Awards and Discoveries

"Hey Amy, what time did you say Allie is getting here to babysit tonight?" Miguel called to his wife. He was playing with their children in the family room. Miguel had just told Herbie and Olivia that they were going to have their neighbour, Allie, come round to babysit them that evening while Mum and Dad went out to a very special event.

"Can we have pizza?" Asked Olivia.

"Sushi!" Argued Herbie.

"Shhhsh. I need to hear Mum." Said Miguel, trying to hear Amy's reply.

"I said around 5. We need to be in a taxi by 5.30 latest so we can get to the Plaza Hotel for 6." Amy called from the kitchen.

Turning back to his children, Miguel tried to lay some ground rules. "Ok, so Allie will get here in half an hour. Then Mum and I will leave at 5.30. I will see what Allie wants to eat for dinner and we'll make a decision before I order. IF you are both washed and in your pyjamas by 7.30 you can stay up late and watch a movie until 9. But only IF you are in your pyjamas." Miguel tried to look stern, so his children knew this was an instruction and not a negotiation.

"But we had pizza last time. We should get sushi this time!" Herbie tried to barter.

"No we didn't!" Olivia jumped in to counter argue.

"Shhht. I don't want an argument. We will talk to Allie and see what she wants when she gets here."

They finished playing their game and Miguel was tidying when he heard the door bell chime.

"I'll get it." He called, heading to the door. It was just on five, so Miguel assumed it was Allie.

As he opened the door he was surprised to see Thea, Allie's younger half sister, smiling at him. She was dressed in a plain black vest and cut off shorts. Miguel tried not to let his eyes linger on her slender figure and returned his inquisitive gaze to Thea's face. "Hi Thea. We were... I was expecting Allie?"

"She's been asked to work a double shift, so she asked if I could come round and look after the kids." Thea said, smiling. She had looked after the kids by herself several times before so she knew this shouldn't be an issue. "I could really do with some extra money now too!" She added.

"Ok, sure. Come on in." Miguel said, opening the door wide and stepping back to let Thea in. As she stepped inside and walked past him, she casually flicked her long, silky black hair over her shoulder. Thea was a beautiful young woman, with a lovely personality. She reminded him so much of Kim, his first true love. Despite having different Asian heritages and being a generation apart, there were so many similarities. The long black hair, the skin tone, the soft Asian features. Thea was half Vietnamese and half European, Kim was half Philippine and half European. You wouldn't have said they were related, but there was something familiar about Thea that made Miguel think of Kim.

Miguel smelt a youthful coconut smell. Some lotion or fragrance Thea was wearing. A few paces inside Thea stopped and started to take off her Converse High Tops. Miguel closed the front door and turned, almost walking into Thea's backside as she bent over to remove her shoes.

"Whoaoops! Sorry." Said Miguel. Inside his mind he was cursing himself. "Who the fuck says 'Whoaoops!'? You sound like a Boomer." He stepped back and heard Thea chuckle. He couldn't help but stare at her gorgeous backside, perfectly framed in her black denim shorts as she wiggled to get her foot out of the last shoe. He was willing more of her ass cheeks to slip out from beneath the fabric. Miguel looked elsewhere and saw Thea's vest hanging loose at the sides. "Fuck. She's not wearing a bra!" He thought. Since being a teenager Miguel had always loved having a sneaky glimpse of a woman's breasts. Thea's tits were fairly small, but what she did have he had a perfect side view of, including her dark nipple. Thea slipped off her petite white socks and slipped them inside her shoes.

"All good!" Said Thea, standing up and kicking her shoes to the side of the hallway. "Where are Herbie and Olivia?"

"Through in the family room." Said Miguel, trying not to blush, before he called out to the kids to announce Thea's arrival. "Kids, Thea is here to see you!"

"Thea!" Screamed Olivia, who came running from the room and flung herself onto Thea. "Can we tie my hair up in the braids again?" Olivia added, sounding like her whole world depended on it.

"Maybe!" Said Thea, hugging Olivia back.

"Where's Allie?" Demanded Herbie, coming to see what was going on. "Can we have sushi?" He looked confused.

"Allie isn't here. Thea is." Miguel informed the kids. "Same rules apply, just with Thea instead of Allie." He turned to Thea and continued. "You're going to have to make a very diplomatic call on dinner. Olivia wants pizza and Herbie wants sushi. You get the deciding vote."

