"Becky would you mind showing Mark around the office and help him settle in please?" Mr Anderson our senior partner requested.
"Of course." I replied smiling at our new solicitor, gesturing he come with me.
Mark was a dark haired handsome man who dressed very well and carried the persona of confidence and success without any arrogance. He greeted me warmly before I showed him the layout of the office and where everyone sat, I introduced him to everyone and gave him an overview of their role, time with the partnership and a few tidbits of personal information. Mark reacted positively and made a good effort to say hello and help himself settle in. He suggested we go to lunch together that day so we could chat a little more and so I could also show him the nearby area.
"I hear you're new to the area?" I asked Mark as we sat outside a small cafe in the centre of town five minutes from our offices.
"Yeah, I'm pretty much starting again. I don't really know anyone here but I've been thinking of setting up my own firm and was offered the chance to join Anderson and Partners here and couldn't turn it down." Mark began to explain.
"How do you feel about that?" I asked leaning forward and staring intently in his eyes.
"Better and better actually. I didn't have too many friends where I was and I was always so busy with work, then I'd broken up with my long term girlfriend which was another reason I thought the change in location would be good."
"Sorry to hear that. Was that recent?"
"It all happened in the last few months. I'm ok we're both adults and knew it hadn't been right for some time. Anyway tell me more about you?" Mark redirected. "How long have you been here?"
"Well Ben and I married about a year and a half ago and both started new jobs in the city."
"You're married? Wow, how old are you?"
"23." I replied. Mark looked at me and gestured he was impressed and surprised by this. I'd seen his date of birth on documents earlier and knew he had just turned 37 but it didn't seem he'd ever married. "Anyway after doing well in an admin role at Anderson and partners during my gap year before university I managed to get a job here afterward doing legal secretarial work while I continue studying with a view to further growth."
"Thats sounds like a good plan. What does your husband do?"
"He works in Telecoms for a company who specialise in worldwide roaming. Unfortunately he's away a lot at the moment trying to sort agreements between his network and others around the globe but when he's not he works quite nearby and we often get lunch together." I began to explain. I could see Mark losing interest and up 'till then had enjoyed the way he was asking about me and behaving around me. I had learnt back at university the value of flirtation and even if men couldn't have you it didn't mean they didn't enjoy the chase or faint possibility.
"He's a lucky man, not sure I'd be happy to leave someone like you at home so much." Mark kindly remarked. I smiled and faintly touched his hand in response, he looked up a little shocked at this unexpected gesture of affection and I saw a sparkle in his eye.
"Aw thanks. He's doing really well but it can be hard..." I paused thinking how to proceed.
"Sometimes I wonder if there are ways of spicing it all up a bit in an effort to try and keep him around more."
"Spice it up? In what way?" Mark pushed showing more interest.
"Yeah, you know, surprise him..."
"How would you do that?"
"Well... No I can't..." I blushed, I knew this would force Mark to insist and deliberately steered our conversation this way to gauge his reaction to my ideas. I had alway wanted to see what it would be like to wind up and flirt with an older man the way I'd wound up guys at university. Ben actually loved this idea and would try and encourage me then make passionate love to me after I told him of the things I did to turn people on.
"Of course you can? Go on please." Mark pressed.
"Well, I thought of meeting him here wearing something sexy."
"Always a good way to win a mans attention."
"Like what?" Mark pushed further, sipping his coffee as he listened more intently than to anything else I'd said.
"Well, a really short dress or..."
"Or what?"
"Or something I did once before. Meet him at his office wearing just my coat."
"Just your coat?" Mark coughed in surprise, Not expecting my answer.
"Yeah... Like...without anything underneath."
"Blimey that's brave. I can't imaging anyone not appreciating that...Wow." Mark gulped. "And you've done that before?"
"I did it once before, at university a few years ago. We were celebrating our engagement and I went out in just this coat." I teased, seizing my opportunity as Mark went more and more red fidgeting awkwardly at the table.
"What that coat?" Mark asked pointing at the light blue short trench coat I was wearing.
"Yeah."
"And what else did you wear with it?"
"Nothing."
"Nothing? Where did you go. What happened?" Mark pushed more urgently scratching his head in disbelief.
"We went to a bar and some of my friends began to catch on to what I was or wasn't wearing. A few tried to force the issue but I just kept it all a bit of a mystery. I did get a lot of nice compliments about my legs though."
"I'm sure, I mean I cant see them due to your trousers but In that coat... well that's quite a short coat. What I can't imagine is you wearing nothing underneath the coat."
"Well back then I had never done anything like that and was never one to show my legs. I'd grown up thinking I was ugly and no man would be interested in me. Then Ben came along and gave me some confidence in my own body."
"That's hard to believe, you are a very attractive young woman." Mark asserted kindly.
"Thank you. But yeah, when I was wearing just the coat - We all went from the bar to a nightclub and when all my friends expected me to take off my coat to show this fictitious revealing outfit they'd assumed I was wearing we had to announce I was actually completely naked under the coat."
"Wait, completely naked? Didn't you even have underwear on?" Mark balked.
"Oh no. I was literally dressed in shoes and a coat. And later on in the club the coat came off too!" I giggled playfully.
"No way!"
"Yeah!" I reassured. "I actually did a pole dance on a small stage with the whole club watching and then stripped out of it. That was fun..." I then teased reminiscing further.
"Bloody hell! No, you're just winding me up now?"
"Maybe I am, but it did happen."
"No no. You're far too sweet for that. You'll have to do a lot better to prove it to me!" Mark stated.
"Well... I can, I have pictures that were taken at the time and videos went viral on the internet but I managed to get them all removed."
"Really?"
"Yeah it's one of the ways I knew I could do this legal stuff because I threatened legal action on people who'd uploaded damaging images and videos of me without my consent. There may still be a few out there but there's a pretty fantastic program searching the web and ceasing such things as they appear."
"Smart and attractive. Aren't you something." Mark remarked.
Conversation moved back to work though Mark did want to know if our colleagues knew about my previous escapades - which they didn't and he was under strict instructions never to tell them or let them find out, to which he agreed. We talked of many things and on the walk back to the office he thanked me for a lovely lunch before heading off in the afternoon to his new office to start doing some actual work. I went back to my desk in the open plan office where those of us that weren't solicitors worked and started to make my way through a mountain of files I'd had build up quicker than I could sort them in the previous week.
Toward the end of the day Mark came back over to my desk.
"Hey, how are you getting on?" I asked warmly.
"Yeah very well thanks just looking at some of the cases I've been assigned. I was just thinking, what are you doing after work?"
"Not much, with Ben away it'll be a quick dinner then sitting around watching TV. I'll probably video chat with him later."
"I was wondering if you wanted to get some dinner after work, my treat, for helping me settle in today." Mark suggested kindly, he was calm and confident and showed nothing but sincerity in his intentions.
"Aw. Well that was my pleasure, you don't need to do that."
"I'd like to, as I'm knew in town I've not really got any friends to go see so I too would have a lonely evening if we didn't."
"Well we can't have that can we. I'd love to thanks." I responded warmly,
I had needed to work a little late to catch up so the office was all but empty when Mark and I went to leave. Mr Anderson and the cleaner where the only ones there as we walked out.
