Hidden Passions: The Two Sides of Desire
"My God, what a bitch," I remember thinking to myself the first time I encountered Miranda at work.
Miranda had earned the dubious reputation at work of being a real "Iron Maiden" in the office where we worked. Referred to as the " Ole Ball Buster" or "Nut Cracker" by some of the guys who worked for her, it wasn't long until Miranda would become the joke of men's locker room talk.
However, Miranda was not the one to let it bother her, or at least on the outside that is. She knew a lot of her subordinates didn't like her but she was okay with that. In her mind she was there to do one thing: turn sales around and increase the department's productivity.
Miranda had been brought it from the outside by the new president of the firm along with me and a few others to help turn around a floundering publishing firm that had just been acquired .
As the new district sales manger, Miranda's job was to turn sales around and mine as VP of Finance and Accounting Information Systems was to get the company on solid financial footing as well as update the arcane dinosaur bookkeeping system the company had been operating with.
I was able to implement new cost cutting procedures that cut expenses over half and had just brought online a new financial accounting system that paid for itself in seven months As a result the company was operating in the black again and the only thing that had to be improved was marketing its products and increasing the productivity of the sales reps.
This proved to be a challenge even to Miranda. In the First business meeting I noticed she was letting in to them like she was preaching as fire and brimstone kind of sermon. This was when I first formulated my opinion of her but as I would get to know her over the course of the following seven months I would come to know a softer side that not too many people saw.
I first saw this softer side when after being there for seven months, one Friday she came by my office around 11:45 a.m. and out of the blue asked if I would like to have lunch with her, her treat she added. I said sure why not and we went in her car, which turned out to be a midnight blue convertible 2001 Mustang.
I guess I should have figured she would drive this sort of car by the way she appeared. Standing approximately 5'7" tall with frizzy dark chestnut brown hair that came down to her shoulder blades, Miranda was a knockout.
Miranda had a slender build but medium sized tits. I estimated she was a 34(possibly A cup) in the breasts and her waist and hips looked slender, maybe a 22 in the waist and 32 in the hips.
Even though Miranda dressed professionally, the outfits she wore were still enticing. On this particular day she had on a cream colored button sweater on top of a matching shell underneath that had a modest but low neck line. She was also wearing a tope colored skirt that came down below her knees.
The outfit was capped off by brown boots that came up to her knees and a pink sapphire necklace that was set in 14 carat gold and tiny diamond specks around it. The necklace had one big stone and then had 3 little stones that draped down from it.
Just from the way the outfit was designed it called attention to her bust line and if a person wasn't careful he would spend too much time looking at her breast which could be seen sticking proudly out from her chest as they appeared so perfectly round.
Being careful, I tried not to stare but Miranda obviously didn't care whether people did or not. To her it was a big turn on and she was proud of her body and didn't mind showing it off.
"So what do you think about the Hearthside Room," Miranda said racing off in the car.
"Sounds good to me" I replied. "But isn't that a little pricy," I added.
"Don't worry about it sugar, its no trouble," Miranda said with a smile.
As we drove to the restaurant, Miranda was the chatter box, cutting up cracking jokes and telling me all about herself. I would come to find out over the course of lunch that the exterior she put up at the office was far different than the real Miranda. The real Miranda was sensitive, somewhat shy at first but when you got to know her she was fun loving, loved to party, and anything but a bitch.
We arrived at the restaurant around 12:15 and they seated us by a fireplace in a secluded area in an L-shaped booth. Miranda sat on one side and I sat beside her but at a 45 degree angle .
All during lunch we talked and I told her about myself. She listened intently and I could tell just by the way she smiled that there was some spark there between us and if I was willing to purse it further I was willing to bet we could connect.
"So Dave, tell me something," Miranda said with a soft sigh in almost a perplexed tone as she scooted over in the seat so she was next to me. "How do I get those knuckleheads in sales to get off their fat asses and generate new accounts?"
"Ah," I replied, "therein lies the rub You see, most of those people are college interns who think it's not the real world. I have been watching you and you are very much real world oriented. I think it well help if you get them to think that way as well."
"How do I do that," Miranda replied.
"Well treat their intern jobs like a real world job."
"Don't I need executive approval" Miranda replied.
"Ask Mr. Peters and tell him your situation, and I will back you up," I said assuringly.
"Thanks Dave, you're a sweetheart," Miranda said putting her hand on mine and giving me a hug and a kiss on the cheek.
It was like we had passed the first level of our relationship and were now connecting on a more intimate level
"So tell me truthfully Dave," Miranda said softly. "What was your first opinion about me?"
Ah, one of the age old trick questions you can't win at. Do you tell the truth and risk alienating a new possible friend(and possibly more) or do you lie like a dog and get caught in a lie then lose her respect. As tactfully as I could, I told her that I had formed an ill formed opinion based on what others said.
"Good answer," Miranda replied and surprisingly enough kissed me on the lips softly. "I know that people think I am an asshole and I believe the nickname some have given me is ball breaker."
"I also have come to know a little something about you over the last seven months sweetie," Miranda added. "I know that you are firm but fair and that you respect those who work for you. Also, you honestly don't want to hurt anyone's feelings and I thank you for being the gentleman and sparing mine."
"Well," I replied, "I must confess that since I have watched you and come to know you, that you are not what everyone has made you out to be. By contrast, you are a very charming, very lovely, and if I may be so bold as to say, very attractive woman and someone with who I can hope to work much closer with and get to know better."
