Wendy

*Author's Note: This is erotic fantasy. It involves sexual situations between consenting adults, all of whom are over 18 years of age. Since it is fantasy and it's my fantasy, I presume a world free of STDs. I hope you enjoy the story. Comments are always appreciated.

WENDY - Part 6

When Wendy arrived at work Monday morning, she went in to Jonathan's office after first asking Monique to bring them coffees, and placed her signed contract on his desk.

"Thank you," she said, then sat down.

"You're one of the best investments I've ever made, Wendy," Jonathan said, smiling. "Did you make a copy or do I need to have that done for you?" he asked.

"I've scanned it," Wendy replied. "I noticed that you, Fred, and Marge had already signed it."

"That was so that you'd know that we're all in agreement on this," Jonathan said. "But I also have some rather...distressing news," he said, his face falling and Wendy noticed lines of stress around his eyes that she had never seen before.

"What is it?" Wendy asked, concerned, seeing that he was clearly distraught, though he was trying to cover it.

"Good morning!" Monique said as she entered the office with their coffees and placed them on the desk.

"Good morning, Monique, and thank you," Jonathan said, smiling. "Did you have a nice Christmas?"

"The best ever," Monique replied, a big smile on her face.

"What's the problem?" Wendy asked when Monique had left the room.

"Fred has indicated that he'd like to retire," Jonathan replied.

"Oh, no!" Wendy gasped, her hand going to her mouth.

"He came out to the house over the weekend to tell me," Jonathan said. "He's been with me from the beginning. We built this. I never thought that something like this would happen, though I know that Lori would like to see more of him than she does."

"What does this mean for us?" Wendy asked.

"Well, first and foremost, we need to find someone to replace him," Jonathan replied. "He said that he'd give me as much as a year to find someone so that he could train them, teach them whatever he could, and that he'd always be available as a consultant or to help. He also wants to exercise his stock options. He's going to retire and play golf and eat three meals a day with Lori and play with his grandchildren on the beach."

"He's moving to his new condo in Kauai, Hawaii, isn't he?" Wendy asked.

"Why, yes, he is," Jonathan said.

"When I saw that he was the buyer of the penthouse at our Kauai property, I thought that it was just an investment," Wendy replied. "I didn't realize that he was thinking about retiring."

"He's selling his place here and moving there," Jonathan said.

"What are you going to do about his shares?" Wendy asked. "Can you afford to buy them from him?"

"It'll cost me $1 billion," Jonathan replied, "but I can handle it. Hey, are you all right?" he asked when he saw her blanche, then sway in her seat as though she was going to pass out.

"$1 billion," Wendy said weakly.

"It's somewhere in that area," Jonathan said. "He's agreed to just take an even $1 billion and save all of us the hassle of actually doing the kind of audit that would be necessary to determine an exact figure."

"My...my stock is worth $1 billion?" Wendy asked.

"I suppose it is," Jonathan replied, smiling. "How does that feel?"

"Surreal," Wendy replied.

"I'll be disappointed if it isn't many times that within five years," Jonathan said. "Fred's actually giving me a deal. He doesn't need the money and he wants to make sure that I can maintain control of things. There's going to be some big money sniffing at us soon enough. There are some people out there with seriously deep pockets who are going to be looking at us and seeing a good investment opportunity."

"Do you have someone in mind to replace Fred?" Wendy asked.

"Not off the top of my head, no," Jonathan replied, shaking his head. "I thought that maybe we could use that same company that found Gianni for us."

"Hospitalio Recruitment," Wendy said. "Fred said that he'll give you a year to bring whoever you hire up to speed?"

"That's right," Jonathan replied.

"Then I know who to give the job to," Wendy said, smiling broadly.

"Am I going to like this?" Jonathan asked, smiling.

"You're going to love it," Wendy replied, laughing. "Mary."

"Mary. To replace Fred," Jonathan said, staring at her. "You're serious, aren't you?"

"Yes," Wendy said. "You know Mary better than I do as an employee. Has she ever disappointed you, no matter what you've asked her to do?"

"Never," Jonathan replied, "but being a receptionist or a PA is a far cry from being able to manage a sprawling property and hospitality group like this."

"If you break it down, it's managing managers," Wendy said. "It's about numbers. Mary can do math in her head faster than I can with a calculator. She's very smart and she never demurs on a request because she doesn't know how to do it. She figures it out and delivers. I've done that to her many times already, given her tasks where she had to learn for herself how to accomplish them. She never complains, not a word. She gets along with everybody. Hell, she's the party wherever she is. If you put her with Fred for a year, I have no doubts that she'd be able to do the job. And something that I know is near and dear to your heart, she is as loyal as they come and you trust her."

