Austerus' First Assignment

[Dragon's muse]

Just a few minor nits, but don't let them discourage you. Not even i can find all of my own nits. Nicely tweaked and tightened.

rose

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Nick had started the company in his garage and, as it grew, he never sold a controlling interest. He had turned away every eager venture capitalist who came to his door, no matter how lucrative their proposals. As the company grew (delete)that left Nick, unlike so many of his contemporaries, in the driver's seat. When he needed more business expertise he hired the people necessary, but he never let go of the reins or (of) his precious “indy” company culture. “Having fun is what it's all about!” he would repeat, ad infinitum, to anyone who would listen. Each time Jessie heard it she had to work a little harder to keep herself from screaming at the little putz.

She and the other business executives Nick had (delete) hired had done what they could, trying to grow the company more aggressively and expand its market share. But (delete) more often than not(, though,) Nick would stick his ignorant little nose into things, sabotaging or just flat out killing deals which had taken Jessie and the others months to put together.



Everyone in upper management had seen the signs. The corporate culture was changing, growing more formal despite everything Nick tried to do. A company of such size just couldn't be run the same way as a startup. A large company needed policies, rules, procedures. Of course, Jessie and the others had done everything they could to quietly push the formalization of the company along, all (delete)while paying lip service to Nick's absurd ideals.



She girded herself for one more evening of making nice, trying not to be annoyed that Nick didn't have a proper house staff to answer the door for guests. Instead, he had monitors and speakers installed in every room so that he could “greet guests myself from any room in the house.” She took a deep breath, careful to keep her frustration from seeping into her voice. “Yeah Nick, it's me. Expecting a lot of people tonight?”

Jessie smiled to herself as she opened the door, striding into the house and across the main hall. That it was (delete)just the two of them meant that (delete) this was not a strategy meeting for the whole team. Her time really WAS here. She plastered a smile on her face as she moved through the opulent dining room and into the brightly lit kitchen. “Hey Nick, what are you cooking?”





Jessie bit off an annoyed retort regarding the usefulness of household staff, and instead (delete) stretched up on her toes to take the plant down from its hook. Just humor him, she told herself. She carefully detached and lowered the heavy planter, carrying the awkward thing to the sink and trying to keep its fronds from going up her nose. She set the planter carefully in the sink and started running the tap. “Nick how much water does this thing nee...”


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Jessie woke up slowly, her head pounding. She felt like something had decided to crawl (craweled)into her mouth to die, and her entire body was sore. She groaned in pain as she began to wake, trying to remember what she had done last night.





“Better, better,” said Nick in an amused tone. “I do like that fern, but I have to admit Jessie, I like you hanging there even better. You make quite the lovely kitchen decoration.” THERE. She carefully shifted her balance to one foot and lashed out with the other at Nick's location, but she connected with air. She lost her balance and her weight came down on her shoulders, drawing a grunt of pain from deep in her chest as she struggled back to her feet.

She flushed as Nick clucked at her disapprovingly. “Now was that a nice thing to do, Jessie?” She heard a sound like tearing paper and pain exploded in a white hot line over her exposed ass as something thwacked into it. She let a wail out into the gag and another paper tore, another flame lanced through her, this time across her upper thighs. Jessie began to struggle in earnest, trying to yank herself free of the rope holding her, to...