Chapter 2 To Do or Not to Do
Summary: The couple learns more about the LLP and about themselves.
In fact, several weeks passed by without any further talk about the secret sex club. This club consisted of persons who worked for Johnson, Hammer & Peters (JH&P) and their spouses and was also known by them as the Lusty Legal Practice (LLP). During those weeks, not even the Johnsons mentioned it again. Although Jim and Bob saw each other almost every day in the office, it was business as usual and strictly business.
As usual, Janice was rarely seen because she was, well, a housewife. She was happy in that role and enjoyed being the main mover behind the wives' social club, something she mostly did from home.
On the other hand, Sarah saw Kirsten every day in the office. She had wondered about the relationship between the Hammers and the Johnsons because what else would explain Janice's success in getting an extra at lunch time for Sarah. At least, they had to be friends.
Norbert Hammer was known to be stickler about following proper procedures. She found it difficulty to believe that housewife Janice Johnson, even if she was another boss' wife, would have that kind of influence with Hammer over office matters. Under normal circumstances, Norbert would have directed Janice to Rose, and let Rose make the decision. It was well known in the office that even Kirsten had to go through Rose on any matters relating to Rose's paralegal team.
Since their separate lunch time meetings with the Johnsons, Sarah and Jim heard absolutely nothing, not even a hint, about any sex club, in or out of the office. Having agreed, on Bob's behests, to maintain total silence on the matter, the couple kept their word by keeping silent. They made no attempt whatsoever to make even the tiniest or subtlest of inquiries. They kept their mouths shut but they did keep their ears open. They heard nothing.
In fact, they began to think that maybe, somehow, they had totally misunderstood the Johnsons and what they had heard during separate lunch time meetings. Moreover, daily life's demands at work and at home had caused them to focus on more pressing matters and diverted their attention from further discussion on the matter. Although the issue had receded into the background, it wasn't entirely forgotten either.
Finally, one evening, when the couple had some time for themselves, Jim commented that he still had not heard anything at all at work about any secret sex club. It was always just the usual stuff, from weather, sports, family office politics, the wives' social club and even gossip about people's private lives.
"Not once was there any hint that anybody knew anything about at all Bob's secret sex club, let alone who might be members of it," Jim summarized. "Maybe we are being ghosted for some reason unknown to us."
"I haven't heard anything in Hammer's department either," Sarah confirmed. "And maybe you're right. We're being ghosted."
Jim shrugged his shoulders. "All we can do now is wait until they, whoever they are, contact us again. If they do..." he trailed off, hinting at a decision that they had been asked to make but had not yet discussed.
And wait they did for almost two more months. By this time, they were convinced that they had been ghosted and saw any further discussion about joining a secret sex club as pointless.
Then one day, Jim received a message from his boss to meet him in the office at 4:30. Such requests were nothing unusual and mostly job related. After all, Jim reported to Bob Johnson and occasionally consulted with him in some of the firm's more complicated legal cases.
Just after he confirmed the appointment, he received a text message from Sarah, telling him she had also been asked to attend. He sent her a text message with question marks in it but added no further comment.
'It couldn't be a case,' Jim thought. 'My work and Sarah's don't overlap. Besides, Bob always tells him what he wanted to talk about so that I can be prepared for the meeting. Hmm, I wonder what it's about'
Just before the appointed time, Sarah stopped over by Jim's office. She questioned him with a look. He knew her questioning expression. He shrugged his shoulders indicating he had no idea why the two of them were being called to Johnson's office at the same time.
As they approached Johnson's office, the executive secretary waved them through. As they walked in, they saw that Janice was in Johnson's office too.
"Lock the door, Jim," he said as he disconnected the intercom. The younger couple began to realize that the topic of discussion was likely to be the secret sex club.
"Come in. Come in. Make yourselves comfortable," Johnson invited. "Sarah, my wife sings your praises for the contributions you make to the wives' social club. So do Norbert and Rose about your job performance. They tell me you are very good at what you do and you work really hard too."
"Thank you, sir," Sarah replied. "I'm glad to hear that."
"There are no other staff here," he told her. "We are in a private setting. You may call me Bob," he told her.
"Yes sir, Mr. John..." she stopped herself in mid-word, "er, I mean, Bob."
Jim reached over and shook Janice's hand. "I see you around once in a while but we haven't had much occasion to talk. Nice to see you again, though," he added.
