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A Good Deed for the Day by Karen Blayne
Oh by the way red tape first.
Be warned these short stories contain mature content or naughty bits and as such may corrupt you if you’re under 12, 16, 18, 21 or 25 depending where you live thus they are not suitable for you so put them back on the shelf and let them age for a year or two.
They were sort of scribbled for fun. They were first posted on asstr.org. If you’ve paid money for this book just be aware the author has not received any payment. In fact no one has permission to charge money for this book and copyright is retained by the author.©2020
Sal looked down the street at the pair of muggers. The cheek of them, she ran up to them and clouted one round the earhole with her shoulder bag. The other dropped his knife and ran as she turned on him. She guided the victim into a nearby posh coffee bar. Well he was dressed for the part, he should have known better than to walk round this bit of city in a suit.
“You should know better than to walk in this area of the city dressed in a suit. It’s an open invitation to muggers.” He looked lost. “I think I was thinking about work rather than where I was going.” He admitted. “You mean you need a minder?” “Well more of an assistant although with that handbag of yours you’d fit either description.” “How much?” He offered what he’d paid his executive assistant plus thirty percent more for doing double duty. “You’ve just hired yourself a minder.”
She got on well with his executive assistant and they split the duties up between them. Sal eventually found it easier to just move in to his spare room as her wardrobe expanded to be able to escort him to various functions. As his executive assistant said at least that way she wouldn’t need to get a taxi home after finishing for the evening.
“I desperately need at least one programmer in six weeks time.” “Could you just hire one?” “If I offer one more than they getting at the moment there is no reason to think that someone else wouldn’t come along and offer even more.”
She was sat in the cafeteria taking a break as he made a presentation behind locked doors upstairs when she saw a guy obviously in distress. She slid in besides him. “Hello.” He muttered. “Hi, I’m Sal what’s wrong?” “I’ve been working too many sixty hour weeks and my boss is demanding I work extra to make up for the specifications being late.” “What do you do?” “I’m a programmer.” She took his name and phone number then looked him up on the organisation chart. “Sandra what do you know about Mr. Walker.” “He burns his staff out. You don’t want to work for him.” “He has a programmer who looks as if he’s about to burnout to me.” “Good luck to him. Walker usually fires them for not meeting impossible deadlines.” “Could we transfer him?”
Twenty minutes later an email popped up from Sandra. ‘He’s all yours. Just collect him.’ She called in a favour from security and together with two uniformed security men she made her way to Kieran’s desk. “You’ve been transferred to me. Adam and Joe are here to carry any personal belongings you have.” Kieran looked a bit fuddled so she took his arm and guided him towards the elevator. “Can I be transferred as well?” Came a plaintive voice from the next cubical.
She took him back to her office and sat him down then having a thought asked him to sign an overtime claim. “Right now I suggest you take the rest of the day off. I’ll drop by this afternoon to make sure you you’re OK.” Kieran nodded and Adam volunteered to run him home.
“Joe do we keep the video from the entrances for any length of time?” “We keep the last three years just in case.” “So we could spot Kieran coming into the building and when he leaves?” “There are privacy concerns.” “I want to submit an overtime claim for him from Mr. Walker’s project.” “Well since Mr. Walker is not one of my favourite people I could whip through the video and give you his entry times and leaving times if it was greater than 7.5 hours apart.”
She thought she’d better check up on him and grabbed her bag before raiding the frozen food compartment of the office fridge first. She grabbed a bottle of white wine at the wine store on the ground floor of the office on the way out.
She looked round Kieran’s apartment and wondered if one of the robotic vacuum cleaners had a front end loader attachment. Kieran was sprawled out in an armchair. She glanced round the kitchen and found a pair of instant pots. Two frozen steaks were lifted out and placed in one. Frozen vegetables went in the other.
She managed to find a pair of plates and some silverware, which after a quick soak then scrub, cleaned up nicely. She set the kitchen table after glancing at the piles on the dining room table and served. “Food.” She called. “I must have missed the doorbell.” Kieran moaned. She dug him out of his chair and sat him down at the kitchen table. He speared something green with his fork and looked at it. “It’s broccoli, and it’s good for you.” He took a tentative bite. “Not bad.” “Try the steak.” He looked at it. “It doesn’t look burnt on the outside?” “It wasn’t barbecued.” He tried it. “Not bad, where did it come from?” “Sandra’s secret stash in the office freezer.” “You mean you cooked it?” She smiled at him. If she didn’t need his programming skills his life expectancy wouldn’t be long.
