Lacey is as cock-sure and aggressive as any regional vice president (RVP) in the company. We both signed on ten years ago and competed our way up the ranks to RVPs. She is at the helm in Denver, the company's fastest growing and most competitive region in the nation. She regularly boasts of their success and her leadership. It wouldn't be so tough to take if it wasn't true. I handle the company's New England region.
Lacey is as beautiful as she is competitive. She stands 5'6" with shoulder length brunette hair. She has large bright blue eyes and a killer smile. I am convinced her smile alone has sealed millions in deals. She has round 36 Cs and a firm tight ass. She is focused and disciplined, especially in business and personal fitness. She always dresses sharp and professionally with a subtle sexy touch.
Our two-day quarterly RVP meetings encourage mutual commitment to the firm's success while regional divisions compete with one another for performance. Friendly banter flows freely in this competitive corporate culture. Positional jockeying has been part of my experience with Lacey from the beginning, which has helped push both of us. We've had moments of sexual tension over the years, but nothing ever acted on. Lacey always stays single and single-focused on her winner-take-all corporate success attitude. Relationships get in the way of her commitment to win.
This year's Fall quarterly RVP meeting took place the end of the second week of October in Cleveland. The city was in a frenzy with the Indians in the American League playoffs. Lacey and I grabbed dinner at a sports bar around the corner from our Midwest offices after the first day of meetings. We had some business to work through before the meetings reconvened in the morning. The tavern was a convenient place to get the work done while beginning to wind down after a full day of travel and meetings. We finished the work and three tall beers for each of us within an hour. We both began to relax.
"You like baseball?" I asked.
"I am an avid Rockies fan," she answered with zeal. "Our regional office has season tickets eleven rows behind home plate."
"Wow, that's impressive. You are a fan."
"I wonder which AL team will lose to the Rockies in the World Series?" she asked playfully. "The Sox or the Indians?"
"Lose to the Rockies in the World Series?" I asked with shock in my voice. She could tell she touched a nerve. "The fact they are in the playoffs is a fluke," I shot back. "The Sox are going to beat the Indians and clean the Rockies clock."
"How can you call 20 out of 21 games a fluke? The Rockies are on an unbeatable roll," she argued confidently.
"Luck," I answered.
"I suppose it was luck when they beat the Sox two out of three at Fenway in June," she argued impressively. She smiled proudly at this new round of bantering as she sipped her fourth beer. She could tell my competitive juices were beginning to boil.
"That's big talk," I said with a raise of my eye-brows.
"Talk is cheap," she shot back. "Would you like to put a little regional wager where your mouth is?" she asked.
"You're on," I answered with a confident smile. "This will be fun. What do you have in mind?"
"I don't know," she said thinking. "Something more expensive and fun than money."
"Sounds interesting." My mind began to race.
"How about, whoever loses flies in to grovel at my feet and do my bidding for a day," she suggested with continued confidence.
"Cute," I said, "but be careful what you wager. You are writing your own blank check to hand me."
"You in or just talking?" she asked in her characteristic competitive way of closing a deal.
"I'm all in," I said with equal inebriated confidence.
"Let's ink this then," she said. "I want it in writing so you don't back out when the Sox get swept back to Bean Town." She took out a notepad and began writing. "If the Rockies win, you will commit to willingly do anything I ask for a consecutive period of 24 hours."
"Sounds good," I said. I took out a pen and notepad. "I'll write your side of the agreement as we go along here."
"That won't be necessary," she said with a smile. "But, suit yourself."
I began writing.
"Now," she said processing out loud, "I think it is only fitting that you fulfill this wearing a Rockies jersey."
"I don't have one, and don't plan on getting one," I chided back.
"I'll gladly provide the apparel," she answered as she began writing.
"So, what kinds of things do you have in mind for me to do if you do win? I asked.
"Getting a little worried, are you? I can understand that," she continued to tease.
"I just know you," I said, playing to her ego and confidence.
"Good," she said. "Why put a limit on it then?" she asked. "I'll enjoy letting my imagination have a hey-day on you. I have quarterly reports, floors to mop and all kinds of work I just hate to do this time of year."
"So, professional work-related expectations," I asked, suggesting other alternatives by what I didn't say.
Lacey raised eye brow and twinkle in her eye showed she didn't miss the subtle suggestion. She sat up, adjusted the way she was sitting by uncrossing her legs and re-crossing them the other way. She took another sip of her beer. With a sultry smile she said "I don't see a need to put a limit on our agreement, other than time and law. No loopholes for you," she said as she began writing again.
"Very good," I said.
"Now, I can imagine you trying to put this off and dragging payment out over several months."
"Me?" I asked playfully. "Sooner the better," I answered. "How about payment happens within a week of the final series game being played?"
"Deal," she answered, "beginning at the time the winner chooses."
"Sounds good," I said. "Put it in ink." The energy and competitive tension grew with the addition of each stipulation.
"All we need is a binding clause, and we are done" she said. She looked up with a smile, "not that you aren't good for your word."
"Name it," I said. "This is going to be fun."
"Let's make it count," she said with excitement in her voice. "You will pay fifty thousand dollars if you renege or unsatisfactorily complete what is asked of you."
"At the discretion of the winner," I added.
"That's our commitment to customer satisfaction! " she said as she finished writing the agreement. "You sure you want to subject yourself to this?" she asked sliding the paper across the table for me to sign. "You will pay dearly, slowly and memorably" she added confidently.
"Hmmm," I pondered. "That's true. I'm not really a betting man," I answered.
Lacey looked up surprised that I might back out.
"But then again," I added, "this isn't a bet. It's a sure thing." I slid her agreement in front of her to sign. She instinctively read hers carefully:
In the event of the Boston Red Sox winning the 2007 World Series, I hereby commit to willingly do anything asked of me by the holder of this contract, for a consecutive period of 24 (twenty four) hours. I will do so only wearing Red Sox apparel provided to me by the winner. There are no limits to the satisfaction of this wager except for the time of 24 hours and what is provided by law. I will satisfy this debt at the time selected for me, which must take place within one week of the final game of the series. I willingly agree to pay $50,000 immediately in the event I cancel or inadequately fulfill of any part of this agreement, at the discretion of its holder.
We signed our agreements simultaneously and slid them back to the other. Lacey lit up a smile like someone who just hit a game winning home run. "I have never loved my Rockies more," she said. "This is going to be the most enjoyable deal I've made all year," she added with a competitive tone.
"Memorable too," I shot back with a smile.
In the days that followed, Boston finished sweeping the Cleveland Indians to win the AL Championship and their place in the World Series for the second time in four years. The following Wednesday, the World Series and my wager with Lacey were underway.
Game One was an embarrassing moral victory for Boston and me, defeating the Rockies 13 to one. I couldn't help calling Lacey to express my condolences and offer her a gracious exit from our wager.
"This is only game one," she said retaining her confidence. "That's why they call it a series," she added. "Beckett is out of the way and the Rockies are going to bring it," she assured. "There is no way I am losing or you are going to back out now Beantown boy." Her animated voice was followed by a click and dial tone.
I got online and found a nice small women's thong with the legendary Boston Red Sox logo on the front. It wasn't official MLB gear, but it qualified nicely as Red Sox apparel. Overnight shipping was a small price to pay at the thought of seeing them on Lacey.