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Message-ID: <57113asstr$1199549404@assm.asstr-mirror.org>
From: "Victor Echo" <victor.echo@gmail.com>
Subject: {ASSM} Luci - Chapter 9 (MF+, anal, cheat?, food, tech, slow, rom....etc, etc, etc.)
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Date: Sat, 05 Jan 2008 11:10:04 -0500
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(c) 2007 Victor Echo

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents
are either the product of the author's disturbed imagination and are
used fictitiously.  Any resemblance to actual persons, living, dead,
undead or mostly harmless, business establishments, events, or locales
is entirely coincidental.

Author's note: Thanks for reading and thank you for your comments.  I am
also online at http://storiesonline.net/auth/Victor_Echo

Yes, it has been a long while, a very long while, and it has been a rough
couple of months.  Sorry for the delay but I think I am back on track now
and the rest of Luci should be coming in short order.  Chapter 10 is in
final edits, Chapter 11 is closely behind it and the final chapter,
Chapter 12 is done, along with the Epilogue, so the end is near.  As
always, thanks for reading!

Vic.

Luci - Chapter 9

Friday dawned clear and cold, which is not that unusual for February in
this part of the country, but the weather mavens were calling for highs in
the low 60s which is positively tropical.  I had managed to get a good
night sleep and was up before the sun, although, with the days getting
longer, it wasn't long before the sun was breaking the horizon, lighting my
way into work and I stopped and picked up some donuts for the team.
Engineers, like the army, operate on their stomach, and while some of them
were counting their carbs, a well timed donut did not count against the
day's intake.  So, with coffee and sweets in hand I headed into my office.


Luci was already there, hard at work, but she turned around and took full
advantage of the fact that my hands were full to reach up and kiss me.  It
was a long, languorous kiss, full of tongue and tease and pelvis and there
was nothing I could do but stand there and kiss her back, my hands
supporting my goodies.

"Oh, that looked delicious," I heard Nikki say from the door.  "Can I have
one too?"

"Sure," Luci said and before I could move, she walked around me with a grin
and wrapped her arms around Nikki's neck and kissed her in the same manner
as she had kissed me.  Her hip pushing hard against Nikki, and it was clear
that Nikki was pushing back.  I took the opportunity to divest myself of my
goodies and my coat.

Nikki and Luci broke their kiss.  "Hmm, very nice," Nikki sighed, "but I
wanted him," she said with a little giggle and walked over to me and
proceeded to wrap her arms around my neck and kiss me.  It was all Nikki,
hard, deep and full of energy.  Her tongue battling mine, her hips pressed
hard against me, her nails running over my head.  I was breathless when it
ended.

"Are those for us?" Luci asked when we had come up for air.  Nikki was not
letting go of me, content to stay in the circle of my arms for a moment,
her head resting on my chest.  I stroked her head as I looked and Luci.

"Yes, those are for us," I said, referring to the donuts. "One box anyway.
 Put the other in the library, and let the horde know it's there."

"Hmm, I have what I want right here," Nikki sighed pulling herself closer
to me.

"Feeling unloved, darling," I asked as I stroked her back.  She was wearing
the standard issue shirt in her emerald green and had swapped the khakis
for a pair of jeans that fit her well.  I ran my hands over her back and
ass, noticing the lack of panty lines, which was not surprising; Nikki
rarely wore anything but a thong.  Her ears were adorned with her emeralds.

"Not unloved," she murmured.  "Just not enough of your love," she looked up
at me as she said it.

"You have to share me," I said bending down to kiss her.

"I don't have to like it," she said leaning into to meet me half way.

"Come on you two, we have work to do," said Luci, sounding very much like a
drill sergeant this morning and we snapped to.

"Party pooper," Nikki responded, giving me a quick kiss and moving over to
the workbench to start building the gateway server.  I walked around my
desk, plugged my laptop in and helped myself to breakfast while the system
booted up.  It also gave me a chance to look at Luci.  She was wearing a
pink t-shirt with a scoop neck and loose jeans.  Gold dangle earrings
danced in her ears as she moved.  She was quite pretty, even from behind
and I just sat and watched her for a moment, my mind not really thinking
anything.  She must have felt my gaze because she looked over her shoulder
at me and winked.  That broke my focus, or lack of focus, and I finished
logging in and checking through the morning emails.

"Nothing in the panics this morning, although there is a yellow light on
the number 2 drive in Delta," she said, her back to me.

"Pre-failure?" I asked, pulling up the server in question.

"Probably.  I called Support and the new drive will be here Monday."

