Testing Testing

It was a warm Tuesday morning. At exactly 10:00 A.M. two older men approached the first tee at an exclusive golf course in the mid-west.

One was tall, thin, had dark hair with just a touch of gray, and a quite demeanor. The other was short, portly, very bald, and was a bundle of energy. Most people would think they were very different from each other, most people would be wrong.

Both men were in their early sixties and owned their own companies, which they started from scratch when they were in their late twenties. They both were very good judges of other people, which is what made them successful, and good friends. Both companies had fallen on hard times about ten years ago and began recovering about three years ago. Things were looking up for both of them, but they were at a crossroads. They had a problem, which was why they were golfing together.

The smaller man’s company produced OEM parts, of which 60% were sold to the taller man’s company. His company produced an industrial product which used the parts. The smaller man needed a 10% increase in the price of his parts to stay profitable. The taller man couldn’t stay profitable with more than a 5% increase.

By the time they walked to the fourth tee, they had agreed that 7.5% was the right price increase. During the next three holes, they explained their problems to each other and offered advice on how the other could solve those problems. Unlike the advice that most friends give each other, what these men advised were solutions to the other’s problems.

By the seventh tee, both agreed that with a 7.5% increase, both could make a good profit, if they implemented the others suggestions. With the business taken care of, the conversation over the last three holes turned to the MBA’s each had hired six years before and how these two young executives, with their new ideas, had been instrumental in turning each of the companies around.

The two men had lunch after the front nine. The talk drifted to future plans and how each would like to retire from day to day operations at their companies. The problem both men had was, they didn’t know who to leave in charge of their companies. Both felt the young executives they had hired might be the best choice, but neither was sure.

During the first three holes of the back nine, the two men came up with a plan to test the two young execs. The last six holes were spent enjoying the day.

If you asked the people that knew Peter Tasmen, they would say he was driven. In a lot of ways, they would be right. Peter finished a degree in Production Engineering in four years. He could have been done in three, but he started taking business and systems engineering courses. He found he had more interest in the top level problems of making a plant efficient and profitable then in the basic engineering. The engineering gave him the basic knowledge, the systems gave him the big picture, but the business is what tied it all together. He stayed on and got his MBA.

When Peter was hired by Kroger Manufacturing Inc. it was the perfect job. The company needed the innovation and ideas he had to streamline its production and begin to grow again. He threw himself at the problems and was very successful. He was made a vice president in just five years.

It was at that time he made a mistake. It wasn’t a real big one, or it didn’t seem that way at the time. It cost the company a large amount of money and after a year they were just getting past it. George Kroger, the owner, was very upset about it, but also supported Peter as the company fought to recover. Although Peter was instrumental in the recovery, he knew he was no longer the ‘golden boy’ in Mr. Kroger’s eyes, as he had been before.

During the last week, Peter had had several meeting with Mr. Kroger, Jim Van Doren of marketing and Marie Goldman of accounting. The contract with A&N Industrial Products was coming up and Mr. Kroger had to know where the company stood. A&N bought 60% of Kroger’s output. They had to have the contract or they couldn’t maintain the volume of output to keep the prices down on the remaining 40%. If they didn’t do that, they could be out of business. They also needed a 10% increase in the price of what they sold to A&N to be able to show any profit over the next year. Because of financing issues, showing a profit for the year had become critical after the troubles that Peter’s mistake had caused over the last year.

Mr. Kroger had an out of office meeting set up for next Tuesday with a Vice President of A&N to work out the new deal. That Tuesday morning is when Peter’s troubles began.

Peter had just settled at his desk when he got a call from Shirley, Mr. Kroger’s secretary. She sounded upset as she told him Mr. Kroger wanted to talk to him and transferred the phone call.

“Peter, I’m not doing so well here and you’ll have to take the A&N meeting.” George Kroger burst out as they were connected. He sounded out of breath as he explained, “Get to the airport, United flight 573, arriving at 10:00 A.M. Toni O’Malley is the A&N VP you have to pick up. I have reservations at Sullivan’s, in the Hilton for noon. O’Malley will be staying there. Get O’Malley checked in and then get the deal done!”

