The Recession Strikes (Closed for Kilikana)

The Recession Strikes (Closed for Kilikina)

Gaverston Fabrication and Engineering Services had quite a reputation amongst it customers and competitors. All of their products in the last 10 years had be unbeatable. Even thought they were 50% more expensive than their most expensive competitors, what the customers got made it more worth their while. Better quality products that lasted longer than the competitors, more options, specializations, better support, and the list went on.

Most of this was due to Graham Haswell and his Research and Development team. Graham had been given the green light to hand pick his team, and use whatever incentives he could to get them to sign up. The first team members were hard to entice, but after a while, he was beating them off with a stick. Still, he had the best 6 man team around. Well, 4 men and 2 women. But, because of all of them, Graham gave the company the best products in the industry.

It was a Monday like any other Monday. Graham got into office, put his lunch away. He wandered out into the open planned cubicle country. The lay out was a mix of giving the R&D team members some privacy, while allowing them to easily congregate and share ideas. He pulled his chair up to the central table and he called everyone together for the Monday morning team meeting.

"Morning folks. Well, the boss wants you all to know he was thrilled with the efforts on RDP1274. It has hit every expectation, or surpassed them. So, everyone ensure your files are up to date, and in the project directory by Wednesday. The lads down in the manufacturing area will be ready to roll with it first thing Thursday.

"Anyone got any questions, comments, or anything else to say before we get stuck into the next project?"

Work. That’s all there was. Since she was a child, her parents pushed her to be all that she can be. Stupid saying. They wanted her to succeed in life, to BE someone, to GO places. So she worked and worked, did her best and then some. After college, Natalya Dimitri had immediately gotten hired by Gaverston, unheard of for one so young.

But her age was overlooked by the higher ups in the food chain because she was good at what she did. Damn good. She was always early, stayed late. Never took sick days and only allowed herself one vacation a year. She worked hard for the respect she wanted, the salary. In just a decade, Natalya climbed the latter, passed the tests her superiors laid out for her and was promoted to the rank she was now. At thirty-years old, she was a well cherished and critical member of the Research and Development team.

Natalya arrived at the usual seven-thirty in the morning, coffee in one hand, briefcase in the other. She greeted the other early birds politely as she made her way up to her office. As work oriented as she was, she failed to notice the looks some of her masculine colleagues (and the occasional feminine one) gave her. Looks that were not in the least bit professional. She hadn’t realized that, in striving to be the best all her life, had a profound effect on her physical looks.

She was neither tall nor short, her body dominated by curves yet she was slender- the hour glass some would call it. Her hair was thick, long, a mass of silk of which the color defied description; its hot burgundy highlights put many in mind of vintage wines; not to mention the woman had skin like fine china. Plus, she had killer bones and, of course, the eyes. They made you stop and wonder, those eyes. Was this oddly exotic creature really as prim as she looked?

The elevator ride was short, in which time Natalya made sure her black skirted business suit and red shirt was as crisp as it was an hour ago when she put it on after her morning run; her hair up in its tidy bun. She never wore her hair down at work. Once she was settled in at her cubical (corner spot!), she sipped her coffee as she checked her emails, most of which was spam. Then it was time for the usual morning meeting.

She greeted her “partners in crime” as they joking referred to themselves as she took her seat. As with the beginning of every work day, Natalya tried hard not to stare at her boss. Which was difficult to do, and she really had no idea why. When Graham was finished, she prayed that the only other woman on their team, Mimi, kept her mouth shut. But of course, that wasn’t going to happen; Natalya often heard things about the rest of the people in the company whether she wanted to or not from Mimi.

The blond raised her hand as if they were in class. Natalya often wondered why Graham had picked her as part of his team, but Natalya knew that despite her dizziness, Mimi was a hard worker when it came down to it. Natalya just wouldn’t admit it. “Sir, are the rumors true? About the company being in trouble?”

If her pride had allowed it, Natalya would have bashed her head on the table.

Graham saw Mimi raise her hand just like a school kid would. Mimi was one of those people that made plastic surgeons cringe in fear. To look at her, she would still pass as a final year student at a high school. She had worked there for 6 years, after graduating from university and 4 years in a rival firm before he poached her. But she still looked like an 18 year old. Except for her electronics knowledge, she even thought and spoke like an 18 year old.

“Sir, are the rumors true? About the company being in trouble?”

Graham chuckled a little bit. He heard the same rumours too. Ever since the economy took a nose dive, the rumours were floating around within minutes of the news appearing on the TV.

