Brad Clooney - Troubleshooter

It was just gone nine o'clock in the morning and I was sat in my car outside The Magical Toy Emporium. That was the name above the store. It sounded very grand but in truth it was just a small outlet located in a suburban shopping mall that had seen better days. Clearly the owners of the shop had delusions of grandeur. I took my time looking at the exterior and its location in relation to the surrounding properties before easing myself out of my car.

This shop was in deep doo-doo and way behind on their account with us. Numerous requests to pay our bills had been ignored so as a last resort they'd sent me, the Troubleshooter, to lean on them a little. I didn't think it was going to be too difficult, after all we had a 'must have' toy for them to stock for Christmas.

We; and by that I mean Acme Toys; were currently the number four toy manufacturer and supplier in the country but the inside scuttlebutt said that even now, in early summer, the top three were all struggling with production issues so there was going to be a massive shortfall of their 'must have' items by the time we got to the festive season. This could only be good for us. But if dangling that carrot didn't work, then as the shop's major supplier my job would be to take inventory and then threaten them with liquidation and closure. Heavy handed? Perhaps ... But it was a ploy that usually worked.

I knew I was in trouble as soon as I entered the shop. She came towards me with a forced smile on her face. The smile that said she wanted my custom but that she didn't like the look of me.

And I could sort of understand why. I'm not a particularly good looking man. In fact I've even been called ugly, which I think is a bit harsh. Okay, I'm no Brad Pitt or George Clooney but ... but ... oh alright ... I'm ugly. There, I said it! Satisfied?

My name is Brad Clooney. No seriously, it is. I know, ironic isn't it! But there the similarity with those two Hollywood heart-throbs stops. I'm bald, short, fat and ugly. There I said it again! Unsurprisingly I'm single but much to everyone's shock I have been married; once; and once was more than enough thank you very much! Now at the ripe old age of fifty nine I couldn't envisage being married again. My problem is though, I still have a whole lot of desire pent up inside of me. I wasn't getting any and hadn't been for some considerable time. I was like a dog in heat and my problem right now was that Mrs Delmarco; the woman who was approaching me; was exactly the type of woman I lust for and masturbate over.

I took it all in as she quickly covered the short distance from behind the till to the front door. It was almost as if she was trying to head me off at the pass.

She was slim, maybe even borderline skinny but she was most definitely petite. I estimated her height to be around 5'2" but she was wearing what looked like 4" heels to compensate for that fact. That put her nicely at the same level as my 5'6". She was definitely extremely pretty though but in an ice cold sort of way. Her face was pale but her makeup was flawless and her light auburn coloured hair cascaded down in tresses to land just above what appeared to be two nicely sized full round breasts. She had high cheekbones but what drew me in were her blue eyes. They were startlingly big and the way her eyebrows were arched exotically over them only enhanced them more. Her lips weren't pouty nor were they thin. They were just normal but for sure they were certainly very red, contrasting vividly with her sparkling white teeth. Overall ... she was very nice to look at ... very nice indeed!

"Good morning," she said in a tone of voice that was supposed to be friendly but came over as slightly terse. It didn't bother me, I've heard it all before. To me it just sounded as sexy as hell. "How may I help you today?" she added.

"Ahhh yes, good morning, am I right in assuming you're Mrs Delmarco ... Lisa Delmarco?" Her eyes narrowed as she reluctantly nodded her affirmation. I smiled as I replied, "I'm Brad ... Brad Clooney from Acme Toys." I offered her my hand and leaned in closer. "I'm here to talk about your account," I added quietly.

I saw what little colour she had in her cheeks drain away instantly. She shook my offered hand. Her brief handshake was firm but her touch was ice cold. But all I noticed were her nails. They were bright red, to match her lipstick but they were long and slightly pointed, almost like talons. I suppressed a shudder.

"Oh I see ... I suppose you'd better come into the office at the back," she said with a look of disquiet. She glanced nervously around to see if there had been anyone within earshot. Satisfied that we hadn't been overheard she turned smartly on her heels and walked off. She needn't have bothered. The shop was empty apart from us.

