A Corporate Affair (Closed for Pipper)

John Adams climbed out of his shiny company car - out of the right hand side, a novelty he was still getting used to - and winced at the heat. Black wrap-around sunglasses stood out in stark contrast to his pale skin.

He flexed his broad shoulders and ran a large hand over his closely cropped brown hair, wiping away the fine beads of sweat that had already appeared mere seconds after leaving the air-conditioned confines of the BMW.

I need to get some lighter suits he thought to himself This old black thing is not made for this climate...

The "old black thing" was in fact a finely tailored suit from London's Saville row, less than 6 months old, but it had been cut for the dull climate of that city and really was not suitable for the heat on this side of the Atlantic.

With long purposeful strides he crossed the car-park - better start calling it the parking lot, I guess - and it was with great relief that he entered the climate controlled lobby of Far-Future Marketing Inc's main HQ.

He'd already visited the building at the weekend, in the company of just the CEO, but this was his first visit in business hours, after his transfer here from the London office. The reception desk, empty on his last visit, was now manned by a clichéd pretty young blonde thing.

There must be a factory mass producing them somewhere he grinned to himself. Secretary , model A - small, blond, cute

She saw his grin and responded with a smile. "Can I help you, sir?"

"Actually, yes." replied the young exec. "I'm John Adams, transferring over from the London office. Can you direct me to the conference room? I'm due to join the 9:00 am briefing, what with this being my first day working here."

"Oh!" she replied, lowering her eyes then raising them back to his. "We've been expecting you." She glanced at the clock on the opposite wall, a triple dialled affair showing local time but also the time in London and Paris.

"You'd better go straight up. Take the elevator on the right, eleventh floor, as you step out it is the door opposite." she added, helpfully. "You'd better hurry, Mr Adams."

Nodding his thanks, John walked over to the aforementioned elevator and pressed the call button. Stepping inside, he used the mirror to straighten his tie and check the collar of his ruby-red shirt.

Could stand to lose a couple of pounds... he grimaced at his reflection but there is a company gym in the basement, maybe I can start using it...

With a gentle electronic tone the lift announced it's arrival on the eleventh floor, and John stepped out, crossed the corridor and stepped into the conference room.

"Ahhh, John!" bellowed the CEO, Jack Curtson. "Just in time, come on in, take a seat next to Amanda. We can do proper introductions at the end of the briefing."

There was only one seat left at the conference table, and as he sat down, John couldn't help but look at the lady he had been asked to sit next to...

Amanda Bellingham sat in the conference room while finishing off her cup of coffee – coffee in name only she thought.

Today she would finally meet her new ‘associate’ as her boss, Jack Curtson put it, but to her, this person was her assistant. Having worked hard to finally be awarded a manager’s position in one of the departments, Amanda, or Mandy as she preferred to called by, was a bit incensed that one of her own hard working member of staff, had been passed over for the position, in favour of one that was being transferred from ‘over the pond’.

Curston knew of Mandy’s displeasure, and in an attempt to pacify her, told her that is was not an insult on her and her staff, and that this Adams fellow would be under her leadership, and she also would have the final word on any decision he would recommend.

The only thing that may make things a bit more pleasant between them was that Mandy had spent the first fifteen years of her life in Wembley, a suburb of London, England. Having moved to the States due to her father being offered a CEO position in a leading manufacture company that was owned by a British firm, Mandy quickly adapted to her new surroundings and being a bright student finished her high schooling and then entered university.

On graduating, she was surprised that she had been offered a job at Far-Future Marketing Inc’s head office as a designer of advertising posters, quickly moving onto more advanced positions, before being awarded her own staff, thus becoming the company’s youngest manager.

Now at the age of 25, Mandy was now into the first year of a serious relationship with John Wiltshire. She had met him at a party, and though he lived in West Virginia, the two of them had become close. Though their in person meetings were few and far between, they did chat via web-cam and mic.

Another thing that Mandy wasn’t too keen to hear, was that her department might be assigned an advertising job that the company had just recently won. If the rumours were true, she wasn’t looking forward to it one bit. I’ll get Curston to give it to another department.

