Lee drowsily rolled over onto her stomach, lifting her head off the fluffy hotel pillow to squint at the bedside clock. Her tiny, thin t-shirt pulled up over her hips, but she still felt weighted down by the thick, luxurious hotel bed covers. Her miniscule lacy panties didn't provide much barrier from the scratchy blanket to her ass, but she didn't mind. She reached for a glass of water and covertly checked whether Edward was in the room. It didn't appear that he was, and she felt the usual pang of disappointment.
She spied a note in his scratchy old-man handwriting, and snatched it off the pillow next to her. "Eat this," was all it said. It had been sitting on top of the lid to the room's ice container, so she lifted the lid and peered inside. There was a chocolate chip muffin and a small carton of skim milk. But where was he? She reached over for her planner, or rather his planner, and flipped to that day's listing.
Sitting up, she sat cross-legged on the bed and ate what Edward had left her. She rolled her eyes at his morning plans- a meeting with his customer and of course, the assistant. Although Lee was no Olympian force to be reckoned with herself, she felt her small stature getting fired up remembering the previous night. She hoped that Edward hadn't left early because of it, and that he wasn't upset with her.
*****
He had asked her to accompany him to dinner with his client. Earlier in the day, he had picked out a cheap, thin, shiny dress from a stall merchant and asked – ordered – her to wear it.
Its halter neck revealed smooth, soft expanses of pale skin, and its hemline, which stopped dangerously close to the sweet area where her behind met the tops of her legs, gave viewers quite a show. "That's it? That's all you want me to wear? What if there's a wind? What about me getting in and out of cars, or booths, or..."
Edward ignored her, as he knew she was secretly thrilled by him picking out clothes for her, and had left her to get prettied up in the bathroom.
Her dark eyeliner and glitter were a sharp shock to the nude-makeup look many of the girls opted for in Japan, including Edward's customer's assistant. When the men met, they didn't even introduce the girls. Lee had taken full advantage of her near nakedness, taking every opportunity she could to brush against Edward in his business suit, or allow his palm to rest on her thigh. She was surprised that Edward's customer didn't make conversation with her, but quickly realized that she was there, indeed, as arm candy. That was OK with her. She'd be happy to be Edward's arm candy. Or any candy, esp the kind that he'd suck on, bite, chew, etc.
In their few days in this strange land, Lee had grown accustomed to the tea ceremonies and eccentric food offerings. Edward always ordered for her, choosing basic and – in his opinion – bland options. She settled back, slightly pressed into his side, with her legs crossed, revealing young bare thighs all the way almost to the top. Edward's customer spoke excellent English, but Lee found herself drifting into a haze of sexual expectation. She snapped out of it when Edward poked her side. "My cigars." He barked, and Lee scrambled to pull them from her purse. He offered one to his customer (not either of the girls) and the two men went back to their conversation.
When their food was served, though, Lee, who always waited for Edward to pick up his fork before making a motion to hers, noticed that the customer's assistant had her eye on Edward as well. Maybe it's just the culture, she said, as the other assistant forked some sushi and actually held it out to Edward's mouth. Instinctively, Lee raised her arm to take the fork from the assistant, but Edward stopped her, bending to eat the raw matter on the end of the tines.
Laughing, the assistant whispered something in her native language to the customer, and slipped out of their side of the booth, coming around to press in with Edward and Lee. Lee cursed herself for her preference of sitting on the inside of the booths – wherever she was, she liked to feel tucked in tightly, and Edward always sat so close to her. If she'd sat on the outside and had Edward against the wall, the assistant wouldn't have been able to nudge in with them.
It was a tight squeeze, but nothing on Edward's face revealed any displeasure. The other assistant giggled, stroking his blond hair – a rarity in Japan – and playing with the lapel pins on his suit jacket. He took one off and placed it in her hand, then closed his around it. Lee didn't care – she knew Edward had a ton of those giveaway pins – but she didn't like the thought of his skin on anyone else's, and she didn't like how this girl seemed to be flirting with him.
She couldn't reconcile the feeling- she wasn't his. As much as she wanted to be. So, she looked down, and fiddled with her straw, but was on ready alert as soon as his drink was empty. She poured more for him out of the urn on the table, she passed him more napkins as soon as he balled his up on the table. She perfected the wide-eyed, empty-head stare that she knew would be valued in this country. She also sat up straight, allowing her tiny dress to ride up her thighs. If Edward would just tear his glance away for a moment, she knew he'd like what he saw.
After multiple rounds of after-dinner drinks (for the men only), Edward took the cue from his host and the men stood, shaking hands. Edward's customer's assistant twittered away, but Lee stepped close to his side, creating a barrier between them. She knew it was snarky and probably unnecessary, but she was his assistant. She was his. It was rare to find someone like Edward, and she didn't want some client's piece of fluff messing that up. Then she laughed to herself, figuring that the client probably thought she was Edward's piece of fluff. Finally after bowing, Edward placed his hand on the small of her back (bare to the world, from the cut of the dress), and propelled her into a cab. He hadn't said more than ten words to her the whole night.
"Get ready for bed, it's a long day tomorrow," he spoke, as they arrived at their room. Lee had hoped, from when she saw the reservation, that they'd be sharing that big soft bed. She hadn't dared ask him how he'd managed to get them only one room. She'd assumed he'd have fucked her the minute they got there. And he hadn't. Now she was worried that she'd blown it completely.
