keepsmiling7
Natalie36
begonia9508
LovelyPOM83
mary mary
Chapter 11
Their latest project had just been launched. Max and Tess both experienced a welcome let down when the project was under way. Early in the afternoon, Tess called Max on the intercom that one of the contractors was requesting a meeting with him. “Max, he seems very agitated. I would recommend seeing him,” she explained.
“Send him in as soon as he gets here,” Max commanded.
Tess didn’t play any games when Ralph O’Brian arrived. He seemed upset and like he had news that Max ought to have as soon as possible.
“Mr. Evans, if I am out of line, send me back to the fields. You see, it is like this. When you work for a man several times, you sort of get a feel for what he is doing. Those specifications you sent down for this project will probably pass inspection, but Mr. Evans, you usually leave much greater margins for errors. With the numbers we have, the slightest error we make is going to make this building project, marginal, at best. Send me back, if this is none of my business, I just didn’t see this as work coming from you,” the nervous man stated.
After O’Brian left, Max called on the intercom, “Tess, get me all the papers on the project. Before they go home, I might want to have a meeting with all the project managers. Let me see if I can find out what O’Brian is talking about.”
Tess knew that this could be bad news for somebody. The so-called projects that the corporation handled were all multi-million dollar creations. If there was a mistake, it could mean somebody’s head.
It was a couple hours when Max again called Tess on the intercom. “Tess get me as many project managers in the conference room as possible. Get me an appointment with Mr. Johnson of the twelfth floor, now.”
Tess was right, heads were sure to roll somewhere. As Max was walking out the door toward the elevator, he called out, “Tess, call Liz and cancel our dinner date tonight. Tell her that it is an emergency. You better call Kyle, also. You won’t be home until late, if at all. We may have to all pull several all nighters.”
For the first time since she started working for this corporation, Tess sensed fear. She didn’t put up with any bull shit. The project managers all were getting ready to go home for the day. “Why can’t we have this meeting tomorrow?” They almost all asked.
“Look, I have no idea what has happened. I know that Mr. Evans has scheduled an immediate meeting with Mr. Johnson on the twelfth floor. He told me to clear his social calendar and mine also, for the next few days,” Tess replied.
“Look, can’t you just tell Max that you couldn’t find me. I have plans for this evening,” was heard.
“I work for Mr. Evans. I will report that you told me you couldn’t make it. You might play bloody hell getting another project, at least from Max,” Tess stated.
By the time Max returned from the twelfth floor, all of the project managers were in the conference room. Without any preamble, Max went to the speaker platform.
“First the project we started this morning has been halted. One of our contractors found a large mistake that could cost millions if we don’t correct it. I have reviewed his figures several times. He is correct. Secondly, I have taken complete responsibility for the mistake. Now, the quicker we find this mistake, the quicker we can fix it and the less it costs. I don’t give a damn, who made the mistake. Find it!” Max exclaimed. “I might say bad things about your mother, but the blame for the mistake is already accepted as mine. I want everyone to go over the figures you gave me. If we don’t find the mistake, I will review all the figures my self. That will take a lot more time and cost a lot more money. If the mistake is yours, it will be between you and me. Find it and we can all rest easier. If I have to find the mistake my self, it will be a lot worse. You can go home, tonight when you turn in your folders with a signed statement that your figures are correct. People get moving!” Max ordered.
Max turned to Tess. “Tess, change into your slacks. People are going to be in and out of our office all evening. Keep me informed as the files come in. I am going to recheck my figures. Then I want to see all the correspondence we had with the contractors and project facilitators. Johnson has given us two days to find the mistake and fix it. Otherwise, he closes the project for good and everyone looses,”
Tess had never seen Max this agitated before. Tess saw that Max was hardest on himself. Max hadn’t said anything to her, but she knew that he was going to review everything he had written on the project. Tess made up her mind that she, also, would double check everything she had sent down to the project managers. A shiver went through Tess. Max had always completely trusted her. All the secretaries knew of the mantra that was voiced by the bosses on the floors above. Always trust your assistant, but if she makes a mistake, “Fire her.” What if, in some way, the mistake did turn out to be hers. Max had taken complete responsibility for what happened, but if she had done something wrong, she had no doubt that her job would be terminated. Max would have no trouble getting plenty of applications to take her place. Even without the knowledge that he shared his bonuses, working for Mr. Evans was considered a very good position. The last few weeks with Kyle had been so troubling. Tess worked so hard to not bring the office home, but so many times the office demanded so much of her time. Tess had always worked to not bring her personal problems to work, but that was difficult, also.
The files from the project managers, trickled in one by one. Tess thanked each leader and reminded them, “See you first thing tomorrow in the conference room.”
Tess and Max took a break about six o’clock to let the cleaning people come in. Tess had a good dinner laid out in the lounge and she and Max ate almost in silence. Tess did ask one thing. “Max, what happens to the person who made the mistake?”
Max looked up, “I told everyone, Tess, I took complete responsibility for the error. Who ever made the mistake will be a secret just between two people.”
“But Max, how will you work with that person in the future?” Tess again asked.
“Tess, I don’t know if I even have a future. When I told Johnson that I took full responsibility, he just grunted. I told him that I wanted to correct the mistake, if possible, so my team would not have a failure on their record. We did not discuss what would happen to me,” Max explained.
All the project managers had gone home. Max had checked and rechecked his figures. They were right there before him. Everything was correct, but when he looked at the figures the contractor had given him, there it was, a glaring mistake, an estimate that was way too low.
No matter how hard Max stared at the two sets of figures, the answer was the same. Max had no idea what had happened. “Tess,” he called out. “I am going to call it a night. I will set the alarm for five o’clock in the morning. I am stumped. I am going around in circles now. Knock off whenever you are ready.”
“Okay, Max. I am doing something that I want to finish. I’ll lay down as soon as I am done,” Tess called out.
Max was out the second his head hit the pillow. There were no dreams to night. That was good because any dreams would certainly have been nightmares.
Max felt someone shaking him. “Max, get up. I found the mistake,” Tess said.
Max’s mind was completely in a fog. Tess was shaking him and he couldn’t figure out why. “Max, you have to wake up. I need to talk to you,” she pleaded.
Max finally started to make sense of what she was saying. Tess pressed a hot cup of coffee in his hand. Max, still in his socks and shorts, walked over to Tess’s desk in the outer office. “Here is the mistake, Max. I made it,” she confessed.
On her screen, Tess had several papers opened. “Now, look at the dates of each paper,” Tess instructed him. The first paper had the same figures as Max had on his computer. So did the next and the next. Then suddenly, there was an abrupt change in the figures. “Max, I miss copied the figures. That is the paper I sent to the contractors. That is the paper that has the specifications that won’t hold up. Max, I screwed up.” By this time Tess was completely in tears. Max just sat there staring at the tattle tale screen.
“Close it down, Tess. It is there and it isn’t going to change,” Max stated. “I am going to call you a cab. Go home and stay there until the afternoon. Sleep and rest tomorrow or rather this morning if you can. Be back at Four o’clock in the afternoon. Tess, don’t talk to anyone except Kyle. Make sure he understands that no one is to know about this,” Max ordered.
Tess sobbed the whole time until he put her into the cab. Max paid the driver. He didn’t know what this would do to Tess. He didn’t know what it was going to do to him. The driver gave him a dirty look as if to blame him for the poor girl’s crying. Max said nothing. He went back in the building where the security guard was holding the door. “Later, George,” Max told him. George was also looking daggers at Max. These damned suits always thinking they could do anything to people. Max hadn’t struck him that way, but he knew what he was seeing. Max was taking that girl out to a cab and she was crying her eyes out. George had seen other suits putting their girls in a cab totally broken hearted. Maybe, Max was just like the rest. They were all ass-holes.
Kyle was as sound asleep as he ever was allowed to be. For Kyle, every night was filled with mud brick huts, blowing sand and sniper fire, many times the bullets kicking up dust clouds all around him. With “soldier’s nerves,” Kyle woke at the slightest sound. He heard Tess come in. He had been angry when she called about having to stay all night and work. Now, she was coming home at three AM. His sensitive ears also detected that she was crying. “What’s wrong, babe?” he called out.
Tess came into the bedroom and hugged Kyle. For several minutes, she said nothing, just holding Kyle tightly as he did the same for her. Finally he heard her mumble, “Hon, I may get fired. I may get my boss fired and I may have cost the corporation millions.” For a time, that is all she would say. Kyle was not great on his consoling skills. He had so many problems that many times he had not seen the stresses on his girl, Tess. Tess was their main breadwinner. Kyle did not even want to know all of what she did to earn the money she brought home. Kyle refused to watch TV shows which showed office romances. Even the nightly news was choked with stories about affairs at the office. Kyle knew that Tess was earning three times what she used to when she was in the typing pool. An administrative assistant to a major executive pulled down major cash. Her boss was even willing to share his bonuses with her, and that was unheard of.
For Kyle, with his pain, his inability to walk and his continual fights with the Veterans Administration, he felt far from being a whole person. No matter what Tess always said to him, as they lay in bed where she made love to him and encouraged him to make love to her in the best way he could, Kyle always felt surprise when she returned every evening except when she called. Kyle constantly fought against it, but his mind always quietly asked, what major executive did she “fuck” today? He worked hard not to let Tess see this, but she always knew that something was wrong.
Kyle had refused to marry Tess and he had refused to allow her to get pregnant. He didn’t say this to Tess, but he always thought, someday she is going to want to move on to a whole man. Some days he had thoughts of running Tess off. If she didn’t have the sense to leave him, in all kindness, he ought to make her leave. Kyle never told this to Tess, but those were the thoughts he had on the days when Tess said, “They had a bad day.”
Kyle knew that Tess was always his strength. If and when she left, he would quietly die. Now, Tess was as limp as a rag doll. The only strength in their relationship was what Kyle could muster. “Finally, he managed to ask, “What happened, babe?”
Tess pulled back from Kyle and tried to explain. “Kyle, an administrative assistant is a job with huge responsibilities. She may be paid, by the corporation, but she works for the executive she serves. Her job is tied directly to his. Her first job is to keep making her boss look good, that is both in appearance and in what he does. An administrative assistant keeps his schedule and shields him from outside pressures. She carries out his assignments, whether they be research, presentation or communication. She runs errands for her boss and manages his office. The administrative assistant, must make many judgment calls. There is a saying that the secretaries have heard from the executive level which is, “Trust her instincts always and when she makes a mistake, fire her.” That is what I did. I made a huge mistake. It could cost millions. My boss, Mr. Evans, has assumed total responsibility for the mistake. This keeps any of the others associated with the project safe. We don’t know what will happen to Mr. Evans, but I work for him. If he gets fired, I will be under a lot of scrutiny, as the administrative assistant of an executive who got fired. They will all look at me very closely. Even if Mr. Evans doesn’t tell them, I will always be under suspicion. What was my part in the mistake? It will all come out, eventually.”
“What if Evans doesn’t get fired?” Kyle asked. You once said he has sort of a charmed existence. Is there any way he can get by this?”
“Perhaps, Kyle, but if he doesn’t get fired, he will still fire me. An administrative assistant must have the full trust of her boss. Could Max ever trust me again?” she sobbed.
Kyle held her for a long time, finally he whispered, “What are you going to do, Tess?”
“Kyle, I know that is wrong, not to mention illegal, but give me one of those sleeping pills the VA gave you. I need to sleep until about three this afternoon. Mr. Evans told me to be back at about four this afternoon,” Tess told Kyle.
“Tess, if you are certain to be fired, why bother going back to help them?” Kyle asked.
“Kyle I am going to lose this job. If I don’t help clean this mess up, I will be responsible for many others all losing their jobs or at least a lot of money. I need a recommendation and if I uphold my responsibilities, maybe, Mr. Evans will give me a good one,” Tess explained.
Kyle gave her the pill. It was good for about six hours. Kyle hoped that by the time she got up, the effects would have worn off. Kyle quietly got up and softly left the bedroom. Tess losing her job would severely inhibit their future. Kyle hoped that his problems hadn’t spilled over to Tess and caused her more stress than she could stand. That house looked further in the future than it had in a long time.
---------------------------
Stories by Ken
The Elevator (AU,CC,MATURE) COMPLETE - 8/27/11
Moderators: Anniepoo98, Rowedog, ISLANDGIRL5, Itzstacie, truelovepooh, FSU/MSW-94, Erina, Hunter, Forum Moderators
Re: the elevator Au/no alien, Mature, pg 5, CC ch10 5/22/11
Good teachers are born that way, not made. No! Good human beings, are born that way. Some of them become teachers.
Of course, life is not fair. You shouldn't expect it to be fair, but you should expect it to be ironic.
JKR 1981-2001
History is made of wars, recovering from wars and preparing for the next war.
JJR 1975-
Of course, life is not fair. You shouldn't expect it to be fair, but you should expect it to be ironic.
JKR 1981-2001
History is made of wars, recovering from wars and preparing for the next war.
JJR 1975-
Re: the elevator Au/no alien, Mature, pg 6, CC ch11 5/30/11
begonia9508
keepsmiling7
Natalie36
mary mary
Author note: I have worked for administrators who supported their workers and administrators who pushed all their mistakes off on their workers I don't have to say which ones i worked hardest for.
Chapter 12
Max was standing in front of a very hostile group of project managers. One particular unhappy person raised his hand. “Did you find the mistake?”
Max nodded.
“Who was it,” the same person asked.
“I thought I made it clear. Whoever made the mistake would be between them and me. I needed everyone to feel free to tell me the truth, not try to hide any mistakes,” Max replied.
The man just wouldn’t let it go. “I don’t see why the rest of us should have to work overtime if we weren’t the ones making the mistake,” he declared.
Max gave the man a stare from ice cold eyes. “You don’t! Turn in you folder and get out of here. Do so now before I call security!” Max commanded.
The man, slammed his folder on the desk, knocked over his chair and slammed the door behind him. Max turned to the rest of his team. “Is there anyone else who objects to working on finding a correction?”
Every one was deathly silent. Max started talking again. “I need your willing cooperation on finding a solution. I may not be here to see the completion of this project, but I don’t want to leave with my team and the project both facing a failure. Ms. Harding and I worked very late last night. I sent her home. She is not going to come in until this afternoon. By that time, I want something that can correct the mistake before me. That paper is the calculations the contractor made when he found the mistake.”
The men filed out quietly. They had a mandate, but every one of them looked at the other. Someone made the mistake. The boss wasn’t talking. Maybe, Evans was right. The important thing was trying to correct the mistake and find the money to do it. Every one would be called on to carefully look at their contribution and see if they could safely reduce cost without affecting safety.
Not having a secretary, Max called the contractors himself. They would all meet at four o’clock this afternoon. Max was offered a temporary secretary, but he refused. He wasn’t ready to yet open his office to any stranger. His next job was to call someone from the computer pool. “My secretaries hard drive has failed. Please bring a new one and format it,” he commanded. “No, I don’t want you to recover the old drive. I have already removed it. Bring a new drive, format it and reinstall the programs she needs in the office.” The computer nerds could be so pushy. They all wanted to show their skills at recovery, but right now, what was on Tess’s computer, Max wanted to keep to himself.
For most of the day, Max sat at the desk in the outer office. He answered his own phone and saw what a lot of traffic, passed by Tess’s desk. There were several calls for Tess personally, especially before lunch, as the secretaries prepared to go out to eat. Max stated respectfully that Tess was out today. They could call back tomorrow. No he couldn’t take a message. Call back tomorrow if they had a question. Max was sure that many of the calls were fishing expeditions of people trying to find out information about what was going on. News that Evans was in trouble flew with the speed of light.
Towards afternoon, files began to trickle in. Did the building really need carved lions at the doorway? Could the fixtures in the restrooms be of quality without the ornate design that had been suggested in the first place? Max, accepted all suggestions that he felt didn’t endanger safety or security.
About three that afternoon, Max booked himself an appointment with Mr. Johnson on the twelfth floor. The secretary seemed confused when Max called. Max asked himself, “Did secretaries all have special codes to get things done?” When he announced his name as the one calling, it seemed to confuse the system.
Max entered the elevator. He remembered the first time he had been called to the twelfth floor. Now, he was requesting an audience with Mr. Johnson. Max thought as he ascended, “The elevator giveth and the elevator taketh away.” The same trip that gave him his promotion, would, in all probability be the one that took him to his downfall.
“Max, did you find the mistake?” Johnson asked.
“Yes,” Max answered.
“Who was it?” Mr. Johnson asked.
“I told you yesterday that I take full responsibility for the mistake. I promised my employees that I would be the only one who knew who made it. I wanted their full cooperation in finding the mistake and in finding a solution. That was more important than placing individual blame. When I am fired the mistake shall go with me,” Max answered.
“I understand you requested a new hard drive for Ms. Harding’s computer. Is she the one who made the mistake?” Johnson asked again.
“No, sir, the mistake is mine. As for Ms. Harding’s computer, secretaries are right, bosses shouldn’t be allowed to touch the secretary’s computer. One touch and the damned thing blue screened,” Max explained.
Mr. Johnson chuckled. “If you say so. What about your team? Have you come up with what it will take to fix your problem in the construction of the building?” he asked.
“Almost, sir. If I can get help from the contractors and if you let me use a little of the over run fund, then we can go back to construction tomorrow,” Max stated.
“If you can get the contractors to cut their margins a little, I will get you the over run fund. I will stay until five tonight. Send me a memo.” With that, Max was dismissed.
When he returned to his office, Tess was seated at her desk. “Max, my hard drive has been erased. What am I supposed to do?” she asked fearfully.
Tess, I have a meeting. Wait here and we will talk as soon as I get out,” Max ordered.
Tess was now stuck at her desk with a computer that had nothing on it. She had no idea of what to do. Max hadn’t invited her to the meeting. She was sure it wasn’t an oversight. Tess had nothing to do but worry.
The loss to the corporation would be the greatest, but they also had the best ability to face it. The contractors would not only lose what they had already invested, but they would not receive the ability to fulfill their contracts. There would be suits and counter suits, but that was the nuts and bolts part of business. Max showed them the results of the mistake; he presented what his team had managed to work out. “Now, gentle men, I have the promise of part of the overrun fund if I can get help from you. You help me get this new budget working and you will have your men working tomorrow. All I need is a promise from you.” Max walked out of the room and sat in the hallway. He heard a lot of shouting coming from inside. Maybe, they did not feel the desire to cut any of their margins or maybe, they were willing to cut their losses and move on. Max had no idea. Finally, one of the men motioned Max to come back in.
“Max, your project team has given us a lot of work since you became an executive. We unanimously decided to give you what you want.” Max did notice a black eye and a couple cut lips. Well, different groups had different styles of debate.
Max sent the memo to Mr. Johnson. The email was no more than sent when Max received a reply. “Max, restart tomorrow. Handle your problem the best way you want. This is a one.”
That last line Max, could only tie to a story. A man was driving his new bride to their cabin in a wagon pulled by a mule. The mule stumbled at the creek and the man had to re-harness him. He told the mule, “That is a one.”
Then the mule suddenly stopped and it was several minutes before he could get him going again. The man shouted at the mule, “That is a two.”
Just before they got to their cabin, at a slight hill, the mule again refused to pull. The man yelled, “That is a three.” Then, the man took his pistol and shot the mule dead.
Immediately his bride of not yet a day began to complain. “What did you do that for? Now, see how far we have to walk!” She kept going on and on. The man looked at her and said, “That is a one.”
Max had received his one.
When Max returned to the office, Tess was waiting for him. “Max, what is going to happen?” she asked tearfully.
Max shrugged, “Tomorrow, the project restarts. Everyone gave a little to accomplish a common goal. A failed project helps no one.”
“I mean about me, and you; what is going to happen to us?” she asked again.
Max gave that infuriating smile he had. “I hope we are more careful.”
“What did you tell Johnson about me?” she asked.
“Nothing, Tess. Remember I promised that I would keep the secret of who made the mistake to my self. I will,” Max stated.
Tess pointed to her computer, “Max, what happened to my computer?” she asked.
“I had a new hard drive installed.” Max walked over to his desk and unlocked a drawer. He took out a USB case that had the old hard drive installed in it. “Tess, take your personal stuff off here. Take anything that does not pertain to the project off and put all of it on your new drive. Before you leave tonight, give me back the drive. I am not sure what eventually will become of this drive. Tomorrow, I will put it into a safe deposit box at the bank. If you want to call Kyle, use your cell phone and make sure that the door is locked before you call him. Repeat to him that none of this is to be known by anyone except the three of us. If anyone asks you, say just what I intend to say. Your boss took full responsibility for the error. We worked very hard to correct the mistake.” Then, Max looked at Tess very closely, “Only I know who made the mistake,” Max explained.
“Why, Max? Any other executive would have fired me for that mistake,” Tess asked.
“I told you the first day. I don’t handle change very well. Besides, if I hired a new assistant, would she know the best restaurants, and would she have good taste as to my shirts and ties? I surely don’t know any of this. What a mess I would make of trying to impress Liz if I had to rely on what little I know,” Max sighed.
keepsmiling7
Natalie36
mary mary
Author note: I have worked for administrators who supported their workers and administrators who pushed all their mistakes off on their workers I don't have to say which ones i worked hardest for.
Chapter 12
Max was standing in front of a very hostile group of project managers. One particular unhappy person raised his hand. “Did you find the mistake?”
Max nodded.
“Who was it,” the same person asked.
“I thought I made it clear. Whoever made the mistake would be between them and me. I needed everyone to feel free to tell me the truth, not try to hide any mistakes,” Max replied.
The man just wouldn’t let it go. “I don’t see why the rest of us should have to work overtime if we weren’t the ones making the mistake,” he declared.
Max gave the man a stare from ice cold eyes. “You don’t! Turn in you folder and get out of here. Do so now before I call security!” Max commanded.
The man, slammed his folder on the desk, knocked over his chair and slammed the door behind him. Max turned to the rest of his team. “Is there anyone else who objects to working on finding a correction?”
Every one was deathly silent. Max started talking again. “I need your willing cooperation on finding a solution. I may not be here to see the completion of this project, but I don’t want to leave with my team and the project both facing a failure. Ms. Harding and I worked very late last night. I sent her home. She is not going to come in until this afternoon. By that time, I want something that can correct the mistake before me. That paper is the calculations the contractor made when he found the mistake.”
The men filed out quietly. They had a mandate, but every one of them looked at the other. Someone made the mistake. The boss wasn’t talking. Maybe, Evans was right. The important thing was trying to correct the mistake and find the money to do it. Every one would be called on to carefully look at their contribution and see if they could safely reduce cost without affecting safety.
Not having a secretary, Max called the contractors himself. They would all meet at four o’clock this afternoon. Max was offered a temporary secretary, but he refused. He wasn’t ready to yet open his office to any stranger. His next job was to call someone from the computer pool. “My secretaries hard drive has failed. Please bring a new one and format it,” he commanded. “No, I don’t want you to recover the old drive. I have already removed it. Bring a new drive, format it and reinstall the programs she needs in the office.” The computer nerds could be so pushy. They all wanted to show their skills at recovery, but right now, what was on Tess’s computer, Max wanted to keep to himself.
For most of the day, Max sat at the desk in the outer office. He answered his own phone and saw what a lot of traffic, passed by Tess’s desk. There were several calls for Tess personally, especially before lunch, as the secretaries prepared to go out to eat. Max stated respectfully that Tess was out today. They could call back tomorrow. No he couldn’t take a message. Call back tomorrow if they had a question. Max was sure that many of the calls were fishing expeditions of people trying to find out information about what was going on. News that Evans was in trouble flew with the speed of light.
Towards afternoon, files began to trickle in. Did the building really need carved lions at the doorway? Could the fixtures in the restrooms be of quality without the ornate design that had been suggested in the first place? Max, accepted all suggestions that he felt didn’t endanger safety or security.
About three that afternoon, Max booked himself an appointment with Mr. Johnson on the twelfth floor. The secretary seemed confused when Max called. Max asked himself, “Did secretaries all have special codes to get things done?” When he announced his name as the one calling, it seemed to confuse the system.
Max entered the elevator. He remembered the first time he had been called to the twelfth floor. Now, he was requesting an audience with Mr. Johnson. Max thought as he ascended, “The elevator giveth and the elevator taketh away.” The same trip that gave him his promotion, would, in all probability be the one that took him to his downfall.
“Max, did you find the mistake?” Johnson asked.
“Yes,” Max answered.
“Who was it?” Mr. Johnson asked.
“I told you yesterday that I take full responsibility for the mistake. I promised my employees that I would be the only one who knew who made it. I wanted their full cooperation in finding the mistake and in finding a solution. That was more important than placing individual blame. When I am fired the mistake shall go with me,” Max answered.
“I understand you requested a new hard drive for Ms. Harding’s computer. Is she the one who made the mistake?” Johnson asked again.
“No, sir, the mistake is mine. As for Ms. Harding’s computer, secretaries are right, bosses shouldn’t be allowed to touch the secretary’s computer. One touch and the damned thing blue screened,” Max explained.
Mr. Johnson chuckled. “If you say so. What about your team? Have you come up with what it will take to fix your problem in the construction of the building?” he asked.
“Almost, sir. If I can get help from the contractors and if you let me use a little of the over run fund, then we can go back to construction tomorrow,” Max stated.
“If you can get the contractors to cut their margins a little, I will get you the over run fund. I will stay until five tonight. Send me a memo.” With that, Max was dismissed.
When he returned to his office, Tess was seated at her desk. “Max, my hard drive has been erased. What am I supposed to do?” she asked fearfully.
Tess, I have a meeting. Wait here and we will talk as soon as I get out,” Max ordered.
