Opportunity Knocks Taking care of business afterhours. By WordWright. Listen to the Podcast at Steamy Stories. I was the new hire, the new Chief Information Officer for the firm. The position was new, but the owner had Big Plans for expansion. I was brought on to implement his vision by improving the hardware and software on which the company operated. As with all things business, you have to spend money to make money. The question was for how much money would I ask and then how much could I get and then how would they let me spend it. That was why I was working on a weekend. I had done my initial survey of the facility, the existing hardware and infrastructure, as well as the current software. I had written up a spread-sheet with projections and now the Chief Financial Officer was going over the numbers with me. Things were not going smoothly. There were a couple reasons for this. One was just the natural tension between the person who controls the money and the person who wants to spend it. The other was that she was knock dead gorgeous and my decision to take the job was instantly made as soon as I had been introduced to her. On that day she wore a flattering business suit, all in blue, including her hose. Her heart shaped face was framed perfectly by her black hair worn down. Her fingers were slender in my grip when we shook hands and I had to make an effort to not stare at her bee-stung lips when she smiled politely at me. I was no kid, I had traveled. I had met Asian women before and had admired their doll-like beauty, their grace, the fashion sense which set them apart, but none had taken my breath away as did she. Yes, I interviewed for the job because I knew I could do it, but I took it because it gave me an opportunity to work with her. I knew jobs would come and go, but she was the unexpected polished gem in a stony life. We had interactions while I went about the initial stages of the task. I learned she was single but lived with her boyfriend, ten years my junior, her “people” were Korean and were still across the ocean, and incredibly intelligent. Each day was an exercise of frustration as I enforced self-discipline, tearing myself away from her presence to prevent her from seeing me as the creepy older guy as well as preventing the work-place gossip mill from grinding out new rumors. We had agreed to meet at the office on this Saturday to avoid distractions and the interference that comes with other people demanding attention with smaller problems during the normal work day. This was the first time I would see her in casual clothes and was eager to see the direction of her transformation. Would her skirt go from conservative business knee length to high above the knee? Maybe a sundress! Shorts and t-shirt? I was dressed comfortably in Levi 501 button front jeans and a simple nonsense logo t-shirt, just as comfortable as I could make it. I had my fingers crossed that she wouldn’t keep to a casual Friday type outfit. That would probably make me cry. She was standing at the door, keys in hand, when I pulled into the parking lot five minutes early. She smiled and waved as I slid into a parking slot next to her sensible, non-flashy car. She had opted for jeans and a button-down shirt, sleeves rolled part-way up. I waved back, grabbed a few notes I had made the night before, and left my truck behind, going to meet her. That smile brightened as the distance lessened. “Hey, Jason,” she said over her shoulder, sliding the key into the slot, “ready to go to work?” “You have no idea,” I replied as I took the opportunity to check the fit of the jeans over her bottom while she was pushing the door open. “I’m raring to get started.” She laughed, motioning me inside. Her fingers danced over the security key-pad, preventing our boss from getting a call from the local police about a break-in. “I got that sense about you,” she said as the beeps gave us the all-clear. “What’s that?” She turned to face me, nailing me with the way