The Sales Star Ch. 01

Note: This story, like many others I have written, has a slow build-up. It's a multi-part story, with multi-page parts, and the hot-and-heavy "action" won't appear until much later. So if you dislike long build-ups and attention to detail, give this one a miss.

*

It was a Saturday morning in our apartment in the Bombay suburbs. I sat on the edge of the bathtub with the pregnancy test in my hand, wrestling between anticipation and a looming sense of disappointment. Finally the stick's display changed. I sighed and got up. As soon as I walked out of the bathroom, my husband Manish looked at me with raised eyebrows. I shook my head.

"Are you sure?" Manish got up and took the pregnancy test from my hand.

"I have done this over a dozen times now, Manish." I said, controlling my irritation.

"Well, we just have to keep trying and praying." Manish said, throwing the stick in the trashcan.

"We could also get tested and figure out if......"

"NO!" he snapped at me. I looked away. There was an awkward silence, something that had been happening al too frequently in recent days. Then Manish took my hand and said,

"Ketaki, we just have to be patient. We don't need to get paranoid and start letting doctors tell us nonsense."

"I guess....."

"Have faith in God. He will give us a baby when he thinks we are ready for it."

Not the religious bullshit again! I was about to say something nasty when the phone rang. Manish went to answer it. It was his sister calling from California. We spent the next hour or so talking with them. After that, I went to the kitchen to start lunch.

------

Monday afternoon. I sat at my usual corner table in the break room of our office with an lunch box. I was just picking at the food, in no mood to eat it. My close friend and colleague Bhakti joined me as always. We had been friends since business school and had been working in the same major enterprise solutions company in Bombay for almost 7 years. I was in sales and she was in HR so our cubicles were in different areas of the office. We only got time to talk at lunch and after work.

Bhakti reached for her lunch box and said to me,

"So Ketaki, judging by the mildly morose expression on your face all day......."

"Yes, still no baby."

"Did Manish agree to getting tested?"

"Nope, still the same old bullshit - leave it to God. It is now almost two years since we started trying. Any normal person would seek medical answers. But hubby dearest prefers to dabble in the divine. Did I tell you about how he wants us to go to Karnataka and visit the temple of some fertility goddess?"

"Yeah." Bhakti said shoveling a big morsel of rice in her mouth. "Why don't you just tell him about your test?"

About six months ago, when Manish had gone out of town for a week long conference, I had gone to a clinic to get myself tested. After a veritable battery of tests, the doctor's diagnosis was unambiguous. There was absolutely nothing wrong with me.

"Mrs. Joshi, there is no possible medical reason for you not getting pregnant after over a year of trying." the doctor had said. "Common sense points to only one possible reason - something to do with your husband. Why don't you set up an appointment for him to come in?"

I had nodded and promised the doctor I would do that. If only I could do that. But Manish wouldn't even entertain a conversation on the topic. On a couple of occasions, he had used it as an excuse to start a big fight.

"I don't know Bhakti." I said, finally willing myself to eat a few bites. "Every time I bring up the topic of us getting tested, he flies off the handle or starts spouting religious nonsense. I think he feels emasculated. Maybe he is scared of the truth being what it seems to be - there's something wrong with him. If I tell him my tests were normal, it will confirm his fears and lead to an almighty row."

"Surely he knows there are other ways. Artificial insemination, sperm donors, maybe even adoption...."

"Of course. But he is being really stupid by not even taking the first step. I will be 32 in a few months. Manish will be 35. The clock is ticking in more ways than one. But he is still in denial."

Bhakti nodded and kept eating. We were silent for a few moments. I was about to say something when the break room door opened.

"Hi Ketaki. Hi Bhakti. You're both looking exceptionally lovely today!"

The soothing baritone voice that greeted us belonged to Uday, the newest superstar in the sales team. He had joined our team from a competing firm six months ago. He was young...26 years old, and very dynamic and likable. Since joining, he had exceeded his sales quota by a huge margin every month, and brought in a dozen major accounts that we had been unable to crack for many years.

"Hi Uday." Bhakti and I said in unison.

"Just getting a diet coke." he went to the fridge and took a bottle out. He then walked over to our table. "That looks yummy!"