Tess was now stuck at her desk with a computer that had nothing on it. She had no idea of what to do. Max hadn’t invited her to the meeting. She was sure it wasn’t an oversight. Tess had nothing to do but worry.
The loss to the corporation would be the greatest, but they also had the best ability to face it. The contractors would not only lose what they had already invested, but they would not receive the ability to fulfill their contracts. There would be suits and counter suits, but that was the nuts and bolts part of business. Max showed them the results of the mistake; he presented what his team had managed to work out. “Now, gentle men, I have the promise of part of the overrun fund if I can get help from you. You help me get this new budget working and you will have your men working tomorrow. All I need is a promise from you.” Max walked out of the room and sat in the hallway. He heard a lot of shouting coming from inside. Maybe, they did not feel the desire to cut any of their margins or maybe, they were willing to cut their losses and move on. Max had no idea. Finally, one of the men motioned Max to come back in.
“Max, your project team has given us a lot of work since you became an executive. We unanimously decided to give you what you want.” Max did notice a black eye and a couple cut lips. Well, different groups had different styles of debate.
Max sent the memo to Mr. Johnson. The email was no more than sent when Max received a reply. “Max, restart tomorrow. Handle your problem the best way you want. This is a one.”
That last line Max, could only tie to a story. A man was driving his new bride to their cabin in a wagon pulled by a mule. The mule stumbled at the creek and the man had to re-harness him. He told the mule, “That is a one.”
Then the mule suddenly stopped and it was several minutes before he could get him going again. The man shouted at the mule, “That is a two.”
Just before they got to their cabin, at a slight hill, the mule again refused to pull. The man yelled, “That is a three.” Then, the man took his pistol and shot the mule dead.
Immediately his bride of not yet a day began to complain. “What did you do that for? Now, see how far we have to walk!” She kept going on and on. The man looked at her and said, “That is a one.”
Max had received his one.
When Max returned to the office, Tess was waiting for him. “Max, what is going to happen?” she asked tearfully.
Max shrugged, “Tomorrow, the project restarts. Everyone gave a little to accomplish a common goal. A failed project helps no one.”
“I mean about me, and you; what is going to happen to us?” she asked again.
Max gave that infuriating smile he had. “I hope we are more careful.”
“What did you tell Johnson about me?” she asked.
“Nothing, Tess. Remember I promised that I would keep the secret of who made the mistake to my self. I will,” Max stated.
Tess pointed to her computer, “Max, what happened to my computer?” she asked.
“I had a new hard drive installed.” Max walked over to his desk and unlocked a drawer. He took out a USB case that had the old hard drive installed in it. “Tess, take your personal stuff off here. Take anything that does not pertain to the project off and put all of it on your new drive. Before you leave tonight, give me back the drive. I am not sure what eventually will become of this drive. Tomorrow, I will put it into a safe deposit box at the bank. If you want to call Kyle, use your cell phone and make sure that the door is locked before you call him. Repeat to him that none of this is to be known by anyone except the three of us. If anyone asks you, say just what I intend to say. Your boss took full responsibility for the error. We worked very hard to correct the mistake.” Then, Max looked at Tess very closely, “Only I know who made the mistake,” Max explained.
“Why, Max? Any other executive would have fired me for that mistake,” Tess asked.
“I told you the first day. I don’t handle change very well. Besides, if I hired a new assistant, would she know the best restaurants, and would she have good taste as to my shirts and ties? I surely don’t know any of this. What a mess I would make of trying to impress Liz if I had to rely on what little I know,” Max sighed.
Good teachers are born that way, not made. No! Good human beings, are born that way. Some of them become teachers.
Of course, life is not fair. You shouldn't expect it to be fair, but you should expect it to be ironic.
JKR 1981-2001
History is made of wars, recovering from wars and preparing for the next war.
JJR 1975-
Of course, life is not fair. You shouldn't expect it to be fair, but you should expect it to be ironic.
JKR 1981-2001
History is made of wars, recovering from wars and preparing for the next war.
JJR 1975-
Re: the elevator Au/no alien, Mature, pg 6, CC ch12 6/5/11
begonia9508
keepsmiling7
mary mary
Chapter 13
At first, to Liz, Max seemed to be a perfect boyfriend. She was most bothered by his relationship to his secretary. “Maria, you hear all sorts of stories about secretaries and their bosses. Do you think Max is sleeping with that Harding woman?” Liz asked her best friend, Maria.
“Liz, would it bother you if he was?” Maria asked.
“Truthfully, Maria, it would,” Liz answered.
“Liz, if there is something between them, I am sure they would both lie if they didn’t want you to find out. Ms. Harding is reported to have a boyfriend. I am sure she wouldn’t want him to know anything about an affair if there was one,” Maria answered.
“Is there anyway I can find out?” Liz asked.
“You had one idea of going on a double date with Tess Harding and her boyfriend. If she and Max agreed to that you would have some confidence in their lack of relationship,” Maria suggested.
It was midmorning. Liz was taking a big chance, but there was something bothering her. If she didn’t get it cleared up, it was going to seriously poison her relationship with Max.
Tess was sitting at her desk. Max had stepped out to attend a pep talk for his project managers. They all had become a lot closer since their almost tragic failure. That Max had kept his promise went a long way to assuring their loyalty. The tenth floor receptionist called, “Tess, there is a Miss Parker coming up to see you.”
The only Miss Parker that Tess knew was her boss’s girlfriend. She probably was coming up to see Max, maybe for a lunch date. Max was out, it would be up to Tess to entertain the lady and make her comfortable. Tess realized that many men enjoyed her company while they waited. This teasing of the senses, obviously would not work. Well, maybe, it was time that Tess got to better know Miss Parker. Since Max was out of the office, his private office door was closed. The trim brunette entered. Tess thought, “She is about the same age as I am. I bet she is just filled with wonder about my relationship with Max.”
“Good morning, Miss Parker,” Tess stated. “I am sorry, but Mr. Evans is out of the office at the moment. Would you like to have a seat and wait?”
Liz Parker stuttered. Max’s secretary was beautiful. She was the same age as Liz and the fear that Liz harbored increased. “I… I think I really wanted to see you,” Liz stated.
“See me?” Tess said in surprise. “What can I do for you?”
“I… I guess I just wanted to see you. We both share Max Evans and I thought we should meet,” Liz stumbled. She so wished she had better skills at speaking. She wasn’t even near what was concerning her.
“Miss Parker, I am Mr. Evans private secretary. Yes, I am very fond of him. You do not know how lucky you are, to be his girlfriend. Mr. Evans has done so much for all of us who work for him,” Tess stated.
“Max says you have a boyfriend. I was wondering if maybe the four of us could go out sometime. I haven’t said anything to Max yet. I wanted to see what you thought about this first,” Liz stated.
“Miss Parker, at the time, my home life is very complex. It would be impossible for the four of us to go out. Maybe it is me you need to talk to anyway. Why don’t we meet for lunch? Miss Parker, I do assure you that whatever is between Mr. Evans and me is strictly business.” Tess took out a business card that she kept in her desk. “Miss Parker, if you are free today at noon, meet me at this restaurant. I will answer all of your questions.”
Liz thought, maybe this is the best I can get anyhow. Getting to know Max’s secretary will settle many of my feelings. “Ms. Harding, I would love to do that. I hope I haven’t overstepped some line or the other.” With that Liz left. She hoped that she did not see Max. What she was doing, now, seemed stupid and maybe, a little dangerous. How mad would Max Evans get, if he even thought his girlfriend was spying on him?
When Tess sat down with Miss Parker, Liz picked up a menu and started to read. “Miss Parker, they have a delicious fruit and chicken salad if you like. That is usually the order I place when I am here with the girls,” Tess said.
“It is Liz, Ms Harding. That sounds very good. Do you come here often?” Liz asked.
“Thank you, Liz. It is Tess, also. I eat here with several of the secretaries. We try to get out of the office as much as possible. If we stay in the building, there is always the chance someone will call us to leave our lunch and do something for them. This way, no one bothers us and we have a relaxing hour or so,” Tess explained.
“What is it like, working in that office building?” Liz inquired.
Tess gave a little laugh. “In the typing pools, it is as boring as hell. We type letters that we will never see the response to. We handle files that we have no idea of what they are about. That is why I feel so lucky to be working for Mr. Evans. With him, I am his personal assistant.”
“What does a personal assistant do?” Liz asked.
Tess smiled. She knew that what she did for Max, was the whole question in the first place. “Liz, I run errands for him. I keep his calendar straight. I filter his visitors and correspondence. I do what I can to make my boss succeed. If I do a good job at this, usually, the administrative assistant, follows the boss as he gets promoted. Liz, what you are really worried about is, do I sleep with my boss? The answer is no! I spend an excessive amount of time with Mr. Evans. This amount of time puts a lot of pressure on me with my boyfriend. That is why I want to talk to you. I am sure that when Mr. Evans canceled the dinner date sometime ago, it bothered you. I know it bothered my boyfriend, Kyle. Believe me, it was an emergency. Our whole team almost got fired. We barely saved ourselves.” Tess stopped, thinking that for her, it was even closer to losing her job than the rest of the team.
“That is why I suggested the four of us go out sometime,” Liz explained.
“Liz, Kyle was hurt in the war in the east. His legs are partially paralyzed. He suffers great depression. I have all I can do to keep him going. The stress of meeting the public or even more the stress of meeting those I work with, would be too much. As it is, I have to constantly reassure him that I am his alone and those I work with are just that, colleagues, not romantic rivals. The salary that goes with being a personal assistant, helps us a lot. We are saving for a house. Liz, I save all my romantic affections for him. I care a lot about Mr. Evans, but there is no romance between us. There are many people who work for him that care a great deal about his welfare. You are his only romantic interest. You don’t know how glad I was when I heard he had a girlfriend. It takes a lot of worry off me knowing about you,” Tess explained.
“I feel like a fool, Tess. Maybe, we shouldn’t mention this to Max,” Liz suggested.
“Not a fool, Liz, just someone very concerned. I agree that maybe this should be between the two of us. We both have to take care of our man, Max. We both do this in different ways. I do think we need to know each other better. Please don’t ever think of me as the enemy,” Tess pleaded.
It was some weeks later. Max called Tess into his office. “We are moving, Tess,” he explained.
Tess looked up. It was seldom that a secretary didn’t get word of her boss’s promotion before he did. “Where to, Max,” she asked.
“It is not really a promotion for me, we are moving to a suite of bigger offices on this floor. You might say that you are getting a promotion,” Max informed her.
This came as a real surprise to Tess. Only a short time ago, she was convinced that she would be fired and be pounding the pavement looking for another job. Now, Max was informing her that she was in line for a promotion. She didn’t really want to leave Max, but she did have responsibility, she thought, thinking of her boyfriend, Kyle. “How so, Max?” she asked.
“You are to hire two secretaries to work under you. You are still my administrative assistant and my office manager. How you use these two women is up to you. We are going to get more challenging jobs. In my discussion with Johnson, I felt I needed you to concentrate more on our projects. Receptionist, filing reports and researching can be best left to your assistants,” Max told her. Then he smiled, “There is a raise involved, also.”
Regardless of Max’s first fantasy about her, Tess had been working for the corporation for several years. Janice would not have chosen an inexperienced girl to be Max’s private secretary. Tess was young, but she wasn’t just out of business school. Helen Andrews was just out of school. When Tess first met her, Tess saw a very young woman, wearing very short skirts and working her body for all that it was worth. Helen was not just a body and a pretty face. She came with documented skills, although her recommendation from the business school came from a professor she had slept with several times. The corporation didn’t have the luxury of maintaining anyone who couldn’t pull at least some of their own weight. If the corporation needed a decoration, every administrative assistant had a list of whores from a prestigious call girl operation. These women could escort clients or fill other jobs that the corporation sometimes felt were necessary.
The thing that Tess hated most, was being the receptionist. Making those who visited their office wait, bothered Tess. Tess always tried to be patient and pleasant. She knew that she was a beautiful woman and many executives would have chosen her for that reason. She tried to always be pleasant, but she sympathized with the clients who, many times, were giving up their time to make this interview with the boss. Tess tried to entertain the clients while waiting. Many times, she felt their eyes on her body. Tess was always trying to be pleasant and attractive, but this wasn’t the real Tess. Tess enjoyed the looks she occasionally saw from Max when they worked late at night. In some way, she felt that his appreciation of her was permitted. Tess, in her own mind did not like to appear seductive to the public. When she and Max appeared at a business meeting, Tess enjoyed the envy she saw in the other young executives at Max’s good fortune. She hoped some of this envy was because of her business skills, not some imagined sexual favors she might be thought to be giving. When Tess was being interviewed by Janice, she understood that working so closely with her boss might have romantic demands. For the benefits of the new job, Tess had built up expectations how she might handle that, but she and Max hadn’t traveled that way. Helen would be perfect for the job at the front desk. Tess was sure that being a tease for Helen would be second nature. Right or wrong, Tess was sure that Helen would have no problems with creating fantasies in their clients. With the right training, Tess thought that Helen would make a good private secretary someday.
The second lady was older than Tess. During their interview, Tess saw that, Olivia Sanchez was extremely bright. This was the lady, Tess chose for her personal assistant. Tess hoped that Olivia wouldn’t mind working for someone younger than she.
The new office suite was set up considerably different than the old one. There were now two private offices, although there was a door between them. The new outer office was bigger and had more file cabinets and bookcases than the older one. One side of the outer office had a desk across from the chairs where clients waited. It had a second desk set nearer to the bookcases. This would be Olivia’s workstation. Both Olivia and Helen had intercoms that called Tess’s desk. Helen frowned when she saw that she did not have free access to the boss. She mentioned this to Tess and Tess replied, “Helen, I am your boss. You report to me.”
Olivia shrugged, the set up was fine with her. Olivia really enjoyed research and report writing. She did not miss answering the phone at all. Helen had a lot of things to learn about her job. When Helen had applied for this job, she assumed, as usual, she would be able to screw everyone else in the office out of power and easily be the boss’s favorite. This had always worked the years she was in school. She had been hard-wired to work for men. Now, her boss was this blonde woman and access to Max Evans was severally limited. Her first rude awakening came that first morning when Tess stuck her head out of her private office and asked, “Ms. Andrews, will you please run over to the lounge and get two coffees, double cream and double sugar in one and just cream in the other. Olivia will catch any calls while you are gone.”
At first, Helen felt a flash of anger. Were they using her as just a gopher, go for this and go for that? Then, she thought maybe she could use the coffee as a leverage to approach Max. Imagine her disappointment when she returned to the office and Tess met her immediately with a curt “Thank you, Ms. Andrews.”
Well that hadn’t gone as she had planned. Her next disappointment came when a slender, brunette stopped at her desk and asked if Mr. Evans was available.
Helen immediately frowned. “Do you have an appointment?” she asked. Helen enjoyed the look of confusion she saw in the lady’s face. “Mr. Evans is very busy, I am afraid that I can’t let you see Max without an appointment,” Helen stated, with emphases on the name, Max.
Where Max kept his outer door closed most of the time, Tess almost always kept her door opened. After all managing the office was her first duty. “Hi, Liz, I just informed Max that you were here, go right in,” Tess told her.
“Hey, hi Tess, this is some new office you guys have now,” Liz stated as she and Tess embraced. Then Helen heard, “This is something, Tess, do you have two people working for you, now?”
Helen couldn’t hear the rest of the conversation because Tess and Liz now were behind Max’s closed door. After a few minutes, Tess walked out of the office and up to Helen’s desk. “Ms. Andrews, if someone wants to see Mr. Evans, you call me. I will decide how best to handle them. Don’t you take it upon yourself, to say that Mr. Evans is too busy to see anyone. It sounds much better if you refer to the boss as Mr. Evans, not Max. After all, this is a business not a friendship club,” Tess said with authority.
“You said that you had informed Max that she was here, didn’t you?” Helen asked with some anger.
“Yes, Miss Andrews. Miss Parker is a personal friend of mine and she is Mr. Evans’ girlfriend,” Tess stated.
Helen went back to her work. This was more difficult than she had thought. Helen, when she saw the dynamics of the office, had assumed that Max was screwing his personal assistant. Most of the other executives were doing so. To her, all she had to do was get past Ms. Harding. Now, Helen saw that not only did Max have a girlfriend whom Ms. Harding was very protective of, but the girlfriend was well know around the office. This might be more difficult. First, she had to drive a wedge between Ms. Harding and that girlfriend. Maybe, that was the answer.
keepsmiling7
mary mary
Chapter 13
At first, to Liz, Max seemed to be a perfect boyfriend. She was most bothered by his relationship to his secretary. “Maria, you hear all sorts of stories about secretaries and their bosses. Do you think Max is sleeping with that Harding woman?” Liz asked her best friend, Maria.
“Liz, would it bother you if he was?” Maria asked.
“Truthfully, Maria, it would,” Liz answered.
“Liz, if there is something between them, I am sure they would both lie if they didn’t want you to find out. Ms. Harding is reported to have a boyfriend. I am sure she wouldn’t want him to know anything about an affair if there was one,” Maria answered.
“Is there anyway I can find out?” Liz asked.
“You had one idea of going on a double date with Tess Harding and her boyfriend. If she and Max agreed to that you would have some confidence in their lack of relationship,” Maria suggested.
It was midmorning. Liz was taking a big chance, but there was something bothering her. If she didn’t get it cleared up, it was going to seriously poison her relationship with Max.
Tess was sitting at her desk. Max had stepped out to attend a pep talk for his project managers. They all had become a lot closer since their almost tragic failure. That Max had kept his promise went a long way to assuring their loyalty. The tenth floor receptionist called, “Tess, there is a Miss Parker coming up to see you.”
The only Miss Parker that Tess knew was her boss’s girlfriend. She probably was coming up to see Max, maybe for a lunch date. Max was out, it would be up to Tess to entertain the lady and make her comfortable. Tess realized that many men enjoyed her company while they waited. This teasing of the senses, obviously would not work. Well, maybe, it was time that Tess got to better know Miss Parker. Since Max was out of the office, his private office door was closed. The trim brunette entered. Tess thought, “She is about the same age as I am. I bet she is just filled with wonder about my relationship with Max.”
“Good morning, Miss Parker,” Tess stated. “I am sorry, but Mr. Evans is out of the office at the moment. Would you like to have a seat and wait?”
Liz Parker stuttered. Max’s secretary was beautiful. She was the same age as Liz and the fear that Liz harbored increased. “I… I think I really wanted to see you,” Liz stated.
“See me?” Tess said in surprise. “What can I do for you?”
“I… I guess I just wanted to see you. We both share Max Evans and I thought we should meet,” Liz stumbled. She so wished she had better skills at speaking. She wasn’t even near what was concerning her.
“Miss Parker, I am Mr. Evans private secretary. Yes, I am very fond of him. You do not know how lucky you are, to be his girlfriend. Mr. Evans has done so much for all of us who work for him,” Tess stated.
“Max says you have a boyfriend. I was wondering if maybe the four of us could go out sometime. I haven’t said anything to Max yet. I wanted to see what you thought about this first,” Liz stated.
“Miss Parker, at the time, my home life is very complex. It would be impossible for the four of us to go out. Maybe it is me you need to talk to anyway. Why don’t we meet for lunch? Miss Parker, I do assure you that whatever is between Mr. Evans and me is strictly business.” Tess took out a business card that she kept in her desk. “Miss Parker, if you are free today at noon, meet me at this restaurant. I will answer all of your questions.”
Liz thought, maybe this is the best I can get anyhow. Getting to know Max’s secretary will settle many of my feelings. “Ms. Harding, I would love to do that. I hope I haven’t overstepped some line or the other.” With that Liz left. She hoped that she did not see Max. What she was doing, now, seemed stupid and maybe, a little dangerous. How mad would Max Evans get, if he even thought his girlfriend was spying on him?
When Tess sat down with Miss Parker, Liz picked up a menu and started to read. “Miss Parker, they have a delicious fruit and chicken salad if you like. That is usually the order I place when I am here with the girls,” Tess said.
“It is Liz, Ms Harding. That sounds very good. Do you come here often?” Liz asked.
“Thank you, Liz. It is Tess, also. I eat here with several of the secretaries. We try to get out of the office as much as possible. If we stay in the building, there is always the chance someone will call us to leave our lunch and do something for them. This way, no one bothers us and we have a relaxing hour or so,” Tess explained.
“What is it like, working in that office building?” Liz inquired.
Tess gave a little laugh. “In the typing pools, it is as boring as hell. We type letters that we will never see the response to. We handle files that we have no idea of what they are about. That is why I feel so lucky to be working for Mr. Evans. With him, I am his personal assistant.”
“What does a personal assistant do?” Liz asked.
Tess smiled. She knew that what she did for Max, was the whole question in the first place. “Liz, I run errands for him. I keep his calendar straight. I filter his visitors and correspondence. I do what I can to make my boss succeed. If I do a good job at this, usually, the administrative assistant, follows the boss as he gets promoted. Liz, what you are really worried about is, do I sleep with my boss? The answer is no! I spend an excessive amount of time with Mr. Evans. This amount of time puts a lot of pressure on me with my boyfriend. That is why I want to talk to you. I am sure that when Mr. Evans canceled the dinner date sometime ago, it bothered you. I know it bothered my boyfriend, Kyle. Believe me, it was an emergency. Our whole team almost got fired. We barely saved ourselves.” Tess stopped, thinking that for her, it was even closer to losing her job than the rest of the team.
“That is why I suggested the four of us go out sometime,” Liz explained.
“Liz, Kyle was hurt in the war in the east. His legs are partially paralyzed. He suffers great depression. I have all I can do to keep him going. The stress of meeting the public or even more the stress of meeting those I work with, would be too much. As it is, I have to constantly reassure him that I am his alone and those I work with are just that, colleagues, not romantic rivals. The salary that goes with being a personal assistant, helps us a lot. We are saving for a house. Liz, I save all my romantic affections for him. I care a lot about Mr. Evans, but there is no romance between us. There are many people who work for him that care a great deal about his welfare. You are his only romantic interest. You don’t know how glad I was when I heard he had a girlfriend. It takes a lot of worry off me knowing about you,” Tess explained.
“I feel like a fool, Tess. Maybe, we shouldn’t mention this to Max,” Liz suggested.
“Not a fool, Liz, just someone very concerned. I agree that maybe this should be between the two of us. We both have to take care of our man, Max. We both do this in different ways. I do think we need to know each other better. Please don’t ever think of me as the enemy,” Tess pleaded.
It was some weeks later. Max called Tess into his office. “We are moving, Tess,” he explained.
Tess looked up. It was seldom that a secretary didn’t get word of her boss’s promotion before he did. “Where to, Max,” she asked.
“It is not really a promotion for me, we are moving to a suite of bigger offices on this floor. You might say that you are getting a promotion,” Max informed her.
This came as a real surprise to Tess. Only a short time ago, she was convinced that she would be fired and be pounding the pavement looking for another job. Now, Max was informing her that she was in line for a promotion. She didn’t really want to leave Max, but she did have responsibility, she thought, thinking of her boyfriend, Kyle. “How so, Max?” she asked.
“You are to hire two secretaries to work under you. You are still my administrative assistant and my office manager. How you use these two women is up to you. We are going to get more challenging jobs. In my discussion with Johnson, I felt I needed you to concentrate more on our projects. Receptionist, filing reports and researching can be best left to your assistants,” Max told her. Then he smiled, “There is a raise involved, also.”
Regardless of Max’s first fantasy about her, Tess had been working for the corporation for several years. Janice would not have chosen an inexperienced girl to be Max’s private secretary. Tess was young, but she wasn’t just out of business school. Helen Andrews was just out of school. When Tess first met her, Tess saw a very young woman, wearing very short skirts and working her body for all that it was worth. Helen was not just a body and a pretty face. She came with documented skills, although her recommendation from the business school came from a professor she had slept with several times. The corporation didn’t have the luxury of maintaining anyone who couldn’t pull at least some of their own weight. If the corporation needed a decoration, every administrative assistant had a list of whores from a prestigious call girl operation. These women could escort clients or fill other jobs that the corporation sometimes felt were necessary.
The thing that Tess hated most, was being the receptionist. Making those who visited their office wait, bothered Tess. Tess always tried to be patient and pleasant. She knew that she was a beautiful woman and many executives would have chosen her for that reason. She tried to always be pleasant, but she sympathized with the clients who, many times, were giving up their time to make this interview with the boss. Tess tried to entertain the clients while waiting. Many times, she felt their eyes on her body. Tess was always trying to be pleasant and attractive, but this wasn’t the real Tess. Tess enjoyed the looks she occasionally saw from Max when they worked late at night. In some way, she felt that his appreciation of her was permitted. Tess, in her own mind did not like to appear seductive to the public. When she and Max appeared at a business meeting, Tess enjoyed the envy she saw in the other young executives at Max’s good fortune. She hoped some of this envy was because of her business skills, not some imagined sexual favors she might be thought to be giving. When Tess was being interviewed by Janice, she understood that working so closely with her boss might have romantic demands. For the benefits of the new job, Tess had built up expectations how she might handle that, but she and Max hadn’t traveled that way. Helen would be perfect for the job at the front desk. Tess was sure that being a tease for Helen would be second nature. Right or wrong, Tess was sure that Helen would have no problems with creating fantasies in their clients. With the right training, Tess thought that Helen would make a good private secretary someday.
The second lady was older than Tess. During their interview, Tess saw that, Olivia Sanchez was extremely bright. This was the lady, Tess chose for her personal assistant. Tess hoped that Olivia wouldn’t mind working for someone younger than she.
