Love Is Where You Find It

We finished up the photography at about three o'clock that afternoon. We went to her office, closed the door and kissed goodbye. I think we were both a little sad at departing, but somehow we knew it was not forever or for long.

I took my things and went to Al's office to see him before leaving. He asked if I got everything that I needed and complimented me on the way I handled myself in the plant. He had gotten rave reports about me from all of the supervisors that I had had contact with. It made me feel good to receive such compliments. I thanked him for his cooperation and returned the ID pass back to him. He looked at it and smiled. He handed it back to me and told me to keep it and use it any time I needed to visit the assembly plant. I was welcome back unconditionally any time I needed. I knew this was a great compliment he was giving me as he had a reputation of being hard on corporate types. I departed and headed back south.

My next assignment wasn't going to be pleasant. As this company was a new emerging company combining two existing companies, there were several issues and conflicts that came up that were not easily resolved. Personnel were one of these issues. There were not enough slots for everyone in both companies and under the new corporation some positions were going to be eliminated and some people let go. Actually about 30% of the current headcount would be released. The other closely related issue was to get all employees indoctrinated into the new corporations philosophy, goals and objectives. No small task. One of the presentations that I had developed was aimed at moving us in that direction. I had developed this presentation in consort with the president of the corporation and all of the executive vice presidents. I thought it was a good program that enlightened people and drew them in without jamming it down their throats.

The director of marketing, my boss, Steve and I were going up to Illinois to give the presentation. He was a good guy, pretty smart but not that strong a speaker. The tough part of this presentation was the group we were addressing; two hundred-fifty 250 parts plant employees were meeting the next week with personnel and over half of them would be let go. They knew there were going to be layoffs, but they didn't know how many or who. Steve and I were supposed to go up there and do our dog and pony show and motivate them, make them feel good about the new corporation and make them want to be a part of it. A tall order under the circumstances. We had also been informed that 150 of the parts plant employees would be let go the next week and which of the plant management team was going, information that I didn't want to know.

The plant director of personnel, June Avery, met us at the airport. A nice looking woman of about 45. She was very professional and accommodating. She drove us to our hotel and as we checked in she invited us to dinner after the presentation with the management of the parts plant and herself. We accepted of course, but told her that there were ground rules. We outlined our objectives and would limit our talk and discussion to that and that alone. We had no further information about what was going to happen. A lie, but those were our directives. She agreed and said that she would inform the others.

We proceeded to the plant to make our presentation; it would take about three hours. As Steve was admittedly the weaker speaker, we had agreed that I would make most of the presentation. Upon our arrival at the facility we were introduced to the management team that consisted of the plant manager, two assistant plant managers, the procurement manager, facilities manager, safety and administration manager and June Avery.

The only room large enough to hold all the employees was the cafeteria. They had erected a stage at one end with a large projector screen and podium. We grabbed a quick bite of lunch and set up our presentation. The plant manager gave us a passable introduction. And as Steve took the platform there was no applause, only dead silence. This quickly unnerved him. This was your typical fight or flight situation and poor Steve chose flight. His presentation was weak and he cut it short. He just wanted to get the hell out of there. I'm not going to brag, but I loved public speaking, always have, I love working a group. In fact I live for it. The tougher the audience the better I liked it. When I was in the Marine Corps in Viet Nam the joke in our company was to take my rifle away from me and just let me speak to them. The back end of that joke was that I couldn't speak the language.

I had all the confidence you could have in the presentation that I had prepared and I was a good speaker. I was going to give them something they weren't expecting. I was there to fight. I started out slowly, explaining the history behind both companies and the reason for the merger (take over) and went on from there. You can tell by your audience's reaction if you are getting to them and it was working. As I went on I could feel them coming to the altar and accepting what I was presenting. Two hours later I had them, every last one of them, had them in the palm of my hand. When I concluded the applause went on for at least 15 minutes, and everyone in the room was standing and smiling. Damn, I had pulled it off. I felt on top of the world, it was great. Steve came over and joined me on the stage to bask in our success. I didn't mind sharing it with him at all.

