Memoirs of a Swinger Ep. 32

This is the thirty-second episode of my unreliable memoirs recounting sexual encounters in the nineteen eighties. Each episode is self-contained, so you can read them without having read the previous ones (although sometimes it helps with the context and names a bit).

This episode picks up the story from where episode 31 left off. Steven needs to put together a team for the consulting contract they've won with the Obermann Corporation.

Picking this series up after a couple of years, I've found I needed to introduce some new characters and potential future story lines. Laying the foundations has taken up some time. Consequently this is quite a long episode but there's probably not as much sex in it as usual. Don't say I didn't warn you!

I hope you enjoy it though.

M4bloke

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GETTING DOWN TO BUSINESS

On Monday, Daniel, announced the deal between Durolitum and the Obermann Corporation. It was welcome news, especially as it meant that Durolitum now had an investor for my new technology side of the business.

I had a brief meeting with Daniel and the head of human resources that morning about pulling together a consultancy team. But since I'd asked Ferdinand Obermann for discretion over who to hire, basically Daniel just told me to get on with it, which was trusting of him.

When I got back to my office, Lynne, my assistant, was talking to Carole who had come by to congratulate me.

"Let me take you out for Lunch," Carole offered. "And you can tell me all about what happened in Munich."

"It's a deal," I told her. Lunch with Carole was always a pleasure.

When Carole left, Lynne told me that Ferdinand Obermann's office had already been on the phone.

"Mr Obermann wants to set up a meeting to discuss the areas he'd like you to focus on first," Lynne explained. "He's in Frankfurt this week and asked if you could fly out on Wednesday to meet his team."

"I guess so."

"I'll book you a flight."

"What's Frankfurt like?"

"I don't know," Lynne admitted. "I've not been back to Germany since my dad's posting ended. I was still a kid then."

Lynne's dad had been in the air force and had met and married a local girl while he'd been stationed in Germany. Lynne could speak German fluently and this had been one of the reasons for Daniel hiring her, a couple of years earlier.

"Would you like to come with me on Wednesday?"

Lynne's face lit up.

"Are you sure?" she asked.

"I want us to look professional and showing them that we, well you, speak their language will definitely help. So yes, I'm sure. It's not a 'jolly' though. It'll be a long day."

"I realise that, Steven. Thank you for the opportunity."

Carole took me to an Italian restaurant for lunch. It was an intimate little place and she knew it would be ideal for me to spill the beans on the weekend. When I'd finished I could see she was jealous.

"I should have gone with you," Carole said the regret clear in her voice.

I felt sorry for her. She'd felt as though she needed to be at their vineyard in Provence to support her husband in their first year of wine-making. But weekends like the one we'd just had in Munich didn't come along too often.

"I'll need your help sorting out the contracts with Obermann," I offered as some sort of consolation.

"Of course," she said. "Ferdinand Obermann's a big fish, what's he like?"

"A real gentleman, but a bit of an eccentric. In a room full of tuxedos he was the one wearing Bavarian costume."

Carole laughed.

"How's Buster?" I asked.

"He's fine. He had his first game of rugby for the local team on Saturday. They won, so he was a little hung-over on Sunday."

"And Fabien?"

"He's good," she said then hesitated. "He asked me if I'd mind if he saw other women while I was away."

"What did you say?"

"I told him that he should. I can hardly sleep with you lot and tell him he's got to stay at home with Buster for company."

I couldn't help laughing at that.

"I think you did the right thing. It's only fair."

"I'm just worried that he might find someone younger and sexier than me."

"Sexier? Never," I told her.

That evening, Lesley and I took our French evening class at the local school as usual then went home. This time, Lesley didn't want to fuck in the lecture theatre afterwards, like we'd done the week before, which I was relieved about. I couldn't help thinking it would only have been a matter of time before we got caught.

When we got home though, Lesley disappeared upstairs with Suzy and it was over an hour before Suzy came back down in her dressing gown.

"Your wife is ready for you," Suzy told me.

"She's what" I asked.

"She's ready for you. So take her up a glass of wine."

