Chapter 8

When Ashley put her mind to it time seemed to stand still. At 4:20 she had completed her sixth bathroom of the day. Putting her tool belt in her work bag she washed her face, put on lipstick, and brushed her hair. In the elevator lobby, she ran into Nick DiAngeli. On the way down in the elevator, she told him that she was going to interview the hotel manager for a paper she was doing at school. He knew that she had been an outstanding student in high school and heard she was doing quite well at Stanford. As he thought about Salazar, the dark-complected stud, it was all he could do to keep from rolling his eyes. He considered Jim McClain and thought of the sexual games his daughter had been playing all the time she had been working at McClain.

When Ash walked into the outer office and announced to the receptionist, “I’m Ashley McClain, here to see Mr. Salazar,” she felt grown-up and sophisticated, “I have an appointment.”

The woman eyed her up and down which made Ash feel like she was being judged. The way she was being looked at made her think the woman was expecting that there might be some hanky-panky going on with Salazar and the young construction worker. But the receptionist could have just been appraising her as a good-looking young woman, or competition that might get in the way of her desires. She wore no wedding or engagement ring. To the high school girl, the sexy Spaniard could be in great demand around the hotel.

After Salazar invited her to take a seat he said, “Well young lady I’m intrigued about this paper you’re talking about. Fill me in on it.”

Unlike most girls, Ashley was comfortable with the hotel manager’s eyes scouring her body. She knew why men’s eyes did that and was totally in sync with it. She was doing some ogling of her own. His eyes were doing it more subtly than anyone she had ever known though, even her father. “I-I ... um ... you might think I am bragging Mr. Salazar.” She wanted him to think that she was an unsure first-year college student. Yet with him, she was not as sure as she was with most males who were so blatant. She would have given anything to know what this more sophisticated man was thinking.

Raising his eyebrows he said, “You seem to be pretty sure of yourself Miss McClain,” chuckling as he thought about how the woman, he had been with was irritated at the way Ashley pushed in on their conversation. Putting his elbows on the desk and tenting his hands, he said, “You didn’t appear to have any hesitation at barging into Ms. Marshall’s and my conversation. Tell me a little bit about yourself.”

Realizing that he had at least given her a mild rebuke for not going through the proper channels for a business introduction she gave him a disarming smile as she said, “Daddy always says, ‘faint heart never wins fair maiden.’”

With a veiled smirk, he said, “Do you always think so quickly on your feet?”

“I have wanted to talk with you since I started working here Mr. Salazar but I’ve been busy doing five bathrooms a day, which is one more than my coworkers do.”

“How do you make that happen?”

“I don’t eat lunch.”

He smiled and shrugged. “So, give a little something about yourself that might interest me about you.”

“I was captain of the high school soccer team ... was told that mental quickness is one of my skills.”

“You’re a pretty good player?”

“That’s what everyone says.”

Salazar tilted his head as if to elicit more.

“I’ve been given a full athletic scholarship to Stanford.”

Leaning back in his chair he put his hands behind his head, grinned, and said, “Your faking humility well young lady,” as if he was saying, “GOTCHA.”

Realizing she was not as cool as she thought Ashely’s cheeks turned pink. But sitting in front of Fernando Salazar confirmed her feeling about how much men were attracted to young women. She remembered how Maxine Marshall reacted to her when they first met at the elevator and how she frowned and fidgeted while Salazar fawned all over her—a girl in laborers’ clothes. And here she was sitting across the desk from this delicious-looking hunk while he was strutting in place in his chair. She felt a twinge of guilt at how easily he cut the cord with the older woman to pay attention to her. Ashley estimated the woman was in her late thirties to early forties. Ashley preened in her mind as she thought I must look good to him, even in work clothes.

“So, he said, “what would you like to know Ashley?”

The only thing she had to write on was a small pocket notebook that she used to jot things down on the job. But like a professional interviewer she took the notebook out of her back pocket opened it on her knee, poised her pen, and asked, “How long did you have to work for Marriott before you became a manager of your first hotel Mr. Salazar ... and how long before you got promoted to a hotel this large?

Salazar gave a hint of a smile and nodded. He was impressed that when she started the interview, she asked two questions in one sentence. “I’ve been in the business for twelve years Ms. McClain. This is my third managership. While the hotel carries the Marriott name it is franchised by Friendship Hospitality. We operated fifty-five Marriott’s, along with several other hotels. We run the Marriott’s at all the major airports and large city center locations.

“Would you explain to me what ‘franchise’ means Mr. Salazar?”

Realizing that he was not dealing with a typical eighteen-year-old he considered that most kids her age would have just said ‘Oh,” as if they understood when they didn’t. She had the desire to know what the term meant plus the courage to expose that she was ignorant of it. Suddenly, he saw how Ashley’s mind fit her body I’m not dealing with just a kid.

“There are Marriott’s owned by the Marriott Corporation directly, Company-owned hotels, and Marriott franchises which are owned by separate companies like Friendship.” He recognized that the young woman was wondering why there would be both company-owned and franchised hotels.

“I’m afraid I owe you an apology, Ms. McClain.” Ashley cocked her head. “I thought I was dealing with an ordinary college girl. You impress me as a mature, young woman.”

