Chapter 15: A total commitment

In the morning we had to hurry; the long goodbyes had taken their tolls and I almost missed the flight. On board, I took out my briefing papers to prepare for my noon meeting on the NT proposal and concentrated on my work. I didn’t hear or see anything. In Sydney, a taxi took me to the office in time to arrange the slides and notes, and as soon as my staff saw me, they all had big smiles on their faces.

“Boss, I believe we’ve got this one! This will do wonders for our year-end evaluation! You did well with the Iron Lady! What did she say to you when we left? And why do you look so tired?”

I told them that Mrs. Monahan had complimented us on the quality of the presentation and that we had to prepare ourselves for even more work if she accepted the proposal. They moaned and words like ‘slave driver’ were thrown about. We went rapidly once more through the presentation and the proposal and I could see some refinements had been made - the extra work had been worthwhile, but only if she accepted the proposal. I passed Frank’s office and told him that things were promising, but we would have to wait for a few days to know.

I had promised to invite the team for lunch, and we went to Doyle’s in Watson Bay, where fish and drinks finished a successful project. They ate themselves silly, but the scallops and King Prawns as starters, followed by the Barramundi and John Dory, were better than excellent. The Croser Vintage sparkling wine and the Petaluma Sauvignon Blanc, both from Adelaide, rounded off the meal. They were happy and I was proud of a job well done.

When I arrived at the flat the message light on my phone was blinking.

“Where have you been? I called several times, but nobody answered. How was the flight?” the words flew out of Maureen’s mouth.

“The flight was fine, and we went once more through the proposal, and then I took them out for a long lunch. They deserved it! But, my love, I’m a business executive; I’m responsible not only for my work, but for that of others. You can call me whenever you want, but I cannot guarantee that I’m available - there will be meetings and visits, even some travel to other States. I’ll advise you when this happens, but you must have patience. I promise to call you every night, even if once in a while it’ll be late. OK?”

She accepted my explanation - not wholeheartedly but knowing there was nothing we could do about it.

“Forgive me, I was lonely and missed you so much and couldn’t help myself. I promise I shall wait for your call at night and will call you only if it’s really urgent. By the way, Mom told me to tell you that in our house, you can do with her whatever you want, and she hopes that you start with bending her over a chair as you promised. In the office, however, it will be a different picture. She has a company to run and people to protect, and at that moment you will be just a business partner, nothing else.”

I thought that Eileen had gone back to being an executive - perhaps with some sidetracks allowed – but realised that she had her own responsibilities. I told Maureen that I expected nothing else from her mom and that this advice confirmed my very good opinion about her. Then we told ourselves that we loved each other and that we missed each other and whatever other emotional messages lovers trade when they are far away from each other. I even asked her to give her mother’s puppies a kiss for me, and I went to sleep tired and with a smile.

The following days were filled with work, visits to customers and potential clients, internal meetings on all possible matters, and finally I found that even the solution to the personnel move that had bothered me a few weeks ago had been resolved satisfactorily, for both the guy involved and for the company.

On Thursday afternoon my secretary, Mary Ann, called all excited and whispered, “Mr. Winter, there is a Mrs. Monahan from NT on the phone, and she wants to talk to you.”

“By all means, put her on.”

“Mr. Winter, this is Eileen Monahan from NT. You had given us a proposal on a re-organization of our company and an investment and expansion project. I am here with my directors, and we have decided to accept that proposal. Could you please send us a draught contract?”

Her voice was serious and decisive, and I could only respond in the same way.

I pushed the mute button and yelled, “YES!” and, coming back to Mrs. Monahan as I had to consider her at this moment, I said in my best professional voice, “We are very pleased with your decision and are proud that you have selected our company to accompany you on your path to a greater future. We can send you a draught contract by Monday morning and our lawyers and the marketing team will be at your disposal to explain any questionable sections. I’d like to thank you once more for your trust and confidence - we can only make this happen if your people will sit with ours and work as one team. We’ll count on this, Mrs. Monahan.”

She was a formal as I was.

