Tanner Logistics

Marlon, Jennifer, Brian, John and Megan were all very quiet. They knew what was about to happen, they had all been here before. They knew the turmoil that Paul would be going through and were not looking forward to it.

Ashley was being very upbeat and bubbly. She was getting a thrill from all the drama and loved to see the conflicted emotions on the husbands faces when their wives went to spend the night with Mark. It turned her on immensely and she would be fucking Brian for half the night if he could keep it up. She wished she was in a room next to the master bedroom so she would hear what was happening to Sara and she could imagine Paul's angst. She knew Mark would let her watch the tapes later during one of their trysts.

"Good evening everyone. I hope everyone was able to find their rooms OK?" There was a murmur of "yeps". Paul was silent and staring at Mark. "I've taken the liberty of having champagne poured for everyone and I'd like to propose a toast." It was obvious that Paul, Sara, Joe and Lise didn't pick up glasses. Mark figured that the wives would follow the lead of the husbands and said, "Paul, Joe, please, grab a glass."

"That's OK, Mark," said Paul. "I already have a drink. Go ahead and make your toast."

"Oh...Ok...sure. Here's to a great weekend retreat. A weekend of good times and team building within my...our...company. A weekend of getting to know each other better and learning more about ourselves." Mark noticed that Paul didn't take a sip of his drink. "Would anyone else like to make a toast?"

"Sure," said Paul as he stood with his glass in his hand. "We've all sacrificed for Tanner Logistics knowing that success for Tanner Logistics as a company, means success for us individually. Here's to the rewards being worth the sacrifices, and an early night."

Mark started smiling and looked at Paul. "Wow, I couldn't have said it better myself. You're right, Paul. We all sacrifice, but it always pays off." No one noticed Derrick standing in a shadow at the top of the stairs looking adoringly at Mark. "Paul," Mark continued, "we have what could be considered a tradition here at Tanner. In the very near future, my father will be retiring and I'll be taking over the company. When I do, I'll have to know that I'll have complete loyalty from my employees."

'Here we go', Paul thought to himself. "Has someone suggested a lack of loyalty to the company?"

"No, Paul, not yet."

"I haven't heard about Tim retiring, what's the timeline on that?"

Mark was a little surprised at Paul's use of "Tim", but continued. "We haven't set a date yet, but it's coming. When it happens, there's gonna be big changes around here. Those who are loyal and cooperative, will be handsomely rewarded. Those who don't will be looking for a new job...without a reference."

"Wow, that sounds ominous," said Paul, "I take it that since I'm in the main lodge and not in one of the little cabins, that I'm good?"

"Funny you should ask, Paul. Since Sara has been working under me for the past few months, we've become very close."

"Is that right." Paul said that more as a statement than a question. He looked around at the others. Marlon, John, and Brian were all staring at the floor in front of them. Megan and Jennifer were looking around nervously, and Ashley was staring at Paul with a smirk on her face.

"Yes, Paul, it is. The two of us have come to a decision. I want you to know that while this is going to be a little uncomfortable for you, you won't have been the first to go through this."

"Gone through what, Mark?"

"Well, Paul, Sara will be spending the night with me in my bedroom."

Knowing that this was going to happen, Paul couldn't help chuckling. "Sorry, Mark. That's not gonna happen."

"Yes, Paul, yes it is. In a few minutes, Sara and I will be retiring to my bedroom. She will spend the night with me and will return to you at noon tomorrow."

"And if I say no?"

"You can say no if you want to, but it's still going to happen. Look, Paul, we both...hell, everyone here...knows what's going to happen. You're a nice guy. This won't make you a bad guy. I'm just gonna borrow Sara for the night so we can both get our mutual attraction out of our system and move on."

"So tell me, Mark. You've had this same 'arrangement' with all the wives here?"

"Well, three so far. It has shown me just how loyal these men are to me. They, and you, will be very well taken care of when the old man finally gets out of the way. I value loyalty above all else."

"Let me get this right. In order for me to keep my job, I have to let you fuck my wife?"

"There's no reason to be crude in front of the ladies Paul. Look, while your job isn't entirely dependent on me spending the night with Sara..."

"Great, then we can agree that it's not going to happen, you can take one of these other guy's wives, and Sara and I will be going to our room....alone."