The others in the conference took their seats as Jack Curston entered. Mandy made sure her outfit was neat and tidy. She always wore a long skirt, or dress and modest high heels, with her shoulder length brunette hair pinned up. She believed that a manager should set an example, so that others of her staff could follow her lead.

“Welcome to a new week, everyone,” said Curston. “We have had some new commissions come our way. I will assign those after the meeting.”

Suddenly the room’s door opened, and there stood someone that Mandy hadn’t seen before. His ruby-red shirt stood out. Don’t tell me that’s my new assistant!

"Ahhh, John!..Just in time, come on in, take a seat next to Amanda. We can do proper introductions at the end of the briefing."

Mandy winched. Amanda! Only Curston continues to call me that.

Mandy felt a shiver go down her body as Adams sat down beside her. Then she sensed him looking at her. True, she did have a lovely figure, but she didn’t think he was interested in that. Maybe he’s taking in his new boss…

"Miss Bellingham, I presume?" Smiled John, offering his hand.

"I believe we are going to be working together, it is a pleasure to meet you. I'll be relying on you to take charge, at least until I find my feet."

So, this is my new boss...for the moment. he thought. A stunning lady a good 10 years younger than me...

With that, he took off his jacket, and draped it on the back of his chair before sitting down, noting that Amanda did not look overly happy to see him.

"Sorry to keep you all." he added apologetically, addressing the room but looking at her.

The CEO nodded, and carried on with the morning briefing. Much of it was nonsensical to John, having to do with long term clients about whom he knew nothing, but he tried to take in as much as he could.

"Miss Bellingham, I presume?"

Mandy saw him offer his hand. Didn't he learn that a man doesn't shake a lady's hand, unless she offered hers first, she thought, as she shook his hand to give him some sort of a warm welcome. "Please call me Mandy."

"...I'll be relying on you to take charge, at least until I find my feet."

At least you got that right Mr Adams

The rest of the briefing carried on as it normally did. Mandy was so use to it, that she had to hide any yawn that tried to make its presence known.

After the meeting ended, Mandy remained seated as she saw Curston introduce Adams to the other managers. Feeling that she was wasting her time, as Curston had handed out each departments their commission, but having never received one - especially the one her department was rumored to be assigned, she stood and began to leave.

"Hang on, Amanda. I need to talk with you and John privately." said Curstan.

Five minutes later, there were only the three of them in the room. "I have decided to give you the privilege of carrying out an very important commission. A Mr Philpotts, a self made billionaire has purchased a number of independent strip clubs, and is in the process of revamping them into high-class adult entertainment clubs. He has already re-modeled the one here locally. Our company's job is to advertise his new clubs, including all their services. The commission also requires us to design a web site for the clubs, which is one of the reasons Jack was transferred here. He has designed many sites back in the UK."

Mandy winched when she heard what was required of her department, - the rumor was true - and now it was time for her to speak her mind. "I'm sorry to bring this up, Mr Curstan, but as you well know, a large number of my department staff are females, and I don't really want them placed in a position in which they have to create advertisements for a group of strip clubs."

"Hang on, Amanda," Curstan said, while holding up a hand. "I have already taken that into consideration. I just want John and you to handle this commission. Here is the folder with some information. You two can discuss your first thoughts here."

With that, Curstan left the room. Mandy looked down at the manila folder, and then slid it over to Adams. "Here! Let's see what you think of it."

"Mandy..." nodded John. Then he smiled. "And I'm John. Not Jack. Our CEO is a bit flexible when it comes to names, isn't he?"

He looked down at the manilla folder, but didn't move to take it.

"Look, I can tell you are uncomfortable with this, and I have to say I'm not enormously happy about it myself. I've never been to a strip club, and this is not exactly the sort of work I am used to - most of the stuff I have done before has been for independent labels in the UK music scene..."

He leaned back in his chair, and sighed.

"And, I can see you are not happy at being left to babysit the new guy. And, if you'll permit me to be honest, I'm not entirely happy after almost 20 years in this business to be reporting to an attractive young woman who looks as though she is only just out of university."

He leaned forwards again, and fixed Amanda with an unblinking gaze, his hard stare emphasising his next words.

"But I'm a professional. And so are you. Our Mr Curston has given us a task, and he wouldn't have given it to us if he didn't think we could do it. I don't intend to let any personal issues we might have get in the way of our doing a good job on this."

