Monicas Affair

For the past month or so, everybody at Montague Marketing was on edge. Ever since the announcement that the company had been acquired by a multi-national mega company, Hillard International, they were all worried about losing their jobs.

Monica Storm sat at her desk working away as best as she could. She had seen several colleagues and peers get laid off over the past few weeks as the acquisition unfolded, and as a middle manager role of Director of Marketing, she was worried her time was soon up. She wondered if going back to work a year ago was the wrong decision. Her kids were now 5 and 7, and she and her husband had discussed him moving his accounting practice into their home, so he could be there for the kids and she could go back to work now that they were in school full time. She loved working and had taken the last 7 years off to raise their son and daughter, and felt it was her turn now to "make a living" again.

Of course, Rick had been very supportive. He thought it was great that she wanted to get back to work and he was more than happy to move his work home and get out of the corporate jungle. And since she had only ever worked marketing jobs in the past, she looked for and was able to find an entry level marketing job with a good company.

She had worked very hard, and within a year was the Director for the national company. Her boss, Jake Renaud, was kind but firm, and saw great value in her and was a big help in getting her to where she is.

Suddenly her thoughts were interrupted by a flash message on her screen.

"Come on over, we have to talk," was the message from her boss.

"Ok, sure, on my way," she replied back into the text window. "This was it," she thought, her layoff. She stood up, straightened her blazer, made sure her skirt was even, took a deep breath and headed out of her office and down the hall. Rounding the corner, there on the right, was his office. 'Jake Renaud, VP Sales & Marketing,' the sign on the wall outside the door read. She knocked lightly on the open door and smiled as she walked in. She had butterflies in her stomach as she shut the door.

"Hi, come in, sit," he said, smiling back. As she sat she smoothed her skirt under her bare legs, and crossed them for good measure. He saw the look of nervousness on her face and smiled.

"You look nervous, don't be, I have great news," he announced. "We are keeping our jobs, you and I at least. They see a lot of value in our department, and specifically in what we've accomplished in the last year, so for now, at least, we have our jobs."

She was so happy and relieve she jumped out of her chair. "Oh my God, that is fantastic news!" she said and he walked around his desk and they hugged. If this hug was a little tighter and longer than most, neither of them minded, as this was truly incredible news and they had both survived being laid off. As they slowly broke the hug, she paced around his large office with nervous energy and excitement, and he sat on the edge of his desk, smiling.

"So this means we're ok? All of the projects I'm working on I can finish?" she asked.

"Yes, it's all good. And I just got off the phone with our new bosses at Hillard, and they still want to have the sales retreat in a few weeks. With all the turnover on the sales team recently, and all the new recruits we've hired, they want to have a company pow-wow, you know to do team building stuff, and they think it will be good for morale. Some of the big brass are flying in just for these meetings."

"Wow, that's great news," she replied, "so it's all still happening as planned?"

Nodding, he replied, "Yes, I just have to make some final arrangements for housing, as there's limited cabins at this resort and I need to make sure we get them reserved. But we're good to go."

They engaged in small talk for a few more minutes and then hugged again briefly and she left and went back to her desk. Immediately she texted her husband and told him the good news. They agreed to celebrate that evening.

Even though he didn't say it, she knew that Jake had fought hard to keep her on with the new leadership. They had a very good relationship for boss and employee, and she felt close to him in a work acquaintance kind of way. They had been on a few business trips together in the past year of her employment at the company, and had had many lunches together outside of the office. He knew quite a bit about her husband and her kids, and she knew about his messy divorce because he worked too much and was married to his job. He complimented her sometimes on her appearance, but it was never anything creepy, just telling her he liked her dress or her hair, or a piece of clothing, or saying she looked great today, normal things like that. At least she felt they were normal. Jake was a strong willed, confident, independent man, who seemed to automatically command respect from everyone. He was 52 years old, and although 20 years older than her, she felt like they really understood each other and were quite close, for colleagues. He was tall, over six feet, and very good looking for a man his age. He kept in shape at the gym and by playing tennis in the summer.

