Stacie was looking forward to tonight. She hadn\u2019t hooked up with Jeremy in a couple of years. Oh, she knew nothing would come of it, but she remembered he was pretty good in bed. Since he had a hotel room, she wouldn\u2019t have to deal with her two roommates tonight either. She loved her roommates. They had great fun hanging out together. Having roommates meant they could have a really awesome apartment and spend a ton of money on clothes. When you are twenty-something, dressing to the nines and partying all weekend is a priority in life.<\/p>\n
Big Four Consulting didn\u2019t pay her much. Then again, she had a degree in mass communications, not IT. That, coupled with her looks and minor in English got her the job with Big Four. They always wanted the young people working for them to dress for success. Thankfully, two of their clients were major retailers which extended a \u201cpartner\u201d discount to the employees of Big Four Consulting. Every Saturday Stacie got up at the crack of noon and took shopping whichever roommate was home. All three of the girls had run out of closet space and were buying wardrobes to store additional clothes in.<\/p>\n
Still, the roommate thing had a major drawback. When you decided to score, you had to inconvenience others. Stacie wasn\u2019t dating. Older people described it as \u201cplaying the field.\u201d She found it when she needed it, and sometimes she would find it in the same place more than once, but her career came first. Big Four promised her she would travel and told her to get a passport. She had already flown to several states in the U.S. And had recently returned from Bangalore, India.<\/p>\n
Unlike most of the girls Stacie worked with, she wasn\u2019t a complete fool. She knew full well which guys had left the compound to visit the red-light district just a few streets over. There was no way she was going to hook up with any of them. Jeremy had always been a safe hook-up. He didn\u2019t want anything long term and had only asked her to attend one wedding with him. They had both known the groom getting married so it wasn\u2019t a big deal, just lots of drinking, dancing, and fun. Stacie let Jeremy know when she accepted that he now owed her a wedding and he was cool with that. When you are twenty-something, you really hate going stag to a wedding. When you\u2019re in your forties you can play the divorcee field at a wedding, but twenty-somethings always seemed to be paired off.<\/p>\n
All of the girls had heard about the four-star restaurant that had opened up a couple months ago. It was the new \u201chot\u201d place to be seen. Stacie was going to be the first of her roomies to eat there. They would have to wait until she got home tomorrow to find out what it was like.<\/p>\n
The nice part about having a friend with benefits is you don\u2019t have to come home in the same clothes you left in. Nothing tells the world you were picked up like leaving a hotel in the morning wearing an evening dress. A \u201cdate\u201d would require she meet them at the restaurant or have him pick her up here. She wouldn\u2019t be able to pack an overnight bag and bring it along. You meet a friend at their hotel room and leave your bag there. So<\/i> much more convenient.<\/p>\n
Stacie left her apartment promptly at 6:00 PM. She had the doorman turn on the cab light and was quickly picked up. Fifteen minutes later she arrived at Jeremy\u2019s hotel. He had called earlier in the afternoon to let her know he had checked in and gave her his room number. She told him he had better be wearing a damned nice suit when she arrived because there was a strict dress code at the restaurant.<\/p>\n
As far as anyone at work knew, Stacie was simply hooking up with a flame from college this weekend. She didn\u2019t tell them where Jeremy worked, mainly because she could never remember the name of the company. She simply told them he worked for some small accounting firm. Saying he worked at an investment firm would have gotten her a meeting with HR and a chat about disclosing insider information. She knew damned good and well Jeremy was coming here to thank her for that. He was going to owe her a weekend at Salish Lodge when she fed him the other little bit of information she had.<\/p>\n
Today had been a hectic day. Stacie had to participate in the presentation to First Global Bank\u2019s board of directors selling Pytho\u2019s new banking software to them. It started off as a tough sell. Pytho hadn\u2019t thought to bring anything in the way of eye candy to the meeting, so the Big Four Consulting girls were laying it all out to the board. Stacie hadn\u2019t participated in the sales pitch that sold the offshoring contract, but some of the girls in the room had. Only the women they had shown the most interest in were asked to display themselves again. Stacie was asked since she had been to India and had established the best relationship with the on-shore team. The rest appeared to be models who didn\u2019t have a runway gig this week. They knew nothing about the software being pitched or the client. They did know how to dress, though.<\/p>\n
