Wearing a dark navy, tailored business suit, Pam Nicholas carefully scooped the fried eggs from the skillet and placed them on a plate.
“Myra, your breakfast is ready”
As she removed the apron and grabbed her thick briefcase, a sleep-eyed young lady struggled into the kitchen.

“Just what time did you get home last night?”
Myra didn’t answer until she took a sip of coffee.
“About the time a normal college student would get home.”
“That isn’t a very good answer.”
“Mom, I’m 20 years old. Isn’t it about time you stopped asking?”
“It’s a mothers right, it’s in the constitution, no matter how old a daughter is.”
“I think you’re jealous.”
“Jealous?”
“You’re all work and no play.”
“What do you call three nights of aerobics?”
“Sure, every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday nights, working up a sweat…alone. You call the play?”
“It’s enough for me.”
“Baloney, you need some excitement in your life. You need a man.”
“I’ve had enough men in my life.”
“Two. Dad and Eric.”
“That’s plenty. Besides, how do you know your number is accurate?”
“Mom, when was the last time you had any?”
“Myra, we may have an open relationship, but that is carrying it too far.”

With a coy smile and knowing she had touched a sore spot, Myra decided to push the issue to the limit.
“I think you need some good old-fashioned sex to clear your head.”
Pam decided to cut the conversation off at this point. It was always a losing effort to continue bantering with her strong-willed, outspoken and honest daughter. She placed a soft kiss on Myra’s forehead and moved toward the door.
“I’ll see you about seven.”
“Have a good day, mom. Luv ya.”
“I love you too kid.”
While she never felt in control of her daughter, as soon as Pam walked through the doors of the Cabot Micro Corporation she was definitely in control. Within those walls, she had earned a great deal of respect. As director of customer relations and trade shows, Pam had established herself as a competent professional. Here she was Miss Nichols, except during some of the male water cooler conversations, at which she was occasionally referred to as the untouchable Miss Nichols. While many of the company’s hearty males found the lithesome brunette attractive, they all found out the hard way that she was not receptive to any kind of advance. In fact, a couple of combat-weary veterans would testify that such an overdone advance could be threatening.

The day’s to-do list showed an early meeting with her staff. Any staff meeting was typical of her efficiency and proficiency. She confidently walked into the conference room, snapped opened her briefcase and quickly commented on the delegated assignments. It was short and all business. She wasn’t a dictator, at least not in her mind. Her staff knew better than to challenge her decisions, maybe she was.
“Ted, I like the theme of the trade show display, but you need to soften the obvious.
Convey the quality of our products without using the actual word as often.”
No conversation involved or necessary, Ted just nodded his head.
“Julie go with the brochure, but move the graphs on our European sales higher. There will be a number of foreign companies at the show.”
Julie agreed by nodding.
“Karen, I like your suggestion on the giveaways. Go ahead and place the order.”
Karen produced the meetings biggest smile. The meeting was over. Alone in her office, Pam evaluated the conversation with Myra. Since the divorce and then the bad relationship with Eric, she really had lost interest in men, transferring the energy once reserved for her high-priority sex drive to her career. It had paid off. She had skyrocketed at Cabot and obtained a good salary, stock options and respect. This all led to nice house, a new car and basic security. She really didn’t need more. But, Myra referenced to her lack of a love life did linger. A smile crossed her face as she recalled what another warm body felt like between the sheets. It would be nice, she reminisced, then lost track when she realized it was time a meeting with her boss.
Morrison Cabot’s meetings were not as structured as hers. He was open to having discussions on decisions, sometimes.

“Pam, I’ve been going over the vacation schedule and I don’t see your name on the list.”
“I’ll take some time later on. Right now we’ve got to plan open house in Houston, introduce the new products at the conference in Chicago and then there is the annual shareholder’s meeting.”
“I appreciate the update on our schedule. Pam, have you ever noticed the title on my reception door?”
That statement confused Pam, and she struggled to remember exactly.
“Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, right?”
“That’s correct. You know what that means? It means that I’m the top dog, the big honcho, I give orders to people and they follow them.”
“I definitely know that mister Cabot.”
“Now that we have had this discussion regarding the chain on command, by the end of the week I expect to see some kind of vacation schedule on my desk for this year. As I remember, last year when I asked for your vacation schedule you gave me dates in this year. This year, this time, miss Nichols.”
Both were smiling. Rarely did Cabot use last names except when he wanted to stress a point. She impersonated one of her staff members and just nodded.
“You may leave now, humble servant, I have to give the same speech to Wilson.”

As usual Pam put her all into the aerobics exercises, and it was showing. Even she thought the mirror showed a shapely figure, despite her touching 40. While toweling off, during a short break, she became aware of a body she hadn’t noticed previously. The eyes of that body seemed to always be making contact with hers. When he turned away for a second she noticed it was a young perfect body. When the night’s activities were over, she moved toward the door and there was the body again. They walked out at the same time.
“Hi, my name is Devon. I’d like to apologize for staring at you for the last couple of weeks, but you are absolutely beautiful. I’m sorry, it is so unlike me to be so obvious.”
Staring at her for a couple of weeks, Pam hadn’t even noticed him before. She blushed at his comment and couldn’t think of a response other than the obvious.
“Thank you for the compliment.”
She watched him walk away and felt a surprising tingle of excitement. She couldn’t remember the last time someone threw such a flattering compliment her way. This came from an Adonis, right out of Calvin Klein ad. It was especially flattering since he was ten, maybe 15 years younger than Pam. She couldn’t control the spark in her eyes of grin on her face as she focused on his buns. Suddenly the blush got hotter and she looked around to see if anyone was watching.
“I’ve got to get a cold shower.”
When she arrived home her face had regained its normal color and there was no way she was ever going to tell anyone, especially Myra. Myra was preparing dinner.
“Hi, mom, how was the workout?”
Pam blurted out a few words, but her mind wasn’t on the conversation. It was clouded by the exchange with Devon and the view of his buns. Then the talk with her boss interrupted those thoughts.
“Myra, you want to take a vacation?”
Gosh mom, I wish you had asked me sooner. The girls from the sorority are going to the beach next week and then it’s back to school.”
“That’s okay. It was just one of those sudden thoughts.”

Pam left work a little early on Wednesday. She wasn’t sure why, but she knew she had looked at the clock more than usual. As she was waiting for the class to begin she realized why she was early. He approached her.
“Am I forgiven?”
For one of the few times in her life, Pam was almost speechless. She looked at the beautiful bronzed body, that sandy hair, those devilish eyes and those sexy lips.
“Believe me Devon, you don’t need to be forgiven for anything. I’m Pam.”
Now that they had been formally introduced both seemed more relaxed.
“I don’t pass along compliments just for fun of it, I meant what I said yesterday. I really do think you are an exceptionally attractive woman.”
“Thanks, Devon. A woman of my age still appreciates comments like that.”
“At your age…are you kidding? Even if I just had coffee with you I would feel like I was showing off a trophy.”

Once again she enjoyed watching him walk away, but this time she didn’t blush. Pam went through the process of exercising, but her mind wasn’t on it. Several times she caught herself making eye contact with him and each time she did his smile and eyes...

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