Ann: A Love Story Ch. 74

The large conference table was covered with applications, spread out into different piles; the fractured light of the morning sun shining through the tilted venetian blinds, creating telltale stripes across the hard wood of the table and the paper on top of it. I was in the process of sifting through what I'd deemed were tangible candidates for hire, and I was sorting them into different categories, based on whatever criteria a specific job might require. I had about a dozen different job positions to fill, with each position needing several people because of the multiple production lines, and the fact that we would be starting as a two-shift operation.

The third shift would begin much later, and yet that was one of the things I was taking into account. My hope was that the people that I initially hired at some of the lower positions would, at some point, be able to be promoted from within. Jeff, my boss, and I felt strongly that we should set the precedent early on of looking to our own employees for future growth. We wanted to recognize people that were working hard, and help them to move up in the company.

So, not only was I looking at the resumes of people that would be qualified to run equipment during the initial start up, I was also looking to fill the support positions. And I wanted to fill those positions with people that would be the future operators, both when we added a third shift, and for cross training as back up operators, to cover absences and vacations.

With each position requiring different skill sets, I'd place the applications, along with my notes from the initial interviews, into the appropriate pile for the job position where I felt they would best fit. And then there were the piles for people that feel between positions.

The initial interviewing process was pretty limited. It was more like the production process of the plant itself, designed for high throughput. That meant that there were people that I interviewed that were quality candidates, but the time constraints of trying to see as many people in a day as I could, made it impossible to get enough information to determine where they might fit best. So, I'd marked those people as general operators, knowing I could drill down during a second interview and figure out where they would be the most successful.

Of course, the other purpose of the second interview was to find the best candidates for the initial hire. And I also wanted to line up people that might be hired during the second phase. Most of those people would be hired into the support positions, where they would take the place of people moving up. There were at least 15 different organized piles, and each would likely end up with over 10 applications.

As I segregated the big stack of applications into the smaller ones, I was grooving to a cassette of Earth, Wind and Fire's greatest hits on the boom box I'd brought with me. Dancing back and forth along the table, placing the paper-clipped packets on the appropriate pile I felt they belonged in, I was singing to myself when I saw some movement out of the corner of my eye. Glancing to the doorway of the conference room to my left, I smiled.

"Good morning...again," I said as I continued to bob my head to the beat of 'September'.

"Hey," Carol said with a shy smile. "How's it going?"

"It's actually going pretty well, considering I got a late start. Thanks for coming in on your Saturday to help me."

"It's the least I could do...after all, I'm one of the reasons you GOT that late start," she giggled. "Are you ready for me to start calling yet?"

"Uh...no. Probably going to be another hour or so. Is that okay?"

"Yeah...I have a few things I need to catch up on anyway. I put a lot of stuff on the back burner yesterday to get things set up for the launch party. I'll be at my desk...just let me know when you want me to start."

"Do you mind the music?" I asked.

"No...actually, I'm pleasantly surprised. I figured you for strictly a 'rock' kind of guy. I never dreamed you'd be listening to R&B."

"Why not...R&B is the best music to listen to when you're having sex. The beat kind of makes you keep up the pace," I winked.

"Hmm...that's an interesting theory. Are you thinking about proving that out using me?"

"I can't...no fucking, remember?"

"We can still think about it. And hey, if you get to the point where thinking about it gets to be too much for you, I can give you a hand...or a mouth."

"Uh...I didn't pick any more cards."

"You don't have to...remember? Ann said she was going to make up for cheating last night, so my branch is open for business. You can have two transactions...one of each. Or you can save them...it's totally up to you...James."

Carol gave me a little wave with her fingers, and she turned and walked away, letting me get a nice look at her tight little ass in the short white hip hugger shorts she was wearing. She also had on a tight blue tank shirt, the little straps fighting to keep her braless chest inside. Just looking at the way Carol's sexy ass was swaying because of her white 4-inch pumps was making my cock rise. I was pretty sure that was the reason she'd worn the outfit in the first place.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Carol had alluded that Ann had cheated the night of my Birthday. And she had...but it didn't involve sex. Well, unless you thought about it in the context of what I'd done...then it most definitely involved sex.

