*** Nate's Evil Exploits is the tale of a sex-crazed bisexual sociopath whose job (and passion) is sexually exploiting people during corporate downsizing. ***
*** Note to readers: This episode is four fifths story. Read the rest of the series for context. ***
Nate led a dazed Greg to the lifts. He smoothed down his jacket as they rode down twenty-four floors to the lobby and gestured for Greg to do up his fly, just as the doors opened.
They crossed the street and headed down to a deli Nate frequented on a regular basis. Well, it was more than a deli, but for today, for Greg, it was just an eatery.
Inside, they were greeted by a short girl with a waterfall of red hair, who led them to a private booth at the back.
Nate handed Greg a menu and set his in front of him. He knew the menu inside and out. Today, he'd have a organic beef and watercress bagel. It'd be a novelty to actually eat the food instead of fucking the staff.
The other man stared at his menu, still in shock.
The hot red-headed waitress came back and hovered.
"What would you like?" she asked.
Nate placed his order, then glanced at his lunch companion. "Give him the same. And a beer."
She bustled away, and Nate gently took the menu from Greg's hands and placed it on another table out of the way.
Greg's eyes slowly lifted to meet his.
"Why?"
"Why what? Why give you an experience that you would never in your life have otherwise had? Your spark was dangerously low Greg, I didn't want to see you burn out."
Greg's gaze slid away to the art on the walls; all of them still lifes drawn in pastels.
Nate put a hand on his arm. "Greg, whatever you're doing to yourself right now, stop doing it. You've done nothing wrong. If anyone's to blame, it's me."
Greg dragged his gaze back to Nate and there was anger in his eyes. "You've destroyed my marriage." His eyes darkened as his face twisted with growing rage. He dropped his voice to a hoarse whisper. "You've fucked my wife."
Nate frowned. "Not yet. Not that I recall, anyway."
"You know what I mean!"
Greg pulled his snarl back into himself as the redhead brought their drinks. As she poured his beer, Greg's eyes slid to the impressive swell of her breasts as they threatened to burst out of her tight black top.
Nate flicked his fingers in front of the man's face.
Greg dropped his gaze and the girl hid a smirk as she headed back to the kitchen.
"My wife now has a cheat for a husband," said Greg miserably. "My children have a cheat for a father. How am I going to look them in the eye?"
Nate, immune to his emotional turmoil, scratched his forehead. "It gets easier the more you do it. And I suggest you don't go home looking as if someone shot your puppy, because that will definitely get questions that you don't want to answer right now."
Greg looked up at him, his eyes burning with anger. "It's all a game to you, isn't it? You could just do your job, but this is more fun. Messing with people. Ruining their lives—"
Nate let out a noise of frustration. "Come on, you just fucked a twenty-two year old who let you cum on her face, and you didn't even have to pay for it. Not only that, she really seemed to enjoy it. How is that not a win?"
Greg slumped in his chair and looked up at the ceiling. "I love my wife. No fuck is worth ruining that."
Nate picked up the salt shaker and examined it while he sighed. "You're over thinking this. Something good happened to you. It wasn't your fault. You have no intention of leaving or hurting your wife. Christ, if I'd known you'd be like this about it, I wouldn't have let you fuck her."
"Let me?" Greg exploded.
Nate narrowed his eyes and the other man lowered his voice.
"You didn't 'let' me, you practically forced me."
"Yes, it took all my strength to hold you down."
Greg glared at him.
"You're weak, Greg, I just introduced you to the truth inside you. That you want other women. That you dream about them. That when you wank yourself off in the toilet in the middle of the night so that you don't wake your wife, it's not her face you take with you."
Greg put a hand to his head and closed his eyes. "I don't want to talk about it anymore."
"That's the spirit!" said Nate cheerfully. "Drink your beer. We need to talk about something important."
Greg gave a dark laugh under his breath and took a sip of his beer. "What now?"
"I need you to send me people I can cut."
Greg's eyes widened.
"No, no, not physically cut, I mean someone so obnoxious that you actually want them gone."
"You want me to help you fire people I don't like?"
Nate nodded. "Yeah. If you would."
Greg clearly wasn't happy with the suggestion, but his options were narrowing. Someone had to go. Nate wasn't following the list, and now he had a folder full of blackmail material on Nina, on Greg... and who knew who else.
"Anyone spring to mind?" Nate asked. He took a swig of his beer.
Yes. Greg had one.
"There's a guy. A sales rep. He's missed his target two quarters running. A high performer overall, but he's been distracted lately. I don't know why."
"Describe him."
"Colin Dunbury. Originally from Manchester. Talks too loud, stands too close to the female staff. Tells jokes with the lads that none of us want to hear."