Now all we had to do was get through dinner and get the hell out of there. June took us back to our hotel so we could freshen up before dinner. She asked if I minded if she came to my room, as it was too far for her to go home and come back. I complied and we went up to my room. I asked if she would like a drink. She said yes and I went to the bar to get something. When I returned to the room she was standing by the bed in her slip and bra.

"I didn't think you would be back so soon. I apologize for embarrassing you. I'll just grab my things and finish dressing in the bath." She told me.

"No, the apology should be mine, I should have knocked instead of just barging in," I replied.

She looked me straight in the eye and didn't move. "Instead of apologizing all over each other, give me my drink sit down and I'll finish dressing. You've seen it all already."

She reached under her slip and removed her panty hose and put on a darker pair. She then turned around with her back to me and removed her white slip and stepped into a black one. Next she removed her bra and replaced it with a much sexier black one. I couldn't help but notice that she did have a good-looking ass. She reached into her clothes bag and withdrew a simple black evening dress and slipped it on over her head. It was elegant and enhanced her figure. For a forty-year-old she still looked pretty good. She sat down on the bed and put on a pair of heels. Giving me an outstanding look up her dress. Nothing I hadn't already seen, but nice just the same.

All the while she was dressing she talked about the presentation, how good it was and how much she enjoyed it. She also talked about her job and how much she liked it and hoped that she had a future with the new corporation. I hadn't said a word. She picked up her brush and did her hair and put on her lipstick and freshened her makeup. She stepped back from the mirror to survey how she looked. She had transformed her corporate persona to that of all woman and the change looked great. She checked her watch and told me that we should finish our drinks in the bar where we were to meet the others for dinner.

"She picked up her small black sequined purse put her makeup in it, spread her arms, and turned, "How do I look?"

"You are gorgeous, absolutely gorgeous."

With that she smiled, took, my arm, and ushered me down to the bar. Within minutes of our arrival the others arrived. We had a couple of drinks and went out to the cars for the ride to the restaurant. Things were going fairly smoothly, although I could feel tension in the air. We were seated and we ordered.

Conversation was light and going smoothly. Steve was talking about our future marketing plans and upcoming new products, but wasn't letting anything out that wasn't supposed to be. A little over half way through dinner one of the plant assistant managers, a guy named Mike Johnson started hammering on Steve about the future of the parts plant, corporate plans for it and what staffing level there was going to be. I looked over at June. All she could do was give me a questioning look and shrug her shoulders. I next got the eye of the plant manager. I looked at him, then at Mr. Johnson, and them back at him. He just looked at me gave me a slight shrug, picked up his drink, and looked away. Well, that told me what I wanted to know from him. I jumped right in the middle of Steve and Mr. Johnson's conversation.

"This discussion is getting a little heavy here. That's not our purpose here and not something we should be discussing. Steve and I don't have the answers to your questions, so could we table this for some other time and place. We'd appreciate it." I said to him.

Steve backed me up, but Mr. Johnson wouldn't give it up, he just kept hammering, now on both of us.

"OK, end of discussion. Steve and I return to North Carolina tomorrow, I think that's all we have to say tonight."

Steve and I both stood to leave, but Mr. Johnson stood first. He threw his napkin down on his plate and said to me, "Fuck you and the horse you rode in on." How original. And with that he stormed out. Little did Mr. Johnson know that his name was on the list to be let go. The dinner party broke up pretty fast after that. Soon Steve and I, June and the plant manager were all that were left. As we said goodnight to the plant manager we thanked him for his cooperation with the presentation, we appreciated that. We also expressed our displeasure with what happened at dinner. His attitude was that the man had a right to speak his piece. The plant manager left then and Steve excused himself, thanking June for her cooperation and telling me that he would meet me for breakfast before our ride to the airport.