Uday was looking at the strips of spicy fried eggplant in my lunch box.

"My husband made it. it's his own recipe. Spicy eggplant fritters." I said.

"Looks and sounds delicious. I love eggplant!" Uday said.

"Would you like to taste some?" I politely asked.

"Sure!"

I pushed the box forward.

"Ketaki, would you mind feeding me a piece? I have to go send some faxes right away, and don't want to get my hands messy."

Bhakti suppressed a smile at my discomfort at Uday's unusual request.

"Please?" Uday said sweetly.

"Okay." I shrugged and picked up a fritter. Uday bent forward and opened his mouth. I put the fritter in it and he started chomping on it.

"Ummm...ohhh...wow! That is so amazing...mmmmm!" Uday closed his eyes and made weirdly appreciative noises that belonged more in a bedroom than a break room. "Thanks Ketaki. Gotta run. Bye. Bye Bhakti."

And Uday sprinted out of the room. After he closed the door behind him, Bhakti and I started laughing.

"He likes you. wants you." Bhakti said with a giggle.

"Oh shut up! He knows I am married."

"As if that's ever stopped him!"

Bhakti was right. Uday's reputation in the office went beyond him just being a star salesman. He was also known as a bit of a playboy. He was handsome, with chiseled features, tall, well-built, very intelligent, and very easy to talk to. He was also quite the charmer, and the grapevine was rife with rumors of his dalliances. If the rumors were to be believe, he had slept with 4 different women in the office, of whom 2 were married.

"Did you hear about Pooja?" Bhakti said, switching into gossip mode.

"She's gone to America to visit her brother, right?"

Pooja was a very beautiful young receptionist who was supposedly Uday's latest conquest. They flirted and cootchie-cooed in the office quite openly. But she had taken a month long leave recently.

"That's the official story. But the truth is, she got pregnant with Uday's child and has gone away to get an abortion." Bhakti said in a low voice.

"No way!"

"Yep. She was having trouble getting such a long leave approved. That's when she told Maya about it, and Maya approved the leave."

"Wow! I had no idea!"

"Clearly, there's nothing wrong with his sperm." Bhakti said. "Maybe you should sleep with him when you're ovulating."

I gave Bhakti a mock scowl and we both started giggling. That's when two more colleagues entered the break room and we dropped the subject.

---------

The next day I was about to leave work when Bhakti sent me a text message asking me to join her for coffee. We went to a cute little non-chain coffee shop in Juhu. Our conversation centered around the usual topics ranging from music to TV shows to office politics to complaints about our respective husbands.

"Ketaki.... I have been thinking...."

"Why start now after all these years?" I said my often used stock line. But Bhakti didn't giggle like she usually did.

"That thing I said yesterday. Maybe you should consider it."

"What thing?"

"Sleeping with Uday."

I was taken aback. Surely this was a joke. But Bhakti's face didn't show any hint of levity.

"What?"

"Think about it. He is good looking, smart, and the whole package - great genes. And he can clearly get a woman pregnant."

"Are you insane?" I dropped my voice to a whisper and looked around, hoping no one else had heard Bhakti.

"And he clearly fancies you. I have seen the way he looks at you, talks to you, flirts with you. If you let him, he'll happily sleep with you and thank you for it. And you can have a baby with great genetic material."

"I am NOT going to have an affair with Uday."

"Who's talking about an affair? Just sleep with him a few times. If he knocks you up, end it. He doesn't have to know its his baby. And Manish will think God finally answered his prayers."

"You're out of your mind!"

"Ketaki, think about it. It is obvious by now that Manish has a problem. Even if you have sex day and night with him, you're not going to get pregnant."

"He will realize it eventually. Then we can consider in vitro....."

"Not before several fights. And maybe a bout of depression after he realizes he can't give you a baby. This way, you avoid all the hassle."

"Do you realize what you're saying?"

"I know the idea is a bit out there, but it is the path of least resistance. And least headache."

"Path of least sense!"

"Come on Ketaki, it's not like you've never dreamed or fantasized about Uday. And it's not like Manish is setting the sheets on fire."

"Bhakti!" I almost yelled.

