Show & Tell

Brendan's email was waiting for me, his profuse apology notwithstanding, he was lobbying for another matinee.

"I can't believe I fucked that up..., she is so fucking sexy! You've got to be out of your mind giving me a shot at someone like her..., but thanks anyway. Any chance I could try to redeem myself?"

"Up to her," I replied, "but you've had a great start. I have to warn you, however, that nothing is going to happen for at least two or three months! She's having some elective surgery next week and it will sideline her for at least that long."

His reply wished her good luck and asked that I update him from time to time. I promised to do so.

Lexi and I left rainy and raw New England on time and arrived in sunny and warm South Florida to a rousing welcome from her grandmother and a great aunt. My wife's youngest sister would be leaving the next day but we all wanted her to spend a day with her grand niece, a rare opportunity for all of us.

The rest of the vacation flew by, with lots of beaches, boating, sightseeing and generally enjoying our time together.

I didn't forget about Elle, calling her on Thursday, a prearranged signal established if she couldn't answer, another time set for Friday. She ignored the plan, answering on the first ring and explaining that, "..., since he'd been against the procedure from the start..., he didn't feel the need to, "nursemaid," me. So I've been here alone until Kim gets home from school and you wouldn't believe how supportive she's been. She's been my maid and cook and nurse..., I really couldn't have done it without her. But, I'm doing really well, no pain or medication since Tuesday night. I'm resting and thinking about you..., and reading..., and thinking about you..., and..., thinking about you."

"But..., Todd isn't helping you at all? Weren't you told to stay in bed? I remember the doctor saying you'd be bedridden for at least a week..., who's taking care of you until Kim comes home?"

"I've been taking care of myself and believe me, its better that way."

"But..., what if something happened, you'd be all alone."

"His attitude since day one has been, "Your idea, you deal with it."

"Asshole," is how I summed it up.

"But Kim has stepped up big time and she's just as excited as I am to see the results.

"Neither of you is excited as I am...," I told her, "and I wasn't crazy about the idea either. Any time you go under the knife, no matter how skilled the surgeon, something bad can happen! But..., you sound great and I can't wait to see you."

Lexi and I flew back Tuesday night, the weather cold and rainy, just as we left it!

While I felt like a jerk for not going to see Elle first thing on Wednesday morning, discretion was always the better part of valor and I knew better. I waited until after 9:00 AM to call her, just in case, and she seemed overjoyed to hear from me and have me home. Her status at the house remained the same, she was alone..., but still confident that she would be all right until Kim got home from school.

"Todd's still acting the same way?"

"Yes, but I think Kim's beginning to see what a jerk he is," she said, "the incident over her wanting to go to the mall and now the way he's behaving about this procedure. It's only a matter of time until some boy wants to take her out..., and then she's really going to see what ass he can be."

She wanted to talk forever, lonely no doubt, so I indulged her, spending a good forty five minutes listening to her talk bad about her husband and rave about her daughter and son. While she was droning on, I had a thought and interrupted her, asking if her friend Kathy could be trusted?

"Of course," she replied, "what brought that on?"

"I don't know, just something that you said sparked a thought..., is she married?"

"Yes, and her husband Vic is a wonderful man. If she did tell him about you and I..., I know he could keep the secret."

"Okay," and I left it at that.

Once she ran out of steam, I asked how she was going to get to the doctor's office the next day?

"You," she answered.

"I know that. But what about from your house to the place?" Meaning our usual meeting spot.

"I'll drive."

"You can't drive and you know it. What are you going to do?"

"I don't know. I'd hoped that you would pick me up."

"That's what I was afraid you were going to say. Elle..., I don't even want to know where you live, never mind go there and pick you up. To be honest, I don't know if my going with you is a good idea."

"Call me back in a half hour," she told me.

The next morning I drove to where we always met, this time a BMW parked where her Town & Country usually sat. The woman behind the wheel got out and opened Elle's door. She got out, standing shakily, and waited for me to come to her. When I did..., I knew who the other woman had to be.

After a lingering kiss, not squeezing or hugging Elle at all, I turned and said, "You must be Kathy."

A smile..., then, "And you..., the famous storyteller."