As I followed her I took the chance to inspect her rear view. Her legs, whilst shapely were skinny and if truth be known I usually prefer to look at women with a bit more flesh on their bones. But I was prepared to make an exception in her case because she was wearing fishnet stockings! Always a weakness of mine, skinny legs or not. Her skirt was short, about mid thigh in length and whilst her calves might have been skinny there was nothing wrong with her ass. It was surprisingly curvy and full but not obscenely so.

As I followed her into the office at the rear of the shop a delicious little seed of an idea began to take root in my perverted mind. What Lisa Delmarco didn't know was that Acme Toys were never going to be too hard on her, no matter how much she owed us. The founder of our company was proud to defend the little guy against the big global brands and their spread of huge mega superstores throughout the world. He loved the idea of the small corner shop run by a single proprietor and would make sure our company went out of it's way to help and support them. Of course this was a well kept secret. Our founder was no fool and to reveal that nugget of information would have been foolhardy at best and would have given some people the idea they had free credit!

The office at the back of the shop was small, there was just enough room for a desk, which was pushed up against the wall, a filing cabinet and two secretarial type chairs on casters. She sat down in one and I took the other. She'd left the door open. From her seat she could see the front door of the shop.

"So, how's trade," I asked, "everything okay?"

"It's okay ... could be better I suppose. But I guess everybody could say that." It was more a question than a statement. She was fishing.

"Some maybe," was my deliberately slow and considered reply. She didn't like that. I could see her shrink back into her chair. I wasn't going to make this easy for her.

"Look Mrs Delmarco, there's little to be gained by my beating around the bush so I'll come straight to the point. Do you realise just how much of a pickle you're in?"

She barely nodded, now looking even paler than before. "I know I'm a little bit behind on my payments but I'm certain that things are going to get better. As soon as summer break comes, trade usually picks up a lot." She looked at me hopefully even though she was biting her lower lip. A sure sign of her nervousness.

"Lisa ... can I call you Lisa?" ... she nodded her assent ... "I'm afraid you owe us more than a bit." My folio case was resting on my lap. I picked it up and fished around inside before pulling out an A4 size sheet of paper. I made a big show of adding up the figures in my head.

"Let me see ... you said you're a little bit behind." I looked up into her stunning blue eyes to deliver the killer blow. "By the end of this month you will be five months behind on your payments. I think you would agree that's more than a little bit behind; wouldn't you say?""

If it was possible, she paled even more. "But I've paid you some money," she blurted out.

"Indeed you have," I said as I perused the figures again. I looked up into her lovely face and lost myself for a moment as I stared again into those two deep sapphire blue pools that were her eyes. God she was pretty. I felt a stirring my loins.

"A token payment at best," I finally said, my voice grating, "it means that you're only four and a half months behind now," I added with a hint of sarcasm to finish off.

She looked shocked at my strong words. I needed to keep her off balance so I scooted my chair closer to her. "I can see you're shocked but we ... I ... might be able to help you. There may be a way that I could accommodate you ... to make things easier for you," I said. I put my hand on her knee. She batted it away.

"Please don't do that," she said. I smiled back at her. There was a awkward silence for a moment or two.

"So how can you help me," she finally asked, ignoring the fact I'd just touched her inappropriately.

She was something else. I looked down at her crossed legs and put my hand back on her knee and gave it a squeeze. Just touching those fishnet stockings was getting me hard. She took hold of my hand this time and removed it.

"I said no." She glared at me and I smiled at her again. My eyes were focused on her luscious red lips as she spoke. All I could picture was those lips encircling my cock!

"You said you could help me?" she asked again. Was she so naive?

"Yes, I'm pretty sure there is a way that I can help you out of your current predicament."

"How?"

"It's simple really. All you have to do is to stay in business until Christmas and then your money woes will be over," I stated.

"Is that all," she said, her voice now tinged with disdain, "but how am I going to do that if you want to close me down? And why Christmas?"

"We don't want to close you down, we just want you to pay us," I countered calmly.

