Langley Circle Beginning Ch. 06

Author's note: The following is a work of fiction that contains descriptions of explicit sexual acts and is intended for adults only. All people, places, and events are a product of my imagination and any characters described as engaging in sexual acts are over the age of eighteen.

Thanks for sticking around for this next instalment. You can expect a good amount of plot development in the early stages, but fear not, we finish with a good hard fucking.

Previously on Langley Circle... Regretting her poor decision to seduce Josh in the storeroom, Nicky decided she had to seek him out to explain her actions. Meanwhile, Dean and Beth played out another sizzling school roleplay that left them both very satisfied, even if Beth did have a sore bottom.

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Season One, Episode Six

Dean took his seat with the other company directors around the large table in the boardroom. He glanced at the printed agenda and sighed; this could be a long one. Despite only being Monday, he had been hoping for an easy afternoon; Now it seemed he would be spending a few hours locked in this stuffy boardroom, listening to a bunch of stuffy people make feeble excuses about why their department was under-performing. Dean didn't have that problem; his department never under-performed, and listening to the excuses of others was irritating to say the least.

"Thanks everyone for coming." The hubbub around the table died down as the managing director, David Anglethorpe stood, and brought the meeting to order. "It's a long agenda today, so if everyone could be as succinct as possible, that would be appreciated. Dean, you're up first."

"Sure, no problem," Dean said, getting to his feet. "I can keep this short and sweet. The synergy deal is all done and dusted, and we have six other deals at the 90% mark going through the department now. We've managed to offset the loss of the Moorfield deal by effectively doubling down the expansion plan with Drayfield. All of which has brought the overall forecast for the next twelve months back into the black, with a very promising set of numbers coming down the line in the 2 years following. For brevity I won't bore you with the details, the numbers are all listed in my report, but if there are any specific queries, I'd be happy to address them.

"That's the bare bones of corporate right now; the only other thing of note concerns the results of the debt recovery exercise that John has been spearheading, which I'm sure he will talk more about in his report."

Further along the table, a balding man nodded a confirmation.

Dean continued, "What I will say in regard to that, is a number of properties, both commercial and residential, have come into our possession as a result of the project, and it will fall to us in corporate to work out what to do with them."

David leaned forward to interject, "It sounds like the project has yielded some good results, but I didn't expect we'd be getting property out of it. John, could you elaborate briefly on this?"

Dean sat down, feeling smug at having effectively passed the buck.

"Yes." The balding man stood up and spoke in a thin halting voice. "Dean is correct, our attempts to recover a number of long term debts has resulted in us successfully acquiring some properties of significant value. The Lombard building is one of these, worth well over seven million in rental value, and it should be relatively easy to move on. Others are more complex, including two stately homes, The Langley estate, which was a film studio, and a number of hotels in the midlands as a result of the Cartwright recovery."

Dean's ears pricked up at the mention of the Langley estate, this being the enormous rambling property not far from where he lived, which until recently had been the location of Beth's regular coffee dates with her girlfriends.

"They all have value in different ways, but the advice across the board from the tax boys is that we need to dump them as soon as possible."

"Oh, why's that?" David asked.

"A variety of reasons, including not wanting to get hit with a pretty hefty tax bill if we hang on to them for more than six months. Also there are a number of security and regulatory issues with one or two of the properties, and my view is that the quicker we can liquidate them the better."

Dean leaned forward. "Am I right in thinking we had resigned ourselves to not recovering these debts in most cases?"

"Yes," David said. "It was felt there was a very slim chance of reclaiming little more than pennies on the pound, but it appears that if we can liquidate these properties, it will amount to a much more significant return than we ever anticipated."

"That's right," John said. "Even if we dumped them for a fraction of their market value, we could still be looking at upwards of fifteen to twenty percent recovery."

"Excellent, I have to say this is very good work John. I suggest that we make every effort to offload the lot as soon as possible." David paused, then addressed his next comment to Dean, "And you're right; corporate will be the best department to achieve that. Go ahead and liaise with John on the property details, and then get your team to see what can be done with them as a matter of priority."

