The Predicting Game

The invitation had said the dress code was formal. For Kate Spencer, that meant the deliciously pleasurable prospect of a ballroom filled with tuxedo clad men. Emerging from her bubble bath, soft, warm and fragrant, she relished the thought, her eyes shining with excitement. Tonight she would attend the award giving ceremony of Independent Film Awards in her official capacity as Chief Executive Officer of her very own casting agency. The CEO in her understood that it was going to be a great opportunity to network with the movers and shakers of the industry. The red-blooded woman in her recognised it as an excuse to get dressed up and have a good time! If things went according to plan, she was looking forward to the prospect of doing a little of both.

Katie definitely had pleasure and mischief in mind when she had chosen her dress. At work, she usually chose to wear serious, business like, almost asexual clothes. She figured there was almost always enough flesh on show at a casting call without adding hers. Besides, she always liked to be seen as a professional, image was everything if you wanted to be taken seriously in business.

Tonight was different though, Kate was on a mission, she had a man in her sights and she had decided that she'd use whatever it took to get his attention. She wanted his business and if that meant resorting rather unethically, to using her feminine wiles to get it, well so be it.

She'd selected a simple, sexy, deep red halter neck dress that showed her body off to great advantage, the soft jersey draping and clinging to her curves, leaving the smooth expanse of her back entirely naked. To Kate's embarrassment, the salesgirl had actually whistled in appreciation when she'd emerged from the change room.

"He's a goner, he's not gonna stand a chance, honey! Girl you'll knock'em dead." Kate wished she had the girl's confidence. She felt that she was going to have to summon all her courage and maybe some of the Dutch kind to pull it off.

Looking down now as she'd donned the dress she felt desirable, womanly and more than a little wanton. Kate enjoyed the sight of her own provocative display as she pressed her upper arms to the sides of her breasts, squeezing the soft swell of her cleavage to even greater effect. To heck with being Miss Professional, she thought checking her reflection and smoothing the tight dress down over her well-rounded backside. "Exhibitionist," she said blowing a kiss to the mirror and grabbing her keys.

Kate was counting on the maneuverings of her dearest friend Max St Claire. He'd promised her an official introduction to Gabe Faraday, director, film maker and current darling of the indie film industry. Gabe was hotly tipped to take a major directing award at the prize giving ceremony and Kate wanted to be there when he did. Getting his company on her books would be very good for her fledgling casting agency. Kate had a gut instinct that knowing him could be a lot of fun and it certainly didn't hurt that Gabe Faraday was downright gorgeous.

Kate watched as heads turned as he made his way toward her through the crowded hotel foyer accompanied by her friend, Max. They were surrounded by close to five hundred of the industry's beautiful people. Beautiful people milling around the glamorous hotel, chatting loudly and sipping champagne. Acres of silicone, Kate thought a little unkindly, glancing around her. Her own previously self admired cleavage seeming to shrink and pale by comparison. She took a deep breath, stood tall, pulled back her shoulders and sipped her champagne to steady her nerves.

Max spotted her at their prearranged meeting place under the massive central chandelier. "Katherine, there you are gorgeous girl! " Max bent to kiss her cheek fondly. "Killer dress Katie," he whispered in a conspiratorial tone. "Let me introduce Gabe Faraday. Gabe owns Faraday Productions, makers of the classiest arthouse smut in town. I've told him he absolutely needs to know you Kate and that he'd be crazy to even contemplate doing business with any other agency!" Max gave her a huge grin and an exaggerated wink with his usual flamboyant style.

"Lovely to meet you Katherine. You look sensational in that dress." He shook her hand firmly. "Ignore Max's description of my films. He's a philistine of the worst kind. He knows I only make quality erotica. Do I honestly look like the kind of guy who'd make smut, classy or otherwise? " Gabe gave her his best sincere, "big brown eyes looking up through dark lashes innocent look."

Oh, he's got charm, this one...

"Max's been telling me great things about your agency. I've heard you're good. You've got quite reputation in the industry already."

Kate was glad that he'd noticed the dress and was flattered by his compliments. She tried, a little unsuccessfully to remain impervious to his clever, innocent eyes trick.

"Pleased to meet you too Gabe, and thanks. I'm thinking of hiring Max as my one-man personal promotion team! I've certainly heard great things about your...um...erotic films. Good luck with the award tonight."