That left June and I standing there wondering what to do next. She paid for the dinner with a corporate credit card and we went to the bar. I bought a couple of drinks that we took up to my room. She had to pick up her things before she left. Once in the room she set on the bed while I took a chair at the table facing her. We made small talk for a couple of minutes and she apologized for Mr. Johnson's actions. She felt that he was out of line, way out of line. I told her not to worry about it wasn't her concern and she was not responsible for it. She kicked off her shoes and lay back on the bed. Her snug fitting satin dress hugged her thighs, her mound and her stomach, very pretty and enticing. She was just talking like some of us do when we are nervous. I finally asked her straight out what was on her mind. She asked me if I knew if she was going to have a job after next week? I felt somehow that I owed her some honesty.

"Yes, I know the answer to that question."

"Do you know about the future of the rest of the management team at the parts plant?" she asked.

"Yes, I know the answer to that question also," I replied, "but that one I cannot discuss."

I stood up, walked over to the bed and knelt down. I put my hands on her thighs and rubbed them through her satin dress and slip.

"What makes you think you can do that?" she asked.

"Because you want me to," I replied.

"How did you know?"

"I just know."

I continued to rub her thighs and then moved to her stomach and on up to her breasts. She sighed as I did this. I could feel the firmness of her breasts and nipples even through three layers of clothing. They still felt good. I moved my hands back down to her mound and stroked it. I couldn't stroke too deeply down into her sex through the dress and slip and moved my hands down her legs until they were moving up under the slip on her nylon clad thighs. When I reached up to touch the outline of the lips of her vagina she quivered at my touch. I rubbed her a few moments, until I felt her heat and wetness. I then stood and pulled her up. I lifted her dress and slip over her head and removed her bra. She had very nice breasts. Her breasts were somewhat heavy with ever so slight a sag. They looked good though and felt great.

She began undressing me. I slipped her panty hose and briefs down to her feet and she stepped out of them. She had finished undressing me and we just stood there naked in front of each other touching and caressing. I laid her back on the bed and moved on top of her. I kissed her and she returned my kiss more passionately. I went down and suckled her breasts and nipples with my mouth and tongue. I moved down to kiss and suck on her pussy, but she stopped me.

"No, I want you inside me, now." she directed.

I moved back up as she opened her legs and I positioned my hard cock at her entrance. It was wet, smooth, and slightly swollen and spread easily to my entry. She wasn't tight but it felt good just the same. She gasped slightly as I entered her. She spread her legs further to be able to take all of me inside her. I stroked deep and pulled out slowly and stroked in deep again. I fucked her slow and deep for quite a while, suckling her breasts as I did so. She let out little moans and sighs as we made love. I could feel her tightening up. In a short time she had a small orgasm. Not a big one, but a nice gentle one. I came soon thereafter and could feel her reacting.

I moved her around on the bed and pulled the covers over us. She snuggled up to me and we went to sleep. The next morning I rose at my usual six o'clock, showered, shaved and dressed. She hadn't stirred. I gathered my things and went down to meet Steve for breakfast.

I had left her a note thanking her for her help and told her that I was looking forward to seeing her again when I returned in a couple of months. I hoped she got the unstated message.

My next assignment was to go to Wheeling, West Virginia to give a dealer orientation session and then a sales meeting for local dealer personnel. I contacted a hotel in the area to arrange rooms and set up the meeting requirements. It was pretty standard stuff for my part. I had done this many times and it was just a routine part of setting up the whole meeting. I packed up all my materials and two days later headed to the airport.

I arrived at the hotel about two o'clock in the afternoon. When I checked in the hotel sales representative came out to greet me. Allison McKenzie was a nice looking young woman of about 25, medium build and a well-shaped figure. I noticed that there were several guys hanging around the lobby and they seemed a little disgruntled. As I overheard their conversation I came to realize that they were sales people from our local dealerships that needed rooms and the hotel had no record of their reservations. That seemed strange, as I had blocked about twenty sleeping room plus a large meeting room. I asked Allison what was going on. She didn't seem to know, but said she would get right on it. Sure enough she had forgotten to block the rooms. We were able to sort it out soon enough and got the meeting attendees into their room.

