Courtesan Ch. 02

This story is the second episode in a series entitled "Courtesan". If you have not read the first episode of this series, I encourage you do so before beginning this chapter.

"Courtesan" is romantic story about a dominant hot wife and her submissive cuckold husband. While they have a deep and abiding love for each other they do lead an alternative lifestyle. If this subject matter offends you or makes you feel uncomfortable, I strongly suggest that you find something else to read.

This is a fantasy. All of the people, places and organizations described in this story are creations of my imagination.

I parked my car in the overflow lot of a suburban shopping mall and tried to get some rest. It was a wasted effort. I was much too upset to sleep.

I had a membership at the local YMCA. They opened at 6:00 AM. As soon the sun came up I drove over there and took a shower. After I cleaned up I walked across the street to the Tip Top Cafe and ordered a ranch breakfast. By the time I was finished eating it was 7:30.

I needed to call my buddy Albie Porter so I turned on my cell phone. I'd switched it off as I left the Calvert Hotel. When I stormed out of the house after my confrontation with Kelly I didn't bother to turn it on again. At the time, I didn't feel like talking to anyone.

I had five messages. All of them were from Kelly. I listened to the first one. "Timmy, please call me. I know that this looks really bad, but you misunderstood everything. Baby I'm not having an affair. If you'll just give me an opportunity to explain what happened I'm sure I can fix this. Please call me."

I shook my head in disgust. Kelly was still trying to lie her way out of this crisis. I erased the rest of her messages without bothering to listen to any of them.

I called Albie. When I explained the situation he told me that I was welcome to sleep on his couch until I could find a more permanent living situation.

After I dropped my clothes at his place I went looking for a second part time job. I knew that I wouldn't be able to support myself on my income from The Southwest Crier.

I was lucky. A convenience store in Albie's neighborhood, Kirby's Quick Stop, was looking for an early morning cashier. The job fit my schedule perfectly. I could work from six until ten at the convenience store and then spend the afternoon working at The Crier.

The owner, Kirby Lundquist, was a retired navy cook. He was a big man with a giant belly and huge arms that were covered with an elaborate tableau of colorful tattoos. Kirby was a little rough around the edges, but he had a wonderful sense of humor and he loved to laugh. We hit it off immediately. He hired me on the spot and asked me if I could start in the morning. I agreed. I needed the job and I needed it right away.

The next several days were difficult. I was so lonely. I missed my wife terribly. Kelly kept leaving me messages on my cell phone begging me to call her. Even though I missed her, I kept erasing them. I loved my wife, but her deceitful behavior was slowly destroying both of us. I couldn't allow that to continue. I also noticed that there were several messages from someone at JTandR. I couldn't imagine why anyone at that firm would want to talk to me and I had absolutely no desire to find out, so I erased those messages too.

The following Wednesday morning I was just finishing my shift at Kirby's Quick Stop. It was 10:30, Elvira Higgins, the afternoon cashier, had just arrived.

Elvira was seventy-two years old. She and her husband Maxwell had been married for fifty-one years. Max had died of a heart attack the previous spring. Elvira told me that her husband's death had devastated her. She said that she'd spent the next two months locked in her bedroom crying. She told me that she didn't need the cashier's job. She had plenty of money. Max had a good pension and she'd get a monthly check for the rest of her life. She took the cashier's job because she knew that she had to get out of that bedroom before she withered away and died.

I liked Elvira. It was hard not to, she was one smart old lady.

Elvira and I had just finished tabulating my cash register so that she could take over when a black Lincoln Continental pulled into the parking lot. A middle aged man wearing a navy blue pinstripe suit got out of the back seat and walked into the store. He looked around for a moment and then he turned to me and said, "Are you Timothy Jamieson?"

"Who's asking?"

"My name is Edward Baylor. "Now, are you Timothy Jamieson?"

I shrugged. "Okay, you found me; what do you want?"

"Could we have a word in private?"

I looked around and chuckled. "I don't see any conference rooms in here. Maybe we could talk next to the beer cooler."

"I thought that we might talk in the back seat of my car."

"I don't know, my mother warned me about getting into cars with strange men."

