[sarahsarah]

Chapter 5

Alex strolled into the company late in the morning. The factory was already hard at work when she arrived, the machinery could be heard in the distance and the cool air of her office was a relief on such a warm day. She quickly read over the note on her desk from Sophia and sighed to herself; another order messed up and most likely more money down the drain. One word stood out though in bold letters after the description of the problem and that word was KEN. It always had something to do with him.

Taboo was a large client that had received one tenth of their order and the problem was clearly in shipping. Alex didn’t understand it, manufacturing had made the entire order, but shipping had dispatched ten percent and the other ninety was unaccounted for. Not only was she losing money on the order but the disappearance of the stock would be a large expenditure as well. Her opinion was clear. Ken just could not control that department.
Alex picked up the phone and rang Taboo. “Hi Andy, Alex Friend from binding connections. I want to express my sincerest apologies for the problems with your orders.................I understand, we can get the order to you within two days.................I recognise the loss to your company; we will provide a 10% discount on this order and a 5% discount on the next two.................Thank you for understanding, it won’t happen again, I’ll make sure of it.................Yes the right people are being dealt with.................Nice talking to you as well Andy, I’ll see you next week.................Goodbye.’
Alex hung up the line. She was pissed off, another few thousand dollars down the drain from those discounts plus the costs of manufacturing. At least she’d managed to keep hold of the client; the market was getting more competitive all the time and their position at the top was constantly under threat. The board meeting was in half an hour so she quickly went through her never ending list of emails. Her office phone buzzed. “Sue would like to meet with you if you have the time.”
“Send her in Sophia but it will have to be quick.”

The door opened and her future shipping manager entered the room. “How can I help you darling?” Alex tried to act pleasant but really she was stressed out, she’d lost a large amount of profit, got little work done and had a significant meeting coming up. “Try to be quick.”
“Is this completely private?” Sue asked “Nobody else can hear us?”
“It’s just me and you, now what can I help you with?”
Sue took in a deep breath. “It’s about Ken, I’m not sure how to say this really……. He’s been acting strange for a while……… I don’t know how I can put this…….”
Alex sighed. “Let me just cut across you there, Ken is on a quick slope right now like we discussed last night. He’s getting demoted and I trust you to run it better, especially after this morning’s fiasco. Anything else on the matter and about that nuisance of an employee can wait until the meeting tomorrow. OK?”
“But…… but….”
“No buts on the matter, I don’t have time for it right now, keep working and I’ll talk to you tomorrow. Understood?”
“But…”
“Understood?”
“Yes Miss Friend. Sorry for taking up your time.” With that Sue left and Alex relaxed back into her seat but only momentarily before Sophia entered.

“What is it now?” Alex questioned, not sure she could handle more problems this morning. She looked at Sophia expectantly, waiting for the next catastrophe to come up.
“The board members have arrived for your 11:30 meeting.” Alex looked across to the clock to see it was already 11:25, where had her morning gone.
She glanced back to Sophia, “OK Soph. I want you to join me in the meeting; you might as well see how these things go if you’re going to rise further in the company. You’ll need to see what happens, or more likely, what doesn’t happen at the top level.
“Are you sure Alex, I don’t want to get in your way.” Sophia seemed a little surprised; normally nobody outside the board ever went into these meetings.
Alex thought about it. “Yes, definitely, you’ll have to call me Miss Friend though as an employee in front of the board members. I want you at my side taking notes and observing, only intervene if you feel you must.” With that the two of them left Alex’s office and headed up to the boardroom.

