Message-ID: <7559eli$9801201633@qz.little-neck.ny.us> X-Archived-At: From: Nick Subject: Burning Bridges - Jenny's Story Part 1 (M/F (F) sexual politics) Newsgroups: alt.sex.stories.moderated,alt.sex.stories Followup-To: alt.sex.stories.d Path: qz!not-for-mail Organization: The Committee To Thwart Spam Approved: X-Moderator-Contact: Eli the Bearded X-Story-Submission: X-Original-Message-Id: <3.0.1.32.19980119232325.00693fd0@pop3.demon.co.uk> Copyright 1998. This story may be copied for the personal use of the reader only. Any commercial interest must be communicated to the author: nick@cassandra.demon.co.uk. It may not be reposted without permission of the author. This is not suitable for people under the age of 18. This story is the sequel to "Building Bridges - the Unexpurgated Version". It follows events subsequent to this, and covers the repercussions and tensions (sexual and professional) that the main characters endure as a result. The story so far: If you have read "Building Bridges - the Unexpurgated Version", skip this bit. Jenny, ran from the office in tears when one of my senior colleagues, Kate hacked into our e-mail system and printed out an intimate message from her to me pinning it to the company noticeboard for all to see! Since Jenny and I were lovers, Kate’s action made me angry and defensive of Jenny. I paid Kate a visit, in order to try to find a way through the situation and "Build Bridges" between me, her and Jenny. The situation became explosive, and culminated in Kate declaring her concealed passion for me, and implied jealousy for Jenny, in the time-honoured fashion! This solved a puzzle for me (why Kate had done what she did to Jenny), and I also had a good time into the bargain, but it was clear that Kate was still more than happy to trample over Jenny. After visiting Kate, I went back to Jenny, to offer her what comfort I could. Jenny, who knew I had gone to see Kate, and why, curiously showed no interest in what went on with Kate. Instead she chose to "entertain" me (my second time that evening) before unexpectedly throwing me out of her house. The story continues from the next day in the office. Kate has not arrived and Jenny seems evasive….. Now read on. BURNING BRIDGES - JENNY’S STORY by Nick 1. Jenny did seem to be coping extremely well. Maybe too well! She was dealing with people (all of whom had read the notorious e-mail) as if nothing had happened. I watched their faces showing concern, pity and even fear, but Jenny herself seemed completely oblivious of all this. She took on Kate’s affairs with a professionalism and assurance that would not normally be expected of a secretary. I knew Kate had been very busy handling a major order from Jobson’s, our biggest account. The project had reached a critical phase, and that made Kate’s absence all the more peculiar. She would not have let go of the reins at this stage unless something major had happened. Jenny, of course, knew all the details of the job, having worked so closely with Kate recently, but we did not employ her as a Project Manager! After the call which had interrupted us earlier, I went back to her and asked her again if she knew where Kate was. "Phoned in sick." She shrugged as she gave her reply. I asked her if anyone was standing in for her. "I’ve notified them upstairs," she said blandly, "they’ll get someone in, but in the meantime its all down to little me I’m afraid!" she gave a wan smile. By the end of the day nobody seemed to be taking charge, though, and Jenny was still busy. I stayed behind after everyone had gone home to talk to her. "You OK?" I asked. She looked up from the paperwork and smiled. I loved her smiles, the way her blue eyes creased at the edges and twinkled, the dimples in her cheeks. This one told me nothing though. "Fine," she said, "but with Kate being out, I’m having to do two jobs, so….." and she looked at me apologetically, "……I won’t be free for a few hours yet!" With that she went back to work. I wished her goodnight and left. I had been expecting to spend the day and the evening picking up the pieces after a confrontation between Jenny and Kate which would have left Jenny jobless, tearful and even more humiliated than before. Even in Kate’s absence I would certainly not have expected the confident woman that seemed so at odds with the efficient but down-trodden secretary I knew. After last night, Kate’s absence was worrying me. It seemed like too much of a coincidence, so after work I drove round to her to check. I was a little anxious. What if her husband Pete had found out about last night! Maybe he had something to do with today’s absence! That worried me! Pete generally worked late, so normally at this time he would not be in. That’s what I hoped anyway. I rang the doorbell. Pete answered! "Hi, Nick! Come to see Kate?" My heartbeat slowly recovered and I noted that his smile seemed friendly enough. "Er, yes - is she OK?" His face clouded slightly. Pete was a big man, and if he had known about last night, I could expect hospitalisation at best! "Well, no. She couldn’t come in today, as you know." He was looking at me searchingly. Something was clearly troubling him. I tried to look calm! "She has some tummy bug at the moment, poor thing, so I’m looking after her! I don’t think she’ll be in for a couple of days." I wanted to see Kate to set my mind at rest, but that would have meant going in and possibly facing some awkward questions from Pete. I also wanted to stay alive! "Well, give her my best Pete!" I turned to go. I did not want to hang around, just in case! 2. The next day, there was another girl in Jenny’s place! "Hi, I’m Angie!" she smiled brightly. "Oh!" I said. "Nice to meet you Angie!" "Where’s Jenny?" Angie indicated towards Kate’s office. Before entering the office I looked quickly through the door window. Jenny was sitting there, head buried in her hands. I went in, catching her by surprise. For a moment I saw unguarded anguish on her face, but it was only a moment and it was immediately replaced with an assured smile. "Everything all right?" I asked. "Sure! Why not?!" She held her smile, and it seemed so convincing, that I figured that maybe the despairing image I had just seen was a mirage. Maybe she was a little tired, and after her performance in the office yesterday I was prepared to give her the benefit of the doubt. "You would tell me if you weren’t!?" She looked at me reassuringly. "Of course, Nick, look everything’s fine! Believe it or not I am actually enjoying taking some responsibility for a change!" I shrugged. "Who’s the new girl!" I asked, changing the subject. Jenny smiled at me again. "Angie? She’s a temp - I really can’t handle all the work, so I drafted her in from the agency to help out." "You did!?" I said raising my eyebrows. "You don’t have the authority to hire and fire people!" She waved her hand dismissively. "You forget, Nick, I’ve spent a considerable amount of time dealing with these agencies - they don’t care who signs the paperwork! Besides if the bosses can’t get their fingers out to find a stand-in for Kate, what am I supposed to do?" I was surprised to say the least. Playing fast and loose with rules was most certainly not the Jenny I knew, but I was impressed by her initiative! She winked at me. "Nice isn’t she!" I thought I’d risk a joke, which perhaps I would not have done if she had not seemed so confident. "As long as she keeps her e-mail clean, eh!" I winked back. Immediately I regretted it. Her smile vanished and she looked down at her papers. "Oh, Jenny, look - I’m so sorry…." I started. She looked up again, smiling weakly. "It’s all right, Nick, really…. I’m over it now!" I knew it wasn’t all right and I had stupidly hurt her. It was just that she had seemed oblivious of the whole thing and I somehow wanted to find out if she really was. I went to her and took her hand. "Look, I really am sorry, it was a stupid thing to say." I needed to talk to her. "Can we get together tonight - let me make it up to you?" Her smile became more genuine now, and I relaxed. "That would be nice!" "Good!" I turned to go. CONTINUED IN PART 2 e-mail the author at: nick@cassandra.demon.co.uk -- +--------------' Story submission `-+-' Moderator contact `------------+ | story-submit@qz.little-neck.ny.us | story-admin@qz.little-neck.ny.us | | Archive site +--------------------+------------------+ Newsgroup FAQ |