Chapter 8: Paul and Katherine Confront Joanne

The next day, Wednesday, was the day before Thanksgiving. Joanne didn’t even have the decency to come and get me. She had to phone me, even though she was maybe twenty yards away, and she asked me to meet her in the conference room.

I went in there and sat at the table directly opposite her. The first thing I noticed was her bright red lipstick, something I had never seen her wear before. The better to suck you off with, my dear.

I was in a mood to challenge whatever she was about to come up with. The previous evening Katherine had predicted that something like this was going to happen. However, I didn’t know exactly how it was going to play out.

Joanne didn’t waste any time. “You and Katherine put on quite a show last night.”

“So did you, with that pink dildo you have.”

I detected a slight frown and a bit of hesitation on her part. Then she completely ignored what I had said. “I was impressed with the way you fired your load right into Katherine’s mouth.”

If she was going to be crude, then I could be too. “I noted your crotchless pantyhose and that intense climax you gave yourself.”

She ignored that too. “It’s not a good idea for supervisors and their employees to have intimate relations, especially on company property.” I sensed that she would have more to say, and she did. “Tell me, did she use her influence as your superior to coerce you?”

I remembered Katherine flashing her bare crotch at me in her cubicle, then her bare backside later in my car. “No, not at all.”

“It was completely consensual on your part? I mean, she’s such a plain Jane, isn’t she?”

“Yes, absolutely it was consensual.” I didn’t want to admit that I found Katherine attractive.

“What you two have been doing is still completely wrong. You both could be in a lot of trouble. And I think Renée is involved in this too.” All of that sounded like a threat.

“No, you have nothing to go on with that idea about Renée.”

She may have sensed that I was lying. In any case, she showed some fangs at that point. “Listen, don’t be a smartass. You don’t want to tangle with me.”

“I’m not tangling with you. I’m just responding to what you said.”

Her demeanor changed. “So what do you think of me, I mean as a woman?”

What I said was mostly the truth. “I’ve only noticed you as the manager, and I’ve been fine with that, I mean working for you.”

“I do have a passionate side, you know.” Oh, here it comes. I wondered if she saw something in me, or if Katherine was right in that it would be just a ploy to bother her in some way. I had to think fast to deflect her.

“Are you married, by the way?”

I think I caught her off-balance with that. “I was until two years ago.”

So maybe that was part of it. This dame probably hasn’t been laid since then.

She had a question for me. “You live in Nutley, don’t you?” I had never told her that, so she must have looked at my records.

“Yes, but that is quite a ways from here.”

“Still, I could come down there and we could have a few drinks.”

That was unmistakable as a proposition. I almost said, but I haven’t invited you. Fortunately I said something else. “If you want to have drinks, there are plenty of places around here.”

I had practically agreed to go on a date with her, but that was better than having her come to my house.

She wasn’t buying it. After thinking for a few moments, she said, “Look, Paul, I would tread lightly if I were you.”

But you’re not me. I simply said, “How so?”

“It should be obvious. You’ve been here less than four months and already you’re banging your supervisor.”

So I should bang my manager instead? “We’re both consenting adults.”

“And you’re both employees of this company and you both work for me. And that goes for Renée too.” There was a not-so-subtle hint of blackmail in that. And she had brought up Renée again.

I knew it would seem rude to dismiss myself, but I had to try. “You know, maybe I should get back to work now.”

Joanne wasn’t at all friendly now. “Okay, but remember, you haven’t heard the last of me yet, not by a long shot.”

Fuck you, bitch. But I did feel fear, too. She was definitely implying that she’d use her power against me. As I got up, I did a foolish thing. My view of her lower body had been blocked by the table, and I wanted to see what she was wearing. She caught me craning my neck just the slightest bit, and she called me out on that.

“You want to have a look? Then I’ll show you.” She swung her legs out so that I could view them. “Nice legs?”

Then she stood up and walked beyond the table’s edge. “Not bad right?”

She was wearing a white blouse, a brown skirt that came down just above her knees, nylon stockings, and black shoes. It was nothing out of the ordinary for office attire. Yet, to my discomfort, I did notice that she looked very good.

The strangeness of that situation caught up with me. I didn’t buy the idea that she was truly interested in me per se. I guess I’m not homely, but neither was I Brad Pitt. For one thing, I was only five-foot-eight, and Joanne had at least an inch on me in height, more even with her heels.

I didn’t know what to say, so I tried for bemused indifference. I already had two girlfriends in that fucked-up department, and I’m not the kind of guy who increased his notch count for its own sake. I finally came up with, “You’re all right, I’d say.”

She obviously didn’t like that, and she frowned. “I demand some respect for my position here.”

What was this, the Army? The Mafia? “Don’t worry, you’ll get it.”

Then I thought of one last thing to ask her, “Do you usually carry a dildo around in your purse?”

“That is absolutely none of your business.”

I shrugged, “Okay, whatever.”

It occurred to me that maybe she did often carry it around. When and where did she use it? With that pantyhose she also had, I assumed she must indulge herself quite frequently. Maybe in the ladies’ room, maybe in her car, maybe she lived close enough to drive home for lunch? One place where she definitely did it was when she caught her employees having oral sex.

When I was back in my cubicle, a truth hit me. I didn’t like Joanne as a person in the way that I liked Katherine and Renée. Yet I was a man, and there were some feelings I couldn’t control. I had seen Joanne’s genitals and her buttocks, I had seen her masturbate. And I had enjoyed being watched as Katherine blew me.

This just keeps getting more and more complicated.

I gave Joanne a few minutes to get settled in at her desk. Then I took the long way around to Katherine’s cubicle. She was sitting behind her desk.

“Could I talk to you about something?”

“Sure, come in and sit down.”

I got right into it. “You were right. Joanne did make – I don’t know what to call it. A pass, a proposition to me maybe.”

“Did she get into specifics, you know, time and place?”

“She kind of suggested my place.”

She stood up and said, “Well, I’m going to have a little talk with her, right now.”

I wasn’t convinced that was such a good idea, but I didn’t mention that or try to stop her. She stood up and stretched a bit in front of me. I liked her outfit: a long-sleeved black blouse and tight tan trousers. The latter were tucked into the knee-high brown boots I had seen before.

She saw me looking her over, but she didn’t say anything. She did wink at me. When she started to leave, she stuck her behind out and waved it at me.

What happened to that modest, pious lady I had known since July? Well, she was gone now.

Katherine walked up to Joanne’s desk, just a few yards down the corridor, and said, “I need to talk to you, right now.”

She leaned back, shrugged, and said, “I just saw your boyfriend. Okay, if that is what you want, let’s go back into the conference room.”

Once in there, Joanne got the first word in, “So, Katherine, what can I do for you?”

“You know what it is. I want you to stay away from my guy.”

“Your guy? I thought he was your employee.”

“So what difference does that make?”

“Well, you were having sex with him on company property.”

“And you were masturbating on company property, in full view of other people.”

“Really, can you prove it?”

“Can you prove your own accusations?”

“If it comes down to that, my word will trump yours.”

“He told me that you made a proposition to him. You’re using your position here as leverage, obviously.”

“Didn’t you use yours, I mean your power as a boss?”

Katherine hesitated a moment. She remembered some of her provocations on the first day, like flashing her bare crotch at him. She decided to stand her ground.

“No, we talked about it, he didn’t think of it as connected to his job in any way.”