by Amy Valenti
Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Sophie was brought back to earth, to the sound of her boss telling the traders at the meeting about the methods he used to choose a stock beyond the price to earnings ratio. Sophie lay in post-orgasmic bliss for a while, enjoying the last of the sensations flowing through her veins.
Alex’s voice was soothing, as he lectured the young traders about how to make money in a down economy.
“That’s the key. You want to spot the trends before other people spot them. Think longer term. Don’t think about what’s popular today, what’s popular now. Think about what will be popular tomorrow and you will absolutely dominate the market.”
Suddenly, another voice Sophie recognized interrupted. It was Johann Uhlmann, Alex’s business partner. He wasn’t supposed to be at this meeting, what’s he doing here I wonder.
“You would know all about dominating not only the market, wouldn’t you?” Sophie couldn’t see him, but she was certain he had a smirk on his face as he said it. Sophie was livid. She could feel her face getting red as she understood what Uhlmann was referring to. She listened for Alex’s answer, but he continued speaking as though Uhlmann hadn’t said anything at all. Why the hell did he tell his business partner about our private relationship? There’s no other way the man could know. Alex Carey had to go and fucking blab about how I’m his submissive? That’s so fucking unfair.
Sophie sat under the table for the rest of the meeting, stewing in her anger. She felt so betrayed, so hurt. She thought they had been connecting, that they were getting to be closer and closer, only to find out that her innermost secret was out, that Alex Carey’s business partner knew all about them.
Eventually Alex wrapped up the meeting. Sophie was curled up under the table into a little ball. She didn’t want to leave; she wanted to stay under the table forever. Tears were beginning to form in her eyes. If he’s told Uhlmann, who the hell else has he told? Sophie asked herself.
The sounds of the traders died away and eventually Sophie had a look around. Alex’s feet were the only ones left in the room. He was still sitting at the desk, although he’d put his cock back into his pants.
“Sophie?” Alex asked her gently. She ignored him. Why the hell should I be at his beck and call if he’s going to betray my trust like that?
“I’m sorry you had to hear that Sophie. I honestly don’t have a clue how he knows about our relationship, if that’s what he was referring to.”
“I don’t know what else he could have been referring to” came Sophie’s snarky reply from under the table. She climbed out slowly and faced Alex.
“How dare you? How dare you tell other people about our relationship. If you’d told him we’d fucked, fine. But seriously? To tell him that I’m your submissive, your sex slave, was it really necessary to brag about that?”
Alex’s eyes pleaded with her. He got up and tried to wrap his arms around her, but Sophie turned away.
“Sophie, I swear to you, I swear I never told anybody about us. I have NO idea how he knows. Absolutely no idea.”
Sophie was livid. She wanted to believe him, she really did, but she wasn’t sure she could. What she knew was she was seeing red, she was so angry. “I’m taking the afternoon off.” Without another word she stormed out of the room, grabbed her purse and slammed the elevator button for the lobby.
The noise, hustle and bustle of New York City’s streets helped clear Sophie’s head. She wandered around aimlessly for a while, trying to make sense of what had just happened. She had never felt so betrayed in her life. What made it worse was that Alex didn’t even own up to it, he played dumb. There was no way anyone else could have told Uhlmann.
All of a sudden, Sophie stopped. She checked her watch. 2:40pm. Shit, I still have that random meeting with Mysterious Stranger to go to. Checking the street signs, Sophie realized she was at least a ten minute walk away. She doubled her pace. She wanted to be there early, so she could bail in case there was anything she noticed out of the ordinary.
Cafe Limone was a typical Manhattan cafe, with a small outdoor patio and tons of people inside. Sophie ordered a double shot latte, thinking she needed the jolt. She chose a chair by a window, near the counter. If anything happened, Sophie could yell for help, and she could notice anything strange happening in the street.