“We’ll give you all the data we have, and our people are already anxious to work with you. I will expect your draught on Tuesday and will look at it immediately. I assume that we can have an answer by Friday and can then sit down once more to decide whatever is still open, and eventually sign a contract the following week. We would obviously want you to be here for the last discussion and to bring along your legal counsel to work out legal matters with our lawyers. Before I sign any contract, I want to go through your reasoning once more and see the commitment of your company. You’re looking at a new customer; we’re looking at the future of our company. This is more important to us than it is for you, so be prepared to satisfy our demands.”

I heard her smiling when she said this and could not hide a smile myself. I would definitively satisfy her demands whenever and however she wanted; it would be interesting to see us dancing around our professional and private behaviour. On one side protecting rationally the interests of our company, on the other, hidden away, seeing an emotional and eventual sexual meaning in every move and comment. But that was a problem we had to solve later; first, we had to get the contract signed!

“Well, Mr. Winter, I hope you liked the news and I expect to hear from you soon. I wish you an exciting weekend when you can think about all the thrilling options you have for us in the future.”

Only she and I would understand the second meaning behind her words, but I was on cloud nine. I hung up and ran out of my office and yelled, “People, we got the order from NT!”

Actually, we had only handed over a proposal and had to submit a draught contract to them, and this had still to be drafted and typed up, but I was certain that we had done it. Everyone congratulated each other, and there were smiles all over. It was very good business and if we handled it correctly, it would open even more business consequently.

I went to my boss, Frank Burroughs, and told him the good news. He was very happy; it seemed that I had saved him from another dismal sales year. I also advised that in case we got the order (which was highly probable), we could not handle this on our own in Australia, so we would need additional support from headquarters or companies in other regions. I knew probable candidates and I assumed that there would be no problem in getting the right people.

Then I closed the door and sat down. “Frank, there is a possible ethical problem involved. I have asked Mrs. Monahan’s daughter to marry me, and she accepted. In any other circumstance, I would step back and hand the project over to one of my colleagues, but in this case, it seems that she wants to treat everything with me heading the team, and I don’t want to ruin the deal. I suggest that I include Peter in all business negotiations as a checkpoint of my correct behaviour - and you know me well enough to be certain that I’ll always protect our company. What do you think?”

He looked at me and considered the options he had - take the deal away from me and lose it or trust me and agree to have Peter accompanying me. Then he nodded and said to go ahead. He had no doubts about my integrity - if he had any I wouldn’t still be here - and my suggestion had just proved this. He would tell Sir Allan, but this secret would stay with us as long as the news had not become public.

I went over to Peter’s office, and he was already waiting for me.

“How did you do it? We never made it past the first meeting, and you got your proposal presented and approved! How did you do it? What did you do differently?”

I told him that the only thing different to previous efforts was that I involved everyone in the project and looked at it from outside of the box. It was not a proposal to sell some equipment, but a proposal to change the company, and Mrs. Monahan had liked the new idea. I told him also that the lady wanted a draught contract on Tuesday in Brisbane, so we should better sit down immediately and talk to our lawyers. We had a standard contract form, but I knew that it had to be changed drastically. He smiled and said that I had made my year, and the company would make our sales quota this year with the sale. We had to hurry, however, because she might change her mind, and we needed a signed contract to book the deal.

Then I took a deep breath, “Peter, there’s a small problem. I’ve talked about this already with Frank and he agrees with my recommendation. Peter, do you remember the night you forced me to come to your party? I met this girl, and you threw us out of your house? Well, things progressed with alarming speed, and I met her again in Brisbane and she came to visit me in Sydney. Well, to make the story short, I asked her to marry me and she accepted.”

There was a long silence, then Peter asked me to repeat it all. I did and he shook his head.

“James, I know that you work fast, but this surprises even me. Are you sure that this is right for you? And for her? You’re a foreigner on expat status in Australia; what will you do when your contract ends here in two year’s time? Will you leave the country? Will you leave the company? What will you do?”

