Chapter 5 – Peak

The following Monday, I went back into the office. Cassie gave me a bold wink as I walked by her cubicle. We had spent some of the weekend together but we hadn’t made love again. Instead, on Saturday, we had caught a romantic movie in the theatre followed by a leisurely dinner. On Sunday, we had bundled up and taken a walk in the park that was close to my house. It had all been very very pleasant. The topic of sex had not come up. It was almost as if each of us had shared such an intense moment, that we were reluctant to do it again so soon.

When I wasn’t with Cassie, I had made good on my resolution. Even though I knew Kumiko was a doll, I still found that I couldn’t look her in the eyes as I packed her up and moved her into the attic. I had also scrubbed down the attic until it was spotless. The only thing I didn’t do was move my things into the master bedroom. As crazy as it sounded, I found that the master bedroom still had Kumiko’s essence. I knew it was all in my mind, but I just couldn’t seem to help it. The memories clung stubbornly to my mind.

All that Monday, I rode an emotional high. I sat down with Dan Green and he made me an offer that was extremely lucrative. He offered me a permanent position as senior manager of the Product Development Department. This included not only Chad’s team, but two other teams as well. The managers of the other two teams would report directly to me, and until Dan could fill Chad’s position, Cassie and the rest would report to me as well. The salary was much more than what I had made while under Chad. There was also a significant signing bonus too.

I gave the offer serious thought. I really did. Then I surprised Dan by turning down the offer. Dan looked very disappointed but I quickly made my counter proposal.

“Dan, here’s what I propose. I will accept a permanent salaried position as a team lead for my team. You will give me a ten percent increase from my previous contract and I will get all the benefits that a regular permanent employee would get. Depending on the team performance, I will receive up to two bonuses a year which I will share with the rest of the team. I want twenty days of vacation a year and I want to report directly to you.”

It took Dan several minutes before he could respond. “I don’t understand. You’re turning down the senior manager’s job for a lower position? Why?”

I took a minute to really think over my answer. I wanted to make sure that Dan understood me fully. The higher pay didn’t attract me and I was never really that ambitious anyway. Besides, it wasn’t as if I really needed the money. “Look, I like what I do and I’m good at it. I have a great team that works well together. I respect both Brian Atworth and Margaret Fowles. They’ve both done a great job in managing and building their teams and they don’t need me to look over their shoulders. I appreciate the signing bonus but I’d rather you share that with the team instead. I don’t know how much you know about me, but I don’t exactly have to work for a living. I just do because I like what I do and I like the people I work with.”

As I spoke, Dan’s face went from incredulous to open amazement. “Don’t have to work?” That was all that he could say.

I gave him a nonchalant shrug. “I’m not rich, if that’s what you mean. My parents left me their entire estate when they died. I live alone and I have a very simple lifestyle.” There was more but I didn’t tell him because it was very personal. Besides, how do I tell him that something had been missing from my life up to now, and I think I’ve finally found it?

Dan pondered that some more and finally said, “Ok Nelson. If that’s the way you want it. I’ll make sure the signing bonus is distributed and that the team knows that it came from you.”

“No, don’t do that!” I exclaimed. “Just tell them that it’s the bonus from this project that we’re working on.”

“But there’s already going to be a bonus once it’s complete!”

“Then tell them it’s for all the scope changes that the client put us through.”

Dan nodded his head in agreement. “About that. Now that Chad is gone, you don’t have a manager to interface with the client and with the Sales team.”

“Give it to Cassie,” I said. “She’s got a great personality and a sharp head on her shoulders. And more importantly, she cares about the people on her team.”

“Cassie, eh? I’ve had my eye on her. I’ve been thinking of grooming her for a managerial role eventually.”

“Make her a project leader. Create a title if you have to.”

“I think I’ll do just that!”

“Good,” I said contently. I got up off my seat and shook Dan’s hand. “If that’s all, then I’ll get back to work.”

“But we haven’t got the paperwork done yet!” protested Dan.

“That’s ok.” I walked out of Dan’s office and headed back to my cubicle. The team cheered when they saw me.

