Thomas by Karen Blayne

Oh by the way red tape first.

© Karen Blayne 2019.    All copies must be of the complete document.    

Be warned these short stories contain mature content or naughty bits and as such may corrupt you if you’re under 12, 16, 18, 21 or 25 depending where you live thus if they are not suitable for you put them back on the shelf and let them age for a year or two.

They were sort of scribbled for fun. They were first posted on asstr.org. If you’ve paid money for this book just be aware the author has not received any payment. In fact no one has permission to charge money for this book and copyright is retained by the author.  Asstr.org accepts donations if you’re feeling rich or even if you’re not.

Luv Karen  

I never quite worked out how I got involved with Thomas.  I met him on the bus examining the coins before he handed them over to the bus driver.  The bus driver was getting impatient and I wanted to get home so I put the fare in for him and tapped my card.  “Thank you Miss.” came from the exasperated bus driver.  I guided Thomas to a seat out of the way of the other passengers wanting to get on the bus out of the rain as he mulled the coins once more.  “I wonder who invented the first coins?”  He asked more to himself than anything else.  

Eventually he turned to me.  “You paid my fare?”  I handed him his ticket.  “Thank you but you shouldn’t have done it.”  “There were a lot of people getting wet behind us.”  “Oh so there were.”  He blinked obviously in another world.  “Have you thought about buying a bus pass?”  He looked lost.  “It works out cheaper than paying cash.”  “I suppose I should shouldn’t I?  Is it very complicated buying one?”  There are times when you need an umbrella, not for the rain you understand but for bashing someone over the head.

I really shouldn’t have asked but sometimes I get curious.  “Where are you going?”  “My new place to stay.”  He pulled out a scrap of paper with an advert on.  “Did you ring them first?”  He looked at me and shook his head.  I pulled out my phone and rang them.  “They have no vacancies.”  Why am I a sucker for the little boy lost look?  “I have a floor and a sleeping bag.”  His face brightened.

We crawled into my shared apartment.  “Alice that’s a boy coming in with you.”  I glared at Emma “Gee thanks that’ll save me looking in my biology book to find out.”  I led him to my room and showed him the sleeping bag.  He dumped his bag then followed me to the kitchen.

The kitchen works on a sort of if you want something clean you fish it out of the bowl and wash it up.  I fished out two mugs and rinsed them before filling them with coffee.  “Sugar?”  “Yes please.”  “How many?”  “I don’t know my mother always put it in for me.”  Where was the very large kitchen knife when you need one?  Emma sniggered behind us and I felt it was going to be a long day.  “Let’s try one and see how you like it.”  He sipped.  “I like it.”  He looked at the pile of washing up and picked up the brush in a meaningful manner.  Soon the draining rack was full of gleaming plates.

Lauren put her head round the door “Am I dreaming or is that a boy doing the washing up?”  Emma went to steady her.  “Careful let’s take it steady and get you to a chair before you faint.  Then I’ll tell you it was Alice who brought him home.”  Lauren fainted.

Thomas looked puzzled.  “Ignore them.  Now do you fancy pizza or pizza?”  He looked in the fridge and saw a dozen eggs and some cheese.  I’d brought the eggs the week before to bake a cake.  Well I get these mad ideas occasionally.  It had seemed a good idea in the supermarket but I hadn’t done anything with them since.  “I could make cheese omelettes?”  Lauren perked up and looked on expectantly as did Emma.

We had cheese omelettes for supper.  They weren’t bad either.  “He can cook, marry him Alice before he gets away.”  I put my tongue out.

After tea Lauren got out her laptop and was doing strange things with a spreadsheet.  She gave one of her cries of despair “Why won’t the stupid thing just combine two tables and produce a report?”  Thomas looked over her shoulder and clicked the mouse a couple of times.  Lauren smiled up at him “My hero.”

That night Thomas slept on my floor.

When I got back the next day after work Thomas was in the kitchen once more.  He seemed to like cooking.  “How did your day go?”  “They asked me to resign so I did.”  “Why?”  “I looked at what they were doing and they were doing it wrong so I told them they were doing it all wrong.  I showed them how to do it better and went back to reading manuals.  Later someone asked me to resign.  Apparently the manager didn’t like being shown up before his staff or something.  They gave me three months pay since the new way cost less, but apparently the boss’s pay was linked to how much he spent so he was annoyed.”  The food was good though.  The best was Emma came in wearing a new dress.   She was out to impress.  Lauren asked Thomas what he thought about Emma’s new dress so he told them.  I wouldn’t have dared and Emma was in tears.  I hustled him out of there and took him down to the neighbourhood watering place where in a moment of madness someone had decided to put up a team against the local chess club.

