Chapter 3

In previous visits I've found that London is a great city. This time, however, all I saw was the inside of a conference room, my hotel room, and rain. Lots of rain.

Our client, Canterbury, was expanding their operations and had asked us to help them during the organizational phase. They had asked my company to have me help simplify the portion of their new business unit that would be working with our company. This kind of work should probably have been done by one of the partners as we were really making up policy as we went, but since Ian had sent me, with his full support, I jumped in and did the best I knew how.

The scheduled two days of meetings stretched to three. A follow up meeting would be required in a couple of months, but, overall I was pleased with my role, my contributions, and with the relationships I'd developed.

When I called Ian to report, I found that instead of heading home to Boston, Mary and Lisa, I had been routed the long way around to Singapore and a Friday meeting with the clients I hadn't been able to meet with in San Francisco two and a half weeks before. It is a long, long flight from London to Singapore. I don't sleep well on planes -- not that I'm afraid of plummeting into the sea from seven miles in the air or anything, I just don't sleep well.

So I arrived tired, but got sort of caught up before my meeting. Sort of.

Singapore is a great city. Beautiful, even. Warm and rainy. Wherever I looked though, there was no Mary and no Lisa.

The Friday meeting went well and I emailed Boston to have them FedEx contracts out to me. I had to stay over until Monday to get signatures. Rain seemed to be the theme of my trip. At least it was warm rain in the tropics.

On Saturday I played tourist. I visited the Raffles Hotel and drank a Singapore Sling (it's basically a Tom Collins with a half-shot of cherry brandy.) I rode the Singapore Cable Car from Mount Faber to Sentosa across the Keppel Harbor... the cable car had a glass bottom making for a spectacular view for the entire ride. Dinner was at a place called Shimbashi Soba, on Orchard Road. Damn good noodles. Mary and Lisa, stubbornly, continued to be absent.

If you are ever in Singapore, visit the zoo. That was what I did on Sunday. I looked at white tigers, Asian elephants, and a tremendous baboon exhibit. I got postcards and a sweatshirt for Mary and for Lisa. I spent all day there on Sunday. Mary was going to be so jealous.

Monday was spent going over the contracts from Boston and getting the appropriate signatures. I called to report success and found that Ian was not quite done with me.

Tuesday morning I flew to Tokyo for a Wednesday morning with one of our largest Asian clients' closest partner. It was an introductory presentation on what my company could do for theirs. My assistant had emailed me a PowerPoint presentation so I looked professional — even though I felt like hell. This was turning out to be a long trip. At least it wasn't raining in Tokyo... but it was damn cold.

I missed my girls... I was starting to wonder if they would even remember me.

Thursday I got to head home. My flight took off from Narita at four fifteen in the afternoon. Twelve or thirteen hours later I was in Los Angeles. I cleared customs, staggered to the domestic terminal and caught a commuter north. "Please fasten your seatbelts, we are beginning our decent into the bay area," was an announcement that was music to my ears. I arrived in San Francisco at three in the afternoon. I had no idea what day of the week it was.

It was still Thursday. Isn't the International Date Line great?

I don't know how she knew I was coming, God bless her, but Lisa was waiting for me at baggage claim. I don't think it is an exaggeration to say that I have never been happier to see anybody in my life. I'll always wonder if I'd have made it home by myself.

"You look like hell," she greeted me. Thanks. I got a quick kiss. "And you smell." Thanks. "Let's get you home, cleaned up, and into bed."

I tried and failed to waggle my eyebrows at her. She just shook her head, picked up one of my bags and led the way out to her car. I fell asleep before she paid for parking and she had to shake me awake when we got to my condo.

After a bowl of soup, a shower, and a quick cuddle I fell asleep again and slept until one in the afternoon on Friday. Lisa, bless her heart, had called the office to tell them I was alive and in San Francisco. Technically, I suppose I was alive.

I ate a quick sandwich and went back to sleep. Jet lag sucks.

The phone woke me up about four-thirty. It was Mary. "You're alive!"

"Barely," I croaked. "Missed you."

"Oh, God, did I miss you, too. You were gone so long! How was your trip?" We were still talking when Lisa came in.

"Mary?" Lisa asked in a stage whisper.

I nodded yes.

"Tell her I love her."

"Lisa loves you, Mary."

"I love her, too. Thanks for talking. I'll talk to you later. Love you."