"We don't have a spare," I asked, trying to remember where the spares were.

"Hot spare on board," she said.  "I was hoping we could make it through the
weekend without having to reconfigure."

"Did you run diagnostics on it?" I asked.

"Yes, minimal write errors.  Looks like the head may have gone," she said,
walking around my desk to look over my shoulder.  I had pulled up the
diagnostic tool and was probing the drive.  She swore slightly as the new
numbers started coming in.

"Those don't look minimal to me," I said and saw her nodding her head
behind me.  She leaned across my body to type a couple of commands, her
full breast pressing into my arm.  I tried not to distract her as she
typed.  She kissed my ear after she had hit the enter key though while we
waited for the system to process her instructions.

"Do we have any spares off-line?" I asked.

"Hmm, I would have to look.  We had a couple in the closet but I don't know
if they are the right size," she said, reading the output of her command.
I had to reach around her to answer my phone.

"Gary Preston," I said, trying to untangle Luci as she backed out and under
the phone cord.

"Good morning, Gary," Maureen's voice oozed over the phone.  If I was not
already excited, the sound of her voice alone would have been enough.

"Good morning, Maureen," I replied taking another bite of my donut.  "What
can I do for you this morning?"

"Well, since you asked, I would like you to start by kissing me, long,
tenderly and with some passion," she began.

"I am sure you would.  Would you settle for a donut?" I asked with a grin,
even though I knew she could not see it.  Luci nibbled my neck and then
walked around for a donut of her own before heading out the door.

"And where would I get a donut?" she asked with skepticism in her voice.

"You mean besides the end of my desk?" I responded.

"I will be right down," she said hanging up the phone.  OK.  I guess she
would rather have a donut.

Nikki was looking at me and I replayed the conversation to her.  She
started laughing and pointing a finger at me.

"And just what is so funny?" I finally asked sounding hurt.

"If you think that Maureen will settle for just a donut, you are out of
that oversized head of yours," she said, still giggling.

"Maybe she likes donuts," I said, theorizing.

"For such an intelligent man, sometimes you say the silliest things," she
said, turning back to the server she was working on.

"I do not," I replied, reading through a couple of headlines in the tech
news.

"Did someone order a lawyer?" Janice asked from the doorway, Maureen, right
behind her.

"Nope," I replied, "we already have one.  We could use an Amazon Goddess
though."

"Good thing I do double duty then," Maureen said as she and Janice came
into the office.  "Now where are these donuts that you are plying me with?"
she asked.  I pointed to the box on the corner of my desk and both she and
Janice helped themselves.

"See Nikki, she has a thing for donuts," I said as if to prove my point.

"No," Maureen said, "I have a thing for smart, sexy men who offer me
donuts." This, of course, got the entire room laughing.

"Why do I always seem to be coming in on the end of a joke?  Good morning
all," Jerry said as he came into the middle of the laugh fest.

"Must be the sugar," I said by way of an answer.

"Don't let him lead you down the garden path, Jerry, it is NOT the sugar,"
Janice said.

"Jerry isn't the type to let Gary lead him down the garden path," Luci said
coming back into the room.

"Do you people speak in anything but double entendres?" he asked choosing a
donut himself.

"You mean there are triple entendres?" Maureen asked, powder dripping off
her long fingers.

"Quadentenders I think are the next level," Janice said with a straight
face.  The silliness of the statement got us all laughing again.

"Speaking of quads, Luci what is up with delta?" I asked.

"I changed the configuration and the hot spare is now active.  The failed
drive is off-line, but I will leave it seated until we get the replacement
in.  The ones we have in the closet are all too big."

"Too big?"  Jerry was looking a question at me as I was looking around the
room.

"Maureen, would you pass me the red binder behind you, please," I asked.
She handed it over to me and I flipped a couple of tabs to the one I
wanted.

"Delta can't be that old," I said.  But sure enough it was.

"Delta blew a drive this morning," I told Jerry spinning the configuration
book around so he could see it.  "Luci already called it in, but it looks
like we have another PC to replace.  Or in this case a server."

"I thought you had all of those replacements in your calendar," Jerry said,
a hit of a question in his voice.  I was way ahead of him searching through
the tasks I had preprogrammed, including the server swaps.  Delta was not
on the list.

"Now how did I miss this," it was a rhetorical question, but it bugged me
that I had missed a server.

"Maybe you were being distracted," Nikki said helpfully from across the
room.

"Maybe," I said.  Janice picked up the binder and tucked it under her arm.

