I like the loving wives category but it can be difficult to come up with something different and the comments are often ruthless. I try to explore alternate realities or situations with angst.
I do spell and grammar checks and proof read but bound to miss some. If that bothers you too much maybe think about reading something else.
Please check the tags, don't read it if it's not your thing. Otherwise, I hope you enjoy it, they are free and they are just stories.
Best Wishes, Satin
***
I was watching my wife Joanne at the works re launch party. It reminded me of when we'd first met at a local social club when I and my admittedly drunken mates agreed Joanne had the best looking arse in the place, accentuated by a very tight fitting pair of white jeans. We all chickened out of talking to her, she was older than us by five years which is a huge gulf when your only 19 years old. What was worse is that she was good friends with my older sister Liz and any failed attempt to chat her up would potentially be used to make life at home a complete misery.
We met her again a year later at my sister's birthday party, I was just about to curse my lack of courage again when she smiled at me. That was it, I was mesmerised, fear of being shot down in flames seemed irrelevant, I can't remember what I said at first, but did admit to my dilemma the year before. She laughed it off saying 'surely she wasn't that scary' and asked what I would have said.
"Something stupid like if you fancied going out with me."
"Not the most novel approach... I guess you'll never know if I would have said yes."
I hesitated for a second before replying, "Joanne is there any chance I could take you out for a drink sometime?"
My stomach lurched, but she smiled again, "Well I think bravery deserves its rewards... I'd be delighted!"
After that we talked for most of the night. I got a lot of stick from my mates for leaving with an older woman and earned a frown from my sister. The early part of our relationship was certainly an eye opener, talk about the benefits of an older woman. Joanne was beautiful and clearly experienced, it was a whirlwind. The fact she was gorgeous helped, her bright green eyes and pretty oval face were framed by chin length blonde hair, and her body more than matched my initial assessment of her arse.
I got a lecture from Liz about Joanne, it concluded with, "She is a lovely girl, treat her right or else!"
Joanne howled with laughter when I mentioned it, saying Liz had already told her, "Not to fuck this up, he's my brother. I love him more than anything... don't tell him that by the way and be warned, anyone hurting him would regret it."
"Well who knew... I wasn't sure if my sister even liked me!"
***
Looking at her now reminded me of our early times together, that was 16 years ago, before the birth of our two kids, her arse still looked fabulous though. Everything was fantastic; Seth 14 and Haley 13 were both doing well, we had a lovely home and a comfortable life style.
I'd never lost my love of Joanne's arse, she teased me with it constantly and often got a spanking or bent over the dining room table as a result. She was a great partner, adventurous and passionate blended with love and tenderness.
I watched my wife talking to Justine; it was natural I suppose, Joanne was her Personal Assistant now and not many other people were talking to the new boss. Those that did, were the usual arse kissers, Joanne was probably her only source of sanity. At least it kept her out of the clutches of big Dave Richards, that guy never gave up, he'd been chasing Joanne since High School and remained convinced she'd made a mistake in choosing me.
My wife finally deigned to spend a bit of time with me; the topic of conversation was once again Justine. Joanne had taken to extolling the virtues of our new boss, the fact Justine had taken a post promised to me didn't seem to register. To be fair, I could see why she was impressed; Justine was an incredibly beautiful woman who was tougher and more ruthless in business than any man I'd met. She was tall and always wore professional suits with high heels allowing her to tower over people. With cascades of auburn hair down to her mid back, she wasn't adverse to using her looks and flirting to gain an advantage.
"It's so encouraging to see a woman break the glass ceiling."
"Yeah, if they are competent and everyone gets a fair crack at opportunities it's great."
"You sound bitter Phil, you have no idea how hard it is for women to succeed in an engineering and production environment dominated by men."
"I get that, I know it isn't easy, but as a poor white kid I don't recall too many of those advantages everyone claims we had. You were there Joanne, we all had to work for it, it was never given on a plate."
Joanne frowned, "I know how hard it was for you, juggling full time work and college was a nightmare and you were knackered. Justine had to deal with all of that and negotiate a male dominated work place."
"Actually her background is finance; she is an accountant by trade and from a wealthy family. She doesn't have an engineering or production experience and has a notorious reputation for short-term cost cutting."
"Well that's good; it will make the business more profitable. She is already talking about all the changes needed."
"Not to me she hasn't, and I am supposed to be Operations Director. You do remember how much time and effort I've put in to this company. I helped Pete start it up and I'm more qualified and experienced."
"Yes of course, but you know a lot of people are set in their ways."