I leaned forward and put my hand back on her knee. This time she let it linger there a short while before coming to her senses and batting it away again.

"... and Christmas because we're going to have the best selling toy and you'll have the sole selling rights to it in this area!"

My sales pitch over I sat back with a smug smile plastered all over my face. All she had to do now to seal the deal was open her legs and let me get inside her panties! My cock pulsated at the very thought.

She gave me a look of total incredulity. Clearly she was not going down without a fight. "I know all about your number one toy, I was AT the Trade Show," she said testily. "I also saw your three BIGGER competitors and ALL of them will have the better selling products this Christmas, not you!"

"Ah yes indeed they do ... but only if they can deliver them, which doesn't look likely," I countered. "Our sources tell us that they are ALL having major problems. It doesn't always pay to outsource all your production overseas!"

I let that sink in for a while. I could see the gears engaging in her brain as she sorted through the information. The look of surprise at the welcome news, the happy look when she realised how much money she could possibly make and then the look of horror when she realised she still had several months to go until that time of fiscal salvation.

"Sooo ... how can you help me?" she finally said. Her voice was tight with fear.

"I can make your problem disappear. Poof ... just like that!" I did that thing with my hands like the magicians do.

"But how?"

I smiled enigmatically and then threw her my curve ball. "I need to take stock of your inventory!" I stood up suddenly, my change of tack completely throwing her off guard.

"What ... what did you say?" she managed to blurt out as I swept past her.

I strode purposefully out into the shop with a startled Lisa trailing in my wake. "It's alright," I said, turning to face her, "I don't need any help. You can get on with doing whatever it is that you do on a Tuesday morning."

On entering the shop earlier my experienced eye had seen everything. She looked to be way overstocked with a particular line that for some reason sold well in some parts of the country but not in others. Unluckily her shop was located in that part where it didn't sell. I just needed to confirm my suspicions.

She stood staring at me until the bell above the door tinkled to announce the arrival of a customer into the shop. "You have a customer," I said condescendingly, nodding in their general direction.

She strode off, haughtily tossing her mane of auburn hair to show her chagrin. I just laughed to myself and turned my attention to the job in hand.

It was every bit as bad as I suspected. Not only were the shelves in the shop heaving with this geographically badly selling line there was even more of it in the stock room. She'd been sold a pup and gone big, stocking every single item from the extensive list of additional products. I had a copy of all the invoices, so it was easy to work out how much she'd sold. And it wasn't a lot!

As I did my sums I also took the opportunity to surreptitiously watch her selling techniques. She put little or no effort into up-selling her customer anything. I don't know if it was me putting her off or if she was just no good at it. Either way she clearly had a lot of problems.

There was an intermittent flow of people in and out the shop and she was still serving when I went back into her office and made a few phone calls. It took me less than fifteen minutes to make the deal. My contact, located in a part of the country where this line was selling well, was desperate for additional stock and as it was currently in short supply he was prepared to pay a little bit over the odds to get it. He for one was really pleased. Now all I had to do was reel Mrs Delmarco in!

Her little flurry of trade over she finally came back into the office when she realised I was no longer on the shop floor. She plumped herself down into the other chair and crossed her legs. Her skirt drew higher up her legs, exposing more of her fishnet stockinged thighs to my greedy eyes. My cock started throbbing in anticipation.

I smiled at her. I could tell she didn't like me doing that.

"So ... what have you come up with?" she asked tersely.

"Well Lisa, I think I can help you out of your predicament," I replied smugly, ignoring her hostility and pursing my lips and nodding my head as I spoke. For the first time since I'd got there she looked pleased. And she very nearly smiled.

"I've made a few phone calls and I think I can help you offload some of the surplus stock you're carrying. But ... you must realise that this is a very sensitive deal and not one that you can bandy around to all and sundry. I'm going way out on a limb for you here so discretion is the key! You do understand this, don't you?" I paused to let my words sink in. She was leaning forward expectantly. It was a good sign.

"I have a client who will take all the stock you have of that line out there that you can't sell," I said waving my hand in the general direction of the stacked shelves. "And furthermore, he will pay you ten per cent over cost price so you will at least make a token profit. Sound good?"

