Daniel snatched his vibrating phone as it bounced across his nightstand, "Hi Heather, thanks for returning my call." He answered after checking the caller ID, "I really appreciate you doing this on a Sunday for me. I wouldn't normally impose. It's very last minute...I apologize."
"No problem Daniel, it's what I'm here for" Heather had been Danny's corporate travel agent for five years now. He was aware of the volume of business he had given her granted him certain liberties, but she provided excellent service and he was never one to take advantage of others in a business relationship. It was an attitude that served him well.
"Now, you need another seat on the flight to Genoa, let me see..." Danny could hear her typing away on her computer as she searched the flight info, "And you want to use points. Hmm. Not possible in business class Daniel. Do you want to sit together at the back of the bus?"
Danny hated flying transcontinental in economy class. He always seemed to end up between two fat guys. Sitting beside little Amber wouldn't be so bad, he thought but to hell with it. He just had an excellent quarter and the cash flow was there to pay for his 'assistant' to fly business class with him.
"Let's make it two business class tickets sitting together on the same or an earlier departure. Can we return on the Monday rather than on the weekend?"
"I'll check and get back to you in ten minutes" They made some small talk and then Danny let her go, thanking her again profusely before hanging up.
He turned to a sleepy Kendra who was laying there half-awake listening to the conversation. "Darling do you have Ambers number in your phone?" he asked
"What, you mean the phone number of my new BFF? Sure, help yourself" she said rolling over, laughing and passing him her phone before rising into a stretch. "Coffee my love?" She didn't wait for an answer before sauntering into the bathroom, showing off her sexy bum with an enticing little wiggle entirely for his benefit.
Danny scrolled through her contacts until he found Amber and pressed call. The phone rang four times before a breathless Amber answered, "Hi Kendra!"
"Amber Baby...it's me, Danny. Good morning...How are you?"
"Oh Hi Danny, I was just thinking about you. Can you come over later and do that magic thing with your sexy tongue? I'm still feeling a little sore and you make my kitty feel purr-fect" she said, giggling girlishly at her own bon mot.
For a second he seriously considered it. Amber was so young and silly, only twenty two years old and ten years his junior, but there was something very becoming about her. He enjoyed pleasing her; the taste, her texture, those bright pink and fleshy labia, it all felt particularly good with Danny. She was very different from his beloved Kendra, "Not today Baby. I really can't, but I have an important question for you...well a couple questions actually. First do you have a valid passport?"
There was a short pause. He imagined her mind was spinning at being asked such a question out of the blue, "Yes" she paused "But why?"
"Do you have any exams or papers due on Thursday or Friday?"
"I have an Early Childhood Nutrition paper due Friday"
"Can you hand it in Wednesday?"
"I guess...yeah maybe. Why Danny, what's up?"
"You sure about the passport?" he asked. Everything depended on her having that.
"Absolutely. It was renewed last fall. What's up for fuck's sake?" he could hear her becoming a little anxious if not excited at the possibilities of where he was going with the line of questioning. They were going to have to work on her potty mouth.
"How would you like to fly to Genoa, Italy, as my personal assistant for a few days?" he waited a few seconds for a reply but there was nothing. You could have heard a pin drop. "It's no big deal really. I just need someone to carry my laptop and look good taking notes beside me. Kendra's busy and can't get the time, so I thought you might be interested"
"Fuck YEAH!" she bellowed "I'm definitely into that- wait, you're paying for the flight right?"
"Of course. Yes Baby, it's on me- my business that is. I'll get you to fill out some paperwork and take you on part time. It's all legitimate and above board. We thought it might be a nice break for you. I could use the help, I have a very full agenda."
"Oh Danny YES! That would be freakin awesome! What clothes should bring?"
"You can discuss all of that with Kendra when you come over on Monday evening. She can do a better job advising you there." They chatted briefly about the trip with Amber's level of excitement only increasing with every answered question. Finally Danny had to cut her off, "Okay Baby I need you to take a picture with your phone, of the inside of your passport where it shows your photo, birthdate and passport number then text it to me. The travel agent needs all that info in order to book your flight. Do it right away. I need to get it over to her as soon as possible. The flights tend to fill up quickly this close to departure."
"Right away Boss! I'll talk to you later- Holy fuck I'm so excited..." Her voice trailed off as she hung up.
As soon as Danny got off the phone it rang instantly. It was Heather, "Okay Danny, I have two seats together confirmed with a return Monday morning instead of Sunday. That worked out well, you get the extra seat for only an extra $800 because of the Monday departure. Kendra's info is up to date, want me to go ahead and book?"
"Kendra's not coming along, it's my new assistant Amber making the trip." He replied
There was a slight pause before Heather, usually very efficient in gathering the information she needed to do her job continued, "Assistant Amber..." he could hear her typing in the background, probably staring a new file in her database.
No doubt some of Heather's clients relied upon her discretion when booking flights for their girlfriends instead of their wives. He could almost hear her thoughts but thought better of explaining things in any detail. How could anyone explain how his marriage to Kendra's marriage worked? He barely understood it himself half the time.
"What's Amber's last name?" enquired Heather, all business. The awkward moment had passed.
He thought for a minute then laughed out loud, "I don't know. I'll tell you what, I'm going to text over all her passport information in a couple of minutes and I'll forward her number at the same time in case you need any more info."
"Sounds good Daniel. Shall I go ahead and book another room?"
"No extra room just extend my", he paused before correcting himself "...our stay the one extra night, and again, thank you so much! I appreciate the fast work, especially on a Sunday morning."
"It's no problem at all, I'm just sitting here by the pool with my grandkids enjoying the lovely Boca Raton weather as I telecommute. Marvels of modern technology!" she laughed, confirming to Daniel that she was in fact okay with his intrusion on her weekend.
"Well, that aint working, that's the way you do it!" said Danny
"Money for nothing and my trips for free!" came the instant reply, and they both had a good laugh. They made some more small talk before Danny let her go. Five minutes later he had forwarded the passport and contact info from Amber, but not before checking her last name. Smith. Who would have guessed?
A few minutes later, Daniel wandered into the kitchen tooth brush still in hand to inform Kendra of the details. "It's all sorted. Heather is booking the flight. Amber is ecstatic"