Valentine's Day - The Whole Story

Back in February 2022 I submitted an entry for the 750 word project. Many readers asked me to expand it beyond that short entry. Reading the original is not necessary for this story, but for the curious you can find it here: https://literotica.com/s/valentines-day-cupcakes

The characters in this story are flawed, just like you and me. Sometimes they make bad decisions as they struggle to live their lives. Sometimes they make life changing decisions, not always positive. All characters and situations are complete fiction, a product of my fertile imagination. Any similarity to actual people and situations is purely a coincidence. All constructive criticism is welcome.

*****

It was a blustery morning in March. My desk phone rang. The caller ID said it was Joe, my boss.

"Eric, can you come down here. We have a new employee for your group that you need to meet and get onboarded."

"Sure. Be right down."

As I headed for the stairs, a bunch of thoughts ran through my head. It would have been really nice to be included in the hiring process. Do we really need another person? Well I guess that we do. There's a lot of work to be done. Why does everything need to be so secretive?

I work in the quality control section of our manufacturing company. There are seven of us, well now eight. We cover all quality aspects of our operation - from incoming part inspection to assembly line audits. I work in the field failure investigation area. Essentially, when shit starts breaking after it leaves our factory, I'm the guy who has to figure out why. Now that I thought about it, it did make sense to bring in a new person. I just wish Joe had allowed me some input.

When I got to Joe's office, a petite redhead stood to meet me. She was professionally dressed and very pretty. I was at least a head taller than she was.

Joe remained seated, "Eric, this Erin Reynolds." I shook her hand as Joe continued, "She'll be working with you in field failures. I have a rough plan that it will take you about three months to bring her up to speed. She'll have two evaluations before we formalize her hire, one at three months and one at six. Any questions?"

I was pissed, but I didn't want to let it show, "How long have we known we were bringing Erin onboard?"

"I just found out this morning. Arlene in H.R. recruited her from the university's graduate school."

"Oh." I turned to Erin, "Well, welcome to the team. Let's get you settled in."

We returned to my work area in silence. I wouldn't call it an office. It is more like a lab. I didn't know what to say, but I remembered that a closed mouth gathers no feet.

As we walked in she said, "Sounds like I've been dumped on you, that you don't need me."

I motioned Erin to a chair, "It's okay. You are certainly needed. It's just a little weird having a new co-worker thrust on you. So tell me about yourself."

She thought for a moment, "Well, I'm 31 years old. Been married about a year. Just graduated with a master's in applied statistical analysis. My bachelor's is in mechanical engineering. Spent four years working for one of our competitors. We moved here for my husband's job. Simon is some kind of big wig in his company."

So Erin was ten years younger than I was. I later found out that she had held a pretty important position at one of our competitors. I also found out that her husband was a high powered financial guru, a CFO in fact.

I didn't have much to say, "Well, it sounds like Arlene made a good decision to recruit you. How much do you know about our company?"

She had really done her research. She knew we'd been in business for ten years and we had experienced double digit growth for the past six. She had a very thorough knowledge of our product line. Our benefits were excellent, we received stock options regularly, and our company's stock price was going through the roof. We all hoped to be a lot wealthier in a few years.

For the rest of the morning we rearranged the lab so that Erin had a place to work. I ordered her a desk and a laptop, set her up with our IT people, and began showing her our operation. She caught on very quickly.

When we broke for lunch, I took her to our dining facility. Lunch is free for all employees, we just need to scan our badge. Up until this time, I had always eaten with a couple of the old-timers. For some reason, I didn't feel like subjecting Erin to their crude 'locker room' banter so we grabbed a table across the room from them.

As we began to eat I was struck for the first time by her beautiful green eyes. They were mesmerizing. I found myself holding eye contact with her much longer than I normally would. I also noticed the lovely freckles that adorned her cheeks.

Now that we were out of the professional space of the lab, Erin's vibrant personality took over. She shared with me her joy of hiking and biking in the outdoors, of traveling, of learning new things. It was one of the most enjoyable lunch hours I had spent in a very long time. I was going to like having her around.