"I love you, too. Here's Lisa." I handed the phone to Lisa leaned back, barely conscious. Lisa was talking about how bad I'd looked getting off the plane, about her day at work, about the weather... I lost track of Lisa's side of the conversation and dozed a bit...

"... Okay, buster. Get up!" Lisa was pulling my arm.

"What?" Leave me alone... I was blinking and shaking my head. "Hey."

"Come on, you've ignored me enough, already." As I stood, Lisa pulled me after her into the bathroom. "Strip. You need a shower."

She was right. I did. I pulled off my shirt, sweat pants, and boxers. By the time I got my boxers to the floor, Lisa was magically naked too. I've always been a sucker for magic.

Then we were in the shower.

Lisa wrapped her arms around my neck and pulled me into a wet, slippery, kiss. "I've missed you," she growled.

"Mmmm," I said, my mouth delightfully full of her neck. Feeling better. Ear lobe.

She reached down and grabbed my erection. "I've missed this, too."

"Mmmm," I said into the ear I was nibbling. "What did you miss about it?" I wasn't tired now. Feeling pretty good, as a matter of fact.

"I missed seeing it." She leaned back and really looked at it. "I missed touching it." She gently caressed it, causing my knees to nearly buckle. "I missed squeezing it." She squeezed it a time or two. "I missed rubbing it," Lisa whispered. She wrapped her hand around it and rubbed it for a while. The shower rinsed off the sudden sweat at my brow. "I missed kissing it." She knelt and planted a wet, sloppy kiss on the tip. I reached for the walls for support. "I missed licking it." She licked from the base to the tip. Twice. "I missed sucking it." She pulled it into her mouth and sucked and licked until my vision began to spin. "I missed tasting it." She popped it back into her mouth and sucked, licked and stroked for another minute until I came. "And I missed watching you recover after I do that for you." She giggled, standing back up.

Thank God the wall was there or I'd have fallen down. I don't think it was jet lag.

"And I missed having it in me..." she said. "Did you miss me?"

I had missed her. "So much it hurt." And not just in the obvious places.

"I love you, Mark."

"I love you, too." I picked up her shampoo and washed her hair. That's love. If you don't believe me, ask her.

Dinner was Chinese at a local place near the condo. Lisa wasn't up for cooking and I was still half dead.

Lisa drove us back to my place, "Why don't we go to bed?"

We just slept — you can do that in a bed, too. Who would have guessed? Flexible devices those beds.

Saturday morning about five, I woke up. Wide awake. I was still working on the jet lag, but my body was getting closer to being on a workable schedule. Lisa was spooned up against me, still sound asleep. I eased away, careful not to wake her, and got up.

The coffee was great and Lisa had stocked up on fresh milk for the granola. Heaven. I went and found a newspaper to start catching up on the world.

About seven I heard something and looked up to see a delightful sight. Lisa, hair a mess, makeup off, nude, standing in the bedroom doorway. "Good morning, beautiful!" Never a camera handy when you need it.

"Coffee." She rubbed her eyes.

I poured, kissed her cheek, and patted her butt. "Your wish is my command, princess."

She rolled her eyes. "Gag me."

"Did that last night," I said. She rolled her eyes again. And smiled. The room lit up.

She sat down and sipped her coffee while I just watched her. Watching naked beautiful women do anything is a judicious use of your time. The kitchen table is glass...

Lisa drank coffee the way she did everything, with her complete attention. You could see when it hit bottom — her nipples crinkled and she smiled. "Are you going in today?" She asked me.

"Yeah, I suppose." I really didn't feel like work. I felt like a vacation. "For a couple of hours."

"Then we'd better get you ready." Sometimes women are too practical.

An hour later I was at work. I dropped off the contracts from Singapore, my reports from Tokyo and an outline of what had happened in London, filed my expense report and called it a week. My round-the-world adventure was over.

Thank God.

It was strange spending my time with just one of my girls. I loved Lisa, and I really enjoyed my time with her, but I missed my Mary, and having Lisa there didn't seem to help with that. Lisa felt the same. She really missed Mary, too.

The weekend was mostly spent with routine errands. I took a load to the cleaners, Lisa bought a dress and shoes, we loaded up on groceries, I paid bills, and we cuddled. I caught up on sleep.

Just having somebody with me in San Francisco was nice. And we called Mary every night. The following week flew by.

