As always, any and all actual or perceived errors are the complete responsibility of the author. I have used MS word and generally agree with their spellings but have made some different choices about their grammar choices.
Yes, I have read and reread the story at least 25 times. Yes, I think and write differently than others. Yes, I may or may not have the same sensibilities as you do.
There is no overt sex in this story. It is under romance. I personally don't trust love at first sight as I believe that people are much more complicated than that. I've seen the destruction of several long term relationships/marriages that started that way and never progressed beyond that. If this is not the case with you and yours, I am happy for you. The only absolutes in life are that there are no absolutes in life.
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"That was great Tom. You did a real good job with that client. You really saved our asses on that contract." Tom was beaming. He's gone through hell and back to correct the mistake that sales verbally promised our client. The promise was made just so that the Sales Rep could get credit for the job - and the bonus. Once again, Sales promised something that did not exist and was difficult to provide. At least this time we've been able to get an increase in the budget to cover it. Two months ago we had a post-mortem on a different project that was seriously underbid. The salesman, and it was that very same man, lost his bonus and almost his job. The actual worker bees now get signoff on all bids. We have slightly fewer contracts, but our profits have doubled. The LLC's owners are becoming more pleased. Sales have finally learned to work with the drones that provide the product.
I was just about to say something more to Tom when I heard and felt a very strong gurgle in my belly. Very quickly excusing myself, I almost trotted to the washroom just as all employees were called to be seated in the hall. The last stall was closest to the exhaust fan and I tried to sit down in time before I let...
I made it in time.
There is nothing like having time on your hands when your body has decided to temporarily take control of your entire life. There would be no dialing from this throne right now. If there was an open shooter, maybe I'd leave. A fire? Who the heck knows.
I've been at this tech consulting firm less than a year. In Business school, I concentrated on Accounting and Project Management. Kean and Kean hired me for those skills and my drive. I really didn't have experience. The fact that I didn't have a life helped me too. At my 6 month review, a star studded review I may add, I was told to stop working so long. I was suppose to take time off and was going to get into deep doo doo if I didn't stop. The powers-that-be here take good care of their middle and upper level staff. They are better than most on the grunts too. The owners have a long term view of their business. Burn out was not going to be an option for their staff. That also meant that if we all needed to rush a deadline, we were doing 16 hour days. That was always followed by mandatory time off. They wanted us to have a life. Employees with a life are happier employees. These happier employees yield greater profits and less drama, turnover, costs and expensive mistakes. Drama is actively discouraged at this place. Divisive politics or religion or non-respectfulness of others has no place at this work place. Several people found this out the hard way as they are no longer here. Sports on the other hand are ok as long as it's good natured. I've stayed away from the Ohio and Michigan college football crowds, especially on bowl game weeks.
In the last 10 minutes, my repeated flushing slowed to a stop and I'm feeling much better. Whatever I ate finally passed through me. Feeling confident now, I started to put myself together to join the staff in the hall. It was the end of the year awards dinner. I was going to open the stall door when I heard two loud young women come into the bathroom.
"How's the extra coming along?"
"Oh, you know" she paused. "We get together every week or two for 2-3 hours at his place when his wife's not there."
"Aren't you afraid of getting caught? After all, you're engaged and living with him. That man you're cheating on is really going to go far. Your ex is just a..."
"But Tommyboy knows how to play my body like no one else."
I remember how I felt when I found out that Ron was stepping out on me. It was a good friend that told me and a group of new friends that helped me catch him. That happened over three years ago, but I'll never forget that feeling of betrayal. I pulled out my phone and started video recording under the bathroom stall dividers. I recorded their words, and their shoes. They couldn't see the camera from that angle. At this point, it was going to have to be good enough. I had already placed the phone on total mute when I came to the banquet as per the direction of the owners.
These were two young and very immature women. The one in brown shoes was 'aiding and abetting' the other's cheating. Being engaged means that there are no others in your life. This is cheating without a doubt. I figured that the one with black designer heels with a gold looking ankle bracelet was the engaged one. I did not know who the voices were attached to, but I was going to find out. The awards were supposed to be going on for another 15 minutes and then drinks followed by dinner and dancing after that.
From the conversation, the fiancé worked for us as well as the brown shoe girl. The black designer heels girl worked as an executive office staff for a near-by firm.
A few minutes after they left, I washed up and headed toward the door. Another woman, a rather large woman, opened the door. I used her to possibly block any view of me leaving. No one was in the hall so I ducked down a corridor to the outside, then I came back in the front door. Silently I got to my chair. My boss looked at me with a question. I whispered "gastrointestinal". He nodded with a pained smile as I reached for a cracker. The awards meeting continued for the next 20 minutes.
The meeting broke up and the before dinner drinks part of the evening began. We were 'kicked out' of the hall so the tables could be set for dinner. Not wanting to tempt fate, I grabbed seltzer water with a wedge of lime hanging from the glass rim (in a cocktail glass to properly fit in) and I started to mingle. We had half an hour to kill and our 'jobs' were to speak with others in the company that we did not interact with. We are a company of 200 with a group of an additional 200 that were our go-to IT and business organizational (think gig economy) consultants. My work circle was only about 30 people so I had lots to people to talk with. I also had two people to identify.
