Prodigal Son (Jensen Family #1) (35 page)

He was informed in no
uncertain terms of the type of behaviour expected of him and in return for that
behaviour he would be allowed to socialise with his friends and granted all the
freedom he had before his scandalous relationship. It had been decided and
wasn’t open for negotiation, that he would join Michael and his siblings for
two days each week in the Jensen office to start learning the business from the
ground up. Although he didn’t formally acknowledge the boy as a true Jensen,
Michael did recognise that he had a quick mind and could prove useful around
the office.

Pauls protests were stilled
by a gentle squeeze on his shoulder and he resigned himself to working for his
father every Thursday and Friday starting the following week therefore allowing
him the time needed to get his own business in order and arrange the work
schedules of his staff for his days in the office, it meant he would be working
a six day week, only having Sunday to himself.

Three weeks into his new
schedule and enduring yet another day at the office, Paul looked up from the
stack of files he was set to destroy when his Grandfather greeted him.

“Hi Grandpa,” he smiled at
the older man and stood to shake his hand/

“I heard rumours that you
were here, I just had to come and see for myself if they were true.” Charles
greeted his grandson “How are you getting on?”

“I hate it.” Paul stated “But
I have been promoted to destroying files instead of correlating them so I guess
I should be thankful for small mercies.”

Charles laughed “Tow the line
boy and you’ll be out of here quicker than you can blink.”

“Here’s hoping.” Paul pushed
his hair out of his eyes “Honestly though, I don’t mind being here, it makes a
change from gardening in the freezing cold but it would be nice to have
something to do that would get my mind working, a trained monkey could do
this.”

“I’ll have words. Don’t you
own a suit?” Charles asked, he had instigated a strict dress code at Jensen
Incorporated and Paul’s faded black jeans and grey t-shirt was a total
debasement of that code.

“I do, it doesn’t fit me
anymore, it would seem that doing physical work has filled me out a bit and my
shirts and jackets don’t fit across my chest.” He shrugged “Besides, all the
time I’m doing this kind of work is it really necessary to me to wear a suit?”

“Rules are rules boy and
while I am aware of your fondness for breaking them, this is one that you will
adhere to.” Charles tried his best to frown.

“Ok, I’ll see if I can sort
it.” Paul turned back to his work.

Michael hated it when his
father arrived at the office unannounced, the man was supposed to be retired.
He soon got wind of his arrival as his staff began fluttering around the office
in a high state of agitation as they passed the knowledge of Charles’ presence
from one section of the office to another. Closing the open files on his desk
so that Charles wouldn’t be able to casually peruse his work, Michael sat back
in the large leather chair that his father had once occupied and awaited his
arrival.

Glancing quickly around his
former office, Charles tutted in disapproval at the box files piled in the
corners before greeting his son, noting with a little satisfaction the irked
expression on the face that was a younger version of his own.

“Father, this is a surprise.”
Michael’s lips pulled into a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes.

“So I gather given the state
of your office.” Charles replied
,
he helped himself to
a coffee from Michael’s filter machine, an improvement that he did approve of
before seating himself in the client chair “I do hope you don’t bring clients
in here.”

“No Father, I conduct all of
my meetings in the board room, I prefer to keep my office private.” Michael
answered tersely “Is there any particular reason for your visit?”

“Not really, Mother and I are
in town to see a show so I thought I’d drop by while she is cleaning out
Harrods. How is business?”

Within moments Michael found
himself justifying some of the decisions he had made over the last couple of
months, each and every one of which Charles questioned and picked holes in.
Inevitably, the conversation turned to Paul as Michael knew it would.

“Do you think Paul’s attire
is entirely suited to the office environment?” Charles questioned.

“As he is doing menial work I
see no reason why he shouldn’t dress as he pleases.” Michael replied.

“Ah yes, about that, you
wouldn’t dream of making Tessa or Matthew
do
the kind
of work you have set Paul so why on earth is he scrabbling around on his hands
and knees destroying files?”

“He is here as a punishment
Father, a fact of which you are well aware, he doesn’t deserve the privileges
the other two get.”

“Think about it Michael,”
Charles countered “Paul runs his own extremely successful business and has
proved time and again that he can manage that and his staff with ease, I
appreciate that he has a natural talent for causing problems and getting
himself into trouble but the boy is bright, he has a quick mind and all you
will succeed in doing by putting him to menial tasks is destroy his spirit.”

“That was sort of the point.”
Michael admitted “To destroy his spirit, he has far too much of it and needs to
be curtailed into behaving, if that means breaking him, then so be it.”

“Do you honestly think he
will sit back and let that happen? He will simply run off again and I seriously
doubt that you will get him back again. I expect that prospect fills you with
joy, you never did bond with him but think of your wife, estrangement from Paul
would destroy her.”

Michael had to admit that
Charles was right, he sighed, pressing his fingers together and resting them on
his pursed lips as he regarded his father “You are right,” he eventually spoke
“Paul leaving would do a great deal of harm to Monica and I won’t allow that to
happen. What do I do with him though? I don’t want him disturbing Matthew or
Tessa nor do I want him involved in the day to day running of the office, he is
intelligent enough to be able to bring this place to a standstill if he
chooses.”

“I’ve been thinking about
that ever since I heard he was here. Why don’t you put him with Satchell?”
Charles asked referring to the mole of a man who resided in one of the tiny
front offices, sifting out customers who were potentials for bankruptcy.

“Of course, it would keep him
out of the way and give him something to occupy his mind.” Michael beamed.

