Why?

by Alamsci

A fictional story 

"Sam, I'm thinking about getting you an assistant. I'll put an ad in the paper

and in a few weeks I'll start interviewing candidates."

Sam was extremely relieved at this remark. The work was really piling up and

he simply couldn't do it alone. His boss, Rosemary, was a highly skilled and

experienced Human Resources professional. About a year ago, the company

recruited her so she could get an HR department up and going. About 6 months

ago she brought in Sam to be her HR manager, but as the HR responsibilities

grew she could tell that Sam needed some help.

He was definitely a hardworking individual, but he didn't really have that

aggressive attitude she needed. Sure, he could be counted on to take care of

personnel matters and employee grievances, but he didn't have the tenacity

needed for recruiting and he was neither articulate nor persistent. She needed

someone that could negotiate with unions, insurance companies, benefit

providers, and more importantly someone who could market internal programs.

The best thing to do was to let Sam go, but she felt sorry for him. She

understood his family problems and wanted to help him out. Secondly, Sam had

the education and the knowledge she needed, but there was no way he could

implement anything. He was simply too passive.

Her plan was to hire someone (male or female) who could really accomplish

things on the ground and she thought Sam could take an advisory role instead

of a managerial one.

A month later, Rosemary, had narrowed down the applicant pool to 3

individuals, but before deciding, which one she would hire, she thought it

would be a good idea for Sam to interview them and give her a suggestion.

After interviewing all three Sam went to Rosemary's office to talk to her.

"Rosemary, the first two seemed like go getters, but I don't know, they really

don't have an HR background. I don't think they'll be around for long. The

third young lady seemed to have a lot of potential, she's pretty young, but

I'll be honest with you at times during the interview I felt like I was being

interviewed. She really drilled me. To be honest she has the background and

the attitude we're looking for."

"Sam that's interesting, I didn't think you'd like her much."

"I was mainly concentrating on her attributes and how she would fit the role,

nothing more."

"All right Sam, I'll take your feedback into consideration when I make my

decision."

As Sam walked out, Rosemary leaned back in her chair and started chuckling to

herself. She really couldn't believe Sam recommended Lacey. She was going to

choose Lacey anyway, but Sam had really surprised her. She thought that Lacey

was bound to intimidate the hell out of Sam. Lacey was a pretty big girl. She

was probably around 5'6" and looked strong. She wore a light blue business

suit during the interview, but her thick neck was an obvious sign of her

strength, not to mention her bone-crushing handshake, and stinging rejoinders

'She must've really made him piss his pants!' Rosemary thought to herself or

he was too naive to see who was actually in front of him.

A few days later Rosemary told Sam that Lacey would be starting in a week's

time. Rosemary knew things were about to change for the better. Lacey seemed

to be an ideal person for the job. Her only concerns revolved around Sam's

future. This young woman was likely to push Sam to the side in no time. He

definitely won't be able to deal with her. Well if worse comes to worse, I'll

just make Sam my assistant, I just can't let him go, who knows what his wife

will do to him.

Well, when Lacey came in Sam went through the motions of showing her around

the office, introducing her to folks, and giving her a general idea of what

her job would be.

When lunchtime rolled around. Rosemary came out of her office and suggested

that all three of them go out to lunch. They made their way to a nearby

Italian restaurant, where they proceeded to order their lunches. Rosemary,

being the HR Director started up a conversation. She mainly wanted Sam and

Lacey to start conversing so they would feel comfortable around each other.

Lacey seemed really comfortable, but Sam seemed a bit shy and timid next to

her. In the midst of their conversation Lacey decided to take off her jacket.

This, to say the least, was an eye opener. She was wearing a striped

sleeveless collared shirt, which really showed her awesome upper body.

Rosemary had a feeling Lacey was a strong girl, athletic that is, but this

girl had really defined arms. They weren't huge, but they were well defined.

