Tales of the Melandren Corporation (Chapter 10)

“Wonderful to meet both of you!”

Larry instantly disliked the man.

He had that smarmy, alpha male swagger that made Larry want to punch him in the face. Watching the man shake Sydney’s hand and then pull her in for a kiss on the cheek was too much. Watching her blush and giggle at the handsome man’s attention made his whole body tingle with an uncomfortable itch.

“And you must be the husband,” the man said looking over at Larry. There was no handshake, only a vague sound of mocking in the word ‘husband’.  “Barry is it?”

“It’s Larry…” he stammered, but the man was not listening, already having shifted his attention back to Sydney.

“Tom King, Accounts Manager and Acquisitions. I am so sorry that John could not be here today, so I’m afraid you will have to settle for me.”

Larry frowned at being ignored…and frowned harder at the laugh and wink that the man gave his wife.

“So, we are here for the weekend course in…” Larry started, trying to regain some control.

“Let me show you around,” Mr. King said ignoring Larry completely.

Larry fumed. The man had just winked at his wife. He already had his hand on Sydney’s arm, gently escorting her away from the front desk. Annoyed, he trailed behind them, feeling all the world like a puppy. He did not care for this feeling.

“It’s a lovely facility, Mr. King,” Sydney said, as if suddenly noticing the expansive lobby after having been sitting in it for half an hour. Larry knew she was just trying to be complimentary, but why did she not see that with a man like this, it would appear that she were flirting?

“We like it,” the man laughed. “How about I give you a little tour behind the scenes if you will?”

The hand holding her elbow slid up to her arm. She smiled. Larry’s blood boiled. This asshole was touching his wife… and worse, she seemed to be almost… enjoying it.

“Sounds lovely.” Sydney said with almost a giggle in her voice.

“I’m afraid our elevator is on the fritz this morning,” the man said to her, still barely even including Larry in the conversation. “So we are actually going to have to take a quick stroll around the facility and go in the super, secret back way.”

His voice took on a fun and playful conspiratorial tone that Larry’s wife mimicked.

“Oooh, exciting. Lead on, Mr. King. We are right behind you.”

“Excellent. Right this way.”

He was escorting her again, leaving Larry to trail behind them awkwardly. He just wanted to go home. Go home, dress up and jerk off, feeling all feminine and sexy. But she had signed him up for this “Mistress Training” weekend. What a joke that was!  Even worse, there was no way he was going to leave her here unsupervised with this tom-cat that was all over her.

“Why are we even talking to him?” Larry wondered. “What is that all about?” He had assumed that Mistress Training would be taught by women. Dominant women, in thigh high boots… with crops and corsets and…

Larry’s mind wandered to his sexual fantasy, imagining his beautiful, blonde wife in a similar outfit, holding his leash… He was so lost in thought that he bumped into the larger figure of Mr. King as he stopped in front of the door.  He bounced off the larger man, almost falling on his ass.

Mr. King did not seem to even notice that Larry had crashed into him.

“Tom, I need to talk to you…” A somewhat frazzled looking woman had stepped in their path. She ignored both Sydney and Larry, frantically trying to pull Mr. King to the side for a conversation.

“Excuse me,” Mr. King said pleasantly to Sydney before rounding on the frazzled woman, “Tonya, now is not a good time to…”

“You’ve got to help me, I think she knows…”

The woman’s voice was a hissed whisper and spoken so fast you could almost not hear it. Mr. King stopped her with a gesture.

“Excuse us please, I’ll be just a moment.” Mr. King, grabbed the arm of the frantic woman and pulled her to the side out of hearing. Their conversation looked intense.

Larry took the opportunity to confront his wife. He put his hand on her arm much the same way Mr. King had done moments ago. The reaction was very different. A look of surprise, annoyance and an annoyed pull away.

“Larry, stop it.”

“What are you doing?”

Sydney smiled at him with a quizzical look, completely oblivious to why he was upset.

“What?”

“Please. He is absolutely flirting with you.”

