I lay down on the bed, stunned by what had just happened. What was Lance up to and what was in the envelope downstairs in the kitchen? Although I wasn't concerned about that too much at the moment; I was more concerned about how Lance knew where I was staying. I thought I had been extra careful not to give out the address of the beach house since he had surprised me the first time we met. I don't like being caught off guard and I certainly don't like being controlled.
Prolonging the reading of the letter, I chose a long bubble bath before I would check my email or read the letter on the counter. As I ran my hot bubble bath, I thought of Bailey. I needed to get my phone from the other bedroom where I had done my unpacking. I strolled naked to the other bedroom and found it on the dresser. I picked it up and immediately dialed Bailey's personal cell.
Bailey answered, "Well hello stranger. I was wondering when you would get around to calling me back. I just checked your flights and beach rental reservation on my computer to see if the receipts were ready. All receipts are printing now for your expense report. I have it right here on my computer screen."
"Bailey, stop talking for a minute and listen to me!" I said urgently.
"What crawled up your ass?" she asked.
"I don't know! That is why I am calling you." I continued with a tone of fear and desperation.
Bailey had a soothing way about her and said, "OK, now calm down and tell me what happened."
I put her on speaker phone and slid in the bath tub full of bubbles so I could relax and gather my thoughts. I told her exactly what had happened after we last spoke. Bailey was as surprised as I was. She thought Lance seemed to be a gentleman, understanding, and attentive. She had listened to enough of our phone conversations. Of course, she could only get my end of the discussions, but nothing seemed to alarm her.
"How could he have known where I was staying?" I asked, hoping she would know something, anything!
She said, "Don't you remember your last phone call with him? He asked if you could leave work and pick him up at the airport or if he needed to get a rental car. You told him that you should be able to pick him up but just in case you couldn't get away from work, you gave him the address of the beach house."
"Oh that's right. That son of a bitch! What is his thing about surprises and what is he doing dispatching someone else to fuck me and providing an audience? I know he is a wealthy man and can afford to do such a thing, but why? Is it because when we talked on the phone and he would offer to buy me things, I refused? He knows I make a good living and don't need to be supported by a man. I choose to be single." I said, thinking out loud.
Bailey said, "Hold on Joanie. Your receipts are in the print room and I need to go get them before one of the other assistants gets to them; especially Randall's bitch. She would have those copied and on his desk so fast that no one would ever know." I heard some talking in the background and Bailey said, "I will call you right back."
I continued to soak in the tub with some satisfaction. At least I knew how Lance had the address to the beach house. How could I have let that out? Now there were just three unanswered questions. Who did I fuck, why had Lance sent him, and what had my mysterious lover mean when he said, "Tell Lance this one is on the house?" It was taking Bailey a while to call me back and my water was starting to get cold so I finished my bath and got out, dried off and put on my short silk robe from the closet and headed downstairs.
As promised, there was the envelope on the counter, but I wasn't ready to touch it. I went straight for my laptop to see if Cory, Lance or Sam had emailed me. Opening my computer, I expected to hear from Sam and Cory but felt as though I would not see another email from Lance. To my surprise, I had emails from all three.
I opened Cory's first. He simply said, "Wednesday night will be perfect and thank you for letting me spend the night. I will make it worth your while."
I wrote him back, "Meet me at the Boardwalk Pier on Carolina Beach at 7pm." I was much more careful writing the email with that envelope sitting on the counter reminding me of what can happen if I get sloppy again. I gave no phone number to Cory, only a place and time to meet.
I opened Sam's email next. His email was much longer. He wrote, "Joanie, I am available to Skype Tuesday afternoon but I want it to be an exciting preview of what I can expect with you in person so I have a few requests if you are willing. You had mentioned that you would be in Wilmington this week and staying at the beach. I enjoy sex in semi public places, especially outdoors. I'm quite an exhibitionist and a voyeur as well. I would like you to find a place on the beach to Skype with me. Lay out a blanket in the sand; bring your toys and your laptop. Late afternoon would be great with the sun shining on your naked body after you strip for me and I find you wearing nothing but nipple clamps after your last piece of clothing is removed. Please let me know if 4pm works for you. Will you do all the things I request or do I ask too much? If you're willing, we can do these things together when we meet in person. I look forward to hearing from you."
