'I don't believe this,' Steve said, 'how could they have possibly got the days mixed up?'
It had been a long train journey and, now that they were here, it seemed like it was all just one big waste of time. Steve was furious.
'How did this happen, George, do you know? Is it our cock-up or theirs?'
George looked a bit dismayed, but just shook his head. 'They're not saying they got the days mixed up, but rather that the meeting was cancelled. I can't see how it can possibly be anything our end. This meeting has been on the books for ages.'
'What I mean is, did we know that the planning officer, Tim Skinny, or Skinner, or whatever the fuck his name is, it wasn't going to be here? And did we know that our client, Margaret, the Development Director, the person that we've been liaising with all this time, was on holiday?' Steve demanded to know.
'Well, put it this way, no one told me. So, unless someone else in the team was informed and didn't pass on the information which, frankly, is incredibly unlikely since we all work so closely together, well, I just can't see how it can possibly be down to us.'
'Right, I'm going to ask to speak to the CEO to find out what the hell has happened and just what is going on.' Steve said, marching back across to the reception desk.
After about five minutes they were invited into the Chief Executive's office.
'Good morning, gentlemen, I'm Johan Bloom, the CEO here, I've just heard about the problem and I wanted to offer my sincere apologies for the misunderstandings.'
'I think that misunderstanding is rather an understatement,' Steve shot back. 'We've been sat on a train for hours to get to this meeting that your Margaret Davies called and now she's not even here.'
'Yes, I'm so very sorry, the fault is all ours. It started with the planning office, who wanted to push the meeting date back, and then Margaret had some personal issues regarding the health of a family member, and it seems that you were not informed. It's only just now come to my attention and I'm so very, very sorry that this has happened.'
Sorry, when used sincerely, was always such a great word. The man was obviously sorry so, despite his exasperation, Steve found it difficult to know what else to say about it. The Planning officer wasn't here, Margaret wasn't here, so they had no choice but to accept their apologies and go home.
'Can we please try to rectify the situation, at least to a small degree?' Johan Bloom said. 'Allow me to organize a lunch for you, then you go back to London and we will reschedule soon. We will, of course, cover all your expenses, travel and accommodation both this time and next time. Gentlemen, let me say that this development is very important to us, and you have done a marvellous job so far, so I really wouldn't want this to sour our relations in any way. So, I hope that you will agree to forgive this mistake and allow us to offer some extra hospitality. My secretary will arrange return travel for you. We do have use of a private jet that will get you back to London much quicker than the train.'
Neither Steve nor George had ever been on a private plane, so Steve decided that that experience would definitely take the sting out of the wasted trip, so agreed, albeit reluctantly, to accept the apology and move on. They would go home on a private jet; he couldn't wait to tell Sally.
****
'Come in, come in,' Mario said, as Sally stepped into the hall. 'Go on through to the lounge.' He followed her, unable to resist looking at her arse as it wiggled delightfully as she moved along.
'Let's have a drink first and get to know each other a little, and then we will look around for your jacket, ok?'
'Sure, why not,' she said.
'White wine, ok?' he asked.
'Yes, that would be lovely, thank you,' she replied. Now, beginning to feel a little more comfortable, she sat down on the sumptuous sofa.
As she looked around the room, the memories of the last time that she was here came flooding back. It was all so very clear; she was completely naked, and the two big men, Rick and Alan, were touching, her kissing her and then, oh my god, they were fucking her and Steve was cumming just from watching. She could see it playing out clearly in her mind's eye. She shook her head to dispel the erotic thoughts.
'Everything ok?' he asked, looking at her closely as he handed her the glass of wine.
'Oh yes, everything is fine. I was just remembering the last time that I was here.'
'Good memories?' Mario asked.
"Yes, I suppose so,' she said, perhaps a little too enthusiastically. She suddenly felt keen to change the subject. 'So, Mario, how long have you been staying with Alan?'
'Alan is a good friend of Mellissa's, my sister. They spent some time together in Las Vegas. Anyway, when I told her that I was coming here, she made a call to Alan and asked him to introduce me to a few things, new people and so on. It was a bit embarrassing because my accommodation got double booked, so when my plane landed I actually had nowhere to go and Alan stepped up and insisted that I stay here. He is such a good man, isn't he?'
'Yes, I guess he is,' she replied.
'So, how well do you know Alan?' Mario asked, wondering how to turn the conversation around to sex.
'Not that well, actually. We met through a friend of a friend.' Sally wondered why she was being so cagey. Why hadn't she told Mario that Alan worked with her husband, Steve? Was it because she really didn't know this man and what his relationship with Alan was all about? Or perhaps it was because she didn't want him to know she was married in case it put him off? Mario was a very attractive man and the way he looked at her seemed to suggest that he thought that she was attractive too. So, nothing wrong with having a little flirtation and playing, she told herself.
'Oh, I see. It's just that when you said you'd left your jacket here. My dirty mind jumped to a few conclusions.'
Now she was certain that he was flirting with her.
'Oh really,' she replied, 'and just what sort of conclusions are they?'