Chapter 11

My cock wilted slowly inside Carmen's sweet ass, while my own sphincter milked the last of my wife's discharge from her gradually softening cock. I was sated, content. It had been one of the best nights of sex since I first met the sexy blonde who eventually married me, and I was happy, but...

"Okay," I asked, "What's up? What's the big deal?"

Carmen giggled softly, her sphincter doing wonderful things to my cock in the process, "You'll have to ask your wife about that, Mr. Travis!"

"Patricia?" I turned toward the other lovely lady behind me.

She sighed heavily, and said, "I was hoping to wait until you were a little more relaxed! I should have known you'd figure it out."

"Do you think we over-did it?" Carmen laughed, her ass again doing magical things to my dick.

"Probably," Patricia sighed, "but he probably would have known something was up, anyway."

"So what IS up?" I asked, still not too concerned.

"Well," Patricia answered, "it's one of those good-news, bad-news kind of things..."

"Give it to me straight, Doc." I joked, "I can take it!"

"Okay: We found a CEO for SyncComp..." my wife said.

"Hey! That's great!" was my reply, "Now I don't have to do his job anymore!"

"Well, actually..." Patricia evaded.

"What do you mean, 'actually... '?" I asked, getting a sinking feeling in my stomach, "You don't expect me to train this guy, do you?"

"Well, no..." I couldn't understand what was keeping my wife from telling me straight out! "You don't need to train him since he's already up to speed."

"I thought we had screened all the current and former SyncComp execs..." I said.

"We did. Gary, the board wants YOU to take the position full time." I could feel the tension in her body as she said this.

Of all the reactions she might have expected, I would have bet that laughter wasn't one of them, but it's what she got.

"Me!?" I gasped, "Oh that's a good one! All that build up... Your timing was perfect!"

"I'm as serious as a heart attack, Gary." Patricia said, not a hint of humor in her voice, "And so is the board."

"You CAN'T be serious!" I exploded, "I'm an unemployed former engineer. I have no experience! I don't even have an MBA! How could they even consider me, much less pick me over all those others?"

"Simple, dear." Patricia embraced me as she spoke, "We gave you a test drive, and you came through with flying colors! You've BEEN the SyncComp CEO in all but name for the last few months, and the board is uncommonly pleased with what they've seen. It was their idea to make it official, though I think it's a good one."

"... 'Test drive'?" I was still not believing what I was hearing, "All the stuff I did was submitted under your name!"

"Actually, it was OFFICIALLY submitted under my name, since you had no legal authority to do anything, but I made sure that the board knew my role was only as approver - that you had done the real work." Patricia replied, "Please don't be angry. You really are the best candidate for the job."

"So this was all a setup?" I said, "All along you intended to put me in that job?"

"No." Patricia replied, "If you remember, it was your idea to handle those decisions on my behalf. I thought you were doing a pretty good job at it, so I just let you keep doing it, but I believe in giving credit where it's due, and though the ultimate responsibility was mine, I was happy to sign off on your work. The board, apparently, was happy with your work, too."

"Well I'll be damned!" I said, shaking my head.

"So, will you take the job?" she asked.

"I'll have to think about it." I replied, "But wait a minute! You said it was a 'good-news, bad-news' scenario. While I'm not sure yet that the offer is the best news I've ever had, I doubt if YOU would consider it bad news, so what's the bad news?"

"If you decide to take the job," Patricia said, "You'll tell ME the bad news, if I know you."

I tried to think what that meant, but my thoughts got sidetracked with consideration of the offer. Could I do it? If it was true that the board liked what I had been doing, why not? 'Because that CAN'T be the whole job.' I told myself. If I were installed in an office at SyncComp, things would be a whole lot different than doing research and making decisions from home, based on the papers Patricia brought me and brief conversations with her. Even I knew that SyncComp had been almost on hold for the past few months, but the important decisions had been made - the ones that kept the company going and the money flowing, and I had been the one making them.

"If I decide to do this," I spoke, thinking aloud, "I could be putting at risk everything you've worked for with these companies. SyncComp is the cornerstone of your strategy, and if I fail at SyncComp, the whole thing will fall apart."

"But don't you see, Gary?" Patricia said as she disengaged from my ass, leaving me feeling empty, "That's exactly why it's such an elegant solution! You, more than anyone else we could hire, know and understand that strategy. You KNOW how key SyncComp is, and what it has to do to fulfill its part of the overall plan. You can make that happen! What the company needs is a leader, Gary, not a high level manager. Make sure your management team is good, then let them do their jobs. Your responsibility will be to give them direction and focus."

The incongruity of discussing such weighty issues while ensconced in my sister-in-law's ass was coming home to me and I murmured something that I hope was appropriate as I left Carmen on the bed and followed my wife into the shower.

"It's a big responsibility." I said, as we soaped each other, "I always thought my place was behind the throne, whispering in the monarch's ear, you know?"

Patricia pulled my head down and kissed the tip of my nose.

"You do that whispering behind the throne bit very well," she said, "I must admit, but now it's time for you to come out in the open and stand behind your decisions - to whisper in your own ear, so to speak."

I thought more about it as we showered in silence. Certainly, I had an inside track to one of the best mentors one could ask for, and I had to admit the idea was growing on me.

"I don't know, Patricia." I mused as we toweled ourselves dry, "Coming up with a truthful story about how I came to be there, and what qualifies me to be telling all those executives what to do is going to be tough."

"You leave that to me." she smiled, "I've got whole rooms full of people whose jobe it is to make silk purses out of sow's ears."

"Oh, now I'm a sow's ear!" I said, feigning indignation.

The sexy blonde gave me a hip thrust that almost upended me, but I enjoyed the bounce it caused in her lovely breasts as I stepped back to regain my balance.

