Chapter 1: A Foggy Day in London Town

The Concorde's tires screeched twice in quick succession as they kissed the runway, immediately followed by the roar of the thrust reversers pressing the passengers forward against their seat belts. Seconds later the noise and pressure decreased as the throttles were pulled back and the sleek airliner continued its roll out, still bleeding off speed. As we swung off the runway and slowly followed the taxiway toward the misty lights of London's Heathrow Terminal 4, my mind was as foggy as the view from the sleek jet's window.

God I was tired! It was Sunday evening and I was exhausted. I'd returned to the Chicago home office on Friday afternoon following a tough two weeks in Cape Town, only to be greeted with the news that I must be in London on Monday morning to straighten out yet another problem! Oh, and by the way, don't forget the staff meeting in New York on Saturday.

Let me introduce myself. My name is Alexandria Goodman, better known to my friends as Alex. (Others have far less complimentary names for me, for reasons that will soon become apparent.) As Deputy Chief Personnel Officer of a large international Chicago-based firm, I had been dispatched to London to meet with our branch manager regarding the London office's slumping sales and high personnel turnover. As spelled out in my job description, I had been vested with full authority to take any corrective actions I deemed necessary, an authority I didn't take lightly.

Clearing customs, I retrieved my luggage and caught a cab directly to the up-scale hotel where my firm had reserved a suite. The accommodations were nice enough I suppose but after awhile all hotels seemed pretty much the same... cold, impersonal and, most of all, lonely.

Leaving a request for an early wake-up call, I took a long, hot shower and fell into bed exhausted. Lying in the dark waiting for sleep to overtake me, I thought of my hectic lifestyle. Ten overseas trips thus far this year and it was only June. My social life was nonexistent and, worst of all, I hadn't gotten laid in nearly three months; that's enough to make any girl tense. The last 'straight' sex I'd had occurred in early April during a trip to Manila when an evening with Juan ended with a visit to a nightclub featuring hot live sex shows. That had gotten us both so revved up that we'd returned to my hotel room where we'd fucked like monkeys until dawn. However, since then it had been just one corporate crisis after another.

If it hadn't been for my best friend Ellen I'd be an emotional wreck. We are both mostly straight but every two or three weeks one of us would spend the night in the other's apartment for an evening of cuddling and mutual relief.

Well, at least I'd negotiated a few vacation days in jolly old England in conjunction with this trip. England was said to be lovely this time of year and it had been a long time since I had been able to relax and just be a tourist.

The next morning dawned dark and gloomy with a soft mist falling... so much for England's lovely June weather. I ate breakfast in the hotel dining room, and then caught a cab to the office where I met with the manager, a Mr. Richard Smythe. Richard introduced me to the rest of his staff and provided me with office space along with all the company records I requested. I was afraid that I already knew the source of the problem and after reviewing the data and interviewing key sales and management personnel my fears were confirmed.

I scheduled an afternoon meeting with Smythe, and arriving at the appointed time, entered his office, quietly closing the door behind me. Richard was a very attractive man in his early thirties with dark, wavy hair and an athletic body that filled out his conservative gray Savile Row suit quite nicely. The cologne he was wearing was distinctive, exclusive and sexy. He exuded an animal magnetism that caused my body to flush with excitement, which of course I took great care not to show. I also noticed his large hands with long, strong fingers were unadorned by a wedding ring, only a massive garnet ring with some sort of intricate engraving. Get hold of yourself girl, I thought, as I felt my nipples tingle and the crotch panel of my panties begin to moisten. Here you are on the verge of firing this poor bastard and all you can think of is jumping his bones!

Although Richard greeted me warmly enough, his demeanor seemed rather guarded. After all, I had the hard earned reputation of being the firm's 'hatchet man'. Taking a seat, I paused a second before beginning, wondering how he would react to my findings. "Mr. Smythe," I began, "Let me preface my remarks by saying that I have isolated the problem and, unfortunately, it's you. However, having said that, I still believe you can have a great future with this firm if you will agree to the plan I have in mind."

"Thank you for your confidence in me... I think. Just what does this 'plan' of yours entail," he responded somewhat sarcastically. Ignoring his tone, I continued.

"As you may know, I was instrumental in your promotion to your current position, based upon your resume and past performance reports, but now I believe that we may have promoted you to your level of incompetence. I have a vested interest in your success due to my recommendation. However, I now realize you need to gain more practical managerial experience."

"I will not accept a demotion," he warned me, his face suddenly grim and determined. "I've had offers from several other firms; some of which were quite lucrative by the way."

"I'm not suggesting a demotion," I explained, trying to defuse his obvious anger. "What I'm proposing is an opportunity to improve your management skills. It will be valuable training, whether you decide to remain in your present position or move on to greener pastures. The Branch Manager of the Glasgow office is planning to retire soon after thirty years with the firm, but his replacement has already been selected and is fully competent to take over immediately. My suggestion is to bring Ian down here to work with you for a few months, on a consultant basis. This should allow you to learn from his many years of experience."

"I'm not sure that I could accept that. It could appear to my staff that I were being placed on probation, which would undercut my authority," he replied stiffly.

"I doubt that will be the case if you handle it properly, but it's entirely up to you Mr. Smythe," I responded. "The alternative is to replace you... which I really don't want to do."

"If you don't mind Ms. Goodman, I would like to take your proposal under consideration. I'll ring you at your hotel and let you know my decision shortly," he replied rather stiffly, his expression unreadable.

"That's fine," I responded solemnly. "I understand your concerns. I'll be in London on vacation for the remainder of the week. Just let me know what you decide before I return to Chicago and file my report."

Returning to my hotel room that afternoon, exhausted from the stress of our meeting, I poured myself a glass of sherry. The morning's clouds had moved on and bright sunlight was streaming through the windows. Opening the sliding glass door onto the balcony, I collapsed into a lounge chair to relax and regroup my thoughts. Since my return flight was not scheduled until Saturday, I had four whole days all to myself with no schedules to worry about! That reminded me of the downside of this situation; not only didn't I have commitments, I was also horny and didn't have a man. My reaction to Richards's presence this afternoon made me realize just how horny I had become. God, my panties were still sticky from that encounter! Of course, there was always masturbation. That's safe, practical and usually effective... but damn, it's so lonely! Casting about for ideas, I realized the only men I knew in London were the men from our office, and from what I had seen they were a generally uninteresting lot. Except, of course, for Richard, whom I was sure, under the present circumstances, was not at all interested in me!

Sipping my wine, I mulled over my situation, wondering what I would do for four days in a strange city where I knew practically no one. Suddenly, I remembered that Ellen had spent four years at Cambridge University. Thinking she might still have some contacts here, I decided to give her a call. It was still morning in Chicago so I should be able to catch her at work. After several rings, her voice mail picked up and I heard her voice say "I'm away from my phone right now but please leave a message and I'll get back to you as soon as possible." At the tone, I left my name, the hotel phone number and a message that I would appreciate her calling me as soon as she was available.

I had just settled back into my chair when the phone rang. "Alex," Ellen exclaimed, "How good to hear from you. I see by your phone number that you're in one of my favorite cities! I was just coming back from a meeting when you called. I hope everything's alright."