That was fine except only five people admitted to being able to play chess so they were looking for four more players to match the chess club team.  Well I’d played my granddad years before.  “Thomas can you play?  We need four more players I can play just about.”  “OK I’ll take on the remaining three boards.”  Everyone looked shocked.  The chess team conferred among themselves and eventfully agreed after changing their players round.

I opened by moving a white pawn forward in the centre as I’d been taught.  Thomas moved different moves on three boards and flipped the clock on each as he did so.  I fluttered my eyelashes at my opponent after eight moves but he wasn’t paying attention.  He was looking at the clocks by Thomas.  “Something wrong?”  “Who is he?”  “Thomas?”  “But his clocks have barely registered and he has tempo on all his boards.”  I wasn’t sure what he meant but if he was distracted I could always try grandad’s attack.  Six moves later and he’d lost.  Two of Thomas’s opponents had resigned and the third one was concentrating hard.

“What’s happening?”  I whispered to my opponent.  “The club decided that Thomas was being arrogant so we put our top three players against him.”  “And two have resigned already.”  “I’ve never seen Ryan beat.  He’s hoping to get into the international team but just needs a few more points.  This match would have given him two.  That’s why we played the pub.”  Thomas was looking bored.  “Mate in seven moves?”  Ryan looked taken back.  “No way.”  “A pint on it?”  Ryan nodded.  Seven moves later Thomas had checkmated Ryan who sat there and just looked at the board in shock and disbelief.

Thomas came across to my table and my opponent asked him were he usually played.  “I haven’t played for years.  I read a book once and that took all the joy out of the game for me.  I was just making up the numbers for the pub team tonight.”  He turned to me “Did you win?”  I grinned at him.  In the corner the last match was coming to an end.  Nigel had won for the pub so the pub had won against the chess club.  I liked Nigel, he was one of the fixtures of the pub.  He had his own seat in the corner.  The landlord had given him a special glass the previous year to commemorate fifty years of drinking in the pub.

We sneaked back into the apartment and into my bedroom past Emma and some guy who were talking in the living room.  No posh restaurant for her tonight then.  Next morning I got the coffee, no point in stirring up things by letting Thomas loose again.  Emma was drinking hers in the kitchen.  “How did it go last night?”  “Sort of weird, after Thomas’s remarks I sort of gave up on the night as a bad job.  I washed off my makeup, changed into my old jeans and a top and went to meet my date to tell him it was off as posh restaurants weren’t really my scene.  It was odd really as he admitted it wasn’t his either so we had a burger then came back and talked.  I’m seeing him again Thursday, he’s cooking me supper.”

A week later and I had a layoff notice handed to me.  Thomas had been asked to resign from yet another job.  He’d upset another manager again.  I didn’t know what to do with him.  Kick him out or what but it seemed a waste to kick him out.  I called Jade and poured my heart out.

I’ve known Jade forever we were really good friends until she got married then we sort of drifted apart.  “You could get married.”  Have you noticed how all your married friends want you to get married?  “Who to?”  “Thomas?  Drop by this afternoon and we’ll talk it through over a tub of chocolate ice cream.”  The trouble with old friends is they know all your weaknesses and mine just happens to be chocolate ice cream.  We were half way down the tub when Jade mentioned her boss who was the owner of the company was recently widowed.  “And since then he hasn’t been the same.  So what I suggest is you become his very private confidential executive assistant, whilst I’m on maternity leave.”  “Six months?”  “We’re thinking of five years but I haven’t broken the news to him yet.  He might think it’s only a few months.”

I thought about it for a moment or two.  I’d noticed her boss once or twice in the distance and thought he was rather dishy.  Not as young as he was but still interesting.  “It wouldn’t work.  You’ve told me far too many tales of him being old fashioned, respectable and stodgy.”  “You’d be doing me a favour.”  She held the rest of the chocolate ice cream tub away from me.  I hate it when she does that.  “You’ve already mentioned he doesn’t like unmarried females around in case they set their cap at him.”  “So marry what’s his name.”  “Thomas?  I can see it now.  Thomas will you marry me so I can be some other guy’s mistress.”  Jade giggled and I caught it off her.