They resembled the arms of a fitness competitor. The only difference was that

they were not as defined, but looked bigger. Her forearms were also veiny,

solid and pretty big. She took one glance at Sam and then turned red and

decided to avert her gaze to her empty plate. Sam was simply gawking at

Lacey's solid shoulder. She looked at him and then put her hand through her

curly dirty blonde hair causing her bicep to rise.

Sam's eyes almost popped out of his head. Lacey reacted by sternly smiling at

him.

Rosemary had to say something, she didn't know what, but if Sam kept gawking

at Lacey's arms Lacey was bound to use them on him, but before she could say

anything Lacey looked into Sam's eyes and said, "What's wrong? Never seen a

woman with muscles before?"

"I get all different types of reactions for these babies." She chuckled and

then quickly flexed her right bicep. It looked stupendous, but her words had

broken Sam's trance, "I'm sorry its not that, I just was a bit surprised I

didn't really expect to..."

Rosemary cut him off, "Oh! Sam's seen strong woman, trust me!"

Lacey's confidence and aggressiveness reminded Rosemary of herself at a

younger age. She remembered always fighting for what she believed in, but

those muscles, well, she began thinking back, before slipping into a daydream,

she looked over at her two employees and felt a little more comfortable, they

were talking away now, Sam definitely looked small next to his assistant,

especially his thin forearms inches away from her solid ones. His visible gut

and pointy shoulders next to her most probably solid abs and definitely well

rounded shoulders, but that was the reality of the situation. She needed Lacey

and had to take care of Sam to keep her conscious at rest.

Now she slipped away into a daydream. She began remembering the first time she

interviewed Sam. She didn't think much of him. He was shy, timid, but

educated. At first she didn't think he would be able to perform the job, but

as she went through interview after interview she realized that he was

probably the most educated. All week she kept thinking about what to do, whom

to hire? Then that Saturday as she was grocery shopping she noticed Sam

standing outside with two young kids. She assumed they were his son and

daughter. As she approached him she looked down at the two kids, one must've

been about four or five and the other, well, she looked like she was two. She

looked up at Sam and was surprised to see that his left eye was swollen. It

looked fresh too.

"Hi, Sam, what happened to you?"

"Oh, I just fell down the stairs when I was drunk, nothing to worry about, so

how are things going with you? Have you come to a decision regarding the

position?"

"Not yet Sam, but we'll be in touch." She said with a smile on her face.

"By the way what are you waiting for.. Do you need a ride?"

"Thanks, Rosemary, just waiting for my wife to come out. She went in to grab a

few things."

"Well, I'd like to meet this lucky women, who has a handsome husband and two

cute kids."

Sam was good looking; he had handsome facial features and a comforting smile,

which Rosemary did like.

" Ah... thanks, but its okay... I think she'll be awhile!"

"Sam that's nonsense, besides I have all day!"

Then in the midst of their conversation Rosemary heard a husky voice bellow,

"Sam didn't I tell you to go to the car!"

Rosemary instantaneously averted her attention to the source of that

threatening and imposing command. Her gaze was met by a very strong woman. She

was tanned and muscular. She was wearing tight white shorts, which seemed like

they were having trouble containing a pair of imposing thighs. She looked up

and saw a broad- shouldered young woman, with Mediterranean like facial

features, a thick neck, and strong arms. This woman's arms were easily bigger

than the average man's. Rosemary watched those thick arms dance as they easily

carried a lot of grocery bags. Now, she was probably a bit shorter than Lacey,

but her stern facial expression made her look intimidating and simply mean.

Overall, she was not as thick as Lacey, but she looked tougher.

"Carrie, I'd like you to meet Rosemary, she interviewed me a few days ag..."

"Nice to meet you ma'am, I'd love to chat, but we're in a hurry."

They walked away as Rosemary focused her attention on Carrie's massive legs.

Now, she really felt that she should hire Sam. He obviously was a victim of

domestic abuse; she felt the need to help him out. Later on as the days passed

she got closer to Sam and they discussed his situation on many occasions.