"Oooh. Tough choice." Said Thea, feigning a difficult decision and stroking her chin for extra emphasis. She calculated Herbie was the more likely of the two children to have a meltdown if he didn't get what he wanted. "I did have pizza for lunch though, so it wouldn't be my first choice to have it again." She added, trying to give a big hint to Olivia. "How about, if we do get sushi, I promise to do the braids you want?"

"Ok." Olivia said reluctantly. Thea lead Olivia and Herbie back to the family rumpus room.

"I'm going to get ready." Said Miguel, before he departed to the bedroom. He felt relaxed having the kids happy to be with Thea.

He entered the bedroom and saw Amy getting changed. She looked stunning, in a long, black, tight cocktail dress that had a very high slit up the thigh. She was curling her light brown hair into waves, looking intently in the mirror at her progress.

"Wow. You look amazing!" Said Miguel. Amy broke her gaze from the mirror and smiled at him.

"Do you think?" Amy asked.

"If I had to give you a score, I'd definitely give you one." Miguel laughed at his lame joke, but meant it sincerely.

"Play your cards right and you might get your chance." Said Amy, smiling as she worked the heated tongues through her wavy hair.

"Change of plans for the babysitting. Allie couldn't make it so Thea is here." Miguel said, stripping off and heading to the bathroom to shower. When he returned to their bedroom Amy had finished her hair and was fastening the ankle strap of a new, high heeled shoe around her delicate lower leg. Miguel admired the high heeled shoe, thinking how good they would look with the harness Amy had recently purchased. He also admired Amy's cleavage, pushed up and presented by the scooped neckline of the dress as Amy bent forward. "Careful, you're nearly falling out of that dress!" He said, before adding. "Not that I mind."

"Stop ogling me and get ready. We need to leave soon." Amy chided. Miguel quickly dressed, putting on his underwear, dress shirt, and then took his tuxedo out from where it hung in the dry cleaning bag. He put his shoes on and hung his bow tie around his neck, ready to tie. He'd do it at the last minute so it wouldn't droop before they arrived.

As Miguel was about to leave the room Amy asked him to fasten her necklace. She handed him the gold jewellery and stood looking in the mirror with her head bowed slightly to one side and her hair swept carefully away from her neck. Miguel stepped behind her and delicately fastened the necklace, then bent down and kissed Amy's neck above the clasp. His hands slipped round her waist and up her tight black dress to her breasts. Miguel landed another kiss on Amy's neck before whispering. "You look so fucking hot. Maybe I can give you a pearl necklace later?" He pushed his crotch into Amy's backside. She gently wiggled her hips to grind onto him, as her hands rested on his, their fingers interlocking, both holding her breasts.

They shared a glance in the mirror. Miguel landed a final kiss on Amy's neck and departed, heading downstairs to order the food for Thea and the kids.

Amy followed soon after, carefully negotiating the stairs in her high heels. She joined Miguel in their kitchen, small clutch bag slung over her shoulder.

"Oh wow!" Said Thea, walking through to meet them. "Don't you two look special."

"Oh, hi Thea." Said Amy. "Thank you! It's a big award ceremony and my team are up for best breakthrough marketing campaign. I think we're in with a shout, but if we win I'll have to go up on stage to collect the award."

"Well if the judges haven't decided, that dress will certainly win you some votes." Said Miguel, smiling at Amy.

"Aww. Isn't he cute." Said Thea. "I hope I find someone who looks at me like you look at Amy." She added.

"It's getting harder to keep up with all the young women in my team! They always dress so nicely." Amy said, secretly very pleased at the compliments.

Amy and Miguel said their goodbyes to the kids, reiterated the bedtime curfew, and headed out to meet their taxi. Thea waved them off at the door. "Don't worry about getting back early if you win. Go out and celebrate!" Thea called after them.

The taxi pulled up at the Plaza Hotel. The media company that was hosting the award night had gone all out, with a red carpet and media walkway to enter the venue. People were having their photo's taken by photographers with camera flashes popping away. Couples and friends were posing, pretending they were at the premiere of the latest Hollywood movie. Miguel and Amy joined in, posing together for the cameras.

