My first story for some time. Been too busy retiring!
Not very long, as I ease myself back into it, but hope it amuses you.
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"It happened John. I got called into Gerald's office today and got offered the promotion."
She said it so casually that I hardly took it in for a moment. Kim, my lovely twenty eight year old wife, had been offered a promotion -- Another one!
"That's fantastic Kim," I cried out, recovering my composure. "That's two jumps in level in the last two years."
"Yes," she replied smiling at me. "I knew I was in the frame, but I hardly thought I'd get it ahead of Mike and Frank."
"I bet they're pissed off," I threw back at my wife of three years with a grin, neither of the two guys mentioned having impressed me overly.
"More than you can imagine John," she murmured distractedly. "More than you could imagine."
"So when do you start honey," I responded brightly, somewhat surprised at her lack of enthusiasm. Kim had always been so full of life and loved her job so much.
"That's the point John," she smiled back at me. "Thought I ought to run it passed you first."
"What's to run through Kim? It's a fantastic opportunity. Where's the problem?"
"The travelling John," she answered me quietly, and even then after a pause. "I'd be away two nights a month in France, and another two nights in Denmark. That's Gerald's regular schedule and the new job means I would have to go with him."
"I know that Kim," I responded. "We both knew that and discussed it before you even applied for the job. "I'm Ok with it, so what's the problem?"
"Gerald," she answered simply.
"But why," I encouraged her, not understanding her reluctance to accept what she had been chasing for the last two years. To seize the chance to make that magic leap into upper management while still in her twenties.
"Gerald has made it clear that when he travels he always books a suite," Kim stated, looking up and staring me in the eye. "The best suite in the hotel normally."
"So what's the problem honey," I protested. "He wants a suite -- he pays for it. What's the problem?"
Kim's eyes had not left mine for a moment.
She sighed.
She sounded so conflicted.
"That's all he books," she answered my question at last.
"So what," I shot back. "What difference does that make to ......"
At which point I broke off, as it hit me like a train, exactly what difference it could make to Kim. To both of us.
"Just one suite?"
"Just the one."
"No separate room for you Kim?"
"Exactly!"
"The bastard really expects you to .... Well you know ... to ....."
I shuddered to a halt unable to put words to my accusations.
"He both expects it and demands it," Kim replied steadily. "He made it very clear that Mary, who I would be replacing, has been ... let's say accompanying him for the last three years or so, and that I would be expected to replace her in every facet of her situation."
"You mean become his fuck-toy," I spat out angrily.
"There is that of course," Kim mumbled quietly, having already lost all eye contact with me. "Then again honey, it would mean an immediate forty percent raise in salary plus bonuses and in two or three years time ....? Well, who knows? Mary's done her stint and she's about to made a director of one of the ancillary companies."