The wine mellowed them both and they ended up watching Netflix together until it was too late in the day to catch public transport home safely. Sal wrinkled up her nose was he safe? She thought so and so slept overnight in his bed in one of his shirts. The next morning the door bell rang and she answered it. “Hi I’m Cadhla, how is my brother this morning?” Kieran staggered out of the bedroom. “Just look at you not eating properly.” “She fed me green food yesterday and mentioned they were vegetables.” “I’ll expect a wedding invite.” “Actually I’m Sal his new supervisor. I’m trying to get him back to normal so six weeks vacation and to get some food inside him.” “You’ve got my vote. Anything I can do to help with the wedding plans?” Kieran threw a cushion at her as she slipped out the door.
Sal left him reading a book. She’d take him for a walk round the park later in the day but first since he looked like being a twenty four hour job she’d better collect some clothes to wear. She dropped into the office first and spoke to Sandra and confessed she’d raided the office frozen food stock. “Kieran?” “Kieran.” “That’s fine.” “I suggest I’ll look after everything in the office for the moment and you concentrate on him. Oh by the way the security night shift were feeling bored and last month Mr. Walker had reported one of them for reading the paper when he passed the office so Joe dropped off the printed output for you.” “That was quick.” “It’s quiet on the night shift sometimes and it gave them something to do. I’ve booked you both into a conference at a resort starting tomorrow for a week so take your bikini with you and don’t worry about how much meals are I’ll sign off on them.”
Sal counter signed the overtime form as Kieran’s supervisor and submitted it to the pay office before going back to Kieran’s apartment. “We have a plane to catch this evening.” He just looked at her blankly. She found some clean clothes and packed them in a carry on bag called a taxi and pushed him into it. At the resort Kieran showed some interest as the subject of the conference was databases and data mining.
They shared a room with a king sized bed. Sal thought she’d better stay close to him. She managed to get him downstairs into the dining room and after one glance at their jeans they were seated at a small out of the way table. “Madam, Sir would you like to see the menu?” The waiter handed one to her without prices and one with prices to Kieran who showed little interest. “Whatever’s on special.” He replied. The waiter raised an eyebrow, and for Madam?” Sal looked at the menu “I haven’t the faintest idea. Kieran has probably been living on take out pizza for the last three years. He needs to put on a bit of weight as he hasn’t been eating well. He practically burnout so I’d like something to get him to show an interest in life.” “How did you know I’ve been living on pizza?” “Is the cost an issue? I ask merely because sir mentioned whatever was on special.” “No money isn’t an issue.” “Let me go and confer.” The waiter drifted off then returned with a manager. “Kieran isn’t it?” She queried. Kieran glanced at her and acknowledged her. She looked at her smartphone and tapped away then turned to Carlos showing the screen to Carlos. “This is his normal order. Look after him, he’s number three.” Carlos gave Kieran a respectful look. “And for Madam?” She looked over Sal “See what Pierre suggests but I suspect she’ll enjoy the plat du jour.” Carlos disappeared with the order. “He looks exhausted and like he’s lost weight? What have you been doing to him?” Sal gave her a look. “He’s programmer and I’ve just transferred him to myself so I can get him functional again.” “Well if there is anything I can do just let me know.” At Sal’s enquiring glance she elaborated. “He’s one of the hotel’s VIPs.” Sal looked puzzled. “Technical people are very important to us. They can stay for a long time. Five years ago he arrived with a three week booking at the start of the quiet season. On the last week he extended his stay by a week, and he did that for the next sixteen months. He was putting a new system in and there were problems. Basically anyone who stays that many days gets put on our VIP list. I’ll just check your room and see what they have given you. Not bad, it is one of the better ones but if there are any concerns just let me know. We need him functional again just in case he wants somewhere to stay.”
First came a rich soup, then a fillet of perfectly cooked fish. After changing their wine glasses to a claret Carlos carved the leg of lamb at the table. Sal had two slices of rich chocolate cake and was pleased that Kieran had managed to eat something of each course.