“And Satchell always seems to
have an overflowing in tray, he could teach Paul to take over from him when he
retires.” Charles added.

“Father, you are brilliant, I
will call Satchell in this afternoon and let him know what’s expected of Paul.
Thank you.”

“My pleasure but before Paul
can go into Satchel’s office, he needs a suit.”

“Yes, of course, I will take
him to buy one in the morning.” Michael relayed his conversation with his
father to Monica that evening as they were preparing for bed, adding “I think
it’s time I had a new suit, I think I’ll get measured while we are there.”

The following morning, after
a brief visit to the office, Paul accompanied Michael on his very first suit
buying expedition.

“I’m getting my suit
handmade,” Michael told him as they entered the store, “Tessa’s friend Joanne,
Maureen or someone...”

“Suzanne.” Paul corrected.

“Yes that’s right Suzanne,
she works here and I believe she deals with off the rack clothing, go and find
her and get sorted out with a decent suit.”

Paul grinned as he walked
away; his father had just given him permission to seek out his lover, it had
been a while since he’d seen her and he was looking forward to it immensely.

Ten minutes later he finally
tracked her down. He stopped halfway across the floor space of the jewellery
department to take in the delicious sight of her tight pencil skirt stretched
across her pert bottom as she leant over one of the glass display cabinets. His
eyes travelled from her behind down her legs, noticing the clasps of her
suspenders pressing against the fabric of her skirt, her dark stockings clung
to her shapely legs; her nicely turned ankles drifted into tiny feet and
obscenely high heeled black shoes. As he watched, she came up onto tip toe,
stretching the fabric of her skirt further as she leant the weight of her upper
body on her arms to get a better look at something in the glass display stand
beneath her chest.

Standing beside her, he too
leant over the cabinet to see what had grabbed her interest, she smelled
heavenly and the tight white blouse didn’t detract from her delightful breasts
of which he had a lovely view as they pushed against the open neck line.

She caught his scent before
she noticed his face reflected in the glass below her, she glanced into his
eyes via the glass and smiled before standing straighter, her hands on the
counter as she turned her head towards him.

“Can I help you?” She asked
,
her eyes twinkling as he tore his gaze from her breasts.

“I sincerely hope so.” He
answered, biting back on the huge grin that threatened to burst onto his face.

She laughed “What are you
doing here?” She asked.

“I have to get a suit.” He
shrugged “What were you looking at that gave me the fantastic view as I walked
over?” He asked, glancing down at the cabinet.

Stretching her arm out, Suzanne
placed the tip of her index finger on the glass above the diamond tennis
bracelet “That. I love it but I’ll be drawing my pension before I can afford
it.”

Leaning closer to get a
better look, Paul smiled; he liked the look of the bracelet and thought it
would suit her very well. “I’ll get it for you one day.” He said.

“Uhuh, of course you
wil.l
” She mocked.

“I promise,” he placed his
hand over his heart “Now that’s out of the way, are you going to help me find a
suit?”

“Follow me.” She beckoned him,
knowing he would watch the sway of her hips for a couple of paces before he
followed.

“Gladly.”

He stood patiently as she
cajoled the male assistant to lend her his tape measure under protestations
that measuring customers was his job. Batting her eyelids and adjusting her
breasts, drawing the man’s gaze, she assured him that she was more than capable
and as this man was a friend and his family valuable customers, it was part of
her job to give him preferential treatment, she did all this whilst escorting
him out of the department and insisting he take his lunch break while she took
care of the customer.

“Nicely
done.”
Paul commended her.

“Thank you, do you know what
size neck you are?” She asked.

“Not a clue but I can give you
my other measurements.” He grinned.

“I am well aware of the size
of your dick.” Her professional veneer cracked “Stand still while I measure
you.”

He complied while she
measured his shoulders, chest, sleeve length and waist but he stepped out of
her reach as she went down on her knees, the tape measure pressed into his
groin. His hand covered hers and removed it,

“Suzie, I can’t in good
conscience let you do that part.”

“Why not?”
She looked up at him from her knees “I do need your
inside leg measurement.”

“I understand that but the
last time you were on your knees in front of me you were sucking me off, it’s
been a while and I only have so much self control.”

She smiled and pressed the
tape measure into his hand “Fine. You hold that end and I’ll take the
measurement.”

Once she had completed this
task she told him to go into the changing room while she selected shirts,
suits, ties and shoes and arrived while he was undressing with four very nice
off the rack suits, two pairs of shoes, a selection of ties and shirts in
varying shades.

He hated the first two suits
and try as she might not to laugh at the faces he was pulling in the mirror,
she had to agree that something wasn’t quite right with them, he returned to
the dressing room with an additional shirt she had found, had taken off the
offending suit and was buttoning the newest shirt when she stepped into the
room. With no preamble what so ever, she swayed up to him and pressed her lips
to his, her high heels giving her the height she needed so that she didn’t have
to stand on the tips of her toes to reach his mouth, her hands flying over the
recently fastened buttons of the shirt.

Breaking the kiss, he watched
her hands roaming his chest, swiftly followed by her mouth, “This shirt appears
to be faulty, I thought I had just buttoned it up and yet it looks as though
they’ve come undone again.”

“Shut up. I’ve missed you. I
want you.
NOW.”
She pressed her chest to his.

“Oh God!”
He groaned, instantly aroused “Suzie, I can’t, I’m
seeing someone and it’s pretty serious.”