He leaned back slighty, straigtening up in his seat.

"So... distasteful as we both find it, we have a product to sell. We should review that product together, don't you think? A standard first impressions brainstorming session."

He flipped open the folder and with a quick shake, scattered its contents over the table. His eyes widened.

"Oh my..."

“And I'm John. Not Jack. Our CEO is a bit flexible when it comes to names, isn't he?"

Mandy smiled. “That’s nothing new for him. I’ve asked him twice to call me Mandy, instead of Amanda, and on both occasions he called me Marinda!”

After a few moments, John said, "And, I can see you are not happy at being left to babysit the new guy. And, if you'll permit me to be honest, I'm not entirely happy after almost 20 years in this business to be reporting to an attractive young woman who looks as though she is only just out of university."

That statement hurt Mandy, and she wasn’t going to let him get away with it. “For your information, I started here at the bottom, and worked my way up through hard work. I did not walk into this position off the street, or because I knew someone who had a big influence with Curston.”

Mandy watched as John opened the manila folder and scattered its contents over the table. "Oh my..."

There before her eyes, were photos of strippers, some with large breasts. “Is this some sort of sick joke, from Curston? These are of no help whatsoever with the job at hand. We’re supposed to being advertising strip clubs, not strippers!”

Then Mandy noticed a piece of paper with typed wording on it. After reading it, she slung it back down on the table. “This is ridiculous! That’s nothing but an address list of Philpotts’ clubs.”

Placing all the files back in the folder, Mandy stood and said, “Come with me, we’re going to Curstan with this garbage, right now!”

John held up his hands in a placatory gesture. "Hey, I said looks like, not *is*. It's not my fault you look even younger than you actually are - I didn't mean to imply you weren't capable!"

He looked over the slew of glossy photos of young women in various states of undress. There were names written at the bottom of each picture, in black marker pen, and the middle-aged exec couldn't suppress a snort of amusement.

"Really? 'Cherry Colah'? 'Luscious Lavender', 'Busty Bev', and - oh dear - 'Anita Cumforya'..." He groaned at the terrible pun. "No wonder this chain has an image problem..."

He looked up at Amanda, as she angrily rose to her feet.

"You are right, we need more than this to even think about a campaign." He helped her gather the files then followed her dutifully to the CEO's office.

Wow... he thought to himself, looking at her attractive rear view as followed her along the corridor I wonder how she'd react if I told her she was hotter than any of those strippers...

Mandy walked straight into Curston's office., with Adams right behind her. Curston took one look at her face, and knew that trouble was about to happen. "Okay, Amanda, what's the problem?"

Holding up the manila folder, she said, "Did you look at these before you gave them to us?"

Curston knew there and then that Amanda was about to blow up in his face. After taking a deep breath, he replied, "I didn't. I thought it best that you two should be the ones to do the commission without any interference from me. Er...Why do I have a gut feeling that was a bad move on my behalf."

Letting the folder drop onto her his table, Mandy looked straight at him. "Why don't you see for yourself if you did or not!"

Mandy smiled as she watched her boss open the folder and look at the files. "What the hell are these?" Before Mandy could say something, Curston put up his hand. "No need to tell me, Amanda. I know exactly what these are! I'm getting in touch with Philpotts right away, and dealing with this piece of...disaster. You better take John to your department and introduce him to your staff, while I deal with Philpotts and then I'll get back to you, personally."

"Unless you'd like us to contact him directly?" asked John.

"After all, this is our campaign. We can explain that this material isn't what we need, and let him know exactly what we do want from him. Might save time in the long run, and I am absolutely sure Miss Bellingham can put him in his place, if needs be, whilst still remaining polite."

He grinned, catching her eye, before turning back to the CEO.

"I can't imagine he won't co-operate - he wants the campaign, after all. But if he does prove recalcitrant, we can bring you in, Sir, to lay down the law, so to speak."

The small hint from Adams that she needed to calm down, struck a chord in her. After all, she had just been rude to Curston, the CEO of Far-Future Marketing Inc.

"I'm sorry, Sir, for my rude attitude towards you. I promise it won't happen again."

