Professional Excellence Ch 06

Monica first appeared momentarily in

Entertaining at Large Chapter XV

and then had a starring role in the next one. That's how this all started. Be worth reading if you want to be fully in the picture, Comments, suggestions and support are always appreciated.

*****

The phone rang as I was just about to go out so I was perhaps less than polite when I picked up.

'Yes?'

There was a moment's silence at the other end of the line, long enough for me to feel some relief that it wasn't some slick salesperson eager to get into their pitch.

'Monica?'

The voice was familiar, and male, but I couldn't quite place it. He sounded worried.

'Yes?'

I was less brusque this time but still not willing to sound committal.

'It"s David. David Smythe.'

'David. Wonderful to hear from you. Sorry if I sounded a bit off there. How are you? Well, I hope.'

'I'm fine. Very well in fact. Never been better.'

'Good. I hope you're calling to say you've decided to accept our invitation to dinner. It would be lovely to see you.'

I was trying to sound upbeat. My last encounter with our old family friend had been interesting to say the least. He had come back to the house with my husband Howard after a drunken gentleman's evening at their lodge. He had in fact come to avail himself of Monique. It had been a confusing transaction, for both of us. His late wife had been a good friend and I had been concerned at the time and since that the relationship between us - all three of us really - would be irretrievably broken.

'That would be very nice. I'll make the arrangements with Howard when I see him next week.'

'Great. I'll look forward to it.'

I paused to see whether he had called for any other reason. I dropped by gym bag on the floor. I had been eager to go for a swim, but for David that could wait.

'Erm actually I was calling to speak to Monique.'

'She has a separate number. Do you have a pen?'

I waited while he found one mulling over in my mind what this could be about. I always kept a firm line between the two parts of my life. I had decided, when thinking about that evening later, that with David, and any other of Howard's friends for that matter, it needed to be a wall. When he came back on the line I gave him the number of the mobile I kept specifically for business and had him read it back to me.

'Perfect. I'll let you get off, now. You're clearly busy. But I'm really looking forward to dinner. I shall be very disappointed if you don't come.'

'I shall see you both soon. I promise.'

We hung up after saying our goodbyes and I sat down heavily in the chair next to the hall table. I puffed our my cheeks while I searched in my handbag for Monique's mobile, my mind racing. It was ringing almost as soon as I found it.

'David?'

The softened tone was almost second nature to me now.

'Yes. I got your number from Monica. I do hope you don't mind me calling.'

'Not at all. I enjoyed our little get together very much. I've been hoping you would contact me again.'

'About that.'

He paused. I just waited for him to continue. One of the things I admired about people of business was their ability to get to the point.

'I was doing my accounts and I realised you hadn't cashed the cheque I gave you. I hope there is nothing wrong?'

'Not at all. I still have it. It's stupid of me really. I do so much of my banking on-line these days I rarely visit a branch. I haven't caused you any problems have I?'

'No, no. I was just concerned, that's all. You should have offered me the opportunity to pay you by automatic transfer at the time. It would have been easier for both of us.'

'Perhaps next time.'

I had another brief wait.

'I was wondering when you might be free. This afternoon?'

'I could do that. I was just off to the gym. I try to swim a mile every Tuesday. I could come to you when I've finished.'

'Better still, you could swim in our pool.'

He was definitely an enthusiast, I thought. An image flashed in my brain of him wanking off at the memory of our encounter whilst trying to pluck up the courage to repeat the experience.

'That's very kind.'

'No trouble. It doesn't get used half enough.'

'I'll be over in about half-an-hour then.'

'I'll be waiting.'

David lived in a large detached house on the edge of the nearest village to town. It was no more than a ten minute drive but I was still a little anxious I might be late when I pulled in to his private drive. The casual clothes and functional swimsuit I had with me when I picked up the phone had all had to be ditched. I had quickly changed and slapped on a minimum amount of tarty make-up. David would not want to be scooping out false eyelashes after my dip, but as a client I was sure he would expect a certain standard.