Saturday morning Lisa and I went to the Pork Store Café for breakfast. The best there is. We were enjoying coffee when Lisa said, "Mark? I've been thinking."

Uh oh. "Yes?" I said, feigning fear.

"Oh quit it... I've been thinking I should give up my apartment. What do you think?"

Yes! "I don't know... where would you move to?" I teased.

She stuck her cute tongue out at me. "I'll find a place. Maybe somebody will let me crash on their couch." She wiggled the tip of her tongue.

"I," I said, "have a couch. And it even fold out into a semi-stable bed."

"You'd make me move out to the collapsing couch?"

"Well, it would be lonely in my big bed, but if you have your heart set on sleeping on a couch..."

She snorted at me. "You, mister, are just plain mean." Probably.

"So when do you think you want to do this?" I asked, smiling.

"You mean I can?"

Did she really think she had to ask? "It was never in doubt," I said. "Lisa Benning, will you move in with me? My condo is your condo." Hell, she already had the key.

She leaned over and kissed me. Thoroughly. "Yes."

After breakfast we went to her apartment to do a survey. I took notes. Lisa picked up a few fragile things, but left most of the stuff for a moving company I planned to call on Monday.

And just like that I had a roommate. A cuddly, sweet smelling, ticklish, tasty roommate. I confirmed her qualification that afternoon. Tasty.

That night, right after dinner, I called Mary. "Hi sweetie!" she said.

"Hi Mary. How was your Saturday?"

"Good. Hey, before I forget," she said, "I was going to talk to you about it before, but you went skylarking around the world and it never came up. My lease is up. Since I only sleep here when you're there, would it be okay if I moved into your condo with you?"

I burst out laughing.

"What?" she asked. I explained Lisa's changing address.

"Put that little bitch on! She's moving faster than I am. Slut."

"Lisa!" I called. "Mary would like you to pick up!" Lisa grabbed the other cordless in the kitchen.

"Hi Mary!"

"You little slut!" Mary said, with a giggle. "If I was there, I'd paddle you myself, moving in on my man. I never. Hmmf."

"Your man? Your man? Well 'your man' made me cum three times last night... and twice this afternoon!" It was only once, I think. "Your man stuck his tongue so deep into my pussy I swear he tickled my tonsils. Your man! Hmmf." Mary was laughing. Lisa had come into the living room; her eyes were sparkling.

"Ladies," I interrupted, "ladies. Isn't there a friendly was to settle this?"

"Well," Mary said, "you could spank her for me!"

Lisa stuck her tongue out at me. "I can't beat her," I said. "It's Saturday. No beatings on Saturday. Union rules."

"Tickle her?"

"As much fun as that would be for me, she isn't all that ticklish," I said.

"And he couldn't catch me," Lisa said, sitting down straddling my legs.

"Don't believe her," I said, "I've got her in my lap even as I speak." I began gently rubbing Lisa's breast with my free hand.

"Well," Mary said, "if you won't beat her and tickling her won't work, I guess we'll have to figure out some other punishment... is she really in your lap?"

"Really, truly."

"Are you touching her?"

"Only with my free hand," I said, running my hand over the swell of Lisa's breast.

"Where are you touching her?"

"I'm rubbing her boob."

"Is he?"

"Yes," Lisa said. "Through my shirt."

"Take off your shirt, slut," Mary ordered.

"Who are you calling 'slut' slut?" Lisa said, pulling her shirt off one handed.

"One of the two loves of my life... is your shirt off yet?"

"Yes."

"Is she wearing a bra Mark?"

"Yes," I said.

"Take it off of her."

I handed my phone to Lisa then reached around to her back and unsnapped her bra. I got my phone back and helped Lisa pull it off and drop it. "It's off."

"Pinch a nipple."

I did. "Ouch," Lisa said to me. "Not so hard!" She winked at me.

"Mary made me."

"Hold on," Mary said. I took the opportunity to give Lisa a kiss. A long kiss. A hot kiss. "Hello?" Mary said. "Are you guys still there?"

"Mmmm," Lisa said, "we were kissing."

"Oh. Ummm," Mary said. Her voice sounded a little strained.

I caressed Lisa's breast, "What are you doing Mary?"

"Uh. I'm. Uh. Hold on." I continued to tickle and caress Lisa's breast. "Okay," Mary finally said. "I was getting my clothes off."

"Really?" I asked with a chuckle. "Why?"

"So I can play with you..."