Mr. Baylor was not amused. He took a deep breath and said, "Mr. Jamieson I am authorized to present a proposition that could be very lucrative for you. If you choose to make light of it and ignore me, well I guess that will be your loss."

I nodded. "Yeah all right, let's go sit in your car."

As soon as we were both settled in the back seat of the Lincoln the man said; "Mr. Jamieson, I work for Jackson, Tyler and Reynolds. I believe that you are familiar with the firm.

I nodded. "Yeah, my wife works there."

He shook his head. "Actually she doesn't."

I stared at him. "I don't understand?"

"Your wife resigned from her position on Friday. Her resignation took effect immediately."

"You're kidding?"

"No Mr. Jamieson, I am not. I never kid."

I believed him.

Mr. Baylor paused to think. He seemed to be trying to choose his next words carefully. I waited.

After a moment he said, "Mr. Jamieson; Mr. Jackson, Mr. Tyler and Mr. Reynolds were all quite distressed when your wife informed them that the two of you were having marital problems. They were even more distressed when Ms. Mason submitted her resignation. They considered her to be a very valuable member of our team."

I shrugged. "Yeah, she must have been, they sure paid her a hell of a lot of money."

"Mr. Jamieson, Mr. Jackson would like to meet with you."

"No shit?" I was surprised.

I thought for a moment and then I shook my head. "Nope, not interested. Our life fell apart when my wife started working for your firm. I don't blame you guys for what happened. Kelly and I are both adults. We're responsible for our own behavior, but I have nothing to say to Mr. Jackson and I'm not interested in hearing anything he has to say to me."

"Mr. Jackson thought that might be your response so he's authorized me to offer you five thousand dollars if you will agree to meet with him for thirty minutes."

"He must feel like he has something pretty important to discuss with me if he's willing to pay that kind of money."

"Actually Mr. Jamieson; for Mr. Jackson, the thirty minutes of time is probably much more valuable than the five thousand dollars."

"He must be a pretty busy guy."

"Believe me Mr. Jamieson, he is."

"I sure could use the five grand right now and if a guy as busy as Mr. Jackson thinks it's that important to talk to me, well I guess I'd better go see him. Will you set up an appointment?"

"You already have one."

"Really? When is it?"

"Eleven o'clock today."

I looked at my watch. It was 10:45. I chuckled. "You guys are pretty sure of yourselves, aren't you?"

He nodded.

"Well I guess we'd better get going. I'll get my car and follow you."

"I'm sorry Mr. Jamieson, we don't have time. We'd like you to ride over with us. John will take you back to your car after the meeting is finished."

I shrugged. "All right, let's go."

As soon as the Lincoln pulled up in front of the Whetmore Building Edward Baylor opened the car door and we stepped out. Before he closed the door he leaned in and said, "John wait here so you can drive Mr. Jamieson back to his car after the meeting is over."

John looked at me. "I'll be waiting for you right here Mr. Jamieson."

I nodded and then I followed Mr. Baylor into the Whetmore Building. We got into the elevator and he pushed the button for the 52nd floor.

When the elevator stopped the doors opened into an oak paneled alcove. There was a set of double glass doors on the opposite side of the alcove. The name Jackson, Tyler and Reynolds was etched into one of the panes of glass.

Mr. Baylor opened one of the glass doors and said, "After you Mr. Jamieson."

I walked into the reception area of Jackson, Tyler and Reynolds. It was about the size of a large living room, but much more opulent. The entire room was finished with the same oak paneling that I saw in the alcove outside the elevator. The luxurious carpeting was deep burgundy and there were eight very comfortable looking brown leather chairs arranged in two groups along each side of the room.

I was standing with my back to the door to the elevator alcove. There was a corridor that led off to the right and another one that led off to the left. On the opposite side of the room from me there was a very large oak desk. An attractive brunette who appeared to be in her early thirties was seated at the far side of the desk. There was a third corridor behind her.

As soon as she saw me come in she stood up. "Good morning Mr. Jamieson. Welcome to Jackson, Tyler and Reynolds. My name is Janet Collins. You should call me Janet." She pressed a button on her desk. "Mr. Jackson is expecting you. Please come with me."