“So what’s the word Nelson? Are you going to be our new manager?” Lisa’s face was bright as she asked the question.

There was a chorus of similar questions and I held my hands up to quiet everyone down. “I’ve accepted a new permanent position as your team lead.”

“WHAT?!” exclaimed everyone.

Cassie shushed everyone and looked straight at me. “What do you mean? They should be making you manager or something like that. You deserve it!”

I shook my head and said, “But it’s not what I want to do. There are too many headaches in a position like that. “I’d rather let someone else more qualified to take the lead.”

Cassie snorted derisively. “Who’s more qualified than you?”

There was the sound of a clearing throat and we looked up to see Dan waiting expectantly. “Cassie, if you have a minute, can I see you in my office please?”

There was a stunned silence as Cassie timidly followed Dan. Dana found her voice first. “You think?”

“Really?” asked Lisa.

“That’d be cool,” said Steve.

“I could live with that,” said Gary.

The group looked at me but I just shrugged my shoulders. They would get the official soon enough.

“But we went through so much trouble to get rid and Chad and put you in his place!” exclaimed Lisa.

I looked at her in amazement just as Dana clapped a hand over Lisa’s mouth. “Shhh!”

It was too late though. Gary sighed and after glaring at Lisa for a moment, turned to me and explained. “After you left, we all trooped into Dan’s office and officially complained about Chad and about his treatment of us and his treatment of you.”

“Really? You did that for me?” I was deeply touched. They had all taken a risk for me.

“Yeah,” quipped Dana with a grin, “Chad didn’t even have time to fully clean out his office.”

“Hey, you were willing to go head to head with Chad to get him off our backs. It was the least we could do,” said Steve firmly. The rest of the group all nodded in agreement.

I was saved from having to say anything else when Cassie came back to the group. She gave me a long look before addressing the group. “Well, it’s official. Dan’s willing to let me finish off this project with Wells Fargo Bank as the project lead. Depending on my performance and the performance of this team as a whole, he might make the assignment permanent.”

Dana and Lisa squealed in delight and rushed over and hugged Cassie. Gary and Steve were right behind and they clapped Cassie on the back in congratulations.

“Thanks everyone. The celebrating will have to hold off though. We have a lot of work and not a lot of time to do it.” While she spoke, Cassie’s eyes never left mine. “I’ve got a meeting with the Sales team and the team from Wells Fargo Bank in about ten minutes. Nelson, as team lead, would you mind coming to this meeting and helping me address the issues we’ve been experiencing?”

“Not at all,” I said with a mildness that I didn’t feel. My throat felt constricted for some reason and my heart thundered in my chest.

Cassie led the way to the conference and I followed. When we got there, we were the only ones there. Cassie made sure that all the blinds were shut and then she closed the door. As she turned to face me, I suddenly found my arms full with a beautiful woman. Her lips sought mine and she kissed me fiercely.

After several minutes, she pulled away. Her face as slightly damp from tears. I wasn’t sure yet if those were tears of joy or anger.

She pulled a Kleenex from the box that was on the conference room table and wiped her face and blew her nose. When she was more presentable, she said, “Dan told me everything. He told me how you turned down the job that we pressured him to make for you. Then he told me that you would only come back if I was the project lead. How could you do that?”

“Because you deserve it. Because you wanted it. And most important of all, because you can do it.”

Cassie almost melted back into my arms. Instead, she gave me a fierce hug and said, “Don’t tire yourself out today because tonight, I’m coming over and I’m going to rock your world.” She licked my earlobe as she said this and then pulled away.

The conference room opened at that moment and various representatives from both the Sales team and the client came in. I had to turn away slightly and casually hid the growing bulge in my pants with my portfolio.

Cassie quickly called the meeting to order and made the necessary introductions. As I watched her speak, I knew that I had made the right decision. Cassie belonged there, at the head of the conference table. She easily captured everyone’s attention and she spoke with authority. I don’t think I would have enraptured people the way she did.

Cassie called upon me several times during the meeting as the Subject Matter Expert. I carefully explained the issues and made my recommendations. My heart wasn’t it though. I kept thinking about Cassie’s promise!