I told him that Maureen and I had discussed the issue and decided to leave it to the future. We wanted to get married to stay together forever, as all lovers do. And then I raised the other problem.

“You know that Maureen is Mrs. Monahan’s daughter, which complicates the situation because all kinds of possible ethical problems and eventual conflict of interest situations might arise. I can leave her problems for her to resolve on her own; she’s an adult and should know what she’s doing - after all, it’s her company. For me the situation is different. I don’t want to be accused of being lenient or too generous because she’ll be my mother-in-law...” (and I could not avoid thinking that she is already my lover) “ ... so I suggested to Frank that you should sit in on all important discussions and negotiations. In any case of doubt, you will bring the point to Frank’s attention and he’ll arbitrate any differences of opinion. Do you agree?”

Peter shook his head, still not believing what he heard.

“Maureen is a nice girl and intelligent, but she’s a little mouse, not the type I thought you’d be attracted to. She had her problems in the past and I’m certain that she told you about them as she was always an honest and correct person, but to attract Mr. James Winter? What did she do, if I may ask? She’s not the glamorous woman I expected you to have at your side. Are you certain that you know what you’re doing? She’s the daughter of a friend of my father and we’ve only met occasionally, especially in the last few years when she vanished from the social scene. I know you enough to be certain that you’ll never hurt the girl, but you could get hurt! Well, it’s your decision and your responsibility for anything that might happen - just be careful, my friend.”

He shook his head, still surprised, but accepting it.

“I’ll obviously help you as a sounding board, but I can assure you that around here nobody doubts your integrity. You’re not the most popular guy around, because you’re such a bloody workaholic, but everyone knows that you’re available whenever a problem crops up. If you had a private life, you might also have more friends...”

I interrupted his tirade, “Since I have a friend in you, I don’t need more, Peter.”

He looked at me and shook his head, “You’re a bloody idiot, but you’re our idiot, and we’ll stand behind you all the way!”

I called an emergency meeting with my team, the lawyers, the controller, Peter, and two other logistics experts, and explained the situation. I explained that I needed a draught contract with all details on my desk on Monday morning, so that I could make one more presentation to our directors and the president. I further explained that there might be a significant import of resources needed - and rapidly.

“Let’s start working. I’ll have sandwiches brought in, call your wives, husbands, girlfriends and boyfriends, and tell them not to expect to see you this weekend. Let’s do it!”

And we did work - deep into the night and started again early Friday morning. It came together faster than I had expected - another proof of the quality of the people I was working with. At 6:00 pm, I thanked them all and gave them a summary of what we had accomplished up to that moment. However, more had to be done, and I announced that they could go home, but that I expected them to be in the office Saturday morning at ten o’clock for one final push. Everyone groaned and some mumbled again something like ‘slave driver’, but everyone could see that they were proud of their work.

I went home, too, almost running, since Maureen must have been in the flat for some time already. I felt her presence in the elevator and, opening the door, I saw her sitting in a chair close to the window. When she heard the noise, she jumped up and flew into my arms.

“My love, I missed you so much! I can’t stand it to be away from you! You have to do something about this, and right now!”

She kissed me all over and then focused on her endeavour - she pulled my head down to hers and really kissed me, her tongue invading my mouth, her lips sucking mine into hers, and her hands gripping my hair. She looked into my eyes, and I fell into hers, a deep pair of green pools of liquid sunshine and love. Then she leaned back and pulled her shoulders back, pushing her lovely breasts out, inviting me to look and admire them. They were covered by a thin, blue, spaghetti-strap top reaching to the top of her shorts. She slowly pulled the top upwards until they appeared, sitting proudly on her chest - perky, small, but not too small, and tipped by rosy and puffy nipples, which hardened when I glanced at them. Her beautiful red hair was hanging down over her shoulders and the tips covered one nipple. I touched the nipple with my lips to free it from its cover, and she shivered.

Maureen was beautiful and I adored her. I embraced her, kissed her deeply once more and then led her to her chair.

“Maureen, let me look at you! Do you know how wonderful you are? Do you know how much I love you?”

