I felt so gloomy as I came to a halt in front of her desk, the air of disappointment so thick around me.
"I'm sorry, Ma'am," I said. "I honestly thought I could handle it."
Ms Jenkinson gazed at me, and I felt more exposed than ever, despite having previously been entirely naked before her. I guess the last time, I had Zoey here to deflect some of her attention. Here, I was on my own.
"I've already heard how you handled it, Aiden," she said in a surprisingly gentle tone.
"I… I wasn't thinking…" I stammered, then tried to pull myself together. God. I wasn't trying to save my job now - I didn't need to offer her a sob story. Some good references might be nice, but this wasn't time for groveling. A little more firmly, I said: "I thought if I tried to show her that he was not worthy of her, she'd end it with him."
Ms Jenkinson looked at me a moment, taking in the cuts and bruises that now sprawled all over my face.
After a long pause, she said: "Zoey had a long, difficult history with Brandon, I'm afraid. He's a really nasty piece of work - but unfortunately, she fell for him hard when they were at college."
I nodded. There wasn't anything I could really say.
Ms Jenkinson went on: "When she was my intern, I recognized real talent in her - talent to make a difference at this company, if only she could grasp the bull by the horns and embrace her leadership abilities. But Brandon always did remain a thorn in her side. I tried hard to get rid of him, too."
Our chief executive pulled herself up out of her seat and now walked around to me.
"You know," she said, "the last few weeks and months, Zoey has really changed."
"Yes, Ma'am. She has."
The blonde woman stood in front of me, and now looked up into my face, raising her hands to gently hold my head in her fingers, so she could tilt it back and examine my wounds in the light.
"What you have to realize, Aiden, is that she didn't do it alone," our CEO said. "She took control of you - but you showed her how to take control, you validated her control."
"I… I suppose so," I said.
She nodded, removed her hands from my face. "Not too serious, thankfully," she said of my bruising, and even laughed, "Makes you look quite the action hero."
I smiled.
She said seriously: "I want to thank you for what you've done, Aiden. She wouldn't have made the progress she had without you."
Without warning, I felt a colossal sadness take hold of my heart, so that tears began to well up in my eyes that I struggled to keep back. What an amazing young woman I'd lost. How would I ever live without her in my life?
I said: "I only wish I could have kept her away from Brandon."
Ms Jenkinson stroked my cheek tenderly. She said: "I think you did what you could. You've forced her to make a choice. She has to make it - it can't be you making it for her. That would undermine her whole leadership position. But you understood that when you stood there and took a beating."
I shrugged, feeling a little vindication, though still fighting to keep back the tears. I didn't want to look like an idiot in front of this impressive woman.
"I want to help you, Aiden," she said. "After everything you've done for me - all the help you've given me in getting through to our Zoey."
My ears pricked up. "Thank you, Ma'am."
She slowly wandered back around to the other side of the desk. "A friend of mine works for a political consultancy down in DC, needs some help in their new publishing division," Ms Jenkinson said. "A proficient salesman and team leader like yourself would be an asset. I'd be happy to recommend you."
"Thank you, Ma'am. That would be wonderful."
She removed her jacket, draping it over her desk in a manner you didn't usually see, but would keep it flat. I thought nothing of it, I was so ecstatic that I was going to get the personal recommendation of our chief executive for a promising new position at another company - even if I'd most likely have to move to another city to take it up. Even the hassle of relocating felt somehow promising if it meant a fresh start.
"I'll accept your resignation as soon as you care to submit it," the attractive blonde said, now unfastening the buttons on her blouse. "But I think given the injuries you've sustained, it would be only reasonable to allow you to serve out your notice period at home."
"Thank you, Ma'am."
She pulled off her blouse, revealing a lacy white bra and plenty of smooth, flawless skin - and suddenly I did notice her intentions. Wow, she certainly was a tiger. Whether or not I had actively affected Zoey's ability to lead men, in this moment I felt certain that Zoey and myself had affected Ms Jenkinson's fondness for inappropriate sexual conduct at work.