Jim reached to shake Janice's hands. Before he could say anything, she smiled sweetly at him and said, "And don't call me Mrs. Johnson, just Janice," she instructed Jim. "I don't work for the firm. Everyone just calls me Janice, including your lovely wife"
Jim estimated that Janice was about ten years older than himself. He guessed that Bob was only a little older than his wife. Whereas Bob had a very distinguished look with greying hair, his wife was regal-looking, but he could also see the underlying vivaciousness to her character that Sarah had told him about. She was known as a social butterfly, a characteristic that stood in sharp contrast to Bob's completely business like demeanour. He found her attractive in her own older way.
Similar thoughts passed through Sarah's mind but her focus was on Janice's handsome husband. She recalled how she briefly flashed a thigh at him in an unscripted attempt to influence him in her favour. She flushed at the thought. Teasing Bob during the interview seemed to have had the desired effect but she was embarrassed to discover that the middle-aged lecher was her husband's boss and was savvy enough to know exactly what she was playing at. That knowledge and his recollection of incident caused warmth to suffuse her body. 'God,' she told herself, recognizing the signs of her arousal.
"Are you feeling all right?" Bob asked, seemingly concerned. He sensed that his employee's wife was recalling that interview too. In Bob's mind, it was evidence that Sarah was a vixen and didn't know it.
"I'm fine," she said, quickly regaining her composure.
"Oh, you're more than fine," he said with a twinkle in his eye.
'Was that an innuendo?' Sarah asked herself.
"Bob, honey, please behave," Janice interrupted. "I know what's going on in that devious mind of yours, but don't get ahead of yourself."
Sarah wondered if Janice's reference to Bob 'getting ahead of himself' was another innuendo. She sensed that something was up. This was definitely not a business meeting.
"Please sit," Bob invited. As they sat down, Bob continued, "Norbert and I are very pleased with how you two have performed as employees." He paused and then changed the subject. "We're also happy that you never repeated what Janice and I told you about our secret sex club. If you had, we would have heard something through the grapevine by now."
There it was. The proposition was real after all.
"I'm sorry it took us so long to follow up, but we had to learn how well you two could keep secrets. There was only one way to find out, the rumour mill."
Sarah and Jim glanced at each other with an 'Oh shit' expression on their faces. They were actually unprepared for this meeting because they didn't have that heart-to-heart discussion they needed to have before they could give the Johnsons an answer. The long silence since the Johnsons' original proposition, and their inability to garner any information about a secret sex club, had lulled them into thinking that the Johnsons had changed their minds. They had also expected some kind of warning when the Johnsons wanted their answer. This meeting was sprung on them with no notice at all.
"For the record, and just to be really clear," Bob continued, "you two were hired based on your qualifications and experience. Your jobs are safe no matter what happens in the rest of this meeting. We only ask that what we are about to discuss is kept strictly confidential."
Sarah and Jim nodded their agreement. "You can count on us," Jim said.
Bob smiled. "I know. You've proven that. Then he added, "This gets me to the next point. Sarah, your psychological test, and the extra test I asked Jim to take, had also nothing to do with your employment in this firm."
Both Sarah and Jim was stunned.
"And my second test was the same as Sarah's?" Jim asked.
"Not quite," Bob replied, "while your first psychological test measured your suitability to work in a fast-paced legal environment, your second test one the same purpose as Sarah's, to probe your values, attitudes and personality. But men and women have different sex-based perspectives. So Sarah's test included questions that explored her female psychology while yours gauged your male psychology. Not surprisingly, you two share common values and attitudes although your personalities are different. Naturally, you have different psychological profiles but are extraordinarily complementary in nature. You two really are a team."
"Do you test all new employees in this way?" Sarah asked.
"No," Bob answered, "only those who are married."
"And if they fail the test?" Sarah asked.
"There is no fail in this test," Bob explained. "Let me assure you. The psychological tests you both have no impact whatsoever on your continued employment at JH&P. If HR and your manager agree that you are qualified to do the job, and you have the psychological wherewithal to handle it, you would still have been hired. Other employees have taken this test and 'failed' as you put it. They still work for us and have for years. If you had 'failed', you would have heard nothing further from us or about the test's true purpose. Eventually, they would have only a distant memory you, perhaps even forgotten."
