The Lethal Encounter (10 page)

Oh god, thought Katie. She
probably sees these sorts of meetings all the time. Love struck employees
trying their luck. She glanced to her left and to her horror, saw Julie Cantor
sitting in the small reception area. Julie looked quizzically at Katie but said
nothing. Katie nodded at her and hurried away to the stairs. She had to get
away from here as quickly as possible.

Back safely at her desk,
Katie set about her tasks with vigour, finalising the project timelines and
clearing her in box with an enthusiasm that would have surprised even her closest
friends. She kept re-living the conversation in Peter Jarvis' office and, by
the time lunchtime had come around, she had almost convinced herself that she
had done the right thing, even though Peter’s easy acceptance of her decision
and then the brisk goodbye made her feel almost physically sick.

Then, just as she was getting
up to nip out and fetch some lunch, she had a ping from Sue, asking her to go
to her office. Katie immediately feared the worse and imagined that Sue and
Julie had been talking about her and her future on the project. Julie must have
thought it strange that she had been having a meeting with the Chief
Executive.....she might even have thought that Katie had been trying to
undermine her own position, perhaps by saying that Julie was not up to the job
or something. Oh God, thought Katie, they could all be about to gang up on me
if that's true and it was with a heavy heart that she entered Sue's office and
sat down.

“Hi, Katie. So what's all
this I hear about you going to see Peter Jarvis then? I've told you before that
if you have an issue with anyone, there are procedures to follow, and that
means speaking to me first, not running off to the boss.”

Katie was a bit taken aback
with this outburst and her first instinct was to respond in kind, but then she
realised that was probably not the route to take, so she decided on the next
best thing…..she lied.

“Hang on a sec, Sue, it’s not
like that, not like that at all. For a start Pater Jarvis called
me
in.
He wanted to talk about someone at the French company I've been dealing
with…..something about whether or not I thought he would be good to employ on
the French team. That's all. There's no secrecy or furtiveness here and I would
never
go above your head.”

Katie paused to see the
effect she was having. She felt guilty about the lie but also felt sure that
Peter Jarvis would never go against her on this. After a slight pause, by the
look on Sue’s face, the slight deception had worked because her face relaxed
and then smiled. Katie wondered what her reaction would have been if she had
come right out and said the truth.

“Well, Sue, when I was in
France we got together and I almost had the most amazing sex with him and so
just went up to his office to sort stuff out…..you know what I mean!”

She shuddered inwardly at the
very thought as Sue responded.

“It’s OK, I was only kind of
joking. After all it is not every day that Peter Jarvis entertains junior
members of his sales team in his office and Julie was just interested.”

Katie relaxed and smiled
back.

“No problem, I just don't
want you to think I did anything wrong. Oh, and I did take the opportunity to
apologise for the idiot I made of myself in the meeting…..and he seemed fine
about it.”

“Great,” responded Sue. “Look,
do you fancy a quick drink after work today? Just a quick one.”

“Yes, that would be good,” said
Katie thinking there was almost nothing she would rather do less.

She got up and left the
office, walking back to her desk. She felt better than she had done anytime in
the last few days and was convinced that her actions earlier had been right.
Still, she thought with a sigh, she couldn't help feeling let down, as if she
had lost something which she may regret, at the end of the day, losing.

To Katie’s relief, the rest
of the day passed relatively quickly. She had a good call with her point of
contact at Logistics France and it was decided that she should go out there as
soon as possible to start the implementation of the project. Katie knew that
all this would have to be done in conjunction with the legal and technical
departments and she looked forward to getting into the real detail of the
project. She fired off an e mail to Sue and copied the travel department in
order to get the purchase of tickets and hotel reservations underway. Just as
she finished the last message, her mobile phone rang. Checking the ID, she saw
Josie's name and gratefully pushed the answer button.

“Hi Jos, I was just about to
ring you. Do you fancy meeting up tonight. I need a chat.”

“Ah, Katie, it sounds like
there have been developments in the “shall I shag my boss” saga. Alas, I cannot
make it tonight for I too am embarking upon a potentially lethal adventure of
my own. What about Wednesday?”

“That would be fine.....and
it sounds like there's more than just me to talk about now! I'll ring you
during the day and we'll sort something out. I would talk now, but walls have
ears and all that.”

“Understand. Can't wait. Speak
tomorrow or the next day.” And then she was gone. Katie smiled at her phone.
Josie was a positive whirlwind and Katie sometimes wished she could be more
like her. There was many a time that she had pondered and ruminated over a next
move, whilst Josie just got straight on and did something…..for good or bad.

Later, she and Sue made their
way to a pub a bit further away from the office. As they stood at the bar
ordering, Katie made some small talk about the office and then they sat down
together at a table by the window.

“By the way, that travel is
OK - in fact I was going to suggest it. Perhaps I should come too. What do you
think?” Sue started off.

“It's up to you Sue. I think
I can handle it. We are just going to talk about project implementation with
the techies anyway.” Katie responded, thinking that the last thing she really
wanted was her boss breathing down her neck. She continued.

