Chapter 1 - The Story

I was nervous as I waited. My wife of four years and my seventeen year old daughter from my previous marriage waited beside me, my wife patting my leg reassuringly every few minutes. After what felt like an eternity, but was probably closer to 15 minutes, the receptionist finally called out to me.

"Mr. Stewart, Mr. Chamberland will see you now."

I stood up, barely containing my nerves as I shuffled my wife and daughter ahead of me to the door behind the secretary. Stepping into the immaculately furnished office behind, I gaped at the expansive view behind the huge desk and the young black executive standing behind it smiling at us as we entered.

"Ahh, John. So good of you come." Mr. Chamberland said as he stepped around the desk and came to shake my hand with a massive, powerful grip that nearly broke my fingers.

"And this must be your lovely wife, Eve!" He exclaimed, turning and giving my wife a firm hug. I saw her eyes widen a bit in what I assumed was surprise as he pulled her into a tight embrace. Holding her there momentarily and letting go just before the hug seemed awkward, he kissed her flushed cheek and stepped back to appraise my daughter momentarily before sweeping her into a hug as well.

"And this must be Jessica. My god, I can't decide which one of you two is prettier. Are you sure you're not sisters?"

"No, sir," My daughter replied timidly, her cheeks flushing slightly at the compliment as he released her from his hug. "Eve is my step mother, we're not even related." she laughed slightly as she said this.

"Is that so? Well, regardless John sure is lucky to have such beautiful women in his life. Sit down, sit down!" Tom said, gesturing to the chairs in front of his massive desk. He stepped back around his desk and sat down in his executive chair, surveying me with a friendly smile and occasionally glancing at my wife and daughter.

I waited for him to speak first, watching him nervously and still trying to figure out what I was doing here. It was still a mystery to me why Tom had sought me out while we were at the company baseball game two months ago to chat with my wife and I for several minutes, and then last week asked to meet with me out of the blue, and finally an even bigger mystery was why he had asked me to bring my family along as well. But then, Tom Chamberland had always done things his own peculiar way. But he WAS one of the top brass in my company, and this personal meeting with him could be the difference between losing the house and moving into a mansion.

After a few minutes, Tom finally laughed, a rich deep laugh of someone who you can't help but like. "John, my boy, you must be wondering why in the hell you're here."

"As a matter of fact, sir. The question had crossed my mind." I replied in a short squeaky tone, weak and soft compared to his strong voice.

"Well, let's not beat around the bush. The company's growing, and I need good solid dependable people. Someone I can count on to take care of whatever I need. I'm not going to kid you, it's going to be long, hard hours, and I can't even offer a raise yet. But stick with it and we'll get you some decent compensation. You'll get overtime, of course. But we're talking sixty-plus hours a week here." Tom finished, gazing at me appraisingly.

"Err..." I hadn't expected him to be so bold, and was caught completely off guard. "What sort of responsibilities will I have?" I asked, stalling for time.

"Primarily, I would say..." Tom smiled, his perfect smile making me feel at ease. "giving me whatever you have at your disposal that I require. That might be as menial as picking up my laundry from the dry cleaner, but in general you'll be working on reports and spreadsheets for my office."

"And, you expect this change to be uncompensated beyond overtime?" I asked, as some of the details of his explanation began to sink in.

"Initially, yes. I suspect I'll be able to find bonuses for you based on how well your resources work for me, but a salary change won't be available until you've proved yourself completely."

I thought frantically, turning over what he was offering in my head. I knew it had to be a huge opportunity for my meager career, and with the overtime I could begin paying back some of the debts I had accumulated. This thought came unbidden, and internally I winced as I thought of it. "I'll do it." I said, feeling a bit reckless as my eagerness for the extra money overcame my suspicions.

Tom's eyebrows shot up in surprise at the suddenness of my decision. "You're sure John?" he asked appraisingly, "You heard me say that we're talking over sixty hours a week here."

Nodding, I replied "Yes sir, I'll do it."

Turning in his chair to face my wife, who was looking at me with a surprised expression, he asked her "And what do you think of this, Mrs. Stewart?"

She jerked her head away from gaping at me long enough to give him an equally surprised and slightly alarmed "I'm sorry, what?" at having been addressed. I glowered slightly, feeling like she would give him the impression she wasn't listening to him.

"What do you think of John accepting a sixty-plus hour position without even talking to you about it?" He asked her again, smiling slightly as he gazed at her.

"I'm... uh... I've got to be honest Mr. Chamberland, a little shocked." My wife turned to look at me again, this time with a slightly hurt expression.

"I would bet. That's going to mean a lot of lonely nights for you. A woman prefers to have a man in her life a bit more than that, no?" Tom said coolly to her before looking over to me. "Of course, By now I would assume you're pretty used to lonely nights. In face I'm betting he's excited at the prospect of the overtime, given the gambling debts he's wracked up on those long nights out."

My jaw dropped as my wife snapped her head to stare at Tom Chamberland, sitting in his tailored suit and looking perfectly in control with a smile on his face.

"What!?" my wife almost shouted at him, "We don't have any gambling debts, and I would appreciate it if you wouldn't accuse my family of such a thing." My wife folded her arms angrily, glaring at him in indignation while I tried to make myself as small as I could in my chair. My still silent daughter looking between the three of us with an impassive face.

"Oh, I think you'll find that John has a fondness for the race track, but rather poor guessing skills Eve. Now please, I'm trying to help. If I'm wrong, then by all means I apologize. But I assure you that I am not." Tom told her, his gaze steady and piercing as he looked at her.

My wife turned to look at me, taking in my guilty expression and my squirming under her piercing gaze. Seeing my guilty body language in the chair, reading the answer in my eyes, my wife's surprised eyes narrowed as she began to realize what I'd hidden for so long.

"It's true... isn't it..." she said, her voice somewhere between steel and venom. I couldn't bring myself to reply, my entire focus trying to control my bladder which was threatening to drain itself from the stress and embarrassment.