"Heard? Katherine, I'm shocked. I make films for watching. I'm mortally wounded that you've not seen them all." His mock indignation animated his handsome face.

"I can see that I'm going need to talk to you very sternly about that omission at a mutually agreeable time Miss Spencer." He joked with her, all the time watching her pretty face.

"I've had the pleasure of viewing your award nomination of course, but why don't you send the other films over? Let me have a look at them for you, for professional purposes, of course." She grinned at his surprised face.

"I'm pretty sure I'll be able to find you actors even more beautiful and talented for your next project. Probably at a better rate than your current agency. How does that sound?" Kate blushed a little as she blurted out her pitch. She hadn't expected to be talking business so early in the evening but the opportunity seemed too good to miss.

Gabe smiled and raised an eyebrow, admiring the bravado of this attractive young woman, a woman who'd chosen a tough career for herself.

"I'll take you up on that only if you'll agree to watch the films with me. How does that sound?" Gabe enjoyed watching her cheeks flush even further.

Gorgeous, sexy, lethally charming, flirtatious and in a black tux! For Kate, it was a potent combination. She felt a shiver of excitement wash over her, as the delicious prospect of combining business and pleasure suddenly seemed a distinct possibility.

"Can I get back to you on that Mr. Faraday? Sounds potentially dangerous to me, Maybe I'll need to bring Max here as our official film critic and chaperone," she said laughing.

Flirting with him was fun and she felt a momentary thrill when she noticed his eyes travel from her face, past the glittering crystal necklace and settle on the curve of her breasts. The dress was definitely working. Kate could feel her nipples harden under his gaze. He looked up, meeting her eyes, registering her reaction, knowing he'd been caught out and so had she.

"Nice dress Kate, very nice."

As the throng began moving in to be seated, Max leaned close to her and whispered "There'll be a place for you at Gabe's table, he'll need to rearrange the chairs a little, that's all. More loudly he added as he left them to join his party, "Have fun you two, see you in there." He mouthed "Good luck" to her as he departed. She mimed "thanks" back at him.

Putting his hand on the warm, bare skin at the small of her back, Gabe, gently propelled her toward the entrance. He leaned close to her, still holding her hand, " You'll sit with me at dinner of course." Without waiting for her reply, he took her arm and directed her towards his allocated table.

"Excuse me Kate, I won't be a moment, I just need a quick word with an old friend."

Kate watched as Gabe approached the small group standing close by their table and singled out a tall, elegantly dressed woman. The woman was obviously delighted to see him, pulling him close in a maternal hug. He kissed her on both cheeks, returning her affectionate embrace warmly. Gabe turned to bring Kate in to the circle, gesturing for her to come close.

"Helena, sweetness, meet Katherine Spencer. Kate runs a new casting agency in town. I need to talk with her, are you okay if we swap the seats around a little? I need her close to me, very close. You know, we've got a big deal in the making, could alter the course of the rest of my life." He gave Helena that pleading, little boy look that had always worked so well.

Helena laughed at his outrageous claims. " I think I can guess at the kind of deals you're making Gabe Faraday. I'm in the middle of a rather interesting "deal" myself, with James here, so it all works out very well. Of course you need the beautiful Katherine to be near you, look at her, she's young, she's divine! I'm a little envious." She gave Gabe an arch smile.

Kate stood back; a little embarrassed at the compliment. Seeing that the young woman looked ill at ease, Helena took hold of her hand, smiling warmly at her. "Pleased to meet you, Katherine. I'm Helena Macintosh, I can see Gabe's using his considerable charm on you too. I've known him forever and let me tell you it's quite useless to even to think of resisting him, my dear. Please come and sit near the wretched man, put him out of his misery will you?"

Gabe made her feel at ease with their company at the table introducing her all round, ordering food and drink for her and inviting her to dance and generally ensuring she enjoyed herself.

Over the course of the evening it became apparent to Kate that Gabe Faraday was a very well liked man and a highly respected filmmaker, known as a perfectionist in the industry. To his obvious delight, his peers and colleagues paid him the highest compliment by awarding him the prize for The Director of the Year.