She had even forgotten to book me a room. This was going downhill pretty fast. I asked to see the meeting room; I saw that it was way too small. I asked for a larger room and she showed me one down the hall that was more the size that I needed. When I had made the reservations I had been pretty explicit in stating the size of room that I needed. How she screwed that up I wasn't sure. While the hotel staff set up the tables and chairs in the meeting room I moved all of my materials in. I began unpacking my materials and setting up. Where was the projector and screen? I used a Microsoft PowerPoint PC based media presentation and needed a projector to hook the PC to. Again she had not ordered the projection equipment. This was not looking good. I finally got the room set up and all the presentation materials ready to go. By this time it was about nine o'clock in the evening. I went to the hotel restaurant and had a quick dinner and retired to my room.

The next morning I went down to the meeting room to check on things and make sure everything was ready. I pride myself on putting on a good show, everything happening as it is supposed to. The meeting was to start at eight o'clock. Where was the continental breakfast that I had ordered? I called Allison; she wasn't in yet, damn. I contacted the hotel catering service and told them what I needed and requested that they get it there post haste.

The meeting attendees, about 25 of them, began drifting in about seven-thirty; our continental breakfast arrived at seven forty-five. This was starting to piss me off. I spoke to the catering manager and laid out my needs for the remainder of the day. I needed sodas, coffee, tea and cookies for breaks at ten o'clock and two-thirty. I also needed a buffet lunch set up in another room at noon. He had no prior knowledge of this, but would take care of it. Allison obviously hadn't done anything. I was going to be here for four days with these meetings and it was important that they come off without a hitch.

It was important to me and to the company because it affected our image with the dealers.

I saw Allison come waltzing in about ten o'clock. She looked around the room and left. The rest of the day went well. Things happened as they were supposed to and my presentation was being well received. The meeting broke up about five o'clock and they were on their own till the next morning. I checked with catering about the next day's arrangements and made sure they were in place. I was headed to the restaurant to get some dinner when I went passed the meeting room. I couldn't believe what I was seeing; the hotel staff was breaking down the room. I asked what the hell was going on! The staff supervisor told me that the room had only been booked for one day and they were breaking it down.

No, no! I explained to him that the meetings were going on all week and that I needed the room. He seemed perplexed. He showed me his work order and he was right, only one day. Fortunately they had only started and I managed to get them to put the room back together and leave it. I went to the hotel offices and demanded to see Allison. I was informed that she had left for the day. I requested that the hotel assistant manager get hold of her and get her back over her that I needed to talk to her, now!

By this point I was really pissed, I mean really pissed. I'm usually pretty easy going, but this situation had gone too far.

About a half hour later Allison knocked on my door. I asked her in and we sat down at the small table in my room. I let her have it with both barrels. Nothing had gone right so far. What had worked were those things that I had taken care of. In point, she was not doing her job and was making mine much tougher. I made it abundantly clear that I was not happy, the hotel was remiss in their obligations and that it would stop here. That's when she broke down and began to cry hysterically. Shit, this wasn't helping at all. I got her a glass of water and a box of Kleenex and told her to stop crying, dry her eyes and let's straighten this mess out. She pulled herself together. She opened her meeting set up folder and we went over every detail of the needs that I had for the meeting for the rest of the week in minute detail. I told her that I expected her to handle everything without fail or miscue.

Just to be sure we went over it a second time. When we were finished she broke down again. This time worse than the first time. It took me some time to calm her down again. Her concern now was that I would report all this to the hotel manager and she would lose her job. She admitted that she had completely dropped the ball on this one and was very sorry and everything would go as planned for the rest of the week. She asked me not to go to her boss. I told her that I couldn't promise to do that, not until the meetings were over at the end of the week. Once done, I'd think about how it went and then decide. She wasn't happy with that answer.