At the compliment warmth spread through her body.

“I expected the questions you would be asking would take twenty minutes or so. But I can see we are going to need more time. In answer to that question though there are profit scenarios and tax scenarios which, when boiled down, come out to the same thing.” He gave her an “are you with me” gesture and asked the same question.

I understand McClain Construction’s financials Mr. Salazar, “I’ve been bidding some of my father’s jobs.”

“I’m not surprised,” he said (but was). “There is more to franchising than that though. I just wanted to see if you were able to understand some basic concepts that are usually far beyond the understanding of a person your age.” Smiling he gave her thumbs up. “I have a commitment that I have to take care of in a little while. In the meantime, why don’t you ask a few more of the questions you came in to ask now and we can cover more tomorrow ... that is if you can come back tomorrow after work.”

It was clear to Ashley that the man across the desk was different than her father and the men she had been working with. While her father was quite tender with her and her mother, he was surrounded by the rough edges of the construction trade. Salazar was polished, refined. He was treating her like a person that was more mature than a typical girl her age. She had expected him to give her a cursory interview and get her out of the way. But she could see that, if he were not interested in her as a person, he was at least making every effort to show her that she was both respected and valued. I’m sure because of his relationship with my father. Trying to respond in kind she said, “I can come back tomorrow after I’m finished.” Hot flashes coursed throughout her body at his nod and confirming smile.

Clearing her throat, she gave him the first of her next questions. “How long ago was the ADA (American Disability Act) passed and how long did it take Marriott to respond to upgrading the bathrooms?”

Salazar raised his eyebrows, once again she was asking complex and structured questions. She was attractive and seemed sophisticated in a rough sort of way. She appeared ambitious. Tenting his fingers again he said, “The ADA facilities standards came out in February (it was 2010). Marriott enacted a policy that Friendship Hospitality supported. As soon as the fixtures were available to the market. In April. We sent out requests for bids. I talked with your father about it before the bids went out.”

What he said next was like a public service ad. “Disabled people are an important market for us, Ms. McClain.” She wanted him to call her Ashley but felt professional when he called her Ms. McClain. “We acted quickly to show the industry that we not only took the ADA standards seriously but that we wanted to be on the cutting edge as far as people with disabilities are concerned.”

Ashley asked four more questions which Salazar answered patiently and completely. At the last question, she could see by his body language that he was getting anxious for her to finish up. During the interview, she detected how meticulously he assessed her body and was impressed how he did it so much more subtly than men she knew in the construction business. As he rose from his chair he said, “Well Miss McClain, I have to go. Can you come back at the same time tomorrow afternoon? I have something I want to talk with you about.”

On the way to her car, she still felt different vibes than those she experienced with the men of McClain Construction. She was confused as to why he wanted to talk to her again. He wants to get into my pants, ordinarily something she would completely be in favor of exploring with him. But she saw him as a man who would be more interested in a more sophisticated woman than a teenager who went down on guys so casually. While she was in his presence it dawned on her that he would not be at all impressed with a female that had gobbled the cocks of men like Greg, Skip, and Darren. What would he think about a girl who was gangbanged by a bunch of construction men after having gone to her high school prom with a Gay boy? JEEZ, she thought, I need to take Sophistication 101.

She knew that Federico Salazar had a greater interest in her than just a curious high school girl he would like to bonk. She assessed that while sex was involved in his thoughts, he was formulating them in a more cultured way than the men she had been dallying with for the last three years. She did not know where the thought he wants to offer me a job came from. But pondering it as she was driving out of the garage. As she waited her turn to turn right on the street she thought, He’s going to offer me a job. And he wants to get into my pants.

Having explored her own body for as many years as she could remember it always felt good. But the day her clitoris first swelled and sent shocks throughout her body she knew she was hooked. It was not until the girls at school started talking about “giving head” that an unfulfilled desire to know what a hard penis would feel like in her mouth began. She had thought about dating some of the boys in her class. But after having a couple of oblique conversations with her soccer coach and her advisor, Sarah Coalinga, she decided that if she were going to get involved sexually it would be with someone older. Some of the men who worked for her father came immediately to her mind, particularly Greg Sandler.

By the time she started her summer job at McClain Construction, she was almost rabid about the subject, which led her to impetuously go down on him in his truck the first day on the job. After that It became a fetish for her that led her to have sex with three McClain men, capping off with a gangbang with the top five.

Ashely’s first meeting with Federico Salazar triggered a cascade of emotions. Up to that point, she had been cocky and confident with men on the job. True, she had been familiar with those men before the time she went to work for McClain. Did she feel superior to them because her father owned the company? She had never been a snob and didn’t want to think that way. Her excellence in school enhanced her self-confidence and because of her elevated level of athleticism and assertiveness as a leader on the field, she rarely questioned her abilities. With the men she had sex with her activities were self-motivated.

She could see that Salazar was interested in her as a sexual being which initially made her think that she could have him eating out of her hand like she had the other men. She had never felt the need for romance with a boy or man, sex for her was a means of satisfying her strong urges, gaining expertise, and exercising control.