Note: This story was dynamically reformatted for online reading convenience.
 
 Synopsis When a works team bonding exercise in a hotel looks like ending in
a failed project, the interior designer tries another form of bonding.

   Outside the Team by obohobo

   Warnings

   Please take note!  The text in this story contains erotic material and
is expressly written for adults only.  MF Rom

   If you are underage or offended by such material, or if viewing this
file is illegal in your locality, then leave, close or delete this
file-story now.  This is a work of fiction, any resemblance to persons
living, dead or otherwise is purely coincidental.  The ideas and thoughts
that follow are pure fantasies.  In real life, at the very least they would
be unpleasant and probably illegal.  Fantasies are like that; daydreams
where we can contemplate and imagine the sensations without suffering or
inflicting the pain, despair or humiliation.

   (C) obohobo 2011

   "...  as you are all aware, I booked you into this hotel with a
conference room facility close to the site so we could expedite the design
and costing of the conversion of the old Victorian clothing factory into
premises suitable for a modern mail order company on two floors and
accommodation for the owner and his family on the third, without losing the
character of the old building.  Having you all in one room should have
promoted a speedy interchange of ideas and over the week you have been here
I expected the various disciplines within the group, to have coalesced into
a single, vibrant team that worked and bonded together, both on the job and
socially.  Sadly this has not been the case with several members of the
team," he paused slightly and looked at Pauline Collins, his secretary who
we heard refused to go to bed with him but she didn't look up and he
continued, "And unless they get their act together we could well lose the
contract.  This morning when I spoke to Geoffrey Pinkerton, the owner of
the property, he indicated his displeasure at the progress of the design
departments particularly when it now looks unlikely that we will have even
draft plans by the end of next week, like I promised..." Ben Chavington,
the project manager, gave what he considered a `pep talk' to inspire and
chivvy the group into action but for some it had the reverse effect.

   "What a lot of old bollocks!" I muttered, "Ben smarty-pants straight out
of university not two months ago with a degree in business studies and an
uncle who happens to be the CEO of the firm, thinks he knows everything
about organising a project and we who have been doing the job for a good
many years, know nothing; we're considered Luddites, dinosaurs who are not
up to speed with the latest technologies and ideas.  Hell, he couldn't even
organise the accommodation at the hotel without a balls-up.  To him we were
just a list of names with a job on a computer, not humans with
relationships."

   With four men and four women in the group, to save money he booked four
double rooms expecting us to share although he booked an extra room for
himself, I suspect more because he wanted to attract women to his bed
rather than to distance himself from the `workers'.  On paper, the
arrangement might have worked but Roger Thompson, the 25 year-old the
junior architect and Jodi Carson, a fiery redhead whose job here is to
estimate materials and source supplies, were partners and have lived
together as man and wife for a number of years.  I hadn't started to unpack
when she stormed in and ordered me out and when I complained she laughed,
"I guess you'll have to sleep with the big white chief and you can do a bit
of brown-nosing at the same time." Knowing Jodi, I knew the words were
teasing and not malicious, particularly as I had already made known my
feelings about him.

   Ben vehemently refused to consider it or let me travel from home each
day and in the end, when none of the others would move around, it took all
the force of his authority to quell the storm that broke out and threats of
sanctions, to get Rachel Catalan our 24 year old IT expert and confirmed
lesbian to allow me to sleep in the same room as her which I did with the
threat of a rape charge if I so much as looked at her sexually.  After a
failed relationship many years previously, I'd decided not to go that route
again and assured her that she would be safe with me.  In any case our
ten-year age gap and the difference in our professions; with an IT
background and heavily into computers she eschewed my preference for a
pencil and a sketchpad even though my work as an interior designer means
that I must perforce use a computer too, would restrict our closeness.