Frank, or Mr. Jade as he has been called by Emma when she forgot his name, came in as we were giggling away.  “What are the pair of you planning now?”  “She’s trying to get me into her boss’s bed.”  “Homeless are you?”  That set us both off again.  “She’s been given a layoff notice.”  “So needs somewhere to live?”  I nodded, “Well I happen to hear that next door’s wife got caught in bed this afternoon with a neighbour so next door is up for sale or will be shortly.  Sam said he never wanted to live there again.”  Jade looked thoughtful “It would save the relator’s fee.”  “I can’t possibly afford it.”  “We could go and look.”  The house was so perfect.  Frank looked at me “Want it?”  I nodded.  “Price as per property tax bill?”  Sam nodded and Jade guided me out back to her home and I sat down.  What had I done?

“Now we need to talk this through so why don’t you bring Thomas over for supper tomorrow?”  “Are you really sure?”  “Of course.”  “He can be a bit blunt.”  “I’ve a thick skin.”  I spoke to Thomas and told him about the invitation.  “Well it will be different.  I don’t think anyone has ever invited me out for meal before.”  

I inspected him before we left and made him put on the shirt I’d ironed.  I thought about a tie but then thought no, it would be too tempting to throttle him with.

Jade welcomed us with open arms and guided us into the drawing room where Frank held out glasses of sherry to us.  “Meet David, Jade thinks he doesn’t eat enough so she invited him as well.”  Spare males fine by me.  I don’t know where Frank gets his sherry but it’s smooth to say the least and it relaxed both myself and Thomas.  “Now Thomas rumour has it you’ve been sleeping in Alice’s room.  Think of the poor girl’s reputation.  Mind you if you were engaged that would be fine of course.”  I was stunned reputation for taking Thomas back to my room and having him sleep on the floor.  Was it 1800 or something.  Thomas looked taken back “I didn’t think did I?”  “So you could formally ask her then it would be fine.”  Thomas looked at me and asked me to marry him.  Well if it kept Mrs. Prim and Proper happy if we were engaged so be it.  I accepted.  “Wonderful now since you’ve asked her to marry you and she’s agreed and we have the Reverend David with us and the paperwork is already completed so he can perform the ceremony and supper can be the wedding breakfast.”  I turned to Thomas in desperation “Don’t you have family or friends you’d like to invite?”  “No one would be interested.”  I know I should have been quicker off the mark to say no but five minutes later we were pronounced man and wife.

A bottle of champagne came out of nowhere.  “I really think I shouldn’t have any more we have to navigate back home.”  “But your home awaits you next door.  Sam left the keys and I changed the sheets so you can just move in at the end of the evening.”  I shook my head.  “But don’t we need to do things with lawyers and sort out mortgages?”  “Oh Frank sorted all that out during the day.  It’s all yours now.  Just think it will be so handy having you available to baby sit junior.”  Jade beamed she always did like organising people.  “Now I can give you a lift into work tomorrow and we can sort out your new job.”  “I haven’t any office clothes with me.”  “No matter come over and we’ll have breakfast together and I’m sure I’ve something in my wardrobe that will suit.  After all I’ve shared your clothes many times before.”

Thomas looked round our new home.  “Is it really ours?”  “Well apart from whoever owns the mortgage yes I guess so.”  I looked over the furniture and curtains, not quite my style but on the other hand they were much too good to throw out.  Exhausted by the day’s events we clambered into the king sized bed.  “Comfier than the floor.”  Came the remark from the other side of the bed.  I turned my back on him and fell asleep.

Next morning I crawled out of bed and pulled on the dress I’d worn the night before and escaped next door.  Jade was in the kitchen.  “I put an outfit together in the spare room for you.”  I wandered into the spare room.  Fresh underwear not only that but still with the price tag on.  Jade came in behind me munching a bit of plain toast.  “He has a thing about black stockings.”  “How did you find that out?”  “My witches outfit for Halloween.  Flared skirt worn with seamed stockings.  He sort of ignored me until I bent forward to file something in the bottom drawer.  I could feel the interest even with my back towards him.  He didn’t say anything at the time but you could tell.”