Her skirt fell to the floor, and she said in an extraordinarily serene voice: "Then we have an agreement."
"Yes, Ma'am."
Her bra came next, her beautiful breasts and taut nipples were exposed to the chill air-conditioned office.
"Perhaps you might like to show your appreciation for my support in this, Aiden," she said, slipping her white lacy panties down over her toned thighs to reveal her little trimmed bush of golden hair.
"Of course," I said, my heart pounding in my chest. It felt like all kinds of wrong - betrayal against Zoey even though she had betrayed me so cruelly, and despite the fact that the last time I'd been in this room, my beloved had ordered me to have my way with this woman.
"You can lock the door behind you and then come over," she said, offering me a warm smile as she took a seat in her chair, now completely naked.
Jesus, she was a sight. Once the door was locked, I found her sitting in the chair leaning to one side, with her left leg curled up under her as though she were sitting cross-legged, but only on the one side. Along with her shapely breasts and her bullet-like nipples, it meant I had a superlative view of her pussy as I walked toward her again.
"Take off your clothes, Aiden," she said. "Let me see that beautiful cock of yours."
On her side of the desk, after a nervous glance outside the floor-to-ceiling windows to ensure we could not be seen from there, I disrobed. I could see her eyes focus on me as I revealed my manhood to her, see them light up as she took in just how hard I was from the sight of her trim naked form.
"Come here," she said again, and I stepped up to her, whereupon she took my cock in her hands, and leaned down to lick the underside of my helmet.
I couldn't help but groan as she squeezed my shaft, her tongue lashing around the tip of my hardness. She had such a classically beautiful face, she could have been a model.
"Aren't I lucky to have such a pretty toy," she said, grinning up at me before taking my manhood inside her hot, wet mouth, little dimples created in her cheeks as she sucked on my flesh, then sank down on my shaft.
I simply moaned, and placed my hand gently on the back of her neck, though without applying any force - I wasn't sure I was allowed to.
She broke off, more than a little breathless, and said: "Do it, Jones. Fuck my face."
"Yes, Ma'am," I said.
I placed both hands on the side of her head now, over her ears, my fingers reaching around the back of her head, around her ponytail. Now I did as she asked, controlling the movement of her head on my cock.
It felt strange, considering not only the role I had gotten used to, serving these powerful women, but also the fact that I'd never really controlled a blow job from a woman before.
After a few moments, I was simply holding her head still and rocking my hips to take her command more literally, fucking her pretty ex-cheerleader's face, and from her moans she appeared to be enjoying it. While one hand held my thigh, her other hand swept down her body to massage her breasts while I penetrated her mouth, ultimately falling between her legs where she could tease her clit.
She pulled back, and I had no problems giving back full control.
"I think we might have to arrange conjugal visits," she joked, withdrawing me from her mouth before beginning a more leisurely licking and sucking once again, while she a
lso touched herself between her thighs. "You're going to be tough to replace, Aiden."
"Thank you, Ma'am."
Ms Jenkinson leaned back in her chair away from me, and spread her legs wide, opening up her glistening pussy to my gaze. "I do think that Zoey loves you," she said, prizing apart her pussy lips to reveal the pinkness inside, wet and ready for me to defile. "Perhaps if you give it time, she might realize the folly of her ways."
I felt a flood of warmth filling me inside at that, at the thought my Zoey might still love me, that one day she might be mine again.
"Do you think with a little time, you might forgive her some day?"
I saw genuine concern in her striking blue eyes, and couldn't tell her a lie.
"I think I could forgive her anything," I said. "But I can't share her with a man like that. I can't stand by and see her being hit."
Ms Jenkinson seemed almost grateful at my response. She said: "When I picked up the pieces after what happened with Brandon, it wasn't hard to know what our Zoey needed. I showed her how a relationship should be, as I'd already showed her through her internship how she could excel in business."
