free
06-08-2010, 06:43 AM
Laura was walking along the streets of the city in the early morning. She wanted to breath fresh air after the night spent in a restaurant with friends celebrating her new business success. Her driver was told to take a day off for he also had spent the night waiting for her. She was smiling with content, especially when she thought about a new acquaintance, promissing to turn into something more than a business friendship.
Larry... a bit younger than herself, but not less experienced in business and, as much as she was able to judge at first sight, not less experienced with women. The two of them shared similar work enthusiasm and marrital status. Both free, without steady love relation and filled with desire to enrich their lives with new experiences.
Laura's previous love relation ended with marriage – his. She did not suffer, though, no, not her. It could even be said that she was satisfied because of the happy ended relation with him marrying another woman. Although... if she could be honest with herself, she was a bit sorry for he had not waited a bit longer for her answer to his proposal. But, she was not ready for such step, or she was not ready to make such step with him... Who knows! She did not want to burden herself with such thoughts. It was past. And now, there was Larry. Her smile broadened.
She entered her company's building exactly at the same time as every morning. Her employees were already busy with their work. Passing by her they greeted her, some of them shook her hand congradulating her for the success about which they had already been informed and shared mutual satisfaction, hoping for higher sallaries and promotions. Knowing their thoughts and hopes, Laura shook their hands back with a smile of confirmation and promisses.
She set into her armchair and joyously looked around. It was a large room, richly furnished with office staff. Her secretary came in, immediately, wishing her good morning and bringing her usual morning drinks. She liked to have some coffee and juice before devoting herself to work.
The sunny day was coming into the office through a large glass wall. Birds could be heard from the garden surrounding the building. In the middle of the garden, there was a fountain in the shape of a forest well, and the springing water sparkled and shined with colours of spectre. After a couple of minutes of this relaxation and enjoyment in the environment, the phone rang. Her breast jumped with joyful expectations.
«Larry...» she thought.
The secretary informed her that Mr. Larry was on the line.
«Thank you, Elleonor» said Laura and took the line.
«Miss Laura... « she heard the sweet voice of her new desire. She almost shivered with pleasure.
«Mr. Larry...» with the sweetness of her voice she fitted into the tone of his.
«Shall we have lunch or dinner together?» He asked, and she felt some exciting shyness in his voice.
«How about both...?» Laura, again, imitated the tone of his.
From that day on their feeling grew stronger and flourished like the most beautiful flowers. Nobody else existed for her but him, and nobody else existed for him but her. The rest of the world was around them as a paradise garden upon which they shone the light of their love. They were unseparable, both at work, for they joined their companies into one, and privately.
--------
«Laura, I'm broken.» Said, one day, George, her ex-boyfriend. He stood in her office, all shaken down with worries.
«My wife left me. I've lost my job. I have money just enough not to starve. I had to sell everything to survive, and here am I... If you can't help, I don't know what to do.
Laura's eyes filled with tears of sympathy. She got up and came close to him and, in a gesture of consolation, she put her arm on his sholder.
«George, why have you waited so long to ask me for help? Of course I can help you. You, little fool!»
She tenderly punched his nose, and George smiled with hope, sitting into the chair opposite her desk as if a big burden was unloaded from his sholders.
From that day, George was working in her company as a manager. The working post required a person of confidence, and Laura had a great confidence in George.
«I see that you have employed your ex-boyfriend as our new manager...» Indifferently said Larry tieing his scarf while they were dressing for an evening going out. But, Laura felt a shadow of bitterness in his voice. She looked at him with surprise and fell into his arms with a smile.
«Well, well, you are jelous, my love!» She exclaimed. «Don't you dare bringing such thougths into your sweet little mind!» She added humorously. «I belong to you, do you hear? Only to you, for ever!»
Larry gave her back a tender kiss, and it calmed her down.
Next day Larry entered George's office, since the formal introduction had taken place before, and friendly put his arm on his sholder, asking him about his health and private life problems.
«I don't know how to find an appropriate flat. Did Laura tell you that I'd had to sell my old one because of the money problems I'd had, before she helped me so generously to get out of them?»
Larry imperceptebly pressed his jaws, but his friendly smile did not disapper from his face.
«Well, my friend,» he started, «maybe I could be just as generous...»
Larry laughed loudly to give his words the meaning of a joke. George, surprised, looked straight into his eyes, expecting the continuation of his sentence.