I poured two glasses of wine took them up to our bedroom. When I opened the door I was surprised to see Lesley lying naked on the bed. She'd covered it in rose petals and the room was lit with candles. Her pale skin and long red hair looked fantastic. She'd opened her legs just enough to let me see her pussy. The small mound of red hair was gone, replaced by smooth skin that accentuated her labia. I put the glasses down and stripped off before lying next to her and running my hand over her hairless pussy.

"Do you like it?" Lesley asked.

"I do, very much."

"You said you liked Ursula's smooth pussy. And Carole's! So I wanted to surprise you," she told me.

"You do that every day." I told her.

"There is one thing I'd like you to do for me though," Lesley added.

"What's that?"

"Go back to the gym please. You're losing your muscle. You're not getting fat, but if all you do is go running then you're going to lose that body of yours and I liked my warrior the way he was when I first met him."

Lesley was right. I'd given up weight training at Easter to focus on my finals and since then all I'd done was go running. In a way I was probably healthier for it. I'd lost muscle mass, but there wasn't an ounce of fat on me, despite eating enough for a small village. I'd noticed it in my suits however. The jackets were definitely roomier on me.

"You're right. I need to go back to the gym," I told her. "And if that's what my faerie wants then that's what I'll do."

"Thank you Steven," Lesley said. Then, reaching over and taking hold of my cock, she told me, "But I think you know what your faerie wants right now. Don't you."

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On Wednesday morning Lynne and I caught the nine o'clock flight out of Heathrow bound for Frankfurt. We arrived just after midday and had lunch in the terminal before making our way to the hotel and conference centre that was a part of the airport complex. We were a little early so we found the meeting room booked by 'Obermann GmbH', then waited for Ferdi and his team.

With traditional German punctuality Ferdi arrived just before two o'clock. He was accompanied by a man, who although older, was in fine physical shape and two younger men who looked like they were more junior.

"Thank you for coming Steven," Ferdi said shaking my hand. "I'd like to introduce Christoph Wiese, head of the automotive components division."

"Pleased to meet you," I said holding out my hand. "I'm Steven Carter and this is my assistant Lynne Parker."

Christoph Wiese shook my hand then proceeded to introduce his colleagues to me in German, leaving me to apologise that I didn't speak the language. He turned to Ferdi and said something to him, again in German which Ferdi replied to genially.

"I'm sorry Mr. Carter," he continued afterwards. "I was just checking how long we had the meeting room for."

"Actually," Lynne interjected. "Herr Wiese said 'Why the fuck do I have to spend two hours listening to these children. They don't even speak German'."

Christian was stunned for a moment. He'd been caught out but he looked defiant.

"It's a good question, Mr. Wiese and if you'll let me, I'll try and answer it," I told him. Then I added cheekily, "I can only speak English though. Would you like Lynne to translate for you?"

"I speak English perfectly well Mr. Carter."

"Ok," I responded. "How old are you, if you don't mind me asking?"

"Sixty two."

"You're in good shape."

"And your point is?"

"My point is that you'll probably reach retirement without needing to take a single piece of advice from me. Then you can go fishing, spend time with the family, do whatever you want and look back on what was undoubtedly a successful career. But if you do nothing for the next three years then your legacy will be one of a man who failed to act when he had the chance."

I could see Christian wince. He wasn't used to being spoken to like this, especially by a child.

"The Japanese are going to eat your lunch Mr. Wiese. They're already doing it in consumer electronics and they're starting to do it in the automotive sector. Their factories are more modern than yours and their products more sophisticated. The only thing that's saving you right now is your reputation for quality. But you can't live on that reputation forever."

"What would you have us do, Mr Carter?"

I took Christian through the same speech I'd made to Ferdi a few days before. When I reached the end of it I stopped and took a drink of water.

"It's a good story Mr. Carter. I'll give you that," Christian acknowledged. "So what happens now?"

I thought Ferdi might speak up at this point but he didn't. I guess he didn't want to be seen as the bad guy. So I continued.

"I'm not sure," I told Christian bluntly. "If I thought I was going to have to fight you all the way for the next three years then I'd suggest to Ferdi that he put you out to grass, at least until it was time for you to retire. Give you some meaningless project like counting the number of toilets in the Obermann organisation."

If looks could have killed I'd have been a dead man.