For twenty minutes she nursed her coffee, wondering if the text was a prank, or if the person who sent it simply hadn’t shown up for some reason. All of a sudden, someone was standing in front of her. The woman was in her mid, maybe late 30s, with blonde hair tied back into a ponytail and an expensive suit. Everything about her screamed efficiency as she sat down in front of Sophie, a fresh coffee in her hand.
“Thank you for meeting me, Sophie.” There was something familiar about her. Sophie was sure she’d seen her before, but wasn’t sure where.
“Who are you?” Sophie asked.
“I’m Johann Uhlmann’s assistant. I saw you at the conference in the Bahamas a few months ago. I’d rather not give my name, but you can call me Julia.” Something clicked in Sophie’s head. That’s where I’ve seen her before.
“That’s right, of course. I remember you” Sophie replied. “What did you send me that text for?”
“I have information. It’s about your boss. I didn’t want to go to him directly, since he’s so high profile that there’s a really good chance someone somewhere would get a photo and it would end up on page 6, so I got your number instead.”
Sophie was intrigued. “What kind of information?”
Julia looked around carefully before answering. Her response was quiet, almost a whisper. “My boss is spying on your boss.”
Sophie was stunned to hear this. “What? Why? They’re business partners.”
Julia gave Sophie a hard look. “Do you know much about their history together?”
Sophie shook her head. “No, I’ve only worked for Alex Carey for a few months, and he hasn’t really spoken much about Uhlmann, or really met him much.”
“Well I’ve been Uhlmann’s assistant for two years now. They don’t get along well, at all. They were best friends back in the day, they met in college and got along great. They started Carey and Uhlmann and things started out perfectly. Now I only have one side of the story, but Uhlmann always complains that Carey then decided he wanted to be the face of the company. Uhlmann felt like the second wheel, like the guy who did all of the work and got none of the credit while Carey dined and schmoozed with the richest people in the city.”
Sophie let out a small, dry laugh. “The funny thing about that is I do know Carey hates the wining and dining he has to do. He says he does it because Uhlmann refuses to do it, and when he does he gives the company a bad name” she told Julia, shaking her head.
“Well there you go. Two sides to every coin. Anyways, Uhlmann’s been resenting Carey for at least a year or two now, and now he’s actively plotting against him.”
Sophie considered the woman’s words carefully. “Plotting against him how?”
“For one thing, he’s spying on Carey. He has bugs in Carey’s office, he also had a secret video camera installed. I don’t know where in the office they are, I only know this because I accidentally saw one of the videos on Uhlmann’s computer. And also, I paid the invoice for the company where he bought the equipment from, although that obviously doesn’t say anything about what the items were used for.”
“Oh my God. You’re telling me that everything Alex says and does inside his office is being recorded and sent to his business partner?”
The other woman nodded. Sophie closed her eyes as she thought about the implications. All of a sudden, Sophie realized how Johann Uhlmann knew about their relationship. “Ohhhhh shit” she muttered to herself. Alex hadn’t told his business partner about the two of them at all. In fact, if what this Julia woman was saying was the truth, Alex and his business partner were barely even friends anymore. Alex and Sophie had fucked in his office numerous times since she was hired,
and she always played the role of the submissive. So he was actually telling the truth when he said he had no idea how Uhlmann knew. Well, I guess I owe him an apology.
Sophie threw the thoughts to the side to listen to the rest of what the woman sitting in front of her had to say. “How long has he been spying on Mr. Carey like this?” Sophie asked, almost afraid of the answer.
“He bought the equipment a month and a half ago. I’m assuming he installed it not long afterwards. I found the video on his computer a month ago, so at least that long.”
Sophie’s mind ran through all of the things she and Alex Carey had done in his office for the last six weeks. Her face burned with embarrassment as she thought of all those things Johann Uhlmann would have seen her do. Sophie felt violated, extremely violated. She found herself shivering, despite the warmth inside the cafe.
After a minute or so, Sophie’s mind went back into business mode. “Do you have any proof that this has happened?”
