by Opal Cole
"I hesitate to ask what you mean, but I can imagine it! I believe that we need more time to converse and get closer, but we'll get there one day, I promise. By the way, did you find any freckles here?"
She was still sitting with her top down and showing her perky breasts, proudly standing up. I leaned forward and placed a thorough kiss first on her left nipple, then on her right one.
"I found the mother of all freckles here" and I kissed it again with care and emotion "and here" and I kissed the other one equally thoroughly. "They'll need special treatment for a long time..."
I pulled her up and with great regret I watched her hiding her precious treasures under the top. She suddenly jumped into my arms and said that she was so happy, so very happy. I took the blanket and we walked back to the car. I put my arm around her shoulder, but she took it and placed my hand on her breast.
"These are yours now. Do with them whatever you want -- I shall enjoy every moment you touch them."
I gave her keys to the Porsche, but she did not want to drive.
"I'm unable to concentrate at this moment on driving a car. I just want to sit beside you and be happy."
We arrived in time at the Hilton and had a long and extended brunch. We talked about nothing and everything, about my feeling about her and hers about me, but often we just sat there and looked at each other and smiled. Occasionally her eyes became a bit teary, and when I asked whether anything was wrong, her only answer was that she was happy to be here and unhappy that she had to go home in a short time.
"My love, will you call me when you are home so that I know that you arrived safely? You have all my telephone numbers and call me whenever you want. I may not be able to answer immediately because I still have a demanding job but leave a message and I call you back as soon as I'm free. I shall also call you at night just to hear your voice and dream about you."
"Will you be free the weekend after next? Next weekend I've to go to Melbourne and make a presentation to a Business Association, but the weekend after I have to visit our branch offices -- after all, I am the marketing manager for large accounts and there are two accounts in Brisbane I'll have to visit. One is a current customer and the other a potential one. I was told that I should prepare well for that visit, as it is a big transport company busy all over Queensland and the CEO is a demanding lady. Everyone in my firm is terrified of her -- Peter was happy to unload her onto me."
She started to grin, and I stopped. "Anything I said? Do you know the lady?"
She just smiled and almost laughed and told me that I would find out by myself. "I could manage a visit to Brisbane on Thursday night, meet my people for dinner, have meetings all day and see you at night. I could stay until Sunday night. Are you interested?"
We had finished the meal and were ready to go to the airport. She looked at me and hit my arm, and not in a very friendly way.
"If you ever were to go through Brisbane and do not see me, I'll kill you, you idiot. I thought you were an intelligent man -- where did you come up with that question whether I was interested in seeing you? Of course I am and God helps you if you ever ask me something like this again."
She hit me again and people looked at us. She blushed a bit and when an elder lady came close, she just leaned over to her and murmured: "Men are so hopeless. Don't you agree? Well, he is a fool, but he is my fool."
And she kissed me in front of all these people. There was even a bit of applause and she blushed all over.
"Do you see the freckles -- you will never be able to hide it. " She smiled and said lowly: "Perhaps you have to spend more time kissing them away?"
We made it to the airport and we did not want to let the other one go. "Remember that these are yours " she said and pressed my hand on her breast. The temperature in the airport was a bit chilly and I gave her my blue cashmere pullover to cover her shoulders on the plane. One last kiss and a tight hug and I saw her entering the boarding gate. She blew a kiss to me and was gone.
I drove home and started to work, or at least I pretended to work. After realizing that I had read the same page at least ten times without registering what it wanted to confer, I gave up, turned on the TV and opened a bottle of a good California boutique red. Then the telephone rang and there she was, saying that everything was OK, the flight was fine, but lonely, that her mother had picked her up at the airport and immediately started an interrogation. What had happened in Sydney? Did she meet someone? Who was it? What had happened? Where did she meet that man? Did she go out with him? What had happened ... and so on and on, as only a mother can interrogate.
Maureen said that all the information she offered that she had met a guy in Peter's house, that they had gone out for dinner, the next day to the opera, and then had brunch and she left for Brisbane. Apparently, her mother did not believe that this was the whole story and insisted that her daughter, who had left as a grumpy and moaning person was not the same person who had come back smiling all over and visibly very happy. Maureen said that one day she would have to tell her more about us, but at this moment we still had a secret.
"James, I've to go. I'm tired and tomorrow have some tough lessons. Sleep well, dream of me and I love you."
'My love, I'm counting the days until I can come to Brisbane and see you again, hold you and kiss you. And I have to visit and inspect my new property -- is it still mine?"
"It'll always be yours, and everything else, too. Good night."
"Good night, love, sleep well, dream about the days we'll spend together, and I love you."
Both of us were waiting for the other one to hang up and suddenly I said: "I love you!" and hung up.
Since tomorrow was also a difficult day for me, I decided to try to sleep and to my surprise, succeeded easily. The tender thoughts I had about my Maureen --she was now my Maureen -- must have helped a lot.
