The Super-Analyst

Prompt-Office Affairs

The Super-Analyst-2976

         Marie Broussard strode through the IT Department of Singleton Data, accompanied by the upper echelon of their management following submissively behind. She’d been called in as a last resort consultant to shake out the virtual structure of the new database system they’d been contracted to produce for the Department of Defense.

         “The Iron Lady” she was called, although she was referred to in some circles as “The Iron Cunt.” Never to her face of course, as she was one of the very few recognized ‘Super-Analysts’ on this side of the world, and was known as a ‘no-nonsense’ scientist.

         Just past her thirtieth birthday, single, and exceptionally beautiful for a mathematical ‘savant’, she still instilled terror in the hearts of IT Managers wherever she was called in to broker information systems development. This job wasn’t any different, and she’d set about to put her own analytical system into play.

         First of all, she had to get rid of the official ‘stalkers’ and gain some autonomy in her evaluations, particularly when it came to questioning the staff on the floor. They undoubtedly knew more about what their goals were than this management team did.

         Finally, on day two of her spin through the department, she turned to the IT Director, cocked her hips and said, “In the interests of safety, I’d like to request that you, and your entourage leave me to my investigations alone; else I’ll probably have to pull one of you out of my ass if I stop too quickly.”

         Speechless, the Director shyly took his crew back to the offices and out of her hair. She thought she heard a smattering of applause amongst the cubicles at that outburst, but she ignored it, found a starting point on the floor and began her staff interviews.

         She’d already spent time going over the detailed project plans, and had interviewed the executives in the division, who’d readily demonstrated where the conflict resided. The executives had taken sides with various groups on the floor about which way the development should work out, and the disagreements were so virulent, that she had finally been called in to arbitrate.

         At a substantial cost, she noted. She wasn’t cheap, and her analysis, whether they decided to take her advice or not, would reap her nearly $12,000 in fees. But, she was good, VERY good. And, they were just being stupid, VERY stupid, she decided. In all of her experience, her solutions had come from the floor, from technicians who didn’t have the kudos or the fame that she possessed, and as a result were denigrated in deference to the industry ‘EXPERT’.

         Once working for a famous consulting group, she was now an independent, having earned a sterling reputation for arbitrating high-level scientific and mathematical dilemmas in the industry. But she was also business smart, and knew that she couldn’t do it all on her own. These days, her group consisted of two women and one man, almost as efficient as herself, doing what she now did so successfully.

         Her beauty, along with her professional reputation, was her ticket into the very depths of cutting edge technology, and as a result she had little difficulty landing the most lucrative consulting gigs in the nation; the tougher the better.

         Born in Louisiana, Marie was the daughter of an Arcadian descendent, Jacques Broussard, and an American Indian woman, Beatrice. Her lineage never caused much difficulty in her upbringing however, simply because she demonstrated a gifted grasp of analytical processes, a gift that the sisters of her Catholic school developed to the ultimate degree.

         With a scholarship to Notre Dame she was propelled to national recognition, eventually graduating with distinction with a MS in Mathematics. Her rise in the industry was inevitable, and she became one of the most demanded experts in evaluating new systems in the IT world.

         She had to acknowledge that her personal life had been sacrificed in this rise, but thought she was still fairly young, and a social connection was something that she’d eventually run into eventually. The fact that she was now thirty was a little disconcerting however, and she thought that maybe it was time to put a little bit more effort in finding her mate.

         Right now though, she had work to do, and she managed to interview nearly a third of the IT staff before she became certain that she’d discovered her technical ‘Goldmine’ in the department. Each of the staff members that she’d interviewed was asked a simple question at the end; “Who in this whole department do you think knows what the hell is going on with this project?” To a person they replied, “Q.”

         Her response had always been, “Then why isn’t this ‘Q’ in charge of the whole thing?” Their parting comment was usually, “Management doesn’t accept high-level solutions from low-level staff; ever.”

         That lunch hour as she entered the cafeteria, she looked around at the staff seated, and asked a young lady in the line in front of her, “Q?” She watched as the youngster blushed, and looked towards a far corner where a single young man sat alone, picking at a sandwich. The young lady didn’t need to say anything; her look of admiration said it all.

         He looked fairly young, but Marie noticed streaks of white at his temples, and a wiry, lean look about him. Handsome to be sure, but his face contained the creases of habitual worry and thought, the look of someone who cares but is frustrated. She’d seen this look before and knew what it represented.

         From all accounts so far, his associates were certain that he was gifted, but didn’t ‘suffer fools gladly.’ As a result their seniors considered him an arrogant SOB, and tended to downplay whatever ideas he proposed for resolving any project issues. It was a self-fulfilling cycle, as the more rejection he encountered, the more frustrated he became.