We talked for a few minutes, sizing each other up, letting Elle referee, and then coming to an uneasy truce. "Take care of her," to me, as I led Elle to my car, "and call me if you're going to be late," to her friend.

We both nodded.

I was told the previous afternoon that the two of them had conspired to get Elle to where I would pick her up. Kathy had called the school claiming a family emergency and that she'd be an hour late for school. If everything went well, I'd deliver Elle back to her here, once school had let out.

We had almost two hours to kill before the follow up. "Did you eat?" I asked. "I had coffee," a hopeful look on her face. We stopped at a, "Mom & Pop," diner, and she ate a full breakfast, which I took to be a good sign.

"What did you think of Kathy?" her first question.

"I think the more import question is, "What did she think of me," I answered.

"Why would that matter more?"

"Because you need her to cover for you and if she thinks I'm a jerk, that's less likely to happen."

"So..., she'll just have to get to know you better," a smile as she wolfed down her eggs.

Kathy was what one would call, "Big Boned." She was attractive, probably five nine in her flats, proportioned, but definitely, "athletic," in all aspects of her appearance. Those less enlightened might refer to her as, "butch," but in a non-threatening way.

She talked some more about the implants, the doctor and his staff making her feel very confident that she'd suffer no ill effects from the operation and that proved very true as she'd had no real pain and only some slight discomfort in the 24 hours after the procedure.

Now, eleven days later, "I feel like I'm ready to go back to work."

The only thing she would need today, if things looked as good as the doctor promised, was a few sports bras for her to wear over the next month or so. "How many do you have?" I asked as we drove past a mall.

"One," she answered.

"One? You're going to need one than one. What color is it?"

"Black..., what other colors are there?"

There was a, "Sports Authority," in the mall, so I detoured, had her wait in the car while I went in and bought her three more, one white, one grey and the other navy.

"There," handing her the bag, "now you'll have a clean one for whatever you wear."

Blowing me a kiss because she couldn't stretch across the center console, she said, "This is why Kathy is going to love you, things like this. You never even gave it a thought, you did it because it was one less thing for me to worry about."

I just shrugged.

The doctor's visit was very informative. He was pleased with her vital signs and her written diary of everything that had taken place since she was released..., to Kathy, on that Tuesday.

"Now," he said, "do you want him in...."

"Doctor, if it's all the same to you, I'll wait outside."

Elle looked stricken, "Baby..., but why?"

"Because I know what you're going to look like and I don't want to see you like that. I'll have plenty of time to admire the good doctor's work..., later, but for now, let he and his staff evaluate you and I'll sit outside and fantasize about all the fun things I'll do with them once you've fully recovered."

She still looked hurt, but the doctor agreed that it was a, "prudent," decision on my part. His nurse shook her head and said to Elle, "Does he need, "Brownie Points," this badly?"

"No..., never," she laughed, "I think he's just afraid he'll faint."

When she came out fifteen minutes later..., she admitted, "I should have waited our here with you."

The nurse giggled and told me, "Don't believe her. She looks great, she's healing nicely and she'll recover quickly. Just don't let her overdo anything, and that means; NO Work, NO lifting, NO sex and NO exercising until she gets the go ahead from the doctor."

I looked at her, "I'm sorry, did I hear you say no sex?"

"Yes you did, and..., was there any part of that you didn't understand?"

"No, no," my voice serious, "I understood every word. I just wanted to make sure that she understood every word too. If you give her an inch..., a half inch..., she'll be molesting me before we're out of the parking lot!"

Looking at Elle, the nurse mused, "Boy has a vivid imagination, doesn't he!"

After she stopped laughing, Elle replied, "You have no idea."

I kissed her and squeezed her ass as I helped her into the car, before asking, "So, what do you think?"

"God, you were so right. Everything is black and blue, swollen..., the cut and the stitches are red and they look raw, and my tits...! After he unwrapped the compression bandage and I looked at myself in the mirror, all I could think of were those big orange traffic cones! There's no..., they just look really fake."

"Well, how do you feel right now and how long does he think it will take you to feel better?"