A Fantasy about Love Pt. 02 - The Commitment
Chapter 5: A Challenging Proposal
The office was a drag on Monday morning. All work, redistributing responsibilities and among other things, preparing my trip to Melbourne and then, the other week, to Brisbane. There, one visit was to a satisfied customer, more a courtesy call from a new executive than anything else. The other one, National Transports, an Australia-wide transport company, but concentrating on Queensland and partly invading farther north, was something else. Peter had tried several times to sell our products and had come back every time defeated. He believed that it was not the quality of our proposals, but that the CEO, Mrs. Monahan, was the devil herself. She was never satisfied and always wanted more and expressed her opinion rather decisively. One of the problems was that she ran the company with an iron fist, and it was very profitable. What could we offer to be even better?
I had asked my people to do some research on methods of transportation in Australia and based on our contacts with the National Association of Transport Companies and our customers, we had a good picture of general information and the balance sheets of the major companies. Was there anything that in reality was different from what the official numbers showed? I remembered Maureen's comment on the illusion of reality and looked at the numbers again.
Compared to the competition, the percentages of their numbers on cost and expense looked fine, but what if I were to look at them in a different way? They had fewer trucks than the other companies, and if one calculated the cost of these trucks per unit the number was considerably higher. Analyzing personnel cost a similar picture developed. Perhaps there was a chance to propose to NT a detailed analysis of these and corresponding numbers and we might have a chance of a promising proposal. They charged high freight rates, using their exclusive location in the east and north of Australia. Had they found a market niche? I also remembered that I still had some data on American trucking companies lying around that might be interesting. I called my people in and suggested that we should work along this line and that I wanted ideas by tomorrow noon.
In the afternoon Peter walked into my offic
e and closed the door.
"James, what happened between you and Maureen over the weekend? Her mother called me and was very troubled that her daughter came back from Sydney completely different from when she had left. She interrogated Maureen and she can be quite formidable! But the only answer she received that she had met a guy in my house, had gone out for dinner and to the opera, and that the rest was her own business. She was baffled, however, because Maureen was smiling most of the evening."
He started to smirk. Perhaps there was a payback for the Grange coming up?
"So, my friend asked me about the guy Maureen had met in my house and I had to tell her the truth about you: that you came from a well-known Nazi family, were a typical rancorous German, quite ugly, but she should not worry because you are gay. This did not calm her down, however, and she wanted your telephone numbers. Expect her to call you tonight."
He left my office and left me sitting there absolutely stunned. Nazi? Ugly? Gay? What had I done to Peter? I got up and walked over to his office.
"You have two options: you can confirm that you said this to Maureen's mother, and I am going to hit you. Remember that I go to martial art classes and have a fifth Dan black belt. Or you tell me what you really said, and we might continue to be friends."
He laughed and said that his comments were a bit friendlier and that I should not worry. I should still be prepared, however, to receive a call from the lady. And would I please tell him what had gone on with Maureen and me? Why was she smiling?
As I turned away, I told him that it was our own business. And would you please tell me who this lady is? Why her concern? Maureen is, after all, a grown-up woman."
'Well, I hesitate to tell you, but it is better now than that you are taken by surprise. Maureen's mother is the CEO of the transport company you are going to see next week."
"You must be kidding me! Maureen is the daughter of Mrs. Monahan, CEO of NT? Do you know the reason for this treatment? And why did you wait until now to tell me?"
Suddenly I remembered that Maureen had been introduced as Maureen Monahan, but I had not put all the information together, and this was stupid. Perhaps I was not thinking very rationally in her presence?
Peter looked uncomfortable and said that his parents had known Maureen's parents, but they had grown apart after her father's death. And Eileen had become a rather bitter and lonely woman, driven by her need to forget her husband. There had been problems between the two women, but that was a story she had to tell me. And why now? He reminded me that he had told me at the party that the young lady was the daughter of a business contact of ours in Brisbane?
¨I never thought, however, that things would become emotional between to two of you so, please forgive me. As you said, that is your business now. Good luck on both fronts - on one at least you will need it."
That certainly put more pressure on me - to confront one irate mother who thought that she had to protect her daughter, and at the same time she was a potential customer, who should look at me with friendly thoughts. Well, this was why they paid me my un-princely salary.
We worked through the afternoon and I made certain that I left before seven. Back home, I waited until the clock stroke seven and called Maureen. She picked it up on the first ring.
"Darling, how was your day? Did you occasionally think of me?"
She started to speak at the same time but stopped and let me finish.
"James, my love, it was awful. I could not concentrate on anything throughout the day and have been sitting before the phone for over half an hour. Why did you wait until now to call me? Don't you like me anymore?"
"Maureen, I do have a job and it was not very easy today. Miss Parker, my secretary even asked me whether I had any problems, because once in a while, my eyes seemed to have glazed over and I was visibly someplace else, but I managed to survive and did my job. Tell me, why is your mother mad at me? Peter walked into my office today and told me that he had gone through a cross-examination on who I was, what I did, whether I had already committed evil crimes, and so on, and on. He also told me that she would call me tonight to continue the questioning. What do I have to expect?"