“Mr. King?”

“Yes, Mr. King.”

“That’s his job. He’s selling the program, silly.”

“Whatever,” Larry scowled. “You don’t have to flirt back with him though.”

“What are you talking about!” Sydney pouted, her arms crossing. “I wasn’t flirting with him.”

“Lead on, Mr. King. We are right behind you…” Larry said in a mocking high voice adding a little giggle at the end.

“I don’t sound like that.” Sydney said. Larry stopped himself. Her expression was hurt and he could see the beginnings of a tear storm coming.

“Look, just…”. He started.

“I was just being nice,” she said in her pouty voice. There was something else there, too… just a hint of anger. “I didn’t even want to do this weekend… I’m doing this for you… so if you’re going to be like that…”

“I’m just saying that…”

“I don’t even want a tour of the stupid building,” Larry could almost see the storm cloud forming over her head. Sydney seldom got angry, but when she did…

“Syd, listen, I’m sorry, it’s just…”

“Just what?” She asked, her eyes locking onto his.

He stammered. He hated when they fought. He always felt stupid. Even now, he was not sure how this had escalated so quickly.

“Just… well… it’s… ,” he scrambled, trying to think of a way to fix things. “It’s just… It’s a weekend about learning to be more dominant. To say what you want.”

“…and?” Her eyes still bored holes into him, her arms crossed.

“… so say what you want. If you want to go right to your room, just say it. You don’t have to put up with douchebags like him.”

He realized his mistake after he said it. She hated when he was vulgar. And the word ‘douchebag’ made her already angry stare, darken.

“Fine.”

It was one word from her mouth. Short, curt and cold. Larry breathed in and out, frustrated. He tried to put his hand on her arm again and she shrugged it off.

“Sydney…”.

He kept his voice soft. He had to make this right. He had to fix this before…

“Sorry about that…” Mr. King said moving back towards them. The woman he had been talking to was hurrying away back into the offices. “Just a little time sensitive issue. Always bustling around here in the mornings. Shall we?”

He gestured towards the doors, before actually looking at Sydney’s face and seeing her expression.

“I’m sorry, Mr. King. I have a bit of a headache and would like to go to my room for a bit. Can you please point me in the right direction?”

“Oh.” Mr. King’s face darkened for a second. Despite Larry’s worry over his wife’s disposition, he was pleased to see the douchebag’s plans disrupted.

“Heh. No more flirting for you, MISTER King…” he thought, hiding a smile.

“I’m sorry to hear you have a headache, Mrs. Waltz. I’m afraid we at least have to get you checked in downstairs before you can…”. He put his hand back on her arm. She did not pull away. Larry’s smile faded.

How is he manipulating her so easily?

Her hand touched his shoulder and she shook her head.

“I’m afraid that will have to wait until after I go to my room and rest. Perhaps after lunch.”

Larry’s smile returned. The douchebag actually looked flustered and upset.

“Thatta girl, Sydney. No more flirting with my wife for YOU, douchebag.”

“…but,” Mr. King’s voice had a slight edge of urgency to it, “… it will only take a minute, and I’m afraid we have to get you into our system before you can…”

She cut him off with a pat on his arm and stepped away.

“I’m sure my.. husband… can get all of that taken care of. Larry, go with him and do whatever silly things need to be done. I’ll be up in the room when you’re done.”

She turned away, her heels clicking towards the front desk again.

“It was a pleasure meeting you, Mr. King. Thank you for your time.”

They both watched her go. Both of them feeling a sense of worry and frustration.

The larger man sighed looking at Larry.

“Alright,” Tom mumbled to himself, his eyes still watching the very nice ass swishing away towards the front desk. “That changes things a bit. I guess we make this up as we go.”

He turned towards the husband.

“Can we hurry, please,” Larry said perturbed at being stuck with the douchebag and worried about how to salvage Sydney’s mood. “I would like to go to my room as well.”

“Don’t worry,” Mr. King said holding the door open for Larry. “This won’t take long.”