"Mark stood up with a grin on his face. This was almost his favorite part. The banter back and forth while the husband tries to figure out a way to keep his wife from going with him. That hasn't happened yet, and wouldn't be happening tonight. "Paul, lets not make this any more difficult than it needs..."

"You're telling me that these guys let you fuck their wives so that they could keep their jobs? Sorry, I don't need this job that bad, so I'm gonna have to say no."

"You don't understand, Paul, it's not your decision to make. This whole conversation is a courtesy. Sara knows how good this will be for you both and we have already decided..."

"Yeah...no...I'm still gonna have to say no."

This was Mark's absolute favorite moment, the moment when the wife walks away from her husband. "Sara, stand up please."

Sara stood up, staring at Mark.

"Sara, come over here and sit next to me on this loveseat," Mark said.

"Sara," Paul said as he stared at Mark, "Sit down." Sara sat back down.

"Sara, get up and come over here now." Sara sat silently next to Paul.

"Well, Mark, it would appear that my wife isn't interested. I guess you should have brought your own date."

"Sara, if you value your job, and your husband's job, you'll get over here, NOW!"

"Sorry, I've given this a lot of thought, there is no way I'm giving up Paul for you," said Sara.

Ashley could no longer contain herself. "Sara, we've talked about this, you're not giving up Paul. It's just for the night. Not only will Paul accept this, he'll find out he enjoys..."

"Shut the fuck up, Ashley! When was the last time you had a conversation with Paul?!" Everyone looked at Lisa with their mouths open. "If it turned out that Paul wouldn't accept it and didn't 'enjoy' it, are YOU gonna fix their marriage?! Just because everyone knows that Brian doesn't care about your slutting around, doesn't mean everyone's like that!"

Brian stood up and looked at Ashley. "You know what, Ash? I'm done, we're done. You're not worth it." With that, Brian started walking toward their room with Ashley on his heels begging him to wait up so they could talk.

At this point, Mark slapped his hand down hard on one of the coffee tables. This was not going like it should. "Sara, last chance. You spend the night with me and save your job and Paul's job, while at the same time getting the best sex of your life, or go with mediocre Paul and clean out your desk on Monday."

Paul now had a huge grin on his face. "You know what, asshole? I am truly amazed at your stupidity. You're laying all this out knowing that there are cameras in here recording all of this. You think your father would allow this?"

"My father is a clueless fucking dinosaur! As far as those cameras are concerned, you don't think I've already had them disabled? Go ahead and tell the old man, your word against mine, and I've got some loyal people right here that'll swear you're lying! About the only smart thing my father does is trust me."

At that moment, Tim Waters stepped into the living room from the kitchen. "Mark, I'll make this short and sweet. You're fired. Don't bother going back to the offices, your pass won't work. This clueless dinosaur will be able to replace you in a day. I'm done carrying you. Get a job you actually have to work at. And by the way, I talked to Norman 3 days ago and made sure that all these cameras will be functioning and recording right now. Get out."

With that Tim Waters turned and walked back into the kitchen. Mark was speechless, staring at the spot where Tim had been.

After a few awkward seconds, Paul stood up and said, "well, this has been fun. I guess it's about time for me and Sara to hit the sack."

Mark started screaming at Paul. "You mother-fucker! I'm gonna kill you!," and started charging at Paul.

Paul wasn't very optimistic about this fight with Mark. Mark had him by about 8" and 50 Lbs. and was seriously pissed. As Mark was charging past Joe towards Paul, Joe pushed a coffee table with his foot in the path of a furious Mark. Mark tripped over the table and landed on his shoulder and rolled onto his back.

Paul seized the opportunity and jumped on Mark and started throwing punches into his face. After only a few good hits, Mark was able to throw Paul off. Paul jumped to his feet and Mark scrambled to his feet. Mark had a split lip and a bloody nose. The two men stared at each other and Mark was about to charge again when there was a bloodcurdling scream from behind Paul. Paul glanced over his shoulder and Mark took the opportunity to punch him across the face, spinning him around.

As Paul spun from the force of the hit, there was Derrick, charging at Paul with a knife from the kitchen, which he plunged into Paul's chest.

Time seemed to stand still for a few seconds, then Paul sank to his knees. As he sank down, Derrick held on to the knife, pulling it from Paul's chest and leaving a gaping wound. Suddenly, there seemed to be an explosion of noise. Sara and Lisa were screaming, Joe tackled Derrick, grabbed the knife and threw it across the room. John knelt down next to Paul, who was now laying on his back. Sara ran to his head, cradling him and crying. Brian came running down the stairs when he heard the screaming, hoping to see Mark getting his ass kicked.