Rosemary thought of him and treated him as a son. She would become extremely

disturbed when he couldn't make it to work or he came in with a black eye or a

busted lip, but he never thought of reporting his wife. Rosemary tried on more

than one occasion, but he kept telling her that he loved his wife and that she

beat him for his own good. Rosemary was not going to interfere on her own

accord. His wife wanted him to work, even though, she probably made twice as

much money as he did, but at times she would want him at home. She was

extremely moody and violent.

Now, there was another strong women entering his life. This Rosemary knew, but

didn't really think it was a big deal until she laid eyes on Lacey's arms.

Things could definitely get worse for Sam and in the corporate world no one

takes prisoners. On the other hand, she had to hire her to straighten out the

department.

As she looked towards Sam she noticed his lustful eyes glued on Lacey's arms.

He was obviously obsessed with strong muscular women; he couldn't live with

them or without them.

"So I see you two are getting a long fine." Rosemary said as she slowly

drifted back into reality.

"Yeah, we sure are, Carrie is going to be a fabulous addition to our team."

Sam added.

"The department has been lacking some muscle, but not any more!" Rosemary said

as all three laughed.

Lacey quickly acclimated to her new surroundings. She was bringing in

top-notch candidates in no time. She was also able to negotiate a few great

deals with the union and insurance provider. Everyone in the company began

noticing her drive and accomplishments. Conversely, Sam was becoming

invisible. He spent a lot of time in his office. He rarely left, from time to

time, Lacey would walk in and have a chat with him about something. Rosemary's

fears were actualizing. So she gave Sam an assignment. He was to prepare for a

presentation. Basically, he was going to introduce a new performance

management system to the company.

When the day of the presentation came Sam and Lacey went up to give it. Sam

started off, but within five minutes he had completely lost everyone's

attention. Lacey noticed this so she took matters into her own hands. She

walked towards Sam, "Thank you Sam, I'll take it from here!"

Lacey proceeded to give a flawless presentation that blew everyone away. She

also answered all of the questions thrown at her with precision and clarity.

Needless to say, Sam's image was tarnished for good. Anyone who needed help or

advice in HR matters went to Lacey without thinking twice. Lacey herself was

extremely disappointed with Sam's presentation. She actually began losing

respect for him. This was evident with the way she talked to him. Instead of

going to her manager for something she would call him up and tell him to come

to her. He had to oblige, to say the least; after all, he had technically lost

his job. His days had become monotonous and pointless. This continued for a

few weeks, then, Sam took a few days off. He came back to work with a busted

jaw and a black eye. Rosemary spotted him as he was entering his office and

followed him in. "Sam, Oh Sam, what is going on? She's really taking it too

far, look at yourself."

"I can't do anything about it, I have to keep the family together, besides, if

I leave her or report her I'm sure she'll track me down, Ehe, ehe..." He began

to cry.

Rosemary just looked at him with sympathetic eyes, but thought it would be

best to leave him alone for now. An hour later, Lacey walked into his office,

"Welcome back, Sam, What the hell happened to you?"

"Ahh... I got mugged a few days ago."

"Ohh I'm sorry to hear that!" She said as she made her way to his side and

gave him a comforting hug.

"Well, I guess I'll let you recover for a few days, when your ready come see

me or if you need to talk you know where my desk is."

Lacey obviously did not need Sam's help in anything. His job was definitely in

question. Rosemary received a few inquiries as to his role in the HR

department. She had to act fast, but really did not know what to do. It was

true he was insignificant now, could she turn him into her assistant, turning

him into Lacey's assistant would be ridiculous, either way he would have to

take a pay cut and well, how would that sit with his wife. Rosemary had to

take a business decision, but her heart was getting in the way. She decided to

let things go until Sam healed. A week later his bruises were healed and

Rosemary decided it was time to have a talk with Sam. As she was about to

enter Lacey raced by her, opened Sam's office door and quickly shut it.

Rosemary simply walked back to her office and figured she could wait a bit.