After the first 15 minutes, I heard one of the two voices from the bathroom. It was the brown shoe enabler. Taking my queue from speed dating, I broke off my current conversation with a "Java" developer and moved toward the brown shoe girl. Extending my hand to her, I began with "Hi, I'm Susan Mazzini. I work in Accounting." She was a bit slow on it and it finally occurred to her to do the same. "Oh sorry. I'm not used to this. I'm Cyndi. Cyndi with a 'Y' then an 'I'." All I saw and thought that I was in the presence of a certified airhead. I was half expecting to see her with a single pony tail off one side of her head. Looking at her, I guess that no one ever told her how to dress or act as a business professional. "I work with Brian as an aide. He heads a Project team." Looking around, she pointed to a medium height man that has a piece of arm candy clutching him. "The ginger with him is his fiancée, Chloe. Let me introduce you to him."
Even before I heard Chloe talk, I knew she was the cheater. The shoes, the ankle bracelet and the physical attitude expressed in her gestures. Just by looking at people, their physical presence, mannerisms, clothing and more can give insight into who they are. Even if all I see is that that they are closed or guarded, it says something. At 5' 2", Chloe was an immature airhead that physically latched on to Brian, just like an adolescent girl would. Getting closer to Brian, I see that he's 5' 8", late 20's to early 30's, dressed professionally with seriousness to him. There also was not a smile on his face and he appeared to be annoyed while talking with Chloe.
Arriving, I extended my hand to him. "Hi, I'm Susan Mazzini from Accounting." He immediately extended his hand. "I'm Brian Czartoryski. I am a project lead. Here is my fiancée, Chloe. I saw that you met my aide Cyndi." Cyndi stood at my side smiling. "How long have you been with Kean and Kean? I don't remember seeing you around before. Then again, I tend to spend my time at the customer sites, not the office."
"I've been here for about 8 months and been learning the business. I've mostly been assigned to support the on-going projects, not the new bids." As I glanced at Chloe, I saw that she was not looking pleased that Brian was speaking with me. Before I could say anything further, an announcement was made for everyone to go to their assigned seats for dinner. With quick goodbyes, we all rushed to find out seats.
My table was populated with a very different group of people. There were some company veterans including a high level executive secretary and several project managers along with their spouses, partners or plus 1's. The conversation easily flowed. I learned much more about how the company actually functioned. They also learned about me. Their questions showed that they knew of me and were filling out their knowledge.
My immediate boss had given me a 'the landmines are buried here and here, be careful when interacting with so-and-so and I'll fill you in with more info as needed when you get assigned to assist other project teams. It's too much to handle at any one time' type of immediate advice. These people were warm and reasonably open. I got the feeling that this group was going to be my next assignment. As a newly minted MBA, I've been concerned of my status and the ability to stay and even advance in the firm. I felt much less anxious now.
After the dinner was finished, the dancing started. Some of the couples at our table left for the dance floor, but one couple said goodbye to 'rescue' their newborn from grandma. The conversations at the table continued. Gloria was a senior executive secretary that the whole table deferred to. She was held in high esteem by everybody. I think that it was not who she reported to, but that she was a natural, respected and very fair unofficial leader. There are two types of leaders, those with official and those without official authority. As the later, she was friendly and personable and was unafraid to say what she carefully thought. One of last year's hires asked for advice on an issue and she provided excellent advice that would satisfy all parties involved. Helpful to avoid landmines too.
This got her to start telling a series of stories of things that had happened while on 'her watch' over the years. The first two were pretty funny. Both involved people that had not learned to communicate with others on their team. The third story sounded familiar. In that case, the wife worked for the company and her teacher husband was playing around with one of the lower level C++ coders. Long story short - the company supported the wife with extra time for the divorce, referrals from their legal consultants and assurances to her of her worth. They also provided a remote assignment for the coder. That 'other woman' was assigned to be on-site at a client's grain plant in rural Kansas. Being 150 miles away from any medium sized city and living on the dry Kansas plains in the winter is not a great place for a city girl to live. She came back 9 months later and there had been no additional problems from her after that.
I asked the group about other team leaders and project leads in the company. I got an earful. I picked up that there is an unofficial process where in-house staffs are given more-and-more responsibilities as well as direct mentorship under several different mentors. I saw that this is where I am. It made me feel much better as a recent hire. After hearing about a half a dozen, I asked a question. "I just met Brian Czartoryski before were called to take our seats. He's a project lead." I did not fill in any more info.
The table went quiet. That's when Gloria asked me if I would go with her to the powder room. The rest of the crowd relaxed as we left. Walking down a hallway leading away from the bathrooms, she brought me to a terrace that was far from the crowds. The hall was also hosting a wedding and we filtered past them to a quiet unoccupied corner.
"Sorry Susan. This is not cloak and dagger, but I don't want you possibly step into a mess here." She looked around once again. "Did you meet Chloe?" I nodded yes. "Speaking as a woman and NOT as an employee of Kean and Kean, I find his choice of fiancée a bit disturbing. There have been many rumors that I will not recount. It does no one any good. All I will say is that his work group is really happy that he works with them. He's very good at how he leads and has been pretty stressed since they became engaged."
I looked down at the floor, then to her. "Thank you for 'not talking about' Brian and Chloe. He was stressed when I briefly spoke with him." That's when she patted my hand. "This place hates drama. Thankfully, it is not affecting his work but it's hard to watch a slow motion train wreck. He's really a good person and a great leader. Now let's get back the music. Are you going to dance?" I shook my head no. "Had a bit of gastrointestinal distress earlier and really don't want to take any chances."