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We kept our relationship as secret as possible. While the company didn’t forbid office romances, they did look down upon them – especially if those involved were in the same reporting structure.

Despite coming over to my house several times a week, as well as spending most of her weekends with me, Cassie never spent the night. I’d often wondered about it but I never asked. I was still really new to the idea of having a talking walking girlfriend and I didn’t want to push or rush anything.

By the time I figured out that Cassie had been waiting for me to ask her to spend the night, she had already taken the bull by the figurative horns. One Saturday, about two months after we started dating, she showed up at my front door with a small overnight bag. Her face had a little bit of a challenge but I didn’t make an issue. Why would I? This was exactly what I wanted but had been too scared to bring up!

That night, when we made love, we really took our time. After all, we had all night, right? It started with a candlelit dinner which I had spent most of Saturday preparing. Then, after a couple of glasses of wine, we threw some heavy robes on and trouped out into the backyard and into the bathhouse. It took several minutes for the bathhouse to heat up because I rarely used it. It was ok though. We spent that time clinging to each other and kissing each other until our lips grew numb. When the Jacuzzi was ready, we slipped off our robes and stepped into the tub. We made small talk as the jets played over our bodies. As we talked, our hands would casually caress each other. Nothing passionate…just caressing…

We got out of the tub before we got too wrinkly and rushed back into the house. I was definitely going to have to do something about building an enclosed path between the house and the bathhouse!

Once in the house, we had some more wine and then reclined on the sofa and watched a movie that neither one of us paid much attention too. We couldn’t seem to keep our hands of each other though, and the simple caresses soon turned into heavy petting. Before we knew it, our heavy terry clothe bathrobes were on the floor and I was kneeling behind Cassie as she rested her elbows on the couch. I was just about to reach for a condom when Cassie stopped me with a breathtakingly sexy look.

“You won’t need the condom anymore!”

“You mean?”

“Yes! Now come on! I need to feel you inside me!”

I put my hands on her waist, lined myself up and pushed slowly into her. I had found, to some chagrin, that sex with a condom had a tendency of de-sensitizing the feelings in my penis. There was also a bit of intimacy lacking because of the thin layer of latex separating me from Cassie. Now, however, I was sliding into Cassie for the first time without any kind of separation and the sensations I was feeling were indescribable.

Cassie must have felt the same way because she let out a long raspy breath and moaned, “Mmmm, so good!”

I had no breath to agree as I started to pump in and out of her furiously. All that casual teasing we had been doing all night had finally caught up with me. Cassie must have been close to her peak as well because she started screaming. I don’t know if I was screaming too but I know that by the time I collapsed over her back, my throat felt a little sore.

After we caught our breaths, we made our way upstairs. I had a little surprise of my own for Cassie. Instead of taking her back to the room that we had been using, I led her to the master bedroom. She hesitated and asked, “Are you sure?”

I just gave her a reassuring smile and pulled her in. As soon as she walked into the room though, she gasped, “Oh my God!”

I earlier that day, I had decorated the room with dozens of candles and hundreds of rose petals. “Oh Nelson! You did all of this?”

“All for you Cassie. I love you.”

Cassie hugged me tightly and said quietly, “I love you too.”

I carefully lit all the candles and then we lay down on the bed. Even though our passion was recently exhausted, we continued to gently kiss and caress each other until our passion started to build once more.

The rest of the night passed in a seemingly endless cycle of making love and resting. We must have fallen asleep at some point because sometime in the middle of the night, I was suddenly startled out of my sleep. I was halfway out of my bed before I realized what had woken me up. There had been a loud bump directly over the bed. I listened carefully to see if there would be further bumps, but the only sound I heard was the slow heavy rhythmic sound of Cassie’s breathing. My heart was pounding in my chest but I couldn’t pinpoint the source of the fear I was feeling. After several minutes, my heart slowed and I wrote off the bump as nothing more than a dream. I lay back down on my side and spooned Cassie’s body with mine. She murmured something in her sleep and snuggled her body into mine. I fell asleep thinking that tonight had been the most wonderful night in my life.