A successful presentation

(originally posted by YearEnds)

As I pulled out of my driveway--my car's gas tank still showed as being completely full, even though it was a fair distance from my place to my office--my mind flitted between two thoughts: hoping that the client would choose us, and hoping that the roads would be clear so that I could get to work in time to prepare.

Somehow the roads were clear, and I hit green lights all the way to the office. There wasn't much assigned parking in the underground lot--certainly I wasn't high enough to merit my own spot--and even though I was parked as close to the elevators as I could be, I was still feeling really good, so I decided to start climbing the stairs, even though my office was on the forty-fourth floor. I guessed that I'd get winded by the fifth floor or so and would just duck out of the stairwell toward the nearby elevators.

But I didn't get winded, and just kept going up the stairs, all forty-five floors' worth of them. I gave myself a brief pat-down before emerging from the stairwell, and found that nothing seemed out of place at all. I didn't even feel any sweat.

Maybe something strange was going on, but I didn't care. I liked it, and wasn't inclined to look into the matter any further.

I was supposed to present our pitch half an hour after I usually got in, but I found myself with an hour to prepare having made such good time. I looked over the presentation and saw tiny little details that I'd missed before that should be fixed. Something just told me that the prospective client would prefer things one way rather than another, even though I'd only barely met her once. By the time I'd finished going through all the slides, though, it was five minutes until the meeting was set to begin.

"Hey, man," said my friend Thomas, poking his head into my office, "get in here! We're waiting on you!"

I grabbed a USB flash drive, copied the modified presentation to it, picked up my laptop and hurried to the conference room. I thanked Thomas profusely for getting someone to hold the elevator--sure, I figured I could do another five floors no problem, but I appreciated the gesture.

I'd heard that the view from the meeting room had been incredible when the building was new, but development since then had changed that view mostly to other buildings.

I did a double-take as I scanned the room. The company clearly took this contract very seriously, as I recognized a lot of bigwigs around the table. Any one of them, except my own immediate boss and Thomas, could promote or fire me on the spot.

My boss came over to me and pulled me toward the customer. "Keith, have you met our soon-to-be client, Erica Jones?"

"Briefly," I said, cutting off as I found myself face to face with Ms Jones.

"Erica, may I introduce Keith Alecsson, one of our best marketing experts."

I found it a bit difficult to believe that this young woman was the sole owner of a company worth billions, and I found myself sizing her up based on her physical attributes. I stopped myself as soon as I realized I was doing it, but not before my eyes had swept her body completely. I knew from her profile that she was in her mid-thirties, but her body looked like someone had taken an insanely hot nineteen-year-old, enhanced her sexual attributes even further, and frozen her in time. Her suit did a remarkable job of downplaying her raw sexual allure. My cock stirred in my pants and I prayed that I wouldn't get an erection. Somehow it subsided.

"I look forward to your presentation, Mr Alecsson." God, now her voice was threatening to make me hard. I prayed even more that I wouldn't.

"And I look forward to working with your company in future, Ms Jones."

She smiled, turned around and took her seat.

I set up the laptop, hoping nothing would go wrong on the tech side of things--nothing did, thankfully--and smoothly launched into my presentation.

Two hours and many, many probing questions from Erica later, I finished my final slide. Everyone turned to look at Ms Jones.

She was silent for a moment, then said, "I do not think I need to see any more presentations from other firms. You are hired under one condition, and I will even pay ten percent more than your asking price."

The CEO sounded almost like a giddy schoolboy as he said, "Name your condition, then."

"That Mr Alecsson have final authority over anything related to this contract."

This provoked some muttering among the top executives, and some consternation in me. I'd thought I could get promoted one step, but I knew that I was nowhere near high enough to be put in charge of a contract of this size. I'd heard of people three steps above me getting put in charge of contracts maybe a fifth of the size of this one, but surely they weren't going to promote me so quickly on the spot.

One of them looked up and saw that Erica was clearly impatient for a decision, and the muttering grew faster. Thankfully it ceased shortly after.