Carlos gave her an enquiring look after the meal and she nodded her approval. As they walked across the foyer there were sounds of music coming from the ballroom and Sal guided a disinterested Kieran in to the music where they sat down. Sal fancied a dance to burn off some of the calories she’d just eaten but she couldn’t see Kieran getting up to dance. “Donations for our rag week?” A collecting tin was held under her nose so she put in a few coins and had an evil thought. “Do you think you could induce Kieran to dance? Twenty a dance if you can do it.” The girl’s eyes lit up and she glanced around. Soon Kieran was practically carried on to the dance floor and found himself dancing with one student after another. Well one at the front and there always seemed to be four behind to make sure he didn’t escape. Sal grinned to herself as her was gyrated on the floor. It was worth every penny of the hundred dollars she paid them.
Next morning they came down to breakfast and it was obvious they had been looked out for. A full English breakfast was served. Kieran merely ate what was placed in front of him. Sal wondered about the kidneys but found they were quite tasty. She prodded the black pudding with her knife and fork and looked at the pretty waitress. “Do I want to know what this is?” “Oh the name is innocent enough, Black Pudding. One of our chefs went visiting looking for new experiences in Lancashire and this is one dish he came back with but I’d just try eating it rather than worry what’s inside. This is a practise run for one of the pop groups that is due next week. It’s very exclusive this side of the Atlantic.”
As they rose to leave Sarah approached them. “The stables are quiet this week but the horses still need exercising. Would you care to join me and help us out?”
Sarah mentioned that working with animals often helped when people were recovering from exhaustion. It gave them an interest in life as did anything else they found enjoyable. The horses were placid and Sal enjoyed the steady plod as the horse gently walked along the trail. “We find that our guests generally are often riding for the first time so do better on less spirited horses but we should take these up to trot just for fun.” At Sarah’s suggestion Sal hung on to the pommel as she shifted into a slow trot for the first time and it took her a few minutes before she felt comfortable with the new gait. Kieran had ridden before so didn’t have the same problems.
As they returned to the stables Sal was a bit flushed. “Hugs are good therapy for him.” “I can’t just hug him.” “No but as his boss you could order him to hug you.” Sal grinned “I could couldn’t I? Kieran come and give me a hug.” Sal had found the horse riding arousing “Give her a kiss as well.” the suggestion came from Sarah and Sal melted as Kieran kissed her.
Sal steered Kieran back to their room. Sarah's idea that she could command Kieran to do her bidding sounded intriguing but she didn't want to experiment in public.
Once in their room “Hug me.” She commanded. It seemed to work. “Kiss me.” She raised her lips towards him but Kieran merely kissed her forehead. “Lower you oaf.” Kieran looked taken back for a moment then scooped her up and deposited her on the king sized bed before unzipping her jeans and wiggling both the jeans and her knickers off her legs. Then he was kissing her legs working his way slowly up her thighs until he was doing delightful things with his tongue. Sal had heard some of the girls mention they enjoyed having their boyfriends go down on them but her own experiences had been more wham bam, thank you mam which she hadn't enjoyed nearly half as much as this. “I'm supposed to be pampering you.” She protested.
“That was a thank you for the hug. It's been years since I've had one from anyone but my sister.” They lay back on the bed content to do nothing until lunchtime.
After lunch Kieran thought he might like to sit in on a session concerning indexes so Sal slipped on her bikini and after swimming a few lengths she settled herself down to sunbathe after covering herself with sunscreen. She fell asleep in the sun rays but woke when Kieran gave a her soft kiss. “Enjoy your talk?” She asked. “The room was full when I got there so I went into a different session that I hadn't thought would be interesting but it turned out to be thought provoking.”
Sal picked up the bottle of sunscreen. “I don't need that.” “Kieran Wilkins lie down and let me apply some sunscreen and that's an order.” Kieran made noises about bossy women but lay himself himself down whilst Sal covered him with sunscreen paying special attention to his back, neck and shoulders teasing his erogenous zones. Well she justified to herself Sarah mentioned we should concentrate on giving him pleasure and an interest in life once more.
It took until the end of the week before she felt him begin to relax and take more of an interest in her. So on the Friday morning as she snuggled up to him in bed she let her hand stray downwards and gently explore his body. “I'm not sure how much control I have if you keep doing that.” “Oh I hadn't realised it was causing you a problem.” She kissed the tip “There better now?”
Kieran growled and positioned himself above her. “Are you sure. I don't do one night stands.” Sal pulled him inside her. “Neither do I.” She luxuriated in his attention and the feeling of feeling complete with him inside her. Her body had building up to accepting him for all week she realised hugging him tightly as he plunged deep inside her. Anyone would think he hadn't been with a girl for years.