There had never been anything sexual between them, and she had never thought of him in that way. But she did feel very close, like he was someone she could trust and rely on in a jam. Many times he had totally supported her leaving early for family emergencies, or whatever, and she knew he had her back. She was very grateful for his help in all she had achieved since going back to work.

She was used to turning heads in the office, as many of her male colleagues flirted with her regularly. She was a very beautiful woman, at 5'8", 140 lbs, with an hourglass figure, firm breasts, and soft, beautiful skin and big green eyes. She wore her long brown hair down most of the time, and was quite attractive and liked to keep herself fit, especially after having two kids. She looked like she was in her twenties despite being 32. She dressed conservatively most of the time, only rarely showed a hint of cleavage, and rarely wore short skirts, usually they were to just above her knees. But she had never noticed her boss "checking her out" as she had with other male colleagues. She always felt great respect from him, and in return had great admiration for him.

A couple weeks passed, and things were progressing along nicely. She was so excited to have kept her job, as her husband's home based business was struggling right now, so she was bringing home most of the income. She was walking down the hall in the office and walked past Jake's office just as she heard him slam the phone down.

"God dammit!" he exclaimed. She stepped back a couple of steps and stopped outside his open door.

"Um, everything ok boss?" she asked. He was fuming and looked like he wanted to kill somebody as he sat behind his desk.

He looked up at her and shook his head.

"No, we have a big problem. Actually I need to talk to you, come in and close the door," he replied. She rarely had seen him this serious, as he was generally pretty laid back. She felt butterflies in her stomach as she slowly stepped in and closed his door. He motioned for her to sit down and she did.

He stood up, paced around a couple of times, looking like he was dreading the news and then slowly sat back down and looked at her.

"Monica, there is a problem with the reservations at the resort for the sales conference. I requested and reserved 50 cabins, but the stupid ass manager there made a mistake and they have only got 49 for us. And there's some other huge conference at the same resort at the same time, so they are completely booked." He leaned forward and crossed his hands together, looking at her intently.

"We got by the last round of layoffs, and this sales conference is a huge deal for the acquisition and the new leadership building morale amongst the sales team. And with most of them being new, either to our company or from Hillard, I have to now ask two people to share a cabin. Each one is only designed for one person, one bed, etc. This is not good, I don't want to give them any reason to think we messed this up or second guess their decision to keep us on."

She looked really concerned.

"No, I don't want that either," she replied. "Well what are you going to do?"

He got up again, paced the room a few times, and sighed, came back and sat on the corner of his desk, facing her.

"Monica, I don't want to cause a ruckus. I need this retreat to go off without a hitch. Everything is planned perfectly. Not very many people going know each other and there's already a lot of stress." He sighed again and looked very hesitant to continue. She sat silently, waiting for him to continue.

"I hate to ask you this, knowing you're married, but would you consider sharing a cabin with me for the week of the retreat? I know it's highly inappropriate for me to even ask, and a huge imposition, and I apologize, but honestly, it would be the best way to alleviate this problem without raising and red flags that don't need to be raised. The room does have a king sized bed so at least we'll have lots of room. You stay on your side, I stay on mine, we wouldn't even touch each other I'm sure. I feel like an ass asking you to do this, but is there anyway you would consider it?"

She sat stunned for several seconds. Sleeping with her boss? Did he just ask her to sleep with him? Her mind raced with all the reasons that was inappropriate and wrong. But then she focused on his words, and realized that's not what he was asking. He was asking that she share a bed, a big bed, with him, and a cabin, platonically of course, for the week. She saw the look of desperation and humiliation on his face for even asking her, and she knew he was sincere and trusted his intentions. But still, it felt wrong, what would Rick say? He certainly wouldn't like it at all. He wouldn't understand at all.

"Um, uh, I don't know, I guess, um, can I think about it?" was all she could manage to get out.

"Sure, of course, sorry to put you on the spot. There's no reason to answer now, although I do need to sort this out soon. Again, I'm sorry to ask you, I know it's highly inappropriate and I'm sure your husband will be against it. I'll find some other way if I have to, I just thought this would be easier," he replied.

She stood up and touched his arm.

"Well I didn't say no, let me think about it tonight ok, and talk to Rick and I will let you know tomorrow. OK?"

