I had arranged to attend a meeting that morning. It had been a while since I had actually been to work, and what I needed to do was make some contacts in person. My husband away in Newcastle and my mother staying at my house to keep my children occupied gave me that great opportunity. Easter had just been and gone over the past weekend and it had been a quiet peaceful one, all female, without my husband around. It allowed some bonding from grandmother through to granddaughter like some ritual family ceremony, passing on old and new ideas from a five year olds nursery talk to what life was like for someone growing up in the sixties and seventies. It was enjoyable, but after a while it became boring when there was work to be done.
That morning was awful. I had to choose a day when it was supposed to be springtime. Instead, the weather was like mid winter with never ending hail and thunder storms. Driving was a little chaotic too with the hail staying frozen on the road and the local radio presenter telling us all to take care, as if that was not so blatantly obvious.
It took just over twenty-five minutes to drive into the busy city of Manchester and the newly built modern factory premises where I worked. I was greeted by most of the staff and it became clear that most of them had missed my presence there throughout March, a time I could take it easy and await the results of my previous months of work there. It had not been easy gaining the confidence of workers and managers alike that had hired my services. However, I had been successful and credit where it was due, so had they.
During my time there over the months, they had given me a small office that I had to share with a clerk. Her name was Janice and the same age group has me. The only difference was, she was single and had no children, coming to terms with her situation of not being able to find a regular boy friend to make into a partner. She still lived at home with her parents, unable to break free. She failed miserably at further education and with what knowledge she had, was able to keep her job in the factory. It was not too difficult to realise why she had social mixing problems. Janice was on the large size and very bubbly in her personality. One would be tempted to say, loud and ebullient. Her greeting hug was almost crushing, but atleast pleasant all the same.
The first things handed to me were a stack of snail mail envelopes, most of which I had already dealt with on the internet. Then an offer of a cream egg, of which Janice was tucking into. She had a relative that gave her endless supplies of candy and confectionary which was probably the reason for her weight problem over the years. I loved chocolate too, in healthy moderation, and kindly refused reluctantly, having had my cereal breakfast earlier. I asked how things had been; opening up to possible sets of answers, her life and what had been happening at work in general from her point of view. Janice was a good source of information if you needed to know the nitty gritty that people tended to hide. Her job may have been simple day to day routine, but she had valuable ears.
I prepared for my summary meeting with Hadrian, the man who hired me. He was very rarely at the factory unless things were important, so I considered myself lucky to have chosen that day to go in. He needed to be given some facts, although I knew he was not interested as long as things ran smoothly. Many people from workers to management feared him, because he was simply seen as the 'owner', managing director. To me, he was just the man I was helping to rescue the business. With very little temper at times, he was the man who would upset customers and suppliers alike, and I would be the one they ran to for my consolation. A man who thought he had power over his kingdom, but unfortunately in his case, his kingdom was failing miserably by the time I was hired. Now things were changing for the better. Instead of rumours of closure, there were celebrations of new long term contracts that would ensure work for a long time to come, if things continued to improve.
Trevor entered the office and greeted me. He was a flirt and I could tell what his secret fantasies about me were. That sly slip to my buttocks with one hand during his hug was just one single motion away from a grip that would only step over the line of common civility. I noticed how the pupils of his eyes opened wider whenever he looked at me. Mine must have done too. Because Trevor was not a man I would turn down if the offer was there and I was available. I too had fantasies about him, despite his despicable attitude.
Janice made coffee for all three of us while I printed off my summary. "We've missed you Sie, haven't we Jan?" Trevor commented, spinning around in my chair. "I've been coming in here every day picking up your energy you left behind in this chair. Getting empowered." I took his comment very dimly, a sick joke that I was prepared to ignore. Janice too thought he was being stupid. I clipped the sheets of paper together very calmly and placed the summary before him on the desk. "The big guy is here today." He smiled. He looked at the document and continued. "I suppose you are here to take him to lunch and..."
"And what?" I asked. It was clear that the summary document was something he himself was supposed to deal with. But, he was still on his learning curve as engineering manager and I felt much better if I dealt with it.
"Well? This is for you." I said. "Go into Hadrian's office and sort it out with him. It's your job. You did say you were empowered didn't you?"
He changed his attitude immediately, thinking I was serious. He picked up the summary, sat back in my chair and shuffled through the pages. He should know it from back to front and be able to answer any questions Hadrian might just query. The problem was, Trevor was an excellent machine engineer on the factory floor. I could not fault his abilities. However, dealing with higher ranks would still be a disaster. He had no confidence for dealing with those situations, yet. This single man who confessed to being a virgin for whatever reasons tried to bully me. If it was left to me and the right circumstances, he would not be a virgin for long.
The rest of my year would be spent training managers to build up their confidence. Trevor was always showing me that he already had confidence. Unfortunately his confidence was flirting and not following it though. Janice had herself been victim to his touchy feely advances and he had won her over, only to let her down on a date. It was hard to make out what made him tick sexually. To me, he was recovering slowly from some disaster in his past sex life that had made him a bully and flirt towards women in general. If only I could give him therapy. My night with someone like Trevor would be unforgettable for both of us. He would have no choice but to fuck for England.
Lunch time was close and Hadrian was free. To talk or discuss things with him, one had to go to lunch in the city centre. It was the way he did business. And, it was easy to get him to do that, because he liked to be seen with someone pretty in tow. It boosted his masculinity in public and amongst friends. He was a true 'dumb' alpha male. What they say about blonde women, I can very easily make comparisons to all alpha males. They are basically thick in the head and partly brainless in my opinion and poor Hadrian was no exception.