«I have a flat just for you. Namely, a friend of mine is leaving the city for a few years and he needs a person who is trustful to keep the flat until he comes back. Since Laura told me that you are such kind of person, confidential, I think that you could do a favour to my friend living in his flat as he could do a favour to you for the same reason. What do you say?»
George almost jumped with joy. He squeezed Larry's hand and, after a few days, he moved into a small bachelor's flat. He was sitting comfortably in an armchair, nibbling pop-corn, drinking beer and watching a football match on TV. The door of his flat, noiselessly opened and a face of a pretty young girl, his neighbour who he had already met, pierced into the room.
«Nock, nock...» she said smiling at him when she was already in the middle of the room. He rose with a surprise, but when he saw the pleasant smile of the pretty neighbour, he approached to greet her and joyfully asked to join him.
«Camelia, come in, please, come in...» He stammered and offered her to sit.
«I've just popped in for a minute, I feel a bit lonesome, so I thought....!» Camelia acted shyness, but it was obvious that she was not a little innocent girl as she pretended to appear.
«How nice of you to come to me in such a mood. I feel lonely just as well and I suppose that we would feel better if we stick together. Loneliness doesn't get along well with a company of more than one member.»
They both laughed and, from that evening on, they kept banishing their two lonelyness either from his or from her flat.
«George, what do you think if we moved to the city where my father lives and start a new life together?» She proposed to him after a couple of months of their happy relationship.
«But, honey, how could I leave my job? I still don't have the right to get a holiday...» George started to apologize, thinking about this strange and unexpected proposal.
«Well, this is exactly what I am talking about. My father has his own business, he is already quite old and he would like me to take it over, and I need an adequate assistant. I think that you are the right person for it.»
«I couldn't do a thing like that now when Laura has shown so much confidence in me... Excuse me, darling... you go and I will join you later... OK?» George was apologizing sincerely to his girlfriend.
----
«Has he accepted?» Asked Larry Camelia when they spoke on the phone.
«He hasn't.» She replied, disappointed.
«Why?»
«Laura.»
Camelia heard a deep sigh from the other side of line.
«OK.» Said Larry briefly and ended their conversation.
Camelia dropped the receiver and started thinking, streched on her bed. She thought about Larry's suggestion to seduce George when he moved into her building several months ago and to do her best to take him away from the city with her, for he had known about her intention to move and start working in her father's company. He also gave her money for this «service» she was about to give him. But she never thought that she was going to fall in love with George, really. That is why, after some time since she had met George, Camelia returned money to Larry, but her promiss to take him away from the town was still valid. And now, there was a new problem. George did not want to let Laura down.
----
Larry waited until everyone was out of the company's building and went into George's office, opened his locked desk with a duplicate of the key that he had got from Camelia once at the begining of her relation with George, took some documents and neatly closed the drawer again.
----
At the meeting of Directors' Board they were all very nervous, especially Laura because George was unusually late and his presence was especially neccessary. He was supposed to bring some documents crucial for their further development. But they were waiting in vain for more than half an hour. Finally, she went out to his office and got shocked in front of the scene she found there.
George was sitting on the floor, his hair and suit were in a mess, the expression on his face was obviously saying that he felt lost. Things in the office were all scattered around. He looked at her speachlessly and helplessly.
Seeing his pale face, Laura wanted to tell him some words of comfort, but when she heard that the important documents were stolen, she lost her patience.
«Stolen!» She screamed.
«Stolen.» Repeated George in a low and desperate voice, like an echo.
«But... George, haven't I told you to keep them? What's wrong with you, man! Have you got....» But, she stopped talking seeing tears in his eyes.
«The desk is not broken, but the documents are gone...» he said with no colour in his voice.
«I think that you would understand that, after this, nobody will be able to trust you anymore, George.» Said Laura and went out leaving him to sit on the floor with no thoughts in his mind.
He set there like a shadow, everything was gone around him – time, space, people, he was not there just as well. From some far distance he heard telephone ringing, but he could not understand what was it. The phone kept ringing for quite some time before he lifted his arm to pick the receiver and said «Hello» like a zombi.
«Camelia's here, George. Would you like to come to me tonight, I'll make some dinner, we should say farewel, for I am leaving tomorrow, you know?»
Georg swallowed spit and, pulling himself together a bit, his thoughts started coming into his mind.
«Yes, yes... of course...» He replied.
-----
«I had to dismiss George.»
