Chapter 15

Day 141 Wednesday

Denise had worked through the night on the manual. Using a checklist that she had generated to make sure that she didn't miss a single detail, she went over the manual with a fine toothed comb. She checked each entry in the index, she read each page for spelling and grammatical errors, and she made sure that each figure was correct and captioned. Satisfied that it was finally complete, she made a backup of the manual and sent a copy to Dale and Karen.

Once Dale was satisfied with the manual, he would tell Karen to send it off to the publisher. Until then, she would just wait until she heard from him that he was satisfied with it. She sat back in her chair and stared at the video playing on the wall. In her half conscious state, she couldn't have told anyone what was going on in the video. The images just burned their way into her brain bypassing the filters that she had erected.

Claire entered the office and looked over at Denise. The young woman looked like she was in pretty sad shape. Her clothes were wrinkled, her stare was vacant, and she was slumped in her seat as if sitting up was just too much effort. Denise's eyes closed and her head sagged forward.

Letting the young woman sleep, Claire went over to her desk and read over the manual. Despite the fact that she was sure that it was okay, she followed the corporate policy of giving it a final review before releasing it for publication. One of the things that she hated as a technologist was getting a manual with an errata sheet filled with corrections. She always lost the sheet and then would find that she was burned by an error in the manual later.

The manual was one of the best that she'd ever read. The entire manual was structured according to the kinds of things that users needed. One glance at the table of contents and the user would be able to turn to the right page to get their questions answered. Shaking her head, she said, "This is a work of art. I almost feel guilty for giving her such a hard time."

Taping on the keyboard, she sent an email to Dale telling him to make the call to Karen. She added that she was very impressed with Denise's work. It was not the first email that Dale received voicing that compliment. He had sent out the last draft to the engineers to check for technical accuracy and they had all praised the quality of the manual.

The manual was for a software system that was being delivered to a large company. They had included a clause in the contract that he would have to pay for any delays in its delivery. The foul up with the user manual had threatened to cost him a fortune. The fact of the matter was that he'd have been willing to accept even a bad user manual than lose the money. He was overjoyed that he didn't have to go that route. He picked up the phone and made the call to Karen.

When Claire received the reply from Dale, she went over to Denise and woke her. She said, "You can go home. Dale talked to Karen."

"I need to go to the office," Denise said wiping the sleep from her eyes.

"I'd head home if I were you. You're exhausted," Claire said gently.

Denise shook her head and said, "I'll head by the office and make sure there aren't any problems. You never know when a printer will have a problem with a manuscript."

"It has been nice working with you," Claire said.

Glancing over at the video playing on the wall, Denise said, "Same here. If the engineers that got sent over knew as much about the product as you do, my job would be a thousand times easier."

"This was my baby. I had to know everything about it," Claire said with a smile. She had a feeling that a number of companies would want tailored versions of this program for their use. It was a major leap forward in business software.

"I guess I can understand that," Denise said rising from her chair. She looked down at her clothes and said, "I guess they'll understand if I don't change clothes."

"Take a shower before you leave," Claire said gesturing to the private bathroom.

"That's a good idea," Denise said.

It was early in the afternoon by the time Denise walked into her office. She had already learned that the user manual had been sent to the printer that morning. Her part was delivered and her job was done. To say that she was exhausted would be an understatement. She hadn't taken an hour off once over the past three weeks. It had been physically and mentally grueling. Even worse, she felt emotionally raw after all of the talk about sex. She was looking forward to sitting in her cubicle and staring at the monitor without the moans and groans of sex in the background.

Karen stuck her head out of her office on hearing someone greet her. Seeing that Denise had arrived, she stepped out of her office and went over to Denise. Smiling, she said, "I just finished reading the manual. It looks great. Mr. Speers was very impressed with your work."

"Okay," Denise said trying to work up as much positive energy as she could and failing miserably.

"You look exhausted," Karen said taking stock of the disheveled appearance of her employee.

"I am," Denise said.

Considering that Mr. Speers had sent over a significant bonus for having finished the manual on time, Karen said, "Why don't you take the rest of the week off?"

Although two days of comp time did not begin to cover the three weekends that Denise had worked, she was too tired to point it out. Nodding her head, she said, "Okay. I'll see you Monday."

"Good job," Karen said.

"Thanks," Denise said. She was tired enough that further pleasantries would have been wasted. She turned and left the office heading towards home and her bed in the basement.

Upon arriving at home, she looked around the house. She wanted to head straight to bed and catch up on her sleep, but there was this restless edginess inside that let her know that getting in bed now would be a waste of time. She wandered around the house trying to make sense of what she was feeling. She didn't have a name for that feeling and it confused her.

When she passed by the whirlpool she said, "I bet that will help me relax."

Almost as soon as the words were out of her mouth, she was out of her clothes and in the whirlpool. She adjusted the setting for the strongest action and leaned back. Although she wanted to deny that it was accidental, she found that spot where one of the water jets was aimed in just the right place.