The CEO delivered the verdict. He sounded a bit resigned, and a bit wary. "That is acceptable. Mr Alecsson, you are being promoted seven steps. We will draw up the papers and have them sent to your new office on the sixty-eighth floor. We will send some people to help you pack up your current office."

I felt overwhelmed as I stepped out of the conference room. Seven steps! That was just a step below junior vice-president. My salary had probably just tripled.

I walked over to the elevator in a bit of a daze, but a hand took mine as I reached for the call button.

"Please," said the voice of Erica Jones, "come with me. I want to discuss our new relationship as soon as possible." She led me to the stairs and began walking down them sedately.

"In my building our elevators are only to be used by those specifically permitted, usually to haul large, heavy objects or for those who have suffered some sort of injury or disability. You are not injured or disabled, are you, Mr Alecsson?"

"No, I am not."

"Then I expect that as long as you are working with my company, you will take the stairs." We passed the door for the forty-seventh floor and continued downward.

"I will do that, Ms Jones."

"Please, call me Erica. The formalities will get tiresome."

"Call me Keith."

We walked in silence down three more floors and into my office. As promised, two workers were there, packing up any company materials I had in my office. I took an empty box and put my few personal effects in it--a picture of Janet and myself, the Rubik's Cube I randomized at the end of each day and solved as soon as I could after getting in the next, the "Employee of the Month" plaque I had been given a year and a half ago, though I felt I hadn't really earned it, and a box of pencils. They were my own silly little good luck charm--a fresh pencil for fresh ideas. I picked up my briefcase and looked at Erica.

"We'll get this stuff up to your new office as fast as we can, sir," said one of the workers.

"Thank you."

As we entered the stairs again, Erica reached into the box and grabbed the Rubik's Cube. "Do you mind?"

"Not at all," I said, and she took one look at the configuration, dropped her arms to her sides and began twisting the puzzle.

It turned out that she liked to jog upstairs, but I found myself easily keeping up with her. As we passed the sixty-first floor, she tossed the puzzle back into the box, solved. I hadn't seen her glance at it once.

We emerged in a dead-end hallway with only one door. I wondered how Erica had known to take that stairwell.

My new office was significantly more spacious than my previous one, and it did have an actual view of the water. As promised, my stuff had been delivered, and my new desk was set up as my old one had been. All I had to do was put my own things in the spaces left for them.

Erica stood at the window. I could see the awe on her face in her reflection.

"I had thought we would work primarily by video-conferencing, but I think I will have to make personal visits our primary mode of communication." She turned to face me. "My company is on the brink of cornering our market. Nothing is more important to me right now than the marketing campaigns you will create."

I was about to reply as someone knocked on my door. A young woman's face showed as it opened.

"Hi Mr Alecsson," said the bubbly blond, "I'm Sylvia, your secretary, and I was told I had to give these to you." She seemed timid as she walked to my desk and set a folder on it.

"My new contract?"

"Yes Mr Alecsson, so just read it and shout when you've signed it. I'll make sure it gets where it needs to go." She fidgeted for a bit as Erica and I looked at her. "If there's anything else you need, anything, just shout."

"I will leave you to your business, Keith," said Erica, and she swept from the room.

"Just shout, Mr Alecsson," said Sylvia as she left the room rather less grandly.

The contract was in dense legal language, but I was used to dealing with that sort of thing, so it didn't take me long to finish it. Of course, I did have to sign it in at least ten places, and I wondered when I'd be getting the second personal assistant I was promised.

Instead of shouting, I simply walked out of the main door of my office and handed the folder to Sylvia. As I turned to go back, I heard a door open behind me.

A stunning redhead walked in. She looked to be about as old as Sylvia, but she clearly had a very professional manner.

"Hello, Mr Alecsson. I'm Rebecca, and I'll be your personal assistant." She shot a withering look at Sylvia, who pouted.

"Thank you, Rebecca." I turned to my secretary. "Sylvia, could you please make a copy of that contract for my records?"

"Of course, Mr Alecsson," she beamed. Rebecca rolled her eyes and sat down at her desk.