I still remember the concern that I was feeling during my hour long commute from home to my office in the city and how panicked my boss sounded when he begged me to come in that early Saturday morning. Knowing we were about to close on a very lucrative merger, I didn't hesitate to comply. Especially when he told me that the important French associate that was due to join us for the finalization in 8 days, was flying in that night and demanding to meet with us the following morning.
About 50 minutes later I walked in and found Mr. Oates in jeans and a t-shirt shuffling through our files and handing off printed data to our assistant Amanda who was organizing and assembling the critical paperwork. I told him to calm down, that we were well prepared and when I asked him how long we had, he told me around eight and a half hours prior to the arrival, if we were lucky. He told me he wanted everything completed before that and said he didn't trust the bastard.
About an hour from our completion we were well ahead of schedule when the phone rang. Amanda Said it was Mr. Harvey calling from his private jet and that He told her rather than meeting in our conference room in the morning, he wanted the two of us to do his briefing over dinner at the Carlton Arms Hotel Restaurant in Manhattan where he was staying. He said to be there in three hours,.
Mr. Oates always kept a spare suit and tie in his office, but since I was stuck in my casual slacks and blouse, I had to ask him if he could handle the briefing himself. He said that this was far too important for that and told me to write my dress and shoe sizes down and he handed Amanda his credit card, instructing her to come back with something appropriate for dining. She walked over to me with her pad and wrote down the two sizes that I gave her . She asked me what scent I was wearing and jotted that down as well, then rushed out.
Upon completing our summery, I looked at the clock and we had just over two hours to spare. I told Mr.Oates to go get cleaned up and changed as Amanda swiftly walked in and handed me a small bag and two boxes. She told me to hurry and said she would give me a hand getting ready. The cocktail dress she had picked out was perfect, an off white one piece with slim lines and it buttoned all the way down the front. It came to a modest two inches below the knee and it felt like it fit me well. The heals were a little snug but they were new and I knew that I could make them work. Then Amanda told me to please step back and look in the mirror.
When I left that morning I was wearing a black bra and panties under my slacks and blouse. Even though the dress was very well made, my underwear was shining through it. After some deliberation we agreed that I had no choice but remove them. Though my breasts are not huge, I consider them to be large and me to be blessed, because after 42 years,they still hold their own. However the way that the dress fit without a bra was uncomfortable and a concern of mine. Amanda told me that it had a bit of under support sewn in and said that if I was careful not to make any sudden moves, I could pull it off.
Mr. Oates and I walked into the restaurant right on time. The Maitre d informed us that Mr. Harvey's flight had landed a little early and that he had just seated him in a large booth in the far corner that was private enough for us to conduct business. We were usurered back to him and after the standard protocol handshakes, I seated myself on the long semicircular bench in the back of the booth to the left of Mr. Harvey and my boss slid in next to me.