Chapter 2: A Little Rain

... A Little Rain Must Fall

Oops

John Emerson slammed his phone down. Lou Ventana had just called to ask for his money back. According to Lou, Jennifer Carrington wasn’t holding up her end of the bargain that had been negotiated at the fifth auction.

John asked his secretary to set a meeting ASAP with Ed Grayson and Joan Thompson, both executive vice presidents at Enterprise Services. Fifteen minutes later the duo were settled in his office wondering what had caused the need for an urgent meeting. Ed had been John’s partner since the inception of the Emerson Management Consulting Firm, established more than 20 years back. Ed was a “rainmaker”, a natural born charmer and salesman. He was also in charge of customer relations for Enterprise Services, a wholly owned, but quite separate, subsidiary. Joan Thompson, among her other duties, was in charge of recruitment and shepherding the young prizes that were awarded at the Enterprise auctions.

John began, “Lou Ventana from Pittsburg just called. He is furious with us and Jennifer Carrington. He claims that she refuses to comply with her agreement, is surly with him, and generally unpleasant. He wants his money back. So, what do we do?”

Joan spoke first. “That doesn’t sound like the Jennifer we recruited. She was perky and enthusiastic. Do you want me to talk with her?

“What do you think Ed?” John said. “We should mediate this. We need to get Lou and Jennnifer together with the three of us as soon as possible. If we can’t work this out either Lou or Jennifer can take this south in a hurry. So, it is everyone’s best interests to resolve this quietly and rapidly.”

“I also think that we should do this blind. That way, neither Lou nor Jennifer can accuse us of favoring one side over the other.”

“I don’t like that. Too many opportunities for ugly surprises when we bring them together,” commented Ed. “I propose we set up a meeting here in Philadelphia, but only after we have talked to each of them separately. Joan and I should fly to Pittsburg this afternoon. She could talk to Jennifer at Carnegie Mellon and I will meet with Lou in his offices. Once we have each side, we bring them here to see if we can save this.”

“Ok. Let’s do it.” John declared.

At ten am the next morning, Joan was sitting with Jennifer Carrington in a back booth at the Carnegie Mellon Student Union. Jennifer was crying silently. “He wants to beat me and tie me up. I never agreed to that and I just can’t do it. He terrifies me. He is so angry lately. In the beginning, it was wonderful. He was kind and considerate. Now, it is more like rape. He throws me around and enters me without any foreplay. I am dry all the time and it hurts, but he doesn’t care. He treats me like shit.”

“Jen, honey, we are going to work this out. But you have to live up to the terms of your agreement or you will lose the money he paid.”

“I have and I am. I just won’t be beaten or tied up. He can humiliate me if he must, but I will never let a man hit me.”

“Honey, we are not going to let him hit you or even humiliate you. That is not in the agreement. If he persists, we will declare him in default and award you full payment immediately. However, you absolutely must live up your end to the agreement.”

“I do. Joan, I do. Whenever he calls, I go. I just don’t think I can do it much longer. All he does now, is call me horrible names, fuck me in the ass, and demand that I get out of his sight before he throws me out. Once he even forced me into a hotel hallway naked because he said that he couldn’t stand looking at me any more. Then, he calls back a few hours later all apologetic. I am so confused and scared.”

“I’m so sorry. We carefully vetted Lou before inviting him to the prize auction. We had no indication that he would behave other than as a gentleman with you. I will get to the bottom if this and I will find a solution. In the meantime, we will ask Lou not to contact you, and we are asking you not to contact him. Do you think that you could do that for me? Can you tell me when his behavior began to change?” Joan asked.

“It all started about two months ago, he started to spank me when he was fucking my ass. At first it was a light spanking, but he began hitting me harder and harder. It hurt and I pulled away from him. He screamed for me to get my ass back on his cock. I started to cry and he slapped me hard across the face. I gathered my clothes and left. The next time we met, he had some kind of leather bondage equipment that he said I must wear when we were having sex. He frightened me. So, I refused. When he became angry I left. After that, it has been one demand after another. This has become a nightmare for me. I just want it over.” Jennifer replied.

Across town, Ed Grayson wasn’t having any better luck with Lou Ventana. Lou, was CEO of a mid-sized steel producing company with mills in Pennsylvania and Ohio. “That damned girl...” he kept repeating. “She think that she is too good for me — fucking bitch!”

“Ok, Lou, what happened exactly?”

“I bought some bondage gear that I asked her to wear. She freaked out and started screaming at me. So, I said, OK how ‘bout I spank you instead. She called me a dirty pervert and stormed out. A little later, she called back and apologized for walking out on me, but was adamant that I couldn’t ‘t tie her up or beat her. Ever since then, it has been one refusal after another. Frankly, I am tired and just want my money back.”

“Let me work on that.” said Ed. “In the meantime, would you be willing to come to Philadelphia and explore this situation in more detail? Enterprise Services would pay for transportation and your hotel room while you are there.”

Lou reluctantly agreed. He insisted that he travel first class and be lodged in a five star hotel. Ed, for his part, was relieved. He asked for two weeks to set up the next meeting.

On the plane back to Philly, Joan and Ed compared notes. They concluded that a private investigator should be hired to do a deep background check on both Jennifer and Lou before the meeting in Philadelphia. Something was clearly off.