The new office suite was set up considerably different than the old one. There were now two private offices, although there was a door between them. The new outer office was bigger and had more file cabinets and bookcases than the older one. One side of the outer office had a desk across from the chairs where clients waited. It had a second desk set nearer to the bookcases. This would be Olivia’s workstation. Both Olivia and Helen had intercoms that called Tess’s desk. Helen frowned when she saw that she did not have free access to the boss. She mentioned this to Tess and Tess replied, “Helen, I am your boss. You report to me.”
Olivia shrugged, the set up was fine with her. Olivia really enjoyed research and report writing. She did not miss answering the phone at all. Helen had a lot of things to learn about her job. When Helen had applied for this job, she assumed, as usual, she would be able to screw everyone else in the office out of power and easily be the boss’s favorite. This had always worked the years she was in school. She had been hard-wired to work for men. Now, her boss was this blonde woman and access to Max Evans was severally limited. Her first rude awakening came that first morning when Tess stuck her head out of her private office and asked, “Ms. Andrews, will you please run over to the lounge and get two coffees, double cream and double sugar in one and just cream in the other. Olivia will catch any calls while you are gone.”
At first, Helen felt a flash of anger. Were they using her as just a gopher, go for this and go for that? Then, she thought maybe she could use the coffee as a leverage to approach Max. Imagine her disappointment when she returned to the office and Tess met her immediately with a curt “Thank you, Ms. Andrews.”
Well that hadn’t gone as she had planned. Her next disappointment came when a slender, brunette stopped at her desk and asked if Mr. Evans was available.
Helen immediately frowned. “Do you have an appointment?” she asked. Helen enjoyed the look of confusion she saw in the lady’s face. “Mr. Evans is very busy, I am afraid that I can’t let you see Max without an appointment,” Helen stated, with emphases on the name, Max.
Where Max kept his outer door closed most of the time, Tess almost always kept her door opened. After all managing the office was her first duty. “Hi, Liz, I just informed Max that you were here, go right in,” Tess told her.
“Hey, hi Tess, this is some new office you guys have now,” Liz stated as she and Tess embraced. Then Helen heard, “This is something, Tess, do you have two people working for you, now?”
Helen couldn’t hear the rest of the conversation because Tess and Liz now were behind Max’s closed door. After a few minutes, Tess walked out of the office and up to Helen’s desk. “Ms. Andrews, if someone wants to see Mr. Evans, you call me. I will decide how best to handle them. Don’t you take it upon yourself, to say that Mr. Evans is too busy to see anyone. It sounds much better if you refer to the boss as Mr. Evans, not Max. After all, this is a business not a friendship club,” Tess said with authority.
“You said that you had informed Max that she was here, didn’t you?” Helen asked with some anger.
“Yes, Miss Andrews. Miss Parker is a personal friend of mine and she is Mr. Evans’ girlfriend,” Tess stated.
Helen went back to her work. This was more difficult than she had thought. Helen, when she saw the dynamics of the office, had assumed that Max was screwing his personal assistant. Most of the other executives were doing so. To her, all she had to do was get past Ms. Harding. Now, Helen saw that not only did Max have a girlfriend whom Ms. Harding was very protective of, but the girlfriend was well know around the office. This might be more difficult. First, she had to drive a wedge between Ms. Harding and that girlfriend. Maybe, that was the answer.
Good teachers are born that way, not made. No! Good human beings, are born that way. Some of them become teachers.
Of course, life is not fair. You shouldn't expect it to be fair, but you should expect it to be ironic.
JKR 1981-2001
History is made of wars, recovering from wars and preparing for the next war.
JJR 1975-
Of course, life is not fair. You shouldn't expect it to be fair, but you should expect it to be ironic.
JKR 1981-2001
History is made of wars, recovering from wars and preparing for the next war.
JJR 1975-
Re: the elevator Au/no alien, Mature, pg 7, CC ch13 6/12/11
begonia9508: The sex fantasies have more or less stopped. They may have been a result of his on lonely sex life. I am sure that what Michael set up were far from satisfying. It may have been the boredom of the fifth floor and looking above, listening to rumors about activities among the suits. Now he is on the suit's floor and he sees the responsibility. For many reasons, he has chosen a more professional life style. Most important he has a life outside the office. He has Liz.
Interest side note. The vice principal of the school i used to work at was fired for letting his extra sex life spill out into the workings of the school. When I was teaching there, even though they were educators they still kept doing it over and over until they got it right.
Tess still badly needs this job. Jobs like this aren't that easy to get. She has to continually keep evaluating how far she will go to keep her job.
Keepsmiling7
mary mary
Chapter 14
Four o’clock, and Max had long gone home. The various secretaries were picking up their things, except for Helen Andrews. The minute the clock struck four she was out the door and in the elevator. Olivia and Tess left together as Olivia had stayed to assist Tess in picking up files and putting them away. In the elevator, there were no other passengers “Ms. Harding, it is not for me to say, but that Andrews girl is going to be a problem,” Olivia stated.
Tess smiled at the older woman. Olivia was found to be very enjoyable to work with. “Olivia, after hours, it is okay to use my first name. How do you see her as a problem?” Tess asked.
“She wants to get close to the boss and push everyone else out of the way. I don’t think she expected to be working for you. I think she expected to be closer to Mr. Evans. I wouldn’t say anything except that I like working for you and I like Mr. Evans. I don’t want to be in an office where there is too much tension,” Olivia explained.
Helen Andrews had to think of a way to create a wedge between Max’s girlfriend and his secretary. If Max and his girlfriend had been living together, Helen would have bought some expensive piece of jewelry in Max’s name and made sure the bill got sent to his house. That was a surefire way to make the little woman upset. Max and his girlfriend weren’t even living together, so there would be no way that Helen could make the sales slip get into his girlfriend’s hand to upset her.
When Olivia was busy and Ms. Harding was out of the office, Helen would browse. She had absolutely no security clearance, so Helen could only look at press releases. She did find one picture taken some time ago of Mr. Evans and Ms. Harding at a project opening. Max was standing with his arm around Tess and holding her very close. Helen had this picture copied twice. By searching, through data bases of company personnel, Helen was able to find both Liz’s address and also, that of Ms. Harding’s boyfriend. Tess’s boyfriend was listed as contact person in an emergency and Liz’s address was from an invitation that had been sent to her to attend some company function, with Max. Neither of these addresses had been public information, but idle time allows a lot of internet surfing. For some reason, Helen hadn’t been given many assignments. She looked over at that Sanchez woman. Her desk was piled high. Helen had heard, Ms. Harding say to use her own password to research something. Well, let the stupid cow do all the work; Helen didn’t care. She had her own project and it involved getting that office beside Mr. Evans. Helen had no idea of how much work Tess put in as Max’s assistant. All Helen could see was that Mr. Evans must be boffing that Harding woman and Helen wanted that boffing to herself.
“Max, something happened yesterday. Someone sent this picture to Kyle. He was very upset last night when I got home.” Tess handed Max the picture.
“Tess, that is from an old press release. It was taken a long time ago,” Max stated.
"I know, but you need to understand my position. Max, Kyle is homebound. He was badly hurt in the war in the east. That is why he never comes to corporate events. Things like this do not help,” Tess explained.
“Tess. anyone could have sent that. It has been on releases to the public for many months,” Max said.
“I know, but I can’t help thinking it is someone who has it in for me,” Tess sighed.
Max would have forgotten that episode except that when he got home Liz called him. “Max, someone sent me this picture. There was no return address and no text with the picture at all. Is there something that I should know?” she asked.
When Max arrived at her apartment, Liz showed him the same picture that Tess had shown this morning. “Liz, this is an old picture. It was taken at an opening for a project that Ms. Harding and I developed. I don’t know why it was sent to you. Ms. Harding has a boyfriend and he received the same picture. Tess is having a hard time explaining it to him. He is very jealous,” Max explained.
“Max, is someone trying to cause trouble between you and your personal assistant?” Liz asked.
“Could be, Liz. It would be best if you receive anything else or are approached by anyone about business in our company, that you contact me, or Ms. Harding, immediately. This could blow up into something serious,” Max requested.
Helen had seen Ms Harding showing something to Mr. Evans. She hoped it was the picture she had sent. She had thought of another idea. It was expensive, but she was sure that it would work. Mr. Evans wasn’t living with Miss Parker, but Ms. Harding was living with her boyfriend. Her original idea of sending a sales receipt to Mr. Evans so Miss Parker could see it, wouldn’t work because Helen couldn’t find a reason for the sales receipt to fall into Miss Parker’s hands. Helen could have easily returned the item after the receipt had done its worst. Now, she was actually going to have to part with whatever she used as bait. Sending it to Ms. Harding at home would insure that her boyfriend saw it. First, she would send some cheaper things, like flowers with real passionate messages. Timing would be everything. Helen would send the flowers when Ms. Harding and Mr. Evans worked late or maybe, all night. Olivia had been asked to stay late several times, but never Helen. Helen would have to pick a night when they didn’t have Olivia as a witness.
Kyle was surprised. Tess had never gotten flowers sent to her home. Kyle didn’t have the vaguest idea what she received at work. He had always blocked out that part of her life from his mind. When he saw the message, “Hon, it was really sweet last night.” Kyle was very upset. What he had always feared, Tess’s boss was putting the moves on her and he didn’t care that her boyfriend knew about it. If Kyle lost Tess, he wouldn’t really care about continued living. Fighting the Veterans Administration, doing the therapy, watching as someone took his love away, would be too much for Kyle. Sure, Tess was making more money. Was she whoring for her boss? Were these shared bonuses just payment for Tess’s favors in bed? Favors that Kyle knew he couldn’t elicit with his physical condition. God damned people over there, they had finally taken everything he had, away.
Tess had stopped to pick up something for dinner. When she arrived at their apartment, it was dark. Tess entered with great fear. Almost every night, Tess feared to open the door. What would have happened to Kyle today? Tess knew that, recently,` he had been getting worse. Not worse physically, but in deeper depression.
When Tess saw the flowers and the message sitting beside the table her fear increased. “Kyle, Kyle,” she screamed. There was no answer.
In the darken bedroom, when she turned on the lights, she saw Kyle sitting in his wheel chair just staring at space. As she approached, Kyle said with tears in his eyes, “Tess, do you want to leave?”
Tess was crying as she threw her arms around him. “Kyle, Kyle, no, I don’t want to leave you! Everything I do is for us. I am hoping that someday we can marry and have children. I have no desire to ever leave you.”
“Does what you do, include screwing your boss?” he asked.
So much guilt went through Tess’s mind. The fact that she kept the condoms in her desk, if she had been required to sleep with Max, the intimate touches she shared as she worked with him, the fact that she genuinely liked Max, all contributed to fears that maybe, Kyle was right she had betrayed him for Max. The sane part of her mind knew that she and Max had never done anything wrong. She had nothing to be ashamed about. “Kyle, Max and I have never done anything to wrong you. Our work, although it’s very close, always has been business,” Max would never have sent flowers to me at home. Maybe for my office desk for some extra effort I put into a project, but never with a note like that. Max has a beautiful girlfriend with whom I have a good friendship. She is also receiving things to make her doubt her boyfriend. Kyle, believe me when I say that someone has it in for us, you and me along with Max and his girlfriend.” Tess hoped that this would satisfy Kyle. “Kyle, I need to call Max. He said to do so immediately if something like this happened,” Tess told him.
Kyle started to wheel himself out of the room. “No, Kyle, please stay. I will put this on speakerphone. I want you to hear what we say.”
Helen saw that Ms. Harding and Mr. Evans were in conference most of the morning. Good, that meant that they both were suffering trouble in paradise. It had cost Helen a large part of her savings. She had purchased a diamond bracelet. In a couple of days, she would have it delivered to Ms. Harding’s home. Helen was sure that now, Ms. Harding’s boyfriend would be in the state of mind that he would open anything that looked like someone was playing with Ms. Harding’s affections.
Several nights later, Tess entered a silent, dark apartment again. “Kyle, Kyle,” she called out. In the dark bedroom she found Kyle spralled across the bed. On the stand beside him, she saw the empty bottle of sleeping pills he had once shared with her. She immediately dialed 911 the emergency number. “My boyfriend has taken sleeping pills. I can’t waken him. I need help quickly.”
Tess had to endure the insipid questions, “Are you sure he has taken the pills? Is he still breathing? Please repeat the address.”
This angered Tess as she was now frantic. Her eyes fell on the small opened box. The message beside the diamond bracelet was, “To my dearest assistant. May we be together soon.”
Tess was trying to answer the 911 operator while reading the text message with the small jewelry box and deal with the fear that, finally, she was going to loose Kyle. Tess didn’t realize that the 911 operator had dispatched an emergency crew at the first of Tess’s message. The repeat requests were just procedure to make sure the emergency crew got things right and to keep the clearly distraught woman on the line.
Tess had lived in tension for so long. She felt a let down; it might have been described as a relief, Kyle had finally done it. The let down of her defenses allowed grief to flow into her being. Tess called Max.
Tess was sitting in the waiting room when Max arrived. She stood and he wrapped his arms around her. As Max was holding Tess closely, the police arrived.
They all three sat down at a table as the officer pulled out a notebook. “My condolences,” he began. “I understand that you and Mr. Valenti live together.”
Tess nodded.
“We already dispatched an officer to investigate the scene,” the detective continued. We found a box with a suspicious message attached to it. Can you explain?” he inquired.
Max spoke up. “Ms. Harding and I have both been subjected to events trying to cause us trouble with her boyfriend and my girlfriend. When she called me, she wasn’t very coherent. She did say that someone sent a diamond bracelet with a note that must have upset her boyfriend,” Max explained.
The detective turned back to Tess. “After you called 911, your boss was the next person you thought to call?”
“It is just that we have worked together for so long that when something is wrong, I expect him to fix it. Calling him was probably wrong. He was just the only person I could think of,” Tess explained.
Detective Padilla was a very pragmatic man. He truly believed in Occam’s razor. The simplest answer was usually the correct one. This lady and her boss had probably been fucking for months. Padilla had been told by the emergency crew that Valenti was disabled. Poor son-of-a-bitch had probably been tortured for months by knowing that this sweet piece of ass was sucking up to her boss. Hell, a man without special needs, like being disabled, couldn’t usually stand that. Padilla’s job, now was determining if they simply drove the poor sucker to this or did they nudge him along. His carefully arranged thoughts were interrupted by the intrusion of a small brunette.
Liz ran up to Tess and threw her arms around the woman. “Oh, Tess, Tess, I am so sorry this happened. Did someone send something else to scare Kyle?” she asked.
“Yes, Liz, someone sent a diamond bracelet to me where Kyle would see it and open the package. There was a note included,” Tess stated.
Liz turned to Officer Padilla, “You have got to find this person. They have been sending notes and pictures to make Kyle and me think there is something between Max and Tess. Max is Tess’s boss and she is very protective of him as is her job. Max and I have been going together almost as long as Ms. Harding has been working for him.”
The switch to calling her Ms. Harding was not lost on Officer Padilla. This lady had started out as a friend to Ms. Harding and then switched to understanding that she was in a position of respect, at least to the brunette’s boyfriend. His carefully prepared report was quickly unraveling. Maybe, they were kinky someway. A foursome in bed with two beautiful women and a crip was not something he could envision. This wasn’t going to be that easy to solve. A quickie solution had seemed so plausible a few minutes before.
Interest side note. The vice principal of the school i used to work at was fired for letting his extra sex life spill out into the workings of the school. When I was teaching there, even though they were educators they still kept doing it over and over until they got it right.
Tess still badly needs this job. Jobs like this aren't that easy to get. She has to continually keep evaluating how far she will go to keep her job.
Keepsmiling7
mary mary
Chapter 14
Four o’clock, and Max had long gone home. The various secretaries were picking up their things, except for Helen Andrews. The minute the clock struck four she was out the door and in the elevator. Olivia and Tess left together as Olivia had stayed to assist Tess in picking up files and putting them away. In the elevator, there were no other passengers “Ms. Harding, it is not for me to say, but that Andrews girl is going to be a problem,” Olivia stated.
Tess smiled at the older woman. Olivia was found to be very enjoyable to work with. “Olivia, after hours, it is okay to use my first name. How do you see her as a problem?” Tess asked.
“She wants to get close to the boss and push everyone else out of the way. I don’t think she expected to be working for you. I think she expected to be closer to Mr. Evans. I wouldn’t say anything except that I like working for you and I like Mr. Evans. I don’t want to be in an office where there is too much tension,” Olivia explained.
Helen Andrews had to think of a way to create a wedge between Max’s girlfriend and his secretary. If Max and his girlfriend had been living together, Helen would have bought some expensive piece of jewelry in Max’s name and made sure the bill got sent to his house. That was a surefire way to make the little woman upset. Max and his girlfriend weren’t even living together, so there would be no way that Helen could make the sales slip get into his girlfriend’s hand to upset her.
When Olivia was busy and Ms. Harding was out of the office, Helen would browse. She had absolutely no security clearance, so Helen could only look at press releases. She did find one picture taken some time ago of Mr. Evans and Ms. Harding at a project opening. Max was standing with his arm around Tess and holding her very close. Helen had this picture copied twice. By searching, through data bases of company personnel, Helen was able to find both Liz’s address and also, that of Ms. Harding’s boyfriend. Tess’s boyfriend was listed as contact person in an emergency and Liz’s address was from an invitation that had been sent to her to attend some company function, with Max. Neither of these addresses had been public information, but idle time allows a lot of internet surfing. For some reason, Helen hadn’t been given many assignments. She looked over at that Sanchez woman. Her desk was piled high. Helen had heard, Ms. Harding say to use her own password to research something. Well, let the stupid cow do all the work; Helen didn’t care. She had her own project and it involved getting that office beside Mr. Evans. Helen had no idea of how much work Tess put in as Max’s assistant. All Helen could see was that Mr. Evans must be boffing that Harding woman and Helen wanted that boffing to herself.
“Max, something happened yesterday. Someone sent this picture to Kyle. He was very upset last night when I got home.” Tess handed Max the picture.
“Tess, that is from an old press release. It was taken a long time ago,” Max stated.
"I know, but you need to understand my position. Max, Kyle is homebound. He was badly hurt in the war in the east. That is why he never comes to corporate events. Things like this do not help,” Tess explained.
“Tess. anyone could have sent that. It has been on releases to the public for many months,” Max said.
“I know, but I can’t help thinking it is someone who has it in for me,” Tess sighed.
Max would have forgotten that episode except that when he got home Liz called him. “Max, someone sent me this picture. There was no return address and no text with the picture at all. Is there something that I should know?” she asked.
When Max arrived at her apartment, Liz showed him the same picture that Tess had shown this morning. “Liz, this is an old picture. It was taken at an opening for a project that Ms. Harding and I developed. I don’t know why it was sent to you. Ms. Harding has a boyfriend and he received the same picture. Tess is having a hard time explaining it to him. He is very jealous,” Max explained.
“Max, is someone trying to cause trouble between you and your personal assistant?” Liz asked.
“Could be, Liz. It would be best if you receive anything else or are approached by anyone about business in our company, that you contact me, or Ms. Harding, immediately. This could blow up into something serious,” Max requested.
Helen had seen Ms Harding showing something to Mr. Evans. She hoped it was the picture she had sent. She had thought of another idea. It was expensive, but she was sure that it would work. Mr. Evans wasn’t living with Miss Parker, but Ms. Harding was living with her boyfriend. Her original idea of sending a sales receipt to Mr. Evans so Miss Parker could see it, wouldn’t work because Helen couldn’t find a reason for the sales receipt to fall into Miss Parker’s hands. Helen could have easily returned the item after the receipt had done its worst. Now, she was actually going to have to part with whatever she used as bait. Sending it to Ms. Harding at home would insure that her boyfriend saw it. First, she would send some cheaper things, like flowers with real passionate messages. Timing would be everything. Helen would send the flowers when Ms. Harding and Mr. Evans worked late or maybe, all night. Olivia had been asked to stay late several times, but never Helen. Helen would have to pick a night when they didn’t have Olivia as a witness.
Kyle was surprised. Tess had never gotten flowers sent to her home. Kyle didn’t have the vaguest idea what she received at work. He had always blocked out that part of her life from his mind. When he saw the message, “Hon, it was really sweet last night.” Kyle was very upset. What he had always feared, Tess’s boss was putting the moves on her and he didn’t care that her boyfriend knew about it. If Kyle lost Tess, he wouldn’t really care about continued living. Fighting the Veterans Administration, doing the therapy, watching as someone took his love away, would be too much for Kyle. Sure, Tess was making more money. Was she whoring for her boss? Were these shared bonuses just payment for Tess’s favors in bed? Favors that Kyle knew he couldn’t elicit with his physical condition. God damned people over there, they had finally taken everything he had, away.
Tess had stopped to pick up something for dinner. When she arrived at their apartment, it was dark. Tess entered with great fear. Almost every night, Tess feared to open the door. What would have happened to Kyle today? Tess knew that, recently,` he had been getting worse. Not worse physically, but in deeper depression.
When Tess saw the flowers and the message sitting beside the table her fear increased. “Kyle, Kyle,” she screamed. There was no answer.
In the darken bedroom, when she turned on the lights, she saw Kyle sitting in his wheel chair just staring at space. As she approached, Kyle said with tears in his eyes, “Tess, do you want to leave?”
Tess was crying as she threw her arms around him. “Kyle, Kyle, no, I don’t want to leave you! Everything I do is for us. I am hoping that someday we can marry and have children. I have no desire to ever leave you.”
“Does what you do, include screwing your boss?” he asked.
So much guilt went through Tess’s mind. The fact that she kept the condoms in her desk, if she had been required to sleep with Max, the intimate touches she shared as she worked with him, the fact that she genuinely liked Max, all contributed to fears that maybe, Kyle was right she had betrayed him for Max. The sane part of her mind knew that she and Max had never done anything wrong. She had nothing to be ashamed about. “Kyle, Max and I have never done anything to wrong you. Our work, although it’s very close, always has been business,” Max would never have sent flowers to me at home. Maybe for my office desk for some extra effort I put into a project, but never with a note like that. Max has a beautiful girlfriend with whom I have a good friendship. She is also receiving things to make her doubt her boyfriend. Kyle, believe me when I say that someone has it in for us, you and me along with Max and his girlfriend.” Tess hoped that this would satisfy Kyle. “Kyle, I need to call Max. He said to do so immediately if something like this happened,” Tess told him.
Kyle started to wheel himself out of the room. “No, Kyle, please stay. I will put this on speakerphone. I want you to hear what we say.”
Helen saw that Ms. Harding and Mr. Evans were in conference most of the morning. Good, that meant that they both were suffering trouble in paradise. It had cost Helen a large part of her savings. She had purchased a diamond bracelet. In a couple of days, she would have it delivered to Ms. Harding’s home. Helen was sure that now, Ms. Harding’s boyfriend would be in the state of mind that he would open anything that looked like someone was playing with Ms. Harding’s affections.
Several nights later, Tess entered a silent, dark apartment again. “Kyle, Kyle,” she called out. In the dark bedroom she found Kyle spralled across the bed. On the stand beside him, she saw the empty bottle of sleeping pills he had once shared with her. She immediately dialed 911 the emergency number. “My boyfriend has taken sleeping pills. I can’t waken him. I need help quickly.”
Tess had to endure the insipid questions, “Are you sure he has taken the pills? Is he still breathing? Please repeat the address.”
This angered Tess as she was now frantic. Her eyes fell on the small opened box. The message beside the diamond bracelet was, “To my dearest assistant. May we be together soon.”
Tess was trying to answer the 911 operator while reading the text message with the small jewelry box and deal with the fear that, finally, she was going to loose Kyle. Tess didn’t realize that the 911 operator had dispatched an emergency crew at the first of Tess’s message. The repeat requests were just procedure to make sure the emergency crew got things right and to keep the clearly distraught woman on the line.
Tess had lived in tension for so long. She felt a let down; it might have been described as a relief, Kyle had finally done it. The let down of her defenses allowed grief to flow into her being. Tess called Max.
Tess was sitting in the waiting room when Max arrived. She stood and he wrapped his arms around her. As Max was holding Tess closely, the police arrived.
They all three sat down at a table as the officer pulled out a notebook. “My condolences,” he began. “I understand that you and Mr. Valenti live together.”
Tess nodded.
“We already dispatched an officer to investigate the scene,” the detective continued. We found a box with a suspicious message attached to it. Can you explain?” he inquired.
Max spoke up. “Ms. Harding and I have both been subjected to events trying to cause us trouble with her boyfriend and my girlfriend. When she called me, she wasn’t very coherent. She did say that someone sent a diamond bracelet with a note that must have upset her boyfriend,” Max explained.
The detective turned back to Tess. “After you called 911, your boss was the next person you thought to call?”
“It is just that we have worked together for so long that when something is wrong, I expect him to fix it. Calling him was probably wrong. He was just the only person I could think of,” Tess explained.
Detective Padilla was a very pragmatic man. He truly believed in Occam’s razor. The simplest answer was usually the correct one. This lady and her boss had probably been fucking for months. Padilla had been told by the emergency crew that Valenti was disabled. Poor son-of-a-bitch had probably been tortured for months by knowing that this sweet piece of ass was sucking up to her boss. Hell, a man without special needs, like being disabled, couldn’t usually stand that. Padilla’s job, now was determining if they simply drove the poor sucker to this or did they nudge him along. His carefully arranged thoughts were interrupted by the intrusion of a small brunette.
Liz ran up to Tess and threw her arms around the woman. “Oh, Tess, Tess, I am so sorry this happened. Did someone send something else to scare Kyle?” she asked.
