Chapter One: The Beginning
Abigail Daniels and Robert Thompson were born the same year and lived next door to each other from the time they were born until they married.
"They look so cute," their mothers told each other as the two of them walked hand in hand to school each day. And they were. Robert was a handsome boy and Abigail was a pretty girl.
They fell in love when they were in middle school and promised they would remain virginal until they married, as soon as they graduated high school.
They kept their promise; graduated in May and married in June. Their sex life followed the usual fumbling bumbling that is part of adjusting to a sexual partner when both are inexperienced. It was satisfactory for both, though not very imaginative as it was limited to the missionary position.
Abigail, while satisfied sexually, felt just a bit of disappointment that Robert was not more imaginative in bed. Her high school girlfriends had told her in graphic detail about pussy eating and, she actually blushed as her mind recalled the conversations, about other things sexual that seemed perverted to her.
Neither had dated anyone else, though Abigail had many suitors. The idea of being with someone other than Robert just did not enter her mind and Robert was true blue all the way.
Robert, who had been working part time at a franchised fast food restaurant when he was in high school, went to work full time as the manager of the early shift upon graduation. Abigail got a job as a receptionist at a local plant that manufactured high-end machine tools.
Abigail, always using that very fine brain she had, took advantage of the company's offer to pay full tuition for any courses their employees took in order to upgrade their skills. Over a period of two years she had transformed herself from an unskilled receptionist to a qualified secretary.
She became bored, however, at the receptionist's desk, answering the phone, directing traffic. There was no challenge for her brain and she was tired of being hit on by every man who came to her desk.
Abigail, the conservative girl/woman that she was dressed down; white cotton blouses that buttoned to the neck, long sleeved sweaters, gray or brown knee length skirts. It was if she were hiding her sexuality deliberately.
While she may have fooled herself about how sexy she was, she did not fool any of the men and women who met her. The clothes covered up her curves; they did not make them go away.
The firm for which she worked was a three generational company, owned and managed by the family that had founded it nearly a hundred years ago. The youngest, Halston Heuer, was being groomed to become president when his father retired.
Halston was a handsome young man of 28. He had attended a prestigious private university as an undergraduate and played quarterback on a good though not national championship team; while he was a superb athlete he never had the supporting cast to get beyond the first round of the championship series.
He graduated high in his class, majoring in computer science and business and earned a graduate degree in business. Halston had worked in every department of the company and knew it from the ground up. Personable and gracious, he was sought after by every mother in the city as marriage material for her daughter.
Halston, however, was wedded to the company his grandfather founded. He, as one might expect of a handsome athletic man, had many conquests. He was seduced as a young man by his mother's best friend who taught him more about sex in the six weeks their passionate affair lasted than he had learned in a dozen years of sex education in school.
He loved women and it showed. They were flattered by his attention and delighted by his performance in bed. They also knew he was not marriage material, but accepted this as the price they paid for being seen in his company and having his body in bed with theirs.
Abigail's concealed charms had not gone unnoticed. Halston, as company vice president, had an office next to his father's and passed Abigail's desk every workday morning, giving her a cheery hello as he did.
One day he looked at the nameplate on her desk as he gave her his usual hello and stopped. Abigail was startled by this change in routine and looked up, a quizzical expression on her face.
"What is your middle name, Abigail?"
Abigail blinked her eyes, surprised by the question. "Ah, ah. It is Laura, sir."
"Well Laura we need to make two changes. First off, my name, as you well know, is Halston and you are to address me as Halston from this day forward, as do all who work here."
Abigail had always called him Mr. Heuer or sir. She had found it difficult to accept the familiarity with which even the janitors addressed the man who was going to be president of this company one day.
Abigail felt her face redden as she looked up at this handsome man smiling down at her. She could not keep from smiling as she told him she would do so, "Yes, Mr...ah Halston. And the second change?"
"You are not an Abigail and from this day forward you will be Laura whenever you are on these premises." He turned to Mrs. Prudholm, his father's secretary, who had come in behind him. "Get a new nameplate for Laura's desk and a new ID badge."
Mrs. Prudholm nodded and had the changes made immediately. Before the day was out Laura had a new nameplate and ID badge. She mused about this as she took on her new identity. Not an Abigail he had said. What did he mean by that and then she flushed, thinking about the name Abigail; how stuffy it sounded, how just plain old fashioned.
She licked her lips as she thought about Halston as a man for the first time since coming to work at Heuer. He noticed me and he knows I am not an Abigail. What am I? How is Laura different from Abigail? Laura was more than a little confused and at the same time excited, but was not sure why.
Laura told Robert about these events when they were together that evening. Robert was not all that happy about this turn of events but Laura begged him to agree to stop calling her Abby or Abigail. "I have never liked that name, Robert. I was teased at school constantly; called Missy Abigail and Abigail Adams."
Robert had not realized this. As a boy, he was, like all boys, not privy to what went on between girls at school. He hugged Laura and told her he would call her Laura from that day forward.
Shortly after Abigail became Laura everything changed for Halston and his company. Seismic changes also involved Laura and Robert, though none of the players knew at this time just how much their lives were going to change.
It all began one hot and muggy Sunday afternoon. Halston and his father had just finished the third set of a long and hotly contested tennis match when Halston senior felt a sharp pain in his left arm. He and his son both knew the signs of a heart attack and Halston was on his cell phone almost before his father collapsed in his arms.
The EMS technicians made a valiant attempt to revive the elder Heuer on the way to the hospital but their efforts were in vain. He was pronounced dead on arrival fifteen minutes after he felt the first signs of a heart attack.
Halston was catapulted into the presidency of Heuer, Inc. Some men his age might have felt overwhelmed by the challenge but Halston was exhilarated to find himself in his father's office.
The Monday following the death of his father he called a meeting of all employees. He thanked them for the many messages of condolence that had been sent to his family and that the company would continue to operate just as it had for nearly one hundred years.
"I know I am very young for this position but," and he took time to look at the face of each of the one hundred employees of the firm, "you have taught me well. Each of you has had a hand in educating me in each of the departments of this company and I will not let you down. We will continue to refine and produce the finest products found in the market."
The employees were struck by his maturity and dedication to the continued success of the company. They cheered when he pledged to keep the company under his control.
They all knew of his escapades as a man about town, of his conquests and his foot loose nature but they had also known him as an earnest young man who was willing to be taught by even the lowliest employee in the company.
Some in management had feared that Halston would sell off the company and take the profits to continue his feckless life style. There were many offers from large firms to buy the company and they were in a very competitive business. It would have been easy for Halston to accept one of those offers.
Halston closed the plant for three days, inviting all to the funeral and to come to the Heuer home after to celebrate the life of his father.
When the plant reopened he knew he had to make some changes. The first change had to do with his father's secretary. He could not think of her as his secretary. Halston had known her since he was a child. Mrs. Prudholm had been his father's secretary for as long as he could remember. She was capable and discreet to a fault, but she was his father's secretary.
