THE PERFORMANCE - CHAPTER TWENTY
Tom and Cate arrived at the Sinclair's house shortly after 7:00, just barely, what one might refer to as 'fashionably late'. To call the place a house would be an enormous understatement. It was more of a mansion...or an estate. Big metal gates, fancy landscaping, circular driveway, huge columns, the whole nine yards. Jason's company obviously did very well. And so apparently, did Jason. It was impressive to behold.
Sasha greeted them at the door giving Cate a big hug and kiss on the cheek. She repeated the ritual with Tom and then made way for her husband, who without a look towards Tom, greeted Cate as he had at the bar, putting his hands on her hips, leaning forward, and kissing her softly on the cheek. When he was done with that overly forward display, he looked her in the eye and winked. Only then did he turn to Tom, offer his hand, and say, "Great to see you again, so glad you two could make it."
"Our pleasure," said Tom, shaking Jason's hand. He cringed inside at the man's audacity. "So nice of you to invite us. You have a very beautiful home."
"Not at all. The pleasure is all ours," Jason replied, again turning to face Cate, quickly checking out her voluptuous figure, and then again looking into her eyes. "And our home is all the more beautiful for the presence of this lovely creature."
"Please, come on in," interrupted Sasha, rolling her eyes at Cate and Tom. "Ignore Mr. Smarmy here. Let's make ourselves comfortable. Dinner will be served shortly if that's okay with you two. I for one am famished."
As they moved from the foyer, Jason's gaze did not desert Cate. He was appraising her like she was a new car that he was dying to test drive. If she had tires he would have kicked them. She was impeccably dressed for the evening and looked as alluring as ever. Her cream coloured, linen dress was form-fitting, clinging to, and showing off, her juicy behind to great advantage. The dress' décolletage allowed for an acre of cleavage to be on show, down which one could likely get lost for an appreciable amount of time. X-ray vision would reveal that the brassiere she was wearing was what her husband referred to as a 'half and half' bra. The bottom half of the cups were solid and opaque and offered excellent uplift and support, essentially putting her formidable breasts on a shelf. The top of the cups, however, consisted of very delicate, see-through lace, which served as windows to her puckered brown areolae and thick, prominent nipples. Her midnight blue bolero jacket matched her head-turning heels, and her sculpted, dancer legs were encased in French cut, low-rise, crotchless pantyhose that left her lady parts deliciously exposed. Her usual preference was for stay-ups but she felt the deviation tonight was for good reason. The dress was short enough that it would have been far too easy to expose the tops of stockings and thus turn her look from classy to brassy. There were no panty lines because, as was becoming more and more the case these days, there were no panties to be found. She refused to spoil the line of this perfect dress.
They all moved into the giant living room, a high-ceilinged, cavernous space with comfortable couches and chairs scattered throughout. Music was piped in from somewhere and the lighting was low and relaxing. Tom and Cate settled into a soft, expensive-looking couch directly across from its twin, where Jason and Sasha were seated facing them. Sasha asked if they wanted something to drink and Cate surprised everyone by saying she would love a glass of wine. Judging by the other empty glasses, it was apparent that their hosts had already had a glass or two each and were also going to join Cate in a drink. Tom gave his wife a quizzical look and then asked for a soda water.
Wine and soda were poured and a toast was proposed by Jason. All drank to the occasion with Cate taking a big first sip as if she were trying to calm her nerves. Tom was well aware that should she have more than a glass or two, this evening could get very interesting. She only really consumed alcohol when she was nervous or anxious and he wondered why, or if, she would be feeling either of those things tonight. There was no real good reason for either. Sasha was her friend and student, and she had been able to fend off Jason's advances with considerable ease and self-assurance. Alcohol generally had an immediate effect on her, relaxing her inhibitions, and occasionally clouding her judgement. Perhaps she just felt like getting a little bit loose this evening.
Sasha announced that dinner was about to be served, so they all moved into the dining area, which was at the other end of the great room.
"I hope fish is all right for you two. I thought something light might be the way to go this evening. However, if either of you would like something different, I'm sure Josie can whip something else up. She's still in the kitchen and could easily prepare an alternative," Jason said to his guests.
