CHAPTER 20
Week 47
I stood in my foyer with a bid of a frown on my face. No one could see it, but I knew it was there. It represented a momentary sadness as I had just told Shana goodbye, and she went back to her apartment. After I came back from Vegas, told her my tale, and then sat on her face, we spent the entire weekend together. It was the first opportunity for us to experience life together as a kinda couple. Friday evening, we professed our love for each other and admitted that we thought being a couple could work. Details aside, I thought it was the most exciting breakthrough I had ever had.
Even though I had a wonderful weekend with her, it was time for us to get some sleep and prepare for another workweek. I only have so many of those left, in this internship. Counting the one that starts tomorrow, there would be six remaining. Only six.
The only negative in an otherwise perfect weekend is that mother nature came along, as expected. I started my period Saturday afternoon, right on schedule. Lucky for me, it is not usually that heavy, and it does not last very long. Lucky for this week's planned appointments, I have two more holes for them to use. Shana set the expectation with my clients that they were to fuck me in the ass all week, so it should be exciting.
In addition to just hanging out and enjoying being with each other, Shana helped me order all the major things she thought I should before I check out and can no longer expense them. I thought it was way too much, but she insisted. I am very happy that Shana was still with me when Steve called to complain. I can still hear her clearly in my head as she argued with Steve. I sat across the living room and watched her in her element.
"Steve, why are you complaining? It is not that much"
"I know it is much more than usual. Come on man. $11,000 is not that much."
... then a rebuttal a can't here...
"You don't think she is worth it? You do know she has helped close millions of dollars in deals this year, right? You do know she is basically responsible for closing the deal in Vegas last week, right?"
... not sure what he can say against that...
"Do you know how much Tri-Star is going to give her as a bonus? It should be enormous."
... really? hmmm...
"She probably could buy these things on her own. But she doesn't need to. Just approve it, Steve. Drop in the bucket."
And then she hung up. I love her.
Aside from closing out some research, and some training I had in motion, there is not a lot left from the education or mentoring pieces. I have my final executive meetings with almost each executive planned. I do not really need to see Curt in IT, or Michael in Legal, as they are not interested in any sexual activity, nor would I pursue a position in their departments. I do want to see the others, and have one more amazing, unforgettable session with each of them.
This weekend, Shana and I started working on some of the post-internship life items I need to figure out. Where am I going to live? I started thinking about cars, since I gave mine away almost a year ago! We worked through some of the items pending for me to start college in a couple months. A little part of me is nervous about taking on all of these 'adult' things. Though, most of me is super excited to start the next phase of my life.
Shana and I talked more about what a future together might look like. The most challenging thing might be introducing the other person to our families. Neither of them has any indication that we would be interested in a lesbian relationship. If they only knew.
As much as I tried to keep it practical, we kept getting back to what our sex lives could be. While I had a sneaky suspicion, it was confirmed that Shana is an undercover nympho. It is like she has been repressed for two hundred consecutive lives and is ready to burst. If I thought it would work, I would propose her to replace me in this position. She would love all the sex every day, but her current authoritative position and reputation would never allow it. We left off agreeing that we would actively look for ways to expose her to more exciting situations, even with other people.
I got my emotions together and decided it was time that I start my nighttime routine. Tomorrow was a big day.
It has become really easy for me to wake up most mornings. I love my life. I love working out first thing, getting stronger. I like preparing to conquer the day before most people wake up. Monday morning was no different. The alarm went off at 5 am like usual. I was in the gym warming up by 5:15. I powered through an intense weight training exercise, focused on my keeping my abs popping, and 30 minutes on the stair master to get my ass ready for the workout it was going to get this week.
Before 7 am, I was back in my apartment, with a gourmet breakfast from our in-house chef. Two eggs over easy, six ounces of pork loin, half of an avocado, and a healthy juice concoction that looks terrible but tastes like heaven. I was just finishing up when I got a phone call from Jon, asking me to join a meeting he scheduled for 8 am. I told him I would be there, checked my calendar, and headed for the shower.
As I waited for the shower to get hot, I made the phone call to Steve, telling him that I was not going to make our usual Monday appointment. He was aware and told me he was going to schedule a longer appointment for later in the week. He said something about wanting my ass warmed up before he destroyed it. I thought that was rude and ridiculously overconfident. But alas, I had a lot to do in the shower, and not very much time to do it.
I stepped out of the elevator at 8:02 and headed across the large hall to Jon's office. The meeting was supposed to be in his conference room. I was not completely late as I saw half the leadership team coming down the hall behind me. I walked into the room and made my way across to the back corner. Shana was on the other side and waved hello. I had just sat down when Victor approached. He held his hand out and pulled me out of the chair.
"No one puts baby in the corner," he said, referencing a popular quote from a movie made before I was born.
"Where are you taking me?" I asked.
"I'd like you to sit next to me," he replied.
I followed him and he sat me next to him in the middle of the table. I was nervous, not knowing what the meeting was about or why I was there. Now I was sitting in the middle of the conference table in full view of all of the company's leadership. Within a few minutes all the executives had arrived that were supposed to, and Jon got the meeting started.
"Thank you all for being here a little earlier than usual on a Monday morning. I want to thank Curtis and Michael for calling in on their vacations. Especially Michael." He looked to the middle of the table and spoke to the phone. "Michael, aren't you across the world on vacation, and it's like 2 am or something like that?"
A very grumbled voice answered, "Yes. My wife is a bit unhappy. But you said it is important, so here I am."