“Yes, Liz, someone sent a diamond bracelet to me where Kyle would see it and open the package. There was a note included,” Tess stated.
Liz turned to Officer Padilla, “You have got to find this person. They have been sending notes and pictures to make Kyle and me think there is something between Max and Tess. Max is Tess’s boss and she is very protective of him as is her job. Max and I have been going together almost as long as Ms. Harding has been working for him.”
The switch to calling her Ms. Harding was not lost on Officer Padilla. This lady had started out as a friend to Ms. Harding and then switched to understanding that she was in a position of respect, at least to the brunette’s boyfriend. His carefully prepared report was quickly unraveling. Maybe, they were kinky someway. A foursome in bed with two beautiful women and a crip was not something he could envision. This wasn’t going to be that easy to solve. A quickie solution had seemed so plausible a few minutes before.
Good teachers are born that way, not made. No! Good human beings, are born that way. Some of them become teachers.
Of course, life is not fair. You shouldn't expect it to be fair, but you should expect it to be ironic.
JKR 1981-2001
History is made of wars, recovering from wars and preparing for the next war.
JJR 1975-
Of course, life is not fair. You shouldn't expect it to be fair, but you should expect it to be ironic.
JKR 1981-2001
History is made of wars, recovering from wars and preparing for the next war.
JJR 1975-
Re: the elevator Au/no alien, Mature, pg 7, CC ch14, 6/19/11
Natalie
begonia9508
mary mary
keepsmiling7
Chapter 15
The next day at the office, Max came out of his private office. “As you have probably heard, Ms. Harding’s boyfriend is in the hospital. She will be off for a few days. Mrs. Sanchez will you assume her duties in her office?” Then Max turned to Helen, Ms. Andrews, you are going to have take up some of Mrs. Sanchez’s typing. We hope Ms. Harding’s boyfriend will get better and she will be back with us soon,” Max didn’t feel like doing much. He went back into his office and closed the door.
This was not going the way that Helen had planned it. She was no better off than she had been before. She was so sure that Mr. Evans would choose her over that cow, Mrs. Sanchez. Things only got worse. Olivia Sanchez came out and handed Helen a data disk. “There are 500 names on this disk. I emailed you an invitation form. Please set up a data merge so each invitation looks personalized. Also, set up a data merge for addressed envelopes. Mr. Evans needs this before we go home today,” Olivia requested.
Helen glared at Olivia. “If it is so important, why don’t you do it yourself?” she demanded.
Olivia sighed, she expected that she would have trouble. She wasn’t sure how far Mr. Evans would back her. “I am doing the personnel research that Ms. Harding usually does. Mr. Evans said you were to help me with correspondence,” Olivia stated.
“Well, I am going on my break. We will see who is to do the typing work around here,” with that Helen Andrews stamped out.
Olivia sighed again. Ms, Andrews’, breaks, supposedly for 15 minutes, usually ran over an hour or more. Helen Andrews had managed to do her receptionist duties, she did some light typing, but most of the office work had been done by Olivia or Ms. Harding. Olivia knew that Ms. Harding was having personal problems and Olivia hated to add to them by complaining about Helen. Usually, Olivia managed to cover what she considered Ms. Harding’s office her self. Helen had taken advantage of Ms. Harding’s inattention.
“Mrs. Sanchez, did Miss Andrews finish the invitations?” Max asked Olivia.
“I don’t think so, Mr. Evans. She went on her break about an hour ago. She isn’t back yet,” Olivia stated.
“Mrs. Sanchez, tell her I want to see her when she returns,” Max ordered.
It was almost three o’clock when Helen Andrews returned. “Ms. Andrews, Mr. Evans wants the invitations I handed you to do. He wants them now,” Olivia stated.
“Well, if they were so important, why didn’t you do them?” Helen asked in a haughty manner.
“Ms. Andrews, Mr. Evans wants to see you in his office,” Olivia stated.
Helen glared at Olivia, “What did you do, tattle on me?”
Helen had total confidence that once in the presence of a man she could control him. “Ms. Andrews, how long were you gone on your break?” Max asked.
“Oh Mr. Evans, I am such a ditz. I went over a few minutes, I guess,” she answered, giving her best smile and shaking her upper body. That had always gotten almost any man confused.
Trouble was, that Max never looked up. “I told Mrs. Sanchez to have you merge some invitations with a data base a little over an hour ago. Did you finish?”
“Oh my, she never told me that had to be done today. I intended to do it tomorrow when I had plenty of time,” Helen explained.
“Ms. Andrews, in case you hadn’t noticed, we are shorthanded. Mrs. Sanchez and I have been working all day. What have you been doing?” Max asked.
“Oh, Mr. Evans, that woman is so mean to me. She is always trying to make me do her work.
Ms. Andrews, you were hired by Ms. Harding. Ms. Harding is your boss. Right now, Ms. Harding is indisposed. Since Ms. Harding works for me, I am choosing, Mrs. Sanchez, to fill Ms. Harding’s place. If you were given, any assignment by Mrs. Sanchez, it is your duty to fulfill it.
Helen Andrews was one of those sad girls growing up. When most young girls were facing problems in life, as well as problems in the classroom, Helen learned that she could get someone else to do things for her by, at first, being that cute cuddly little girl and later, by being that girl who would shed her clothes in a jiffy, at least enough to get every problem solved for her. At the time, Helen congratulated herself that there were better ways to get ahead than working. As now, working for a woman, first that Ms. Harding and now that cow, Mrs. Sanchez. When Helen saw Ms. Harding she thought, here was a challenge. Ms. Harding had more sophisticated sex about her person than Helen could ever manage. Helen was barely out of banging the football team compared to her. Mrs. Sanchez did not try to compete in any sex contest, so there was nothing Helen could challenge her with. Helen was rude to Mrs. Sanchez because she thought she could get away with it. Helen didn’t know, that if Olivia was convinced that Max would back her as he did Ms. Harding, Mrs. Sanchez could be ever as much assertive as was Tess.
Helen could be seductive, but she had never been accused of being really smart. She was probably much smarter than she acted. Max was out of the office and Ms. Sanchez had gone to lunch. Helen had been forced to stay at her desk, because again, she had been assigned a typing assignment and she had wasted the morning, not completing it. Helen was eating the fare of the butcher lady and her cart. She still was pecking away at the assignment, letting her temper get away with her sense. On a whim, she dialed the hospital. “Kyle Valenti’s room please,” she requested.
As usual Tess was sitting in Kyle’s room watching as he slept. The phone rang. Tess quickly answered it, not wanting Kyle to wake up. “Hello,” she said.
Helen could only say under her breath, “Oh, shit. I really didn’t expect to find her there,” as she quickly replaced the phone. As long as Tess was at Kyle’s hospital room, nothing that Helen could say would be effective to come between Tess and Kyle. Maybe, she could start something with the boss’s girlfriend; maybe suggest something between herself and the boss. That might give the boss problems so she could endear her self better to him. Helen would be the poor little secretary who was wounded by rumors.
Liz’s telephone rang. “Hello,” she answered.
For several seconds there was just heavy breathing. Then, “Have you seen Evans’ new secretary? Wow, what knock out!” the heavy low voice said. “With that bitch Tess out of the office, the old boy is really porking it to that young babe,” the voice continued.
Max had told Liz to call him the minute something weird happened about the office. She called as soon as the strange call hung up. Olivia answered. “Mr. Evans, office. How may I help you?” Olivia asked.
Liz’s voice was badly shaking. “Mrs. Sanchez, is Max or Tess in the office?” Liz asked.
Olivia had met Liz briefly one day when she came by to go to lunch with Max. “No, Miss Parker. Ms. Harding is still out, probably at the hospital and Mr. Evans is at a meeting. Can I take a message?” Olivia asked.
“I have just received a frightening phone call. Please have Max call me at home as soon as he comes in,” Liz requested.
Max had gone straight to lunch after his meeting. Several of his fellow executives had gotten together to discuss an upcoming project. None of them knew who would finally be assigned the project, but they were all speculating on how it might be handled. This time, it wasn’t a building or a public event, it was the promotion of a rock star. Whoever received the project was going to have to bone up on a totally different strategy. It was close to two o’clock when Max finally got back to his office.
“Mr. Evans,” Olivia called out the minute Max entered the door. “Miss Parker called. She needs to talk to you as soon as possible. I tried your cell phone, but I think you had it turned off.”
Max hurried and neither he nor Olivia saw the look of satisfaction on Helen’s face. Then, she started to practice a look of indignation when Max informed her that, she herself was now part of whatever conspiracy that was attacking his office personnel.
“Ms. Andrews, there has been somebody trying to undermine my office. It started by sending old photographs to Ms. Harding’s boyfriend and my girlfriend. Then, it accelerated with flowers and suggestive notes sent to Ms. Harding’s home. Finally, they sent a diamond bracelet to Ms. Harding at her home, which led to the hospitalization of her boyfriend. This was turned over the police. The matter is now under investigation. Now, someone is spreading rumors that you and I are having an affair. If you are approached with anything not of official office business would you please inform me immediately,” Max stated.
“Oh, Mr. Evans, why would someone spread rumors about me? I am the least significant person in this office,” Helen cried.
Max placed his arms around Ms. Andrews. “Helen, nobody is insignificant here. We all are working as a team,” Max whispered.
Helen returned to her desk. She had finally managed to get Mr. Evans’ attention. She did not even notice the frown from Olivia as she swayed her ass back to her desk.
For whatever reason Kyle did what he did, he now had the attention of the Veterans Administration. They hadn’t allowed him to return home yet. For the moment, he was living in a rehab center. They were letting him continue his internet business and they were subjecting him to counseling daily. Tess could still come by to see him, but she felt that she might as well return to work, during the day. She hoped that Mr. Evans, would continue to be understanding.
The Rock star project came down and landed right in Max’s lap. Max was happy to see Tess’s return. He and Olivia had started their research. Max knew next to nothing about celebrities. Build a skyscraper, promote a place of learning and Max was in his element. He and Tess had been doing this for some time. How do you take a man, who Max was convinced was an ass hole, and turn him into someone every home in America would open up to? This was going to require a personal make over, a character make over and a new background. They were going to have to subcontract outside of the corporation.
Olivia moved back to her desk and Tess moved back into her office. For a time, Tess worked behind closed doors. She, finally, came out of the office and handed Olivia a stack of assignments. Tess walked to Helen’s desk and dropped a stack of papers on it. “Ms. Andrews, please alphabetize the authors of these papers and type me a list on your computer. This needs to be done before you take your morning break. When you do take your break, pay close attention to the time. We have a lot to do and everyone is needed,” Tess ordered.
Helen noticed that the returning Ms. Harding was a lot sterner than she remembered of the former one. Helen was still going to keep up her campaign, but the office involvement in the new project and the fact that she now knew that the police were involved, in an investigation about what she had done earlier, would mean more planning.
Tess knew that to this point, the corporation had always done publicity campaigns in house. For what they intended now, they needed agencies with celebrity experience. She had Olivia setting up interviews with several companies. Both she and Mr. Evans would attend these interviews. The corporation has no experience with personality and wardrobe makeovers, so she had contacted an agency to find coaches to assist in both of these areas. Tess had no idea of why the corporation had allowed itself to become involved in this project. Then she thought, the corporation is ever expanding. This was a test just like the first project she and Max had put together. If they failed, it would look bad for their team, but the corporation would decide that they no longer wanted to become involved in such projects. If they succeeded, the corporation could very well stretch out and she and Max might be in for a promotion. With her personal problems with Kyle, Tess badly needed some sort of recognition of success.
An all nighter was coming up. For several days and nights at their respective homes, Max and Tess had been reading everything they could discover about celebrities and celebrity comebacks. There just wasn’t enough time in a day to discuss what each had put together.
Helen saw that Olivia wasn’t included in this late work and there was no way she could figure involving herself in this, so she began to figure how she could benefit from Max one more time being alone with Ms. Harding.
From four until a little after six o’clock, Tess spent the evening with Kyle. She was in quandary about telling him about what she had to do later this evening. Finally she said, “Kyle, I have to go soon. I have to work late at the office. We have a bear of a project and Max and I need to try to put what we have together.”
Tess could feel Kyle pull back from her. “It’s just that every time you spend with your boss, I remember my fears that you will eventually leave me for a man who is better at caring for you,” he said.
“Kyle, I keep telling you that I work closely with my boss, but there is no romance. I have you and Max had his girlfriend,” Tess wearily explained. She could feel that Kyle still wasn’t convinced. No matter what she said, he still had his fears.
begonia9508
mary mary
keepsmiling7
Chapter 15
The next day at the office, Max came out of his private office. “As you have probably heard, Ms. Harding’s boyfriend is in the hospital. She will be off for a few days. Mrs. Sanchez will you assume her duties in her office?” Then Max turned to Helen, Ms. Andrews, you are going to have take up some of Mrs. Sanchez’s typing. We hope Ms. Harding’s boyfriend will get better and she will be back with us soon,” Max didn’t feel like doing much. He went back into his office and closed the door.
This was not going the way that Helen had planned it. She was no better off than she had been before. She was so sure that Mr. Evans would choose her over that cow, Mrs. Sanchez. Things only got worse. Olivia Sanchez came out and handed Helen a data disk. “There are 500 names on this disk. I emailed you an invitation form. Please set up a data merge so each invitation looks personalized. Also, set up a data merge for addressed envelopes. Mr. Evans needs this before we go home today,” Olivia requested.
Helen glared at Olivia. “If it is so important, why don’t you do it yourself?” she demanded.
Olivia sighed, she expected that she would have trouble. She wasn’t sure how far Mr. Evans would back her. “I am doing the personnel research that Ms. Harding usually does. Mr. Evans said you were to help me with correspondence,” Olivia stated.
“Well, I am going on my break. We will see who is to do the typing work around here,” with that Helen Andrews stamped out.
Olivia sighed again. Ms, Andrews’, breaks, supposedly for 15 minutes, usually ran over an hour or more. Helen Andrews had managed to do her receptionist duties, she did some light typing, but most of the office work had been done by Olivia or Ms. Harding. Olivia knew that Ms. Harding was having personal problems and Olivia hated to add to them by complaining about Helen. Usually, Olivia managed to cover what she considered Ms. Harding’s office her self. Helen had taken advantage of Ms. Harding’s inattention.
“Mrs. Sanchez, did Miss Andrews finish the invitations?” Max asked Olivia.
“I don’t think so, Mr. Evans. She went on her break about an hour ago. She isn’t back yet,” Olivia stated.
“Mrs. Sanchez, tell her I want to see her when she returns,” Max ordered.
It was almost three o’clock when Helen Andrews returned. “Ms. Andrews, Mr. Evans wants the invitations I handed you to do. He wants them now,” Olivia stated.
“Well, if they were so important, why didn’t you do them?” Helen asked in a haughty manner.
“Ms. Andrews, Mr. Evans wants to see you in his office,” Olivia stated.
Helen glared at Olivia, “What did you do, tattle on me?”
Helen had total confidence that once in the presence of a man she could control him. “Ms. Andrews, how long were you gone on your break?” Max asked.
“Oh Mr. Evans, I am such a ditz. I went over a few minutes, I guess,” she answered, giving her best smile and shaking her upper body. That had always gotten almost any man confused.
Trouble was, that Max never looked up. “I told Mrs. Sanchez to have you merge some invitations with a data base a little over an hour ago. Did you finish?”
“Oh my, she never told me that had to be done today. I intended to do it tomorrow when I had plenty of time,” Helen explained.
“Ms. Andrews, in case you hadn’t noticed, we are shorthanded. Mrs. Sanchez and I have been working all day. What have you been doing?” Max asked.
“Oh, Mr. Evans, that woman is so mean to me. She is always trying to make me do her work.
Ms. Andrews, you were hired by Ms. Harding. Ms. Harding is your boss. Right now, Ms. Harding is indisposed. Since Ms. Harding works for me, I am choosing, Mrs. Sanchez, to fill Ms. Harding’s place. If you were given, any assignment by Mrs. Sanchez, it is your duty to fulfill it.
Helen Andrews was one of those sad girls growing up. When most young girls were facing problems in life, as well as problems in the classroom, Helen learned that she could get someone else to do things for her by, at first, being that cute cuddly little girl and later, by being that girl who would shed her clothes in a jiffy, at least enough to get every problem solved for her. At the time, Helen congratulated herself that there were better ways to get ahead than working. As now, working for a woman, first that Ms. Harding and now that cow, Mrs. Sanchez. When Helen saw Ms. Harding she thought, here was a challenge. Ms. Harding had more sophisticated sex about her person than Helen could ever manage. Helen was barely out of banging the football team compared to her. Mrs. Sanchez did not try to compete in any sex contest, so there was nothing Helen could challenge her with. Helen was rude to Mrs. Sanchez because she thought she could get away with it. Helen didn’t know, that if Olivia was convinced that Max would back her as he did Ms. Harding, Mrs. Sanchez could be ever as much assertive as was Tess.
Helen could be seductive, but she had never been accused of being really smart. She was probably much smarter than she acted. Max was out of the office and Ms. Sanchez had gone to lunch. Helen had been forced to stay at her desk, because again, she had been assigned a typing assignment and she had wasted the morning, not completing it. Helen was eating the fare of the butcher lady and her cart. She still was pecking away at the assignment, letting her temper get away with her sense. On a whim, she dialed the hospital. “Kyle Valenti’s room please,” she requested.
As usual Tess was sitting in Kyle’s room watching as he slept. The phone rang. Tess quickly answered it, not wanting Kyle to wake up. “Hello,” she said.
Helen could only say under her breath, “Oh, shit. I really didn’t expect to find her there,” as she quickly replaced the phone. As long as Tess was at Kyle’s hospital room, nothing that Helen could say would be effective to come between Tess and Kyle. Maybe, she could start something with the boss’s girlfriend; maybe suggest something between herself and the boss. That might give the boss problems so she could endear her self better to him. Helen would be the poor little secretary who was wounded by rumors.
Liz’s telephone rang. “Hello,” she answered.
For several seconds there was just heavy breathing. Then, “Have you seen Evans’ new secretary? Wow, what knock out!” the heavy low voice said. “With that bitch Tess out of the office, the old boy is really porking it to that young babe,” the voice continued.
Max had told Liz to call him the minute something weird happened about the office. She called as soon as the strange call hung up. Olivia answered. “Mr. Evans, office. How may I help you?” Olivia asked.
Liz’s voice was badly shaking. “Mrs. Sanchez, is Max or Tess in the office?” Liz asked.
Olivia had met Liz briefly one day when she came by to go to lunch with Max. “No, Miss Parker. Ms. Harding is still out, probably at the hospital and Mr. Evans is at a meeting. Can I take a message?” Olivia asked.
“I have just received a frightening phone call. Please have Max call me at home as soon as he comes in,” Liz requested.
Max had gone straight to lunch after his meeting. Several of his fellow executives had gotten together to discuss an upcoming project. None of them knew who would finally be assigned the project, but they were all speculating on how it might be handled. This time, it wasn’t a building or a public event, it was the promotion of a rock star. Whoever received the project was going to have to bone up on a totally different strategy. It was close to two o’clock when Max finally got back to his office.
“Mr. Evans,” Olivia called out the minute Max entered the door. “Miss Parker called. She needs to talk to you as soon as possible. I tried your cell phone, but I think you had it turned off.”
Max hurried and neither he nor Olivia saw the look of satisfaction on Helen’s face. Then, she started to practice a look of indignation when Max informed her that, she herself was now part of whatever conspiracy that was attacking his office personnel.
“Ms. Andrews, there has been somebody trying to undermine my office. It started by sending old photographs to Ms. Harding’s boyfriend and my girlfriend. Then, it accelerated with flowers and suggestive notes sent to Ms. Harding’s home. Finally, they sent a diamond bracelet to Ms. Harding at her home, which led to the hospitalization of her boyfriend. This was turned over the police. The matter is now under investigation. Now, someone is spreading rumors that you and I are having an affair. If you are approached with anything not of official office business would you please inform me immediately,” Max stated.
“Oh, Mr. Evans, why would someone spread rumors about me? I am the least significant person in this office,” Helen cried.
Max placed his arms around Ms. Andrews. “Helen, nobody is insignificant here. We all are working as a team,” Max whispered.
Helen returned to her desk. She had finally managed to get Mr. Evans’ attention. She did not even notice the frown from Olivia as she swayed her ass back to her desk.
For whatever reason Kyle did what he did, he now had the attention of the Veterans Administration. They hadn’t allowed him to return home yet. For the moment, he was living in a rehab center. They were letting him continue his internet business and they were subjecting him to counseling daily. Tess could still come by to see him, but she felt that she might as well return to work, during the day. She hoped that Mr. Evans, would continue to be understanding.
The Rock star project came down and landed right in Max’s lap. Max was happy to see Tess’s return. He and Olivia had started their research. Max knew next to nothing about celebrities. Build a skyscraper, promote a place of learning and Max was in his element. He and Tess had been doing this for some time. How do you take a man, who Max was convinced was an ass hole, and turn him into someone every home in America would open up to? This was going to require a personal make over, a character make over and a new background. They were going to have to subcontract outside of the corporation.
Olivia moved back to her desk and Tess moved back into her office. For a time, Tess worked behind closed doors. She, finally, came out of the office and handed Olivia a stack of assignments. Tess walked to Helen’s desk and dropped a stack of papers on it. “Ms. Andrews, please alphabetize the authors of these papers and type me a list on your computer. This needs to be done before you take your morning break. When you do take your break, pay close attention to the time. We have a lot to do and everyone is needed,” Tess ordered.
Helen noticed that the returning Ms. Harding was a lot sterner than she remembered of the former one. Helen was still going to keep up her campaign, but the office involvement in the new project and the fact that she now knew that the police were involved, in an investigation about what she had done earlier, would mean more planning.
Tess knew that to this point, the corporation had always done publicity campaigns in house. For what they intended now, they needed agencies with celebrity experience. She had Olivia setting up interviews with several companies. Both she and Mr. Evans would attend these interviews. The corporation has no experience with personality and wardrobe makeovers, so she had contacted an agency to find coaches to assist in both of these areas. Tess had no idea of why the corporation had allowed itself to become involved in this project. Then she thought, the corporation is ever expanding. This was a test just like the first project she and Max had put together. If they failed, it would look bad for their team, but the corporation would decide that they no longer wanted to become involved in such projects. If they succeeded, the corporation could very well stretch out and she and Max might be in for a promotion. With her personal problems with Kyle, Tess badly needed some sort of recognition of success.
An all nighter was coming up. For several days and nights at their respective homes, Max and Tess had been reading everything they could discover about celebrities and celebrity comebacks. There just wasn’t enough time in a day to discuss what each had put together.
Helen saw that Olivia wasn’t included in this late work and there was no way she could figure involving herself in this, so she began to figure how she could benefit from Max one more time being alone with Ms. Harding.
From four until a little after six o’clock, Tess spent the evening with Kyle. She was in quandary about telling him about what she had to do later this evening. Finally she said, “Kyle, I have to go soon. I have to work late at the office. We have a bear of a project and Max and I need to try to put what we have together.”
Tess could feel Kyle pull back from her. “It’s just that every time you spend with your boss, I remember my fears that you will eventually leave me for a man who is better at caring for you,” he said.
“Kyle, I keep telling you that I work closely with my boss, but there is no romance. I have you and Max had his girlfriend,” Tess wearily explained. She could feel that Kyle still wasn’t convinced. No matter what she said, he still had his fears.
Good teachers are born that way, not made. No! Good human beings, are born that way. Some of them become teachers.
Of course, life is not fair. You shouldn't expect it to be fair, but you should expect it to be ironic.
JKR 1981-2001
History is made of wars, recovering from wars and preparing for the next war.
JJR 1975-
Of course, life is not fair. You shouldn't expect it to be fair, but you should expect it to be ironic.
JKR 1981-2001
History is made of wars, recovering from wars and preparing for the next war.
JJR 1975-
Re: the elevator Au/no alien, Mature, pg 8, CC ch15, 6/26/11
Chapter 16
Tess arrived before security locked up for the night. When she arrived at the office, Max met her. “Tess, let’s go have supper. I set it out and this will give cleaning time to do our office,” he said.
On their way to the tenth floor lounge, Max waved at the crew who were busy in the hall. They knew that now, they could do his office without interruption. “Tess, I am never as good at this as you are. I went through your desk to find the address of this restaurant. I have to repeat my self twice to all these places. They are used to only taking orders from secretaries,” Max stated.
“So that means that I am still needed,” Tess said in way of a joke.
“Needed, Tess, I was never so glad to see you in my life when you returned. Detective Padilla came by again. I gave him news of another incident. This time, it was about Ms. Andrews. Someone called Liz and said that with you out of the office, I was having an affair with Ms. Andrews,” Max informed her.
Tess frowned. “Max, it looks like whoever is doing this knows an awful lot about our office,” Tess said.
They ate in relative silence until they returned to their office.
Max and Tess cleared all other thoughts out of their minds. They took turns reading each other’s notes and stopping for better explanations. They were both so far out of their comfort zone that for brief moments, Max thought of simply quitting. Tell the fourteenth floor that this project was impossible for them. Max and his team had never failed, but he knew that there might be projects that were beyond their reach.
It was midnight. They both were exhausted. “Max, do we throw in the towel?” Tess asked.
“I don’t know, yet, but I am thinking about it. We don’t know enough to even ask what we don’t know,” he replied.
Tess wearily walked over to the door and placed the night latch. When she returned, Max was in his office pulling out the couch. “Sit down, Tess. Let’s decide what we want to do next,” he commanded.
