A slutty businessman meets his match
The story behind the story #6 — Right Hand Man
Continuing with the series which shares how my own real-life experiences have influenced my steamy books, I bring you ‘Right Hand Man’.
Published earlier this year, the story follows an emotionally distant, somewhat slutty businessman called Flynn Henderson who has substituted the dream of finding love with having copious amounts of no-strings attached sex. That is until he meets kick-ass Isobel Sharpe who teaches him a thing or two about himself, both in the bedroom and the boardroom.
So, which parts of this story are personal to my life experiences?
1. The coldest I’ve ever been.
In this book, Flynn and Isobel spend several days in the Brecon Beacons in Wales, as part of a management aptitude course. There, it rains…a lot…as it has a tendency to do in that part of the world. And it probably isn’t a surprise I sent them to that location, for the very coldest I have ever been in my life was in the Brecon Beacons in April. Many moons ago, that was where I undertook my gold Duke of Edinburgh Award expedition. The gold award requires you to hike….I think it was 50 miles over 4 days (with 3 nights camping out).
The whole thing didn’t start well for me because it was literally pissing down from the get go. By the time we’d pitched our tents on that first night, all of the stuff in my rucksack was absolutely drenched, meaning that for 3 nights, we all slept in wet sleeping bags and walked in wet clothes. I don’t know if you’ve ever been really, really cold, but it seeps all the way through to your very bones. Dreams of hot baths and central heating are enough to make you go crazy. And possibly the worst part of the entire expedition? Having to take a short walk from the group of tents, into a nearby woodland, holding your hand trowel with everybody knowing exactly what you were going to do! For a very well brought up young lady, such as I once was, having strangers know my bowel movements was not something I’d signed up to!!!!! Obviously, I couldn’t have Flynn and Isobel enjoying themselves any more than I did:
‘You okay?’ asked Flynn. The two of them were taking temporary shelter beneath a gnarled old tree, which was failing to entirely protect them from the increasingly heavy rain.
Isobel nodded, attempting to put a brave face on their situation, but in all honesty, she’d been better. It was such a pity the weather had set in, reducing visibility dramatically; she knew just how beautifully stunning the scenery was here. They had probably travelled eight miles so far by sticking along the ridge of the mountain, and were making decent progress. However, this was going to end up being one hell of a hard day, if the next five hours were a continuous repeat of their experience so far. It might be April, but upon this exposed location, the elements were seriously racking up against them. Isobel would never say as much to Flynn, but thanks to a combination of her sweaty body and the cold of the day, she was starting to feel seriously chilled, all the way through to her bones.
2. Monitoring online activity of employees.
In my previous life as an IT personage, I had the dubious privilege of working on the installation of company-owned software which monitored the activity employees undertook on their computers. Once installed, much like Isobel and Flynn did in this book, I then had access to the data results and was able to monitor activity.
Unlike their company which contained a more finite number of people, my dataset ran into many thousands of employees, but still I couldn’t help but notice a worrying trend of (I’ll just call them) extremely sexual file names being plugged into the company tech via USB’s. Clearly, some staff were not entirely focussed on their work during office hours! I’m not permitted to divulge any more information than that, but here’s a public service announcement for those of you inclined to plug your home devices into work-owned computers.
1) You don’t have to physically open the files on your USB device for the name of that file to be picked up by centrally monitoring software. Some software has the ability to simply record all file names of any device plugged in.
2) If you’re going to store porn on such devices, rename the file in question to something mundane and ordinary. Don’t leave it named as sluttywetnursegetsspankedbyhornydoctor.mp4. It’s kind of a giveaway.
3. The agony of professional courses.
I’ve been on a fair few training courses in my time and, I don’t know about you, but I almost always find them excruciatingly awkward. From the very moment you step into the room and observe the other participants, knowing they are people you don’t know and will probably never meet again afterwards. The ‘creeping death’ introductions, where each participant takes it in turn to tell the group a little about themselves when nobody really cares, trying and failing to come up with something interesting and witty to say. Or even worse, where you have to chat to another person for a minute and then introduce them! Aarrgghhh! It’s a torturous scenario that ensures you’ll listen more fully than at any other point during the week! And undoubtedly the very worst part of the entire exercise; having to decide who formally presents back to the rest of the room after group exercises. Totes awkward.
Of course, the success of these courses often lies in the hands of the trainer. Fortunately for Isobel and Flynn, they have an excellent, if slightly eccentric one, in the form of Stuart.
‘Firstly, a warm welcome to all of you,’ continued the speaker. He was a balding, bespectacled man, who quickly put the group at ease with a warm smile. Probably in his late fifties, if Isobel was any judge. ‘We’ll be starting in a jiffy, but while we’re waiting for the arrival of our final attendee, please can you write your name on the card in front of you. Thanks.’
Immediately there was a scrabble for the appropriate stationary items, followed by the squeaky sound of marker pens being dragged across shiny cardboard. Isobel scrunched her nose up at the powerful chemical smell that emanated from her writing implement and swiftly replaced the lid, lest it make her start to feel lightheaded.
‘Right… well… I think we should probably make a start,’ announced the man a couple of minutes later. ‘My name is Stuart, and I’ll be…’
Just then, the door opened at the back of the room, interrupting Stuart in his well-practiced introductions. A number of the attendees glanced behind, to discover the source of the disturbance.
‘Please accept my apologies for being late,’ spoke a voice which instantly sent a wave of confused excitement straight though Isobel’s body.
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‘Right Hand Man’ is available from from Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.com.au and Amazon.ca. It can either be purchased, or read via a Kindle Unlimited subscription. Here are the links to sign up to a free 30-day Kindle Unlimited trial on Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com.
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The latest news from Fenella Ashworth can be found at http://www.fenellaashworth.com.
Fenella is a British author of contemporary erotic romance for 18+. All of her stories are available from Amazon and Kindle Unlimited. Her most popular books are ‘One Hot Wynter’s Night’, ‘To Love, Honour and…Oh Pay’ and the Daniel Lawson Series.