"No. The rumours, and they are just that, rumours, are not true. We've got contracts still rolling in, and our latest project will keep the cash flow positive for the company. So, until there is any form of official announcement, just ignore the rumours, and it's all business as usual.

"Of course, if I hear anything, I'll let you all know asap."

He looked around the table, getting the normal batch of smiles and nods from the team. Again, he noticed Natalya staring at him again. Even though he had 10 years on her, the way she looked after herself knocked a few years off her appearance. The attention he was receiving from her was at first unsettling, but he got used to it. Lately, it was giving him other reactions. Her eyes, and that rich mane of hair that she kept locked up were always things that she could see throughout the day. And the way she dressed, professional all the way, but still managed to show off her assets so well.

But she was there because of the work she produced, not how she looked. He snapped himself back from his little introspection.

"Anything else of substance?" When no one spoke up, "Ok, meeting's over. Let's make the boss' eyes pop again with the next project." He took his chair back into his office, and sat down to review their reports and notes on their tasks, so he could have his report ready for the management meeting that afternoon.

Natalya finished her coffee, tossed her paper cup in the bin under her desk. Her cubical was very professional, almost entirely bare of personal effects. She did have one or two things that gave a glimpse into her personal life, like the photo she had of her cat, Phoenix. A photo of her family, taken from their last get together. Other then that, it was the ideal working space; lots of room, things neatly stacked and organized. She got to work, slender fingers moving over the keyboard in front of her with ease.

Several time, Mimi came over to talk and Natalya was glad she could multi task. When the subject arose of their boss being “super delicious” came up, she made an excuse to run to the copy room. Glad it was empty for the moment, she leaned back against the off white wall and took a deep breath. Being a healthy woman, Natalya had her share of boyfriends over the years, even a fiancé at one point. She was not naive in the ways of men.

She was, however, a sensible woman. Men like Graham were a part of an elite circle, the kind of men who had the world at their fingertips. Which not only meant money and power, but women as well. Natalya knew she was good looking, pretty if she let herself be prideful. But she was no where near the level of the kind of women that moved in her boss’s circle. With a small sigh, she pushed off the wall, intending to head back to her desk and hoping that Mimi had gone off to bother one of the guys.

He had lunch at his desk, putting all the the finishing touches on his report. There was a lot to cover, particularly when a R&D project went live. Certain processes had to be adhered to, as well as extra sections of the standard report needed filling in.

He had it all together with 15 minutes to spare. He gathered up his notes and his EasyPC, the 'PDA on Steriods' as he called it from time to time, and headed off to the conference room.

"Right everyone, I'm off to the managers meeting. Natalya, you're in charge until I get back. Should be back in two hours." He had been watching Natalya, professionally, and she had the signs of being a good manager of the R&D department. So, he'd giver her a shot, even if it was a little one.

He arrived with the rest of the managers, and they rolled into the room and took there normal seats.

Alex Gaverston, the 55 year old son of the founder and CEO of the company took his place at the head of the table. He was as good as his father, and helped the company grow to where it was today. Unfortunately, none of the next generation were business minded enough to take over, though Robert Gaverston was a damn fine accountant, and the head of the Accounting Department at the ripe old age of 27.

Sitting to the left of Robert was Grace Millings, Manager of the Sales Department. She could talk an eskimo into buying ice, and think he got the better end of the deal.

To Alex's right was where Graham sat, with the Fabrication manager Ted Wilson next to him. Graham and Ted worked well as a team, which was another good reason the company had few hiccups. the pair fed data back and forward constantly to ensure that when a new product went live, it went smoothly.

Finally, the Stores Manager Peter Smith flanked Ted. His ability to be able to name, locate and quote the quantity of most of the items in the storage area still amazed most of his coworkers.

"All right, people, let's get this meeting going. Now, before any other business is dealt with, we have to discuss the impact of the economic downturn. We're still riding well, but things are going to be a little rough over the next month or two.

"Now, starting immediately, everyone in this room is taking a twenty-five percent pay cut until we get through this mess. The reason being is we'll need a bigger cash buffer to smooth out any cash flow issues."

"Excuse me, Alex," Grace spoke with her smooth as silk voice, "I haven't seen any changes in the sales figures to indicate that we're not hitting the mark. Why this action?"

Robert spoke up after a glance from Alex. "Some of our bigger customers have requested extensions on their credit, and after some serious negotiations, they have been granted. This is going to make the cash on hand we need a lot tighter, and if there is a hiccup along the way, we would be in a great deal of trouble. This measure will cover the shortfall until things normalise again. Plus,we will need to run down our stock levels a bit more, so we don't have as much tied up in inventory." Ted and Peter both looked a bit uncomfortable at that news.