Tess sat beside Max and placed her head against him. Max placed his arm around her shoulders and pulled her close. “Max, it’s just that I feel like I am failing on so many levels,” she said.
“How so, Tess? We have had a dream team since we came together,” Max replied.
“Max, you should have fired me when I made that first mistake. Most bosses would have. I am failing with Kyle. No matter what I say, he still doesn’t trust me. Now, someone is using my name to cause you trouble with Liz Parker. Max, maybe, I am no longer a part of the dream team. Maybe, I am just a pariah. Someone to be avoided,” Tess sobbed.
Max wrapped his arms about Tess and pulled her to his chest. He was kissing her forehead as she now had her arms about him. “Tess, you are one of the most important persons I know. Look what we have accomplished. I am not sure if this new project even was supposed to be completed.
Tess looked up at Max. For so long, she had been strong for so many others. Now, Tess was feeling a breakdown. She needed someone to be strong for her. Tess had always realized that Max was a good looking man. Now, him kissing her forehead, he also, seemed to be her anchor. She stretched up and her lips found his. At first, it was just the brushing of lips. Then, Max felt the need to press against her. Their lips were no longer dry. With the pressure, both of their mouths were parted. Their tongues now were dancing against each other. As Max thrust his tongue inside of her mouth, he felt other urges as his hands traveled down her body. He felt her breasts pressing against his chest as his hands felt her curves. When his hands found the waist band of her slacks, his fingers reached inside the elastic and pulled and at the band. Tess now had her hands inside his shirt and she was feeling the sparse hair of his chest. Her fingers found the nipples on his chest and as she played with them, she felt him shudder.
Max’s mind was reeling. All the fantasies of his dreams, both those at night and during the day were coming to his mind. Max could only feel that everything was going out of control. How many times, in fantasy, had he felt Tess’s panties against his fingers, felt the soft flesh beneath them? He saw into her crystal blue eyes. They were filled with tears. As the tears streamed down her face, Max heard, as if from a distance his own voice, cry, “Tess, this isn’t right.”
“I know, Max, but what can we do?” she answered.
Their passions still were manifested in their exertions as Max felt his lips against her chest where her blouse was opened. Now, his fingers were inside her panties and gripping her hips. Tess was still crying as she pulled open his shirt and she was kissing his chest. “Max, this will kill Kyle if he finds out about it,” she cried.
“I know, but I don’t want to stop,” Max answered.
“I don’t either, Max, but it is so wrong,” she stated.
Suddenly, Max pulled back and stood up. “We can’t, Tess.” Max was remembering the dream where he was insisting that Tess share her body with him even though she had a boyfriend. In the middle of the dream, Liz had walked in. Now, it wasn’t Liz, but it was his relationship with her and the relationship he knew that Tess had with Kyle. Max left the office and made his way to the executive restroom. He tucked his shirt back into his pants and, taking several paper towels, Max washed his face and wet down his hair. For several minutes, he stared at his face in the mirror over the washroom sink. What did Max see? Was he a member of the dream team or was he now just another horny executive?
When Max got back to the office, he saw that Tess likewise had also, visited the lady’s room. “Tess, I am sorry,” Max said.
“I know, Max. I am sorry too. The only trouble is that I don’t know whether I am sorry we ever started that scene or that we stopped before we got further,” Tess replied.
Max sat in his office chair. Tess pulled up an upholstered chair near the desk again facing across from Max. She was giving Max no excuse to fantasize about views of her body. “What do we do now, Max?” she asked.
“I don’t know, Tess. First of all, I am going to throw in the towel on this project. Celebrities are not what we are all about. We have both over stressed ourselves trying to do something we do not understand. Then, you must decide if you want to stay with me. I am sure you can get another position if that is what you want. I will give you an excellent recommendation,” Max said.
Tess was sitting with her ankles crossed. “What do you want, Max?” she asked.
Max looked directly at Tess, “I want what is best for you,” he stated.
“Max, will you look for a new administrative assistant?” Tess asked.
“I don’t know, Tess,” Max replied.
Tess spent the night on the opened couch and Max slept as much as he could in one of the upholstered chairs he dragged into the outer office. The alarm went off and Tess came in, she was very disheveled in appearance. “Get up Max, we have to get prepared for the day before security arrives,”
By the time Max returned in clean clothes, he found Tess, as usual, perfectly arrayed in a fresh suit and her make up all arranged. “I will start the letter that gets us out of this project. I will take it to Johnson personally,” Max stated.
Tess just nodded as she began to gather up all their notes. “Max, it was a good run while it lasted,” she said.
Max looked at her. “Did you decide what is best for you?” he asked.
“Not yet, Max. I would like us to talk a little more and I need to talk to Kyle again. Let’s try to make an adult decision for the both of us,” Tess stated.
Tess went out. She had taken their laundry and dry cleaning. Then, she stopped by the coffee shop and bought two lattés and two Danish rolls. By the time she arrived back at the office, she ran into Olivia. Olivia had arrived almost two hours early this morning. She had something important to discuss with Mr. Evans. “Good morning, Olivia, I didn’t expect you this early, but I will share my Danish with you if you wish,” Tess greeted her.
“No, thank you, Ms. Harding. I need to talk to Mr. Evans and you too if you will join us,” Olivia stated.
“Mr. Evans, will you talk to someone please?” Olivia asked.
Max smiled, “Of course, Olivia. What is this about?”
“You and Ms. Harding have been working very hard on this celebrity project. You have even made that one,” she pointed to Helen’s desk. “work harder than she ever did before.”
Max gave Olivia kind of a sad smile. “Olivia, I think we decided that this project has beaten us. I am fixing to see Mr. Johnson and tell him we just can’t do it,” he sadly stated.
“That is what I want to talk to you about. My cousin is in town and in Mexico, that is what he does. He takes actors and turns them into stars. Before you give up, please talk to him. He might be what you are looking for,” Olivia explained.
Alejandro Romero was a short feisty man. His English was good although heavily accented. Max noticed that Olivia stood close to him in case something needed translation. “Meester Evans, Mi prima says you have a problem,” Alejandro said.
Max looked at the little man and stated, “Yes, Alejandro, we have a rock star who has messed up. His name is Rio Stratus. We are trying to give him a make over and repair his reputation.”
“Please, Mr. Max. It is Alex to my friends. Rio Stratus, yes, I know that one well. First, you have to get him off drugs. Then, you have to control him so he appears when wanted. Look, fire all his body guards. Let me replace them with my men. That Rio man, don’t speak no Spanish. I will surround him with men who speak little English. They would be men who answer only to me. It is the bodyguards, who supply him everything. If he is surrounded by those who refuse him, then he can’t get anything. I have dealt with his kind before. You tell me what you want to do, and I will have that pendajo dancing to the music we play. Mr. Max, I have taken putas from Guadalajara and made them so their own mother’s no longer fear their reputations,” Alex stated.
Max had to laugh at the reference that Alex could remake whores from southern Mexico in to respectable women. Maybe, he could solve this problem.
Back in Max’s office. “What do you think, Tess? Do you think he can do it?” Max asked.
“He can do a better job than we can. I suggest you ask for one month from Johnson and see what we can come up with,” she suggested.
“What about it, Tess? Will you stand by me while we try this?” Max asked.
About that time, Olivia rang Max’s office from Tess’s extension. “Max there is an emergency message from the place where Ms. Harding’s boyfriend is staying.”
Max saw Tess go completely pale. Her normally light complexion was almost deathly. “Yes,” she said on the phone, “this is Tess Harding.”
There was an extended conversation and when she hung up she turned to Max. “Someone called Kyle this morning and told him that we spent the night together and not for work either.”
It was Max’s turn to turn slightly white. True, they had done nothing last night, but they came so close. Max wondered if he had made love to Tess, would she have been able to lie her way out of it. They were innocent and it would be difficult enough to clear their activities. Tess continued, “Kyle got hold of some sleeping pills and they are pumping his stomach now.”
“Tess, go to Kyle. Olivia and I will take up the slack,” Max ordered.
Tess arrived before security locked up for the night. When she arrived at the office, Max met her. “Tess, let’s go have supper. I set it out and this will give cleaning time to do our office,” he said.
On their way to the tenth floor lounge, Max waved at the crew who were busy in the hall. They knew that now, they could do his office without interruption. “Tess, I am never as good at this as you are. I went through your desk to find the address of this restaurant. I have to repeat my self twice to all these places. They are used to only taking orders from secretaries,” Max stated.
“So that means that I am still needed,” Tess said in way of a joke.
“Needed, Tess, I was never so glad to see you in my life when you returned. Detective Padilla came by again. I gave him news of another incident. This time, it was about Ms. Andrews. Someone called Liz and said that with you out of the office, I was having an affair with Ms. Andrews,” Max informed her.
Tess frowned. “Max, it looks like whoever is doing this knows an awful lot about our office,” Tess said.
They ate in relative silence until they returned to their office.
Max and Tess cleared all other thoughts out of their minds. They took turns reading each other’s notes and stopping for better explanations. They were both so far out of their comfort zone that for brief moments, Max thought of simply quitting. Tell the fourteenth floor that this project was impossible for them. Max and his team had never failed, but he knew that there might be projects that were beyond their reach.
It was midnight. They both were exhausted. “Max, do we throw in the towel?” Tess asked.
“I don’t know, yet, but I am thinking about it. We don’t know enough to even ask what we don’t know,” he replied.
Tess wearily walked over to the door and placed the night latch. When she returned, Max was in his office pulling out the couch. “Sit down, Tess. Let’s decide what we want to do next,” he commanded.
Tess sat beside Max and placed her head against him. Max placed his arm around her shoulders and pulled her close. “Max, it’s just that I feel like I am failing on so many levels,” she said.
“How so, Tess? We have had a dream team since we came together,” Max replied.
“Max, you should have fired me when I made that first mistake. Most bosses would have. I am failing with Kyle. No matter what I say, he still doesn’t trust me. Now, someone is using my name to cause you trouble with Liz Parker. Max, maybe, I am no longer a part of the dream team. Maybe, I am just a pariah. Someone to be avoided,” Tess sobbed.
Max wrapped his arms about Tess and pulled her to his chest. He was kissing her forehead as she now had her arms about him. “Tess, you are one of the most important persons I know. Look what we have accomplished. I am not sure if this new project even was supposed to be completed.
Tess looked up at Max. For so long, she had been strong for so many others. Now, Tess was feeling a breakdown. She needed someone to be strong for her. Tess had always realized that Max was a good looking man. Now, him kissing her forehead, he also, seemed to be her anchor. She stretched up and her lips found his. At first, it was just the brushing of lips. Then, Max felt the need to press against her. Their lips were no longer dry. With the pressure, both of their mouths were parted. Their tongues now were dancing against each other. As Max thrust his tongue inside of her mouth, he felt other urges as his hands traveled down her body. He felt her breasts pressing against his chest as his hands felt her curves. When his hands found the waist band of her slacks, his fingers reached inside the elastic and pulled and at the band. Tess now had her hands inside his shirt and she was feeling the sparse hair of his chest. Her fingers found the nipples on his chest and as she played with them, she felt him shudder.
Max’s mind was reeling. All the fantasies of his dreams, both those at night and during the day were coming to his mind. Max could only feel that everything was going out of control. How many times, in fantasy, had he felt Tess’s panties against his fingers, felt the soft flesh beneath them? He saw into her crystal blue eyes. They were filled with tears. As the tears streamed down her face, Max heard, as if from a distance his own voice, cry, “Tess, this isn’t right.”
“I know, Max, but what can we do?” she answered.
Their passions still were manifested in their exertions as Max felt his lips against her chest where her blouse was opened. Now, his fingers were inside her panties and gripping her hips. Tess was still crying as she pulled open his shirt and she was kissing his chest. “Max, this will kill Kyle if he finds out about it,” she cried.
“I know, but I don’t want to stop,” Max answered.
“I don’t either, Max, but it is so wrong,” she stated.
Suddenly, Max pulled back and stood up. “We can’t, Tess.” Max was remembering the dream where he was insisting that Tess share her body with him even though she had a boyfriend. In the middle of the dream, Liz had walked in. Now, it wasn’t Liz, but it was his relationship with her and the relationship he knew that Tess had with Kyle. Max left the office and made his way to the executive restroom. He tucked his shirt back into his pants and, taking several paper towels, Max washed his face and wet down his hair. For several minutes, he stared at his face in the mirror over the washroom sink. What did Max see? Was he a member of the dream team or was he now just another horny executive?
When Max got back to the office, he saw that Tess likewise had also, visited the lady’s room. “Tess, I am sorry,” Max said.
“I know, Max. I am sorry too. The only trouble is that I don’t know whether I am sorry we ever started that scene or that we stopped before we got further,” Tess replied.
Max sat in his office chair. Tess pulled up an upholstered chair near the desk again facing across from Max. She was giving Max no excuse to fantasize about views of her body. “What do we do now, Max?” she asked.
“I don’t know, Tess. First of all, I am going to throw in the towel on this project. Celebrities are not what we are all about. We have both over stressed ourselves trying to do something we do not understand. Then, you must decide if you want to stay with me. I am sure you can get another position if that is what you want. I will give you an excellent recommendation,” Max said.
Tess was sitting with her ankles crossed. “What do you want, Max?” she asked.
Max looked directly at Tess, “I want what is best for you,” he stated.
“Max, will you look for a new administrative assistant?” Tess asked.
“I don’t know, Tess,” Max replied.
Tess spent the night on the opened couch and Max slept as much as he could in one of the upholstered chairs he dragged into the outer office. The alarm went off and Tess came in, she was very disheveled in appearance. “Get up Max, we have to get prepared for the day before security arrives,”
By the time Max returned in clean clothes, he found Tess, as usual, perfectly arrayed in a fresh suit and her make up all arranged. “I will start the letter that gets us out of this project. I will take it to Johnson personally,” Max stated.
Tess just nodded as she began to gather up all their notes. “Max, it was a good run while it lasted,” she said.
Max looked at her. “Did you decide what is best for you?” he asked.
“Not yet, Max. I would like us to talk a little more and I need to talk to Kyle again. Let’s try to make an adult decision for the both of us,” Tess stated.
Tess went out. She had taken their laundry and dry cleaning. Then, she stopped by the coffee shop and bought two lattés and two Danish rolls. By the time she arrived back at the office, she ran into Olivia. Olivia had arrived almost two hours early this morning. She had something important to discuss with Mr. Evans. “Good morning, Olivia, I didn’t expect you this early, but I will share my Danish with you if you wish,” Tess greeted her.
“No, thank you, Ms. Harding. I need to talk to Mr. Evans and you too if you will join us,” Olivia stated.
“Mr. Evans, will you talk to someone please?” Olivia asked.
Max smiled, “Of course, Olivia. What is this about?”
“You and Ms. Harding have been working very hard on this celebrity project. You have even made that one,” she pointed to Helen’s desk. “work harder than she ever did before.”
Max gave Olivia kind of a sad smile. “Olivia, I think we decided that this project has beaten us. I am fixing to see Mr. Johnson and tell him we just can’t do it,” he sadly stated.
“That is what I want to talk to you about. My cousin is in town and in Mexico, that is what he does. He takes actors and turns them into stars. Before you give up, please talk to him. He might be what you are looking for,” Olivia explained.
Alejandro Romero was a short feisty man. His English was good although heavily accented. Max noticed that Olivia stood close to him in case something needed translation. “Meester Evans, Mi prima says you have a problem,” Alejandro said.
Max looked at the little man and stated, “Yes, Alejandro, we have a rock star who has messed up. His name is Rio Stratus. We are trying to give him a make over and repair his reputation.”
“Please, Mr. Max. It is Alex to my friends. Rio Stratus, yes, I know that one well. First, you have to get him off drugs. Then, you have to control him so he appears when wanted. Look, fire all his body guards. Let me replace them with my men. That Rio man, don’t speak no Spanish. I will surround him with men who speak little English. They would be men who answer only to me. It is the bodyguards, who supply him everything. If he is surrounded by those who refuse him, then he can’t get anything. I have dealt with his kind before. You tell me what you want to do, and I will have that pendajo dancing to the music we play. Mr. Max, I have taken putas from Guadalajara and made them so their own mother’s no longer fear their reputations,” Alex stated.
Max had to laugh at the reference that Alex could remake whores from southern Mexico in to respectable women. Maybe, he could solve this problem.
Back in Max’s office. “What do you think, Tess? Do you think he can do it?” Max asked.
“He can do a better job than we can. I suggest you ask for one month from Johnson and see what we can come up with,” she suggested.
“What about it, Tess? Will you stand by me while we try this?” Max asked.
About that time, Olivia rang Max’s office from Tess’s extension. “Max there is an emergency message from the place where Ms. Harding’s boyfriend is staying.”
Max saw Tess go completely pale. Her normally light complexion was almost deathly. “Yes,” she said on the phone, “this is Tess Harding.”
There was an extended conversation and when she hung up she turned to Max. “Someone called Kyle this morning and told him that we spent the night together and not for work either.”
It was Max’s turn to turn slightly white. True, they had done nothing last night, but they came so close. Max wondered if he had made love to Tess, would she have been able to lie her way out of it. They were innocent and it would be difficult enough to clear their activities. Tess continued, “Kyle got hold of some sleeping pills and they are pumping his stomach now.”
“Tess, go to Kyle. Olivia and I will take up the slack,” Max ordered.
Good teachers are born that way, not made. No! Good human beings, are born that way. Some of them become teachers.
Of course, life is not fair. You shouldn't expect it to be fair, but you should expect it to be ironic.
JKR 1981-2001
History is made of wars, recovering from wars and preparing for the next war.
JJR 1975-
Of course, life is not fair. You shouldn't expect it to be fair, but you should expect it to be ironic.
JKR 1981-2001
History is made of wars, recovering from wars and preparing for the next war.
JJR 1975-
Re: the elevator Au/no alien, Mature, pg 8, CC ch16, 7/3/11
begonia9508
keepsmiling7
mary mary
Author's note: At the first of the story I indicated that the magic of an elevator was one type of story I still had to try. An elevator is the closest thing in fantasy we have to teleportation. You enter the box and you leave the box in an entirely new world. On the ground floor there may be a food court, shops for thousands of items, then when you get out of the elevator you may face the dentist office with its antiseptic smell with people in white coats walking around in an entirely different manner than on the first floor. You enter the emergency room and are quickly taken to the elevator. Then you leave flat on a gurney with bright lights, masked men and women and being asked to count backwards from 100. Your mind in a fog that you cannot break through, again you enter the elevator and wake up in a bed surrounded by friends, flowers and boxes of candy. You stand in front of the elevator, knowing that if you only step into the box you will leave at the door of your one true love. I think those glassed in things going up and down the outsides of buildings rob all fantasy from the passengers.
With most of my writing, as I go along, I see questions about life that I hadn’t seen before. One of them that developed in this story was can men and women work very closely together with out becoming involved. To Max at first all he saw was the advantage of being in a harem of willing women. In practice, Max developed too much respect for his partner to use her that way. As their lives became entwined, both Max and Tess became concerned for each other’s private lives. In an hetrosexual world, which is all I am concerned about, Two men might console each other by killing several beers, cussing sessions against some imagined enemy or getting into a fight and beating the crap out of someone.
When the sexes are opposite it is more difficult. When both parties are depressed, they attempt to console each other. It is up to their mutual respect to not cross certain lines. Attempt to cheat or actual cheating the aftermath is the same. What happens must be looked at as a warning and they both hope their separate partners will look for tolerance and forgiveness. If both work partners are serious about their work, changing work partners might not be for the best. What chance can they have of finding new work situations that are not worse? If anything is heroic about this story it is the concern Max and Tess have for each other.
Chapter 17
When Helen arrived that morning, she saw that Ms. Harding was not there, Max was out of the office, reportably he was upstairs talking to Mr. Johnson and Olivia was back in Tess’s office. Olivia came to Helen’s desk. “Here, this needs to be done as soon as possible. I wouldn’t go crying to Mr. Evans this morning. He has had about all he can take. Ms. Harding’s boyfriend had a relapse and she is talking about not returning. I will cover for Ms. Harding for a while, but I don’t want that job. I guess Mr. Evans will have to look for a new executive assistant,” Olivia told her.
Helen fought to keep a sad face as she heard the news. She took the typing Olivia handed her. This would not be the time to confront Olivia. Max was thinking about finding a new executive assistant. She wanted to show her assets to him as soon as possible. Nowhere in her mind did she see the amount of work that Ms. Harding had done. In Helen’s world, all she had to do was wiggle her tail and find a way to screw the boss. Helen had been doing that since middle school. She didn’t even have to fight Olivia. Olivia was happy doing the work she had always done. Well, when Helen was made Max’s private secretary, Olivia would have plenty to do. Helen was thinking, she and Olivia had both worked for Ms. Harding. If Helen advanced, then, she would hire someone to take her place at the front desk. Helen would be sure to hire a hard worker, not too pretty either. Helen didn’t like competition.
Tess arrived at the rehabilitation center. Kyle had left word that he didn’t want to see anyone. Tess didn’t want to return to work. For the moment, she just sat in the waiting room thinking. She and Max had almost made a serious mistake. Why did things go so far? Janice had warned Tess that sometimes, she felt it necessary to sleep with her boss. What had happened with Max last night was not the same thing. Talking to the many secretaries, Tess learned that many of them felt that sex was a stimulate and an addiction that first, would keep the boss going and second, make the secretary indispensable so she could be assured of following the boss’s fortune. That wasn’t what Tess thought she and Max almost had last night. They had both been depressed about the project. Tess remembered that when she looked up into Max’s face, she was almost feeling love.
As she was sitting, a man came by. He was an African-American and when he extended his dark hand to her, Tess took it and stood. “Ms. Harding, my name is Dr. Albert Sullivan, Dr Al, or sometimes around here, I am called Big Al,” he told her.
Tess looked at the man. He was big, hence his nickname. Rather than squeeze her on the small couch she was sitting on, he took a chair and sat opposite her. “I thought we could talk about our mutual friend, Kyle Valenti,” he said.
Tess was playing with her hands in her lap. “Kyle doesn’t want to see me,” she said.
“I think it is all right for me to repeat a few things that Kyle has told me. You and Kyle were close before he left for the near east, weren’t you?” he asked.
Tess nodded.
“Then, you know that his mother took off when he was still in grade school. In the war, Kyle was in an outfit where several of his buddies got killed. The whole time, he seemed to live a charmed life. The word was stick close to Valenti, he ain’t never gonna get killed,” Dr. Sullivan explained.
Yes, Tess knew all about Kyle’s mother leaving him. When they started dating, Kyle was very distant. It was sometime before he warmed up to her. When they started sleeping together, Tess had to warn Kyle several times about his becoming obsessive about her. Tess had finished secretarial school before Kyle shipped off to the near east. She got a job with the corporation right after he left. “Kyle never talked about his time over there,” she told Dr. Sullivan.
“Military personnel do not like to talk to those who they think would not understand. That is why they open up to me.” Dr. Al Sullivan laughed a little. “Sergeant Big Al Sullivan was one tough muther in his day, if I do say so.”
Tess had to laugh at the way the big doctor talked about himself. Yes, she could imagine Big Al Sullivan as a hero in a war movie carrying one of those big machine guns yelling “Come on boys! Let’s get one for the Red Socks, or something like that.”
Dr. Sullivan continued, “What about you? You are very young yet, Kyle tells me you hold a very important job in the corporation.”
Tess answered, “I have been fortunate. I have worked very hard and I was lucky enough to be assigned to a rising star. That is what we call an executive who is being promoted rapidly.”
“Kyle says you make a substantial salary,” Dr. Al stated.
Tess nodded.
“Look, I know it is hard, a woman succeeding in a man’s world. You work closely with a man who, maybe, you owe a lot to. I have seen, in medical school, interns give favors to doctors to get ahead,” he stated.
Tess vigorously shook her head. “It is not like that. My boss is very close to me. After Kyle, Mr. Evans is probably my closest friend. But, he is not my lover. We don’t sleep together. We don’t have sex together. When we work over night, it is strictly business.” Tess felt something tighten in her stomach with that last sentence. What if she and Max had gone further last night? Could she have looked this man in the eye and lied, with conviction.
Dr. Al was studying her as she spoke. Tess held his vision until he looked down. “Well, that is something you are going to have to convince Kyle of,” he said. “Let me go on. Kyle was in several units. They all took heavy causalities. Kyle was always known as the man with the charmed life until someone put a rocket up the tail pipe of his Hummer. You have to understand that Kyle has seen too many taken away from him.”
Tess nodded her head and spoke slowly, “What about Kyle’s refusal to marry me or to let me get pregnant? He keeps worrying that he wouldn’t make a good father.”
“Ms. Harding, what happened when Kyle’s mother left? His father had to raise him. To Kyle, marriage means establishing a family, same thing with you getting pregnant. When you leave him, would he, as disabled, be able to care for a child?” Dr. Sullivan explained.
“Dr Sullivan, I have no intention of leaving Kyle. That is why I work so hard to make a place for us,” Tess cried.
“But, someone is telling Kyle that you are having an affair with your boss. Kyle can’t handle those thoughts,” Dr Al stated.
“They are doing the same thing to Max’s girlfriend. They send pictures that are not seen in the context they were taken. They send notes and someone sent me a gift with a damning letter attached to it,” Tess explained.
Dr Sullivan stood. “Kyle stated that he didn’t want to see you. I want you to go into his room and just sit quietly. Maybe, he will open up to you if you are just there. Stay as long as you can, unless Kyle becomes agitated or too upset.”