"Hey, Sam its time to get back to work." She chirped as she put down a stack

of files on his desk. "Why don't you start off by filing these and then when

your done drop by."

"Excuse me! That's your job young lady!" Sam angrily said, to Lacey's surprise

and to his own surprise for that matter.

"Oh really Sam and I guess its my job to give presentations and do everything

in this department. What the hell is your job?" She threateningly said as she

got in his face. Sam realized his mistake, but there was no turning back now,

if Lacey was going to kick his ass so be it, he thought, as he glanced at her

thick arms and clenched fists.

"Look I've had enough of your shit young lady, you better go back to your

cubicle right now!"

Lacey was furious to say the least, "Sam you better watch your mouth, don't

get angry because you're a useless piece of shit. Your lucky to still have a

job, everyone around here knows you do nothing. I came in and took over not

because I wanted you out of job, but because you're a fat lazy sack of shit,

who shouldn't have been hired in the first place. You know I can get you fired

in second."

Sam knew she was right, but he was frustrated at what was happening to him at

work and at home. He wanted to lash out at her, strike her so he just shoved

her as hard as he could. Lacey moved back a bit and laughed at his hopeless

effort. "You better think before you act, you know I could kick your fat ass

with one hand tied behind my back."

Sam was only seeing red and did not hear a word she said so he just charged at

her, but when his shoulder connected with her midsection nothing happened, she

did not move, instead she wrapped her arm around his head and wrestled him to

the ground with ease. She did not want to make a scene and did not want anyone

to hear them, so she kept him down until he agreed to be quiet.

She stood up and looked down at her purple-faced manager, "File those folders

before I decide to really squeeze that frail neck of yours! I'll be back,

Rosemary, you, and myself are going out to lunch today, so make sure those

files are filed by then because if you push me I won't mind squeezing you in

front of the entire company. They'd all get a kick out of it and you'd be

fired. You should realize that I've been covering for you and telling folks

that you're not as hopeless as they think! Think about that you stupid bitch!"

Sam slowly got up and did as he was told. A few hours later Rosemary and Lacey

entered his office, "Let's go out for lunch." Lacey remarked.

As they were walking Lacey began telling Rosemary about what had happened

earlier. Sam became furious, stepped back and punched Lacey, in the back, with

all his might. Lacey let out a little groan, turned around and grabbed Sam by

the throat. Sam helplessly clawed at her forearm. "Come on Lacey let it go,

it's not worth it." Rosemary began pleading, but she wasn't about to try and

pull this furious young lady away. People stopped and watched as Lacey pulled

Sam closer to her and began yelling at him, as his face turned colors. She

then looked around and noticed all the on lookers so she released her grip and

they continued towards the restaurant. Lacey sat down next to Sam, after they

ordered; she put him into an excruciatingly painful headlock. Luckily the

restaurant was pretty empty so not many people witnessed this spectacle.

"Listen up, boy, next time you lay a hand on me I'll break you in half, I mean

it, is that understood?!" Lacey bellowed

"UhUh yes..."

Lacey let go of Sam's head, grabbed his hair and pulled him out of the booth

and then sunk her fist into his gut. Sam fell to the ground in a heap of pain.

The few people in the restaurant didn't catch the whole show, since they were

in their respective booths. All they saw was a man whimpering on the ground

and a woman helping back into the booth. The waiter ran towards them, but

Lacey told him everything was all right. Rosemary looked at Lacey and then at

Sam, who was holding his sore gut and whimpering quietly.

"Well, let's keep this incident between us. I know tensions have been building

up between you two, but I like you both and know that both of you are an asset

to the department and the company."

She was interrupted by the waiter who came to take their order, after they

ordered Lacey looked at Sam, "You should lay off the greasy food fat boy,

maybe hit the gym so you could begin thinking about protecting yourself." Sam

just feebly looked down at his plate.

