A note to readers:
This is a long story that unfolds chapter by chapter through the eyes of two protagonists -- Mark and Elsa, and as in many of my other stories involves a growing spate of horny characters.
Every ten chapters or so I will provide a short summary at the start of that episode to bring new readers up to date (see start of Ch. 90).
This story could appear in a number of genres (Loving Wives, Incest, Lesbian, Fetish, and more) depending on the chapter, but the overall theme is Group, so I have applied this moniker to all chapters. The story is still being written, yet I intend to post a new chapter every couple of days. Enjoy.
Chapter 94 -- Setting Up The Future for Business and Family
Mark
I sat in my posh office with Andy Martin, my number two in the company, and Tom Power, a superb executive and leader I'd discovered purely by accident in St. Croix. Less than a year later I recruited him and put him in charge of a burgeoning start-up in nanotechnology we'd discovered in Silicon Valley; a great idea by several profs from Stanford but with no management talent to get it going and to market. Over the subsequent two years, he'd turned some hopes and dreams into a real business that continued to grow at fifty to a hundred percent a year with large profit margins.
Of course, Tom was also a good friend and one who frequented our sexy house parties where he was a welcome lover to all the women who attended. We'd met Tom purely by chance when he asked Cindy to dance at a club down on St. Croix years earlier. That dance had blossomed into a night of sharing Cindy and Elsa, and then into the longer relationship and friendship the girls and I had formed with him.
Tom walked from painting to painting in my office reading the small cards beside them that told who the artist was and what the title of piece of art was. Each painting had been done by one of my 'wives' -- KC.
He looked back at me, "KC did all of these? They're phenomenally good -- excellent. These paintings reach my soul. I've seen her works at the condo and The Meadows, but somehow I missed these. I must remember to praise her tonight when I see her."
I told him, "I would buy everything she paints, but she will only allow me every tenth or twelfth piece she paints. She tells me that she had to have a wide variety of her art 'out there,' otherwise it just appears to be hobby that she shares with the family. She got twenty grand for a large painting last week. We're quite proud of her, and selling to the public does wonders for her self-confidence and sense of worth."
Tom nodded and so did Andy. Andy, Melanie, and I had talked about what we wanted to do with Tom, and this was the meeting to talk about that. Tom knew something was afoot. Melanie had him briefed by our three creative engineers on what we'd shortened to call GCT for Gigabit Cellular Technology -- getting a huge bandwidth piggybacked onto basic narrowband cellular service. The rationale for the briefing had been to keep the top management of our subsidiaries up to speed on what else was going on in the company that was leading edge. The technology would do wonders for high-speed broadband service in remote areas around the world, especially where extending wires or fiber was cost prohibitive. All the major wireless carriers would be on this like white on rice.
After a few more pleasantries, Melanie joined us. She gave Tom a welcome kiss and a warm hug of true affection. He'd come in on the red eye from San Francisco and told her she was sight for sore eyes. The four of us then sat around my coffee table. I deferred to Melanie, who'd become a new director in the company reporting directly to me. I was curious how she would sell the idea to him.
She started, "Tom, you are the best manager in company except for these two." She gestured at Andy and me, and I wondered if I was secretly being patronized. "When I was out there with Andy a month ago, I noted that you had created a strong number two who could take over for you. Do you agree?"
Tom frowned slightly, "Yessss." I could see that he knew my pretty Director of Project Development -- her current title according to her business cards, was leading him astray. Actually, she did whatever she wanted in the company from being my Executive Assistant to what she was doing now, making a strategic personnel move to foster a burgeoning technology.
Mel went on, "And, you sort of admitted over dinner that evening that you didn't have any other strong ties to the Bay Area?"
"Yessss," Tom said again, realizing that the primrose path was surely underfoot.
Mel said, "So, if the right opportunity presented itself you could relocate to another area of the country, for instance, right here in this city?" I noted she was posing her statements as rhetorical questions and making them the kind Tom had to agree with.
"Yessss. I have a feeling I know where this is going."
Melanie smiled, "Well, we are hoping that you'd think kindly of moving here and taking over the GCT program -- soup to nuts. Free rein. You'd become a vice president and a director of the commercial electronics division."
Andy spoke up, "Marty Winthrop, the head of that group, wants to retire in two years. Mark and I would like you ready to move into that executive position. It would also then put you on the board of Worthington Industries. If the GCT program plays out the way we think, you'd just be well into commercializing that technology and raking in the dough. It'd be the perfect timing since that'll become the showcase for that division. We figure GCT will pull our other electronic product lines along with it as it becomes a widely deployed technology. It'll put us on the map with a unique and desperately needed technology"
Mel jumped in, "Besides, you've become like a member of our family in so many ways, and the family is here not in Silicon Valley ... or have you got something cooking back there? We all miss you except for your rare visits."
Tom laughed, "I have a number of friends ... with benefits, but nothing serious. Coming back here where Mark's family is nearby is a big chip to play in your offer. As I got to know your entourage I've longed to be around here more than I've been."