Chapter 5

For what seemed like an eternity, Cathy, Bob and the other forty or so people initially hired by Bob worked in terribly confined quarters in a temporary office. Slowly the contractors at the new site would release a portion of the factory to them so that by the time spring rolled around, the machines were being installed and the first floor office spaces were completed. Cathy acted as the overall coordinator, directing the installation of the new office furniture and telephone systems. As that task neared completion, she was summoned to the corporate offices to officially meet her new boss, Mike Van Meter, who she knew only by his reputation of success in other corporate divisions. Mike was aware that the executive offices were nearing completion and wished to make his preferences known to her before everything was delivered and installed. Once those details were settled, he explained what his vision of her role on his staff would be. He made it quite clear that he considered her to be the overall number two person in the facility, reporting only to him, and loyal only to him. She was to act as a screen for incoming problems and opportunities, keeping his current activities in line with the stated goals of the division and company. He told her that only she would have the number of his office telephone extension, and any caller id for his outgoing calls would be masked. She was also to act as the immediate contact person for any serious trouble or in the event of a catastrophe or disaster, and she was the single person authorized to talk to the local press about anything involving the division or the company. To accomplish these tasks, she would be allowed to hire up to three individuals of her choosing to assist her.

When she returned home, she was shown the layout of the executive office, and was amazed that Mike's office was almost impossible to enter without first going through her own. She had expected that she would have a modest size cubicle, as the assistants to the various Division Managers on the first floor did, or possibly even a small office, but she never imagined that her own office would be larger than the Division Managers' own offices. Outside of her door were two smaller offices for her own assistants.

The walls of her office were painted a soft steel blue, and several pieces of "corporate art" adorned the walls. The furnishings consisted of a very large desk and credenza, a long leather sofa, two leather side chairs and a corner mounted forty two inch color television. The plush silver wall to wall carpet begged to be walked on barefooted, but Cathy drew the line there. It was definitely a beautiful room, and it clearly stated that the person behind the desk had substantial authority and control.

Mike Van Meter arrived on site at nine o'clock on the Monday after she had moved all of her things into her new office. Finally, after nearly seven months of chaperoning the construction of a factory, the prospect of a "normal" day actually existed. Everything was beautiful, there were only a handful of issues involving the new building, and life was pretty "grand" for Cathy Henry. Shortly after lunch, Mike walked in to Cathy's office.

"Come with me for a moment, would you please?"

Cathy followed him as he walked out to the first doorway to the executive complex.

"Look at this, Cathy. It is beautiful," he continued as he waved his arms into the air, making obvious reference to the entire complex. He re-entered her office and stopped near the doorway, closing the door after her as she stood beside him. "Look at this, too, Cathy. Look at this and then make a choice; you can have all this, and everything I offered you two weeks ago, or you can have Bob Donald's cock sticking in your ass, but you can't have both. This is your first critical executive decision, and I want your answer in ten seconds." The tone of his voice had suddenly become very, very serious. There was no doubt in Cathy's mind that he was not joking.

Immediately, all the color drained from her face and she began to tremble in fear. Quickly she responded, "I want this. I don't want him. But how do I tell him? And how did you know? Did he tell you about us?"

"I will take care of telling him. You need not worry about that. No, he didn't have to tell me about the two of you. When I first met you, I knew instantly what had happened. It is the same thing he has done at every new plant he has opened. The company hires a very bright young lady to assist the General Manager, the young lady gets a makeover to become a beautiful woman, and Bob gets another loyalty fuck for six months until the place opens and he gets slapped down again."

"Do the others in corporate know, too?" Cathy asked, almost in tears.

"No, for if they did, neither of you would be here today. And I intend to keep it that way. I have seen your work so far, and I would not want to lose that or you. I am glad you made that choice."

Calming herself, and grateful for the opportunity to save her job and her reputation, she finally said, "I am glad that you did this. I wanted to break it off with him, but I was afraid to and didn't know how I would ever do it."

"This is all that I will ever say about this to you or anyone else. However, as the number two person here, I expect that you will take similar steps to deal with any of our employees who become involved with other employees in similar circumstances. I won't tolerate it."

A few days later, Cathy received a postcard from Melissa in Chicago stating that they had received a payment from an anonymous donor in the amount of twenty five hundred dollars into her account there, and invited her to return to Chicago to look at new spring and summer fashions.

Three days later, she issued a news release to all employees that Bob Donald had been transferred to a new facility.

Life was changing for Cathy Henry, on a daily basis. In her role as Assistant to the Vice President, her day was filled with a variety of challenges that were completely foreign to her. Six months ago she had been an unemployed secretary married to a soldier stationed in Europe. She knew nothing about the inner workings of the company's products; in fact she didn't even know that those products existed. Six months later, with the full blessing and confidence of her immediate boss as well as the entire top corporate staff, she was central to the entire facility. Of course there were Division Managers responsible for engineering, manufacturing, sales and the like, and each of those individuals were competent in their fields, but the challenges of the business brought a steady stream of visitors to her office and to Mike's meetings. Her day was hectic, to say the least, and at the end of it, she was tired and just wanted to go home and relax, fix supper for herself and her daughter and then unwind.

Time passed quickly. As the months passed, Cathy began to anticipate the return of her husband from his military service in Europe. She looked forward to their telephone calls each Saturday evening, sometimes speaking for hours using a computer assisted voice network sponsored by the military. She was delighted to hear that he was finally coming home, for certain. She really believed that they had spent more than enough time apart and that it was truly time for them to be together and for him to get to know his daughter. But in the back of her mind was a nagging question about how she herself had changed, both in her appearance as well as her professional status. She was no longer a "plain Jane" secretary and housewife; she played a very important role as an executive in the brand new factory in their city, and based upon what others told her, had blossomed into a very beautiful woman as well. She was really concerned about how her husband would react. In less than two weeks, she would learn the answer.

Melissa called her from Chicago and, once again, personally invited her to spend the weekend in Chicago shopping for new clothes for spring and spending another day in the spa. Cathy accepted the invitation and made arrangements for the trip. The limousine met her at the airport and took her directly to the hotel; enroute, Melissa explained that all the rooms at the boutique were booked and that she hoped Cathy would enjoy staying in the special suite she had visited previously. What she failed to mention was that Cathy would not be the only one staying in the room. Melissa had maintained contact with Chris following Cathy's last visit and, after having spent a weekend enjoying him, his physical attributes, his endurance and his special approach to sex, she felt very confident that Cathy would enjoy a similar weekend with him again.

They went immediately to her room, the room with the incredible view of the Chicago skyline, so that Cathy could drop off her bags and freshen up before heading to the penthouse bar and dance floor. Melissa accompanied her, only to save her from going into a bar unaccompanied. Chris was already there, sitting at a table for three, with their drinks waiting for them as well. Melissa spotted Chris and went immediately to the table. Cathy attention had been diverted briefly, as she looked toward the dance floor and when she turned again to catch up to Melissa, she saw Chris as he stood to greet them.