Woodsman Ch. 08

There is no one under 18 in any sexual situations.

"Hey there. How serious are you in wanting a job?" The man cautiously approached Vivian's Escalade.

"Hello mam. I'm Ted Smyth. I need a job if you know someone that's hiring. If not could you help me out for a meal?"

Vivian looked suspiciously at the bum. Although unwashed and unshaven, he looked much younger than she had at first thought. Maybe early thirties?

"What can you do? Have you ever worked in a processing plant?"

"Well yes and no. My last job was in management at a paper mill but I have a strong back and I'm willing to do whatever you might need."

Vivian could hear a strong southern twang to his voice.

"Where are you from Ted?"

"North Carolina, mam"

"Are you willing to give me a day's work for a day's pay?"

"Yes mam." Vivian wondered briefly if she was making the right decision to even talk to the bum but she desperately needed help at her brewery. She had a feeling that he would work out nicely.

"When was the last time you ate?"

"Two days ago mam." Vivian could smell his unwashed body.

"If I feed you and give you a place to stay tonight would you be interested in a full time job? I can't pay you much to start but it will be full time."

"Yes mam I would. But where is the job? There isn't much outside of town."

"Don't worry about that. Do you have a car?"

"I had a truck but it broke down a week ago. I had to leave it at the repair shop because I couldn't afford the repair."

"Where are your things? Your clothes."

He picked his knapsack up. It was pitifully thin. "Right here mam."

"Get in Ted." Vivian wondered again if she was making the right choice in trusting this man. She deftly placed her handgun alongside her hip in the seat, just in case.

He opened the door and put his meager belongings into her car.

"Do you have a preference as to a meal? There is a fast food place right around the corner."

"No mam, anything is fine."

Vivian pulled into the drive through lane and ordered four cheeseburgers and fries. While waiting for their order she noticed a motel just down the two lane highway. When she finished paying for the order she gave the food to Ted.

"Ted I'm going to put you up in that motel for tonight. I have some business to finalize and you need a shower and I suspect some sleep so I'm going to pay for one night and if you are here tomorrow morning I will trust you and give you a job and a better place to stay. Do you have clean clothes to wear?"

"Just what I have on. I had to leave almost all of my things with my truck since I couldn't carry everything mam."

"Ted stop calling me mam. My name is Vivian McCoy. You can call me Vivian. I realise that you are being polite but it makes me feel old when you call me mam."

"Yes ma....miss Vivian. I meant no disrespect mam."

Vivian just sighed as she pulled into the motel.

"Wait outside while I check you into a room Ted." Vivian opened her door and went into the motels office without waiting for a response. Several minutes later Vivian left the office with a key attached to an old style plastic key holder. She went to the first room, 101, and unlocked the door Ted followed her into the motel room.

"Here is your room. Get cleaned up and make sure you shave. That beard makes you look old Ted."

"Yes ma...sorry, uh, Yes miss Vivian. I don't know how to thank you for the job and food and a place to stay. I will be ready for you in the morning." Ted said with tears of gratitude in his eyes. Vivian looked into his face and wondered if she was just enabling another hopeless drunk.

"That's okay Ted is 8:00 tomorrow alright? We need to be on the road early so I don't waste a day.

"Yes ma...sorry, miss Vivian. 8:00 is fine.I'll be out front waiting." Vivian looked again at her charge and without a word, she left the room, got into her Escalade and drove away.

'What the fuck did I just do?' Vivian thought. "I don't know this man from Adam. He could be some kind of mass murderer or rapist or something.' Suddenly Vivian knew what to do.

Vivian went back into town and booked herself into a suite at the Wyndham Ojibway Hotel. The Hotel was older but well maintained and they had all the services that Vivian would need. Once ensconced, she sent some emails to her attorney called the construction site to notify them of her delay then found a local restaurant that offered the meal that Rob had bought her the day that they had gotten waxed together. Pasties.

While eating her meal she thought of what she had done and what she needed to do. She believed that Ted would serve her needs for now. He looked rough now but she thought that there might be a very handsome and dedicated worker under the grime.

Time would tell.

Morning found Vivian once again at the motel to pick up her new employee. As promised Ted was waiting outside his room patiently when Vivian pulled up. Before they left the lot Vivian started interviewing Ted.

"Ted before we leave I want a few answers. First, are you running from someone or something?"

"Um, I don't think so."

"Explain that answer please?" Vivian was curious.

"Well miss Vivian as far as I know no one is looking for me. When I left home it was because of a situation with my wife. She was having an affair. When I confronted her with her adultery she laughed in my face. Her daddy owned the paper mill where my wife and I worked. My wife told me that she would continue with her affair and no one would stop her. If I gave her any problems she would have her boyfriend fire me. Her boyfriend happened to be the plant manager of the paper mill. My wife was his secretary. I was just the HR Manager although my specialty was IT. We had been married almost ten years when I discovered her affair."

"Then she told me that if I tried to divorce her she would bankrupt me by keeping the divorce in limbo until I was broke from paying attorney fees. We had always kept our finances separate so she knew that I couldn't afford a long drawn out divorce. Most of our assets were in her name so I packed everything I owned into my truck and hooked my bass boat up and drove away from there. The next day I emptied my bank account and I pawned my tools and my boat. Then I started driving. My truck broke down two weeks ago like I told you yesterday, and so here I am."

