Tom and Sandy Ch. 01

He didn't want to admit to such an unusual exercise to his girlfriend, but he was curious about its effect on her. He had nonchalantly asked her questions about how she felt, and from what he could gather, she entered a sort of catatonic daze while they were at it. While they were making love, he'd slow his ministrations at critical times so she wouldn't become unbearably sensitive, but usually by the thirty minute mark she was more or less floating on an orgasmic cloud, so he could hammer away without concern. She would eventually come down as soreness started to come into play, but until then she would moan, unseeing eyes staring into his, as she ascended to one climax after another.

The exercises took about ten minutes. Towards the end he was always drained, as any rigorous exercise will affect. He rose from the chair as Double Jeopardy! commenced and began to make himself some dinner.

Bed time came more quickly than he had hoped, but then, it always did. If only time spent at work flew by like it did when he could choose his activities! He lay down in his bed, Helena curled up on the floor below him. Reaching down, he scratched her ears. She sighed contentedly.

As he drifted toward sleep, he was surprised to notice that Sandy knocked on the hazy door to his torpid repose. Vaguely, he later recalled that they had been transported back to the pizza parlor, but this time they were alone. They had ordered together, and he had paid. Almost as if they were a couple.

Tom walked into the office on Tuesday morning with a sense of urgency. He was determined that today, he would make a difference. Sitting down at his workstation, he rolled up his sleeves. With a few keystrokes, he loaded the program that would help him make history.

Seventeen minutes later, he had claimed the all-time best score on Minesweeper, expert level.

"Oh Em Gee!" He thought to himself.

Hearing footsteps, he closed the game. Sandy strode by, calling "Mornin' Thomas!" over her shoulder.

"Eh there!" He was a little disappointed in the elegance of his response.

He sipped his coffee. It was 8:32. Looks like another fine day of doing very little.

He downgraded his stance on the day when the big boss walked in.

Sitting at the conference room table, Tom wondered what was going on. He, Sandy, and the intern Jeremy had brought notepads and pens to take notes.

"We have a major problem. The Carson project is a no-go. We designed the drainage to get water from 3216 feet elevation to 3203, and everything was staying in acceptable ranges as far as velocity in the pipe. But they've decided they want the receiving station to sit at 3192, so we're eleven feet too high. It was a last minute decision, and I didn't get notice until today. This is going to be a major redesign!"

"Take a deep breath there, chief." Tom thought. Nothing was ever as bad as the big boss made it sound.

"Well… a few tweaks should cover it. After all, we're moving it almost four miles." Tom tried to sooth the boss's fears.

"No. You don't understand. They want it to come in at the same velocity and flow rate. That means a lot of changes!"

Jesus. The guy thought he knew everything. Tom hated it when he took that tone. If Tom didn't understand something, it was because some variable hadn't been introduced yet. Just because you're older than dirt doesn't mean you're as wise.

Sandy piped up, "OK, we'll design an energy brake somewhere and everything will be ok. Give us… two days."

"We don't have two days. The contract is due by noon tomorrow. If we miss that, they'll go with some other firm. Can you have it by then?"

Tom sighed, but only internally. He knew he was in for a long day. Because it was his cliché when he needed to reassure Chris, he spoke.

"If we can't, no one can."

Sandy sat down in the chair across from his desk. He met her gaze levelly, knowing what she was going to say.

"Tom… we have to get this done. By noon tomorrow. Can we?"

"Sandy, let me reiterate: if I can't, no one can."

She looked at him for a few seconds. Her face softened. She knew that when he was confident, success was virtually assured.

"OK. We have three options for the brake. Each has drawbacks, but since we don't really have any other choice, we'll need to figure out which one is the best."

"Well, I'm thinking the area just east of the freeway on-ramp is best. I'll look at the areas you found, though."

"OK. I'll send you the aerials and the plans. Let's discuss after lunch."

Tom smiled at her. Unbeknownst to her, he'd analyzed the situation a week ago, and knew precisely which three locations she meant. There were really only three options, and she'd done well to determine that. He'd already thought about it because clients did this kind of crap all the time. If they'd raised, instead of lowered, their elevation, they'd have needed a pump. He knew where that would go, too.

"Okey dokey."