"Now, there is no need to discuss this with the staff, as we have had episodes like this before and it was all over and done with within a month," Alex said. But I know that this place has rumours like any other, so keep up the good front.

"Now, department reports. Robert, can you fill us in on the rest of the Accounting Department news."


The meeting broke up three hours later, and the managers all plastered their 'everything is fine' faces on before they reached the door. Graham didn't notice much as he walked back to his office and collapsed into his chair.

Natalya knocked on Graham's door soon after he returned from the meeting. A stack of papers were in her arms as she stuck her head into his office. "Sir? I have a report for you." She moved into his office, blinked in surprise at his expression.

She set the report on his desk, but didn't leave. "Graham, is everything alright?" Compared to how he looked when he left for the meeting, on the return trip he looked like he was going to be ill.

"Hmmm? Oh, sorry, Natalya... I was off with the pixies." He saw the report on his desk, and the slightly worried expression on her face. "Well, I can safely say that some of my fellow managers are just as easy to fall prey to a good rumour as the rest of the employees." He shook his head, mainly kicking himself for not hiding things as well as he could. "So, that little discussion, plus eating my lunch a little too quickly has made me a little off.

"Anyway, no trouble holding down the fort while I was gone? Come in for a sec, and take a seat." He watched her saunter over to the chair, delighting in her movements before he dragged himself back to a more professional mode. When she sat down and settled, he continued. "I have some leave coming up soon. And when I take it, I was going to have you running things here while I'm away. You seem to have a good rapport with the other staff, and you're on top of things work wise."

He gave her a minute to let it sink in. "What do you think? Any questions?"

She was both delighted and disappointed by his announcement. Happy that he trusted her so much, sad that he wouldn't be around for a while. She tried to keep a neutral look on her face. "I would be honor, sir. May I ask where you are going?" She crossed her legs at the knees and sat back in the chair comfortably. Then she realized she was staring at his mouth and decided that she needed to stop doing that.

Graham noticed that Natalya settled into the chair, getting herself comfortable. When she crossed her legs, he fought down the urge to lean forward, if not just got out of his chair to get a better look at her shapely legs. Fortunately, the way the top part of her suit was stretched and pulled, all thoughts of her legs vanished for a few seconds.

Dragging his eyes back to hers, he answered her question. "Nowhere this time, I am planning on just bumming around home, doing next to nothing and enjoying every moment. But anyway, that's still over a month away at least. So we'll have plenty of time to get you ready for it." Graham frowned a little. "You know, this is the first time you have asked me anything about my non-work life. What about you? What are you thinking of doing on your next vacation?"

Natalya stared at him for a moment, then a slow smile curved her lips. "You're right. It is." She shrugged her shoulders, the movement somehow elegant on her. She was well prepared for the task of directing the department, so she thought about his question for a moment, her gaze sliding over him with feminine appreciation. Damn, even the man's neck was sexy. Color rose in her cheeks and she cleared her throat.

"I'm not entirely sure yet. I have been thinking of going somewhere where it's hot, with nice white beaches. The Caribbean, maybe. Someplace where I can get out of suits and into a bikini. Maybe get into a hot and steamy love affair with a dashing rouge." She chuckled a bit. "I'm joking about that last part."

"You own a bikini?" Graham was genuinely surprised, as all he had ever seen Natalya in was her business attire. She never attended the company social functions, and never went out for the Friday beer with the rest of the team. So, he had no idea of how she would dress socially, or even just for comfort. His mind drifted to what she would look like in a bikini, but again, swept the thought aside. She was a co-worker, not someone he'd pick up at a bar.

"Sounds like a good idea, Natalya. Anyway, thanks for looking after the place while I was in the meeting. I have some stuff I need to deal with, and I would like to see you leave here and head home before I finished up. Let me correct that, you will be walking out the door today before I do."

He looked into those exotic eyes of hers, trying very hard to think of what heritage she had to give her such enchanting eyes.

Her slender brows rose. "A command, Graham?" She grinned at him as she stood, took a dramatic bow. "Your wish is my command, sir." She turned, smiling to herself. This was the first time they had ever spoke without talking about business or anything related to it. It was refreshing, and she enjoyed it. Maybe she should rethink about accepting the usual Friday night invitation to go out with the rest of the group to get plastered. If she was lucky, she might even get a glimpse of him with his tie lose. Enjoying the thought, she nearly skipped to the door like a school girl with a crush.