"Is that right, from what I recall we were one of the most dynamic and successful start-ups in the country. Look I am trying to support her, but so far she seems to thinks she is God's gift and we're local yokels who haven't got a bloody clue."
Joanne wandered off still frowning, until she started talking to Justine again.
If felt like she was avoiding me, so I stayed long enough to make it look respectable and left. Lots of friends and family worked for the company; including my sister, I quickly asked Liz to 'keep an eye out' for Joanne for me before leaving.
I walked home to try and get rid of the frustration, it was 5 miles but I needed to calm down. Work was going tits up and it felt like Joanne was no longer on my side. I made it back and crawled into bed, staying awake until I heard her come home. I didn't want to speak so feigned sleep as she joined me in bed.
There was no avoiding it at breakfast though, "Why did you leave last night?"
"I wasn't having a good time and my partner was otherwise engaged."
"I had to keep her company and fend off the usual roaches. Did you really walk all that way?"
"Yeah I needed to clear my head; what did Liz say."
"She accused me of ignoring you and said that we should talk like adults. I told her I can never win an argument with you; it's like debating with Einstein."
"I'm hardly that, how did you get home?"
"Justine offered me a lift but Liz insisted she dropped me off, said she you'd asked her to look out for me."
"What is it with Justine; you seem to be on her side and very close."
"We get on and I want to support her. I think she is really impressive, absolutely stunning and razor sharp. The way she deals with some of the guys is awesome; most of them are scared of her."
"That's not necessarily a good thing Joanne. Be careful with her, keep it professional; there is something about her I just don't trust and you're getting close personally."
"Don't be like that, she needs your help as well, you know how it all works. It's different for you, you're a man and can do your collaborative approach thing much easier, but the buck stops with her."
Things remained tense over the weekend; we had a couple of quiet days. Thankfully interacting with the kids papered over most of the cracks. It was the usual weekend of dad taxi's for me and sports and socials for the kids.
***
The party was due to the recent sale of our company: Velo bikes. We were an independent Mountain Bike manufacturer, established before the big brands took over everything and still giving them a run for their money, focused on high end and competition bikes.
We stayed local and true to our roots and were proud to be a major employer in an industrial wasteland and area of high depravation. We knew a lot of the lads that worked in the factory, many were riders and others were old school friends or family.
Pete Jenkins founded the whole thing and I was his first employee. A talented and passionate biker, he brought competition experience and unsurpassed knowledge back to set high levels of manufacture. The rider owned and developed principle struck a chord with distributors and customers. We expanded and diversified the line of products and used competitions for marketing and promotion.
The company surfed the boom in mountain biking and did well, expanding rapidly. Eventually Pete decided to cash in and go exploring. He sold the business recommending I be made Chief Executive Officer, I knew he couldn't guarantee that and that wasn't how it panned out. The new owners appointed their own Chief Exec. and I was left in my existing position of Operations Director reporting to Justine Henderson.
I tried to be supportive and rationalised that she was bound to do things her own way. I struggled though, she was bright enough and certainly knew the corporate business world better than the rest of us, I could see why they'd appoint her instead of me. At the same time she was the epitome of arrogance, she had her own agenda and I doubted it matched what we had originally set out to do with Pete.
***
Things kicked off the following week at the manager's meeting. All six of us Directors were there with Justine, and Joanne as minute taker and support.
I explained for the first time in our history that staff had refused to work Overtime, the union reps were pushing for a 'work to rule'. Justine was furious and insisted everyone had to work the overtime. I proposed a softer approach and see how many we got offering it as an option; knowing most of the production teams would take the extra cash.
Joanne caught me after the meeting, saying she was shocked at my actions and that I hadn't supported Justine. I explained a single parent friend of ours was threatened with dismissal if she didn't do weekday overtime.
"You know how she struggles, it's all she can do to cover until 5pm with child care, but Justine is insisting and I am not about to start threatening people."
"She wouldn't do that."
I looked at her straight in the eye, "Since when do you believe her over me!"
"It's not that, there must be some misunderstanding."
"She froze recruitment, but hasn't made any of the processes more efficient, as a result we need overtime to meet the production schedules. We're getting a load of complaints from the distributors, I am not sure she knows what she is doing."
"She is the smartest person I know; there must be a reason for it!"
"Yeah well it doesn't add up unless.... shit!"
It dawned on me, Joanne was right Justine was smart and there would be a reason for her actions. And a couple of reasons started to form in my mind: a sell off or off shoring production to another country possibly. I turned to my wife, about to share my speculation until a horrible thought crossed my mind. Can I trust my wife to keep her mouth shut and not run to the boss.