I couldn't believe she was using this against me. She had gotten married only a year ago. When she told me raunchy details of her sex life, I often told her I missed the passion that Manish and I once had. Told her how the sex didn't seem as exciting any more. And how Manish couldn't last as long or do it as often as he once could. But after 7 years of marriage, that's a normal change.

My husband, as it happened, was very well endowed. The first few times we had sex, it had hurt. During our early days of dating, I measured him and he was a touch above 8 inches with an impressive girth. So it's not like there were any problems there. But other than the big penis, I just didn't find Manish as attractive as I used to. He had lost a lot of hair and packed on a few pounds, even though I had worked hard to stay slim and fit. So occasionally I would fantasize or dream about other guys and tell Bhakti about it. She told me her own fantasies too. But they were just that - fantasies.

"All I am saying is, think about it."

"You're asking me to cheat on my husband."

"Maybe, but if you think about it, it's not very different from getting a sperm donor. Except that to get a sperm donor, you will first have to drag the horse that is Manish to the water that is fertility tests, and make him drink the water that is agreeing to other methods. If you use my idea, you avoid all that hassle, and have a good time with that stud Uday. And get pregnant anyway. Just think of him as a sperm donor."

"Let's just drop this topic. I know you mean well, but it's an outrageous idea."

And so we dropped it.

But Bhakti had planted the seed of an idea in my mind, and once an idea takes root, it is difficult to completely get rid of it. Over the next few weeks, I found myself thinking about it, weighing the pros and cons. In the end, I would always dismiss the notion as outrageous. But I did find myself thinking about it a lot. Even though Bhakti never broached the topic again.

On the home front, things kept getting worse. Manish was always in a quiet or surly mood, and had almost stopped smiling. He had started praying every single day, and dragged me to different temples and religious gurus. After every visit, I ate the supposedly magical 'prasads' that had miraculous powers - from sweets to blessed fruits to syrups. manish and I had sex following a timetable, the sex being inevitably monotonous and mundane. I couldn't remember the last time I had an orgasm with him inside me. But we kept at it. And went through several more pregnancy tests. But it all came to a naught.

Then one day, after a particularly bad week at work, when the umpteenth pregnancy test said the same thing as others before it, I snapped. I insisted that we should get tests done, and Manish kept refusing. It led to a big fight during which I was tempted to tell him about my own tests, but didn't. We gave each other the silent treatment for three days until Manish grudgingly gave a half apology and I grudgingly half accepted it. But he still refused to get tested.

Almost two months passed since Bhakti first put forth her radical idea. And in the two months, I had gone from dismissing it outright to giving it serious thought. Inevitably, this affected the way I interacted with Uday. Earlier, I found his charm and his presence pleasant and amusing. Now it started affecting me personally. I started blushing at his compliments, and often found myself feeling awkward or tongue tied when talking to him. He also started appearing in my fantasies a lot more often than he used to. Be that as it may, I was still not leaning towards sleeping with him.

Then came the night of the annual sales team party. No, I didn't sleep with him. But something happened that moved things along considerably.

Like every year, the management had booked the poolside of a five star hotel for the party. Like every year, a few of the guys and a couple of the women got into the pool in their swimsuits, milling around the pool bar. Like every year, I did not. I was dressed in jeans and a casual blouse. The drinks and appetizers were making rounds. Conversations were booming. Several of the managers had made cliched speeches about what a great year we were having, but how we couldn't afford to take our eyes off the ball. Manish was with me, talking to my colleagues whom he had known for several years.

Earlier, I had noticed that Uday was in the pool. He was wearing loose knee length swimming trunks. But his chest was bare. And what a chest it was! Six pack abs, chiseled pecs, well toned arms....he looked like he had walked straight out of a male pageant. Almost all the females (and some of the men) had been checking Uday out, and Oday knew it and was preening and flirting even more than usual.

I was sitting with Manish, Bhakti, and Bhakti's husband at a table. The two guys were talking about cricket. My mind wandered and I looked at the pool. Uday was in there, about ten feet from us, playfully splashing water at Carol, an intern in the pre-sales team. She rushed towards him splashing more water, and I saw them wrestling and giggling. Uday caught Carol in an embrace, and I saw the look on Carol's face as she felt his chest. She was turned on. Suddenly, she stopped moving, and then kissed Uday on the chest. Uday smiled and kissed her on the neck. Suddenly, Carol looked around, and saw me and a couple of others watching her. She blushed and swam away.