The next three days were crazy. Rumours were flying thick and fast, and not even a direct talk from the boss did anything to quash them. They were elevated further when two of the more senior workers tended their resignations that would come into effect while they were on their vacations.

Graham felt fortunate that his team was not afflicted by the same silliness. Or so he thought. During lunch on Thursday with the team either eating at the central table, or working not far from it, Jason May showed he was one of those who was putting weight behind the rumours.

"God, I hope that all the talk doing the rounds is crap," he said after swallowing a mouthful of his sandwich. "I've done a little investigating, and there is nothing out there for people like me. Without taking a massive pay cut at least." He took another bite out of his lunch.

"Well, Jase, good thing to know your not going anywhere soon," Graham replied.

"You sure?" There was a touch of nerves in the response.

"I haven't heard otherwise. There has been no talk, official or otherwise, that people are getting the axe. You all know that if I heard anything, I'd tell you. As far as I am aware, we are all in a job here for the foreseeable future."

Natalya was one of the ones at the table eating instead of working for once. She sipped delicately at her bowel of soup as she listened to the others around her. She paused to take a drink from her iced tea and to add her two cents. "I'm not worried. Rumor is rumor, like you said, Graham. I trust you to tell us when Armageddon hits this place." She gave her boss a genuine smile before returning to her meal.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence, Natalya." Graham wasn't entirely sure, but he thought there had been a change in Natalya's behaviour towards him. She had always been polite to him, but she was always professional too. This was entering a little gray area.

He was about to reply to Natalya when his mobile phone declared he had a text message. He pulled the phone out and saw it was from Alex Gaverston.

Come and see me in my office as soon as you have finished your lunch.

Graham closed the message, and continued eating his lunch, not showing any sign of what the message was. When he finished his lunch, he hung around a little, talking to the team about all sorts of things - the usual lunch time stuff.

"Well, kids, I have an errand to run. I'll be back shortly." He went to his office, grabbed his keys, and headed off to Alex's office. He was let in straight away, and when he saw Robert there was well, he knew there was bad news coming.

"Thanks, Graham, take a seat," Alex said in a flat voice. "Graham, one of our major customers has closed up shop. They had been in receivership for the last 12 months, and were on the verge of recovering when things went south for them. This has hit us badly. We need to reduce our expenses if we are to keep going.

"Graham, we need to release some of your staff."

Graham's stomach dropped. He wanted to say something, but the words failed him.

"Graham, here is our recommendation list for those who should be released. Of course, if you feel that someone on that list is worth keeping, then you can swap them with someone else. But the numbers of your staff will be reduced. I'm sorry, Graham, but everyone's feeling the squeeze, and all departments are being asked to release people."

Alex handed Graham a folder that had several sheets of paper within. He just nodded, picked up the folder and left Alex's office. He went straight to his car, and drove off to a local park. He sat in the carpark, and reviewed the notes of who they recommended should be 'released'. Jason May, Tony Francis and Natalya Dimitri. If he could, he wouldn't get rid of any of them, but even after reviewing the data which the recommendations were based on, he couldn't fault their list.

He spent a few minutes trying to think of options to salvage as much form this as he could, but he was over the barrel. He had to get rid of three of his staff, no exceptions.

After lunch, Natalya cleaned up, made a quick trip back to the ladies’ room. On the way back, she noticed something was off within the building. There was melancholy in the air, as well as frustration and anger. She rubbed her arms, feeling cold all of a sudden. She didn’t want to be in the building any longer, felt like there was something bad that was happening, though no one would tell her what. Not that she was asking. She didn’t want to know.

So she got back to her cubical, threw herself into her workload. Yet she kept getting distracted. A little voice kept creeping into her mind, filling it with doubts to the point that she wanted to do something violent to her computer. Instead, she leaned back in her chair, closed her eyes, and rubbed her temples.

Graham drove back to the office, trying to figure out how to break the news to people, whether to tell everyone straight up that the axe was about to drop, then call them all into his office one at a time to let them know whether they still had a job or not. Or just do the call up. He hadn't made up his mind by the time he pulled back into his parking spot.

30 minutes had passed from the time he left his office to the time he got back. He decided he had to say something. He dragged his chair out to the table.

"Emergency meeting people." Graham waited for the team to assemble. "All right, I wont beat around the bush. The Boss has asked me, along with the other managers to choose who we want to keep. And... to make things worse, he wants me to halve the team size. I haven't been given a time frame, but I suspect that it will be soon.