Her eyes had grown large and her mouth had dropped open. "I ... I don't know what to say," she murmured. "Thank you?"

I scooted my chair closer to her. "I think you can do better than that," I said as I put my hand on her knee.

She batted it away. I smiled at her and put my hand back. This time however I held her knee firmly, giving it a squeeze before sliding my hand slowly and forcibly up her leg. She had great thighs and her fishnet stockings felt fantastic beneath my fingertips. I could feel a definite stirring in my loins as my cock began throbbing painfully.

She grabbed hold of my hand and stopped me going any higher. I removed it.

"So what's to stop me doing the same thing myself?" she said, at last showing me her feisty side.

"Well I suppose you could," I snorted derisively, "but just think about it for a moment. How would you go about it? For starters you don't know which firms to approach and even if you did none of them would do business with you. How could they trust you? They don't know you from Adam. Secondly and more importantly you certainly wouldn't be able to keep a thing like this hidden from Acme. And let me tell you, they would take a dim view to any shenanigans. Then add to that the problem with logistics, accounting procedures, potential sales tax issues ... the list could be endless."

I paused again to give her time to collate all this information. I could sense her weakening. Or was it wishful thinking?

Time to go in for the kill.

"Or you can let me take all of the risks. I can get the stock moved within the week and a payment into your bank by the following week. Your money woes would be over as that would potentially clear the longest outstanding arrears. Plus I can take care of any potential issues with head office personally. How does that sound?" I added softly.

I put my hand back on her thigh, just below her hemline. Her flesh whilst firm was also soft and warm to the touch and her fishnet stockings made that touch even more sensual. I felt my stomach muscles clench as my desire for her ramped up a couple of notches. God I so wanted to fuck her!

"So what's in it for you?" she said, removing my hand.

Bless her. For a seemingly bright businesswoman she was totally confused. "You're are intelligent woman. I'm sure you can figure it out!" I said.

I decided to give her another clue and put my hand back on her knee. I could see the look of anguish and hurt in her face as the dreadful realisation of what I wanted took hold. She seemed to be on the verge of tears. Time to be compassionate.

I noticed a photo frame on the desk. It was a picture of a happy smiling Lisa with two young boys. I thought she should smile more often because judging by that photo when she did she wasn't just pretty, she was beautiful.

"Your sons?" I asked, removing my hand from her leg and pointing at the photo frame.

"Yes," she replied smiling gratefully, "my little angels. But not so little now," she added quickly.

I looked back at her. She was most definitely very pretty; there was no disputing that fact; and from a distance you would think she was in her late twenties, maybe early thirties. But seeing her close up you could now make out the small crow's feet wrinkles around her eyes.

"That was taken a few years ago. They're seventeen and fifteen now," she volunteered. I did the math. So that would make her ...

"I'm thirty eight," she added as if I needed to know. "I sometimes wish I'd had more," she added quietly, so quietly I barely heard her.

"So, are you hoping that one of them will take over the business at some point?"

"Hah, not if my husband has his way!" she snorted in reply. "He wants me to sell up. In fact he's been pressing me to get rid of the shop for some time. Even more so recently."

"You don't seem pleased about that," I said.

"I'm not! It has made things recently a bit ... strained," she replied, with all the emphasis on the last word.

"So how long has your family had the shop?" I asked.

"I'm the fourth generation," she replied with a hesitant smile, "but my parent's didn't want anything to do with it so my grandparents held on until I was old enough to take over the reins." She stopped and looked wistful. "I can't let them down." Her voice was almost a whisper. and I did wonder if she was talking to herself.

But no matter. Time is a wasting! I put my hand back on her knee. This time she didn't bat it away. I let my fingers slowly wander along her thigh creeping remorselessly towards the hem of her skirt. I felt her whole body tense.

"Please don't do that," she said.

"What!" I snapped in reply. I was so sure that this was the moment. Obviously I was wrong.

"I know what you want. I'm no fool. I should report you for making such improper suggestions."