“Yes Sir,” Peter said, overwhelmed by the sudden burden thrust upon him. A number of questions popped up as he spoke. Mr. Kroger answered them before he could ask.

“Shirley has all the paperwork. You just need to fill in the numbers on the contact and get it signed.”

“Yes Sir.” Peter answered again as he began regaining his equilibrium. “And Peter,” continued George Kroger in a low menacing tone, “You had better get this contract signed. One, you get the contract signed and two, you get the 10%.”

“I’ll get it.” Peter replied, his mind already going over strategies to accomplish his task.

“You had better,” Mr. Kroger replied, “After that last screw up, if you don’t get this done, you’re fired.” The phone went dead.

Peter sat at his desk, stunned by the ultimatum. He quickly assessed what failure meant and quickly realized that losing his job wasn’t the end of the world for him. He was only thirty, had enough money put away to last him quite a while, and would definitely find something else. What worried him most was what failure would mean to the company. He resolved to get the deal done.

Peter was sitting at the gate for flight 573, when he realized he never asked what Toni O’Malley looked like. He knew that O’Malley would be expecting someone to meet him. He also figured that he was a middle aged executive, would be wearing a good suit and carrying a briefcase. He wasn’t worried, they would meet up.

When the passengers began coming out of the gate, Peter moved toward them. The third person off the plane was a stunning woman. She wore a conservative business suit that somehow accented her curves, her red hair, beautiful legs and the fact she moved with an almost feline grace. Immediately, Peter’s cock began swelling slightly.

Peter wanted to approach her immediately. He mourned the fact he had to meet someone and for an instant considered forgetting his meeting and pursuing this beautiful woman. Instead he just watched her walk past him, feeling a surge of excitement when their eyes finally met. He tore his gaze away, resuming his search for O’Malley, and willing his heart to slow, damming his bad luck at having such an important assignment.

As the last of the passengers left the gate, Peter still had not seen anyone that he thought could be O’Malley. He was just about to head to the gate attendant to have O’Malley paged when he felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned around and looked straight into the most beautiful green eyes he had ever seen.

The beautiful redhead asked, “Excuse me, I was supposed to meet someone from Kroger Manufacturing, that wouldn’t happen to be you, would it?”

Peter had spent the last seven years dealing with businessmen older then himself, some quite intimidating. He had learned to handle himself and never appear tongue tied or at a loss for words. All he could manage at this moment was a mumbled question. “Toni O’Malley?”

“Yes,” she smiled. “You must be from Kroger?”

The green eyes, red hair, and perfect smile threatened to overcome him. The last seven years of making sure he knew what he was going to say before he said it, came to his rescue. He gathered himself and slowly extended his hand, “Yes, I’m Peter Tasman.”

The two walked to the luggage pickup to get Toni’s bags while getting the pleasantries out of the way. After picking up Toni’s bags, they headed out to Peter’s car. The conversation got a little more personal. How long had they been with their companies, etc.

They loaded the luggage in the car, Peter would have held the door for Toni, but she was too quick and in the passenger seat by the time he closed the trunk. No nonsense, independent type, Peter thought as a smile crossed his lips. He started the car and the radio blasted out a Stone’s song from the classic rock station he had been listening to. He quickly turned the volume down and apologized for leaving it turned up.

“That’s OK,” Toni replied, “The Stones have to be played loud!”

That comment led them into a discussion of the music they liked. Which easily flowed into other interests. By the time they reached the Hilton, they had found out they both had similar tastes in most things, music, movies, authors, and vacations. Both loved the ocean and beach. While Peter had learned to scuba dive on his last vacation, Toni admitted that she wanted to try it as soon as she could.

Peter showed Toni where the restaurant was and agreed to meet her there for lunch. He got his briefcase from his car and got a table. Actually, he requested a booth in the back. He normally would have insisted on a table, but from what he had learned of Toni, he didn’t think she would mind. He also wanted lunch to be more like a date then a meeting. He had enjoyed being with Toni for their brief time together, more then any of the dates he had had recently. His cock had stayed slight hard and pleasantly throbbing the whole drive from the airport. He was also dreading the upcoming meeting. He knew she was smart and capable and didn’t think things were going to work out as easily as he had originally hoped.