"Consider it done," was all she said.

"Jerry, I am going to ask you a question that you are not going to like," I
said, gears meshing in my head.  I had been thinking about Craig's R&D
idea, and there was no way I could ride herd on a cast of characters like
that and do my job, whatever that turned out to be.

"Nikki, you are closest, close the door please, everybody find a perch," I
instructed.  Jerry sat down in front of my desk and Maureen leaned against
my filing cabinets.  Luci and Janice took up station on the couch and Nikki
rested against the workbench.

"Craig and I were talking last night," I said in way of a preamble, "and I
like the idea of an R&D shop.  I hate the management issues."  This got me
a knowing smile from around the room.

"I have a proposition I want everyone to think about.  I am about leave
this department, which will mean some sort of reorganization.  Jerry, I
would like to take Janice with me to manage the R&D section.  I would
propose that you put Nikki in Janice's slot."  Maureen was nodding her
head, either agreeing with me or running through some invisible
calculations.

"I would have thought you would take Luci," Jerry said thoughtfully.

"There are two problems with that," I responded, looking at Luci who had a
rather forlorn look on her face.  I smiled as I continued.  "First, I do
not want her in my chain of command.  There would be too many messy
questions and potential issues that could harm her reputation.  Second, I
can't leave the company without a technician of her caliber in the slot she
is in."  Janice was nodding her head and Maureen had a huge smile on her
face.  Luci had a tear in the corner of her eye and a smile on her lips.

"You have thought through this haven't you," Jerry asked.

"No. Actually I haven't.  I make some of my best decisions that way," I
replied.

"What if we put Luci in charge of the operation?" he asked.  I heard a gasp
from Luci and I looked over at her.

"Networks?  Or the whole enchilada?" I asked.  Jerry shrugged.  I looked
over at Nikki who simply nodded.  Janice was smiling and nodded as well.  I
picked up the phone and dialed a number.

"Pete?  Would you and Steve wonder down to my office for a minute?" I
thanked him and hung up the phone.  Nikki opened the door and shortly Pete
and Steve were in the office.  Nikki closed the door again.

"What's this, a palace coup?" Steve asked with a laugh.

"Actually, yes," Jerry replied.  "The issue on the floor gentlemen, is
this, can you work for a woman?" Jerry looked at both of them and so did
everybody in the room.

Steve looked at Pete and then at Luci and Maureen.  "Sure," Steve said
after a moment's hesitation.

Pete took a couple of minutes and seemed to really be thinking about the
question.  "Not a problem, Jerry," he finally said after weighing all the
options.

"Thank you gentlemen," Jerry said and Nikki held the door for them as the
headed out, a donut for their troubles.

"Maureen, I am going to need a half a floor, preferably attached to the IS
department.  We need about the same square footage as the server room has
now, maybe a smidge larger.  Two, no, four labs say 20 by 20.  Janice, open
floor or cubes?"

"Open floor, Gary," she responded.

"Go talk to Louise and find out how many malcontents she is sitting on,
please, so we can give Maureen an idea of how many table stations we will
need.  I think we should have a small conference room, and no less than six
offices, secured facilities.  We can work up the rest of the requirements
over the next couple of weeks."  My brain was already cranking some ideas
around.

"I haven't said yes, yet," Jerry said.  I just smiled at him.

"Doesn't matter, Jerry, I am building this facility and if I don't get
Janice to help, I will find someone else who is equally qualified.  In
which case, Janice takes over here and Nikki slides into her slot," I said.

"You build very strong arguments, Gary; you should have been a lawyer."
The room started laughing again.

"I have a better idea," Maureen suggested.  "Let's go talk to Craig before
Gary changes his mind."

"With that, Jerry, Maureen and I headed upstairs while Janice went to take
care of the server order and talk to Louise.  Nikki and Luci went back to
working on the servers.  We spent about 20 minutes briefing Craig on the
discussion we had and the suggestions I had made.

"On the surface, they sound like the right ideas," Craig said.  "Jerry, I
know you hate to give up staff, but I have to agree with the resource
allocation Gary has come up with."

"Oh, I agree as well, I just don't want to make it easy on him," Jerry
said.  "In some ways, I am relieved that he isn't asking for anyone else."

"I suspect he knows exactly what he is asking for, correct?" this last bit
to me.

"Correct," I replied.

"Maureen, can we do this?" Craig asked.

"Well, we scaled down the facilities department, so whatever we do, it will
take a little bit of coordination, but I suspect working with Gary and
Janice, it will fall in to place.  The toughest job is going to be finding
a home for security," she said spinning a pen in her hand before making a
note.

