I used to work for a large corporation as a sort of trouble shooter. There would be large offices in many major cities across the world and as such, each office could expect to receive visiting colleagues on a regular basis. What would happen is a request for help from a branch would be received and we would send out a team of two or three people to work out a solution and assist with implementation of the required actions. Sometimes, the solution would be formulated and implemented in a day or so but sometimes it would take months. Domestically, each office had a city centre apartment which served as accommodation and also a tidy little investment and tax loophole.
We had received a request for assistance from an office in a northern city. The work was to take a few months and three of us were allocated to the task. Graham was a specialist in the operational side. He was in his late 50's,about 10 years older than me. He was married and a bit wet. Paul was the accounting specialist and in his early 30's. He was engaged to a girl and was obviously a "wanna be", but in my experience of his work to date, could not only talk the talk, but could walk the walk. I was the general over manager and had a knowledge of all aspects of the business.
We travelled up a day earlier than expected to the regional office on a bright spring Monday morning in a company car and parked up in the office car park. Being an office of some 250 employees, the car park had enough spaces to cater for all. We walked in to reception and asked for our contact, Harry, who appeared quite quickly after the receptionist phoned him. I already knew Harry and after introducing my other colleagues along with apologising for our early arrival, I asked for the keys to the corporate apartment for us to get ourselves settled before returning the following morning to begin our tasks. We drove over to the apartment and after parking underneath the building in our allotted space, unloaded our kit.
The apartment was in a complex of blocks, each being 4 storey warehouse conversions situated across the canals which crisscrossed the city. Our apartment had 3 ensuite bedrooms, an open plan kitchen, diner and living room along with a small sauna. The rooms all came with balconies overlooking the canals and the city centre. It wasn't home but was a very acceptable substitute. That afternoon, we all separated and went shopping or down to the gym which was available in the block for residents. We ate together at a restaurant in the evening and each of us retired early in preparation for a prompt start in the morning.
The following morning, we arrived at the branch office just before 9 at the reception area and Harry ushered us into his own office. He told us that there would be the usual Tuesday meeting of all departmental heads and their deputies at 9.15 and asked if we would be happy to attend to introduce ourselves. Of course, it made sense to us so a few minutes later we entered the room and sat at the table along with Harry and 10 others. As each person sat looking at Harry as he introduced us, I looked around. The three operational departmental heads were men with grey hair. Two of their deputies were all younger versions of themselves, along with one woman who looked as hard as nails making up the third deputy. The head of HR was a woman with a female deputy and the head of administration and accounting was a woman with a young guy as her deputy.
I sat through the meeting in a bit of a daze as the boredom and tedium began to set in. I didn't even make notes of names, already having an organogram of the staff and the departments. The meeting ended by 11 and Harry immediately took us to our designated office. Unlike the usual working hierarchy, I preferred us to share an office rather than one for me and the others sharing. That way, we could bounce ideas off each other. As we began to settle and set up, there was a knock at the open door. A woman who was at the meeting was standing there and I invited her in. She introduced herself as Charlotte. I remembered that she was the deputy HR manager. She was wearing long flowing black trousers, a white shirt and black stilettos. She had dark long wavy hair and a tanned face with a little too much makeup. I would put her in her late 40's and she appeared to be about 5 feet 9 in heels with a size 12 body. I quickly put any further thoughts out of my mind to concentrate on my work.
Charlotte asked if there was anything that we needed from either her of anybody else and a few requests for files and computer access were made. I asked if she could spend some time explaining the way that her department ran and their internal procedures to us. She then spent an hour showing us around. As she walked and we all followed, I noticed that she had a very rounded bum which almost rippled on each step which could be seen through her trousers.
After the tour of her department, she arranged for a similar tour of the other departments. As I was fully aware of all aspects of that office, I declined but sent the others off saying that the tour would probably see out their day. I sat in my office scanning some files and setting out a few tasks for the week. Charlotte put her head around the door and asked if I was in need of anything else. I noticed the wedding ring and engagement ring on her hand as it rested on the door frame. I declined and off she went.
I finished my planning as the other two finished their tour and returned to the office. We packed up and closed the door, locking it behind us before leaving the office to walk back to the apartment, some 400 yards down the road. As we walked across the car park to the exit, a white convertible pulled up next to us with it's top down. Charlotte was driving and offered us a lift with the expression "going my way?". Of course, she was going past the apartment as the only road from the office went to the ring road. I was about to personally decline when both Graham and Paul declined saying something along the lines of needing to stretch their legs.
I don't know why but I looked at them and said that I wanted to exercise in the gym and wanted to get back as quickly as possible. I looked at Charlotte and with a nod, opened the door and jumped into the passenger seat. We drove off and she commented on it being difficult for us living away from home for so much time. I responded with some sort of answer about being paid to do it. We pulled up outside the apartment and she said that she hoped that I enjoyed my gym session. I got out of the car and thanked her for the lift at which point she said that she felt that it was important that in her HR role, she made sure that "you have everything that you personally need while you are here". She then held out her business card and said that I could contact her anytime to "make sure that you were not in need of anything".
As I reached out to take the card, I smiled saying "I understand and will look to take you up on that". She was holding the card between her thumb and her middle finger. As I took it, her forefinger then ran down mine. I smiled and took the card and bade her a good evening.
I turned as she drove off, knowing that my time away may not necessary be celibate............ |