The orgasm hit her like a runaway freight train. If anyone had been in the house they would have heard the scream that came from her mouth. Three weeks of frustration had been released in five seconds. A second orgasm hit her before she had even recovered from the first one. This was even stronger now that her defenses were down.

She slipped off the seat and her head went under the water. Thrashing around, she managed to get her head above the surface without swallowing any of the water. Taking deep breaths, she turned so that the jet had no chance of hitting her. Recovering a bit, she said, "Jesus. What in the hell was that?"

A shiver of fear shot through her and she asked, "Is that what all of this is about?"

Her legs didn't want to cooperate, but she managed to climb out of the whirlpool. Sitting on the edge of the platform that surrounded the whirlpool, she reached over to the nearby shelf and grabbed a towel. She was still breathing hard and her body was flushed. Staggered, she said, "I'm doomed."

It was a long trip to the basement. She kept feeling like her legs were going to give out on her any second. She descended the stairs holding onto the rail for support wondering if that was a normal reaction to an orgasm. She'd never felt anything so strongly in her entire life. Having experienced it once, she knew that she'd want to experience it again. The idea sent a shiver down her spine.

She collapsed on the bed and fell asleep almost immediately. She hadn't even taken the time to cover herself with a sheet. Her sleep was filled with erotic dreams. Scenes from the videos that had played non-stop in Claire's office came and went in flashes. Memories of Susan and Dale having sex in front of her rose from her subconscious along with images of Claire and Bambi. Lustful desires that had long been buried woke.

Denise woke to a dark basement lit by a small nightlight halfway across the room. It was just bright enough to make her way to the light switch. Driven by her bladder, she rose from bed and made her way to the bathroom. Flipping the switch turned on the light. The sudden brightness of the room nearly blinded her. She sat on the porcelain throne. As her bladder emptied her thoughts returned to the episode in the whirlpool.

Now that her desires had been unleashed, her body was more than willing to tell her what she wanted. Surprising her, the one thing her body wanted more than anything else was food. She realized that she had not eaten since breakfast. Based on the darkness of the basement, she guessed that it was night. A glance at the clock revealed that it was just a few minutes before ten.

She made her way upstairs in search of something to eat. She entered the living room to find Dale and Candy watching an erotic movie on the large screen television. He was wearing a robe that was open in the front. Candy, consistent with the rules of the house, was naked. Her hand was in Dale's crotch, but his cock wasn't reacting to the occasional strokes that she was giving it.

Hearing Denise enter the living room, Dale looked over at her and asked, "Are you feeling better?"

"Yes, I am, but I'm hungry enough to eat a horse," Denise said. She didn't notice at the time that there were no concerns about how many calories she would be consuming.

"Let me fix you something to eat," Candy said.

"Thanks," Denise said appreciating the offer. She took a seat on one of the living room chairs and looked over at the television. A blond starlet was giving head to an oversized cock. She wondered if most guys were hung like that. It seemed to her that all of the men in those movies had foot long cocks.

Dale said, "You're really good at your job. I was really worried that we'd be late with our release, but you caught us up to the schedule."

"It was a lot of work," Denise said.

Nodding his head, Dale knew about working hard. When he had started the software company he had spent months living in small office working non-stop on the program that launched his company. The only times he had left the office was to shower at the YMCA, to eat at a nearby diner, and to take care of a single program participant. The program had been a success, but selling it had required months of traveling from business to business installing it and providing support for it. He had done all of that alone and it had meant long workdays with little sleep. He said, "You impressed Claire and that is not easy to do."

"She's a smart woman," Denise said. She didn't mention that she was pathologically driven by sex.

Dale said, "She's the smartest of us."

"Oh," Denise said.

Candy returned with a plate of finger foods for Denise to eat. It wasn't much; just a few fresh vegetables, cubes of cheese, and some folded lunchmeats. She handed the plate and a napkin to her. With a friendly smile, she said, "This is little something to take the edge off your hunger while I cook some real food for you."

"You're cooking?" Denise asked.

"There's a nice chicken breast that I saved for you in the refrigerator. I found an old recipe and I think you'll like it," Candy said. She looked down at Dale's crotch and saw that his cock was still resting from their last workout. Smiling, she said, "It'll be ready in thirty minutes."

"Thanks, but you don't have to go to all that trouble," Denise said.

"It is no trouble. I like cooking," Candy said.

Denise watched Candy walking away. The little worm of lust caused her to check out Candy's body. Claire's words about everyone liking Candy returned to her unbidden. She shook her head trying to get those thoughts out of mind; she wasn't into women. Her eyes settled on Dale's cock. She said, "All of the men in those movies have huge cocks."

Surprised at the topic of conversation, Dale said, "All of the women have huge breasts. They are hired because they all represent extremes. Real people are much more moderately equipped."

"Oh," Denise said taking a bite out of a tomato wedge. The juices ran down her chin and she wiped it with the napkin.

"You aren't becoming a size queen, are you?" Dale asked.