Ann had, in essence, set up a birthday present for me. And that present was Carol and Heather...together. Ann had called me on the pretense of wishing me a Happy Birthday...and I'd spent ten minutes telling her what had happened at the party, and how I thought I'd blown it with Carol.

That was all because I'd done the right thing, by getting a co-worker who'd had too much to drink a room at the hotel for the night. But in doing so I left Carol, and several other people, with the impression that I'd taken Claudia, the woman in question, to my room to fuck her. Of course, Claudia had been coming on to me big time on the dance floor, actually telling me that she wanted to fuck me for my birthday. But she was drunk, and everyone knew it. It wouldn't matter in the eyes of others that I actually did the right thing, if they didn't know I did it.

Yet when I'd gotten done telling Ann what had happened, she talked me down off my self-built ledge, telling me that others would understand, including Carol. I wasn't so sure, and that's when Ann happily sprung her little surprise. And it was an incredible surprise. When I turned on the light in my room like Ann asked me to, Heather and Carol were lying on the other bed...totally naked, waiting for me.

"What the hell," I said as I looked at them staring at me seductively.

Carol and Heather started giggling, and Ann, still on the phone, asked, "Are you surprised?"

"How the...how long have you been there?" I said to the girls.

"Oh...about a half-hour. We saw you go into the bar...and we came up here to wait for you," Carol said with a big smile.

"So...you knew I didn't...you know...with Claudia?"

"Neil, you're not the kind of guy that would do that. Not after everything you went through, and what you did to help me. I can't believe that you would think I'd even think that."

"But...you weren't in the bar when I got back...and..."

"And, I was getting with Heather, so we could come up to your place. I don't have a key, but she does," she giggled.

"Okay...but...you were in here the whole time I've been on the phone, and you never made a sound."

Heather shrugged her shoulders and said, "It wouldn't have been a surprise if we had."

"Okay...wait a minute. I didn't turn the lights on. But what if I had...Ann, how in the hell did you know the lights were off? You're not even here!"

"Backup plans babe. There were only two possibilities...one, you'd come back to the room tonight, turn on the lights, and find two naked girls in your room. Two...you'd leave the light off, and I'd get to surprise you like I did."

"But...how did you know?"

"Because...YOU answered the phone. If the lights were on, either Carol or Heather was going to keep you occupied, and the other would answer. If one of them did, I'd know what to do. With you answering, I knew the lights were off...and I just had to hope you didn't see or hear them. But as upset as you were, I knew you hadn't...you thought Carol was long gone," Ann laughed.

"I...I don't know what to say, Ann. It's...wait...how did you know they'd both be here? I just pulled the cards for the game tonight...did Heather call you and tell you that I'd finally pulled a good one?"

"Not exactly," Ann giggled.

"What do you mean by that?"

"I have a little confession to make, Neil...I set that up."

"What...how?"

"I got the idea from Carol...sort of. She said that you've been kind of channeling James Bond again. So, that got me to thinking. Do you remember the scene in 'Live and Let Die', where Bond is sitting in Jane Seymour's chair in her room...who was she?"

"Solitaire," I chuckled in response.

"Right...Solitaire comes back to her room, and finds Bond sitting there. And he asks her if she REALLY believes in the Tarot cards. And she said something like, 'they've never lied to me before'...or something like that. And then he tells her they won't now...and he fans them out for her to pick one. Remember that?"

"Yeah...and she picks out the 'Lovers' card, and they end up in bed together."

"Yes. But how did he KNOW he was going to end up sleeping with her?" Ann asked.

"Because, they were all the...same...card," I said, snapping my head towards Heather.

Heather pulled out a deck of cards from behind her back, the same deck she had downstairs in the lobby, and she slowly let them fall onto the bed from her hand, just like Bond had done in the movie. I stared in disbelief when I saw that every card in the deck was the same, saying 'Bank Pays Dividends' on them, with the fine print below.

"Holy SHIT!" I said with a laugh. "Were the other two decks all the same cards too?"

"No," Ann said, "I cheated, baby. I had Heather stack the decks this one time to make sure the card I wanted you to pick was on top."

