In The Name Of Love (13 page)

She nodded, and he continued, "Well, just act normal. We
both know that Beryl is likely to make her move today, perhaps with the help of
that new girl she's hired. What's her name, again?"

"Janice," said Mary, in a squeaky voice.

"Relax, you're sounding guilty already!"

They chuckled, but quickly broke off as the girl in question
burst into the room.

Janice was a large ungainly young woman in her mid-twenties,
who had worked with a local firm of accountants, before coming to work as Beryl
Bainbridge's assistant. She didn't speak to Mary, but nodded at Cyril before
sitting at her desk.

Cyril sat at his desk and set about sorting the various
files left over from the clear-out he had conducted with Mary this past week or
so. The stuffy office soon became hot, and he slipped off his coat and took
care to put it over the back of his chair. When Beryl came in with a breezy
"Good morning, everybody…" he barely gave her a nod, but continued with his
work as if worried about something.

He saw Beryl lean over to chat with Janice, with the pair of
them giving him surreptitious glances when they thought he wasn't looking their
way. He managed to give Mary a wink, and at that pre-arranged signal she left
for the ladies room. The plan was that she would return and peer through the
doorway to watch the action. Cyril suggested that Beryl wouldn't make her move
until there was only her stooge, Janice, left to witness it.

His desk faced the two desks where Beryl and Janice were sitting,
and he noticed that Beryl stood up the moment Mary left the room. She walked
towards him and came around the back of his desk, putting her hand on his
shoulder and leaning over to look at the files he was working on.

"What is it, Cyril, you're looking concerned about
something?"

Her very words and actions were so unlike her normal
behaviour they would have set his alarm bells working, if he'd not been already
prepared for such an approach – thanks to Mary, who'd overheard part of their
scheme in the ladies room one day last week.

He felt her breasts pushing into his back and smelled the
heavy perfume she had sprayed liberally over her neck and arms. Glancing at
Janice, he saw her pick up the internal phone and guessed she was now speaking
to Graham Baine's secretary, Betty, and telling her of his ‘outrageous
behaviour'.

The story Mary heard was that Beryl was going to put their
cheeks together, or even kiss him; and she and Janice would then accuse Cyril
of disgusting misbehaviour towards his staff – hopefully in full view of the
Department Head, if Graham arrived in time.

His plan was more complicated than that, and when she
pressed her breasts into him again and started to lower her head, he put the
first phase into action. His right hand reached out and slipped between her
legs and slowly ran up her thigh. He felt Beryl stiffen, and she stopped
lowering her head.

He let his fingers caress the soft flesh of her thighs above
her stocking, and then continue upwards towards her underwear. It was suddenly
his turn to be shocked, when his fingers brushed against the soft hair around
her vagina.

Beryl was not wearing any underwear!

She was still frozen to the spot, unable to speak or move,
so he rubbed his fingers across her pussy and was further surprised to find it
moist. It was so moist, that without realising it, two of his fingers slid
effortlessly inside her hot pussy. This was not part of his plan, but was in
fact a great improvement upon it, so with great energy he moved his fingers
around her vagina, feeling the moisture increase with every stroke.

Another glance at the unfortunate Janice saw her staring
at the still figure of Beryl with a confused expression. He noticed she kept
looking towards the door, but there was no sign of Graham, so he kept up the
now frenzied action of his fingers, knowing that from where she sat at her
desk, Janice could not see a thing.

Beryl gave a long and loud moan, and then grasped his head,
clutching it to her bosom. Cyril felt her go weak at the knees, and if her arms
were not around his neck, she would have collapsed to the floor.

"Cyril, what on earth is going on?" roared Graham as he
entered the room to see the arm of his senior manager deep inside the dress of
Miss Bainbridge, who was holding Cyril's head with the earnest look of a rugby
player about to try for a touchdown.

Cyril turned with a smile of glee, and grabbing Beryl's
dress with his hand, he pulled it high above her waist. "Look," he cried aloud,
"Beryl's not wearing any knickers!"

