Necessity is the Mother of Obsession Ch. 02

The very pretty Japanese girl in the gorgeous silk sheath dress greeted John and Karen as they entered.

"Wareware wa yoyaku o shita," John told her. "Thompson." The girl smiled and looked at her seating chart.

Holy shit! He speaks Japanese, too! Karen realized. Of course he does, she chided herself. And probably half a dozen others. He does business internationally, for Christ's sake.

"Thank you, Mr. Thompson," the girl looked up. "Your table for four is ready. Do you wish to wait for the others in your party?"

John thought about it for a moment, then decided, "no... they can join us when they get here. Their name is Pearson."

"George Pearson, sir?" the girl asked as she perked up. As if she could get any perkier.

"Yes, actually..." John told her, a little suspicious.

"Mr. Pearson and his wife are regulars of ours," the girl explained. "I will bring them to you as soon as they arrive. My name is Etsuko, sir, if you need anything." She picked up a couple of menus and asked, "would you please follow me?"

John skillfully maneuvered Karen in front of him as they followed Etsuko to their table. Karen noted it was a bit cramped inside, with many tables close together and most of them full. Popular place, she thought. The table they were taken to was a booth near the back, though, and not quite so crowded. They were seated and given the menus, which both took the opportunity to browse.

"Okay, so this is the first time I've run into a place that specializes in Japanese tapas," John chuckled, "and good Lord, have they got variety on their menu!"

"Sir," Karen told him quietly, "I don't know what half of this is... more like 90%. I'm not a Japanese cuisine kind of girl."

"Then I'll order for us, if it doesn't offend your Dom side," he smiled and she almost blushed. Almost. She was getting better at keeping it under control.

"That would be fine, sir," she nodded. "You should know, I'm not big on spicy."

"Got it," he mused, looking at the menu. "How about a sushi sampler for an appetizer while we wait?"

"That sounds good," she agreed, "and no alcohol for me, please."

John nodded, caught the waitresses eye and ordered appetizers and tea. Then they sat back to wait.

It was maybe ten minutes later that John saw Pearson being conducted to their table, accompanied by a somewhat elegant looking older woman whom he presumed was Gloria, George Pearson's wife. John stood at their approach. Karen decided to take a chance and remain seated.

"Bloody traffic!" George exclaimed as he extended his hand to take John's. "Sorry we're late. John, this is my wife, Gloria. Gloria, this is John Thompson, the fellow we're in meetings with regarding the future of Morton Industries. Also our host for the evening." John released his hand and took hers with a slight bow.

"Mrs. Pearson," he greeted her. "I'm glad you could join us. May I introduce my assistant, Karen O'Reilly?" he went on. "Karen is my right-hand girl when it comes to business. She keeps me on-time, informed, fed and appropriately dressed." All said with that charming smile.

"Sounds more like a fiancée or a nanny," Gloria told him, then turned to her. "Pleased to meet you, Ms. O'Reilly."

"Please, it's Karen," Karen offered in reply.

"Then it's Gloria," Gloria decided.

"Please," John gestured towards their seats and George helped Gloria slide in first.

Educated, refined, a sense of humor, stately grace... Karen mused as she watched the elder woman be seated. She'll be the behind-the-scenes driving force of their relationship.

"George, can I get you and Gloria anything to start?" John asked as George was sitting.

George smiled what could best be called a Knowing Smile, and told John, "allow me." He then turned towards a nearby waitress and said, "Kasumi..."

She turned and walked to their table. "Sir?"

"Anata wa, karera ga motte iru mono o motte jisan shite kudasai baai," he told her.

"Sugu ni, sei," she bowed slightly, then with a quick look at the table, turned and headed off. John just chuckled a little and he and George exchanged one of those Knowing Looks.

"Okay, I'll admit it," Karen spoke up. "I'm the dunce of the group tonight. I don't speak Japanese. May I ask what just happened?"

"George just told the waitress, essentially, 'we'll have what they're having,'" Gloria explained softly. "A thinly veiled reference to..."

"When Harry met Sally," Karen smiled as she and Gloria finished the sentence together.

"And please don't feel like a dunce, dear," Gloria went on. "George is just showing off. It's taken me forty years to catch up to him in that department, though now I think I can hold my own."