In contrast, Kathryn had made Stacie take home the entire CD kit from Pytho. She had to work with a team of girls creating a PowerPoint presentation, then show it to Kathryn. Once Stacie had finished giving her five-minute summary of how the data center consolidation was going, Kathryn had her segue into the presentation and even remain walking around answering questions during it. When the questions came up about how far along the globalization project had gotten, the Pytho reps had to take over. Kathryn made sure she dropped the names of the audit firms handling certification of each country\u2019s banking laws. The board was quite shocked to learn their own auditing firm was certifying the system met French banking regulations.<\/p>\n
When the meeting concluded there wasn\u2019t a dirty old man in the room who hadn\u2019t seen every breast and leg on display at least twice. All of the girls had worn tight skirts, but not so tight they looked like they were trying to stop a gun shot wound from bleeding. All of them had some part in the presentation where they were supposed to walk around keeping the board\u2019s attention. Stacie thought it was a lot like stripping, but you didn\u2019t have to break a sweat or get dressed when you were done.<\/p>\n
The board ended the meeting taking copies of the plan and cost spreadsheet. They said they were going to have a meeting with their auditors to see how close the French regulations really were to being implemented. The Pytho sales reps were all smiles and handshakes until the board left, then they showed outright rejection on their faces.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey didn\u2019t buy it,\u201d one of them said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey never buy on the first pitch,\u201d responded Kathryn. \u201cUnless you\u2019ve taken steps to ensure their auditors give them a glowing report about the progress made on French banking regulations, this sale is dead.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOur \u2018World View of the Bank\u2019 pitch really hit home, though,\u201d Stacie remarked.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes it did,\u201d Kathryn said. \u201cIt was the only reason we were allowed to make this presentation. They just had everyone jumping through hoops to prepare quarterly financial reports and the cost of doing that is fresh in their minds. We even scored big with the cost savings from staff reductions, but any<\/i> package is going to do both of those things for them. This sale hinges on the French regulations.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow so?\u201d Stacie asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur biggest IT headcount and operating cost is in France,\u201d responded Kent. \u201cEven if you never got the other countries operational, the entire project could be paid for by eliminating those people along with our U.S. And Canadian IT staff.\u201d Kent had stayed in the post-pitch debriefing because this project was his baby. He was the corporate sponsor and project champion. It was his job to sell it to the board because his name was on it.<\/p>\n
Stacie knew that if this deal went through, she was going to be spending some grueling overtime training at Pytho software. She was also going to have to spend some time brushing up on her French. She had taken only one semester in college and couldn\u2019t speak or read it very well now.<\/p>\n
That was four hours ago. The thoughts of her awaiting treadmill left her mind as she stepped into the elevator with her overnight bag and went to Jeremy\u2019s room. Tonight was an elegant meal with fine wine and some long overdue physical pleasure.<\/p>\n
When Jeremy opened the door she was floored. That man can wear a suit!<\/i> She thought. She made him spin around to check him out and even commented that he had bothered to shine his shoes. Stacie wasn\u2019t an expert in men\u2019s clothing, but that suit would retail for around $1,200 in this neck of the woods. Jeremy made some very appreciative comments about the way she looked, kissed her passionately, then took her bag to the bedroom.<\/p>\n
\u201cMust not have been a killer kiss,\u201d Jeremy said with a smile when he returned.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou did good!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNot good enough for you to follow me to the bedroom,\u201d he grinned.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf I did that I wouldn\u2019t get dinner!\u201d she exclaimed. \u201cLet\u2019s catch a cab before we don\u2019t make it out of here!\u201d<\/p>\n
