âWow, thank you for introducing us to each otherâ I told Jenny, nodding towards the elevator as it closed its doors. âWhen I asked you if you knew someone I could take to the Birchwood Building Halloween Party, I never thought you would find such a gorgeous girl.â
I was referring to Emma, Jennyâs friend who just had lunch with us in the cafeteria of the building. She was a smart, sociable brown-haired thirty-something beauty who had stunning looks and whatâs more, seemed to like me as well. I saw her several times in the building, but either I was in a hurry or she was running somewhere, so I never had the chance to say more than just a âGood morning!â However, I wanted to change that and when Jenny said she knew her, I decided that this was my chance. I wanted to take her to the Halloween Party, an event organized by the cafeteria of the building.
It was a costume party with a buffet dinner, and quite a successful one for the last two years, although the success was not necessarily a result of the otherwise very good organization. While I could not be there last year, Jenny told me later that most people used the occasion to have sex upstairs. She also got lucky that night in one of the offices on the seventh floor and she saw at least two other couples next door and several others as she came down the stairs.
âWell, I didnât have to think that hard. She already repeatedly asked me to introduce her to the
handsome guy
she saw regularly in my company. And as you asked me if I knew someone who could come with you to the party, I took the liberty to make you meet each otherâŠâ
âYou did a great job, Jenny. I think she is a wonderfully refreshing woman and I think it would be great if we could hit it offâŠâ I said, but I noticed that she wanted to say something more.
âOK, spit it out, what is the
but
?â
âShe comes in a package.â
âMarried with children?â I asked a bit disappointedly.
âOnly the second part. She is divorced.â Jenny said, and then added, âShe explicitly asked me to tell this to you.
âOh, then I donât see a problem,â I said.
âNo?â Jenny asked with a surprised look.
âJenny, Iâm not twenty any more. Most of the women I have dated during the last years have kids. One has to accept that. But I donât want to see a jealous husband standing armed on my porch.â
âFair enough.â Jenny said smiling. âWell, you might also want to know how we became friends.â
âI assume this means you two did not meet here, in the building, right?â
âRight. We met in the club I visit every now and then,â Jenny said in an uneasy voice, even though she knew that unlike her family, I did not have any issues with her sexual adventures.
The
club
was an all-female invite-only exclusive club where women who had an aptitude for exhibitionism had the possibility to gratify their passion. Those who wanted to show how they danced, played with toys or pleased themselves had the chance to do so in front of an audience.
Clothing both for the performers and for the audience was optional, but those who wanted to remain incognito had the possibility to wear masks. No professionals were allowed and sex or physical interaction was prohibited.
âDid she also ask you to tell me that as well? â I asked intrigued.
âYes, she actually did. When I told her that you and I were friends since kindergarten, she said you would most probably find it out sooner or later one way or the other,â Jenny said. âI must tell you she was quite an expert with toys.â
âYou know itâs OK for me. Actually this makes her even more interesting.â I said as I drank the last drops of my espresso.
âSoooo,â Jenny summed up, âshe said if you were still interested, give her a call. I can give you her number.â
She wrote down the number and we went back to our office. Our small family firm rented two offices on the second floor of the Birchwood Building, a small office building located at the edge of the town, close to the highway. Several small companies rented office space on the first six floors as the location was good, the offices were in excellent condition, yet the prices were relatively modest. Ours was dealing with heating systems, while the one Emma worked for imported home decoration from Central America. There were about twelve other small companies in the building. The seventh floor was occupied by the large construction company who renovated the building itself about two years ago.
I checked my e-mails, made some calls, and then I decided to make a visit to the sixth floor. I didnât want to call Emma over the phone, I wanted to visit her and ask her to come with me to the party personally.
I knocked on her door and she opened it while she was talking to someone on her mobile. When she saw me, she waved me to go in. Her office was large, but looked more like a storage room than a normal office. Central American rugs, jugs, potteries, statues and even panpipes were kept in cardboard boxes all around the place. She had a proper desk with a laptop in one corner as well, but approximately that was all her stuff.
âSam, Iâll go and check those headdresses but I can assure you those are not authentic feathers on them⊠No, those are simple goose feathersâŠIâll be there around threeâŠYes, yes I willâŠNo Sam, donât panicâŠOK Sam, bye,â she said in an obviously agitated manner. She ended the call and looked up to the ceiling and shook her head. Then she looked at me and her features immediately softened.
âSorry, we seem to have some trouble with a shipment as the customs says it contains feathers from endangered species. Iâll have to go there and straighten things out⊠But you are here for a different reason, I guess,â she said. âCome with me to the other room, this place is a mess now.â
She led me to the office that was directly on the other side of the corridor. This room was completely different. It had floorboards instead of the wall-to-wall carpets normally used in the offices, it was nicely furnished with high quality rugs, seats and a table; there was even some kind of carved totem pole, depicting probably an Aztec god. Dark curtains could be used to make a dim light in the room, but those were now drawn aside to let the sunshine in. The room was also equipped with a small bar and a coffee machine. It obviously served as a meeting room. Emma sat down into one of the chairs and asked me to sit into the one right next to her.
âInteresting room,â I mentioned as I sat down.
âYes, this is our exclusive meeting room. We have a web shop where people can buy our stuff, but those are either replicas or mass produced items. They look authentic and are hand crafted but they are not unique in any way. You could have seen some of those in my room. But we also have a VIP section for those who want to buy really exotic things from Central America for their homes. We meet them here, discuss all the details and sign the contracts.â
âHmmm, I see. Sounds interesting. You like it?â
âWell, at first it was a bit strange for me, but I had to find a job on short notice and I did not have too many options.â
âBecause of the divorce?â I asked, maybe a bit bluntly, but she did not seem to be offended.
âYes. So Jenny told you about that part of my life, right?â
âShe said that you were divorced and that you had kids. But I donât see why you are so worried about that,â I answered, although I suspected the reason.
âNormally when I meet a nice guy, the routine is that we have lunch or a coffee, then I tell them about myself and they never show up again.â
âShe also told me about how you two met.â I said.
âAnd youâre OK with that as well?â
âWell, you probably know that I was the only one who defended Jenny when her family found it out,â I answered. âAlthough I always considered it a pity that it was female only...â I laughed and she laughed with me. âHowever, I would really like to know why you started to go there, just as I asked Jenny.â
I tried to make it clear with my gestures that she was free to say âNone of your businessâ, but after a short pause she answered. I was quite surprised how straight she was.