“I’m not sure I should be doing this.”  “Think of it as bringing a little lightness into his life.”  I slid the stockings on and admired myself in the full length mirror.  “You’ve got the legs for it.  Oh have you tried one of these?”  She held up a sort of pink mouse with a long tail.  I looked puzzled.  “It goes in here.”  Jade put a drop of lubricant on it before slipping it between my lips.  “Won’t it fall out?”  “That’s what knickers are for to hold everything in place.”  The rest of the garments were sort of none threatening office wear.  The blouse was a gorgeous silk mind you.

When we reached the office Jade had me make a mug of coffee as her boss liked it.  “The exact instructions are taped to the cupboard door.”  Old fashioned definitely, still if it got me a job what could I say?

We knocked then entered his office through a solid mahogany door.  “Good morning Mr. Henderson this is Alice who is hoping you’ll find her an acceptable substitute whilst I’m away.”  “Single?”  “No married I’m afraid.”  “That’s good.  The last thing I want is some gold digger trying to get a ring on her finger.”  “You’d better give him a kiss so he knows he can look forward to Christmas and the office mistletoe.”  We had giggled over me seducing her boss but did she really mean it? Obediently I went and sat on his lap and lifted my lips to his.  There was a sort of movement below as if the pink mouse had woken up.  I looked up to see an innocent smile on Jade’s face.  “How do I know you won’t go off and leave?”  Jade answered “Her husband has a knack for upsetting bosses and has just lost his job for the second time in a week.  Alice has been laid off from her job.  They recently brought a home so they can’t afford the repayments without work.  I think she’ll do anything you say.”

His hand drifted to my thigh and rested on a garter clip before moving down to my hem then back up again beneath my skirt.  “If you were to take over her mortgage and employ her husband she’d be totally at your command.”  His hand inched higher, the damn mouse was doing some serious wiggling now as Jade controlled it, quite openly sliding her fingers over her smartphone.  “What on earth?”  His fingers had found Minnie’s tail.  “Oh it’s just a remote controlled vibrator.  She likes the sensations.”

Jade pulled out the pink mouse.  I heard myself protesting.  Then she dipped her finger in first before slipping it between his lips.  “Tasty isn't she?”  There was a groan.

“Please put something in me.”  That couldn't be my voice could it?  I couldn't be that shameful could I?  My body had other ideas.  “How long has it been?”  I heard Jade say as she unzipped him.  She turned me round and positioned me so I was lent over the desk.  She lifted my pleated skirt and presented my barely covered bum to him.  I felt him hesitate then the next moment I was committing adultery before I'd even been bedded by my husband.  Still I must confess the idea of not having to make a decision about it all was a definite plus.  If I'd had to think about it I know I'd be racked with feelings of guilt.

“So she has the job.  I'm going to be away for five years to bring up bump so if you take over her mortgage and make it interest free if she stays the course and find her husband a job I can guarantee she'll stay.  By the way Alice I had a double bed moved into the office next door so I can put my feet up in the afternoons.  I'll be around for the next couple of months to show you the routine.  Now I think we'd better clean you up.  No first Mr. Harrison, lick him clean.”  She wanted me to do what?  Oh well in for a penny in for a pound.  I turned round and got down on my knees and licked him clean.  Unfortunately he grew hard again and spurted.  I would have pointed it down towards my blouse but it was a really nice silk one.  I could always wash my face.  Jade licked the sperm off my face and murmured just how much a temporary very personal assistant got paid.  For that much plus the house and a job for Thomas I decided I could sacrifice myself.  Besides his kisses weren't bad.  I wondered what kissing Thomas would be like.

I was feeling confused when I rode home with Jade that evening.  “So will you survive do you think?”  “I think so but I'm not sure what Thomas will think?  You know I wasn't planning to get married this week.”  Jade smiled “You'll do fine.”  She had more confidence than I had.

Thomas had a casserole waiting for me when I got home.  I just burst into tears and he hugged me to comfort me.  “So did you get the job?”  “We both have jobs.”  “If I last that is.”  “We both have jobs for at least five years.”  He looked shaken.  “What did you do?  Blow him?”  “Jade is taking five years maternity leave so I'm replacing her.  If we stay the course we get the mortgage on the house interest free and it gets paid off completely in the five years.  The salary is about three times what I might expect to make otherwise.”  “No doubt he'll expect to have his way with you?”  “He already has.”  I confessed and held my breath.  How would he take it?  