Laura informed Larry after the meeting was over and where Larry had changed the situation showing copies of the documents which George was supposed to submit and saying that he had done it just in case something happened to the new manager for he had never trusted him too much.
«Well done, my dear. Don't think that I am jealous or something like that, but he was not fit for that job. He is too vigilant, not ready to take risks... That job needs much more courage than he could provide...» Larry smiled and added: «Anyway, you shouldn't worry... it just happened that I have someone else in mind to replace him, you know....»
A new manager to replace George came next day. It was a short, paunchy, older fellow who could be thought of as fit for anything except to attract women.
Larry introduced him to Laura and the new manager went out followed by Larry's new secretary. Larry followed them with his eyes and especially fixed to the secretary's twisting body. Laura noticed this, typically man's, behaviour which she never noticed in Larry before. She was unpleasantly surprised, but she said nothing.
----
«Hey, Laura!» Exclaimed Bob when he entered Laura's office where she had asked him to come for some very important business.
«Hey, darling.» Replied Laura and dropped a little friendly kiss on his cheek.
It was obvious that Bob was irresistible for women, but Laura and him were only friends. Bob didn't work too much, and was always in need for money. That is why Laura thought of him for a special plan she made.
Than Laura asked Larry to send her his secretary Helen, for her was absent that day. When Helen came in, Bob was already instructed what to do. So he started his obvious approaches immediataly, and after a few days, Hellen was madly in love with him. Laura told Bob a special day and hour when to come and make a nasty scene with Helen, exactly when Larry's important partners were supposed to come to her reception. Everything went as they planned and when Larry saw his secretary kissing, in the arms of her lover, not knowing about the Laura's plan, he sacked her immediately.
----
«I am so sorry about this incident, my love...» Said Laura that evening to Larry, while hiding a strange and tricky smile. «Hm... but how very strange, just today I have met my old, old, friend. You know the fat and old friend of my aunt.» Larry nodded with a suspicious expression on his face.
«Well...» Laura continued, «she told me that she was looking for a secretary job. She is very experienced and I think you could trust her...» Laura stopped expecting Larry's reaction.
Larry burst into laughter for he immediately understood everything.
«OK, OK, my love» he said, «tell your Methuselah friend to come tomorrow, I hope that things will go better with her....»
Larry did not even finish the sentence when Laura fell into his arms and they both fell onto the floor covering each other with kisses mixed with laughter of joy and understanding.
Larry... a bit younger than herself, but not less experienced in business and, as much as she was able to judge at first sight, not less experienced with women. The two of them shared similar work enthusiasm and marrital status. Both free, without steady love relation and filled with desire to enrich their lives with new experiences.
Laura's previous love relation ended with marriage – his. She did not suffer, though, no, not her. It could even be said that she was satisfied because of the happy ended relation with him marrying another woman. Although... if she could be honest with herself, she was a bit sorry for he had not waited a bit longer for her answer to his proposal. But, she was not ready for such step, or she was not ready to make such step with him... Who knows! She did not want to burden herself with such thoughts. It was past. And now, there was Larry. Her smile broadened.
She entered her company's building exactly at the same time as every morning. Her employees were already busy with their work. Passing by her they greeted her, some of them shook her hand congradulating her for the success about which they had already been informed and shared mutual satisfaction, hoping for higher sallaries and promotions. Knowing their thoughts and hopes, Laura shook their hands back with a smile of confirmation and promisses.
She set into her armchair and joyously looked around. It was a large room, richly furnished with office staff. Her secretary came in, immediately, wishing her good morning and bringing her usual morning drinks. She liked to have some coffee and juice before devoting herself to work.
The sunny day was coming into the office through a large glass wall. Birds could be heard from the garden surrounding the building. In the middle of the garden, there was a fountain in the shape of a forest well, and the springing water sparkled and shined with colours of spectre. After a couple of minutes of this relaxation and enjoyment in the environment, the phone rang. Her breast jumped with joyful expectations.
«Larry...» she thought.
The secretary informed her that Mr. Larry was on the line.
«Thank you, Elleonor» said Laura and took the line.
«Miss Laura... « she heard the sweet voice of her new desire. She almost shivered with pleasure.
«Mr. Larry...» with the sweetness of her voice she fitted into the tone of his.
«Shall we have lunch or dinner together?» He asked, and she felt some exciting shyness in his voice.
«How about both...?» Laura, again, imitated the tone of his.
