Chapter 2

Rebecca swept into her office with the outward show of a conquering General. She was fully prepared for the snide comments and was going to close anything down before it gained momentum.

She quickly sat down and ran through her appointments. She was glad she was scarcely booked - it gave her some time to work on her reports.

Sam made his appearance, but wisely chose to stick to business.

"Ah, Rebecca?" he said. "Y'think you might find the time to visit roading?"

'Roading?' Rebecca sensed a set up and tensed. "Why?" she asked.

"Someone needs to find out why they keeping missing out on tenders. Gordie's complaining he might have to start laying off."

"Huh? I don't know, Sam. Sounds like they need a contracts specialist."

"I think the whole system needs going over. Somehow, they're not coming up with the right figures. You turn it around and I see a big bonus coming up."

"Well either the overheads are too high or their maths is wide of the mark. It's not rocket science."

"I know, Rebecca. Gordie's one of the best there is. If there're savings to be made, Gordie would have found them. Last contract they missed by over a hundred grand..."

"Yes, I know. Unbelievable!"

"We can't let a major division haemorage like that."

"Well, look, Sam, I'd be happy to help, but I have these reports..."

"Rebecca, this has come from the Chairman."

"Oh, damn the man!" she spat.

"Maybe I can help with some of those reports?" Sam suggested.

"I suppose..."

Rebecca was simmering with anger. She'd been set up, but not quite the way she'd imagined. Roading had had problems from way back and she doubted they could be solved quickly. She was being pushed into a major project with little chance of a successful outcome.

"I'll pass it on."

"No wait!" she stopped him. "I want to make sure I have the resources for this."

"Of course. I understand Gordie is going to organise an Engineer to..."

"Oh, I see!" Rebecca finally caught the drift. Now she understood why this Bradley had been tossed at her last night. They'd be working closely together and the Chairman needed to see whether they'd get on.

She was irritated at the thought. Everyone ought to know she'd work with God or the Devil to get a job done. She was a professional and never let personal dislikes, or sexual tension for that matter, get in the way of business.

She could work with this Bradley, she reasoned, as she cooperated with all sorts of people in the course of her work.

Rebecca buried her suspicions and plunged into the task. Four hours later she was reasonably sure of the systems and structure of the ailing division. It all conformed with best practice, as dictated by head office - she didn't imagine anything else.

She glanced over their competitors and discovered there were two companies they'd been losing to. Both, however, were tied up with a common board and CEO.

That wasn't a bad set up, she concluded. It kept both arms of the business on their toes and they could test their figures against one another. But, 100,000 dollars was a huge discrepancy between the winning and losing tender.

Likely the winning competitor was tendering below cost. That wasn't unusual in this cut throat business. A successful tenderer could afford to run at a loss for a couple of years to get established in the area. When the tendering round began again, a sitting contractor always had the advantage - particularly if they'd proved to be competent.

At first glance, she couldn't find any area where savings could be made that hadn't been thought through by the roading manager, Gordie. He was long time at his job and knew the business inside out.

Perhaps a younger person - bright and bushy tailed - might be able to find some innovation. 100 grand's worth of innovation? That seemed a tall order for even some top flight graduate.

Rebecca ate dinner in her office and continued on into the night. Around nine, she was growing tired of it all and her eyes were super sensitive from staring at computer screens. To finish, she opened roading's personnel files and eventually she brought up Bradley.

She had to admit she was a little curious, both professionally and personally. He was a graduate from one of the top engineering colleges and had worked for some of the leading companies in the field, both here and abroad. The company ought to be grateful they had him on the staff.

But, she discovered, he wasn't strictly speaking 'staff.' He was on a fixed term contract and she wondered why that was. He wasn't linked to any particular project - just listed as 'engineering consultant.' Rebecca decided to have a word to Gordie about that. Such a CV shouldn't be filed away in a competitor's office. He was too skilled to let go.

Bradley's personal information listed him as 'divorced with no children.' Rebecca felt strangely uneasy about this prying and quickly turned off the screen. She then decided she'd had enough for the day.

Bradley's age turned out to be 28, making him 17 years her junior. Rebecca found herself thinking about that on the way home. A couple of directors had wives much younger than that, she mused, and seemed to fish outside High Schools.

She quickly shut down that line of thought. On principle, she'd never date within the company. Potentially, it'd cause far too much disruption to the working atmosphere. She hated gossip, in any case, and couldn't bear a whispering campaign with her the central figure. She kept out of colleagues' personal lives and wished they stay out of hers.

All that meant, in effect, she never dated at all because her entire life was now the company. She had to admit as the years wound on by, that was a regret.

Good men were hard to find, however, especially those that could fit her lifestyle. Her prescription had narrowed considerably over the years and she doubted 'Mr Right' existed. Set in her ways, it was now much harder to make room for someone else.

Of course, she thought, she could always pick someone up in a bar then send him home when she'd got what she wanted - but she couldn't bring herself to do that. It seemed sleazy and a little dangerous. The last thing she needed was some spurned lover causing trouble.

As Rebecca rode up to her apartment she concluded she'd likely live the rest of her life by herself. At least, she thought, she'd maintain full control and she hardly ever argued with herself.

She went straight to bed after a little port wine. Within seconds of her head hitting the pillow, she was asleep.

Some time later Rebecca woke with a start and looked at the clock. It was 3am and she relaxed. There was still a good three hours before she needed to get out of bed.

She lay there for a while wishing herself back to sleep. Inevitably, she began thinking of James and the illicit affair she had with him when she was only fourteen.

It had been the secret stuff that had added potency to their relationship. She could never tell a soul - not even her friends - because she was underaged. Such a revelation would not only see the end of the affair but might see James in prison. A conviction would ruin his career before it got off the ground.

Rebecca grew used to sneaking in and out of windows late at night. James only lived a good sprint across the park away and she made the journey many times over that Summer break.

Absolutely no-one cottoned on to what was happening, least of all her parents and older brother. James lived in a flat with two others and even they had no idea.

He'd leave a window unlatched for her to slip through. She'd arrive with only a clean pair of knickers in her carry bag. James was usually in bed when she snuck in and, in no time, she'd slip off her clothes and duck under the covers with him.

He was always loving, always gentle, and took his time to make the experience complete. Rebecca remembered one night, when he was slowly sawing his finger against her pussy and she held his wonderful cock in her hand, she asked him how come he was so accomplished.

He'd explained that when he was only fifteen he'd had an affair with a much older woman who lived alone down his street. He'd figured her for 'over fifty' but found out later she was nearing sixty.

She'd been a family friend and he'd often helped her out with odd jobs for a couple of dollars. One afternoon, however, she plied him with a little booze and, before he knew it, was happily sucking him off.

"Really?" Rebecca had exclaimed, laughing. "But wasn't she, like gross?"

"She had big saggy boobs," he told her, "and she really liked to fuck. I guess I was grossed out for about five seconds," he laughed "but she sure as oats knew what she was doing."

"And what did she do?" Rebecca asked, curious. She noticed he stroked her a little faster and his dick pulsed in her hand.

"I suppose nothing unusual," he told her, "but it was how she did it - really slow, sensuous. She taught me how to touch and tease. She like to be kept on the edge."

"So that's where you got it from?"

"Mmm, mmm," he kissed her, "she said it was important to keep the fox hungry," he grinned.