“Perhaps you should hold off
until we get fully underway?”

Sue stared at Katie.

“Did you know Julie had
handed in her notice?” she started.

Katie had not heard anything
and responded as such.

“Well, she has and I have
decided to try and go for her job. What do you think? Now that you are a pal of
Peter Jarvis, I thought you could put in a good word for me.” Sue said.

Katie was nonplussed for a
moment and wondered if Sue knew more that she was letting on.

“Well, good for you, but I
don't know what you mean about being a pal of the big boss. We've only met at
the meeting yesterday and then again today. I'm sure he wouldn't listen to me.”

“But you'd give it a
go.....if the opportunity arose, that is.” Sue smirked conspiratorially and
Katie could feel her hackles rising. She took a deep breath.

“Sue, it won't.....and I
really don't know why you would think it would. I told you that this morning
was just because he wanted to ask me some questions - not for any other
reason.”

“But why did he want to see
you? He asks me lots of questions about this and that, but I never get to go to
his office…..so how come he asks you?”

“Oh I don't know! And to be
honest, it’s none of my business. I just do as I'm told.” Katie retorted, her
voice rising as she finished the sentence.

“I just thought you'd like to
know what’s the hottest topic of conversation on the rumour mill at the
moment.” Sue replied with a hint of glee in her voice.

Katie held her breath.

“And what would that be?”

“Well, you know, that you and
Peter are having some kind of fling.”

“That's ridiculous. How would
I get into that position? I've hardly ever met the man, let alone been in a
position to have a fling with him. Who's saying that anyway?”

Katie’s voice was getting
higher and higher. Christ, she thought she had left all this behind when she
went to Peter's office this morning and now her fears were being realised. How
she wished she had never gone for that last drink in France......but as soon as
the thought entered her head, she realised that she was kidding herself.
Whatever the outcome, she was glad she had met Peter that night, even though
nothing did come of it and nothing now would. Clinging onto that thought, she
calmed down.

“Oh, I don't know why I'm
getting annoyed. It's just the thought of everyone whispering behind my
back.....particularly about something I'm not actually doing. God, chance would
be a fine thing.....only joking,” she added as she saw Sue's eyes open wide.

“Going back to the job thing,
I think you would be good at Julie's job, so go for it. But then who would
replace you?”

“Well. I don't know. There
are several possibilities - and you would be one of them.”

“Oh, I'm not sure I'm ready
for such a move at the moment. I'm still only really learning the ropes.”

“Don't do yourself down
Katie. You could do it easily,” said Sue, gesturing at her empty glass. “Do you
fancy another?”

Katie returned to her flat at
about 9pm and happily kicked off her shoes before wandering into the kitchen to
put on some supper. Later she would have a long bath and get to sleep early.

However, it was past 11pm
when she finally pulled the duvet around her. Various things had delayed her,
including a rather mournful call from Hugo who tried to persuade her to go
round to his flat and chat. Despite her feeling a bit sorry for him, she had
politely refused, and made some more small talk for several minutes before
thankfully hanging up.

Now, as she lay in bed, she
thought about her earlier conversation with Sue. Despite her hating the idea of
being the centre of any sort of gossip, she kept going over and over her
decision not to take things further with Peter. She relived the time in his
office yet again and, as she imagined him, she felt herself becoming aroused.
God, she thought, this was totally out of control, but, as her hand crept up to
cup her breasts, the image of Peter Jarvis sliding into bed with her loomed
large in her mind. And, as she gently pinched and kneaded her rapidly hardening
nipples, it was Peter's fingers that were gently rubbing the delicate buds as
they rose up in response. She heard herself groan as the other hand traced a
path downwards towards her pubic area. She imagined pushing his head down and
almost felt the little licks as his tongue left a passionate trail down past
her belly button and into the little tangle of hair below. She now had one hand
massaging her breasts and nipples as the fingers of the other gently parted her
swelling lips and felt the rush of moisture cover her aroused labia.

The image of Peter Jarvis
continued to loom in her mind as she imagined his strong hands caressing her
body. In her head, she reached down and grasped his swollen cock in her hand,
wanting more than ever for it to be replacing her fingers as they explored
inside her.

She felt her breathing
quicken as the intensity of her feelings became centred on her throbbing
clitoris. Her fingers worked quicker and quicker and her stomach started to
turn to molten lava as the first waves of orgasm hit her.

“Peter,” she heard herself
cry out as her body shuddered and writhed. Her climax seemed to go on forever
as her juices flooded over her fingers. As the tremors subsided, she still had
the image of the man in her head, his eyes gently smiling at her as the passion
diminished.

She rolled over, hugged the
pillows to her, and wondered what all this meant. One thing for certain, Peter
Jarvis was still very much in her life – whether she liked it or not.

CHAPTER 7

Whilst Katie was occupied
with her very private thoughts, the object of her passion had just finished a
very successful dinner with a prospective client and had taken a taxi back to
his apartment. He was now sitting, as was his habit these days it seemed, in
his favourite chair, nursing a large Scotch. He looked back on the day and, in
particular, the surprise visit from Katie.