Amy worked for a marketing agency called Little Sparks Big Ideas. She headed up the digital marketing division. Many of her team had been loitering around the entrance waiting for Amy to arrive. They rushed over to join them, posing for photos. They were all women, most in their late 20s and 30s. All had worn fancy outfits. After having a few pictures surrounded by all the women, Miguel slipped out of the group to let them continue without him. He looked around for any other 'plus ones'. He couldn't see any. Perhaps he was the only partner? He looked back and admired the women as they posed. Amy had assembled quite a good looking team.

The women laughed and joked some more, then Amy called him over so they could all head inside. Serving staff greeted them at the door with trays of champagne, cocktails, beers, and non alcoholic drinks. Amy and Miguel each grabbed a glass of champagne and clinked a toast before Amy wrapped her arm through Miguel's and they proceeded further into the hotel.

The room was busy, and Amy was attracting a lot of attention. Amy kept introducing Miguel to each new person who came to congratulate her on the award nomination. Miguel smiled proudly as people enthused about Amy, immediately forgetting names and hoping he wouldn't be put in a position to have to remember them later.

While Amy became engrossed in conversation with an older woman, Miguel made small talk with Amy's team. He found out only four of them had worked on the campaign that was nominated for the award, but all of them had desperately wanted to come and help celebrate if they won. It was a show of force in a way as Amy had started as the sole member of the digital team at the agency years ago, building it up to the mini empire it now was. As they chatted, Miguel remembered details about each of the team Amy had confided in him over the previous months and years. Part of their daily routine was to deconstruct and share the details of their work days to each other in bed. Amy's work life was far more interesting than Miguel's and they invariably spent more time discussing her life than his.

"Ahh, so you're Zara who had the boyfriend who turned out to be gay." he thought to himself as he chatted with one woman. Then to another, "Ahh yes, now I recognise you Chloe. You're the one who has racked up quite a few thousand Instagram followers, with your B list celebrity friends out partying all the time."

Miguel turned back to see a new character had entered Amy's orbit. Judging by the look of him he was desperately trying it on with Amy, despite being a lot older than her. The man had a bit of a sleezy look about him, with his grey thinning hair slicked back. He laughed loudly at something Amy said, patting her shoulder. He leaned in to talk closely into her ear. Amy saw Miguel watching and rolled her eyes. Miguel knew this was Amy's signal that she didn't want to be stuck with someone, and also noticed the man didn't remove his hand from Amy's shoulder all the time he spoke to her.

"Who's that chatting with Amy?" Miguel asked Zara and Chloe, indicating toward the man with his eyes.

Both women discretely looked over. "Eugh. Frank Constantin. He manages a huge media buying agency. Well known for being a sleaze." Zara said. Her tone made it sound as though the words tasted bad in her mouth.

"Major fucking douche." Chloe added. "He's tried it on with at least three of my friends. And he's married. His wife knows all about it of course. He pays her huge credit card bills and sends her on holidays so she pretends not to know. He's known for his wandering hands."

"Sounds delightful." Said Miguel. He wondered if he should go and introduce himself to this guy. He didn't want to look like he was some territorial, insecure fool who needed to come and claim 'his woman'. He smiled at Amy and watched discretely. She nodded, smiled, then made her excuse to leave. Frank Constantin quickly put his hand on Amy's shoulder and reached in to give her a kiss. Amy held her head out wide to the side, and made an excuse about not getting makeup on Frank before gently pushing him away to leave.

She grabbed two glasses of champagne from a passing member of staff and returned to Miguel's side. She handed him one and took a big sip from the other. "God he's such a fucking creep." She said quietly.

"Your friends were just telling me how nice old Frank Constantin is." Miguel said with a smile. That was one name he wouldn't forget easily.

"Unfortunately he's a necessary evil. We have to deal with his agency if we want to buy any media space. Usually I don't see him and insist we have any agency meetings at our building or a neutral venue. I hate going to his offices."

Miguel felt Amy's arm slip behind his back then pull him close to her. He wondered if she were putting on a show for Frank, who was still standing nearby and kept looking over this way. Miguel wasn't sure if it was Amy or one of the many other pretty women in her team that Frank was looking at, but he wasn't complaining about her embrace.

An announcement was made requesting the guests move through to the dining room for the start of the award ceremony. Everyone started making their way through to the main room. There was a dancefloor in the middle, and tables all around the outside. Amy's team found their table and Miguel realised indeed he was the only man in this party of 12. Drinks were poured, starters were delivered and a host came on to the stage and babbled on about the industry and the award night.