"You stacked the decks," I said to Heather in disbelief.

"Yeah...but I asked you if you wanted to cut them, remember," she laughed.

"What if I HAD!"

"You didn't, because I asked you if you wanted to. I even said something about you thinking they might be stacked because you kept loosing, and you said no. I knew if I questioned you about whether you trusted me, you'd just pick the card on the top."

"But how...how did you know if I didn't know?"

"You knew, Neil. You may not have had the best of luck in the game, so far. But you would never question my integrity...you're too much of a gentleman to do that. So, psychologically speaking, by asking you if you wanted to cut the deck, I knew you wouldn't, because that would be like telling me to my face that you don't trust me."

"I don't now...I know you capable of lying," I laughed.

"I did it for you, Neil. And Carol and I are going to make it worth it."

"Yes...they are," Ann said through the phone with a sexy little moan.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Ann explained the ground rules for my birthday present, since it was already unwrapped, so to speak. And it was pretty much what I expected. Ann wasn't going to change her stance when it came to the sex. She was adamant that there was going to be no fucking. That was something that I'd come to believe was only going to happen with her present. If I ever got to fuck another woman, it was going to be at Ann's urging, but she was going to be there. I didn't know that for fact, but that's the way it seemed, and truthfully, that was the only way I would have been comfortable.

However, Ann did want me to enjoy my birthday, even belatedly. It upset her that she couldn't be with me in the first place. She felt like she'd let me down in some way, by not being able to be there. She said she'd considered moving up her trip to visit by a week, but she knew how many hours I'd been putting in, and she was torn. She didn't want to waste a trip and not be able to spend any time with me.

And she was right. I'd been working ridiculous hours, including not getting 'home' unitl 8:30 on a Friday night. And I'd be working Saturday as well. But the good thing was it looked, I'd be done with the majority of the interviewing by the next weekend. Then I'd be back to working more normal hours. Ann had to sacrifice being with me on my actual birthday, but I'd be free and clear the next week when she came out to look for a house for us.

Ann made it very clear that while she couldn't be with me on my birthday, she was going to make up to me...above and beyond what she'd set up for me already. I told her she didn't have to, but she just let out a 'try and stop me' laugh.

"The real part that sucks is that I've committed to the 'no fucking' rule," she said, almost upset with herself.

"And I'm okay with that, Ann. I really am."

"I know baby. But every man deserves to get laid on his birthday. I even considered asking Carol if she knew of some escort service, and I'd hire a girl for the night."

"How in the hell would that make it any different than fucking Carol...or Heather?"

"It's kind of a matter of principle, I guess. In my warped mind, I felt like if you fucked someone that you'd never see again, it wouldn't be that big of a deal...and I'd make you happy."

"You make me happy just because you're you, Ann. I don't even need to..."

Ann knew where I was going, and she cut me off. "Yes...you do. I've already set this up, and I really want you to do it. Besides, that wouldn't be fair to Heather and Carol, now would it?"

"I'm not arguing Ann. I'm just saying no matter what, I love you."

"I love you too. And I know the escort was a little far fetched. I wouldn't even know where to start to find one. It's not like that was a question I was going to ask Carol...or Heather. It was just a wild idea that I had to let you get laid."

"How in the world did THAT pop into your pretty little head?"

Ann snickered and said, "Promise you won't think bad of me?"

"I promise, Ann. I want to know."

"I've just always wondered what it would be like to be an...escort. Not to the point that I ever thought of actually doing it...or that I WOULD ever do it. But I've always been curios what it would be like."

"You've thought about being a hooker?" I laughed.

"Neil, you promised! Don't make fun," Ann said...her voice sounding like she was suddenly embarrassed.

"I'm sorry, babe. I'm not picking on you...and I'm not...I'm just a little surprised, that's all."

"Well, don't be. You should know by now that some women fantasize just as much as men. And I'm one of them. Oh...and I never said I thought about being a hooker. I said I thought about what it would be like being an escort. There's a big difference."

"Like what...you're getting paid for sex."