"No problem," Dean said, then turning to John added, "Get Betty to send everything up to Megan ASAP, I'll get straight on it."

"Sure." John nodded, scribbling on his notepad as he sat down.

"OK great. Sorry for the small deviation from the agenda, nevertheless I think it was worth covering now. Anything else Dean?"

"Nope, that's it."

"Thanks. Let's move on then. Jill, marketing."

A mousy woman wearing a red power suit shuffled a stack of papers and rose to her feet. Dean sat back and allowed his focus to relax, as the woman began to deliver her report. Effectively his part of the meeting was over, and all he needed to do now was stay awake for the next couple of hours; it wasn't going to be easy.

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Nicky scanned the area around the entrance of the college, searching for Josh. She'd seen him a second ago, but as soon as he'd noticed her, he'd quickly hurried away. She looked up and down the street, trying to pick him out from the crowd of students. There! She took off after him, darting through the crowd. When she got close, she tried to get his attention.

"Josh, wait up,"

He glanced back briefly, but rather than stopping, he jogged across the road and turned down a side street, accelerating as he went. Nicky wasn't giving up though; she took off at a fast jog along the opposite side of the street. With a burst of speed, she caught and passed him, then changed course, darted across the quiet street and cut in front of him. He was forced to stop; it was that or knock her down. They stood staring at each other, both breathing hard.

"I just want to talk." Nicky held her hands up, palms facing him.

Josh took a step back, watching her with an expression of frustration and anger. "Aren't you done humiliating me?"

"What? No, what are you talking about?"

"Now you've won your bet, or paid your forfeit or whatever it was, shouldn't you just go back to ignoring me? I'd prefer that actually. If you'd excuse me, I'd like to go home." He stepped to the side and walked past her.

Nicky furrowed her brow in confusion, and turned to follow him. Jogging to catch up, she walked next to him, careful not to get too close. "Please. I just want to explain, to apologise."

"Oh, I understand well enough," he said with annoyance. "I'm obviously the butt of an amazing joke or prank. Trap the geeky guy, and stomp all over him. Well congratulations, you achieved your goal."

"Wait." Nicky reached out and grabbed his arm. He tensed, looking fearfully down at her hand. Was he scared of her? She quickly withdrew it, as a wave of emotion built up behind her eyes. "Shit! I've made such a mess of this," She said. "I don't know what to say, I'm so sorry. It really isn't what you think. There was no bet, dare or forfeit, and no one else knows... Well, apart from Bel, but she helped me to understand what a shitty thing it was I did."

Josh stared at her, his brow furrowed. "I don't understand Nicky, I thought we were friends. Well, if not actually friends, then friendly at least. You trampled all over me without a care for my feelings; I didn't think you were that sort of a person."

Tears began to run down her cheeks. "I'm not Josh," she said. "I'm really not. It was such a bad decision." She choked on her words, her tears turning to sobs.

Josh's expression softened a little; he pulled a tissue from his pocket, handing it to her. She accepted it gratefully, dabbing at her eyes. "Can I... Can I at least try to explain? Then if you still don't want to talk to me, I won't bother you anymore."

He stood for a long moment, before finally shrugging. "Fine; we can go to my house. You get five minutes, but that's it." He turned and began walking briskly away.

Nicky wiped at her tears, frantically wondering what to say as she set off after him.

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Dean's notepad was almost completely covered in doodles by the time the last of the department reports ended. As the meeting drew to a close, he snapped the pad shut and began gathering his things, itching to get some fresh air, preferably on the way to his car.

"Dean, would you hang back please?"

His heart sank; there went his quick exit. "Sure David; what's on your mind?"

David hesitated as the stragglers departed, before turning to Dean. "As you probably gathered from the figures Steve was bandying around, it's going to be a tough couple of years."

Dean had only half been paying attention during Steve's report, but he knew what David was referring to. "Yeah, but the forecast for the two years following is looking pretty encouraging."

"Ah indeed, in three years' time we should all be able to fill our swimming pools with champagne and buy gold Mercedes," David said with a smirk, "but we have to get through the next two years without losing our shirt first."

