My boss, Bill Gordon, the VP of marketing, had scheduled an all-day meeting with representatives of one of our biggest clients. Being the assistant VP meant that I had to spend the entire day with a bunch of out of shape stuffed shirts with egos the size of their bank accounts. Not my favorite way to spend a
Friday.
I tried to look on the bright side, I was being taken to one of the nicest restaurants in town for lunch on the company.
On the other hand, I usually was able to leave early on Fridays. This way I could get home to my North Side condo and get ready to go out and hit my favorite lez bars to pickup a willing woman for some hot and heavy sex.
Since I broke up with my long-time girlfriend, I wasn't looking for any relationship. One night stands were perfect. And I had no trouble finding willing partners for those. You see, I'm a 28 year old 5'8" brunette weighing in at about 115 pounds. I have medium size breasts that really need no support, a tight ass, and long legs. My hair hangs about 4 inches below my shoulders and has a slight curl to it. Girls have told me my hazel eyes are very expressive. I use little make-up, a little lip gloss and a very light touch of mascara. My mother told long ago not to mess with the beauty God gave me. You know how mothers are!
Well, since I was stuck in the office until at least 4:30 or so, I figured to be as comfortable as possible. I knew the air conditioning didn't keep the
conference room very cool when the afternoon sun hit it. The vertical blinds were next to useless, too. It was probably going to be very warm in there.
With that in mind, I wore a light-weight summer dress, no stockings or hose, and only a demi-cup. I normally let my brown hair hang loosely around my shoulders but decided to pin it up loosely. When I checked myself in the mirror, I decided I liked the look.
I got to work a little early and tried to get some other work out of the way before the meeting. All too soon, Bill paged me and told me the clients were here.
"I'll be right there," I said into the intercom. I kept getting this ugly picture in my head of a bunch of old men in expensive Italian suits with suspenders holding their pants on below their bulging bellies. Probably bald with bad comb-overs but thinking they were hot shit. Oh God, let this day end soon. I was soon to want this even more for entirely different reasons.
I walked into the conference room and saw the three client reps. As I expected, one was an old man with a large stomach and a bad comb-over. He had sweaty
palms, too. The second man was in pretty decent shape, about 40 but of no interest to me. I missed the names of the two men and had to have them
repeated. I did catch the name of the third member of their party. I wasn't about to ignore her.
She was introduced as Jennifer Garfield. She was in her early 20's and stood about five and a half feet tall, slender, with bright blue eyes. She had very
short blond hair that was almost white from the summer sun. She wore thin, rimless glasses. Glasses have always been a turn-on for me, maybe it's the
intellectual look they give. Like me, she wore little makeup. From what I could tell from the light summer suit she wore, her frame matched perfectly with her height.
As we sat down at the conference table, she took a seat across from me. I thought nothing of it beyond sisterly solidarity, at first.
Several times during the course of the meeting, I caught her looking at me but every time I turned to look back, she was studiously studying the handouts or
the graphics displayed on the screen at the head of the table. She was extremely cute.
We took a break, and she and I both went to the ladies room. After taking care of business, I was at the sink washing my hands when she came to the sink next
to me. We both stood there and I had absolutely nothing to say! I can sweet talk girls all night long at the bars, but with her I was tongue-tied!
She finally said, "I wish I'd worn something like you have. It's getting a little warm in there."
"Yeah, it is," I said. God, did I sound stupid! This very attractive woman was trying to talk to me and I could only mouth stupid, strangers-on-the-train type
responses.
I managed to say, as we walked back to the room, "I'm afraid it'll only get worse this afternoon."
"Oh, I was afraid of that," she said.
We spent another couple hours in the conference room with her apparently looking at me and me never able to catch her eye to confirm it, while Bill went over
sales projections, benefits, and the rest of the nonsense people tend to tune out when it goes on too familiar, too long, and too hot.
Finally we broke for lunch and we went to a popular steak house across the street. The men ordered cocktails and beer. I went with iced tea, knowing how
alcohol completely drains me on warm days (especially in boring meetings where I should look attentive and interested). I noticed Jennifer also order iced tea.
I also ordered light: grilled chicken salad with ranch dressing. Jennifer told the waitress, "That sounds good. I'll have the same, please. Thank you."
I smiled at that, I like people who are polite to waitresses and other service people. I waited tables in college and knew how unthinkingly cruel people can
be. I thought this would be a good way to break the ice with Jennifer.
"I think that's really very nice that you thanked the waitress. I used to wait tables and believe me, it can mean a lot," I said.
She blushed slightly and said, "Oh, I always do that. My mother taught me to be polite to people who are helping you."
With that, we started to talk to each other. Sitting at one end of the table, we could exclude ourselves from the typical male bonding rituals of the business
lunch.
"You seem young to be an assistant VP. You must be pretty good," she said.
Accepting the compliment, I said, "Well, it took a lot of hard work and late nights, but I think it's worth it."
"Does it affect your social life? I noticed you don't wear a ring," she continued.
She noticed that, did she? It might just be simple female curiosity, but I planned to find out.
"Well, I keep my Friday nights open," I returned, "and since I have a workstation set up at home, I don't usually have to come in on the weekends. There's also a gym near my home that I go to fairly regularly. So, in answer to your question, I do get out."
She looked thoughtful, "So, is there anyone special in your life?"
Gender-neutral I noticed. "No, not for almost a year."
"Oh, was it difficult? Several months ago, I broke up with my lover after three years, and I felt bad for weeks after," she said.
Still gender neutral, so I decided to keep it going in that vein for a while, if only to keep my hopes up about the pretty young blonde I was with. "We were
together since college, but I noticed problems a few years ago that just kept getting worse. The biggest factor was not talking about what was bothering us."