"I guess John was just showing off earlier, too," Karen answered. "He was speaking Japanese with the hostess. I guess I'm just along for eye-candy." She shot a look at John and he got the feeling she felt belittled.

"Oh, you won't convince me you're along only as eye-candy," George spoke up. "I was watching you during the meetings today. You were following right along and I could see the wheels turning. Until you spaced out during Brad's atrociously boring presentation. Honestly, I was tempted to take a nap myself."

"I don't know what you were thinking about, but from your wistful smile, I'd say it had to be pretty good. Maybe having something to do with eye-candy."

"George!" Gloria interrupted. "You're going to embarrass the young woman. Stop it." Then turning to Karen she added, "He can be so crude sometimes. Don't let him bother you."

"Oh, I'm not embarrassed," Karen hurried to reassure her. "At least, not by his comments. Maybe by being caught drifting during the meeting and then being ratted out to my boss, but that's about it." She turned to look at John, but he just shrugged with that smile of his. Then he sat up more and leaned into the table.

"George, I have a couple of things to say where the others can't hear, and then that will get the business part of this out of the way, after which we can discuss more pleasant things, like where you think you'll retire and what kinds of things you think you'd like to do with your time."

"Okay," George nodded. "Shoot."

"First of all, we all know you're the linchpin in this. What you decide is how it will go. I want you to have a comfortable retirement. You've earned it. Every profit jump I've seen in the last twenty years was due to something you did, some direction you decided to go, and you forged ahead with Morton in your wake. You've got a right to be proud of your accomplishments."

"So, second, we don't want to see Morton downsize. It is a robust company in a good position to grow, with a little outside help. That helps your retirement bottom line, as well as knowing the company is still thriving. Problem is, we don't want Tikken running the show, either. They're good with production but shy on R&D. You've got the R&D that Tikken needs. We want that to happen."

"So, third, my best of all worlds scenario would be for you to split your stock between us. Between Sethridge and Morton. That way, Morton drives the R&D, Tikken drives the production, business expands and profits go up. After the merger is approved and share distribution has stabilized, buy back in. Tuck some Morton stock in your retirement portfolio."

"Anyway, that's all I wanted to get on the table tonight," John finished up. "Something to think about."

George Pearson looked at John Thompson with a critical eye. What he said made sense. And he didn't want to cash out of Morton just to see it go under with Mills at the helm, or flounder with Morton. It was definitely worth thinking about.

"You're usually a straight-shooter, huh?" he asked. "Laying all your cards out."

"Not always, and not all of them," John told him. "In this case, it does me no good to play games. If you understand what we're trying to do, the logical thing for your best interests is to help us. Showing you all the cards helps us help you to see the logic. You will, in the end, do what you think is right."

"Actually, in the end," Gloria spoke up, "he'll do what I think is right, which isn't public knowledge."

"Mrs. Pearson... Gloria..." John turned his attention to her, "I have nothing but admiration for how the two of you work as a team. You've obviously got a rock solid relationship and have for a lot of years. I want you to enjoy his retirement as much as I want to enjoy the obscene profits to be made by merging Tikken and Morton. If you've got any questions about what I'm laying out here, call Karen."

He pulled out a business card, flipped it over and had Karen write her cell number on the back.

"My number is on the front, hers is on the back, but you'll do better going through her. If she can't answer your question, she'll pass it to me and I will. Feel free to call anytime."

"Two in the morning?" Gloria asked, dead serious.

John took a breath, let it out and without looking to Karen for the okay, said, "Any time."

"So which is she, John?" Gloria asked. "Fiancée or nanny?" There was something subtle going on between Gloria and John, and Karen was at a loss to understand it.

John did glance briefly at Karen before answering Gloria, "more like fiancée."

"Then you better get a ring on her pretty soon, son," George interjected. "Before some other lucky bastard beats you to it."

"We're a little gun shy in that area, sir," John turned to him. "But believe me, I hear you."

"So, what are you going to do for retirement, Gloria?" Karen had decided the conversation needed to be steered away from its obvious course.

"Well," she smiled slightly to Karen, "despite George's overwhelming desire to spend endless days sitting in a small boat on a big lake and drown worms, it starts with the trip around the world he promised me the day we were married."