John sprung into action. "Marlon, cal 9 1 1, Megan, listen to me, go and find Saran wrap. If you don't see any right away, grab a big bag of potato chips and bring them here. NOW! GO! Brian, go find me strong tape, duct tape or packing tape. Lisa, go find scissors or a knife I can use to cut this shirt off, not the one he was stabbed with. Paul, listen to me, you're gonna be ok. Trust me, I've dealt with this before, just try to relax and stay with us."

"Ambulance ETA is at least 15 minutes," said Marlon.

As he said this, they heard a helicopter starting up to take Tim Waters to the airport. "Joe, go stop that helicopter from taking off," said John.

Joe was up and running through the kitchen towards the back of the house before he was done the sentence. "Marlon, run and find a sheet or comforter or something we can use to carry him." Marlon took off towards a bedroom.

At this point, Megan returned with a large, family size bag of chips, and Lisa returned with a large kitchen knife. "Open up the bag and dump out all the chips. Lisa, cut open his shirt so we can get to his chest." Lisa made quick work of slicing off the buttons and pulling Paul's shirt back. John took the empty bag from the chips and smoothed it out, then folded it in half twice. He then placed it over the gaping chest wound and pressed down. Jennifer ran into the room with a roll of duct tape. "Tear off four pieces long enough to hold this in place. About 10" each." Paul was conscious, but going into shock. "Paul, stay with us buddy!"

Marlon was running back into the room with a large comforter and Brian was right behind him. Joe came running back in from the kitchen yelling that the helicopter was waiting, and there was a hospital 3 minutes away with a helipad.. John was putting the duct tape strips across the chip bag and told Marlon to lay out the comforter next to Paul.

"OK, Sara, lay his head down gently then come over here and keep your hand pressed onto this bag. "Ok everyone, we're gonna roll him onto his side then slide the comforter under him, then do it from the other side to get it all the way through." Once that was complete, John said, "Sara, keep pressure on the wound. Everyone else, we're gonna lift on three then carry him quickly but carefully out back. If you feel yourself slipping, say something. We'll decide if we need to stop and get a better grip or if we keep going. One. Two. Three."

The four men and three women all lifted Paul by the comforter and started carrying him out to the back door. Sara kept pressure on Paul's chest and kept talking to him the whole time. In the excitement, no one realized that Derrick and Mark had disappeared. Ashley was still in her room.

The helicopter wasn't meant as a medical transport, so they laid Paul on the floor in front of the back seats. Sara climbed in with him and kept pressure on the wound. John climbed in also and Tim Waters was in the front seat next to the pilot. The other six stepped back from the large machine and the pilot yelled "CLEAR!" The helicopter lifted off the ground as the first police cars arrived on the scene.

^^^^^^^^

Paul awoke to the sounds of machines beeping and it didn't take long to realize where he was and what had happened. He looked over to his right and saw Sara curled up on what looked like a very uncomfortable chair with a blanket draped over her.

"Sara?"

Sara opened her eyes and gave Paul a huge smile. "Hey, handsome." She got up from the chair and walked over to Paul and gave him a gentle kiss on the forehead. "The doctor said you're gonna be OK. The knife punctured your lung. He said that John saved your life. The potato chip bag kept air from going into your lung. Paul, he saved your life with a fucking potato chip bag!"

"I really don't remember too much after getting stabbed," Paul replied in a soft voice. "Who was that guy?"

"The guys name is Derrick Messing. You're not gonna believe this, but he's Mark's gay lover!" Sara was actually giggling a little as she said this.

"Where did he come from?"

"Apparently he was waiting in Mark's room. I'm guessing their plan was for me to go back to Mark's room and have sex with both of them all night."

"I saw Joe tackle him. Did he at least kick his ass?"

"Well...there was a lot going on. Joe had to run out and keep the helicopter from taking off. Derrick took off. Derrick and Mark both took off."

"Umm...Sara...I'm sorry it didn't quite go as planned.."

"Honey, it's OK..."

"No, look, I was a little arrogant to think everything would go exactly as I planned..."