At 1:40 PM, Tom entered a few numbers into the new hydraulic calculation spreadsheet. There was a lot more to do, but he had a good start on it. Things should wrap up by 4:30, plenty of time for Chris to review it. There might even be enough time for him to pat Tom on the back.

Sandy walked in. "You aren't going to like this…"

"What?"

"Chris neglected to mention, because I guess he forgot, but Carson also wants to add in another retention pond to the drainage area. It's going to remove twenty six cubic feet per second from our flow rate."

"Oh for…" Tom nearly said "chrissake," but he knew that she was pretty religious. She might get upset.

"Sorry. Can you do it?"

"Sandy, if I can't…."

"I love it when you say that."

"But not by 5:00. This is a new wrinkle and will require a lot of work."

"Hm. OK. Can you stay late?"

"No. Helena is a very demanding mistress. Besides, this is at least another three hours of work. I'll take it home with me."

Tom thought for a fraction before adding the rest. "I could use some help, if you're available."

Sandy paused. After a second, she answered, "OK. We'll work on it at your house tonight."

"OK. We can order out, hopefully we'll be finished by 9:00."

At 5:00, Tom rose from his desk. He walked to Sandy's office and leaned on the door frame.

"Well, I need to go. Wanna follow me?"

Although Tom knew that she had a pretty good idea of where he lived, he still wanted to offer. She'd never been to his house as a guest, so it was a good idea for her to follow him.

"Yeah, ok. I called John and let him know. He's going to take care of the kids tonight without me."

"Okay, but you should be home in time to tuck them in. I figure we've got about four hours of work ahead of us."

She followed him in her Mercedes. Her husband, John, made quite a bit of money, so she was able to have a very nice car to drive. It was a very nice ride, too. Kompressor convertible. Not too impressive as far as miles per gallon, but she looked hot when she was driving it. Tom guessed that was the main thing.

Pulling into his driveway, he opened the garage door. It was a two seater, but he only ever filled up one bay of it. He got out and waved her into the second slot.

She pulled in and killed her car. Gathering her belongings, she got out and followed him into the house.

Sandy stifled a yelp when the dog pounced on Tom. He laughed and grabbed her by the collar.

"I'll just put her out while we work. She likes to romp in the back yard anyway."

He drug Helena to the back door and shoved her outside.

"Have a seat at the table. I'll get my laptop and we can get to work."

Tom walked into the office and dug out the laptop. The firm had bought it for him for situations like this. These kinds of things rarely arose, but when they did, the difference between success and failure could be millions of dollars. Therefore, it was well worth it to the company to spring for a three thousand dollar computer for Tom to take home with him.

Sandy had her laptop already booted when he came back. He sat in the chair beside her and plugged his in. Tapping the power button, the machine started to boot.

"Want a drink? I have water, orange juice… uh… beer…" He smiled at her.

"Just water, thanks."

He fetched two bottles of water from the fridge.

After working for an hour, they had made significant progress toward a solution to their problem. Tom looked up from his computer and rolled his neck around. Sandy took a break from her work, too.

"I'm hungry. What do you want?"

"Whatever is ok with me."

"Chinese food it is, then!"

Tom dug around through the kitchen drawers until he found an old take-out menu. The Angry Panda was the best Chinese food the city had to offer. He punched the number into his cell phone.

Another hour went by before the food arrived. They were about 80% done with the work they needed to do that night. The water was going to flow just fine. Hearing the doorbell ring, Tom got up.

"Here's a twenty." Sandy offered the bill without looking up from her laptop.

"Pfft. It's my pleasure to treat such a lovely woman to dinner."

Tom walked to the door, his face turning red. Had he really said that? Thankfully, she didn't respond.

He took the bags from the delivery boy and withdrew into the kitchen.

"Dinner… is served." he announced with unnecessary flair.

They munched their noodles around the table. Tom used chopsticks, Sandy a fork. He felt that Chinese food wasn't authentic unless consumed with their traditional accoutrements.

"Lo mein any good?" he asked.

"It's pretty good. What's this place called again?"
"The Angry Panda. Check out the menu." He slid it over to her. Sure enough, there was a depiction of a panda bear with its eyes lowered into slits.

"Ha! I wonder what he's angry about?"
Tom thought for a beat.

"Probably not enough bamboo."

She squinted at him, grinned, and finished her dinner.