"I think it is so you can play with you," Lisa said. "Do you have Markie?"

Markie?

"Oh you'll pay for that," Mary said. A pause. "Yes."

"Markie?" I asked.

"Her battery powered mini-Mark," Lisa explained.

"You call it 'Markie?'" I asked Mary. I laughed.

"He's not an 'it' Mark. He's my best friend when you're out of town," she pouted.

"I see," I said. I grinned a Lisa.

"Lisa?" Mary said.

"Yeah..." I was still rubbing her breast.

"Take off the rest of your clothes. Now." Lisa handed me her phone, stood up, and started pulling her pants, panties, and socks off.

"She's doing it," I said into the phone.

"Tell me what she looks like." Lisa took back her phone.

I described Lisa to Mary. I mentioned the small mole on her left breast, the close trimmed pubic hair, and the pink toenail polish. I mentioned the curve of her hip, the tone of her long legs, her cute butt, and the light peach-fuzz just under her navel... I was getting warm.

"Is she wet?"

I reached for Lisa. "Yes." Very.

"Lisa, take off Mark's clothes." I stood up to make it easier for Lisa.

As each item was removed I told Mary. "Shirt is unbuttoned. Shirt is off. Belt is undone. Pants are open. Pants are down. Boxers are down." Lisa leaned forward and kissed my cock. "Lisa is going down."

"Lisa? Does he taste good?" Mary's voice was thick.

"Mmmm" Lisa said, making smacking noises with her lips as she sucked on me, loud enough for Mary to hear.

"Don't cum in her mouth Mark. I want you to fuck her." Mary was panting.

"Okay," I said. I slowly sank back onto the couch, never letting Lisa pull away. "I won't. God. She's sucking me."

"Lisa?"

"Mmmm?" Lisa said, never letting my cock go.

"Are you Mark's hot little cocksucker?"

"Mmmm Hmm." Her head was bobbing up and down.

"Do you like sucking him?"

"Mmmm Hmm."

I was getting close. I pulled Lisa's head away. I groaned, Lisa moaned.

"I stopped her. God," I said. "God." I was breathing hard.

Mary groaned. "Lisa?"

"Yeah."

"Is he sitting down?"

"Yeah," Lisa panted.

"Put him in you. Sit on his lap."

"Right..."

I groaned as Lisa slid down.

"... he's in."

"Are you in her Mark?"

"Yeah, yeah. God," I said. The hand holding the phone was shaking.

Mary groaned again.

"Fuck him, Lisa. Fuck him for me."

"I am honey," Lisa said. "I am. So good. I am." And she was.

Mary moaned. "You still with us Mary?" I panted out.

"Oh. Oh," she relied. "Oh."

Lisa groaned, rubbing her clit hard and fast. Bouncing up and down.

"Cum with me Mark. Cum with me." Lisa was shuddering. She dropped her phone and put her head on my shoulder, "Cum with me." Her free arm wrapped around me, holding me close.

"Oh God," Mary shouted in Boston. "I'm cumming."

Lisa ground down on me. "I'm there!" I shouted. "I'm there." I was. "I'm there." I held Lisa's hip with one hand, the phone with the other, straining to push even deeper into Lisa.

I came.

Lisa giggled. She took my phone out of my limp hand. "Mary?... We're still here. Are you good?" She scooted off of me, picked up her phone where she'd dropped it and handed it to me.

"... oh, God. I miss you guys," Mary was saying.

"We miss you, too. God that was good," Lisa said.

"Mmmm," I added. I was not exactly coherent.

"You okay out there Mark?" Mary asked.

"Yeah," I said. "Okay."

"Well, Lisa, I guess that'll teach you to move in with my boyfriend, huh?" Mark asked.

"Oh yeah," Lisa said, "I've learned my lesson."

"Before I had to punish you," Mary said, "I was just talking to Mark about my moving into his condo here."

"You want to move into my boyfriend's condo?" Lisa asked. She managed to sound suitably shocked.

"You can 'punish' me next time you're out! Anyway, I'm going to move this week, if it is okay with Mark," Mary said.

Lisa looked at me.

"Just don't throw away the Playboys in the bathroom," I said.

"There are no Playboys in our bathroom." Our?

She was right. "It's the principle," I said.

"Is it okay if I move this week?" She ignored me.

"Of course," I said. Note to self: Have to go buy some Playboy magazines.

We all talked of other things, little things, and then we let Mary go.