From that day on their feeling grew stronger and flourished like the most beautiful flowers. Nobody else existed for her but him, and nobody else existed for him but her. The rest of the world was around them as a paradise garden upon which they shone the light of their love. They were unseparable, both at work, for they joined their companies into one, and privately.
--------
«Laura, I'm broken.» Said, one day, George, her ex-boyfriend. He stood in her office, all shaken down with worries.
«My wife left me. I've lost my job. I have money just enough not to starve. I had to sell everything to survive, and here am I... If you can't help, I don't know what to do.
Laura's eyes filled with tears of sympathy. She got up and came close to him and, in a gesture of consolation, she put her arm on his sholder.
«George, why have you waited so long to ask me for help? Of course I can help you. You, little fool!»
She tenderly punched his nose, and George smiled with hope, sitting into the chair opposite her desk as if a big burden was unloaded from his sholders.
From that day, George was working in her company as a manager. The working post required a person of confidence, and Laura had a great confidence in George.
«I see that you have employed your ex-boyfriend as our new manager...» Indifferently said Larry tieing his scarf while they were dressing for an evening going out. But, Laura felt a shadow of bitterness in his voice. She looked at him with surprise and fell into his arms with a smile.
«Well, well, you are jelous, my love!» She exclaimed. «Don't you dare bringing such thougths into your sweet little mind!» She added humorously. «I belong to you, do you hear? Only to you, for ever!»
Larry gave her back a tender kiss, and it calmed her down.
Next day Larry entered George's office, since the formal introduction had taken place before, and friendly put his arm on his sholder, asking him about his health and private life problems.
«I don't know how to find an appropriate flat. Did Laura tell you that I'd had to sell my old one because of the money problems I'd had, before she helped me so generously to get out of them?»
Larry imperceptebly pressed his jaws, but his friendly smile did not disapper from his face.
«Well, my friend,» he started, «maybe I could be just as generous...»
Larry laughed loudly to give his words the meaning of a joke. George, surprised, looked straight into his eyes, expecting the continuation of his sentence.
«I have a flat just for you. Namely, a friend of mine is leaving the city for a few years and he needs a person who is trustful to keep the flat until he comes back. Since Laura told me that you are such kind of person, confidential, I think that you could do a favour to my friend living in his flat as he could do a favour to you for the same reason. What do you say?»
George almost jumped with joy. He squeezed Larry's hand and, after a few days, he moved into a small bachelor's flat. He was sitting comfortably in an armchair, nibbling pop-corn, drinking beer and watching a football match on TV. The door of his flat, noiselessly opened and a face of a pretty young girl, his neighbour who he had already met, pierced into the room.
«Nock, nock...» she said smiling at him when she was already in the middle of the room. He rose with a surprise, but when he saw the pleasant smile of the pretty neighbour, he approached to greet her and joyfully asked to join him.
«Camelia, come in, please, come in...» He stammered and offered her to sit.
«I've just popped in for a minute, I feel a bit lonesome, so I thought....!» Camelia acted shyness, but it was obvious that she was not a little innocent girl as she pretended to appear.
«How nice of you to come to me in such a mood. I feel lonely just as well and I suppose that we would feel better if we stick together. Loneliness doesn't get along well with a company of more than one member.»
They both laughed and, from that evening on, they kept banishing their two lonelyness either from his or from her flat.
«George, what do you think if we moved to the city where my father lives and start a new life together?» She proposed to him after a couple of months of their happy relationship.
«But, honey, how could I leave my job? I still don't have the right to get a holiday...» George started to apologize, thinking about this strange and unexpected proposal.
«Well, this is exactly what I am talking about. My father has his own business, he is already quite old and he would like me to take it over, and I need an adequate assistant. I think that you are the right person for it.»
«I couldn't do a thing like that now when Laura has shown so much confidence in me... Excuse me, darling... you go and I will join you later... OK?» George was apologizing sincerely to his girlfriend.
----
«Has he accepted?» Asked Larry Camelia when they spoke on the phone.
«He hasn't.» She replied, disappointed.
«Why?»
«Laura.»
Camelia heard a deep sigh from the other side of line.
«OK.» Said Larry briefly and ended their conversation.
Camelia dropped the receiver and started thinking, streched on her bed. She thought about Larry's suggestion to seduce George when he moved into her building several months ago and to do her best to take him away from the city with her, for he had known about her intention to move and start working in her father's company. He also gave her money for this «service» she was about to give him. But she never thought that she was going to fall in love with George, really. That is why, after some time since she had met George, Camelia returned money to Larry, but her promiss to take him away from the town was still valid. And now, there was a new problem. George did not want to let Laura down.