         Approaching his table, Marie gave him a questioning look until he motioned to the empty seat across from him. Watching him play with his sandwich, she noted that he was also making notes on the napkin by his plate. They ate in silence for a few minutes before he looked up at her and asked, “You the ‘high muckety-muck’ consultant?’”

         She knew from that remark that this interview was going to be an uphill climb, but her beauty and natural charm was long overdue for this challenge. Nodding her head at him, she replied, “Yep, but you knew that already, didn’t you?”

         More silence, as he watched her face carefully, then she relaxed a bit as she noted a small smile play around his lips. Obviously, this was her party and she had to bring the topic to him, so she returned his smile.

         She got the personal details out of the way immediately, introducing herself and giving him a bit of her background. Obviously not impressed, he waited patiently until she finished. More silence. She noted his brow wrinkled in thought, so she knew he wasn’t ignoring her; probably deciding how much information he was willing to share. No problem there, as she felt they’d reached a non-threatening point of communication.

         It turned out that ‘Q’ was short for Quentin, Quentin Parker. He was the last remaining legacy in the department, having been employed since its beginning nearly six years previously. She guessed his age to be between 30 and 35, single from all accounts, and his hobby was racquetball which accounted for his fit appearance. In their ensuing conversations, she discovered a wry sense of humor that many wrongly interpreted as arrogance, very much like herself.

         He’d been hired for his brilliance in formulating database systems, but because of his technical talents and his contempt for corporate pomp and ceremony, was quickly passed over by less competent managers for promotions. Finally, his genius unimpaired, those same managers isolated his input to draw attention away from their own lack of vision.

         The management was now split into two factions in the final design of the database, neither willing to give ground to the other. That was the reason Marie had been brought into the mix. What she discovered was ‘Q’ had an additional design, unrelated to the others, but had not been allowed to participate in any discussions.

         Their discussion regarding the culture, history and project details seemed to last only a few minutes or so, but they were interrupted by the cleaning staff for the cafeteria sometime around 6:30pm, urging them to take their ‘conference’ elsewhere so they could close up. They were both taken by surprise, and found that they’d just begun discovering potential breakthroughs in the project work. Marie suggested they take the interview ‘offline’ for a bit, and asked ‘Q’ if he knew of some place they could continue.

         That turned out to be an Irish Pub just a block from their offices, and she followed as he led her to an isolated booth near the back. It was apparent to Marie that he’d been here before as the waitress had a tall, black glass of beer in front of him as he sat down. Marie caught her eye just in time to order the same, and returned her attention to ‘Q.’

         Looking around the bar, Marie noticed a few of his workmates scattered about, and that they had grown silent, simply watching them. ‘Q’ however, ignored them, instead picking up their discussion from the cafeteria where they’d left off, testing her technical expertise as well as extracting the few remaining data remnants of her personal life.

         That he possessed the solution to their problems, she had no doubt. His technical expertise exceeded her own, she admitted reluctantly, and he’d been present when the project was born, adding to his validity. Her challenge now was to convince the bickering management of this firm to employ his solution and stop the financial bleeding their company was undergoing during this impasse.

         Maybe it was the thick, black chewy beer that she’d been drinking, or something else, but she was beginning to lose some of the professional distance that she’d always been proud of with this man. During the past several hours, they’d gotten under each other’s skin, into each other’s head, and Marie at least, felt that she’d known this man forever. His boyish grin at her whenever something humorous was mentioned, melted her once stony heart.

         Later that evening, she glanced down to see that she’d taken hold of his hand sometime during their discussion, and was pleased that he hadn’t withdrawn it. Instead, he was gently caressing the top of hers with his thumb, causing sharp jolts of erotic energy throughout her chest and abdomen. She felt her concentration beginning to blur, and for the first time in years, didn’t really give a damn.

         They were a pair, she knew. He complemented portions of her psyche that felt weak, and she was strong in those that he lacked. In addition, they strayed into personal revelations that demonstrated a remarkable compatibility, until once again, they were interrupted by the bar shutting down for the night.

         It was 1:30am, and as they stood on the sidewalk, they were still talking about the project, and most importantly about their personal likes and dislikes. Finally they ran down, and simply stood there looking at each other.

         Marie couldn’t muster any resistance as he took her by the hand and began leading her down the street, to where she could only guess. Then sliding his hand around her waist, he leaned into her face and kissed her, tentatively. Not satisfied with that, Marie reached behind his head and pressed her tongue into his mouth, feeling his response as he returned her ardor.