He agreed, thanked her again and she left, went back to her desk, and sat, dumbfounded. She couldn't believe what he just proposed. Sleeping in the same bed, and staying in the same room? She had not been that intimate with any man since her husband. "But was it intimate?," She thought to herself. "After all," she thought, "He was very clear it was just sleeping, and it would be just like any other business trip they had been on, only this time with one room and one bed. She shook her head and couldn't decide what she should do. Everything in her told her it was wrong for so many reasons, but she knew his point about flying under the radar of the new management was a good one, and they didn't need any reason to second guess themselves. She trusted Jake and his intentions. The trouble now was with Rick. She had to tell him and ask his opinion. She knew he would say no, but she felt she couldn't hide this and had to tell him. For the rest of the day she didn't get much work done, and was going over and over again how she could possibly bring this up to him.

Finally the day was done and she was at home with her family. It was rather chaotic as their daughter was sick and she really had no time to talk to Rick, until after dinner was cleaned up and the kids were tucked in bed. He went into the living room to put on the hockey game, and she came and sat down beside him.

"Sweetie, there's something I have to talk to you about with work," she said, with butterflies in her stomach. She felt so nervous bringing this up.

"Ok, sure, you look serious, everything ok?" he replied, focusing on her.

"Yes, everything's fine. But there's a problem with the sales retreat I'm supposed to go on in two weeks. There's a problem with the reservations." She paused, feeling very uneasy about to drop the bomb on him. "Well, um, you see my boss..." suddenly she was interrupted with her daughter screaming out and sounding like she was vomiting. Instinctively both parents immediately jumped up and ran upstairs, and sure enough, their daughter had thrown up and was looking very ill. They cleaned her up, changed her sheets, cleaned everything else up, and an hour later, finally had her back to sleep.

Monica was stewing, it was after 9:00 pm now, and she had to talk to Rick tonight. She was hoping she could now when the phone rang. The call display said Grandma, who had been sick recently, so she answered. Sure enough, it was Grandma and she also was very ill, and thought she needed help. Fortunately she lived nearby, so Monica told Rick quickly and jumped in the car and went over.

Two hours later she returned, very nervous and anxious now, finally hoping to talk to Rick. She went upstairs and found him passed out in their bed, snoring loudly. It had been a long day for him with the kids, she knew that, and he was exhausted. She sighed, feeling very down, knowing she couldn't wake him now to discuss her dilemma, she needed to let him sleep. She quickly got ready for bed herself lied there beside Rick, unable to sleep, going over in her head all the reasons her boss's proposal was so wrong, and knowing Rick would be adamantly against it. She tried to rationalize it to herself, and what if it was platonic? They respected each other's boundaries and made it work. She figured they could totally. She thought about her sleeping attire and the little, short, thin tank top she was wearing with her tight panties. Her husband loved this kind of stuff, and it was all she really had for the summer. She couldn't bring her flannel pyjamas in July, she would be sweating constantly. She told herself if, and it was a big if, she did agree to this, she would have to go shopping and find some cotton pyjama pants and a top for the summer. There's no way she could sleep in the same bed as her boss with these skimpy clothes on.

She really believed Jake would be a gentleman, as he had never been anything but with her. She trusted him in her heart and admired him, and other than Rick, he was the closest male to her in her life. The more she laid there thinking about it, the more she thought maybe it was ok, this one time, since it was a king sized bed and all. But she was still convicted about telling Rick and asking his opinion in the morning before work. Eventually, somehow, she drifted off to sleep.

Suddenly she woke up from a bad dream, and sat up quickly. She turned and saw Rick was not in bed, and light was peaking in through the blinds. She looked at her night table clock and panicked, jumping out of bed. She had overslept and forgot to set her alarm with all her anxiety last night. She heard Rick downstairs with the kids, and knew he was getting them ready for school. She wondered how Sarah, her daughter was feeling today. She felt even more anxious springing this on him now in the morning. She needed a shower first.

Quickly she jumped in and showered and felt somewhat better but still apprehensive. She quickly dressed for work and headed downstairs. Her son, Matthew ran up and hugged her. She hugged him back and saw Rick was putting on his coat.