I checked my make-up in the rear view mirror one last time and slipped off the flats I'd been driving in. There was only about five metres of gravel between the car and door; I reckoned I should make it in high heels without breaking an ankle. I was right, but only just. There were a couple of wobbly moments but I made the safety of the wide, brick-built porch without mishap. I heard the deep tone of a bell ringing somewhere deep in the house after I pressed the bell, and hastily straightened my skirt and fluffed up my hair in the broken reflections from the glass-panels of the door as I heard footsteps.

'Monique. Right on time. Do come in. I can't tell you what a pleasure it is to see you again.'

The few remaining doubts I had been entertaining about this fresh encounter were immediately dispelled. I was surprised at how strong the wave of relief was. David stood there, one hand on the door, looking me up and down with what can only be described as lust. I smiled and stepped over the threshold presenting my cheek for him to kiss. We stood for a moment in the entrance hall; him seemingly transfixed by the sight of my cleavage in the loose blouse I had chosen, me taking in the changes to the house since I had last visited.

'I'm so glad you called.'

I was taller than him in my heels so I could easily scan above his head as he rested his hands lightly on my waist. He was looking fit and tanned in light chinos and a bright pink polo shirt. The house has been stripped of the rather ornate, patterned wallpaper his late wife favoured. The whole place felt lighter and more airy.

'Forgive me, I was miles away?'

'I don't think that's true.'

I bent and kissed his cheek, pressing my breasts against his chest. I felt his grip on my waist tighten slightly.

'Come through. Can I offer you some refreshment? Would you like to get changed? Or shall we settle the financial details first?'

I laughed and let him guide me with a hand on my back into what had been a small parlour just off the spacious hall and was now decked out as a modern office.

'Slow down, we've plenty of time.'

'Sorry.'

'Don't be. Thanks for the offer, But I won't have anything before my swim. Don't want to get cramp.'

I settled onto the upholstered hard back chair he pulled away from a small desk in the centre of the room and waited while he took station on the other side.

'I think settling payment is a sensible idea. Saves any awkwardness later.'

I glanced out of the window at the thick laurel hedges on the other side of the drive which completely shielded the house from the road.

'As for changing, I can do that here as well as anywhere. I noticed you were rather taken with my breasts.'

He pushed the expensive-looking office chair away from the lap top he had been firing up and swivelled to face me. I straightened my back against the chair and returned his gaze.

'They are something to behold.'

I smoothed the cream silk over my mounds as his eyes followed my hands. I toyed with the uppermost, unfastened button.

'You really are a flatterer, David.'

'And you, Monique, are a tease. Let's get some money transferred.'

He slapped his hands on his thighs and span back to the computer. I winced with him at the sound of his knee connecting with the leg of the desk. I pulled my heavy chair back a couple of feet when I stood to go and get my purse. David needed my bank details; I thought a little distance between us may allow him to enjoy the sight of me changing more. He had donned a pair of old-fashioned, half-moon spectacles to read the screen and looked almost studious as he peered over them when I bent over my hold-all pretending to search. He returned my smile as I handed him my plastic.

'Will this do?'

'Perfectly.'

He quickly returned to the computer and propped the card up against a half-full water glass.

'May I just say, while I do this, how easy you make it all.'

He held up a hand to stop me replying without taking his eyes from the screen. I could see his lips move as he silently remembered his password.

'I'll just say this once and then we need never discuss it again.'

He took a deep breath.

'I was so glad to meet you Monique. I have always admired Monica. As a beautiful woman, of course, but mostly as the good friend of my wife. She was so kind to her in her last days.'

'You don't have to...'

There was a catch in his voice. I knew that if he started crying, I would too. I wanted to stop him. The dilemma I had thought was behind us was coming steaming back.

No. Let me finish.'

He was almost commanding as he cut off my interruption. Whether that was for his own benefit, or mine, I wasn't sure.

'I have obviously been thinking about, well sex, increasingly over the past several months. Veronica made me promise, just before she died, that I wouldn't cut myself off from the world, so I wasn't feeling guilty..'

'She was a wonderful woman.'

'She was. And though I've had a number of encounters in a social setting with women who have made it abundantly clear that they were, well, "available" should I wish to pursue a relationship.'

I thought about the catch he would be for the sisterhood of widows and divorcees and almost smiled. A well-off, physically attractive, lonely, older man would have his pick of the crop if he was so inclined. I had to drag my attention back to what he was saying.

