Kristi entered Mr. Robinson's office, confidant, sure of herself, and a little nervous. She knew this was a big step but she was positive it was the right one. She dressed for the occasion. After spending some time the night before, she picked out a navy blue skirt and matching blazer. Her white blouse was open out the top and showed just a little bit of her cleavage. Her gold earrings, bracelet, and necklace added a simple but elegant touch. She looked liked woman but also a person could do the job.
"Good morning, Ms. Clark," Mr. Robinson said rising from his seat behind his desk. "Have a seat."
Kristi realized from the start that this meeting was a little more formal than the last. "Thank you, sir," she said as she sat.
"I'll get right to the point," Robinson began. "We believe that you would be right for the position and we feel it would not only be right for the company but right for you. Have you come to a decision, Ms. Clark?"
She sat up in her chair and looked him straight in the eye. "Yes, sir I have," she said with determination. "I decided to take your offer and accept the position."
He rose from his chair and walked around his desk. "Let me be the first to welcome you aboard." He stuck out his hand. "We'll get H/R to get all the paper work together. I think you will be impressed with your new office and some of the perks. You will be the first woman this company has had as a director and we, I am confidant we made the right choice.
Shaking his hand, Kristi smiled, "Thank you, sir. I'll do my best."
"Please, call me Bill and I know you will. See Miss Richards on you're way out. She has all the paper work for you." Again he stuck out his hand. "Congratulations!"
As Kristi exited his office, Robinson smiled as he watched her go. "Brains, looks, and determination, she is going to be a force in that meeting room. At least a different approach and a ray of sunshine!"
As Kristi took a bite of her salad, she reflected on her first week of work. It was so different than she was use too. People came to her with all final reports and ideas. She attended more meetings than ever and was called upon for more decisions and opinions than ever.
She could also feel a little hostility in those meetings. She wondered who exactly thought she was the right person for the job. She wondered if it was the right person or the right woman? A few of the men seemed to treat her with respect but others were condescending towards her. Some were just a little too correct. Bill Robinson gave her his 100% support and the President, Mr. Morgan, seemed to be fine with it. She decided it didn't matter, as it was her chance to do well and to hell with them.
Kristi was waiting for Maggie Wilson to show for lunch. Maggie called her Wednesday and said she would like to meet for lunch, that there was something she wanted to discuss. It was like Maggie to be late.
"I'm sorry," Maggie said as she sat down. "Damn pool boy took his time today." She waved the waiter over. When he arrived, she ordered a drink and a salad. "My, you are looking well," she said turning to Kristi. "Heard you got a big promotion."
"Why, yes, I have. Thank you."
Maggie put her hand on Kristi's. "You are doing quite well for yourself. Who would have thought that in high school?" She took a sip of her drink. "We were such jerks back then." She laughed.
Kristi smiled, thinking maybe you were.
Maggie carried most of the conversation, carrying on about high school, her life, etc. It was light talk until the end of lunch.
"I want to thank you for getting me out of that little problem I was having. Things have turned out fine. No better than that. It's great."
"I'm glad to hear that," Kristi replied.
"There is something I would like to ask you. A business proposition." Maggie slid around, moving herself closer. She removed a photo album from her purse. "I want you to take a look at this."
When she opened the album Kristi saw a picture unlike anything she expected. A statuesque, auburn hair woman posed, wearing a black leather and chain bathing suit-like outfit. The links were draped over her naked breasts; the supple leather caressed her hips and belly. On her hands she wore soft elbowed length, black leather gloves and her legs were covered with thigh high patent leather boots with five-inch heels. The woman's hair hung softly across her chest with one curl surrounding an erect dark brown nipple. In one hand she had a short black leather-riding crop. Her make-up was heavy, with bright red lipstick and exaggerated eye shadow and liner.
Kristi looked at her, confused. "I don't get it."
Maggie turned the page.
The picture on the following page was of a woman with pale white-blond braids that hung down in front of her dress. She was turned slightly sideways, looking shy and vulnerable and dressed in a school uniform, an adult version of a dress a high school girl might wear. Her white ankle socks were neatly cuffed and her patent leather shoes gleamed. Her face, artfully made up with soft rouge and pale pink lipstick, looked youthful and familiar. As Kristi examined the face more carefully, she gasped, "Oh my God, that's you." She flipped the page back. "So is this one!"
"Turn the page."
The pictures that followed were all of Maggie in various costumes; a harem girl with a transparent veil covering the lower half of her face, a prim grey-haired woman in a white high-necked blouse and sensible shoes, a voluptuous female pirate wearing short shorts that showed the half moons of her ass peeking beneath and a blouse unbuttoned to the waist, and a woman in a black satin teddy standing over a man whose arms and legs were secured to the frame of a brass bed with lengths of heavy linked chains and padlocks.
"Wow, Maggie, I'm speechless. Ok, but why are you showing this to me?"
"I call the album The Satin Touch and it is really a menu. Selected people get to pick their...shall we say entrΓ©e and I provide the dessert."
"You're trying to tell me that you're a hooker now?"
"I prefer to say I'm a very selective, high priced escort."
Kristi was stunned. What could she say?
Maggie spoke, her voice a bit tentative. "No condemnation? No 'how could you?'"
"I'm too much in shock to say much of anything."
Maggie smiled. "I have been enjoying every bit of my secret existence for about a month now."
"Aren't you afraid you might get something? AIDS?"