This time the company party was held at John's home, a large, rambling ranch style that once housed five kids. It was big enough for the staff of Biogem Inc to have their gathering here.

John was a gracious host, moving among the staff members and their wives, chatting briefly with each one. There was only one guest he had never met before, a young lady with auburn hair. He sauntered over to her table and introduced himself.

"My name is John, I am the host tonight. I noticed you sitting by yourself as if you did not know anyone here. I will be happy to introduce you to some of the staff members. A pretty lady like you should never be lonely."

"I will take you up on your offer, John," she answered with a smile that held promises. "My name is Tarina, Jack Burton is my husband. My husband is a roving accountant with the company."

John had never met her husband but he recognized the name at once. I fact, Burton's dossier was on his desk for evaluation. John at once saw a potential. With her husband on the road 90 percent of the time, she might have too much time on her hand, just right for what he had in mind.

"Come and join me for a stroll in my garden," he suggested. "We can certainly use some fresh air. Also, I have a few questions for you and maybe some good advice."

"Do you come from a wealthy family?" was his first question.

"Oh no," she laughed.

"Well then," John continued. "You probably have noticed that men in higher positions have beautiful wives much more often than men in the lower echelons. That is because men with beautiful and ambitious wives rise up the ladder much faster.

Let me explain, and I hope I don't offend you with my openness. The movie stars who get the choice roles are the ones who know how to play the game. Just as we men use our talents to make a good living for ourselves and our wives, so some women use their talents, their assets, to influence the right people, the ones that will move hubby up the ladder.

Naturally, such a woman must be beautiful, full of life, and have a good sense of humor. These are attributes that we men appreciate in a woman. And she must be ambitious. I remember a revealing conversation with Susanne, a beautiful lady, who told me that there were a number of good reasons for her to do what she did.

'I was helping my husband to advance,' she confided, 'I enjoyed the variety, I enjoyed the feeling of doing something naughty, and I enjoyed giving pleasure to someone else.' Then she had added with a wistful smile, 'and to myself also.'

She also confided in me that her husband eventually found out what she was doing. He was not upset after she pointed out that their personal life had never been affected, except that it had become more spiced than before."

John had Tarina's full attention and so John continued.

"In fact, in the circle of the rich and the famous, the husband usually knows about his wife's activities." Here John paused or a few steps before he continued.

"In case nobody ever told you, it is part of my job to decide who gets promoted if there are several equally qualified contenders. I am probably violating some company policy but you have made quite an impression on me and so I decided to tell you about that little secret as to how life is conducted back stage.

Now you have the facts before you and I want you to think about it and let me know your decision. If I judge you correctly you are the ambitious type, am I right?"

There was no hesitation in her voice when she agreed.

"Yes, I am ambitious and I will do whatever it takes. Furthermore, Mr. Johnson, I think it would be great fun showing you a good time. Let's get back to the party and introduce me to some of the executives as you promised."

It will be easy, John thought to himself, to keep her husband traveling even after his promotion, which anyway was still another two to three months away.

When the party started to break up John took Tarina aside again.

"My wife plays golf every Friday with a gaggle of other wives," he told Tarina. "I can leave my office early on Friday. I think two in the afternoon would be a good rime to visit."

She did not flinch a bit, just smiled and said, "I will be on time."

Friday morning John went to his office as usual, but he got very little work done, he was nervous about how this would work out, and at the same time he was excited with the prospect of having some young body available. Not bad, he thought to himself, for a fifty six year-old.

Tarina arrived at exactly two with a big, happy smile on her face. She looked absolutely ravishing. She was dressed in a black mini skirt and a front buttoned blouse. Her make-up was absolutely perfect, just enough to enhance her beautiful face, especially her eyes. John had pictured her being somewhat unsure of the situation, but that was not so.

She took control the moment she walked in by hugging him tight and then kissing him with a passion he had last experienced when he was a young lad of eighteen, about thirty-eight years ago. Instead of having to calm a hesitant Tarina's nerves it was John who was nervous.

"It seems to me that you need a drink real bad, John," she laughed. "So let's have a drink. I am here to have fun, and I want you to have fun. I want you to enjoy this afternoon."

It was a shock to John. When he had talked to her in the garden last weekend, John had thought of her as a quiet, somewhat pliant, but pleasant girl that he had to seduce slowly to keep her from bolting. Was he ever wrong.

After he had handed Tarina her drink, she stood up and raised her glass for a toast.

"This is to a long and enjoyable friendship," she announced and sat down. She looked at him with an impish smile and startled him with her next announcement.

"I want you to know that I would never have considered your proposal if it had not been for our age difference. Yes, there certainly is some titillation in knowing the husband's wife could find out that her husband is having a good time with another female."

After her short speech she stood up and put her drink on the coffee table. She then turned to face him.

"Lo, and behold the Vixen of Benson Biogen, Inc." she said with a chuckle before she started playing with the top button of her blouse. She giggled, and then slowly opened the first button. Tarina stopped again. She seemed to have great fun performing in the middle of the living room and John was wondering what she was going to do next.

"I am not really a slow person," she told him. "I only want to savor the moment and keep you guessing. I didn't know that it could be so much fun teasing a man. I will have to do that more often."

Her hands moved very slowly up to her blouse again, tracing the contours or her breast with her fingernails. John watched with fascination as Tarina's nipples awakened, tenting her blouse.

She smiled a come-hither smile at him while she played with her second button for a while before it popped open. Her blouse opened just e enough to show a hint of dark aureoles, but not more. John's excitement grew rapidly.

But she did open the third button eventually.