         When they finally broke the embrace, he led her down the sidewalk until they reached a major apartment complex. She was amazed to discover that it had a doorman, in resplendent regalia, and that her escort was well known.

         His greeting of “Good morning, Mr. ‘Q’, is everything in order?” indicated that this was not a usual event in the life of her companion, and for that she was relieved. Nodding assent, he was allowed to escort her to the elevator and up to his apartment.

         Once inside, he didn’t assume anything, allowing her to set the pace for the rest of the night. She knew immediately what she wanted to happen, and took a quick inventory of his apartment. Well kept, sparse but functional, a cursory examination of his refrigerator revealed several bottles of Guinness, and she knew she’d arrived. Popping the top off two of them, she returned to his living room, and suggested continuing their discussion.

         They both knew discussion was over, and all that was left was determining the activities of the rest of the evening. Taking the beer she offered, he suggested that they retire to the couch and watch a little late-night TV. It was a bit parochial, she thought, but then they’d only known each other just over a half a day. Their silence as they stared at each other was deafening.

         Finally, she watched him set his beer down, lean into her face and gently press his lips to hers. Her response was reflexive, as she firmly pressed her tongue into his mouth, tasting him, giving him no doubt about where she wanted this evening to go. His tentative caress on her breast forced a passionate groan from her mouth into his, and their caution disappeared.

         Their first sexual encounter was but a continuance of their discovery of each other as each undressed the other, anxious to explore physically what their intellects had already resolved. Marie blushed as ‘Q’ admired her naked body standing before him, uncharacteristically demure. She began to tremble as she examined his naked body, his erection throbbing in time with his heartbeat, affirming his attraction to her.

         Ripples of sexual anticipation rolled across her abdomen as she watched his hands reach out to her naked breasts, massaging them softly before reaching her nipples, tweaking them until her legs began shake. Fascinated, she reached out to touch the head of his cock, marveling that this ‘salute’ was entirely in her honor, slowly wrapping her hand around the shaft, feeling it jerk in response.

         It was as though they were connected in spirit, she thought, as they both anticipated the other’s moves, and surprised each other at the same time. She’d never felt this much in communion with anyone else in her life until now. Giving herself up to his passion, she tenderly embraced his head as he leaned in to lick, nibble and worship her sensitive nipples. He anticipated her collapse as her legs finally gave out and swept her up in his arms, showering her face with kisses.

         His bedroom was functional, and that’s all that mattered as he placed her on the bed to continue his culinary voyage over her body. He was an analyst of rare talents, she thought. As his face crossed her pubis, she knew her climax wasn’t far behind, and wondered if he recognized their remarkable compatibility. One touch on her clitoris with his tongue finally drove her over the edge, and she pulled his face into her vagina hard, as the spasms of her climax brought her to exhaustion.

         Her turn next, she thought, and pulled his head up to hers. Tasting herself on his lips, she turned him onto his back with one swift move, and began nibbling down his belly until she reached his cock. After a quick lick while embracing his balls in her hands, she rose to position herself on his hips, and ensuring that his erection was still paying attention to her, impaled herself on it in one, smooth motion. He was hers, although he may have not known that yet, and she set her hips into motion, milking every bit of pent-up passion, frustration, and anger from his body.

         They both agreed that night had ended too quickly.

         Marie now had everything she needed to present to the executives, knowing that they’d be keenly irritated that their solution was under their noses all the time. They were still bound to remit her contractual fees, and suffer the humiliation of her pointing out where they’d overlooked the obvious. Unlike their subordinates, she was allowed to display considerable professional arrogance when dealing with clients; ‘right makes might’, to paraphrase an old saying.

         Back in her office a week later, she often reflected on her night with ‘Q’, wondering if he might have been ‘the one.’ Regardless, she knew he was a superb technician, simply out of his element. Had she been an employee at that corporation, she’d probably have been ignored as well, or even fired because of her forthright attitude, and lack of respect for corporate pecking orders.

         Marie found herself unable to concentrate on work at hand, her thoughts returning over and over again to her short tryst with ‘Q’. Unless she was able to put him out of her mind very shortly, her work was going to suffer.

         So it happened one morning that her office manager entered her office and dropped what appeared to be a resume on her desk. Looking up, Marie reminded her that she wasn’t hiring and turned back to her paperwork. Noting that she hadn’t left, Marie looked back at her, puzzled.

         “I looked at his references, and at the top was your name, Marie.” She said.

         Snapping up the resume, Marie read the name of the applicant; Quentin Parker! Smiling broadly, Marie turned to her office manager and instructed her to prepare a ‘New Hire Package’ for him, and quickly!.

         This was one job where his professional talent and arrogance would work out perfectly, and add some needed companionship in her life.

H –