"How can they do that?" Celeste mumbled to herself. She didn't think anyone could hear her over the cacophony of dings, bells, and other electronic noises.
"What? Who?" Dick asked as he looked around the casino bar. "You mean those who dump their life savings into the machines?" he asked.
Celeste, Dick, Jack, Terry, and Rob were sitting around a table after a long day at the show. Celeste was thinking the 2nd drink was a mistake as lunch was a long distant memory and the alcohol hit her harder than normal.
"Her," she nodded over to the woman in the red dress who'd just met a man before sliding off her stool to be escorted out by him. "Selling her body."
Dick laughed, "And you don't?" he looked at the open vee in the tight dress. "Use your body for monetary gain?" He looked at their boss differently as they continued the discussion. Celeste Donaldson was an all-business Director of Sales at McCall Enterprises who might have shown some skin periodically but was otherwise totally professional. Her husband was a great guy and she'd shown zero interest in ever stepping outside of her marital vows...never flirting like many of the married women at work did.
The redhead looked down and scowled, "This? This is fashion," she said firmly. "I like the dress, what's wrong with trying to look nice?" The material was flimsy but she was wearing a bra and panties and though there was a lot of skin, no one could see anything.
Dick scoffed. "Around the office, you wear pantsuits and never show much leg or," he nodded at the exposed swell of her breasts. "For these shows, you always wear more revealing clothes. Don't give me that shit that you're not using your body to gain business, plus, let me ask you," he looked intensely at the woman, "Ever have sex after a date with a guy even though it wasn't a great date? He pays for dinner, you reward him?" He paused thinking he overstepped...but she didn't look pissed. "You don't have to answer, it was rhetorical."
Celeste shook her head and was about to open her mouth when she thought back to school when she'd agreed to have one date with a guy she had no interest in and when he pulled up to drop her off, she'd felt guilty and given him a blowjob. It had been a great meal at a very expensive restaurant...which she now realized was a bit whorish.
"See? We're talking about the same thing. 'Sex sells,' Isn't that the mantra of advertising?" he said recognizing the look on her face.
"Ok, but teasing, come-ons are not the same as," she looked over to another woman sitting near the bar as a man came over. "her...um, letting them..." she visibly shuddered. "How? I just cannot get it into my head how they can do that?"
Jack laughed, "And those three guys from Ferguson's are alone in their rooms right now jerking off after the way you leaned way down showing them the brochures...among other assets." He looked directly at Celeste's chest, "You use," he nodded, "those to your advantage...while she," he nodded at the woman at the bar, "uses just a bit more while ensuring her clients are left satisfied."
Rob spoke up, "It never seemed anything more than a business transaction to me," he said. "Don't look at me that way. 15 years in the navy, single guy? What else was there when we hit port?" he asked.
"Your hand?" she blushed. "Sorry, that was inappropriate."
Rob laughed, "You ever serve on a ship? You are never alone, never able to take care of certain needs on your own." He looked at the girl by the bar, "On the other hand, I could get 10 port girls for what that guy's going to pay," he sighed. "Wait, hasn't Charles ever talked to you about whores? He served in the Mediterranean, didn't he?"
Celeste shook her head, "I don't believe it. He'd never do that," she said firmly.
Rob laughed, "Then he was in the 10 percentile...90% seek comfort in the arms of the port girls, 10% lie about it."
Celeste nursed her drink thinking back on the first five years of their marriage. She never asked and whenever he was on leave they made love multiple times a day. She had wondered if he ever cheated on her then thought how many times she'd been tempted at the gym, or with a co-worker...her boss. That was a close one. She shuddered as she replayed the night after dinner and drinks, her blouse partially unbuttoned, the VP of Sales' hand between her thighs, and when he took her wrist up to the bulge in his pants, she'd panicked. Was that cheating? Her palm throbbed...the memory of the rock-hard shaft pressing against her hand. Was it truly that large, or did her memories enhance the size?
She looked at her empty glass feeling the effects of two drinks on an empty stomach. Her crew would have been shocked had they seen how close she'd come to letting another man have her. 'Fuck!' She thought, 'if Charles needed a woman and it was simply a business transaction, is that cheating?' She wondered. Then she had another thought, 'I am sometimes a couple of weeks away and I have needs...'
She watched the girl pick up her clutch and then head over to the elevators with a man she'd apparently just met. "How?" she repeated, "How can she do that? I'd be scared to go alone with a man I just met."
"Ever engage a plumber or carpenter, have them come into your house alone? Same thing." Dick said. "Think of her as a tradesperson...he needs a repair...she has the tools and the skills to take care of things. She has to go on faith, you're right, but so do you at times."
"Not the same thing. At least she doesn't need to carry a toolbox," she chuckled. She paused as the girl turned to face her, a smile on her lips as she looked right at her before the elevator doors closed. She had a pang in her stomach that she couldn't identify.
"Are you kidding? She has to have a toolbox with her at all times, condoms, lube, handcuffs, wet wipes," Dick responded.
"Lube? What...oh," she blushed. "Damn! What must that feel like?" she wondered aloud. She looked embarrassed, "Sorry, too much information."
"You might like it," Dick said, "I've been fortunate to have been with many women who liked it, but you could find out soon enough," Dick nodded over to a couple of tables over where two men had been eying Celeste. He turned to the guys around their table, "How much could Celeste make for an hour with one of those guys?" he asked softly.
"$800."
"Come on, minimum $1,000," another said, "She's fucking hot."
"I'd do her for $1,200, if we're bidding on her," Jack laughed.
"Wait, are we talking the full package? I can't tell you how many times I've fantasized about her ass...I'd go up to $1,500 to tap that," Terry said, "hypothetically, that is."
Celeste looked shocked, "Seriously? I was thinking $100 or $200. Who has that kind of money to throw around?" she asked.
Jack laughed, "All of us...if it were you," he looked at the other guys all nodding. "We might have discussed how fun it would be if you were...well, a bit more of a slut," he chuckled. "We're all going to get reported to HR, aren't we," he groaned. "You're not a slut...just saying..." he blushed.
Celeste shook her head, "I brought it up. If anything I'm the one to blame for this whole line of conversation, and," she paused, "Thanks." She blushed before continuing, "Are you saying that to be nice?" she looked over to where the girl had been sitting, "She was gorgeous."
"And so are you," Rob said, his eyes on her breasts, "Remember last April when you wore the see-through blouse without a bra? If we got into a bidding war I told these guys I go as high as $1,000. Terry said $1,500."
"I thought it was going to be cool in the building but it was so hot," she blushed. I couldn't take it anymore and had to take off the jacket." She stood up, "I'm drunk. Let's go get dinner before I give you guys a table dance." She laughed as Terry opened his wallet and tossed bills onto the bar table. "Great timing."
***
