Claire sat at the table sipping on her dirty martini. Her boss was in the midst of discussing a new business deal with an old client. She was only into the first month of a very prestigious internship and was lucky to be at this conference in Las Vegas and privy to such an important conversation. Unfortunately, that lack of experience made it hard for her to keep up with the acronyms and terms the two men kept throwing out. Another round of martinis arrived and her boss made a point of putting one of them in front of Claire.
"Shit, he doesn't really expect me to keep up, does he? I'm already getting light headed," she thought as she smiled and thanked him.
She forced herself to finish off the first martini before turning to the second. As she lifted up the glass she tried to ignore the two men glancing at her cleavage. Her small and perky breasts normally didn't get this much attention but the black keyhole dress she was wearing made her feel on display. She normally never would have worn this dress at a business event but she was told last minute about the trip and her boss, Dave, insisted she bring some evening wear for dinners like these. Still, she cursed herself for not picking out a more modest dress as she threw stuff in her suitcase.
When she realized her wardrobe mistake earlier in the evening she texted Dave, "Hey, I brought the wrong evening dress so is it ok if I wear my work clothes?"
"What's wrong with the dress? Normally, I'd say wear whatever you want, but this client likes to be treated like he's a friend not a customer. He really likes a more relaxed fun environment, that's why I told you to bring some evening outfits," was the reply.
"Ok, it's just I'm not sure this dress is professional enough," Claire wrote back, hoping Dave would take pity on her predicament.
"I'm sure it's fine, see you in the bar in 15 min," came the reply.
That's how Claire came to be seated here, getting tipsy, with her older boss and even older client, catching glances at her exposed cleavage. What's worse is it wasn't exactly the kind of dress she could wear a bra with. The hotel had their A/C set to make men in suits comfortable and that had the uncomfortable effect of making Claire's nipples poke through her dress. At least neither of the men seemed to think less of her for her poor dress choice, quite the opposite. The client, Bill, kept mentioning how great it was to see new talent at the company and how much he looked forward to working with her. Dave also complimented her, how great an addition she was, and how badly the company wanted to hire her as soon as she finished her last year of school. Both of them seemed to be in great moods.
The dinner was going so well that by the time Claire was halfway done with her second martini, Dave turned to Bill and said, "so, how about it? Ready to bring us on for the next project?"
"Well, it's a lot bigger of a project than you've handled in the past so some of my board is concerned if you guys are up for it," Bill responded before casting another glance at Claire's young body, "but it looks like you guys are going in the right direction. Screw the board, let's make this happen."
With that the two men shook hands and flagged down the waitress to order a round of champagne. "Hurry up, finish your drink Claire, it's time for a toast," encouraged Dave as the waitress quickly came back with three champagne flutes.
Faking a smile, Claire obliged, finishing the martini in four more gulps. She didn't consider herself a light weight but two martinis in rapid succession were a lot for her 115 pound body. On top of which, she now had to participate in a champagne toast. Claire dutifully clinked glasses with the two men and tried to ignore another round of compliments from them. Meanwhile her head was starting to spin.
She was relieved when Dave finally took a break from the back slapping with Bill to say, "Well it's getting pretty late. Claire, why don't we head upstairs to go over some numbers for tomorrow?"
Bill insisted on picking up the check and Claire and Dave headed to the elevator back to their rooms. Claire, while normally very coordinated, was having trouble walking in her heels after all the martinis. She was thankful when Bill put a helping hand on her lower back, exposed by her backless dress. Once in the elevator, Claire leaned against the wall for support as Dave pushed the button for her floor. He walked her back to her room and waited patiently as she fumbled for her key.
Claire opened the door and walked in. The drinks were catching up with her and she excused herself to the bathroom. While Dave waited for her to pee, he took a look around his intern's room. His inhibitions and professional boundaries were gone after the drinks and having to stare at her body all night in that little black dress had really put him in the mood. He peeked into her suitcase and found a tiny red lace thong sitting near the top. Intrigued, he grabbed it and slid it into his pocket for later. He then walked over to the desk where Claire had her work things arranged. Slipping off his blazer before taking off his dress shirt, he hung them both on a chair and grabbed Claire's laptop and her papers.
When Claire came out of the restroom she was surprised to find Dave laying on her bed in just an undershirt and his slacks, with her laptop and all her work things arranged in front of him. He had apparently been in the mini-bar for there were two glasses of whiskey sitting on the nightstand.
"C'mon over and have a seat," Her boss said to her as he patted the spot on the bed next to him.
"Uhm, I was going to get changed first," She responded, feeling that this was not a professional way for colleagues to work.
"Nonsense, let's just get started. Plus you look great in that dress," Said Dave as he looked over her young body and patted the spot on the bed next to him.
Claire felt like she couldn't argue with him so she walked over and took her place on the bed next to him. Their bodies touched as she propped herself up on the pillows. From this angle she knew that Dave must have a view right down the keyhole top of her dress but she felt like there was nothing she could do about it. Instead, she figured it would be best just to get this work done so that he could go back to his own room.
"So I have the residual income figures for the last three projects we did for Bill here. That should help us tomorrow when we talk to his partners," She said as she fumbled through the papers.
"Yes, I remember you doing a good job compiling those numbers for me last week. Before we get too deep in that though, why don't you pass me one of those drinks?" Dave said, interrupting Claire's attempts at professionalism.
Claire tried not to sigh, if he cared so much about going over these numbers, why was he interrupting her for more drinks? She reached over to grab him one of the glasses and handed it to him.
"Thanks sweetie, there's one for you as well," he said, calling her sweetie for the first time. A term she felt was entirely not appropriate for a modern work relationship.
Claire thought about protesting that she'd had enough to drink but she knew Dave would insist and she would give in, so what was the point? Instead, she sat there and sipped on her drink as Dave silently looked through some more papers. Finally, he put the papers down and closed the laptop.
"This looks great Claire, I'm very impressed with the work you've done," He said complimenting her for what felt like was the thousandth time that night.
"Thanks. . . I'm very thankful for the opportunity," She responded, not knowing what else to say. A thought crossed her mind that she hoped he would remember all this praise when it came time for performance appraisals at the end of the internship.
"Well you've certainly risen to the opportunity. I was a little worried about taking someone so inexperienced on this trip but you've done a fantastic job. Bill was very impressed with you tonight."
As Dave mentioned Bill, Claire couldn't help a slight shudder at the way Bill stared at her body. She bet he was impressed.
"In fact, he wants to use you on all his future projects with us. But he'll have to fight me for you," Dave said letting out a chuckle.
That just made Claire feel even more uncomfortable and she got the courage to say something, "Why was he so impressed with me? I just sat there while you guys talked."
Dave smiled at that comment, "Well Bill can tell a lot about someone just from meeting them. Besides, you have certain assets that appeal to a man like Bill. I'm glad that you decided to show us some of those assets tonight."