"That sounds awesome," Karen almost gushed. The idea of being able to travel all over the world really enchanted her. "Where will you go?"

"While George has been busy solidifying our retirement, I've been stitching together a series of cruises," Gloria smiled, obviously pleased to be asked. "The short form is, the West Coast to Hawaii and then Japan, then down to Taiwan, Hong Kong, southeast Asia, India, South Africa and then somehow, to Europe. I can't decide if I want to take us via Suez and the Mediterranean, or around the Horn and up to Gibraltar and the Med. In either case, we can join any number of river cruises through Italy, France, Russia and Germany before going to the UK. Eventually, we come back to New York."

"That's when my piece kicks in," George leaned into the conversation. "I want us to take a train cruise around the States. Go out the northern routes from New York to Seattle, then south to San Diego, back east to Miami and finally back up to New York. We can fly home from there."

"That sounds exhausting!" Karen exclaimed. "Thrilling, but exhausting."

"That's why we want to do it now, while we're still young enough and in good enough health to enjoy it," Gloria told her.

"It sounds wonderful," Karen nodded. "Not very cheap, I'd guess. Not something I could do on my salary. And no, sir," she added to John, "that is not a request for a raise."

"That's another reason to do it now," George admitted. "Morton's doing well. I could probably do better by leaking it that I won't be selling to Mills and wait for him to drive the price up, but then if he wins, any future earnings go right down the crapper. You do know, John, that when he gets wind of me selling to anyone other than him, he's going to try to price you out of it?"

"Yes, sir, we do," John confirmed. "That's why it would need to be done quietly and be fait accompli before he got wind of the transaction. And we'd have to make sure he couldn't rally any support to challenge us. Being privately-held is an advantage, in this case. That's why we have lawyers and brokers."

"Okay, John, just so we're clear," George nodded. "Have you decided what you're doing for dinner?"

"Yes, and I'll be ordering for both Karen and myself. Her request," he smiled.

Dinner was ordered and enjoyed, and Karen had to admit that although some of the tapas looked strange to her, everything John ordered was excellent. And filling. Too filling. She found herself slowing down so she wasn't too stuffed for later activities.

Conversation drifted to fishing, with George, where John appeared knowledgeable, and to art, music and museums with Gloria, where Karen got a chance to shine. It was, in Karen's estimation, a wonderfully relaxed dinner. Which wrapped up around 10 o'clock, with both men pointing out they had a meeting in the morning. Karen's "me, too," by way of apology to Gloria was met with a smile and the comment, "I know, dear. Believe me, I know."

John picked up the tab and the two couples went their separate ways, Gloria expressing an interest in seeing them socially some time, if their schedules ever permitted it. John was quiet on the drive back to the hotel and Karen didn't intrude. When they got there, Lu was waiting for them.

"Did you get my text, John?" she asked as she saw them coming through the lobby and rose to meet them.

"Yes, I did," he acknowledged. "A bit busy to respond. We're good, though. Come on up."

Okay, so he didn't bother to check with me before telling shark lady to join us, Karen thought, a little irritated. Then she relaxed. I guess that's what high-powered executives do, she mused. Well, my room's got a door and I can hide and get out of these clothes while they talk business.

Karen felt Lu watching her as they rode up in the elevator, then politely ignore her as they walked next to each other, following John down the hall to the room. On entering, Karen paused.

"John," she caught his attention. "I'm just going to slip out of these clothes..." she told him, indicating her bedroom.

"And into Number 27?" he grinned and she blushed, damn near head to toe. The look on the lawyer's face was completely neutral.

"I was going to say, and into something more comfortable," Karen managed to get out. She knew her face was flushed and she was getting pissed that it was in front of shark lady.

"John, don't tease her like that," Lu unexpectedly spoke up, in a quiet but no-nonsense tone. "She's on your side." Then she turned to Karen. "I'm not going to screw up your night," she told her. "I've got some info for John, and actually for you, too, if you want to join us." Then she turned and walked on into the parlor, leaving John standing in the foyer with Karen.

"Sorry," he immediately apologized. "I guess I'm getting too comfortable around you. I'll try not to embarrass you again." That, and her reaction, surprised Karen.