That evening I told my wife, Helen, about my new co-worker. I didn't tell her how pretty Erin was or about our 'eye flirting' as I came to think of it.

Helen was less than receptive to the idea of me having a female colleague, "Why did they have to hire a woman?"

I was shocked, "Are you kidding me? Aren't you the woman that sits here and rails against the misogynistic climate in the corporate world? Aren't you always arguing that women need to be given equal opportunity and equal pay?"

"But this is different!"

"How is it different?"

"Because she working with you!"

"So I can only work with men? You're the one being a misogynist. In fact, you're being ridiculous."

*****

Of course Helen knew I would be attracted to a woman like Erin, but I would never act on that attraction. It helped that Erin always dressed modestly. She never wore tight jeans or a shirt that would allow me to fantasize about her body. She was a brilliant, beautiful woman with a cheerful personality. It was nice having her around.

Over the course of the next month I was able to introduce Erin to nearly all aspects of our responsibilities. I found out that she was an expert in using analytical software. She could quickly identify trends before they became a major issue. For example, she identified a possible electrical issue with one of our products based on an increase in the number of replacement inline fuses we were shipping to our customers. The two of us dug into it and with the help of one of our repair technicians quickly found the source. Suddenly, rather being reactive we had become proactive. We initiated an engineering modification to be installed on every repair, thus saving the company a potential $3 million over the course of the next two years. I made sure Joe knew that Erin was responsible for it. He moved up her evaluation date and soon she was a permanent hire.

It was funny to watch the increase in the number of fellow employees who suddenly had business with us. Repair technicians would bring the smallest issue, not to my attention, but to Erin's. Design engineers would stop by and run an idea by her. She thought all the attention was quite funny. In general, all the guys were very nice. She was also popular with our lesbians. On one occasion, one of the senior engineers started coming on too strong. She asked for my help and gave me a look. I took over and ran interference for her.

We got into the habit of eating lunch together every day. During the course of those lunch hours we slowly became good friends. I learned about her past and that she hoped to start a family soon. She shared pictures of the new house that they had purchased. It was a cute 'arts and crafts' house with huge potential for a family. She also got my opinion on some of the ideas she had for remodeling the kitchen.

*****

I wanted to invite Erin and Simon to our house for dinner, but Helen held me off. Finally, after Erin had been working there for about three months, my wife agreed. It was late June and the weather was perfect.

We cooked some steaks on the grill and had a nice dinner on our patio. I noticed that Erin didn't have any alcohol. I knew she preferred IPAs, but she didn't take one when I offered it. Simon on the other hand was not bashful. At a conservative estimate, he drank an entire bottle of merlot himself. Helen matched him glass for glass. By the end of the evening Erin and I were still sober and our spouses were smashed.

When they finally left for the evening, Helen said, "I hope she's feeling better soon. It typically doesn't last more than a month or two."

"What?"

"Silly man! Erin is pregnant. Didn't you notice how often she went to the restroom? She's got morning sickness, or in her case - all day sickness. She barely touched her dinner and she only had water.

"Wow! I would have never guessed."

*****

I never let on that I knew Erin's secret, but I did notice how frequently she excused herself at work. After a couple of weeks I noticed that her appetite had returned and she no longer sprinted for the ladies' room.

About a month after our dinner Erin called in sick two days in a row. When she finally did show up, she was not her vivacious self. I knew something was wrong. She said that she hated her job. That the stress was too much.

When we went to lunch Erin remained unusually quiet. I tried to hold up my end of the conversation by talking about a project I had started at home. I just received nods and grunts.

As we were walking back to the lab it dawned on me, "Erin, please don't think I am trying to pry into your life, but did you lose your baby?"

She turned to me and the tears started gushing. I held out my arms and she planted herself into my chest right in the middle of the hallway. I hugged her tight while she blubbered into my shirt. Sobs wracked her body and I just held on. I'm over a foot taller than she is and I kissed the top of her head. I stroked her hair.

Finally, she eased off, "How did you know?"

"Helen told me you were pregnant. I just put two and two together that something happened. If you want someone to talk to I'm sure Helen would love to talk to you about it."