"Considering the situation, I don't blame you, Amanda, but I do expect you to keep your temper in check when dealing with Philpotts. Understood?"

"Yes, Sir." Great, just great. Humiliated in front of my new assistant on his first day. Mandy thought, but now was the time, to build on Adams idea. "How about I contact Mr Philpotts and arrange an appointment for John and I to see him? That way he can tell us exactly what he wants, and what we will expect from him. After all, we always meet with our clients."

"Yes, that's better," Curston responded.

"I get onto it once I'm back in my office. Can I have the folder back, so that I can give it back to Philpotts when we meet?"

Walking back to their department, Mandy looked at Adams and said, "Thank you John for bringing me back to my senses. I'm afraid we have gotten off to a bad start. I'll treat you to a meal at lunch as a way of apologizing. I know of a fish and chips cafe, that's just around the corner. I've been there many times. Excellent food."

John shot Amanda an incredulous glance. "Fish and chips? Just because I'm from England?" He had a serious look upon his face, and for a moment it looked like he had taken offence.

But then he grinned at her, his eyes sparkling.

"That sounds great. And whilst I would be happy to join you for lunch, there is no need to apologise. I'm just pleased you didn't mind my butting in."

His smile now had a different look about it - no longer a polite smile that was all show. Now it reached his eyes, and held genuine warmth.

"I think I'm going to enjoy working under you.", he added, with not a trace of innuendo in his voice or manner.

Once back in her department, Mandy introduced John to her staff, one at a time, telling each one that he was their new assistant manager, and was to be treated the same as she was. Of course she was proud of her properly attired staff.

Then Mandy took John to his own office which was next to hers. Opening a desk draw she pulled out a mobile phone and handed it to him. "This belongs to you as long as you work here. There are two contacts already on it, Curston's and mine."

Their discussion was interrupted by a knock on John's door. 'Yes, Susan," Mandy said.

"I have the preliminary designs for the 'Crawlley's Model Agency' ready for you to look over."

Then Mandy looked at Adams. "How about you look at them, while I try to get in touch with Philpotts? It's a new agency that's looking for models."

John looked at the phone, an expensive model he was not familiar with, and tucked it into the inner pocket of his suit, where he could be sure not to lose it.

"Of course," nodded John, taking the folder from the young woman. "Thank you, ah, Susan."

She giggled slightly, and he inwardly sighed. The women here all seemed to find his accent faintly amusing. Or "cute", which he wasn't sure he liked. Amanda was the only woman so far who had failed to react to it, which he was grateful for.

He took a seat at his desk, relaxing into the large padded gas-lift chair and opened the folder. The contents were exactly the sort of campaign he had worked on before, bold adverts full of attractive young people, designed to appeal to young men and women alike.

He was so engrossed he didn't really notice Amanda leave his office to go and contact Philpotts.

The prime focus appeared to be magazine advertising. He started up the laptop on his desk, made a few notes - there were things he would have done differently, but they could well be cultural differences and he would need to consult with Amanda before suggesting such changes.

He frowned. Then found the internal directory list, and looked for Susan's extension number.

"Susan? It's John"

Again, a giggle. "Yes, I know. What can I do for you?"

"This Crawlley folder. Is it everything we have?"

"Yes... I'm sure it is."

"Hmm. OK, thank you..."

He hung up, and began typing rapidly, lost in thought.

About twenty minutes later, Mandy walked back into John's office.

"I rang Philpotts' office, and got his secretary, who forwarded me to his corporate jet! Apparently he has just bought two more clubs, which means the address list we were supplied with, is already out of date.

"I have managed to get us an appointment with him at the remodeled club here in town at 9:30 tomorrow morning. We will need to bring a company's camera to take images of the club, for us to work with. I wonder if you're willing to take the photos."

Then she spotted the folder Susan had brought in. "What did you think of Susan's team's first impressions? There are always suggestions to be made. We never get it right the first time, because of the nature of the business."

"Hey that's great work. I bet you anything you like Curston wouldn't have gotten an appointment so quickly."

John beamed at Amanda with genuine pleasure.

"As for pictures... I'm no professional but I can probably get something good enough for some work-ups until we can send in a pro."

