Well, although it has been a while, this continues where Chapter 18 left off, and despite the intervening years, in this story only a few hours have passed. It may be worth re-reading Chapter 18 (and / or other earlier Chapters too) to know what is going on.
I hope that Suzanne, Ian, Graham and John are welcomed back, but I also fully understand if you have given up waiting. It will be what it will be!
Chapter 19
Two hours later, Suzanne opened the door of her room to admit Steve Cross. She had received a text message from Graham Leicester informing her that he would be calling her room at 11:00pm and that she and Steve were to be there alone for a conference call regarding the result of the bid. There was no indication in the text as to whether Graham was aware that they had won, just a short enigmatic message of few words:
"I will call your room at 11:00pm local time to discuss the outcome. Only you and Steve to attend the call. Be ready!"
At first, Suzanne had been surprised and delighted to see that she had a text from Graham, but as she read the words and tried to discern their meaning, she had been puzzled and a little concerned. Just at the moment of her triumph, and even as Steve Cross was uncorking another bottle of celebration, she had read the message, and it had taken the tip off her achievement.
It had been a struggle to pull Steve away from the rest of the celebrating bid team, but he had quieted when she showed him the text.
"Be ready? What the hell does that mean?" Steve had exclaimed in his half-inebriated state. "Ready for what?"
'Indeed' thought Suzanne, quietly to herself. 'Ready for what?'
Steve had gone back to his room for a quick shower, and to try to sober up a bit after spending the afternoon drinking. And Suzanne had excused herself from the party and returned to her own room, full of confusion.
The phrase "Be ready!" had continued to worry her. What could it mean? Although it was only going to be a telephone call, she couldn't stop herself pulling off the clothes she had been wearing all afternoon, and quickly selecting from her limited wardrobe something more suitable for a 'meeting' with her Master.
She had washed and dressed quickly, skirt and blouse over a nice set of underwear - lacy white bra and thong, no hose, and then spent the remaining available time touching up her make-up and dressing her hair in a pony-tail, so that by the time she opened the door to Steve Cross, she looked fresh and sexy in a smart business style, complete with small heels on the shoes she had chosen to match her outfit.
Steve certainly appreciated the look as he followed her into her suite, and took a long lingering look at his colleague's wife's ass as she walked in front of him to the little living area, the beautiful globes swaying in front of him. Inviting him to sit on the sofa, Suzanne offered him a drink from the well-stocked bar.
Steve himself had brightened up considerably - the shower and a cup of strong coffee making some amends for the tense drinking that had been his afternoon occupation, and he also looked clean and fresh in button-down shirt and pants. He declined Suzanne's offer of a drink, saying he thought he'd had enough, but took the offered seat and checked his watch. It was still a couple of minutes to 11:00pm as he watched Suzanne take a nervous gulp from the drink that she had poured for herself and take her own seat in the armchair opposite him, close to the phone that they were waiting to ring.
Steve couldn't help watching as Suzanne sat down, crossing her legs demurely beneath her, but failing to prevent Steve getting an eyeful of thigh as she sat, before she adjusted her skirt as best she could. Suzanne was aware of his eyes on her, but she was also painfully aware of her recent indiscretion on the plane, and she wanted no repetition or increase in the remaining punishment that she knew would be coming her way. She knew perfectly well that her night in the migrant workers' motel was only the equivalent of a down-payment on what she owed to her Master.
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3,500 miles away in Edinburgh, Graham Leicester was sitting in his office waiting for a visitor. The car had taken Nurse Pyrford around to Ian and Suzanne's house to babysit, and was now returning with Ian.
Ian had been a little concerned when the invitation to meet and have dinner with Graham had arrived unexpectedly, and his concern was to grow when he understood that he was to meet Graham in his office first. He had wondered what might be afoot, and obviously worried that something had happened to Suzanne. He had dressed quickly in business clothes and made sure that Emma was fully settled before opening the door to Nurse Pyrford. He left his home just in time to get to the office for the 8:00pm appointment, and he tapped on Graham's door just before the hour, and nervously entered in response to Graham's curt "Enter!"
Graham had no time to brief Ian, but explained that they were about to call the Middle East as he poured a couple of large scotch whiskies, handing one over to Ian as they sat either side of his generous desk. Without further ado, Graham reached over to the phone and dialled the direct line number that he had entered for Suzanne's room.