Erin gave me a wan smile, "Helen doesn't like me very much. I think it is very thoughtful that you noticed."

"The company has the EAP counselors that you can call. When my father died I used the service. They're very good."

"Maybe I'll do that. Simon hasn't been very sympathetic."

She hugged me again, pressing the side of her head against my chest, "You're a good friend. Thanks."

*****

When I got home that night I let Helen know.

Rather than being understanding she became quite nasty, "Oh! And I suppose you had to comfort her!"

"What's that supposed to mean? Yes, when I figured it out and I asked her if she lost the baby, she gave me a hug and I hugged her back."

The sarcasm was flowing, "Oh! And she cried in your arms! Oh how loving! Oh how romantic!

"What's the matter with you? Don't you feel badly for her?"

"Yes, I feel bad for her, but she shouldn't be hugging my husband!"

"It was completely innocent!"

"OH, and I imagine you stroked her hair and kissed her head. You held that hot little body of hers tight against you. Feeling her boobs press into you."

"I can't believe you! Where is your humanity?"

"I don't have any humanity for hot young tarts trying to steal my husband!"

"She not a tart and she's not trying to steal me. She's happily married."

"Yeah. I don't believe it for a minute."

*****

About a month later we both got called down to Joe's office. A client in Dallas was experiencing an exceptionally high failure rate. Joe's boss wanted the two of us to fly down and figure it out. Since a high dollar future sale was riding on their happiness, this became our number one priority. Our company travel agency already had a flight booked for the next morning.

When I got home I let Helen know what was going on and she went through the roof, "What kind of company sends men and women out together on a business trip?"

"Every company on Earth. That's a pretty common practice."

"Well I think it's wrong!"

"So a company has to hire both men and women, but they can't send them on a business trip together? Is this something out of Puritan days?

"It's wrong!"

"I think that companies can assume their adult employees are responsible adults and can act responsibly."

She stormed off and wouldn't speak to me.

*****

The business trip lasted five days including the weekend and ended up being very successful. We solved the problem and made some long-lasting improvements to our products.

The Tuesday we got back Joe asked me to come down and see him, "Eric, I wanted to let you know that everyone is very happy with the work you and Erin did in Dallas."

"Thanks boss. I'll let her know."

"But that's not why I wanted to talk to you."

Oh shit!

Joe continued, "The night before you left I got a phone call from Helen. She told me that it was outrageous that I was sending a man and a woman out together on a business trip."

I think my jaw dropped about this time.

Joe chuckled, "I asked her how I should go about solving our problem and she said I should only send same sex teams out. I told her that wasn't an option for our company. I told her that if I couldn't send you out with Erin and trust that you would be responsible adults that I would have to fire you. She got all flustered and said that I should fire Erin. I asked her why and she hemmed and hawed for a minute or so. Then she said to forget that she called and hung up."

I was flabbergasted. I didn't know what to say.

Joe said, "Just so you know, I'm not going to get rid of you or Erin. You're a great team. You've saved us tens of millions of dollars in what five? Six months?"

I nodded.

Joe stood up and walked over to the window, "Eric, I just wanted you to have a heads up on what Helen was doing. What you do with it is your business. Oh, I'm putting both of you in for a promotion."

"Thanks boss. I appreciate it."

When I got back to the lab I told Erin how much we were appreciated and about the promotions, but I didn't share the other news. I needed to wrap my head around that one.

*****

It was a few days before Christmas and the doorbell rang. I opened it and there was Erin.

Helen called out, "Who is it?"

"Erin!" I turned to her, "Come in! Come in! It's too cold."

Helen came into the living room and in one of her more hypocritical moves gave Erin a big hug, "Oh! It's so good to see you!"

Erin was beaming, "I won't stay long. I have two things. First, this is for the two of you. You have been so kind and welcoming. I can't thank you enough." She handed Helen a package.

Helen gave her another hug, "That's so thoughtful! What's the second thing?"

Erin hesitated a moment, "I'm pregnant again! Oh, I hope it works out this time."

Helen gave her another hug, "I'm so excited for you! I know you will be fine. When are you due?"

"Mid-August."