With that they proceeded to the restaurant and ordered dinner. It was everything Stacie had heard it was. The food was fabulous and the menu didn\u2019t have any prices. Stacie had no idea what the champagne and wine cost, but it had to amount to a down payment on a car. Finally, the opener came:<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, how are things going at work?\u201d Stacie flashed a mischievous smile. \u201cWell, I\u2019m going to be putting in some grueling hours soon becoming a trainer on a new software product Pytho has coming out.\u201d \u201cWhat product is that?\u201d Jeremy asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cBefore I answer that question, you have to promise me a weekend at Salish Lodge any weekend I ask,\u201d responded Stacie.<\/p>\n
Jeremy had heard about the place and knew it had an amazing reputation. He also knew if Stacie was putting it on the table, there was something big coming out of her mouth next. He was pretty certain Lenny would allow him to expense the weekend, and even if Lenny didn\u2019t, he was certain to have a fantastic time with Stacie. He looked her in the eyes and said, \u201cDone.\u201d<\/p>\n
Stacie positively beamed! She had wanted a weekend there ever since one of her girlfriends had told her about it. Her roomies would be so<\/i> jealous when she told them.<\/p>\n
Conversation had to pause while the server came by to inquire how things were going. Stacie wondered how the server\u2019s feet felt walking around in heels all night, then she thought that skirt and stockings demanded heels. Anything less would ruin the atmosphere of the place. It struck her as kind of odd how women who weren\u2019t bisexual could easily appreciate the phenomenal body of another woman. She guessed you simply didn\u2019t get jealous when you looked hot yourself. Briefly she thought it would be a pity when she had kids one day and it all went to hell. Then she snapped her attention back to the table.<\/p>\n
Jeremy had that stupid grin on his face again. It was the kind of grin he got when he had some smartass comment to make which would be the perfect zinger for the moment and would ensure he didn\u2019t get sex that night. What Stacie appreciated about Jeremy is that he had the good sense to save them until after they had sex so they could both laugh about them when they were more relaxed.<\/p>\n
She smiled back at him, then took his hand and said, \u201cI need a necklace and matching earrings to wear when we go to Salish. Diamonds would be nice, but as long as they are real stones and set off my eyes, I\u2019m fine with it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t even make the comment,\u201d Jeremy sputtered.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut you were thinking it,\u201d she chimed back evilly. \u201cBesides, after I tell you what I have for you, I think you\u2019ll agree you should be able to afford them.\u201d<\/p>\n
That widened Jeremy\u2019s eyes and made him sit up.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a long day parading my body around the board room,\u201d she said, toying with his hand. \u201cOnce the auditors for First Global Bank give a glowing report on how Pytho software\u2019s new banking product meets all of the U.S., Canadian, and French banking regulations, they are probably going to buy it. Every location they have will be migrated onto the new software. Every country will move as Pytho completes certification for said country. In much less than a year, they will be rid of all their IT staff, save a token few, and have all of their business run by software in an offshore data center.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI had to wear a sheer blouse and my finest stockings. The skirt and heels really showed off my form. If it wasn\u2019t for their own auditors being involved, we would have closed the sale today. The board really admired my legs. Just imagine how many of those rich old men want to be where you will be tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTrue,\u201d Jeremy responded. \u201cNot to break the mood, but you wouldn\u2019t happen to have some marketing literature on this product would you?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cGreedy bastard!\u201d she teased. \u201cHere I am talking about sex, letting you know I\u2019m ready to go and you are still talking about making money.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWell,\u201d Jeremy sputtered.<\/p>\n
Stacie laughed, \u201cRemind me to take it out of my overnight bag when we get back to the hotel.\u201d<\/p>\n
When they stood up to leave, Stacie nuzzled his ear as he put his arm around her. \u201cSo, am I getting diamonds?\u201d<\/p>\n
Laughing, Jeremy said, \u201cYes, the best I can find at my local Helzberg.\u201d Now it was Stacie\u2019s turn to have her eyes go wide and head snap up.<\/p>\n
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You are reading a special promotional version of \u201cInfinite Exposure\u201d containing only the first 18 chapters. This is the first book of the “Earth That Was” trilogy. You can obtain the entire trilogy in EPUB form from here:<\/p>\n