"By being in control?"
"Through leadership," she nodded. "It's still early days for her - and she's still quite young. I really wasn't expecting her to solve her personal issues and deal with you and your sales team by bedding you."
"I'm sorry it didn't work out."
"Well. I think you were the closest we've ever been to getting Brandon out of the picture at last. He's like a bad penny, that one."
She shrugged, and now looked up at me. She said: "Aiden, if you don't put that hard cock of yours inside me right now, I might have to reconsider that recommendation of yours."
"Yes, Ma'am."
I took a deep breath, trying to calm the emotions whirling around my head. I couldn't look back. I had to give Zoey space - and the first step was doing whatever it took to persuade this attractive older woman to put my name forward for my next job.
I nudged forward and the tip of my cock slipped inside her, teasing out a groan as I edged into her, slowly filling her completely, feeling her hot wetness stretched tight around me.
"Fuck me, Aiden."
The chair shook as I began to move in and out of her pussy, reveling in the sensation of fucking her, perhaps even feeling a sense of revenge as the strong waft of musk from her soaking snatch filled my nostrils. Ms Jenkinson leaned back in her seat, leaving me to do all the work, her arms reaching back, hands clasping the back of the chair, her breasts quivering on her chest as I thrust inside her, those big blue eyes fixed on my face as she gasped for breath. I pushed myself down on her forcefully, grabbing one of her breasts roughly in a hand, crushing her hard nipple between finger and thumb.
I'm not sure what I was thinking - this was a woman used to controlling people, leading men. But she bit her lip and flashed her eyes at me, enjoying my brute force, encouraging it.
She said: "That’s it, fuck me, Aiden, pound me."
Then she pulled me in to kiss my mouth, and that felt like the most wrong thing we'd done yet.
But looking at her perfect bone structure, her magazine-cover figure and the long, angelic blonde hair, I got the idea I was part of a long sexual history for this woman.
There was something hot about that idea, though I'd never found it arousing before to think of a partner's sexual history. I might have been just another notch on her bedpost, but this woman had demanded my services a second time - a final screw before I left the company - and that did wonders for my confidence.
"Did Zoey tell you about sex and love, Aiden?" she asked me, my pace slowing a little as I considered her leftfield question.
"Ma'am?"
She smiled, and stirred her hips now to keep our sex going even as I paused. "One thing I drilled into her when I was trying to get her to cut her ties with Brandon."
"That you can have sex with someone without loving them," I said, remembering that Zoey had mentioned it before, when trying to explain her being with Brandon.
"That's right," she said as I continued to pump my hips and writhe against her, stirring my hardness inside her. "I tried to make her realize that while Brandon kept wanting sex from her, he didn't actually love her."
"Right."
"He didn't just beat her, you know. He used to cheat on her every chance he got," Ms Jenkinson said. "I tried to get her to see it from his perspective, while also protect her from future lovers - but I guess the lesson got kind of confused."
"I guess so."
Ms Jenkinson ushered me up now so she could turn and present her rear. I thought it might be a little tricky on the chair, but she made it look easy, almost practiced. Pushing into her pussy from behind, feeling her squeezing me, I could feel I had little time left in me.
As I thrust into her, she said: "You can love her, Aiden, and she'll be worth it. But if she doesn't see sense, I hope you'll be more careful in protecting yourself the next time."
"Yes, Ma'am," I felt tender warmth at her concern.
She turned again, so that she was facing me, and traced a finger down my cheek. "You're a blessing, Aiden," she said. "When I showed Zoey the power of a female-led relationship, I overlooked the importance of a man who will accept that leadership, and encourage it without sitting back and letting the woman do all the work."
"Yes Ma'am."
"Now, fuck me, Aiden," she said, and I took up my rough pounding of her again as she urged me, "Do it - I want to feel your hot come filling me."
