I had just arrived in town on an early flight and was staying at my usual hotel. It was Thursday, mid morning and I only had 1 appointment on Friday. I unpacked and hit the exercise room for an hour. It is so hard to keep the pounds off when you travel so I took advantage of the free time whenever I could. After showering and changing I headed to the restaurant across the street from the hotel. It was at the early part of the lunch crowd so I sat at the bar and sipped a drink. I ordered a salad and decided to eat in the bar and watch the basketball game. My Alma Matter was playing a conference rival in the second round of the conference tournament.
I looked around at the growing crowd. Most of it was the usual business lunch types except for one table of 3 couples just behind me in the bar area. They were younger (25-30 range) and quite attractive. They seemed to be good friends and were chatting and laughing with a certain familiarity. They also seemed to be interested in the basketball game and cheering for my school. It was early in the second half and during a timeout one of the guys was standing by me ordering another round of drinks. I said hello and asked if he was an alumni of the U. As he waited for his drinks I found out that he and his 5 friends were all graduates and here for a short reunion of sorts. I introduced myself and said I was also a graduate but that I had gotten out about a decade earlier then him.
When the drinks arrived I had them added to my tab and told my fellow alum to enjoy the game. He thanked me and headed back to the table. A few minutes later, during a time out, he caught my eye and waived me over to the table. I was finished with the salad and picked up my drink and walked over.
Ben, who I had met at the bar, got up and introduced everyone. "Tom, this is Steve and Lisa, Bob and Wendy and my wife Kim."
I said hello to everyone and they made room at the table for me just as the timeout ended and play resumed. We all turned our attention to the game, which see sawed back and forth. As I watched the game and made small talk with the couples I took the opportunity to observe them and find out a bit about each. All the couples were quite attractive and the women were certainly worth looking at. Lisa was a petite brunette with beautiful brown eyes, short black hair and extremely sensual lips. She had a nice trim figure and very pert breasts. I enjoyed watching them bounce as we cheered for our team. Wendy was a blond. She was fairly tall with a beautiful body and full breasts. She seemed a bit shy and even blushed when I caught her looking at me. Kim was Asian. She had beautiful golden skin, medium length dark hair, high cheekbones and a delicate figure. Despite her small stature she seemed to be the leader of the group. She made sure everyone was involved and taken care of, sending Ben off several times to get drinks for whoever appeared to need one.
I also noticed a curious thing. Each man at the table had 3 envelopes in front of him. The envelopes had only a name on the front and nothing else. I couldn't see all of them but it appeared that each one had the name of one of the men type written on the face. I got involved in the game but my mind kept drifting back to those envelopes. I have a great imagination but I have to admit nothing I was thinking matched the reality of what was in those clean white envelopes.
The game came to a climax and our team won on a last second shot. There were hugs and high fives all around and I enjoyed being included, especially in the hugs. We sat chatting as the TV analysts went into their mindless chatter about why our team had been able to upset the favored conference powerhouse. I felt comfortable with this group and they seemed to warm to me as well. We talked about jobs, work, school and life in general. I was tempted to ask about the envelopes but decided it was not any of my business. Ben's cell phone rang and he got up and walked a little away from the table as he talked. He didn't seem to like what he was hearing and Kim got up and stood with him as he talked. He continued to talk and Kim walked back to the table with a very disappointed look on her face.
Her animated voice had taken on a sullen aspect as she explained the call. "Ben just got called back in to the office. He has to leave right away. The project he has been working to get just hit and they want everyone back in to kick off the program and make sure it will be on track."
There were groans all around the table and everyone started talking at once. "Damn!" Barked Steve, "That shoots the whole weekend. We have been planning this one for months".
"I was so looking forward to this get together." Exclaimed Wendy. "It took me a long time to get up the nerve to..."
As she was about to finish her sentence she caught my eye and remembered I was listening. She stopped in mid sentence and blushed, turning away from me. I realized that they needed to hash something out and got up, going over to the bar to pay my tab. As I waited for Jim, the bartender to add it all up and run my credit card Ben joined the group and a quiet yet animated discussion began. Something was wrong with the credit card reader and Jim had to type in the information. He messed up several times and it took a good ten minutes for him to finally slide the receipt over to me. I was a regular here and Jim and I would sometimes chat while I was eating or having a drink after meetings.
"Jim," I queried, "do you know anything about that group I was sitting with? Do they come here often?"
Jim glanced over at the 6 of them still talking quietly. He got a smile on his face and leaned closer to me. "Well, a man would have to be close to death to not remember those 3 women. They show up every 4 months or so." He continued in a conspiratorial tone, "I keep hoping they will show up without their husbands but that doesn't ever seem to be the case. A tight knit group that's for sure."
I signed the bill and headed into the restroom. When I came out the group had quieted down but they were still chatting. They all looked up at me as I walked over to the table to say good-bye. "Thanks everyone. I had a great time watching the game with you. So much better then sitting by myself. I enjoyed your company. I am heading back to my room. Have a great night."
They were all quiet and then they looked at each other and seemed to come to a group
Consensus. Kim picked up the 3 envelopes that were in front of Ben and got up from the table. "I'll walk back with you Tom," She said in her cheerful voice. "There is something I'd like to ask you about."
As she took my arm and we headed out the door she looked over her shoulder at everyone still around the table and smiled. I was a little puzzled but what the heck she was beautiful and I didn't mind how she felt holding onto my arm as we walked across the street.
We were quiet till we got to the lobby. "Kim," I started, "I really enjoyed meeting you. I am sorry about Ben having to head back early. It seems to have put a damper on your plans with your friends." I looked down into those beautiful eyes as we stopped next to the lobby elevators.
Kim looked up at me and asked, "Tom can we talk for a minute? I would like to ask you a few questions and maybe see if you could help us out."
"Sure," I replied, "whatever I can do I will be glad to help out if I can."
She giggled and steered me toward a couch behind a row of plants to one side of the lobby. "Well," she began, "can I ask you some, kind of personal questions? You see we all also enjoyed your company and felt that you fit into the group pretty well. With Ben leaving early we were wondering if you might have some free time today and maybe this weekend to spend with us, sort of filling in for Ben?"
She was looking directly into my eyes as she finished speaking and I was at a bit of a loss. I am a pretty intelligent guy but it was like I wasn't getting something here.