1
The business dinner was exhausting; but at the end of it, Bob and Miri were sure they'd made the sale -- and if they brought home a contract to install the 3 million dollar software package, they'd both be looking at huge bonuses, and the trip the two couples had been planning for years would finally happen.
Bob and Miri were neighbors. He'd recommended her to his supervisor a few years ago, she'd started as his assistant, and she'd quickly worked her way up to his level. Since they worked so well together, they'd been chosen to fly out together to make the presentation.
They both called home during the taxi ride back to the hotel, to tell their spouses, Becky and Mark, the good news. They were going to be out here one more night after this one, so Miri suggested to Mark that he offer to fix dinner for Becky (Mark was handy in the kitchen; Becky, notoriously not).
"Wanna stop at the hotel bar for a drink when we get back?" Bob asked. "Unwind a bit?"
"The drink sounds great, but the bar doesn't. Let's raid the mini-bar in my room. We're on an expense account, and we deserve it."
"It's a deal."
They got upstairs, and Miri used her electronic key to let them in. "I can't wait to get out of this," she said, unzipping the back of her dress and pulling it over her head.
"Miri!" Bob shouted, seeing his neighbor wearing only shoes, stocking and thong panties.
"
Oh my fucking god!
" She screamed, grabbing the dress and pulling it to her chest. "I wasn't thinking. Oh god, I'm used to being in hotels with Mark, and I just-- this is so embarrassing."
"It's okay," Bob said, "I really didn't see anything." Which was a well-meaning lie, because he'd gotten a good look at right breast, and even now as her back was to him, he had an unobstructed view of most of her ass.
She ran into the bathroom. "Do you want me to go?" he asked.
When she came out, she was wearing a fluffy white hotel robe. "No," she said, "the harm's already done. And now I really need that drink, maybe two, and I hate to drink alone."
He took off his suit jacket and laid it across the arm of the couch. He noticed her watching him. "What," he said, "you're waiting for me to strip naked too?"
"Don't tease me. I'm still mortified. And let's not mention this amusing anecdote to Mark and Becky, okay?"
"It's a deal."
She handed him a beer, while she opened a wine cooler for herself. "So..." she said. "Did I look okay at least?"
He smiled. "You can strip naked for me any time."
"Maybe you should have kept going after you took off your jack-- okay, wait, this is getting a bit weird."
"You're right," Bob said. "Too long a day, too many drinks."
"Yeah."
2
Bob went back to his his room, got undressed, and crawled into bed. A few minutes later, without really intending to, he began jerking off, thinking about his neighbor and co-worker, and wondering how she'd have reacted if he'd walked over to her and untied her bathrobe.
3
There was a 400-pound elephant in the room when Bob and Miri met for breakfast the next morning.
Well, less a 400-pound elephant, exactly, than Miri's right breast, and Bob's memory of having seen it the night before. As well as most of her ass.
For Miri's part, she'd been on one hand mortified but on the other hand a little excited about Bob seeing her last night. She rarely masturbated, but she did last night. Still, it felt awkward: she had to work with Bob, today and in the future, and now she could see him glancing at the front of her cream-colored blouse, probably wondering whether she was wearing a bra underneath (she was, and in hindsight should have been last night).
"Okay, listen," she said, "what happened last night, happened. We just have to move past it."
"You're right," Bob said.
"And yet you're still staring at my tits."
"Sorry. I know I'm being a pig."
"And it's oddly flattering. But we work together, and you're married to my best friend."
He frowned a little, and she could tell he thought she was reprimanding him. That certainly wouldn't help their personal and business relationships either. She put both hands on one of his, leaned forward and said "The truth is, I was tempted myself." And then in a near-whisper: "And who knows... if the four of us manage to take that Aruba trip next spring, and it's okay with Becky, maybe we'll all go to one of the topless beaches."
4
Things stayed a bit awkward between Bob and Miri for the rest of the day -- a sexual tension had suddenly been added to their relationship, after all -- but they got through it and continued their presentations to various department heads.
Meanwhile, Mark had left work a couple of hours early to prepare dinner for Becky. He was fixing a seafood risotto, a dish he was particularly proud of, but which he never got to cook at home because of Miri's seafood allergy.
Becky let herself in at 7, wearing heels and the sort of dress you'd wear to a fancy dinner out. "Don't
you
look nice," Mark commented as he continued to stir the risotto. "You got a late date afterward?"
"I just figured if I'm getting treated to a classy dinner, I should dress the part."
Mark looked down at his own jeans and polo shirt. "Maybe I should go change, then. I feel under-dressed."
"No need. You know what they say, there's nothing sexier than a man in the kitchen."
"Oh, so I'm sexy now?"
Becky made a show of giving him the once-over. "Oh, you have your moments."
Mark smiled, and told Becky to help herself to some wine while he continued to stir. He'd bought two bottles of white this afternoon: one for cooking, and one for drinking.
After a few more minutes, he poured himself a glass and joined her on the couch, while the risotto "sat" for a while. They discussed how odd it seemed to be at home without their spouses the past couple of nights, and how if this all worked out, and it led to bonuses, maybe they'd all get to go on that Aruba trip they'd been talking about for the last few years.
"Bob better get an
extra
-large bonus," Becky said. "I'm going to need all new clothing."
"Oh?"