"That was hot," Lisa commented. We were still naked.

I considered. I grew a new erection. "Yes, it was."

Lisa grabbed it as she stood up, "Follow me." As if I had a choice.

We went to bed.

Sunday's big excitement was a long walk in the park followed by an afternoon of making slow love. And I got the oil changed in my car. Life is full of inconsistencies like that.

The workweek was on us. Lisa was at least as good of a cook as I was and she was much more enthusiastic. We ate well.

On Tuesday the movers met Lisa at her place, got things sorted out for storage, and brought the few things Lisa needed home.

Mary reported mid-week that she was moved, too. I got the impression that a few of my things went into storage and a few of hers did not, but that was fine. Mary has better taste than I do, and I know it. I pretty sure Mary tastes better than I do too... though Lisa isn't saying.

On Friday night Lisa and I went to dinner and then went dancing. We cuddled up in bed and just held each other. Saturday I was going to Boston.

"I'll miss you," Lisa said.

"Me too." I was anxious to see Mary, but I didn't want to leave Lisa.

"I love you Mark."

I kissed her. "I love you Lisa."

"Give this to Mary," Lisa said, and then kissed me hard enough to curl my toes. She wrapped her hand around my erection. "And give this to her enough times she's begging you to quit."

With my arms around her and her still holding my cock, we went to sleep.

It is a long way to Boston. I bought Mary a Playboy at the airport newsstand before the flight, which made me laugh. Unfortunately, that was the high point of the trip.

The guy in the seat next to me had too many drinks... and didn't fall asleep. Turbulence kept us strapped down. Somewhere around Chicago he filled one of those bags in the seat pocket. As we bumped over the coast before turning for Boston he filled another.

I was going to have to talk to Ian about upgrading to business class. Yuck.

We got off the plane and I found a restroom and washed up enough that I felt clean. Yuck.

And there was Mary. Sweet, lovely Mary. I gathered her into a hug. "I love you!" I said.

"Mmmm," Mary said back. She was hanging on me.

"This is from Lisa." I kissed her, hard, with tongue. She was panting when it was over. "And this is from me." I did it again.

"Let's get out of here, fast, before I embarrass myself," Mary said.

We held hands the whole way home. God it was good to see her.

Walking into my condo was a bit strange. It wasn't the same. Some of my things were there, but that was almost worse. I was disoriented so Mary gave me a tour of 'our' condo.

The place isn't that large, but with Mary's hand in on the decorating it was stunning. My only comment was "Wow."

I kissed her. After catching my breath, I dug around for the souvenirs from the Singapore Zoo — and her Playboy. The magazine got a laugh. The sweatshirt earned me a hot kiss. Mary made me promise to take her to Singapore someday.

I made sure to put the magazine in the bathroom. It's the principle.

An hour later after a shower in my new beach-motif bathroom and a quick bite to eat, Mary and I cuddled up on our new bed and went to sleep.

The next morning Mary woke me. "Zoo! Zoo! Zoo!"

"Coffee."

"And no little slut to distract you with some silly blowjob, either," Mary said.

I fell out of bed grabbing her ankle.

"It wasn't a 'silly blowjob, '" I said. Now I was going to have to spank her.

"So you agree she's a slut! I'm telling."

"One woman's slut is another man's lover..." Not bad for early morning repartee. "She can be your slut, she'll be my lover." I let go of the ankle and leaned back against the bed.

"Well, I don't suppose she's really a slut... how about we make her just 'our' lover?"

"How about we make you my lover right now?"

"Zoo! Zoo! Zoo!"

"Mary?"

"Yes Mark?"

"You are wearing too many clothes."

She giggled. "And what should I do about that?" she asked.

"Take them off."

Mary stuck her tongue out at me. "If you want me naked, you'll have to do it yourself!" And she began to back away, still giggling.

Fine. Be that way.

I jumped at Mary but she was quicker. She scurried out the door and into the living room. I tried to trap her in a corner, but she hopped the sofa and eluded me. Eventually I caught her in the kitchen. "Last chance to go peacefully!" I warned her.

She tried to slip around me. She failed. I grabbed her and pulled her close. "You can't get away that easily, young lady." I reached for the hem of her shirt and pulled it straight up, tangling her arms up above her head. I unsnapped her bra and pulled it and the shirt off of her. Another minute and I had her out of her pants and in just her panties. French cut off-white silk, if you must know.