"But I'm hoping that you care too much about the company for that. You know far more than I ever will about the automotive industry, but I know far more than you ever will about how things are going to change. I'd like to think we can work together."

"What do you think Christian?" Ferdi asked, speaking up for the first time.

Christian replied to Ferdi in German and the two of them had a short conversation then they both laughed. When they'd finished talking I looked at them for a translation and Christian looked at Lynne. Lynne thought for a moment about the whole conversation then translated it.

"Mr Wiese said you've got some balls coming here and talking to him like that. He wanted to smack you in the face for suggesting that he should be retired, but he said you looked like the sort of man who'd have hit him back. Mr Obermann said that if what he'd heard about you was true then Mr Weise had had a lucky escape. Mr Obermann then asked Mr. Wiese if he thought that the two of you could work together and Mr Wiese said he thought that you could."

"Excellent," Ferdi said with a smile on his face. "You're both going to need to spend some time in Germany over the next few months. I hope that's not going to be a problem Ms. Parker. We need to make sure that nothing gets lost in translation."

I looked at Lynne.

"Not all Mr. Obermann," she said.

We talked some more about what the next steps would be then Ferdi looked at his watch and told us that he had to go.

"If I can just have a couple of moments of your time, Steven," he added.

I shook hands with Christian and we agreed to talk more over the coming days then he and his two juniors left. They hadn't said a word. Lynne waited outside, leaving Ferdi and me alone in the room.

"That went well," he said. "I've known Christian for years. I can't fall out with him over this, so today's been a good result. If you can spend a day or two here each week over the next few weeks then that would be good. Munich's probably a better venue than Frankfurt."

"No problem," I told him.

Ferdi reached into his folio case and retrieved an envelope.

"Ursula asked me to give this to you," he said. "There's no need to open it now. She's hoping that the next time you're in Munich you'll visit her."

"If you're sure that's alright."

"It's perfectly fine with me," Ferdi said. Then, looking at his watch again, he said, "I really must be going. Thank you for coming here Steven. It's been a very useful day."

Lynne and I walked back to the terminal. It was almost five o'clock by the time we'd checked in but our flight didn't take off until seven, so we had plenty of time wander around duty free then have a bite to eat. I've always found duty free shops to be magical places and can't help looking around them.

"I know that you don't need more than one watch," I told Lynne as we stared into the window of the watch concession. "But I think I'd have loads if I could."

"You've already got a nice watch," Lynne said.

"I know, and what's worse is that Lesley bought it for me."

"Why is that worse?"

"Well I can't really wear another one now, can I?"

"What's Lesley got?"

"A Cartier Pantera, like that one," I said, pointing through the window.

"It's nice," Lynne said, "but I think I prefer the classic Cartier Tank."

"You reckon?"

"It's timeless," she said, "If you'll pardon the pun."

We wandered into the shop and had a look at the other watches in the display cabinets and it wasn't long before a sales assistant came up to us. Somehow she instantly knew we were English. I don't know how.

"Can I help you?" she asked.

"Yes. We'd like to look at a ladies' Cartier Tank please," I told her.

The lady went away to check her stock, leaving Lynne and I at the counter.

"Steven, what are you doing?"

"I'm buying you a watch."

"Don't be silly. They cost a small fortune."

"And I'll make a large fortune on the Obermann deal," I told her, "And since you're going to be key to its success you deserve some of the spoils."

The assistant came back with a couple of variants and I asked Lynne to choose the one she wanted. She chose the most classic looking one and I said we'd take it. Another assistant then altered the length of the metal strap and, after we'd paid, we left with Lynne wearing her new watch. When we got out of the shop Lynne put her arms around me and gave me a hug.

"Thank you," she said. "You know if I wasn't a lesbian I'd totally sleep with you."

"Me too," I said then clarified, "meaning that if you weren't a lesbian I'd totally sleep with you, not that I'd sleep with myself or that I'm a lesbian."

"Siobhan's going to be so jealous."

"Why don't you bring her round on Friday night? We'll cook something."

"We'd love that, but you know we're vegetarians, don't you?"

"Of course," I said, having completely forgotten this.