Maureen told me to calm down - she had resolved or at least reduced the problem already. She had a major fight with her mother, had put her foot down that certain subjects were hers to resolve, and hers only, and that despite all her mother's interference, she still loved her. So, no phone call tonight and could we please talk about something else, like the tingling feelings she had when she remembered the moment at the Gap, and why my voice was so distant. I should be there taking her into my arms! And at this moment she would give me a completely free license to hunt freckles all over her body! But unfortunately, this license would expire on soon ... So what would I do?
I said that I had a vivid imagination and I did remember the Gap and the hunting license, and last night, after I had gone to bed, I had extended the license already to all of her delicious body. It did not help very much, because afterwards it was worse than before. And I was certain that tonight it would happen again. Perhaps we could caress each other in our thoughts together?
Maureen moaned a bit on the other side and asked me to stop, but that I would have my recompense in Brisbane. Before she hung up, I asked her whether she knew that I would make a business presentation to her mother's company in two weeks' time on Friday afternoon.
"I feel sorry for you already, darling. She is ready and waiting for you. Try to be objective and don't let her get you under your skin. She can be bad, but remember that that Saturday you will have a very loving daughter all for yourself. And just to make you jealous: I am inspecting very carefully and in loving detail all your properties. It tingles nicely ... So get yourself something to eat, have a drink, and think that one day has already passed."
It dawned on me that the daughter could also be evil, but that the rewards would be much greater.
So the two weeks went - hard work during the day where the presentation was coming together, running at night and punching the hell out of the big bag to reduce my tension, and the nightly phone calls that had me happy and frustrated at the same time. I had agreed with Maureen that I would arrive in Brisbane on Thursday night, would have dinner with my colleagues to go through the presentation once more, have the two meetings on Friday, reserving NT for the last, and she would pick me up at seven to go out for dinner. I had found that Jim Albright was a good analyst and a natural leader; he had just not been challenged before and I did this now with a vengeance. He helped a lot and I put him on my future promotion list.
The Melbourne meeting went well and there was enough interest to justify another meeting soon. I was puzzled: why was this company not going much faster? There was a bit of whining and complaining about the unfairness of life and the stupidity of customers and prospects, but nobody seemed to be willing to do something about it.
But then the day arrived: Brisbane, here I come!
The flight was quiet, and I chose to read a book, one of these airport spy thrillers, rather than go through my presentation for the umpteenth time. My colleagues were farther back and most seemed to sleep. Good for them; they did not have to do the presentation to the Iron Lady!
The weather in Brisbane was fine and hot; perhaps a good omen?
The first meeting went well, and the customer was happy with our products and service. After a short lunch we walked into the NT building and were escorted to the main meeting room. We set up our equipment and waited for the NT executives.
The door opened and there she was: the redoubtable Mrs. Monahan, accompanied by a lady and four men. I knew at that moment where Maureen had inherited her beauty. She was stunning - long red hair twirled into a knot at her back, severely dressed in a business suit, and decisively striding forward.
"Mr. Winter, this is the third presentation I receive from your company why we should change our ways - and we never saw any reason to do so. Why should we hear another one?"
There was a moment of silence and even her colleagues looked at her with surprise about this unnecessary aggressiveness. Well, in for a penny, in for a pound.
"Mrs. Monahan, I would first like to introduce myself and my colleagues before I will try to answer your question. I am new in the job as Manager of Large Customers and had considerable experience outside of Australia.¨
I told our names and positions, and she did the same for her people. Then I started with our presentation.
"Mrs. Monahan, we looked at all the data at our disposal and I have to admit that your company is doing an outstanding job. You are first in profitability, and among the first in market dominance in your region. There is not very much we could do for you here."
She looked at me in surprise and asked why we were there at all if we could not do anything. Again, her voice was extremely aggressive, and it seemed to be personal. My colleague looked at me and whispered that he had never seen such behavior before - even from her. I told him to relax.
"Mrs. Monahan, please remember that I said we could not do very much for you in this region, the East of Australia. We believe, however, that your company has everything to expand farther south, and our analysis has given us some ideas how this could be done."
¨Let's look at some of your numbers. Compared to your competition you are always among the best, but you are not the best - something that you could or even should be. What we could see from your freight cost looks OK, but if one goes into more details one can imagine that a better distribution of trucks and logistics could let you grow without any significant new investments. Let me show you a comparison with some American companies. A similar analysis can be made of your personnel cost."
And then I want into my spiel. I had rehearsed it well, and the date was not conclusive, but suggested a way to solid growth. She interrupted at the beginning several times, but slowly got involved and asked pertinent questions. Even her colleagues felt courageous enough after the first explosions to ask questions and suggest ideas.