I wasn't surprised when Janet Collins appeared to recognize me. During the trip over, Edward Baylor made two cell phone calls. He made the first one right after we left the convenience store and he made the second as we pulled up in front of The Whetmore Building. This was a well organized operation.

Janet turned and walked down the hallway that was behind her desk. I followed her. She stopped when she got to a door at the far end of the hall. It was closed. She knocked one time. It opened immediately.

A handsome middle aged man wearing a very expensive looking dark gray suit stepped out and walked directly over to me with his hand extended. "Mr. Jamieson, I'm Martin Jackson. It's a pleasure to meet you."

After we shook hands he said, "Please come into my office." He put his hand on my shoulder and gently guided me through the door. As soon as I was inside he turned to Janet Collins. She was still standing in the doorway. "Janet for the next thirty minutes I do not want to be disturbed for any reason."

"Yes Mr. Jackson. I'll see that you're left alone." She closed the door.

Mr. Jackson gestured towards four brown leather chairs similar to the ones that I'd seen in the reception area. They were arranged around a small oak coffee table. "Mr. Jamieson, why don't we sit over here."

I sat in the chair closest to the door. As soon as I was seated Mr. Jackson said, "Can I get you anything? Water, coffee, a soda, or maybe a cocktail?"

I shook my head. "No thank you, I'm fine."

He sat down in the leather chair opposite mine. "Mr. Jamieson, thank you for agreeing to meet with me."

I smiled at him. "Five thousand dollars is a powerful persuader."

He nodded. "Yes, well it was very important to me that we talk." He took a deep breath. "Mr. Jamieson, let's get right to the point. I think that I have been involved in some very bad decisions regarding your wife. Actually I think that you are in an excellent position to sue my firm and if you choose to do that, my lawyers tell me that there is an extreme likelihood you will win."

I stared at him. "I don't understand?"

I'll explain everything in a moment, but before I begin I have to say something to you. It's very important to me."

"Go ahead."

"Mr. Jamieson, do you know what we do."

"From what Kelly has told me I gather that you're corporate raiders who use other people's money when you're doing your raiding."

Mr. Jackson laughed. "That's not a bad description, although I am leery of the term corporate raider."

"Why is that?"

"Most corporate raiders act like a swarm of locusts. When they take over a business they swoop in and suck every penny they can out of it without regard for the people who have spent their entire lives working for that company. Once they're done feeding they walk away leaving a pile of worthless rubble and a group of shattered lives behind them."

He shook his head. "My partners and I not only think that's inhumane, we also think it's bad business. Instead we look for businesses that are failing because of poor management or a streak of bad luck. We study them and if we decide that they can be salvaged we buy them or if we have to, we purchase all the available stock and take them over. Once we own a company we try to repair it and get it to be profitable again. If we're successful we either sell it or run it ourselves."

"What happens if you're not successful when you try to revive a company?"

Mr. Jackson smiled at me. "Mr. Jamieson, we are very good at researching and planning and we are even better at executing our plans. We rarely fail."

He paused for a moment and then he continued. "Mr. Jamieson, I am telling you this because I want you to understand that while we are ruthless businessmen, we are not inhumane monsters. We try to make money without hurting people." He took a deep breath. "I am afraid that we have inadvertently hurt both you and your wife. This meeting is the first of several steps that I plan to take in an effort to right those wrongs."

"I still don't understand."

"Why don't I start at the beginning."

"I think that's a very good idea."

"We were first attracted to your wife because of her writing and organizational skills. Mr. Jamieson, at JTandR we are very careful when we hire new team members. We are also constantly looking for quality people who can enhance our firm. Because of the high standards at Kelroy, we monitor the student body there very closely. We have several faculty members who alert us when they spot a particularly talented student. Your wife was brought to our attention during the second semester of her senior year. You may remember that she had her first interview with us about two weeks before she graduated."

I nodded. "I remember it very well. The night before the interview Kelly was so nervous that she couldn't sleep."

Mr. Jackson smiled and then he continued. "When we interviewed Kelly we were very impressed by her self confidence, her resourcefulness and her ability to express herself. We decided that we wanted to hire her. While we were making that decision, John Reynolds, one of my partners commented on her attractive figure and joked that it was too bad that we couldn't hire her as a hostess."

"A hostess?"