They wrapped up their work at 8:35. The project was now complete. Thanks to Tom's WaterCAD skills and some thoughtful suggestions from Sandy, everything had worked out ok. Chris would be happy.

"Welp, I guess this does it. I'll burn this to a CD and bring it tomorrow." Tom rose and walked to the computer room where he kept his computer equipment.

"Hey, what's in there?" She followed him.

Tom flicked on the light in the computer room. The wood-paneled walls became visible. It looked like an Aspen ski lodge. The floor was hardwood, the lighting recessed, the faux-wood walls arose to oak trim. The only thing missing was a fireplace. He'd wanted that, but decided it was too expensive. He went to the desk and grabbed a CD+R.

Sandy browsed his bookshelf. He silently hoped she wouldn't find any of his… racy books. He had some he didn't know if she'd approve of. The Kama Sutra. The Vagina Monologues. Sex and the City. Sandy was about as conservative as they came.

"Sandy, check this out!" He clicked to open the folder where his digital pictures were kept.

He showed her a bunch of pictures of the trip he'd taken to London the previous summer. Trafalgar Square and Westminster Abbey seemed to bore her, but she perked up when he got to Hyde Park.

"Ooh, look how green it is! Didn't you go in July?"
"Yeah, but they get a bit more rain than we do."

Suitably distracted, it was no problem to keep her away from the "naughty" books until the CD-R tray slid open.

As he showed her to the door, Tom made a surreptitious glance at Sandy's posterior. Jesus, that was a nice ass. Her jeans accentuated her curves nicely. She had the look of a mature woman: not thin, like a girl, but not fat. Her hips exuded femininity. He didn't want to part company just yet.

"Hey, we did a great job tonight. Why don't we have a beer before we go? To celebrate."

She turned to face him.

"Well… John is waiting…"

"Oh, ok. Well, I guess I'll have to celebrate by myself." He smiled at her. He moved to open the door for her.

Surprisingly, she spoke again. "I guess one couldn't hurt."

They sat in front of the TV as they drank their brews. He'd quickly flipped the TV from the Food Network, where it had been parked since the night before, to something better suited for a general audience. He turned on the guide and followed it to Grey's Anatomy.

Unsurprisingly, the interns at Seattle Grace were once again more concerned with sex than with medicine. Meredith had a crush on some veterinarian, while Dr. McDreamy was having some problems with his ex-wife. Things got a little more interesting when Ms. Dr. McDreamy made an entrance.

Damn, that was a fine woman! Tom figured that with all the young doctors running around in the show, the ex-wife of the surgeon was by far the hottest.

"Too bad I can't meet a woman like that!" Tom commented. He looked over at Sandy and grinned.

"Yeah, tell me about that. Why aren't you married yet? I can't believe that the women of this town haven't snatched you up yet." Sandy swigged the last of her beer and looked back at him.

"Well… Jenny and I… didn't work out." He got up and walked to the fridge.

Before she could protest, he handed her a fresh brew. She looked like she wanted to say something, but remained silent and took his offering. After a minute, she spoke.

"Well, I'm sorry to hear that. When did this happen?"
"This weekend. It wasn't pretty. There was some… yelling. I can never go back." He added, "I think she'll be fine."

"Oh, Tom. She seemed like a nice girl. I'm sorry you two split up."

"She was a nice girl. If she hadn't been, maybe we'd still be together." Tom thought to himself.

"Well, I guess all good things have to come to an end."

"I guess." She cracked open the second beer and took a swig.

After Grey's Anatomy, and their third beer, Tom clicked the TV off. Sandy rose, a bit unsteadily. He peered at her. He'd had three beers as well, but she seemed much more affected by them.

"You ok to drive?"

"Um… yeah. I think so."

Tom sharpened his glance. She probably wasn't.

"I don't think so, hon. Why don't you sit and I'll get you some water."

"No, I'm ok. I can—" She banged her shin on Tom's coffee table.

"Dammit!" She almost immediately turned red at having used such language. Tom acted as if he didn't hear."

"Sandy, sit down. I can't let you drive home like this." He fetched her water from the fridge.

She moaned, "Oh, that really hurt. I don't normally drink this much." She suddenly looked up at him. "Are you trying to get me drunk?"

Tom felt bad until she grinned at him. She was only kidding.

"No, but I'm sorry. You're welcome to stay here tonight if you want. I have an extra bed."

Her smile remained steadfast.

