Chapter 11: Joanne Makes Her Move on Katherine

On the Monday after Thanksgiving, I was uneasy about going to work. I had often felt that way when Katherine was giving me a hard time earlier that year. Now it had to do with the ambiguous emotions I was feeling about Joanne. Yes, she was mean-spirited, but she was hot too. I felt I might give in to her charms if she pushed me on that issue.

At that point, I was driving on the last upgrade on Route 17 before I reached the office. That had always been the place on my morning commute where any work-related problems came to my mind. I knew I’d be in that strange place in less than ten minutes.

At least Katherine seemed to be on my side now. But there was still something off about her. She had changed her mind so suddenly about me that I was still having a hard time accepting it. But balling a lady, even one’s own boss, gaves one a certain undeniable confidence when dealing with her.

Renée I trusted more; she was a colleague, not a superior, and there was a kindness in her that reassured me. She didn’t seem as flighty as Katherine. She was pretty laid-back and good-natured, and her emotions were more predictable.

I was only at my desk for about five minutes when my supervisor called me on the phone. She is only about forty yards away; why didn’t she just come and get me? She was also quite abrupt, as she had usually been with me until quite recently. “Paul, come over here, right now.”

She was standing, not sitting, in her cubicle when I got there. The first thing I noticed was that her hair was chopped in the bob cut that she had talked about in the previous week. I had always known her to have long hair, which she wore in different ways. Now she looked younger, perhaps, and I almost didn’t recognize her.

She immediately referred to her new style. She put her hands up to her head and said, “If I only have one life to live, let me live it as a redhead.” That was a reference to the old Lady Clairol commercials – except, the original was “live it as a blonde” – and I laughed at her joke.

“Actually, I’d say you’re more reddish-brown – but that was pretty funny.”

She wasn’t done talking about her appearance. On that day she had a tight blue wool dress and gray suede boots that I had never seen before. “So how about the rest of my outfit? Pretty nice, hah?” Before I could even think of a reply, she went on, “And underneath I have the cutest pair of little pink panties. They show very nicely through my pantyhose.”

Her flirty weirdness was baffling me. I churlishly said, “What does your underwear have to do with anything?”

“Oh, but a lady’s panties often reflect what mood she is in.”

I had never heard it put that way before. If I had to guess at Katherine’s mood that morning, she seemed rather agitated. I noted that he was standing in the middle of her cubicle for no particular reason and she was making jerky movements with her arms as she commented on her own looks.

“Here, let me give you a flash.” She briefly lifted her skirt above her waist so I could see her underpants showing through her stockings. “Tah-tah! Too bad I can’t stay with it raised like this for very long.”

When she dropped the hem, she made a kissing pout with her lips. Perhaps some of the novelty about seeing her body was wearing off, or maybe I was uneasy about what stunt Joanne might try to pull off today. I quietly said, “Yeah, okay, that’s pretty nice.”

“More than nice, I’m as sexy as hell.” Then she said, “Remember on Saturday we said that you and I and Renée should all talk to Joanne, together. Well, let’s do it now.”

I realized that Joanne must a factor in her bizarre behavior on that day. I protested, “Now? It’s not even 9:30 yet.”

“So why waste time? Let’s get it done already.”

“It would be, call it polite, to get an appointment first.”

She made a scoffing motion, “She’s never polite to us, so why should we be to her?”

I could see that she had her mind made up. “All right, if you insist, let’s go and see what happens.”

On the way over, we picked up Renée at her desk, who was surprised too. “You mean right now?”

Katherine replied, “Yes, right now.” Renée shrugged and got up to join us.

Joanne had a cubicle like almost every other person in that division. It wasn’t like the previous Prentice Hall place where I had worked and people who were supervisors and above had private offices.

Joanne was surprised to see the three of us lined up in front of her doorway, but she took it fairly well. “Yes, can I do something for all of you?”

Katherine had made herself the point person. “We have some things we need to talk to you about.”

“Well, I’m not going to have an impromptu conference with three people at this time of the day.” She had a solution, however. “Katherine, how about you and I have lunch together? I have a feeling that you are the one who initiated all of this.”

I briefly noticed that Joanne had dressed in a black suit, and she had carefully applied more make-up than was her habit. Usually, she was more casual in her appearance.

Katherine didn’t object as I had expected. “That’s okay, you can start by talking to me.”

“Good. Meet me at twelve-thirty and I’ll take you to a good restaurant I know” She smiled, “Don’t worry, I’ll pay for it.”

Since Katherine didn’t have to drive, at the restaurant she drank a couple of vodkas with limes and club soda. She was feeling uncomfortable in Joanne’s presence, and she had some trouble conversing with her boss.

Near the end of the meal, Joanne immediately started to sexualize the conversation; in fact, got into making a pass at the other woman.

“Katherine, sweetie, what do you really think about me? I suspect you have some feelings you have been afraid to articulate.”