Helen had been waiting her chance. Finally, Olivia went to the restroom and the door between the two offices was left opened. Helen, taking all the courage she possessed, went into Olivia’s office and stuck her head in the door. “Mr. Evans, could I see you a minute?” she asked.
Max looked up. He had been going over the suggestions that Alex Romero had made. “Yes, Ms. Andrews, what can I do for you?” he asked.
“Is it true that you may be looking for a new private secretary?” she asked.
“I may be,” Max responded.
“How could I be considered for that position?” she asked.
Max studied her for several seconds. “Please sit down, Ms. Andrews.” Max stood and closed the door to the other private office. “What do you consider Ms. Harding’s job to be?” he asked.
Helen shrugged. “She does what you tell her to do and runs errands for you.”
“Ms. Andrews, the job is a lot more than that. There is a saying among the executives. ‘Trust in her instincts and if she makes a mistake, fire her,’” Max stated.
“But, there is a rumor that Ms. Harding made a mistake and you covered for her,” Helen said.
“That is just a rumor. Only I and the person who made the mistake, know who they are. I have never told anyone. Ms. Harding has a position of extreme trust. She has never done anything to void that trust. Half the things I do are her suggestions. If she leaves, I may not be able to continue what I am doing. There are people spreading rumors, like someone tried to say that you and I were having an affair, to my girlfriend.” Max did see Helen shudder when he mentioned that. At the time, Max had no idea of why she did that. Ms. Harding has a boyfriend who is disabled and having many mental problems from being in the war. He has twice tried to kill himself, because of the rumors that someone is spreading. The police are investigating and when they find the person, criminal and civil charges may be made.”
That shook Helen, but she thought she was able to cover her fear. Max went on. “Ms. Andrews, you are just out of secretarial school, aren’t you?” he asked.
Helen nodded. This conversation was getting a lot more complicated than she had imagined. “You do know that many secretaries spend years in the typing pool. For some reason, Ms. Harding gave you a chance. Maybe, someone once gave one to her. As a receptionist, you have a chance to learn what is necessary to be an administrative assistant. Olivia is a good teacher about office research. For a long time, Ms. Harding did all that research herself. Take on all the typing assignments and learn what is needed to put together projects. Learn how to make the people you work for look good. That is the job of an executive assistant or private secretary. When I was put in an executive position, I had no one to help me. Ms. Harding was promoted by someone she formally worked for. We had the chemistry, like a marriage to make the office work. Like a marriage, except for the sex. I know there are office affairs, but believe me, they seldom end pleasantly.” Max thought, could he and Ms. Harding ever work together as well if they had continued what they almost did last night. Had their action even now, crippled the dream team so that it wouldn’t function? Almost like a marriage, he and Tess needed a marriage counselor. There were not any of that sort of counselors anywhere that Max knew of.
Helen left through the other door that Mr. Evans indicated, the one that did not lead back into the office where Olivia was working. Olivia had heard voices in Mr. Evans’ office, but it was none of her business and if Mr. Evans wanted to share it with her, he would. She was mildly surprised to see Helen emerge from the main door and walk back to her desk as receptionist. Olivia was even more surprised, when Helen brought the folders all filled out with the typing Olivia had given her. Olivia, without saying a word, handed Helen some more transcriptions that needed to be typed and Helen returned to her desk.
Talking to Helen, Max decided that he didn’t want to lose the dream team without a fight. There was no other position that Tess could get, at this time, which would pay as much as she earned with him. Tess needed this position as much as Max needed Tess.
----------------------
Do you like "Castle? Do you like "the Mentalist? Do you like crime stories with an alien twist? Little Napoleon, part one is a story of murders which go all the way to the top in governments.
keepsmiling7
mary mary
Author's note: At the first of the story I indicated that the magic of an elevator was one type of story I still had to try. An elevator is the closest thing in fantasy we have to teleportation. You enter the box and you leave the box in an entirely new world. On the ground floor there may be a food court, shops for thousands of items, then when you get out of the elevator you may face the dentist office with its antiseptic smell with people in white coats walking around in an entirely different manner than on the first floor. You enter the emergency room and are quickly taken to the elevator. Then you leave flat on a gurney with bright lights, masked men and women and being asked to count backwards from 100. Your mind in a fog that you cannot break through, again you enter the elevator and wake up in a bed surrounded by friends, flowers and boxes of candy. You stand in front of the elevator, knowing that if you only step into the box you will leave at the door of your one true love. I think those glassed in things going up and down the outsides of buildings rob all fantasy from the passengers.
With most of my writing, as I go along, I see questions about life that I hadn’t seen before. One of them that developed in this story was can men and women work very closely together with out becoming involved. To Max at first all he saw was the advantage of being in a harem of willing women. In practice, Max developed too much respect for his partner to use her that way. As their lives became entwined, both Max and Tess became concerned for each other’s private lives. In an hetrosexual world, which is all I am concerned about, Two men might console each other by killing several beers, cussing sessions against some imagined enemy or getting into a fight and beating the crap out of someone.
When the sexes are opposite it is more difficult. When both parties are depressed, they attempt to console each other. It is up to their mutual respect to not cross certain lines. Attempt to cheat or actual cheating the aftermath is the same. What happens must be looked at as a warning and they both hope their separate partners will look for tolerance and forgiveness. If both work partners are serious about their work, changing work partners might not be for the best. What chance can they have of finding new work situations that are not worse? If anything is heroic about this story it is the concern Max and Tess have for each other.
Chapter 17
When Helen arrived that morning, she saw that Ms. Harding was not there, Max was out of the office, reportably he was upstairs talking to Mr. Johnson and Olivia was back in Tess’s office. Olivia came to Helen’s desk. “Here, this needs to be done as soon as possible. I wouldn’t go crying to Mr. Evans this morning. He has had about all he can take. Ms. Harding’s boyfriend had a relapse and she is talking about not returning. I will cover for Ms. Harding for a while, but I don’t want that job. I guess Mr. Evans will have to look for a new executive assistant,” Olivia told her.
Helen fought to keep a sad face as she heard the news. She took the typing Olivia handed her. This would not be the time to confront Olivia. Max was thinking about finding a new executive assistant. She wanted to show her assets to him as soon as possible. Nowhere in her mind did she see the amount of work that Ms. Harding had done. In Helen’s world, all she had to do was wiggle her tail and find a way to screw the boss. Helen had been doing that since middle school. She didn’t even have to fight Olivia. Olivia was happy doing the work she had always done. Well, when Helen was made Max’s private secretary, Olivia would have plenty to do. Helen was thinking, she and Olivia had both worked for Ms. Harding. If Helen advanced, then, she would hire someone to take her place at the front desk. Helen would be sure to hire a hard worker, not too pretty either. Helen didn’t like competition.
Tess arrived at the rehabilitation center. Kyle had left word that he didn’t want to see anyone. Tess didn’t want to return to work. For the moment, she just sat in the waiting room thinking. She and Max had almost made a serious mistake. Why did things go so far? Janice had warned Tess that sometimes, she felt it necessary to sleep with her boss. What had happened with Max last night was not the same thing. Talking to the many secretaries, Tess learned that many of them felt that sex was a stimulate and an addiction that first, would keep the boss going and second, make the secretary indispensable so she could be assured of following the boss’s fortune. That wasn’t what Tess thought she and Max almost had last night. They had both been depressed about the project. Tess remembered that when she looked up into Max’s face, she was almost feeling love.
As she was sitting, a man came by. He was an African-American and when he extended his dark hand to her, Tess took it and stood. “Ms. Harding, my name is Dr. Albert Sullivan, Dr Al, or sometimes around here, I am called Big Al,” he told her.
Tess looked at the man. He was big, hence his nickname. Rather than squeeze her on the small couch she was sitting on, he took a chair and sat opposite her. “I thought we could talk about our mutual friend, Kyle Valenti,” he said.
Tess was playing with her hands in her lap. “Kyle doesn’t want to see me,” she said.
“I think it is all right for me to repeat a few things that Kyle has told me. You and Kyle were close before he left for the near east, weren’t you?” he asked.
Tess nodded.
“Then, you know that his mother took off when he was still in grade school. In the war, Kyle was in an outfit where several of his buddies got killed. The whole time, he seemed to live a charmed life. The word was stick close to Valenti, he ain’t never gonna get killed,” Dr. Sullivan explained.
Yes, Tess knew all about Kyle’s mother leaving him. When they started dating, Kyle was very distant. It was sometime before he warmed up to her. When they started sleeping together, Tess had to warn Kyle several times about his becoming obsessive about her. Tess had finished secretarial school before Kyle shipped off to the near east. She got a job with the corporation right after he left. “Kyle never talked about his time over there,” she told Dr. Sullivan.
“Military personnel do not like to talk to those who they think would not understand. That is why they open up to me.” Dr. Al Sullivan laughed a little. “Sergeant Big Al Sullivan was one tough muther in his day, if I do say so.”
Tess had to laugh at the way the big doctor talked about himself. Yes, she could imagine Big Al Sullivan as a hero in a war movie carrying one of those big machine guns yelling “Come on boys! Let’s get one for the Red Socks, or something like that.”
Dr. Sullivan continued, “What about you? You are very young yet, Kyle tells me you hold a very important job in the corporation.”
Tess answered, “I have been fortunate. I have worked very hard and I was lucky enough to be assigned to a rising star. That is what we call an executive who is being promoted rapidly.”
“Kyle says you make a substantial salary,” Dr. Al stated.
Tess nodded.
“Look, I know it is hard, a woman succeeding in a man’s world. You work closely with a man who, maybe, you owe a lot to. I have seen, in medical school, interns give favors to doctors to get ahead,” he stated.
Tess vigorously shook her head. “It is not like that. My boss is very close to me. After Kyle, Mr. Evans is probably my closest friend. But, he is not my lover. We don’t sleep together. We don’t have sex together. When we work over night, it is strictly business.” Tess felt something tighten in her stomach with that last sentence. What if she and Max had gone further last night? Could she have looked this man in the eye and lied, with conviction.
Dr. Al was studying her as she spoke. Tess held his vision until he looked down. “Well, that is something you are going to have to convince Kyle of,” he said. “Let me go on. Kyle was in several units. They all took heavy causalities. Kyle was always known as the man with the charmed life until someone put a rocket up the tail pipe of his Hummer. You have to understand that Kyle has seen too many taken away from him.”
Tess nodded her head and spoke slowly, “What about Kyle’s refusal to marry me or to let me get pregnant? He keeps worrying that he wouldn’t make a good father.”
“Ms. Harding, what happened when Kyle’s mother left? His father had to raise him. To Kyle, marriage means establishing a family, same thing with you getting pregnant. When you leave him, would he, as disabled, be able to care for a child?” Dr. Sullivan explained.
“Dr Sullivan, I have no intention of leaving Kyle. That is why I work so hard to make a place for us,” Tess cried.
“But, someone is telling Kyle that you are having an affair with your boss. Kyle can’t handle those thoughts,” Dr Al stated.
“They are doing the same thing to Max’s girlfriend. They send pictures that are not seen in the context they were taken. They send notes and someone sent me a gift with a damning letter attached to it,” Tess explained.
Dr Sullivan stood. “Kyle stated that he didn’t want to see you. I want you to go into his room and just sit quietly. Maybe, he will open up to you if you are just there. Stay as long as you can, unless Kyle becomes agitated or too upset.”
Helen had been waiting her chance. Finally, Olivia went to the restroom and the door between the two offices was left opened. Helen, taking all the courage she possessed, went into Olivia’s office and stuck her head in the door. “Mr. Evans, could I see you a minute?” she asked.
Max looked up. He had been going over the suggestions that Alex Romero had made. “Yes, Ms. Andrews, what can I do for you?” he asked.
“Is it true that you may be looking for a new private secretary?” she asked.
“I may be,” Max responded.
“How could I be considered for that position?” she asked.
Max studied her for several seconds. “Please sit down, Ms. Andrews.” Max stood and closed the door to the other private office. “What do you consider Ms. Harding’s job to be?” he asked.
Helen shrugged. “She does what you tell her to do and runs errands for you.”
“Ms. Andrews, the job is a lot more than that. There is a saying among the executives. ‘Trust in her instincts and if she makes a mistake, fire her,’” Max stated.
“But, there is a rumor that Ms. Harding made a mistake and you covered for her,” Helen said.
“That is just a rumor. Only I and the person who made the mistake, know who they are. I have never told anyone. Ms. Harding has a position of extreme trust. She has never done anything to void that trust. Half the things I do are her suggestions. If she leaves, I may not be able to continue what I am doing. There are people spreading rumors, like someone tried to say that you and I were having an affair, to my girlfriend.” Max did see Helen shudder when he mentioned that. At the time, Max had no idea of why she did that. Ms. Harding has a boyfriend who is disabled and having many mental problems from being in the war. He has twice tried to kill himself, because of the rumors that someone is spreading. The police are investigating and when they find the person, criminal and civil charges may be made.”
That shook Helen, but she thought she was able to cover her fear. Max went on. “Ms. Andrews, you are just out of secretarial school, aren’t you?” he asked.
Helen nodded. This conversation was getting a lot more complicated than she had imagined. “You do know that many secretaries spend years in the typing pool. For some reason, Ms. Harding gave you a chance. Maybe, someone once gave one to her. As a receptionist, you have a chance to learn what is necessary to be an administrative assistant. Olivia is a good teacher about office research. For a long time, Ms. Harding did all that research herself. Take on all the typing assignments and learn what is needed to put together projects. Learn how to make the people you work for look good. That is the job of an executive assistant or private secretary. When I was put in an executive position, I had no one to help me. Ms. Harding was promoted by someone she formally worked for. We had the chemistry, like a marriage to make the office work. Like a marriage, except for the sex. I know there are office affairs, but believe me, they seldom end pleasantly.” Max thought, could he and Ms. Harding ever work together as well if they had continued what they almost did last night. Had their action even now, crippled the dream team so that it wouldn’t function? Almost like a marriage, he and Tess needed a marriage counselor. There were not any of that sort of counselors anywhere that Max knew of.
Helen left through the other door that Mr. Evans indicated, the one that did not lead back into the office where Olivia was working. Olivia had heard voices in Mr. Evans’ office, but it was none of her business and if Mr. Evans wanted to share it with her, he would. She was mildly surprised to see Helen emerge from the main door and walk back to her desk as receptionist. Olivia was even more surprised, when Helen brought the folders all filled out with the typing Olivia had given her. Olivia, without saying a word, handed Helen some more transcriptions that needed to be typed and Helen returned to her desk.
Talking to Helen, Max decided that he didn’t want to lose the dream team without a fight. There was no other position that Tess could get, at this time, which would pay as much as she earned with him. Tess needed this position as much as Max needed Tess.
----------------------
Do you like "Castle? Do you like "the Mentalist? Do you like crime stories with an alien twist? Little Napoleon, part one is a story of murders which go all the way to the top in governments.
Good teachers are born that way, not made. No! Good human beings, are born that way. Some of them become teachers.
Of course, life is not fair. You shouldn't expect it to be fair, but you should expect it to be ironic.
JKR 1981-2001
History is made of wars, recovering from wars and preparing for the next war.
JJR 1975-
Of course, life is not fair. You shouldn't expect it to be fair, but you should expect it to be ironic.
JKR 1981-2001
History is made of wars, recovering from wars and preparing for the next war.
JJR 1975-
Re: the elevator Au/no alien, Mature, pg 9, CC ch17, 7/10/11
begonia9508: I don't think as much with embarrassment, but as a warning.
mary mary: Now that they are reaching up in the corporation, a second couch would be the best idea.
Natalie36: Again they received a warning. That they resisted says a little about their characters.
keepsmiling7: Yes then there is Helen.
Chapter 18
With Tess gone not much got done, by the dream team. Max had been thinking ever since he had had that talk with Helen Andrews. There was something wrong about that girl, but Max didn’t see what it was. This team had been built partly by the efforts of Ms. Harding. Max hated to see the team dissolve and he also hated to see Tess loose so much after she had worked so hard. Finally, he made up his mind. He might make things worse, but he had to try something.
It was afternoon. Max arrived at the rehabilitation facility. Everything was more laid back in the afternoon. No one even questioned who he was as he asked for the location of Kyle Valenti at the desk. Kyle was pointed out to Max as the man in the wheel chair over at the window. The male nurse who pointed him out felt that, maybe, company could bring Kyle out of his depression. Max took a deep breath and walked over to Kyle.
“Mr. Valenti,” Max said, extending his hand. Kyle took the hand automatically. “My name is Max Evans.”
Kyle’s hand retreated like it had been bitten by a snake. “What do you want, Evans? Are you here to justify, taking my Tess away from me?” Kyle asked.
“No, Mr. Valenti, but you may drive her away and do that, after letting her quit a program that she has spent a long time developing,” Max stated.
“Aren’t you the man who is fucking my girl at work?” Kyle asked.
“No, Mr. Valenti, to my knowledge no one at work is fucking your girl. The only one who should be making love to your girl is you, and that should be at home, not at work,” Max said. “Mr. Valenti, I want to explain what your girl does at work. She is my executive assistant and has become one of the highest paid assistants in the corporation. She did this, not by messing around, but by hard work. Ms. Harding and I have built a dream team, not by grab-assing at work or when we work late at night, but by putting in long hours and working creatively together. Ms. Harding is thinking about quitting, not because I want her to, or because she can get a better job elsewhere. She is thinking about quitting because she thinks her job is hurting you. I think a great deal of Ms. Harding. I do not have romantic designs on her, rather, it is because she is smart and creative, that we work well together,” Max explained.
“I am sure you work well together. I have heard stories about corporations like yours. You suits just consider the woman who work there as someone you can have on the side. You probably have a wife and kids, somewhere. You want my Tess as a play toy at work.” Kyle turned away from Max. “Well take her; as you see, I am not much of a man who can stop you,” he said with pent up anger.
“Kyle, again, I couldn’t take her away from you if I wanted. I don’t want to think of Ms. Harding romantically. I have a girl friend and we are thinking of marriage. For me, marriage is serious. It is not something just for the home, but for everywhere. As I said, you may drive Tess away from you if you don’t try to understand. There is someone who is doing to my girlfriend, the same as they are doing to you. Liz and Tess met each other and have become friends. When something happens, they contact each other rather than believe what some troublemaker says. I am not asking for your friendship. That has to be willingly given. I want your understanding and your belief in your girl. If she leaves the dream team, she may regret it for the rest of her life. Everything done to you and everything done to my Liz, we turn over to detective Padilla. I can only hope we get to the bottom of this.” Max didn’t insult himself or Kyle by again offering his hand. He turned and left.
Dr. Sullivan had been watching from the other side of the room. He profoundly hoped that somehow Kyle started thinking. He liked Ms. Harding and from what he heard Max say, Max and Ms. Harding were, at least partially, telling the truth.
In the taxi on the way home, it being too late to return to the office, Max thought if he and Tess hadn’t stopped what they started, last night, neither of them would have been able to look anyone in the eye as they assured that the dream team was about work and not some frivolous romance. Was what he had felt for Tess last night, frivolous? Max could only ask.
Tess had called the office and was told by Olivia that Max had left the office early today. She wanted to talk to Max. She would have to go in tomorrow for a couple hours. Maybe, Max would arrange to see her sometime.
When the office opened, Olivia tried to fulfill all the duties she had seen Tess perform. Olivia wanted just what she had. Doing research and typing reports were what she was good at. Now, Mr. Evans needed someone to fill the position of Ms. Harding. The first thing Olivia said to Max was, “Ms. Harding called yesterday afternoon. I think she wants to talk to you.”
“Olivia, if Ms. Harding comes in, please cancel any appointments I have. Send her right in and hold all the calls,” Max ordered.
Tess was in the elevator riding up, maybe almost, for the last time. She had come to no decision. Leaving the dream team was like leaving her child. She had as much invested in it as did Max. She saw the people getting off on the lower floors. Tess remembered how boring that was working there. You just were drones, doing what was given to you and having nothing to say about any of it. Tess remembered Max talking about having so many fantasies when he was riding up and down the elevator. She remembered that Max told her that he had no idea how the suits worked on the higher floors. Tess had saved a lot and she and Kyle could move into a house, whenever Kyle felt ready. She knew that Max would give her a good recommendation. Would any other job be like the dream team? Would any other boss listen to her as Max did? Tess made fully half the decisions in their projects.
The elevator was traveling much too fast. The tenth floor was coming up. Tess could only wish for the vehicle to slow down. She knew she had a date with some sort of destiny, she just wished to delay it as long as possible.
As she crossed the threshold of the office, Tess saw that her presence was stirring everyone. If this was good or bad, she didn’t know. Helen nodded and Tess saw that she wasn’t even frowning. Tess saw that Olivia immediately picked up the phone. By the time Tess had reached the two private offices, Max was at his door taking her hand. This simple act stirred things in Tess’s mind. Max had always been a kind man. Was he offering her support in a time of stress and difficult decisions? There was also their almost completed act. For that brief time, Tess genuinely loved Max Evans. Her long relationship with Kyle the goals, which pushed her toward working so hard and the reputation they both had as founders of the dream team disappeared. For that brief few minutes, Tess only wanted to make love to Max, not her boss but Max, the person.
Looking back, those moments of forbidden love, if completed, would have been a personal disaster. She would never have been able to look Kyle in the eye and tell him that there was no other. Even now, the intent of that night made her nervous as she consoled Kyle. His doubts would have been able to ferret out any cheating, if it had occurred. Once, Tess had heard a preacher say that lust in the heart was as bad as the completed act. Tess could not disagree more. Sometimes, what occurred in your mind and heart just happened. How you handled it in practice was the measure of fidelity, loyalty and maturity.
Max led Tess to a chair that he had placed exactly in the position and place, that she usually took when taking dictation. Tess thought, A fling with Max would be momentary. It would destroy her relationship with Kyle and probably destroy Max’s relationship with Liz. If she and Max crossed that line, would they be able to do work, like they had always done? Yes, Janice said that she occasionally, slept with her boss, but Janice was not part of any dream team.
Tess spoke first. “Max, what are we going to do now?” she asked.
Since Max had talked to Kyle he had been thinking about that night. Where had they crossed the line? He even wondered if they, indeed, had crossed any lines? Other bosses, screwed their secretaries, their administrative assistants and bragged about it in the lunch room. The mantra of keeping the lesser people well screwed ran around the entire corporation. They were not part of the dream team. Where did that concept of dream team come from anyway?
Max and Tess were at the bottom of their depression. Their whole relationship of supporting each other had created the team that they had. When they held each other in their arms, they had from the first, been trying to console each other that they may have hit their first failure. Max thought of the many touchings. He never knew of the condom that Tess had located under the folders of his desk in case things got too heated.
Max thought of their casual relationship as they laid on the couch, totally exhausted. How easily these could have escalated into something else as it did with other teams. He remembered when Tess told him to strip to his boxers and she worked to loosen his entire body. Then they had fallen asleep exhausted, but he felt so much better the next morning. Max remembered touching her shoulders and back when she had been bent over her keyboard for hours at a time. At the time, Max could only think of helping a dear friend. They had tested the boundaries, but they had always remained professional. Had they lost that professionalism the other night? How fine was that boundary between what they always had and pure lust? How much of that lust was based on some kind of hidden love? Their better values had kicked in and they had resisted temptation. Was this a warning that they needed to heed? If Tess did not resign, Max wanted to institute some safety measures.
Tess had asked him a question and he needed to give her an answer. “I don’t know, Tess.” was not the best Max could make.
“I talked to Kyle for hours, yesterday. That is, I talked to him when he finally decided to talk to me again. I asked Kyle what he wanted me to do. He said I had to make the right choice. In other words, if I make the choice he doesn’t like, he will leave me. Not only will I loose my lover, I will always be covered in guilt. We have always strained to remain professional. If I work my way up on another team, will my new boss be content to keep this professional status?” Tess wearily asked.
“Tess,” Max began. “I don’t want you to quit. I do want you to do what you think is best, what Kyle thinks is best. Once when you made a mistake, I said, that we just have to be more careful. You can’t guarantee that either of us, will never make another mistake. Neither can we both guarantee that sometime in the future, if we stay together as a team, we won’t be faced with a situation like the other night. Neither can we be sure that we will be able to break it off like we did then. That might happen with any team we are with, unless we are willing to work in isolation,” Max stated.
For many minutes, Tess just sat thinking. Max didn’t rush her. Olivia would cancel other appointments. Projects, Max could resurrect. Breaking in a new administrative assistant would be very hard and Max didn’t do change well.
Max had spent a long time talking to Liz last night. He explained that Kyle had received another phone call about Max and Tess working late together. Max explained how sometimes, he and Tess had to work after everyone else had gone home. “Liz, we work together very closely, but we have never crossed the line into romance,” Max promised.
“Max, can men and women work that closely without occasionally, having intimate moments?” she asked.
“They can try, Liz. That is all they can do,” Max again promised.
“Max, you always hear about other bosses and affairs they have with their secretaries. I have many friends who are divorced because of their men having affairs at work,” Liz told him.
“Yes, Liz, and I also, know of men having affairs at bars, at sports clubs and even at church. These men and women have affairs. I know of men who have had romantic affairs and instantly regretted it. Some of them have worked very hard to not lose the ones they really love. Affairs or not, I think relationships depend ultimately on the couple and how badly they want to preserve what they have,” Max stated.
“Max, are you saying that men and women can’t be faithful? Liz asked.
“No, Liz, I am saying that for relationships to continue, both partners have to continually work at it and both partners have to be tolerant,” Max said. Max, carefully, did not mention how close he and Tess had been to crossing the line at work. Would he have been forthright and admitted an affair with Tess to Liz, if it had occurred? Max just didn’t know.
