The Thief in the Corner Office - Pt 5
**********************************
There was nothing unusual about the theft of Bill Haldeman's invention. Big corporations regularly reverse-engineer the work of independent inventors and steal it. Things changed when Haldeman found a way to fight back. In Part Five of this 10-part story, Alice ventures farther into the realm of kinky sex.
***********************************
I had bookmarked several pages in my laptop's browser, so I opened a few of them and showed Alice photographs of women in sexy attire. Most of the women were famous movie stars or models shown on red carpets. They wore lovely dresses by top designers, but the clothes weren't like anything in Alice's closet.
These were clothes worn by women who aspired to be seen as sex symbols. Very short skirts. Very revealing cleavage. Cutouts that exposed lots of skin. Skirts slit to the waist. Sheer, transparent fabrics. Most of the women were younger than Alice. None of them needed to be taken seriously in the corporate world.
"These clothes are very pretty, aren't they?" I asked with the sound generator running.
"These clothes are very pretty," Alice repeated obediently.
"You'd look sexy in these clothes, wouldn't you?"
"I'd look sexy in these clothes."
I clicked through several more images. One picture got her attention.
"Look!" she said. "A naked dress!"
"What did you say?" I asked.
"That's a naked dress! Don't tell me you've never heard of naked dresses!"
I'd never heard of naked dresses. It turns out that one way aspiring sex symbols call attention to their bodies is by wearing shockingly revealing apparel. Some of these dresses are translucent, showing off a woman's boobs or butts. Some are made of flesh-colored fabrics that seem to be painted on.
Most naked dresses use see-through cloth that lets everyone see most of each woman's body. It exposes so much that it's no different from going to a formal event in a tiny string bikini. Or even less.
"You'd look terrific in dresses like this, and it would extend your brand," I said, making sure the speakers of the sound generator pointed in Alice's direction. "Today you are considered to be a fashion leader who wears classic designer styles for business apparel and evening wear.
"This would add to your reputation. You would become known as a businesswoman who is bold and beautiful enough to wear the kind of styles favored by fashion models, movie stars, and internet celebrities. No businesswoman has done anything like this before. It moves you even farther into the vanguard."
Alice looked delighted. "Bill, you're right! I'm sure of it!" she said. I think one reason she was so quick to accept this crazy argument is that there were a few elements of truth. Alice has the lovely face and sexy body necessary to wear such bold apparel. There's a long list of successful women who managed to further their careers that way.
But none of those women are business executives! If Alice wore the kind of ultra-sexy dresses I showed her, her peers in Silicon Valley would be horrified. Wall Street types would never take her seriously again. Her board would be forced to dump her, and she'd never be able to work as an executive anywhere.
"We need to go shopping!" she said.
It wasn't long before Alice took me to go to a boutique that caters to women who are celebrities or aspire to be. The staff gave me a glass of champagne to sip as I watched Alice try on one dress after another. The owners of the boutique figured out quickly that Alice was looking for the most revealing clothes allowed by law, and they presented her with an endless series of choices.
It was enjoyable watching a woman as gorgeous as Alice modeling such erotic items, but I eventually got tired of the fashion show. I like looking at pretty girls in sexy clothes as much as the next guy, but I began to get hungry long before Alice was finished. She'd embraced the idea of remaking her image, and she repeatedly decided to try on "just one more" dress.
I had a lot of time to think as I watched Alice modeling for me. It was a little weird seeing how enthusiastic she was about apparel she used to consider slutty. My campaign to destroy Alice's life had consisted of one improvised decision after another. I made her sign a contract paying for my invention. I made her have sex with me. I made her ditch her boyfriend. I made her have types of sex that formerly repulsed her.
The thing I hadn't anticipated was how much Alice enjoyed letting me wreck the life she'd built for herself. I wondered if I was really punishing Alice by "making" her do things she enjoyed so much. She believed - rightly that she was having the best sex of her life. She believed she was making good decisions. She even thought she was in love.
I realized that I felt glad Alice was enjoying herself so much. It made everything sweeter watching her enthusiastically participate in my effort to destroy everything she'd cared about. I imagined that it would make it possible for me to do a more thorough job undermining all she once valued.
We were both starving by the time she tried on her last dress. "Let's go to
Elan!
I want to show off my new look!" she said. Alice bought so many items that the store agreed to deliver them all to her home. But she decided to wear a particularly bold gown to her favorite restaurant.
She planned to make a big impression, and she certainly did. When she stepped out of her limousine, the doorman at
Elan
looked startled at what he saw. The short skirt and plunging neckline did a fine job of showing everyone that Alice was a bombshell. A hot young actress would have looked perfect entering
Elan
in such a dress. But it was nothing like the tasteful couture that had always defined Alice. One by one, members of the staff were shocked to see how she was attired.
"People are looking at me, aren't they?" Alice asked after we were seated.
"Of course they are," I said truthfully. "You look fabulous."
"Bill, I am so glad you had this idea," she said. "These clothes make me feel like the most desirable woman in this room. It feels wonderful. You get all the credit."
I watched how people reacted to Alice.
Elan
is a classy restaurant, and the people there are too sophisticated to gawk. But I could tell they were appalled. They shook their heads and spoke in hushed tones.
It wouldn't take long for word of Alice's new personal style to spread. People who'd known her for years would be baffled. Some would wonder if she was in the middle of some kind of breakdown.
It was getting late by the time we got home. I felt tired, but Alice was wide awake. It was obvious that she enjoyed putting herself on display like never before. It gave her a lot of erotic energy. She took my hand and led me to the bedroom.