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Back in Dubai, Suzanne and Steve both jumped as the phone rang between them. Suzanne reached over and hit the green button, and the phone connected in speaker mode with the one on Graham's desk. Now all four people could hear whatever was said, and join the conversation via speakerphone.
"Good evening Suzanne," began Graham, "I trust that all is well and that you are sitting with Steve in your room as requested?"
Suzanne confirmed that she was there, and Steve spoke loudly across the room to say good evening to his boss.
"Good evening to you too Steve," continued Graham, "thanks for making yourself available. I should let you both know that I have Ian here with me on speaker phone, so he is able to hear everything we say."
At the mention of Ian's name, Suzanne's heart skipped a beat. She had received no forewarning that her husband would be present on the call. Her eyes connected with Steve's and she saw in his returning gaze that this was a surprise to him as well. Little did she know that far away in Graham's office, there was a similar look of surprise on Ian's face, but it was mixed with the expression of relief that he had felt when he had heard Suzanne's voice and realised that she was obviously fine, and his previous concerns about her welfare had been unfounded.
Suzanne quickly recovered, and she said a quick hello to her distant husband, with Steve also saying hello, both of which greetings were returned by Ian. When the pleasantries were over, Graham quickly turned to business.
"So, Steve, how did our bid go? I understand that the news has already broken here with some of the team, but I have deliberately not enquired into the result. I wanted to hear from you direct."
It came as a further surprise to both Suzanne and Steve that their boss was thus far unaware of the result. A glance passed between them as if to say, 'will you tell him, or shall I?', but since the question had clearly been aimed at Steve, he was the one to respond.
"I'm delighted to say Graham that our proposal has been accepted, and we have heard direct from Tim Truman to that effect. We are selected as the partner in preference to WoonHongSa and will be working on finalising contracts over the coming weeks."
There was a short pause when he finished his announcement, and then both Steve and Suzanne heard two pairs of hands clapping quietly at the other end of the line. They could hear the smile in Graham's voice when he eventually started to speak again.
"That's great news Steve, well done to you all, you and Suzanne, the entire bid team, our agents out there, everyone involved. Please pass on my thanks to them all, and enjoy a glass or two with them before and after you get on the plane for the flight home."
For very different reasons, both Steve and Suzanne warmed to the praise from their boss Graham Leicester. Steve in the knowledge that this contract would do his sales career at Ruler Electrics no harm at all, not to mention the generous commission he would be enjoying over the future months and years. Suzanne felt a warm glow for a very different reason. She had been publicly praised by her Master for doing a good job, and in contradiction to the very personal and targeted punishment that had been meted out to her only 24 hours before, she felt happy that she had pleased this man to whom she had inwardly vowed obedience and service.
In two separate countries, thousands of miles apart, three glasses were raised to lips as Graham, Ian and Suzanne silently toasted their joint success. At the same time, Steve Cross instantly regretted his earlier refusal of a drink from Suzanne, and signalling to her his intention, he stood and went to the bar to remedy that situation. As he returned to the sofa and swallowed a healthy gulp of the scotch he had helped himself to, Graham went on.
"Steve, as always, I am keen to understand our strengths and our competitors' weaknesses. What was our USP? What won us the bid?"
Steve thought for a moment or two before answering. "Our bid was a good one - we had worked hard before we arrived here designing a solution against the stated requirements, and we continued to adjust and refine the bid once we arrived, based on our local agents' knowledge, and what we picked up at the bidders' conference yesterday. Suzanne delivered the bid this morning in person, but I can't really identify a single USP. I guess we were just better than the opposition."
As Steve mentioned her delivering the bid in person, Suzanne couldn't stop a small blush rising to her cheeks as she remembered her lewd behaviour with Tim earlier that morning.
"What about you Suzanne?" Graham responded. "Can you shed any light on why we were so successful?"
Suzanne hesitated. She had at least one inkling as to what had differentiated the Ruler bid from their competition, but she couldn't own up to the personal contribution that she had made, not in front of her husband's unknowing colleague Steve Cross, and not in the hearing of her husband, sitting in Graham's office in Edinburgh. Her blush deepened with every second of her silence until she could feel Steve looking at her quizzically.