Adam was selling himself a little short... it was true he was not a professional but he'd been doing photography as a hobby for years. He might well get some usable shots but better to play it low key rather than raise expectations and then fail to meet them....

"Oh... the Crawlley account? Well, the magazine inserts look pretty good - there are a couple of things that wouldn't work very well in the UK but I'd need to speak with you before suggesting any changes, since it might just be a difference in the demographics."

He leaned back in his chair.

"However, I've noticed there is no mention in the folder of any internet based campaigns... I think we really need to push the client in that direction. Social media, viral marketing, QR codes in the magazines maybe... We need to get the Crawlley Modelling Agency online."

Mandy listened to John’s ideas for the Crawlley account, and was pleased that he was settling in quickly. She was about to respond, when her private mobile phone chimes told her that she had received a text message. “Excuse me, while I read this, John.”

Her eyes opened wide as she read the text from John Wiltshire, her boyfriend. ‘Hello sexy! I guess I have lost the bet we made. Of all the time for Liverpool to lose to Arsenal! I will pay my bet when we chat tonight! Take care, John. XXX’

Mandy broke out into a grin as she remembered their bet. The loser had to strip on web-cam, and then masturbate. Oh, how she had longed to finally see her boyfriend naked and stroking himself.

Suddenly she realised that Adams was watching her grinning away like someone who had successfully pulled off a sneaky plot. “Er…it’s from John.”

Again Adams gave her an inquisitive look. “Oh, my boyfriend’s name is John as well.”

Then looking at the clock in his office, she added, “Let’s go and have those fish and chips. I don’t know about you, but I’m starving. I woke up late, so didn’t have time for breakfast, as we had that meeting at 9 this morning."

As the elevator started its descent to the main floor, Mandy wondered why her boyfriend had never hugged her when they met in person. They held hands, but he never hugged her. Oh, how she wanted to feel his arms around her waist. Any man's arms for that fact.

Then she had a thought, a bad thought. She placed herself in front of Adams as if she wanted to be the first out of the elevator, then she stepped back a little as if she wanted to read the floor indicator, then as she did so, she faked a backwards slip into the front of Adams.

Mandy suddenly felt Adams’ arms go around her waist. Not only that, she also sensed that her bum was up against his crotch. “Oh, my, I’m sorry John; I must have slipped on something, or lost my footing somehow. Thank you for kind assistance,” she said as he released his grip on her, just as the elevator’s tone announced their arrival at the main floor.

John smiled "I'm glad you told me - that could have caused a bit of confusion. We should get together for dinner sometime soon - you, John, Me and Kate."

He didn't expand on Kate's identity, as Amanda chattered on.

"Yes, I'm hungry too... was so nervous this morning I could barely eat... I'd heard my new boss was a real dragon..." he said with a grin.

Amanda stepped in front of him, so he couldn't see whether he had amused her or offended her... too much, too soon, maybe? My sense of humour is going to get me in trouble again, I know it...

At that point the he saw Amanda stumble as she stepped backwards, and instinctively stepped forwards to catch her, throwing his arms around her slender waist, feeling the toned flesh of her stomach through her thin blouse, and feeling her perfect bottom grind into his groin. He'd have had to have been superhuman not to respond, feeling himself start to harden, but thankfully she stood quickly enough that she had not, apparently, noticed. Certainly she didn't mention it - thank god...

"Oh, you are welcome... Ah, so, lets go eat, huh?"

As they walked into ‘TARTAN FISH AND CHIPS’, Mandy wondered who Kate was. Wife? Girlfriend? But for the time being she wasn’t going to ask John about her.

After ordering their meal, Mandy sipped her tea, as she recalled the episode in the elevator. I wonder if I turned him on, with my ass touching his…cock through his trousers, she thought.

“We have to see a final presentation for a private school promotion, when we get back. Oh, would you like to speak to Susan about your suggestions? I was thinking that you might like to oversee a project through to the end.”

Then a short time later, as they ate their meal, Mandy began to grin at John, which got his attention. “I was thinking about Philpotts and his clubs. I wonder what the ratio is between clubs that have female strippers, and those who have males."

To go with his chips, John ordered chicken with a southern fried coating, instead of fish.