“Well since he already has it comes down to what are you comfortable with?”  “It's a very nice house next to Jade and if we sold it the fees would be more than we could afford.  I like living next door to Jade even though she can be a bit managing sometimes.”

“You'd better tell me what I can do to support you.  It's odd thinking in terms of two of us rather than just me but for better or worse it is the two of us together.”  He held me and I kissed him on the lips.  It much nicer than kissing Mr. Harrison.

We both rode in with Jade the next day.  “So tell me what am I supposed to be doing?”  “I’ll find you a cubicle then I think just have a look around for a few days and get a feel for things then we’ll try to find something you like.”  “You mean I have a choice?”  “The way Mr. Harrison positively salivates over your wife I’m sure you can do whatever you like.”  “Just be tactful and call me if you want to talk to someone.”  I blurted out.

I wore a simple sun dress with spaghetti straps over a white thong.  You could see I wasn’t wearing a bra.  I let Thomas cup my breasts and teased him with flashes of bare thigh in the back of the car.  “Children are you two making out in the back there?”  “No mummy.”  I replied, “Well next time you drive and I’ll show Thomas how to make out in the back seat.”  I put my tongue out at her.  Then I was sneaky and put my tongue out in Thomas’s mouth where she couldn’t see it.  Tasty.

When we got to work Jade pointed out Thomas’s cubical and we went to make his lordship’s coffee.  If I’d had thought about it making out with Thomas in the back of the car on the way into work wasn’t the most sensible thing I could have done.  Being aroused my lips were swollen, my erect nipples weren’t hidden by the thin summer dress.  We were on the double bed before my first sip of coffee.

“Good grief girl you look as if you’re enjoying your work.  Still I think we’d better update your wardrobe.”  Jade’s taste for colour has always been excellent and I enjoy shopping with her besides my wardrobe wasn’t nearly as smart as it should be for the pay I was earning.  So we hit the shops looking for things to wear in the office.  I was surprised that most were completely respectable.  “I’d thought you’d be dressing me up in throughly indecent clothes?”  “You have to keep them off balance so totally respectable on the outside and throughly decadent underneath.”  Throughly decadent underwear in pale colours that suited my skin tone was far more expensive than the outer garments.  Jade held up a wisp “Frank goes wild when I wear this one.”  “I don’t think we want to give Mr. Harrison a heart attack.  Well at least not for five years.  I want my paid off house first.”

We returned and Jade showed me how to prepare the accounts.  Thomas dropped by and asked if he could have a couple of some sort of accessories so Jade glanced at the price and said she’d put in the special signature book.

Two days later a large box arrived in the office and Jade had it taken to our rest room where she unpacked it.  “On you get.”  She commanded.  “What is it?”  “Just a sex toy to train you to come more easily.  Try it.  It’s definitely fun Frank found it on the internet.  It’ll definitely give you rosy cheeks.”  I wasn’t sure if I wanted to be able to orgasm on Mr. Harrison’s voice command but somehow I was talked into it.  I mean it wasn’t too bad to start with but later it sort of built up, and up and up until I orgasmed with no doubt about it.  “Now we’ll start you off with twenty minutes first thing in the morning.”  I was being organised again.

Two days later Jade produced a gorgeous silk baby doll that just about covered everything as long as you didn’t move.  “It’s much more practical than clothes for riding the beast on.”  Well it was and I did look good in it.  I could feel myself building up when she lowered the knobs, “It’s better if you pull back then push it up again.”  If she said so.  On the fourth nearly reaching you know what she turned it off.  “It’s late.  I’d forgotten Mr. Harrison has an appointment later on so we’d better get into to see him now.”  I was throughly bemused and wanting something to finish me off.  The gleam in Mr. Harrison’s eye when we arrived with me dressed in my silk night gown was practically enough in itself.  “Sorry we’re a bit late this morning sir.  As you can see we’re a bit rushed and Alice hasn’t got dressed properly yet.”

Thank god the rest room was so close. Mr. Harrison might not last as long as some but he was learning his way around my body.  “I like the outfit.  Perhaps you could buy a few more?”  “Now you have an appointment across town I’ve a cab waiting downstairs but if you could just do the signature book first?”  He signed then flew out the door.  Jade had a big grin on her face.  “What have you done?”  “Nothing, you’ll soon learn.  If you give him his signature book on his way out he’ll sign anything off.”