"All right that's enough Lacey...let me finish, obviously things have changed

since Lacey joined the department, she's gotten a lot of things done in record

time. Now, Sam, I know you've been preoccupied with your personal problems and

more importantly Lacey has simply out done you. You're not as aggressive and

confident as she is. I know she has basically taken over your job, but you

know how much I care about you, but at the same time I've also grown close to

Lacey, and more importantly she's an asset to any company. So I've decided

that Stacey will be the new HR manager and Sam the only thing I can do for you

is make you my assistant and you'll have to take a pay cut. If this doesn't

work out for you, I apologize, but that's all I can do."

Sam looked into Rosemary's eyes and began crying, "What am I going to tell my

wife, you know what she'll do to me, please Rosemary..."

"Sorry Sam.."

Lacey sympathetically put her arms around Sam and tightly hugged him, "Come

on, let it all out, its okay."

"You don't understand, you don't know my wife...."

"It's okay Sam, I'm gonna tell Lacey about your situation may be she can

help."

"Go ahead, its not gonna change anything."

Rosemary proceeded to explain to Lacey about Sam's wife and her repeated acts

of abuse towards him.

It turned out that Lacey knew Carrie from the gym, they weren't friends or

even acquaintances, but simply knew one another by name. Lacey was more than

surprised to here that Sam, the chubby quiet man, was married to Carrie, who,

simply put, was a hardcore woman. She didn't only hit the weights, but she was

also known for her fighting abilities. She was a woman that demanded respect,

most gym members stayed out of her way. She may have not been the strongest

person in the gym, but she was a fighter who was capable of mixing it up with

any man or woman. She may not always win, but she was capable of holding her

own.

In reality, Carrie did not just happen to work out at the same gym as Lacey,

she actually owned the gym.

Sam went home after lunch. When he arrived no one was home, Carrie was at

work, his young boy was at school and his young girl at the nursery. At least

this way he had a few hours to think about what he was going to say. When

Carrie and the kids arrived Sam tried to act as normal as possible, but his

wife knew something was up, but she waited. Sam put the kids to sleep and then

approached Carrie.

Carrie was standing at the kitchen sink, having an apple, when Sam approached

her. He couldn't help noticing her bicep bulge every time she took a bite out

of her apple. The size and power of his wife made him wince. He knew that in a

few minutes maybe seconds, those well-sculpted muscles would be administering

some serious pain to his feeble body.

Before he could open his mouth Carrie said, "What's wrong with you? Is

everything all right?"

"No, actually there is something I want to tell you about."

Carrie slowly put her apple down and turned around to face her husband, with

wide open eyes and a threatening look on her face.

"Well, go ahead!"

"I don't know how to say this, but..."

"You better start talking!" She said as she moved in on him.

"Well, I'm no longer an HR manager, I'll be Rosemary's assistant.... you know

she's the director."

"So you got demoted, is that what your trying to say?!" She remarked as she

grabbed him by the collar and pulled him towards her.

"So how much money are you making now?" She spat

"I'll have to take a pay cut!" He timidly whimpered.

WHACK, she painfully slapped him across the face.

"Well, I see that you're a worthless piece of crap inside and outside of my

house. I guess that assistant you were telling me about out did your sorry

ass!"

She then walloped Sam in the eye with a closed fist and followed it up with a

knee to his already sore gut. Next, she grabbed his collar with both hands and

threw him into the cupboards. After that, she yanked him up by the hair and

wrapped her muscular arms around his feeble torso. She slowly squeezed his

body and then slammed it into the wall, while maintaining her bear hug.

"Listen up, tomorrow morning I'm going to call this Rosemary and tell her that

you'll no longer be working for her. You obviously can't hack it in the real

world. I thought I'd let you try, but oh well, I guess it'll be better if you

stayed home and took care of the kids."

She released her hold and let her poor husband slip to the floor, but instead

of walking away she picked him up and bodily slammed him.

"I'm really disappointed in you! I thought you'd be able to hold a job."