"John, I don't want you to ever feel too comfortable around me," she hurried to tell him. "You should be able to tease. I'm just not all that... um... practiced at it? You go ahead and tease. I'll try to get better at not letting it get to me. By the way, does she know what Number 27 is?"

"Yes," he told her, watching her face.

"Oh." That would go a long way to explaining things, she thought. "I'm going to go change. Um... is a robe okay? Or should I put on some casuals?"

"Both are fine," he told her. "But the robe will hide the wet spot better."

"What wet spot?"

"Lu's going to want to share what she's found out about Pam Morton's sexual proclivities. If it's as good as rumor suggests, you might find it a turn on." Karen looked at him for a very long moment.

"This is you, being straight with me," she finally observed. "You expect me to seduce Mrs. Morton."

"Let's just say, it's a distinct possibility," John told her and his expression was serious. "Join us when you want, or don't. I'm opening a bottle of something white. Preference?"

"Zinfandel," she told him. "And thanks." Then she entered her room and closed the door.

Oh, my fucking God, what am I getting into? she thought in quiet desperation, while stripping out of her dress and carefully hanging it back up. I am not at all sure I'm ready for the Big Leagues...

* * * * *

"Pam Morton is, for want of a better word, legendary." Lu was sitting on the couch with a lowball glass of something mostly clear.

The Zinfandel, Karen thought as she entered in her hotel robe, carefully cinched this time. Odd... she seems a lot more relaxed.

Lu was still in the black Armani skirt, but the jacket was gone, hung over a chair. Her hair was down now, cascading over her shoulders to about mid-back. Her ivory blouse was unbuttoned about halfway down and Karen realized she wasn't wearing a bra. The huge, firm tits were all her... unless they were implants.

John silently handed Karen a lowball glass of wine while addressing Lu.

"Legendary how?" he asked.

"The woman has a sex drive that is out of control," Lu explained. "If you believe the rumors, she's done everything on two legs, and four."

"Let's presume the rumors are exaggerated," John put in. "What do we know?"

"We know she's bi, loves ménages and being outrageous, and only Morton's money keeps it out of the gossip rags." Lu took another sip of her drink.

"She's a member of several swingers' clubs in the area, and in Southern California, and apparently Lake Tahoe – one of her favorite vacation spots. Her husband used to go with her, but cut way back after his heart surgery five years ago."

"He's coming up on sixty, she's ten years his junior. She particularly likes giving and getting oral with women, especially if it's a ménage with a guy. A well-hung guy. She prefers big. Right up your alley, John."

"Any family complications, à la Mills?" John asked, obviously thinking.

"Not in the traditional sense," Lu told him.

"Explain."

"They have three children, two together and one his son from a previous. None of them participate or even seem to have an interest in the business. The rest depends on how much you want to believe the rumors."

"Go on..."

"Rumor has it she's fucking her stepson. He often acts as her chauffeur and has escorted her to several galas when hubby couldn't make it. Read that however you will."

Karen was concerned about the direction this was going.

"John, if you're thinking what I think you're thinking, I need to remind you, I don't have any experience with women, except for practicing making out with my girlfriends in 7th grade while fantasizing about rock stars."

"Not 8th grade?" Lu asked softly, with just a hint of sarcasm and interest, mixed.

"By then, we'd discovered Freshman boys," Karen answered her with a bit of a blush.

"Did you like it?" Lu asked. John was keeping quiet.

"What?" Karen wasn't sure what Lu was asking.

"Did you like making out with your girlfriends?" Lu iterated. "Because you'd be Pam Morton's type. Young, pretty, nice tits, luscious lips and probably a sweet pussy from the attention John is paying you."

Now Karen really did start to blush. She sat staring at the shark.

"Answer her question, luv," John told Karen softly. Not menacing... just a direction.

"Yes," Karen quietly admitted. "They were my best friends and I liked them a lot. They were fun. Mostly giggly, but pretty exciting when we let it get serious. Which wasn't often."

Lu looked at her for several moments before getting up and walking over to where Karen was sitting.

"Please stand up," she asked her. Karen had a sudden twist in her gut and looked over to John. He just had that charming small smile on and he nodded slightly to Karen.