"He told me that there's nothing he's seen that would make him change his original prognosis..., two to three months... and now that I'm wearing a sports bra, at least I can breath. I've got to go back in a month, unless the swelling doesn't start to go down, or the incision continues to look enflamed. But he promised that in a couple of months, I'll..., no..., you won't remember them looking any other way.

I took that as another good thing.

With the appointment out of the way, I'd wondered what to do with her? No matter how she looked, which was great, or how she was acting, which was as normal as she could, given the circumstances, I didn't think that sitting in a restaurant all afternoon would be good for her. So..., I did the next best thing, which was take her to a, "Gentleman's Club."

There were a half dozen such enterprises in and around the city, three that were quite large, the rest smaller and more specialized. Of those, one was very special and for a very special reason. Two of the larger offered a, "Free Lunch Buffet," and one of those two offered, "Free Admission," as well.

So that's where we went.

But the, "Free Buffet Lunch," along with the, "Free Admission," weren't the only reason I'd chosen that particular club. The real reason...? It was where Jeanne, the dancer who'd combined with Kat to convince Elle to have the boob job, made her living.

I didn't tell Elle that.

"Is this what I think it is?" wide eyed, her mouth hanging open.

"Best lunch deal in town," I answered.

The marquee told the story, "

Passions

," along with the pictures of today's performers, and future, "Headliners."

"This is a strip club!"

"That has the best lunch deal in town," I added.

Outside and inside, it was what you got when you built a '80's style, "Gentleman's Club."

Lots of neon and dark windows outside..., lots of lights, lots of speakers and lots of noise inside..., with absolutely no atmosphere!

Since it wasn't quite noontime yet, the buffet was still being set up. Big dude, what Elle was referring to when she told Brendan what she thought a, "Bouncer," should look like, introduced himself, "Anthony" and led us to a table, one row back from the Main Stage. A rather unattractive girl was moving listlessly around the stage, in some manner of undress, and receiving no attention at all from the half dozen scruffy looking men seated around the stage.

Not a good initiation into the world of, "Strip Tease," for our girl!

"Jeez," Elle opined, "I can dance better than that and I know I'd look better, even in this sports bra!"

"You won't get an argument from me on that," I responded.

A cute little girl wearing a kind of '20's waitress costume approached and asked, "What would you like to drink?"

Since she'd asked the doctor and he'd hesitated before allowing her, "One..., maybe two drinks a day until after you've come back for your next checkup," she ordered a glass of Chardonnay. "Won't make me crazy," she promised, "just looking to relax and enjoy my first time..., woo hoo!"

I ordered my usual vodka and tonic.

The girl on stage, thankfully, finished her set and the DJ announced that the, "Buffet is open!" However many men, Elle the only non-employee female in the club, jostled their way into line, Elle and I watching..., her wide eyed, I muttered, "You let people in for nothing and then offer them free food..., this is your clientele."

There were maybe fifteen men in line, so we sat and waited for our drinks. As we waited, Anthony wandered past, stopping to ask, "Going to try the buffet?"

"We are," I promised, "just waiting for the line to clear."

He laughed, "Not with this crowd," he answered, "these guys will be through the line twice before the regular lunch time crowd hits and that's in," checking his watch, "about 3 minutes. If you're going to grab something, better get it now."

I thanked him and helped Elle up. Our waitress was moving towards us, but Anthony held up a finger, ordering her to wait. "Leave those drinks unattended and the glasses will be gone before you're in line," he told us, "these bums would lick the empty glasses if we didn't watch them. I'll have Kendra wait until you're back."

I thanked him again and we got in line. The buffet was surprisingly large and the presentation, variety of items and explanation of how it was all prepared was well done. We were back at our table in no time, the waitress serving our drinks and leaving a bill. It was $22.00 for the two drinks and that didn't include the tip!

"So much for the, "Free," buffet," I told Elle.

The next dancer was on the stage by the time we returned to our table, she only a little bit more energetic that the previous girl, the lack of patrons at the stage more than likely the cause. But, as the bouncer had predicted, the club was filling up, the newcomers much better dressed and groomed.