   All went well for the first three days and with each of us changing in
the bathroom, I barely glimpsed any of her flesh that wasn't normally on
view.  On the fourth afternoon, I came into the room early and decided to
shower and being alone, didn't bother about walking naked into the room to
get my clean pants.  She chose that moment to enter the room with Sarah
Goodson our liaison officer.  Rachel yelled at me to get my trousers on but
Sarah, looking unashamedly at my firm but not erect, prick, commented,
"Geez Tom, I didn't think you'd be so well equipped," and before dinner
that evening everyone in the group knew about my `enormous weapon' that
grew larger with each telling, whereas in truth it's only a little above
normal at about 7 and-a-bit inches when hard.  While I'd mentally recalled
my stay at the hotel, Ben reviewed the progress of each worker praising
some particularly Sarah who did sleep with him and Bob Newsom who
meticulously surveyed the structure.  From the way things were going, I
knew it would soon me my turn, not to receive praise but to be lacerated
with the sharp edge of his tongue, however, he attacked Richard `Dick'
Stevens, our 45 year old chief architect, first.  "After a week here you
and your assistant have nothing but a few vague outlines and drawings of
the place as it is now, to show for your time.  You've been sitting around
pretending to make notes or wandering over the site measuring this and that
and yet have produced nothing in the way of a draft plan.  I hope you
intend working over the weekend to make up for the wasted time."

   I knew Dick wouldn't put up with comments like that but wouldn't get
angry or abusive and he confirmed this by pushing his bulk up, scraping his
chair noisily out of the way to allow his pot belly to clear the table and
in his usual quiet way said, "Male bovine excrement!" before pushing his
way around the others and out of the room.  I've never known him to
actually swear and those that understood his terminology, covered their
faces to hide their smirks from Ben.

   "Your job is just as much at risk as everyone else's," Ben yelled after
him and we knew the simple answer had rattled his nerves.  Then came his
assault on me.  "As for you Tom Harris, you designers are all the same, you
think you are outside the team and have the right to sit around doodling on
scraps of paper to try and make us believe you are thinking.  Well you
don't fool me..." Taking a leaf out of Dick's book, I turned my chair
around and faced away from him while he, red faced, continued to lambaste
my work and me.  Maybe I should have told him that the whole concept of the
time away was wrong, but I didn't, he could find that out the hard way.  I
couldn't design the interiors until the architects determined the size and
shape of the rooms and Dick couldn't really get started until Bob completed
the structural survey to determine which of the inside walls could safely
be knocked down.  I also needed to talk with the owners although I had a
fairly good idea of their requirements because I knew them and stayed with
them several years ago but at the moment to keep the peace, I went along
with the advice Sarah said she'd received from the him and didn't let her
or Ben know of my inside knowledge.

   *****

   "You leaving Tom?  Going home after Ben's comments?"

   "No, Pauline, I'm going away to another guest house for a few days, the
atmosphere here is depressing and demoralising.  I work better where it is
quieter and I don't want him to think I'm resigning.  You don't look very
happy either."

   "Ben and Sarah left me this pile of work so it will be midnight before I
get to bed.  I don't know how much more of this I can take.  Reports,
reports and more reports and most of them I suspect are not read."

   "Bin them and come to the guest house with me.  I've a twin room and
like with Rachel, you won't be raped or anything."

   "I'd lose my job."

   "You'll lose your mind if you stay for long and end up with a nervous
breakdown and in any case, the future of this project hangs by a thread. 
Go and pack your stuff and let's get the hell out of here.  I doubt you'll
get the sack and if it went to a tribunal his behaviour would be closely
questioned and because he invited you to his room, you could play the
sexual harassment card."

   "I don't know, Tom..."

   Seeing her wavering, I picked up the pile of papers and theatrically
dumped the lot in the wastepaper basket, jumbling and mixing them until it
would take a considerable time to sort them again, such was my certainty
that she really wanted to get away and my anger at the way Ben treated us.
"Go pack," I ordered quietly.

   *****

   "They'll think we've gone away for a dirty weekend." Pauline sounded
part worried and part amused but I couldn't look because of the heavy
traffic on the narrow road.

   "It's probably best if they do." She looked puzzled but didn't question
the remark and I didn't explain.

   "Sarah will be disappointed, she intended to seduce you this weekend."

   "I thought she slept with Ben."

   "She does, but only to further her career.  She said he's nothing to
speak about in bed and she's gone on at great lengths about the size of
your manhood and I think at the last telling, you had enough to service an
elephant, so I may well have to stay in my own bed for safety." I heard her
giggle.

   "It's your choice as to which bed you sleep in, I won't force or coerce
you."

   "Am I not attractive enough to warrant a little coercion or would you
rather wait for Sarah's attentions, assuming they ever let us back into the
group?"