"Now, look, I don't mind if you use as little of the company time and resources to find yourself somewhere else to work. And I'll happily be a referee for your CVs. Oh, I will talk to each of you individually either today or tomorrow about where you stand in the grand scheme of things."

He sighed. "Any questions?"

The room was completely silent. Deathly so. The first one to make noise was Mimi, who burst into tears. Natalya always thought of the the other woman as a drama queen, but in that moment, she didn't mind in the least. Instead, Natalya wrapped her arm around the weeping blond and tried to comfort her the best she could.

Then she turned her emerald eyes on her boss. "It would be easier to make a move if we knew which one of us was going to be... let go." She could barely get the words out. This place was like her home, these people like her family. She almost felt like crying herself, but she held her emotions in check. This was a time to be thinking with the mind, not the heart.

When Mimi started crying, Graham felt like he had just slapped her. The rest of the team looked like they all took a hit to the gut. He looked over at Natalya while she consoled the crying blonde.

"Well, I haven't come up with my recommendation list yet. Which is why I am wanting to talk to each of you alone, so I can figure out who I'm going to keep. I only found out after lunch, so you're in the know as much as I am."

Graham felt uncomfortable sitting with his team. He stood up slowly, and took his chair to his office, and sat down, trying to think if he would go with the recommendations, or make up his own mind.

After Natalya got Mimi to calm down with tissues and Natalya's own stash of peanut M&Ms, she checked on the others who seemed to be... lost. They were all adults here, nearly middle aged, yet she could see that all of them felt like little children who just got their candy stolen. After mentally preparing herself, after fighting down the urge to kick and scream and do childish things, she made her way to Graham's office. This time she didn't bother to knock, instead just marching in and shutting the door behind her.

"We need to talk."

Graham was looking over the recommendations when Natalya stormed into his office, closing the door behind her.

"We need to talk."

He looked up at her as she stood just inside the door. The way she stood, her green eyes boring into him, pulled her suit in a number of distracting ways. It made him focus on her shape, noticing the curves, and the way her shirt was stretched a little from her breasts. She also stood in a way that showed off her legs to best effect. Graham liked her legs, and wanted to see more of them. He really wished he could see her in a bikini. Even just seeing her with her hair down, literally.

"Sure, take a seat and tell me what's on your mind."

Instead of sitting, she came to stand before his desk. She laid her palms flat on the cool top and leaned toward him. She didn't try to come off as though she were making any kind of... threatening move toward him, but she wouldn't deny that she was feeling hostile. She was quiet for a moment, just stared at him, his face. Then she took a breath and spoke, proud of herself that her voice didn't shake when all she really wanted to do was curl up in a ball like a child and cry.

"What do I have to do to keep my job? Name it, and I will do it. Anything."

Graham was taken aback by her aggressive approach to the situation. He was in a spot where he didn't want to be. He didn't want to tell any of them that they were going to loose their jobs. Natalya was not making it easy. Her outburst made him forget to think like a manager, and he thought like a man.

"Well, since you're name is on the list of people Management wants released, your options of anything are severely reduced. So much so, about the only way I can think of for you to keep your job would be to give me your body."

He couldn't believe he said what he did, but he readied himself to laugh it off as a bad joke brought about by a stressful time.

... Give me your body.

Natalya let the words sink in, and her body seemed to go into over drive. A ringing start in her head as heat pooled low and begged for release. It was such an overwhelming sensation that her thighs squeezed together and her fingers curled on the desk. She nearly swayed at the images that bombarded her mind and she let her breath out. It sounded all wrong, that sigh. Breathy and feminine. Full of need.

She tried to deny it. To say no, this was stupid. But when her lips parted, the complete opposite came out. "Your wish... is my command."

Graham watched for Natalya's reaction, completely surprised at how she eventually reacted. She darkened slightly around her lips, and he thought she was having very pleasant thoughts. She let out her breath in a way that made him stiffen.

"Your wish... is my command."

For a moment, he thought he was dreaming. But everything suggested that she was serious. The thoughts of instructing her on what to do, privately, sexually, was too much for him. What had been a fantasy, almost a joke, was now a reality. Well, almost. He could not test her words here in his office. Anyone could disturb them, and then there were all sorts of other issues.

"Very well, Natalya, when I finish work today, I'm going to follow you home. When we get there, I'll see if you're good to your word. If you are, then you're job will be safe." He took a deep breath. "Now, get back out there and get to work."