Miguel discretely checked his phone. It was just after 7. He swiped through a few notifications and saw the food that he ordered had been delivered. He unlocked the phone and tapped out a quick message to Thea to check everything was ok.

Miguel watched as the notification of his message changed from sent, to received, then to read. He saw Thea was replying and left his phone open for a few more seconds. Her message came through: "Yes, food arrived. Thanks so much. Olivia is happy with her new braids. Just got kids in pyjamas." A selfie photo followed of Thea and Olivia. Olivia was proudly showing off her new braids. Miguel looked at the image for a few seconds, smiling. He could see Olivia was a young version of Amy. Then he looked at Thea. There was definitely something about her smile. Her eyes. They reminded him of Kim so much.

The night seemed to drag on for Miguel. He was tired of clapping politely for people he didn't care about receiving awards he cared even less about. The food was average and the polite small talk wasn't really interesting. He reached for a card on the table that outlined the running order for the awards. They had just had finished their main course, so he calculated they had another four categories to go. Of course Amy's category was last. To be fair, it was the biggest award of the night and Miguel appreciated the organisers wanting to save the best for last.

The host announced a short break, and from somewhere jazz music was played over the PA system. Amy stood and put her hand on Miguel's shoulder, whispering in his ear. "Just going to the ladies room."

Miguel watched her depart, snaking her way around tables towards the corridor that led to the bathrooms. A wave to one person, a smile to another, an embrace and quick kiss with someone passing the other way. Miguel realised she was very well known in this industry and everyone seemed to want to speak with her.

Miguel noticed Frank Constantin looking at Amy as she passed. He looked as though he was ready to say something to her but Amy walked on by. Perhaps Amy had deliberately avoided his gaze? Frank stood, wiped his lips with his napkin and followed Amy toward the corridor. "No you don't." Miguel thought, standing up and heading for the same exit.

Walking as briskly as he could to make up the distance between them, Miguel weaved in and out of tables and chairs. Fortunately Frank seemed to be a slow mover, no doubt in part due to his large gut, and nobody was stopping Miguel to chat. Miguel noticed Frank had stopped just inside the corridor entrance. He had taken out his phone and was tapping away at the screen. Miguel slowed down as he approached Frank, wanting to deliberately bump his shoulder but thought better of it. He found the Men's bathroom and opened the door, checking back to see Frank still on his phone before he went inside.

Miguel went to the stall, wondering how long Amy would likely take. The women's bathrooms were often busier and she may have to queue. And she had to manoeuvre herself in that dress. Ideally he would leave the bathroom at the same time or just after Amy. If he was quicker than her he would just have to loiter, pretending to be on his phone. He checked himself in the mirror as he washed his hands. His bow tie was holding up well and he afforded himself a compliment on how good he looked in his Tux.

As Miguel exited the bathroom he scanned down the corridor. No sign of Amy, and Frank was still there looking at his phone. Miguel took a few steps away from the door and stopped to the side of the corridor, fishing his own phone out of his pocket. It was eight o'clock and he checked if Thea had sent any more messages. None. He wondered briefly about giving Thea a quick call to say goodnight to the kids. Probably not necessary if they weren't missing him and Amy. He knew from his own experiences when Amy or he travelled it was often better not to remind them of the missing parent, lest you set them off on a crying tangent about how much they were being missed.

"Miguel, is that you?" A woman's voice interrupted him and he felt a gentle hand on his shoulder. Miguel looked up from his phone and saw a familiar face looking back at him. It was Kim. She was much older than the last time he'd seen her years ago, but it was undoubtedly her. She had aged beautifully, and her dark eyes still captivated him with their warmth.

"Kim? What are you doing here?" Miguel managed to say eventually, a stunned look on his face. He noticed Kim's hand was still gently touching his shoulder. His eyes appraised Kim. She was wearing a peacock blue, short cocktail dress that was clearly inspired by a 20s Gatsby style with rows of tassels and sequins. Kim had never had big breasts, and it looked as though she wasn't wearing a bra with her outfit. "You look... amazing." Miguel said, before he reached in for a polite cheek to cheek kiss. His arm gently touched Kim's elbow during the embrace. Kim finally dropped her hand from Miguel's shoulder as he let go of her elbow. Her skin felt warm and soft and strangely familiar.