It was half an hour in before formalities were finally completed and Alex finally tried to show some interest. They’d had a quick update on the departments, reread the last minutes and had a coffee break, but finally she was able to speak.
“Thank you for coming everyone.” There were 5 other board members than herself, 4 men and 1 woman. The five of them had all invested into the company when her father ran the business and a couple barely seemed to take her seriously. There was Mike, her father’s best friend and colleague who’d hoped he’d get a big share of the company upon his death, but instead gained nothing and had begrudgingly accepted her. They did not get along and Mike seemed determined to stop everything she did. The others were there simply to do business, but her main problem and barrier was age. The youngest among them was Graeme at 45 and the other four were all over 60 and stuck in their ways.
“A few of you have a few suggestions and points they would like to make but I have a few before you raise them.” Sophia smiled to me in the seat on my left and listened intently. The others pulled out pads, pens and materials to record notes. Alex sighed, they were all of the past, and not one of them seemed to understand technology and what it could bring to the table, not a tablet or laptop in sight except hers and Sophia’s.
“Firstly, I want to address the recent problems in shipping. You are all aware of the mistakes and inadequacies of the department so without further ado I would like to demote Ken Adams from his role. He has no control of his staff or the orders. He has served well however so I would like to return him to his old job within the department.” A few nods appeared to acknowledge this gesture of good will to a member of my Father’s staff. “The most qualified and performing member of staff in the department is Sue Johnson, I will promote her to the role in the coming days.”
A few murmurs spread around the table and Alex rested her hand on Sophia’s thigh as they discussed it amongst them. She stroked the hand slowly across the leg and Sophia glanced back warningly. Alex just smiled and continued to wait. Eventually the discussion stopped. “I take it there are no objections?” When nobody spoke Alex continued. In the position her father left the company board she had a majority say. The only thing that could stop her was the other board members could unanimously vote against a decision vetoing it if they felt it would damage the company. They were unable to make any changes themselves however.

Alex slid her left hand a little higher just so it rested on Sophia’s inner thigh, and Sophia suppressed a slight moan causing a questioning glance from the man nearest to her. “Next up, I will be introducing an entirely new range of mobile and computer controlled devices. I know many of you have been opposed to this in the past, but you all agreed that if I could get some pre-orders for these devices you would consent to the ideas.” Alex felt a little higher with her hands and discovered that Sophia was not wearing any underwear. It didn’t surprise her; the girl was constantly a little risqué. Alex ran her fingers tenderly over the mound eliciting a low moan from Sophia unnoticed by anyone else in the room. Sophia tried to move her hands in the way but Alex pushed it to the side and indicated to her to keep taking notes.
“We now have an order already in place for over twenty five thousand dollars worth of this merchandise from ESD Ltd.” A few eyebrows were raised and nodding around the table. “So I assume this is no longer a point for discussion.” Again there was murmuring but no dispute. Alex could see Sophia was now starting to squirm with the constant teasing attention under the table, completely obscured from anyone else’s view.
“Thirdly, you may have all noticed my assistant Sophia is in the room.” A lot of heads darted towards her as she tried to control her urges. “She is rising quickly through the company and eventually may become a branch manager so I want her to see how it works at the top level. She will be taking notes constantly on her laptop during this for experience.” Sophia mouthed the word bitch to Alex as she realised her hands would now be entirely occupied with typing and providing no protection of her pussy. The rest of the room nodded in acceptance, of all the things they could complain about regarding Alex’s decisions this wouldn’t be one. Sophia had shown huge promise within the company and had a way with clients.

“The final point I would like to raise again is the company name. I’ve raised it before but you keep vetoing my decision. Binding connections is aged, the name is dull, and it is from my father’s old fashioned regime and a constant reminder of it. We need to develop with the times and the trends. People these days can’t even be bothered to type the website as it is too long. I ask one of you to see sense and support me.” Alex inserted a finger deep as she said this and a gasp came from Sophia bringing a glare from Mike.
“I agree with Sophia and her gasp of shock. How can we change the name, it is a trademark, a brand, recognised, admired and respected through the market, just as your father was.” Anger rose rapidly through Alex. It was her company now, not his; she couldn’t stand the mention of him in the boardroom and Mike knew it. Alex let it rest though and took out her frustration by pumping her fingers hard into Sophia’s snatch. Sophia squeaked in shock causing the whole table to turn in surprise.
“Are you OK Sophia” Julia asked, the only other female in the room. “You seem a little agitated and flustered, would you like a glass of water.”
“No… I’m fine” Sophia stammered, “Just… a lot knew to take in.”
Alex smiled, “Well you are taking it in very well.” This got a harsh glance from Sophia. Alex continued to tease her though, as the room discussed finer points of the business, just taunting but never more.

Eventually the room cleared and Alex removed her hand which was soaked in Sophia’s juices. Alex laughed as the room emptied leaving just the two of them. “Well I’d call that a successful meeting, everything without issue other than the damn name.” Alex raised her fingers to her own mouth and sucked them clean. “You definitely seemed to enjoy it; I bet you unquestionably need a session with your computer again later in the day to work off your…….tension?”
“You’re horrendous Alex” Sophia shook her head but smiled to indicate she knew it was true.
Alex smiled back. “But don’t you love me for it.” The two embraced and then made their way out the room. “See you after work, and remember, I’ll be watching.”