"Paul. You stop it right now! If you hadn't done what you did, it would have been someone else after me. The way I see it, you did it for the next girl. I love you, Paul. Don't ever apologize for being a good guy."

Paul laid back with a smile on his face. "I love you too, sweetness. Did they catch them yet?"

"No, the two of them took off in Mark's Beemer."

Just then there was a knock on the door. Sara went and opened it up. "Mr. Waters! Umm...come in."

"Sara, please call me Tim. How are you?"

"I'm good, sir. Please, come in Paul, I'm gonna go and get a cup of coffee. I'll be back in a few minutes."

"OK, sweetness. I'll be right here," Paul said to lighten the mood.

After Sara left, Tim sat in the chair facing Paul. "Paul, I can't apologize enough for the actions of Mark and that asshole, Derrick."

"Yeah, I didn't see that coming," Paul replied.

"I'm done with that kid. I've been covering for him all his life. I didn't know he was coercing the female employees, but he's been doing fucked up things all his life. I guess it's time for his mother to make a choice."

"Tim, I notice you never refer to him as your son. He isn't you kid, is he?"

"No, he's not." Tim took a deep breath and let out a long sigh. "I tried my best to raise him as if he was mine, but when he found out I wasn't his biological father, he gave me the barest amount of respect he could get away with to keep me from cutting him off. I knew when he was 10 years old and 5'8" tall that there was something wrong. I had a test done that confirmed it, but I still loved his mother. As crazy as it sounds, she was a great wife and doted on me. Still is and still does."

"Did she finally 'fess up?"

"Actually, no. Mark and I got into a really bad argument one Christmas break during his junior year in college and at one point he yelled at me "how the fuck could you be my father."

"Uh-Oh."

"Yeah, he had a test done without me knowing. The next time we had an argument, he threw it right out there. His mother was devastated. I honestly don't think she knew. Turns out when we were in Europe on vacation I got sick and stayed in the room for a couple days. I insisted she go out and enjoy the city and she got hammered and had a one night fling. She never really thought about it. Our sex life was very active and she just assumed he was mine. Since his hair color and eye color are the same as mine, it never entered her mind that I wasn't his father."

"She has never given me a reason to believe she was cheating on me. When I found out, I had her followed and investigated for a long time. Never a hint of cheating. Nothing. I honestly believe it was a one night, momentarily lack of brain activity. It was a one time mistake."

"I'm really sorry about all this, Tim. If you prefer I move on, I understand."

"No, Paul, I want you to stay. In fact, I want you to be a more integral part of Tanner. Look, I've taken up too much of your time here. Please give me a call as soon as you're out of here so we can go over your future in the company. If you don't mind, could you keep our conversation between us?"

"Of course. Tim, stop by anytime you want. If you feel the need to talk, I'm certainly willing to listen."

"I may just take you up on that. Mind If I stop by in a couple days?"

"Of course not, already looking forward to it."

^^^^^^^^

Derrick fled the area and was on the run for 10 days before he was apprehended in L.A. in Mark's Beemer. He was charged with attempted murder and related charges. He ultimately received a 10 year sentence for the attempted murder.

Mark was charged with the attempted coercion and blackmail of Sara. Ashley got fired...then divorced.

That particular retreat became one of legend, and no one missed them after that. There was never any drama like there was that weekend, but everyone liked to talk about where they were when it happened and what they saw, or thought they saw.

Tim and his wife did not get divorced, they did love each other. Mark, however, was disowned. He wound up selling cars in the town where he went to college.

Sara saw a counselor to try to figure out why she was susceptible to Mark and Ashley. Nothing definitive ever came of it. She had never been molested and didn't have Daddy issues. She constantly thanked Lisa for bringing her to her senses. From that point forward, Sara doted on Paul as much as he did her.

Sara went overboard to regain Paul's trust, to the point that he finally had to tell her to stop. "Look, Sara, there is no question about how I feel about you being with another guy. If you needed to hear it, you have. Don't ever forget it. I know you girls are going to get hit on and flirt, I get it. Anyone gets handsy or actually suggests a fling, I expect you to tell me immediately. That's it...end of story...no more chances."

They lived happily ever after. Sara never cheated. I know because I wrote this.

End

There was a story a few months ago about a first responder saving a stabbing victims life by putting a potato chip bag over the chest wound until an ambulance arrived and it saved his life by keeping air from entering the lung. I thought it was really interesting.