Anne was just approaching 30, she had struggled her way through a number of jobs before joining Fulcrum. She had trained as a nurse, worked in a hospital, then an old peoples home in her quest to find herself something which enabled her to work and help other people. All had been a struggle and in the end she had given it all up, taken a secretarial course and, after several attempts, landed her current job in the support team.
Fulcrum had only been in business for seven years and had grown rapidly on the strength of their main database product which now powered many of the major corporate web sites. Most of their customers were major wholesalers using Fulcrum software to support on-line catalogues and ordering, but they also has won many contracts with porn sites where it was used to hold the files of pictures sent in by so-called amateurs. This part of Fulcrum's business while profitable, was not mentioned in most of their publicity!
Much of their success had been largely down to Mike Andersen, a brash 35 year old sales and marketing director who worked hard long hours and traveled extensively. He had a support team of 10, four of which had been there from the start, the rest were all short timers. The reason for the high turn-over was simple, Mike was a hard guy to work for, he demanded that his staff worked similar hours to himself, seemed to care little for their home life and was in the habit of swearing and shouting at people who he believed were not pulling their weight. He had recently fired two of his team for being drunk on a Friday evening when he needed them to put together a proposal for a new client. The fact that they had already clocked up over 60 hours each that week mattered little.
Mike seemed to have no social life of his own. Everybody knew he was divorced (but everybody thought they knew why his wife had left him), nobody had heard him mention a girlfriend or seen him with a woman who was not a client, and several thought he must be gay!
So when, on a winter's morning, David called Anne into his office to say that she was being temporarily transferred to Sales & marketing, her heart sank. She wanted to ask what she had done wrong to deserve this transfer but, as was her nature, she kept quiet and accepted the situation. She believed that she would not be able to cope and would be out of her job in a few days, especially if she had to do any work for Mr. Andersen!
She was relieved to find herself working with two others on a new account for one of the junior salesmen. She was amazed to find that the work was within her capabilities. She even enjoyed it and worked long hours because the time seemed to fly past. It also enabled her to observe the all powerful Mr Andersen from a safe distance. This tall blond haired man did not seem to her to be the ogre that everybody said he was. Yes he shouted a lot (but always with just cause), he was demanding and worked at least as hard as his team. She found the power and authority that he seemed to exude attractive and the fact that nobody knew anything about him outside work added that touch of mystery.
It was on one such day when she was musing over his qualities while collating several copies of the latest proposal that she was jerked back into reality but the sound of Mike's booming voice right behind her.
"Anne. Come into my office" an instruction from the master. The rest of the team looked up to see what was going on and she felt their eyes on her as she followed Mr. Andersen into his office. What had she done wrong? What mistake had she made?
She felt the carpet under her feet as they entered the office. Andersen slammed the door shut behind her.
Anne" he began looking down at the papers on his desk "you have done well helping Angus." He looked up briefly to see a nervous young woman looking back at him with downcast eyes. "It's OK Anne I'm not going to eat you" he smiled (slightly but a smile nonetheless), the first one she could ever remember seeing on him. "But I have an important project coming up and want to know if you will stay with us longer and join the team?"
She did not know what to say at first, totally unprepared for this new turn of events. "well yes" she eventually managed to stutter, "but I have still to finish up on the other project for Angus."
"Oh that" he went back to the papers on his desk "well they can do all that. I doubt we will win it anyway." She wondered if Angus knew that four weeks of his work were likely to end a loss! "Report to Margaret my secretary tomorrow and she will sort out your tickets." Tickets? What tickets?
He looked up and saw the question written large on her face "Oh sorry the client is in Sweden, we leave next week for Stockholm. Make sure you pack some warm things its cold and dark over there." He gave another half smile and waved her out of the office. Two days later she found herself sitting in business class on a jumbo jet bound for Europe. Mike had apparently gone on ahead and there was just her and Margaret now jetting over to join him, weighed down with a combination of laptop computers and winter clothing.