"I had a thought about that, too," I said and all eyes turned to look at
me.

"What if we did a complete makeover?"  I outlined the idea I had.  While it
looked expensive on paper, it might actually wind up costing less to
implement and save the company some money in running costs over time.  We
discussed some high level details and covered a couple of issues that were
important to getting going in the right direction.  Craig suggested that
Jerry and I put our heads together and come up with a new staffing plan and
organizational chart for our respective operations and he would pass it on
for the board's approval, just as soon as Patricia had seen it.  I knew
that if Patricia did not approve it, the whole project would die a quiet
death.  Jerry and I went back to his office, closed the door and made a
mess out of his white board.  By lunch time, we had a rough idea of where
we were heading, besides out to get lunch.

I walked around to my office, still thinking about some of the issues and
nearly ran into Luci, who was coming out of my office.  I managed to catch
her before we collided and she did not seem to mind being held.

"Ready for lunch?" I asked her as she stepped out of my arms.

"Nikki and I were just talking about that," she said.

"Well, go grab your coats and meet us at the elevator."

We took Jerry's car because it was the only one that could seat four people
without having to rearrange things and headed out to our favorite
restaurant.  After placing out order, Jerry set the table.

"Gary and I have been talking," he started, getting the attention of both
Luci, who was sitting beside me, and Nikki who was sitting beside Jerry.

"You were both there this morning when Gary went into gear," he said with a
grin, "so you have both heard his suggestions.  Further, we went upstairs
and talked with Craig who is in general agreement with the concept and a
few other things that Gary has suggested that will come out in the fullness
of time.  Anyway, we have been talking some more and here is the point we
are at."

"Nikki," he said, looking at her, "if Janice takes the job Gary is offering
her, I would like you to take over her role.  There is of course a pay
increase associated with it.  You don't have to answer now, because Janice
has not been formally approached."
"Luci, you are a trouble spot," he said looking at Luci.  I gently squeezed
her leg, offering my support.  I knew what was coming; I just hoped she
would accept it.  It was the best for all involved that we could come up
with.

"I cannot see my way clear to promoting you into Gary's position.  It was a
good thought, but will cause a couple of other problems that, as Gary has
so rightly pointed out, will cause more headaches and raise the wrong types
of questions.  Again, it is not that you are not talented, because you are,
but I don't think it would be a good fit.  Further, I suspect it would
frustrate the heck out of you." He paused for a moment to gage her
reaction.  So far, so good.  She knew her limits and while I think she
would some day make a great manager, at the moment there were too many
questions.

"That being said, Gary has come up with a rather unique solution.  I don't
want to loose your skill set and I sure as heck don't want to loose Gary's.
 I am going to loose Gary and I know he won't take you with him for the
reasons that he explained.  There is, I believe, general agreement there?"
I could see nods around the table as Luci slipped her hand over mine.
"What we have come up with is, I have to admit, an obvious solution.  Gary
still has several tasks on his plate that won't just go away because he is
moving up. In fact, for a while, he is going to need all the help he can
get.  Further, with most of the test equipment being in Gary's office,
where ever that might be, we are going to need to maintain a liaison with
the dark side.  It makes perfect sense for you to be that liaison because
you both work well together and that will keep us informed of the new
things that the evil professor is working on before he springs them on us."
 By now Luci was almost crushing my hand in glee.

"I think that is an agreement?" I asked with a slight wince as I extracted
my hand to a round of chuckles.  We finished our lunch discussing the state
of the industry and other general topic.  Liberally spiced with
quadentendres.  Poor Jerry was out of his league.

We returned to the office and I found Janice in her office.

"Got a second?" I asked knocking on her door.

"For you, I will make a second," she said, looking up.  I walked in closing
the door behind me and made myself comfortable in one of her guest chairs.

"If you are interested, I have a job offer for you," I said.  "It will
entail menial grunt work, significant cat herding, a little scouting, and
putting up with me as your supervisor."

"Hmm, you had me right up until the part about you being the supervisor,"
she said with a grin.  "I understand you can be a hard man to work for."

"You do?" I said, playing dumb.  "Now who would say a thing like that?"

"I have a list if you want it?" she said laughing.

"Oh, well so long as there is more than one," I said.  "Janice, I need you
to manage a group of bright, probably wild talent that we both know I have
no skills to control.  I know you can do it because I have seen you do it
and manage to get some work out of them at the same time.  Of course, I
don't even know what I can pay you, but we can negotiate that."

