Chapter 17

Craig's holiday had come to an end sooner than he expected. At least most of the minor maintenance had been done around the house except for the bigger jobs such as painting inside and outside the house, but that had to wait for another time. Craig knew one thing for sure. Even if he had the luxury of time, he did not have the funds to do anything else. The last few months had cost him quite a bit of money. The trip down to Saldanha alone had cost him more than he expected. Although he was not hundred percent ready for the new job, he knew he needed it more than anything else to replenish his bank account.

Craig pulled into the parking lot of the Ore Refineries Inc. on Thursday morning. It was around 7:30 AM which gave him about half an hour to settle in before the workday started officially. He thought it might be a good idea to arrive early and have the place checked out. Craig noticed the whole place was red. He knew it was most probably caused by the iron ore dust coming from the mine. The building and all surrounding structures were all affected by it. All metal structures had been rusted with the combination of sea salt and iron ore. Craig made a mental note to have a full site audit conducted as a starting point. He needed to draw up a list of all the danger areas before he could do a cost analysis on getting them up to standard again.

Craig got his laptop from the passenger seat and slammed the kombi door. Industrial sounds were coming from all over the plant, something he was not too fond of, but it was the sound of money that fed the entire country. He heard conveyor belts running in the distance, heavy trains moving on their tracks with screechy sounds and some large trucks and forklifts moving around dirty stockpiles, contributing to the country's heartbeat.

Craig looked up to the clear sky. He wondered if his office had an air conditioner. He patted his pocket to make sure his phone was there and headed to the administration building where he had been interviewed about three months ago. He activated the kombi's alarm with the remote control and walked towards the security guards operating the security booms. He was forced to blow into a small alcohol tester before he was allowed into the administration building. It made sense to Craig to have such strict controls in place. Intoxicated people could easily cause accidents in such dangerous industrial environments. Alcohol could not be tolerated on any heavy machinery where people's lives could be endangered. Fortunately, Craig seldom had a drink. Whenever he felt like a drink, it would usually be over a weekend.

Craig walked through a large door and was greeted by yet another security guard behind a desk. She was a stocky-coloured female with a thick neck and broad shoulders. She could easily have passed as a male. Craig wondered if she was a lesbian with her prominent male features. If that were the case then she would most definitely be the dominant one in the relationship.

'Good morning sir,' she greeted. 'Can I help you?' she asked. Even her voice sounded a little masculine. Craig noticed how her eyes scanned him questioningly.

'Good morning. I'm Craig Edison, the new structural engineer starting today.' Craig noticed her eyes on his laptop bag.

'Welcome, Mr Edison. I was told by Mr Vaughn to expect you this morning. If you can just place your laptop bag down on the counter for me please,' she said with her hands spread out on the counter in front of her.

'Sure,' Craig said. He lifted the strap off his shoulder and placed the laptop on the bench as she instructed.

'This is standard procedure, sir, so please don't be alarmed. Have you got anything to declare?' she asked.

'No, nothing. I've got a phone in my pocket though,' Craig said.

'That's fine sir,' she said. 'Can you please open your bag for me?'

'Sure,' Craig said unzipping the bag. He removed the laptop and placed it on the counter. It was something he had done so many times in the past at the airports.

'Thank you, sir,' she said. 'I'm just going to get hold of Mr Vaughn. In the meantime you can make yourself comfortable,' she pointed to a leather seat behind Craig.

Craig nodded and returned his laptop to its original location. He took the bag and sat down on the seat indicated. The security lady pressed a few buttons on the phone and spoke briefly to someone.

'Mr Vaughn is on his way,' she said returning the phone to the receiver.

'Thank you,' Craig said. He thought the building seemed quite new. The room had black tiles. As if the place was not ugly enough, the walls were painted a grey colour. Craig knew if the walls had a different colour, the red dust would have shown more prominently.

The reception phone hardly rang when the security lady answered promptly. Craig was impressed with her professionalism which was not something one would always expect in the line of security. She had a brief conversation before she hung up again.

'Sir you can go up to Mr Vaughn now,' the security lady said getting up from behind the counter. 'Unfortunately, he cannot come down at the moment and I cannot leave my post, so I'm afraid that I have to explain to you how to get there.'

'Sure, no problem,' Craig said.