Tess brought Max out of his thoughts. “Max, I would like the rest of the day off to talk to Kyle. I don’t want to quit either, but I don’t want to loose Kyle,” Tess explained.
“Tess, take what time you need. You are making enough money that Kyle could get therapy for his legs. That is what he needs most. We are turning everything over to the police about whoever is spreading the rumors. Maybe, you even might invite Kyle to meet Liz. Let me know your decision when you can.” With that statement from Max, Tess stood and left the office. She forgot to say ‘Hi’ to Olivia and never even noticed Helen on the front desk. Tess had a lot on her mind.
--------------------------------
Little Napoleon, part one Arizona may have it's problems with aliens, but Metropolis has aliens who will not be stopped by fences. They don't take well to demands to show their citizenship and they keep killing with silver handprints. Now, we learn that there are good aliens and bad aliens. Little Napoleon needs the help of good aliens to solve these crimes.
mary mary: Now that they are reaching up in the corporation, a second couch would be the best idea.
Natalie36: Again they received a warning. That they resisted says a little about their characters.
keepsmiling7: Yes then there is Helen.
Chapter 18
With Tess gone not much got done, by the dream team. Max had been thinking ever since he had had that talk with Helen Andrews. There was something wrong about that girl, but Max didn’t see what it was. This team had been built partly by the efforts of Ms. Harding. Max hated to see the team dissolve and he also hated to see Tess loose so much after she had worked so hard. Finally, he made up his mind. He might make things worse, but he had to try something.
It was afternoon. Max arrived at the rehabilitation facility. Everything was more laid back in the afternoon. No one even questioned who he was as he asked for the location of Kyle Valenti at the desk. Kyle was pointed out to Max as the man in the wheel chair over at the window. The male nurse who pointed him out felt that, maybe, company could bring Kyle out of his depression. Max took a deep breath and walked over to Kyle.
“Mr. Valenti,” Max said, extending his hand. Kyle took the hand automatically. “My name is Max Evans.”
Kyle’s hand retreated like it had been bitten by a snake. “What do you want, Evans? Are you here to justify, taking my Tess away from me?” Kyle asked.
“No, Mr. Valenti, but you may drive her away and do that, after letting her quit a program that she has spent a long time developing,” Max stated.
“Aren’t you the man who is fucking my girl at work?” Kyle asked.
“No, Mr. Valenti, to my knowledge no one at work is fucking your girl. The only one who should be making love to your girl is you, and that should be at home, not at work,” Max said. “Mr. Valenti, I want to explain what your girl does at work. She is my executive assistant and has become one of the highest paid assistants in the corporation. She did this, not by messing around, but by hard work. Ms. Harding and I have built a dream team, not by grab-assing at work or when we work late at night, but by putting in long hours and working creatively together. Ms. Harding is thinking about quitting, not because I want her to, or because she can get a better job elsewhere. She is thinking about quitting because she thinks her job is hurting you. I think a great deal of Ms. Harding. I do not have romantic designs on her, rather, it is because she is smart and creative, that we work well together,” Max explained.
“I am sure you work well together. I have heard stories about corporations like yours. You suits just consider the woman who work there as someone you can have on the side. You probably have a wife and kids, somewhere. You want my Tess as a play toy at work.” Kyle turned away from Max. “Well take her; as you see, I am not much of a man who can stop you,” he said with pent up anger.
“Kyle, again, I couldn’t take her away from you if I wanted. I don’t want to think of Ms. Harding romantically. I have a girl friend and we are thinking of marriage. For me, marriage is serious. It is not something just for the home, but for everywhere. As I said, you may drive Tess away from you if you don’t try to understand. There is someone who is doing to my girlfriend, the same as they are doing to you. Liz and Tess met each other and have become friends. When something happens, they contact each other rather than believe what some troublemaker says. I am not asking for your friendship. That has to be willingly given. I want your understanding and your belief in your girl. If she leaves the dream team, she may regret it for the rest of her life. Everything done to you and everything done to my Liz, we turn over to detective Padilla. I can only hope we get to the bottom of this.” Max didn’t insult himself or Kyle by again offering his hand. He turned and left.
Dr. Sullivan had been watching from the other side of the room. He profoundly hoped that somehow Kyle started thinking. He liked Ms. Harding and from what he heard Max say, Max and Ms. Harding were, at least partially, telling the truth.
In the taxi on the way home, it being too late to return to the office, Max thought if he and Tess hadn’t stopped what they started, last night, neither of them would have been able to look anyone in the eye as they assured that the dream team was about work and not some frivolous romance. Was what he had felt for Tess last night, frivolous? Max could only ask.
Tess had called the office and was told by Olivia that Max had left the office early today. She wanted to talk to Max. She would have to go in tomorrow for a couple hours. Maybe, Max would arrange to see her sometime.
When the office opened, Olivia tried to fulfill all the duties she had seen Tess perform. Olivia wanted just what she had. Doing research and typing reports were what she was good at. Now, Mr. Evans needed someone to fill the position of Ms. Harding. The first thing Olivia said to Max was, “Ms. Harding called yesterday afternoon. I think she wants to talk to you.”
“Olivia, if Ms. Harding comes in, please cancel any appointments I have. Send her right in and hold all the calls,” Max ordered.
Tess was in the elevator riding up, maybe almost, for the last time. She had come to no decision. Leaving the dream team was like leaving her child. She had as much invested in it as did Max. She saw the people getting off on the lower floors. Tess remembered how boring that was working there. You just were drones, doing what was given to you and having nothing to say about any of it. Tess remembered Max talking about having so many fantasies when he was riding up and down the elevator. She remembered that Max told her that he had no idea how the suits worked on the higher floors. Tess had saved a lot and she and Kyle could move into a house, whenever Kyle felt ready. She knew that Max would give her a good recommendation. Would any other job be like the dream team? Would any other boss listen to her as Max did? Tess made fully half the decisions in their projects.
The elevator was traveling much too fast. The tenth floor was coming up. Tess could only wish for the vehicle to slow down. She knew she had a date with some sort of destiny, she just wished to delay it as long as possible.
As she crossed the threshold of the office, Tess saw that her presence was stirring everyone. If this was good or bad, she didn’t know. Helen nodded and Tess saw that she wasn’t even frowning. Tess saw that Olivia immediately picked up the phone. By the time Tess had reached the two private offices, Max was at his door taking her hand. This simple act stirred things in Tess’s mind. Max had always been a kind man. Was he offering her support in a time of stress and difficult decisions? There was also their almost completed act. For that brief time, Tess genuinely loved Max Evans. Her long relationship with Kyle the goals, which pushed her toward working so hard and the reputation they both had as founders of the dream team disappeared. For that brief few minutes, Tess only wanted to make love to Max, not her boss but Max, the person.
Looking back, those moments of forbidden love, if completed, would have been a personal disaster. She would never have been able to look Kyle in the eye and tell him that there was no other. Even now, the intent of that night made her nervous as she consoled Kyle. His doubts would have been able to ferret out any cheating, if it had occurred. Once, Tess had heard a preacher say that lust in the heart was as bad as the completed act. Tess could not disagree more. Sometimes, what occurred in your mind and heart just happened. How you handled it in practice was the measure of fidelity, loyalty and maturity.
Max led Tess to a chair that he had placed exactly in the position and place, that she usually took when taking dictation. Tess thought, A fling with Max would be momentary. It would destroy her relationship with Kyle and probably destroy Max’s relationship with Liz. If she and Max crossed that line, would they be able to do work, like they had always done? Yes, Janice said that she occasionally, slept with her boss, but Janice was not part of any dream team.
Tess spoke first. “Max, what are we going to do now?” she asked.
Since Max had talked to Kyle he had been thinking about that night. Where had they crossed the line? He even wondered if they, indeed, had crossed any lines? Other bosses, screwed their secretaries, their administrative assistants and bragged about it in the lunch room. The mantra of keeping the lesser people well screwed ran around the entire corporation. They were not part of the dream team. Where did that concept of dream team come from anyway?
Max and Tess were at the bottom of their depression. Their whole relationship of supporting each other had created the team that they had. When they held each other in their arms, they had from the first, been trying to console each other that they may have hit their first failure. Max thought of the many touchings. He never knew of the condom that Tess had located under the folders of his desk in case things got too heated.
Max thought of their casual relationship as they laid on the couch, totally exhausted. How easily these could have escalated into something else as it did with other teams. He remembered when Tess told him to strip to his boxers and she worked to loosen his entire body. Then they had fallen asleep exhausted, but he felt so much better the next morning. Max remembered touching her shoulders and back when she had been bent over her keyboard for hours at a time. At the time, Max could only think of helping a dear friend. They had tested the boundaries, but they had always remained professional. Had they lost that professionalism the other night? How fine was that boundary between what they always had and pure lust? How much of that lust was based on some kind of hidden love? Their better values had kicked in and they had resisted temptation. Was this a warning that they needed to heed? If Tess did not resign, Max wanted to institute some safety measures.
Tess had asked him a question and he needed to give her an answer. “I don’t know, Tess.” was not the best Max could make.
“I talked to Kyle for hours, yesterday. That is, I talked to him when he finally decided to talk to me again. I asked Kyle what he wanted me to do. He said I had to make the right choice. In other words, if I make the choice he doesn’t like, he will leave me. Not only will I loose my lover, I will always be covered in guilt. We have always strained to remain professional. If I work my way up on another team, will my new boss be content to keep this professional status?” Tess wearily asked.
“Tess,” Max began. “I don’t want you to quit. I do want you to do what you think is best, what Kyle thinks is best. Once when you made a mistake, I said, that we just have to be more careful. You can’t guarantee that either of us, will never make another mistake. Neither can we both guarantee that sometime in the future, if we stay together as a team, we won’t be faced with a situation like the other night. Neither can we be sure that we will be able to break it off like we did then. That might happen with any team we are with, unless we are willing to work in isolation,” Max stated.
For many minutes, Tess just sat thinking. Max didn’t rush her. Olivia would cancel other appointments. Projects, Max could resurrect. Breaking in a new administrative assistant would be very hard and Max didn’t do change well.
Max had spent a long time talking to Liz last night. He explained that Kyle had received another phone call about Max and Tess working late together. Max explained how sometimes, he and Tess had to work after everyone else had gone home. “Liz, we work together very closely, but we have never crossed the line into romance,” Max promised.
“Max, can men and women work that closely without occasionally, having intimate moments?” she asked.
“They can try, Liz. That is all they can do,” Max again promised.
“Max, you always hear about other bosses and affairs they have with their secretaries. I have many friends who are divorced because of their men having affairs at work,” Liz told him.
“Yes, Liz, and I also, know of men having affairs at bars, at sports clubs and even at church. These men and women have affairs. I know of men who have had romantic affairs and instantly regretted it. Some of them have worked very hard to not lose the ones they really love. Affairs or not, I think relationships depend ultimately on the couple and how badly they want to preserve what they have,” Max stated.
“Max, are you saying that men and women can’t be faithful? Liz asked.
“No, Liz, I am saying that for relationships to continue, both partners have to continually work at it and both partners have to be tolerant,” Max said. Max, carefully, did not mention how close he and Tess had been to crossing the line at work. Would he have been forthright and admitted an affair with Tess to Liz, if it had occurred? Max just didn’t know.
Tess brought Max out of his thoughts. “Max, I would like the rest of the day off to talk to Kyle. I don’t want to quit either, but I don’t want to loose Kyle,” Tess explained.
“Tess, take what time you need. You are making enough money that Kyle could get therapy for his legs. That is what he needs most. We are turning everything over to the police about whoever is spreading the rumors. Maybe, you even might invite Kyle to meet Liz. Let me know your decision when you can.” With that statement from Max, Tess stood and left the office. She forgot to say ‘Hi’ to Olivia and never even noticed Helen on the front desk. Tess had a lot on her mind.
--------------------------------
Little Napoleon, part one Arizona may have it's problems with aliens, but Metropolis has aliens who will not be stopped by fences. They don't take well to demands to show their citizenship and they keep killing with silver handprints. Now, we learn that there are good aliens and bad aliens. Little Napoleon needs the help of good aliens to solve these crimes.
Good teachers are born that way, not made. No! Good human beings, are born that way. Some of them become teachers.
Of course, life is not fair. You shouldn't expect it to be fair, but you should expect it to be ironic.
JKR 1981-2001
History is made of wars, recovering from wars and preparing for the next war.
JJR 1975-
Of course, life is not fair. You shouldn't expect it to be fair, but you should expect it to be ironic.
JKR 1981-2001
History is made of wars, recovering from wars and preparing for the next war.
JJR 1975-
Re: the elevator Au/no alien, Mature, pg 9, CC ch 18, 7/17/1
begonia9508
mary mary
keepsmiling7
Author note: I think this chapter defines the whole story. Carolyn is right that there is a very fine line when men and women work in very intense situations. in congratulating or in consoling each other men and women operate very differently. I think in theses intense situations they must agree to be very careful. The measure of the dream team is that they understand what is at stake. Changing to a new team might create situations where that understanding in absent. I think both couples need to be strong and understanding.
kr
Chapter 19
Towards afternoon, Max received a message to see Mr. Johnson at two o’clock. Max had no idea what the twelfth floor wanted. Maybe, it was something about Alex Romero and that rock star.
Max entered the elevator. Funny, that when taking the elevator up, Max always felt that there was something to be guilty of. He always checked in his mind to see if he had neglected something. Just before the door opened to the receptionist, Max always straightened his tie, adjusted his jacket and checked his fly to make sure it wasn’t, inadvertently, open. Max had noticed that recently the receptionist acknowledged him as Mr. Evans. When he arrived at Johnson’s office, the secretary, instead of her normal gymnastic gyrations, stood and led him to the door of Johnson’s private office. Johnson rose and said, “Max, have a seat.” After which he nodded to the secretary still standing in the doorway. “Edna will see that we are not disturbed.”
“Max found a comfortable position in the chair offered him and waited for Johnson to get whatever it was off his mind. Johnson had a preamble before he got to the real problem. “Evans, you and Ms. Harding are to be congratulated on that rock star problem. Frankly, none of us thought it had a solution. Where in the hell did you find that Romero character, anyway?” Johnson asked.
“He is the cousin of the lady, Ms. Harding hired to help her in research. I don’t know if he has a green card to work in the States or if he is even here legally. He says he had done work like this in Mexico. We believed him because we had no other choice,” Max explained.
“Well, if he keeps working out, we are going to put him on full time. Don’t worry about his emigration status. Those rich bastards and their broads bring cleaning ladies smuggled back in the trunks of their cars. With the talent that man has, I will make him legal, if I have to go to the White House itself. That is what our legal department is for. Johnson leaned back in his chair put his finger tips together and said, “Now, son, tell me how that expanded department of yours is doing?”
“Ms. Harding oversees the office, so I let her have free reign on what she did. She hired a very capable lady to help with research. Ms Sanchez is the person who found Romero for us. I have to wonder about the receptionist she hired. If it had been up to me, I would have fired her ass a week ago. Maybe, Ms. Harding saw things that I didn’t see, because this week she seems to be buckling down to work. Ms. Harding is out, right now, for personal reasons. We will see what happens when she returns,” Max explained.
Johnson sat for several minutes, just studying Max. Max was determined that he wasn’t going to let Johnson or anybody else get under his skin. Max, was no longer, the frightened man who had climbed up from the fifth floor. Well maybe, he was a little afraid, but he wasn’t going to show it. “Do you have any guarantees that she is going to come back?” Johnson asked.
Max sat up a little straighter, so this was where the interview was going. “No, sir, there are few guarantees anywhere. It is to her advantage to come back. We work very well together. There has been a problem, probably internal with the company, of someone repeating rumors to her boyfriend and my girlfriend. We have turned the investigation over to the police. They have nothing so far. Ms. Harding promised to get back to me before I leave this evening,” Max told him.
“Max, both you and Ms. Harding have been on the radar of the corporation for several years. What do you think those silly interviews were all about when you were back on floor five? We will be very unhappy if your team breaks up. Either way, let me know by email as soon as possible.” With that statement, Mr. Johnson dismissed Max.
Max had been better accepted on the twelfth floor this time than many times before. Why did he, as he rode the elevator down, feel that he had just been to the counselor’s office and had narrowly missed being sent to the “time out room?”
After leaving Max’s office, Tess walked to a nearby park. She sat at a table looking across the expanse of grass. A few tables over, someone must have recently had a picnic. They must have been sloppy eaters, because a flock of pigeons and a couple of crows were finding their own picnic in the grass around the table. Maybe, it was a family with several children. Tess could see the children playing around the table, dropping food in the grass and maybe, even throwing pieces of sandwich at each other. Tess wanted children so badly. Kyle had agreed, before going to the near east. He had always been hesitant about a family, he explained that much the way that Big Al had at the rehab center. His own mother leaving him, always caused him worry. Weren’t all women just waiting to cut out on their men? Whatever happened to that principle of mother love? Wasn’t a mother supposed to not leave her kids for anything? These were questions Kyle always had. Tess, almost had him convinced before he left for the army. If on his return, they could take up where they had left off, Tess believed that Kyle would be willing to do his part to start a family.
Being in the typing pool seemed like a good way to spend her time while Kyle was gone. Tess felt that she would be willing to quit when he returned. When Kyle returned not walking, getting back with him proved to be a challenge. Everyone around her kept saying, “He’s crippled, move on. It will take years for him to heal, if he does at all.”
Tess loved Kyle before he left and she wasn’t willing to desert him now. They found accommodations in their relationship, but still with many questions, Kyle moved in with Tess. Tess was offered, an advancement to the eighth floor. She had to fend off the young turks, but she worked for a woman in a situation much like the one she now had Helen working in with Mr. Evans.
With short skirts, a ready smile and plenty of leg, she made a good receptionist. Granted, Janice had picked her because of her looks. Tess worked hard and quickly learned. Janice found her an able assistant. Jamison, Janice’s boss, moved to the tenth floor. To Tess’s surprise, she followed Janice. Just as Tess had instinctively guarded her position with Max that first day and every day after, Janice kept Jamison occupied and away from the other help. Tess learned what it meant to defend your territory. When Jamison moved again, Tess didn’t know what to expect. That was when, Janice told her that it had been suggested Tess become the private secretary of the new guy.
Kyle wasn’t moving on the family idea very fast. His medical bills were mounting and he was battling the Veterans Administration everyday. Tess felt a lot of trepidation when she accepted the job with Max. It was the money which won her over. Kyle’s rehab was going very slowly and if they continued to live together, they needed a better surrounding. A house with a home office for Kyle to work out of, enough money to not be so concerned with the monthly bills and maybe, enough to hire a lawyer to help Kyle with the Veterans Administration. This all had been a dream. Her fear of loosing when she made her monumental mistake, had been smoothed over by her boss and they both were on a steady rise up the ladder of the company.
Tess called a taxi. She had to talk to Kyle and then, she needed to see Max one more time.
Imagine Tess’s surprise when she arrived at the rehab center and found Kyle sitting at a table playing Gin Rummy with Big Al and Liz Parker.
“Ms. Harding, have a seat. We will deal you in. Maybe, you can break the winning streak of Miss Parker,” Doctor Al Sullivan invited.
Tess smiled. “Hi Liz, no, sorry, Dr. Al. I need badly, to talk to Kyle for a few minutes. If you all don’t mind.”
“Hey, that’s okay. Come on, Miss Parker, let’s you and me go sample some of the pie and coffee they had for lunch today,” Big Al stated as he took Liz’s arm and led her off.
After they left, the first thing Tess asked was, “What did she want?”
“She is afraid that I am going to make you quit working for Max,” Kyle said.
“Isn’t that what you wanted, Kyle?” Tess inquired.
“I did yesterday,” Kyle responded. “That Parker lady is a mighty convincing person. Did you know that she was in a pre-med program before she got tired of it and took a year off to assess her options?”
“No, I didn’t,” Tess remarked in surprise. “I don’t think Mr. Evans knows that either.”
“Well you can one-up your boss when you get back. Before we started that game, Big Al came over to see who she was. They got into the damnedest discussion about rehabilitation for my legs. If you want to feel like a lab rat, just listen to two medical types talking about the latest research, all the while pointing to your feet, as if you were not even alive,” Kyle said.
“What did they say?” Tess asked.
“They said that there is a lot of research in the sort of nerve damage I have and if that doesn’t work, there are other things I can do to get around easier. That lady, Liz, told me to get off my ass and be ready in case she finds out who sent those messages. She said she might need a little help to kick their ass. She thinks arresting them would be cruel and unusual punishment.” Kyle sounded more cheerful than he had in a long time. Tess wondered how much of what Liz had said was bravado and how much was psychology. She imagined that Liz was a pretty smart person.
Tess got serious. “Kyle, I need your help. I have to figure out whether I am going to keep working for Mr. Evans or not. This involves both of us,” Tess stated.
Kyle sat for a few minutes. “You know, yesterday I would have said that if you kept that job, I was out of here. I didn’t want to keep thinking of you fucking some suit while I was back home in bed. After talking to that Miss Parker, I don’t know. She says there aren’t any guarantees in life. She says that if you and Max were going to have an affair, there ain’t no way anyone could stop it. She also says that to this point, she thinks you both have played it damned straight. Her next point was that if you two split up, what guarantees do she and I have that the next people that you both work for won’t put more pressure on you to give in. She and Max want to get married. She, also, says that if you and Max makes a mistake she will put him on a park bench for a month and I can do whatever I want to with you.
Big Al was sitting with Miss Parker. “You know for a little bitty gal, you talked some strong talk, back there.” he stated.
“Doctor, Sullivan, I am so glad that Tess broke up our game. I was about ready to faint. Ask my best friend Maria, I am not very brave. I usually am scared of my own shadow. Max needs Ms. Harding and I think she needs him. I don’t think, at this time, there is any romance going on between them. I hope that if Max and I get married, I can keep him from straying to ever want any romance away from me. Please sit with me a few minutes and call an ambulance if I pass out,” Liz declared.
Al Sullivan had to laugh. People never failed to amaze him. Just like that little bitty girl in Iraq who, with her finger pressed against her lips for silence, pointed to a trail that he was about to take. Looking closely, Big Al saw it had been swept clean. That is, clean after they planted land mines in it.
---------------------------
Little Napoleon, part one a study of crime and responsibility
mary mary
keepsmiling7
Author note: I think this chapter defines the whole story. Carolyn is right that there is a very fine line when men and women work in very intense situations. in congratulating or in consoling each other men and women operate very differently. I think in theses intense situations they must agree to be very careful. The measure of the dream team is that they understand what is at stake. Changing to a new team might create situations where that understanding in absent. I think both couples need to be strong and understanding.
kr
Chapter 19
Towards afternoon, Max received a message to see Mr. Johnson at two o’clock. Max had no idea what the twelfth floor wanted. Maybe, it was something about Alex Romero and that rock star.
Max entered the elevator. Funny, that when taking the elevator up, Max always felt that there was something to be guilty of. He always checked in his mind to see if he had neglected something. Just before the door opened to the receptionist, Max always straightened his tie, adjusted his jacket and checked his fly to make sure it wasn’t, inadvertently, open. Max had noticed that recently the receptionist acknowledged him as Mr. Evans. When he arrived at Johnson’s office, the secretary, instead of her normal gymnastic gyrations, stood and led him to the door of Johnson’s private office. Johnson rose and said, “Max, have a seat.” After which he nodded to the secretary still standing in the doorway. “Edna will see that we are not disturbed.”
“Max found a comfortable position in the chair offered him and waited for Johnson to get whatever it was off his mind. Johnson had a preamble before he got to the real problem. “Evans, you and Ms. Harding are to be congratulated on that rock star problem. Frankly, none of us thought it had a solution. Where in the hell did you find that Romero character, anyway?” Johnson asked.
“He is the cousin of the lady, Ms. Harding hired to help her in research. I don’t know if he has a green card to work in the States or if he is even here legally. He says he had done work like this in Mexico. We believed him because we had no other choice,” Max explained.
“Well, if he keeps working out, we are going to put him on full time. Don’t worry about his emigration status. Those rich bastards and their broads bring cleaning ladies smuggled back in the trunks of their cars. With the talent that man has, I will make him legal, if I have to go to the White House itself. That is what our legal department is for. Johnson leaned back in his chair put his finger tips together and said, “Now, son, tell me how that expanded department of yours is doing?”
“Ms. Harding oversees the office, so I let her have free reign on what she did. She hired a very capable lady to help with research. Ms Sanchez is the person who found Romero for us. I have to wonder about the receptionist she hired. If it had been up to me, I would have fired her ass a week ago. Maybe, Ms. Harding saw things that I didn’t see, because this week she seems to be buckling down to work. Ms. Harding is out, right now, for personal reasons. We will see what happens when she returns,” Max explained.
Johnson sat for several minutes, just studying Max. Max was determined that he wasn’t going to let Johnson or anybody else get under his skin. Max, was no longer, the frightened man who had climbed up from the fifth floor. Well maybe, he was a little afraid, but he wasn’t going to show it. “Do you have any guarantees that she is going to come back?” Johnson asked.
Max sat up a little straighter, so this was where the interview was going. “No, sir, there are few guarantees anywhere. It is to her advantage to come back. We work very well together. There has been a problem, probably internal with the company, of someone repeating rumors to her boyfriend and my girlfriend. We have turned the investigation over to the police. They have nothing so far. Ms. Harding promised to get back to me before I leave this evening,” Max told him.
