Finally, Monday came and, unlike so many others who dreaded it, I felt relieved to get back to the hustle and grind. My brain needed the two days off but I didn't. On Saturday, I had felt restless, but Daniel's sudden and unexpected arrival on Sunday had changed all that.
I arrived early to unlock the office. I wasn't the only one with a key. My trusted cleaning lady, Maureen, an older, married women, had done an amazing job over the weekend, leaving it spick and span. I smiled, then dumped my handbag on my desk, opened my laptop and got to work.
At 8:00am, my models started to arrive, ready for the assignment they had for this week. I greeted them but couldn't wait for Amelia, Bonnie and Krystal to show up. They wouldn't be showing up until the afternoon. I busied myself organizing the women and making sure they had everything for their photo-shoots, then out they went.
My receptionist, Mary, came into my office mid-morning with an envelope. "A courier just sent these over from Elite," she announced.
"Oh, really? Thanks, Mary," I replied taking it from her. Mary went out.
What was this? I opened the envelope to find a compliment slip and four tickets. "Oh, wow," I said to myself. One was a different color from the others. The blue one was an invite to the resort weekend for "Guest + 1", while the three red ones were for "Judges". Right, time for a phone call.
I speed-dialed the number on my landline -- the only one on it these days. Someone answered. "Hi, Jo, this is Cathy," I said. "I got the tickets! Thanks!"
"Great! You're welcome!"
"Hey, mine says '+1', huh? I can bring a guest, right?"
Jo laughed. "Yeah, sure -- if you've got one."
"Huh! Enough already!" We spoke for a few more minutes before ending the call. That's what she thought, eh? I had the perfect person in mind.
After lunch at one, I hurried back to the office. Just in time, Bonnie, Krystal and Amelia showed up.
"Well, how was your weekend beauty sleep, ladies?"
"Oh, fine," said Bonnie.
"Awesome," agreed Amelia.
"Not bad at all," remarked Krystal.
I grinned at them broadly. "I thought as much. Here are your assignments for today." I handed out details of photo-shoots they were due to appear in, with times, locations and what kind of shoots they were. "Hurry up and get moving -- let's make some money!"
"Yeah, back to work, eh, girls?" smirked Krystal.
"Sure," replied Bonnie.
"Oh, ladies, I've got tickets to the resort event this weekend," I continued. I handed out the 'Judge' tickets.
"Wow, cool!" exclaimed Amelia.
They chattered excitedly about it for a couple of minutes before splitting up to go to their respective locations. They were a little surprised at my peppy attitude but it seemed they chose not to say anything.
That evening I headed home for a quick dinner, then got changed into my gym clothes and headed over to Daniel's house. This time I was wearing a fluorescent-green bra top, bright pink cycling shorts and the same sneakers as yesterday. I rang the doorbell.
Presently, Daniel answered it. Today he wore a tight blue tank top, brown men's cycling shorts and the sneakers I had already seen. He grinned broadly. "Come on in, Cathy," he said.
We made our way into the dining area. "Now how do you wanna handle this?" he asked. "I showed you a bunch of exercises last night. Do you wanna make a start on doing those by yourself, while I do my own stuff, or do you want me to spot you while you're here, then I'll just do my stuff after you leave?"
A good question. "How about both? Let's start doing our own thing, then if I need help, you can spot me." I didn't want to seem as forward as last night, plus I didn't want him to think I was hogging all the available time. However, I also didn't want to just push and shove weights all the time in silence.
"OK, no problem," Daniel said. "Let's start!"
I headed for the home gym to do some rows, which I liked. He went for the barbells and started doing dead-lifts. I did three sets of eight reps before moving onto a different exercise. Daniel busied himself with a hang, clean and press set. After that, I did some dumbbell work, while he did bench presses. We spoke briefly. He neither kept silent nor gabbled on mindlessly. It occurred to me that he could be the ideal beach companion -- the kind of guy who helps you put lotion on, talks for the first ten minutes, then lies down next to you for the next three hours making occasional comments. Perfect.
By now, half an hour had passed and I wanted to shift things up a gear. I prepared the home gym for a cable pull-down exercise. "Daniel," I called.
He responded and came over.
"Spot me with this, would you?" I asked, with a shy smile.
"Sure," he replied, looking at me with confidence.
I grabbed the handlebars and pulled down, watching the stacked, rectangular weight plates inside the machine move up towards the pulley at the top. "Is this OK?"
"Keep your back straight," he said. He bent over behind me and gently touched the sides of my torso to show me where it should be. As I pulled down, I felt my arms brush against the backs of his fingers. "Up again," he said. I weakened my pull and my arms raised up as the weights went down.
"Great. Again," he continued. As I pulled down, I leaned forward slightly. "Stay straight," he said, moving his fingers higher. Another brush of his fingertips. My arms raised again. I pulled down once more, this time leaning back. His fingertips, unmoving, now brushed along the sides of my breasts. Daniel, surprised, said, "Oh, sorry."
"No problem," I smiled, reassuringly, turning to him. "It's OK."I performed another rep the same way. His fingers brushed against my breasts again. I heard him breathe in slowly. This time he knew I was doing it on purpose.
I continued a few more times, before lowering the weights slowly to a stop. I turned my head to face him. He was looking at me with a mixture of expectation and uncertainty over what would happen next. I decided to show him. Leaning back even further, his fingertips reached the extent of my breasts. Then I leaned towards him, closing my eyes.
Our lips met. His lips were soft, yet insistent. We parted, looked at each other, then kissed again. He aimed for my bottom lip, and I sank into his arms as he embraced me. I felt his lips part and his tongue tentatively explore. I responded by letting my tongue touch his, before I, too, embraced him. I felt a rising excitement at having this young, virile man, only twenty years old, here with me. Our lips parted once more and Daniel began to rain kisses upon my cheek, then down below the ridge of my jaw to the neckline close to my ear. I sighed, the contact suddenly sending a zing through my heart.
I needed this. Five long years had passed since Jake, and now I had this gorgeous young stud. I could scarcely believe my luck.
He kissed his way down my neck from my ear to my collarbone, before I felt his hand gently caress my right breast. The sudden touch inflamed me, and immediately I sensed a gaping, cavernous need inside me, a need too long denied, too long ignored, a great, roaring, thirsty, hungry kind of feeling; a searing, desperate-to-be-quenched raw need that scared me as much as it thrilled -- and I took it.
"Oh, Daniel," I panted. "I need this - I need this so badly -- I need you!"