Beryl fainted, Janice screamed, and at the sight of Beryl's
scrawny bottom, Graham collapsed into the nearest chair, muttering, "Oh my
God," time after time.

Mary came into the room and said, "What's happened?"

"Miss Bainbridge has fainted. Perhaps you and Janice can
help her, while Graham and I have a chat in his office. The two of you bring
her to Graham's office the moment she comes to," said Cyril, standing up with a
look of total unconcern on his face as he slipped on his jacket.

He straightened his tie and taking Graham by the arm he said
in a soft voice, "Come on, old chap let us leave the girls to sort it out."

Cyril led him from the room, and saw him give a dazed look
over his shoulder as the two younger women tried to rouse Beryl.

Beryl had been plotting against Cyril since the day she
started work in his department, taking an instant dislike to the man. This
increased when she became an officer on the local council, and he refused to
allow her to use the title at work, or even acknowledge her achievement.

She was a tall, narrow-hipped, skinny woman with a long tapered
face and thin lips to match. She'd celebrated her 39
^th
birthday
alone in the tawdry mid-terrace house behind Stockport Railway Station that
she'd inherited from her parents when they died within months of each other a
couple of years earlier. Beryl was a virgin spinster, who last had a boyfriend
in Stockport Primary School, and had never had a kiss.

When she saw Cyril's friendly behaviour with the other
female members of his staff, she was consumed with jealousy, which quickly
fermented into passionate anger. It didn't matter if the woman was young or
old, Cyril would give them a squeeze around the waist, or a pat on the shoulder
in passing. On the odd occasion he might grab a leg or knee with a comment
like, "Now there's something I'd like to see more of…"

While his attitude towards Beryl was the exact opposite; he
acted as if she wasn't even in the room and never acknowledged her presence,
unless forced to by a greeting from Beryl. He was also most casual towards his
work-load, and this really annoyed her, because she took the work most
seriously and couldn't understand why others didn't.

What she failed to realise
was that Cyril was a fast and accurate worker, who was completely on top of every
case in his department. He was also good at delegating the right job to the
right employee, who could close the case down in days.

Beryl thought she could do a much better job of managing the
section. She'd soon bring the girls into line, with better time keeping, longer
hours, and of course, more discipline and better respect for her, when she
became their superior. She'd often hinted as much to the Graham Baines, the
department head, who would only nod and suggest she was next in line.

But that wasn't good enough for Beryl, because Cyril was
years away from retirement and there was no other department he could be
promoted into. A worse scenario was Graham's early retirement and Cyril's
promotion to the job – this would be worse than death for Beryl, and was a
living nightmare for her each day.

She took to Janice at first sight, and hired her during the
interview. She considered Janice to be similarly minded and an able ally, but
what really clinched her decision was when Janice nodded towards Cyril passing
through the outer office and said, "Who is that dreadful man, I really hate
him. He was so rude to me in the lift…"

She took Janice home for tea that day, and many times
afterwards, and together they crafted the plot. When they were alone with
Cyril, Beryl would make advances; and perhaps even sit upon his lap, while
Janice alerted Graham. They would then tell Graham that Cyril had forced
himself on Beryl, pulling her onto his lap and abusing her.

As she lay on the floor, gradually coming to from her fainting
attack, all kinds of thoughts flooded her mind. Foremost was the touch and feel
of Cyril's fingers in her pussy and the emotions they aroused. She pressed her
thighs together as that memory stirred her emotions, and her body began to
writhe on the ground.

"I think she's coming," she heard a voice say, and thought
how close to the truth that statement was.

"Her eyes are opening," cried Janice, rubbing Beryl's
shoulders with her hands.

Beryl came to with a jolt, and realised exactly where she
was and what had happened. She had to take control, so she scrambled to her
feet looking at the two young women helping her. "You both saw what happened to
me. You saw Cyril remove my underwear…" She tailed off as she saw Janice
shaking her head, and nod towards the desk where the knickers still lay in the
draw where Beryl left them.