Julia nodded and removed a letter sized manila envelope from her bag. “Here’s a copy of the invoice paying for the information, as well as photos of Uhlmann’s computer with the video on it, and a copy of some of the videos I found on his computer.” Sophie took the envelope and slid it carefully into her own purse. She had to take care of this.
“Do you know what Uhlmann is spying on Carey for? I mean, you don’t just spy on a person for no reason.”
Julia nodded. “Yes, I know his final plan. He hasn’t told me directly, but I’ve been in the office with him when he’s on the phone. How much do you know about the Alex and Carey board of Directors?”
Sophie thought back to everything Alex had told her about them. She’d been told all of their names, she knew she could remember them. Finally, she replied.
“There are eight members on the board, including Mr. Carey and your boss. The other six are all friends of theirs, Mr. Carey and Uhlmann are each able to assign people to three of the other board spots each, for perpetuity.”
Julia nodded. “Correct. So at the moment, because there are eight board members, there has to be a consensus between Uhlmann and Carey to be able to do anything major with the company. Basically, because of the way the agreement was written, somehow the only way either of them can get a majority on the board is if either Carey or Uhlmann do something that would get them kicked out. It’s funny that they wrote it that way, I think it was an initial oversight by both the two men and their lawyers, or they thought they were such good friends it would never become an issue.”
Uhlmann’s goal suddenly became crystal clear to Sophie. “So you’re saying Uhlmann is recording everything Mr. Carey does in his office in the hopes that he will do something that he can use to get him kicked off the board, and so there would only be seven board members and Uhlmann could do whatever he wants with the company?”
Another nod from Julia. “Exactly. That’s Uhlmann’s end game. Something happened between them a few months ago, I’m not sure what, that led to Uhlmann wanting official control of the company.”
Sophie could finally fill in one of the blanks herself. “Uhlmann tried to sell that big 200 million dollar portfolio behind Mr. Carey’s back, but Mr. Carey caught him before he was able to and confronted him. They argued about it, but Uhlmann dropped it after being caught.
“Oh, ok. I knew he was trying to sell that portfolio and failed, I didn’t realize he was doing it behind Carey’s back” Julia replied, one of her own questions finally answered.
Sophie was curious about one thing: “Why are you telling me this?” she asked Julia. After all, wouldn’t telling Sophie this jeopardize her job?
The other woman sighed. “Have you spent a lot of time with Johann Uhlmann?”
Sophie shook her head. “No, I’ve only met him a few times.”
She cracked a small smile. “Lucky you. Johann Ulhmann is a sarcastic, mean-spirited, passive aggressive douchebag. I’m not exaggerating. I’ve worked for him for two years, I’ve been closer to him than anybody else in the company except probably your boss. I hate him. Absolutely hate him. It’s bad enough that he treats me like shit, but he treats everyone around him like shit too. Yesterday was the final straw. He had just hired a new secretary because no surprise the other one quit, and when she brought him the wrong coffee he threw it all over her, then yelled at her for not only getting the order wrong, but for having coffee all over her. She left in tears. The worst part? I heard him give her the order, she actually did bring him the right coffee. It’s literally like something you expect to see in a bad sitcom. But that’s actually what he’s like.”
Sophie listened intently. “Wow, I had no idea he was that bad.”
“Yeah, he is. I stuck with it first of all because I needed a job. After all, the economy had crashed and no one was hiring, so I considered myself lucky to be able to even pay my bills. Then I stuck it out simply out of willpower. Almost as though I wanted to show him that no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t break me like the others. It’s stupid and childish, I know, but that was how I felt.”
Sophie nodded. “No, I understand. I have to admit, I might have actually done the same thing in your situation. But now you’re quitting anyways?”
“Yes. I’ve had enough of his shit. Finding out that he’s spying on his business partner was one of the clinchers. If he’s doing that, what other kind of illegal stuff is he doing? Stuff he might try and tell the SEC I knew all about as well. I want nothing to do with the man anymore.”
