Dean Loses Everything

Lilly was nervous as she carefully picked out what to wear. The fact that Dean’s boss had called her and asked her to come into the office and meet with him was very odd. Nothing like this had ever happened before. She called Dean’s office immediately to see if he knew what was going on but his secretary said he was at a meeting and she didn’t know when he’d be back. She felt like she had to go. Dean had aspirations at his job and was always complaining that his boss didn’t like him. Lilly sometimes wondered whether Dean’s boss pick up on the fact that Dean resented him. They were close to the same age but Mr. Pierce had moved up the ladder very fast. Dean thought it was because he had an unfair advantage.

Carter Pierce scared Lilly a little bit. She thought it was foolish, he had always been nothing but pleasant to her. She was trying to work on it but nevertheless he did make her nervous. He was tall, very muscular – Dean said he use to play college football – and he was black. Lilly didn’t know any black people as she was growing up and there weren’t many at her college either so they just kind of made her nervous. Especially big, strong black men. 

Dean and she had met when she was on her college internship. Dean was very traditional and, although Lilly had graduated with honors with a degree in finance, he didn’t want her working. He was the man of the family and he should be supporting her. He was also a little jealous so he didn’t like Lilly going places without him. At 26 sometimes Lilly felt a little like a trophy that Dean would take out and show to his friends. She wasn’t vain but she knew she was attractive. She was a little on the tall side, 5’7’ and had a curvy body. She was athletic and liked to run and swim so she had no trouble keeping her figure toned and healthy. Sometime she wondered if her looks and her figure were the only reason that Dean loved her but whenever she had those thoughts she felt guilty. Dean was a good husband. He provided for her, he was never mean to her, and they had fun together. She knew he wished she were a little more exciting in bed. She didn’t know what to do and he didn’t seem to know how to help her. Sometimes she wondered whether there was more to marriage. Maybe when Dean decided it was time for them to have kids she would feel differently.

As she settled on an attractive but relatively conservative wrap dress and a pair of sensible heels, a memory rushed into her head that made her blush. At the last corporate event she went to with Dean – a formal dinner to honor a long time employee who was retiring – there was dancing. Dean had made it clear before they had left home that he wanted her to be nice to his boss and try not to act so nervous around him. When Carter Pierce, who was there by himself, came at sat at their table to chat, one thing lead to another and he asked her to dance. She glanced quickly at Dean who gave her a look that said of course you’re going to dance with him. Lilly gave Mr. Pierce a nervous smile and said she would be happy to dance with him.

He led her out to the floor to some sexy, bluesy number on the saxophone and pulled her into his arms. Not too close but a little closer than made Lilly absolutely comfortable. He danced beautifully and she was able to just let him lead and follow with no problem. She enjoyed dancing and it was always great to get to dance with someone who really knew how. She all of a sudden realized that she hadn’t said a word yet.
“You dance very well, Mr. Pierce,” Lilly said with a shy smile.
“So do you, Lilly, but please call me Carter,” he said smoothly.
“Carter, then,” she said.
“Do I make you nervous?” Carter asked.
“You’re Dean’s boss.”
“Can’t we just be two people dancing?”
“I suppose we can, if that’s alright with you. Just don’t tell Dean if I say anything silly.”
“Whatever happens while we’re dancing will be our little secret. How’s that?”
That sounded a little naughty but she was having a good time dancing and was feeling a little less nervous with Carter because he seemed very nice. She relaxed a little more and felt him pull her just a little closer and his hand slid a little lower on her back, down past the small of her back to rest on the curve just above her bottom. She glanced up at him nervously and he smiled back.

“Did Dean tell you to be nice to me?” Carter asked with a slightly sarcastic tone, although he was still smiling at her.
“No…no…of course not… I mean…of course I want to be nice to you…I mean…I try to be nice to everyone…I sorry….” Lilly blushed pink as she stammered through her lame explanation.
“Dean wants to climb the ladder, I’m just not sure he wants to do the work it takes to get there.”
Lilly was startled by this assessment. “I’m sure Dean wants to do whatever it takes to do well at his job. I know he respects you--“
Carter cut her off with a laugh. “You husband doesn’t respect me. Just the opposite.”
Lilly was very uncomfortable now but knew she couldn’t excuse herself from the dance. Dean would never let her hear the end of it. “Did you read the report on the how the new tax bill is going to effect corporate growth?” She said, looking for anything to change the subject.
Carter laughed again. “OK, we’ll change the subject. Yes, I read it.”