A week later the investigator report was on the desk of John Emerson. Things were worse than he expected. Jennifer and an older sister had been severely beaten and locked in a closet as children by their stepfather. The whole sordid mess came to light when the stepfather fractured her sister’s jaw. He had been sentenced to 20 years in prison for his treatment of Jennifer and her older sister. The mother stood by the stepfather. She blamed the girls. She accused of them of acting like strumpets. She abandoned the girls to foster care. The older sister eventually committed suicide. Jennifer needed years of counseling to overcome deep seated fears instilled by here experiences. Lou had demanded Jennifer do the two things that she feared most. It was no wonder that she refused.

Lou’s situation wasn’t a whole lot better. He was in the middle of an acrimonious divorce, his company was failing due to his abysmal leadership and competition from more modern steel processors in Europe. The majority of his corporate directors were openly trying to replace him.

His wife had graphic evidence of Lou’s infidelity with another woman, fortunately not Jennifer. She wanted the house, sole custody of the children, and alimony that exceeded 75% of his annual income. Her lawyers had hinted that she was going to the Pittsburg newspapers with the evidence if he didn’t concede. Lou knew that publication would ruin him.

He also knew that if he lost his position at the steel company, he would never be employed as a senior manager again. He was truly desperate. He had been seen drunk in his private club cursing all women and swearing revenge. He had even shoved a club waitress so hard that she fell and broke her elbow. As a result, he had been banned from the club and was facing an additional lawsuit.

Mediation

The meeting began promptly at ten am in a rented conference room in the hotel at which Lou was staying. John Emerson was seated at the conference table when Ed brought Lou in. He was clearly in a belligerent mood. His breath smelled of alcohol. Jennifer entered with Joan and sat opposite from him. She was hunched over and her eyes were red from crying. It was not a good start.

Before John could say a word, Lou demanded to know if the prize agreement was still in effect, while glaring directly at Jennifer, who hunched deeper in her chair.

Joan replied, “Lou, I will not allow you to intimidate Jennifer during this meeting, but yes the agreement is in place until it is completed or terminated for cause.”

“Well, then, I want her naked now.” Lou growled. “Let’s see who breaks this agreement first.”

Joan started to say that wasn’t going to happen when Jennifer stood and began removing her clothes. When she was completely naked, she sat back down in the chair spreading her legs wide. “Why are you doing this Lou?”

“Thats enough. Jennifer, put your clothes back on.” John Emerson barked. “The purpose of this meeting is to get your agreement back on track or terminate it. I will not allow any bullying here. For Christ’s sake, we are all adults. Act like it.”

Jennifer gave a frightened look at Lou who nodded. She rose, redressed and returned to the conference table.

“Thats better.”

“Now, let’s begin. Let’s start with the agreement that you two have made.

First, it states that both parties agree and acknowledge all activities performed shall have the full consent of both parties. Non consensual acts by either party on the other are strictly prohibited and are a basis for immediate termination for cause. In fact, at the top and bottom of each page in red letters appear the words:

NON-CONSENSUAL ACTS ARE STRICTLY PROHIBITED.

Second, in this particular agreement, the prize has agreed to perform oral, vaginal, and anal intercourse with the awardee or any other person, male or female, as the awardee may designate at any time or place selected by the awardee, provided that the such activities will be discreet and not disclosed to others or the public in general. Disclosure of any activities covered by this agreement, whether intentional or inadvertent, shall be grounds for immediate termination with a penalty imposed of the person deemed responsible for the disclosure equal to three times the total value of the agreement. Such penalty payment shall be paid immediately to the non-disclosing party and the agreement terminated.

Third, the prize may defer any requested activity or meeting for a period of up to 72 hours without giving any reason for a maximum of three times. Thereafter, any further deferrals shall require good cause, which shall be determined by the awardee in his or her sole discretion.

Finally, all disputes shall be resolved by binding mediation conducted under the auspices of Enterprise Services.

So, here we are. At the end of the day, you two will either be back together or we will find either or both of you in breach of contract. Do you both understand?”

Jennifer and Lou nodded.

“Lou, you have the floor.”

Lou began by outlining his frustration with Jennifer. In his view, she had become surly and uncooperative. She was often late. He emphasized that she refused to perform acts specifically set out in the agreement.

At that point, Joan interrupted, “Could you be a bit more specific about that? she asked.

“Certainly, a few months ago we were engaging in anal intercourse, which we have been doing regularly without any complaints. She abruptly withdrew and refused to continue with that or any other sex act. I asked if I could spank her and she was totally unreasonable. Every time I tried to talk to her about it she would scream hysterically and run away. Again, when I showed her some light bondage gear, she began screaming and ran out of our hotel room stark naked. I could only get her back in after I agreed to wait in the hall until she was fully dressed. I was fearful that her yelling outside the hotel room would draw attention and expose our activities. She, then, fled without permission.

“She has become manipulative and twists everything I do or say. She is almost as big a shrew as my wife. If I had wanted that kind of treatment, I could have stayed home and been nagged to death there. I most certainly could have saved a lot of money, — which I now want it back.”

The room was silent.

John turned to Jennifer, “What do you have to say?”

She cleared her throat. “I have done everything I could to make this work. I have never asked to defer a single meeting request by Lou. I have made my mouth, pussy, and ass available to him each and every time that he has asked. I have had sex with his friends and mistress when he directed me to do so. I had two theesomes with him even though I thought that it was beyond the scope of our agreement.