   "God forbid that I would partner Sarah, she'd bully and try to dominate
me more than Mary, my ex, ever did.  You're far more attractive than that
skinny, painted up bitch."

   "Do you really think so?"

   "Yes.  You're no glamour girl, you're too short and not slim enough for
that, but attractiveness is more than your bodily shape, it's personality.
You have all the qualities that Sarah hasn't; kindness, a willingness to
help even when it would be better to refuse, and a loving reliability." I
tried to find other suitable adjectives until we arrived at our guesthouse
and I introduced Pauline to the landlady who seemed more than pleased that
I brought a girlfriend after visiting three times on my own.

   "We've been missed, Pauline." I showed her the text message on my phone;
we'd both turned them off during our escape.

   <Where are you Harris?  Is Pauline with you?>

   <Yes, abducted by aliens and we're several hundred miles above earth>

   "I'm worried, Tom, I don't want to lose my job and have to give up my
little cottage because I can't keep up the payments."

   "It won't happen, Pauline, it's all in hand."

   "You're hiding something from me!"

   "Only this." I put my hand over my groin.  That didn't bring the smile I
hoped for, instead she looked on the verge of bursting into tears, until I
hugged her close and reassured her that I would shoulder the blame if it
didn't work out.  With her clutched tightly to my body I couldn't resist
the temptation to give her a kiss, and then another.  "Have I to coerce you
into my bed tonight?" I whispered in her ear.

   "Yes, with a few more kisses like that, I won't be able to resist your
charms or your elephant prick."

   We showered together and played with each other with me fondling and
sucking her fulsome tits and she rubbing her crotch against my prick until
we were both aroused, me obviously so, and she commented that, while it
wasn't as large as Sarah suggested, she'd not taken one as big before and
asked me to treat her gently.  I did and with her juices flowing freely, my
prick slid in easily and we were able to make love without any discomfort
and with a good deal of enjoyment.  We did so for half an hour during which
time I knew she'd climaxed twice and then early in the morning we did it
again for a shorter time.

   *****

   "Why are we getting up so early?" Pauline sleepily queried when I roused
her at 7:30 a.m.

   "Tee off time is 9 o'clock."

   "Golf?"

   "Yes, and bring your notepad and pencils."

   "What sort of game are you playing with me, Tom Harris?"

   "One that I hope will ensure our future with the firm."

   Pauline immediately recognised Geoffrey Pinkerton and he her, even so I
introduced them, "This is Pauline Collins my new assistant, Sir..."

   "None of that Sir, stuff Tom and that goes for you too Pauline, I'm
Geoff unless we're in a formal meeting.  How did you prise her away from
Ben?"

   "Officially it's alien abduction," Pauline chirped, quickly becoming at
ease with the down to earth man.

   We played nine holes, neither of us showing any great skill but the
banter it produced brought us closer together and Pauline learned that I
had been in college with his son and had stayed with the family several
times.

   Things became more serious after lunch at his home with his
middle-eastern wife, Batul, his daughter-in-law Teresa and her
thirteen-year-old daughter, Fiona.  Paul his son, worked overseas much of
the time leaving his wife Teresa and Fiona in his family's care.  "What's
the problem with the project, Tom?  Management?  That Ben's still wet
behind the ears and too arrogant to know it." I went on to explain the
problems as I saw them and gave my ideas on the interior designs of the
their personal rooms.  This appeared to please them, particularly Fiona who
wanted to help me design her room, but towards the end of the discussion,
Geoff looked grave, "I like your ideas Tom and I'm sure we could work with
them and you but this is a million pound plus project it's in chaos. 
There's some good people on the site but they're being throttled and made
to run around chasing their arses without achieving anything, all because
of one person and I cannot for the life of me understand why Ralph Baker
your CEO put him in charge when he has so little experience.  I don't trust
his sidekick, Sarah, either and I'm sure she says what she thinks will
elevate her in my books, whether or not it's the truth.  So Tom, and you
too Pauline, I hope we can still be friends after this but I have to tell
you bluntly that unless there is a major restructuring of your workforce,
I'll pull the plug on your firm getting the contract.  I had intended to do
that on Monday but in view of your visit, I'll give you a few more days but
unless there's a shake-up in the project, I guess you'll all be looking for
other work.  I'm sorry it has to be this way but there's too much money
involved to have it wasted and the work not completed on time or to budget,
because that's what it means to me."