I got home late on Wednesday night. I'd assumed that Lesley would sleep at Daniel and Kate's as we usually did on a Wednesday, but when I got out of the taxi I saw that her Land Rover was still in the drive. I found her, half asleep and curled up on the sofa with the television playing silently.

"What are you doing here?" I asked.

"I'm waiting for my man to come home," she replied sleepily.

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On Thursday I went into the office as normal and started to work on pulling a team together for the Obermann account. Like most things, recruitment was slower in the eighties but we started by contacting some specialist agencies and asked them to send us any CVs they had. We also decided to put an advert in the Daily Telegraph, which ran science and technology recruitment adverts once a week. It began to dawn on me that it was going to take at least a few months to get a team in place, probably longer.

At lunchtime I sat in my office and ate a sandwich that Lynne had ordered for me from a van that stopped by the building each day. It was a BLT and it oozed mayonnaise. I was in heaven. While I was eating it I realised that I hadn't read the letter that Ferdi had given to me from Ursula. I fished it out of my briefcase, tore the envelope open and began to read;

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Dear Steven

Firstly, I should tell you that Ferdi knows I'm writing this to you. I'd hate you to think that I was doing this behind his back. Likewise, I hope that you will feel able to share this with Lesley.

I wanted to write and tell you how much I enjoyed spending time with you at the weekend and I find myself hoping that you might like to meet me again in the future.

Becoming Ferdi's wife changed my life forever. I couldn't have wished for a kinder, more loving husband. However, people treat you differently when they realise who you're married to. Having been Frau Obermann for the past twenty years, it was nice to spend an evening with you as simply, Ursula. You brought out a younger, more playful side to me that I hadn't felt in a long time.

I have Ferdi's permission to see you again. Of course, if you and Lesley wanted to visit the two of us, then we would both like that very much too.

I've enclosed my address and phone number and hope that I'll hear from you soon.

With Love

Ursula x

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I re-read Ursula's letter a couple of times and it gave me an erection thinking about her. It was a bold move on her part to write something like that and risk rejection. But perhaps she knew that wasn't likely to happen.

After Lunch I asked Lynne to arrange a series of meetings in Munich.

Thursday evening was training night with Andy. He had me doing a lot of mat work to start off with, which was by far my weakest aspect. It was a bit demoralising knowing that there were a hundred different ways that Andy could kill me but I was learning, albeit gradually. After an hour we took a break and sat on a bench drinking some water.

"I met an ex colleague of yours at the weekend," I told Andy. "He asked to be remembered to you."

"Oh yes, who was that?" Andy asked, curious.

"His name's Klaus. He's German. To be honest I don't know his surname."

"I know Klaus," Andy confirmed. "How do you know him?"

"You know I told you that I kept getting into trouble. Well, Klaus was there one time. He works for someone I know."

"Stefan Voigt."

"Yes."

"Well that clears up the mystery of why you're here," Andy told me. "Stan didn't tell me who your sponsor was."

"Does it make a difference?"

"A bit. With someone like Mr. Voigt I have my reputation to consider. So does Tracey. My approach was going to be to teach you what you needed to know in the hope that you never needed to use it. Now I need to teach you in the expectation that you will. Which means a lot more pain for you I'm afraid."

"Oh, right!"

When I got home, it turned out that I wasn't the only one who'd got a letter from Germany. Uwe had written to Suzy. I wasn't sure what he'd written but whatever it was had made her cry and this, in turn, required Lesley to comfort her.

"I've got a letter too," I told them. "I'll swap you if you like."

Suzy wasn't sure, but Lesley's curiosity meant that she sanctioned the trade. Uwe had written Suzy a very nice letter, complimenting her on both her looks and personality and thanking her for spending the night with him. He suggested that she might like to stay in contact and hoped that he'd see her again. On the face of it I couldn't see what Suzy had to cry about. She'd told me that she didn't want a proper boyfriend, yet here she was crying over a man.

"Well it looks like you've got an admirer," Lesley told me after she'd read Ursula's letter and handed it on to Suzy. Then she added, "I like her. You should definitely see her again. Then maybe next time we go to Munich we can see them together."

"Well, the next meeting with Markus and Heike will be just before Christmas I guess, so that would be good timing."