"Do I get fringe benefits with that?" she asked with a coy smile.

"Absolutely.  You can put all the fringe around your benefits you want."

She got up and walked around her desk to where I was sitting and I stood up
to meet her.  She slid her arms around my waist and rested her hands on my
ass and leaned into kiss me, softly, tenderly and lovingly.  My cock
stirred in my pants as she pressed against it.

"Yes," she said as she broke the kiss.  "I will take the job if you will
have me."

"I would not have asked you if I did not want you Janice," I said softly,
kissing her back again and holding her tight.  "Let me figure out how this
is all going to work and I will get the paperwork going."

"I look forward to working on you," she said, kissing me again.  "Boss."

"You are as big a brat as Nikki is," I said.  "And I am glad you are here
to help me out."  We kissed for a few more minutes and then I sent her back
to work.  I had to go and find Jerry and then find out who in HR I had to
start routing all this stuff through.  And we had to go back to Craig for
his final say so.

Once Craig had given his thumbs up, Patricia walked me around and
introduced me to Nick Tanner, our new head of Human Resources.

"Nick, this is Gary Preston, who I am sure you have heard of," Patricia
said by way of introduction.

"Gary, it is a pleasure to finally meet you," he said. Nick was the type of
person you instantly liked.  He had a presence, but seemed relaxed with a
slight tan on his face and white hair on his head.  He was dressed in a
shirt and tie, but I suspected a sport coat instead of suit.  "I understand
you are a man to watch work," he continued.  Patricia left us to our
devices with a quick word that I was to come back and see her when I was
done.

"I don't know about that, sir," I said.  "I work just the same as everyone
else around, here."

"Now that is funny from everything I have heard," he said.  He had a slight
accent but I could not quite place it.  "If half of what I have heard about
you is true, this company would be out of business a dozen times over."

"Then I suspect you are hearing tall tales, the type to make Paul Bunyan
proud.  I am just a simple technician.  And as such I need to hire or
relocate a staff without having any clue as to how we do it or what
procedures I need to follow.  From what I have been told, I need to work up
a budget and such, but I need to get my number two moved over so she can
assist me without messing up the accounting department.  That is an HR
function, so if you could point me at the right individual to help me
through the paperwork, I will let you get back to your day."

"How many people do you need to bring on board?" he asked me, pulling out a
sheet of paper.

"I need to transfer Janice Williams. Actually, I really need to do an offer
letter, then an intra-company transfer from IT to R&D or whatever Craig
decides to call the enterprise I am putting together. Beyond that, I don't
have anybody in mind, although I understand there are some folks in various
offices that I might inherit based on their skills and what I am looking to
accomplish."

"Have you got an offer letter ready?" Nick asked, making a note.

"Heck, I don't know what she is making now, but I want to bump it 15% over
what it is." I replied.

"OK, I think we can pull that together.  How big is the department going to
get?  Have you thought about how many non-technical people you will need?
And do you have any job descriptions for them?"

"I don't even have a job description for myself yet, let along anyone else.
 However, but Monday morning I expect I will have a little of both ready
for first evaluation," I said, letting my mind float for a minute or two.

"It is good to see that you are thinking about these things he said.  Let's
go see if Rhonda has a moment," he said standing up.

Rhonda Whitaker and I got along like oil and water.  She did not like me
and I was not quite sure why, but I found it best to just keep my distance
from her at all times.  If she was to be our HR liaison, then I would let
Janice deal with her unless it could not be helped.  This was one of those
times when it could not be helped.  She was sitting in her office, looking
more like the rock of Gibraltar than an HR specialist and she seemed to
have a perpetual scowl on her face.

"Mr. Preston, what can I do for you," she said with a tone about the same
as sandpaper on glass, even before Nick could open his mouth.

"We need to set up a transfer and offer letter," Nick began.

"Not possible," Rhonda said before he had even finished explaining what was
needed.  "Mr. Preston does not have the authority to transfer or hire
anyone.  Jerry has to do that.  It has been explained to him.  Several
times." She said her piece and then returned to whatever she was doing, our
cue that the interview was over.  I wondered how long she would last under
Nick.

"Ms. Whitaker, for whom do you work?"  The question put my hackles up and I
was not in the line of sight.  This would be good.  I leaned against the
door frame to watch.

She seemed taken aback by the question, as if no one had ever asked her
before.  "Paula Dodson," was her answer after a moment of thought.
Something you got the feeling she did not do much of either.