'So when Howard told me about Monique, I couldn't believe my luck. It was the perfect solution I had been searching for.'

'I'm pleased.'

I had lost the drift of what he had been saying and shuffled in my seat to make myself concentrate.

'Do you want me to anonymise this?'

'Sorry?'

'The payment? Will it cause problems if your statement shows it comes from me?'

'Oh, I get you. No, don't worry. My finances are entirely private. You were saying.'

He tapped a few keys and frowned at the screen in concentration.

'Yes. I almost bolted when it turned out to be true.'

'I'm glad you didn't.'

'When you came back to the room

almost

wearing that outfit.'

He paused and turned to smile at me.

'It was like all my Xmases had come at once. And you were so professional and - I think

adept

is the word - I wanted to call you the next day for another session.'

'You should have done.'

He stopped me again.

'I've almost finished. I felt guilty and confused. I was worried I had ruined my relationship with Monica and Howard for ever. And they're both very important to me. But when I bumped into Howard he was most insistent I come to dinner with them both.'

'I'm sure Monica would too.'

'Thank you, I promise to take you up on it. But I couldn't get Monique out of my mind. I just had to resolve the dilemma. That's why I called.'

He fell silent, lost in his own thoughts as he calculated what to say next. I stood up, went round the desk and rested my hands on his shoulders as he watched the wait signal circle on the screen.

'Let me finish for you. Monique is a tart. A whore. She enjoys what she does and, as you discovered, is good at it. Her friend Monica is different altogether. So long as you're clear about your relationship with each of them, we'll get along famously.'

I kissed the top of his head and he leaned back to smile up at me.

'Bloody hell.'

The screen cleared and a message had come up to say that five hundred pounds had been successfully transferred.

'That's much too much. Unless you've got something really filthy in mind.'

He looked momentarily confused, then realised what I was talking about and smiled benignly.

'Don't be silly. I don't do "really filthy".'

He twisted the chair to face me and ran a hand up the back of my leg. He raised the hem of my skirt slightly and stopped with his hand on my bare skin, just above the top of my stocking.

'Not yet, anyway.'

He smiled up at me as I moved slightly closer - as close as the substantial chair would allow - and started unbuttoning my blouse.

'I'll have to start compiling a list of suggestions while I'm in the pool. But, for now, would you mind unclasping my bra?'

I turned my back to him letting the cool silk of the blouse slip through my fingers as I perched on his knees. It flowed like water over the arm of the chair and formed a glistening pool at our feet. I could feel hot fingers fumbling in the centre of my back.

'It's been a long time since I did this.'

'I doubt the technology has moved on much since the last time.'

'There.'

I felt the elasticated sides spring free and heard a triumphant chuckle behind me. I slipped the straps from my shoulders as I stood and dropped the lacy confection on top of the blouse. He gasped appreciatively and I grinned down at him.

'Just like riding a bike. Once you've mastered it you never lose the skill.'

I cradled my tits in my hands and squashed them together wondering whether they had looked bigger than the 35DD I knew they were. David watched on clearly fascinated.

'You're a lot less shy that the last time we met.'

I reached behind my waist, unzipped my skirt and let it fall to the floor. I turned side-on to him and bent from the waist to pick it up.

'Well I'm sober for one thing. And I think knowing that I've paid you to entertain me has something to do with it.'

I gave him a questioning frown as I walked the two steps to his chair and dropped the skirt on the rest of my clothes. He rushed to continue.

'I know I gave you a cheque and everything. But when I thought about what we did afterwards I couldn't get out of my mind the idea that it was some kind of, I don't know, charity on your part.'

'A pity fuck?'

I had bent forward slightly to reach down and undo the clips of my suspenders. My boobs were swinging heavily in front of his face which he made no attempt to pull away.

'Is that what you call it? I shall have to remember.'

I tapped him on the side of one knee to get him to put his legs together so I could sit down to remove my stockings. He had manspread since I started undressing. Probably to relieve the pressure on the significant erection which was indicating its arrival by stretching the tailored front of his trousers.

'I'm a strictly cash-only operative. Don't get me wrong, I like most of my clients. And you especially.'