"I can't believe how aroused I am not doing any more than what I do every night when I undress." She giggled again, and then added, "maybe I will let you help me the next time."

After she had all her buttons open she slightly turned her head, cocked it, and looked at John with that pixyish smile of hers.

"You will now be treated to a sight that only one other man has ever seen, so I want you to pay strict attention."

John appreciated her humor more and more.

The blouse opened in slow motion and John did pay close attention. She had beautiful tits, smallish, a bit cone shaped, which made them point directly at him, with lovely red aureoles framing each erect nipple.

Tarina showed her sense of humor again.

"You poor man probably rushed home from work so that you wouldn't miss me and as a result you skipped your lunch. If you were my husband I would now offer you something to nibble on and quell those hunger pangs."

John collapsed into the deep cushions of the couch with a laughing fit that didn't want to quit. Tarina joined him on the couch, sitting down next to him. She took his face into her hands and kissed him tenderly. Then she placed a finger on his lips that told him to be still.

"This is as far as we can go today," Tarina explained. "There are times we woman have to say no for a few days."

Her left hand had sneaked into his shirt and played with his chest hair. After she took her finger from his lips John still had to wait a bit before he was able to speak.

"Woman, you are unbelievable. You just did something to me that no one else had ever done. "

Tarina giggled, and then laughed out loud.

"You just met an innocent young housewife who was seduced and forced to entertain some senior executive and maybe will have to do the same even to the CEO sometime in the future. That turned this innocent young housewife into a semi-professional call girl. So, what do you expect from a semi-professional?!"

They were both in a good mood, sipped our wine, and had a friendly chat. Suddenly John remembered that his wife could come home any minute. They kissed a quick good-bye and Tarina drove off.

About two weeks after their first meeting she asked him to tell her a bit more about Susanne, who he had mentioned before.

"She is sorely missed for several reasons I have not told you about," John confided in her.

"Susanne was an unusual lady. We miss her as a person, and also because she was a wonderful entertainer. You see, we have important clients, also prospects, coming to town for meetings and the company pays for their room at the Grand Hotel. We also pay for their evening dinner and drinks. Many of these men enjoy a relaxing evening and good conversation, especially if the dinner companion is a beautiful lady with lots of humor.

And Susanne had lots of fun providing this companionship. The company, naturally, was most appreciative and always handed her an envelope with two hundred dollars for her own spending account.

At first she barked at receiving money, until she understood that we would not feel right using her services for free." John stopped here to watch her reaction. It was not long in coming.

"She must have had lots of fun," laughed Tarina, "free dinners, free drinks, mature men to flirt with her, and then getting paid for all that enjoyment. That's a job right down my alley."

This time she laughed so hard that tears rolled down her cheek. After her laughter had died down and she had wiped her eyes her voice turned serious.

"Where do I apply for this position?"

There was no doubt that she was serious about stepping into Susanne's shoes. And that is how Tarina became the official company entertainer. By now John knew that Tarina marched to her own drummer.

The following Friday John came home in the afternoon as usual just before Tarina's arrival. Within one minute Jim Offenbach called and ordered him to leave at once and meet him and one of the firm's top clients at the airport.

He posted a note at the door for Tarina, wrote a short note on the kitchen table for his wife Gwen, and was off at once.

The golf game had come to an early end when one of the ladies of the foursome had become violently ill. The other three, after a short drink in the bar, then called it a day and went home. Gwen arrived just before Tarina, and just after John had left, finding Tarina's note on the door. That's when Gwen felt her time had come to carry out a dream she had had for some time.

Tarina arrived as usual right on time and was very surprised to be greeted by Gwen. Gwen explained what had happened and poured two glasses of wine, not asking if Tarina wanted one, making sure she would stay a bit. Gwen sat down on the couch and asked Tarina to join her.

"I would like get to know you better," Gwen had started, "after all, I am sharing my husband with you." Gwen was amazed that Tarina did not show any reaction besides taking another sip of her wine.

After a moment's silence, Tarina spoke up.

"Aren't men pretty dumb in some respects. Like your husband believing that you were in the dark. I certainly was aware that you knew, and not only that, but that we knew of each other."

"You are a very perceptive lady," commented Gwen, "At least he did not choose a bimbo. You are right. I have been aware of my husband's philandering for some time and I am not concerned, in fact, I think I even get more intimate attention now than before. I think we could be real friends, we think alike."

Two glasses of wine later the phone rang and Gwen picked up the receiver. It was John telling Gwen that he would be home in about twenty minutes.

They made themselves comfortable with another glass of Pinot Noir and waited for John to arrive. They looked forward to enjoy his discomfort finding Tarina at home with his wife.

Tarina startled the older woman when she suddenly burst out laughing. She laughed so hard that her sides began to hurt. When she had herself in hand again she apologized.

"I am sorry, but this is absolutely too funny to keep to myself. Gwen dear, if I can't share with you my thoughts, I will break apart. They have been with me for some time as I look at the world around me, but our situation at the present brought it into clearer focus.

Your husband tried to get into my pants by telling me about how life is played back stage. He didn't seduce me, I was the one who wanted to get his pants off, because I knew that he could boost my hubby's chances for a promotion. I then made him invent Susanne, because I wanted to be an important cog in the machinery of the company for the same reasons and because I was bored just sitting at home.

You and I know how to handle men and make them do what we want them to do, and so do all the other smart women in the world. Gwen, we love our guys, but when I see them congratulating themselves for being so clever, I just can't help laughing. But let's make sure they never find out that ii is their women who really are in charge back stage."