"Jesus, Wendy, don't you ever come up with normal solutions to problems?" Jonathan asked.

"I had no experience, either," Wendy reminded him softly. "Now look at me, I'm a potential billionairess in six months. I'm willing to bet you that she'll not only succeed, but excel if you give her the job. This job and sex are her life. She'd do anything for you and you know it."

"What are you willing to bet?" Jonathan asked, deadpan.

"Well, uh, I'll bet you half of my stock," Wendy replied.

"What would be the terms of the bet?" Jonathan asked.

"You bump her salary to $500,000 and assign her full time to Fred for up to a year, or whenever he says that she's ready, because she'll be ready," Wendy replied after thinking for a few moments. "You pay Fred $3 million a year. If Fred says that she's ready to do it, you give her a 3-year contract at $1 million a year. If you decide not to keep her at any point for any reason, you win the bet. But if you extend her to a long-term contract after the 3 years, I win."

"What's to stop me from deciding not to keep her at any point just to get back the shares that you're betting?" Jonathan asked. "You've left it to my discretion."

"I think that you'd rather die than do something that dishonorable," Wendy said. "Now who's joking?"

"You're willing to lose your PA?" Jonathan asked, Wendy's heart soaring.

"I hate the idea of losing Mary, but it's the right thing to do for the company, and her. I'll take Monique as my PA," Wendy said. "She is very street smart. I don't think that it would be hard to turn her into a really good PA. I'm willing to give it a try."

"Then you'll have to get another receptionist," Jonathan said. "I'm going through them like water."

"And look what you're getting as a result," Wendy said, smiling. "Why don't we send a memo to the entire staff and ask if anyone knows of someone who would be suitable for the position? If that doesn't give us anything, we can resort to conventional methods. It's just a receptionist, as important as that is."

"Ask Mary to come in," Jonathan said.

Wendy's heart was pounding as she went to her office to get Mary.

"How smart are you, Mary?" Jonathan asked when they were both seated in front of his desk.

"I don't know, smart enough, I suppose," Mary replied, shrugging. "I'm smart enough to still be here after five years."

"Would you have been content to have stayed the receptionist forever?" he asked.

"Probably not," Mary replied. "I mean, I loved it. It was boring a lot of the time, but I always found someone that I could help get something done. The money was good and I like the people that I work with and meet. But do it forever? I don't think so."

"What about being a PA?" Jonathan asked.

"It's fun," Mary replied. "I get to do a lot of different things. I've learned a lot already. I feel like I'm doing more for the company."

"Can you see being a PA forever?" Jonathan asked.

"If I was Wendy's PA, yeah, no problem," Mary replied, smiling. "Or yours."

"But someone else?" Jonathan asked.

"I don't know," Mary replied. "I don't think about working for anyone else."

"How would you describe how you want to be perceived as an employee here?" Jonathan asked. "Do you want to work here until you retire? Tell me how you feel in your heart of hearts."

"If I could, I'd want to work here until I retire," Mary replied. "Definitely. I think that it would be nice if people thought that I was doing a good job, adding value to the best of my ability. I'd like it if they enjoyed working with me, too."

"Would you like more responsibility than you currently have?" Jonathan asked. "Do you feel as though you could handle it?"

"Of course," Mary replied. "There's nothing that I can't learn and I'd like to be doing as much as I can to help."

"What do you think of Wendy's job?" Jonathan asked.

"Way over my head," Mary laughed. "She's from another planet when it comes to the way her brain works."

"What do you think of Fred's job?" he asked.

"He's got a cool job," Mary replied, nodding. "Gets to travel a lot, lots of responsibility keeping an eye on each property, making sure that things are going right, fixing problems when they don't. He gets to see everything from the cat bird's seat, from a global perspective, like you and Wendy, but he's more hands-on in having to manage it."

"Could you do his job?" Jonathan asked.

"Probably," Mary replied. "I mean, you don't have to be a genius like Wendy to do Fred's job. That doesn't mean that he's not smart, but he knows how to do things, how they work. It's less abstract than what Wendy does. Anything that has rules, structured parameters, I can learn."

"I know these are strange questions," Jonathan said. "They'll make more sense in a minute. Fred has asked to retire. I need to replace him and Wendy thinks that you're the person for the job."