I bent down and kissed his forehead before kicking off one of my heels and pulling the stocking off my foot. I leaned back to drop it over my shoulder onto the pile.

'But you were paying and it was my job to make sure you got your money's worth.'

'I would have paid double.'

The almost reverential tone he adopted made me laugh. David groaned slightly as I adjusted my position to unhook the other stocking.

'Now you tell me. Which reminds me. I have a question for you.'

'Go on.'

'Kissing? What's your position?'

'I'm not sure I follow.'

I had rolled the other stocking down to my ankle, so looked up over my shoulder so I could see his face for any reaction.

'Somewhere, lost in the mists of history, it became some kind of unwritten law, that tarts don't snog their johns.'

'I'm sure I've heard that somewhere.'

'I don't get it.'

I sat back up, disposed of the stocking and twisted my now redundant suspender belt around my waist to unclip it at the front while I waited for his answer.

'I'm sorry, I'm not really following.'

I turned on his knees to face him. I heard another sharp intake of breath.

'I'm not too heavy for you, am I? I'll get up if you like.'

I made to get up off his knees, but he quickly ran one arm around my waist and pressed the other down across my thighs. I felt myself shiver slightly with the warm contact.

'No don't. It is slightly uncomfortable. But in a nice way.'

There was an urgency in his voice.

'Oh.'

I made a bow with my lips and widened my eyes. Little miss innocent.

'I think I understand now. Is this the reason?'

I could feel his erection pressing against the outside of my thigh and I wriggled slightly to exert more pressure. We exchanged another smile.

'You were talking about kissing.'

'Oh yes.'

I stopped teasing him with my buttocks and put an arm around his shoulders to help me sit in a more upright position. I bent and kissed him on the cheek, pausing for a moment to admire the perfect lip-mark left by my cheap lipstick.

'Prostitutes - like me - seem to have made it a rule never to kiss their clients on the mouth.'

I had punctuated my sentence with small kisses on his neck and ear.

'Lots of punters - like you - seem to have signed up to the same regulation. Myself, I like a bit of a snog. And if it wouldn't embarrass you, I'd like to kiss you now.'

I stretched my neck backwards so that I could see him clearly. His face was now red. Most of the colour came from my lipstick, but he was clearly flushed beneath it. I moved my face slightly towards his and felt his hand run quickly up to my neck to pull me against him. Our lips met with something of a crunch and it took a moment or two for us to establish a style.

The kiss probably didn't last for more than a minute, but it left both of us slightly breathless. David had started with his lips pursed and hard. By the time we finished we were both almost stretching our jaws to accommodate the international-standard tongue wrestling which was going on. I took a few gulps of air, swallowed my accumulated saliva and wiped the edge of my mouth with a thumb and finger.

'Wow. Don't even try to sell me the idea that you haven't done that for years. I just won't believe you.'

I smiled at him and bent again to kiss him gently, and quickly, on the lips. He was grinning from ear-to-ear.

'Shoes on or off?'

'What?'

His grin folded down into a look of puzzlement.

'I know I'm not a professional stripper or anything.'

'You do have an unerring ability to confuse, however.'

He was smiling warmly now.

'Strippers. You know, the kind you and the boys at the lodge like ogling. They always keep their heels on.'

'Yes.'

His voice was hesitant, his look one of concentration, as if I was a non-English speaker and he wasn't confident he was following what I was saying.

'Well you've got me down to my panties in no-time flat. I'm going to have to stand up to take them off and then walk over to my bag for a swimsuit.'

'I see.'

His tone betrayed that he obviously didn't.

'So would sir prefer me to put my stilettos back on like a Gypsy Rose Lee while I do that, or shall I just stroll over there without?'

You could almost hear the light go on in his head.

'Oh, on, I think, don't you?'

He sounded like a man asking advice on choosing a tie to match his shirt.

'I have to admit I haven't done as much research as some other men.'

'But.'

We were both almost laughing now. He gave me a little nod.

'As you say. "But". I must say I do like the way heels add to the definition in a beautiful woman's legs and.'

'Arse?'

'I was searching momentarily for a polite way of saying that, but you get the gist.'

'You really are beginning to explore your filthy side, aren't you David?'