Ashley Anderson was an intelligent and very attractive woman, in her early forties. She loved working for Thompson Consulting Services, as an account manger, and was well liked by all her co-workers. Ashley had a very warm and friendly personality, and it was not unusual for her to innocently touch your hand, arm, or shoulder while she was talking. Ashley occasionally enjoyed a little harmless flirting, but quickly made it clear to men, that she was a happily married woman who didn't fool around. She normally wore very conservative business suits to work, hiding her large breasts and most of her long shapely legs.
Ashley had just completed her first year with the company and she was eagerly awaiting her performance review, scheduled for five o'clock today. Based on her success this year Ashley was expecting a nice increase in salary, which she desperately needed. Her husband John had lost his job nine months ago, and Ashley's $50,000 a year salary was not enough to cover the mountain of bills they had to pay each month.
The company founder and president Frank Thompson, and the Human Resources manager Vince Williams, were meeting in Frank's office to discuss how to resolve the unfortunate mess caused by Ashley's costly mistake with one of their major customers.
Frank was a handsome man in his mid-fifties, about six feet tall. His brown hair was starting to turn grey, giving him a distinguished appearance. He kept himself in excellent shape by working out at the health club at least three times a week. Frank had been married to his wife Nancy for thirty years. While they loved each other very much their sex life had dwindled to almost nothing over the last two years. Frank was still very interested in sex, but since Nancy entered menopause her desire for sex had changed dramatically. Frank's company had become his his mistress, and he worked very long hours to ensure that it remained successful.
Vince had been with the company since its beginning ten years ago. He was an athletic looking man about five foot ten inches, with dark black hair, who had just celebrated his forty-fourth birthday two weeks ago. He played racquetball twice a week and swam to stay in shape. Vince pictured himself as a real ladies man. Vince and his wife Ellen had been married for more than twenty years. While nothing had ever been mentioned, Vince was sure that Frank knew about the affair he was having with his secretary Brenda.
On a personal basis Frank liked Ashley very much. She was smart, very attractive, and had a wonderful personality that her customers loved. Unfortunately Ashley had recently made a major mistake on a contract that was either going to cost the company a lot of money, or result in the loss of Maxwell Industries, one of their largest customers. Today Frank and Vince had to make a very difficult decision that would probably result in Ashley's termination.
Jack Horton was the forty-two year old president of Maxwell Industries. He stood six foot two inches tall with blond hair, blue eyes, and a hard muscular body. He was a tough businessman, and had been a customer of Thompson Consulting Services for more than fifteen years. Jack had the reputation of being a real skirt chaser. When they discussed the contract problem Jack told Frank that Ashley had been an excellent account manager, however he could not overlook the mistake she made on the contract. Personally he thought Ashley was very hot, and had mentioned to Frank a couple of times that given the opportunity he would like to get in her pants.
Frank could certainly understand Jack's physical attraction to Ashley. During the last year Frank had found himself aroused a number of times when they were alone together. His erection would become so uncomfortable, and noticeable, that he would need to hurry off to his private bathroom so he could masturbate.
At five o'clock Ashley confidently walked down the hall to Frank's office, and gently knocked on the closed door.
"Please come in," Frank yelled.
Ashley entered the plush office and was surprised to see Vince also sitting at the conference table. Both men had a tense expression on their face, and Ashley wondered what had happened. During her year with the company she had never seen Frank or Vince look this upset.
Frank asked Ashley to take a seat on the other side of the table. The three of them exchanged pleasantries for a few minutes and then Frank began the serious part of the conversation. Frank said, "Ashley your performance for most of the year was fantastic, but lately you have been a different person. Last week you made a serious mistake on the Maxwell Industries contract. It's either going to cost the company $50,000, or the account.
Ashley was in shock, she felt like someone had just slapped her in the face. Now she knew why Frank and Vince had the tense expressions on their face. "Oh I'm so sorry," Ashley blurted as the tears started to well up in her beautiful brown eyes.
Frank reached over and offered Ashley some tissues from his desk. After Ashley settled down a little Frank showed her the contract, and where she had made the mistake. Frank sighed deeply and said, "Ashley I really like you personally, but we just can't have account managers making this kind of mistake. The welfare of this company must always be the primary concern. Vince and I have discussed this situation and we think it would be best if you resigned immediately."