She nodded happily and pulled me down to give me one more kiss, and then ordered me to sit down on the couch. I refused, saying that I needed a shower and a change because it had been a long day. She came with me to the bedroom, and I found that she had already put her things into the wardrobe and the drawers; now this was her home too. I took off my clothes and went into the bathroom, with her following closely behind me. She sat on the little chair I have there and watched me brush my teeth and enter the shower.

“Do you want company?” she asked with a certain longing and obvious desire, but I declined. I needed some serious time with her and once we started fooling around, the evening would be gone. She helped me dry myself, however, and it took all my concentration to get dressed without passing the bed and collecting Maureen.

I asked, “What are we going to do tonight? Do you want to stay in or go out?”

She didn’t really know what she wanted, but finally said, “Let’s go out. I could make dinner, but you’re tired from looking at documents all day and I think a nice restaurant will restore some of your energy. We could watch other people and have some fun. Otherwise, I could make something to eat; I looked at the sorry excuse you call your fridge and went out to get all the ingredients for a light meal. Whatever you want, my love - all I can say is ‘I hear and obey, my lord and master!’” and she grinned mischievously.

I selected some nice grey slacks, a light blue shirt and got a blazer from the wardrobe. I turned around and asked, “How many luggage pieces did you bring? Half of my wardrobe is filled with your clothes! Is this a promise that you will stay here more often?”

“I didn’t bring too much; just what I need to go out informally - to the beach or the park, to play golf or tennis, to go shopping - but I stopped at bringing evening clothes. There was no more space in the luggage!” and she smiled again.

I told her to change, and without hesitation, she disrobed completely and started to go through her things. First was the choice for her panties; she asked me whether this one or that one fitted her better. Since they were G-strings and barely covered her pussy, I said she could take either one. “Well, I also have this one,” she said, and pulled it on. The G-strings were tiny and this one practically didn’t exist at all. A little string at the back, and in front the same little string passed through the middle of her pussy lips. “Do you like this one better?”

I licked my lips, which were suddenly completely dry, and told her to keep that one for our personal events. She saw me starting to say something and before I got the first word out, she said, “We agreed on no underwear at home. Going out, my love, I have to be decently covered.”

I wondered what her definition of ‘decently’ covered was, especially as she now considered her bra. They all had one measure in common, they were small to tiny. In my opinion, Maureen didn’t need a bra as her breasts were firm and upright. But since she needed to be ‘decently covered’, we discussed options. There were transparent ones and semi-transparent ones; some had a hole in the middle to show the nipple and others covered only half of the areolae. She was waiting to see if I would concede defeat and take her right then, but to her disappointment I was steady and firm (and calling myself an idiot all the time). We could have gone out to dinner afterwards and had some fun first, but what the hell; there was always room for an after-dinner dessert (and I was already looking forward to it).

Finally, she gave up and selected a nice, almost transparent, white blouse that hinted at her breasts and a white skirt that emphasised her slim figure. Black sandals, discreet makeup that accentuated her huge and smiling eyes, her hair put up with little curls, and her opal pendant and ring completed the picture of an elegant and classy lady. Wow! Wait until I told her about Peter’s ‘little mouse’ remark! I called Luigi and he was happy to accept a reservation for us.

I looked for the car keys but could not find them. I called Maureen for help, and she blushed all over, “James, will you forgive me something I did today without authorization? Please say you will!”

I told her to inform me first what she had done, but she insisted that first I should forgive her for whatever she had done today. She gave me that sad puppy look that only cute girls can pull off, and I knew I was sunk. I said it was OK, but what did she do? She looked down and confessed that she had taken my Porsche to go shopping, but she didn’t hit anything, and she didn’t scratch anything. I looked at her and was a little bit upset - it’s a man’s thing not to loan one’s car, especially to a woman, but I saw the confidence she had in me.

“Maureen, I don’t mind you using that car...” (little white lie) “ ... because what’s mine is yours. I am worried, however, that you drive the car without me being beside you the first times you use it. It is a mean machine and difficult to drive. I know that you have driven the car before, but you were driving at night and very carefully, and I was at your side. Now, during the day, there is that temptation to put the foot a bit farther down on the accelerator and that car jumps! Please, please be careful!” She nodded and off we went.