Soon the rest room had a clothes rack full of luxury indecent apparel.  Skimpy waitress’s outfits were the most respectable.

“Alice, change into the six form outfit then come to my office please.”  My nose twitched.  Why I wondered had I done something wrong?  I dressed up in old fashioned seamed stockings, suspenders with a white silk blouse and a gymslip over the top.  I even wore heels could you imagine a schoolgirl wearing heels?  In trepidation I entered his office.  “Across my knee.”  Well he was the boss after all.  My skirt was lifted and my bum spanked.  Not really hard but hard enough.  “Ow and why?”  “You got the adding up wrong in the accounts.”  “No I didn’t.”  I stood up and he showed me the accounts for the last six months.  He was right this months profit was triple the normal amount, and the shipping costs were doubled.  “But they’re right.”  I protested.  “They can’t possibly be right.”  I looked at the cane that came with the school girl outfit lying on the floor.  “Let me go and check and see what has happened.”  

I stormed down to the sales office.  “Right guys what have you been selling?  And I want to see your figures for the last month.”  I shouldn’t have gone in there wearing a small boys dream of a Halloween outfit.  The black stockings weren’t long enough to be covered by the hem of my dress for a start.  “I could show you mine if you’ll show me yours?”  I held the cane up threateningly.  “This is serious guys the profits are triple what they should be so what gives?”  We looked through the order book. The only thing I could see was the lead time had dropped from ten weeks to two weeks.  The product mix was the same.

I went down to shipping.  LeRoy took one look at me and collapsed on the floor.  “I need mouth to mouth resuscitation.”  I kicked him in the ribs.  “I’ll use my heels next time on your tender spot.”  He looked reproachfully at me.  I positioned my high heel just over his crotch.  “Feeling better?”  He looked even more reproachfully at me and nodded looking up my skirt at the same time.  I almost put the heel in but thought better of it.  “Now why is the shipping charges twice as high this month as last?”  “I got a real deal on it.”  “Sorry?”  “Well we shipped more three times our usual quantity and I managed to arrange full container loads which gets us a much better price.”  “Why did we ship so much more than usual?”  “No idea.  Talk to production?”  “But come back and tell me what they say?” he added hopefully.

I walked across to production and watched the end of the line where the boxes were loaded on to pallets by a machine. When the pallet was full a little robot came and tugged it away and placed a new empty one in its place.  “Cute isn’t it?  Love the outfit now if only I was younger and had the legs I could wear something like that and give you some real competition for Mr. Harrison’s attention.  I’m Tammy by the way and it looks as if you have questions.”  “We seemed to have shipped three times more this month than last?”  “Oh Thomas was round asking questions and I mentioned my back was playing up.  We used to lift the boxes up manually with a girl on each end.  A few days later the arm appeared so it stacks its own boxes on a pallet now and then he got the little robot thing working to move the pallets around.  He twiddled a few knobs so the machinery runs unattended overnight so when we come in the morning all we have to do is move the loaded pallets down to shipping.  The girls love it.”  “But isn’t it taking work away from you?”  “Yes and no, we still have to put shipping labels on the boxes and pallets and we do a few other things to check quality control as well.  So we miss the heavy lifting bits and do the more interesting bits.” She turned and we sat at an very old desktop computer.  It took ages to bring up the program.  “Thomas showed me how to schedule the jobs.  We do them in batches and it takes time to set up for a batch but now I can group the same type of work altogether so we have less set up to do.”

I could see I needed to talk to Thomas but I was a bit shy dressed as I was so I sneaked back and changed from my St Trinian’s outfit into jeans and a top.  I passed LeRoy who looked disappointed I’d changed so I groped him and gave him a kiss on his cheek.  His mates who were with him ribbed.  “LeRoy you’re history if the boss catches you messing with his private confidential executive assistant’s private parts.”  I waved to the rest of them as I passed.  I’m not sure if LeRoy was blushing or not so I touched his cheek.  Definitely warmer than normal to the touch so LeRoy could blush.  I gave him another kiss on his cheek.  “Blushing LeRoy?”  He sort of stammered and the gang gave him a really hard time.  Some of the comments even brought a blush to my skin.