They chatted about business and current events as they danced and as they talked Lilly relaxed a little bit. Carter was actually a very nice man and not at all intimidating. She felt him pull her a little closer as they moved through a turn but they were getting a long so well she didn’t want to make an issue of it.
“Lilly, you are just as smart as you are beautiful. I like that in a women.” Carter said with a smile.
Lilly blushed again. Oh, my goodness, she thought, he’s attracted to me. She saw the warmth in his eyes and realized that their hips were pressed together by their dancing and his hand pressing warmly against the small of her back. For a moment she was transported out of time and was just lost in his appreciative gaze. She felt him grow hard against her as their hips rubbed together and she felt an answering warmth between her legs. After another moment, she realized the song was ending and was snapped back to reality. She pulled back out his arms blushing wildly.
“I hope Dean knows how lucky he is but I doubt it.” Carter said.

They walked back to the table where Dean was talking to a co-worker. Lilly moved away from Carter as quickly as she could without being rude and slipped into the seat next to Dean. 
“She’s lovely,” Carter said to Dean.
“I know and she’s all mine,” Dean said with a smug little smile. Lilly didn’t know why but all of a sudden she felt like she was Dean’s possession not his wife.
“Thank you for the dance, Lilly, it was a pleasure,” Carter caught her eye and the appreciative warmth was still there. Lilly practically whispered “You’re welcome” and Carter turned and walked away.
Lilly was snapped back to the present holding the dress in her hands, appalled to feel the warmth in her body from the memory of her dance with Carter. She didn’t know what she was going to do in a meeting alone with him. But she knew that Dean would expect her to go to this meeting and be gracious. She just wished she could talk to him before she had to go.

She kept herself calm as she got dressed, drove downtown, and parked the car. She kept herself calm as she walked into the office building where her husband’s company was housed. She kept herself calm as she rode up in the elevator and was ushered by the receptionist to Carter’s office. But when she stood in front of Carter’s secretary she felt the butterflies start to flutter in her stomach. The problem was they didn’t feel like butterflies caused by fear as much as they were butterflies caused by anticipation.

“Go on in, Mr. Pierce is waiting for you,” his secretary said.
Lilly stepped through the door and took in the office—large with a big beautiful desk with two chairs in front of it as well as a sitting area with a sofa, chairs and a coffee table. And Dean sitting on the sofa! What was this all about? Why was Dean here? And why did he look so worried?
“Good afternoon, Lilly. Thanks for coming down.” Carter said coming towards her ushering her into the room. “Have a seat.” He guided her into one of the chairs opposite the sofa where Dean was sitting. She looked at Dean, trying to catch his eye but he wouldn’t look at her. Carter moved back to his desk and pushed a button on the intercom. 

“Yes?” Came the secretary’s voice through the speaker.
“Hold all my calls and no interruptions. I don’t care if the building is burning down, I don’t want anyone to come through that door until I say so.” Carter said in an authoritative voice.
“I’ll lock it to be safe,” said Carter’s assistant.
“Thank you, Lori,” he said, releasing the button and turning back towards them.
“Well, Lilly, we’ve got some things to talk about. This is probably going to be difficult for you. I know it’s going to be difficult for Dean.” He smiled a little when he said that, as if he was glad it was going to be difficult for Dean.
“Dean, what’s going on?” Lilly asked her husband.

“Lilly…I….I’m…we’re in trouble…” Dean answered, scaring her to death.
“Strictly speaking, Dean, Lilly’s not in trouble at all. I don’t believe for a second that she has any idea what you’ve been up to,” Carter responded to Dean.
“Please, will someone tell me what’s going on….”
Dean started to answer but Carter cut him off. “Dean has been participating in industrial espionage. It turns out that our competitor wanted some of our research enough to offer Dean a deal. All he had to do was gather up as many of the research files as he could and he could get a much better job – a job equivalent to mine – with them. But, much to Dean’s surprise the computer files were all protected in such a way that we would know who was copying them and when. Dean wasn’t able to come up with a reasonable reason for being in the office at 11:00 at night copying confidential files.”
Lilly was shocked. She knew Dean wanted a better job and a better salary and – if she was honest – she knew he had a problem working for a black man – but she never thought he would do anything like this. It couldn’t be true, could it?

Carter was handing her a manila folder. “Read this, take your time….”
She looked at Dean who still wouldn’t meet her eye and opened the folder. It was a report compiled by the companies’ internal security division corroborated by an independent computer security company that confirmed everything Carter was saying. Oh, my God, Lilly thought, my husband is a thief. 
As she read, Carter moved to a bar hidden in a credenza and poured a healthy pour of brandy, walked over and set it in front of her on the table “That’s just in case you need it,” he said gently.
“Dean, why? Why did you do this? Please tell me.” Lilly pleased.
“I deserve a better job. I deserve to be the boss. I’m as smart as he is. I just didn’t get the help of being a big time college athlete, a token that the CEO wanted to look good for hiring.”