Subsequently, she carried his feeble frame to the bedroom, where she decided

to squeeze him a bit more, in between her thighs. The next morning, he woke up

to a jolt of pain rising through his stomach. Carrie had her powerful thighs

wrapped around his gut as she spoke on the phone, "Rosemary, Hi, this is

Carrie, Sam's wife. I'd just like you to know that Sam will no longer be

working for you. He's decided to stay home and take care of the kids from now

on. If there's anything he needs to do or sign, I'll come by and take care of

that for him."

As she got off the phone she turned to her husband and looked at his bruised

face and body, released her hold, chuckled to herself, got dressed and headed

off to see Rosemary.

As she entered Rosemary's office, Rosemary stood up and glumly looked at her.

"Hi, Rosemary, I'm Carrie"

Carrie firmly shook Rosemary's hand, "Look I'd like to get this over with as

soon as possible, I'm a busy women so let's get started."

"Why couldn't Sam make it? How's he doing?"

"Oh he's fine, but I thought I'd leave him with the kids so he could get used

to taking care of them, you know its not an easy job."

"Well, why don't you go to Lacey's office, she's are new HR manager. She'll

give you all his belongings; I'll take care of everything else."

"Thanks Rosemary!"

As Carrie walked out Rosemary slumped into her chair and sunk her head into

her hands. She wanted to tell Carrie off or even report her, but she had

promised Sam that she would never let his wife know that she knew about her

abusive ways. She had to keep that promise, after all, she had aided in his

dismantling, at least that's how she felt. All those years of experience and

dealing with people could not help her at this moment. She had really gotten

close to Sam, but she made the right business decision. Did she? She knew that

she was doing him a favor by allowing him to stay aboard, but she didn't feel

that way. She felt bad; nothing could convince her that what she did was

right. She felt hollow and insensitive, she began backtracking and thinking

about some of the other decisions she had made in her 25 year career, they all

seemed insensitive to her at this moment, maybe it was time for her to get out

of the corporate world...

Carrie walked into Lacey's office, "Oh I see its you, no wonder my hubby was

pushed aside. There is no way he could compete with a strong young lady like

yourself, especially, one that works out at my gym."

"Hi Carrie, I'm sorry things worked out the way they did, Sam was a real nice

guy..."

"No need to flatter me, I know who my husband is and what he is capable of

doing, now please hand over his belongings, I'm in a hurry."

Lacey felt weak, she wanted to stand up for Sam, but she didn't want to get

involved in his family affairs, it was none of her business. She was a shining

manager, who had a bright future ahead of her. Besides why should she mess

with Carrie, she had no reason to. She handed over Sam's belongings and walked

Carrie to the door.

"Well, I'll see you at the gym, take care!"

The two ladies shook hands and Carrie walked away. Lacey thought over what had

occurred and came to the decision that there really was no other way for this

situation to end, "I had to do it, what else could I have done, its business"

She quietly thought to herself.

Carrie was used to getting her own way. She had worked for everything she

owned, including her husband. She had always been a dominant woman and her

husband knew that. Before they decided to marry she had beaten him several

times. She had also clearly told him that once they were married this aspect

of their life would not change, so if he didn't think he could take it he

should reconsider marrying her. It's not like she felt great every time she

beat him, but she saw him as someone who was dependent on her. He needed her

direction and discipline. At times she secretly cried to herself, when she had

hurt her husband. She would tell herself that she was not going to beat him

again, but one thing would lead to another and BAM she would hit him.

Sometimes she wondered why he hadn't left her, but she knew that he was

attached to her and he wouldn't do it for the kids. She felt like walking back

into Rosemary's office and telling her that Sam would be coming back the next

day, but na, she couldn't, she would take care of her husband at home that was

the best place for him, she thought.

Sam was limply lying down in bed licking his wounds. He thought about what

he's been through, but he really couldn't blame anyone, but himself. He chose

to be with Carrie; he knew what things were going to be like. He also

suggested that Rosemary hire Lacey. Sure, she didn't have to listen to him,

but his suggestion may have swayed her opinion. Was his obsession the reason

he was laying here, bruised and beaten, would he have wanted it any other way?

Does Sam know?