'Take the lift up to the seventh floor and turn right. Walk to the end of the hall and turn left. His office is the second last one to the right.'

'Got it, thank you very much,' Craig said, taking his laptop and heading for the elevator. He noticed some plants and wondered if they were real. He never understood why people would put plastic plants in their office buildings. They were simply dust gatherers. To water real plants occasionally was certainly no big deal especially when they provided oxygen in a dull workplace. Craig pushed the elevator button with an arrow pointing upwards. He could feel the wind blowing through the small gap between the two metal sliding doors as the cage was travelling down the shaft. Soon the doors opened automatically. Craig almost bumped into a man coming out from the elevator who merely greeted him with a nod. He pushed the number seven button inside and soon the doors closed again. Craig checked himself in the mirror and brushed his hand through his thinning hair. He realised that he had passed over to the wrong side of time. He regarded the lines across his high forehead and face that deepened each year. He was told in the past that he was a handsome man, but that was many years ago and women would not even look in his direction nowadays with his disappearing hairline. He made sure that his clothes were still in a respectable manner and that there was nothing suspicious struck in his nose that might embarrass him later. After all, it was not his style to look in the mirror before he left home in the mornings. Mirrors were meant for women only. As long as his teeth were brushed and his hair was fairly neat after a shower, he was ready for anything.

The door opened with a faint ping and Craig soon walked down the hall just like the security lady had said. As Craig approached the second last office, he heard the familiar voice of Mr Vaughn in the background, the same man that interviewed him just over a month ago. His voice was almost muffled.

When Craig entered the office, he was surprised by the large open space and tasteful furniture. What immediately got his attention was a very attractive young woman sitting behind a desk.

'Good morning Mr Edison. We've been expecting you,' she said with a smile. Her voice was vibrant and soft at the same time.

'Good morning,' Craig said. What he really wanted to say was, good morning, I would like to fuck you senseless you sexy thing. He noticed how her long black hair was pulled to the one side hanging over her shoulder. He could not help to stare at the delicate brown lipstick on her full lips. He wondered how long it had taken her to put it on because it was perfectly done. He could only see her teasing those lips with the stick after a hot steamy shower.

'Mr Vaughn is just on a phone call,' she interrupted Craig's thoughts. 'He will join you shortly. You can have a seat in the meantime, he won't be long.' She pointed to a stylish brown leather couch in the office's corner.

'Sure, thank you,' Craig said. He wondered if he had made his attraction obvious. He sat down and tried to get his attention away from her. Although pretending to take in his surroundings, Craig did not take notice of anything at all. He had a fresh image in his memory of what her breasts looked like in that black uniform of hers, professional but very sensational. Not enough to show a proper cleavage, but just enough to know that her breasts would be perfect and stiff once her clothes had been removed. He wondered what her nipples looked like, but he imagined them to be stiff with a healthy brown colour.

Craig heard the phone being cradled in Mr Vaughn's office when the secretary got up from her seat. As she walked around her desk, Craig knew he had to make use of the opportunity to steal more of the secretary's body with his eyes without her knowing. He noticed her flawless body and wondered if she was a gym fanatic. They say fit women were usually hornier than any other. There was no mistake in the fact that she was wearing a G-string under the black pants that spun tightly over her well-defined buttocks. As she walked past him, he caught a glimpse of the feminine perfume he had smelled earlier when he got out of the lift. Her hands were well taken care of. Her nails were neat without any Cutex and Craig knew there was nothing fake about them. He could not help to wonder how those nails would feel teasing his dick and balls. He noticed her small feet. Her toenails were painted a pinkish colour as they were sticking out of her open shoes. Craig could see she liked taking care of herself and her body, which meant that she took care of the beautiful gap between her legs. That beautiful piece of joy sent from God himself. Craig knew there were loads of medications on the market for many conditions and addictions, but not for the addiction he had to beautiful women.

'He would see you now,' she said in that cute and vibrant tone. The smile on her face was mesmerising.

'Thank you,' Craig said and got up from the couch. He could have sworn that she took a sneak peek when she thought he was looking away. Ah, don't start with your shit Craig. Now is the time to focus and don't fuck this up. Not for your career or your wife and kids. He thought as he walked towards Mr Vaughn's office door.