I held her hips firmly and plunged into her hot flesh as she reached underneath herself to flicker her fingers over her clit. My cock was like a rapier, gleaming with her juices, so hard and straight and long, buried up to the hilt with each thrust.
Then I was coming, my body shuddering as I pumped my thick cream inside her pussy, my orgasm bursting through me, making my entire body shudder as I emptied myself into the beautiful chief.
Afterwards, she remained in her chair, watching me pull on my clothes with a look of real satisfaction on her face.
"You'll go far, Aiden Jones," she said, and I could see she was touching herself between her thighs, quietly stirring her fingers in her pussy, apparently reveling in the presence of my come.
"Thank you, Ma'am," I said.
"You be sure to come back and see us some time."
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Okay, roll the montage. You know - the one about the guy that's just walked out on the love of his life.
You know the kind of thing - the sad walk through familiar neighborhoods as he deals with the sudden loss of such a huge part of his identity, the warm summer passing to chilled autumn with dead leaves falling all around to signify the sadness and ending of the summer's romance as he continues his attempt at recovery from the vicious hole in his chest that just won't close over, even after countless dinner parties with smugly married friends and all-night drinking binges with his rapidly depleting host of single friends.
All the while you're thinking: "You idiot! It's so blatantly obvious she's The One, and here you are moping around because for some stupid reason she doesn't meet your ridiculous standards, rather than forgetting about that little thing you got your panties all twisted over, and going after her to win her back."
I did it all - the moping, the blubbering, the consoling myself with liquor. I'd never felt such unbelievable pain before - couldn't believe such pain was possible.
It's so much simpler in the movies - the characters have a gloomy moment or two, where they realize they've made some big mistake, they've been stupid, there was never any reason why their relationship shouldn't have just worked out. There is some kind of Life Lesson Learned, and then they can just go out and get the Love of Their Life back, just like that.
It can be as stupid as When Harry Met Sally, where he just suddenly comes to the conclusion that he loves her, and that's enough to get her back into his arms. Or Notting Hill, where his cuddly chums help him reali
ze that despite the extraordinary differences between a lowly man living comfortably in the most expensive part of central London and a Hollywood actress, he's forgotten that actually, she's only an ordinary member of the opposite sex, and technically able to fall in love with anyone. Or, to turn it around, in Pretty Woman where she walks out on him because she doesn't like his friends thinking she's a prostitute, and after five minutes without her, he just drives over to her house and without even saying a word to her, she falls into his arms and it's happy ever after.
I watched a lot of romantic comedies during my grieving period - an attempt to find meaning in my situation, I suppose. Only, my situation wasn't reflected by any of them.
The little thing I got my panties all twisted over - that was keeping this guy from fully accepting this Love Of His Life - was the fact she liked occasionally sleeping with her ex-, who hit her and abused her, and was generally a disgrace of a human being.
Sure, there were times where the pain got so bad, I was sorely tempted to make one of those mad dashes across town you see in the third act of the typical rom-com - running through the streets because my brain can't handle motorized transport at such a time - to get to Zoey and tell her it doesn't matter any more, she can have Brandon as well, so long as I get to have her too.
But after a certain point in a break-up, you think the other person's long-since moved on, forgotten about you. You're only going to make your own pain worse to see her happy with Mr Somebody Else.
I tried everything - alcoholism, workaholism, shopaholism, chocoholism. The whole caboodle.
Okay, montage over. We get the picture.
*
Robin raised his eyebrows when I came home with a certain bottle blonde by the name of Taylor, but he wasn't disapproving. I could see he was pleased I was dealing with my Zoey fixation in my own way.
It was late anyway - he'd been out as well, though he'd ended up there on the couch watching Conan on his own. Everyone was fueled up on alcohol, especially him.
So I simply got a couple of raised eyebrows and a mock military salute as I led Taylor through to my bedroom - I didn't get the kind of disapproval regarding my blatant rebound that I actually felt deep down I probably deserved, or Taylor probably deserved, let's face it.
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