Ethan Harper walked into the reception area of Collins Management Associates for his 2:00 appointment. He was greeted by the receptionist and immediately taken to the company conference room. The young lady opened the door and announced, “Mr. Harper.”

An older gentleman with a smile walked toward Ethan with his hand extended. “Ethan Harper, I’m Donald Wyatt. I’m so pleased to meet you.”

“Thank you, Mr. Wyatt. I’m very interested in your proposal.”

“Please call me Donald,” the man said. “I expect that we’ll all be good friends very soon. Let me introduce my staff. This is Sam Henry,” Wyatt said, pointing to a tall, unsmiling man. “And this is David Manning. He’s of no relation to Payton and Eli,” he said with a laugh.

As Ethan shook hands with Wyatt’s staff members, he noticed a shapely blonde standing just outside the door. Ethan had always been an ‘ass man’ and his eyes were drawn to one of the finest female butts he’d ever seen. Her bottom was framed in a tight red skirt. Her legs were toned and well displayed by red, three-inch heels. He was confident that when she turned, his eyes would be rewarded with the rest of a great body.

“I have one more staff member that will be working with us today,” Wyatt said, pointing toward the woman in red. “This is...”

The woman turned, almost running to Ethan. She threw her arms around his middle. “Ethan! It’s so good to see you!”

Acting quite surprised, Wyatt stammered, “Should I guess you two are acquainted?”

“You should,” the beautiful woman said with a laugh. “Ethan and I go way back. We were very close in high school and college. And he is even more handsome today than he was at sixteen.”

“So then, I guess I don’t need to introduce Zoe Henderson to you, Ethan?” Wyatt said with a smile.

“No, sir. You don’t,” Ethan managed to say. Placing his hands on Zoe’s shoulders, he said, “I just haven’t seen her in about fifteen years.”

“Zoe is one of my Vice Presidents and works with acquisitions,” Wyatt explained. “She’s a vital part of our team. Now, if you’ll all have a seat, we’ll begin our presentation to Mr. Harper.”

As they began to find seats around the conference table, Ethan had a chance to take a better look at his old friend. Zoe had easily been the most beautiful girl in his class in high school. They had immediately become close when her family moved to town and she enrolled in Ethan’s school. They’d had their first date in September and were inseparable through their second year of college. Now she was in her mid-thirties and even more gorgeous than back then.

Zoe had beautiful blonde shoulder-length hair that framed her fair-skinned face and large brown eyes. It flashed through Ethan’s mind that he had fallen in love with her the instant they’d met face to face. Zoe immediately applied to attend the same school when he received a scholarship to play baseball for the state university. They had remained together through two years of college until Ethan decided to go to a different school to study engineering. They had promised to stay in touch, but like most long distance romances, it was not to be.

Ethan knew that he was going to have to concentrate very hard on the meeting content. Collins Management was about to offer to purchase half of his company, and he couldn’t afford to be distracted by Zoe’s beauty and raw sex appeal.

“Can you tell us about your company?” Wyatt asked after they were seated.

“After graduating from college,” Ethan explained, “I went to work for a large engineering firm. After two years with that company, I found a void in expertise in small to medium-sized companies that needed engineering groups to advise on their building and expansion projects. I convinced a co-worker to join me in opening a new business to address the need in a unique market. He stayed with me for a year before taking another position with an even larger company.

“In the second year, my company began to take off. Our success was quick but not unexpected. Today we are a multimillion-dollar concern and still growing.”

“So, if you are doing so well, why would you consider taking us on as a partner,” Sam Henry asked.

Ethan instantly knew he wouldn’t like Sam Henry but answered the question he knew would be asked. “I’ve worked very hard for the past eleven years, Mr. Henry, and I’ve made a lot of money. But keeping up with this growing business is stressful and leaves me no personal time. I have a six-year-old son. I’d like to go to his baseball games and perhaps coach his team. But Harper Enterprises eats up my time. I’m considering letting someone in that can take on part of the load.”