"No, fish is totally fine. Anything we don't have to cook ourselves is great," Cate replied chuckling.
"Excellent. Then let's eat," said Sasha.
And almost as if by magic, Josie, the Sinclair's cook, carted out the beautifully plated, scrumptious-looking meals. She was told that she could now retire to her quarters in the guest house and would not be needed for the rest of the evening.
Dinner was exquisite, and the four friends engaged in the usual small talk about work and life in general, jabbering away in between bites of their delicious meal. The conversation soon turned to the night of Cate's performances.
"Jason tells me that the show was nothing short of spectacular. He gave me very few details except to say that it was totally breathtaking and was very well-received by his guys. I hope you enjoyed your evening as much as they did. I also hope that he wasn't too frisky and was reasonably behaved. He tends to be a bit overzealous at times as I'm sure you must have experienced," said Sasha with a smile.
"Yes, I did enjoy the evening. Immensely. Probably more than they did. As for your husband, he definitely was not subtle," said Cate, looking directly at Sasha and smirking. "Frisky is a pretty apt description of your husband's behaviour in general I think. He informed me on more than one occasion that you are tolerant and open-minded when it comes to his, let's say, extracurricular pursuits. In fact, Tom inadvertently intercepted a text from you to him; the last line of which read, 'How goes your seduction'. I confess that it made us both wonder just how involved you were with his blatant attempt at seduction, other than giving your tacit approval," Cate said, raising an eyebrow.
"Ah yes, that. Jason mentioned that you had seen that and I was hoping to clear that up for you. Well, as you know, it's almost impossible to interpret the tone or nuance of a text message. The one I sent, the one you saw, was totally sarcastic in nature, I assure you. I was essentially teasing him, and if I had ended the text by adding the word 'loser' or 'sucker', it would have been absolutely clear that I was making fun of him. Of course, I knew he would try to seduce you. He's an incurable hound by nature. Always has been. And - well - look at you. You're an irresistible temptation. But I also told him that his chance of success was slim and none. You and Tom are one of the tightest, most in-love couples that I have ever met and I took great joy in knowing he was chasing his tail, and looking like a lust-crazed fool. I was pretty sure you could handle yourself. One doesn't go through life looking like you do without becoming adept at fending off horny, would-be suiters who try to entice you into some sort of sexual congress," Sasha explained, pointedly.
"Well, that is true enough and thank you for clearing up that little message question. I was a bit perplexed when Tom told me about it. Your explanation now makes perfect sense," said Cate, glancing towards Jason, who had not taken his eyes off her during the entire conversation. "In any event, no harm, no foul. And yes, your husband can certainly be...single-minded."
"Yes, and that is an understatement for sure. So, I was told that your handsome hubby here recorded the performances for posterity. I do hope that you decided to bring them with you. I must tell you that I am absolutely dying to see them, and have thought of little else all day in anticipation of doing so. I can tell you for a fact that Jason is also excited to relive the evening by again watching the videos of your performances. I'm sure his reasons for wanting to see them are very different from mine, but well, here we are. Your personal protection skills may have to come into play tonight if we don't keep this one on a leash of some sort," Sasha joked, nodding towards her husband."
Cate smiled and took the liberty of pouring herself another small glass of wine. This was her second of the evening and she was starting to feel the effects already. Slightly light-headed but mercifully much more relaxed than when she first arrived. She would sip this one slowly and make it last.
"Oh, I'm not too concerned. He looks reasonably harmless, and besides, I have you and Tom to protect virtue should he start to seriously misbehave," Cate quipped.
"As far as viewing these videos," she continued. "I should warn you in advance, that outside of the first piece, which I know you've seen before, the rest of the performances are a little more, well, actually a lot more, risqué than I've ever done before. I thoroughly surrendered to the moment, and my inhibitions, and arguably my sense of propriety, appeared to have totally abandoned me.
"She was absolutely phenomenal," Jason jumped in. "All of the performances were remarkable, but the last one was sensational. I have never seen anything like it. Artistic, seductive and sensual. It was impressive. We were all left breathless."