While Toni checked in and settled into her room, she was also regretting the business they had to discuss. She had felt a tingle between her legs as the handsome man had watched her walk off the plane. When she realized he was the VP that was there to meet her, she had to calm herself before approaching him. She was a little surprised at how he stumbled over his words when she did. She knew the effect her looks could have on men and had used it before. She was impressed at how fast he recovered and realized her looks wouldn’t help her in the upcoming negotiations.

Toni had enjoyed Peters company very much during the ride from the airport. Her nipples had stayed hard, although well confined within her bra, and she had a warm tingle between her legs during the ride to the hotel. She hoped that lunch would be just as enjoyable. She almost cursed the fact they had to negotiate this contract. She knew Peter was not going to be a pushover on this and that they probably wouldn’t be getting along very well by the time it was over. Her job was on the line here. Her boss had told her she had to get the contract but couldn’t accept more then a 5% increase in price, or she was fired. Peter was nicer then any of the men she had dated over the last couple of years, but anything they might have was a ‘possibility’, losing her job was a ‘definite’.

Toni was surprise, but glad, that Peter was waiting in a booth for her. Both of them avoided talking business during lunch. They laughed and talked for over an hour. It was the best date either had had in a long time. When the coffee was finally served, they couldn’t avoid their business any longer.

It took only half the time it took their bosses for each of them to come to the conclusion that 7.5% percent was the right number. The mood grew more somber as both tried to salvage their jobs for the next half hour. When they both fell silent for several minutes, Peter broke it by saying, “It has to be 7.5%, doesn’t it?”

Toni simply whispered, “Yes”

“Well, lets write it up.” Peter replied and after a slight pause, “It was good while it lasted.”

Toni’s head snapped up, “What do you mean?”

A sad smile crossed Peter’s face as he explained, “I’m done at Krogers, I was told 10 % or I’m fired.”

Peter was shocked, then saddened at Toni’s reaction. She began laughing. Toni could see exactly what Peter was feeling by the look on his face, but she couldn’t stop laughing at the irony of the situation. She held up one hand, fingers extended, then pointed to herself and drew a finger across her throat.

Peter immediately realized why Toni had become so unreasonable near the end of the negotiations. She had had a limit of 5% and would lose her job too. Peter began to laugh at this strange, no win, situation they found themselves in.

After sharing several minutes of laughter at their sad state of affairs, a number of things came together for Peter. He stopped laughing suddenly and exclaimed, "The bastards!"

A questioning look flashed across Toni’s face before she asked, "They set us up, didn't they?" Peter was surprised but impressed that she had picked up on the situation so fast. The two old men had been making the deals between the two companies for years. Now suddenly, he and Toni were supposed to work the deal. Something smelled.

"Yes, and I'll bet they had this deal worked out already." Peter said. Toni’s questioning look came back as Peter continued, "I find it hard to believe though, that they would go through all this trouble just to get rid of us."

"I don't think they did it to get rid of us. I've seen our numbers, and we really can't handle any more than a 5% increase. There must be something else." Toni contemplated.

"You're right," Peter answered, "our numbers say 10% at least."

"Why." asked Toni.

It took the two of them an hour, but they each ended up with pages of notes that contained the same solutions to each other’s problems that their bosses had worked out on the golf course.

When the two had finally covered all the ground they could think of, they both agreed that their companies could do quite well with the deal, providing the solutions they had come up with were implemented.

"You know what happens now?" asked Peter. Toni smiled a question at him. "Now we both work like dogs for six months getting all this put in place." Peter answered, pointing to the pile of notes that lay between them.

Toni's smile faded, "Yes, I guess I won't get a vacation again this year."

They sat and looked forlornly at each other for several minutes. Toni was intrigued when a sly smile crossed Peter's face. “Toni, why don't we take our vacations and teach those two old bastards a lesson at the same time?"

Toni's smile returned as she asked, "Just what do you have in mind?"

