Jason looked out over his workers from his lofted office and smiled. Who would have believed that in just five short years he could have turned his father's small processing plant into the major producer of canned goods it was today. He still liked to run business from this office that overlooked the first production line to remind himself of where it all started and where it could all go back to if he took his eye off the ball.
Of course he had made a few improvements to his dad's old office. Gone was the one room for him and one for his secretary. Now the offices stretched all the way along the building, the front being for his executives, the rear for him. His office had it's own private wash room, dressing area and lounge for entertaining important clients, complete with bar and kitchen. The lounge even folded out into a bed for those busy nights he had stayed way to late to go home.
Lately though that had been less and less as he had been able to hire very competent people to help him run the business. From it being just him and and a couple of shift managers, he now had 14 shift managers running the seven production lines and 8 executives. Of course none of this would have been possible without Serana. She had been a godsend when he had been looking to expand the business at the start.
He had advertised the position, looking for a young no nonsense, can do, junior executive, that was willing to put in long hours for big rewards later. As he thought he didn't get many replies, and the ones he did were not the sort of people he wanted to hire. He was giving up when she walked in the door. Impeccably dressed, a brilliant resume, but not a lot of work history. Still there was something about her he liked. He talked to her for ten minutes and got the story. She was brilliant and most bosses didn't like that, they wanted to be the smartest one in the room. She also took no prisoners and expected the best from anyone she worked with from the lowliest janitor to her own boss. She admitted that as a fault and was trying to change but to her it was difficult, it had been the way she was brought up. Jason smiled. He liked her a lot and knew they would get along and that she would be good for his business. He had hired her on the spot and had never regretted it.
They had started working to expand his business together and implement his plans and he immediately knew he had made the right choice. She was not afraid to tell him when he was overreaching himself and pointing out flaws in his plans, but she was also not afraid to take criticism herself. They worked well together but nothing ever developed between them. She was married and they worked such long hours it was all business between them. Not that he didn't think about it on a few occasions. She was a stunning woman. A natural red head, her curly red hair bounced around her shoulders as she strolled around and her green eyes flashed between a fierce emerald green when she was angry or intense, to a mellow grass green when she was happy or relaxed. Her 5'7 frame was slim and trim. She worked out regularly and it showed and her C cup breasts had absolutely no sag to them.
He had caught himself staring occasionally those first few months and had mentally slapped himself. That was not why she was here and if he made a move on her she would probably storm off and his business would certainly suffer and he didn't want that to happen. The urges gradually subsided and they had become good friends instead and the business had prospered. As promised he had made her the vice president, heck she deserved it, but they both remained hands on.
Smiling he flicked a switch and the blinds rotated cutting off the view and he proceeded to the lounge. It was almost time for Serana to join him for a celebratory drink. They had just closed another important deal that would enable them to guarantee work for another 3 years and maybe add another line and if the talks with that overseas company progressed as good as they where going it was a definite.
Right on time there was a knock on the door and then she entered, locking the door behind her. That was strange but he let it go. Perhaps she wanted to discuss business after and they always did that behind locked doors. Though why she would discuss business today surprised him. He poured two glasses of champagne and handed one to her. "To the continuing success of the business. Long may it prosper and continue to make us and our employees wealthy."
They clinked glasses and sipped but Jason could tell something was bothering her and motioned her to sit down.
"Okay Serena what is it? I have noticed you down in the dumps for the last several months. It has not effected your work so I haven't said anything and I don't think anyone else can tell but we have been friends too long for me to miss it."
Serena looked at him then her eyes started to leak tears at the corners. "Jason it is all becoming a bit too much for me. I walk around the plant and I see people trying their best and I know they are, these people love working here they are like a big family, but I can see so much that can be done just that bit better. Oh it doesn't need to be done I know that, but I want to scream at people to do it. The bins on the lines could be moved a half inch closer meaning we could save an extra hour a year in time, If the janitors were trained to implement my system of cleaning they could finish ten minutes earlier, saving us over $20,000 a year in wages plus less cost in cleaning materials, but it would cost in the training and the resentment from them would not be viable."
She looked at him and started to cry," I need help Jason, I love this job and don't want to leave but it is becoming too much."
Jason reached out and held her and thought. He did not want to loose her any more than she wanted to leave. She was still a big driving force behind his company, in fact the truth was it was not really his company it was theirs. He needed to find a solution. He already knew how she had been brought up by a very strict father who had punished her for any indiscretion, real or imagined and made her get perfect grades all through her schooling until he had died. However by then it was just ingrained in her. She just strove for perfection. Suddenly an idea hit him.
"Serena do you trust me?"
She looked at him funny and wiped away her tears and laughed a little. "I come to you and tell you this and you ask if I trust you? Of course I do Jason."
Jason smiled in spite of himself and chuckled. "Guess your right. Silly question but what I am going to propose is going to involve a lot of trust and seem really out there."
Serena sat up and looked at him and then wiped away the last of her tears. "Okay this does sound serious and apart from business you are never serious so you better tell me."
Jason took a deep breath and just decided to get it over with. "Right. Look Serena all your life you have been striving for perfection because of the way you were brought up. I am not saying that is a bad thing because it bloody well helped me build this company to what it is today and helped make you the woman you are. The problem is that your Daddy punished you every time you failed and made you strive harder and I think you are missing that. Maybe you don't know it and maybe I am way off, but now that you and I have finally been able to slow down and no longer push ourselves as hard you are feeling out of sorts. The problem is we won't be pushing ourselves for awhile. We need to establish ourselves before the next major push." Jason could see Serana taking it all in but he couldn't tell if she was agreeing with him or not.
"What I think you need is that punishment Serana. Someone to take control of you and tell you what to do while you are not striving to succeed. I don't know if it will work but if you are willing to give it a shot you should try it. Go home and search up a few BDSM sites and see what they do for you and discuss it with your husband. I don't want to loose you, you are too important for this company."