"You know that's not what I mean!" she pouted.

I hugged her naked body to me and kissed her before replying, "Yeah, I know. But it was worth it to make your tits dance like that!"

"You're incorrigible!" she smiled, pretending to hit me. Suddenly she was serious again.

"Gary, please take the job." she pleaded, "It would be a big load off my mind."

"Okay, sweetheart," I said, just as seriously, "just for you. Well, okay, a little for me, but mostly for you!"

Carmen passed between us on her way to the shower and gave an indignant cry as, simultaneously, Patricia and I each smacked a cute butt cheek.

"Hey! Watch it!" she exclaimed.

"I AM watching it!" I replied.

"Me too!" said Patricia, "I just LOVE the way it jiggles!"

Carmen cracked up, giggling as she closed the bathroom door.

Having made my decision, my mind turned to the things I knew were pending at SyncComp, and the things I would have to do to establish myself. In the process, a thought struck me.

"When do I start?" I asked.

"In two weeks." Patricia replied, "It'll take them that long to get your accounts and permissions set up on the data systems, and do a background check."

"You're not worried about that background check?" I asked.

She looked at me levelly and replied, "It will barely scratch the surface of the one Howard's firm did for me before I asked you to marry me."

My first reaction was outrage, but that passed quickly. Patricia, as Ms. Collins, had a LOT to risk in getting married, and I guess I couldn't blame her for trying to protect herself.

I knew I had done some things in my younger days that I wasn't very proud of, but nothing terribly serious. I had no felony convictions, and most of the stuff I'd done, Dolores could have told her about without a big investigation.

"Smart woman." I said, taking her in my arms, "I knew there was a reason I agreed to marry you besides that big thing you've got swinging between your legs!"

"Flatterer!" she replied.

"Oh shit!" I said, "I have just realized what the bad news is!"

"It's okay, dear!" Patricia said, "We'll get in touch with Le'ini and her father and let them know we can't come, but will see them in a few months."

"I don't think this is an occasion you can blow off that easily, dear." I said, having been the one who handled the correspondence, "You and Carmen should go, since the celebration is about your offspring, and Carmen would love to see the Islands. Give King Kalea and his daughter, and our young mothers my apologies and best wishes. I'm the one who's about to be swamped here, not you."

"Are you sure?" Patricia said, "I don't want to just toss you into the deep end and pull up the ladder!"

"I think so." I said, "The first month or so, I won't really be expected to DO anything. In fact, that would probably be the worst thing I COULD do. I want to spend that time getting to know the people and the problems they're facing before I make any drastic changes. It also wouldn't hurt to let them get to know me a little."

The next two weeks were a blur. I worked with Patricia's PR people until we had a blurb about my background that sounded good but was completely true. While it mentioned my years in the industry, it said nothing about the positions I'd held, concentrating, instead, on the time I'd spent 'consulting' with Patricia, without mentioning her name.

The board, to cover themselves a little, set up a series of interviews between myself and the board members, and to my surprise, they were even more enthusiastic after the interviews.

I went with Patricia and her sister to the airport, insisting that she take a satellite phone for emergencies, since cellular service was non-existent in the Islands. My heart was heavy as I rode the limo back up the peninsula.

I dove into preparation for my new position with a vengeance. To my surprise, even though she knew I wasn't going to have sex with her while Patricia was gone, Felicia, at loose ends for the summer, took to hanging out with me when I was home. She was still a provocative little nymphet, but I think, now, it was less intentional than her natural style.

Even though I had little time to spend with her, it was nice having her around, and Felicia seemed content to read or surf the Internet, as long as I was nearby.

I put my network into high gear, and by the time I started my first official day as CEO of SyncComp, I had a pretty good idea of where my problems were going to come from, in terms of opposition to my leadership. The outspoken critics, I could deal with. With their objections on the table we could discuss them and hopefully reach a satisfactory conclusion. It was the 'subversives' about whom I was most concerned. They would be the ones who smiled and shook my hand, then did everything in their power to make me fail. Thanks to my 'spies', though, I had a pretty good idea who they would be, and how they would work against me.

The reactions among the executives at the initial Leadership Team meeting were pretty much as I expected, and I didn't try, in that forum, to change any minds.

"I'm very happy for the opportunity to join such an exciting industry leader." I told them, in the speech I had prepared, with the help of Patricia's PR people. "For the time being, everything will be business as usual. Over the next few weeks, I'll be meeting with each of you and getting to know you and the company better, and catching up on the backlog of issues left by the sudden departure of Mr. Hansen. I'm not prepared to answer any questions at this time, so if you'll defer them to our one-on-one meetings, I'd greatly appreciate it."

There were, of course, questions, anyway.

"Are you planning any changes to our product lineup or marketing strategy?" this from the VP of Marketing.

I was, but this was not the time to say so.

"It's far too early to make such decisions." I said, "I won't rule it out, but until I've had a chance to familiarize myself with our products and markets, I won't be making any drastic changes."

Actually, I was probably more familiar with our markets than she was, having seen them from above, but again, the timing was not right.

"Are you planning any layoffs?" This from Engineering.

"Why?" I asked back, "Do you need some time off?"

That got a few chuckles, but I didn't want to start my watch with a cop-out so I continued.

"Again, it's not something I will rule out," I said, "but I have no plans at this time. My initial assessment is that, for the forseeable future, we will have enough on our plates and will need everyone we can get, but as I said, that can change."

There were more questions in the same vein - trying to eke some certainty out of an inherently uncertain situation.

"I understand that a change of command is always an uncertain time for everyone," I finally said, "and I'm sorry that I can't offer any sureties at this time. With your help, I will assess our current positions in all of these areas, and as soon as I've reached some decisions, I'll let you know. Ladies and Gentlemen, thank you for your time."