"Neil, you can't tell me you don't know the difference between a hooker and an escort. I mean, I know they're both technically in the same line of business. But one is standing on the street corner, and she's turning $25 tricks in the back of cars and in alleys; the other is getting paid to be on the arm of some high roller to make him look good, and she's making four figures a night. It's like comparing a guy flipping burgers at a fast food joint to a trained chef at a Five Star restaurant. They're both cooking up something hot and edible, but they're not in the same class."

"I know the difference Ann. And I'm not making fun of you. I find it more intriguing than anything else."

"Well...good. Like I said, it's just a little fantasy. I could never do it. But I'd like to think that if I ever DID...I'd make top dollar. I think what appeals to me is the idea of being with someone powerful in some way, and yet, I have the ultimate power, and he'd have to pay handsomely just to be with me."

"Hmm...I can see that," I said, trying to be supportive of Ann's flight of fancy.

"Anyway, I'm sorry I brought that up...we're getting sidetracked."

"I'm not sorry you brought it up. I always love learning more about you, Ann. It's exciting! And you should never be ashamed to tell me about one of your fantasies, babe. I want you to be comfortable telling me anything. And for the record, you can be my escort any time," I laughed, trying more that anything to let Ann know that I supported her no matter what.

"Thanks baby. But that doesn't change the fact that it was just a silly thought that I had trying to find a way to get you laid. But we both know that's not going to happen. I'm not going to change the rule."

"And like I said, I don't want you to. So...what AM I supposed to do with these two? Did you just want to guarantee they'd both be here, and we're supposed to do what the cards say?"

"No...because that would mean you would only be with them one at a time. It's already past midnight, so Heather would be left out."

Ann spelled out her special 'birthday rules' of our little sex banking game. Of course, Ann already confirmed that fucking was off limits. But, beyond that, Ann said that I could be with either of them, or both of them, until morning. And that meant they would be spending the night. Her one stipulation about that was...if I wanted to sleep, I had to sleep alone, and the girls would sleep in the 'sex' bed.

The next thing that Ann said stunned me. She said that Heather would be in charge. I didn't know what that meant, but I got excited just thinking about it. And it made me wonder how Carol reacted when Heather would be our, well...entertainment director.

"That's pretty much it, baby. You have them both until morning. And to make up for kind of cheating in the game, I've asked Carol if she'd be willing to be open for you tomorrow, and she said absolutely."

"It's Saturday, babe. She was already going to be open."

"Yeah, but I asked Heather, and she said you only picked one card tonight. So, you wouldn't have been able to do anything. I'm letting you have one handjob and one blowjob tomorrow."

"Wait a minute...so, if I would have kept pulling cards, and taken two for Friday and two for Saturday, then that would mean..."

"Yes," Ann giggled.

"That would mean I would have had the two of them...four times!"

"Not necessarily...I had Heather stack the first two decks. Remember? You may not have even gotten to the 'balance' cards. But it's a nice thought, isn't it."

"Oh...okay. For a second there, I thought I might have really made a mistake."

Ann giggled and said, "Hmm...maybe. I never told you how MANY cards I had her stack. Have a great night baby...I'll talk to you tomorrow. I'm meeting Penny in the morning for breakfast. I can't seem to pick a good card either."

"Maybe Tina's stacking the deck," I laughed.

"You know better than that. But just so you know, I'll be spending some of that money this weekend...I need to cum...so I think I'll be fingering myself a lot"

"That's okay, babe. We seem to have a lot the account anyway...I guess that's what it's there for."

"Have fun tonight baby. I love you."

"I love you too, Ann. Goodnight."

~*~*~*~*~*~

Carol poked her head around the corner, and said, "So...how's it going?"

"Still working on it...but I'm getting closer."

"So...you don't need me yet?" she winked.

I laughed and said, "No, Carol. I'm not quite there yet. But I'm sure I'll need you before the morning is over, in more ways than one."

Carol licked her lips seductively. "I'll be ready. Oh...and there's someone here to see you. Can I send them back?"

"Uh...sure," I said, wondering who it could be. I thought about cleaning up the conference table, but realized that was a silly idea. I was working, and whoever had showed up to see me had done so unannounced. What did it matter if the room was a bit of a mess?