The other stories I have written in the Group Sex category have taken weeks even months to craft. This series came about out of a desire to produce a work quickly. There are (hopefully) going to be nine chapters in this 'Quickie' series, if they were included in a single work it would make the most implausible reading. I'm hoping that by splitting it over nine separate short stories it will be more fun and only improbable.
Constructive feedback and comments are always most welcome.
Enjoy.
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I followed the signs to The Waterside Inn. Situated on the banks of the River Thames, it's a beautiful spot. I was definitely in the mood for lunch and a menu was in a display case by the door. I scanned through the options. It was high end indeed and it didn't help that the menu was in French and English and the English sounded like French, what the heck was a 'jus'? The roast chicken sounded nice and then I spotted the price £154.00 for one plate of food!?!?!
My accounts department would blow a gasket if I put in an expenses claim of £154 for a roast chicken lunch! One of the best places to eat in the country it may be, but I was eating elsewhere! I wandered into Bray village and found a place called The crown Inn, that sounded British enough. The menu looked good and although still a bit pricey it was affordable. I ordered my food and an apple juice and found an empty table outside. The food was excellent and I reveled in the warmth, the blue sky and the euphoric feeling of being alive.
I'd pretty much relaxed so much I'd completely forgotten how important this meeting with Aimee was. I had half an hour before H-Hour so I set about studying my notes and the proposed contract. I'd gone over it a dozen times, but it never hurt to be more than prepared. Aimee was a hard negotiator as well as a thoroughly likable person, which is a very rare combination. Trouble is my mind was tending to wander... Rachel... Elaine... Felicity. Holy shit! In less than 24 hours I've had sex with three wonderful women. I felt the material in my pocket. A part of me really didn't want to go to the meeting. I wanted to phone Elaine, I wanted to catch a cab, every cab until I found Felicity, I wanted to see Rachel again. Then again, Aimee is a special person and I always wanted to see her.
Wake up Paul, you have a job to do, showtime!
It was a short walk to the impressive glass and steel building that I first walked into 8 years ago as a junior negotiator. Aimee was new then too, but even so she ripped the shit out of me, in a very polite way mind you. If I'm honest, I'd say that it was down to Aimee that I am where I am today. She is the best and I learned a lot from her. She doesn't suffer fools, but she rewards hard graft. I knew this meeting would be tough and normally I would relish the challenge, but today... today my heart wasn't in it.
I entered her P.A's office 1 minute before the appointed time. I recognized her P.A from the last couple of meetings, "Hello Mary, you're looking gorgeous as always."
She beemed a smile at me, "Hello Paul, you sweet talker, how are you?"
"I'm good thank you, all the better for seeing you again, have you changed your hair?"
She laughed loudly, "No! Stop trying to butter me up!"
"I'm sorry, I can't."
She waved a dismissive hand at me and picked up her phone, "Your 2:30 appointment is here." It always makes me laugh having appointments at 2:30, or 'Dentist Time' (tooth hurty) as I call it. "OK, will do." She put the phone down. "She'll be a couple of minutes. Can I get you anything?"
That was odd. In all the years I've known Aimee she has always been 100% punctual. A couple of minutes turned into 10. This was very strange. Eventually Aimee emerged from her lair and smiled broadly at me, "Paul, I'm so glad so see you again. I'm so sorry to keep you waiting." She hugged me and kissed my cheek, she felt tense.
"Lovely to see you too, I always look forward to our meetings."
She laughed, "Liar!"
She ushered me into her office and we settled down, "Where would you like to start Aimee?"
She didn't look at me, again, a little odd, "I think as usual, top level then drill down, OK?"
"That's fine." Something was wrong, Aimee is a brutal negotiator, but she's also a lovely person and over the years we had forged a close bond of respect. This was clinical.
Over the next twenty minutes or so we danced around the volumes, the deliverables and time frames as usual, but it was now very obvious that Aimee was not concentrating. "Aimee?"
"Yes."
"What's wrong?" I was genuinely worried now.
She shrugged, "Nothing's wrong, why?"
I looked into her eyes and for the first time ever I saw uncertainty. "Aimee, you've had about three opportunities so far to bring up Clause 4. If it's not agreed now, it won't be in the final contract."
She looked into my eyes and she sighed. She leaned back into her chair and threw her pen down onto her notes. "You could have potentially saved your company a lot of money by not saying that."
"Aimee, trust me, there are many clients that I would not have said that to. But not you, not here, not now. How long have we known each other, 8 years? In that time I believe that we have come to trust and respect each other." She nodded slowly. "Why would I take the opportunity to stitch you up on something that may or may not save my company money when the whole deal is worth so much more." She started to say something, but I held a finger up to stop her. "How could I have the same relationship with you next time if I stitched you up now? I couldn't. Aimee I totally respect you, but something's wrong, you're not on your game and I've never seen you like this before. What's wrong?"
She seemed to wilt into her chair. "Not on my game? Oh god!"
I was a little scared now, I really, really like Aimee and this was so out of character, "Aimee, are you ill?
She looked into my eyes, "Oh Paul you're so thoughtful, so kind, thank you. No, I'm not ill." She seemed to wilt some more.
