I strongly suggest you read Chocolate Dreams before reading this story. The narrative builds off of that story, making the emotions in this story clearer and providing background for the two main characters. Of course you are the reader and may do whatever pleases you!
About a week after my incredible office encounter with Diane I found myself at a company function, drinking and chatting with a few co-workers while I discreetly watched her talk to some of the company's sales managers. We had not had a repeat of our late-evening adventure – or even spoken of it - although we had exchanged knowing looks in the office a few times. As much as my desire for her stirred every time I saw her, I wasn't sure that a relationship was a good idea; the prospect of office gossip was a real one and dangerous for both of us. And for all her glances Diane never made gave any overt signs that she wanted more than our one evening together. She hadn't even asked for more chocolate!
So now I found myself feeling more jealousy than I probably deserved as I watched her talk to the five men, all of them around forty years old. The occasion was the aftermath of a day-long sales meeting for the national sales force, complete with presentations by the marketing folks. Diane had given one of the presentations and had done a good job. My opinion was probably influenced by lustfully watching her as she stood before the group in a dark blue satin blouse that highlighted her lovely breasts more than her usual clothes. The blouse was paired with a dark skirt and high heels that made her legs look fantastic. The meeting has been followed by a dinner, of course, and now after-dinner drinks in the bar. At dinner Diane had been seated with the sales managers in the interest of bringing marketing and sales more closely together as a team. A little too successfully right now, to my jealous state of mind.
Whatever they were talking about, the discussion was becoming more animated as the drinks took effect. My curiosity grew until I couldn't stand it any longer; I excused myself from the small group I was with on the pretense of going to the men's room and wandered past Diane and her sales entourage.
"So you're saying that my presentation was just OK?" I heard her say somewhat indignantly.
Mike, the head of the sales force answered. "No, it was good," he replied. "We're just saying it would have been better except for the occasional mistakes and the repetitive phrases."
"Like what?" she challenged them.
"Well, you say things like 'So this,' and you said 'um' a lot.
"I do not!" Diane said indignantly.
"You probably don't even know you're doing it. I'd bet you on it but your presentation is over."
"I know I don't and I'd be willing to bet on it too." Diane retorted.
At that point I felt like I had to keep moving, so I missed the rest of the conversation. I went to the men's room and was returning when I saw Diane and the five managers leaving the bar. This was surprising on its own, but then I saw a smirk on Mike's face, and got really intrigued when two of the managers trailing Diane and the others shared a high-five. 'What is going on here,' I wondered.
My stomach tightened as I watched them go out the door. Where were they going? Didn't Diane know what men were like when they were away from home? Even the best of us had an increase in horniness – some resisted it, some didn't. This group did not look like they were the resisting type.
I waited until they left the restaurant and slipped out to my car. Since they had no reason to think they were being followed it was easy to wait until they had gotten into their cars and tail them at a discreet distance. I was surprised when they seemed to be heading back to the office – what in the world was going on here? As I had guessed, the three cars they were using all turned into the office park where our company office was. I turned as well but didn't follow them into the first lot; instead I went to another lot and parked behind the building. From there I could use the back entrance to the office without being seen.
As I entered the office I could hear them around the corner from where I had entered, near the main conference room. A quick look confirmed that this was their destination. I headed for my own office and closed and locked the door. Turning on my computer I entered the company network and selected "Video Conferencing". I doubted that any of them were aware that executives had their own access to the video conferencing system in the conference room. From my desk I could get picture and sound of the room.
When the system came on the 20 inch computer screen showed Diane at the front of the room setting up her laptop, the five salesmen seated on either side of the conference table. Interestingly enough, a bottle of scotch and a shot glass were also on the table near Diane.
"OK, are we clear on the bet?" asked Mike.
"Explain it again," answered Diane. "Just so we're all agreed."
"It's simple," said Mike. "You do your presentation - all twenty pages. If you make any of the mistakes we mentioned you do a shot. If you do a page without a mistake we give you fifty bucks."
'Fifty dollars!' I thought to myself. 'What are these guys up to?'
"This is going to be easy money," Diane said confidently. "You sure you can afford it?"
In response Mike reached into his pocket and pulled out a money clip. I could see the top bill was a hundred dollar bill. Somehow I wasn't surprised; Mike was one of those people who liked to live large and show it off.
"Got you covered, but I doubt I'll spend much of it," he said. "Start whenever you're ready." Diane played with the laptop for another minute, no doubt getting the wireless interface with the projector going. The projector light came on and the introduction page of her presentation was on screen. She quickly went through the title of her presentation and the outline on page two.
"You owe me one hundred dollars," she said, looking at Mike with a big smile.
"No way!" Mike protested. "Those weren't presentation pages."
"They're pages one and two of the twenty page presentation," Diane replied calmly. "That was the bet."
Sighing, Mike peeled the hundred from the roll and flipped it toward her. Diane forwarded to page three and went through that page smoothly. She had barely gotten into page four when one of the men whistled.
"Right there, she said 'so then'." It was Tom, who did the East Coast sales.
"Yep," said Mike. "Time for a shot, Diane." He pushed the shot glass, which he had already filled, toward her. Diane took it without hesitation and did the shot.