"I assume the numbers boys are preparing all sorts of contingency plans?" Dean asked as a worrying feeling started in his gut.

"Already done, that's why I want to talk to you. It's no secret, that your department is responsible for a large portion of the revenue, and to be frank, corporate pretty much keeps us alive."

"I appreciate that, but we're just one part of the bigger machine."

"Yes yes, of course," David said. "Well, as a direct result, it's your guys that make the big money, and based on a few recent deals, will be due some pretty massive bonus and profit shares in the near future."

Dean nodded, staying silent as the knot in his gut tightened.

"The number monkeys tell me that, based on current performance, you alone are looking at an above salary lump sum of somewhere between two and three million over the next three years."

Dean knew he had been doing well, and was looking forward to clearing their mortgage, and setting a lump aside for Nicky's university education from his end of year payout, but he had no idea the numbers were that big. "I see, I hadn't realised it would be quite that much," he said.

"Yes, and deservedly so, don't get me wrong." David attempted a broad smile, but Dean knew when he was being buttered up prior to a spanking. "So I was wondering..." Here it came. "That is, we were wondering if you might consider delaying drawing down on your bonus and profit share for the next three years, to enable us to keep the cash in the business, as per the whole crisis situation."

Boom, and there it was, the spanking. Dean tried to show no reaction as his mind began to work through the ramifications of what David was asking.

"Now obviously, I understand this would be a massive inconvenience for you and your family, and we would certainly compensate you for it. I am sure we can hash out a deal that will work for everyone, but I will personally guarantee that it would involve increasing that figure you are due by at least 15%, after the three years."

Dean could see the logic in the proposal, and knew ultimately he was going to have to agree, but it sucked. It certainly didn't fit in with his plans. Inwardly he sighed. "David, not a problem. I get it, I really do. I am sure we can work something out. Just let me know when you want to hash out the deal, and I'll be there."

David brightened up instantly, his expression conveying no small amount of relief. Had he expected Dean to put up a fight? Maybe he should have. "Good man Dean, I knew you would be on board. Look, I know it's a pain in the posterior, but trust me, we'll see you right. We'll do whatever we can along the way to sweeten the deal in terms of perks and benefits. If we can get a dozen or so of you big wigs to buy into this, it will mean a much needed injection of cash into the business."

The fact that Dean wasn't the only executive likely to be targeted softened the blow a fraction. "As long as I can get a guarantee the money won't just disappear into a black hole if circumstances don't improve--"

"Of course, we'll lock it down tight."

"Then, I'm on board if it means we can weather this storm."

"Excellent, I'll put something in your diary for tomorrow. Oh by the way, Sylvia has been on at me to invite you and Elizabeth to dinner soon, it's been too long."

"That would be lovely. Beth will be thrilled," Dean said, although based on the underwhelming feedback from Beth last time, he wasn't so sure of that.

"Great. Right, I have drinks at The Hardman in twenty with Roger. Fancy tagging along?" David gathered up his things and started making for the door.

"Would love to, but unfortunately I have a previous engagement," Dean said, trying to sound disappointed. Spending a few hours in the smoky lounge bar sipping brandy and talking endless shop, was way down on his list of enjoyable things to do; it ranked somewhere just below looking at carpet samples, or going to the dentist.

"Another time then," David said as he hurried from the room.

"Definitely," Dean said, hating himself for faking any kind of enthusiasm.

Alone in the boardroom, he let out a heavy sigh. Suddenly, rushing home seemed less appealing than it had a couple of hours ago; how quickly things could change.

=== === ===

Nicky stood in the doorway of Josh's bedroom. The startling similarities to one belonging to a stereotypical young male geek character from an eighties movie were not lost on her. The walls were plastered with classic sci-fi and fantasy posters, and pencil sketches; there was a vague air of untidiness, but not uncleanliness she noted; and there was a pile of computers in one corner, screens blinking doing something Nicky didn't understand.

Josh stood, arms folded, in the centre of the room. "OK, 5 minutes."

Nicky glanced around. "Can I sit down?"

