Just Business Ch. 01 July 31, 2009 No Comments
As long as we didn’t touch each other…
“Jim? How’s your sex life?”
The question came like a shot, a bolt out of the azure blue. I almost swerved over into the fast lane, but kept it steady.
It was early on a Monday in September. The black sedan I piloted made its way up I-95 North through the Virginia woods, maybe an hour south of Richmond, headed towards DC. Charlene occupied the bucket seat beside me. She had been my office partner, as Sales Director, for the last three years. In my role as Business Operations Director, we had had several occasions over her tenure to travel together to various locales. None of these sites or situations lent themselves to pleasure or romance; it was all business getting there, spending time there, and leaving. It wasn’t as if I thought there should ever be an opportunity for any hanky-panky or anything like that; Charlene had been married 12 years, and me for 18, although my 18 years were hardly the model of marital bliss. Nevertheless, I never seriously considered pursuing anything more than a personal or friendly relationship with Charlene. I had no reason to; she had never been anything less than a professional young woman, and I’d taken great care not to ogle or make any off-color remarks when I was with her. I did find her gorgeous to the extreme; a blue-eyed blonde who always ended up with the great football player in college. She had a way of wearing these skirts, showing off a terrific pair of legs. But hey—if you’re going anywhere in business, you’d better learn to work with pretty women without constantly wondering what they are like in bed.