"You're shitting me," Mary said, staring. "You cannot be serious. Me replace Fred?"

"It would work like this," Wendy said, then laid out what she had said to Jonathan.

"You'd really do that?" Mary asked, staring at Jonathan.

"Are you up to it?" Jonathan asked.

"Yes," Mary replied without hesitating.

Jonathan picked up his phone, smiling.

"Fred, join me, will you?" he asked, then hung up.

"He told you," Fred said when he entered and saw Wendy.

"Yes," Wendy replied. "I hate it, just hate it."

"Yeah, well, Lori's given me all these years to play at business, now it's my turn to give her the rest in thanks," Fred said as he sat down. "I've been thinking about it for a couple of years. Then you showed up," he said, smiling. "So young, so inexperienced, so full of life and energy and new ideas. The way it was for me when Jonathan and I started this whole dog and pony show. Now I've done it all, been there, done that, as they say. It's time for me to make room for new, younger, eager minds like yours. For me, it's Lori, golf, beach, sun, grandkids."

"I saw that you bought the Kauai penthouse," Wendy said. "I should have realized."

"Wendy thinks that Mary would be a perfect replacement for you," Jonathan said, keeping a straight face.

"You're not serious," Fred said, then flushed when he saw the look of indignation on Mary's face. "I-I-I didn't mean...it's just that you have no experience."

"Look who you're sitting next to and say that again," Mary said. "You don't think that I'm smart enough to learn how to do your job?"

"I apologize," Fred said, his face red. "You sandbagged me, you bastard," he said to Jonathan, then laughed. "So, this is another of your ideas, is it?" he asked, smiling at Wendy.

"Yes," Wendy replied, smiling back. "You know how smart she is. Don't you think that you could teach her what she needs to know in order to do the job? You've got a whole year!"

"Damned right I can," Fred said, shaking his head.

"We need to get Marge to draw up the contract," Jonathan said, "but in the meantime, congratulations, Mary. You are now Fred's PA until he says otherwise, one way or the other."

"No, not at that salary," Wendy said, smiling. "You're the Property Manager, right, Fred?"

"That's right," Fred replied.

"Then Mary should be the Assistant Property Manager," Wendy said.

"So let it be written, so let it be done," Jonathan said, laughing.

"Thank you, oh, mighty Pharaoh," Mary said with a grin. "I'm into old movies. That's from the Ten Commandments. Yul Brynner said that. Hey, what are you going to do for a PA now?" she asked.

"This is your show, Wendy," Jonathan said, smiling.

"Mary, for your last task as my PA, would you please ask Monique to come in here?" Wendy asked, smiling, seeing Mary's smile spreading across her face.

Mary quickly returned followed by Monique.

"You wanted to see me?" Monique asked.

"Monique, I need a new PA," Wendy said. "Do you think that you could do the job?"

"Of course I could," Monique replied, "but what about Mary?"

"Mary's going to be working with Fred from now on," Wendy replied. "Would you like to be my PA?" she asked.

"God, yes," Monique replied, her eyes wide.

"As soon as we find a new receptionist and you train her, which will be your first task as my PA, you'll be my PA," Wendy said, smiling.

"I can do both jobs," Monique said. "The receptionist job doesn't really have much to do. Is there that much work for your PA?" she asked.

"Not always, but sometimes, yes," Wendy replied.

"You should let me try to do them both," Monique said. "If you decide that it's not working, then you can find a receptionist, but I think I can do it."

"Wendy?" Jonathan said.

"I have no objection to trying," Wendy said. "But we have to have a receptionist."

"I'm telling you that I can do it," Monique insisted.

"It can't hurt to try," Wendy said. "Worst case scenario is that we need to find a receptionist."

"Do I get a raise, too?" Monique asked eagerly.

"Would you take the job without a raise?" Jonathan asked.

"Yes," Monique replied. "I'd do anything to work with Wendy."

"Then you get a raise, too," Jonathan said. "I believe that the PA salary is $50,000. We'll need another contract from Marge for that."

"Wow! Great!" Monique exclaimed, looking like she was going to burst with happiness. "Wow!"

"I just love days like this," Wendy said, a big smile on her face.

"How did you get Jonathan to agree to letting me replace Fred?" Mary asked as they rode home at the end of the day.

"I made a bet with him," Wendy replied, smiling, then explained.