"Thank you for that. I also want to thank Sam for calling in while he is on his sabbatical. Listen guys. I would not have asked you to join if it was not important. Victor, Megan, and I went to Las Vegas to meet with Feluca Pharmaceuticals, as you know. The short of it is that we have a tentative deal in place. It will take several weeks to work through the final legal agreements and things, but this is a very, very big deal for us."
Jon went on to tell a bit about the week, and the negotiations. Then he got to me. "I want to give a very special thank you to Megan."
The whole room looked at me, and I think my face went bright red. Jon continued, "Some of you might be wondering why we took Megan along. She had a very important role, and without it, we may not have made this deal. We certainly would not have gotten the terms we are going to end up with without her."
My face was probably the color of a strawberry now. I tried to breath and prayed that this unexpected praise was going to end soon, and I could go back to relative obscurity. But Jon continued, "For those of you that know Donald, you know he has a weird attachment to his unpredictable son. This was the wildcard that neither Victor nor I could control or even work around. Not only did Megan neutralize the son, but she actually got him to suggest to his dad some of the terms that we wanted, and to eventually endorse our partnership. She went through an incredible amount of personal sacrifice, and used all of her wit and skills to make this happen."
He addressed me directly, "Megan, over the past year you have far exceeded the hopes we had for anyone in this internship. Yes, the sexual aspects are great of course." There was a chuckle around the room, and I felt even more self-conscious. I looked at Shana and she was smiling back at me. Jon continued, "But, it has always been my hope that whoever took this position, would take advantage of the non-sexual growth opportunities available to them. You have done more than that. You aggressively looked to learn and have spent a lot of time with my team and their leaders to understand our products, and our business. You have done research and training outside of the company to learn strategic principles and negotiating strategies, among other important topics. And most of all, you have applied what you have learned in the right situations. You did an amazing job this past week, going above the call of duty, and helping us win the most important deal this company has ever made."
Jon started to clap his hands in celebration. The rest of the group joined them. It was a toast in my honor, and I could not help but smile. A few happy tears snuck out as well. Victor gave me a hug to help me out. Soon the room quieted down. Jon continued by explaining the next steps and how each department was affected. In the short term there would be a lot of legal work to get the deal finalized and official. Then it was on the product team. Most of this relationship belonged with Sam to make work. It was then that Jon addressed me again.
"Megan, I know that you were planning to spend the next couple of weeks meeting with each of the department heads and figuring out where you wanted to land. But it appears as if that decision has been made for you. An important element of this deal is the fact that you were requested as their liaison. With Derrick leading the effort from their side, and you building the quick relationship with him, it makes sense. You will have a ton of support around you, but this role belongs in the product team with Sam."
I nodded my head and then looked around the room. Stella spoke first, "While I know there are details to be worked out Jon, do you have a sense of what Megan's role as liaison entails? While I think she is the most capable and brilliant nineteen-year-old I have ever met, she may not have the experience to do such an important role."
Stella looked at me and apologized. "I am sorry Megan. I am not trying to insult you, but I want to make sure we are not setting you up to fail."
Jon replied, "Does she currently have the experience? No. Is she smart enough to do this job? Yes. Does she have the drive and the will and the ambition to learn what she needs to learn? Yes. Is she good at coordinating and bringing people together? Yes. Can we build a support structure to make sure she has what she needs to do what needs to be done? I am confident we can."
Jon took a small pause to gather his next thought. "Guys, listen, Derrick is the person on the other side. He is and will always be a wildcard. But you did not see how well Megan had him in line. I think this will work magically from a relationship perspective. Derrick is also very new at this and will need his own support structure. I have a very good feeling about this."
Marsha spoke up next, "Are you sure this role needs to be in the product team? I mean, most of what is needed is Operations. She should come work for me." Stella rebutted, "I was hoping she was going to come into Finance. This is about making money right?"
The argument barely got started before Jon jumped in. "Ladies! I know that both of you were hoping Megan would come to your department. But this role needs to be in the product team. She will need your teams support, and I expect you to give it freely."
They both nodded. Jon finished a bit more of the administrative aspects and asked that they discuss further in the coming weeks. As we were dismissed, Jon asked Victor and I to stay behind. We moved to his office and got comfortable in his seating area. Victor and I took the couch. Jon brought us waters and sat in the chair.
Jon started, "I wanted the three of us to stay behind and do a retrospective on the week and talk about next steps. But first, I wanted you to know that I asked Shana to move any other appointments you have this morning out. I do not want you to worry about that, okay?"
I nodded my agreement. He continued, "Shana will join us after. I want her to help you organize what needs to be done for you to finish your internship and move onto this role."
With one more acknowledgement. Jon continued, "Megan, you did a wonderful job last week. I want to talk about it a little bit, as we did not talk much during the week, nor on the trip home. First things first, how are you feeling?"
I replied, "Back to normal. I had a relaxing weekend where I recovered from the week. I had an amazing workout in the gym this morning, followed by an awesome breakfast. I feel like I am ready to conquer the world."
Jon smiled at me. "I absolutely love your view on life Megan. We could all learn from you. Well to put the cherry on top of your wonderful weekend, I approved your expenses that you submitted this weekend. I am not sure why Steve was so up in arms. You have more than earned it, and I don't think you asked for anything that unreasonable."
I smiled at him. I am glad that he and Shana both were on board.
Jon continued, "I want to start by getting some details from you, so I understand what happened last week. Victor gave me the highlights, but they seemed too extravagant to believe. Let's start on Tuesday. We met the Feluca guys for dinner. What did you think of Derrick?"
I responded, "At first, he fit right into the stereotype of a rich, pompous, young guy. Within that first dinner, he told me he wanted to spend time with me fucking my brains out."