Not letting her go, I reached for my wallet on the kitchen counter and pulled two slips of paper I had carefully carried around the world and back. I placed one in each hand. "Pick a hand," I ordered.

She kissed me. Softly.

"Pick a hand."

She pulled up my tee shirt and rubbed my chest with both her hands.

"Pick a hand?"

"Your left one," she said, kissing me again.

'IOU one hand job, ' it read. I showed it to her. "You owe me a hand job."

She kissed me, with her tongue. "Yes." A kiss. "I do."

I led her out of the kitchen and into the living room. She was giggling. "Are you going to stay here like a good girl or am I going to have to tie you down?"

"Ooh, kinky. Are we talking about silk ropes?"

Someday. "Maybe cooking twine."

Mary laughed. "That's sensuous."

"Stay here." I ordered.

I went into the bedroom, stripped off my shirt and shorts, picked up a tube of lube from the nightstand and went back to the living room.

"Are you horny?" I asked Mary.

She licked her lips. "I ran through three sets of batteries in the last week." A vision of Mary with 'Markie' flashed through my mind.

"I'd like to see that."

"I'll bet you would," she giggled.

I handed her the lube. "I'd like to see this, too."

Mary unscrewed the lid, squirted some into her hand, and warmed it up. She looked into my eyes, reached forward and slowly massaged my balls. God, it felt good.

I looked into her eyes. "I love you."

She grabbed my cock and began to stroke. "I love the way it feels. So hard. So hot."

I groaned.

"Do you want to cum on my stomach?" She continued to slowly stroke. Up and down. Up and down.

I groaned again.

"Do you want to cum on my tits?" Up and down.

I put my hands on her shoulders, for stability.

Up and down. "Do you want to cum all over me?"

My breathing was labored.

"On my sweet pussy?" Up and down. She continued to rub my balls with one hand. She rubbed my cock back and forth against the front of her panties.

My left knee was trembling.

"On my face?" My right knee was trembling, too. I put more weight on her shoulders. She knelt down, eyelevel with my cock. Up and down.

My arms were shaking, my ears roaring.

"Come for me, Mark."

I could barely see.

"Come for me, love."

I blinked, "Now!" I said. "Now!" Weeks of missing Mary poured out me, splashing across her nose, into her mouth, onto her cheek. She leaned forward, capturing the head with her lips, capturing the next spurt and the next in her mouth.

I was still shaking, unable to breathe. I fell to my knees and rolled to my side. "Sweet Jesus."

The zoo was nice that morning, too.

It sure seemed like it had been a long time since I'd been to the Boston office. I got in early Monday morning to get organized and had pretty much set up the week by the time staff started arriving.

I offloaded a bunch of staff work to my assistant and he set about delegating that to some of the team. I'm sure they were glad I was back: now they had something to do. Maybe not — though nobody actually poisoned me or anything.

Around eleven thirty I got a call from Ian asking if I was free for lunch. Mary was out of the office this morning, so I was.

Ian is a great boss. He recruited me out of college and has always been there if I had a problem or needed advice. While I had climbed the ranks in the company, Ian had too. He was now one of the senior partners in the firm.

Over lunch we talked about... business. Of course.

The head of the team I had worked with in London had called Ian and was very pleased with my participation. The Singapore contract was through legal and looked to be hugely profitable and the company in Japan I'd proposed to was close to signing their first contract. "That trip was a hell of good job Mark," Ian told me.

"Thanks," I said. "It sure beat the hell out of me — but I'm glad we got the business."

We talked about some of my staff and how they were doing. I made a particular effort to talk about the crew out in San Francisco as they were not in sight and could be easily forgotten by the head honchos in Boston. Maybe I scored some points for some of them.

"Mark, you know the partner's meeting was last week?" Yeah, no calls or demands for reports. We all knew. Hell, that was probably why I had to make my trip.

"Sure. How was Florida?"

"I'm a Boston kind of guy. It was too hot." I could relate.

"In any event, something came up in the meeting that may affect you." Ian was fairly serious, so I put up my guard. I was doing good work, no serious screw-ups that I was aware of...

"After Canterbury gets their new thing up an running, we're going to need a presence."

"A presence?" I asked. I figured I'd be going back for the followup.

"A London office." It had been talked about before, but it had never been done.

I thought about that, about the potential for growth. "Yeah. I can see that." Maybe it was time.

"We think you're the guy."