"And do you have my shade of eye shadow?"

"Er… no, I think I wear a slightly darker shade."

"Then I guess I'd better let this wear off and then go."

Glancing at the clock, Tom saw that it was after 10:00. He wasn't planning to go to bed for a while, so this situation suited him fine.

"OK. What do you want to talk about?" He flopped down in the recliner.

"What was wrong with Jenny?" She sipped her water and looked at him innocently.

"Who said anything was wrong with her?" Tom looked at her over his fourth beer of the night.

"Well, I know she didn't break up with you. Therefore, you must have dumped her. What I want to know is, why?"

Tom stared at her.

"Well… I guess she wasn't my type."

"Hm. So a beautiful, articulate blonde, in a bachelor of science in biology degree track, who might become a doctor someday, wasn't your type… tell me Tom, what exactly is your type?"

He recalled that she had met Jenny at one of the office social affairs a few months earlier. He thought for a bit before responding.

"Well… She always seemed a little immature."

"Funny, she always seemed pretty level-headed to me. Try again."

"What the hell?" Tom thought to himself. "Where is she going with this?"

"Well… not as mature as I'd like, I guess."

"So you want an experienced woman, is that what you mean?" Sandy looked at him innocently.
"I… don't know. I guess I'm not sure what I want. I know I'll probably regret breaking up with her, but I just couldn't continue when I knew that I wouldn't be happy with her if we wound up getting married."

"Tom, we're both a little tipsy. So I won't hold it against you if you just come out and tell me what you're looking for in a woman. I'm really curious. I never know how the male mind operates, but I'm always ready to gather more data."

Tom sat back and looked at her. She was never like this. He wasn't sure she wanted to hear the answer that had been lurking in his brain over the last couple of days. Hell, he wasn't sure he wanted to hear it. He decided that if she asked for it, she would get it. And that it would clear his mind, if nothing else.

"I guess I'm just trying to find a successful, mature woman who will devote her life to me, but at the same time recognize that I'm the one in charge, at least in most situations. A woman that will give me anything I want, but at the same time will be strong and independent. Not a clingy girl, nor a high-maintenance prima donna. I want a girl, no, scratch that, a woman, who could make a great living without me in her life, but chooses not to. I want a woman who would do anything to keep me, but at the same time, could go on without me."

She had been looking at him thoughtfully. Her blue eyes never left his throughout his entire speech.

"That would be quite a woman," she said quietly.

"I know. I guess that's why I haven't found her yet."

"I'm sure you will, someday." She looked away and took a sip of her drink.

"I don't think that woman exists. Seems like any time I find someone that can support herself, she isn't interested in any man being in charge of her. I'm not saying that I necessarily want her to be obsequious, but I do want her to defer to me in some things. Maybe I'm old-fashioned, but I think a man should be in charge of certain aspects of the operandi du jour."

"Tom, I agree that there aren't many women like that. But don't think that there aren't any. Never give up hope."

Tom looked into her soft blue eyes. He really appreciated her advice.

After another half-hour, Tom showed Sandy to the garage. Her Kompressor roared to life when she turned the key. He leaned down into her opened driver's side window. As she put the shifter into gear, he spoke.

"Thanks for helping me with the project, Sandy. Are you sure you're ok to drive?"
"Yes, I'm ok to drive. And you're welcome. I hope you find what you're looking for."

"Thank you." He looked directly back at her.

Tom had nothing else to say, but he didn't want to stop looking into her eyes. They were so big and clear; the eyes of a confident woman. A tickle in the back of his mind reminded him that he should have felt silly, staring at her like that. But another tickle rebutted that she hadn't let off the brake yet. Not to mention, she hadn't stopped staring back at him.

Five seconds passed.

"See you tomorrow, Tom."

She slowly backed out of his driveway, and then her Mercedes roared into the night.

Chris was pleased with their work. Everything was coming up roses, as far as he was concerned. While he had been eating a filet at the country club, his employees were saving his company a million dollars. Not bad, not bad.

Tom's phone rang at 8:30. He saw on the caller ID that it was Chris.

"Dammit, if he has some more shit for me to do…"

Tom picked up the phone.

"This is Tom."

"It's Chris."
"Yeah, what's up boss?"
"Hang on a sec. Sandy?"
A beat passed before he heard Sandy's musical voice came through on the conference call.