When I opened the car for her, she saw me glancing at the fenders. She grinned, “You can go ahead and check the car, but I told you I didn’t hit anything!”

I had to admit that I had been checking, but once more told her that I had complete confidence in her words and driving skills. This didn’t stop me, however, from walking around the car to have a look. She was right, no damage. When I sat beside her, she smirked, “I told you, my love. The next time trust me!” I nodded, defeated.

I handed her the keys and she smiled. With consideration for her carefully arranged hair and makeup I didn’t put the hood down and we arrived at Luigi’s safe and sound. As always, Luigi was the typical Italian guy, kissing her hand, making a sarcastic remark about me, but then he led us to a secluded table, well protected in an alcove and with a window looking at the Sydney skyline. Luigi then said, “I know that you have matters to discuss, and I don’t want anybody to disturb you. Now, Miss Monahan, can we discuss the wine?”

I wondered whether we should not select the dish first, but I was silenced with a stern glance from both oenophiles. They discussed several grapes and from whatever region they came from, but Luigi insisted on Italian wines. I interrupted them and told Luigi that we would eat the Seared Mandagery Creek venison, sansho pepper, roasted Japanese pumpkin, Saikyo miso and Jerusalem artichoke, so would they please select a wine, and do it now - I was hungry. Luigi seemed insulted and turned his back to me and called a waiter.

“Bring this gentleman a basket with bread, he insists that he is hungry!” and they went back to their discussion. At the end, there were three candidates,” a Pira Superiore Barbera d’Alba, a Fratelli Cigliuti Barbaresco, and a Felsina Riserva Chianti Classico. When they could not decide and the discussion turned to the difference of the taste of green apple skin to red apple skin, I called the wine waiter and ordered a bottle of the Clos Mogador from the Priorat, a Spanish wine I always had liked.

They looked surprised at me, and I told them that first, I wanted to eat, and second, that I was tired of the discussion - I had been in meetings and interminable discussions for two days, and that was enough for me. I apologised, but that was it. Luigi put his nose up and remarked that if I wanted it this way, I was the customer, and walked away.

Maureen smiled and her dimples brought a smile to my face. She said that she had been betting with herself on how long I would stand that conversation, but I was more polite than she had thought - she would have said something more energetic much earlier. Luigi didn’t appear again, but the food was excellent, and the wine was superb.

We decided to have a dessert wine at home, and I drove back to the flat. Maureen laid her hand on my lap and, smiling gently, closed her eyes. When we arrived, I woke her up and led her to the flat. She went to the bedroom advising that she would change into something more comfortable and for me to get two glasses and the port wine. I bowed and said, “I hear and obey, my lady and mistress!”

She beamed and told me to wait for her.

When she came back, it was as if additional lights had added radiance to the room. She was standing in the doorway, dressed in a light green and very transparent slinky long dress. Her breasts were completely exposed - she had put some grey shadows between her breasts to emphasise the proud mounds, and rouge on her nipples. There were two long slits at the sides of the gown and whenever she moved, her long and tanned legs appeared tantalizingly.

She sat down beside me, then said, “The port, please.”

I handed her the glass and we toasted to a wonderful weekend. Then she slid down and put her head on my shoulder, “James, now I’m happy. I’m with you and I want for nothing more. Please kiss me, my love.” I bent down and fulfilled her wish.

The next minutes were spent with gentle and loving kisses to better acquaint ourselves again, and words that lovers exchange when they are happy. She had placed my hand on her breast, and I was playing with her nipple, finding the delicate skin on the sides of her breasts, stroking up and down a few times before letting my thumb drift down to tease the undersides. I watched, fascinated, as the skin around her nipples puckered and wrinkled to hard tips.