Katherine had already predicted that something like this might happen. She had planned to be firm and resist any sexual approach by her superior. However, she felt unsure of herself and her resolve started to disappear.

She equivocated, “I’m not sure what you mean.”

“I can sense your ambivalence about me. On one hand, you are not entirely fond of me. For one thing, you think I’m going to seduce that boyfriend of yours. On the other hand, you wouldn’t mind having a crack at me yourself.”

Katherine felt her face getting warm and she knew she was blushing. “What makes you think that?” Oh, that was the wrong thing to say. I should have denied it even if it’s mostly true.

Joanne knew more about what the other woman was thinking than Katherine would admit to herself. She put her right hand out and pressed down on Katherine’s hand which was resting on the table. She said, “I notice you are not moving your hand away. Come on, don’t look down, look me in the eye.”

Katherine did look up and stare into Joanne’s dark eyes. The latter said, “After all these years, I know you better than you might think. I saw that you continued to blow Paul even after I walked in on you two. I believe you wanted to show off your sexual prowess, demonstrate that you could stimulate a man’s lust with that delectable mouth of yours.”

Katherine thought, I can’t help it, but it’s true; I’m getting turned on remembering that incident. I’m getting aroused just thinking of Joanne herself and how she had masturbated as she witnessed the blowjob.

The other one went on, “You are an exhibitionist, among other things. You were such a good Catholic girl once, but the needs of your body were too overwhelming for you to deny. That’s why you started affairs with your two co-workers.”

Katherine was suddenly fierce, “That was different; I like them. I never liked you.”

The response was quite matter of fact. “That’s okay, all I ask is that you desire me. Being liked has nothing to do with it.” She looked intently at the other woman. “You must have those tingles in your body right now. I bet you’re just squirming with them, in fact. You liked me being there and seeing everything that you two were doing.”

“You’re quite an exhibitionist yourself. You enjoyed using your pink dildo on yourself.”

“I certainly did, that’s for sure.”

“Joanne, you’re perverse. You even carry that thing around with you in your purse.”

She laughed at that. “Don’t be a hypocrite. Nice Catholic girls really go crazy when they pull the lid off their libidos. Do you tell the priests about it in confession?”

“I don’t tell them anything of importance. And I’m not even going anymore, despite what my family would like me to do. And anyway, what religion were you raised in, if you ever had one?”

“I’m a lapsed Catholic myself, although I never made a big deal about it when I was still a believer. You, on the other hand, pretended to be pious long after you had given it up. Let’s face it, we’re both sinners.”

She can be so annoying at times like this, but yet... “All right, assuming all this is true, what do you propose doing about it?”

Joanne leaned back and mildly said, “It’s pretty simple. We’ll get in my car, and we’ll drive to this place I know where we can have some privacy. Then we’ll lick each other’s pussies until we both have orgasms. Is that clear enough? It’s one of the main things women can do for each other.” She smiled, “Unless they have strap-ons of course, which I don’t right now.”

“You’re not the most subtle seducer around. And sex in cars is, so...” She couldn’t complete the thought. For one thing, the vodka was swirling around in her system and she couldn’t think straight.

“Come on, I know it can’t be a new thing for you. Surely you’ve been munching away on Renée’s little muff. And in fact, there is something delightfully dirty about doing it in a car; it’s like being two horny kids who can’t wait to get themselves off.”

I’m going to hate myself for having sex with her but, God help me, I want it so badly; she looks so good right now. She blurted out, “Joanne, I hate you.”

“So hate fuck me then. And who are you to judge me? You are a very bad girl yourself, throwing your ass around at your subordinates every chance you get.”

“But they are my friends.”

“Maybe, but they sure took the opportunities you offered to them. Let’s face it, you’re no better than the rest of us. I’m sure you began masturbating like crazy once you lapsed in your religion, no matter how long ago that was. It was only a matter of time before you took it into the real world. It isn’t so bad; you just have normal desires like any other woman.”

I’m going over the edge, I know I’m going to do it with her. I want to know the taste of her pussy and have her know the taste of mine. “I feel ashamed of myself, I mean for wanting you so much.”

“Oh, so it’s all right to bang some people but not others, based on some criteria you made up that is completely arbitrary? If you are reluctant, if it offends your delicate sensibilities, then don’t do it.”

She’s giving me a way out if I want to take it. To give herself a moment more to think, she sipped at her vodka. Like I need any more of this!. Joanne looked away as she drank her spring water. Katherine thought of Simone de Beauvoir, another strict Catholic who had moved way beyond her original beliefs and had even become openly bi-sexual.

Katherine admired her and remembered that she had said, nobody knows me or loves me completely. I have only myself. That decided the issue for her, and she suddenly stood up and grabbed her coat. “I’ll meet you by your car.” With that, she rapidly walked out of the restaurant.