Plenty of clapping, whistling and good-natured heckling accompanied him as he took to the podium to accept his award. He stood flanked by two nearly naked, blonde Amazonian types, as he gave his speech. Behind him, a huge still from his most recent film was projected as an erotic background. The giant, gloriously naked star posed, head thrown back, her luscious mouth open, apparently in orgasmic delight.

Gabe began, gesturing to the backdrop and to the two glamorous hostesses. "It's hard to compete up here so I'll be brief. You know, it's been said by plenty of folks before, making sexy films is a dirty job, but someone's got to do it." Holding the statuette to his chest he continued, "I'm just eternally grateful that that someone is me. Thank you, thank you to all who worked with me on the films, thank you all very much."

Watching him now as he accepted his prize, charming the crowd with his easy humour, Kate thought how attractive he was, her mind beginning to conjure distinctly unbusinesslike thoughts about him. Observing Kate's admiring looks as Gabe threaded his way back through the crowd of well wishers, bearing his prize statuette, Helena said conspiratorially "He's good Kate, very good. Gabe's a great natural director, I do believe he's one of those men who like to direct all of the time, if you know what I mean..."

Kate wasn't completely certain as to what Helena was alluding, but hadn't Gabe directed the evening so far, virtually choosing her food and drink for her, commandeering her attention? She also an inkling that a man like Gabe was sure to have a reputation with the ladies. For Christ's sake, he spent most of his days in the company of some of the world's most beautiful women and they were often naked! Kate sighed, enjoying for a moment the erotic image of being directed by the handsome Gabe Faraday in a wild bedroom scene...

Kate stood to greet him intending to peck his cheek with a chaste kiss of congratulations and instead found herself caught up in his tight embrace, her face pushed to his chest. Holding her away from him a little, he kissed he lips hungrily. When he finally let her up for air, she blushed hotly, aware that they were being applauded.

A little breathlessly, she said, "Congratulations, Mr. Faraday." She reached up and used her thumb to wipe a smear of red lipstick from his mouth.

As the waiting staff replenished the champagne supplies, Kate found herself drinking a dizzy round of toasts to him. By the time they were done, she felt decidedly lightheaded. While the crowd settled into a short interval between award announcements, Gabe leaned in close to her. Making sure that his words were for her ears only.

"Listen Kate, I fly out for a couple of days tomorrow morning, I'm back on Tuesday. Come to dinner at my place, Wednesday. I'll cook for you. Around eight. We can talk some more about some projects I've got coming up. Here's the address, but don't worry, I'll send a cab to pick you up, I'll just need your address."

"Whoa," she laughed, "Hold on there Mr. Director, we're not on the set now. I haven't even said yes... yet." Kate could have sworn that for a split second he had the grace to look hurt at her comment. More gently she added, "You really are the director, all the time, even off duty aren't you Gabe?"

She'd only been joking but he answered seriously while handing her his business card, his home address written in neat script on the reverse. He touched her hand just for a moment, smiling as he spoke.

"Yeah, you're right Kate. I am. I like to be in control, especially of the details. I quite enjoy making sure all the details are looked after." He nodded his head gently. He toyed with the halter strap of her dress, his hand idly brushing against the smooth skin of her bare shoulder, following the line of the fabric down over her collarbone, pulling the soft material away from her flesh a little. "I think details are important Katie, don't you?"

His eyes seemed to be searching her face, willing her to agree and strangely enough she found herself nodding her head. She noticed how he liked to play with her name, using the diminutive Katie when it suited him to make a point. Showing her how he liked to control and play with details pertaining to her.

Laughing a little nervously, she countered truthfully, "I'm nodding Gabe but I'm not too sure what I'm agreeing with. What sort of details are we talking about here? Fill me in."

"Important details Kate. For dinner on Wednesday, I'll cook you a special meal and in return I want you to wear something special, something very particular, do you think you could do that for me? We can make it our first deal if you like." He spoke almost into her ear now; she could feel his warm breath and smell his after-shave. She could feel the pulse in her neck start to jump about.

Oh boy this guy could be a fruitcake was Kate's first thought. Nevertheless, she was intrigued to hear his request. Only when it came out, it didn't exactly come out sounding like a request. It sounded quite clearly like the directive that it was.

