~~CHAPTER 2
The Beginning

We should go back to the Bowcotts’ early days to understand how they developed into the pleasure-seeking pair we have just met.
Let’s start with 1969.
It had been a long hot morning in the office and Roger was bored with his own company. He’d recently been promoted at Hugon Logistics, but as the saying goes ‘it’s lonely at the top.’ He looked out of the window, read the paper, drank a cup of coffee, looked at his watch and realised it was nearly lunchtime. He was not so much hungry as horny! When he woke that morning he’d tried to persuade his wife to satisfy his sexual urges, but Lillian had responded by jumping out of bed to ‘put the kettle on’.
Roger left his office, sauntered down stairs and looked in to the large open plan space where his secretary Alison was working. The air rang with the sound of typewriter keys and the occasional female expletive.
‘Buggar!’ squeaked Alison as her boss carefully placed his left buttock on the corner of her desk, causing her to miss the beat of her busy fingers.
Roger was dressed in an immaculate dark suit, his brown hair was just a little too long and his tie a little too flashy. He was confident that he looked the part of a would-be seducer as he made eye contact with his secretary.
“Could you come up to my office, there’s some dictation for you to take,” he said - for this was in the days of the shorthand typist – long before computers.
He entered the room behind her and firmly closed the solid wooden door.
“Actually, Alison, I don’t really need you to take dictation, I wanted to talk to you instead,” said Roger as he posed in his manager’s swivel chair,
“Take a seat.”
She sat down opposite him, showing her knees as she crossed her long legs, “what was it you wanted to talk about Mr Bowcott?” Alison had always been attracted to him and was really elated when she learned she was to be his personal secretary. He was one of the youngest managers on the staff of Hugon Logistics, and also one of the most attractive. She was a randy young woman, always on the lookout for her next conquest.
“Er, I don’t quite know how to start,” stammered Roger.
“Is it something personal Mr Bowcott?” she breathed.
“Oh do stop calling me that Alison, my name is Roger as you very well know.”
“OK Roger, what can I do for you?” she said provocatively.
“Well that’s the million dollar question Alison! You see I fancy you like hell, and I want to go to bed with you.” He favoured the direct approach.
She stood up, smoothed down her skirt and glided over to him. She sat astride his outstretched legs, her skirt riding up her thighs as she did so, then leaned over and kissed him full on the mouth. He responded with the passion of a frustrated man. Eventually he stood up, carefully lifting her off his erection, and held her closely. She seemed so small against his six foot frame, and he had to bend low to kiss her again.
“I’ve wanted to do that ever since you came to work with me,” he panted, secretly pleased that it had taken so little to persuade her into his arms; it would take very little effort to get her into bed, he thought.
(This was probably the moment that the Roger Treatment was defined.)
“Me too.” she replied, pulling his head down towards her face and kissing him again.
“We can’t stay here like this,” said Roger realising the impossibility of the situation. They were both really aroused, but the manager’s office was not the place to indulge their lust. Roger did not want to be caught with his trousers round his knees.
“You can come round to my flat if you like,” suggested Alison tentatively. She knew her boss was married and she wasn’t quite sure how far he would want to take things.
“That’s a provocative idea young lady!” Roger was trying to play the boss again. Then quickly added, “can I come after work tonight?”
You certainly can if I have anything to do with it, she thought.
And so began Roger’s first extra –marital affair. They would leave the office separately, Alison would start walking towards home and he would pick her up a little later. Her flat was close to the office and conveniently on Roger’s route back. They would spend an hour or so in bed before he got dressed and headed back to Lillian and the children, claiming, of course, that he’d been working late. After a few late evenings he no longer needed to make excuses, it became normal to arrive home after the children had been put to bed. Alison seemed to know a lot about sex and Roger sometimes wondered where she’d learned it all. But he wasn’t complaining, because it improved his own technique. Instead of just pleasing himself, he learned that a woman has needs as well. Lilian doesn’t know what she’s missing he thought.
Once the initial passion for sex had worn off, they were able to talk and to share the details of their lives. Roger told Alison how stifling he found family life, the romance had gone out of his marriage and his wife was making unfair demands on him. He thought the children were her responsibility as she was not working, yet she expected him to ‘play the family man’ every weekend when he would rather be playing golf. Sex with Lillian had dwindled to nothing since the arrival of the second child two years ago and he had been feeling very sorry for himself, until Alison had answered all his carnal prayers.
Roger indulged himself in this fashion for about six months, Alison expected nothing from him apart from regular sex, and this relationship suited them both. Unfortunately, like many women before her, Alison needed to share her secret happiness and so she told her best friend Norma - who was also on the staff at Hugon Logistics.
What Alison didn’t know, was that Norma was related by marriage to the managing director. One day, at a family get-together she drank one Babycham too many and let slip the secret about Roger and his secretary. Mr Hugon pricked up his ears; he was Victorian in his views and wasn’t going to tolerate any hanky-panky in his company!
Both miscreants were interviewed by the boss who made his feelings very clear. The net result was that Alison was sacked immediately, and Roger was told that he must tell his wife all about the affair - or he too would be out of a job.
Alison never considered it ‘unfair dismissal’ she could soon find another post. Roger didn’t want to lose his job, and to be honest he was getting tired of Alison, so he chose his moment carefully and told his wife about his ‘brief’ infidelity. “It didn’t mean anything, darling.”
Lillian did not react in the manner he imagined. Roger thought he’d got his wife just where he wanted her to be; safe, dependant, and secure in their marriage. Instead of being understanding and forgiving, Lillian ranted and raved, threatened and fought, and returned with the children, to her parents’ house where she stayed for a week.
Curiously, now that he had the chance of freedom, Roger didn’t want it.
After seven days, Lillian thanked her parents for their hospitality and taking the children she returned to the marital home. Here, she wrote down a list of rules, a code by which they would live in the future. When he returned from work, she took his hand and led him up to the bedroom – he grinned – he thought she’d forgiven him after all. But instead of leading him to the bed, she opened the wardrobe to reveal The List stuck to the inside of the wooden door:-
Lillian demanded to return to her career as a nurse, and this would mean nights and weekends at the hospital. She insisted that Roger would be the main bread-winner as well as chief baby-sitter. There would only be conjugal sex when Lillian wanted it. He must promise never to have another affair. He was so relieved that he wouldn’t lose his job or his wife and family that Roger readily agreed to all her demands, without thinking of how some of them, particularly the last one, were to be met.
As time progressed, he found a way, and the ‘Roger Treatment Plan’ was developed to satisfy his sexual needs while at the same time keeping his wife convinced that she was the winner. From 1970 onwards, the Bowcotts appeared to be the ideal nuclear family.