"I see," he said, turning to me.  "Gary, it is clear we have the wrong
individual to help with your needs.  Shall we go and see if Paula is
available."  There was no question at the end of that statement.

"After you, sir," I said as my phone rang.  "Excuse me a minute.  This is
Gary," I said answering it on the third ring.

"Gary, its Maureen.  Are you in the office this afternoon?" she asked.

"Yes, I am in my least favorite place in the building," I said, still
standing outside Rhonda's door.  Nick gave me a funny look.

"Ah, I see.  When you are done harassing HR, could you come and see me?"

"No, next I have to go and harass Patricia, then I think I have a meeting
with Craig, then I will come and see you, if there is anything left to
uncover," I said.  Rhonda looked put out that I was using Craig's first
name like I was a friend or something.  Nick was not sure what to make of
it either, but he was only hearing one side of the conversation.

"Tell you what, make it first thing Monday morning and I will forgive you,
but only if I get a good morning kiss," she said with what sounded like a
veiled threat.

"That sounds like a threat Maureen," I said with a grin.  "Of all people,
you should know better."

That got me a laugh.  "I have to leave early today, so I will not be around
to molest your body properly, so it will have to wait for Monday," she
said.

"OK, I will make a note of it, Maureen, body, Monday, BTA.  Got it."

"I would love to see the looks on people's faces right now," she said.
"Have a good evening." And with that she hung up.  I just shook my head and
hung up as well, holstering my phone.

"Should I be worried about a sexual harassment suit?" Nick asked, looking
at me.

"No, I don't think I will be filing one," I said.  "Paula's office?" I
prompted and he shook off what he was about to say and lead the way.

Paula Dodson is a tall willowy brunette that almost no one considers
pretty.  Sharp.  Intelligent.  She is even witty, but certainly not a
person that would get a second look based solely on her physical
characteristics.

"Paula, do you have a moment?" Nick asked from her door way.

She took one look at Nick, saw me and waved us in.  Nick closed the door
behind me.

"You know Gary Preston, I presume," Nick said, starting the conversation.

"Of course.  Congratulations by the way Gary, well done," she said.

"It would seem not everyone has been enlightened as to my new position," I
said with a bit of a sour tone.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

Nick briefly covered the previous conversation with Rhonda.

"That does not surprise me.  She has never liked Gary," she said by way of
explanation.  "But she knows full well what your new position is.  Even
before today, she had been reminded several times that you were entitled to
the same privileges as other directors were."  She made a little note on a
pad next to her desk.

"Anyway, can you help get Gary on the right road?" Nick asked.

"I think that should be fairly easy to accomplish," she said with a grin.

"Then I will leave you in Paula's care Gary.  Paula, we will talk later,"
he said.  I did not even have to guess at the nature of the conversation.
Nick let himself out with a final word to come to him if I had any issues.

"What do you think of Nick," I asked Paula once he had gone.

"A far sight more competent than the shrew he replaced," she said with a
grimace.  "Now if we can get rid of the deadwood that she left behind, we
might actually be able to move forward."

"Well, if Nick doesn't slap an insubordination charge on Rhonda, let me
know and I will," I said.

"Deal.  Now what do we need to do?"  We talked through the issues I had for
about 30 minutes until she was sure she knew where we were going and what
needed to be done.  She promised me an offer letter by Monday, along with
all the required copies so I could start creating my structure.  I thanked
her for her time and let myself out, only to bump into Patricia's back.
Since she was backing up, she did not see me and I reflexively wrapped my
arm around her waist to keep her from falling to the ground.  Rhonda saw
the whole thing.

"I will get the paperwork Ms. Adams," she said to Patricia.

"What paperwork are you talking about?" asked Patricia and Paula almost at
the same moment as I helped Patricia to her feet.  "Thank you, Gary, I
really should watch where I am going shouldn't I," she said to me over her
shoulder.

"Are you alright?" I asked quietly as Rhonda ground out more forcefully,
"why the sexual harassment paperwork ma'am, he touched you
inappropriately."  This brought Nick out of his office.

"Fine, thank you," she said, patting my hand as I slid it from her waist
and assumed a parade rest position behind her.  She turned her attention on
Rhonda.  "What are you talking about?"

"Ma'am, everyone knows this man is a letch," Rhonda said.  "It was only a
matter of time.  If you will sign here and here, we will start the
process."

Nick looked confused and Patricia was looking around to see who Rhonda
might be talking about.

"Who is a letch, Ms. Whitaker?" Nick asked, leaning against the wall, arms
crossed.

