This story is about five consenting adults that engage in a polyamorous relationship. There is a strong sexual content, including lesbian scenes. There is also a fair bit of philosophy in the story about how and why relationships like this take place. If this isn't for you, please move on; if it is, please enjoy my early writing attempts. I urge you to VOTE as you finish each section of this five-part story. Thanks for your support.
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Working away from home week after week sucks. Of course, I could have curtailed some of the travel but the fact was that I liked it. If I wasn't traveling I was stagnating. One benefit, I had an expense account for the first time in my consulting career. I was supposed to entertain prospects and clients, as well as do the work I sold, hopefully with some of the other people in the company I worked for that were less senior. "Eat what you kill," was the motto in the company; "kill nothing, eat nothing, make nothing, get fired" was a more accurate description.
My wife was wrapped up in her career too, except she wasn't traveling. The kids were almost grown and just about out of the house. The odd day or two I was around home during the week I often found myself alone well into the evening as everyone was off doing their own thing. Often, I'd come home, go to bed having seen no one else in the family, have a dim awareness of a warm body next to me in the middle of the night, and then awaken to find everyone had already left for jobs and school.
I surprised even myself by becoming one of the top sales people in my new company as well as someone clients loved to have around. Thus, I was on the road a lot: leave home Sunday in the late afternoon, fly somewhere, work most of week, home Thursday night, Friday in the office, and weekend at home. I was a road warrior. Some weeks I'd be in four or five different cities.
I was the first in the company to sell a job at a large company named Alperion to help renovate some of their information systems before the company sold off some of itself and made some other acquisitions. Alperion was not a small company; there were offices and divisions all over Pennsylvania, New York and New Jersey, not to mention expansions and acquisitions in a dozen other states and abroad. I was finding a new home in the suburbs of Philadelphia as I started to spend week after week there at their Camp Forge, PA headquarters.
My home away from home had become room 183 in the Camp Forge Hilton. The hotel was posh and Alperion paid for most of it without a blink. I had a pool outside my door, a wonderful bar right down the hall, three different restaurants to choose from, an exercise room full of great equipment, and a spa all within a two-minute walk from my room.
I had sold a modest systems-based consulting job in one of the Divisions to a department head. I was basically doing the work myself since there weren't that many hours of work involved, however, the job gave me the opportunity to make friends in the company and to try to market more of my company's capabilities.
Then I met Jan. Jan was a tall, lithe, willowy woman in her early forties with sandy blond hair. She was a very chic dresser; I guessed the outfit she had on one day topped a thousand dollars. She turned out to be one of most competent people I had met at Alperion. She headed a division there and had about 250 people reporting to her, including the department head for whom I was working. I was seven years younger than she was and so I didn't think about anything other than trying to warm her up to buying some other systems or consulting work from us.
Thus, I was pleased when shortly after our introduction Jan called me and asked if I'd join her for lunch in the company cafeteria. I readily agreed and we met up outside the cafeteria doors just before noon one day.
We shook hands and then we collected our lunch, paid, found a table and sat down. "Thank you for joining me today," she said as we sat down. Her smile was contagious and I found her very nice to be with. "We've got to re-do three of our financial systems before the end of the year. I'm told you and your crew are some of the top people available to do this kind of work."
I was properly deferential to her; humble in the value we could add to her group, and receptive to proposing on the work. We covered a lot of details and I started to take notes. After being together for an hour-and-a-half she finally said she had to cut our meeting short but looked forward to further talking. She asked if I had enough information to write a proposal to her; I told her I did.
I told her I could have a draft of the proposal for her by the end of the day (I don't write long proposals). She said, "Great, bring it by my office before six tonight." She paused and then added, "What are you doing for dinner."
I ventured, "Well, I sort of live at the Hilton, and take a jog before dinner, but I can change that plan anytime. Are you're free for dinner? I wouldn't mind if your husband joined us too."
She said, "Yes, I'm free, I'm single, and I like the idea of a run too. Do you have your running stuff with you?"
"Yes, I do, in my rental car," I replied.
"Good," she said. "Why don't you meet me at my house at six-thirty and I'll show you some neat jogging trails. We can eat after that if you're hungry."
We exchanged cell phone numbers and she gave me directions to her home. A few hours later, I rang her doorbell exactly at six thirty. She opened the door already dressed in running shorts and a singlet. "Come in, come in," she said. "You can change upstairs, first bedroom on the right."
I carried my duffle bag upstairs and shed my sport coat and tie in favor of running shorts and a t-shirt. I came down bare foot carrying my Nikes and socks. "What's the drill," I asked.
"Well," Jan said, "how far do you normally run? I'm up for five miles, or is that too long or short for you?"