"Oh good, you're up, sleepy head. I was just going to come and wake you. Sarah has a fever and is really sick. I'm very worried about her, so I'm taking her to the doctor right now, before it gets busy. Can you drop Matthew at school on your way to work?" and he kissed her good morning.

She nodded and immediately headed into the front room and hugged Sarah and felt her forehead.

"Oh wow, she is so hot, let me know what the doctor says ok?" she asked Rick and hugged them both goodbye. "Yes I'll drop Matthew at school." And just like that her husband flew out of the door. She was left to clean up from breakfast, and get Matthew ready for school. She was going to be late for work, but fortunately Jake didn't mind if it was once in a while and she was usually very punctual. She had forgotten entirely about the conversation she had to have with Rick about work, being preoccupied with Sarah and how sick she was, and as she was dropping her son at school it came back to her.

"Oh God," she said to herself as she got back into the car and drove away, waving to her son. "I didn't get a chance to talk to Rick, and I can't make Jake wait any longer, that's not fair. Oh God what am I going to do," she thought and worried all the way to work.

Finally arriving several minutes later, she parked in her usual reserved spot and sat there with the car off, afraid to go in. What was she going to tell her boss? Was it actually ok for them to share a bed and a cabin for 5 days and 4 nights? She wrestled with her thoughts. She couldn't say yes without having talked to Rick, she just couldn't? She didn't feel right asking for more time. She knew he was stressing about this situation and probably didn't sleep much last night worrying about it. They both loved their jobs and worked very well together and she knew he didn't want to lose his any more than she wanted to lose hers. Oh what was she going to do? She fretted and sat, unsure what to do. Could she say yes, and not tell Rick? Just the thought of that made her feel uneasy and like she was cheating. They didn't harbor secrets from each other and were always able to talk about anything. He was a great husband as far as husband's went. They had their problems for sure, but she loved him dearly. At the same time it was exciting in some way. In a way that she hadn't experienced since she had been dating. She didn't really understand why, and quickly dismissed the feeling, but a part of her that had been supressed because of kids, and bills, and work, and life, found this exciting. She reminded herself this was an unusual circumstance, and not one that either her or Jake created. And they were two work friends, colleagues, well he was her boss, but she felt like he was a friend too. She felt complete trust in him, and with a king size bed felt it would be easy enough to avoid contact and not have any weird night time rollovers onto each other or anything odd like that. She totally believed that he had no interest in her sexually at all, as he had never shown signs of that. She really felt it would and could work if they both were respectful, and she saw no reason why they wouldn't be.

She knew she couldn't sit in the car forever, she had to make a decision and go in. She grabbed her phone and called Rick. She didn't want to do it over the phone, but now there was no other opportunity. She was so nervous as it rang. Voice mail. She texted him and asked if he could call her right away. He did, thinking it was an emergency. He asked what was wrong sounding very worried, and she said she was ok, but she had to talk to him about the thing from work that they couldn't discuss last night. He asked her to hold for a minute, and she heard him talking in the background and he came back and said the doctor is seeing them now, and the nurse is waiting and said they could discuss it that evening, he had to go. He told her he loved her and said good bye and hung up. She repeated the words back and sat there staring at her phone. Now she felt more lost than ever. She had tried three times to discuss it with Rick, and every time circumstances got in the way.

Taking a deep breath, she headed into the office, and hoped she could catch Rick on the phone before she had to talk to Jake. She headed in, and took the long way around the floor to avoid walking by his office. She tried to busy herself with her work, constantly checking her phone every few minutes for a text from Rick. Suddenly her heart sunk and she froze. On her screen a pop up message appeared, from her boss. "On the phone with corporate now, they want the final plan with reservations and numbers confirmed and emailed over. Can you come by? Did you talk to your hubby?" She read and reread the message, trying to decipher its tone. It sounded frantic she thought, or was she reading into it too much. She felt her butterflies come back, as she responded and said she was on her way. Slowly she got up, and slowly made her way to his office, and stopped at the door. It was closed but he saw her through the glass wall. He waved her in, and was still on the phone. She entered quietly and shut the door even more so, and sat down in the chair in front of his desk.