“I totally understand. Listen, if you need a job...”
“No, no, sorry for interrupting you, but honestly, no thank you. I’ve got something else lined up at one of the major papers here in the city. Honestly, the times I met Alex Carey he seemed like a good guy, and I genuinely don’t want to see him fucked over by my awful boss.”
“I totally understand. Thank you. Thank you so much for the information. And you’re right, Alex Carey is a really good boss, and a good person. You’re doing the right thing, I’ll absolutely make sure he takes care of this.”
Julia stood up. “I have to go now. Listen, please don’t tell anyone we had this conversation. Don’t tell anyone where you got this information. I’d really, really appreciate that.”
Sophie nodded. “You have my word.”
Seconds later, Sophie found herself sitting alone in the cafe once more. She ordered another coffee and thought about what she had just learned. Ugh, I really did just chew out Alex Carey for something he genuinely didn’t know about she thought to herself.
For the next twenty minutes Sophie sat in the coffee shop, thinking about what she’d learned. When she finished her second coffee, she got up and walked back to the office. She knew she had to apologize to Alex as soon as possible. She made her way to the top floor, pacing in the elevator, clutching her purse with the vital information to her body.
When she got up to the top floor, Janet warned her that Alex Carey said he was not to be disturbed under any circumstances. Sophie considered the warning for a second, then promptly ignored it and went into his office anyways.
When she got in, she stopped. She looked around. Alex Carey wasn’t anywhere to be seen. What the hell? Why did he say he couldn’t be disturbed if he’s not even here? Sophie walked around the office slowly, trying to see if she’d missed something. When she walked past one of the big filing cabinets against the wall, she stopped suddenly. Something was off, something was different. Looking closely, Sophie noticed the oddity. On the right hand side of the cabinet there was a small sliver of light, not even a quarter of an inch wide, but nowhere for the light to shine onto the area. That means the light must be coming from BEHIND the cabinet. But why? There’s just a wall there, isn’t there? Sophie thought to herself, now curious.
All that time she spent at the gym paid off as she leaned up against the cabinet and pushed it to the side. When she saw what was behind it, she gasped. A small tunnel, exactly the same size as the cabinet, led to a mystery location. The tunnel
was well lit, and Sophie, her curiosity piqued, bent under the space and stood up in the tunnel. It’s more like a hallway, really. A secret hallway.
Sophie snuck down the hallway as quietly as she could. Twenty meters further down, she reached the room it led to. Alex Carey was standing in the middle of the room, his back to her, but that wasn’t what got Sophie’s attention. The room was a dungeon! A sex dungeon, by the looks. Sophie looked around, amazed at what she saw.
The room was well lit, but the walls were drab and grey, with dozens of different ropes, machines and setups all designed for pain and pleasure. One wall was lined with every sex toy Sophie could possibly imagine, and then some. It was unlike anything she’d ever seen before.
“Hooooooly shit” she muttered without thinking. The sound made Alex turn around. He looked at Sophie, stunned. “What the hell are you doing here?” he asked.
Sophie suddenly realized that she was probably in a lot of trouble. She had stormed out on him the last time they spoke, and now she’d found his secret room that he obviously didn’t want her to know about.
“I... I came to apologize Sir” she replied, her eyes on the floor. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry I didn’t believe you. I know I was wrong.” She held up her purse with the envelope containing all of the proof Johann Uhlmann was spying on him. “I found out today that your business partner is spying on you. He has cameras and microphones in your office, the proof is in this envelope.”
Alex looked stunned. “How did you find out about this?”
“My source wants me to keep her identity secret for her own protection, but she gave me this proof so that you know she’s telling the truth.” Sophie handed Alex the envelope. “I’m so sorry I didn’t believe you.” Tears welled up in her eyes without warning. A rush of emotions swept through Sophie, and she suddenly realized that she might have pushed away the man she was falling in love with forever.