"I love this stuff, but rarely get the opportunity to eat it... Kate hates KFC and the like, so we tend to end up in a pizza or burger place..."

He ordered a diet coke to wash it down with, looking apolgetic about it. "I genuinely prefer the taste over the sugary version... especially over here..."

He listened carefully as his boss explained the plan for the aftenoon, and nodded.

"I'd be delighted to speak to Susan, as long as she is willing to listen to me and not giggle about my accent" replied John, with a throaty, low and very English chuckle.

And then, as they ate, John eschewing cutlery and eating with his fingers, he saw Amanda's grin.

"Well.. I don't recall seeing any men in those photographs..." he said with a straight face, but then grinned back. "...but then, I probably wouldn't, would I?" he added, with a wink. "Did you?"

Mandy broke out into laughter at John's response to her statement about male strippers.

"Maybe I asked my question wrong. I wasn't thinking if Philpotts had male strippers, but thinking about the percentage of male strip clubs to female ones!"

Then she continued with a gleam in her eyes. "I certainly hope you don't look at male strippers, photo or real, otherwise your Kate maybe asking you questions! And no, there were no photos of male strippers in the folder, we looked at."

"Oh!" John joined in with Amanda's laughter, blushing slightly.

"Well... to be honest - in the UK I've never seen a strip-club just for women. usually they seem to be travelling troupes. Mind you, I wasn't exactly looking for one."

He closed his eyes and leaned back in thought for a moment.

"Maybe 5 percent? If that..."

Then he leaned forwards.

"I don't think Kate would appreciate me looking at other women any more than my looking at men!" he chuckled - but at the same time he couldn't stop his eyes from flickering up and down Amanda's body, speculatively.

So you think that your Kate doesn't like you looking at other women.

Mandy felt another bit of teasing coming on, as she spotted a well dressed woman at the counter, wearing a business suit, the skirt's slit allowing a glimpse of a half slip. Sliding into the seat by the wall, she then patted the seat she had just vacated. Looking at John, she said,"Could you be so kind, and sit next to me, for a sec?"

Once beside her, Mandy placed a hand on his thigh, and then whispered into John's ear, "See that lady at the counter? I want you to think that she comes up to you, and says, 'I'm going to stand on the table in front of you. You are to watch me all the time, doing nothing else. No eating, no drinking, no talking, and no looking away. For every minute you just keep looking at me, I will remove an item of clothing or jewelry until I am naked. The moment you start doing something else, I will stop, put back on what I have taken off, and then leave.'

"Now, as Kate isn't here, would you take up this lady's offer, even if it meant staring at her for, maybe, fifteen minutes?"

John moved seats with a puzzled look, and started at the feel of Amanda's hand on his thigh.

"Uh... strange question... Are you still thinking about the strip-clubs?" he asked, with a perplexed look.

Seeing that she wasn't going to let it go without an answer, he frowned and thought.

"Well... she's a good looking woman... but I don't really feel anything for her. A nude body with no emotional connection isn't that exciting to me, to be honest..."

He shrugged.

"I think that's the difference between a stripper and an erotic dancer... A stripper is just a woman taking her clothes of, wheras an erotic dancer forges that emotional connection with the way she moves, and the way she makes eye contact..."

He looked at the hand on his thigh, then at Amanda, and made deliberate eye contact with her. She started it... I should play along... He laid his hand over hers.

"Of course, if it were somebody else standing up there, the answer might be yes..."

"For a person who never visited a strip club, how come you know the difference between a stripper and an exotic dancer. Surely, a stripper just doesn't stand still while she undresses."

Then Mandy felt his hand rest upon her one that was on John's thigh. How she wanted to feel someone's hand on hers, more often.

"Of course, if it were somebody else standing up there, the answer might be yes..."

"Well, if it was a different location that was private, maybe you might get lucky," she responded, without mentioning herself as the girl involved, but clearly dropping a teasing hint.

John grinned, a playful look in his eye, and gave her hand a squeeze before letting go and returning his hand to his own lap.

"I think I'm going to enjoy working under you, Mandy..."

He wiggled his eyebrows comically, to let her know his flirtation was not serious.

but I hope Kate's in the mood for some fun tonight! he thought to himself.