Sam had a great idea. I had never had a Skype session with anyone in a semi public place. I had done some from my office but mostly I did my Skype sessions from my bed. This could really prove to be an exhilarating experience. My only hang up was the nipple clamps. I hadn't used any on myself in a long while and I didn't have them with me so I would need to stop at the adult toy store after work for a new set. "What the hell." I thought. I could leave work around noon and make sure I had a nice spot picked out, toys ready, computer charged, high definition web cam tested and ready to go. Then I realized another hold up, the wireless internet access. If I went much farther than my deck, I'd lose signal. I thought about that and decided that the very lounger that I was tanning in earlier would be perfect. It was obviously public enough. I would be visible from the beach and from neighbors' houses. I also decided to check the envelope before I sent my reply to Sam. I needed to make sure Lance wasn't fucking with me.
I sat there for a few minutes trying to decide if I should open the email from Lance or envelope first. I chose the envelope and set my laptop down. I realized as I reached for the envelope that Bailey hadn't called back yet, but shrugged it off. It was Monday and the office in Houston is always overwhelmingly busy on Mondays. I set the envelope on the couch and fixed myself a stiff drink and thought of my beach rental agent, Angela. She stocked the last two beach rentals well for me including an extensive bar that I needed desperately at the moment.
I poured myself Vodka with a splash of orange juice and set down on the couch and opened the white envelope that was marked "Joanie" on the outside. I took a long hard drink and removed the contents of the envelope. It was a letter from Lance just as my lover had implied. It read, "My Dearest Joanie, I hope you enjoyed my gift this afternoon. I couldn't be there to do it myself and since you won't allow me to buy you things; I thought the least I could do was arrange an exciting welcome to the beach house that we will share later in the week. I hope to hear all about it and maybe even have a reenactment of the sex you shared with Reggie. He is a great guy that I met when you and I stayed at the Courtyard Marriott. I gave him a handsome tip along with my card and told him to call me for some work I had coming up. If you will recall, he was the gentleman that waited on us at the beach. He set up our chairs, umbrella, brought us drinks, lunch, etc. He is on my staff now to help you with anything you need when you are in town. I had my secretary make him some business cards. There is one enclosed. Should you need anything and I am not there, please call Reggie. He will take care of any need you could possibly have."
I picked up my glass and downed the last of my drink. My hand was shaking so I fixed myself another drink and went back to the letter. Lance had the audacity to sign the letter "All My Love, Lance".
I downed my second drink as I set Reggie's business card on the coffee table, got up and fixed another drink. I was still shaking. "He has hired a spy to keep an eye on me, fuck me, and make me his kept woman. Is that what this is? Am I being paranoid? What do I really know about Lance and why hasn't Bailey called me back? I'm in a panic!" I thought. I slammed my third vodka of the night and made a fourth.
The alcohol was starting to kick in. I leaned back in the sofa with my drink and laughed to myself. "Boy, Lance makes Randall look like a walk in the park. The only difference between the two is that I seem to like Lance, for some reason." I said to the empty room. Just as I set my glass down, my phone rang. It was Bailey finally. I asked "What took you so long?"
"Ramona was having trouble with one of the printers and I had to make three trips from my desk to the printer room to get your reservation receipts printed. Apparently, we were using the same printer at the exact same time and something must have gone haywire." she explained. "Randall was having a fit with Ramona, demanding that she get his documents first and that I would just have to wait. I don't know how you work with that man, Joanie." Bailey said with an exasperated sigh.
I said, "He is small change, Honey. Wait til you hear this letter that was in the envelope." I read the letter to Bailey. This answered who I had fucked and why Reggie said to tell Lance this one was 'on the house'. Reggie was on Lance's payroll but I still didn't have the answer to why Lance hired him and sent him. "Bailey, all I have is speculation at this point and I still haven't opened his email." I told her about Cory and Sam. She agreed with me that they seemed harmless and to have some fun.