I looked at her swim away and turned my gaze back to Uday. He was staring at me with an intense expression. Then, keeping his gaze locked into mine, he swam towards the edge. As he propped himself out of the pool, the water dribbled off his perfect torso. He got out and started walking towards me, still gazing into my eyes.

When he approached our table, he smiled and turning his gaze to the others, said,

"Hello Ketaki. Hello Bhakti. Are these the super lucky men who get to take you home every night?"

"Hi Uday! Guys, this is Uday who is setting the sales team on fire." Bhakti introduced the husbands to Uday.

"Nice to meet you, Uday." Manish said, and pointing to a chair next to him, said, "Have a seat."

Uday, ever the smooth conversationalist started talking to our husbands. And he had clearly made a great impression. The conversation turned to travel. I piped in with a comment or a question once in a while.

But my mind was focused on the contrasting sights that Manish and Uday, sitting next to each other made. My balding, paunchy husband next to this shirtless wet Adonis. A couple of times when I tried to sneak a glance at Uday, he caught me doing it and gave me a mischievous smile. I looked at Bhakti and saw that she had noticed it as well.

Fifteen minutes later, Uday excuse himself and went to talk to another group of people. The party went on for another couple of hours. When we reached home, Manish was too drunk to do anything but crash on the bed and pass out snoring. I changed into pyjamas and lay down next to him. But I couldn't sleep. My mind was replaying images of Uday's perfect body and his enchanting smile. I closed my eyes and slipped my hand into my panties. I imagined that I was with Uday in the pool, like Carol was. I fantasized us going from splashing water at each other to wrestling in the water, to making out, to finally having sex right in the pool. I had a particularly satisfying orgasm that made me moan loudly. But when I opened my eyes, Manish was still snoring. I turned away from him, closed my eyes, and willed myself to sleep.

----------

Like every year, after the annual party, came the big sales planning meeting. All the managers sat with the VP of Sales, the country managers, and a few other head honchos at the main table. Us sales reps sat in the conference room in front of them. And we all had to make a presentation of our plan for the coming year, which would then be reviewed and critiqued by the leadership.

My turn came shortly after lunch. I started off with a summary of my previous year's achievement (at 114% of the quota, I was doing well), and then spoke about the segments I would go after, my quarterly and monthly plans, and a bucket list of customers that I had pursued in the past but failed to win. I listed the ones I was optimistic of winning this time. I concluded with a summary chart.

"Excuse me, Ketaki." the VP of Sales Shankar spoke for the first time in my presentation. "I see that Zincorp is still in your bucket list. Like the previous two years."

I gave him a sheepish smile and cursed at him in my mind. I had been hoping this wouldn't come up again this year. Zincorp was a European manufacturing giant that was expanding its presence in India. I had done my best to break into that account but had failed every year.

"Yes Shankar, it is. But this year, I am positive I will be able to win it." I said, trying to project optimism that I wasn't really feeling.

"How exactly?"

"Well, I have been able to establish a decent relationship with their procurement team and they are coming around to the fact that...."

"Don't give me jargon, Ketaki." Shankar icily said. "What is going to be different this year?"

"If I may, Shankar." my manager Satish jumped in to my defense, "Ketaki has been working very hard at winning Zincorp. But the procurement guy there is a tough nut to crack. And they do have a global contract with our competitors."

"That contract is binding only on their European units." Shankar said. "Ketaki has now been working that client for three years. I don't think she has established a decent relationship as she puts it."

"Shankar, I have full faith in Ketaki's abilities. Her record speaks for itself." Satish said a little brusquely. Shankar was taken aback. He looked at Satish and then turned to me again.

"Ketaki, don't get me wrong. I respect and admire your work and know that you are an invaluable asset to this company. You hit your numbers ahead of time and have been doing a great job."

"Thank you Shankar." I said politely.

"My concern is only about Zincorp. I recently found out that they are going to announce two new manufacturing plants In Nashik and Pune, and it will be great for our overall numbers as well as your quota if we can get the contract for those plants."

"I will leave no stone unturned." I said.