Cadhla grinned at the pair. “So can I be bridesmaid?” “I haven’t even asked her yet.” “No need she can order you to marry her.” Sal and Kieran both picked up cushions and hurled them at Cadhla. “I suppose if only to keep her quiet we’d better be wed.” Well it wasn’t the most romantic proposal but it would do. “Well we should have enough time for a honeymoon if we’re quick. Cadhla looked at the pair of them. “I was only joking.” “You mean you don’t want to be my bridesmaid?” Cadhla looked again at the pair of them. “You really do make a good pair don’t you. I hadn’t noticed it before. I bet it will take him a year before he admits he loves you.” Kieran turned and scooped up Sal in his arms. Kissed her then murmured “I love you.” So only she could hear him, she confessed she loved him too quietly so only he could hear her.
“Mrs. Jenkins could you do me an override please?” “You should enough authority on your own.” Mrs. Jenkins looked at the amount and the note to see Joe in security to confirm the times if needed.
She set off to see Joe. “Mr. Walker's programmers often arrive early and leave late. Kieran is just one of them. We have all the video to support his overtime claim.” “Thank you Joe. Could you do the rest of his team.” “Give me a week a week of two but you'll need a release to be able to use them though.”
“Walker come in and take a seat. Tell me how the project is going.” Walker sat down confidently “The prototype has been approved by the client so we just need to port across to the mainframe and test it now so on time and within budget.”
“Looking at the latest budget figures I think you've blown the budget.” A sheet of paper was passed across the table. “But I didn't authorise all this overtime!”
“Did you tell your staff something must be completed by a certain date no matter what?” asked Mrs. Jenkins. “Yes but.” She turned to the voice. “Any tribunal would rule that was a request that authorised overtime.”
“We need a project manager to oversee the new four car car park in our new office in the North. Report there on Monday morning.” “I refuse.” “That wasn't a request. An alternative is you resign today and we give you three months pay.” “And if I refuse?” The door opened and there stood Adam and Joe. Mr. Walker was escorted from the building.
“We need a project manager to just finish off the project.” “Well appoint the girl who uncovered this mess. I see Walker lost six programmers to ill health in the last two years. Get that sorted out as well.”
Sal walked into the conference room to a group of programmers and testers. “Good morning. I'm sorry to have to tell you this but Mr. Walker left the company yesterday. I'm here to pick up the project but first I'd like you to find the envelope with your name on it. Inside you'll find two letters. The first waves your right to privacy on the video capture at the entrances. The second is an overtime claim for the last three years. You don't need to fill the times in we can get those from the video if you give your consent.” “That's like four years salary when you take into account the overtime rates.”
“But only if you sign the privacy consents.”
“Privacy be damned.” Sal smiled to herself. “Now how much more needs to be done?” “The client has approved the prototype so we just need to port it over to the new mainframe. If we didn't need to port it the project is complete apart from the documentation.” Sal grinned at that.
“Let me ask the dumb question why do we need a mainframe?” “Well we ran the volume tests on the prototype system to see if they ran correctly and it all worked just fine. I think Mr. Walker’s pay was linked to how much he spent so hence the mainframe.” “Shall we ask the client if they would be happy with what they have?” “I could do but what will we do if we aren't porting the code?” “Those of you who have signed your forms should think about taking a month's vacation off since many of you haven't taken your entitlement for the last few years and after that there is a new project that my boss was complaining that he had no programmers for so I'm quite sure there will be work for you.”
“So let me get this straight you're happy with the new system?” “Well there are always a few tweaks we'd like doing buy yes it is going very smoothly.” He turned to Sal. “Walker mentioned that the electricity costs using X86 servers would be greater than the cost of the servers over three years and that’s why he said we needed a mainframe. Can we afford the electricity costs?” “According to the technical guys the only reason the mainframes do better in comparison is they cost more. In absolute terms they use more electricity to do the same work. So we might just as well run the existing prototype system with a bit of extra memory.” There was a sigh from the other side of the desk. “Even with the extra overtime billed to the project you're still under my original estimate taking into account the contingency fund and we haven't lost any more programmers so I suspect you've just become a new project manager. I'll assign a couple of MBAs to you to help you sort out the formal project manager side over time.”
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Good Deed for the Day, A - Karen Blayne