"Good looking?" Nate asked. His beer was now mostly gone, and he was considering ordering another one.
Greg took a sip of his own. "I'm not one to judge."
"But you, magnanimous Greg, dislike him. Enough to subject him to me. What'd he do to you?"
A small smile twisted the corner of Greg's mouth. "Nothing, to me. But I've watched him bear down on enough of my staff and get away with it because of his sales figures that I'd be happy to see him gone. I don't like bullies."
The corner of Nate's mouth twitched.
"What else? He fucked you over personally. I can see it in your eyes."
Greg looked down at the drink in his hands.
"It was at our Christmas party last year. Our partners were invited. My wife, Abby, smokes. She went outside to have one while I chatted with the lads, and when she came back her makeup had run as if she'd been crying. She wouldn't say what'd happened, but Colin came in just after her, a shit-eating grin on his face. I know how he speaks about women. I'm sure he tried it on with her, but she didn't want to make a thing out of it. So I left it."
"She never told you what happened?"
He shook his head. "If she did, I'd kill the cunt."
Nate blinked. He hadn't expected that word to ever come out of Greg's mouth.
"Then send him to me, and I'll get him out of what's left of your hair."
* * * * *
Nate didn't bother getting Greg to join him before the doomed salesman came to see him. One way or another, the guy was getting fired. Nate had to fire someone, or he'd be out of a job in three weeks' time.
He set up a time and sat back to wait.
Colin arrived late and yanked open the door to Nate's office. He had his cellphone jammed against his ear.
"Yep, I'll speak to you later. I've got to have a chat with a lad from corporate. I'll give you a call."
He ended the call and pushed the phone into his pants' pocket.
"Is this the right office?"
Nate nodded. "If you're Colin Dunbury." He ran his gaze over the man as the salesman pushed the office door shut behind him.
Colin was a broad shouldered, heavyset man in his early fifties. His steel grey hair was chopped into a short flat-top, his shirt buttons pulled wide by the swell of his belly.
His sheer size was enough to make Nate consider doing this by the book... just telling the man he had four weeks to find another job. But he remembered the look in Greg's eyes, and for some reason, felt compelled to make this man's experience with him a memorable one.
Colin held out his hand for Nate to shake. "You must be Nathan Lloyd."
Nate smiled through the pain of his grip and squeezed back for all he was worth. He could handle one fat man's handshake.
Both bruised, and with possible bone fractures in their hands, they unclasped hands and took their seats.
A smile settled on Colin's face as he took in the kid in front of him. Nate's sharp suit, his immaculate hair, his tie perfectly centred, his fresh cologne.
Colin worked in sales. He read people for a living, and he felt confident he could read Nate.
For his part, Nate was happy to be read. He smoothed down his tie and then folded his hands in front of him on the desk.
"Colin, thanks for coming in today. Do you know who I am?"
Colin's voice was a Northern rumble. "You're the kid sent in to thin the herd."
Nate nodded. "A fair appraisal. You have any thoughts on that?"
Colin grinned. "I've exceeded my targets by thirty percent year on year for the last three years. I make money for ZST, I don't cost money. Any company that laid me off would be very foolish. Very foolish indeed."
Nate nodded again. "How'd you go last quarter?"
The big man scoffed. "It's not about last quarter, it's about year end."
Nate tugged on his earlobe. "We're downsizing, Colin. Any drop in performance is relevant."
Colin's blue eyes sharpened. "Are you seriously suggesting what I think you're suggesting?"
Nate pulled his laptop in front of him. "To be honest, Colin, I don't give a fuck about your performance. But there is one thing I want to talk to you about. Abby Powell."
Colin's gaze tightened. His lip lifted back in the slightest hint of a snarl.
"Greg's bony-arsed wife? What about her?"
"Well, my love, I did some digging—"
Colin's lip curled. "Who's your love?"
Nate held up a hand. "Don't interrupt, or I'll fire you right now instead of having what could otherwise be a friendly chat."
Colin's mouth quivered, but he shut up.
"Abby Powell. I want you to tell me what you did to her."
Colin's eyes narrowed. "Why?"
Nate smiled. "Because I'm a fucking pervert, and I very likely get off on the same shit you do."
Colin breathed deeply as he considered his options. "Prove it. Prove you don't just want me to incriminate myself."
Nate pulled his phone out of his pocket, and set a video to play, then sat it flat on the desk in front of him. It was a video Nate had taken of Greg fucking Nina while they were both humping on the carpet.
Colin's eyes widened. "Is that Greg? And Nina?"
Nate nodded. "You see, I'm a voyeur. I'm a fucking sick puppy, Colin, and I am just dying to know what you did to sweet, sweet Abby Powel. If I try and fuck you over, you can use this video to have me fired. Here. You hold on to it."