By 12:15, the club was packed, all of the chairs around the stage full, as well as all of the tables around us. There were still groups of men entering together as well as the singles and pairs. When the next entertainer was introduced, Elle and I were both happy to see that everything about her was remarkably better. She was very attractive, her dancewear was very sexy and from the moment the music started, she was performing, her dancing professional and quite erotic..., well, Elle thought so!

Suddenly, there were a half dozen, or more, girls circulating through the tables and chairs, the two girls who'd danced earlier and those that were still to dance, at least that's what I figured.

I didn't see Jeanne among them.

With the two song set finished for the girl on stage, the DJ announced, "Let's all welcome Jenna..., Jenna now on the Main Stage!"

"Jenna," stepped onto the stage and was met with rousing cheers and "Brick House," by the Commodores. Jenna was Jeanne, and Jenna was a completely different animal than the Jeanne we'd met at 2Hot!

"Hey!" Elle suddenly exclaimed, "isn't that the girl we met at...?"

"Yes," trying to look surprised, "I think it is."

She raced round the stage wearing a very sexy red dress that I was certain had come from that store. It was low cut in all the right places and exposed lots of her, which gave way to lots more of her exposed as she took it off at the end of that song.

As great as she looked, which by the way, still included the eye glasses, she danced even better, the crowd around the stage now two deep. As, "Naughty Girl," by Beyonce started. I handed Elle a $5 and told her to give it to Jeanne.

"I don't know what to do," she complained.

"Just do what all the men do," I told her, "but if she gets close enough, don't put the money in her garter..., put it into her g-string."

"How do I do that?"

"Fold it in half first then pull open the top corner closest to you and slip it in."

"What if she doesn't get close enough?"

"When she sees you she'll recognize you. She may not remember from where, but she will remember you."

Since she was wearing her, "Go to the doctors office clothes, a sensible skirt and a nice sweater, she wasn't going to distract the regular customers all that much, other than the novelty of seeing a woman at the stage, but I was sure that Jeanne would interact with her in some way, just to excite the, "boys."

She got up and walked to where there were only men sitting, none standing, with her approach noticed by all of the men on either side of her. Two of them offered her their seat, she thanking them and getting ready to sit down when she saw Jeanne wearing a wide smile of recognition, and little else, dancing towards her.

Bending at the waist, Jeanne took her head in both hands, a nice kiss on the lips and a, "What are you doing here?"

Elle, surprised by the show of affection, asked the same thing, "What are you doing here?"

"I work here..., and I'd better start working! Where is...," looking around and seeing me wave, "Is that where you're sitting?" pointing towards me.

Elle looked and said, "Yes...," and then back at Jeanne. "You look beautiful and I loved your dress."

"I'll come to your table as soon as I finish this set and we'll talk then," as she stood up to dance away.

"Wait," Elle called out, "I have to give you this," holding up the $5.

When Jeanne squatted and held open her garter, Elle did exactly what I told her to do, reaching right past the garter, pulled the top corner of the g-string down..., much too far, surprising Jeanne and the men around them! She slipped the money in and then backed away.

Jeanne looked at her, shook her head and danced away, the men around Elle giving her an ovation and throwing money at Jeanne.

Elle was still smiling when she got back to our table.

"I can't believe she works here..., and she really looks beautiful!

Before I could ask a question, "..., oh, and she'll be here when her set is finished."

So, we waited for Jeanne, Elle very excited that an, "entertainer," would be coming off the stage and then visiting our table! This was all part of her, "innocence," the uncanny ability to be, "Star Struck," by a stripper in a Gentleman's Club!

Sure enough, Jeanne showed up a couple of minutes after another of the girls had taken the stage and seemed happy to see us. She was thrilled when Elle told her that she'd just come from her follow-up with the plastic surgeon, and that her, "New" tits would be ready for viewing in a couple of weeks.

"I'll bet you didn't have any of the problems that you read about before the operation," the younger girl commented, "I know I was expecting to be laid up for the full three months. Hell, I was ready to come back to work a week later, but the doctor wouldn't let me."

The girls talked about tits for a couple of minutes and then Jeanne looked around at the crowd and said, "Hey, it's been great to see you and I know you're going to love your body, but I've got to get back to work."

"You're going to dance again?" Elle asked.