“And that’s what we do best,” Zoe explained to Ethan. “In our presentation, we’ll demonstrate what services we can provide without changing the character of your company and leaving the important decision making up to you. You have an engineering company. None of us are engineers,” Zoe said as she waved her hand toward the other people in the room. “We would not pretend to have your knowledge. But we do know a hell of a lot about accounting and daily business management that you, as the leader, need not get bogged down in.”

When the room lights went down to show the presentation, Ethan’s eyes went to Zoe. He was listening but studying the woman that had been so important in his life fifteen years ago. The sheer blouse she was wearing showed her lacy undergarments. Her string of pearls seemed to draw his eyes her cleavage. She had always had great tits, but now they appeared to be larger. She was still gorgeous.

For the next three hours, the people from Collins Management took turns speaking on different topics. Ethan was impressed with their knowledge and presentation skills. He had no doubt they had made very similar presentations on many occasions, but he thought their performance was flawless.

Donald Wyatt looked at his watch. “Oh my, we’ve been droning on for hours. Ethen’s head must be spinning with all the information we’ve thrown at him.”

“No, not at all,” Ethan told the group. “Your presentation has been extremely informative and answered many of the questions I planned to ask. But the most important issue to me right now is this one. If you are purchasing my company, how much of it remains in my hands?”

The lights came up and Zoe leaned in with the answer. “You will retain 51% of your business. We want to share in your success, but you built the company. You gave birth to it and raised it from its infancy. Without you in charge, we lose your company’s most important ingredient ... you.”

Wyatt turned to look into Ethan’s eyes. “Ethan, since you are the sole owner of your company, we are prepared to offer you $15 million for forty-nine percent ownership. With our business connections, we’ll invest another five million in making Harper Enterprises a state-of-the-art organization. If we both agree that the company has grown sufficiently within two years, we’ll be glad to handle the initial IPO.

“I would still be the CEO?” Ethan asked.

“Absolutely,” Wyatt boomed. “We will be your advisors on day-to-day issues, but you will continue at the helm. Our business knowledge will drive down your overhead and push up your profits. With us handling the parts that we do best, you’ll have time to be a baseball coach. And that reminds me, Ethan. If you went to college on a baseball scholarship, why did you leave it?”

Ethan smiled. “After two years in a top-level baseball program, it occurred to me that I just wasn’t good enough to ever play in the major leagues. I had always wanted to study engineering and found there wasn’t time in my days to put the proper amount of time and effort into doing both things. After a long talk with my parents, I applied to Purdue and received a partial academic scholarship.”

“Did you have some connection with Purdue?” asked David Manning.

“The connection with the school was dollars,” Ethan laughed. “After having a full ride to play baseball, going on without a scholarship was going to be costly.”

“He went away and left me on my own,” Zoe tossed in with a fake pout.

Wyatt stood. “If you don’t have any additional questions, I suggest we adjourn for today and meet tomorrow afternoon again for some additional discussion. I’m certain after some time on your own, you’ll have additional questions for us.”

Standing, Ethan shook Wyatt’s hand. “That sounds like a good plan to me. I’ll take these materials you’ve given me and read through them again tonight.”

As they began to file out of the room, Zoe took Ethan’s hand. “Do you have time for a drink with an old friend?”

“I’d love it,” Ethan answered with a broad smile. “I want to know what you’ve been doing to stay so beautiful and sexy.”

Zoe smiled. “You have always been a sweet talker. Even at seventeen, you had the skills to talk me out of my panties.” She quickly looked around to make certain no one overheard what she had just said. “Come with me to my office so I can close things down. There’s a great little place just around the corner that I frequent. I’ll take you there on Collins Management’s dime.”

Leaning into her ear, Ethan whispered, “As I remember, I didn’t talk you out of your white cotton underwear. I almost ripped them off of you. It wasn’t like you had any choice.”

“Oh, I had plenty of choices,” Zoe giggled. “It happened just the way I planned it. But you’re right. They were white cotton. I didn’t move into sexy panties until you took my virginity.”