She realised that Janice had let her down, and failed to
slip them into Cyril's pocket when Graham entered the room, so she looked
towards Mary for help.

"It's no use lying, Beryl, it's too late. Graham wants us
all in his office, right now," said Mary, walking over to the door and holding
it open.

"Good," said Beryl, gaining confidence with each step,
"Graham will soon sort this out and give Cyril his come-uppance." She strode
towards his office with her anger growing each step of the way, and pushed the
door open so fast it banged against the wall.

"Ah, risen from the dead, I see," said Graham, with a stern
frown on his face. "Come and sit down, the three of you."

"What that man did back there is…"

"That is enough, Beryl," said Graham, speaking over her and
gesturing for her to be quiet. "You will remain silent, while I tell you what I
and these two young women from your department saw, and what is going to happen
next."

"But, I think…"

"No, don't think, just listen." Graham sat back in his
reclining leather chair, made a steeple of his fingers and said, "Cyril has
told me of your attraction to him, and how he's had to fend off your amorous
advances, and…"

"That's not true!"

"Beryl, if you cannot be quiet, you will be asked to leave.
Not just this office, but the building; permanently."

She slumped down into her chair, hardly believing the
nightmare happening right before her eyes. She glanced at Cyril, but his gaze
had not stirred from looking across the desk at Graham, and she noticed the
calm look on his face.
"What has that damn man cooked up, now?"
was the
primary thought in her mind, as she waited for Graham to continue.

"As I was saying, Beryl, …your amorous advances…why, when I
came into the office I saw you clasping Cyril's head to your bosom with the
look on your face of a woman in love. You cannot deny it, because these young
ladies must have also seen you."

Beryl glowered as both Janice and Mary nodded; Janice
somewhat hesitantly, but still nodding. "But his hand; his hand was up my
skirt," said Beryl, unable to bring herself to say exactly where the hand was
up her skirt, nor what it was doing there.

"I saw his hand around your waist, holding you in a tight
embrace," said Graham, "And, I expect these young ladies saw the same. However,
that is not the issue. This is what I want you all to understand. The affair
between Beryl and Cyril, and the unfortunate occurrence in his office today,
did not happen."

Beryl looked up in shock at his words. She was being hung up
to dry, but what could she do. She glowered at Cyril in pure hatred as Graham
continued.

"If I hear one word of the affair again, from any person in,
or outside of this building, you three woman will be given your P45's and asked
to resign. Do you each understand – there is to be not mention of it to anybody
at any time?"

"Yes sir, I understand and agree," said Mary in a loud and
clear voice.

"Yes sir, I also understand and agree," said Janice in a
soft voice after a nervous glance towards Beryl.

There was nothing she could do but comply, so in a bitter,
strangled voice she said, "I understand, and I agree to remain silent."

"Good, well let me finish off by informing you ladies that
it is with regret that I have accepted Cyril's resignation, effective
forthwith. He feels unable to work here any longer, and I'm afraid I have to
agree with him."

Graham turned to Mary and said, "Mary, I want you to work
with Cyril this afternoon, updating yourself on all open cases, and run his department
until I select a successor."

Beryl felt close to fainting again at this ‘slap in the
face' from Graham. She was the natural person to become manager of the section,
not Mary, even if she did know most of Cyril's work-load and open cases. She
turned to look at Graham, but he was avoiding her gaze.

Graham stood up and said, "Right, Cyril, if you and Mary
will sort out your workload, and then pop in to see me before you leave."

Cyril nodded and ushered the two young women out of the door
ahead of him, turning before he left to lift two fingers to his nose and then
lick them with an evil grin on his face.

"That damn man, how can he humiliate me like this – I
hate him!"

She stood up to leave, but Graham said, "Sit down, Beryl, I
wish to speak with you alone." His tone did not sound promising, and she
worried what was coming next.