"Mr. Jamieson when we are executing a takeover we have to find ways to persuade people to join us. Sometimes we require their financial support, sometimes we need to get them to vote with us during stockholder meetings and sometimes we just have to persuade them to give us information. Earlier I told you that we try to be humane, but let there be no mistake, we are still ruthless businessmen. We will use any means at our disposal to persuade people to join us and sex is a very powerful motivator."

"So a hostess is a company prostitute."

Mr. Jackson sighed. "I suppose you could say that, but technically it wouldn't be correct."

"Why do you say that?'

"Prostitutes have sex for money. Like the rest of our employees, our hostesses earn a base salary and then they earn bonuses when we achieve company goals."

"I think you're splitting hairs."

"I won't waste time arguing that point with you."

Suddenly I realized what Mr. Jackson was telling me. I stared at him for a moment and then I asked, "Are you telling me that my wife was a company whore?"

"Mr. Jamieson, whore is a very harsh term. We prefer hostess. Your wife and her peers are actually partial to the title courtesan."

"My wife was a prostitute?"

"Again Mr. Jamieson I would prefer to avoid that term; but I don't think it's fruitful to spend time arguing about semantics so my answer is, yes that is correct."

For a moment Mr. Jackson and I stared at each other in silence. I needed some time to process the information he'd just given me and he was astute enough to understand what I was doing.

Finally I said, "Okay, my wife worked as a company whore for you. It's going to take me a little time to work through that."

Mr. Jackson nodded. "That's understandable."

I looked at him with a puzzled expression. "Right now, I do have to admit that I'm a little confused."

"All right, tell me why." It was clear that Mr. Jackson was trying to be patient with me.

"A few minutes ago you said that you made some decisions regarding my wife and me that you now regret. You also started this conversation by telling me that I was in a position to successfully sue your firm. I don't understand. My wife is an adult. Unless you drugged her or coerced her in some way, it seems clear to me that the choice to work as a prostitute was her decision. The fact that she chose to lie to me about it was also her decision."

"Why don't I continue telling you about the process we went through when we hired Kelly."

"Okay."

"My partner's comment about your wife's figure intrigued me. Mr. Jamieson, I am sure you understand that for many men your wife is a living, breathing Venus.

I nodded. "Yes, I am well aware of that fact."

"For obvious reasons, our firm employs a very thorough group of investigators. After Kelly's interview I sent them to Kelroy with the task of learning everything they could about you and your future wife. They talked to dormitory maids, other students, custodians and anyone else who might have known anything about either of you. Their report was very interesting."

"I imagine that you learned about her reputation as the blow job queen of Kelroy College."

"Yes, and of course that really piqued my interest. A young, attractive, natural blond who has large breasts and enjoys giving fellatio is the ultimate sexual fantasy for a large number of men."

I smiled. "Yes I also understand that very well."

"There was still a major problem."

"What was that?"

"You, Kelly was about to get married. For obvious reasons we prefer hostesses who are single."

"That makes sense."

"But the report included some other startling information. Even though the two of you were engaged to be married Kelly was still openly dating other men and you didn't seem to mind."

Suddenly feeling very uncomfortable, I leaned forward in my chair and prepared to stand up. "Yes, well now this is getting sort of embarrassing."

Mr. Jackson held up his hand. "Mr. Jamieson I'm fifty-two years old. During the course of my life I've encountered a wide variety of individuals. I stopped judging people long ago."

I took a deep breath and tried to calm myself. After a moment I said, "I can handle this." The words were more for my benefit than Mr. Jackson's.

Mr. Jackson smiled at me. It was a gentle smile, one that I wouldn't have expected from a ruthless corporate raider.

His reassuring smile helped calmed me, but I was now feeling very defensive. I took a few more seconds to fully regain my composure and then I said, "So now you knew that my wife loved giving blow jobs and I didn't mind that she dated other guys. What did you do? Call her up and ask her if she wanted to be a company hooker?"

Ignoring the sarcasm in my voice, Mr. Jackson answered; "For obvious legal reasons we couldn't do that. No, we hired her as an administrative assistant and assigned her to Chris Kendricks."

"Who's Chris Kendricks?"

"He's one of our corporate analysts. He also occasionally works as a host."