Vince quickly added that the company would provide Ashley with four weeks of severance pay, and a letter of recommendation.
As the impact of Frank's words hit Ashley she sobbed uncontrollably. "Oh Frank please don't force me to resign," Ashley wailed. Minutes passed until Ashley regained enough composure to speak again. Ashley looked at Frank and Vince through watery eyes and asked, "Can't we please work something out? In this terrible economy it could take me months to find another job, and then I would probably have to take a pay cut." Ashley told Frank and Vince that she had been distracted lately due to personal problems at home. She went on to explain the financial and other marital problems, caused by her husband's long-term unemployment, and resulting depression. "We will lose everything if you force me to resign," Ashley sobbed. "I'll do anything you ask to save this account and my job," Ashley pleaded with Frank. Ashley asked, "Can we set up a meeting with Jack? At least let me try to persuade him to change his mind about taking advantage of the contract mistake."
Frank could see the utter desperation in Ashley's misty eyes. Frank explained that he had already talked with Jack earlier today. "Jack told me that he really enjoyed having you as the Maxwell Industries account manager. This is not personal Ashley, its strictly business. I'll call Jack again and see whether he will meet with us tomorrow." While Ashley waited nervously Frank called Jack and explained that Ashley wanted to meet tomorrow to present an alternative solution to solve the contract problem.
Jack grumbled to Frank about wasting his time, but finally agreed when it occurred to him that maybe Ashley would be willing to do anything, to rectify the problem.
Frank hung up the phone and said, "Jack agreed to meet us tomorrow at five o'clock. Ashley please don't get your hopes up too high, you know that Jack Horton is a tough businessman who always tries to stack the deck in his favor."
"I know," Ashley sighed. "I'll just have to think of something to make him change his mind."
"Ashley why don't you take the day off tomorrow and meet us at the Sheraton over on fifty first street," Frank suggested.
"Thank you very much for being so kind Frank. I'll see you tomorrow at the Sheraton," Ashley said as she rose from the chair and left Frank's office.
As Ashley drove home she thought about how she was going to break the news to her husband John. He was suffering from acute depression and Ashley was concerned that telling him might push John over the edge, and she was afraid that he might try to hurt himself. Ashley decided to wait and see how the meeting went tomorrow night before saying anything to John. During dinner Ashley suggested that John should go to the ballgame tomorrow night with his friend Doug. This way Ashley would not have to lie, or tell John where she was going tomorrow night. Later that evening Ashley called her best friend Diane and asked whether they could go shopping tomorrow. Ashley and Diane could tell each other anything, and she desperately needed to talk with her friend about this latest serious problem.
Diane could tell that something was up since Ashley was one of those rare women who actually hated shopping. "Okay Ashley I'll see you tomorrow morning around eight," Diane replied to her friend on the phone.
It had been five months since Ashley and John made love. They had tried everything but John was not able to sustain an erection. The doctor told John and Ashley that the prescription drug John was taking for the depression normally caused impotence, and due to possible drug interactions John was not able to take Viagra. In addition the medication had caused other changes to John's personality. Instead of being the tender and loving person he had always been, he was now cold and withdrawn most of the time.
Ashley had tried very hard to put sex out of her mind, but her sexual desires had increased as the months without sex took their toll. Ashley had lied and told John that the stress had also caused her libido to decrease. During the years they had been married Ashley had seldom felt the need to masturbate, but now she fingered her pussy to climax quite often. Ashley had to be careful that John did not catch her. She knew that John would be devastated if he found out that she had to do herself because he wasn't able to take care of her needs.
Ashley snuggled against John's sleeping body when she went to bed, but sleep eluded her. She still had not thought of a reasonable alternative to present to Jack and Frank, making her apprehensive about the meeting tomorrow night. After two hours of tossing and turning Ashley was finally able to drift off to sleep. During the night she had a wildly erotic dream about John making love to her. She awoke from the dream with a burning need in her loins. Ashley's fingers quickly moved to the center of her desire and found her pussy soaked with dew. "Oh John I need you to fuck me so bad," Ashley whispered to herself. She was about to get up and go to another room so she could relieve the need tormenting her body when John rolled over in his sleep and put his arm around her. Ashley was trapped. She knew that John was a light sleeper, and if she tried to get out of bed now she would wake him. Instead she was forced to lay there, once again sexually deprived, until sleep mercifully overcame her body.