“Max, both you and Ms. Harding have been on the radar of the corporation for several years. What do you think those silly interviews were all about when you were back on floor five? We will be very unhappy if your team breaks up. Either way, let me know by email as soon as possible.” With that statement, Mr. Johnson dismissed Max.
Max had been better accepted on the twelfth floor this time than many times before. Why did he, as he rode the elevator down, feel that he had just been to the counselor’s office and had narrowly missed being sent to the “time out room?”
After leaving Max’s office, Tess walked to a nearby park. She sat at a table looking across the expanse of grass. A few tables over, someone must have recently had a picnic. They must have been sloppy eaters, because a flock of pigeons and a couple of crows were finding their own picnic in the grass around the table. Maybe, it was a family with several children. Tess could see the children playing around the table, dropping food in the grass and maybe, even throwing pieces of sandwich at each other. Tess wanted children so badly. Kyle had agreed, before going to the near east. He had always been hesitant about a family, he explained that much the way that Big Al had at the rehab center. His own mother leaving him, always caused him worry. Weren’t all women just waiting to cut out on their men? Whatever happened to that principle of mother love? Wasn’t a mother supposed to not leave her kids for anything? These were questions Kyle always had. Tess, almost had him convinced before he left for the army. If on his return, they could take up where they had left off, Tess believed that Kyle would be willing to do his part to start a family.
Being in the typing pool seemed like a good way to spend her time while Kyle was gone. Tess felt that she would be willing to quit when he returned. When Kyle returned not walking, getting back with him proved to be a challenge. Everyone around her kept saying, “He’s crippled, move on. It will take years for him to heal, if he does at all.”
Tess loved Kyle before he left and she wasn’t willing to desert him now. They found accommodations in their relationship, but still with many questions, Kyle moved in with Tess. Tess was offered, an advancement to the eighth floor. She had to fend off the young turks, but she worked for a woman in a situation much like the one she now had Helen working in with Mr. Evans.
With short skirts, a ready smile and plenty of leg, she made a good receptionist. Granted, Janice had picked her because of her looks. Tess worked hard and quickly learned. Janice found her an able assistant. Jamison, Janice’s boss, moved to the tenth floor. To Tess’s surprise, she followed Janice. Just as Tess had instinctively guarded her position with Max that first day and every day after, Janice kept Jamison occupied and away from the other help. Tess learned what it meant to defend your territory. When Jamison moved again, Tess didn’t know what to expect. That was when, Janice told her that it had been suggested Tess become the private secretary of the new guy.
Kyle wasn’t moving on the family idea very fast. His medical bills were mounting and he was battling the Veterans Administration everyday. Tess felt a lot of trepidation when she accepted the job with Max. It was the money which won her over. Kyle’s rehab was going very slowly and if they continued to live together, they needed a better surrounding. A house with a home office for Kyle to work out of, enough money to not be so concerned with the monthly bills and maybe, enough to hire a lawyer to help Kyle with the Veterans Administration. This all had been a dream. Her fear of loosing when she made her monumental mistake, had been smoothed over by her boss and they both were on a steady rise up the ladder of the company.
Tess called a taxi. She had to talk to Kyle and then, she needed to see Max one more time.
Imagine Tess’s surprise when she arrived at the rehab center and found Kyle sitting at a table playing Gin Rummy with Big Al and Liz Parker.
“Ms. Harding, have a seat. We will deal you in. Maybe, you can break the winning streak of Miss Parker,” Doctor Al Sullivan invited.
Tess smiled. “Hi Liz, no, sorry, Dr. Al. I need badly, to talk to Kyle for a few minutes. If you all don’t mind.”
“Hey, that’s okay. Come on, Miss Parker, let’s you and me go sample some of the pie and coffee they had for lunch today,” Big Al stated as he took Liz’s arm and led her off.
After they left, the first thing Tess asked was, “What did she want?”
“She is afraid that I am going to make you quit working for Max,” Kyle said.
“Isn’t that what you wanted, Kyle?” Tess inquired.
“I did yesterday,” Kyle responded. “That Parker lady is a mighty convincing person. Did you know that she was in a pre-med program before she got tired of it and took a year off to assess her options?”
“No, I didn’t,” Tess remarked in surprise. “I don’t think Mr. Evans knows that either.”
“Well you can one-up your boss when you get back. Before we started that game, Big Al came over to see who she was. They got into the damnedest discussion about rehabilitation for my legs. If you want to feel like a lab rat, just listen to two medical types talking about the latest research, all the while pointing to your feet, as if you were not even alive,” Kyle said.
“What did they say?” Tess asked.
“They said that there is a lot of research in the sort of nerve damage I have and if that doesn’t work, there are other things I can do to get around easier. That lady, Liz, told me to get off my ass and be ready in case she finds out who sent those messages. She said she might need a little help to kick their ass. She thinks arresting them would be cruel and unusual punishment.” Kyle sounded more cheerful than he had in a long time. Tess wondered how much of what Liz had said was bravado and how much was psychology. She imagined that Liz was a pretty smart person.
Tess got serious. “Kyle, I need your help. I have to figure out whether I am going to keep working for Mr. Evans or not. This involves both of us,” Tess stated.
Kyle sat for a few minutes. “You know, yesterday I would have said that if you kept that job, I was out of here. I didn’t want to keep thinking of you fucking some suit while I was back home in bed. After talking to that Miss Parker, I don’t know. She says there aren’t any guarantees in life. She says that if you and Max were going to have an affair, there ain’t no way anyone could stop it. She also says that to this point, she thinks you both have played it damned straight. Her next point was that if you two split up, what guarantees do she and I have that the next people that you both work for won’t put more pressure on you to give in. She and Max want to get married. She, also, says that if you and Max makes a mistake she will put him on a park bench for a month and I can do whatever I want to with you.
Big Al was sitting with Miss Parker. “You know for a little bitty gal, you talked some strong talk, back there.” he stated.
“Doctor, Sullivan, I am so glad that Tess broke up our game. I was about ready to faint. Ask my best friend Maria, I am not very brave. I usually am scared of my own shadow. Max needs Ms. Harding and I think she needs him. I don’t think, at this time, there is any romance going on between them. I hope that if Max and I get married, I can keep him from straying to ever want any romance away from me. Please sit with me a few minutes and call an ambulance if I pass out,” Liz declared.
Al Sullivan had to laugh. People never failed to amaze him. Just like that little bitty girl in Iraq who, with her finger pressed against her lips for silence, pointed to a trail that he was about to take. Looking closely, Big Al saw it had been swept clean. That is, clean after they planted land mines in it.
---------------------------
Little Napoleon, part one a study of crime and responsibility
Good teachers are born that way, not made. No! Good human beings, are born that way. Some of them become teachers.
Of course, life is not fair. You shouldn't expect it to be fair, but you should expect it to be ironic.
JKR 1981-2001
History is made of wars, recovering from wars and preparing for the next war.
JJR 1975-
Of course, life is not fair. You shouldn't expect it to be fair, but you should expect it to be ironic.
JKR 1981-2001
History is made of wars, recovering from wars and preparing for the next war.
JJR 1975-
Re: the elevator Au/no alien, Mature, pg 10, CC ch 19, 7/23/
keepsmiling7 : The point was that Max needed Liz to also guide him sometimes and to lend her own expertise to the situation. If Liz had only been the frightened girl in the elevator, i doubt Max would have that much interest.
begonia9508
mary mary
Chapter 20
It was after four o’clock. Max was sure that most of the executives had already left. He wondered if Johnson ever left. Maybe, he had a whole town house up there on that floor. Maybe he had a wife, three kids and two mistresses and they all lived on the twelfth floor together. Maybe there was a whole village somewhere in the top of this building, probably not. Sanity returned to Max. Olivia was preparing to leave; Helen had left sometime before. Her desk was totally clean. She had accomplished all her tasks for the day. Max’s computer made the “you’ve got mail” chime and Olivia stopped at the door. Max brought up the mail and sure enough, it was from Tess. I will return to work Monday, if that is all right. It was signed TH. Max looked up at Ms. Sanchez and said, “She will be back.” A quick email was sent to the twelfth floor and Max hurried home jubilantly.
“Maria, Max just called me. He wants the four of us to go out this Saturday night. What do you think?” Liz phoned her friend.
“You said that he had been depressed this week, is this to cheer him up?” Maria asked.
“I don’t think so. You are right; this has been a horrible week. His secretary has been talking about leaving his team. They had the hardest project they had ever been given. I don’t yet know what it was. Something about remaking a rock star, yet when he called me this afternoon he sounded happier than I remember in a long time,” Liz informed Maria.
“Well, let’s not spoil the mood. I will have to ask Michael when he comes home, but I am sure that we can be on for Saturday night,” Maria responded.
Max picked up carry out. He still hadn’t done anything about learning to cook. He had called Liz and asked her to set something up with Michael and Maria. He had second thoughts. If Liz turned him down tonight, then Saturday night would be a bust. They had been going together for sometime, ever since he had met her that night on the elevator. There was still a lot he didn’t know about Liz, but he felt that he knew enough to show her a ring. Tess agreeing to come back, meant that she had patched up things with Kyle. It had been two years since the dream team had been formed. Max had to laugh, now he was using that term. He had no idea of when or by who it had first been used to describe the team of Evans and Harding. The team of Evans and Harding was, in itself, a first. None of the other executives referred to anything, except for their team. Max was not only sharing his bonuses with Tess, he also was openly sharing the success with her. The only thing that worried Max was that one night. What if Max had been sitting in a bar, while being that depressed? How vulnerable would he have been to any woman who approached him?
Max had no idea how marriage would work. He hoped that he could be open with a wife with all that he did. No, he wasn’t about to run to Liz with what he and Tess almost did. They resisted temptation, and maybe, they both felt a little sorrow for the missing emotion. How did it go, “We’ll always have Paris?” That movie line didn’t exactly fit what he and Tess almost shared, but he knew that they both wanted to put that behind them as only a memory that they each could savor in private.
Liz had set things up as Max requested with Michael and Maria. They were a special couple, Maria being Liz’s best friend and Michael being Max’s best friend. Liz would have fixed a supper if Max had only asked her to, but for some reason, Max wanted for her to meet him in his apartment to eat carry out, all be it that the food would be of the best quality. Max had to run through most of Tess’s address book to find the restaurant, so he still felt that she was assisting him.
Just to run up three floors to Max’s apartment, did not seem that formal to Liz. She was dressed in slacks, a tee top and flats. Max had tried to explain the magic of the elevator to Liz. She didn’t completely understand what he was saying. His story seemed almost like the attempt at a semi-romantic pick-up line, a magic box, which took her to a place where she would be, forever changed. She was visiting Max in his small apartment. True, they probably would end up in bed, but Liz believed that she would return no different than she was now.
Max met her at the door. At first, Liz was a little upset. Max was dressed in one of his soft wool suits. Liz always enjoyed leaning her face against that suit as they sat watching movies, listened to TV or just necked. It was probably camel. “Max, did you intend for me to dress up?” she asked.
“No, Liz, but for me, it is a formal occasion. Please sit down.” Max led her to the table in the small dining nook.
Scented candles, soft music and the meal surprisingly delicious, Liz could never understand how Max found places like he did. That went for his choice in his suits. It was as if Max had taken a course in wardrobe design. Max was a mighty “canny” man, her grandmother would say.
Max poured glasses of wine; then, he sat down. Max had cleared the food cartons and placed the dishes he laid out in the sink. Liz expected them to transfer to his bedroom or at least, to the couch in the little living room. Max sat and reached across the table. He had something on his mind, so Liz could only wait for whatever he wanted to say.
Max was hoping to run on a wave of exhilaration. Tess had notified the team that she intended to return. Some of the things he had heard from the twelfth floor, seemed to indicate that Max’s future was heading in the right direction and now, the woman of his choice was sitting across from him waiting. The ring was something that Max didn’t have a chance to ask Tess about. Tess had helped him in so many things that he did have anxiety about things he did without her assistance. Well, getting married was not something he should share with his executive assistant. Tess should be making plans of her own with Kyle. Maybe after they survived this milestone in their team, she could find a way to make Kyle come around.
It wasn’t the biggest stone that Max could afford. He had plenty of money, now that his dream team was assured to continue. Max tried to pick a stone, which he liked and one, which he would enjoy seeing on his girl’s finger for the rest of their life.
The sad thing about Marriage was that it had less than a 50% chance of surviving. Well after what they went through last week, the dream team had been given considerably less chance than that.
Max took a deep breath and said, “Elizabeth Parker, would you consent to be my wife.”
Max, well knew that there had been times when the request for marriage would have been made to a supposed virgin. The event would be celebrated with the couple taking more liberties with each other. Max and Liz had been having sex almost since they had been going together. An acceptance of marriage would allow the couple the freedom to discuss a future. None of this would occur unless in the next few minutes, Liz said, “Yes!”
This was not what Liz had expected. True, Maria had teased Liz about becoming Max’s second wife, the corporation being the first one. Until recently, Liz had had worries about Max’s office. Now that she and Tess were friends, this worry was lessened. Max had told her that there was always a chance for things to happen. That was exactly what Liz had said to Kyle the other day. Then, there were the stories about Max and Courtney. If Max was a super stud who made huge demands in the women he bedded, Liz had seen no sign of it. Max and Courtney were in the past. Liz must force her self to leave it there. She was more concerned that someday in the future, she might find Max’s sexual appetite to eclipse hers and she would be unable to fulfill it or even want to fulfill what Courtney had implied.
“Max this is a big decision,” Liz started. “I was not expecting it. Could I have the night to think about marriage? I still have dreams about going back to school, I just need to rethink about what I want to study. If I accept marriage then, I have to reconsider where I might attend a school to further my dreams.”
Max couldn’t conceal his disappointment, but he did realize that he had been considering this for some time. For Liz, it might be a surprise and she did have her own future to consider.
Liz had intended to spend the night with Max, but he kissed her and carefully escorted her back to her apartment. Accept what he offered or not, their relationship could not remain the same.
“Maria, wake up,” Liz said on the phone.
It was good that Liz hadn’t called thirty minutes earlier. Maria had been in the throws of sexual activity with what Michael was doing to her. Maria might have cut her off in a much more curt manner. Now, Maria had to clear the first cobwebs of a sleep she had entered into promoted by exhaustion. “Yes, Liz, what do you want?” Maria whispered.
“Maria, wake up. Max proposed to me tonight,” Liz almost cried.
“A… a what did you say?” Maria stammered through the waves of sleep.
“I told him that I needed to think about it,” Liz related.
“Why… a do you have someone better lined up?” Maria was still having trouble forming thoughts.
“Ah...no, but I am still bothered about how Courtney described him. What if I wake up and find I am married to a sex fiend some day,” Liz stated.
Privately, Maria, who having been chased by Michael about the apartment, stopping ever so often to make love, wondered what constituted a sex fiend. “What do you mean?” she did manage to ask.
“Well, Courtney said Max had her every way possible and they went around the world twice. I am not sure I would be ready for any of this,’ Liz explained.
Maria shook her head. She no longer was whispering. If she woke Michael up, that was his problem. It was his fault, anyway. “Liz, both times, Michael gave Max something to make him ready for a girl like Courtney. You know how men are. They compare size, times and scores of every babe they bang. You know the real Max. He is the one asking you to let him spend the rest of his life with you,” Maria explained.
“Why would Michael do something like to Max? Aren’t they best friends?” Liz asked.
“Yes, of course. Michael had some idea of Max pushing Courtney further than he ever did. I think that, maybe, he wanted to get her mind off of him. He can be a conceited bastard, sometimes,” Maria stated.
By this time Michael was fully awake and looking at Maria as she talked to someone on the phone. After she hung up he asked, “Who was that, this time of the night, babe?
Maria looked at Michael as he looked up from where he lay. “Now, you’ve done it. That was Liz and she refused to accept Max’s proposal of marriage and it was all your fault. You supercharged Max while he was with Courtney. After Courtney’s stories, Liz is afraid to accept Max. She thinks he must be some kind of closet pervert,” Maria crossly scolded Michael.
“Ah, what is wrong with being a pervert if it is between consenting adults?” Michael said as he captured Maria’s shoulders and smothered her protests with kisses. He, again, started a session of lovemaking.
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Chase crooks both human and alien with Little Napoleon, part one
begonia9508
mary mary
Chapter 20
It was after four o’clock. Max was sure that most of the executives had already left. He wondered if Johnson ever left. Maybe, he had a whole town house up there on that floor. Maybe he had a wife, three kids and two mistresses and they all lived on the twelfth floor together. Maybe there was a whole village somewhere in the top of this building, probably not. Sanity returned to Max. Olivia was preparing to leave; Helen had left sometime before. Her desk was totally clean. She had accomplished all her tasks for the day. Max’s computer made the “you’ve got mail” chime and Olivia stopped at the door. Max brought up the mail and sure enough, it was from Tess. I will return to work Monday, if that is all right. It was signed TH. Max looked up at Ms. Sanchez and said, “She will be back.” A quick email was sent to the twelfth floor and Max hurried home jubilantly.
“Maria, Max just called me. He wants the four of us to go out this Saturday night. What do you think?” Liz phoned her friend.
“You said that he had been depressed this week, is this to cheer him up?” Maria asked.
“I don’t think so. You are right; this has been a horrible week. His secretary has been talking about leaving his team. They had the hardest project they had ever been given. I don’t yet know what it was. Something about remaking a rock star, yet when he called me this afternoon he sounded happier than I remember in a long time,” Liz informed Maria.
“Well, let’s not spoil the mood. I will have to ask Michael when he comes home, but I am sure that we can be on for Saturday night,” Maria responded.
Max picked up carry out. He still hadn’t done anything about learning to cook. He had called Liz and asked her to set something up with Michael and Maria. He had second thoughts. If Liz turned him down tonight, then Saturday night would be a bust. They had been going together for sometime, ever since he had met her that night on the elevator. There was still a lot he didn’t know about Liz, but he felt that he knew enough to show her a ring. Tess agreeing to come back, meant that she had patched up things with Kyle. It had been two years since the dream team had been formed. Max had to laugh, now he was using that term. He had no idea of when or by who it had first been used to describe the team of Evans and Harding. The team of Evans and Harding was, in itself, a first. None of the other executives referred to anything, except for their team. Max was not only sharing his bonuses with Tess, he also was openly sharing the success with her. The only thing that worried Max was that one night. What if Max had been sitting in a bar, while being that depressed? How vulnerable would he have been to any woman who approached him?
Max had no idea how marriage would work. He hoped that he could be open with a wife with all that he did. No, he wasn’t about to run to Liz with what he and Tess almost did. They resisted temptation, and maybe, they both felt a little sorrow for the missing emotion. How did it go, “We’ll always have Paris?” That movie line didn’t exactly fit what he and Tess almost shared, but he knew that they both wanted to put that behind them as only a memory that they each could savor in private.
Liz had set things up as Max requested with Michael and Maria. They were a special couple, Maria being Liz’s best friend and Michael being Max’s best friend. Liz would have fixed a supper if Max had only asked her to, but for some reason, Max wanted for her to meet him in his apartment to eat carry out, all be it that the food would be of the best quality. Max had to run through most of Tess’s address book to find the restaurant, so he still felt that she was assisting him.
Just to run up three floors to Max’s apartment, did not seem that formal to Liz. She was dressed in slacks, a tee top and flats. Max had tried to explain the magic of the elevator to Liz. She didn’t completely understand what he was saying. His story seemed almost like the attempt at a semi-romantic pick-up line, a magic box, which took her to a place where she would be, forever changed. She was visiting Max in his small apartment. True, they probably would end up in bed, but Liz believed that she would return no different than she was now.
Max met her at the door. At first, Liz was a little upset. Max was dressed in one of his soft wool suits. Liz always enjoyed leaning her face against that suit as they sat watching movies, listened to TV or just necked. It was probably camel. “Max, did you intend for me to dress up?” she asked.
“No, Liz, but for me, it is a formal occasion. Please sit down.” Max led her to the table in the small dining nook.
Scented candles, soft music and the meal surprisingly delicious, Liz could never understand how Max found places like he did. That went for his choice in his suits. It was as if Max had taken a course in wardrobe design. Max was a mighty “canny” man, her grandmother would say.
Max poured glasses of wine; then, he sat down. Max had cleared the food cartons and placed the dishes he laid out in the sink. Liz expected them to transfer to his bedroom or at least, to the couch in the little living room. Max sat and reached across the table. He had something on his mind, so Liz could only wait for whatever he wanted to say.
Max was hoping to run on a wave of exhilaration. Tess had notified the team that she intended to return. Some of the things he had heard from the twelfth floor, seemed to indicate that Max’s future was heading in the right direction and now, the woman of his choice was sitting across from him waiting. The ring was something that Max didn’t have a chance to ask Tess about. Tess had helped him in so many things that he did have anxiety about things he did without her assistance. Well, getting married was not something he should share with his executive assistant. Tess should be making plans of her own with Kyle. Maybe after they survived this milestone in their team, she could find a way to make Kyle come around.
It wasn’t the biggest stone that Max could afford. He had plenty of money, now that his dream team was assured to continue. Max tried to pick a stone, which he liked and one, which he would enjoy seeing on his girl’s finger for the rest of their life.
The sad thing about Marriage was that it had less than a 50% chance of surviving. Well after what they went through last week, the dream team had been given considerably less chance than that.
Max took a deep breath and said, “Elizabeth Parker, would you consent to be my wife.”
Max, well knew that there had been times when the request for marriage would have been made to a supposed virgin. The event would be celebrated with the couple taking more liberties with each other. Max and Liz had been having sex almost since they had been going together. An acceptance of marriage would allow the couple the freedom to discuss a future. None of this would occur unless in the next few minutes, Liz said, “Yes!”
This was not what Liz had expected. True, Maria had teased Liz about becoming Max’s second wife, the corporation being the first one. Until recently, Liz had had worries about Max’s office. Now that she and Tess were friends, this worry was lessened. Max had told her that there was always a chance for things to happen. That was exactly what Liz had said to Kyle the other day. Then, there were the stories about Max and Courtney. If Max was a super stud who made huge demands in the women he bedded, Liz had seen no sign of it. Max and Courtney were in the past. Liz must force her self to leave it there. She was more concerned that someday in the future, she might find Max’s sexual appetite to eclipse hers and she would be unable to fulfill it or even want to fulfill what Courtney had implied.
“Max this is a big decision,” Liz started. “I was not expecting it. Could I have the night to think about marriage? I still have dreams about going back to school, I just need to rethink about what I want to study. If I accept marriage then, I have to reconsider where I might attend a school to further my dreams.”
Max couldn’t conceal his disappointment, but he did realize that he had been considering this for some time. For Liz, it might be a surprise and she did have her own future to consider.
Liz had intended to spend the night with Max, but he kissed her and carefully escorted her back to her apartment. Accept what he offered or not, their relationship could not remain the same.
“Maria, wake up,” Liz said on the phone.
It was good that Liz hadn’t called thirty minutes earlier. Maria had been in the throws of sexual activity with what Michael was doing to her. Maria might have cut her off in a much more curt manner. Now, Maria had to clear the first cobwebs of a sleep she had entered into promoted by exhaustion. “Yes, Liz, what do you want?” Maria whispered.
“Maria, wake up. Max proposed to me tonight,” Liz almost cried.
“A… a what did you say?” Maria stammered through the waves of sleep.
“I told him that I needed to think about it,” Liz related.
“Why… a do you have someone better lined up?” Maria was still having trouble forming thoughts.
“Ah...no, but I am still bothered about how Courtney described him. What if I wake up and find I am married to a sex fiend some day,” Liz stated.
Privately, Maria, who having been chased by Michael about the apartment, stopping ever so often to make love, wondered what constituted a sex fiend. “What do you mean?” she did manage to ask.
“Well, Courtney said Max had her every way possible and they went around the world twice. I am not sure I would be ready for any of this,’ Liz explained.
Maria shook her head. She no longer was whispering. If she woke Michael up, that was his problem. It was his fault, anyway. “Liz, both times, Michael gave Max something to make him ready for a girl like Courtney. You know how men are. They compare size, times and scores of every babe they bang. You know the real Max. He is the one asking you to let him spend the rest of his life with you,” Maria explained.
“Why would Michael do something like to Max? Aren’t they best friends?” Liz asked.
“Yes, of course. Michael had some idea of Max pushing Courtney further than he ever did. I think that, maybe, he wanted to get her mind off of him. He can be a conceited bastard, sometimes,” Maria stated.
By this time Michael was fully awake and looking at Maria as she talked to someone on the phone. After she hung up he asked, “Who was that, this time of the night, babe?
Maria looked at Michael as he looked up from where he lay. “Now, you’ve done it. That was Liz and she refused to accept Max’s proposal of marriage and it was all your fault. You supercharged Max while he was with Courtney. After Courtney’s stories, Liz is afraid to accept Max. She thinks he must be some kind of closet pervert,” Maria crossly scolded Michael.
“Ah, what is wrong with being a pervert if it is between consenting adults?” Michael said as he captured Maria’s shoulders and smothered her protests with kisses. He, again, started a session of lovemaking.
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Chase crooks both human and alien with Little Napoleon, part one
Good teachers are born that way, not made. No! Good human beings, are born that way. Some of them become teachers.
Of course, life is not fair. You shouldn't expect it to be fair, but you should expect it to be ironic.
JKR 1981-2001
History is made of wars, recovering from wars and preparing for the next war.
JJR 1975-
Of course, life is not fair. You shouldn't expect it to be fair, but you should expect it to be ironic.
JKR 1981-2001
History is made of wars, recovering from wars and preparing for the next war.
JJR 1975-