He sighed, and cleared a pile of magazines from a chair, before perching on the bed opposite.

Nicky sat, and tried to compose her thoughts. "So, recently I have been going through some crap. A couple of things happened that caused me to question parts of my... Well, mainly my sexuality, but also other things. Anyway, I have been struggling to understand the feelings and confusing thoughts going through my head."

Josh blinked and stared back dumbly. This was proving to be harder than Nicky had hoped. Her intention had been to apologise, explain it away as a misunderstanding, and suggest they go back to being friends; however, hearing the assumptions he had made about the incident, and particularly Nicky's supposed motivation, made her want to explain in greater detail.

"I used to think I was only interested in men, but recently I have started to wonder if I am also into women... Sexually." Heat rose to her cheeks and she broke eye contact, looking to the side as she continued. "But then, I began wondering if I had ever really been into guys in the first place, and so I tried to work through the problem, to see if it was one or the other, or both, if you see what I mean."

Still no response from Josh, which prompted her to glance back at him; he was staring at her stoically.

"I suspect I do indeed fancy women, although I haven't actually been with one... Yet." She flinched at the intimate nature of her confession. "However, I also wanted to ascertain if there was a genuine desire for men too, and that's when I had the idea to... Well, that's when--"

"When you forced yourself on me," Josh said.

Nicky winced at the blunt truth of his words. "Um well yeah, something like that." She turned to face him. "Look, I'm really sorry. It was utterly selfish and wrong of me to do it; in some twisted way though, I didn't think you would mind, or that you might actually enjoy it. You know, how often does a girl offer to give you a blow job?"

"You didn't offer," he said, his expression still flat and cold. "You just did it."

His words stung, and the tears began again. She dropped her head. "When I saw your reaction, and after talking with Bel, I understood what a massive mistake it was. Particularly because I came to realise how much I actually do like you. I do consider you a friend, but now I have most likely destroyed that friendship." She lapsed into silence, dabbing at her eyes with the tissue, unsure what else she could say.

"And, is it still there?" Josh asked eventually.

Nicky frowned. "Is what still there?"

"The desire for men."

"Oh I see," Nicky said, sniffling softly. "Yes. Despite it being wrong, and unfair to you." She hesitated, aware how her next words would portray her. "I did feel excited and er, aroused; But, none of that justifies what I did, I know that now."

"No it doesn't! You pretty much ripped my world apart on Friday, and for what? So you could work out if you were bisexual or just a lesbian," he said with venom.

She frowned. Ripped his world apart? "Isn't that a bit over dramatic?" There was another long heavy silence; now was probably a good time to think about cutting her losses and leaving.

"For three years," Josh said, "we have shared some of the same classes. I have watched you, occasionally chatted with you, and I thought we were friends. What you almost certainly don't know however, is that during those three years, I spent a large amount of time trying to work up the courage to ask you out."

Nicky blinked in surprise, her mind reeling as she gaped at him.

"I won't bore you with the details of my failures; the times I chickened out, or when my initial advances were mistaken for politeness, or when other guys got there before me. I'd rather not re-live those painful memories again; let's just skip forward to Friday, when you asked me to help you with a problem. I thought it was a perfect opportunity to spend more time with you. I made a snap decision that before the day was over, I was going to ask you out. But then things went super bat-shit crazy."

Nicky swallowed hard, slowly beginning to understand the depths of her fuck-up.

"Suddenly, Nicky Parker, the girl I had admired for three years, was kissing me. Then she was touching me, and begging me to touch her. I'd never imagined things progressing like that; well maybe somewhere down the line, after dating for a bit, but it was happening right then. And that's just it, it was happening to me, I wasn't part of it, it was just happening. Then when you were done, you got up and left, saying you didn't want anyone to know."

"Shit, Josh, I really had no idea you felt that way about me. I must've missed all the signs. Fuck, this is so much worse."

He shrugged. "To be fair, my attempts at getting you to notice me were pathetic. You're pretty intimidating you know."

"Me? Intimidating?"

"Yeah; you're so beautiful, confident, and smart. And then there's Bella."

"Sorry, what has Bel got to do with this?"