"Mr. Preston, sir," she said.  That she said it with a straight face almost
caused me to laugh.  I know I smiled.

"Mr. Preston caught me as I backed into him," Patricia said in way of
explanation, not that one was required.  "I would hardly call it
inappropriate.  In fact I can think of very few things that qualify as
eminently more appropriate."

"But he..."Rhonda began.

"He what, Ms. Whitaker?" Nick looked like a bulldog at that moment.

"Gary?" Patricia was looking at me over her shoulder.  There was a question
in her eye but I could not quite figure it out so I stalled.

"Actually, I am done and was just on my way to see you as you requested," I
said.  She seemed to breathe a sigh of relief at that.

"Do you realize Nick, in the last three days, this company has now avoided
two law suites, related to human resources issues, from Mr. Preston?" she
said.

"I know about the one the other morning.  What is the second." I finally
got it.

"Slander, sir," I said.  "Specifically, unprovable accusations from a
member of your staff."  I felt more than saw Paula stiffen behind me as the
full implications of my statement sank in.  She knew exactly the position
Rhonda had just put the company into.  Wisely, she kept her mouth closed.

Patricia passed me the forms she had been handed.  I read them rapidly and
then started again at the top more slowly this time, my mind turning over.

"Whoops, looks like liable, Nick," I said reaching for my cell phone.

"Maybe we should continue this discussion in my office," Nick said as I
flipped my phone open and pushed a couple of numbers.  "Are you still here?
 Maybe you should walk down to Nick Tanner's office.  Yes, I would say now
would be good.  Thanks."  I hung up the phone and put it back on my belt.
"After you," I said, letting Patricia precede me.

Nick, Patricia, Paula and I walked into Nick's office, but I did not close
the door.  Nick indicated a chair for Patricia while I handed him the
forms, already filled out, for him to read.  He had gotten about half way
through them when Maureen arrived.  Looking at the faces in the room, she
closed the door and walked over to the other chair in Nick's office.  He
looked startled when she walked in, then, nervous.  Patricia seemed to
relax.

"If Gary was going to sue the company, Nick," Patricia began, "Maureen
would not be here.  In fact, I have a fairly good feeling that the last
thing Gary would do is sue the company, but only a couple of people beyond
this room know that, and I think it should stay that way."  She looked at
Maureen who nodded her head as she took the papers from Nick, blanching
slightly as she read them.

"Liable?  Or worse?" she asked looking up at me, almost begging me with her
eyes.

"Like Patricia said, you wouldn't be here," I said simply.  A little colour
began to return to her face.

"Patricia, I need to speak with Craig.  Now." She was trembling.  Something
I had not seen before.

"Nick, can I use your phone," Patricia asked and picked it up and dialed
Craig's number.  "Are you busy?  Maureen needs to see you now.  It is
urgent.  Two minutes." She hung up the phone and looked at Maureen.

"Gary, Nick, Patricia, would you come with me please," she asked.  She did
not release the forms.

We walked down the hall to Craig's office where he was waiting for us.
Maureen closed the door behind us.  I moved over to conference table and
had a seat watching the tableau unfold in front of me.  Rhonda had finally
overplayed her hand.

"Nick, what you need to know is that this does not reflect on you.
Further, what Patricia said is true, if Gary had any intention of bringing
suit against this company, his first call would not have been to me."
Maureen handed the forms to Craig who was waiting patiently.

"As the Vice President of Human Resources, I think he should know the whole
story," Patricia said, looking at me.  I shook my head.

"Sorry, no," I said simply.  Patricia pleaded with her eyes but I shook my
head and she let the matter drop.  I was saved any more comment by the
swearing coming from Craig as he slammed down the forms.

"I want her gone.  NOW." He was upset.  Livid might be a better term.
Patricia was already reaching for the phone.  Nick put his hand over hers.

"Would you ask Mike to meet me in my office please," he asked quietly.
Patricia placed the call and hung up.

"I would like to apologize to you, Gary, on behalf of the company," Nick
said.  "It should never have happened.  Did you and Paula get things
going?"

"There is nothing to apologize for Nick," I said, shaking his hand.  "Yes,
Paula and I are on the same page and she said she would have the first set
of papers on Monday for me.  Which is early enough," I finished.  He let
himself out.

"Gary," Craig began, I cut him off.

"Save it.  I am one of the good guys.  At least I think I am," I said,
looking around the room.  Maureen did not even pretend.  She walked over to
me and kissed me, hard, so I kissed her back, drawing a little moan from
her.