She looked at me and whispered, “My love, you can have me now if you want it, but would you please consider just going to bed and hugging? I’m tired and tipsy from the wine, and you must be exhausted. And you have to go back to the office tomorrow morning. I just want to be held, put my head on your chest and be happy. I’ll make it up to you, I swear!”

Without saying anything I picked her up, carried her to the bedroom and placed her gently on the bed. I went back to clean up the sitting room, and when I came back she was already asleep. Not exactly what I had dreamed about her visit, but the important part was that she was here and in my arms. I brushed my teeth and went to bed. I kissed her gently and visited her breasts with a touch of my lips - after all, rules are rules - and turned off the lights.

In the morning I woke up with a wonderful warm feeling on my penis. There was a slow movement up and down from her hand, and a warm liquid sensation surrounding the shaft. Slowly, oh so incredibly slowly, she took me in, as if she was inhaling me with every breath. Then she began to use her tongue to stroke me, and I felt it dancing and wriggling as she went lower, then she pulled her head back a little, her tongue still moving, dragging her top teeth lightly up my straining penis, then back down the length, and she repeated her actions. I didn’t last long, and when she pulled me in deeply once more, I arched my hips trying to push my shaft even farther into her and yelled her name. I exploded in her mouth, and she swallowed every drop. After a million years or so, Maureen pulled away from me slightly, looking up into my eyes, her eyes sparkling green pools that a man would happily, unhesitatingly, sink into, and which were brimming with life and the love of life.

“I did promise you to make up for last night. Are we good?”

I kissed her and my arms slid around her of their own volition, around her waist and further down, to cup her taut cheeks and pull her closer to me. Maureen smiled, her arms tightening around my neck and the back of my head as she pulled me up for another kiss. I kissed her like it was the first time, gently, tentatively, slowly parting her lips with my tongue and slipping it into her mouth, to fence gently with hers. As we kissed, she rubbed herself against me, obviously enjoying the feel of a naked body against another naked body. The feel of her wriggling against me was doing all sorts of things to me, waking up feelings and desires that only she could fulfill.

To my bitter disappointment, the alarm clock went off. Business called and since I had commanded everyone to be in the office at ten o’clock, I could not be late. Maureen was also visibly frustrated, but said to get ready, as she would make breakfast. When she got out of bed she smiled and said, “Just make certain that you come back as early as possible!” She put her hands under her breasts and presented them to me, “My lord and master, your breasts need to be kissed with love.”

I pulled her to me and said that not only my breasts needed to be kissed with love, but that I needed to kiss every part of her body with love, and that I would do this tonight when we had the time - lots of time. And then I did kiss her breasts with abandon and love.

She ran out of the room yelling at me not to waste any time. I did my things, dressed casually, and went to have breakfast. Maureen had done her miracle again, coffee, waffles, eggs and bacon, everything a man needs to start a busy day. I was running behind for my meeting, so I could enjoy her company only for a few minutes, but I promised that I would not to be late for her. If it were possible to have lunch with her, I would advise; if not, she should go out and get something decent to eat. I even gave her a few addresses of good restaurants close to the flat; if she wanted to use the Porsche, she could feel free to do so, but would she please come back in one piece. I could replace the car, but I could not replace her! And off I went.

I was the first one at the office (with the exception of Mary Ann who, as always, was there before anybody else) and prepared the meeting. Peter arrived, my staff, then the controller and, as always, the lawyers were last - no surprise there.

The meeting went on and on until, finally, I banged on the table.

“That’s enough, people. We’re not here to reinvent the wheel; we’re trying to change a standard sales contract into a specific contract for this specific company. Now anybody who wants to discuss for the tenth time paragraph 2, line 17, I would kindly ask to leave and go home. He doesn’t help us. I’ll now give each participant 30 minutes to come up with a final draught version; we will discuss these versions for one hour and agree on a final version. I’ll also evaluate each person’s contribution to this project. If anyone considers this a threat or blackmail, he can do so. I’m tired of turning around in circles and having no reasonable result. You should also remember that NT will also analyse the document. They will discover anything unreasonable or, worse, stupid, very rapidly. So go away and be back here in thirty minutes, folks!”