This first installment is mostly set up. This set up will allow the coming updates to be mostly sexual in nature. This is an interracial story. If this offends you please do not read.
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I can't really say where it all started. I mean, beginnings after all are such difficult things. Did I begin at conception, or at birth? Did my essence begin with my father's smile, the one my mother found so irresistible? What if my father had followed the rest of his family to South Carolina? They moved when the brake assembly plant shut down. Dad stayed in Ohio. Ohio was where the young woman lived who eventually became my mother. Perhaps, the antecedents of my life were present even then.
If that logic is correct, so that my mother's affinity for my father's smile was, in fact my ethereal beginning, then my present situation can be traced to a promise. It was given to me seven and a half years ago. Back then, I had just graduated from High school and was enrolled in the local community college. I've always worked on computers. In high school I was in charge of the student network, it was an electronic forum for socializing, gaming and online tutoring. Students could access assignments and get help with those assignments any time of the day and any day of the week. It came easy to me. I guess that's good because I also ran track and played basketball all four years of high school.
The promise that I've referred to, came from John. Now he's my boss and CEO of the company I work for. Back then, he was just a guy with an idea. That idea was RealComp Industries. It was a good idea, and he was passionate about it. I was caught up in that excitement. So I decided to give my time and nearly all of my energy to this idea. I was sure the company he was creating would succeed and when it did it only made sense that my efforts would be recognized.
The company's done more than just succeed. In the last two and a half years RealComp has experienced almost exponential growth. Hell, it's doing great.
We sell hardware and software solutions for inventory and security needs. Our account reps walk their customers through the process of choosing, configuring and maintaining their installations. What sets us apart is our price and reputation. For a customized solution we are the cheapest. Our hardware is assembled in the USA and we create customized software here. When the Great Recession hit we were singled out as being one of the most cost effective, U.S based, solutions in the market. Three trade magazines featured interviews with John.
At first, my duty was to maintain the company's computers. Since we only had a couple of employees I also worked the helpdesk and answered the phones. Fortunately, that role ended the first time the File Sever went down. As John wrung his hands like a frightened grandmother, I calmly restored the entire system from back up with no data loss. Two days later I was supervising a new hire for the helpdesk. I was dedicated to RealComp even as I earned my Associates and Bachelor degrees. During those years, although I frequently racked up forty to fifty hours a week, I was paid for twenty hours. I was officially a part timer but I routinely gave the company twenty to thirty hours a week without pay. All of that sacrifice was meant to show my loyalty and devotion. In hindsight, I'm not sure it showed anything.
Anyway, the promise was a simple one. "Stay with us and your hard work will be rewarded." Though John never said it that succinctly, it was always implied, even from the very start. It was agreed that directly after graduation I would get a salary based upon full time hours. This agreement, unlike his promise was honored. I graduated in the first week of June, and, after a week of vacation I started full time as the information manager at RealComp. For someone accustomed to working full time but only getting paid for twenty hours, the new salary felt like a bonus. The best part was that I finally was a part of the team. I went to meetings and I talked with other employees instead of just fixing their computers. They conferred with me on expansion issues and asked for feasibility projections. I felt like an equal. I bought a new car and for the first time, ate lunch with some of the Account Managers.
By Christmas, I was as much a member of the admin team as John. My change in status was obvious at the Company Christmas party. In the old days I always parked as far away from John's house as I could. Back then I didn't want the Account Managers walking past my rusty old Mazda on their way to their new cars. This Christmas I counted seventy four steps from my Lexus to John's front porch. The prior Christmas, I had stood motionless for a good two minutes at his red front door trying to compose myself before I knocked. Jamie, John's wife, opened the door as if she had been standing there the whole time. She is always a gracious host, but being in her fancy home always made me feel a bit uneasy. As if at any moment I was going to break something. But that was before my graduation, this last Christmas I wore the first suit I had ever bought with my own money. It fit great and I felt great wearing it. I wasn't the first guest to arrive nor was I the last. Jamie greeted me with the same gracious smile and handshake and then motioned for me to come into the house. I helped myself to a drink like an equal.
My first year was great, sales were up and the company was flush with sudden cash. I took advantage of the situation and made prudent investments in the infrastructure, the kind of things that would have been questioned or even frowned upon in a more anemic environment. The second year passed with big bonuses. I used mine to pay down my student debt. Our Summer Parties, like our Christmas parties were thrown at John's house. It was at the Summer Party of my third year as a manager that I learned about the new position. It was VP for North East sales. Robert Billings and Richard Kilberdt, two of our oldest Account Managers, came to me with cocktails in their hands and asked if I would do them a favor.
"Come on man, can't you tell us who is going to be the new Vice President for the north East region?" Robert asked.
Richard shot Robert an incredulous grin. Then asked with an overwrought pacing of his words, "what he meant to ask was, you can see emails can't you? I know you don't, but you could, couldn't you?
My gaze shot between them both, then after taking a sip of my drink I asked "What the hell are you guys talking about?" I was genuinely perplexed.
Robert laughed hoarsely then asked, "You don't know do you?"
"Know what?" was my only reply before I lifted my glass; this one was a long draw on my Gin and tonic.
"John is dividing the northern territory in half. My friend here believes he is getting it, I believe Robert is an idiot. We just thought you might know something." Richard said, and then looked down into his small dark cup.
I didn't answer them, instead, I tilted my head grinned and walked over to the hors devours table. I didn't say anything because, they were right I didn't know, and that was unusual. I kept quiet about our conversation. Office politics was never something I was particularly good at, so I just played it cool and acted as normal as possible and I'm so glad that I did, as in any fast growing company changes often go through a lot of stops and starts. There was nothing said or done about the position until the following spring. That was when I was taken into the conference room and introduced to Tiffany.
I forgot Tiffany's last name and damn near forgot my own when I saw her. Tiffany is a five foot eight inch buxom brunette with smooth, unblemished skin and hazel eyes that were as disarming as a sudden blow to the head. Later, when the introductions were complete, I had the time to get a good look at our new Vice President of North East sales. She was wearing a nice pair of four inch heels, so she wasn't as tall as I had originally surmised. Barefoot, Tiffany was probably five feet four inches tall. Her height was the only misconception I could find. Her large chest was in perfect contrast to her flat stomach and perfectly shaped ass. She had a captivating smile and an impeccable resume. She held a master's degree from a well-known University and had over ten years of practical experience in our field. She had just moved to the city and was looking for a position in a small company when she ran into John.
Nine o'clock the next morning Dave sent out the email announcement. Later in the afternoon, Tiffany and John toured the building making all the necessary introductions with the staff and explaining her new role. She settled in pretty well, that is, until the middle of the summer. Her sales team was falling behind. Quotas weren't being met and she was absent far too much for a person in her position.