It was time for Ethan to look around cautiously. “Let’s go to your office if you’re going to continue to talk dirty to me.”

“That’s something I’ve done plenty of in our time together,” she whispered.

Walking into Zoe’s office, Ethan looked around and whistled. “Hey, Zoe. Nice digs.”

“Collins treats their upper management pretty well. I have this nice office and two assistants. When we pick up new business, I get a nice little bonus. I have nothing to complain about.” When her assistant came into the office, Zoe told her to go home. “Mr. Harper and I will be leaving here shortly. Just check with me in the morning. I’ll have some things we’ll need to get done.”

When the woman left, Zoe said, “Just let me check my voice mail and then we can get out of here.”

Zoe stood beside her desk, holding the phone to her ear. This gave Ethan another opportunity to observe this beautiful woman that had been his private property so many years back. He remembered at the time thinking she was the most beautiful girl he’d ever met. In college, Ethan still believed Zoe was the most beautiful woman he’d ever known. And now, it seemed possible she was the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen. Everything about Zoe shouted out, “Perfect!”

Hanging up her phone, Zoe walked over to Ethan, slipping her hands inside his suit coat. She looked up at him, saying, “It is really wonderful to see you again, Ethan. Let’s go have a few drinks and catch up on old times and new lives.”

Walking out the glass doors of Collins Management, Zoe said goodnight to the receptionist and indicated she’d be in at her usual time in the morning. Once in the elevator, she hugged Ethan once again. When the doors opened on the ground floor, she took him by the hand. “Not so many years ago, you would have had your hand under my skirt before those doors opened.”

Ethan laughed but knew she was telling the truth.

“The place we’re going is just around the corner,” she said. “I stop in quite often after work. It’s a great place for a messy hamburger at lunch and excellent Italian food in the evenings.”

As they turned the corner, Ethan saw a sign indicating ‘Tony’s.’

“This is it,” Zoe said, walking into the restaurant.

Halfway in, the bartender called out, “Hey Zoe. You still workin’ the streets?”

“You bet,” she replied. “I’ve got a live one here. Don’t spoil it for me.”

Zoe led Ethan to a rounded booth toward the back of the restaurant. She slid in, motioning for Ethan to sit beside her.

Almost at once, a waitress appeared. “Your usual?” she asked Zoe.

“You bet,” Zoe answered. “And let me guess,” she said, looking at Ethan. “You’ll want a martini. Probably a gin martini, right?”

“That would be perfect,” he told the waitress. He looked at Zoe with a raised eyebrow.

“You just look like the kind of sophisticated man that drinks martinis. Most men who think their shit doesn’t stink drink vodka martinis. But you are a real man. You like the bite of gin.”

“You are a woman of the world,” Ethan said with a smile. “Did you major in phycology?”

“I spent my first two years of college studying my boyfriend’s naked body. But after two years, he changed to a different school and I had to pick a new major.”

“I hated to leave you, Zoe,” he said sincerely. “I just knew that I had to change my life. I had to give up baseball and become a man.”

“You did a good job,” she replied with a bright smile. “You’ve built a magnificent company and you’re about to become a very wealthy man.”

When their drinks were served, Zoe said, “It’s time for you to tell me what happened after you left me. I know that you went to Purdue, graduated and eventually opened your own company. What happened in your personal life?”

“My personal life was extremely dull,” he replied with a laugh. “It was almost five years after graduation that I came up for air. My life had been filled with work. I was dragged to a party by a friend and met my future wife. We dated for a couple of years before we got married. The wedding could have happened sooner, but again, my work got in the way.”

“Tell me about wifey.”

“Her name is Mary. She is working again after staying at home with our son until he started school.”

“Let me guess,” Zoe suggested as she took a sip of her drink. “Mary is tall, trim and wears glasses. She probably has small breasts and is not a big talker. I’d guess blue eyes and brown hair.”

“You’ve seen her, right?” Ethan said in a surprised voice.