----
Larry waited until everyone was out of the company's building and went into George's office, opened his locked desk with a duplicate of the key that he had got from Camelia once at the begining of her relation with George, took some documents and neatly closed the drawer again.
----
At the meeting of Directors' Board they were all very nervous, especially Laura because George was unusually late and his presence was especially neccessary. He was supposed to bring some documents crucial for their further development. But they were waiting in vain for more than half an hour. Finally, she went out to his office and got shocked in front of the scene she found there.
George was sitting on the floor, his hair and suit were in a mess, the expression on his face was obviously saying that he felt lost. Things in the office were all scattered around. He looked at her speachlessly and helplessly.
Seeing his pale face, Laura wanted to tell him some words of comfort, but when she heard that the important documents were stolen, she lost her patience.
«Stolen!» She screamed.
«Stolen.» Repeated George in a low and desperate voice, like an echo.
«But... George, haven't I told you to keep them? What's wrong with you, man! Have you got....» But, she stopped talking seeing tears in his eyes.
«The desk is not broken, but the documents are gone...» he said with no colour in his voice.
«I think that you would understand that, after this, nobody will be able to trust you anymore, George.» Said Laura and went out leaving him to sit on the floor with no thoughts in his mind.
He set there like a shadow, everything was gone around him – time, space, people, he was not there just as well. From some far distance he heard telephone ringing, but he could not understand what was it. The phone kept ringing for quite some time before he lifted his arm to pick the receiver and said «Hello» like a zombi.
«Camelia's here, George. Would you like to come to me tonight, I'll make some dinner, we should say farewel, for I am leaving tomorrow, you know?»
Georg swallowed spit and, pulling himself together a bit, his thoughts started coming into his mind.
«Yes, yes... of course...» He replied.
-----
«I had to dismiss George.»
Laura informed Larry after the meeting was over and where Larry had changed the situation showing copies of the documents which George was supposed to submit and saying that he had done it just in case something happened to the new manager for he had never trusted him too much.
«Well done, my dear. Don't think that I am jealous or something like that, but he was not fit for that job. He is too vigilant, not ready to take risks... That job needs much more courage than he could provide...» Larry smiled and added: «Anyway, you shouldn't worry... it just happened that I have someone else in mind to replace him, you know....»
A new manager to replace George came next day. It was a short, paunchy, older fellow who could be thought of as fit for anything except to attract women.
Larry introduced him to Laura and the new manager went out followed by Larry's new secretary. Larry followed them with his eyes and especially fixed to the secretary's twisting body. Laura noticed this, typically man's, behaviour which she never noticed in Larry before. She was unpleasantly surprised, but she said nothing.
----
«Hey, Laura!» Exclaimed Bob when he entered Laura's office where she had asked him to come for some very important business.
«Hey, darling.» Replied Laura and dropped a little friendly kiss on his cheek.
It was obvious that Bob was irresistible for women, but Laura and him were only friends. Bob didn't work too much, and was always in need for money. That is why Laura thought of him for a special plan she made.
Than Laura asked Larry to send her his secretary Helen, for her was absent that day. When Helen came in, Bob was already instructed what to do. So he started his obvious approaches immediataly, and after a few days, Hellen was madly in love with him. Laura told Bob a special day and hour when to come and make a nasty scene with Helen, exactly when Larry's important partners were supposed to come to her reception. Everything went as they planned and when Larry saw his secretary kissing, in the arms of her lover, not knowing about the Laura's plan, he sacked her immediately.
----
«I am so sorry about this incident, my love...» Said Laura that evening to Larry, while hiding a strange and tricky smile. «Hm... but how very strange, just today I have met my old, old, friend. You know the fat and old friend of my aunt.» Larry nodded with a suspicious expression on his face.
«Well...» Laura continued, «she told me that she was looking for a secretary job. She is very experienced and I think you could trust her...» Laura stopped expecting Larry's reaction.
Larry burst into laughter for he immediately understood everything.
«OK, OK, my love» he said, «tell your Methuselah friend to come tomorrow, I hope that things will go better with her....»
Larry did not even finish the sentence when Laura fell into his arms and they both fell onto the floor covering each other with kisses mixed with laughter of joy and understanding.