The two sat like kids planning a trick on a babysitter as Peter explained. "Lets sign the contracts, send the copies back without our notes of course, and add a note of our own telling the old bastards we'll be stopping by in a couple of weeks for our severance checks." Peter could see a twinkle grow in Toni's eyes as her smile grew larger. "Then," Peter continued, "since we’re both ‘out of work’, lets hop a plane for the Keys. I know a great little dive shop down there. We’ll get you certified and spend a couple weeks diving on the reefs. We’ll let them sweat a week or two before we email them our notes.”

Toni felt that pleasant tingling between her legs as the implication of Peter's offer sunk in and she thought about sharing a bed and a beach with him. Mostly a bed! Still, she had just met this man and she really wasn't the type to just jump into bed with a man, although it had happened a couple of times during her college days. She finally boiled it down to sea, sun, sex, and revenge. She realized she didn't want to pass up any of it.

Peter's cock hardened more as he watch the tip Toni's tongue slowly caress her upper lip as she considered his offer. "When can we leave?" Toni asked in a low whisper.

"I would think we could get a flight to Miami tonight and drive a rental down to the Keys tomorrow." Peter said in a low tone, leaning closer to Toni.

“I have my laptop upstairs. We can check on flights,” Toni offered with a smile, “but I didn’t pack any beachwear.”

“At the place I’m thinking of, all you need is a bathing suit, t-shirt, and some sandals.” Peter replied, his heartbeat racing as he realized he was going to spend the next couple of weeks with this gorgeous woman. "We can get all we need when we get there."

They quickly filled in and signed the contracts. Stopped at the front desk, had copies made. They addressed the envelopes to their bosses and conspired on an additional note each included. "I'll contact you later concerning references." They were giggling together when they mailed the two envelopes.

It was almost 4:00 P.M. when the two burst into Toni's room. They quickly set up Toni's laptop and were huddled together at the desk, checking on flights in a couple of minutes. The last flight to Miami left at 8:00 P.M. Peter used his credit card to get two first class tickets. He also found the web site for the resort in the Keys he wanted to stay at. They didn't have online registration and since the computer was occupying the phone line in Toni's room, he used his cell phone to call for reservations.

Peter sat on the edge of the bed as he made his call. Toni came over and sat next to him, listening to his end of the conversation. As the phone rang, Peter asked the question he knew he needed to ask. He turned to Toni, looked deep into her green eyes and whispered, "One room or two?"

Peter's heart pounded as he waited for Toni's answer. He had considered just reserving one and hoping she would just go along with that, but knew she wouldn't accept any excuse he might come up with for not asking first. He held his breath as he waited.

Toni gazed back at Peter as she simple said "One."

Peter's heart leapt! It wasn't just the thought of sharing a bed with Toni, although that was making his cock grow, but knowing that they would be a couple on this trip, had him ecstatic.

When Peter hung up, he briefly went over their schedule. "The flight leaves at 8:00, we'll need to be at the airport by six, six thirty at the latest. That gives us about two hours. If we check you out of here now, we can stop by my apartment and I'll pack a bag before we head to the airport."

Peter was taken off guard when Toni objected, "Didn’t you say we could get what we'll need when we get there?"

"Yes." was all he answered, having no idea where Toni's question was leading.

"We can check out now I suppose" Toni continued as if she hadn't heard Peter's answer. She looked down between them, at the bed, while she slowly stroked the comforter. "It just seems like such a waste to not get any use out of this room."

Toni was shocked at how forward she had just been. She was also very horny. The heat between her legs was growing and she could feel her moisture spreading. She was about to spend a couple of weeks with this man, but she wanted him now.

Toni's gaze returned to Peter's face as the meaning of her comment sunk in. He smiled at her, then reached up and held her chin in his hand. She didn't resist as he gently pulled her to him and their lips met.

Peter and Toni both felt an electric shock as their lips touched. It ignited a deep passion within both of them as it shot through their bodies. Their arms wrapped around each other as their mouths pressed together. Toni's breast pressed against Peter as his tongue searched Toni's open mouth. They fell onto the bed as their kiss grew deeper and more impassioned.