"You shouldn't have done that," Mary said, paling. "What if I don't have what it takes? You'll lose half of your stock. I'd kill myself if I was responsible for that happening."

"They you'll just have to succeed, won't you?" Wendy asked. "If I didn't think that you were up to it, I'd never have suggested it."

"I think that it's cool the way you help the people you care for," Monique said, a big smile on her face. "Nobody's ever helped me with anything until now."

"That's only incidental," Wendy said. "When it comes to work, to business, I only make decisions based upon what I think will be the best for the company. Nothing else comes into play. It just follows with the reason I wanted the employee evaluations done. We have a lot of talented people working for us. Who knows what abilities they might have that would be useful for us to develop? If people see that they can grow, become more, then they'll strive for that."

"I want to celebrate," Mary said as they arrived at Destinations.

"Me, too," Monique agreed.

"Cock?" Mary asked, laughing.

"Yeah, lots of cock," Monique agreed, laughing.

"Glory hole!" they both said at the same time.

"You two are crazy," Wendy laughed. "I'm going to celebrate for all of us in the jacuzzi with a nice bottle of wine. You go have your fun."

"Gianni gets back soon," Mary said.

"Yes, he does," Wendy agreed, smiling.

"Won't that be nice," Mary said.

"Yes, it will," Wendy agreed.

Though Wendy felt a bit lost without Mary sitting across from her the next day, the feeling was ameliorated a bit by the way Monique effortlessly handled the couple of tasks that she gave her.

"Do you have a passport?" she asked Monique while they were having lunch together.

"No," Monique laughed. "Why would I need a passport?"

"You'll need one if you're going to be working here," Wendy said. "You should apply for one, pay extra to have the application expedited. I always have mine with me when I come to work, so does Mary. If Jonathan decides that he wants you to go somewhere the way he did with me and Mary when I first started, you might need your passport. He sent us to Mexico."

"But who would be the receptionist if he did that?" Monique asked.

"That's something that's been bothering me," Wendy replied with a sigh. "We really need to have someone. I'd hate for you to lose out on an opportunity to do more, to experience more, to learn more, just because you were shackled to that desk because we needed you to be the receptionist. I know that you can do both jobs while you're here, it's when you're more needed elsewhere that I worry about."

"You should find someone that already works here that can fill in if I'm not here," Monique said. "What if I'm sick or something? You'd have the same problem."

"Why didn't I think of that?" Wendy said. "I'll go talk with Shirelle about it. Great idea. Thanks."

"That's why I'm your PA now, right?" Monique asked, smiling. "I solve your problems for you."

"Keep it up and you'll have my job someday," Wendy warned.

"I don't think that I'd want it," Monique said. "Too much responsibility. You're married to your job. I want my job to be part of my life, not what my life is all about."

"I'll get there someday," Wendy sighed, "but not yet."

"I doubt it," Monique said, smiling. "You're just like Jonathan in a lot of ways. You live for the challenge and rewards that this job gives you. He'd be lost without it. I think that you would be, too. For someone like me, this job is a means to an end; for you, the job is the end."

Wendy thought about what Monique had said as she walked to Shirelle's office, then decided that she liked having her life be about her work for the time being, that as difficult as her life had been in some respects, that it was nothing compared to the hell that had been Monique's life. It was natural that she'd want a less stressful life. Wendy had been working towards what she was doing for eight years and now she was determined to reap the rewards that all of her hard studying had earned her. She also realized with a smile that dating men from the Adult Fun part of the website was going to be the perfect palliative for the inevitable tension and stress that the job was going to bring without any of the attendant problems that normal dating would bring.

"Well, hello, stranger," Shirelle said when Wendy entered her office, a big smile on her face.

"Thanks," Wendy said as she sat down, a disappointed moue on her face. "The fact that I don't come here very often should tell you that you're doing a great job and that you don't need me breathing down your neck."

"But I like it when you breath down my neck," Shirelle said, smiling. "I miss it, too."

"So do I," Wendy said, laughing. "It's just been so crazy lately, and then the holidays and everything."

"Oh, don't I know it," Shirelle said. "I've had to pull a few teeth to get some of the HR departments at the properties to get a move on with the evaluations. It would have never occurred to me to argue with my boss when I worked at jobs before here. The tail doesn't wag the dog, it's the other way around. I think that Sandy did a lot more damage than we realized. I mean, what did she do all day, just sit here playing with herself? The HR people don't seem to have any respect for anything from me, from corporate headquarters. They're so used to doing things their own way with little to no oversight."