He leaned back just a little to make sure he could see her face clearly. Checking that he had her full attention, his hand still at the nape of her neck, he said quietly, "Wear a little black skirt for me, no stockings, bare legs, high heels, no panties, I'll leave the top to you. The skirt has to be tight, very tight and short, way above your knees short. I want to see your ass."

Katherine's eyebrows by this time were just about embedded in her hairline. Her pretty mouth doing a fair "fish gasping for air" impersonation.

"You want what?" she squeaked incredulously, lowering her voice to a whisper.

"Just what I said. I want to see your ass Katie. I want to see the skirt, stretched tight over your very beautiful backside when you walk into my apartment. I'd like that very much. It'll be a game, like playing dress ups... It's quite simple really. Do it for me." Seeing confusion on her face, his tone softened a little as he said playfully, "Come on Katie, I'm the Director and you know I like to direct. You understand that don't you?" His fingers traced soft lines across the nape of her neck, gently twirling the wisps of hair that escaped from her elaborate chignon. He was rewarded with the sight of goosebumps appearing across her nearly naked back.

Kate could clearly hear the way the last question was thrown down as a challenge. She looked around quickly to see if anyone else had heard his directive. Apparently, no one had. What's not to understand? She had a clear mental image of his instruction. The man's completely insane, cute, but insane. For a moment, Kate imagined herself pantyless, her ass held tight in the soft embrace of her shortest, tightest black skirt, killer heels...her legs wrapped around his waist. Her body registered the image too. She could feel her nipples pucker under the red dress and the familiar heavy feeling beginning to gather between her legs. In fact, she was sure she could feel her pussy getting wet at the image and his words.

Kate leaned closer to him, wanting to feel his breath on her neck again as he spoke. "Tell me again why I'm going to play dress ups for you Gabe, I seem to have missed something here?"

"Oh that's easy Kate, because you like me and because you want to please me. See, I've just won a prestigious award and you want to reward me." He laughed quietly before continuing, " Because I'm a great chef and the food will be worth it, trust me. Or perhaps because you're flattered and you want to do something reckless. Because if you're honest with yourself, you're fascinated by my proposal. Enough reasons or should I continue?"

Insane, cute, bossy, egotistical, conceited and sexy. The more he spoke, the wetter she got.

He paused for a moment letting her digest his words. "Oh I know, here's a good one, because you know it's good for your business. What about, because you know you want to but you're scared...Kate, I don't care why you do it, just do it! Come on, do something rash, maybe even a little dangerous. It's not too much to ask a sophisticated woman like you, is it?" He goaded her playfully, he may as well have said she was too chicken to take up his directive.

"Christ! That's rich coming from a self confessed control freak!" She laughed out loud.

Looking up, Kate noticed Helena looking at her a little quizzically, a single well-groomed eyebrow raised in inquiry. It was one of those woman to woman, "Everything okay?" looks. Kate recalled Helena's ambiguous comment about Gabe liking to direct all the time. She was tempted, very tempted. She was attracted to him and completely seduced by his words. What kind of girl loses her panties on request? Kate smiled at Helena and returned her attention to Gabe. Well that depends entirely on who's making the request...

A little breathlessly she replied "Tight short skirt, bare legs, heels, you want to see my ass, heck, who doesn't? Wednesday, you'll cook me a gourmet dinner, yep got it." She nodded as if signing off a checklist and giggled a little.

"No panties," he corrected.

"No panties, check," she grinned.

"No panties Kate. Good, we have an agreement then, I'll look forward to Wednesday." He smiled warmly at her, leaning to kiss her cheek. He genuinely seemed delighted that she had taken up his challenge.

Okay she thought I think I can do this, play the game...it's got to be game right? He seemed serious about it though. The devil in her couldn't resist a little dig, tongue in cheek and smiling wickedly, eyes shining with excitement, she queried,

"So Mr. Director, I've just got ask, what happens to naughty girls who don't obey... I mean, follow your instructions?"

Ambiguously Gabe answered with a smile, "Oh, I'm sure you'll make the right choice Katie."

~~~

By the time Wednesday arrived, anticipation and her vivid imagination had gone into overdrive. Kate was very excited and just a little bit scared of what she'd let herself in for. "Dress ups Kate, The Dress Up For Mr. Director Game," she muttered to herself quietly, rummaging around in her wardrobe. She spent a good deal of time carefully choosing her outfit, mentally going over his instructions.