on my door frame. I looked up from my computer screens to see Kate standing there.

"Do you have moment to talk?" she inquired.