I thought I was going to barf at Helen's phoniness. I gave Erin a side hug as to not incur the wrath of my wife, "Make sure you let us know how we can help you."

"You two are the best. I gotta run. I have to run over to the mall for one last gift for Simon."

Erin hurried out the door.

I turned to Helen, "That's nice for her."

She mocked me, "That's nice for her."

"I'm really surprised you don't feel like a complete hypocrite. When she's here you're oh so nice, but the moment she's gone out come the knives. When did you become so two-faced?"

"Oh, fuck off!" She threw the gift on the couch and stormed off.

*****

Over the next six months my marriage became more and more fraught. Helen still put up her front though. In June we threw a baby shower for Erin. Simon didn't come. Helen was all rainbows and unicorns around the expectant mother, but as soon as Erin was gone, nastiness was the order of the day.

As we were cleaning up afterwards, Helen said, "I hope you know I did this for you."

"For me? I would have hoped you did it for Erin."

"Nope."

*****

It was the end of July. Erin was large with child. She was downright miserable and I tried to do everything to make things easier for her in the lab. I probably became a little overprotective, but after the miscarriage, I didn't want anything to go wrong.

As she was getting up to go for lunch she said, "Ut oh."

"What?"

"My water just broke."

She sat back down and called her doctor. The doctor said to head right over to the hospital. She texted Simon to let him know what was going on.

I asked, "How are you getting there?"

"I thought I'd drive myself."

I shook my head, "No. I'll drive you."

I let Joe know what was going on and we headed for the door. Her preferred hospital was about twenty minutes away and I think I got there in fifteen minutes. I told her I'd stick around in the waiting room until Simon got there. Well, Simon didn't get there until five o'clock. I thought that was really odd behavior.

I went home and let Helen know what was going on. About nine that night I received a text from Simon saying that their son Jacob was born at 8:31 PM. He weighed 6 pounds, 9 ounces. Mother and baby were doing well.

Three days later Erin brought her little bundle of joy over so we could see him. This time Helen was genuinely pleased to see Erin. She cooed over the baby. I thought I detected a little bit of jealousy that Erin had a child, but we didn't. For the first time in a long time, I didn't catch hell from Helen.

*****

We were invited to the baby's christening. Most of Erin and Simon's extended family came, some having to fly in for the occasion. It was a wonderful, late summer day. After the church ceremony, we gathered back at their home for an all day party.

Helen got drunk and increasingly more belligerent. She made snide comments first to me, and then to anyone around her. After one nasty comment I said we needed to leave.

Helen sneered at me, "I'm not leaving with you." She grasped at her crotch, "Gotta pee."

She stumbled off to the bathroom. I resolved to get her home as soon as she came out. The problem was she didn't show. It took me about ten minutes to realize something wasn't right. I went up to the bathroom and the door was locked.

I knocked, "Helen are you okay?"

Nothing.

I knocked again with no answer. I went and found Erin and she located an emergency key to open the door. I was expecting a mess, but when we got it open - no Helen.

"Shit!" I ran outside looking for her and she was nowhere in sight. I ran up the road in both directions, but Helen was nowhere to be found.

I went back to the party and I recruited about a dozen guests to help me look for her. Some started driving around. Others searched a nearby wooded area. After two hours of searching someone suggested that perhaps she purposely evaded me. Maybe she took a taxi home.

When I got home, there was a note:

Dear shithead,

I'm out of here. I don't want anything to do with you or your shitty life ever again. Now you can go fuck your cute little redhead as much as you want. I'll have a lawyer contact you. Don't bother looking for me. I don't want anything to do with your slimy ass ever again.

Go fuck yourself,

Helen

I wasn't surprised, but still the same I was. Later I found out that Helen ran off with one of her co-workers, a skinny biker wannabe named Chet. He was all tats and leather. He rode a Harley that was just too big for him to manage. Once I saw him pull up alongside our car in the grocery store parking lot. He was trying to be too cool by half. When the bike came to a stop next to us he couldn't keep it upright and the thing went crashing to the ground. He had his ankle trapped beneath it and I had to lift it off him. When I found out she left me for Chet, I thought that they deserved each other.