"I'm jealous," Craig said quietly.  I whispered in Maureen's ear and she
walked over to Craig and kissed him, getting a laugh from Patricia and me.
 The look on his face was priceless.

Maureen stepped back a little and then kissed his nose, getting another
laugh from the room.

"Am I needed for anything else?" Maureen asked, looking around the room.

"I could think of at least a dozen things," I said.  "But you mentioned
that you were leaving early today, so I will have to wait for Monday."

"Thank you for your help Maureen," Craig said.  "Have a good weekend."  She
gave me a hug and let herself out, leaving the three of us in the office.

"You know, if I spend any more time in here, the President is going to
wonder what his job is," I said.  Patricia chuckled a little at that, Craig
just snorted.

"I need a drink," Craig said and I headed for the "bar."

"What would you like?  Patricia?" I asked.

"Bourbon," Craig said.

"The same, with ice, please," Patricia said.  I poured their drinks and one
for myself and brought them over to Craig's desk.

"I just cannot believe how far this got," he said, taking a healthy
swallow.  "Especially considering that Gary so rarely even gets out of his
office."

"Rhonda never did like me," I said.  "Seems I went over her head on
something that she considered was supposedly her sole domain and thus she
considered herself to be the final arbiter.  Regardless of what the policy
or procedure said.  I don't really remember the issue anymore.  Something
about authority to sign an offer letter request because Jerry was out of
the office."  Actually, I remembered it very clearly, but that was all
water under the bridge.  As a department director, I was within my rights
to sign the request, but she did not see it that way.

"Patricia, we need to get rid of these festering sores.  I don't know how,
but we need to do it," Craig said.  "I do not want someone with less of a
vision to feel that their only recourse in a situation like this is to
bring suit," he continued indicating the papers on his desk.

I did not have any brilliant suggestions to offer so I sipped my drink and
let my mind wander. Something would present itself and we would not
engineer a solution today.

"Gary, do you have what you need to get things started?" Craig asked,
changing gears.

"I don't know about started. I probably need to see what sort of finances I
have to work with before I get too carried away.  That will at least give
me a starting point to script up a budget for the various issues and
personnel I need to address.  At the moment at least, everything is
theoretical pending other real issues popping up," I said.

"What sort of issue are you expecting?" Patricia asked quietly.

"Construction costs, hardware, salaries, office supplies, the usual things
that new organizations get trumped over.  I am sure I am missing something
but Janice and I will put our heads together and come up with something."

Patricia shared a look with Craig and a decision seemed to be made, but it
was not something I was privy to so I did not ask.

"Well, if there is nothing else, I need to check on how far from reality
the PDA roll out is and noodle a couple of things with Jerry.  I also have
to figure out if I have to work in the hall come Monday morning," I said,
putting my glass in the kitchen.

"If you are without an office on Monday, Gary, come work in mine," Patricia
said as I let myself out.

I decided to go and see Jerry first before going to my office, but he had
already left for the day, something that I was very tempted to do.  I was
exhausted.  I walked around the department and it looked like I was not the
only one who was feeling the week weighing down on them.  I found Nikki
pulling her coat on and I gave her a kiss before I walked over to Janice's
office.  She was still there, but looking like she was on her way out as
well.

"I have started the paperwork to get you moved over," I said.  "But it
might take a while.  When you get in on Monday, could you go and see Paula
in HR and see what needs to be done.  I really need to get the email
project done next week and start the migration to production."  She nodded
and made a note.

"You need to go home now," she said.  "You look like you have run the
marathon and then walked here from the finish line."

"Yes, I am feeling like the week is over," I said, wished her a good
weekend and walked over to my office.

"What happened?" Luci asked me as I slumped into my chair.

I gave her the overview and started to check my email and decided better of
it.  Instead I started the shutdown procedures.

"Is there anything here that won't wait until Monday?" I asked looking
around the room.

"No, other than kissing me," she said.

We met half way.  She understood my reluctance to kiss her and gave me a
hug.

"Why don't we walk out?" she asked.

"Let me pull my laptop.  Go and get your coat and come back here."

She went to get her coat and I packed up the things I needed to take home
this weekend.  Luci was back in a flash and we headed downstairs.  I
managed to get out of the building without anyone stopping me for anything.
 I was more attentive to Luci in the elevator, but I was still out of
sorts.  A good night's sleep should set me right. At least, that was the
plan.

-- 
Victor Echo
Author
PGP: 958F 0E92 87B2 3AD6 0C07  3D5A 9480 1307 E89D FC70
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