Anne had never really spoken to Margaret before but during the nine hour flight they chatted amiably about Fulcrum, work (but not Mike himself), their backgrounds. Anne discovered that this smarty dressed red-head had worked for Mike for three years. He had always been aloof but fair and had made sure she always did well out of the annual bonus scheme. The extra money had bought her designer business suits and good holidays. Holidays she had shared with her girlfriend of several years. Yes Mike knew she was gay but seemed unconcerned as log as she did her work.
Margaret complimented Anne on her work, not many had made such a quick impression, and said Mike had commented that she was probably the most accurate and diligent Admin. Assistant they had. Praise indeed!
Anne could not help compare herself to Margaret as they chatted. While Margaret had the sort of curves men drool over and dressed well to show off her figure, Anne usually dressed very conservatively. Nobody would call her beautiful or even pretty. Her dark hair framed an attractive enough face and she used some make-up to enhance her looks. However her slight, almost boyish figure, was usually clad, as today, in jeans and a loose fitting top which did nothing to enhance the few curves she had. Perhaps one day, she mused, if she did well and got a good bonus, she would buy some nice clothes, perhaps even some nice lingerie? Who for? Was the question that flashed through her mind. She had a number of boyfriends, but none had stayed around long. A doctor had taken her cherry during her first year of nursing school. It had been a quick painful experience and he had cared little for her satisfaction. One boyfriend had stayed longer than most and she had tried hard to keep him. He had taught her to give oral sex and she allowed him to penetrate her rear with his finger, but had baulked at anything larger. Looking back on it, she had never really had true happiness in her relationships, her desire to help and look after her partners had often sent them running as they accused her of trying to mother or even smother them.
Anne quickly found out that the job in Sweden would be Fulcrum's biggest ever contract if they won it. The three of them worked hard, putting in 12 or more hour days throughout the first week. At the weekend Margaret went back to Head Office to work on one part of the proposal leaving the inexperienced Anne with Mike. She made mistakes, he fired her twice, she cried and ran out of the room on both occasions before pulling herself together and returning to carry on as if nothing had happened.
Another week went past and the shouting got less, she had not been "fired" for three days now and by Saturday they had virtually finished the proposal and presentation. Mike wanted to complete it before Saturday was out so, she found herself knocking on his hotel room door at 7 o'clock, laptop under her arm. He opened the door wearing a bathrobe, he smelled good to her - just from the shower - and she was glad she had also found time for a quick shower before returning to her work.
He ushered her into the room directing her to the desk in the corner where she put down the PC, fumbling under the desk to plug it in. As she was down on her knees she noticed that the TV was on in the corner of the room. Two naked figures were writhing around, a well hung stud, sliding his massive cock into the pussy of a well endowed (enhanced Anne thought) beauty. She was mesmerised, looking at the images, only come back to real-life when a rather flustered Mike mumbled a "sorry about that" and turned off the set. Perhaps he is not gay then she thought.
They worked into the evening, gradually refining the presentation until Mike seemed to be happy with the format, contents and style.
"A job well done" he beamed "thanks for all your help. I hate putting these things together."
"I have enjoyed it Mr Ander… sorry Mike" she could not get used to calling him that. "I like doing this sort of thing."
"Well you have done well lets toast to a job well done." Mike went to the mini-bar and took out a bottle of champagne. He did not wait for a response from Anne. He poured two glasses and handed one to her.
"To success" He clinked her glass and took a mouthful. Anne sipped hers; it was only the second time she had tasted champagne and knew that it would go straight to her head.
Mike looked at her "Anne," he started, "you have done well and say that you like the job. How would you like to join me as a special personal assistant?" The offer took Anne by surprise and she was lost for words. Not that it mattered, Mike continued, barely pausing for breath "You have done a great job, you put up with my moods and shouting and I think you would be a great asset to the team and to me personally."
Anne stuttered "I don't know what to say" she paused "why me?"
"Well you should say yes and as to the 'Why me' question, I know you need the money, I can depend on you to get the work done."
"But you don't know me, we have only worked together for a couple of weeks and …." Mike cut her short.