I found Thomas in the computer room.  “What did you do to production?”  “Oh that well it seemed silly not to buy the accessories and have the girls lift those heavy boxes so I just asked Jade for them.”  I sat down in his visitor’s chair.  “They must have cost thousands.”  “I think they did but Jade said not to worry she’d put them in his special signature book.”  I thought back to the day when he had an appointment and I’d been dressed in my baby doll after being warmed up on the beast.

We went back together to see Mr. Harrison and explain what had happened.  “You know your computers are ten years old?”  “They’re still working aren’t they?”  “Well yes but the newer ones are cheaper and use less electricity.”  “I can’t afford to buy new servers.  The last ones were very expensive.”  “Anyway are you here to explain away your mistake adding up?”  “There was no mistake Thomas played and added a couple of accessories to the production area so now it runs unattended overnight.”  “It doesn’t cost any more in people?”  “They do things a bit differently but it’s the same number of people.  If I don’t buy new servers I can sort out the computers?”  There was something in the way he said it but Mr. Harrison agreed so I stayed silent.

When I got home that night I was feeling pleased with Thomas actually managing to make a change without upsetting anyone.  I went upstairs and changed into one of my silk baby doll night dresses I’d borrowed from work then slipped into the kitchen and ran my hands over his back.  He turned round and kissed me.  “Do you like it?”  I asked innocently.  “Food first then an early night I think.”  I mean who but Thomas would put food first as a priority?

It was an memorable wedding night.  We took it slowly and I think we’d both been building up to it over time.  I know I’d been naughty at work but that was just to survive.  With Thomas it was real if that makes sense?

A week later Jade was raving over the new email system.  “It’s like I can even check them on my phone and as for the new desk top computer.  I

like the flat screen although I had to call Thomas once or twice to find out how to do things.” Thomas apparently had put everything in the cloud so he hadn’t brought new servers.

Sales, Oh didn’t I mention they had targets?  If they met the new targets then I agreed to collect their detailed progress reports in my schoolgirl’s outfit and threaten the worse performing ones with my cane.  Well until I wised up that two or three of them actually looked forward to being caned by a school girl.  Honestly can you believe that?  Perverts that what they were.

Sandy in sales showed me how the new word processing program could access records in our databases so she was busy creating customised letters and emails from the database.  She was working on a laptop so she could spend the following day at home waiting for a repairman to come.  I still prefer typewriters myself even if they can’t send an email.  At least they don’t sit there and tell you they’re updating every month.

Sandy’s friend worked in sales at Hammonds the company next door and she wondered if Thomas could look over her computer so she could work at home.  I shrugged and called Thomas and together with Sandy we sneaked in to see her friend.  “In your case you’d need to download your databases to the laptop but then you could work at home.”  Thomas downloaded a copy of their databases to the laptop.  Her slim laptop seemed very small to hold all that information but what did I know.

We got back and Frank had called Jade about a rumour that Hammonds were about to go under.  Apparently there had been a management buy out and they’d borrowed the money.  The loans were due to be turned over and whispers were going around the banks didn’t want to renew or only at a much higher interest rate.  Jade popped into see Mr. Harrison to ask him if he knew anything.

The next day we heard that Hammonds had been hit by ransomware.  All their servers had been hit.  That afternoon Jade, Frank, Thomas myself and Mr. Harrison had a council of war after the mayor rang.  Could we save a few jobs.  Thomas called Sandy in.  “Has your friend still got her laptop?”  Sandy rang.  “Yes she had.”  “Ask her to take it home and she’s not to connect to their network under any circumstances.”

Frank sort of chaired the meeting and although Hammonds was ten times the size of Mr. Harrison’s company looking round the table he thought the money to make a low offer for the assets was there.  “We could support their operations on our infrastructure.”  Offered Thomas.  Mr. Harrison raised his eyebrows at this but Thomas explained being in the cloud meant you could just buy a bit more computing power.

Two hours later the deed was done.  I think the receivers recognised that with the database records encrypted the company had very little value and even our low bid was better than nothing.