Vivian was appalled at what had happened to Ted. She was going to need Ted's info anyway for employment but first she would have a background check done.

"Ted do you have your id handy?" He handed his driver license and ss card to Vivian. She took a picture of both then sent an email to her attorney. She requested a deep background check. That would entail everything including his wife's finances. She included all the pertinent names and addresses if Ted knew them. Vivian suspected that the boyfriend might be just a wife stealing asshole but information was power.

Vivian had decided then to help Ted so after leaving the motel she went to the same strip mall that Rob had taken her to on their first day together. She purchased all the clothing that Ted would need for the foreseeable future. Then she moved to a more upscale clothier where she ordered five suits for different occasions. After all her new HR Manager should look the part.

It was early afternoon when Vivian finished the reinvention of Ted Smyth at her favorite spa. Minus the waxing, she had taken Ted through the same sequence of events that Rob had taken with her over seven years before. They were sitting in a restaurant and had just finished their meal. Ted was not a big fan of pasties but had eaten his meal out of respect to the woman that was opposite him. Ted couldn't stand the suspense any longer.

"Miss Vivian may I ask you a question?" He said with a curious frown.

"Why? Is that what you want to know? Why did I do all this for you?" Vivian answered.

"Uh, yes Miss Vivian. Uh, why did you spend several thousand dollars on me, a homeless bum with no job. There is no way I can repay you."

"Are you finished with your meal Ted?"

"Yes mam. Uh Miss Vivian I mean." Ted couldn't help but feel a fascination with his new friend, and benefactor it seemed.

Vivian sighed loudly at the verbal slip. She settled the bill then said to Ted, "Shall we?"

The couple left the parking lot and Vivian pointed her Escalade towards Rob's 'little cabin'. They had just settled in for the long drive when Vivian said...

"Ted, before I answer your question let me tell you a little story about the man that took pity on a young girl. She was in a situation similar to yours..."

Vivian proceeded to relate her tale from the death of her father until Rob found her in his bed. She left out the part that concerned the health of the trapper when she fled his cabin. She also left out the part about her sexual training with Rob. But Ted had a basic understanding of the strength of character that Vivian possessed. He was still curious though as to why she had helped HIM.

"That's a riveting story Miss Vivian, but why did you choose me? You have done so much for me today and I have nothing to repay you with."

"Good question Ted." Vivian looked over at her new HR Manager. Vivian hoped that she was making the right choice in trusting this man that she had just met the day before.

"The answer is this. Because Rob helped me and asked nothing in return. I am in a position now to do the same for you. You are my new HR Manager and, depending on your skills, you will be in charge of any IT issues also. I have a pretty good start already but I need people desperately. Tomorrow we will tour my Brewery and I will show you what I have in mind for a staff. As of today I am putting you on salary. If you wish to pay me back I will deduct a small amount from that to repay me for what I spent yesterday and today but I have a feeling you won't miss it. Today we are going to get you settled in your temporary quarters at my home. Well technically the home belongs to my Robbie but he and my Mother live together, uh, down south. Any questions?"

Ted was amazed at the opportunity that was before him. Not only wasn't he not homeless anymore but he had a job, at least for now.

"Miss Vivian, could you give more details on your business?" Vivian then described the brewery from concept to completion. She had an encyclopaedic knowledge of how a startup should evolve up to her ideas for marketing her product.

While she was describing her ideas, Ted couldn't help but assess the considerable charms that his new boss possessed. She dressed very conservatively but Ted had a feeling that there was an extremely beautiful body under her traveling outfit. Ted had not been intimate with a woman since the last time he had been with his wife. And that had been several months before he left his sham of a marriage. Ted thought back and figured it had been over a year since he had even kissed a woman.

Vivian was betting that her new charge was going to be a good investment. She was hoping that his background check came back with good marks. She was going to check her email when she got Ted settled into his room and hopefully there would be some info on him.

It was late in the evening when the couple arrived at Rob's little cabin in the woods Ted was suitably impressed. He was quite frankly speechless when Vivian entered the garage and explained to him how things would work.

"Ted for now I will put you up in a spare room in the house. Tomorrow we will tour the brewery and start looking for a place for you to stay. For now you will be with me here. I trust that you can be a gentleman?" Vivian said this as she placed her semiautomatic in her purse. Any romantic feelings that Ted may have had immediately disappeared.

"Yes mam, I mean miss Vivian. You won't have any problems from me. And thank you again for the help.

After Vivian got Ted settled into his room she went down to Rob's office to retrieve any messages she might have.

The background check on her new charge was still ongoing but the preliminary findings were as Ted had explained. He had grown up in a solid middle class southern family. He had been the entire HR department at the small paper mill where he worked. His wife was the daughter of the owner and had probably been pampered and protected her entire life. For some reason there had been no divorce or separation actions taken against Ted at this time. It seemed as though the wife was simply waiting for her lost puppy to return home to be disciplined. It was also noted that Ted's wife was living with her paramour in Ted's old home.

Vivian also had a few messages from her Robbie and her mom. They were on vacation in southern Spain and would see her at the cabin before the week was out. Vivian apprised Rob of her new hire and the possible end to her staffing problems. She finished her email with a quick description of Ted and the circumstances of his marriage. She asked Rob if something could be arranged along the same line as what happened to her mother's paramour Dan Jones.

She sat back in her chair in Rob's office and smiled. She loved to put bullies in their place.