   *****

   "We're all going to lose our jobs, aren't we Tom, there's no way Ralph
Baker will oust his nephew because of his family connections and his wife
wearing the trousers where Ben and family are concerned." I tried to
comfort her but she pushed me away and said it was all my fault and it took
a lot of reasoning to point out that it would have definitely happened on
Monday if I hadn't taken her away and now we'd a few more days to sort the
problem.  "What are we going to do?" she asked when her tears had more or
less dried up, "Can we throw them off the project without the CEO's
assent?"

   "We may have to try, dear, it's our only hope now." I phoned Dick
Stevens.  "Can anyone overhear you Dick?" and on receiving a negative
acknowledgement, I explained the situation and asked if he could organise
the group getting to my guesthouse early on Sunday morning without Ben and
Sarah knowing.  He agreed to try.

   Pauline refused to come to my bed that night and I assumed she worried
what would happen if she lost her job and perhaps still illogically blamed
me for it.  I knew from the little sounds that came from her, like me she
lay awake and going over and over the events of the last few days and today
in particular.  My thoughts also centred on Pauline and our relationship.
We'd known each other for many years but as acquaintances and not friends
and I'd always got on well with her whenever we met or I had dealings with
her office, now we were in a different ball game and I had thoughts of us
becoming an item, or even getting married.  "Has she similar thoughts about
me?" I wondered.  Much would depend on the outcome of this project.

   My beside clock showed 12:09 when I heard her start weeping and decided
to slip into her bed, hoping and praying that she wouldn't push me away. 
To my relief she didn't and allowed me to cuddle her closely and whisper
words of comfort and encouragement.  Of course, my prick had its own agenda
and while it pressed against her thigh, I made no attempt to initiate sex.
Eventually we drifted off to sleep and when we awoke, we had barely time
for breakfast before members of the group started to arrive.  The landlady
let us use the lounge and kindly provided a pot of coffee and when we were
all assembled I started rather pompously by saying, "I expect most of you
believe I just went away for a dirty weekend with Pauline but in fact her
coming was not part of the plan and a last minute rescue attempt to save
her from a work overload.  No, the real purpose of my going away was to see
Geoffrey Pinkerton, who I have known for many years, and see what could be
done to save this project..." After giving them a detailed account of our
visit with the site owner and his ultimatum, I asked for suggestions.  Jodi
wanted us to go back to the hotel and physically throw the pair out and
several others started to back her until, Dick, a local councillor, brought
order to the meeting and suggested we formed a working committee and decide
on a policy that we could take to Geoff Pinkerton.  Almost by default he
became chairman and one by one he asked for the views on the state of their
progress.  By lunchtime we'd drafted and sent an email to our CEO, which we
cc'd to Ben and Sarah.

   We adjourned to the local pub for lunch, anxiously hoping for a reply
but not knowing if the CEO even opened his email on a Sunday and it wasn't
until we were about to depart that I had a phone call from Geoff.  "Well
done, my boy, seems you really stirred things up and poor Ralph got an ear
bashing from his wife for allowing Ben to take charge of the project. 
Ironically, apparently she had insisted he did.  Will you ask all the group
members to be on site tomorrow at about 10 o'clock ready to go through the
individual problems and possible solutions with me?  Batul wants you both
to come and see us again and I do too if only to appease Fiona.  She has
teenager ideas on how she wants her room to look and the colours she wants
it painted so you may have another fight on your hands to keep it from
becoming hideously garish!" After thanking him, and further small talk, I
signalled the others to sit down and gave them the good news.

   Pauline and I stayed on at the guesthouse and the others, except for
Dick, went back to the hotel for a final night there.  Dick stayed to talk
about the logistics of the project and whom we would get as a site manager;
Pauline and I both voted for him.

   We went to bed that night in a much happier frame of mind and made love
joyously and in the aftermath spent time discussing our lives and our
future together.  For years I'd lived in a one bedroom flat so after a few
weeks of staying with Pauline in her cottage at weekends, I moved in
permanently so I have much to thank Ben for although I know he wouldn't
return the thanks.  At least neither he nor Sarah lost their jobs but were
downgraded to more junior positions in other departments.

   The conversion is well underway now with our original group overseeing
the work and no one outside the team.
   Finis