I couldn’t resist breaking the news to LeRoy personally in front of his mates.  “Hi LeRoy you’ve got such wonderfully broad shoulders I thought I’d add to your burden.”  He looked at me suspiciously.  “Talk nicely to your contacts but we’ve just taken over Hammonds so that’s ten times the amount of shipping to do.”  “Man we haven’t got the loading dock space.”  “Hammonds have.”  “You mean we really have taken them over.”  I stepped up and kissed him on the cheek.  He was so quick sometimes.  “You’d better think about which loading docks we are shipping from and where your office is going to be.  If you do the sums it might even make sense to buy our own tractors and trailers.  Sandy in sales thinks having our name on the side would be nice.”   LeRoy turned to Terrell, one of the gang.  “You’re always going on about which truck is best get a spreadsheet out.”  “Hey man sums is not my strong point.”  I groped LeRoy on his strong point.  “Dig the rough numbers out of Hammonds and come and see me and I’ll put them together.”  “Man that’s an offer I wouldn’t resist.”

Sandy got hold of a salesperson at Volvo and fed them the numbers.  “We can do something.  A mix of running your own trucks and using a shipping company.”  I went off to meet him at the local dealers.  I thought the one with the biggest bedroom was really cool so we ended up buying the one with the biggest bedroom and smaller unit to do local deliveries.  We brought six maximum sized trailers and three smaller ones.  Sandy had found some art work for the trailer she wanted painted on.  Sales were contributing some of their advertising budget to the purchase. “Do you have any drivers?”  “You mean you can’t drive one of these on an ordinary driving license?”  “I know of a driving school that are looking for placements if you aren’t too fussy about employing ex-cons.”  I looked at him.   “It’s attached to the open prison and as a show of good will we gave them a couple of elderly trucks to train on.”  Why not I’d let LeRoy handle them.  “As long as it isn’t dangerous driving or speeding I think we’ll be fine.”  “They might need an official pardon to cross the border.”  “I’m sure LeRoy will sort it all out.”

Thomas grabbed the sale’s laptop and extracted what he could into our databases.  Then Sandy did her customised letters to the customers. A couple of senior managers took exception to Thomas’s introduction to their new email and office systems and demanded that Thomas be fired by Mr. Harrison.  I stepped across and explained the facts of life to them and after the words it’s him or me.  I thanked them for their contribution in the past and accepted their statement as a verbal resignation.

We struggled to absorb Hammonds into Mr. Harrison’s company and I mean struggled but eventually things slotted into place and without the heavy burden of debt the atmosphere and morale at Hammonds improved.  It was almost a relief to have sex with Mr. Harrison for both of us as a break from solving problems and combining departments.  Thomas I rarely saw for two months as he got himself interested in technical matters at Hammonds.

Finally our fifth wedding anniversary, I wondered what the future held.  I was certain Thomas wouldn’t remember.  He hadn’t remembered any of the earlier ones nor my birthday.  Harrison's had put up with Thomas for five years but my temporary job was coming to an end.  I smiled at Jade's daughter Cathy as she held up a bit of Duplo to me.  I couldn't blame Jade for wanting to take the time off to be with her daughter for the first few years of her life.

Still time to move on.  The door bell rang, Cathy looked up and together we walked to the door and answered it.  “Thomas?”  She had the same sort of look about her as Thomas.  Feeling naughty I answered “Would Mrs. Thomas do?”  “What that brother of mine got married without mentioning anything?”  She looked down at Cathy questioningly.  “No she's next doors.”  “I thought I might have been an aunt for years without knowing it.”

“Come in he's communicating with a computer.”  I led the way.  She looked at him I tossed her a cushion.  Well I didn't want him seriously hurt.  She thumped him hard.  He looked up “Hi sis.”  She thumped him again “Is that all you can after disappearing for five years?”  “I didn't.  I knew where you were.”  “It didn't occur to you that the family might be interested in where you were or attending your wedding?”  “No.  How did you find me anyway?”  “The bank was nice and gave me your address eventually since I was joint on the savings account and we were trying to work out if the rather large sum taken five years ago meant you'd been murdered.”  “No I used it to become a silent partner in Harrison / Hammonds.  I now own 70% of the business.”  “Let get this right you had money five years ago?”  “Well yes didn't I mention it?”  I picked up a cushion and thumped him really hard.

“What difference would it have made?”  I thumped him again and then thought about it.  We had a nice house all paid for, we had money and in some ways I was getting used to him.  My five years of private confidential executive assistant, I could live with that.  It had been fun but it would have been nice to have the choice.  “Next time we should talk more.”  “He never was much good at talking, in fact I’m surprised he talked to you enough to get married.” My nose twitched and I sympathised with all the managers he’d upset but I gave him a kiss anyway.