I kissed a girl.
It's not something that I had ever imagined myself doing. Really. That old cliché about "experimenting" in college? That wasn't me. Not really. When I wanted sex, I knew what I wanted and, if it doesn't sound too conceited, I knew how to get it. When I wanted it, anyway. My priority in college was education. First the undergraduate commerce degree... then the masters in finance... and, finally, the professional designation as an accountant.
Guys? Yeah, when I wanted it, I got it, but that wasn't a priority. Just a bit of fun.
But I digress.
*
I kissed a girl.
Perhaps I should say, I kissed a woman. But she's a good 15 years younger than me and, right from the very beginning, I thought of her as a girl.
It's not that I'm old. Not really. 44 isn't old, right? I mean... yes, my career didn't progress as quickly as I would have liked. After graduating, and getting my professional designation, I started off in the company accounting department. Which company? It doesn't really matter. Not for the story I'm telling here. It's not a big company. You've likely never heard of it. But it's a very successful company and I was happy to get a job there.
I worked hard and, over time... I'm talking close to 20 years here... I worked my way out of the accounting department and into the CFO's office, which is where I wanted to be.
Men? Again, at first, I took the same approach as I'd taken in college. Fun, but optional. My career was the priority.
At least, that was how I felt before I met Robert, one of the company's compliance officers. He was so... We met at an acquisition meeting and, well, several months later we were married. We still are.
That was almost ten years ago.
*
I kissed a girl.
Maybe I should get to the point. But if you want to understand why I kissed a girl, you need a little context. Or maybe a lot of context. I don't know.
I was just promoted to the position of Assistant to the CFO. I use the word "promoted", but that's not quite accurate. It's not a promotion. Not really. Not when you understand what happened.
The track to company CFO runs through the financial services department. Usually, the head of that department is either appointed CFO when the old one retires or leaves or makes the appointment. As I said, after several years in accounting, I was transferred to financial services. It was a lateral move, sure, but it put me on track for the position that I really wanted, Chief Financial Officer.
Over the next several years, I worked my way though financial services. I never made it to head of the department, but I was pretty near the top when the CFO position became available. I knew that Stan - the financial services head - didn't want the position, so I expected to receive the promotion.
After almost 20 years working for the company... 20 years of working towards my goal of becoming CFO... I deserved the position. It was mine.
But I didn't get it.
Instead, Angela Farnsworth was appointed CFO.
Angela.
*
I kissed a girl.
In case you haven't guessed, it was Angela. The girl that I kissed.
You can only imagine... maybe... how upset I was that Angela Farnsworth was appointed company CFO. Sure, she had the qualifications... barely... but she had no real experience. The girl was over 15 years my junior and had only been working for the company for only 11 months.
The rumor around the office was that she was fucking the head of financial services. I never paid much attention to the rumors about her and Stan, but it really hit home after she got the promotion. Angela was certainly attractive enough to catch his eye - not exactly a difficult task - but that was really the only explanation for the unexpected promotion.
The only explanation.
And it got worse.
The next day, I was informed that I had been "promoted" to the new position of Assistant to the CFO. That's the so-called promotion I mentioned earlier. At first, I thought it was a consolation prize of sorts, but no. It quickly became apparent that I was to be Angela's assistant in order to make up for her lack of experience. Really, I was there to do the CFO's job, but she was the CFO.
"I'll make the important, executive decisions," she told me during our initial meeting. "You take care of the day to day."
Bitch. It was all day to day.
That was the job.
*
I kissed a girl.
Oh, not at first. I mean, of course not. Why would I? I was straight, happily married and I didn't really like Angela. OK... I'll be honest. I hated her. I still do.
I hated her for stealing my dream job. I hated her for the fact that she was younger than me... and beautiful. I hated her because of her smug, superior attitude. And I hated her because I was forced into a position where I had to do the job, but didn't get the position.
Or the status.
Or the money.
OK, so none of that excuses what I did. I know that, but that explains why I did it.
What did I do? I started to embezzle. It wasn't much. Not really. I rationalized that it was money the company owed me. After all, I was doing the work of a CFO, even though I was being paid less than half of what I should have been paid. Less than half of what Angela was paid.
So, a bit here... a bit there... I was just evening up the scales.
It was only fair.
